Monday 5 November 2012

Delves: Ironridge Chronicles: Act II - Part Two

The Dark Descent

If you missed part one you can find it here


The torchlight glimmered in the dank stairwell as the heroes slowly and cautiously descended into the darkness. Step after step they continued as the stairs bent and turned, until they meet a small hallway. With a keen eye and his bow at the ready, Orin took point and the others fell in behind.  The underground pathway continued for a few hundred feet before the adventures found themselves in large underground cavern.


The adventurers extended their torches into the blackness exposing some rocky outcroppings. Karajan paused for a moment. "Chomper scout ahead." He relayed to his lizard friend. The beast bounded into the darkness as it sniffed and hissed.

As the heroes continued their exploration Orin heard a faint moan in the distance. "Uuurrrrghhhhh" The sound echoed out of the darkness. "Stand fast....there is...something here..." The ranger warned the others.

"Let's see if we can light em up." Grabthroat chuckled as he tossed the torch into the black void. As the flaming stick landed on the ground and slid forward to a stop, the dark red eyes of death peered out of the darkness.

"Its a ghoul, a vile undead aberration." Alyanna informed her companions with her unique feminine tone.

"Lets send it back to grave it crawled out of." Karajan followed.

The brave companions launched into action. Grabthroat charged forward swinging wildly with his dwarven blade. "I'll have ur head laddy" He yelled in a battled rage. Alyanna followed suit thrusting her sword into the creature's belly, rotted flesh and blood fell to the ground. The ranger continued the onslaught and loosed an arrow sinking it deep in the ghoul's shoulder.

Worried others might be skulking around Karajan sent Chomper to explore more of the cavern.


Orin, Grabthroat, and Alyanna continued to battle the foul undead, but the creature proved more resilient then they expected. "Die vile monster, be gone from this world" the Cleric exclaimed as she brought down her sword.

Another ghoul arrived from the north east staggering forward towards Grabthroat. "Georgie kill, Georgie kill.....Urrrgghhhhh" The creature mumbled. Shinkicker glanced over at the distraction which caused an opening for the other ghoul to strike. The wretched undead sunk its decayed maw into the side of the dwarf's face. "Arggghhhh, bloody hell!" Grabthroat screamed as he forced the creature back.

Once Karajan seen the oncoming ghoul he raced toward it, swinging his shillelagh. The cudgel hit its target square which caused the fiend to moan in agony. "Arrgghhhhh."

The others continued their assault, laying waste to the undead being.

"Gah, i'm gonna puke..." Grabthroat said while he clutched his stomach and spewed forth his last meal.

Orin looked at his companion and could see the wound from the ghoul bite was festering and oozing. "Your wound...must be the cause...of your sickness."

Then the ground shook as if a herd of elephants were on the move. A grayish behemoth with long ivory claws, built to rip through flesh and bone charged out of the blackness at Karajan. Fortunately the druid side-stepped and evaded the fierce slam attempt. Chomper hissed, as he rushed to the aid of his master.




"Gulp......Gahh that tastes worse then me mudder's haggis." Grabthroat muttered as he swallowed the awful tasting fluids in his mouth. "Me axe still be sharp!" The dwarf continued as he contorted his stomach and headed towards the great beast.

The Lacerater paid no attention to the challenging dwarven warrior. Its sights were focused on the druid. Its massive claws swung forth pulling Karajan into its powerful grasp.


The druid squirmed and twisted trying to escape the clench of the Dark Lacerater, but to no avail. The beast drew its claws in close and ripped at Karajan. Only cloth and leather were torn.

Worried things would get out of hand Alyanna called on her divine powers once more. "Lord of the moon, father of the light, banish this creature back into the night!" The cleric's sword shook and glowed with a holy radiance. Alyanna pointed the empowered weapon at the ghoul and a beam of light shot forth. The undead screamed and cursed as it backed away and vanished into the darkness.

The other adventures advanced to aid the entrenched druid. Grabthroat brought down his dwarven axe hard on the gray behemoth, while Chomper latched on the neck area of the monster. Orin released arrow after arrow, each pierced deep into the Lacerater's thick hide.

"RAAAAGGHHHHH" The beast riled in agony from the combined efforts of the heroes. Enraged from the attacks,  the Dark Lacerater threw Karajan, bouncing him violently off the cavern wall. The druid fell motionless to the ground.


Fearing the worse, Orin rushed to the side of his fallen comrade. "He is still.....alive." he shouted to the others.

The beast tried its best to fend off the heroes and remove the lizard from it's vital area. But the small lizard summoned all its strength and locked down its jaw with a berserked fury. Blood and life essence flowed as the massive creature fell lifeless to cavern floor .




After a few moments the druid awakened, dizzied and sore. "Aghhh my head." Karajan moaned.  

"We best find out way out of here, before more of these things show up." Alyanna suggested.  

"Agreed, but i'll be needin one these first." Grabthroat replied while he proceeded to hack off one of the Lacerater's ivory claws.

Darkseed quickly studied the area. "This way....over here." The ranger pointed after discovering tracks different then those of the encountered monsters.

The party gathered their wits and headed to the exit.....

The Monster Cast:


Ghoul (49pts): A foul creature of death and decay.
Undead 4D, Str=4D, Def=4D, Tough=5D, Init=8
Mv=6, HP=6, Primary ATT & DAM: Claws 6D/5D
Alignment: E Size: M
Attributes & Powers: Dark vision, Disease minor, Melee Attack +2/+1.
Drive: Thrall
Reward Level: +1D


Disease (minor)
Type: Attack
Effects: If hit by the attack (Specified on monster) characters are infected with a disease. Characters must then make a toughness vs monster class trait or suffer from the infliction. If affected characters receive a -1D to all stats and move effect wears off at the end of the encounter
 

Dark Lacerater (79pts): A hulking beast of death and destruction.
            Monster 5D, Str=7D, Def=5D, Tough=7D, Init=10
Mv=7, HP=15, Primary ATT & DAM: Claws 7D/8D
Alignment: E Size: L
Attributes & Powers: Armor +2/+1, Dark vision, Deadly, Hideous Strength+2D, Lacerate, Large Target, Melee Attack +2/+1 3” Reach,Sharp Senses.
Drive: Protection
            Reward Level: +3D

Lacerate: When within the its grasp the creature can use a free action to attempt a rend, this is done by rolling this creature’s class trait againt the target's class trait. If successful the creature can Lacerate its target which is a strength roll vs ½ the targets toughness rounded up. +1 RL Level




Stay tuned for Part Three: The Acrid Hollow

Thanks for reading,


Tenz




4 comments:

  1. The Chomper om-nom-nom shot is pretty cool.

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    1. Haha thanks. We had a bit of fun with the models that night. The part three will have some great innovation on the part of Dyke and Tilley.

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  2. That type of wargaming looks pretty sweet dude. So you create the stats for the models that you put on the table? And then you try to tell a story some how?

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    1. For the blog I decided to do a narrative of the events played out in the adventure. The game itself plays out like a rpg except minis are added to the mix. Players in each encounter either fight baddies, explore or do whatever. The System is based on Goal System which uses D6s. Its similar to White Wolf where you need successes and the magic number is 4 with 6 being worth two successes.

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