“Mission to Gearbury”

“Mission to Gearbury”
A tale of #SundayAMSwords

Link to opening simulacrum: http://danieldociu.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/0/0/13009351/8372412_orig.jpg

Night in the Ocean of Gears. Each gear its own city-state. Gears halt every night at 9:37PM. Rogues on Duke Agnes’ mission: Retrieve her stolen sceptre of power. Tracked to Gearbury.

The Bridge to Gearbury. Eternal clicking and ticking of the Clockwork Watch-hounds. Kthoh-Arok shattering the hound. Gammon: “These are not the sort of companions we had in the heavens.” Leaping over guards like rotoscoped astronauts.

Ballrooms on pulleys like the counterweights of grandfather clocks. Dancers chained to posts that click around the room. Four half-reptile men with curved swords: Hela monster, Horny Toad, Gecko, Crocodile. A corpulent man, lounging, brandishing the sceptre, bearing scars of battle. Gammon bouncing too high in the dance, spotted by the corpulent man. When a wolf dons sheep’s clothing, beware the appetite of other wolves. Two old servants at the fat man’s feet, reading his mind and doing his bidding, alerting the reptilian guards.

The reptiles—behind us! Battle is joined. The Scythian fending off Croc with a dancer’s chain. Toad facing Kthoh-Arok, A spurt of blood hitting with the force of a firehose. Gecko holding Gammon while Hela raises his sword. The Scythian striking Hela in the back, and throwing sword into Gecko. Kthoh-Arok hurling Toad across the room. Croc seizing The Scythian in its jaws—blocked by Megatome. Croc starts the death roll! Gammon plunging scongs into mechanism. The dancers’ chains retract, constricting Croc. The dancer’s arm caught in the tightening chain, breaking. When titans battle, it is the innocent who bleed.

Weightlessness for all. An entire ballroom in freefall. The ballroom nearing the fires below the gears. A calm, disembodied voice chanting the ancient mantra, “T-minus fifteen ... fourteen ...” The Scythian casting a spell from the Megatome—fires to halt the decent. Oppressed miners leaping for the ballroom, and plunging to their fiery doom. “That great leap would have been a small step among the stars.”

The corpulent man pulling down a massive chain. The ballroom slowly starting to rise. Kthoh-Arok hurling Toad into the corpulent man. Unmoving mountain of a man. When bathed in blood, be mindful of your balance. The Scythian breaking the dancers’ chains. Kthoh-Arok cutting the corpulent man’s belt to retrieve the sceptre. Gammon extending the scongs to Kthoh-Arok and The Scythian. Kicking Toad’s corpse. A final spurt of blood as the countdown reaches zero. A miasma of green energy and blood rocketing them up through the skylight.

THE END

In my mind, the corpulent man looked like this: https://38.media.tumblr.com/af2c04308883530209a69325d4885764/tumblr_nf18hlvkJT1rx5px6o3_1280.jpg

Link to our virtual tabletop: https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1I5jOdjgZmuJP9iLkbVUm8-AhsnFfZTplB6taQATFyTQ/edit?usp=sharing

Featuring + Aaron as The Scythian, +Sean as Kthoh-Arok, +Eppy as Overplayer, and me as Gammon.
http://danieldociu.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/0/0/13009351/8372412_orig.jpg