Sunday, August 26, 2012

Kevin gives a "Flying Fu*k"!

The group had finished the Permia adventure last Saturday & this Saturday needed something new. I will soon be moving north to Seattle so since this would be one of my last gaming days down here the players & I decide to run a one-off adventure using the "Abney-Park's Airship Pirate" rules by Cubicle 7. The setting is sort of a futuristic/post-apocalyptic Steam-punk society with most people locked in 3 cities controlled by a dictator & his henchmen. Air-pirates are sort of the Brown-coats, free wheeling adventurers & revolutionaries against the oppression & status quo. Abney Park is also a musical group that plays in the Steam-Punk genre - be sure to look them up on line. http://www.abneypark.com/ & the game at http://airshippirates.abneypark.com/

Since I expected this to be done in one evening I pregenerated some characters & the ship based on discussions with some of the players. The ship called "The Flying Fu*k", named by Kevin, is a flying Brothel-dirigible captained by Gideon Codswallup (Kevin) whose paramour is the chief Courtesan, an automaton "doll" named Rose Sexte-Neufe (Karen). The first mate is the mysterious Mr Gabriel Gale (Nate) & the ships sawbones is Aetherian Flug. The Ship's engineer is the aptly named Scotty McSwive & the bouncer is the terrifying neo-beduin Cougar Klamath tribe (John). A crew misfits & big-hearted prostitutes form the rest of the crew. The down on their luck brothel has been desperately trying to earn money to get the hell out of this podunk of an air-born village floating above modern day Crescent City. After a long night of smacking people around & "keeping order", Cougar wends his way to a local tavern for some drinking with some of his familial tribesmen. There the owner of the bar, a retired pirate by the name of Scabby Jack contacts Cougar with an offer to earn a great deal of money for the crew of the Flying F*** if they will help him recover his kidnapped son. Cougar returns to the ship & convinces the Captain & 1st Mate to speak to Scabby Jack. Upon getting to the bar, the Captain goes in to treat with Scabby Jack, but wears a glove while shaking hands because even though heavy coats of white makeup creatively applied to look like a skull are used to cover the scabs & pealing, it is obvious how Scabby Jack got his name. He describes a cruel, unhygienic hard-case woman by the name of Captain "Larry the Limp" Lasker who is holding him for ransom on a filthy barge somewhere up the Klamath River. Captain Gideon drives a hard bargain including ownership of the bar after Scabby retires. More money will be received if he brings both the boy & the ransom back. So with that incentive & a poor map off the crew goes up the mighty Klamath River basin. They easily find their way to the site & decide to reconnoiter by setting down farther down stream & out of sight of the barge.

Unfortunately the airship was spotted by Captain Lasker's crew & they wait in ambush expecting them to land at a nearby dirigible pylon. Luckily spotting the ambush Captain Gideon plans an ambush of his own. He will sneak up and prepare to snipe on the barge with a rifle, while Rose & Cougar take some chests up to make the exchange & attempt to capture the barge. Also they spot a small dirigible hidden in a cave near to the barge so meanwhile Mr Gale & Scratchy will attempt to steal the dirigible & thus strand any potential pursuers. All goes well & everyone is in position. Rose & Cougar approach the gangplank of the barge & talk their way up to see the boy & deliver the first chest. Then with typical pirate-subtlety the negotiations go slightly astray leaving bodies everywhere, Captain Lasker leaping overboard, & due to some fortunate shooting by the Captain, the boy is rescued. Mr Gale manages to steal the dirigible & sails to rescue his fellow crewmen just before vengeful ambushers from the pylon reach them.

Now that he has two ships to his "fleet" Captain Codswallup decides to appoint Mr Gale as Captain of the smaller one & style himself as "Commodore Codswallup". The only wrinkle appears that the "boy" is actually a dwarf that has been kept as a captive sex-slave by Scabby Jack & wants to not go back..... Choices here, after all Scabby is notoriously vindictive......

We called it an early evening since Nate had to go to work & will finish it up next time. Everyone seemed excited and had fun with this one-off & would like me to continue it "at least just a little bit longer"., LOL.

Permia Climax

What mad schedules, me getting ready to move north & all. It was an abbreviated & much delayed game. Nate who plays Arvarodd was unable to attend but was played in abstentia. So the end of Skolmr's quest to restore his family's reputation, his honor, & to create his magic flute started inauspiciously enough in a pit of decaying bodies. Through appeals to Odhinn & others Arvarodd's spirit is returned to his body, and his limbs healed. Siv also arises from the cesspit of death ready for vengeance. A tactical withdrawal is called for to a clearing a mile or or two from the town. The party spots a hideous flying beast that comes in from the east & lands on the tallest tower then seems to disappear. Over the following day a more detailed inspection reveals that winged scaled beast with multiple heads & tails unlike any dragon ever seen turns into an evil sorceress after landing on the tower. It will take more than two stones to kill this bird to rephrase an old adage.

After initial thought Perun decides to call the two giantesses that he has a crush on for aid. Then a plan is formulated by which they will pretend to to tie Arvarodd to a sacrificial post on a nearby hilltop figuring this will attract the beast to feed & when she does they will all jump her like fleas on a passing dog. But this is one bitch that won't play & she has no interest in Arvarodd. More consultations and they figure that just having a victim is not enough - The beast is attracted to pain, torture, and other fun things. Hmm this calls for the Romney-approach. So the party goes off to mug some passing small businessmen. They take some captives & start torturing them to death in various creative ways. (oh how quickly the veneer of civilization wears off). Once again Arvarodd pretends to be strapped to the post & the rest of the party & two giantesses hide in ambush. The beast comes to feast on the pain & suffering... The trap is sprung... huge boulders thrown by the giantesses while Arvarodd slightly annoys the beast by repeatedly bouncing his sword off of it's forehead. Eventually everyone pitches into close up combat trying to hack the beast down, only to realize it is regenerating!!! A wing is hacked off & tries to flutter back & re-attach. Fenja the giantess loses a leg, Arvarodd is bitten in two, then Menja loses an arm as she tries to rescue her sister. Finally the Gods truly favor Skolmr & with 4 mighty blows of his atgeir (halberd) he actually cuts off the head. Relief is brief as the body tries to re-assemble itself. A fire is built and the beast is burned hopefully to never rise again. Skolmr takes a wing-bone & fashions it into a large transverse flute. The townsfolk suddenly realizing that which made them rich & powerful is now gone, send an army forth to take revenge & the party flees before their wrath.

Since several of the players had to get home early we did a fast wrap up - Skolmr returns to his home farmstead, with the now-pregnant maid & finds that the fame of his deeds has restored the family reputation & his honor, besides strengthening the animosity of the old family foe. Mar has gone to Kiev & set up a forge to work the rest of his days. The short hairy & bearded person who hangs around his forge all the time is actually his dwarven-bride. Tyr, his wife, & the remaining apprentice are picked up by the rest of the party as they return to  Skaldby. Siv keeps a lock of Arvarodd's hair after they burn his body. She will search for the lost twins. Perun joins the folks of Skaldby for a while & receives word that Menja is pregnant with his child.

All seems quiet for a while........