Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Wordslingin'

Free at last, free at last, lordy, lordy, free at last! Yes, it's true! Our Heroes (tm) have finally escaped the CEF diamond mine prison, with both our targets! No one was killed, no one was raped, and no one was eaten by the Subs, so I consider it a net win!

[A bit of a re-orientation of when and where we are.]
Julie: "What day are we?"
Georges the GM: "Still the 42nd. Any later and you'd be in trouble."

[Ennik was wounded in his Priba arena fight. Lyta suggests that he hang back and make the bathyspheres instead of coming with us to Sub territory.]
Torgath: "He'll be fine!"
Georges the GM: "No, see, that classic mistake is why your character goes from useful to less-than-useful to useless."

[Jimmy talks to the Priba boss Melroy to put the next phase of his plan into action.]
Jimmy Croyden: "I understand there's a woman among the Subs named Persephone."
Melroy: "Yes."
Jimmy Croyden: "And I understand she's a favorite of some sort."
Melroy: "She's a beguiling witch!"

[Jimmy suggests that we can capture Persephone for the Pribas. Melroy is skeptical.]
Melroy: "You are a weakling!"
Jimmy Croyden: "Yes, but sneaking is my specialty. Also talking."

[Jimmy tries to explain that Melroy has nothing to lose. Melroy is still skeptical.]
Jimmy Croyden: "What does it lose you if we're all killed and eaten by the Subs?"
Melroy: "Yes, but I have not yet sampled the little lithe one. I don't think I'll like the state she shall be in when she comes back."

[Melroy gets on board with Jimmy's plan.]
Melroy: "Excellent! My plan is flawless! Go forth and do my will!"

[Timing, naturally, will be very important.]
Jimmy Croyden: "What time is it now?"
Melroy: "It is three hammer strikes before the second shift."
Brock: "Jimmy calculates that..."

[Jimmy sucks up to Melroy.]
Jimmy Croyden: "Mighty Melroy..."
Melroy: "Simply Melroy! I need no honorific; my name alone terrifies!"

[The second phase of the plan in place, Jimmy returns to find out what
Major Baakov knows about the Subs.]

Jimmy Croyden: "So they're smarter and crueler, but not necessarily stronger than the Pribs?"
Major Baakov: "I believe that would be accurate."

[We try to figure out what would be appropriate tribute to offer Geddy, the head of the Subs. Drugs are one option. Another is...]
Major Baakov: "There is one other commodity down here, the one that everyone works for. Continued life. The diamond."
Jimmy Croyden: (accusingly) "If only we have a handful of diamonds."

[Jimmy has contacted the Libs to sow confusion between the Pribas and the Subs. There's just one small problem.]
Lyta: "When the Libs see Baakov, they'll make a beeline for him."
Jimmy Croyden: "Then we'll have to be prepared to fight them."
Lyta: "...Yay."

[Plan A is to deliver a message to Persephone from 'her mother,' ideally in private, and convince her to come with us through a secret, but longer, side tunnel.]
Jimmy Croyden: "Plan B will be to fight our way back through. Let's hope it doesn't come to Plan B."

[We bide our time in Priba territory for a while. A few people come to pick a fight.]
Georges the GM: "They're somewhat apprehensive of Lyta."
Julie: "How many 'they' are there?"
Georges the GM: "Three."

[As Jimmy engages the Priba goons in conversation, Torgath sneaks around behind them, grabs the main agressor by the hair, and slams his head to the ground.]
Ariel: "Can I use my stealth silent kill specialization?"
Georges the GM: "No, because you're not killing him."
Ariel: "I'm severely fucking him up."

[The guy on Torgath is pretty dazed and probably has a fairly severe head wound. Lyta injures another one.]
Jimmy Croyden: "How are you boys feeling?"
Priba Goon: "...S'okay, we get the point!"

[We try to decide when to enter Sub territory.]
Jimmy Croyden: "We don't want to spend more than three hours in there."
Torgath: "Well, we need a margin of error."
Jimmy Croyden: "I'm factoring that in. Ideally I don't want to spend more than a half-hour."

[We leave for Sub territory past a few Priba guards.]
Jimmy Croyden: "We'll see you guys soon, right?"
Georges the GM: "They all bellow and laugh."

[While most of us are walking openly, Torgath is sneaking along. Sadly, he runs into an alarm trap of very loud metal, revealing his position.]
Julie: "You're our ace in the hole. You're being a bad ace in the hole."
Brock: "More like a nine."
Ariel: "I can still beat half the cards."
Brock: "But nobody praises a nine."

[The Subs have found us and ganged up on Torgath, putting a sharpened piece of metal to his neck.]
Julie: "I grip my club tighter."
Sub Guard: "One step closer and I slit his throat!"
Julie: "I'm not stepping closer, just gripping tighter."

[Jimmy tries to regain the upper hand.]
Jimmy Croyden: "Know that if you shed the blood of this, her mother's servant, Persephone can only be... wrathful."

[The Subs agree to take us to Persephone to deliver our message, but they bind Torgath's hands and keep the edged weapons trained on him.]
Sub Guard: "If you do anything that offends my nose, then I will take the pig's nose. Then his ears, then his tongue!"
Jimmy Croyden: "We have no wish to cause offense."
Sub Guard: "...That is good."

[Sub territory is disturbing. Some things, you don't want to investigate too closely.]
Georges the GM: "You pass a cafeteria/larger/slaughterhouse. There is red meat."

[In the kitchen, Jimmy makes out a human rib-cage.]
Jimmy Croyden: "See, Major, I told you."
Major Baakov: "I suppose the cannibalism couldn't all be stories."
Lyta: "Great. Just great."

[Going past the Subs' mining pit, things get even more disturbing.]
Georges the GM: "You see a crucified body."
Ariel: "Is she singing, 'Always look on the bright side of life'?"
Georges the GM: "She's not singing."

[We arrive before Geddy to deliver our message. He's kinda crazy.]
Geddy: "Persephone, my love, you have visitors. They come to my court... to see you. That's not very respectful, is it?"

[We offer Geddy a rather large amount of drugs, which he proceeds to snort in their entirety. It doesn't actually change his character that much.]
Ariel: "On the upside, I think he's unstable enough to believe the myths. On the downside, I think he's too high to remember them."

[Geddy is hesitant about letting Persephone, i.e. Katchelli, alone with us. He expresses it in a rather unique manner.]
Jimmy Croyden: "Regretfully, her mother requests the message be for her ears only."
Geddy: *forces Katchelli down and puts the machete at the side of her head* "Should I lend them one of your ears, my precious? Do you think they'll return it when they're done with it? Do you think they'd like the right, or the left?"

[Torgath expresses what we're all thinking.]
Torgath: "Not to say I told you so, but... Morlocks!"

[We smooth things over with Geddy. Kinda.]
Geddy: "We have a table of plenty, and you look oh, so tasty... I mean, hungry."

[Geddy is very, very crazy. He goes off on tangents sometimes. Crazy tangents.]
Geddy: "Breaking glass underfoot, I love it. The blood pools out from it. You could read it like a book. Chapter four. Always sad, chapter four. And act 1. Not so sad as act 3, but still..."

[Jimmy delivers the message that the Pribas will be attacking the Subs.]
Geddy: "So what time are they comin'? Four o'clock, six o'clock, eight o'clock?"
Jimmy Croyden: "We can't say. Because we don't know."

[We continue our audience with Geddy.]
Geddy: We're all enjoying ourselves!"
Ariel: "Persephone's not enjoying herself, is she?"
Georges the GM: "No."

[Geddy invites us to dine with him. For certain values of dine.]
Geddy: "Thomas, you will fetch four cups. And wine, not watered down. Fresh."
Julie: "It's gonna be blood, isn't it?"

[It is, in fact, fermented... something. Not that any of us want to drink it.]
Jimmy Croyden: "Dread lord, we are commanded to eat no food and drink no drink until you defeat the Pribas and the Libs."
Geddy: "Well, that's interesting. Commanded by who?"

[Geddy does not take our denial of his hospitality well. He commands us to be sent to the pit.]
Georges the GM: "It's 20 to 4. I need not tell you the inevitability of this. It's a question of how wounded you want to be."

[Jimmy tries to get in one parting shot before we're dragged away.]
Jimmy Croyden: "The Libs will betray you!"
Geddy: "Yeah, and that's when we'll eat them."

[We are taken to the pit.]
Georges the GM: "The guards throw down tools and tell you to pick them up."
Julie: "Tools are better than no tools."

[We are in the pit with the workers, and no immediate way back up out of it.]
Jimmy Croyden: "...Okay, you guys ready for the new plan?"

[Jimmy has a new plan.]
Jimmy Croyden: "You guys need to get up top and disappear. Then I'm gonna rally these people into an army."

[Jimmy tries to rally an army.]
Jimmy Croyden: "It'll take all of us to do it."
Sub Peon: "Well, they can't fit all of us up on the cross."
Jimmy Croyden: "So there you go! What do you have to lose?"

[Lyta is summoned by Persephone.]
Jimmy Croyden: "Don't get into any trouble."
Lyta: "Yeah. Right."

[Lyta prepares for her meeting.]
Lyta: "If Geddy tries to kill me, I'm killing him first."
Jimmy Croyden: "You do that."

[The Subs surround Lyta as she's taken away.]
Sub Guard: (disappointed) "He always gets the fresh ones. It's not fair. It's not the same after they're... despoiled."

[Meanwhile, back in the pit, Torgath tries to put out some of the many torches that are lighting the area. Sadly, he's spotted.]
Georges the GM: "How are guards gonna react to this...?"
Brock: "With violence."

[Torgath is pelted with some slingshot rocks and retreats back into obscurity. But he still needs to fulfill his part of Jimmy's plan.]
Torgath: "I need a way to get out of the pit."
Jimmy Croyden: "Don't look at me -- I'm not the ninja."

[Go time approaches.]
Brock: "Jimmy is annoyed at Torgath for not being out of the goddam pit yet!"

[Torgath looks for ways to get out of the pit.]
Georges the GM: "I'm afraid I designed the pit to be very hard to get out of."
Ariel: "That's your fault as GM."
Georges the GM: "Damn reality!"

[There are pulleys that go up out of the pit, but trying to climb them will undoubtedly attract the attention of the slingshot-wielding guards. There are, on the other hand, a number of buckets in the pit that Torgath might wear on his head. The players discuss the benefits and drawbacks.]
Brock: "You know what's better than no helmet? A crappy helmet!"
Georges the GM: "You know what's better than that? Peripheral vision!"

[Lyta is taken to Katchelli and reveals the plan. Katchelli, meanwhile, reveals her own situation.]
Katchelli: "I guess Geddy fell in love with me."
Lyta: "That's weird. ...Not that someone would fall in love with you, but he's just messed up."
Brock: (mocking) "Smooth comeback."

[When go time comes, Katchelli is off in a semi-private 'harem' room. Baakov is probably still with Geddy.]
Jimmy Croyden: "We take Katchelli, if not Baakov. He didn't give me the damn diamond!"

[When Lyta is summoned a second time, Jimmy decides it's go time.]
Jimmy Croyden: "For Genevieve, for us, for freedom!"

[Lyta tries to take out some of the guards at the top of the ladder to the pit.]
Georges the GM: "You fail on both attacks."
Julie: "...That did not work out nearly as well as I wanted."

[Lyta continues to engage with the guards.]
Julie: "Okay, I'm gonna do the same thing again."
Brock: "No, you're gonna do better!"

[Meanwhile, Torgath tries to climb up one of the pulleys and is pelted by slingshot rocks.]
Brock: "Don't you wish you had a bucket on your head?"

[Jimmy riles up the Sub peons.]
Brock: "For wrath, for ruin, and the red dawn!"
Ariel: "That's what you should have said."
Brock: "That's what I'm saying now."

[As Lyta races off to rescue Katchelli, Torgath finally reaches the top of the pit... and the 15-20 guards that surround it.]
Jimmy Croyden: "All right, Torgath, kill them all!"

[On the guards' side: slingshots. On our side...]
Brock: "Pickaxes are awkward weapons, aren't they?"
Georges the GM: "Only if you want to be non-lethal."
Brock: "Oh. That's all right, then."

[Sometimes, it's little precisions that are important.]
Ariel: "Are the guards keeping their positions?"
Georges the GM: "No. They're starting to run."
Julie: "Towards him or away from him?"

[Lyta faces the guards in front of Katchelli's room. They're very well trained.]
Julie: "Their mooks have three dice?!"
Brock: "Senior mooks."

[So far, the slave revolt is going okay, but it's only a matter of time before they're quashed.]
Julie: "Any time the Pribas feel like coming, that'd be great."

[Also among the guards' arsenal of weapons are spear-like javelins.]
Julie: "Any of the people up here have javelins?"
Georges the GM: "Uh-huh."
Julie: "That I can use as a staff?"
Georges the GM: "Yup. One of the ones you're fighting."
Julie: "...I have a new plan."

[Jimmy continues to act as ringleader.]
Jimmy Croyden: "Who are we and what do we want?"
Sub Peons: "Slaves! Freedom!"

[The slave revolt is actually going moderately well. It's just the sort of distraction we need to divide the Subs' attention when the Pribas attack.]
Ariel: "Don't you love it when a plan comes together?"
Brock: "I do. Especially when it's an improvised second part of a plan involving a slave revolt."

[Lyta is kicking ass.]
Julie: "Amazing what a ridiculous amount of xp spending can do."

[Lyta has rescued Katchelli. Which is good, but it's not the end of our plan, especially given that Torgath is still engaged with the guards on the far side of the pit.]
Julie: "The next problem will be getting Baakov."
Brock: "No, Torgath's got that in hand."
Julie: "...Uh-huh."

[Before the tunnel to Geddy's court -- and presumably Baakov -- are 11 armed Subs.]
Julie: "Lyta pauses in indecision."

[Lyta realizes that there's no way she can get through 11 guys by herself.]
Julie: "Sorry, Baakov! We wanted to save you, but it didn't work out!"

[Jimmy is directing the workers to throw rocks at the guards attacking Torgath.]
Torgath: "Could you tell them to get the guys behind me instead?"
Jimmy Croyden: "Beggars can't be choosers. Any time you want to do this fight by yourself, let me know."

[Torgath continues to fight the guard at the edge of the pit.]
Ariel: "I will take two actions to attack him."
Brock: "You mean, to throw the ladder down?"
Ariel: "Oh. Yeah."

[As Lyta leads Katchelli and some of her harem women around the pit, the guards who were protecting the throne room move out.]
Julie: "If we're lucky, they're going to fight the Pribas. If we're not lucky, they're coming after us."

[The fight continues.]
Georges the GM: "Jimmy, any interesting commands and/or actions?"
Jimmy Croyden: "This is Sparta!"

[The Pribas engage with the Subs. And are getting taken out rather quickly.]
Brock: "The Pribas have utterly disappointed me."
Julie: "It's true."

[With his guards gone, Lyta rushes into Geddy's throne room to see Baakov strung up against a wall and Geddy wielding a machete.]
Geddy: "Pretty little girl..."
Julie: "I don't wait for him to monologue."

[Also engaged in the fight are the remarkably effective Libs, headed straight towards Geddy's throne room to 'rescue' Baakov. Jimmy tries to stall them.]
Jimmy Croyden: "Hey, you crazy Lib bastards, you've fallen for their trap! It's a trap!"

[The Libs have arrived at our section of the fight.]
Ariel: "Are they gonna come reinforce us?"
Georges the GM: (sardonically) "...Yes, of course they are."

[Jimmy continues to try to sow confusion. Sadly, he's running out of fodder. And non-Lib people.]
Jimmy Croyden: "The Pribas cut a deal with the Subs to wipe you out!"
Lib Soldier: "The Pribas and the Subs are all dead!"

[Lyta heavily wounds Geddy, who jumps into a pool of water at the side of his throne room. The Libs are hot on our heels. We have to decide what to do.]
Lyta: "I really don't like the idea of splitting up."
Jimmy Croyden: "It's either that or certain death."

[Our two choices: into the scary water, or back into the arms of the scary Libs.]
Major Baakov: "Remember that the Libs make people disappear."
Torgath: "...I guess we're going for a swim."

[We swim through the scary, rushing water, and arrive at a pool a little further down.]
Ariel: "The pool should slow us down a bit, right?"
Georges the GM: "It's a whirlpool."

[We finally emerge from the water right near our escape rendezvous point. Katchelli's lungs are full of water. Most of the rest of us are okay.]
Ariel: "Baakov needs first aid, too?"
Georges the GM: "No, he just lost control a bit at the end."
Ariel: "I mean from before, when Geddy was stabbing him with the machete."
Georges the GM: "Oh, yes. That."

[Ennik has prepared three mine-car bathyspheres.]
Jimmy Croyden: "Weren't we planning on two?"
Ennik: "As someone I know said, more is more."
Jimmy Croyden: "That's true."

[We enter the bathyspheres, i.e. the overturned mine carts, and enter the rushing water. In the dark.]
Lyta: "How do we know when we're at the place we need to be?"
Jimmy Croyden: "I was just thinking that."

[Georges the GM sets the scene for us in the bathyspheres.]
Georges the GM: "Before you were running for your lives. Now you're being swallowed. Slowly. Voluntarily."

[The mine cars are sucked into a massive whirlpool and then scraped along the underside of the tunnel, very quickly. Georges the GM delivers the mother of all understatements.]
Georges the GM: "This is not pleasant."

[More of the same.]
Georges the GM: "Horrible nightmares for the rest of your lives. And in Jimmy's case, PTSD."

[We reach the far side intact and safe.]
Jimmy Croyden: "I have this recurring nightmare where I swim through this wet, dark tunnel... and then I do it again."

[Now that we're in relative safety, Jimmy wants to make sure all his bases are covered.]
Jimmy Croyden: "Would you knock Katchelli out?"
Lyta: "..."
Katchelli: "Oh, you little bitch!"
Lyta: "I'm really sorry!" *knocks her out*

[Billy Croyden is at the far end, waiting for us with his 'carotid artery implant remover' device.]
Billy Croyden: "I'll have to get it out of all of ye."
Lyta: "Ours aren't going to explode."
Billy Croyden: "Oh, aye, they are."

[We hurry away into our waiting escape vehicles.]
Jimmy Croyden: "Well, you know what they say: any inescapable prison you walk away from is a win!"

And that's it for this week. Now we take a week and a half downtime, both in and out of game, before meeting up with Lukas and handing over Katchelli in Khayr ad-Din. Just enough time for some mental breakdowns! Yay!





Heavy Gear Roleplaying Game

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