Nicolai Broen Thorning
Denmark
Ebeltoft
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Writer's note: I apologize in advance for the poor quality of some of the photos, however, included for flavour.
So, the salesman had said it would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience… he was probably right.
Waking up in the Dungeon on some unknown location, small bulbs of light visible somewhere out there, promising help or extermination?
Mary is your typical woman – full of venom, in her Merostoma Stinger – her secondary weapon the Nasutius Projector, very useful for entangling foes. She is equipped with two sets of crawling legs and a set of Jumpers.
Merlin is your typical spinose. Nasutius Projector, able to entangle foes, Pheromone Projector, able to enslave foes, and a Preying Claw. He comes equipped with a set of crawling legs and wings.
Level 1 – The Dungeon
Mary and Merlin slowly come to and look around the Dungeon. In the centre of a small, cramped room they can spot a Darner Dragonfly (DD-Fly), one nasty opponent at this stage with Mandibles on its head and 3 sets of Hooked Tarsus for grappling and instinct 8 and dexterity 14. Coupled with 2 pair of Wings and you have a fight on your hands.
The other occupant of the room is a Praying Mantis (PM). It is equipped with its Preying Claw, a pair of Wings and 2 sets of legs. It has instinct 9 and dexterity 15 – another nasty encounter.
Turn 1
The DD-Fly and PM both hesitate forcing Mary and Merlin to make the first move. Merlin is useless in the tunnel as his Projectors have low range and he cannot hover. Merlin moves ahead and settle down in the same spot, at the edge of the tunnel, as Mary.
PM and DD-Fly move up and land in front of our heroes, they are unable to enter the tunnel as Mary and Merlin is blocking the entrance.
Merlin decides to take a shot with his Pheromone Projector, hoping he can keep her cool in the frenzy that is about to ensue. He aims at the spot where both enemies are stationed and loads his Projector with Swarm Pheromone. If he stays cool he scores two certain hits, given the close proximity and the size of the targets.
He does – now the DD-Fly and PM both are infected with the Swarm Pheromone and instantly attack the nearest bug with all possible weapons – in this case they attack their – now former – allies – they attack each other. Merlin checks his Projector and sees that there is still ammunition, ready to be used in the next round.
The Mantis strikes first and scores a hit to the abdomen for 4 points of damage to the dexterity. DD-Fly strikes back with a Hook Tarsus and score a hit to the head but all damage is absorbed.
Mary wants in on the action and readies her poisoned Sting, no need to worry about battle frenzy, she is cool as ice. Targeting the Mantis she fails to score a hit.
Turn 2
DD-Fly and PM are so locked in their own world they refuse to move. Mary and Merlin see no reason to move either – though Mary should perhaps switch target, as the size of the Mantis in itself is a good defense against her poison attack.
Merlin changes tactics this time and tries to entangle the combatants. Unfortunately he fails to keep a cool head and ends up targeting Mary instead. Fortunately his aim is off and the Claws strikes just wide off the mark – a narrow escape there for Mary – and Merlin.
PM is enraged and strikes at DD-Fly with all his might but in his rage he misses. DD-Fly strikes back with the Hook Tarsus and score a hit to the abdomen of the Mantis and manage a single point of damage.
Mary keeps her focus on the Mantis and scores a hit to the appendages, but once more all damage is absorbed. She chases a fleeting thought, perhaps she should try with his Mandibles – only they are so clumsy, she will never hit…
Turn 3
The battle rages, our combatants are frozen in time and space…
Merlin keeps at it and once more tries to entangle the enemies in front of them. This time he manages to keep his Projector targeted on them and score hits on both the Mantis and DD-Fly. He succeeds in preserving enough ammunition to try again on both occasions.
The Mantis is hit for 4 points of damage, entangling its claws and a pair of legs. DD-Fly is hit but escapes damage and can resume his attack on the Mantis. He scores a hit but the damage is absorbed.
Mary decides to take a chance and readies the clumsy Mandibles. No luck, they strike wide off the mark.
PM manages to entangle his legs but is still unable to attack as his Claws are still glued stuck.
Turn 4
DD-Fly hesitates, but the Mantis wants to escape and succeed in disentangling himself from DD-Fly and heads for the exit (transfer area 6 – as 3 is blocked).
Mary and Merlin are now the sole focus of the DD-Fly – they refuse to budge, however, and the DD-Fly settles down to attack.
First up is Merlin though, he targets the DD-Fly, keeps his cool and scores 6 points of damage to the appendages, severely crippling the DD-Fly as both Wing Pairs and a set of Hook Tarsus are now entangled. He is in fact incapacitated – at least for the time being. Mary, seeing the DD-Fly is incapacitated tries the Mandibles again – and misses.
The Mantis manages to get rid of the last glue and frees his Claws. The DD-Fly frees his Hook Tarsus but is still incapacitated.
Turn 5
Everyone hesitate, the DD-Fly is helpless, Mary and Merlin stays in place and the Mantis flies up behind the DD-Fly and settles down.
The Mantis strikes now against the incapacitated Fly. It is a solid hit from the rear doing 8 points of damage – dexterity is now reduced to 2 points. Merlin strikes next with his Claws, neatly avoiding battle frenzy and scoring a certain hit only for all damage to be absorbed.
Mary goes with her Sting and scores a solid hit to the abdomen, doing 1 point of damage and injecting her acid into the Fly.
Once the poison takes effect it rips through the body of the DD-Fly permanently incapacitating it and doing severe damage to the head – its instinct is reduced by 4, with only 4 remaining.
The DD-Fly still disentangle one pair of Wings, but it is useless, without any dexterity it is crippled.
Turn 6
There is no movement; everyone is just waiting for the DD-Fly to be killed.
The Mantis strikes first. A solid hit doing 7 points of damage to the abdomen, spilling over onto the head of the DD-Fly – it is ripped open from end to end – dead.
Mary and Merlin are now unable to attack, only available weapons are close range and the Mantis is sitting just outside their reach.
Turn 7
Mary and Merlin stay in place so the Mantis moves forward to attack.
Merlin readies his Nasutius Projector and is cool as ice when he fires at point blank range his sticky glue all over the Mantis. Unfortunately the Mantis sees it coming and swerves to avoid it all, harmlessly dripping off the body of the Mantis – the glue does no damage – but the supply of it appears endless…
The Mantis strikes now against Mary, though failing to keep his cool he still manage to strike out at Mary, who manages to avoid being hit – close shave there.
Mary then strikes back with her Sting. She keeps her cool and lands a hit, but is it enough… Far from it, the Mantis absorbs all damage and the Acid fails to penetrate.
Turn 8
The tableau is the same…
Merlin takes aim trying to entangle the Mantis. He scores a hit but again the damage is absorbed, though Merlin secures enough glue to fight another day.
The Mantis strikes at Mary, gets confused but still aim for Mary and swing far over her head. Mary strikes back with her Sting, hits and all damage absorbed.
This seems stalemate, but surely the Mantis will score a hit eventually…
Turn 9
Same old, same old…
Merlin readies the glue… but is unsuccessful. Projector still loaded though… The Mantis strikes at Merlin, is utterly confused but still keeps his aim, swinging wildly to the side and misses. Mary is frustrated and swings her clumsy Mandibles at the Mantis and is nowhere near hitting.
Turn 10
More of the same…
Merlin strikes but damage is once more absorbed – the Projector is still good to go. The Mantis strikes at Mary but the aim is off and it comes closer to hitting Merlin, but still not close enough. Mary strike with all her venom but again the damage is absorbed.
Turn 11
Same old, same old... or maybe not…
Mary conceives a plan – she will try to come over and round the Mantis, perhaps thereby creating a pincer – or should it be Merlin… he is spinose and therefore more difficult to hit…
Yes, Merlin manages to free himself from Mary and grapples with the Mantis, the Mantis accepts and we are ready for combat. Unfortunately this means Merlin is unable to use his Projector, so the Mantis goes first. It comes close to landing a hit, even with 5 dice, but ultimately unsuccessful.
Merlin too is unsuccessful, its swing and a miss.
Mary keeps all her focus on the Mantis with her Sting and lands a hit to the head but the damage is absorbed.
Turn 12
The Mantis hesitates, so Merlin tries to go clear and succeed.
It backfires… the Mantis goes after Mary and grapples her – Merlin is now going to have to shoot both of them… or neither. Merlin decides to try… Mary is small so he may miss her… He does… but the Mantis cannot escape, even from a distance. He finally lands a hit but there is not enough power and the glue fail to stick.
The Mantis is now all over Mary but swing and miss. Mary Stings the Mantis in the head with enough force to do 4 points of damage and spray acid all over. The acid is so strong it devours the entire face and the Mantis is dead…
Mary cannot believe it… she scuttles over to Merlin and they rub against each other joyously…
Interlude
They divide the spoils – 5 pieces of food. Mary knows she needs to increase the strength of her Sting and so convinces Merlin to allow her to take 3 pieces.
She greedily munches down all the food, molting 3 times, only the last time she also metamorphose into Instar 2, which gives her a level 3 Neurotoxin. She also gains 2 instinct points and 7 dexterity points.
Merlin too decides to eat all his food, but he decides against metamorphosis, thinking his aim will suffer. Mary is convinced this is a mistake, saying the added damage done will surely outweigh it – and she is partly right, certainly against larger prey.
She can feel him waver and continue to push him, but the larger body needs more food to molt… Merlin sticks with his decision, increasing both instinct and dexterity by 3 points.
Having digested the food, they move on, heading east into what appears to be a Root Cellar.
Level 1 – The Root Cellar
Here they are faced with an Ambush Bug (5/10) armed with Preying Claw and poisoned Fangs, a Riparian Earwig (7/8) armed with Mandibles and a Cerci Pincer, nasty in grapple mode, and finally a Jerusalem Cricket (7/10) armed with Mandibles.
Mary and Merlin are confident as they are equal in speed, though the enemies are on the small side, making it harder for Merlin to hit… a good choice he made, staying as Instar 1.
Turn 1
Everyone hesitate, so the Riparian Earwig (RE) is forced to move first. It goes straight for Mary and Merlin and tries to grapple them both. Then the Ambush Bug (A-Bug) does the same. Merlin realizes this is no good, pulls free and backs into the tunnel.
Then the Jerusalem Cricket (JC) goes in to grapple with Mary, while Mary tries to see if she can pull free. She succeeds and moves into the Root Cellar to come up from the rear as all the bugs rushed headfirst towards their prey and thought their backs secure.
It would appear that Mary and Merlin have managed to trap their foes…
Merlin strikes first, using her Swarm Pheromone – another option would have been Propaganda, but there is a very good chance all of them would be able to resist it.
Close range and no match for her Pheromones, JC is hit first, then it hits A-Bug and RE, all are infected, but to his horror, he then realizes that he is out of ammunition. The Nasutius Projector is not affected.
Mary strikes next aiming for JC, but striking out at A-Bug. She scores a solid hit with her Sting from the rear doing 8 points of damage an injecting 3 drops of Neurotoxin.
Now JC strikes out in rage at RE and clear in his head his aim is true, but just short. RE goes against A-Bug with his Pincer scoring a solid hit to the head and doing 12 points of damage. A-Bug sinks to the ground, no more…
Turn 2
JC and RE are to an extent oblivious to the rest of the world, but still, they re-position themselves, so as to show a front to Mary… they are aware of her dangerous Mandibles enough to minimize potential damage.
Merlin is pleased as punch – he readies his Nasutius projector and fires again at JC and RE who are unable to avoid being hit.
JC is hit first and is defenseless against the glue flower over him – 12 points of entanglement damage, meaning his legs, jumper and abdomen are all entangled, the abdomen twice over.
RE is hidden behind JC to some extent but he also must suffer – though only 6 points – all his legs are entangled. This empties Merlin’s ammunition.
Mary then strikes, and this time she goes after RE. She succeeds in hitting him straight in the head for 5 points of damage, spraying 3 drops of poison into his body. RE is close to death, instinct is down to 2 points and once the poison has done its work, he is surely dead.
Neither RE nor JC can attack in their incapacitated state, as they both need to roll 2 or 3 dice to attack.
The poison sets in and RE crumbles to the floor in a heap. JC manage to clear some of the glue from the abdomen, but is still not fully free and incapacitated.
Turn 3
JC is fighting for his life, unable to do anything.
Mary attacks first; Merlin is out of ammunition and would prefer to attack with his Claw anyway. The Sting does its nasty work to the body of JC – scoring 6 points of damage and sprays him with 3 drops of Toxin.
Merlin goes next and scores a hit, but is unable to do any damage with his Claw.
The injected Neurotoxin does its job well, doing 11 points of damage – enough to strike JC down.
Interlude
A nice interplay of the different weapons and some solid hits – it is game over before it even began. The spoils are only 4 pieces of food. They divide it evenly but refrain from eating anything, storing it instead.
Level 1 – The Foyer
Mary and Merlin make their way through a narrow corridor, at the fork they turn left and find them in The Foyer and find themselves face to face with a an Ant Lion Larva. It is Instar 2, an instinct of 5 and dexterity of 12. It has a set of clumsy Sickle Mandibles with Protein dissolving saliva. It lies still in its pit preying on everyone entering it – as they fall down into the centre of the pit.
The Larva is buried until it leaves its hole in the centre; while buried it can only be grappled and has a spinose level of 2. As Mary and Merlin enter, they can already find the ground moving beneath them… Mary has almost lost her footing…
Turn 1
Mary and Merlin hesitate; they force the Ant Lion Larva to make the first move. The Larva realizes it is in danger and makes a crawl for the exit, leaving the security of its hole. Merlin is hovering above ground and able to escape the sand of the pit – he flies after the Larva and positions himself behind it.
Mary slides into the centre of the pit and spends all her time extracting herself, her movement ends there.
Merlin takes a chance and loads his Pheromone Projector with Propaganda. His aim is true at this close distance, even allowing for the fact he is hovering above ground. The Larva is trying hard to resist the Pheromone, but ultimately in vain and the fight is over.
Mary and Merlin are left with 2 pieces of food, which they distribute evenly.
Interlude
Merlin is no longer having second thought; no longer pondering if molting and metamorphose is not the way to go? Mary applauds, whereas she decides to stay put.
He takes the plunge and metamorphose into an Instar 2 Larva. The spinose value stay the same, but he may add 2 additional appendages. He adds a pair of legs and a set of jumpers, as well as 1 instinct point and 2 dexterity points. He also refills his ammunition depots.
They then head back the way they came and take a left turn, coming out into the Parlor.
Level 1 – The Parlor
Mary and Merlin are faced with an Assassin Bug (A-Bug – 5/10), armed with a Bombardier Projector and poisoned Fangs. There is also a Milkweed Grasshopper (MG – 10/11), armed with a Nasutius Projector, poisoned with Cardenolide and able to entangle its prey. Finally they confront a Walking Stick (WS – 11/12) an auto hit Crinotoxic Labium and a Nasutius Projector armed with Anisomorphal poison, also able to entangle its prey.
Nasty business indeed…
Turn 1
Everyone hesitate so the WS moves first and goes straight for a stranglehold on Mary. A-Bug moves within 2 spaces of Merlin, turning his Bombardier on him, at this range it is a certain hit.
Mary decides the Labium is too much for now and decides to go after the Grasshopper; she escapes from WS and jumps onto MW. Merlin then flies behind WS and out of range of the A-Bug – but still able to secure a solid hit on WS.
MW is unable to attack at such close range and tries to break free, but unable to do so and is forced to fend for herself against Mary.
WS is unable to attack behind itself and it didn’t pay attention to its facing when it crashed into Mary.
Merlin strikes first – loaded with Propaganda Pheromone he shots at WS who is forced to see if her instincts will avoid being controlled. WS succeeds and as Merlin has used up all his ammunition, they are safe.
Mary then goes in hard on the Grasshopper. Sting strikes hard and true, and though the Grasshopper is able to absorb all damage to its appendages, the poison still seeps in.
The poison does 12 points of damage to the Grasshoppers appendages, tearing off the legs and jumper, leaving it incapacitated.
Turn 2
The Grasshopper stays in place, not even bothering to turn. The A-Bug turns around and is now able to shoot both Mary and Merlin. WS goes after Merlin, grappling with him, this time back facing the wall.
Mary tries to leave the MG but fails, her instincts not good enough. Merlin too, tries to leave, and succeeds, flying over in front of the A-Bug, hoping to entangle him.
Merlin and the WS go first, as the WS is now forced to shot with its Projector. It has to overcome frenzy first though as the A-Bug is closer, otherwise it will target Mary and the MG. It fails spectacularly and now both Merlin and WS are zooming in on the A-Bug.
WS misses – with such a small target, hovering in the air in such a great distance, it was a long shot.
Merlin cannot miss from this range scoring a solid hit to the appendages of 8 points, meaning all legs and wings are entangled and the A-Bug crashes to the ground incapacitated. Merlin still has ammunition left.
Mary is raging and she tears into the MG with her Sting, but her attack on the abdomen fails, the damage is absorbed and the poison just runs of the body and onto the dirt floor.
The A-Bug is unable to attack, even with its fangs, but it does succeed in freeing the Wings, allowing it to fly again.
Turn 3
WS moves over to grapple Merlin once more. The A-Bug flies round and re-positions itself to be able, once more, to attack both Mary and Merlin. Mary tries to free herself again and this time she succeeds, she goes straight after the A-Bug, grappling it.
Merlin also succeeds in freeing himself and moves out behind the WS, although it puts him in danger of hitting the Grasshopper instead.
Merlin attacks first and only just manage to keep his wits about him and target the Stick. She makes a clean hit and still has ammunition left – but the Stick is able to fend off the glue and no damage is done.
The A-Bug abandons its plans to use the Bombardier and instead grapples with Mary, however, Mary first…
Mary scores a hit to the abdomen, doing 7 points of damage and injecting 3 drops of poison. The A-Bug counters, however, with a dexterity of 3 its chances of scoring a hit just went down fast. It misses and the close combat is over for this round.
The poison takes its toll, another 7 points of damage and now the A-Bug is incapacitated and clinging on to life, down to just one point of instinct.
Turn 4
The A-Bug and the Grasshopper are both incapacitated, so the Stick moves first. It goes straight for Mary, who tries to move but is pinned down. Merlin moves in on them too, positioning herself just behind the Stick, on the ground.
Mary goes first and goes after the Stick and succeeds, her aim is true and she scores a hit to its appendages doing 4 points of damage, tearing off 2 pair of legs and injecting 3 drops of poison. Now the Stick retaliates at the same time Merlyn tries to Claw away at it.
Negating Battle Frenzy the Stick scores an auto poisoned hit to the abdomen of Mary, whereas Merlin, keeping his cool, still miss.
The A-Bug is incapacitated but desperately tries to catch an overconfident Merlyn with the Bombardier – though unsuccessful.
Mary is lucky and the poison only does 1 point of damage, reducing her dexterity. The Stick is not so fortunate, 8 points of damage, first incapacitating it and then reducing dexterity by 6 points.
The A-Bug manages to free another pair of legs.
Turn 5
Mary tries to leave but is unable to do so – Merlin stay in place, hoping to hit either the Stick or the A-Bug.
Merlin and Mary attack at the same time. They both go after the Stick. Mary fails her instinct roll, frenzy overcomes her and she hits the A-Bug instead. Merlin is also hit with the frenzy but in his rage still manage to target the Stick.
The A-Bug is hit in the appendages for 10 points of damage and 3 drops of poison. Legs and Wings are torn off and the damage overflows into the head, killing the Bug on the spot.
Merlyn strikes the head of the Stick, doing 5 points of damage, reducing instinct to 6 points. The Stick scores an auto-hit on Mary, hitting her with poison in the head. The poison is lenient and only does 2 points of damage.
Turn 6
Mary tries again to get away from the grip of the Stick but it is getting harder, following the hits to her head – and she is unsuccessful. Merlin moves round to target the Stick from the rear.
Merlin and Mary again attack at the same time, only Merlin has to fight battle frenzy and succeeds.
Mary scores a hit to the appendages, but the damage is absorbed fully. Merlin scores a hit to the abdomen and hits for 5 points of damage, leaving the stick with only 1 point of dexterity.
The Stick scores an auto-hit on Mary, poison seeping into her appendages, doing only 1 point of damage, which is harmless.
Turn 7
Mary finally succeeds in freeing herself and moves out behind the Stick, who has already turned to face Merlin, who stays in place – they want to finish it now.
They again have to attack at the same time; Mary decides to take a chance hitting with her Mandibles, since she is attacking from the rear and Merlin attacks from the front with his Claws. They both score hits; Mary to the abdomen and Merlin to the head.
Mary does 5 points of damage, reducing dexterity to 1. Merlin does no damage, it is all absorbed. The Stick auto-hits Merlin in the head doing 4 points of damage.
Turn 8
They now move behind the stick, both of them. They strike again; Mary narrowly misses with the Mandibles, Merlin striking the abdomen without doing any damage.
Turn 9
The Stick tries to turn round, but then Mary and Merlin moves behind it again. Mary now strikes first, abandoning the Mandibles, going for the kill with the Sting. The damage is absorbed and the poison just runs off. Merlin has a true aim and strike the abdomen of the Stick for a single point of damage – its dexterity is now gone.
Turn 10
The dance continues. Mary striking again with the Mandibles and narrowly misses. Merlin clawing away at WS and finally having some luck; he rips open the Stick doing 6 points of damage sinking it to its knees, tearing off its head.
The Walking Stick is finally dead.
Turn 11
The Milkweed Grasshopper is left. Our heroes have suffered damage to their heads, their instincts, so only Mary goes on the offensive – they are afraid they might hit each other. Going up close in front of the Grasshopper it would still be able to hit at point blank range with the Projector.
Mary strikes with her Sting. She hits the abdomen for 2 points of damage and triple poison. The poison tears through the Grasshopper doing 15 points of damage. Dexterity is wiped out and instinct is reduced to 6.
Turn 12
The Grasshopper turns to face Mary put she jumps around and attacks from the rear again. The damage itself is absorbed, but the poison seeps through the skin and the damage done is enough to kill it stone-dead.
Interlude
Our brave heroes divide the spoils – 7 pieces of food. It is badly needed; Mary and Merlin both need to rebuild their instincts. Mary has 3 pieces left over – so they split it with 1 piece to Mary and 6 pieces to Merlin – then they eat it all – maxing out their dexterity and increasing instincts as the food allows.
They both decide to stay at Instar 2.
Merlin is now 12/13:
... and Mary is 11/13:
Heading out they find a passage leading up… to level 2.
Which is for another day...
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