fight all of the night

- Nyx Rex
- Ignatio Jamspoon
- Cyrus Wind
- J. D. Stackpoole
- Gorb
- 31773
- Hrœkir
- Forkmurder
- Bhomi Otth

Inspiration: China, Warring States - Tang Dynasty. Dong Zhuo, Sima Yi, Lü Bu, Yellow Turbans, Wu Zetian.

The kind of nation where emperors and the very important men take many wives, all of whom are considered “secondary” to the main wife (for the emperor, she would be the empress). While remarrying after a husband’s death is allowed for most women, it is not for the widows of the emperor: no man could match him, after all. They would shave their heads and enter a nunnery. Their children know who their mother is, but treat all their stepmothers with the same sort of maternal respect. Marrying your stepmom is akin to incest, especially if you are talking about the emperor’s wives and sons.

–

"You know what makes a good bounty hunter? Being in two places at once."

-

Hamn was born in the far east nation of Infell on the Tian Xia continent. The empire has been ruled by its noble emperor, Heu Kanggai, known also as the Servitor of Divine Wings and also the Cor'Quessir ernath Tel'ther, for more than a thousand years now. This is unusual; most elves do not live that long, but the emperor (long may he reign) is powerful. He has access to many things his people know nothing about, and so far as they are concerned, if the Servitor were not favored by the gods, he would be dethroned by upstarts and rebel forces. That he remains on the throne is proof of his worth and right.

While not strictly noble, the Otth family is of high standing and status; the family patriarch is grand vizier to the emperor. As both a wizard and vizier, Reyals Otth had certain expectations of people around him, the sort of expectations that stem from his great power and greed. His high standards would be met or like pawns on a chessboard, those who failed to rise to meet the bar would be removed from the board. Loyalty and ability were rewarded.

Which explains the political marriage given him by the emperor that brought his eldest, daughter Mobbi, into the picture. He was strict, but she developed a certain slyness and was a quick study at magical practices. Just like her father. Reyals was really quite proud. His wife, her mother, voiced some concern over Mobbi’s behaviors and was quickly quieted and chastised by her husband for the audacity. She began to be seen less in public after his disapproval became more apparent. Reyals then took another wife, this one of a more similar mindset to his own, and this woman soon became his favored concubine. Mobbi’s mother lived in a closed off wing of the manor in shame. Even her name became taboo to speak, and many pretend to have forgotten it out of fear of angering the vizier.

It was not long after that she died (under most mysterious circumstances), and Reyals and his new wife had a very short mourning period in the home. He also had Mobbi apply herself more fully to her books. Reyals began making pacts with a number of the more primal factions of Infell as well, these leading to several other political marriages of his own design.

Bhomi and Hamn-Rowe were born from one of those power grabs. Their mother was a powerful noble oread whose allegiance strengthened Reyals' position and the empire. Hamn was born first, claiming seven minutes over his identical twin. Mother was proud of their strong constitutions and athletic drive. As for their father, Reyals wanted the boys to be wizards and was himself distressed by their lack of intellectual drive. Forcing them to try to study led to them rough housing and wrestling with each other more than any real reading or study. Somehow even when they were placed in separate rooms, this still happened? Their defiance infuriated their father.

That said, the brothers did learn a little magic and while their father was vastly disappointed he had to be satisfied enough that they could use magic, even if their athleticism was winning out overall as their main interest. Disappointments to be sure, but still useful; bodyguards with built-in loyalties are meant to be quite impressive.

The twins took the chance to travel when it came. It was not serendipity; Officially, to show his loyalty, Reyals sent his sons away so that no armed person would stand between him and the emperor. In reality they were banished. They had killed a man who was harassing and thieving, and their father took the chance to legitimize it by forging a bounty for the guard they had taken out, posthumously-dated. Of course, this was still seen as a scandal and they were seen as acting on insider information. To appease the people, they were sent away to learn their trade. Now as bounty hunters, they could hone their athleticism and spell augmentation on the fly.

The pair traveled westward. Time on the ship crossing the ocean wasn't particularly interesting. They had a great time showing off and winning games of chance and tests of skill.

The arrival to the western shores marked the first big change for Hamn and his brother. For the first time in their entire lives, no one knew who they were. The name "Otth" meant nothing to anyone. Infell was (and is) so insular and so far away that Reyals had no notoriety.

They were without the unspoken limiter of their father's reputation. Free to explore their whims and fancies to the very fullest.

Almost immediately they got to work. It was actually easy and lucrative. Bodyguarding they knew, and in a distant untamed land — one near untouched by civilization — all travelers were in desperate need of protection. The only two permanent settlements were bursting with probability and folk willing to break ground and build from the ground up.

It took a year before the twins came up with the plan to set themselves up as bounty hunters. With the influx of settlements and villages cropping up, the need was great for someone to deal with roaming monsters. Opportunity abounded.

They were, as would be expected, working together seamlessly. The twins had always been close but now there was a perk to it. Two bounty hunters posing as one could take on twice as many jobs. It was fantastic fun. Gambling, fighting, hunting, brothels, gold — they had it all and in spades. The times were good, and so was their reputation.

The last day they would ever see or speak to each other was unremarkable. The sun rose like always. The people in Whyteville, the largest (and only) township, were the same as always.

They had planned to split up again. The idea was to reconnect in the north, where Hamn would be heading alone to start picking up jobs. Bhomi would stay in the south and take up a job from the Whyte brothers, the leaders and founders of the town. He had a lead on a good job, helping the younger brother out.

Two weeks passed. Hamn had heard of a village of monsters and outcasts north of the Dreadmire swamp and found it. It was exactly as had been described: an entire populace of orcs, hobgoblins, and goblins living in a tense but peaceful harmony. They feared humans and were deeply afraid of being pushed out, but being an oread, Hamn was very obviously not human. He fit in just fine.

After a week of enjoying himself (and the brothel), Hamn started south again. He and Bhomi had agreed to meet at the old druid ruins (which ....on a land uninhabited, felt strange). It was just a regular meet up, like they had done dozens of times before.

What Hamn walked into was a terrible scene. An enormous shambling mound was attacking a party of adventurers. Crumpled at its shambling base lay Bhomi, dead.

Hamn did not ask questions. Hamn simply moved. He began attacking the creature until it was dead. What followed was a harsh silence, broken by pounding rain and the breathless panting of a half dozen men trying to catch their breaths.

Hamn did not know what to feel. It did not feel real. He took Bhomi's naginata and spellbook and watched the mud slowly swallow his body.

This is how Hamn met up with what would become the Party of the Limbless King.

It was no surprise then that he traveled with the party in his state. They were an ecclectic bunch; Nyx Rex, a half-dragon lizardfolk fighter; Ignatius Jamspoon, a halfling rakshasa tiefling wizard; Gorb, a goblin rogue; Dr. J.D. Stackpoole, an orc necromancer; Cyrus Wind, an elf witch; and Cyrus' familiar, a badger named Justice. Also with them was a giant lizard mount given to Nyx by his father, allegedly.

It was a sober ride. In the back of their filthy ramshackle cart, Hamn began breaking down. Cyrus tried to comfort him. It was appreciated.

Hamn was able to direct them to the inhuman village. Now the reason they had come was because they had heard rumors of a local necromancer, Goonsash, and his house was on the outskirts of town. The established party stayed there awhile to see about getting a job in exchange for some time with that beautiful, terrible spellbook of his. Jamspoon and Stackpoole were sort of fangirling, which was an interesting sight to see.

For his part, Hamn spent the next week in a daze. Spent a lot of time at the brothels seeking physical comfort. Compartmentalizing. It really wasn't until meeting up with everyone again that he noticed how out of sorts Gorb the goblin was in town.

As it turned out, Gorb had a great reason to feel uneasy. He'd made a deal years ago with some local halfling fishermen who were bothered by his goblin tribe. He sold out his entire tribe and blew up their tugboat in exchange for a little coin. What he hadn't counted on was his brother surviving the ordeal. Brog recognized Gorb immediately and was quick to pull the town leadership together. A bounty was put out for Gorb, dead or alive, for crimes against goblinkind.

And bounties are what Hamn did best. He tried to convince the lil dude to surrender, even chatting him up in goblinspeak, thinking that they could break him out of jail easily. But Gorb chose to fight, and so Hamn fought back. Magic helped. Gorb was quickly blinded and apprehended, then unceremoniously dragged into the offices of the village leaders. From there, to jail, no passing go. And from jail to Stackpoole's morgue.

Brog broke into jail and killed his brother. Didn't stay around to face consequences of denying him a trial either, choosing to flee into the night instead. No bounty was placed for Brog; a "temporary insanity" was mentioned.

The rest of the team adapted. Nyx had come through the village before, and people were well aware of him thanks in part tp his faithful butler and caretaker, an ancient kobold named Snowball. Honestly Cyrus was the only member of the party whom the townsfolk did not immediately trust, but he solved that quickly by getting into a one-sided screaming argument with his badger. Taking this as his being crazy, the townsfolk all accepted and trusted Cyrus after his blow up. Someone who would not fit in regular society could make a home here. That was their hope. The new people, strange as they were, could only add to that base.

Goonsash offered the party a nice piece of real estate in town. It had once been the home of a reclusive wizard who had since moved on to larger, more well-fortified, less known pastures. The house itself belonged to no one, and everyone in town avoided it thinking that it was haunted. To make matters worse, the house wasn't in great shape and Goonsash readily admitted that he had already probed its less than safe basement for secrets.

But Jamspoon wanted that wizard's spells, and Nyx wanted a base of his own, so they asked for assistance in the matter. Shortly before they made their plans however, they met a strange girl wandering into town from the eastern trail. She was a fleshwarp sorcerer who simply must be described — while she was mostly human-shaped, no one could mistake her for one. Her skin was a pale blue and her purple pigtails framed a face as interesting as it was terrifying. The girl had three eyes; two of them were on the right side, with the second just where the eyebrow should be. It balanced her mouth, the left side of which opened near to her ear, akin to the kuchisake-onna. She had three arms and three legs, one of which was really more of a tentacle and the other insectoid.

She didn't remember her past. She remembered waking up and wandering away, being chased off by anyone who saw her too close. What Jamspoon noticed was the metal identification label stapled to her arm. It declared her Experiment No. 31773. Seeing this number upside down, she chose instead to call herself "Ellie."

So: The plan to take a base and gain residency was formed, with Ellie added into the mix. Her obvious connection to the wizard fascinated Jamspoon.

Going through the basement to the secret lab was interesting. After finding it, Jamspoon eagerly threw himself into tearing the place apart. He had an item in mind: a metallic orb, a third of a key, that Goonsash had not discovered.

While this was happening, Cyrus poked through the drain pipe on his own. He was quickly set upon by oozes. The next thing anyone knew, a strange fox was ripping its way out of the grates.

Yup. Cyrus was never an elf. He was a kitsune all along.

The last stage of clearing things out involved two secret rooms. The first was a small alter room, and the other an enormous room with a huge ritual summoning circle carved into the stone floor. This is where the giant owlbear ghost attacked. And then once sense was knocked back into it, the owlbear ghost begged Nyx to release him and the other trapped spirits by defeating the wizard in the inverted tower. Then it vanished, ready to be summoned again.

Now that they owned the house, things were fine for awhile. Plenty of bounties, plenty of people to befriend.

Nyx quickly set about scheduling meetings every Monday morning at 8am sharp. This is a very small detail to add, but Hamn would always stroll in at 7:59 out of respect for Nyx. These meetings were mostly to discuss what they still needed to do and where to head next, and how to pack and prepare for travel.

Until that is, during one morning meeting, when werecreature assassins broke in through all the windows. There was a lot of broken furniture and screaming hobgoblins, but the fight was won. The lead werebat revealed that it had ties to lizardfolk before dying, but only after biting and infecting Nyx. Quite honestly, Nyx liked it. More power and abilities could only be a benefit him. Snowball wept, but Snowball was also just like that.

Plans were laid to hunt down the lizardfolk responsible. Unfortunately, the exact location of their hideout was unknown. Many suspected that the druids in their own hidden habitat would know the way, but it was also deeply suspected that the druids were in league with the lizardfolk.

Then one Monday morning after another meeting, things took yet another turn.

Goonsash, the orc necromancer, confronted the party in the streets on their wsy out of the tavern. He accused them publicly of treachery and plotting against the welfare of the town. Cyrus rebuked this and in doing so, did reveal that he had met with a small group of humans who had traveled from Whyteville just outside the town limits.

Humans, who were never to be trusted according to the townsfolk. The betrayal of their safety was enough to kick things off.

Fighting a man and his undead zombie gardener minions in a crowded street sure is wild. Wilder still when he was so beloved by the whole town as their doctor... but this was a fight he started with an ambush, so we had to finish it.

After Goonsash died, Jamspoon sprinted to our base while sobbing as the rest of us dealt with the scene. He quickly forged both a marriage certificate and will and returned to lay claim to his beloved husband Goonsash.

Hamn helped. First, it was undeniable that they had only retaliated when attacked with deadly force. Second, the daylight use of necromancy was a poor choice. Goonsash had always kept his "workers" out of sight as it was a deeply taboo practice. So that made the guards hesitant to blame the party of Nyx. But it was only by poking around Goonsash's body that Hamn found a third factor in the party's favor: a squishy mushroom, planted on the side of Goonsash's skull.

Cyrus and Ellie figured it out. The fungus was deep, growing into Goonsash's brain, and they knew right away that this was the sort of mushroom used to mind control a person. The only people capable of using such a terrible growth were a small cluster of druids, the same ones already linked to the lizardfolk and the wizard of the inverted tower.

As the opportunity was there, Cyrus was able to persuade the guards into believing that the whole "humans at the gates" thing was a lie cleverly crafted by these culprits. And, given that their beloved Goonsash was also a victim, it was an easy lie to swallow. It meant that outside forces were trying to break the town and run off their only defenders.

But now of course, this was personal. It is always very personal when an ally is killed.

The party began trying to gather information. Cyrus spoke of the people he had met up with, in private, and told them that the human leader of that group (a man called Captain Mynotesaremissing) told Cyrus about a village, deeper into the swamp to the east. This village was plagued by misfortune and all its female residents were disappearing. This included the captain's sister.

So the journey to find the lost swamp village began. Stackpoole stayed behind, taking up Goonsash's "medical practice" in his home in the village.

While there were skirmishes along the way, there was nothing altogether interesting until the team arrived at the wooden barricade outside the lone town. Ravens covered the walls and slick wagon wheel tracks. As ominous as it felt, there was no stopping outside the gate. In they went.

The few houses were locked up tight, doors and windows shuttered. Ravens littered the street. While townspeople could be heard indoors, no one would respond to the party. Ellie could feel them using her psychic resonance, but they would be no help.

Naturally they did not give up. Thanks mostly to Ellie, the team found a small home which was unlocked. In the basement they found the captain's younger sister, a terrified young woman who revealed that she was supposed to be given over to the swamp witch as a daughter. She did not want that though, and begged assistance. She also let them know that there were three-eyed ravens amongst the murder who acted as the witch's familiars.

Which meant that they would need to talk to the witch. Fine. In typical noble fashion, Nyx walked out into the street and demanded an audience of the ravens.

It worked. The witch appeared; a pretty young woman, not at all what anyone had expected. Then of course she explained that while she was a witch and she was watching over the village hunting the girl, it was her mother, a true hag, who wanted another daughter. And she would get that daughter no matter what.

So Nyx demanded an audience with the hag in order to make a deal. And she appeared, a hideous bent old crone.

After a little back and forth, Nyx laid his cards out on the table. The swamp hag wanted a daughter. Nyx wanted a kingdom. He would claim the swamp as his own and grow it, overtaking all other settlements, and spread wide his kingdom. She could help with that. In exchange, he could get her that girl.

There was however, a complication. The hag was hungry. She wanted the girl, but she also wanted to consume a man whole to empower her. Only through eating the flesh of a person would she be able to assist, so someone — someone present — would need to offer their body.

Nyx could practically taste his kingdom. He considered it a few moments and without the input of anyone else, he offered up himself. Two arms, two legs, and all of his powerful tail in place of a torso. He also gladly volunteered to father the hag's children, with the understanding that he would have their sons snd she their daughters.

The hag was intrigued. But she was quick pointed out that the math was off. She was being denied a whole head's worth. Nyx tried, unsuccessfully, to argue that the bulk of him should make up for that.

Rather than letting the hag deny the deal (or worse, choose a head amongst the group), Cyrus offered his left arm to make up for the defecit.

If you wish to imagine the sounds that followed, the GM played audio of a man screaming over Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On.












more to come folks highlights:
- we save a village from hags but at what cost
- vore
- meeting the druids
- the goddamn feywild
- the Maury Show
- lizard assassins
- we fuck up a lizard temple
- matching tattoos
- jamspoon is squished
- forkmyrder appears
- the inverted tower
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