Mutant Future, session 8 part deux

So having completed the new bridge connecting the folks in the Slimy Lake region with the city far to the west, the party set off down the ancient blacktop highway in search of the spellbooks of the legendary wizard. Next came a brief visit to the highway rest stop that had been converted to a shrine which the lich recognized as being dedicated to the Great God Elvis. The undead wizard with the hell's angel jacket lined with newly-slaughtered sloth fur refused to allow the rest of the party to the loot the place. Even heartless abominations respect the King.

As the party traveled down the ancient road they naturally inquired about any ancient wrecks to be looted. Initially I informed the players that all the ancient vehicles by the roadside had been left to rust out then burned down, leaving nothing but mounds of rusty ash. But then Carl pointed out they really only needed a cart for their donkeys to pull. The idea of a couple donkeys pulling the rusty bed of an ancient pickup amused me so much I decided to allow it.

Finally, after two half-sessions of delays and shenanigans, the party exited the Slimy Lake area and began exploring the unknown lands to the west. The party didn't know it yet, but they had just taken their first steps into Dave Hargrave's Arduin modules! First stop was the Winged Elf Inn, which is an ancient metal hull ship inexplicably laying upside on a dry plain with a sign depicting a Keebler elf with angel wings. The owners are a grey-haired three-eyed old mutant and his equally ancient but unmutated wife. At least they are in my campaign world, I don't think Hargrave gives many details in the module.

At the Winged Elf they made contact with some spider mutants who 'mine' a landfill to the north. Periodically they bring a cartload of ancient metal to the inn, where they trade it to 'the fat merchant'. The merchant was overdue and the spiders where running out of beer money, so they sold their wagon o' junk to the party. Spunky the Invincible Wonder Weasel found a functional Rubik's Cube among the tin cans and aluminum foil. It was missing most of the little stickers, so her attempts to solve it where all in vain.

Along the road the party ended up fighting a pair of wobras, which are cobras with wings. That Hargrave sure knew how to make a monster. My second attempt of the night to kill Spunky with poison failed, but maybe I'll get her next session. I allow her to abuse the hell out of her mental illusion powers, so I feel I can get away with picking on her just a little bit extra. With the wobras quickly slain, the party resumed its journey, pushing a full 24 hours to get clear of a forest reputedly the lair of a fearsome dragon. The last time a dragon showed up in one my campaigns it killed the entire party in the first round, so they weren't in any hurry to meet another one.

Instead of a dragon, the party met Ortegg the Obese (the fat merchant) on his way to make his delayed appointment with the spider miners. You remember the fat computer guy from the first Blade flick? That's what the merchant kinda looks like, a slightly more humanoid Jabba the Hut. His caravan is 3 wagons, one of which carries only him. The merchant and his three cyborg minions were late for the rendezvous with the spiders because the axle broke on Ortegg's personal transport.

Ortegg and the party negotiated a trade for the junk he was hoping to buy cheap from the arachnid pioneers. He ended up with a jar of wobra poison that Dane had extraced from a dead wobra as well as the junk and the party got an ancient artifact: a working metal detector. After spending a night on the road with Ortegg and his men they also got directions to an ancient tower. That's where we'll pick up the next session.