Return to Fathoms Recap 4

August 26, 2016 @ 8:00-11:00 P.M.

<<WARNING SPOILERS FOR 50 FATHOMS! >>

Part 4: Burial at Sea

Scene 1 Day 20 Pirate Sea to Brigandy Bay

Favorable winds took the group to Brigandy Bay by noon... 

  

As soon as they landed half the crew took off to carouse at The Black Queen. The other half demanded their pay to carouse. After getting their cash from Red Pirate Roberts they followed the rest off to carouse. Calico O' Malley left to carouse as well, but left the rest of the crew and found herself in a worse tavern. The rest of the group stayed there to watch the ship and make sure nobody stole their boat.

[Chessie played the Abandoned Crew card.]

Calico O' Malley found herself a companion for the night, a drunken ship's carpenter. The two stumbled back to the skiff drunk and Horventerous stopped them from going below deck. He was curious about the ship's carpenter and wanted to know if he could trust him. The drunken man didn't answer any of his questions to his satisfaction but an impatient Calico O' Malley pushed past him to below deck with the carpenter in tow. The ship rocked like it was at sea...

Scene 2 Day 21 Brigandy Bay

The crew returned except Equias. Calico O' Malley found a buyer for their Carroway Lumber, negotiating to a fair price of 2,400 pieces of eight from his initial 2,160 offer.

[Summer played the card Sunken Treasure.]

Calico O' Malley went into the depths of Brigandy Bay and found some sunken goods. She stealthily removed the goods and found three intact bottles in their as well.  

Horventerous, Red Pirate Roberts, and Natsu Nara left to carouse. Horventerous and Red Pirate Roberts got a little drunk but Natsu Nara seemed nearly immune to an endless string of drinks.

They decided to go off wandering into the back alleys of Brigandy Bay in the middle of the night screaming for Equias as if he were merely a lost puppy.

A group of pirates led by a veteran pirate were press-ganging Equias into service aboard their ship. The pirate's lookouts saw and heard the group coming. When the group saw the pirates holding onto pincers and hands from the corner of the alleyway, Red Pirate Roberts yelled out, "Give us back ar crabman!"  

The veteran pirate yelled back, "This is our crabman. Get your own. 

"No. That's ar crabman!"--Red Pirate Roberts

 

"This is no concern of yours. Keep moving and nobody gets hurt."--Veteran Pirate 

When the group decided to move towards them, the veteran pirate ordered his men to shoot. Unfortunately for them, they missed in the dim light and one of their shots accidentally grazed another pirate.  

The veteran pirate said, "Leave now or I'll shoot you dead."  This left Red Pirate Roberts a bit scared. 

Red Pirate Roberts shook it off and fired at a pirate, grazing him. 

Horventerous taunted one of the pirates leaving him a bit ashamed of his recent miss. 

Natsu Nara unleashed a bolt that killed two of the pirates. 

The lookout from the other side grabbed Equias. The veteran pirate drew his musket and fired on Red Pirate Roberts, leaving her severely wounded in her stomach. One of the pirates went to hide in the corner as the rest held Equias despite him struggling during the transfer between the pirates. 

Red Pirate Roberts drunkenly stumbled forward on her Norwhale peg leg and drew her bow and fired her pocket pistol like an arrow.  The pistol skittered forward and ended up by the feet of the pirates holding Equias. 

Horventerous healed Red Pirate Roberts of her wounds.   

Natsu Nara unleashed a bolt that killed two of the pirates. 

This freed Equias' left pincer and he used it to cut off the arm of another pirate holding his left arm. He whiffed with his left arm as his right side remained held by two other pirates. 

Natsu Nara sent a bolt that killed one of the remaining pirates as the last pirate ran off in fear. Horventerous checked over Equias finding him hungover but uninjured. The group found 60 pieces of eight on the pirates. 

Equias Logbook Entry 7

I got really drunk last night at The Black Queen and passed out. I woke up to pirates holding onto all four of my arms and telling me I was going to have to work with them. Press ganging me into service! They managed to get a gag on me at The Black Queen and drag me out into the streets of Brigandy Bay. Fortunately I weigh a lot and it was nighttime before they even got close to the Docks. That was when the Captain Roberts, Natsu Nara, and Horventerous came bumbling through the alleyway screaming my name like I was a lost dog. I tried yelling at them but it was muffled by the gag. I struggled against my captors mightily, especially when the big one let go of me, but I couldn't escape four men. I saw a cannonball made of rock strike one of the pirates holding my left pincer and suddenly freed as he dropped, I used it to chop the arm off the one holding my left hand. I changed my stance to face the pirates on my right, but a second earth cannonball killed one of the pirates. I took a swipe as the last pirate fled into the night but I missed.  Seems this Natsu Nara is some sort of earth mage. 

I had considered leaving them to find a different crew but there were nothing but pirates in Brigandy Bay, not even some traders from the Free Towns to take me on. But they saved me life, so I guess I will stick with them...for now.    

Scene 3 Day 22 Brigandy Bay

Calico O' Malley told the group it would take a while for the new cargo to dry out, and that they could get a better price for them in Bluth's Crown over Brigandy Bay

The group decided to go north towards the Flotsam Sea and obtain a bottle of water from the "Heart of the Flotsam Sea." 

[Ellen played Grease Barrels.]

With favorable winds at their back the group traveled north towards the Flotsam Sea.   

[A fairly ridiculous 6 spaces of travel, 2 base skiff travel speed, 2 for the Raise on Boating, and 2 spaces for the two cards.]   

 Scene 4 Day 25 Flotsam Sea

Calico O' Malley jumped into the Flotsam Sea and grabbed a bottle of the frothing water of the Flotsam Sea. Unfortunately for her, this triumph was short lived. Octopons from the depths of the Flotsam Sea savagely attacked her, hacking off her legs. Her other arm stayed aloft holding the bottle of water and she managed to ram her dagger into the heart of one of the Octopons just before her right arm was also severed. 

Red Pirate Roberts fired the cannon and shot one of the Octopons as her crew reloaded. 

Natsu Nara and Horventerous used their magical bolts to take down one more of the Octopons.

An Octopon warlock came up from the depths with a shimmering field seeming to flow around him in the water. He grabbed the bottle of water and said, "No one robs from the Sea Hags, not even a drop of their water will be taken by the likes of you. You shall all die here and join the ships at the bottom of the sea." 

One of the Octopons hid underneath the group's skiff, mazed by the bolts of water. One of the Octopons used its rusty blades to climb up onto the ship. One of the Octopons stayed back to guard the Octopon Warlock.

[We had Chessie take over Midget's character, Rosetta, for the rest of the session.]

Rosetta got out of bed and ran to the stairs. When she reached the top she stabbed the Octopon on deck and dropped him.

Horventerous dived into the water and grabbed the bottle of water from the Octopon Warlock. 

 

Natsu Nara unleashed his earth bolts killing an Octopon Warrior but the Octopon Warlock's deflection field bounced them off. 

The Octopon Warlock cast a huge ball of black and green acid at the ship. The black ichor struck the cannon and the hull of the ship and left most of the sailors, Red Pirate Roberts, and Natsu Nara gasping for air.   

The Octopon Warrior hiding under the ship came out and stabbed Horventerous in the back, dealing two wounds to his kidneys with his rusty blades.   

Smithers and Louis pushed two sailors out of the way and reloaded the cannon but Red Pirate Roberts missed. 

Horventerous used a sweep to attack both Octopons around him with his Kraken Bone Sword. The attack chopped Calico's left arm off and the rest of her body submerged to the depths of the Flotsam Sea to never be seen again...

But Horventerous' attack forced the Octopon Warrior to duck and he missed his next opportunity to hit him in the back. 

Rosetta glided down at the Octopon Warlock but he ducked out of the way of the downward knife stab as she hit the Flotsam Sea behind him.

The Octopon Warlock cast a second blast that moved the ship 18 feet backwards. Smithers was severely wounded and the other sailors dropped unconscious.

There were not enough sailors to reload the cannon. This was it, final shot. Red Pirate Roberts aimed and fired. The cannonball took the head off the Octopon Warlock and then bounced and took off the head of the last Octopon Warrior.

Equias Logbook Entry 8

I was awakened by shooting cannons and our skiff shaking. By the time I got upstairs the battle had been won but at great cost. Calico O' Malley had sacrificed herself to get a bottle of water from the Flotsam Sea and Octopons had defended it as if it were the Sea Hags themselves with fierce determination. Horventerous was assisted by Rosetta back to the skiff, wounded with two stabs to the back. Smithers was severely wounded by an acidic blast that had burned his skin. Louis was unconscious but still barely alive. John Smith and Caras Cath were dead. We buried them at sea by dumping their bodies into the ocean. The ship was damaged by acid and cuts into the hull but had survived the fight intact. I found 700 pieces of eight on the dead Octopon onboard. I took the money and kicked it off our ship. We turned around and headed back towards the direction of Brigandy Bay...

[End of Session]

XP: 2

Loot: 760 pieces of eight, Tome

For her advance, Rosetta found a blackened book she saw fall out of the Octopon's pocket as his headless corpse began sinking. She opened it up below decks with weird green ooze pouring out. She read and reread it until she understood it.  She became a wind mage with Deflection, Bolt, Burst, and Zephyr. 

[The funny part about this is she has Smarts d6 but Spellcasting d4-2 to cast anything. Atani cannot normally get the Arcane Background edge, but I allowed it with the aid of the Tome.]

Pictures: 

   I used our two tablecloths to represent green land and blue sea on the tabletop. DramaScape's River Barge is used for the small fishing boat we are using as a skiff. Cannons are from DramaScape's Western Keep. DramaScape's Wagons Roll is used for the city back alley in Brigandy Bay (the city path). Tri-folds used are from the 50 Fathoms Figure Flat Pack by Pinnacle Entertainment Group. The 50 Fathoms metal miniature is also from Pinnacle Entertainment Group. I also used some HeroClix from WizKids for this one. Jace from Magic: The Gathering Arena of the Planeswalkers makes an appearance as Natsu Nara. 

Wagons Roll
 

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/106531/Wagons-Roll?affiliate_id=12615

Deadlands: The Last Sons Recap 3

I missed Deadlands: The Last Sons Session 2 for a family event. 


Deadlands: The Last Sons Recap 3, August 28, 2016 @ 1:00 P.M.
 
<<WARNING SPOILERS FOR DEADLANDS: THE LAST SONS! >>


Doyle's Journal Entry 2 (written in Algonkian)

Friday September 10th, 1880-Thursday September 16th, 1880
Deadwood

After the combat, I went with Jim-Bob to check on the carriage and my condition once inside alone. My body has absorbed something, a power from the spirit world from one of the defeated spirits summoned by the cursed one. Most prominently, the veins around my heart wound had formed like shards of earth and less pronounced throughout the body. Looking close, you could certainly see the difference under the skin. I had absorbed a spirit's power as well, the ability to form a rocky armor around myself. With no one looking, I performed my nightly sacrifices to the loas with my sacrificial bone knife in the forest with my portable shrine. Don't be worrying, it just be chickens.

When we arrived in Deadwood, I spent time looking for leads on the exact location of Cheyenne territory. Learning that Cheyenne territory is further to the west I bought more cheap whiskey and perfume to mask my scent with the others. 



Friday September 17th, 1880
Deadwood

I met up with the others at Nuttal and Mann's Number 10 Saloon. The bartender, Tom "the Tell" Nuttal, told us that there were ghostly miners not to be confused with the living ghost rock miners. These angry spirits had died trying to gain a fortune in life and wanted to kill the living if they dared enter and make a claim on their mine. 

The others were looking for a miner named Wallace Blount who had gone missing. They had a map of where his claim was at in the Black Hills. They feared that the spirits may kill him at the mine, so we set out immediately.
 
Friday September 17th, 1880
Deadwood Trail
    
We headed along the south trail. There were two more people with the group, a German man in a very curious white long-coat and a man riding a bike fueled by ghost rock. Fueled by screams of the damned. I stayed away. It reminded me of my own torment and my Oath to the Old Ways. Neither talked very much as we traveled. A storm rolled in and added freezing rain to make the trip even more miserable.

We saw two rows of ten corpses strung out on poles. The Sioux were given us a warning for trespassing on these lands and committing crimes. It be bad juju. The German man poked one of the corpses and its stomach ripped open, spilling out its intestines, leaving him puking his own guts out from the smell of decomposing wastes.

The other black man besides me wandered forward inspecting each of the corpses. Then two of the corpses moved and he ran forward screaming nearly into Deadwood Creek. The vain woman's cat ran off into the hills and she chased after it. The corpses turned into monsters as they extended their arms, legs...and necks. 

[Joshua played Rise Up so none of us was surprised, but it also meant Fear checks for everybody as we noticed them.]

The cursed man drew his gun and slapped it hard. The shots wounded one of the monsters and hit the terrified black man in the back.

I used my new power to form a rocky shell around myself and went to help the wounded man. 

The man on the bike propelled forward and punched the abomination into a pole. The corpse on the pole fell off and the noose went around the horror's neck. Its eyes bulged out as it was strangled to death, perhaps a second time. 

[Randall used a push with his character and scored a success, raise, and second raise, and dealt 5d6 damage from the push back. 

The other monster grabbed the cursed man and lashed him to a pole. Foolish monstrosity. You can't hang a Harrowed but you can try. 

Jim-Bob threw a couple exploding flasks but it didn't hurt the bike, the rider, the cursed man, or the last monster.

The monster ran over to Jim-Bob and tried to grab him next, but Jim Bob dodged out of the way while trying to stab the creature with his Bowie knife. 

Then the cursed man used the under-barrel shotgun and caused an explosion that hit Jim-Bob and the monster. Then Jim-Bob's dynamite exploded again. He was unconscious and bleeding out, and I had just enough time to save his life with my healing charms. He was left naked again in the icy rain and started freezing. I placed a bit of animal fur on his skin and used succor to warm him up. Don't ask where I got that fur from. 

By the time I got to the other black man, the wound in his back had closed. He also touched Jim-Bob and I watched as burn wounds on his chest became new skin. This one has a powerful knack for healing.

We moved on to Blount's Claim.     

Friday September 17th, 1880
Blount's Claim

We found a series of shallow caves in a gully with a small creek. The creek had a shed next to it with some mining equipment. The cave walls were covered in blood. The cursed man said no shots were fired here. Well he would know the smell of gunpowder and death best. The vain woman told us there were all sorts of tracks, to many to track individually. 

We found a drunken miner in the cave. He was passed out next to a bottle of whiskey that said Rotgut on it. The cursed man kicked him awake but his incoherent ramblings were unintelligible. I used a handkerchief to wipe his forehead and cast succor to draw the alcohol from his body and mind. With that done, we finally got some information out of him. 

The man's name was Gideon Gorrell, a ghost rock miner and friend of Wallace Blount. Wallace Blount had left for a place called Dusky Jewel, a mining town he claimed was east of Cheslow Fork. Gideon was here to see Wallace, but not finding him, found his half-drunk bottle of whiskey instead and decided to finish it before heading back to his claim. The other black man seemed to think Gideon was a threat to Wallace. I pointed out that if I was aiming to ambush a man and jump his claim, I would lie in wait sober, not passed out drunk. With all the information we could glean out of him, I "found" a bottle of whiskey on the floor and gave Gideon back the alcohol the succor charm had taken from him.        

We headed to Cheslow Fork. 


Friday September 17th, 1880
Cheslow Fork

We headed east at Cheslow Fork. The other black man spotted Indians on a ridge just off Deadwood Trail. We passed them and they didn't anything. 

Friday September 17th, 1880
Dusky Jewel 

I approached the front gate and screamed up at the guards that I was looking for Wallace Blount as the rest of the group stayed back. The guards threatened to shoot me so I put my hands up and backed away from there. 

We skirted Dusky Jewel and found a drainage ditch that dumped waste into Deadwood Creek. I started adding new features to my doll to incorporate the two others into the weave of the pattern, but by the time I was done everyone had left except Jim-Bob. Some people just don't know how to wait. The only other thing left behind was the rider's bike.

I started a small campfire and used a red hot poker and whiskey to seal Jim-Bob's last chest wound. It'll leave a permanent scar, but he'll live.

[I played Hot Iron and Whiskey.] 

We wondered if the others had found Wallace Blount, but it was too late to follow them and the guards had already threatened to shoot me so we waited their return...

[My girlfriend had a nasty tooth ache and we had to leave early, so I don't know how the city infiltration played out fully either in or out of character]


Pictures:

DramaScape's CityScape Print On Demand (POD) Tiles is used for Deadwood Creek (River Tiles from the set), Wagons Roll for the Deadwood Trail, and Garden of the Unknown Warrior (East Side) is used for hilly brush to the west. The eastern side of Garden of the Unknown Warrior can be used as forest/swamp terrain (the western and central side has the temple walls, pagoda, pavilion, and statue). The Garden of the Unknown Warrior could be very useful in Deadlands, as a Chinese Garden Temple it could be used as a master martial artist's base, a Shan Fan location, a peaceful place that Kang's men have taken over and turned into a fort mounting steam cannons on the walls, etc.  

Velocipede is from Deadlands Figures: Infernal Devices by Pinnacle Entertainment Group (As for the cardstock tri-folds I don't know which set). Most of the metal miniatures used are Deadlands Miniatures from Pinnacle Entertainment Group. 


Garden of the Unknown Warrior

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/170890/Garden-of-the-Unknown-Warrior?affiliate_id=12615