Double Feature: The Murder Machine/The Apes of Wrath

Got to play games on G+ both Friday and Saturday night this weekend.  My wife was in a good mood.  ;)  Here's a double feature summary of events.

Friday, Jeremy ran a game set in Eberron using his own simple Microlite/Risus hybrid 2-page system, Super Simple 20.  [Jeremy, you should update your blog with your recent pictures and your system!]

Playing were Dean as Bumblesnick d'Sivis the Gnome Illusionist, Adam as Nurzhanbek the Wand Wizard, and myself reprising my old Eberron PC from the Ebisu Group 6 years ago, Ysberir d'Medani the Half-Elf Ranger.

We were sent to Thrane to investigate a series of murders.  The victims were all human, with no apparent links to who they were or where they were murdered.  We did our best to track down clues to the murderer's identity, and were sent on the path towards a heretical cult of the Whisperer in the Flame (for those not familiar with the setting, Thrane is the home of paladins who worship The Silver Flame, and don't take kindly to thoughts of demon worshipers worshiping their sacred fire).  Also Bumblesnick had a wine-induced dream of small creatures in the sewers worshiping giant albino cockroaches.

A helpful paladin sent us on the trail of the local cafe-lounging wizards.  One of them was making creepy racist remarks at Bumblesnick, which freaked him out and sent him back to the guild hall early.  Ysberir and Nurzhanbek followed the younger wizards to a frat-party style bar, where after drinking contests and head-butting contests (I won the drinking, Nurzhanbek lost the head-butting), the same creepy wizard led us to a goblin information merchant named Scuttle. 

At Scuttle's, we learned some information about the cults, and then Ysberir noticed something hanging from a wall above us.  It was humanoid, with a pale bone-white face and six eyes.  We fired on it, with Nurzhanbek's spell causing it to fall.  It landed heavily.  Ysberir (his bow string again broken - Steve, laugh away!) hit it with his axe.  It took the hit and didn't flinch.  Then it just stood there examining me.  Nurzhanbek blasted it again.  Ysberir tried his longspear, but the creature snapped it in half.  Nurzhanbek started running, and it started following, making only a brief pause to once again examine Ysberir only to find too much Elf in the Half-Elf to bother killing.

It chased Nurzhanbek to a Paladin Temple, where the priests and monks thought he must be a crazy drunk.  And that's where we ended things for the night.

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Last night, we continued our Vaults of Ur game, Justin of course is the DM.  We had a big group: Jeremy as Ripper the Resurrected, Tedankhamen as Digger the Orc, Alexei as Maya Culpar the Elf, Dean as Elder Karl Cleric of the Great Bear, and myself as Thidrek the Sleestak.

Our previous adventure to resurrect Ripper left us indebted to the Priests of the Great Bear.  They asked us to investigate and exterminate a pack of giant carnivorous apes.  A renegade heretic priest of the Bear had thought to use them in a power play, but instead released them on the city. 

Scouring the ruins southwest of the Obelisk, we encountered some relatively fresh bodies of three adventurers.  They seemed to have been rent by animals as well as slashed by blades, within the past 48 hours or so.  Following a blood trail south through the ruins, we came to a warehouse that was still mostly intact.  There was one door, no windows, and the blood went right up to the shut doors.  On the roof, Thidrek noticed some holes in the wood, and looking in, saw a pair of boots.  Calling down, there was a cry for help followed by someone muffling the voice. 

Wasting no time, Elder Karl used his stone fist to blast open the door.  We rushed inside, through the door we thought led to the people.  There were three battered humans with two trussed up and unconscious Orc Magi.  Not sure who were the good guys and who were the bad guys, we struck to subdue, and soon knocked the three humans out.  Searching them revealed Spiked Circle necklaces, so we quickly trussed them up.  The Orc Magi were adventurers from Fort Low, companions to the three we had found earlier.  The Spiked Circle set upon them and captured these two.  Then the Spiked Circle were set upon by the apes. 

We thought we'd make sure the building was clear then rest there before heading back to Fort Low (the orcs wanted to high tail it out right away).  Karl and Maya's torchbearer went to repair and lock the front door.  Thidrek stayed with the orc magi to guard the prisoners.  Ripper, Digger and Maya went to the next room, and found a giant spider, which they quickly dispatched.  The door secured, Karl joined them in the third room.  This time, a gigantic beetle attacked from under the floor.  Karl got pulled half under the floorboards and bitten several times.  Thidrek and the orc magi finished off the Spiked Circle guys and Thidrek rushed to help as everyone stabbed furiously at the beetle to save Karl.

Thidrek (thanks to a natural 1) also fell in with the beetle, as did Digger.  One chicken from Thidrek's bag later and the beetle decided it had taken enough punishment and had enough to eat in the bird, and turned tail.  Last minute strikes from Elder Karl and Maya dropped it, and a natural 20 on the corpse allowed Ripper to decapitate the dead bug in one swing. 

Thidrek and Karl explored the beetle's tunnels, and found a bag of gems and a scroll case (but no dead halflings wrapped in mithril coats - Elder Karl's holy grail of treasure).  Following the tunnel to the surface, we used the stone fist again to close the hole.  That's when we noticed the building surrounded by apes.  8' tall apes!  Backing away, Elder Karl made some noise, and the apes were on us.  Karl used the stone fist one more time to knock a wall over on them.  We screamed and yelled to attract the attention of the others.

With Karl and Thidrek in melee with the five apes, and the others peppering them with arrows, we took down two and the other three turned tail.  We followed them a bit, but they seemed to be calling for help from more apes, so we retreated to the warehouse, gathered the orc magi and a barrel of very nice wine we found in the spider room, and headed back to Fort Low.