MEGALOS EP. 28 - Lightning in a Battle

Games MEGALOS
1

LAST TIME

Had defeated the rear guard of the Imperials, including an Eldashi Blood Warrior.

(Auoy was not amused. Left the community because didn’t want to be ordered around, and here he is ordering her around from the grave. So she ritualistically removes his mask and dumps him into the Mist.)

NOW!

We prepare ourselves. Move on through the gateway the magi had blocked.

Portion of the temple far more intact than normal. Reminds of other guardian temples. Large circular chamber flowing with lowered floor, aetheric lightning.

Pillar of lightning … and two other figures, working with arcane machinery. One looks like a magus … the other …

The Custodian.

Weary banter. He summons power to his hammer.

Magus: “We’ve had an effect!” Somethign rises from the pool of lightning … and spears the magus through the chest.
Custodian: “What the hell?”
Aetheric energies from hammer drift into pool … lightning and ice combine to an unstable form, like a storm cloud.

Dragon’s form releases blast of energy at Custodian, knocking him away.

One of the dragons loosed from its bindings … which is a bad thing.

BATTLE!

Overload count going up to 6 (we lose).

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Need to defeating each of his three forms (Fulmi Unleashed, Unstable Core, Possessed Stormcaster)
Fulmi acts after each of us (all Fast Turns), then they get another, then anyone else.

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Turn 1

  • Xeric puts sick on the possessed Magus, plus a bunch of damage.
  • Stormcaster cleanses Sick, then drops Lingering Death on Seirus. Then Lightning Wave. Then Lightning Bolt at Xeric and Seirus.
  • Carabas drops Phantasm and Fog of War on Fulmi to Dave him.
  • Elemental Core moves to us. It will autoattack by exploding on us. Puts Regen on the Stormcaster. Lightning Spur in the Stormcaster’s zone.
  • Auoy conveys through Seirus, giving them Barrier, exit Stormcaster, doing them damage.
  • Fulmi Unleashed … Dazed, damaged, (exposed, afraid). Sprints to Carabas’ zone, then summons 3 lightning elementals (mooks)
  • Seirus - Astral Invocation, teleports to Stormcaster, whaps him. Every bad’un in the zone is Exposed. The Stormcaster is Injured! Basic strike. Big whap on Stormcaster.
  • Fulmi Unleashed … Lightning breath to the next zone.
  • Spur … no actions.
  • Lightning elementals attack … Auoy is hit. The others miss.
  • Elemetnal core blows up - Carabas takes some damage.
  • Seirus blows up. One of the elementals is killed and blows up, damaging Xeric. Spur is okay, but Auoy and Xeric are damaged.
  • Autoattacks – one elemental, and the elemental spur taken out. Carabas gets hit, as is Auoy.

Turn 2

  • Seirus AoEs the Stormcaster and the remaining Elemental - strong hit! Elemental taken down, and explods on Seirus. Strikes the Stormcaster, very sharply – and the Stormcaster does down. The Overload goes a bit down, but …
    … and the other two get free lightning bolts.
  • Elemental Core … umbral explosion to the next zone. Lightning bolts at Xeric and Carabas. Dashes back to Carabas. Lightning spur.
  • Carab
  • Elemental Core - cleanses exposed … umbral explosion … lightning bolt. at Carabas and Xeric. Overwhelming Force. Slides 1 and is Taunted by the Elemental Spur. Flees to the central zone.
    Auoy - Red Flash, everyone gets Barrier 2, Cleanse 1 (Seirus taunt!). Drain Blood on Fulmi (+ Grit), Toxic damage, gain Regen, spur badly damaged.
  • Fulmi - Dazed. Clears it off. Static damage in the zone. Lighthing bolt at Seirus and Auoy (injured!). Summons lightning elementals in next zone. Strike Seirus, ouch!
  • Xeric against Fulmi, teleporting in, big hit plus Wounded. Another hit Fulmi, big chunk. Also Sick. Teleports over and heals.
  • Fulmi - clears wounded. Lightning Bolt at Seirus and Xeric, hitting both. Lightning breath AoE at Seirus, misses.
  • Elementals - 1 attacks Carabas, others attack Seirus.
  • Autoattacks - take out Spur, Fulmi is injured, lightning elemental (explodes on Seirus), lightning elemental (explodes on Seirus). Fulmi autoattacks Seirus.
    Explosions!

Turn 3

  • Auoy heals self. Chirurgy, heals big chunk to Seirus. Damages Fulmi and pops the
  • Elemental Core - clears afraid. Teleports to Xeric. Becomes Dazed and damaged. Lightning Bolt Xeric, Seirus, Auoy. (Exposed by Xeric). Then Elemental Spur. then Regen to Fulmi.
  • Carabas Phantasmagoria taking down the last elemental and on Fulmi, then Haunts Fulmi (and exposes him). Loses all Fog of War.
  • Elemental Core clears Exposed, teleports and drops another Explosion. Lighting Bold Carabas, Xeric, Auoy. Lightning Spur. Overhelming Force on Carabas, but misses!
  • Xeric teleports in, is Set Up, Fulmi is Exposed, big hit (29). Destroys Fulmi! Attacks the Spur, destrohing it.
  • Elemental Core teleports to the middle zone, leaving an Explosion. Lightning Bolt Seirus to Xeric, but misses. Exploding Spark to summon elementals. Lightning Spur. Regen on self.
  • Seirus attacks minions. None killed, but are afraid. Astral Invocation vs. the Elemental Core, damage, all in zone Exposed. Heal and Barrier, and taunt 1 Minion.
  • Elemental Core gets rid of Exposed, goses to Xeric and Explosion. Lighting Bolt Xeric, Carabas, and Auoy, hitting all three. Spur. More Elementals. Overwhelming Force Seirus, taunting him to the Spur.
  • Elementals attack Seirus, all missing. Elementals attack Seirus, one hit, and on Carabas.
  • Autoattack - take down 1 Spur, 1 Elemental, 2 Elementals.
  • Explosions

Turn 4

… and people are hurting.

  • Auoy steps to the middle. Healing. Chalice, heal all. Red Flash gives all Barrier 2.
  • Elemental Core - Heal from Regen. Elemental Core teleports to middle, drop Explosion. Lightning Bold Seirus and Xeric. Add Elemental Spur to give self Regen.
  • Carabas. Phantasm and Fog of War - making him Afraid and Exposed.
  • Elemental Core - Dazed. Lightning misses. Elemental Spur. Strike Seirus.
  • Xeric - Serious Whomp on the Core. Injured! Darkside Release stuff, damage spurs. Wounded and Sick. Another big attack … nearly takes him down!
  • Elemental Core - Dazed. Gets rid of Wounded. Regen. Lighting misses. Spur. Attack Seirus, but miss.
  • Seirus - Astral Invocation, two hits. Exposed.
    DESTROYING THE CORE!

AFTER THE BATTLE

The lightning goes out …

… whisps of elemental aether flicker through us.

The other pokeballs begin to shudder. Muka and Foza (Fire and Air) appear from them,. They go over to the lightning core. They enter in … an odd-looking dragon of clouds and fire and lightning all combined rears up from it.

“Congratulations, Champions of Umbral … you have completed the challenges.”

We have aligned the newest terraforming project with currents of umber.

“Would you like us to recede the Mists …”

Montage …
The mists recede from Barry’s island … and all the shrouded lands. Below … a continent-sized island, remants of the tiny islands that have fallen into the mists over the millennia.

Barry’s island is less of an island, and more of a plateau.

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NEXT TIME

What does all of this mean to your character? Or to the people of Foothold?

What’s to be done with the lands below?

What happened to the Custodian?

Questions for … next time …

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As promised, questions for next time!

  • In light of the new continent receding from the mists, what does this mean for your character?
  • What does it mean for the people of Foothold? The adventurous will undoubtedly want to explore these new lands, but surely the Empire will not accept this defeat, especially with so many new resources to be claimed.
    • What about members of the Light of the Past Expedition? The Professor, Miss Pendleton, the Aarons? Maybe Kavo, if you’re being generous.
    • Will Barry and the Miners be up to no good or have you guys been able to affect a change in them?
  • What happened to the Custodian? Did Fulmi’s lightning kill him, or were they merely incapacitated?
  • What happened to elemental intelligences: Fulmi, Muka, Foza, and Kuma?
  • What about the two you didn’t find, the elemental dragons of water and earth?
  • Finally, what questions do you folks have about what happens next? I don’t know! Let’s figure it out together.

Finally, some specific questions, though you folks can fob these off one someone else if you desire:

  • James, what about the Atlantean partisans?
  • Margie, with the death of an Eldashi elder, what does this mean for Auoy?
  • Dave, has Carabas finally escaped his past? Or will his work for the Empire always haunt him?
  • Bill, what about Gwin?

Look forward to next time and capping off Megalos proper!

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My suggestion is basically hopeful: the Empire has bureaucracy, logistics, and all kinds of other organizational inertia. Independent wildcatters, on the other hand, can probably move right into the newly exposed lands and start developing. That would let them get established by the time the Empire can get its act together and project some force into the newly uncovered areas. It might also split the Empire, where individual commanders try to become independent warlords.

The Empire might figure out that the dragons are responsible for this, and try to threaten the temples or otherwise find a way to roll back the Mists and use this to menace independent settlers. Alternatively they might go after the other two dragons and see if their power can do it. Dealing with this is of course the job of a new generation of adventurers etc.

This means opportunities for the Expedition, as well as people like Barry. It means new natural resources, but probably also vast ruins, lost cities, and other fun stuff. It could also mean weird monsters that used to be native to the Mist and are now confused and annoyed by all these bipedal weirdos intruding on their turf.

In that case, Xeric would probably play bodyguard and protector to any wildcat settlers who try to make a new life down there. He’s got no more reason to go back to his old village - and they turned him away anyway. Instead, he wants to make it safe enough for people to create new villages like the one he remembers. If those people reject him too, well, he can turn drifter.

In the spirit of offering random NPCs at the start of the game, I’ll offer random outcomes for this one. Pick one you like, write a new one, or roll a die.

  1. Nostalgia. She goes back to the old village of Villa Lucis and reports the fall of Pyrocaster Azure and the Empire’s setbacks, and tells them they’re safe again. She had a hand in making that happen, and can feel proud about that.
  2. Independence. She goes back to freelance cloudrafting, hauling cargo for wildcat settlers and independents. If she hears about trouble, she’ll come back and ask Xeric and pals for help dealing with it.
  3. Homestead. She finds a place to settle down, and may or may not invite Xeric to visit and/or live there on woefully vague terms. Xeric would probably accept if asked, but will continue to be a little dense about whatever it is Gwin is putting down.
  4. Team-up. Realizing that she agrees with Xeric about protecting innocent civilians, she joins him in keeping settlers safe. She will still kick him in the head if he takes unwise risks, but he’ll show definite improvement.
  5. Organization. Realizing she kind of enjoys this whole aerial ass-kicking thing, she joins a group - a league of mercenaries, air pirates, or something like that - who will go up against the Empire and/or look out for the new lands. She’ll invite Xeric, who will happily come along in search of continued opportunities for assbeating.
  6. Business. She takes up a role in Foothold or elsewhere, parlaying her experience into running a small fleet of cargo cloudrafts.
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(I melded some of this together in the final episode notes)

In light of the new continent receding from the mists, what does this mean for your character?
… C had actually given thought to retiring to Foothold. Maybe even actually becoming part of the community there. Teach fencing lessons. Hang around the dockside tavern. Take out threats to the city if need be. Have the very bestest home for trick-or-treaters to visit.
Of course, he’d be bored out of his skull within a week or two.
But this opportunity … well, curiosity and cats and all that. If the company is good, he’s up for some more exploratory adventures down below.
That fencing studio will always be there when he’s actually ready to retire. (picture)

What does it mean for the people of Foothold? The adventurous will undoubtedly want to explore these new lands, but surely the Empire will not accept this defeat, especially with so many new resources to be claimed.
… the Empire seems to have its own problems (the Atlanteans not least among them). While I have no doubt there will be further shenanigans related to Foothold, if we use it as a home base, I’m sure it will be adequately protected.

What about members of the Light of the Past Expedition? The Professor, Miss Pendleton, the Aarons? Maybe Kavo, if you’re being generous.
… definitely wanting to know more about this new land. As far as C is concerned, letting them provide some direction to our wanderlust seems to have been working out fine. And if we manage to bring back some things that can help Foothold protect itself, all the better.

Will Barry and the Miners be up to no good or have you guys been able to affect a change in them?
… I think Barry will remain ethically challenged, but maybe a bit more benignly. He may need his nose thwapped a few time in the future, but I see him becoming more of an ally than a foe.

What happened to the Custodian? Did Fulmi’s lightning kill him, or were they merely incapacitated?
… Hard to keep a good villain down. I am sure he will show up again, but I suspect as much a threat to the Empire as its agent.

What happened to elemental intelligences: Fulmi, Muka, Foza, and Kuma?
… if a way can be found to harness them in a relatively safe but benign fashion, again, some great defenders for Foothold … or reserve in dealing with greater threats belowl.

What about the two you didn’t find, the elemental dragons of water and earth?
… Perhaps down below?

Finally, some specific questions, though you folks can fob these off one someone else if you desire:

Dave, has Carabas finally escaped his past? Or will his work for the Empire always haunt him?
… It will always be there, to prick his conscience or create a plot complication. But … he’s found people that seem willing to accept and even trust him, and he’s found ways to use his talents to actually protect others. That’s no small thing. And he struck a nice blow at the Empire, which further assuages his conscience.
He’s not going to be “red in the ledger” sort of compulsive like some others. He’s changed his course, he has people who put up with him, and vice-versa. Things are going in the right direction.

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