We’re back
in the World of Tomorrow, baby! Can’t stop the science fantasying.
- Psamtek,
the psionic Grey pilot (Halfling 4)
- Keteus, the
dark prophet or something (Magic-User 4 with Space Age Sorcery spells)
- Ugazum, the
gladiator (Fighter 3)
- Phireus,
priest of the Mountain Mother (Cleric 4)
So, back in
Cryopolis (proud city of the five ziggurats, sixth under construction), the
party found a lot had changed in their absence.
Investigating
their storage container, they found that it was entered through a ventilation shaft,
by a clawed creature.
They found
a place to stable the Stegosaurus for a month.
They spent
some downtime identifying magic items: Ugazum’s ring-mail shirt (with electric
circuits) has actually bonded to his body, but at least it provides ample
protection and DOUBLE healing rate. The crystal tablets found in the dragon
cave have genetic sequences encoded on them, which can be fed into a machine to
cause targeted beneficial mutations.
 |
| More Moebius! Because OF COURSE. |
Next, they
went to the market to find replacement armor for Psamtek (we blamed the loss of
the previous armor on the draconic acid breath, but, turns out, it was lost in a
battle with skeletons – stop blaming the dragons for everything!!). Luckily,
the market had a shop with kids’ size flak jackets (which says a lot about the
state of this world). While getting Psamtek’s measurements, the armorer was
ready to engage in some light banter: rumor has it that Zalter made a pact with
the Black Sun Cult, and convinced the cultists to get rid of his rival, Ayesha.
Ugazum was
still in debt to Zalter, the zombiemancer crime-lord, so the party went over to
Zalter’s HQ at the north ziggurat. Only Ugazum and Psamtek were let in (and
only because Ugazum said Psamtek is his servant/weapon-bearer). They were led
to Zalter’s office to meet the big man himself. And he is big indeed, and not
just a man, but also a giant toad thing. Ugazum paid up the 100 sp. Zalter proved
to be quite well-informed, and kept asking weirdly pointed questions about
Ugazum’s recent exploits, where he is staying in town, and especially whether
he works for anybody in particular.
At Zalter’s
place, they saw one of Ayesha’s men – turned into a mindless zombie drone…
After
leaving, the party suspected that Zalter will surely have them followed.
So, instead
of going back to their storage/home, they went to a fancy hotel and got
themselves two rooms. On the rooftop terrace, they chatted with incense-trader Ipy
of the Purple Sea, who shared some tasty “Turkish delights” and more rumors. He
also shared info on the two main caravan routes (the North and the West). When
asked about any places with constant thick fog covering a caldera (this had
been shown to them in a vision, as the hiding place of the arch-enemy of the
god-computer ETERNAL 6000). Ipy ventured that this might be in the dangerous volcanic
mountains to the north-west.
Later, to
shake off any potential tails, the party used ropes to climb off this rooftop,
instead of exiting through the main door.
And they
went back to their storage container.
Here, a
mysterious figure was waiting for them: Rex, river barge captain, one of Ayesha’s
trusted men (see Session 3). Rex told them that most of the gang was captured
and imprisoned – they are likely to be sacrificed to the Black Sun during the
next great constellation. Ayesha evaded capture and is on the run. Earlier, she
had told Rex about an underground tunnel system under the city, and that in
case of shit going down, that would be the place for the gang to reconvene.
The party
agreed to go and explore these tunnels.
To be
continued!
