[Thundarrverse] D is for D'oh! Plus Three Session Reports!

Well the whole "D is for Demons" thing has gone one way too long. I'll hopefully finish that up tomorrow... I didn't get a chance to write tonight because I was gaming!

Woo-Hoo! I said, WOOO-HOOO!

Further Thundarrverse adventures of Rash, Canthar, and Bakra the Puma Girl in the Madzone... short and sweet reports:

Session 2: They hid from the minions. Made their way to the Troll Bridge. Used a variant of Floating Disk to cross the moat and skirt the tower. Made it to the Citadel undetected. Climbed up the wall using a rope and grapling hook. Saw the giant War Machine of the Mad Mage in the center of the Citadel; the War Machine looks something like this, but square, with four large rotors (one at each corner), helicopters rather than jets, and in the center, the ancient Wisconsin State Capitol Dome:

They saw a few towers amidst the town within the Citadel; there seemed to be "pilot-like" humans among the trolls and rattocks in those areas (i.e., jumpsuits, helmets, mirrorshades, etc.). They snuck into the Citadel down through one of the half-towers. Discovered the town along the inside walls was a rat warren, appropriately enough for a race of rat-men like the Rattocks. After getting lost for a bit, they made their way to one of the towers. Saw four Humans chained to a wagon like beasts of burden, and four more human slaves unloading big bags of turnips. A rattock wearing a red sash and bearing a whip was whipping the slaves, told them if they didn't hurry up he'd feed THEM to the trolls. Bakra, in a rage, leapt up and gutted the rattock. They hurriedly hid the body in the tower storeroom, then questioned the slaves, who all had conflicting reports on the rumored nature of the Mad Mage, though all agreed that his head was huge and his body was tiny and that he seemed to have many personalities. They also noted that the factory was nearing completion of the army of flying robots for the Mad Mage!

Session 3: Rash, Canthar, and Bakra decided they had to get into the War Machine, so the slaves said they would run a distraction while the three hid among bags of turnips on the next run to the War Machine, which was being provisioned for the coming war. This was successfully done, and while the wagon was making its way up the ramp to the War Machine, Canthar (who knows something about Wizard technomancy) noticed that the War Machine's rotors were assisted in their lift by anti-gravity pods on the bottom of the War Machine... an important point that would come up later.

They were thrown into the supply room, like the bags of turnips they posed as. They were deciding whether to take the Jeffries Tubes or the Air Ducts to get further into the War Machine when a Rattock chef, complete with apron and big white hat, entered the supply room carrying only a big spoon. He barely had time to be surprised before Rash grabbed his neck and twisted it, snapping it like a rotten twig (Nat 20 on that surprise attack). They hid the body among the turnips, then skedaddled into the Jeffries Tube system.

They followed it for a while, crawling further in toward the center. Finally they came out in a small triangular room with tools and parts on the walls. Bakra went to listen at the only door opposite the tube entrance, when to her horror it opened with a "whoosh" and there stood a Rattock, dressed in a jump suit and with tools on a belt. He turned to run back onto a catwalk, and Bakra quickly followed and pushed him off, to fall down a level with a squeal and a thud.

Session 4: In the momentary glimpse that Canthar had of the large room before Bakra rushed back in and they jumped back into the tube, he saw a huge, multi-storied lava-light like device... obviously the Power Generator of the War Machine! But they did not know how many other Rattocks and Trolls might have been there, so they fled. Going all the way back, they passed their original entry and continued on to the corner of the War Machine, where Canthar expected to find the control center/engine for the rotor.

Find it they did, and Canthar looked it over intently, deciding that he could rig it to overload once it was underway, blowing out the rotor and the AG unit, and ideally causing the War Machine to crash. He was just about to rig it so, when one of the doors opened... Rash and Bakra quickly jumped back into the Jeffries Tube "tool shed," (which was like the other one at the other end), but Canthar got caught up on some of the protruding machinery of the engine, as three Engineer Rattocks and a Troll walked in.

Thinking he was dead, Canthar was relieved when the rattocks mistook him for one of "the master's apprentices," and respectfully asked him if they could assist. He waved them off kindly, telling them he was done here, and that they could go about their business. They went to perform their routine maintenance, and as Canthar turned to leave, the troll (who was carrying tools and parts) gave him a strange look. "I thoughts as I knew'd all th' Master's prentices," the Troll said, gruffly and suspiciously. Nervously, Canthar hit the Troll with a hypnotism spell, and convinced him that he was indeed an apprentice, just that he hadn't met him yet. Failing his save spectacularly, the troll nodded agreement, and said, "Pleezed ta meetchya!"

Canthar joined Rash and Bakra in the tube, and they decided to lie low for a while, until the War Machine got underway, and then sabotage the equipment... though they weren't sure how they would get out then, before the thing crashed! They eventually settled on finding a supply cabinet with things that were seldom used by rat-men and trolls, such as soap and other hygiene. They finally noted such a supply room (most rooms on the lowest deck being supply rooms), and were about to enter it when they heard voices coming from it.

There they discovered three apprentices of the Mad Mage in secret conference (seems a good locale to remain undisturbed, indeed). They were contemplating the madness of their master, and the dangers it presented to themselves, especially once the campaign was underway and their services might seemingly no longer be needed. They decided to wait to see how the campaign went before doing anything hasty. One left to tend to business, while the other two discussed the terrible fate of some escaped slaves that had been recaptured in the Citadel. They were chortling about how they were going to torture them and gut them, as their Rattock overseer had been, but far more slowly, when Rash and Bakra burst in and finished them off before they could even act or think. Rash critted one of them with his Star Sword, and took his head clean off (this is not your father's "Saturday Morning" Thundarrverse!)

They decided to hide out in the supply room until the War Machine took off, which it did several hours later. If the Mad Mage or the other apprentice noticed the other apprentices were missing, they didn't check down there, fortunately. Once the War Machine was underway, they waited for a half-hour before acting... then to their horror heard the sounds of bombardment! The campaign against the nearby villages had already begun in earnest! Poor Bakra, with her superior hearing, was having a devil of a time with the ringing sounds of huge weapons going off all around her. They quickly made their way back to the rotor room nearest the supply depot where they entered, hoping that once the War Machine went to ground, they could open the ramp and escape that way.

When they entered the rotor room, they discovered a Rattock engineer; they quickly finished him off, but to their horror, discovered that somehow, they were locked out of the controls that Canthar planned to use to sabotage the rotor and AG module! Putting caution to the wayside, as they saw the village of Dunn being attacked on a nearby viewscreen, Canthar pointed to a spot on the engine and told Rash to strike there with his Star Sword. Lighting arced from the device, and both were singed, but with a whine and many sparks, the engine stopped running and started grinding.

The whole corner of the War Machine dipped drastically, and they all tumbled back and forth in the engine room as the wounded War Machine turned back toward the Citadel while slowly falling from the sky... and failed. It made it about halfway back before it fell to the ground with a resounding crash and a horrible grinding sound that deafened Bakra. They scrambled back into the tube, lest they be caught when engineers arrived to investigate the disaster, and made their way to the supply depot. They were incredibly lucky on the way there, and once they got there, as they failed to have any encounters (the dice were not with me tonight, let me tell you).

They were able to get the ramp open, but only partway, as it got caught up on some ruins... as the War Machine lay atop the southern ruins of the inner Madzone, not far from the shore of the Lake of Lunacy! Fortunately, the ramp stood over mostly solid land, rather than swamp or lake, and they all jumped down the 20 feet or so, with only Canthar getting any bruises from the long jump.

In the gathering darkness, they then saw the helicopter robots in a vast swarm to the south, still attacking Dunn... but then, slowly, they stopped and turned and headed toward the downed War Machine! The trio scrambled through the ruins, hiding here and there, seeking to remain out of sight of the robots... which looked like this:

Fortunately, they were able to avoid the robot's attentions, as the robots took up a wide guard patrol around the downed War Machine. The trio crossed over the southern Madline just east of the ruins of Oddann, and hid out in the nearby forest, taking shelter under an Ancient bus that had been lifted into the air by the trunks of several trees long grown through it. With their supplies back in Dunn (or wherever their steeds were hiding, if they were safe), they got by on some nuts, fruits, roots, and grubs that Rash was able to gather, together with what appeared to hopefully be some fresh water. They were undisturbed during the long night.

The next morning they went to the treeline to find out what was going on with the War Machine and the robots. Things had not changed noticeably since the prior night, though with the full light of day and plenty of time, Canthar was able to count 144 of the flying robots circling above the downed War Machine!

It looks like they have quite a fight on their hands, still...

[Thundarrverse Episode 01] The Mad Mage of Madzone Part 2

Thundarrverse

Episode 01: The Mad Mage of Madzone

Part 2: The Road to Madness

Louisa, the Village Leader of Dunn, told the trio that the Mad Mage lived on the Isle of Insanity in the Lake of Lunacy at the heart of the Madzone. The only access to the island was through the Troll Bridge (a causeway, really), as the lake itself was inhabited by a terrible monster. No one had ever seen it whole, they had only ever seen the great and terrible pseudopods that rose up from the waters to grab anyone who came too close... grab them and drag them screaming into the lake, never to be seen again!

However, the beast never left the lake, and never bothered the Mad Mage or his minions, so long as they remained on the island and on the Troll Bridge. Anyone walking along the shore of the lake, though, was fair game. The marshy ruins next to the lake were not safe, either, as the thing spawned smaller versions of itself that hunted in the marshes and even far down the rivers that fed and debouched from the lake. Thus, the only safe passage was over the Troll Bridge... which was guarded by not one, but two fortresses.

The first was at the crossing of two ancient roads, built within four great circles of ancient stone...

"Ah, a cloverleaf!" Canthar exclaimed.

"Clover... leaf?" Rash asked.

"It's a... the Ancients they... never mind," Canther said. "Louisa, please continue!"

The second fortress was a pair of towers built right at the entry to the Troll Bridge. The road between the fortresses was walled on either side by Ancient walls, as was the Ancient road that crossed the other at the first fortress... it was part of a series of great Ancient roads that made a circuit around the heart of Madzone, known as the Madline. But the walls, being Ancient, were in poor repair... so one could perhaps sneak through them, through the ruins of Madzone, to the second fortress... but beyond that, and of the island, Louisa knew little to nothing...

The trio resolved to follow the Ancient road north, into sight of the first fortress, then determine how to proceed from there. They thanked Louisa and the people of Dunn for the meal, then turned to go. "And the next time you see us," Rash called to them as they mounted up, "I swear that the humans of Madzone will be free!"

"Bakra, Canthar, we ride!"

And off they rode. They passed north, through burned fields and orchards, to the southern Madline, which they followed east. They then turned onto a northerly Ancient road, which crossed with the road to the Troll Bridge.

"See Rash, this is a clover-leaf... more or less," Canther said as he waved at the incomprehensible mess of Ancient, shattered concrete and steel. "A true clover-leaf would look more like, well, like a clover-leaf. It was an interchange where the Ancient vehicles would cross over from one road to the next."

"Hah," muttered the Barbarian. "Why cross over from one road to another on road, when you could just ride your horse over the grasses and dirt?"

Canthar just shook his head and gave up trying to explain...

As they travelled north, luck was with them, and they caught no sight of the servants of the mad Mage, nor of anyone else. Traders did not come up in these parts any more, not since the Mad Mage settled in, anyway, and even rarely before then. They noticed that there were great tears in the walls around them; in some places Ancient vehicles lay in ruin, half through the Ancient walls. In others, tall buildings from the other side of the walls had collapsed on the walls, knocking them down. Through these gaps, from a tall hill that overlooked even the tallest walls, the trio got their first glance at the ruins at the heart of Madzone.

Aptly named it was, for it was a great jumble of ruined Ancient buildings, that looked like they had been picked up, spun about, and dropped by a mad giant. Between the ruins they could make out the fog-covered lake, and far in the center of the lake, upon the Isle of Insanity, the huge Citadel of the Mad Mage. A vast square of stone and steel, with towers, merlons, and crenellations. Above it, in the center of the Citadel, they could barely make out a shining gold dome, glittering through the thick gray fog.

They rode silently and slowly now, for surely they were coming close to a guard post, if not the first fortress itself. As they came to the crest of a small hill, they looked out, and there saw the first fortress. They jumped down from their steeds and walked back to the side of the road, into the shadow of one of the walls. The trio then crawled forward on their hands and knees to the crest of the hill. Canthar pulled out his spyglass. With it he was able to make out the details of the four towers of the fortress, one in each circle of the cloverleaf; in between each, a large double gate, wide enough to allow four wagons to pass. Each tower was made of a pile of Ancient vehicles, mortared together with bricks, wood, and other detritus from the ruins, the whole top built with a wooden walkway, merlons, and crenellations. The double gate was shod with the roofs of Ancient cars and hubcaps, each door large enough to require three trolls to open it!

"Well, we're not going through THAT!" Canthar exclaimed, as he passed the spyglass to Rash.

Rash looked out, and counted quietly. "Why not?" he asked. "I count only two Rattocks per tower... that's only eight. We could easily take eight!"

"True, but how many are inside the fortress? And what alarms do they have? Surely there are trolls within to open those huge gates... or well, maybe they have an Ancient engine to do that, I suppose. But still."

"Aye, but still... I suppose..." sighed the Barbarian.

"I'm sure there are plenty more Rattocks on the island," grinned the Puma Girl. "Not to mention a LOT of trolls. I'm sure we'll find a few good fights on the island!"

"Yes, the island. We shall pass this tiny little fortress and get to the real battle faster. To the island, then, sorcerer. How shall we get there?"

They decided to send their steeds back to Dunn... Arlith the feliquine could well understand Bakra's directions, and Firestorm and Arcaidia followed his lead implicitly. They then went back to the last large rent in the wall facing Madzone, and climbed over and through the rubble into the ruins.

It was like going into a cavern, as the twisted remnants of Ancient buildings met and merged above their heads. Light spattered through the great holes in the Ancient buildings above. The ground beneath their feet was uneven, covered in rubble, and dotted with trees, shrubs, and vines. Here and there they could make out the skeleton of an Ancient vehicle, or a pile of Ancient goods encased in hardened mud or even lava; there an anonymous pile of dirt out of which bone-like remnants poked, next to another Ancient vehicle that looked like it could have driven away, were the dust removed from its windows and detritus pried from within the wheel hubs.

"It is always so strange to go into these Ancient ruins," ruminated Rash out loud. "My people hold them to be taboo... and for good reason, as most are filled with terrible monsters! But to think that so many, many humans lived in these... "cities"... as they were called. It seems impossible."

Bakra reached out to the Ancient vehicle, and drew a smiley face in the dust on the windshield... thought again, grinned, then added fangs to the curved line of the mouth. "And so many of the things of these Ancient peoples can still be used! That's what I find hard to believe after, what, two-thousand years, is that how long ago it was?" she asked Canthar.

"Yes, two thousand years, or so the Wizards believe," the Sorcerer replied. "The Council of Wizards has many theories on why the things of the Ancients are so well preserved. I myself favor the theory that the very nature of the Great Catastrophe resulted in the preservation of the Ancient things. You see, according to the Rogue Planet theory, a planet from Outer Space entered the solar system and hurtled between the Earth and the Moon..."

"Outer... Space?" muttered Rash, as he picked his way carefully through the ruins.

They were now nearing the marshy portion of the ruins, a wide swath of Madzone that was part land, part lake, and he was wary lest the Spawn of the Lake Beast take them unawares... and was only half listening to Canthar as he droned on, as he was wont to do.

Unfortunately, Canthar was not, himself, as aware as he should have been; and his lecture apparently distracted his companions, for when, while considering the lectures he'd had on the Great Catastrophe, he stumbled into a watery inlet from the lake... and the inlet reached up and grabbed at him!

Or so it seemed, when a blue-green pseudopod slithered from the muddy waters and wrapped itself around his left arm. Canthar yelled, as much in pain as from shock, for the pseudopod was coated in a noxious acidici substance that burned and at the same time numbed his skin. He felt a shock course through his body, but resisted the lassitude that followed. Remembering his training, he reached out with his free hand and a broad bolt of magical energy flashed out and struck at the watery tentacle.

"Demon dogs!" cried Rash, as the vast, obscene, amorphous blob from which the pseudopod extended lurched forth from the muddy waters, half on to dry land, and reached out with more pseudopods that extended from its body without warning. The humm and whine of the Star Sword rang out as Rash leapt forward to the attack. But as fast as he was, Bakra was even quicker on the draw, as an arrow flashed through the air and neatly cut the pseudopod holding the Sorcerer in twain.

The thing burbled in anger and writhed in hate, and extended a mass of pseudopods toward the three, but Rash had already closed with the beast, and a searing fan of blue-white light flashed, and the Star Sword clove through the thing, its tentacles and obscene form melting back into gelatinous ooze that slowly dribbled its way back into the lake...

Bakra cocked her head; her face screwed up in concentration. They heard the wind in the reeds and the hiss from between Canthar's teeth as he rubbed the reddening, blistering skin on his arm.

"They heard him cry out... we were too close to the road to the causeway. I can hear the guards calling to each other. They are coming this way!" Quickly they ducked deeper into the ruins, Rash covering their tracks as best he could. They crawled into the dirt and muck filling an ancient building.

The glass windowed walls were long gone, and the faded yellow booths and tables were warped and cracked. Oddly, though, the strange tableau of statuary at the front remained intact and in excellent condition. Canthar's mind wandered briefly as he realized that he and his friends were hiding in one of the ancient and ubiquitous "Temples of the Golden Arches." The icons were surely among the best he'd ever seen outside of a Wizard's collection... the devil known as "The Hamburglar" grinned at him, as he had for the last two thousand years... With a jingle and the thud of heavy feet, he knew the minions of Mad Mage stood outside their hiding place...

To be continued...

[Thundarrverse Episode 01] The Mad Mage of Madzone Part 1

Thundarrverse

Episode 1: The Mad Mage of Madzone

Part 1: The Battle of Dunn

Rash the Barbarian, Canthar the Sorcerer, and Bakra the Puma Girl were riding north, into the Madzone of Wiskasoon. They had heard rumors that a Wizard was active in the region, attacking local villages. They discovered quickly that the rumors were true, as they found a village under attack by a group of Rattocks (Rat Men). Led by a large Rattock wearing a red sash and Ancient army helmet, sporting a monocle, and directing with a riding crop in one hand from the safety of an Ancient military jeep, twelve Rattocks were attacking the village of Dunn, seeking to burn it down while taking the residents prisoner.

Against Canthar's better judgment, Rash and Bakra leapt into battle before getting an overview of the disposition of the enemy. They quickly discovered that, in addition to the nets and mancatchers they were using to trap the humans, the Rattocks had carbines and flame throwers! Diving through a hail of bullets and singed by a gout of flame from a flamethrower, Rash leapt from his warhorse, activated his Star Sword, and slashed two of the carbines clean in half. the two Rattocks squealed in terror and fled.

Bakra returned fire with her M16, pointedly aiming at the arrogant Rattock leader, who ducked down behind the shattered windshield of the jeep the after being nicked by a bullet. Two more Rattocks fled after being struck by orbs of power cast from Canthar's open hands. More bullets flew, flame belched, and nets were cast wide, but only Canthar was worsted, caught by the snapping jaws of a mancatcher! Rash ran to save him, slashing apart a flamethrower en route. Fortunately, the Rattock failed to pull the sorcerer from his mount, and lost his grip on the mancatcher, sliding back only his tail in the dirt with a thump.

Bakra peppered the jeep with further rounds from her Ancient weapon, and the leader of the Rattocks turned and fled, driving the jeep blindly back deeper into the Madzone. Most of his warriors followed, including the Rattock who had (briefly) captured Canthar, their morale broken -- the rat men had thought to have an easy battle against simple villagers, not a crazy barbarian and sorcerer, let alone a cat person!

One Rattock, however, felt that honor had to be served, and leapt up on Bakra's felinique, having at her with a dagger from his belt. Holding the gun in one hand, she swept out her other, with claws extended, slaicing him and batting him off her steed. He too, turned and fled into the surrounding ruins.

Smiling and nodding to each other at a job well done, the three tended to their wounds as the people of the village came forth from hiding. One, a beautiful young woman who came out of the largest building in the village, introduced herself as Louisa, the Village Leader. She thanked the trio for their help, and told them that the people of Dunn were in their debt. She beckoned them into the Village Hall/Inn, where they were offered food and healing care.

During the meal Louisa told them of the growing threat of the Mad Mage, the Wizard of Madzone. He lives in a citadel on the Island of Insanity in the Lake of Lunacy, in the heart of Madzone, the ruins of the Ancient city of Madison. There he is served by Rattocks and Trolls. He had been only a minor danger to the villages on the outskirts of Madzone until recently, when he apparently discovered some ancient form of technology. In the last several months, he's been capturing humans from nearby villages to work in his factory. Escaped slaves say that they are forced to build flying robot warriors, and that once the Mad Mage has a complete army, he will strike against the other Wizards of Wiskasoon and conquer the entire land!

While the trio had little problem with Wizards killing each other off, they all detested the fact that the Mad Mage was enslaving humans to do his dirty work. With grim resolve they asked Louisa how they could get to the Isle of Insanity in the Lake of Lunacy...

End Part 1...