Mattiverse Next - Session 14

RACIN'

• Beldon races a dog. The group bets a bunch of money on it (250gp).
• They start the race whoopin' and hollerin'. A lady named Cattie approaches Beldon, curious about the newcomer, and chats him up. She seems very easy-going, and hangs out with three other ag hicks: Dwayne (a halfling the size of a dwarf, with ramrod-straight posture and a permanent, squint-eyed glare), Weasel Tom (a rotund, bearded fella who pluralizes every third word) and Dairy (a shy fella who laughs to jokes only he can hear but otherwise doesn't talk much until he's had a few).
• The race organizer starts by turning on a giant 120' anti-magic field from a black stone artifact in the middle of the track. Bobwhite's eyebrows go up so fast they shoot off his head.
• Beldon starts the first leg a bit slow, but kicks it up a notch to blow past the competition and get the W. With the 100gp purse for the winner and 3:1 odds from the bet, they come out a cool 600gp ahead.
• Beldon shoots straight after Cattie. Or, he tries, but goes in the wrong direction until Bobwhite can sort him out. They hang and drink and find they're a bunch of swell dudes.

Beginning the Hunt

• Hungover, the Boys pick themselves up and dust off. The ag hicks have already been up and gone. Heads pounding, they try to follow up some leads, spend some money, and get some work.
  • Bobwhite buys some red iron gear off the shelf: 40 arrows, and a dagger.
  • The rest head to Ghostwise town to see if they can get a job.
    • They talk around a bit. Word's already gotten around about the race: The Ghostwise think doing that to dogs is barbaric, but still respect Beldon for kicking some ag hicks down a notch with his dark horse victory. Bobwhite shows up just in time for them to be talking to a scruffy fella about running wine over the Swamp.
      • It delivers to Moiyra's Crossing for 100gp, 10 of which would go to the Boys for delivery.
      • Bobwhite seems skeptical that the ~12 day trip would be worth a couple hundred gp. They inquire about something they can do that's maybe... stupider.
      • The scruffy fella says that if they want stupid, there's always harvesting the Cryohydra, for which they can get 1000gp a head. He does caution that the emphasis there is on "stupid", though, because in a swamp full of incredibly dangerous monsters, the Cryohydra has legendarily occupied a slot near the top for longer than civilization has existed here.
      • The Boys are definitely stupid enough. They perk right up and ask for more detail.
      • The Ghostwise halfling tells them what he knows, and tells them that if they're foolish enough to go for it, they need to not, repeat, not kill the hydra. They would be pissing off every single power in the area if it happened.
      • This is now their goal. They grab some supplies and set off immediately.

Swamp Travels

• The first couple of days go without incident. This being the median zone between Lizardfolk and Orcs, it appears that the conflict has ironically made this particular area less generally wild.
• Some time in, though, they come across an incredible sight: One of the Dragon Turtles, dead. It bristles with arrows and javelins that, astoundingly, seem to not even be the cause of its death. The area has been devastated with blasts, and the turtle is drained of blood.
  • It's probably been here about two weeks.
  • They intellectually understand that this is a Big Deal™, but haven't really been around Wydmoor long enough for it to hit emotionally.
  • Bobwhite does a pretend-priest thing and performs funeral rites for the corpse.
  • They take a token from it to support telling the story later.
• Continuing the travels, they shortly find their first ambush: ORCS
  • They get a shouted warning to surrender, but naturally refuse.
  • The group is a smattering of axey bois, gangly spear crazies and heckin' beefy club-nuts. They're led by a trio with fancy tactics (a sneaky dart dervish, an inspirational speaker, and a monstrous plate-clad fella who keeps his identity behind a scary lizard-head helmet.
  • The orcs charge over open swamp, suffering some ranged hits but continuing regardless. Four gets surrounded, Banner gets less-surrounded, and Beldon jumps around on his cat.
  • Bobwhite jumps into a tree and picks off orcs one by one, until he's pushed out by a sphere of darkness from the Red Fang. He continues shooting from the ground after using an acid stream to keep one orc off.
  • Banner dodges and dances, but starts running out of steam pretty fast. Four soaks an incredible amount of damage, with Beldon keeping him up.
  • It looks bad for the boys, but a well-placed sleep spell starts turning the tide in the right direction. Immediately after, Bobwhite sticks a bolt through the plate-wearer's helmet.
    • It cracks open to reveal something the Boys aren't really in a position to appreciate yet, but will definitely puzzle over if they survive to do so.
  • Session ends here with the Red Fang and a few riffraff left to mop up.