Monster Blood Tattoo RPG: The Eekers' Lament - Part III

The Eekers' Lament

Part III: Theroscade

Lampedusa - deep-dwelling kraulschwimmen serpent and mighty sea-wretchin who terrorized the waters of the Grume for a thousan years before it was called by that name.  Finally, bearing the mythic spiegel-blade, Paschendralle, the legendary Piltdown heldin-king, Tascifarnias, stood upon the shore where Brandenbrass now has its harbor and challenged Lampedusa to a contest to see who should rule land and sea.  There upon the sand they fought, Tascifarnias slaying Lampedusa even as he was slain, the flowing of their combined blood purported to have changed the white sand black.

In the gaming room of the Alabaster Brow, they encountered the group of Pilts.  Their apparent leader was named Teucer Orm.  He seemed to know their intended quest, having suggested blandly that despite being in the high hills far from the sea, it was likely a kraulschwimmen, a sea monster, which they hunted.  When asked for further elucidation, he told the old legend of High King Tascifarnias and the slaying of the Lampedusa.  He added however that before its death, it was said that the Lampedusa would travel upon the land to lay its eggs in the gravide mud.  These spawn were called the Ravenusi and, fortunately for mankind, would lay dormant for ages before coming to life. 

"I think maybe your eekers have inadvertently awaken a Ravenusa."

He wished them luck in the hunting of it but warned that legend held that such terrible creatures could be slain only through the self-sacrifice of a Piltking and since there had been no King in centuries, the party was headed to their doom.

They scoffed at this superstition and began debating jokingly about who they could make king to so sacrifice.  Throgmorton suggested that if they proclaimed Teucer king would that suffice.  At this, Teucer flew into a rage, "Do not call me such!  Your Tutin Emperor has declared death for any Pilt who claims that title!  I have no wish to end my life hoisted on a Catharine Wheel!  I am a simple farm hand."

The matter might have come to blows had not Teucer's wife, a woman with some pretension at being a seeress, looked oddly at Lord Danny and said to her husband in Piltish, "Icu thu me favin nir Haraman." 

Teucer stared at Danny for a time before finally saying, "You have a strange friend, my Burgund lord."

Upon hearing that he was of the family Figge, Teucer observed that this was a Piltish name and that many of the nobles of Lillian of the Faye were of the Oldest Blood.

"We may not be so distant from each other," Teucer said wryly

"I certainly hope that's not the case," returned Danny amiably.

The exchange seemed to soothe things somewhat.  Teucer proved willing to give them direction to settlement of the eekers.  It was in a place known as the Deixerat in Piltish, meaning simply The Dale.

"Take a care, it is a place of ill omen and few have ventured there before.  These eekers may have thought such a place one of safety but I fear they have found it to be just the opposite."

After this, Brandywine went in search of Roman.  She found him settled in a dark corner of the inn's basement as was his eccentric want.  She confronted him about her suspicion that he was dabbling in black habilistics and warned him not to trifle with the party.  Taking this as a threat, he referred her to his metal staves and warned that should she desire to test him, he was well able to defend himself.  The encounter ended in an uncomfortable stalemate.  In the end, Brandywine, much troubled, retreated from the basement.

The next morning they set off in the lentum.  Following Teucer's instructions, they travelled for several hours down the main road heading north.  About midday, they reached a small track turning northwest off the road.  Another hour or so brought them to a clearing, The Dale.

As they approached, they could see some small farmed fields, the ripe crops lying uncollected in them.  There was a small thorp at the end of track, containing several humble buildings surrounded by a rough stockade.  A small stone cottage stood a short distance before the stockade.

They halted at this first habitation.  The small stone cottage had but one door and windows shuttered from within.  No smoke was coming from the chimney.  Roman and Throgmorton approached.  While Throgmorton held a loomblaze at the ready, Roman rushed at the door.  Only to find it locked.  The frail fulgar merely bounced off the stout wood.

The pair decided to climb onto the roof and perhaps claw their way through the thatching.  Throgmorton opined that a potive such as bothersalts, dropped down the chimney first might be the best first step in investigating the cottage.

Not trusting to the novice scourge's abilities, Roman hastily descended from roof and clung to the stone walls of the cottage.  The rest of the party had remained in the lentum which Flossie drove forward to a safe distance.  Lord Danny and Sister Brandywine readied their firearms for whatever might come from the cottage.

Throgmorton managed to drop his potive down the chimney.  When it burst within, explosively filling the cottage with repugnant fumes, two figures burst forth from the door to the cottage.  They had all the appearance of revermen, man-made walking corpses.

Almost instantaneously, Flossie sent a hunting arrow into the skull of the first while Danny's long rifle shot shattered the head of the second.

Brandywine approached the now motionless bodies with care, her bayoneted musket at her shoulder.  She saw where wounds had been made that a host of yellowish worms from rapidly emerging from these walking dead.  She recognized them as larger specimens of the one that had come off the mad boy Amery back in Brandenbrass.  As aimed her musket down at them, she was horrified to see one crawling up the bayonet of her musket.  She quickly flung the gun away.  They observed that the worm crawled into the trigger guard and molded itself into the curve of the guard.  Danny hurled his dagger at the worm, killing it but also firing the musket.  The shot ricocheted off a stone of the cottage wall, nearly striking Roman who had returned there seeking cover. 

At this point, Throgmorton flung a loomblaze onto the heap of sqirming worms emerging from the corpses.  They were soon engulfed.

Just to be sure, he hurled another onto the already burning corpses.

To be even more certain, he cast one onto the roof of the cottage, which was soon fully ablaze.

As they approached the stockaded village, they saw a body of a dead cow lying near the road.  Roman rushed to the dead bovine and began to cut at its distended belly with his surgeon's knife.  As soon as the blade cut through the hide, the gases that had accumulated with during the beast's decomposition burst forth, propelling a wriggling mass of the yellow worms across the road and into a fenced field.

Throgmorton confidently approached the mass of worms, a loomblaze in his hands.  However, when he raised it over his head to throw, he discovered that he had failed to properly seal the cork of the potive.  The chemicals, upon coming in contact with the air, burst into flames as they poured down on Throgmorton's head.  

The now flaming scourge began to run in panic across the fields. Brandywine and Roman rushing after him, attempting to put out the fire.  Danny and Flossie remained in the carriage, placing bets of the chances of Throgmorton surviving his first monster-hunting expedition.  Danny bet that the novice scourge would survive, albeit mutilated while Flossie believed his chances of surviving the day were remote.

As the pair discussed their bets, they suddenly heard high pitched giggling coming from behind them.  When they turned, they saw eight glamgorns prancing about a nearby hill, singing of the feast they would have on these human fools.

Four of the creatures charged the carriage while the other four called out to something further back in the woods.

Flossie used one of her war arrows to bring down the first attacker.  A second attempted to fling open the door to the carriage which Danny was holding shut.  This tug of war ended when Danny suddenly thrust the door forward, knocking the glamgorn onto its back.  Danny then snatched up his long rigle and shot the glamgorn through the head.

The remaining two threw themselves onto the roof of the carriage, and slashed at Flossie with wicked rustying daggers.  Using her saber, she parried and drove them back.

There was a fearsome rustling and snapping amongst the trees as an enormous ettin strode onto the hill.

Brandywine aimed carefully with her salinumbus and placed a well aimed shot, well dosed with poties into the creature's eye, partially blinding it.  The creature cried in rage and charged the carriage.

Picking the carriage up, the enraged ettin hurled it into the fields.  Flossie sprang free and easily regained her feet.  Lord Danny, still within the carriage was knocked about, he crawled out of one of the broken doors only to face the mass of worms writhing toward him.

"Buckfus! I need help!" he cried.  Flossie made a quick evaluation and believing Danny capable of fending for himself, fired an arrow at the ettin.

In the meantime, Throgmortom hurled a combustive at the foursome of glamgorns who were preparing to support the ettin.  They were all knocked from their feet.

The ettin turned toward Throgmorton.  The rest of the party fired shot after shot into the giant.

As the glamgorns struggled to their feet, Roman charged them and began laying about with his stave.

Throgmorton hurled a cast of Frazzard's powder at the ettin.  The blast and repugnant fumes forced the creature to retreat and it stumbled back up the hill.

As it retreated, Brandywine fired shot after shot from her pistols into its vast back.  

Sorely wounded, the creature turned and piteously called to Roman for help, calling out, "Click Click, the yellow flood!  Help me!"  Distracted by the creature's piteously cries, Roman was swarmed by the glamgorns who slashed into the fulgar with malice.

Flossie carefully aimed her bow and let fly.  Her large monster-slaying arrow, double-barbed and laced with monster-killing potives, drove into the creatures ear, killing it finally. For a moment it swayed upon its feet before collapsing directly onto Roman and the glamgorns.

Hoping to gain some protection from being crushed by the massive bulk of the dead ettin, Roman dropped to the ground and held up his stave as a brace.  The metal drove directly into the ettings skull.  A vast mass of yellow worms flooded out of the wound, all around Roman.

To be continued...

A Device Infernal IV

 

A Device Infernal

Chapter IV: Champignons

Now Lord Alabastre went to a lot of trouble sending Shad Le Duc and his hounds and those spellcasters and all those men and all them boats against little old Salteon.  Now that might seem like an awful lot of trouble for being rebuffed by one girl, even though it was Vangeline.  But Alabastre, like many young grandees had never been denied anything their heart desired. They had never had been told the word NO.
 
So when Vangeline and the Com’dor both told him no and all of the suitors and then all the folks at the faire said no, he didn’t know how to accept it.  And then he had to run off like a scared bullywog.  Well, the hate just welled up inside his proud breast and became all-consuming
 
So he started the war everyone was fretting about by seizing Fort Flumens so he could let that Mivior fleet come up the Deep.  Then he sent that cruel spell to trap Vangeline.  Then he come after her and all her kin and all her friends, all the way up to Salteon that was burned to the ground.  Can’t imagine what he would a done with Vangeline had he captured her but it surely would have been wicked.
 
But that’s what heroes are for and Vangeline was lucky to have whole of posse of them to try and save her. So they set off up the Crimson Bayou to find Lazar Mirande, the conjure man who might know how a thing or two about them crystal lilies that might restore Vangeline.  Even though Shad and his hounds and those spellcasters and all them men and all them boats came chasing after them, our heroes sure outsmarted them and got away clean.  

But once they got up on Bayou Crimson, things got mighty strange.  Of course, the first thing they run into was them fi follet will o' wisps.  But then they ran into to them mushroom folks, running along the shore screaming for help that something was trying to eat them.

Turned out it was some big slugs that come bursting out the ground and started chasing them.

Then there was a big ole matre slug, with might big snapping jaws and poisoned tail.

Now Placeed did mention that between all these creatures, there was a pretty good mushroom and escargot etouffee could be had.  But they all decided it weren't right to be eating mushrooms that big, especially seeing as how they talked.  So Fiddlesticks conjured up one of his little devil friends and it went off to slow down the matre slug. It must of caught that big slug by surprise for it tore into the thing.

There was nothing to stop the other slugs and they fell on one of the mushroom folks and tore it to shreds, gobbling down the pieces into their circular maws.

Now Sabeen brought the Virago right up close to the shore and they called out for the two remaining mushroom folks to hurry over.

Placeed thought up the idea of using some of the salt from cooking to shrivel them slugs.

He gave some to Dewy who flew on over and dumped onto one of the slugs and it shrieked as it shriveled into a mass of ichor.  Soon enough, gunfire from the rest of the party brought down another.

Now by rights, Fiddlesticks' little imp shouldn't of lasted more than a moment fighting off the big matre slug.  But sure enough, the little thing more than head its own and began driving the big slug back.

Skeeter pulled the two mushroom folks onboard and Sabeen took the boat out away from shore.

Just as they were fixing to sail off, up springs a swamp creature, all covered in nasty weed and swamp grass.

As the first creature pulled itself onboard, another popped its head out the water.

Maksen used his battle axe, a family heirloom, to cut into the first creature.  After that, everyone who could shot at the beast and it fell over board, but not before laying heavily into the crowded deck.  The second beast tried to do the same but met the same fate.

Just as they were finishing with swamp creatures, several very loud shots rang out from the woods nearby.  The one remaining small slug and the big ole matre slug fairly exploded from the impact of the shots.  Of course, what was left of Fiddlesticks' imp fell too in the crossfire. A moment later, a half dozen big ole hobgoblins came out of the forest, all wearing green uniforms and carrying what would have been heavy wall guns to ordinary sized folks.  They called for the boat to return.

They thought these might be the imperial soldiers who were looking for Servan and Jbili so they didn't rush back over to the shore.  Fiddlesticks thought they might be a help on this dangerous bayou.  So he levitated on over to them and tried to convince them to join the party.  The hobgoblin's leader, Captain Sharf reluctantly admitted that he and his men had gotten lost in the swamp and asked for help returning to Fort Flumens. Fiddlesticks told Sharf they were heading up the bayou and needed help. Unfortunately, the word "deserters" slipped from Fiddlesticks' mouth.  The eagle-eyed Sharf notices Servan lurking the boat.

He grabbed Fiddlesticks by the collar and lifted him clean off the ground. Sharf yelled to the Virago to put ashore.

Sharf then handed Fiddlesticks to one of his soldiers.  The fiddler tried in the worst way to escape but couldn't free himself from the hobgoblin's ironlike grasp.

One of the soldiers must have known a spell or two, for suddenly a wall of stone sprang up in front them, providing a strong bulwark.

Sabeen slipped the Virago in amongst some of the rocks in the middle of the river, gaining some cover from the hobgoblin's heavy shots. Both parties began to exchange fire.

Brother Maksen, calling upon the power of St. Sankari managed to dispel the hobgoblins' magic stone wall. Without cover, one of the soldiers was downed by several bullets.

Coralie cast an entanglement upon the hobgoblin holding Fiddlesticks.  In a moment however, the green-coat broke free and Fiddlesticks along with him.

Maksen then cast a Blinding Light spell upon the two, immobilizing both but stopping the hobgoblin from carrying Fiddlesticks off.

Sabeen grew worried for their shots were only having limited effect on the large hobgoblins, despite dispelling their cover.  She was particularly worried when the huge hobgoblin sergeant turned his seven-barreled heptigun on the ship.

Before he could fire, she sent a storming wind against him.

The blast drove him into one of the slug holes from which he struggled to get up its muddy walls.

In the meantime, Fiddlesticks was able to recover his vision while his captor could not.  Again levitating, the fiddler headed for the heavy brush on the banks of the river.

Sabeen once again sent a fierce wind, this time against the spellcaster.

It drove him in on top of the struggling sergeant and both became stuck in the slug hole.

Fiddlesticks managed to reach cover in the brush.  Leon brought the boat forward to reach the fiddler.

As Fiddlesticks made the last dash toward the boat, Skeeter threw several large handfuls of crawdads into the air forming a sort of cloud, like wheat chaff in the wind, that interfered with the shots of the soldiers.

Suddenly, several horns sounded from the jungle.  A vast host of lizardmen came charging through the mushroom stand.

Sharf grabbed his surviving soldiers and they scrambled furiously into the woods away from the lizardmen.

Part of the lizardmen headed toward the Virago, leaping into the water and swimming towards the boat.  Sabeen was able to pilot away from their pursuers while Leon coaxed the boiler into a great head of steam. The boat easily outpaced the swimming lizardmen while avoiding the shots from their blow-gunners.

The two mushroom men, Stalk and Mushmush, were very grateful for the rescue, although they mourned their friend, Moldus. They asked to be let off the boat a few miles further on.  Along the way, they told the party what little they knew about Lazar Mirande.  They said they weren't sure if he was a necromancer bokor or a more benign houngan spellcaster.  Either way, they said they just had to look for the great trees and the pillars in the water to find him. They left the two off the boat as requested.  In gratitude, they gave the party an old Elven breastplate, shimmering with magic.   The party agreed to give it to Maksen.  

Then they sailed on.  Soon they began to see a cloud of black smoke from up ahead.  As they rounded a bend, they say a large boat fully engulfed in flames.