Episode 9 - The Tree of Death
Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 5:57 pm
Act I
Nicosia, Cyprus
The Storm Knights are called to a meeting with representatives of the Delphi Council to discuss the current state of affairs. During the conversation, Bianca shares a Kabbala text that seems to suggest the ritual that was involved in Dr. Sconce crafting Adam Harrison. The witch posits that Harrison’s component parts include the head of Earl Kennington (William’s brother), the arm of a Yakuza double-agent named Stan Hokusai, an Aylish artifact known as the Amber Heart, a mummified leg from the Nile Empire, and internal organs from an Edeinos. The secret society led by Lady Barantyn (The Seekers of Kali) appeared to want to tear out the Amber Heart at Golo’s request, but the Knights obviously foiled that attempt.
According to the Council’s research, Harrison was crafted by Dr. Sconce at the behest of no less a personage than the Gaunt Man himself. What the High Lord intended for the animated composite of various Cosms remains a mystery, but it is believed that Earl’s spirit was able to break free of Sconce and the Gaunt Man when Harrison confronted William face-to-face.
Clive, the former werewolf from Orrorsh, warns the party that rumor has it that the Gaunt Man has taken an interest in locating William Kennington III, possibly to target him for revenge. The Council asks the team to focus on the Western Hemisphere to put some distance between themselves and their enemies in Orrorsh and the Nile Empire. For that purpose, they are told of a mission available in the Living Land near the American city of Atlanta. There is an outpost there that has asked for Council assistance dealing with some infighting between Edeinos clans, and it is hoped that Kash, lone survivor of his own tribe, can help negotiate a peaceful solution.
The team makes some requests for survival gear, including some explosive arrows, a jeep, bug spray, and rations. Harrison spots the goblin Vix on their way to the rooftop, and he finds that the Aylish monster has stolen a Delphi Council security card. He takes the card from the goblin and William thoroughly convinces Vix that their escapades in the Living Land will earn them a lot of valuable loot.
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Joe the Realm Runner flies the four Knights out to Houston, Texas and then to Marietta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta near the local border with the invading Cosm. William drives their jeep into the jungle reality, approaching the alien wilderness that has now overgrown the Southeast United States. The party has to go offroad after an overpass comes to an abrupt end, utilizing the winch and cable on the Jeep to get through a primeval bog. William disconnects while driving and Harrison has to tow the inoperable Jeep to the SunTrust outpost, their destination.
The party meets with Marlene Watkins, the head of the outpost, local Possibility-rated technician Liphorst, and the spiritualist Krystal. Marlene asks the Knights to look into the fighting between a nearby encampment of Redjaw Clan Edeinos and their rivals, a smaller clan known as the Razor-Talons. She is concerned that her people will be harmed by the warring lizards, and she suspects that the recent lull in fighting points to some building tension.
Liphorst helps repair the Knight’s Jeep, then asks them to check out the ruins of a National Guard Armory where there are guns, ammo, and other gear that could be useful to the outpost. Krystal talks with Kash about the power of Lanala and her desire to commune with the goddess by ingesting hallucinogenic mushrooms from a place called the Orange Meadow. Kash seems smitten with Krystal, and he tells the others of his intentions to arm the Razor-Talons and attack the Redjaws. Harrison and William try to convince the Edeinos to take a less violent approach, noting that their orders were to try and find a peaceful solution.
The party departs SunTrust outpost and goes to the camp of the Razor-Talons, coming into contact with a scout named Thraks, an optant named Jurino, and the chieftain, Powak. They convince the Razor-Talons to hold off on attacking the Redjaws for the time being and see if they can negotiate with the followers of Baruk Kaah. Thraks helps guide the Knights to the Redjaws’ camp near Stone Mountain.
The Knights discover that the Redjaws’ village has been completely razed to the ground, with many Edeinos bodies littering the ground. A feathered, poisonous reptile that Thraks calls a “Skizak” is eating some of the corpses, making for a dangerous wrinkle in their investigation of the site. Thraks and Kash bravely taunt and distract the deadly dino while Harrison and William sneak into the ruins of the camp to search for clues.
Utilizing acrobatic maneuvers and his skills as an archer, Kash is able to gravely wound the Skizak and avoid its venomous teeth, eventually forcing it to flee. William and Harrison piece together the clues at the Redjaw campsite and figure out that the place was attacked by a group of around thirty men and women armed with 19th century-style firearms. There are also tracks left by some sort of wagon which is carrying soil from the Living Land. Harrison suspects that this may point to the planting of Gospog seeds, but William is not so sure.
More worryingly, the tracks indicate that the band of murderous humans have turned toward the Razor-Talon camp, presumably to continue their bloody march through the jungle.
XP: 5 (65)
Act II
Stone Mountain Jungle
The Knights and Thraks set about trying to warn the Razor-Talons and slow down the human wagon train, splitting up into two groups to better cover the ground. The two Edeinos find some triceratops-like dinos to ride to the Razor-Talons, alerting the tribe and helping them prepare ambushes for the expected enemy force. Kennington and Harrison track the wagon train and discover the caravan of human marauders, who appear to be clad in attire similar to Civil War-era soldiers.
Kennington slips down from an overgrown overpass and lands amid the humans, and he has to quickly come up with a false identity to conceal his real motives. Harrison runs into the jungle when he too is discovered, and a band of militiamen pursue him into the mist. Adopting the name “Dale Hickok” and the manner of a Southern gentleman from Gaea, Kennington meets the leader of the human marauders, a bespectacled Stormer named Shaun Tinsley. Tinsley says that he is the Colonel of the Legacy of the Confederacy, a militia of humans who are “reclaiming” the jungles from the Edeinos. Both Harrison and Kennington can tell that there is a mobile hardpoint of some kind moving with the wagon train, providing a mixed-zone of Orrorsh and the Living Land, which allows the militia to use 19th century firearms.
During their pursuit of Harrison, some of the militia scouts discover a journal he dropped, and it is delivered to the sinister Mason, a Gaean gunslinger who serves as Colonel Tinsley’s lieutenant. Kennington manages to persuade Mason to hand him Harrison’s diary before he can read it, and gets assigned to a place with a company of soldiers led by an elderly militiaman named Cooper.
Harrison is aided in dealing with his pursuers by Razor-Talons and Kash, and Kennington manages to lose Cooper’s men in the mists of the Living Land to reunite with his fellow Storm Knights. He updates the others about the Legacy of the Confederacy and the group attempts to return to the Razor-Talons camp before their assault begins.
The fog clinging to the wilderness confuses the group and they end up in a scary wood where there’s a twisted tree with a human visage on its gnarled trunk. It radiates the Corruption of Orrorsh, and Harrison wields his holy symbol to try and ward off the Gaunt Man’s terrible influence. Kennington helps the others navigate the patch of sinister woods and they return to the vicinity of the Razor-Talons camp, finding the Legacy of the Confederacy already attacking the Edeinos.
Joining the battle, the Storm Knights confront Tinsley, Mason, and several ranks of riflemen. Thraks, the Edeinos scout that Kash befriended, is killed by the ruthless Mason during a lethal standoff with the heroes. After a tense battle fraught with danger, the Knights destroy a small tree (similar to the larger one they encountered in the mists) in a covered wagon that appears to be the source of the Orroshan influence in the immediate vicinity of the wagon train. A stampede of dinosaurs barrels through the wrecked village, scattering Mason and Tinsley and ending the militia’s assault. The losses are heavy on the Razor-Talons’ side, however, and they ask the Knights to help them find a new place to call home.
XP: 5 (70)
Act III
Stone Mountain Jungle, Georgia
The Storm Knights escort the remnant of the Razor Talons tribe to the SunTrust outpost, where they are greeted by the wary human village. They talk with Marlene Watkins, Krystal, and Liphorst about giving the surviving members of the decimated Edeinos tribe a home in their walled compound. The humans are reluctant to trust the lizardmen but are eventually convinced to let them stay.
The villagers make some requests of the team in turn, asking them to get some hallucinogenic mushrooms from a nearby field and also investigate a former National Guard Armory located in the shadow of Stone Mountain. They also have to decide how to deal with the Nightmare Tree they discovered nearby. The Knights agree and head out after a rest that night in the outpost.
The party crosses through the Living Land mists and finds the colorful Orange Meadow where the mushrooms they seek are located. As they are gathering the fungi, they breathe in some local pollen and feel themselves getting sleepy. With most of the group in danger of falling into a deep slumber, the Storm Knights narrowly fight through the haze and get away from the Meadow intact.
Moving toward the Armory ruins, they come across the Orrorshan tree and work together to destroy it. The death of the Nightmare Tree ends the influence of Orrorsh on the vicinity and clears some of the mist that is shrouding the jungle. The Knights press on to their next destination and discover that the Armory is also being explored by an outsider, a Storm Knight from Terra named Dr. Aaron Hardin. Hardin is a square-jawed explorer who is coincidentally investigating the ruin, and he talks with the party about the surroundings and the dangers of the region. He tells them about other camps in the region, including some religious Edeinos who live atop Stone Mountain. Kash is suspicious of the stranger, but the others direct him to the location of the SunTrust camp.
Searching through the mostly ruined supplies inside of the Armory building, the team discovers an intact Barrett M82 .50 BMG rifle. Harrison gladly takes the massive gun for himself, grabbing some loose ammunition for the anti-material weapon. The team exits the Armory with what other supplies they can use and begin to make their way back to SunTrust.
When they return to the human village, the party meets with the local leadership. They hand over the mushrooms to Krystal, but Kash sees that she has hit it off with Dr. Hardin.
In a shocking development, several explosions go off in the vicinity of where the Razor Talon survivors are camped out. Many Edeinos are wounded or killed, reducing the tribe’s numbers even further. As they do what they can to help out those harmed in the bombing, the Knights discern that the camp’s mechanic Liphorst was the one who prepared the bomb. He used materials brought to him in secret by the traitorous Vix the Goblin. In a message left behind by Liphorst, he reveals that his true loyalties lie with the Legacy of the Confederacy and that he could not stomach SunTrust sharing living space with the Edeinos, whom he views as subhuman.
Liphorst and Vix have fled the camp, heading toward the ruins of Atlanta nearby. They join up with a patrol from the Confederacy group, killing Edeinos they come across and looting in the city. The Knights track them down to a former jewelry store, and a firefight breaks out between the two groups. Vix is slain as he tries to flee with pockets stuffed with gemstones, and Liphorst is captured alive.
The Delphi Council team heads back to SunTrust with Liphorst and some other surviving traitors in tow, leaving them to the judgement of the village. A heartbroken Kash sees Hardin and Krystal are now a confirmed couple.
The Knights learn that while they were away, the Council called for them, asking for them to return to Nicosia for a special meeting.
XP: 5 (75)
Nicosia, Cyprus
The Storm Knights are called to a meeting with representatives of the Delphi Council to discuss the current state of affairs. During the conversation, Bianca shares a Kabbala text that seems to suggest the ritual that was involved in Dr. Sconce crafting Adam Harrison. The witch posits that Harrison’s component parts include the head of Earl Kennington (William’s brother), the arm of a Yakuza double-agent named Stan Hokusai, an Aylish artifact known as the Amber Heart, a mummified leg from the Nile Empire, and internal organs from an Edeinos. The secret society led by Lady Barantyn (The Seekers of Kali) appeared to want to tear out the Amber Heart at Golo’s request, but the Knights obviously foiled that attempt.
According to the Council’s research, Harrison was crafted by Dr. Sconce at the behest of no less a personage than the Gaunt Man himself. What the High Lord intended for the animated composite of various Cosms remains a mystery, but it is believed that Earl’s spirit was able to break free of Sconce and the Gaunt Man when Harrison confronted William face-to-face.
Clive, the former werewolf from Orrorsh, warns the party that rumor has it that the Gaunt Man has taken an interest in locating William Kennington III, possibly to target him for revenge. The Council asks the team to focus on the Western Hemisphere to put some distance between themselves and their enemies in Orrorsh and the Nile Empire. For that purpose, they are told of a mission available in the Living Land near the American city of Atlanta. There is an outpost there that has asked for Council assistance dealing with some infighting between Edeinos clans, and it is hoped that Kash, lone survivor of his own tribe, can help negotiate a peaceful solution.
The team makes some requests for survival gear, including some explosive arrows, a jeep, bug spray, and rations. Harrison spots the goblin Vix on their way to the rooftop, and he finds that the Aylish monster has stolen a Delphi Council security card. He takes the card from the goblin and William thoroughly convinces Vix that their escapades in the Living Land will earn them a lot of valuable loot.
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Joe the Realm Runner flies the four Knights out to Houston, Texas and then to Marietta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta near the local border with the invading Cosm. William drives their jeep into the jungle reality, approaching the alien wilderness that has now overgrown the Southeast United States. The party has to go offroad after an overpass comes to an abrupt end, utilizing the winch and cable on the Jeep to get through a primeval bog. William disconnects while driving and Harrison has to tow the inoperable Jeep to the SunTrust outpost, their destination.
The party meets with Marlene Watkins, the head of the outpost, local Possibility-rated technician Liphorst, and the spiritualist Krystal. Marlene asks the Knights to look into the fighting between a nearby encampment of Redjaw Clan Edeinos and their rivals, a smaller clan known as the Razor-Talons. She is concerned that her people will be harmed by the warring lizards, and she suspects that the recent lull in fighting points to some building tension.
Liphorst helps repair the Knight’s Jeep, then asks them to check out the ruins of a National Guard Armory where there are guns, ammo, and other gear that could be useful to the outpost. Krystal talks with Kash about the power of Lanala and her desire to commune with the goddess by ingesting hallucinogenic mushrooms from a place called the Orange Meadow. Kash seems smitten with Krystal, and he tells the others of his intentions to arm the Razor-Talons and attack the Redjaws. Harrison and William try to convince the Edeinos to take a less violent approach, noting that their orders were to try and find a peaceful solution.
The party departs SunTrust outpost and goes to the camp of the Razor-Talons, coming into contact with a scout named Thraks, an optant named Jurino, and the chieftain, Powak. They convince the Razor-Talons to hold off on attacking the Redjaws for the time being and see if they can negotiate with the followers of Baruk Kaah. Thraks helps guide the Knights to the Redjaws’ camp near Stone Mountain.
The Knights discover that the Redjaws’ village has been completely razed to the ground, with many Edeinos bodies littering the ground. A feathered, poisonous reptile that Thraks calls a “Skizak” is eating some of the corpses, making for a dangerous wrinkle in their investigation of the site. Thraks and Kash bravely taunt and distract the deadly dino while Harrison and William sneak into the ruins of the camp to search for clues.
Utilizing acrobatic maneuvers and his skills as an archer, Kash is able to gravely wound the Skizak and avoid its venomous teeth, eventually forcing it to flee. William and Harrison piece together the clues at the Redjaw campsite and figure out that the place was attacked by a group of around thirty men and women armed with 19th century-style firearms. There are also tracks left by some sort of wagon which is carrying soil from the Living Land. Harrison suspects that this may point to the planting of Gospog seeds, but William is not so sure.
More worryingly, the tracks indicate that the band of murderous humans have turned toward the Razor-Talon camp, presumably to continue their bloody march through the jungle.
XP: 5 (65)
Act II
Stone Mountain Jungle
The Knights and Thraks set about trying to warn the Razor-Talons and slow down the human wagon train, splitting up into two groups to better cover the ground. The two Edeinos find some triceratops-like dinos to ride to the Razor-Talons, alerting the tribe and helping them prepare ambushes for the expected enemy force. Kennington and Harrison track the wagon train and discover the caravan of human marauders, who appear to be clad in attire similar to Civil War-era soldiers.
Kennington slips down from an overgrown overpass and lands amid the humans, and he has to quickly come up with a false identity to conceal his real motives. Harrison runs into the jungle when he too is discovered, and a band of militiamen pursue him into the mist. Adopting the name “Dale Hickok” and the manner of a Southern gentleman from Gaea, Kennington meets the leader of the human marauders, a bespectacled Stormer named Shaun Tinsley. Tinsley says that he is the Colonel of the Legacy of the Confederacy, a militia of humans who are “reclaiming” the jungles from the Edeinos. Both Harrison and Kennington can tell that there is a mobile hardpoint of some kind moving with the wagon train, providing a mixed-zone of Orrorsh and the Living Land, which allows the militia to use 19th century firearms.
During their pursuit of Harrison, some of the militia scouts discover a journal he dropped, and it is delivered to the sinister Mason, a Gaean gunslinger who serves as Colonel Tinsley’s lieutenant. Kennington manages to persuade Mason to hand him Harrison’s diary before he can read it, and gets assigned to a place with a company of soldiers led by an elderly militiaman named Cooper.
Harrison is aided in dealing with his pursuers by Razor-Talons and Kash, and Kennington manages to lose Cooper’s men in the mists of the Living Land to reunite with his fellow Storm Knights. He updates the others about the Legacy of the Confederacy and the group attempts to return to the Razor-Talons camp before their assault begins.
The fog clinging to the wilderness confuses the group and they end up in a scary wood where there’s a twisted tree with a human visage on its gnarled trunk. It radiates the Corruption of Orrorsh, and Harrison wields his holy symbol to try and ward off the Gaunt Man’s terrible influence. Kennington helps the others navigate the patch of sinister woods and they return to the vicinity of the Razor-Talons camp, finding the Legacy of the Confederacy already attacking the Edeinos.
Joining the battle, the Storm Knights confront Tinsley, Mason, and several ranks of riflemen. Thraks, the Edeinos scout that Kash befriended, is killed by the ruthless Mason during a lethal standoff with the heroes. After a tense battle fraught with danger, the Knights destroy a small tree (similar to the larger one they encountered in the mists) in a covered wagon that appears to be the source of the Orroshan influence in the immediate vicinity of the wagon train. A stampede of dinosaurs barrels through the wrecked village, scattering Mason and Tinsley and ending the militia’s assault. The losses are heavy on the Razor-Talons’ side, however, and they ask the Knights to help them find a new place to call home.
XP: 5 (70)
Act III
Stone Mountain Jungle, Georgia
The Storm Knights escort the remnant of the Razor Talons tribe to the SunTrust outpost, where they are greeted by the wary human village. They talk with Marlene Watkins, Krystal, and Liphorst about giving the surviving members of the decimated Edeinos tribe a home in their walled compound. The humans are reluctant to trust the lizardmen but are eventually convinced to let them stay.
The villagers make some requests of the team in turn, asking them to get some hallucinogenic mushrooms from a nearby field and also investigate a former National Guard Armory located in the shadow of Stone Mountain. They also have to decide how to deal with the Nightmare Tree they discovered nearby. The Knights agree and head out after a rest that night in the outpost.
The party crosses through the Living Land mists and finds the colorful Orange Meadow where the mushrooms they seek are located. As they are gathering the fungi, they breathe in some local pollen and feel themselves getting sleepy. With most of the group in danger of falling into a deep slumber, the Storm Knights narrowly fight through the haze and get away from the Meadow intact.
Moving toward the Armory ruins, they come across the Orrorshan tree and work together to destroy it. The death of the Nightmare Tree ends the influence of Orrorsh on the vicinity and clears some of the mist that is shrouding the jungle. The Knights press on to their next destination and discover that the Armory is also being explored by an outsider, a Storm Knight from Terra named Dr. Aaron Hardin. Hardin is a square-jawed explorer who is coincidentally investigating the ruin, and he talks with the party about the surroundings and the dangers of the region. He tells them about other camps in the region, including some religious Edeinos who live atop Stone Mountain. Kash is suspicious of the stranger, but the others direct him to the location of the SunTrust camp.
Searching through the mostly ruined supplies inside of the Armory building, the team discovers an intact Barrett M82 .50 BMG rifle. Harrison gladly takes the massive gun for himself, grabbing some loose ammunition for the anti-material weapon. The team exits the Armory with what other supplies they can use and begin to make their way back to SunTrust.
When they return to the human village, the party meets with the local leadership. They hand over the mushrooms to Krystal, but Kash sees that she has hit it off with Dr. Hardin.
In a shocking development, several explosions go off in the vicinity of where the Razor Talon survivors are camped out. Many Edeinos are wounded or killed, reducing the tribe’s numbers even further. As they do what they can to help out those harmed in the bombing, the Knights discern that the camp’s mechanic Liphorst was the one who prepared the bomb. He used materials brought to him in secret by the traitorous Vix the Goblin. In a message left behind by Liphorst, he reveals that his true loyalties lie with the Legacy of the Confederacy and that he could not stomach SunTrust sharing living space with the Edeinos, whom he views as subhuman.
Liphorst and Vix have fled the camp, heading toward the ruins of Atlanta nearby. They join up with a patrol from the Confederacy group, killing Edeinos they come across and looting in the city. The Knights track them down to a former jewelry store, and a firefight breaks out between the two groups. Vix is slain as he tries to flee with pockets stuffed with gemstones, and Liphorst is captured alive.
The Delphi Council team heads back to SunTrust with Liphorst and some other surviving traitors in tow, leaving them to the judgement of the village. A heartbroken Kash sees Hardin and Krystal are now a confirmed couple.
The Knights learn that while they were away, the Council called for them, asking for them to return to Nicosia for a special meeting.
XP: 5 (75)