Bridge to Destruction – A Bridge Two Far. Part 3

Having hacked David Bowie zombie apart, fished Robble out of the sewers, looted the treasure chest that they found in the corner, and used some more oil to cremate all the ex-zombies, the party decided they needed to settle down and sleep for the night. After a long rest and some regained hit points, they heard noises from the sewer tunnels that led off from the chamber. Fearing more monsters, they were pleasantly surprised to encounter two lady adventurers who had been exploring the sewers: Tobi the elf druid, and Wifi the Half-orc Rogue. They were just through introducing themselves when there was a weird ripping sound and two lanky, blue, six-eyed humanoids pulled holes in the fabric of reality, and stepped into the chamber. Pöwër rolled high on his knowledge check, and correctly identified them as Gatables, highly paranoid beings from the outer planes that wander the worlds (see my next post for stats and some further background). The Gatables, automatically assuming that anybody in such a secluded spot was there to ambush them, attacked, but the fight only lasted one round before Pöwër charmed them with the awesomeness of his rock music.

There was some further negotiation with the now charmed Gatables, until they agreed to open a gate to where Serj Tankian's Beard was hidden. The Gatables explained that they wouldn't be able to open a gate back out again, but the party said they could get themselves out with no trouble. Thus, hands were shaken, and the Gatables sent the group on their way.

The gate delivered the party into a small chamber with a single metal door (which features lots of holes for some reason), vast piles of gold coins, and the most holy Beard floating in a glass case in the center. Angels could be heard singing and throwing the horns as Pöwër reverently threw the case aside and the party stood in awe.

Except Macbeth, who was kind of curious as to why he could hear the coins shifting ever so slightly. Turns out they were, in fact, small vicious flesh eating beetles that just happened to look like coins. As they took flight and began savaging Macbeth and Robble, Pöwër grabbed the Beard, and the whole party fled through the doors.

The hallway beyond stretched off out of sight around a bend, and featured beams of prismatic energy flashing across it in a complex sequence. Thus starts one of the most climactic scenes of the whole game, with the party fleeing down the hallway, chased by the horde beetle swarm, desperately trying to avoid being set on fire, poisoned, confused, slowed, or any of the other effects that the prismatic beams could deal out.

(an actual photo of the game, featuring the hallway, the party's meeples, Robble's character sheet, and the dog Robble's player made out of my kneedable eraser. Eraser Dog now has his own facebook page)

Tobi and Wifi got out nearly unscathed, but the boys had no such luck. Robble was overtaken by the beetles and slowly eaten alive, and Pöwër, Vincent and Macbeth constantly had to pull each other along as them got slowed or confused. The three, a mere 15 feet ahead of the beetles who were rapidly catching up, were down to less than 4 hit points each when they flung themselves through the door at the end of the prismatic corridor and Tobi and Wifi slammed it shut. The sound of thousands of horde beetles angrily but futility slamming against the door reverberated through the secluded forest valley they found themselves in as they collapsed and passed out.