Numenera - Pulse - Session 2

Traveling with Takkorek

It's just a leisurely trip up the Wyr River… what could go wrong?  

Characters

• Chase Rombek or Raa-em, a Mystical Nano who Sees Beyond or a Mad Nano who Wields Power with Precision, played by Frank
• Jak, a Mutant Glaive who Constantly Evolves, played by Craig
• Glyquorg, an Exiled Jack who Controls Animals, played by Andy
• Ralyx, a Mlox Jack who Throws with Deadly Accuracy, played by Marc
• Takkorek, a Slaker Nano who Entertains, played by Jeremy
• Garren, a Varjellen Glaive who Studies Anatomy, played by Andreas

Non-Player Characters of Note

• Gamon - Tricky bastard
• Kumit - Southbounder merchantminder 
• Neff - Captain of the Neverlander

Summary

Following the “Severed Head of Sago” incident in Under’embridge, the four ex-bounty hunters, along with Garren the Varjellen chose to accompany Takkorek on his mission to Ballaster.  With the Marish Clan potentially in pursuit, the Slacker Nano who Entertains led the team to a small client village of Qi called “Southbound.”  While other client villages surrounded the massive city complex, most resembling pockets of urban sprawl, Southbound stood out for two reasons.  First, it was an archaic fishing village, bereft of Numenera.  Second, every “Southbounder” seemed to be an identical twin, or clone, of the other.  Southbounder men and women (who look exactly alike) produce clone-like children.  

Southbounders also had a knack for communicating with the "great salmon".  Massive yellow striped fish that inhabited the Wyr River, salmon were the revered creatures all along the Wyr River.  Long domesticated by the Southbounders, the fish were used as pack animals, dragging long, cargo laden vessels (Salmon Sailors) up and down the river.  

Takkorek had a Southbounder contact in the village named Kumit.  A local merchantminder, Takkorek knew that the safest way to Ballaster would be by Salmon Sailor, and so he left the rest of his new team at a local eatery along the boardwalk and headed into one of the nearby buildings.  

This is when the mad Raa-em got into trouble.  

The Mad Nano who was once Chase Rombek, still wrestled with his two “selves.”  Raa-em began his life as an intelligent and psychic moss that existed in Matheunis Cold Desert, south of Nihliesh, in an abandoned monastery.  After being reduced to a small lump, Raa-em was kept, like an oddity, by the ex-Aeon Priest Chase Rombek until given the opportunity to return full awareness.  A strange encounter with a near omnipotent entity allowed Raa-em to take control over Chase’s mind.  Now the two individuals, Raa-em and Chase, struggled with each other’s thoughts and feelings, although the once “stonebound monk” remained in control.  

Despite the bitter struggle within his mind, Raa-em was able to lift thoughts and memories from Chase.  So when one of Chase’s former Aeon Priest associates, a man named Gamon, appeared, Raa-em was able to make conversation.  Gamon inquired as to “Chase’s” arrival in Southbound, and when the Nano stated that he and his friends were looking for passage north, the former associated agreed to introduce him to some friends that could possibly help.  Raa-em gladly followed.  

Sensing something potentially amiss, Glyquorg shadowed his companion, following Raa-em and Gamon all the way to a small, seemingly abandoned warehouse.  As soon as his teammate entered, Glyquorg heard “get him!”  Before the Exiled Jack could enter the building, however, the entire structure exploded in a flash.  Raa-em’s telekinetic burst knocked the entire house down, and severely wounded three of the thugs that had laid in wait inside.  Glyquorg drew his own sword, and charged one of the ruffians, dispatching him quickly.  Raa-em let out another telekinetic blast, with no regard for his companion’s presence.  The last two attackers fell, leaving only Gamon.  The trickster begged for his life, but Raa-em had no sympathy.  The Nano motioned to his murderous Jack to finish off the betrayer.  

The rest of the party raced to the scene during the scuffle, but didn’t make it in time to be of any assistance.  The thieves had left behind quite a few surplus trade goods, most likely stolen.  When Takkorek arrived he was accompanied by his contact Kumit, who surveyed the destruction.  Despite the party’s insistence on keeping not only the trade goods but also the Salmon Sailor that the thieves were using, Kumit stated that all of the Salmon belonged to the village of Southbound, and this could not stand.  However, Kumit mentioned, it would be possible to grant the party safe passage on one of the Salmon Sailors in exchange for work as guards, especially since they had dispatched the thieves.  

The party was taken to the Neverlander, a Salmon Sailor captained by a Southbounder named Neff.  Neff introduced the party to his crew, a pair of fellow Southbounders and a young girl from Qi who went by “Scratches”.  Pockmarked and scarred from years spent as a Searoach catcher, the young girl seemed pitiful in appearance, but was a hard worker, eager to assist the part.  Despite the party’s insistence on keeping not only the trade goods but also the Salmon Sailor that the thieves were using, Kumit stated that all of the Salmon belonged to the village of Southbound, and this could not stand.  However, Kumit mentioned, it would be possible to grant the party safe passage on one of the Salmon Sailors in exchange for work as guards, especially since they had dispatched the thieves.  

The party was taken to the Neverlander, a Salmon Sailor captained by a Southbounder named Neff.  Neff introduced the party to his crew, a pair of fellow Southbounders and a young girl from Qi who went by “Scratches”.  Pockmarked and scarred from years spent as a Searoach catcher, the young girl seemed pitiful in appearance, but was a hard worker, eager to assist the party.  Once everyone was ready to travel, Takkorek started telling his stories to motivate the crew and the Neverlander left for Ballaster.

The first morning after leaving Southbound the party awoke to a strange scene.  Takkorek, the Slacker Nano, was swimming in the water, side by side with the Salmon, telling them stories and tales to lighten their journey.  This would happen again, every morning, for the duration of the voyage.  Apparently the tales of Takkorek transcended the boundaries of species.

By the sixth day of travel the waters of the Wyr River started to appear troubling.  The typically green river had more of a brown appearance, and the Salmon were struggling to keep pace.  Ever the scientist, Garren pulled a pail of the water onto the Neverlander and created a makeshift microscope out of Raa-em’s mirror and crystalline rose.  Indeed, there water was polluted… with visitant blood and machine grease.  Ralyx relayed to the party that Ballaster was situated close to the Jutting Remnants, a portion of land long believed to be the crash site of an ancient vessel from beyond.  But Ralyx spent years living near the Wyr River, and never had this sort of material ever surfaced before.  

On the morning of the eighth day on the Wyr River the Salmon could pull no further.  All six massive creatures, typically tireless and capable of swimming for week at a time, could do very little except slowly paddle their fins, apparently exhausted.  The water was no longer a light brown but a deep red, with the obvious rainbow slick of oil resting on the surface.  Neff informed the adventuring party that they would have to travel the rest of the journey by foot, and that the Neverlander would be turning back.  

Venturing onto the southern shore of the Wyr River, the party began their near fifty-mile trek to Ballaster.  A simple trail divided the murky, red shore from a forest of enormous ferns.  Only an hour into the walk, however, the sound of nearby predators caught Takkorek’s ear.

“Ithsyns,” the Nano murmured.

Before the party could reconfigure themselves in a more suitable fighting formation, two of the six-foot tall, bipedal reptile-fish-bird hybrids jumped out of bloody river while five darted in from the forest.  Takkorek immediately started inspiring the party as they drew their weapons.  Glyquorg learned quickly that striking the creatures with melee weapons was not without peril, as a noxious gas released from the Ithsyns caused temporary befuddlement.  Garren became so confused that he started swinging his “mace” (the head of Sago mounted on a rod) at his allies.  Eventually the battle turned in the party’s favor, despite some nasty, poisonous claw attacks by the Ithsyns, and Glyquorg having his armor fall away from his chest when a buckle malfunctioned.  Ralyx, the master of thrown weapons, backed away from the creatures, and chucked his implements into the fray, killing two of the creatures.  With a massive roar, the Mlox Jack intimidated the remaining beasts, and they scattered into the ferns.  

Quotes

"Wait, so you're saying 'Viking longships towed by giant salmon?' Awesome!" - Marc loves his weird.

"Yes, we'll sell the bard to the crew!" - Andreas was eager to get rid of Jeremy's new character.

"This is exactly what I wanted you to do!" - Raa-em to Gamon and his minions, after they drew their swords.

"I think Raa-em is just into blasting people… so I'm just gonna blast people!" - Frank didn't care if Raa-em hit Andy's character with his Flash esotery.  

Glyquorg - "He's a backstabber!"
Gamon - "I stabbed you to your face!" 

"Jim, you should just kill her now… in fourteen years of roleplaying with you, female NPC's don't last long." - Frank lies!

"So he spends the days spooning fish and we get their faster." - Marc seemed puzzled by Jeremy's Nano.

"Varjellen, man… what are you gonna do…" - Takkorek.

"Maybe the salmon can row?" - Marc was insisting that the bloody water shouldn't stop those lazy fish.

"Aww crap, velociraptors…" - Andreas… before the Ithsyn attack after hearing the description of the fern trees.