RB 3-15: The Mechadead Hydra

Mission Report

Monday, Jan 1, 2018 ((Aug 25, 2019))
Party: Lyndi Fletcher (Aslene), Jane Irwin (Cael), Proud Flame (Aunne), Cyrus Riggs (Sielic), Cadeos (DragoN), Haelra Vayn (Basil)

The team disabled the support systems and defeated the mechadead hydra. Then they worked together to break the secrecy enchantment on Rixa Galdan. Rixa told them what she knew of the Circus Divergia.

Battling the Risen Hydra

• Night on the shore of Lake Michigan
• Weather is cold and bleak
• Fallen, headless hydra covered in silver goo and clockwork injectors
• Rapidly changing and rising
  • Flesh knitted by ribbons of gray metal
  • Exoskeletal plating
  • New metal heads forming: 5 heads
• DM: > Jane realizes that the sound bomb disorienting Phobos would have also affected wolves, had she summoned them
• DM: > At least 1 hydra head is clear of the goop, dropped by the salamander when it was unsummoned
• DM: > Proud dashes forward to grab the sound bomb, but evades the electrical discharge it tries to zap him with
• DM: > The numerous fire effects have turned the local battlefield into half-melted mud
• DM: > Cy drops 4 grenades inside the anti-magic cylinder
• DM: > Spiritual Weapon shoves the goo spraying cylinder
• DM: > Lyndi shifts the sound bomb closer to the grenades, seizes the hydra head, and delivers it to Haelra
• DM: > Goo sprayer stops
• Max reports to Jane: The investigation team you organized has discovered that a front for the Brotherhood of the Shroud is marketing weaponized exotic animals. They just opened a dark web auction, with a live video stream of the battle. They're using the hydra as an example of the tech they're selling.
• DM: > Janes uses zoology
• DM: > Jane summons Giant Constrictor Snake
• DM: > Snake moves the goo sprayer still farther away
• Proud Flame: Proud, yelling up at Bron (because apparently he forgot about having an open mic) : Bron! Ac/DC, dirty deeds, as loud as you can!
• Max: > Reports that multiple cameras are in the area observing the battle
• Jane Irwin: "Someone cut that damn bitch out of the fucking network! Or can we not do that cause it's Farwatch that got hacked?"
• DM: > Cyrus' grenades damages the anti-magic apparatus, then his sword fully disables it
• DM: > H interposes herself into the necromantic ritual that's raising the hydra as mechadead. She takes some damage, causes some damage, and interferes with the ritual.
• Snake and Hydra fight
• Bron pour damage into the hydra
• DM: > Draco is using Haelra's interference to backtrack the necromancy ritual across distance
• DM: > Lyndi jumps on to the hydra and plants a sticky bomb, then slides off; a clockwork injector entangles itself in her hair
• DM: > H zaps the injector with Ray of Frost
• Jane casts Produce Flame to finish off the hydra

Aftermath of the Battle

• DM: > Hydra collapses into a pile of goo, metal, and flesh
• DM: > Bron unloads on the corpse, destroying the clockwork injectors in the process
• DM: > H sends Draco extra power (2nd level spell slot)
• DM: > Proud collects two of the remote cameras (which are long-transmitting remote cameras with satellite phone modems, designed as remote trail cams (among other uses))
• Cyrus Riggs: Through the chain, "B+ for Jane."
• DM: > L secures the hydra head
• Max: A TAG Team is a group of professional but mundane personnel specializing in security, battlefield medicine, and forensic science. A TAG Team is dispatched to control the site of an incident and collect evidence. TAG stands for Treat, Analyze, & Gather.
• DM: > L notifies Max that R3M is holding the site, and doesn't need a Farwatch response
• DM: > Rictus talks Cyrus and Bron through neutralizing the anti-magic cylinder and loading it into Bron
• DM: > Max and Proud backtrack the sat modems to a diverted Department of Interior shipment
• DM: > L approves appropriating the cams
• Lyndi 3.0: Later - Lyndi works with Max to find a legal or procedural reason why R3M could confiscate the camera.
• Max: > Tracing participation in the black market auction gives new leads to stopping the animal trafficking operation
• Proud Flame: *Proud will flag with Max the idea of getting the logs from the servers hosting the camera feeds to see who was watcihng them during the fight - at least by IP. And to trace that back to a location.
• DM: > Marco talks by phone with Jane, thanks her, asks permission to share her contact info with other people who might have problems that the powers that be are ignoring
• DM: > Cy collects 2 hydra claws
• Draco: > Collected and analyzed a lot, then returns, goes dormant in H
• DM: > Team travels via Bron
• DM: > TAG team moves into the battle site
• DM: > Straight to the Night Market

Saving Rixa

• Vince meets the team, tells them that they're within their rights to sever the alliance and charge Rixa under the RA Charter, but first hear her out
• Cadeos: Cadeos sits in the back of Bron, his black cloak hiding his torso down. He holds the Knife Lyndi gave him, flipping in in his hand. A scarred claw pokes out from the cloak fold and fingers the edge, his claw-tip tracing the jagged edge. His dark eyes narrow in recognition as a cold wing flips his cloak around.
• Jane Irwin: Jane follows Cyrus closely, face furrowed, and oddly, not in anger.
• DM: > Rixa is restrained and maybe drugged
• DM: > H perceives Rixa is restrained by magic
• Jane Irwin: Jane blinks, a bit startled.
• Vince: > explains that they were watching the battle, and it seems that Rixa planned to share secrets as soon as she witnessed the victory
• Rixa directs Jane to Rixa's purse, where there are directions and ingredients for breaking the secrecy enchantment
• Rixa drank a potion that forestalled the lethal effects of the enchantment
• Team starts breaking the enchantment
• Vince: > Watches with a worried expression
• Proud Flame will quietly draw a knife, cut the zip ties - and use one of his spare hand-wraps (clean, thankfully) to fold and put between Rixa's teeth to prevent further tongue-biting.
• DM: > H uses her long-term study of dark arcane arts
• DM: > J uses her understanding of paralytics and nature magic
• DM: > L uses her knowledge of poisons and spiritual effects
• Jane Irwin: "This shit his like the elephant tranqs. Hmm... Yeah, good idea Lyndi. Lemme hold the head, Haelra, you do the magic juju shit, since this is dark."
• DM: > Rixa's potion turned a heart attack + stroke into a full-body continuous seizure
• DM: > C helps P make Rixa comfortable, and keeps watch on the perimeter
• Jane Irwin: Stygi hops from Jane's shoulder to Rixa's and starts to chirp reassuringly, patting her hair and snuggling her.
• DM: > C tries to help Rixa continue breathing
• Haelra Vayn: Haelra keeps working, her normally sharp elvish movements becoming more fluttery with Flame helpfully guiding her
• Cadeos: Sometime in the process, Cadeos takes out the sweaty rags, leaves them in the cold wind outside, and brings them back, laying them on the hottest-looking Raptors
• Team breaks the enchantment
• Rixa shares what she knows about the Circus Divergia