session recap, 9/26/2012

CAST
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Mongo the Fighter (4), his henchpersons "Bunny" the Thief (1) and William the Sentinel (1), and his soil-bearers Malazar and Benarto
Gutboy the Cleric (4), his henchman Trezgar the Elf (1) and his dog Rufus II
George P. Burdell the Cleric (3) and his henchmen, Slick Eddie the Thief (1) and Seegar the Elf (1), and his dog

The group gathered in the Wretched, the stinking hole of a tavern in Tarryfield, and planned their next move.

George: So, did you find that robot we needed for the sacrifice?
Mongo: Robot? Oh yeah. No. Not my problem.
Gutboy: What do you think? Head to the cat house and clear it out?
George: I don't think we're going to find robots there.
Gutboy: There was that level full of robots in the dungeon. Let's go there.

Whatever delights the cat-infested house had to offer, they were not tempting this night - robots were what was needed. Faded memories of robots in the gatehouse level drew the adventurers back to the great dungeon beneath Mt. Rendon - not that robots, or anything else, had been seen in the upper levels for many a week.  The trip was mostly uneventful - a few goblins tried attacking them as they crossed a cornfield, but they were easily driven off.

Regardless, they began sneaking through the well-lit gatehouse level. The walls were covered with the graffiti left by other adventuring parties - Slezgar's triple-E logo, now mostly painted over by other tags: "17B" written in an atom-symbol, a club symbol from a deck of playing cards, an empty bottle, a red square, a green circle, and four eyes in a diamond-pattern.

Other than graffiti, the topmost level was empty - until they heard a noise. Voices. Human voices, in a room up ahead. The party walked in on a fellow group of adventurers - 4 humans and some kind of giant praying mantis with a halberd and a squirming sack.

Gutboy: Hi there!
Herman: What? Huh? Oh, hi. Who the devil are you?
Gutboy: We're the Mongos
Herman: Ahh, I'm Herman, and this is my crew.
Gutboy (to giant bug): What are you?
P'lik'nik: I am P'lik'nik, from the Lanthanide Wastes. Click.
Mongo: An Insect-Man?
P'lik'nik: Yes. Come to the dungeon for gold, and babies. Stupid human laws, have to eat grunkie babies
Gutboy: You're eating babies?
P'lik'nik (shaking sack): Just baby grunkies
Herman: So, what are you doing down here?
Gutboy: Looking for robots. Have you seen any?
Herman: Haven't seen anything, just arrived. We're looking for gold. You seen any?
Gutboy (presumably unaware that Mongo and Razoe had already looted this): There's a stream of it downstairs
Herman: Really? Where? You've got to show us how to get there
Mongo: No!  No.  Robots first, then gold.
Herman: Plllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaassssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Gutboy: No, we need robots
Herman: I can't believe this. Nobody ever tells us where the gold is.  This is really lame.  Why won't you take us? C'mon, show us the gold

As the conversation continued along these lines, one of the other human adventurers face began to twitch uncontrollably. Finally, with a cry of rage, he pulled his heavy flail from his back and charged at the party. Herman sighed a loud "Not this again" and he and his crew drew weapons.

The fight was short and one-sided - Seegar's sleep spell sent most of them into a deep slumber, and the one man unaffected was quickly slain. Their armor and weapons were stripped, and the baby grunkies were released into the dungeon.

Not wanting to be burdened while searching for robots, the party headed back out of the dungeon and then buried the gear they had looted from Herman's crew.  Another debate ensued, and the merits of lurking in the upper levels preying on adventuring parties were weighed against the risks of searching for robots down below.  Eventually, a third choice was made - several weeks back they had found a tunnel further down the mountain, supposedly inhabited by moktars.  That was to be the new target.

The group made their way to the tunnel, and Mongo's flashlight picked out the flabby buttocks of a moktar gesticulating in the distance. He quickly shut off the light, and then the party fired their bows at the cat-man. He went down with a yelp, and a half dozen further moktars got up from where they had been reclining and ran off.  Advancing into this room, they found scaled, fishy-smelling arms and legs roasting on a fire, dozens of crates of iron rations labeled "PRODUCT OF DENETHIX", and three barrels of water.  Then the sound of metal on stone was heard from further ahead.

The party moved onwards, and entered a room with eight moktars - one enormous individual, two extremely large, and five normal individuals, standing behind a tipped-over table.  Another sleep spell took out four of the normal-sized moktars, and a ferocious battle began.  The enormous moktar chief swung a huge iron maul, occasionally hitting his comrades with the back-swing, and "Bunny" was knocked unconscious by one of the chief's bodyguards.  Divine prayers from George healed her wounds, and the moktar leaders were soon dead - and then the sleepers were slaughtered.

Investigating this new room, they found drag marks leading to a tunnel heading north, as if something heavy had been pulled away. They also saw that the moktar chief had been trying to build a throne-of-skulls.  Sadly, he only had enough of the smelly fish-man skulls to make a seat about 1' high, with a board on top for extra support. The chief also had a pouch on a leather thong around his neck, containing a key and a pink diamond.

As the party argued about whether to proceed further, the sound of metal-on-stone echoed through the tunnels again, and soon another eight moktars charged into the room.  Gutboy's hold person spell immobilized most, and the slaughter was quick.  Mongo was somewhat wounded by the multiple fights, so he crawled into his sleeping bag - the dirt-bearers Malazar and Benarto (dressed in tuxedos after having been sent to butler school in Denethix) efficiently and politely filled the bag with dirt. Mongo's carrot-skin absorbed precious nutrients from the dirt, and he was soon fully healed.

Emboldened, the party followed the drag-marks north, and found a portcullis blocking the tunnel. The two moktars beyond made rude gestures - a poor decision on their part, as one of the moktars fell to bow-fire.  The second fled for his life down the hall.

Mongo then extended his 20' pole, and was able to just reach a red button just about 20' down the hall. Pressing it caused the portcullis to raise, and they headed north. The next room had a half dozen badly wounded moktars surrounding an iron strong-box. Bravely, the moktars tried to fight off the party, but it was to no avail - all were slain.

Flush with victory, the party used the chief's key to pop open the strongbox.  Inside were 750 gp, a crude silver sculpture of a fish-man, an ancient staple remover in excellent condition, four grease-stained plastic baby dolls, a scroll tube containing an arcane scroll, and a yellow cylinder 1' long and 4" wide, with a crystal at one end and fins and a propeller on the other.

The party decided to call the expedition a success and head back towards the city.  They dug up the buried loot from Herman's crew, and then traveled back the long way to avoid Chelmsfordshire and potential tax collectors, and then headed back through Tarryfield, Lugosi, and eventually to Denethix.

George first stopped at the Grand Temple and prayed to Kiod for further guidance. Kiod must have felt that George had enough help, for the God's Eye remained blank.

The next stop was at the temple of Science. The attendants quickly called for the head Scientist, Gregory, who stood 12' tall as he marched out on his stilts and wearing his long lab-coat.

Gregory: Have you come to abandon your foolish gods and worship their master, Science?
Gutboy: Well, no, we just wanted this identified (showing him the yellow cylinder)
Gregory: Let me see that.  Hmmm.  Yes, these fins here are for stabilizing the device, and this crystal is a light-emitter. See this black nodule on the side?  Pressing that will activate the light. Ahh, it is a submersible light, that will remain in place when released.
Gutboy: Not a missile?
Gregory: No, no. The fins and propellers keep it motionless while underwater.
George: Do you have any robots we could borrow?
Gregory: Borrow? No, no. Our robots are dedicated to the service of Science
Gutboy: I guess we'll have to go after cyborg Mr. Roper
Gregory: What's this? A cyborg?
Gutboy: Yes, he's our landlord
Gregory: A Scientist?
Mongo: No, an evil book made him a robot. And Janet
Gregory: A heretic! This is not permitted! The unlawful use of Science must be punished! Do you know where this heretic is?
Mongo: At the Regal Beagle. We can take you
Gregory (to his assistants): Quickly! Assemble a strike team! This heresy must be punished!
George: We're going to sacrifice him to Kiod
Gregory: A fitting end. We will assist you in capturing this Roper.

The strike team was composed of three Scientists, their names tattooed on their heads: Thomas, Ferris, and Lois. Two robots accompanied them.  The party led them through the streets of Denethix towards the Regal Beagle.  As they went, Mongo, Gutboy, and George had a quiet discussion about whether they should jump the strike team and seize the robots for the sacrifice - the cult of Science had been useful to them, though, and they did not want to alienate them. A cyborg would have to do.

As the heavily-armed crew stormed into the Regal Beagle, the customers and bartender dove for cover.  They marched into the backroom, where the cyborg Mr. Roper looked up from his newspaper in surprise. Gutboy cast hold person upon him, and the cybernetically-enhanced landlord was paralyzed.

Thomas walked up to Roper and began whispering in his ear as he prodded at his head-electronics with a screwdriver. It appeared Thomas was uttering nonsense - "The sky behind the clouds is green. Green is the sky behind the clouds." Eventually, he stopped, and stood up from his work.

Thomas: I cannot subvert this one to our control. His mind has too many organics.
Gutboy: Can you deactivate all the robot parts?
Thomas: Yes, good idea

Thomas sliced through wires and tubes as Gutboy, Mongo, and George bound Mr. Roper tight.  Satisfied, they decided to haul the incapacitated landlord back to their apartment and hold him there until the sacrifice at the Harvest Festival the following week.

Gains: Lots of adventuring gear, 1000 gp pink diamond, 750 gp, 300 gp silver fish-man statue, 10 gp staple remover, worthless greasy baby dolls, tube with arcane scroll, submersible flashlight, Mr. Roper
Kills: Herman's crew, many moktars
Losses: None