HMS Appolyon Session V - Gunrooms and Ghosts

No feats of arms are performed, but amazing feats of luck occur.  Interactions with gloomy dead things, unwholesome live things and increasingly threatening men occur.

The Desperate and Foolhardy Adventurers

Quartle(Th/MU1) , Frogling water elementalist and former junkyard owner, with his familiar the Steam Beaver.

Vorning Vess (E1), Former member of the passenger class, exiled for necromancy.

Sem, The Cleric From Beyond (C3) - A heavily muscled priest of an unknown god.

Thalia (C2) - Death Priestess, now a 2' tall hobgoblin

Kerup Potali (Th/MU1) - Incautious frogling appraiser of valuables, Augur and spearphbian

HENCHMEN: Pincip, (now) Pikeman of Argos (Lvl 1 Fighter), Krang the Unkownable, Dinosaur Hunter (Lvl 1 Fighter)

Their Monstrous Victims

None

Subtotal: 0XP

The Glorious Cargo Salvaged

1 Suit of composite Steward riot Armor (Light AC6)  - 100GP (cause it'll look good on parade)
3 Riot Shields (Large Shield) - 60 GP
1 Shock Rod (1D4 + Stun - Unknown number of charges) - 300 GP
7 Batons (5 Given to Guards for reentry) -4 GP

Anything retained will not give XP or GP.

Subtotal: 464GP/474XP

Mysterious Objects Recovered

Unstable Explosive Junk - The Gunners of the Rust Gate recognize to goo on the end of Vess' pole as unstable explosive, they say its very dangerous and in bulk it can explode if exposed to fire or jostled too much.  They want to know where you found the stuff and how much you found.

Subtotal: 25XP for learning about a dangerous substance

Exploration

Party ran from something like this - Art by 8eelze

Avoided Crawling Death - 50 XP
Encountered the Buck Nakeds again, still no violence - 50 XP
Discovered 2nd Entrance to Steward Station - 100 XP
Narrowly Avoided Unstable Explosives - 100XP
"Defused" Door trap - 100 XP

Mapping: Will determine depending on if party wishes to reveal existence of way into Substation.

Subtotal:400XP

TOTAL:899XP/464 GP

Per Surviving Party Member - 150 (Plus any mapping XP) 
Per Henchman - 75 (Krang a Fighter 1 now)

The Competitors

The Exalted Gear Brothers of the Ship Spirits - The Gearmen made a cautious assault on the Merrow Dens and it went badly.  The angry Merrow, while not numerous, sprang traps, collapsed tunnels and dragged off a marksman.  A second assault was unsuccessful as well, though several Merrow Men were slain. Another Crusader was lost and only a handful of small gold wires were recovered.

Sons of Vand Der Drecken  - Aided in the initial assault on the Dens, but left after the first rebuff.  Claimed they were going to investigate the Axillary power area - possibly going upstairs.  They did not return.

Treating with the Buck Nakeds

The Flailsnail's reinforced band decided to drop off food at the Southern stairway again per the agreement made with the 'Buck Nakeds' a group of strange men that they encountered who eschew garments and paint themselves with strange magical symbols.  While dropping a basket of food, a note and seaweed wine at the foot of the Southern stairs in the mushroom farm (largely explored by other adventuring parties), the adventurers were distracted by a snuffling noise from a door directly to the South of the stairs.  Turning Sem investigates and flinging open the door finds several hog sized lumpy six-legged beasts thumping mostly ineffectually on the door.  Rather than fight the giant water-bear like abominations a satchel of rations is hurled at the creatures who commence wrestling over it, and Sem slams the door while Quartle spikes it shut. When the party turns around the basket of food and drink is gone.

Heading back to the door of the Steward's substation the party members detour so that Sem can rip a hollow steel door of it's hinges and use it as a manlet in case the substation gun ports are manned.  While using Quartle's elemental familiar to open the door the party hears a commotion in the hall, with human laughter and a bad cannibalism joke.  The party waits silently and the door is thrown open.  Sem flings his door out into the hall and someone lobs a few flasks of flaming oil into the room, but they shatter far from the Cleric.  As the party pours through the hatch into the armored shooting gallery another flask splashes into the room and an inferno rages for about a minute.  After the fire dies down the party calls 'Who's out there' and it is soon discovered that a contingent of Buck Nakeds are outside the hatch, annoyed that a door was flung at them.  They suggest the party should step out and pay an indemnity for the unprovoked violence, this suggestion is ignored.  An impasse reached the party retreats into the Steward Station and explores.

The Haunted Station

Finding the cells that were not searched last time delve empty, Vess listens at all four doors (one in each wall) exiting the cell block.   He hears nothing, but a slight breeze wafts from the Eastern door.  The adventurers decide to avoid this breeze and open the Western door.  Inside is a old armory, with a sign proclaiming it as such and several racks partially filled with equipment.  A crude mural on the West wall depicts a shark wearing a Steward's badge.  On the South wall is an armored hatch door with two key slots.  The door can't be picked by Quartle though he notes its complicated mechanism.  After collecting some riot gear and a stun baton the adventurers, flummoxed by the locked vault, return to the cell block and investigate the Northern door which leads to a small room with gun slits pointing into the cell areas.  Using his Steam familiar, Quartle discovers a small room with a card table, two folding chairs and an empty pink paper box.  There is also a strange flare like object strapped to the ceiling and facing the door with a taunt wire leading to one end and attached to the doorhandle by the other.

Stratagems are discussed to deal with the obvious booby trap.  None are deemed workable.  Abandoning the trapped room the party leaves through the Eastern room and finds a large ready room, with a chalk board on one wall and various piles of rags, apparently many ancient bodies, scattered in clumps about the room. Sem, a brave and impetuous fellow, walked straight into the room, only to have a phantom slip into existence in front of him.  The phantom man looked normal enough, though emaciated, and asked for help.  Sem was not fooled by the spirit's appearance and swung his morningstar at is, but missed the insubstantial creature - which promptly transformed into a floating skull atop a vague phantom shape of a starving man clad in tatters.

All around the room skulls rose from the piles of refuse, dangling similar grasping and beseeching phantoms below them.  The phantoms grasped, and one brushed Thalia chilling her.  The pair of Clerics tried to turn the phantoms, but their gods power was not enough to drive off the dead.  Closing the door and backing up however did stop the attacks, and no phantoms or skulls drifted through the wall.  Vess, using the secret language of the dead, tried to speak to the phantoms, but only heard the concerned and fears echoed from long ago.  The dead requested food, demanded the doors be unlocked and expressed concern over an explosion - but they could not be reasoned with.  Vess's knowledge of the necromancy allowed him to identify the phantoms as a site specific manifestation related to tragedy.  More a sink of necromantic power than a entity it was likely tied to the place of tragedy and would attack any who approached now that it was riled.

Deciding not to test their ability to harm the phantoms, the adventurers go South, finding a large armored chamber that was hastily converted to a concealed position for two six pound rifled cannon. One cannon lies on the floor smashed as if thrown from its mounting (which is a bit concerning because it weighs several tons.  The other cannon still sits at rest ready to be run out a concealed port.  Sem opens the cannon ports and reveals a vista of the buried vault.   Ves beings to poke around beneath the artillery platforms and finds box upon box surrounded by a sticky dried mess.  Luckily his jostling is not severe, as the goo appears to be a mixture of propellent and explosive that has leaked from the boxes of shells.  Sem investigates the explosives as well, threatening to crack open a box with his crow bar or reach into an open box in an effort to recover the shell casings.  The rest of the party flees into the hall, afraid of what will come next.  Luckily Sem's explorations a gingerly, he's nimble enough and his lantern fails to drop any sparks.  (I rolled six different times and no giant boom).   The party returns to the room and contemplates an ambush of the Buck Nakeds they presume are intent on ambushing them.  While heatedly discussing the possibility of doubling around through the windows, and how to close them, preserving access to the unlooted Substation, a group of humans climbs from the junk pile in the buried vault and walks back towards the rust gates.

Deciding that the risk of ambush is less than the risk of returning to a looted substation, the adventures boldly walk into the shooting gallery and out into the hall.  There are no Buck Nakeds, only crude and obscene graffiti.  With little to show for their expedition (beyond there lives - which were in serious jeopardy) the cautious party returns to the Rust Gates.