All 5 players returned for the 2nd session of our Cha'alt campaign (season three)...
Hork the 1/2 orc warrior, Bandersnatch the blue-suede elf sorcerer, Thurberus the v'smm priest, Botsterdomus the droid priest, and Tinker the pixie-fairy thief.
I asked them to come up with a memory from their past due to their amnesia wearing off + inhibitors soon to be removed (but we'll get to that later). In a nutshell, here's what they either came up with on their own or rolled on the d6 table I provided. Regardless of the method, there was a good "pitch meeting" collective imagining vibe where everyone threw out suggestions and the best or most interesting ones became canon.
Hork allowed a woman who rejected her advances to be burned alive as a witch, despite his having evidence of her innocence.
Bandersnatch was in a band (as you'll remember, he's a bit of a bard, as well as, a sorcerer). He was lead guitarist for groups such as Clockwork Sex Gnomes, Epileptic Night Clowns, and Gay Demons On Zoth. His one-hit-wonder claim to fame would be the song "Kra'adumek Rising In My Pants." With his memory back, he longs for Matilda, his white flying-v guitar that he traded at the pawn shop in A'agrybah before getting picked-up by that slave ship, The Venturan.
Additionally, he discovered the ability to weave spells with his guitar playing and transported himself away from the tour bus seconds before a purple sandworm ate it and everyone else aboard, thanks to the purple priest assholes who rule Kra'adumek for the alien demon-worm.
Thurberus had a childhood memory... crawling out of a giant pool of blood. His parents, being members of a death cult, ritually suicided themselves, along with the rest of their kool-aid family. Young Thurberus was left all alone, raised by wandering nomads. Later, the priest made a pact with a demon lord to learn that Thurberus had a twin brother who he occassionally dreams about. While Thurberus is the dark twin, his brother is good and virtuous.
Botsterdomus had a memory of a child asking if he was ok, and the droid responding that he'd soon be dead due to exposure. Also, he was the general contractor for a sinister vizir who wanted a "death room." When it was finished, the vizir ordered Botsterdomus to seal the workers inside. Botsterdomus refused and was hunted, eventually sold into slavery and found himself aboard The Venturan.
The NPC woman, Sass, we determined, was one of the workers who Botsterdomus saved.
Last but not least, Tinker stole an artifact from a demon who occasionally inhabits his body, like when he's hedonistically enjoying a nice meal or murder. Nixor is the name of the demon inside of him.
Approaching orbital space, Captain Neevo invites the PCs into his private quarters for a little chat. Not knowing what to expect, the adventurers brace themselves. As it happens, Neevo wants them to carry out a little mission for the S.S. Motherfucker. Their ship is low on fuel and energy crystals on Cha'alt are extremely powerful and valuable.
The mission is easy - go into some caves and collect as many energy crystals as your storage cubes can hold. Then, return to the ship and collect 1,000 credits each. But first, the PCs need to get their inhibitors removed (Jay-Vax helps in that regard - he knows a shady cyber-surgeon who operates in the red silk district of Federation Occupied A'agrybah). And then, it's on to the Cha'alt Excursion Happy Fun-Time Shuttle Tour!
The cyber-surgeon Reznik's shop was a burned-out Radio Shack. It was a disgusting dive, but he had the tools and skills to pop those inhibitors off. Reznik owed one to the racoon humanoid Jay-vax, so it was "on the house." But Reznik told the PCs that if they needed anything else done, he'd be most receptive if they paid him in beta-maxxx 8-track cassette disks. The format almost exclusively carries porn, but it's a dead medium and so is extremely valuable.
Upon leaving, Bandersnatch wanted to check out that pawn shop where he remembered leaving Matilda. Turns out, his white flying-v was sold several months ago. If they somehow get it back, they'll call the blue-suede elf. In the meantime, they had another guitar - a hot pink Offender. Bandersnatch didn't have the funds, but told the pawn shop dude he'd give him double in a few hours if he let the sorcerer have it now. Dude agreed.
Trying to find the excursion place, the PCs ran into insurgents attacking the Federation embassy. One man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter as natives lobbed thermal detonators at Federation soldiers who were illegally detaining one of their own. The adventurers were caught between wanting to see some action and not wanting to get involved in another planet's troubles.
In the chaos, they snagged a few thermal detonators, blasters, and energy cells (important because visitors to Federation Occupied A'agrybah are not allowed high-tech weapons). The death priest Thurberus got a few converts before slitting throats, which somehow seals the deal for him and his, presumable, death god... I'll have to ask him about the spiritual hierarchy of his cult.
At the excursion shop, the PCs went through decontamination. The ones who'd spent significant time on Cha'alt previously were tattooed on the neck to let everyone know they were identified as "natives." They were also briefed on the planet, learning that the open desert which covers the vast majority of Cha'alt's surface is called S'kbah, which means "providence." Also, removing stuff like artifacts, zoth, crystals, etc. was punishable by fines up to 5k credits and 10 years on Cygnus-Beta.
The tour shuttle soon got to the Crimson Rock of Sacrifice and a sky-elf, Quorack, showed them where to enter the subterranean cave-system where they could find those precious energy crystals. While the rest of the tour learned about various details of the region, the PCs went in.
They encountered 2 humans who were of the Federation but not with the Federation. They were mercenaries sent in to locate some missing scientists. Long story short, these caves were populated by several demon cults working together under Tek-Tular the High Priest of Pain to antagonize everyone in the area. But no one had heard from them in almost a year. Believing there was a lot to learn, a team consisting of an archaeologist, anthropologist, and demonologist explored, but got lost. Hence, the mercs.
As the PCs listened in to the 3 mercs exploring, they lost contact. The communicators, Drane and Zeep, offered a stack of beta-maxxx 8-track cassette disks if they help out the rest of their team, and the adventuring party agreed.
They found a cave full of black marble statues of hideous demons along with a black marble obelisk containing the same number of dark-red jewels. The PCs decided to wait on that.
Soon, they made friends with a tribe of primitive sub-human cannibals who were busy cooking and eating a dead cultist. In the corner of this cave was a journal recording previous events. The PCs learned about an infernal-glyph that was the blessing of Kort'thalis, a method whereby Tek-Tular created a small army of mind-controlled cultists (the eyes of Thurberus have never been wider), and the cult's last endeavor, which was to summon a demon lord to possess an acolyte of the cult... but forgot to prepare a banishing glyph.
Moving on, the PCs encountered a flesh shrine of the splayed High Priest of Pain (a la that murdered guard in Silence of the Lambs), bits and pieces of Tek-Tular hanging down from sinew-string like Christmas ornaments. That included an intriguing demon idol fashioned out of rainbow obsidian. Touching it gave one a strong sensory impression of the High Priest being tortured by demons. Several PCs gave it a try. One went back to ask Tek-Tular his secret to creating those willing slaves - "The worms of Set." Basically, tiny wormlike creatures not native to Cha'alt but that originally came from an alien world. Think those little eels from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
The PCs explored a cave where a demonic priest with his eyes scooped-out sat upon a throne of corpses sewn together. Infernal-glyphs were carved into this dude's flesh. He told them his name was Cholak, the demon lord summoned by the cult which led to the whole thing coming unglued. This was his domain now. While I didn't really show his power, clearly by the looks of him, he meant business. But I'm going to add a short cut-scene which I neglected to describe during yesterday's session. Cholak invited one of his primitive servants closer to his corpse throne, turned his hand slightly, and with that carefree gesture, ripped the sub-human apart - gore splattering everywhere.
In any case, the PCs made a deal with this particular devil. Retrieve a scroll that could be identified by primordial-glyphs created by snake-men thousands of years ago, and found in an A'agrybah merchant's shop and the debt of not killing the PC intruders will be paid. Also, there would be something special in it for them. The pixie-fairy shook on the deal, a tiny infernal-glyph binding the deal appearing on his wrist. Nixon informed him that he had 3 days to complete the task or else be dragged down into Hell. Asking if Nixon could help him out, his "dark passenger" replied that he couldn't make any promises.
Then, they came to a "free-use priestess" of the demon cult who was stuck in semi-gelatinous slime. She'd already gone insane by this time, being down here for months without reprieve. After one of the primitives was finished with her, botsterdomus availed himself of the opportunity before the adventurers put her out of her misery.
Nearly last of all, they explored a cave that lit up like a giant eye. Thurberus used his v'smm mental communication to speak with it. The following is what he and all the PCs heard...
"You have journeyed a long way, but your death is near - so close I can already feel the vibrations in the membranous aether. However, it does not have to end like this. The potentiality of transdimensional instability cross-pollinates the variant timeline, manifesting a quantum meta-paradigm state. Which is to say... it's the multiverse, baby! Your suffering and eventual demise could be circumvented. Find Ura'az-Vethun and claim it - stimulate the ultra-telluric glyphs upon its thirsty blade with chartreuse ichor, blood of the Great Old Ones, zoth. Ura'az-Vethun shall protect you, and save that which is most important. Seek Ura'az-Vethun within the purple worm corpse."
Soon after, 6 demons ran up on the PCs from an adjacent cave. Besides Bandersnatch webbing those Federation soldiers outside the embassy, this was tonight's only combat. At the end of the first round, the PCs had destroyed them. The sorcerer's super-charged missile command doing the lion's share of the vanquishing.
Searching the cave where those demons came from, they found the missing mercenaries who'd been shanghaied by the demons. Although, there was no sign of the scientific researchers. Whatever happened to them? Time will tell, perhaps...
The PCs hopped back on the tour shuttle just as it was pulling away and reached Federation Occupied A'agrybah. That's where we ended the session. Yes, an action-packed 3.5 hours!
Lots of laughs were had, as well. From cyber-jungle fever to A'agry-go the Cha'alt version of uber-eats to "every death-cult needs a good salesman." And so many different directions the campaign can go, a few short-term, others long-term. The players seem to be settling-in to their characters. At the start of session three, the PCs will have reached 2nd level (I just prefer doing it at the start of a new session rather than the end).
Thanks for reading. Feel free to make a comment, ask questions, or whatever!
VS
p.s. Want the hardcover Cha'alt trilogy? here's how! Want to join the Kort'thalis mailing list to stay up-to-date on what's going on in the skinematic Vengerverse? This is it!! Last but not least, I'm organizing a based-as-fuck RPG convention in Madison, WI this July. Grab your weekend badge for VENGER CON IV: Post-Modern Apocalypse!!!
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