Sunday, June 26, 2016

Far Isles Session #36 - Curiosity Killed the Cleric

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
Rodrigo (Swashbuckler 1), with henchman Corvus (Fighter 1)
Chaff (Vivimancer 4), familiar Pretty Bird, and henchman "No 7" (Halfling 1)
Torak (Cleric 4)

The party waited a few hours after Rodrigo returned from his poisoned monkey-chow bombing run before sending Pretty Bird up to investigate. The parrot noted there were three immobile flying monkeys on the top of the tower, presumably deceased from eating the poisoned food. As the bird circled, another group of the apes emerged and several started chowing down. When these started to keel over from the poison, the few remaining apes got very angry and started shoving the poisoned food and dead apes off the tower.
Thunderhead Manse

Uncertain if they'd gotten all the remaining flying apes, Chaff next sent Pretty Bird to check out the the next part of the cloud complex; a square, pillared building connected to the ape tower by a narrow stone bridge. It appeared to be a temple of sorts, with an outer pillared cloister and an inner sanctum with solid walls. The whole structure was made of a fine, cream coloured marble. The party decided to land here, and had the fly transport them one by one up to the cloister. Once there, they parked the fly and cautiously entered the inner temple. They found a large room with a blue and green mosaic floor, at the far of which stood the 10' tall statue of a bearded scholar, and a set of verdigris covered bronze double doors.  Several party members examined the mosaic floor, trying to find a pattern of clue. But apart from  a general sense of order and 'rightness', none could decipher a deeper meaning. They next turned their attention to the doors, and Chaff sent No. 7 to investigate. As she approached the door, however, she noted the statute turned towards her and raised it's fists as if ready to spar with the cigar smoking halfling. No 7 reacted quickly, however, as did the rest of the party. A trio of pistols were raised and the room erupted in a loud crash of musketry and smoke. One ball, unfortunately, hit No 7 rather than the statue. As everyone else started reloading, Chaff dropped a web spell on the statue to hold it in place. Chaff, No. 7 and Corvus turned to beat on the statute with sword and staff, but everyone was surprised when 4 flying apes appeared behind them and attacked. With the statue still encased in Chaff's web, they turned to deal with the new foe. More pistol fire ensued, which took out a couple of flying apes. Unfortunately, Torak's misfired and exploded, showing both him and No.7 with shrapnel. A few sword strokes from Rodrigo, a  spore cloud from Chaff, and a trio of tossed daggers soon ended the monkey threat.

Turning back to the statue, the party could see that it was almost free of the web. So Chaff cast another web, and everyone turned their attention on their bronze foe. In spite of multiple hits, the statute broke free of the web and cut down poor Rodrigo just before it was finally sliced in twain by the mighty Corvus. The swashbuckler still clung to life, however, so he was bundled onto the fly  and  returned to the "Purple Haze" to recover in sick bay. With the statue gone, No.7 now approached the bronze doors, deftly picked the lock, and with Corvus' help threw open the portals.

On the other side was what appeared to be ornate bedchamber, with a dark oak wardrobe and footlocker, a shell and bronze bed, and steep stairs heading up. Of more immediate notice, however, was the series of glass tubes filled with discharges of lighting which illuminated the room.  This was matched by an organ which had the pipes replaced by similar, but smaller tubes. While the rest of the party fanned out to explore the room (No. 7 filching a fine set of blue silk sheets from the footlocker), Torak sat at the organ to practice a few tunes. His long latent musical talent came through, and the cleric was soon belting out a jaunty jingle. As he did, the lighting in the organ tubes flared higher and the sounds of the rainstorm outside became louder. And then he played another tune; and another, and another, and another ... as the sweat poured off Torak's brow, it was apparent the cleric was trapped at the keys. Corvus flexed his muscles, grabbed the cleric in a bear hug, and hauled him away from the infernal instrument. 

Cleric go "Boom!"
Eager to put as much distance as possible between him and the organ, Torak led the party up the stairs to a library or study. Tall bookshelves filled the walls, although only one section was filled with tomes. There was also a huge shell-inlaid wood globe in the center of the room, depicting an unfamiliar world, and a fixed ladder led to a trapdoor in the ceiling. Everyone started hauling books off the shelves. Flipping through them, they found most were rather serous treatises on magic, alchemy and astronomy. Torak found a bundle of scrolls, and started to examine them. As he unrolled the first, however, it exploded in a brilliant flash of light. The cleric was thrown right across the room, to crumble dead in a smoking heap at the base of the ladder.  That discouraged anyone else from looking at the scrolls, but Chaff did pocket them for future examination. The party decided to get Torak's body back to the fly to return him back to the ship, but not before No 7 and Chaff made a quick check of the level above. It was an open platform with a roof supported by pillars, and a turquoise inlaid magical circle in the center. 

They carried the cleric back to the fly and sent him on his way. They then decided, short-handed as they were once more, to go finish off the flying apes and get the treasure left behind last time. They made their way into the tower chamber where they'd fought the ape's last time. It was now deserted, but they could hear movement in the chamber below. As No. 7 and Chaff readied their pistols, Corvus threw open the trap door. One ape died in a rattle of pistol fire, and a second was cleaved in half by Corvus' great-sword when it tried to fly up through the door. The other two wisely turned and fled out through the windows, quickly disappearing from sight into the clouds. Triumphant, it was left to Chaff, Corvus and No 7 to simply gather the coins and miscellaneous valuables scattered throughout the monkey-litter, and then head back to the "Purple Haze" to plan their next moves.

TOTAL XP
5557

GAINS
800sp
950gp
195pp
Set of Blue Silk Sheets (100gp)
Shell cameo (125gp)
12 silver place settings (12gp)
Porcelain teapot (10 gp)
Bolt of blue silk (500gp)
Quartz orb (90gp)
Small crystal vial full of liquid [perfume] (500gp]
3 scrolls (control weather, feather fall, and lightning bolt)

KILLS
12 flying monkeys
1 animated, bearded, bronze statue

LOSSES
Torak
Rodrigo (Temporary) 

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