Synopsis
In this spin-off, Peter Johnson and Rex von Lizard join forces to discover the master mind behind Douzor’s bootleg liquor operation but find a lot more than they had bargained for.
Aussiegrif: | ★★★★ |
DuanneGray: | ★★★ |
Total Rating: | ★★★ |
Key Events
None, yet.
Game Ratings | |
Terrible | ★ |
Bad | ★★ |
Good | ★★★ |
Great | ★★★★ |
Excellent | ★★★★★ |
Session Summary…
12th of March to the 15th of March, 110 P.A.
Arriving in Douzor, Peter accidentally happens upon a bar selling a knock-off of his patented Peter Johnson’s Awesomesause. Learning the location of the manufacturer but being unwilling to risk the perils of the surrounding wilderness alone, the Warlock seeks the aid of the local trouble-maker and Fire Warlock Rex von Lizard and Lyizef a skilled female Chasseur Vert guide.
Working together the duo were guided safely through the wilderness until they happened upon the old McClaren homestead. After a brief scuffle with a Melech guard-beast, the duo were able to put the monster on ice and move on to the homestead. However, before they could make it across the swamp they were attacked by animated trees, vines and reeds. Fighting them off with relative ease thanks to Peter’s ability to conjure a magical hail storm, Rex was able to locate and identify the source of the magic — a Nymph.
After a tumulus battle with the ethereal entity, the duo found themselves eventually overpowered by powerful supernatural winds and forced to leave. After the skirmish, Peter and Rex discussed the encounter at some length and came to the conclusion that the Nymph was being controlled, but by what they couldn’t be sure. Even so. Despite the Nymph’s warning and Rex’s apprehension, Peter stubbornly pressed forward and made a second attempt to advance on the McClaren homestead. However, his advance was stopped dead when a grand thicket of nettles and thorns rose up to block his path. Angry and shouting abuse, Peter was eventually quieted by Rex who requested to speak with the Nymph. Appearing to them in the wall as a face among the brambles, the weeping faerie gave brief answers, offering no information beyond the fact that she could not keep Him asleep much longer and that they must leave.
When they refused and continued to consult the Nymph, she wove them and miles of the surrounding forest in a thick fog and vanished back into the swamp surrounding the house to nurse her wounds.
Embittered by their loss and unable to find their guide in the dense fog, the two Warlocks made their way back to Douzer with some very near-misses with the local wildlife. Including a herd of deer and then later a fearsome Rhino-Buffalo.
After their return to Douzer, the duo returned to the Wood Turkey Inn and spoke with Irelien the bar tender. Learning that not only had Lyizef not returned but that the McClarn family were due to deliver a new shipment of liqueur in two days. Renting some rooms, the heroes opted to wait it out a couple of days. During which time Peter lazed around and Rex returned to his community service. After two rather uneventful days of rest and recovery, Peter confronted the McClaren driver (a middle-aged swamper named Neil) following his delivery and drilled him for information. Neil did his best to warn away Peter; explaining this situation wasn’t a business opportunity and advising he not get in any deeper than he already was. Peter openly dismissed his warning. Distraught, the swamper told Peter that his stubbornness persistence, might well cost Neil his daughter’s life (“You don’t drop this, he’ll eat my daughter”). Still dissuaded, Peter returned to the Wood Turkey Inn to kill time while he waited for Rex to finish his community service.
The next day the Warlocks picked up a map of the area (approximately 30 miles around Douzor) and headed out once more into the thicked marshlands to the McClaren property. During their venture the heroes encounter another herd of deer but choose to avoid them rather than expend their energy on another needless battle. When they finally arrived, the duo are greeted by the Melech which the easily dispatch a second time by crushing it beneath a wall of ice. Having made no attempt at subtly, the Nymph had once again created a wall of thorns about the waters edge, preventing a direct advance.
Without skirting the perimeter , the heroes instead opted to rely on Rex’s fire breath to burn through the wall. Approaching the newly cleared water’s edge, Peter turned over a canoe and discovered the partially submerged corpse of a child with only its hand exposed. Ignoring the body or its implications entirely, Peter and Rex pushed the canoe out and made their way towards the lodge. Although about half way across the swamp they realized neither had any real knowledge of how to steer a canoe and with so many logs obstructing their path that it would be easier to swim. Crawling out of the stinking swamp the two warlocks found an elderly reckneck man that appeared to be sleeping with a hat down over his face. Dismissing his unresponsiveness, the two casually strolled through the front door.
Entering the house they instantly realized something was wrong, as the back half of the house was missing and strewn down into the river. The only survivor of the McClaren clan was Neil who sat traumatized with a thousand mile stare in his chair, his other family members strewn around and stripped of flesh. Some drifting lifeless in the stagnant water amidst the floating debris that was once their family home. Ignoring Neil and his delusional ramblings, the two Warlocks made their way to the back end of the house and the only room that appeared to relatively undamaged and intact. Although before entering Rex became troubled by something in Neil’s ramblings and noticed he was armed with a shotgun. Even with his quicksilver speed, Rex was unable to make it to Neil before he discharged the gun into Peter; although his highly durable mega-damage armor easily cushioned the impact with the only damage being cosmetic. Pleading he be killed and wishing for his own death, Neil tried turned the gun on himself but before he could finish reloading Rex had disarmed him. Blabbering and mad, the heroes noted Neil was pleading for death from someone called “Rigilo” who he and his family had apparently raised like their own. Finally with their curiosity sparked, the heroes questioned the shaken man but could make little sense of his ramblings save that “Rigilo had gone for a swim” and that he would “be back soon.”
Speculating it was a giant eel or some sort of monster, the duo put off investigating the back of the building and instead dragged up some of the scattered chairs and awaited the creature’s return. Not long after, the Warlocks were horrified by the emergence of a gigantic monster eel that burst up from the water and lunged madly at Peter. Frozen in fear, the creature ripped the last of the Water Warlock’s armor and brown robes away like so much tissue paper, leaving the man shaken and mostly naked in the muddy corner of the moldy house. Moving with the quickness of a gecko, the Silver Salamandyr weaved its way up the wall to a prime position beyond the reach of the monster and began bombarding the slick creature with fire breath.
Collecting himself, Peter recollected himself and unleashed another crushing wall of ice, pinning the creature by its neck to the what remained of the wooden floor boards. Where moments ago it had been screeching and hurling crude abuse at the heroes for their trespass, the creature was now pinned; half in the water and half on land. Using this opportunity, rather than retreating Peter wove another hail storm in the swamp outside the house and bombarded it with shards of ice from the sky the size of basket balls. Furious, the beast struggled to escape inflicting massive damage to the already unsteady foundation of the lodge but could not tear itself free. Seeing his fireballs were not proving as effective as he would have likes, Rex reared up and began weaving a spell. Invoking the names of the Old Gods of fire and darkness, the Fire Warlock wrapped the Stench of Hades’ around the head of the monster causing it to lose its lunch; which appeared to be pieces of the McClaren clan, some alligators and a great deal of liquor.
Fearful for his life Peter fell back to the front of the house, noting that the old man on the front porch still had not moved from his rocker. While inside the eel begin shifting and taking the form of a massive five headed Hydra!
Unwilling to relent from his prime attack position, Rex continued to bombard the Hydra with blast after blast from his fiery breath while Peter once again called on the Gods of Ice and Snow to trap the creatures new heads under another colossal sheet of ice. However, as the battle continued the Hydra was able to mimic Rex’s fire breathe and melt away the first wall while only sustaining minimal damage from its attackers. Fearful they would not be able to escape for their lives if they lingered any longer, the Warlocks ran and dived into the swamp; swimming back to land and staggering back from the water’s edge as the monstrous 40 foot (12.1 m) long beast kicked and thrashed madly while wrenching from the stink.
Retreating as fast as they were able, the heroes jumped and slid over the sheet of ice still sitting atop the Melech. Its mocking snake-like chuckling ringing in the back of their ears as they dashed down the remote dirt road to the property with the speed that rivaled that of Olympic athletes.
Their map sloppy, wet and for the most part ruined, the heroes made their way back to Douzer as best they could utilizing Rex’s ability to sense fires to pinpoint the near-perpetual back-burning the city uses to keep the forest and marshland in check. After an almost comical encounter with an Eye Killer, a Rhino-Buffalo and their old friend the Melech, the duo arrive back in Douzor and rush Rex to a doctor to treat a torn muscle in his arm and stop the bleeding. Incredibly weakened from the blood loss, Rex dragged the severed head of the Melech into a doctor’s office but had no other means of paying him for his services and was turned away. Annoyed and feeling mischievous, the little silver lizard vanished from sight and began destroying the doctor’s office. Unable to determine the cause directly, stressed and bewildered the apathetic body fixer had assumed his uncaring attitude had resulted in attracting the ire of some foul entity. However, this was quickly dismissed when he discovered the small Silver Salamandyr attempting to steal his wallet. However, before he could retaliate the small silver troublemaker once more invoked the old gods of fire and darkness and cursed the man with a stench so foul that he was vomited over most of his office and was practically incapacitated. Believing his affliction was a permanent magical curse and a punishment for his apathy and cruelty, the doctor struggled for a few minutes before ultimately ending his own life with a revolver that he kept in his draw. His work done and quite happy with himself, Rex dragged the Melech’s severed head (and the Doctor’s wallet) back out of the office and much to the horror of the receptionist who was not in a position to see the tiny camouflaged lizard, back out into the street.
Now, with the doctor’s credit card in hand the heroes rushed Rex off to a mediocre hospital where he could be treated by a trained surgeon willing to look the other way in exchange for eliminating some of their competition in the private sector. Elsewhere, outside of the establishment Peter sat with the severed head of the Melech killing time until he was approached by a moderately attractive (although blatantly inexperienced) Necromancer who offered him an opportunity to “Suck her feet” in exchange for the head of the Melech. After a surprisingly long period of indecision and introspection on the topic, Peter turned down her offer explaining that it did not belong to him. Irate that she would be rejected by “a fat loser” she offered to buy the head for 8,000 credits. However, Peter still refused and started to think that Rex’s trophy must have some real value. Eventually, after nursing the wounds for a few hours, the lizard was treated with minor restorative magic (something to ease the pain).
Together, the two head out in search of a criminal enterprise that will buy the Melech’s head. After all, it had been a few hours, it had started to smell quite bad and would no doubt start to lose whatever value it may have had very soon. After a few unsuccessful stop-ins, the duo learned that Douzer was cracking down on its criminal enterprises and there were a number of people selling reduced stock in a rush to get out of town but not many people looking to buy.
However, in an unexpected attempt to impress a sales woman and drum up some information on the McClaren operation Peter revealed that he could produce over 2,000 bottles of high quality wine each day (easily) and told the woman to put the word out for anyone looking to start a business operation. Eventually after about four or five hours, the duo came upon an emporium that served as a front for an unaffiliated Black Market operation. After making it known they were looking to sell, they were taken out back to a room which turned out to be an interrogation chamber and then seized and restrained by two enforcers.
Instantly flying into an insane rage and spewing about how miserably his life was and how he could destroy the entire building with but a wave of his hand, Peter was difficult to manage. However, he was eventually settled by Rex who was rightfully fearful of their very dire situation. Moments after being advised to calm down by their handlers and complying, the duo were welcomed by their greeter who explained that she had heard Peter John was a very valuable man. Once again flying into a rage and saying he would sooner die than become a slave, Peter struggled against his handler but to little avail. Rex once again tried to calm Peter but the infuriated Water Warlock had cleverly deduced that the organization had intended to chain him up somewhere and use his special talents to further their criminal agenda.
However, once again if though some miracle or cosmic irony, the Fire Warlock (Rex) was able to calm the Water Warlock (Peter) and by cunningly kowtowing to the Greeter’s demands, shifted the course of the encounter from interrogation to negotiation.
By providing them with the information they requested in a polite and professional manner and making themselves appear to be more valuable as informants and expendable muscle than slaves, Rex was able to convince The Greeter and her unseen employer(s) that not only did they have valuable information regarding the trade and sale of bootleg liqueur in Douzor but they had personally witnessed the distillery — and it wasn’t a building or a secret location at all… but a great beast!
Intrigued by the prospect of a creature that could be farmed to produce a fine wine and seeing that they (at the very least Rex) knew how to conduct himself in the proper manner and “play ball”, the Greeter had her enforcers release the two men and even paid them 80,000 credits for the head of the Melech and the location of its body.
Finally, although captives of Douzor’s Black Market, having successfully piqued the interests of the Greeter and her unseen employer(s) behind a one-way mirror the duo had managed to secure their freedoms, at least for now…
Experience Points
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