November 5, 2016

It's Alive!

After Marduke Kurious helps Sir Gyles recover his memories, he warns the group that he sensed the interest of a demonic presence. If they find the Motley Crew unconscious or experiencing memory loss, they should wait until they are within Gelfini before reviving their friends. Waking them up outside the protection of the Bell of Warning could alert those demonic forces, opening a portal into the demon dimension.

With Sir Gyles' memories restored, the Motley Too know where to start the search for their companions. Marduke Kurious summons a giant sea turtle to carry the party to an island off the east coast of the Disputed Territory. Landing on the island, the group immediately feels as if something is holding them back, slowing down their movement.

Adarra senses an anger emanating from the island. Attuning her senses to commune with the island, she realizes the island is alive and not at all happy with their presence. Something alien landed on the island some time ago and has been repeatedly stabbing into it, draining the island's energy. In response, the island awoke to defend itself against this intruder, and the Motley Too is just another enemy as far as the island is concerned. The ground beneath them begins to shake. In the distance, they see a large mound of dirt and rocks rise up, two arms sprouting out of its body.

In order to speak with the island, Adarra must get closer to that mound.

As the group sets off, Kurtis' thief skills allow him to notice subtle markings indicating another trail. Splitting from the rest of the Motley Too, Kurtis heads off to follow this path. He navigates through many dangers including deadly traps, poisons, and tentacles attempting to pull him into swamp.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Motley Too slowly make their way directly towards the giant mud creature. The enraged island sends several things to attack them: trolls, giant crabs, small magma creatures, and even the trees. The group is able to fight them all off, but not without cost. The trolls nearly finish Jandove. Delphine's hawk Tala is knocked unconscious by a flock of seagulls. The Harper summons a cloudburst to douse the magma creatures, but the resulting steam burns the whole group. Sir Gyles gets crushed by a tree, electrocuted by Delphine, and finally dropped on the ground by Adarra.

Eventually, they manage to reach the mound. Kurtis spots his companions and waves to them from a nearby hill. Adarra positions herself next to the mound and once again attempts to commune with the island. The rest of the party do their best to defend her from the various creatures the island has summoned in addition to the mound's trunk-like arms.

Delphine uses a wand to summon an ice storm and slow down the trees. Kurtis, too far to do anything, decides to collect flowers from a killer tree. Each one contains a poison that might prove useful to the thief in the future.

Wileu is knocked unconscious by the mound before Adarra's spell takes effect. When the druid does communicate with the island, it tells her to "Go to the human place." That could only mean the ruins.

He's So Vain

Getting to the ruins is much easier as the island has stopped fighting them. Once there, they are greeted by a horrific sight. The members of the Motley Crew are strapped unconscious to the walls, tubes filled with some kind of black liquid protruding from their bodies. Vain is standing in the middle of the room doing nothing.

Unsure what to do, Kurtis takes the initiative and cuts one of the tubes coming from Malouf. Black liquid oozes out. The island shudders as if in relief. Delphine feels as if a demon has suddenly become aware of them and is turning its eye in their direction. She warns them not to cut anymore tubes.

Before they can discuss other options, a figure rises from the ocean behind them. It looks like a man, but his skin is blue and he is dressed in very strange garb. The armored suit has screws holding joints together. The face shield on his helmet is made of some kind of clear material. When he speaks, the sound comes out of grills on his chestplate.

Thule: I am Thule, Lord of Atlantis from the year 2100. I have come to claim the essence of these legendary heroes, the Motley Crew. Your admirable battle against the living island of Krakoa has prevented me from draining their power in their own time, but I am a Warlord of Time and I can take them even further back in time, before you destroyed Krakoa, and do it again.

Thule pushes a few buttons on his wrist and a floating pyramid with an eyeball appears in the sky above them. Thule, the pyramid, and the Motley crew all blink out of existence.

Just then, Marduke Kurious rides up on his sea turtle.

Marduke Kurious: Ho there! There is a silver lining to this, for I fear that if Thule had not acted, you would have awoken the Motley Crew and the demons would have detected them. I can send you back in time so that you can follow Thule. I sense that he has gone back a period of about 40 years. I can send you there, but I will not have the power to bring you back. For that, you must seek out the greatest wizard of that era, a wizard named Chumley. You will find him to the south, in the land that you now call Chumera. But first you must contend with Thule. Beware, for if he truly is from the year 2100 there is no telling what powers and technology he may have.

Sir Gyles: Do it.

Jandove: Wait! What?

He Probably Thinks This Adventure Is About Him

The next thing the Motley Too know, they are transported back 40 years. Instead of ruins, there is a fully intact stone tower. Kurtis and Delphine are on the top of the tower while the rest of the group have materialized on the ground around it. On the other side of the island, Thule is standing at the top of a similar tower with the unconscious Motley Crew.

Thule is surprised to see them. Tapping the controls on his wrist once again, he summons a flying metal object. It blasts Kurtis and Delphine with beams of destructive light.

Soldiers on the ground wearing armor similar to Thule's approach the tower. Pulling out what appear to be cylindrical tubes, the soldiers point them at the party members around the tower. Explosive projectiles fly out of the tubes, cutting up the ground around them. Already severely injured from fighting Krakoa, the Motley Too are in no shape to deal with Thule's futuristic weaponry. Wileu is killed. Sir Gyles is critically injured. The Harper tries to slow the soldiers down by casting darkness around them, but it seems to have no effect.

Using stealth and incredible skill, Jandove manages to pierce the faceplates of two soldiers with her arrows. The faceplates shatter and water leaks out of the helmets. Unexpectedly, the two soldiers begin to choke and gasp for air until they fall unconscious, seemingly dead.

Thule joins in the fight, using his jetpack to fly towards the Motley Too's tower. Jandove attempts to break his faceplate but her arrow is stopped by a forcefield surrounding the warlord.

Dodging the lasers from the flying drone, Kurtis and Delphine manage to set up a ballista on the tower. Taking aim, they fire at Thule. The missile takes his forcefield down, the impact throwing Thule to the ground.

Still in contact with the island Krakoa, Adarra commands an ent to crush Thule. Unfortunately, Thule is able to summon his pyramid and get away taking his men with him. Rushing to the other tower, the Too are disappointed to find it empty. Where are the Motley Crew?

Checking the tower, they notice more of those black tubes coming down through the ceiling, black goo dripping from the open ends that used to be connected to the members of the Crew. All of the tubes lead to a sarcophagus. Inside the sarcophagus is Vain! It would seem the very essence of the Motley Crew has been drained to create Vain and now there is nothing left of them.

Hopping lithely out of the sarcophagus, Vain immediately presents himself to Delphine, the only magick user in the group.

The enemy gone and their mission to find and retrieve the Motley Crew a failure, the Motley Too take stock of their situation. Adarra gathers the life essence of Krakoa and uses it to resurrect Wileu. By doing so, Adarra also makes it impossible for the island to awaken as it had been in their time period. Paradox!

Once the elf is stable, they will begin their journey to find this wizard Chumley and hope he can send them forward to their own time.

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