Gall Grass

 

Vicar's Ear

The party discusses their next steps inside the big walker of the Survivalists while outside a glowing fog rises. They decide to hunker down until the fog dissipates. Saffron is lost in thought about the half-meaningful shapes of the gravel sculptures of Vicar’s Beach. Naida takes first watch and spots a suspicious faceless stranger hiding behind one of the red fleshy trees of the Hairwoods. Azure sneaks outside, camouflages herself with mud and hairy leaves and creeps up on the intruder, who wears a trench coat, fedora and mold instead of a face. They speak with a Bluentalk accent and sway like a drunk. Azure constraints the stranger who admits spying on the walker to ascertain whether they pose a threat to “Rudolph, the colony”. Hamish diffuses the situation with his typical charm and the agent retreats into the fog as soon as Azure releases them.

The Hairwoods

The heroes decide to aid the villagers by sending their retainers and the two autowagons with them on their way to the Spectrum Palace only keeping the Redlander Truck and bringing Ostens, the Marksman, with them. In the morning a heavy rain dissipates the fog and they leave the road and travel North-West through the forest. When they reach the high and dry grasslands the rain fizzles out. Naida spots half a dozen wagons on the horizon. Could it be the Purplefolk settlers they are looking for? While they traverse the valley they feel the dryness of the place. Once they arrive at the site they realize to their horror that the wagons do indeed belong to the Purplefolk caravan but all its members are dead and desecrated. Ostens searches the bodies in order to identify the dead while Naida finds tracks of small feet leaving the area. Assuming an environmental hazard they refrain from following the tracks and leave the area in haste.

The Purplefolk settlement

Back in the Hairwoods they find the road and travel West to locate the last missing caravan that had been seen crashed at Garnet Ford by the Survivalists. Beautiful rainbows emanate from the Three Sticks in pulses of healing light and raise the spirits … until they approach the acrophobic madness that is the Skybridge: a razor thin, invisible, three mile long piece of stuckforce high over the Skyriver. Hamish walks in front of the truck tapping the floor, while Naida keeps a steady hand behind the wheel. Halfway across the bridge a cascade of lights and water jets erupt from a plaza abuts the river but our heroes cannot find the peace of mind to enjoy the spectacle. When they finally reach the other sight Naida gives Hamish a big wet kiss while Saffron stares absent minded into the distant where Vicar’s Beach lies.

Skybridge

Actual Play: https://youtu.be/am34DVWvKns

Three Sticks Lake II

Hamish and Azure decide to carouse with the villagers to celebrate rescuing the van Staal caravan and retrieving a Ka-battery to power the ferry. During the festivities Hamish asks Mathilda about a body that could be inhabited. Shortly before Hamish loses consciousness Mathilda mentions a machine human body hidden deep under the vicar’s beach.  When he wakes up from some commotion in the village he finds a metal tube he was sleeping on with a map inside showing the location of the Obsidian Knives, a place where rare weapons can be found.

A drinking duel at night

Azure and a villager called Burbur get into a drinking duel on the lake, that ends in a draw. Burbur drowns and Azure is thrown into the jail. Stressed out by her withdrawal from Golden Amber and the claustrophobic cell, she experiences the final stage of her mutation turning her body into that of a Bulgarian weightlifter on steroids. Enraged by the injustice of it all Azure breaks out of prison and goes on a rampage through Iron Pikes before she is confronted by the villagers. Hamish defuses the tension by shaming Broadgrin, the village leader, for his alleged bigotry. A ferry from the Jade Baobab arrives and they decide to cross the lake in order to reunite with the rest of the group.

Strange Sculptures on the beach

Meanwhile Naida and Saffron take a canoe to scout out the northern shore of the Three Sticks Lake. Between two tall cliffs lies a colorful beach with strange cement sculptures. High above the beach they spot a walker crawling over a road through the woods. On her way up the hill Naida passes the sculpture landscape where an auto vech bulldozer reshapes the cement constructions. She hails the walker and is greeted by a suspicious guard called Susu, who she convinces to invite them all into the walking village. They leave the canoes behind with Swiftstab, a villager from Iron Pike. Susu tells them that they had passed the wrecks of a Greenander caravan adorned with the Cogflower symbol a week ago at the Bolder Ford over the Teal River. The next morning the party is reunited when a guard announces the arrival of a ferry on the beach. 

The updated map showing Bolder Ford, Vicar's Beach and Obsidian Knives

Actual Play: https://youtu.be/7lyUOiNySBM