Ynn Solo #3: Fighting and Fleeing
This is part of a series of blog posts in which I play Into the Odd as a solo rpg. I am using the Gardens of Ynn to procedurally generate a depthcrawl. You can read the first entry here or the previous entry here.
You can check out my Depthcrawl Time Tracker sheet for Ynn here [Itch.io].
The party is composed of Grobina Gill the Crossbow-woman, Augosta Parfait the Axe-Mistress, the Dread Pirate Istan Jongler, and Vanissa Gullwin with her new Moss-Rat friend Weckin.
In the previous session, the party met a Salamander, ran from another giant turtle, and explored a hedgemaze.
Click here for the map produced during the last session.
This session takes place over two in-game hours.
Area 5B: Woods, pt. II
Re-lighting their lamps and listening at the end of the tunnel, the party could not hear any sign of the Bonsai Turtle. They emerged into the Woods and continued forward.
Now without the Rose-Maidens, they stopped again to assess the silver filigree sprouting from the earth. The party spent the next ten minutes pulling the delicate forms from the ground and wiping the dirt off of them. Soon the ominous ticking started up again, pressing the party to get moving through the Woods at risk of another turtle attack.
A horrible squawking noise assaulted the party's ears as a pack of eight pea-hawks ran toward them, blood dripping from the pea-hawks' beaks. The party members braced for an attack... as the pack passed them by! Ahead, they spotted a Salamander in mortal combat with some kind of giant, mobile Battenberg Cake. "Don't just stand there, noble adventurers!"
Vanissa rushes to the Salamander's aid while her companions move through the trees to flank with their ranged weapons. Vanissa bashes the cake with her bulky flail for a full 8 points of damage. Chunks of pink and yellow flesh(?) break off onto the head of her weapon.
As the other three get in position, the cake engulfs Vanissa whole! The rest of the party hear muffled shrieks from both Vanissa and Weckin, her moss-rat [RN: critical damage].
The three are unsure how safe it is to attack the cake while Vanissa is inside of it. They don't seem to have another option though, so Grobina, Augosta, and Istan fire! All together they deal 11 damage, riddling it with wood and metal from their crossbow, throwing axes, and pistols. Lastly, the Salamander bites a chunk out of the cake, killing it in a manner most delicious.
The party sets to digging their companion out of the Battenberg cake. She is alive, though quite weak and sticky with jam. They give her water and what aid they can in the situation.
The party consider the matter of letting Vanissa recover in Ynn or taking her home to Bastion. The Salamander warns the party that the doors to other worlds (his included) close after 24 hours in Ynn—24 hours in the time of the other world. The party resolve to make their way back to the blue vineyard [Area 0A: Vine Trellis], which shouldn't take longer than 40 minutes, by Augosta's estimation.
They bid farewell to the Salamander and head back the way they came in the woods. Augosta, now the strongest member of the party, helps Vanissa limp along.
They reach the tunnel toward the hedge maze when the ground begins to rumble. They start running from, what they assume to be, the impending giant turtle attack. But rather the floor of the woods starts to crack and fissure... and [OF COURSE] the entrance to the tunnel is swallowed by the earth. This will add a considerable amount of time to the return journey as they have much more of the woods to go and all the dangers it brings.
As they continue, now toward the ice rink, something beneath the surface can be heard grinding and churning. The wood begins to ripple (and the party have had enough with this unstable place!) and dead birds fall from the sky, littering the ground with broken, colorful bodies.
Augosta falls to the ground, clutching her head. She drops Vanissa who begins to writhe in pain, clutching her heels. Istan inspects Vanissa and notices spurs bursting through the skin of her heels, tearing through her boots, and dripping with a sick green venom. Grobina looks after Augosta, but sees no marked difference. Grobina helps Augosta up; she is able to stand on her own feet just fine, and insists they keep moving.
The light grows brighter. They pass by a giant, 12 foot long caterpillar; it appears to be injured. Short on time, or at least afraid of staying longer, the party presses on.
The party hurries past a brick pathway under a hedge arch, certain that it wasn't there before and no idea where it could lead.
Finally the light is back to day levels. They pass a tree hosting a massive semi-organic cluster of rusted metal fashioned into a hexagonal structure. The air is quiet.
At the edge of the woods, they discover a peahawk in a hunter's snare. They stop to let it free. The bird runs away from the woods; the party does as well.
Area 4B & 3B
The party hurries past the Ice Rink and into the overgrown Rose Garden. Here they must move more carefully, to avoid injury from the thorny tangles.
The next session will pick up here in the Rose Garden!
Referee Notes
I thought for sure Vanissa was getting "retired!" Tbh I almost forgot about the STR and critical damage rules in Into the Odd.