Departing Horn (Jason GM)
02/17/2022
We are commissioned to haul a wagon containing 6 stacked cargo howdah's to Rogers by a man from Rogers named Krell. While preparing, another man approaches and wants us to haul a 5'x5'x5' box to Madsen. Since we don't have room in the howdah for the box, we tell him top talk to Krell.
The rakoxen (named Appa) is good for about 30km per day on the road.
Psymon has heard of Rogers before. He recalls that the area is invested with Skullocks (kobold-like creatures). They often attack in groups of up to 100 but that is rare.
Another menace in the vicinity are called hyiscas. They are kind of a cross between a dog and a mole. They are good diggers but do not really live in tunnels though they might live in caves. They have a chameleon-like ability and often attack by surprise. They are medium-sized. The Skullocks are small.
When we get to the location where we had encountered the badder ambush a few weeks before, Sakasi finds that the barrier/ambush has been reestablished. Sakasi comes back and then Guile, Spook and Sakasi sneak up to take a look. They find a lookout in the trees but he is not looking in their direction at this time. Guile sneaks around and finds the badder camp.
We decide that Guile will hide near the lookout while Azimuth drives Appa (the rakoxen) forward along the road. When the lookout sees Appa, he starts to run off but Guile accosts him and tries to convince him to let the group pass. They either do not understand or choose not to and battle is joined. The rest of the badders start running up when the badder shouts and fires his flintlock pistol at Guile.
GM: We ended the night with three badders still alive and in what appear the final rounds of combat.
Badder then Skullock Ambush (Jason GM)
03/03/2022
We kill the last of the badders that came after us and continue up the road. A dozen or so more badders man the blockade and want 5 domars each plus 20 for the rakoxen. We barter it down to 10 domars total plus a return of the flintlock pistols.
We continue on. As we get further away, we talk to the Tower who tells us that we will not be able to talk to it much longer but it would like it if the group would eventually return to this area. The group inquires about this and learns that the will be heading out of range of the radio. The Tower wants them to return to help it extend its range.
We encounter a couple of caravans heading towards Horn who have heard that the Legion of Gold is no longer a threat and so the caravans are willing to head in that direction again. We also learn that there are Skullocks in the area that attacked them. Attacked by about 50 and they killed a dozen or so.
Several days later, we are traveling mostly west around a swampy area when we see a bunch of skullocks to the southwest. They are moving towards us so we prepare. When they finally attack, Spook throws a chemical grenade and kills a bunch. More attack but we easily kill them and drive the rest off. We search the bodies for treasure. We find a military canteen, axe with fiberglass handle, 1" silver cross on a silver chain. We also find an old plunger. We find 11 knives of various states of quality. We find 4 pieces of armor that could be used to make makeshift armor.
Late the following afternoon, we arrive in Rogers. We see the ruins of ancient buildings indicating that this used to be an ancient city.
GM: Originally we were heading to a town called Madsen but Jason changed it to Rogers and located it several more days to the north and west. He later changed it back to Madsen, which would be located just off the Barony of Horn map, probably right past Mendo Marsh.
Madsen (Jason GM)
03/10/2022
Uncle Albert's, an armory store that has a good supply of ancient tech, can recharge standard powercells for half the normal cost, thus, it costs 30 domars to recharge an empty powercell.
We also visit Eddi's Electronics and buy some stuff, including an ID card (red with gold trim).
Then we visit Red Cross for medical supplies. We buy Acceleradose, Biocort and stage III antitoxin.
Azimuth, Guile and Sakasi head towards a bar. It has several hundred people. Place is Wish You Were Beer. Lots of mutants here.
A couple of grizzled adventurers that were ambushed a couple days to the west, first by skullocks, then by a pair of crazy, mutated creatures, 2.5 meters tall. One had an arm with a weapon implanted, not really cyborg, but freakish-looking. They fled north into a small wasteland. As they were crossing, they heard a loud boom followed by an explosion that took out most of the party in one shot. There was a tower. We approach to hear more and agree to meet them with the rest of our group later (it is just Guile and myself right now). We will meet at Bog (Bar of the Gods) in two hours. Fake Roman columns that look cheesy.
There was a large gun on top of the tower. It fired a second shot but we were running and it missed. It sounded like a bug gun. About a day's journey north of Debok (Dubuque, Iowa), which is about 50 km to the SW of Madsen. Tower in the middle of a barren depression. No direct road to Debok but they cut overland. We ask for landmarks to help us get there.
First day is uneventful and we make 10 km (only half a day of travel). Second day we make 20 km. We see 10 foot tall cows covered in spikes. Psymon recognizes them as Waste Grazers. We want to stay away from them. We give them a wide berth. The next day, there is a bit of an argument between our navigators (Spook, Sakasi and Psymon). Azimuth suggests that Spook fly up and see if he can spot Debok. It turns out Psymon was correct. We arrive in Debok around 3 pm.
There are a lot of people that know of the tower but they mainly just know to stay away from it. We also hear of the giant, mutated creatures.
Dabok (Jason GM)
03/17/2022
We head north along the river banks. We leave Appa and the howdah in Dabok and are on foot. Psymon scans (telepathy) for skullocks so we can stay away from them. As night gets close, we are about 10 km away. Spook shape changes to a large, flying creature to scout ahead.
They guys we got the story from about the crater said they were inside the crater when attacked by guns from the tower in the center of the crater.
Spook can see a gigantic artillery weapon on top of the very battered tower. Weapon is currently facing west.
There are lot of ruins in the crater indicating that it might once have been a city. The tower is right in the middle of the tower. Spook can see that the gun has sustained damage. He gets closer and briefly sees some movement on the turret, probably humanoid.
Off to the east, at the edge of the crater, is a large group of skullocks. They are just inside the crater. There are about a hundred of them. Spook advances within 1 km of the crater but not closer.
Meanwhile, we find an ancient semi half buried in the ground, we climb into the back and set up camp, starting a small fire. It is about 4 km from the crater.
As Spook comes back, he sees a Winged Slasher heading in his general direction.
Spook makes it back. We spend the night in the truck in freezing temperatures.
Watches
- Spook - Azimuth
- Guile - Psymon
- Sakasi - Fone
During first watch, we hear skittering sounds outside but they fade when we investigate. We go back to sleep with Spook and Azimuth on watch. Ten minutes later, massive, blue scorpions rise out of the sand at the back end of the half-buried semi trailer and attack. Azimuth shouts out and the other rise and come to assist.
GM: We finished with the battle still ongoing. Azimuth has a Empathy/Confidence on him, courtesy of Psymon. Sakasi has missed for 2 rounds so his next attack will get the full benefit of his Electrical Generation.
The Tower (Jason GM)
03/24/2022
We finish the battle with the big scorpions. Sakasi and Guile both go down. Guile takes a very nasty wound, in addition to poison. When the battle is over, Fone determines that he will die without quick action. We use our only antitoxin and then Fone attempts to use Accerladose but it fails (because Guile is a mutant animal). Psymon was also poisoned and goes unconscious after the battle.
Fone does surgery on Sakasi with biocort and manages to get rid of the poison in him. By morning, the healing nanobots have healed most of us. They have not healed Psymon but they did keep him alive and, by morning, the poison seems to be negated. He rests and is fully healed by the nanobots by noon.
We search for the scorpion nest and find some treasure, mainly various types of ammo, some that we can use and others we can't because we don't have the right weapons.
Then we hear the big gun fire from the tower. Spook changes to a Winged Slasher and flies up to watch. He sees skullocks charging the tower. Then he sees a couple of large creatures heading towards the skullocks. The gun fires at the skullocks. Half of the skullocks attack the large creatures while the rest charge the tower. The large creatures make short work of their opponents, killing most while 5 flee.
Two large creatures step out of the tower when the skullocks arrive and make short work of the skullocks. One of the large creatures was three-headed. That one heads south. The rest head to the tower. Spook saw a total of 5 large creatures besides the 3-headed creature.
The Tower (Jason GM)
03/31/2022
Three headed guy seems to be immune to the cold. He is covered in sores and scabs. We entered the tower and began to search around. Found a door we couldn't open.
The Tower (Jason GM)
04/14/2022
Dented door with keypad and card reader. Black sign with blue writing - "Laboratory, authorized personnel only". Tried the red with gold trim card and it opened the door. Green illuminated chamber with high tech machinery. Door in far wall to right. Glass tube with pinkish, naked figure. Machinery is functionalty. Everything focused on the glass tube.
Figure is a large human that is about 80% complete. Blade arm on left and undeveloped limb on right.
Fone starts trying to figure out the machinery with an eye towards sabotaging it.
Other door has a grubby window. An eye is visible looking through at us.
Spook finds a mini-flashlight. Sakasi finds a 4" long rod with a button on it. It is a laser scalpel.
One of the machinery cabinets comes to life to become a robot. We begin battle and another cabinet also comes to life. Then the other door opens and an ugly cyborg woman steps, yells at us and then attacks. One of her arms splits into two hands, each armed with a pistol. We defeat the bots and the cyborg. Sakasi goes down to some sort of syringe, which later turns out to be a sedative. Spook took four blasts from the pistols. After the battle, Fone does patch wounds while Sakasi continues to sleep from the sedative injection.
In the room where the cyborg came out, we find six slaves of the tower. They are malnourished humanoids.
Fone studies the machinery and decides that it is just for cloning strange monsters so we decide to destroy it.
We find a box of cybernetic parts. We find some sort of assault weapon arm to be attached to a human body. Then we find another one but this has a drum magazine attached. Weapon is damaged but drum is good. It holds 20 rounds (making it half full as the drum can hold 40).
We find a box containing belted ammo. The belt could hold 100 rounds but there is no ammo in the belt. They are sized for .44 magnum.
We find another drum but this is for a large caliber rounds (.50 caliber). It holds 50 rounds but currently only has 19 rounds.
Exit the room and cross the hall to partially open the door. Room is partially collapsed. There are caves in the far wall. We hear a large animal growl coming from one of the caves.
We head down the hallway. It does not look well used. We catch a whiff of decay and petroleum fuel from the other side of the door. We force it open an inch and shine a light through. We see a creature that leaps at the door as we look through.
The Tower (Jason GM)
04/21/2022
We kill the two "armor-coated pigs" that came out of the holes in the room we tried to retreat from. We check out the caves they came out of. Room contains some miscellaneous treasure. In the burrow we find some bodies.
Operations room. Five albinos in brown jump suits. They continue to watch the screens as we come into the room. They monitor a nuclear reactor and react to errors by resolving them to keep the reactor from exploding.
A police robot enters the room. We fight it and destroy it.
Next door has computer terminals and stuff. There is also a big robot covered with tumors - so mutant cyborg? This appears to be the big boss. Sakasi charges in and attacks and battle is joined.
We ended the night with both Sakasi and Spook going down (staggered). Psymon hit Spook with acceleradose that brought him back up to badly wounded. The cyborg is bloodied.
The Tower (Jason GM)
05/05/2022
We are still fighting the mutant cyborg. We defeat the cyborg but Azimuth goes down (staggered). Later Fone and Psymon do first aid and healing. Sakasi is fully healed with a great Patch Wounds roll together with biocort. Azimuth gets two doses of Acceleradose and is now bloodied with 24 HP.
We spend 8 hours, which is how long it takes for Azimuth to fully heal from the nano bots inside him. Everyone else also heals during this time.
We find a skulloc child (about 6-8 in human years). Secured in a plastic storage bin. She is alive. Mujpulla is her name. Psymon communicates with her telepathically. She says that this tower belongs to her people but was taken by the cyborg who kicked them out. They prey on the skullocs, using them for food. We decide to keep her with us. She wants to go back to her people so they can come back to the tower, which is their home.
Through the night, we watch the screens. One shows a clip of this room from before of the cyborg picking up and crushing people.
Try south door with new card. Green light comes out. See a room filled with bunks. It smells really bad in here (but Azimuth and Spook are wearing gas masks). There are three sleeping thugs in here. There is also a girl who seems to be emotionless. We kill the three thugs, who were already in bad condition (wounded).
The girl is Lucinda. She was their caretaker. Her job was to fix them and serve them. She walks over to a chest and pulls out a shotgun. Also inside is a 9mm pistol and other items. Another box a short distance away holds other treasures, mainly various types of ammunition.
The Tower (Jason GM)
06/02/2022
NOTE: The group played on 5/12 but I was out with COVID.
Head up to the roof. There is a dead cyber mutant there that we killed earlier. Find 11 rounds of rifle ammo and a few other minor items.
We think the nuclear reactor is on the verge of a meltdown, so we decide to leave. The main question is do we try to convince the minions to leave. We decide to head out and let each of the minion groups know that we are leaving. They are all convinced to leave. Takes about half an hour but we convince.
We depart the area of the tower. The skullig girl wants us to take her to her village with is a couple of days to the west, over the river. Fone rigs up an impressive zip line assembly to get across the cold river with all of our minions.
We look for a place to camp for the night. The night passes uneventfully. We continue in the morning reaching the skullock camp in the evening. Guile escorts her into the village. The girl talks to her father, sometimes shouting, but eventually convinces him that Guile helped rescue her. He gives Guile a reward consisting of a pouch with 2 large gems. He also says we are always welcome in his village. He gives us a piece of his shamanistic accouterments to identify us. It is a circular disc, rough on both surfaces. There are markings on the disc.
Guile says good-bye and departs. We have set up a camp in the meantime. In the morning, we head back the way we came. We camp for the night on the west side of the Gleener River, planning to cross in the morning. Guile returns late at night. During the night, on first watch, we are attacked by tentacles coming out of the frozen ground. On closer examination, they seem to be plant vines. Sakasi figures out that they are actually Greenwalkers.
The Tower (Jason GM)
06/16/2022
The battle against the Greenwalkers continues. We destroy all of the Greenwalkers. Some of the Dronuch's are killed. We search the area and find some previously killed corpses. We find a gold ring worth about 10 gold, a small pouch containing 25 gold worth of gold nuggets. We also find a body in military uniform, containing an access card. Platinum with gold stripe "General G. Stants" and 6 gold stars.
We journey back to Debok. Late in the afternoon, we hear a huge explosion from the direction of the tower. We suspect it is the tower exploding. We check the Geiger counter but we are far enough away that we are out of the danger zone.
We spend the night in Debok and then depart for Madsen the next day, taking 3 days to get there. We decided to have the 18 Dronuch come with us. After a stop in Madsen, we are thinking to return the Samurai Base with the Dronuch and winter there, fixing the food machine on the base.
It takes us 3 days to reach Madsen. |