Session One Hundred and Sixty-Three (Graveyard of Empires Summary)
Session 163 August 9, 2017
Su-monster mash
As the teams square up against the last of the Su-Monsters, a ramping up rumbling is heard from the engines.
Edan and Caesar dash along the catwalk to read the dials and lights on a panel of the topmost engine. As the others fight for their lives, the two examine the engine and compare the controls against the schematic reliquary. Caesar confirms the noise is coming from within the engines as Edan determines the single lever before him will deactivate the damaged engines from cycling on. Before he yanks the lever, he checks for traps. At the same time, Nash is overwhelmed with fear then flees from fight by dropping down to the bottom deck. After the top engine is silenced, the two engines below cycle on and emit a burst of coruscating lights.
A wave flows through the hallways, leaving Amadeus, Edan, Sarrichino & Bellisente bent over wrenching up the contents of their stomachs. The last Su-Monster suffers the same allowing Chuq to sneak behind where his vorpal dagger eviscerates it dead.
On the mid deck, a Su-Monster confuses Laurent into inaction right before Axel paralyzes it with a punch from his venomed gauntlet. Thorfus quickly takes its head. Recovering quickly, Amadeus follows the fleeing Nash to the bottom deck into an empty closet with a closed hatch on its floor.
For Amadeus, Bellisente, Chuq, Edan, and Sarrichino something has opened up in their minds’ eyes. It is as if they have access to a new world beyond this world that they can use as a weapon. A weapon they will call psionics. Powers of the mind like those seen from this ships AI.
Spying a lonely Su-Monster lurking behind Edan’s web trap, the party collects on the top deck as the gravity switches and devises a plan. The plan goes off without any difficulty, the last Su-Monster is slain by a volley of arrows after the web was alit. The gravity switches back to normal shortly after. Chuq and Thorfus tackle the turn coat monkey autonatom. It is trussed into a sack for safe keeping.
Now that nothing is trying to kill them, the party examines the cloning room from without. They spy clones of Virgil, Finkelmur, Derich and the ancient human and Canis growing(?) in tanks flanking a central tank holding a monstrous mound of flesh dotted with many mouths and eyes. Its tendrils emerging out the top of its cylindrical tank, twining about into the other tanks and into the walls of the ship. Edan reminds us that the big tank should house the template for the other cloning tanks.
As Axel, Chuq and Thorfus enter the cloning chamber to examine closer, they are swarmed by clones of long standing members of the party and many of their former allies. Clones of Axel Rhomkul the dwarven swashbuckler, Xeno Tel adept Brice Hissell, hard drinking druid Cannis, Derich Khelbane the ancient human freedom fighter, former master of the Celestial Dragons Chuq Nourris, half-elvan academic turned field researcher Edan, undercover imperial inquisitor Ir’Alle, streetwise Ronan the “Smith” and denounced lord of dwarven clan Ironhand Thorfus, surround the three with murder in their eyes. Chuq correctly grabs the true Axel and Thorfus from the throng and shadow steps the three to the top rim of the large cylindrical tank. Noticing Edans’ furious gesticulations at the glowing gem fronting the gold band about the rim of the cylinder, Chuq pries it lose with his favorite vorpal dagger. As the gems clatters to the floor, the clones cease their attack.
Fortunately, Amadeus had cast a let’s be best friends spell at the Flesh God in the central tank. The two new friends mentally discussed how to save the three trapped by the clones. The Flesh God, calling himself Ziyad, wanted to help but the ship’s mind was in control of the clones via the gold circlet around the tank. Knowing the ships AI was likely a crystal like those find in the Xen Khel bridge autonatoms prompted Chuq to wrest the crystal from the tanks gold band. Once released from the AI’s influence, Ziyad could control the clones directly since they are his “children”.
We learn Ziyad was an ancient human rebel trapped in the ship cloning facility since the war. Grateful to be free from enthrallment, he laments the fate of this ‘children’. When it is explained we are champions for Prixalthalmus, he agrees to help, going so far as convincing two or his innocent children to sacrifice themselves so that Prixalthalmus can be resurrected. The centuries in the tank’s life rejuvenating water has warped his body into the oddity that he is today. The machine that was his jailor (we strongly suspect Xeno Tel) looked into the party to make our murderous dopplegangers as well as the faceless ones we found in the engine rooms.
At about 1:37am, with Ziyad’s blessing we herd all of the now docile clones down a deck and out into the jungle. Chuq is left recovering in one of the small tanks to heal his wounds. After a bit of discussion, the gruesome ritual to resurrect Prixalthalmus is commenced. One by one, clones are brought before her still body. Their veins slit open and their blood poured over her. Finally, the vials of dragon blood are poured over her body. Almost immediately her flesh writhes and is crawling with life. The alabaster skin, subtly at first then with acceleration, contours into scale like shapes. Darkening to a red hue, the scales and all of her suddenly grow in all directions. In a blink of an eye, with wings unfurled to full width, a lustrous red dragon sweeps away the scurrying people about her with her awesome presence. She faces Myerientaxiz, now an ancient bronze dragon. No doubt she will have questions…