Session #91: There's Something in the Water

[Recap of a game I ran 8 October at the Vandal Gaming Con]

A pair of neophyte barbarians made their debut in Cothon-Gadeed, Promithius was initially interested in following up with a rumor that the Attine Klackons were looking for someone to investigate certain tunnels in their Spire, but after a need to follow up with an errand delayed him, he instead fell in with Eissa, who wanted to help the Was'go renyu with a different problem.

The renyu claimed that there was a monster dwelling in their watering hole, and were looking for someone to relieve them of its presence. Though baffled why they wouldn't just go to a different watering hole ("It's the only one that's really nearby," was the explanation), Promithius agreed to hire the Bulrathi bodyguard Kogus to assist in this. And so they were off, a pair of neophytes accompanied by the massive Kogus:

• Promithius (fighting-man 1)
  accompanied by Kogus the Bodyguard (Bulrathi 1)
• Eissa (fighting-woman 1)
  accompanied by Hasan ibn Hama (footman)
  guided by Rip, the renyu messenger

They went out by way of the stretch of beach beneath the Migdol of they Dyers and disappeared into the sea caves beyond. The company was gone for some time, and given their freshness, there certainly was questioning whether they would come back. Beast hunting can be a fatal occupation, after all!

After a while they did return, reporting no success but with a bit of an odd request. They wanted a hmelu and a dozen flasks of oil. With these now in their possession, they descended back into the caves. And in the end, the tetrad did indeed return, with Kogus carrying the head of a large haqel for his employer-at-the-moment. They were richer as well, with gold from the renyu (exactly where the renyu had come by dinars no one could quite tell).

With his share, Promithius declared that after a successful career as a beast hunter, he was going to retire. He paid a fair amount of his share of dinars for a decent shack in the harbor and nailed the haqel head up over the mantle, to show to curious guests. Perhaps he could be persuaded to be hired-on by other barbarian-adventurers in the future (as an "independent contractor" separate from hireling-list or Arwah al Safina?)

Paid off by Eissa, meanwhile, Hasan happily told of how they defeated the haqel, not by main force of arms, but by the cleverness of Promithius. For it was his plan, finally agreed on by the party, to stuff the hmelu with fused oil-flasks, primed and ready to explode, and to feed this explosive feast to the haqel for some serious indigestion. And by all the heroes and their luck, it worked just as Promithius had hoped! But it was a good thing Kogus was around, because otherwise Promithius would have surely drowned, as several cheshkeri arrived after to investigate the commotion, and charmed the poor fellow into the water. Only Kogus' great strength was able to fish Promithius out of the water, "While I, Hasan, fended the dreadful water-maidens away with my trust crossbow!"

The Lucre

• 90 dinars to Eissa; 66 dinars to Promithius
  10 dinars to Hasan; 33 dinars to Kogus
• a fearsome haqel head, claimed by Promithius

The Learning

• 324 xp for the haqel (300 +hp)
• 219 xp for 2 cheshkeri (100 +hp ea.)
• 200 xp ea. for investigating a new corner of the Ocean's Throat (including a Sakkra shrine)

The Cut

• 90 dinars to Eissa; 66 dinars to Promithius
  10 dinars to Hasan; 33 dinars to Kogus
• 471 xp to Eissa and Promithius
  236 xp to Kogus
• the fearsome haqel head