Game Session: 2/8/2012--A Naked Wolf

We begin this session with a triumphant, dramatic swan dive from Kain carrying our bubbling hobbit. A cloaked Sultrani has jumped from the back of the airship and proceeds to ground the lightning for us as we traverse the clouds together. We eventually come upon a golden platform, the strong scent of ozone permeating the air. Blind and deaf from the all-encompassing storm, we take a second to get our bearings and then Sultrani's paranoia perseveres and we leave the unknown area. As a storm elemental approaches, Sultrani uses her storm and water-based style to chase the magnetic current, sending us on an Arduin version of hell's rollercoaster and bypassing the horrible foe. We are gravitating to the center sphere, and it is very difficult to move. As Sultrani tries to lighten gravity and jump from the ariculum sphere, we hear a voice in our heads that says, “Mine.” We are then sucked into the sphere.

Twink and Kain immediately pass out, and Sultrani tries not to panic and slurps her tea shakily. Gravity is normal when we wake up, and a grassy plain rolls into the distance around us. There are many exits apparent, but when Sultrani tries to reach the nearest one, she is slammed back down. Her mile step leads her right back to where she started. Some very large, multicolored spiders drop from the sky. “We shall test you,” the disembodied voice announces. During the battle, Kain seems to have rotten luck, and Sultrani (in a cartwheel of blades and movement) saves his life from his own steel.

Kain, tired of the charade, decides to stab his sword into the sphere, burning his hand off in the process.

We all pass out from Mark doing his stabby trick. We wake up on a spongy, warm cloud, face to face with a reptilian, draconic-looking creature. He bears a staff of indeterminate wood with a crystal on the end, and looks at us with featureless, opaque eyes. Twink, ever the cheerful, friend-making sort, introduces herself. He, in turn, introduces himself as Machivell. After a conversation, Twink feels the inexplicable urge to stay there with him. Sultrani, after trying to talk her out of it and failing, knocks Twink's ass out and attempts to run. We wake up in the middle of the storm, and haven't yet made it to the sphere—it was all a dream. Goddammit, MOONNNTTYYYY!!! Silver serpents, called IO twirls, have wrapped around us and drained our life force slowly while making us dream by changing our perception.

Sultrani brilliantly decides to drop to a different atmosphere, hoping the change in pressure will cause the IO twirls to leave us the hell alone. We then decide to go up higher to get our bearing. We start to see some silk-like strands, and Sultrani starts walking on them. We pass a huge chunk of rock that has been ripped out of the ground, and as it passes, we see a doorway. Paranoia again wins out, so we don't mess with it. As we walk the strands, a pitch resonates down one, and Twink responds in kind. We follow the pitch to a spider sack with a fey residing inside. We have some interesting conversation with good ol' Ricardo Bob (we named him), but in the end he wasn't much help... probably due in part to Kain and Sultrani's distrust of the fey.

We reach the top of the storm and Sultrani's little pet storm elemental allows us to rest up above, where Kain and Twink get into an argument about the women he's slept with and when... and when he tells her it's none of her business, her little chubby face gets red with tiny but mighty anger and her jaw drops in shock. She turns her back and refuses to talk to him. We are taken to the nest of the Fifth Reaver the next morning.

Kain enters by himself, as Twink isn't talking to him and Sultrani believes in letting people handle their own quests. After he gets sucked in by a gravity well and valiantly pushes his way out, he gets to the junkhold of the nest. It has masses of stuff, so it'll take him forever to sort through it all. Twink finds some Iron Water and Magenta Earth. Kain, while trying to get the artifacts, sets off a trap. One of the Fifth Reaver's offspring emerges amongst lightning and thunder, and ferociously attacks our horny hero. Kain releases all the lightning he absorbed into his sword from the first trap, and the offspring explodes. In the backlash, Kain almost disintegrates—the Battle Soul herb Twink gave him earlier saved his life and kept re-incorporating him. Twink uses a tarot card to transport them to the square in Talismonde, where they quickly take him to the temple of the Silver Lady for healing. Twink invokes the name of Sotineln Moonwalker, a saint of the goddess. She prays so fervently that he comes to their aid, and she feels a hand on her shoulder. He comes to speak to them, and offers Kain healing for being the lady's supplicant. He bids Kain think about taking a stand for law and order, which the Lady stands for, and then gives him a year to think about it before his mark from her is taken. Then he sends Kain to his deity, Cerrunous, who is currently in his child phase, and then the saint distracts Twink by talking to her about organizing a bake sale.

Kain appears before Cerrunous, who is giggling up a storm and gambling with Puck. They invite Kain to take a seat and gamble to determine his fate, which he decides to accept. He chooses the game, fortunately, and decides to use military strategies in a giant game of civilizations. After taking out the child, Puck narrowly beats Kain.... and who knows what this will mean?

Kain wakes up the next morning to Twink pounding on his door. He is naked, sans fur, and without any marks of the gods. And if you look closely, you can see the blank space between his scars says, “You got owned.” Puck left one last parting gift—his wolf pelt, in silver (so he can't touch it.)

We head for Ho'Hanari to return the rods.