The M-to-F Who Fell to Earth and Other Stories

Two beautiful and fucked-up things fall from the sky as the Great Train and the Brave New World recede along their respective vectors.

One is an enormous, brave, swashbuckling lass in a fur-trimmed silver dress whose plumbing would shame a cricket bat, who now describes a glittering arc through the mid-afternoon air, not plummeting so much as lazily sashaying to the waiting earth thanks to her enchanted loose-woman boots, the ones with the towering heels. The other is a much smaller woman held fast in her rescuer's tree-like arms, predictably pale and beautiful, but she wears it well, along with a stained, gauzy dress accessorized with rope burns and several shallow fresh scars on her shoulder blades and neck. "Fabulous" she says, her words slurry with Snake State narcotics.

Once landed, the two set to work on a means of conveyance. The smaller starts to conjure up a gleaming disk of force to ride on while the larger fashions a way to hook the Adamantine Chain that pulls the Gog-Magog line. This involves ripping a section of the iron track forcibly from the ground with her bare and manly hands.

As the magic disk solidifies trouble rears it's ugly head. Make that three. From a hundred yards up the track three figures can been seen ducking between the railroad ties heading towards them. Two Dragonborn and a Tiefling, survivors of the boarding party.

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Meanwhile...

Denham Betwixt finally heaves himself up onto the train's roof as the airship glides out of range. "Ms. Corday, are you alright?" he shouts.

"Aye".

"And the harpoons?"

"Safe and in working order. We used one to shoot the queer giantess at the airship. Flew up like a rocket, she did."

"Good, good. What about our people?". Ms. Corday doesn't respond.

At this point Denham notices the damage done to the formerly four Dwarven brothers. One is curiously faded, his skin like bundled fabric left too long in the sun. Two more have unevenly sunken chests, some of their innards made to vanish as if by a conjurer's trick. The surviving brother is singing; a long, low ululation traditional among Dwarves in mourning.

"Shit" says Denham Betwixt. He opens his wide mouth for a moment but no sounds come out. He stammers for a minute before pulling a string of words from his posterior. "Okay... I promise you... these men did not die in vain! We are going to get footage of whatever God or Monster lies dead in the heart of the Interior and premier it in their home. We'll project it on the walls of the Resounding Redoubt itself, a hundred feet high, for all their kin... and... and Lord Mondain himself. The greatest show on or underneath the earth!"

Ms. Corday nods, then looks at Denham expectantly. Mr. Betwixt is momentarily confused. "Oh, right... and we'll make sure they get a proper burial in the caverns of the homeland. Is it my imagination or is John the 2nd is looking a little... transparent? Anyway, we'll need a way of preserving the bodies. Hmmmm...."

Denham turns to Geppetto. Noting his wizard's implement he asks "Say, by any chance you wouldn't have a spell to keep 'em fresh?" Noting his horns he adds 'There's silver in it for you."

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Later...

In private in a now-empty forward car, Geppetto Jack Fagin's three partially-clockwork orphans make their report.

"We nicked it in he hubbub" says Ratchett, balancing a canvas-covered disk nearly a yard across on his ratchet hand. He gives it over to his master. Inside is the Cherubic Compass. The pinned cherub emits a faint choral sigh.

"But no worries. We replaced it with something the same size and weight that we nicked from the train station before we left! Just like you taught us". Dingus beams with pride.

"But if they do catch wise, I'll run you back to the Port on me back!" exclaims Bolt, stamping his steam-driven piston legs for emphasis.

A cluster of pipes on the wall belch steam, and then Dragonborn-accented common. The temperature in the car rises a few degrees. "Attention all passengers. Please take your seats, or find new ones if your original seats have ceased to exist. The train will be slowing as we approach Fae Point Station and the Shifting Village... wait, what was that... we should have started slowing down 10 minutes ago?! Don't tell me the timing disk's gone bad again! Crew, prepare for emergency stop!"

Mallus wrote:

Two beautiful and fucked-up things fall from the sky as the Great Train and the Brave New World recede along their respective vectors.

One is an enormous, brave, swashbuckling lass in a fur-trimmed silver dress whose plumbing would shame a cricket bat, who now describes a glittering arc through the mid-afternoon air, not plummeting so much as lazily sashaying to the waiting earth thanks to her enchanted loose-woman boots, the ones with the towering heels. The other is a much smaller woman held fast in her rescuer's tree-like arms, predictably pale and beautiful, but she wears it well, along with a stained, gauzy dress accessorized with rope burns and several shallow fresh scars on her shoulder blades and neck. "Fabulous" she says, her words slurry with Snake State narcotics.

Once landed, the two set to work on a means of conveyance. The smaller starts to conjure up a gleaming disk of force to ride on while the larger fashions a way to hook the Adamantine Chain that pulls the Gog-Magog line. This involves ripping a section of the iron track forcibly from the ground with her bare and manly hands.

As the magic disk solidifies trouble rears it's ugly head. Make that three. From a hundred yards up the track three figures can been seen ducking between the railroad ties heading towards them. Two Dragonborn and a Tiefling, survivors of the boarding party.

As Elizee finishes her magic work, Roxy cracks her knuckles and draws in a long revigorating breath. Keeping an eye on what they're up to, she continues fashioning their conveyance.

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Second Wind (two surges to send her HP up to 76)

Perception check: 21

The member 'gridley' has done the following action : Dice Roller

'd20' : 7

Vox casts a vaguely worried glance back along the tracks, squinting at the rapidly receding sight of Roxy and her burden. "She seems a capable sort," he decides eventually. "I'm sure they'll both be fine."

Mallus wrote:

Denham turns to Geppetto. Noting his wizard's implement he asks "Say, by any chance you wouldn't have a spell to keep 'em fresh?" Noting his horns he adds 'There's silver in it for you."

The Bureaucrat waves a hand, which he then releases apologetically. As Dexter scurries back up to its perch upon his shoulder, Vox addresses Denham. "I can preserve them," he says flatly. "No need to pay me for the service; it's my duty."

gridley wrote:

Second Wind (two surges to send her HP up to 76)

Perception check: 21

Roxy and the air-pirates catch sight of one another simultaneously. They switch from fearing pursuit from the train to hop-scotching towards your position, using the railroad ties as cover. They're half a minute away. The rescued magician looks up quickly then shakes her head. She won't finish before the pirates arrive.

OOC: Roxy can make out 1 Dragonborn warrior, one of the staff-wielders, and a Tielfing with a wand. let's. Let's say five minutes passes before you spot the grounded air-pirates, so spend the surges but keep you're Second Wind. This also means any until-the-end-of-the-encounter powers you had running stop. Oh, and roll initiative. The pirate are 300ft. away. Be aware the magic disk is almost complete...

Rolzup wrote:

As Dexter scurries back up to its perch upon his shoulder...

A look of revulsion quickly crosses Betwixt's face, followed closely by one of curiosity, and then what's unmistakeably "how can I profit from one of those?".

Quote :

"I can preserve them," he says flatly. "No need to pay me for the service; it's my duty."

"Bless you, sir!" says Denham Betwixt enthusiastically. "May you live to be a thousand! Wait, is that a short span for your kind? Do you actually die, umm, more? Either way no insult intended. Speaking of the risk of death, would any be interested in being immortalized in film? We're on an expedition to the depths of the Interior and I find myself short a few men... would you like to hire on?

Once back inside the train, Vox performs the ritual which will arrest decay in the corpses of Denham Betwixt's brave but terribly unlucky mercenary brothers. The lone survivor thanks the Bureaucracy man without a word, handing him a fat platinum coin and a worn pair of Dwarven dice, each face adorned with a musical note.

OOC:

Should we leave Artur out of the action on Friday --"He suffers from pretty bad flashbacks from Ze War... he'll be okay in a day or two."-- or does someone want to run him?

Mallus wrote:

"Bless you, sir!" says Denham Betwixt enthusiastically. "May you live to be a thousand! Wait, is that a shot span for your kind? Do you actually die, umm, more? Either way no insult intended. Speaking of the risk of death, would any be interested in being immortalized in film? We're on an expedition to the depths of the Interior and I find myself short a few men... would you like to hire on?

Vox actually considers it for a moment, his imagination caught by the idea of something involving more high adventure, less paperwork, and a slightly lower count of madmen...but then common sense reasserts itself, as he recalls Denham's errand.

"Alas, no. Duty calls, and the dead cry out for justice." He shrugs, "Not that they ever stop."

Mallus wrote:

Should we leave Artur out of the action on Friday --"He suffers from pretty bad flashbacks from Ze War... he'll be okay in a day or two."-- or does someone want to run him?

"Which war?"

"Oh, pretty much all of 'em. The Seven Day Sonnet, the Limericknacht, The Battle of Red-Flecked Quills, The Bloody Quatrains, the Metaphoric Hugger-Mugger, the Advance of the Angry Landlord...."

Unless Shil is up for the task, as he likely is, I'd just let him rest and recuperate.

Mallus wrote:

OOC:

Should we leave Artur out of the action on Friday --"He suffers from pretty bad flashbacks from Ze War... he'll be okay in a day or two."-- or does someone want to run him?

I can handle him, as John mentioned, but I think it's much better to leave him out for the moment. With four PCs we'll have more than enough stuff going on at the table anyway. And if you have encounters planned, it's really easy in 4e to just take out one PC's worth of opposition, so it should be easy to compensate.

Mallus wrote:

gridley wrote:

Second Wind (two surges to send her HP up to 76)

Perception check: 21

Roxy and the air-pirates catch sight of one another simultaneously. They switch from fearing pursuit from the train to hop-scotching towards your position, using the railroad ties as cover. They're half a minute away. The rescued magician looks up quickly then shakes her head. She won't finish before the pirates arrive.

OOC: Roxy can make out 1 Dragonborn warrior, one of the staff-wielders, and a Tielfing with a wand. let's. Let's say five minutes passes before you spot the grounded air-pirates, so spend the surges but keep you're Second Wind. This also means any until-the-end-of-the-encounter powers you had running stop. Oh, and roll initiative. The pirate are 300ft. away. Be aware the magic disk is almost complete...

Roxy spins her club above her head and screams, "I have defeated your boss and taken his mage as my own. He had flown away with his tail between his legs and you would do well to do the same!"

Init: 20

Intimidate: 18

The member 'gridley' has done the following action : Dice Roller

#1 'd20' : 15

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#2 'd20' : 3

shilsen wrote:

And if you have encounters planned, it's really easy in 4e to just take out one PC's worth of opposition, so it should be easy to compensate.

OOC: already done!

gridley wrote:

Intimidate: 18

The Tiefling and the Dragonborn staff-wielder both pause. Bellowing expletives, the Dragonborn warrior get them back on-task. As they approach Roxy can see they all sport injuries. The Tiefling looks the worst off.

OOC: they go on an 11. Will Roxy move up to meet them or hang back w/Elizee?

The member 'Mallus' has done the following action : Dice Roller

'd20' : 7

Rolzup wrote:

"Alas, no. Duty calls, and the dead cry out for justice." He shrugs, "Not that they ever stop."

"We are all haunted by the unseen" says Denham curtly. His assistant Ms. Corday flashes him a warm and supportive look.

A spent hour quickly passes for the car's occupants... OOC: you can talk more with Denham and his party if you like...... before the Conductor's ominous and somewhat confusing announcement concerning the 'emergency braking' booms out of the speaking tubes. You can hear an argument in Draconic for several seconds before someone realizes the mic is still on.

After a few minutes a Dragonborn man in the bulky, armored livery of a Conductor's Assistant enters your car. "We... we have a problem. The train is not... slowing down. There is a problem with one of the golem's timing disks. Normally we would just detach from the pull-car at the front of the train. However... the emergency grapple was damaged --well, removed from material existence-- by the airship's cannon fire. Without... ahem... a working grapple, we would not be able to hook the Adamantium Chain... and do you have any idea how many oxen it takes to pull the train?

There is another grapple at Snake Station, the end of the line. You are the only passengers scheduled to disembark at Fae Point. Would you mind terrible... jumping? We'll deploy the brakes for a few seconds. I daresay it looked like quite of few of the pirates survived leaping off."

"I don't mind" says Denham immediately. Ms. Corday can't help rolling her eyes. I only ask that we're allowed to get it on film". He then orders his people to redistribute and secure their gear "for dramatic disembarkation."

Betwixt looks lost in thought for a second. "Perhaps I should check the Compass? Are we too close..." he lets the sentence, spoken mainly to himself, trail off. As if on cue, Geppetto Jack Fagin walks into the car, trailed by his passel of mechanized youth.

Rolzup wrote:

The Seven Day Sonnet, the Limericknacht, The Battle of Red-Flecked Quills, The Bloody Quatrains, the Metaphoric Hugger-Mugger, the Advance of the Angry Landlord...."

OOC: nice!

Vox settles himself into his seat, produces a ball of string, and beings to play a truly intricate game of Cat's Cradle with Dexter. "Have you problems with the restless dead, Mr. Denham?" He shapes a fully rounded skull from the strands, collapses it, and spreads his fingers apart to reveal a fish. A twitch of Vox's fingers, and Dexter's thumb, sets the tail to wiggling.

"Have you filed a grievance? I have the forms, should you need them, and perhaps I can expedite matters a bit."

Mallus wrote:

There is another grapple at Snake Station, the end of the line. You are the only passengers scheduled to disembark at Fae Point. Would you mind terrible... jumping? We'll deploy the brakes for a few seconds. I daresay it looked like quite of few of the pirates survived leaping off."

"I don't mind" says Denham immediately. Ms. Corday can't help rolling her eyes. I only ask that we're allowed to get it on film". He then orders his people to redistribute and secure their gear "for dramatic disembarkation."

Betwixt looks lost in thought for a second. "Perhaps I should check the Compass? Are we too close..." he lets the sentence, spoken mainly to himself, trail off. As if on cue, Geppetto Jack Fagin walks into the car, trailed by his passel of mechanized youth.

"As long as there are shadows, I'll have no difficulties," Vox says briskly. "Now, what about you, sir? Can your...charges carry you to safety?"

Mallus wrote:

gridley wrote:

Intimidate: 18

The Tiefling and the Dragonborn staff-wielder both pause. Bellowing expletives, the Dragonborn warrior get them back on-task. As they approach Roxy can see they all sport injuries. The Tiefling looks the worst off.

OOC: they go on an 11. Will Roxy move up to meet them or hang back w/Elizee?

Yes, if Roxy's work with their conveyance is finished, she will charge at the baddies, screaming expletives about how she will destroy them.

Rolzup wrote:

"Have you problems with the restless dead, Mr. Denham?"

"No, no, nothing like that" says Betwixt absently. "These voices are alive. So terribly alive". His eyes take on a quality known in the Geographic Society as the Interior Look. It's like a '1000 yard stare' aimed inward at the contents of your own head.

gridley wrote:

Yes, if Roxy's work with their conveyance is finished, she will charge at the baddies, screaming expletives about how she will destroy them.

When Roxy gets within 50ft the Dragonborn and Tiefling open fire with their enchanted arms. When she closes inside 25, the Dragonborn breathes fire. Though the fiery bolt from the Tiefling's wand breaks her stride, knocking her backward a step, in mere seconds she's on top of the Dragonborn warrior.

OOC: Roxy takes 11 pts. lightning damage, 7 pts. fire damage + 5 ongoing fire, and 9 pts. cold damage.

The member 'Mallus' has done the following action : Dice Roller

#1 'd20' : 6, 13, 19

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#2 'd6' : 6, 1

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#3 'd8' : 1

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#4 'd6' : 5

Mallus wrote:

gridley wrote:

Yes, if Roxy's work with their conveyance is finished, she will charge at the baddies, screaming expletives about how she will destroy them.

When Roxy gets within 50ft the Dragonborn and Tiefling open fire with their enchanted arms. When she closes inside 25, the Dragonborn breathes fire. Though the fiery bolt from the Tiefling's wand breaks her stride, knocking her backward a step, in mere seconds she's on top of the Dragonborn warrior.

OOC: Roxy takes 11 pts. lightning damage, 7 pts. fire damage + 5 ongoing fire, and 9 pts. cold damage.

How close are they together? Can I get next to 2 or all 3?

gridley wrote:

How close are they together? Can I get next to 2 or all 3?

The Dragonborn warrior is out in front, moving to position himself between Roxy and his two companions, who are 10ft back, one on either side of the track, using railroad ties as cover. Now that's Roxy's closer, she can see they are all injured, the Tiefling fairly seriously (ie Bloodied).

Mallus wrote:

gridley wrote:

How close are they together? Can I get next to 2 or all 3?

The Dragonborn warrior is out in front, moving to position himself between Roxy and his two companions, who are 10ft back, one on either side of the track, using railroad ties as cover. Now that's Roxy's closer, she can see they are all injured, the Tiefling fairly seriously (ie Bloodied).

Roxy swings her maul into the wounded Dragonborn causing a literal crack of thunder upon collision, then runs towards the other two, leaping over their railroad tie, screaming that she will destroy them next.

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Thundering Strike (vs. AC): 31 for 13 points of thunder damage; target is dazed and deafened until end of next turn.

Saves against ongoing fire.

Move to striking range of the other two.

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AC: 24, Fort: 23, Ref: 17, Will: 21
HP: 51

The member 'gridley' has done the following action : Dice Roller

#1 'd20' : 16

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#2 'd6' : 1, 3