Colostle Season 2 Part 2: The Stairs to Bannervale

 Hi!

Here's the next five days worth of my Colostle campaign. 

Campaign Log Day 6

First thing the next morning, EM-RY5 sets off the short distance from his camp to the next cable car station. As he cautiously approaches, he sees a small figure huddling in the doorway. It is a young golem and after shrinking back in fear of his approach she is encouraged to speak after Liran, the heroes canine companion wags its tail and demands a fuss.

S1B-1L the Golem

She explains that her name is S1B-1L and she was created to be a companion to the local chiefs young daughter and the girl has ben captured by bandits and they are currently hanging around her village waiting for the chief to cough up a ransom. The bandits have also sabotaged the cable car station, tearing out several vital components.

Our hero agrees to help rescue the girl, mostly because the bandits are his foes, but also beneath the gruff exterior of weathered metal, is a good hearted being (the fact that there may be replacement components in the village to repair the cable car is also somewhat of a factor!). EM-RY5 instructs Liran to stay with S1B-1L while he goes to deal with the bandits. 

Liran the doggo

After climbing down the steep path leading to the village, the hero discerns a massive door in the wall of the roomland in which the village nestles in the shadow of and realises it is a doorway to an as yet unexplored roomland but it appears securely closed. Could this be the bandits real reason for kidnapping the chiefs daughter and if so why are they trying to get to another room?

Shrugging his shoulders and readying his mace, EM-RY5 enters the village and it appears abandoned but as he enters the village square he sees a Rook standing outside the chiefs house, obviously guarding something.

Unlike the previous encounter, this Rook is a wiry construction which wields a long copper rod which crackles with energy. 

The construct is surprisingly nimble and rushes our hero as soon as it sees him unleashing a bolt of lightning from its staff. EM-RY5 leaps out of the way but catches a glancing strike from the crackling energy. Bellowing in pain, he rushes forward swinging his heavy mace which catches the staff and sweeps it aside and before the Rook can react, he smashes it in the chest with a backhanded swing sending the construct flying back into a nearby building with a screech. 

The machine tries to lurch out of the rubble but before it can extricate itself, EM-RY5 is upon it and brings his mace down again and again on the things chest cracking and then caving in the heavy stone. The construct freezes as the glow from its eyes fades, the golem climbs down from his perch, limping as the damage he took from the initial blast makes itself felt.

The chief and the villagers appear soon after and are joyously reunited with their daughter as the hero rummages around in the rooks remains in search of parts to enact repairs on his damaged leg (I found a cortex in the salvage but instead of keeping it which would have given me a treasure, I decided that my resourceful hero would use it to repair his own fried circuitry).

Campaign Log Day 7

The the chief hears EM-RY5's story and shares his own, telling of a large group of bandits who sought access to the portal that his village lies next to. They were accompanied by several Rooks and didn't believe the chief's protestations that his people have no knowledge of how to open the door. The bandits left suddenly earlier in the morning but left the Rook to stand guard. 

Hiking back up to the cable car station, the hero, accompanied by the chief and his daughter as well as a group of villagers who carry the replacement components he needs to get the station running again sees S1B-1L and Liran running to meet the party. Overjoyed to be reunited with her friend, the two race around with Liran as work continues late into the afternoon and as evening draws in, EM-RY5 prepares to leave.

Before he departs he tells the two girls that his quest is dangerous and asks them to take care of Liran while he is away and clambers into the car as the small group of villagers wave on and wish him success.

Campaign Log Day 8

Not long after leaving the third station the next morning, EM-RY5 is suddenly jerked off his feet as a gargoyle seizes him up in its talons and soars up towards the ceiling. Furious that his quest is once again interrupted by the great stone menaces, the hero strikes at the gargoyle with his mace but it ignores him before dropping him off up in the rafters.

After some creative cursing, the hero looks about him. The rafters are shrouded in thick mist and the footing is treacherous as one false step and he will plunge back to the surface. Fortunately he seems to be on a path of some sort and follows it before a structure suddenly looms out of the mist. It appears to be an abandoned temple of some sort and EM-RY5 decides to explore it in hopes of finding a way back down to the surface that doesn't involve jumping.

The structure has obviously been abandoned for time untold, cobwebs and dust coat every surface but in the centre he finds a room bathed in pale blue light. The light seems to be emanating from a blue gemstone that pulses slowly and EM-RY5 carefully picks it up before stowing it in his pack. 

Further investigation reveals a staircase that winds round and round a massive pillar upon which the temple is built atop and sighing, EM-RY5 begins the long trek down to ground level.

When he eventually descends beneath the clouds the hero can see that he is entering a hidden valley which has a stream that burbles out from the pillars base. Following it, EM-RY5 finds himself emerging from the valley into a lightly wooded plain. Searching the surrounding landscape, he can see that a path has been trodden into the turf by massive stone feet. Could it be the bandits he's been tracking for some time now or just a random Rook? There is only one way to find out. EM-RY5 sets off into the gathering dusk to follow the trail.

Campaign Log Day 9

Emerging from the woods early the next morning, EM-RY5 begins to see signs of civilisation. As he crests a hill he sees a sprawling city that teems with life. While the tracks he has been following seems to skirt the city to the south, the hero realises that he needs to take the opportunity to visit the city and try to find answers to his many questions. 

Bannervale

While the guards at the gate look at him askance, he is allowed to enter the city and spend the day wandering its streets. It is far larger than his home of Granite Orchard but following perusing the Rookling Creche, Peering in the window of a house that is for sale and avoiding the Gourmet district, EM-RY5 happens across a dusty cartographers and spends some time speaking to the old man who sits behind the counter. While he doesn't know of the impossible tower the hero seeks, he is more than happy to pay in gold for a copy of EM-RY5's incomplete map of Lamporia.

With some coin now secured, EM-RY5 seeks out an in and as he settles in for the night at the bar, a robed figure approaches his table and sits without asking permission. He greets the golem as if he was expecting him and states he is from the Order of the White Tower, a society that seeks a way to live peacefully with the Rooks. He says he knows of his quest to find a weapon to protect his village and asks if EM-RY5 would be willing to aid him in a better way than destruction.

Mysterious Old Geezer

Somewhat grumpily, EM-RY5 states that all that matters to him is protecting his village and if it means killing Rooks, then so be it. Somewhat sadly, the elderly man takes his leave but as he rises, he pauses and tells the golem to beware the Black Tower. Somehow EM-RY5 knows he's going to meet the old coot again and he retreats to his room, mind whirling with unanswered questions. 

Campaign Log Day 10

Before leaving Bannervale, EM-RY5 visits the Hunters Guild. Maybe they've heard rumours of bandit attacks and unusual Rook Movements. The Guildmaster is unaware of the bandits but does say that he has heard from a village three days travel further downstairs whose inhabitants have all been dreaming of the same Rook. It hasn't appeared but they are desperate for a hunter to come and protect them from whatever impending doom they face. 

EM-RY5 accepts the job as maybe this mysterious Rook is the Black Tower that the old man mentioned the previous night. As he leaves the city, the hero wonders what the day will bring.

As he walks he approaches a broken landscape of massive ruined machinery, its purpose long forgotten. Obviously somehow connected with The Colossle, EM-RY5 picks his way through the scrap following what passes for the trail. The Rooks seem to have entered the scrapyard but the place is a literal maze so he plunges on.

Massive Rook - The Ogre of the Scrapyard

Suddenly a massive cog falls from above cutting off his retreat and in front of him the scrap stirs and shifts. From amongst the junk a massive rook shoulders its way free and blocks EM-RY5's path. Besides the rook a smaller figure appears, it is armoured but its wooden antlers and green hair marks it as a Dryad. 

Order of the Black Tower

The small figure gestures at EM-RY5 without saying a word and the massive Rook lumbers forward. 

As the Rook begins to move, the armoured figure raises her spear and fires a blast of green energy that crackles past the golems head before disappearing in the junk. Before he can make a move to follow, the Rook is upon EM-RY5, its club arching down and smashing the ground where the hero had been standing to rubble.

The beast then grabs a large piece of scrap in its other hand and hefts it at EM-RY5 who has to throw himself out of the way. The club swings down again but this time the hero is ready for it and nimbly scampers up the massive arm and onto its shoulder. Here he finds a reinforced wooden door that no doubt leads to the Rooks interior and without waiting for the construct to recover, EM-RY5 bashes the portal to kindling and dives in.

The Rook lumbers and shakes itself like a wet dog, trying to dislodge the golem but he hangs on grimly when a barbed spear suddenly telescopes out of the wall right next to him. Smashing the trap with a reflexive swing of his mace, EM-RY5 dives and rolls as more barbed spears emerge from walls, floors and ceiling but he somehow manages to avoid being impaled.

With a desperate twist, he avoids yet another of the Rooks automated defences and swings his mace in an arc that connects with the beasts cortex, shattering it like glass. The defences grind to a halt, mere inches from his face and the Rook stops moving. Somehow EM-RY5 has defeated the machine.

Scrambling out of the Rook, EM-RY5 surveys his surroundings. The ruined machinery has been reduced to so much scrap by the Rooks thrashings and the dark armoured figure has vanished. Who was she? How are they connected to the heroes quest? Are the Dwarven bandits their minions or a different faction entirely? Is this the Black Tower the old man warned him of or the Rook the villagers dreamed would bring destruction upon them?

As he scrambles down from the machine, his mind awhirl with unanswered questions a noise from the wreck makes him turn, weapon raised. A small Rookling floats out from the machine. It is ball shaped and doesn't appear threatening so EM-RY5 turns again, intent on getting to the village the Hunters Guild hired him to protect when something gently bumps into his elbow. Looking down, he frowns at the bobbing Rookling and sighs before gesturing for it to follow him. It makes small tooting and chirping noises before floating after him.

Whee! Things seem to be heating up a bit with the simple card based prompt system of Colostle being really engaging. Annoyingly I have realised that my mini deck of cards seems to be missing a few so I've invested in a new deck and the Colostle Roomlands expansion which hopefully will arrive soon.

Red Tribe Robot

While its not really wargaming and possibly doesn't really fit this blog, I am really enjoying the process and am wondering if it is possible to create an encounter table that would allow me to play out a similar sort of experience but set in my assorted sci-fi settings, either Inquisitor Fisher or my Rusty Robots.

Who knows! I've also been painting some cultist miniatures for my Planet 28 campaign but am once again finding myself distracted only three weeks into a new year, a year which I set myself some goals that seem to be getting forgotten about in a haze of RPG shenanigans!

I'll try and get back on track once I've got the next two sessions of Colostle out of the way which will hopefully complete the campaign, or at least get me to a point that I can take a break but it's proving to be such a compelling process that its hard to put down!

In the meantime, All the best!