ACT 5 Final

Welcome to the continuing story of Three Storm Knights in the game of Torg Eternity, the backgrounds of the heroes can be found HERE, and the very first post in the Series can be found HERE. More information about the game can be found HERE.

ReCap:

Last week the Storm Knights did a bunch of exploration, including a massively successful psychometry roll from Sasha’s player. With all of the new information from this exercise and with Kimiko pointing out that the Dome had off-road vehicles and they could cut all of their travel times down drastically—the party decided to do more exploration before making the trip back to HQ.

So they have set out toward the massive mountain range at the north end of the island, wherein their resides a massive castle shaped like a cat. Arriving they are surprised to enter yet another pocket cosm, and are intrigued that the castle seems to use both advanced technology and magical components.

Entering the castle, they discover it was peopled by cat-folk and that a blind caretaker is still in residence.

Jaxor’s Tale:

Deferring to the blind man, the storm knights move to him on the upper level of the stairway and he leads them into a massive throne/control room before he tells them his tale.

The throne room has a chair in the center of the room and all of the walls look like they are covered in glass screens, there are also a bunch of “workstations” that the party can’t help but think look like computer terminals arrayed around the “throne.” To Kimiko and Sasha, it looks more like the bridge of a star ship or modern naval vessel.

Sasha: How many of you are there here?

Jaxor: Only me…

Disappointed grumble from the group as they wander around the room.

Jaxor: (continues) Awake. The rest slumber down below. This castle can… travel… and our world was under attack. Some of the royal line and a handful of guards managed to get below and we tried to flee. I was blinded in an explosion and I still managed to get us somewhere… safer. But we’ve been stuck here a long time… and without my sight… things are failing.

Kimiko: Were you fighting against lizards and cavemen?

Indeed, they were; the heroes then spend a while explaining to Jaxor the nature of the invading realities, the Cosms, and how they attack and consume realities until only they are left. They also explain that his reality never really “got away” and not existed as a pocket in the Living Land.

Help Thundara live again.

Jaxor: (crestfallen and defeated): If I could see I could cure my vision, but even with sight I fear my tribe is doomed. The king didn’t survive the explosions, his pod was compromised and I fear that the magic of this castle only responds to the blood of the royal family… and I fear that the cousins remaining have blood far too thin. You say we are trapped in this… Cosm… if my king were still alive this keep could open a portal and leave this reality behind, my race could find a new world.

Jaxor leans casually against a bank of computer components as the rest of the group has slowly spread around the room, lightly touching things and exploring the weird mix of high tech and medieval. An alcove in the back of the room houses the battle regalia of the king, including a massive clawed gauntlet and a long sword with an eye in the hilt.

As Jaxor finishes his tale, Kimiko responds; “The blood of the kings? Biometrically locked do you think?” This last question to Sasha. The Russian psychic shrugs a shoulder and then reaches out to touch the throne.

Tapping her psychometry, she reads the throne, and discovers that there is a strange mystical component to it, but it does indeed read the DNA of the royal lineage. She nods to Kimiko.

Sasha: Yes, the blood of the kings makes all of this work. This… throne… can actively run everything in castle, or unlock the terminals to allow others to do so. This technology is amazing.

Blood of the Kings:

Carlisle calls out from the alcove with the battle regalia; “Does this urn contain the ashes of the king and are these rusty spots on the armor his blood?”

Everyone moves to the alcove, even Jaxor, who moves smoothly if cautiously. Besides the weapons previously mentioned above battle-scarred armor rests on a T-stand and at its feet rests an urn.

Jaxor: Yes, those are the remains of the King, that was the best I could do in my blindness. While I could access the crypts below, my lack of time spent in there would hamper my movement. This was the best place for him.

Carlisle: No one is judging your devotion or actions.

While Carlisle makes the old blind man feel better, Kimiko and Sasha share a look and start making a plan.

Kimiko: If we take those remains back to the Dome…

Sasha: …they could clone a new king.

Medical Scanner:

Carlisle: Don’t need the ashes, just use the medical scanner.

The women look to the old man, Carlisle is the least tech savvy among them. He reaches into a pocket on his coat and pulls out the medical scanner that the group had found when they first entered the Domes. It creates drugs and makes first aid suggestions after scanning a person, but it also recorded the genetic pattern of every patient it treated.

Kimiko reaches for the device and Carlisle steps away, “I’m not so old I can’t figure this thing out. I am a combat medic.”

Carlisle scans the blood and remains in the urn and manages to get a complete genetic code. Just incase they need another code to compare and contrast, or fill in for corrupted data, Carlisle also scans Jaxor. His eyes widen as he looks at the read out on the small screen, he silently gestures to the women.

He taps the screen as they lean in; Jaxor is over three centuries old. On a whim, Carlisle decides to try and cure the catman’s blindness. [Roll of 54 which equals a 24 medicine check!] To establish FOREVER goodwill, the device cures Jaxor’s blindness.

Alliance:

With his vision cured and the possibility of having his King returned to life, Jaxor swears an oath to the storm knights. When asked why he didn’t wake up the sleepers below Jaxor tells the rest of his story.

First off, he didn’t know what the world outside was like and he was worried about using up the limited resources in the castle. He would have hated to wake everyone up only to have them starve to death together. Also, there are only a few dozen survivors down there, and most of them believed that hundreds of more had also been saved. He wanted to spare them the reality that many of the pods were destroyed in the fighting and so he is delaying their mourning. And finally, without the royal line they would be trapped where ever the castle now resided.

Now the storm knights were giving him hope. If they could return the king to life then it would be a miracle and he would be able to wake the survivors and get the castle up and running. While their world might be gone forever, they could still open a portal and move the castle to a new world.

The storm knights decide to leave immediately and head back to the dome, promising to return in a week or two (despite not knowing how long it would take to create a viable clone). As they leave the castle Jaxor activates what systems and defenses he does have access to.

They drive their electric SUV over the drawbridge and as they hit the other side the bridge retracts back toward the keep. The castle feels more alive behind them.

Back to the Dome:

The return trip is just as fast as the one out, covering a few miles of open grassland only takes a handful of minutes when you can floor it in an electric jeep. They scatter a herd of small dinosaurs and a handful of cavemen scream at them as they flash by.

The Dome welcomes them, Mal and Erik have gathered two families that wish to leave the domes for the HQ in Brooklyn. The storm knights put them off for another hour, and make a stop in to visit the Servitors.

The scientists are both intrigued and delighted to try and clone a new alien race (and add more DNA to their collection). After downloading the data from the handheld device and conferring the scientists guesstimate that it will take seven to ten days to grow the new king. Five days if they want a teenage king. All agree to push for the week.

Scene 5

With the recovery of the artifact, two members of Beta Team, and the discovery of yet another micro cosm; the party agrees they have more than enough to report on back at HQ. They decide to try and take another electric vehicle with them and find a large oversized pick up truck style ride. Three people on the bench seat and a dozen jammed into the back is a little dangerous, but every part of the living lands is a “little dangerous.”

Mapping their route, they have two bridges left to take into Brooklyn. They can take the original bridge they came in over, which is far to the south and in the middle of Blunt Territory, or they can take the more northern bridge on the East River.

They opt for the northern route as it also includes some ground with streets still and also, they want to stay away from the area they released Cyrus into. (If you haven’t read all of the posts, Cyrus is a psionic symbiotic lifeform that they released to kill the Edeinos. It is also psychotic and terrifies most of the Storm Knights. Read more HERE.)

Paranoia:

The travel to the bridge goes smoothly, almost too smoothly, with the back of the truck jammed with a family and a bunch of teens the storm knights are on edge. They stop the truck at the bridge and disembark, while not experts in tracking they can still read the signs on the ground before them.

The bridge itself has translated from a cable and steel construct into a massive stone and felled tree trunk affair that is still more than forty feet wide. The jungle all around the mouth of the bridge has been slashed back and the entire “street” area leading up to the bridge is also very clear. The mood and broken asphalt ground also clearly show the signs of many feet, including a herd of massive dinosaurs that have rested before this bridge.

Point blank it looks like an entire army unit was camped at this end of the bridge forming a blockade. Worse, as they look around, they find woven vine mats that formed screens on either side of the clear area. These cavemen and/or Edeinos had been hidden behind these screens in ambush on either side of the clear area.

This was a hell of an ambush, but where had it gone? Across the bridge to the other side or somewhere else? Also, the level of sophistication with the woven screens made it seem like this force was sent from Tusk, probably lead by Greymane. So, was it meant for them?

Crossing Anyway:

They cross the bridge and move into the jungles of Brooklyn; the level of oppression and dread seems to ease up. Almost as if Manhattan exists under a deeper pall of influence. Even the people in the back of the truck start to talk more and ease up in their tension.

Roads and buildings still exist on this side of the river, it will be at least weeks if not months before the influence of the Living Land reaches the same level as Manhattan (which was ground zero for the invasion).

Just as the storm knights fully feel relaxed a massive roar shakes the entire vehicle and a tree is felled across their path. Kimiko jams on the brakes and the truck comes to a halt as a 12-meter tall T-Rex steps out of the tree line and roars a challenge at them.

Drama (the players asked for it!)

[One of the players threw a cosm card and asked for an extra dino attack at the end of the night’s session and so we pushed on later than normal]

As the truck comes to a halt the T-Rex charges into the side of the truck and takes a bite at Texas who is in the back defending the refugees. The bite was a deadly chomp, but Texas is a storm knight and soaks the damage, changing reality to one in which he was missed. He smacks the T-Rex on the mouth with the butt of his gun.

Sasha stuck in the middle of the cab, uses her psychic powers to amp up everyones’ awareness, granting them the ability to defend themselves better. Carlisle leans out the passenger window and takes a shot at the dino, the bullet merely creases the dino’s flesh. Kimiko hits the gas and moves the truck away from the dino, she whips it into a circle running around the dino trying to confuse the T-Rex. [Kimiko rolls a 61 and drops a NEW Glory card!! That’s three so far!] Everyone, including the Ords in the back of the truck are excited and invigorated, they cheer.

The T-rex tries to take another bite on the unprotected people in the back of the truck, but it misses again. Sasha uses her telekinesis to strike the T-Rex in the back with a branch from a tree, distracted the T-Rex turned to look away from the truck.

Miracle Shot!

Carlisle has been sitting on the passenger side window the whole time, trying to aim his carbine as the truck swerves defensively. The old man is patient and how he stays in the truck, let alone manages to aim his rifle is a testament to experience and skill. He pulls the trigger and the bullet explodes from the barrel and smashes into a spot on the back of the T-Rex’s neck and up into the skull of the monster. A huge section of the dino’s skull erupts in blood and gore, but the small brain is not damaged enough. The beast roars and turns back on the truck.

Kimiko swerves into a skidding stop, turning the truck broadside to the T-Rex, she pulls out her bio-blaster in her left hand and rapid fires on the dino. But he has little affect as the creature lowers it head and rushes after the truck. Carlisle takes another shot over the roof of the cab and the bullet is merely deflected by what is left of the T-Rex’s skull. Sasha punches the dino with her telekinesis, Texas and Erik both open up with their guns from the bed of the truck and Kimiko goes full auto with her blaster.

The dozen papercuts open up bleeding tracks all across the dino and it collapses a mere meter away from slamming into the side of the truck. Kimiko pops out of the truck, as Carlisle slides back into the cab of the truck and tries to calm his heart.

Kimiko steps up to the T-Rex and drawing her electric katana she decapitates the creature with a practiced swing. The maneuver is starting to become her signature. From the back of the truck one of the young men is staring at her with adoration and awe.

End of ACT 5

Next week we start ACT 6 and the storm knights arrive back at HQ and get caught up on what’s going on with the Delphi Council and the rest of the world. Also we have the cloning of a King.