Session 9:
Confronting the Roach Master
Topka, the newly minted Roach master is shouting at Sister Boulder about her betrayal. He seems to think she lied about a legend and therefore he wasted his life believing in a lie. However his head is completely covered with swarming cockroaches and he is clearly deranged so it is hard to feel any sympathy for him.
We fan out to prepare for the inevitable fight, Topka clearly rates his own abilities and has the roach sense of confidence, it seems unlikely he’s going to see the light and just stop what he’s doing.
The cockroaches swarm from under Sister Boulder to his defence. Ye Sing uses his stone gullet spell to seal away the leading wave of cockroaches below the rock but Topka melds his hands together in a parody of prayer. Ye Sing enjoys the sense of his hands feeling one another, it is fortunate that such a horrible thing happened to one already pretty imbalanced.
Gogrun pierces his Topka’s tough hide with his sword and once past the tough skin the master is flesh and bone within.
Yarold and Tahleela use the magical weapons the rock people gave them. Yarold delivers a tremendous blow and Topka’s roach mask is smashed revealing some of his face. It is possible in this moment that Topka was lifted out of his roach fantasy, maybe there was a moment when he recognised his madness but it was far too late.
Tahleela hits him with a curse from a crystal club that fossilises him from within. The weapon can only deliver one such curse but now is the moment!
Such is Topka’s power that he can resist the curse for far longer that most people but his movements start to stiffen. There is a certain irony in the Boulder Master being turned to stone.
Master Atta is in no mood to compromise and releases a death kick that liquefies Topka’s insides and raises the pressure inside his stone skin until his body springs high-pressure geysers of inner pulp and his skin collapses to the ground, empty.
It is a gory ending to the master’s story of corruption and the rules of the sanctuary have probably been broken definitively.
Healing time
With the master messily dispatched, the roaches flee in disarray. Master Atta finds a statue, under which their is a secret passage back into the stairs under the mountain. He replaces the statue so the passage is covered but it seems an inadequate protection against the dangers below.
Most of the group are in a pretty bad way at this point so we return to the precinct to try and find some healing or at least relaxation. Ye Sing also has his hands separated by the monks. The slice the skin apart, it isn’t a sophisticated operation but they do bandage up the wounds in a pair of protective bandage mittens.
Ye Sing and Tahleela get a scalp massage as they have run out of money and trade goods and have to rely on goodwill. The monks shave their heads, Ye Sing normally has a shaved head but no-one has had time for full personal ablutions since we entered the underworld so he enjoys getting cleaned up. The monk’s massage is extremely effective and the pair feel the tension leave them and their muscles loosen.
We forget to collect our hair for potential trade with the underworld, no wonder we live from hand to mouth!
Gogrun goes to the pools of reflection and meets the Deer master who looks like a rabbit and is sweating jelly. The master seems worried about Gogrun’s sudden appearance and makes a particular mention of Topeka’s recent death. As soon as they can they make their excuses and leave.
There is something clearly off about what is happening but Gogrun also needs some meditation to recover from the violence of the confrontation with Topka and the stone creatures. He notes to tell the others and decides to investigate further before they all leave.
Yarold visits a meditation class and after initially getting on the wrong foot with the monks gets stuck to a meditation pillow, whether mentally or literally, but goes with the flow and becomes one with the cushion and has an involuntary relaxing contemplation.
After getting back together we collectively decide that the fate of the missing Spider guardian seems important to the schools but also it matters whether they are dead (sad) or corrupted (quite bad).
Looking for the Spider
Making our way towards the mountain we meet the Spider master. They are staring towards Sister Boulder and ask some questions about Topka’s death. It would seem that perhaps the Spider master had some affection for the Boulder master or at least would have preferred for him to be talked out of his madness rather than juiced out of his own skin. There is nothing that can be done about that now.
She tells us where Ambassador Spider and their apprentice are, the Ambassador Spider requires a climb up a sheer cliff, easy for a spider but Ye Sing won’t be able to make it due to his hands
Ye Sing’s damaged hands mean he won’t be able to climb so that leaves us with the option of trying to find the Spider Apprentice via the stairs.
