Session 11: Imperium OG

Downtime: The Viceroy of Brightoni Emilio Vespucci (Patron Player) is surrounded by enemies. Lizardmen and "The Scalies" lurk in the marshes to the East. (Session 3) Apes and monkeys have been attacking travelers on the road (Session 2). Ogre sightings are becoming more frequent by adventurers, and most pressing problem is one of the patrols that was sent to explore the surrounding hexes has not returned. They were composed of 10 spearmen; lead by a competent level 1 fighter named Bruce Killis. A job is posted in the rumor and happening tab on the Discord server. It reads,

"Attention, adventurers! I am offering a sum of 1,000gp to the group of heroes that can investigate the lands surrounding Brightoni and kill whatever evils await there.

There will be a bonus reward for each of my men that is returned to me, namely my warrior and close friend Bruce Killis."

Gunther has been trying to figure out a way to quickly make some gold and gain status in order to form an expedition party. After Ludwig was resurrected as part of the pact Gunther made with the Train Devil (Session 6), he gave Gunther a map of the colony with a spot marked by a red X. Gunther believes this must lead to the riches he was also promised by the Train Devil.

Gunther sees the job posting and has Kaiser deliver a letter to the Viceroy's office expressing interest in helping him recover his men. He does not list any return address or way for the Viceroy to send a response. The Viceroy is interested in contracting the job out to Gunther, even though he hasn't registered with the Adventurers' Guild, who have recently struck a deal to construct a small Adventurers' Hall in town.

Viceroy Vespucci sends out one of his henchmen; a level 1 Thief named Vincenzo Pippino but everyone calls him "PEE-PEE". There was not a lot of information for Pee-Pee to go on except that this Gunther fellow is new to town. He has to be staying at one of the local inns and since there are only 4 around, it should not take more than a day. Pee-Pee finds that Gunther is located at "The Worn Boot," a real nasty place. A meeting is arranged between Pee-Pee, Gunther and Ludwig, and they agree on terms. The only problem is they need more men.

Now we go to our other villains, Little Jacob and The Bonz. They too have heard about the Viceroy's job posting. They have also seen Ludwig Kaiser walking around town after they buried him once he was ripped in twain by a carnivorous ape. The Bonz tails Ludwig and over hears him asking around for local adventurers. Other than the dark circles around his eyes and the vicious scar from where he was split, his mannerisms are somewhat off, he appears to be lacking the emotion he had posses when they last traveled together.

The Bonz tells Little Jacob and the whole situation is giving him the Heebie-Jeebies. Little Jacob casts speak with animal and tells his hawk to fly South down the road to where they buried Ludwig and tell Little Jacob what he finds. After 2 days the hawk returns and reports the grave has been dug up but the other grave of Ludwig's man-at-arms was still undisturbed.

Meanwhile, Ludwig has noticed his old companions. It is hard to lay low when you posses a dinosaur. He informs Gunther that they were strong allies that could help round off the party. Gunther writes a letter for the men and has Ludwig deliver it to them. The party agrees to meet with Gunther but runs into Pee-Pee before. (This is due to Gunther's Player having to work late) He tells them about the job offer and they accept so long as Pee-Pee will assist them. Pee-Pee agrees for 500 gold pieces and that he is not going to do anything that could potentially get him killed. Once the men are found and returned Pee-Pee will not be hanging around as a permanent henchman.

Player Characters:

The Bonz - Level 2 Human Cleric Chaotic Evil

Little Jacob - Level 2 Human Druid Neutral

Gunther "The Ring General" - Level 1 Human Fighter/Wrestler Lawful Evil

11/15/23 Little Jacob and The Bonz want to be prepared for the upcoming mission. They will need some men-at-arms to make sure they don't suffer a similar fate as the last party that went on patrol. They plan a trip to Paradiso and head out for the day with no encounters.

11/16/23 The party continues South to Paradiso. No encounters.

11/17/23 The party keeps on heading to Paradiso with no encounters.

11/18/23 The party arrives at Paradiso and spends the day hiring and equipping 13 men-at-arms. Mostly melee but some archers for range. They also buy some chickens in cages and rations to carry on the dinosaur. They also get a piece of jewelry I had given them a while ago identified. It is a wrought gold ring that appears to be 2 snakes coiled together.

11/19/23 The party heads out of Paradiso at the crack of dawn; taking the road North to Brightoni with no encounters.

11/20/23 While traveling North the party stumbles upon two ogres. Surprise is rolled and the party gets a 5 while the ogres only get a 2. This gives the party 3 segments of surprise, so I rule that the ogres are sitting by a fire talking about swamps. 1st segment archers fire arrows, Little Jacob casts entangle, and The Bonz throws a lit oil flask. The oil hits and so do a couple arrows, now its time for the 2nd segment of surprise. More arrows and another oil flask is thrown, and Little Jacob then casts fairy fire. 1 of the ogres slumps over dead like a green pin cushion, only 1 left to kill. 3rd surprise segment, the archers fire another volley of arrows and this time Little Jacob casts summon insects on the remaining ogre. Arrows rain down and a swarm of mosquitos swarm the ogre. This forces him to focus on the bugs. Initiative is rolled and the ogre wins. he swats away the mosquitos for his action. The party just charges the beast and make quick work of it. They search the bodies and find 15 gold on them and The Bonz wants the femurs of the ogres so spends some time removing and cleaning the bones. There are no more encounters for the rest of the day.

11/21/23 The Party arrives at Brightoni in the late afternoon. They go to the worn boot and meet up with Pee-Pee. Gunther and Ludwig are nowhere to be found so they decide to go out and attempt to find where the patrol got lost. It would be enough intel for them to get the 1,000 gold pieces and then they can split it 50/50. They decide to rest and get a head start in the morning.

11/22/23 The party takes the road South at the crack of dawn. They encounter a large pack of 17 wolves and no one is surprised. The party doesn't want to engage. The Bonz decides to give the wolves the ogre femurs as they retreat. It works and the party flees back to Brightoni. They short rest for 4 hours then head back out with no more encounters

11/23/23 The party heads off the road and into the jungle. They spend the day searching the hex and find a big ant hill full of giant ants. They leave the ants alone and camp on the edge of the hex for the night.

11/24/23 They spend the day searching the next hex on the patrol path. they do not have any encounters.

11/25/23 As the party searches the next hex they run into a group of 20 tribesmen. They all have small mushrooms growing on them, and take notice of Little Jacobs presence. Little Jacob makes a reaction roll and with his 30% reaction bonus he scores a 96. One of the tribesmen tries to communicate with Little Jacob but he doesn't speak common. The tribesman is forced to use hand gestures, signaling that he would like Little Jacob to fallow them. They fallow and are escorted to the outside of the overgrown ruins of an ancient savage city located in a valley. At the heart of the city is a giant mushroom shaped stone structure. It is covered with large vines and if seen from above would just blend into the jungle canopy.

Little Jacob is soon gestured to that he alone must come with the savages. Little Jacob trusts them and the rest of the party stays behind. He is brought to a modest stone hut with in the ruins, some what repaired. Inside is a very tall druid with a hunched back, beedi eyes, an unnerving smile, and mushrooms growing off his body. He is drinking some kind of mushroom tea and asks Little Jacob if he would like a sip. Little Jacob is experienced and is not down with that trippy shit. Little Jacob politely declines and asks the druid if he knows about the patrol that went missing.

The druid explains that the patrol wondered into their sacred city during the strange mist. They ambushed the patrol then after losing 4 men their leader surrendered. The men were taken captive then locked away inside the Temple of the Great Fungus as sustenance for its spawn. The druid and savages worship this fungus. They takes spores from the dungeon and embed them into their skin to become part of The Great Fungus. After some time the fungus grown in their bodies will spread to the brain, eventually allowing communication with the Great Fungus, and become part of its hive mind. The druid will permit Little Jacob and his party to enter the structure to retrieve the captives, but they must not disrupt the Great fungus.

Little Jacob says he must first give a report back in Brightoni then he will return to retrieve them. The druid accepts these terms and allows him safe passage out of the city; informing him Brightoni is 2 days East.

11/26/23 The party heads East and eventually enters the planation lands outside of Brightoni. They have no encounters.

11/27/23 The party arrives in Brightoni and have Pee-Pee report to the Viceroy for the reward for information regarding the patrol. Pee-Pee gives his report and returns to Little Jacob and The Bonz with 1,000 gold pieces. The party then finds Gunther and Kaiser at The Worn Boot, having a pint. They fill Gunther in on the details and Gunther suggests killing all the savages. Little Jacob says they will do no such thing. They will retrieve the men and leave them alone. Gunther does not like this approach, yet begrudgingly agrees. Its time to head back first thing in the morning.

11/28/23 The party heads West back to the ancient ruins of the Mushroom Tribe. As they stroll across the plantation orchards, they spot something very large in the distance. There appears to be 3 giant creatures all with 2 heads. They are uprooting trees and eating the unripe fruit from its branches. Standing not too far from the party are 50 men-at-arms. Little Jacob goes to speak with them. The men belong to the plantations guards. They are supposed to protect the fields but this is way above their pay grade. This is adventurer work! The party mulls over helping out, but decides the juice isn't worth the squeeze at current level. The party waits around with the guards till the ettin get their fill and wonder off to the Jungles North-West. The party travels till dark then camps.

While camping a large group of Pilgrims are spotted traveling across the orchards. The Bonz speaks with them. The Pilgrims just finished celebrating their holiest day of the year, Thanksgiving. The Bonz says they have to try this holy day called Christmas, but the pilgrims think it sounds too similar to Thanksgiving and do not want to confuse anybody. They then say they are looking for a spot to form a settlement in the area. The party takes note and then the Pilgrims dip. There are no more encounters.

11/29/23 The party arrives outside the ancient city. They are greeted by the savages and when they see Little Jacob, The savages fetch the mushroom druid. The druids speak shortly then the savages are ordered to escort the party to the Temple of The Great Fungus. They enter the dungeon and walk down some halls then come to a room. inside the description was cages so I'm like alright they are in here. I roll to see if any are infected by the mushroom. Bruce Killis and one other man-at-arms are infected. the party has Pee-Pee unlock the cages when danger rears its ugly head.

3 mushroom men walk out of another door. They do like like that the party is trying to free their prisoners. Surprise is rolled and no one is surprised. The party wins initiative. The Bonz casts hold person whilst Little Jacob throws an oil flask. The oil flask torches one of the mushroom men and the other 2 are held by The Bonz spell. Gunther and Ludwig execute the held mushroom men buy burning them with torches and oil. The party doesn't want to stay here any longer they free the rest of the men and leave the dungeon immediately.

They are escorted out of the ruins and camp for the night. The party is unsure what will happen to Bruce and his guy with the fungal infection, and they worry they too could become like the creatures they fought in the dungeon. Gunther still wants to slaughter the savages but Little Jacob reminds him about the earlier agreement. They go to bed with no encounters for the night.

11/30/23 The party is able to make it back to Brightoni around 9 pm. with no encounters. Pee-Pee and Bruce head to report to the Viceroy with the party and they are awarded 100 gold pieces for Bruce Killis and 260 gold pieces for the rest of the patrol members. The Viceroy then asks the party," What is the name of the adventuring party that saved my men?" The PCs discus and finally come up with an answer. Gunther Steps forward and says'" We are Imperium OG. Remember our name next time you are in need and we shall answer, for the right price."

Imperium OG sells their 1 room dungeon map for 100 gold pieces, then celebrates at The Worn Boot on a job well done. The Viagra Boys are playing their hit single, Sports, in the bar and the punks are loving it. Gunther informs The Bonz and Little Jacob about the map he was give by Ludwig. He wants to venture there to find it but the location is far away and will take a lot of resources and men. The party then talks about the monkeys and apes that have been plaguing the region. Maybe they could deal with them first.

Treasure and XP:

Wrought Gold Snake Ring - 1,200 Gold Pieces - 1,200 XP - Split 50/50

1,000 Gold Pieces for intel on missing Patrol - No XP - Split 50/50

15 Gold Pieces from Ogres - 15 XP - Split 50/50

2 Ogres - 276 XP - Split 50/50

Dungeon Map - 100 Gold - 100 XP Split 3 ways

360 Gold Pieces for saving Patrol Men and Bruce Killis - No XP

3 Mushroom Men - 77 XP - Split 3 Ways

Rankings:

Little Jacob - E - Did a lot of communicating and if he wasn't there the savages would of been hostile.

The Bonz - E - Hold person is pretty neat for an evil cleric.

Gunther "The Ring General" - E - He lead the party when he arrived and executed Mushroom Men.