[Actual Play] The World of Tomorrow, Session 3: Exploring Cryopolis

We continued our science fantasy game. Session 1 was a dungeon crawl, session 2 was a trek through the wilderness, so it is only fair for session 3 to concentrate upon hanging out in the big city!

The characters are:

Psamtek, the psionic Grey pilot (Halfling 3)

Keteus, the dark prophet or something (Magic-User 3 with Space Age Sorcery spells)

Soundtrack: "Nuits de Printemps Avec Abdou El Omari" by Abdou El Omari

At the end of the last session, they reached, via ferry, Cryopolis, the city of the five black ziggurats. Their entry point was at the docks near the southern ziggurat. So instantly they were plunged into the bustling cosmopolitan atmosphere of the harbor quarter. As this was just the beginning of the light phase, there were a lot of dock workers carrying stuff, loading barges, merchants disembarking, etc.

The other passengers of the ferry (the zombies and the school field trip) all headed north towards the center of the city.

Keteus and Psamtek decided to hang out here a bit, find a place to stay, pick up some rumors, maybe find a job to earn money.

The architecture of the area proved to be quite eclectic. The main feature, the black three-tiered ziggurat, had clearly been built during an earlier period and was now covered with newer buildings: shacks, towers… So the levels of the ziggurat became like city streets. The river partially flows under the ziggurat.

Moebius... Why, what did you expect?

They headed towards the local watering hole, the Atomic Kitten tavern. Which is a two-storey metal building: Psamtek identified it as the repurposed habitation module of an ancient generation ship.

The Atomic Kitten at this time was rather underpopulated, as most of its patrons were busy at the docks. So Keteus and Psamtek ordered some drinks (Keteus can drink through his mouth, Psamtek has suckers on their fingers to suck up liquids from a sponge).

They chatted with the bartender and expressed a wish to get some sort of a job. The bartender took them up to the second floor to introduce them to his boss. He knocked at an inconspicuous door.

Psamtek managed to overhear a door opening and closing in that room. However, once in the room, they couldn’t see any other exit, so they surmised that there must be a secret passage here somewhere.

They met AYISHA, an older lady with rust-red hair and creepy fangs. Turns out, she is the boss of the whole harbor area.

She offered Psamtek and Keteus to hire them for a job: go an explore a seaside cave and bring back any loot (for a share; Ayisha of course gets first picks). A barge will take them there, but they have to be careful, as the cave is only accessible during low tide. Otherwise, it’s sealed (but not completely flooded) by seawater.

Ayisha was also visibly interested in the black slime Keteus had collected in the dungeon, but the party wasn’t eager to hand it over to her just yet.

They accepted the job and agreed to start their journey at the beginning of the next light phase. They met Rex, the captain of the barge too.

In the remaining time before departure, they visited the bazaar area and wanted to buy a map of the region. However, none were available. Instead, they were offered descriptions of caravan routes. They didn’t have enough money or sufficient bartering goods, so left empty handed.

Here’s a list of things they learned from speaking with the bartender at the Atomic Kitten, the book seller and Rex:

• The central ziggurat is the main temple of the Black Sun Cult. South ziggurat: harbor area (controlled by Ayisha); and the bazaar closer to the center. West ziggurat: this is where the fighting pits are; and also a large factory of sorts. North ziggurat: the HQ of Zalter, the Zombie Master, who creates all the zombie slaves from corpses. East ziggurat: FORBIDDEN ZONE, overgrown and dangerous.
• Ayisha and Zalter are competitors. Ayisha doesn’t use zombies at all and believes that all zombies are ultimately secretly controlled by Zalter, who can even see and hear through his creations.
• Thunder Mountains: a mysterious place, not many travelers come from that direction. But it is rumored that the exalted high priest of the Black Sun Cult is from that area!
• Dinosaurs are good mounts, but quite pricey. They can be controlled via mind control devices attached to their heads.
• Four-armed people are common, and come in different hues. They hatch from eggs. Some of them are river-folks.
• Yes, you can get magic living tattoos (Rex claims that one of his tattoos provides protection against sharks). But you should stick to your tattoo artist. Because tattoos from competing artists can get into a conflict and even tear a person apart!

They also examined the building plan they found in session 1 and decided that it likely depicts one of the ziggurats. And it has a secret entrance marked on it! With a symbol, a cross in a circle.

 

After a rest at the Atomic Kitten’s “capsule hotel”, they embarked on their journey.

Rex’s barge first flowed downriver, then went out into the sea, but always sticking to the shores. They rowed west along the coast and soon arrived at large seaside cliff. They could already see part of the cave entrance. Closer to the anti-light phase, the water lever lowered, and the entrance became accessible.

Keteus and Psamtek were taken there on a boat and Rex promised to wait two full days (eight phases) for them to come back.

Keteus and Psamtek switched on their flashlights and set out to explore the cave.

A long water-smoothed passage, slightly slanting upwards, took them deep into the cliff.

From the passage, they stepped into a large chamber, too big for their lights to cover. It had a saltwater pond in the middle, and a rock bridge above it connecting the opposite walls of the chamber. And the bridge had a set of double gates on each side.

 

To be continued! Time for another dungeon crawling session!