Campaign: Damos Crusade Campaign
We landed on Airam, a verdant world with a breathable atmosphere.
Upon landing on Airam at approximately 1400 hours we set up one of our portable hab bases with a small company of our merc crew.
Upon investigation of the surrounding landscape we noticed large pitcher plants and massive irregular footprints with broken trees.
From the view of our hab base we were able to see the ruins of a town so as a crew we investigated.
On the way to the town Kalei started to eat the local flora and fauna causing a disturbance in the surrounding area when he cut a tree down.
In the tree was a large irregular lump. The lump was actually a shell that popped off and revealed a creature with hundreds of tiny millipede legs and several dozen eyes. It was an oculoid creature.
So after we discovered the oculon, Kalei ate a hallucinogenic snail.
The snail made him and several of the crew believe that he was dead.
He was revived with a stimm pack and immediately attacked the tree in front of him knocked dozens of scared oculon out of the tree.
Meanwhile our astropath used his beast talking and mind probing abilities to get information out of the creature.
Anyways the little creature revealed important Information about the massive beasts. They range from being barely larger than a man to over 30 ft tall and they all look like nightmares brought to life. Crab arms, insect appendages, claws, stalk eyes...extra legs. They appear to be patchwork of different creatures
Soon afterward a shadowy figure shambles out of the forest and tries to decapitate Scizzle our seneschal. It's bone blade arm barely misses its target and Scizzle leaps out of the way. Kalei grabs and grapples the horrifying figure. Pinning it down we attempt to interrogate it, however it's eyes and mouth are stitched shut.
So I shoot it in the eye socket to subdue it and our astropath proceeds to mind probe the beast. Did I mention one of its arms is mutated into a 4 ft long bone blade?
The astropath mind probes the creature and reveals horrific details about its origins. It was once an ordinary farmer...hard working, tending the fields, he went to bed one night and woke up somewhere else... He woke up on a cold slab with a bright light over him.
There was a slender figure with a smile that spread too wide, revealing needle teeth that glinted in the light... the lip less smile stretched further as small mechanicus arms extended from its back revealing a cruel array of hooks, injectors, saw blades and microscalples. As the arms descended the man tried to scream but his mouth was already stitched shut.
So with that knowledge in mind we knew that humans at least at one time lived on this world. We proceeded to the town ruins to see if we could find any clues as to what may have happened.
After some scouting we found that the gate to the town was completely smashed in at one time but was replaced with a small wooden stockade. And the stone walls (roughly 15 feet tall) were slowly crumbling. Inside the (imagine 1700s europe) town we discovered remnants of a frantic battle for survival in which the humanoid defenders fought a battle for survival but were massacred in a last stand outside of the church several years ago.
The remains had rusted armor and weaponry of a twin headed eagle grasping thunder bolts. We proceeded to investigate the church, atop the bell tower there was a flag waving with the same symbol. We entered the church via cellar doors and snuck in through the underground crypts that held the remains of priests and town mayors.
While ascending the stairs our scouting seneschals saw light seeping out from under the door. At the top of the stairs, it flickered like torch light. Peering through the keyhole they noticed 3 humanoid shadows with what appeared to be swords at their hip.
As our scouts pick the lock and infiltrate the church Sanctuary they see roughly 30 men in various states of injury or fatigue wearing thick leathers and dark green and black cloaks. With large suits of war plate neatly stacked next to the wall. Our scouts talked to the leader of the the men who were initially hostile. They drew their swords and bolt launchers but we talked them down.
Eventually the rest of the party gathered in the church and we were introduced to Captain Wilhelm Adlerklinge.