Driftwood/Session 1

As a sort of hazing ritual to the upcoming mission, and to set some expectations, the co-captains of the Carcosa, Quartus Secundus (QS) and Secundus Quartus (SQ) inform their potential crew that, should they fail to drink every drop of alcohol in the motel they've rented out this evening, there will be lashings for everyone come time to set sail. "So, we all meet in a tavern…"
The crew sit down with their drink of choice. Some prefer the higher-shelf stuff, others settle for whatever swill they can get their hands on. As drinks are handed out, discussions commence, and we get to various levels of inebriation. We're introduced to several of our main players (a few of which were seated at another table and will be introduced next time):
*Georg (Brandon): A Thalranese mercenary with a penchant for seeking out the nastiest rotgut he can find, as well as an inquisitive attitude. Likely taking an NCO position within the boarding party.
*Ossirc (Karl): A Thalranese mercenary who seems largely disinterested in the welfare of himself or those around him.
*Drakr (Bruce): A bulky Thalranese mercenary who prefers a good scrap and a good "wrestle" to a test of his brainpower.
*Darius Holmes (Dustin): A Shantine expat who's lost his god and his home, floating through life on the search to replace both.
*Fritz Opermann (Sean): An elderly Aeldman surgeon-turned-occult enthusiast, whose main motivation for being here is just to have a "good time." Secretly a psionic.
*Tog Squawks (Tarek): An Aeldman financier with a nasty amphetamine habit, concerned with surviving long enough to pay off his debts.
*Job (Wes): An Aeldman businessman whose world has been consistently crumbling around him to the point he feels he only has his body left to give, so he might as well go out killing people if he can.
As the discussions heat up, Georg asks the table what they think of mortality. There's a variety of opinions, some caring less about their fate than others. Job is under the impression that if he were meant to die, he'd have died a long time ago, so perhaps he can't. Fritz questions him on this and asks whether Job would want priority being saved if he and someone else were bleeding out. Job says he'd wait.
Ossirc is drinking some Telranian snake whiskey. He makes a show of cutting up his mouth to chew up and spit out the bones underneath the table. Georg chastises him for his choice of drink, while Drakr, in the spirit of competition, orders something even more dangerous to eat: Umbran brain stew. He wants to spit out some brains on to the same bone pile.
After being insulted, Job challenges Ossirc to a game of Russian roulette with his 12-shot revolver. Fritz tries to stop them, but Job aims at Fritz first. He clicks the gun twice against his own head, then Ossirc clicks the gun twice without spinning the barrel. Job is impressed and thinks neither of them are meant to die here.
Drakr's stew is affecting him in an odd way (damned Umbrans), so Fritz slaps him, knocking the stew out of his hands. Drakr is displeased by this and punches Fritz in the face, nearly knocking him unconscious. There's a minor scuffle in the bar, and no one else seems to be injured. Tog decides to kick his gun into the middle of the scuffle to see what would happen, but no one took the bait.
Later that evening, QS and SQ return to unlock the doors. They're impressed that we've managed to clean out the entire supply of liquor, so they leave us with one more task before we set out: to sober up completely before setting foot on the Carcosa. Failure to do so will, of course, result in a lashing. This leads the crew to scramble toward sobriety in their own ways:
*Drakr searches out a brothel for a good time. He specifically requests a selection of elderly men and asks for the one that he deems to look the most like Fritz.
*Tog and Georg speed up their metabolisms with… speed. They use combat amphetamines, Tog taking a double dose.
*Fritz uses a combination of medical supplies and an excessive amount of coffee to quickly set his night right.
*Ossirc and Darius, along with Tog and Georg, head over to a nearby hole in the wall to wolf down some shitty food and discuss their status and preparations for the trip.
*Job returns to his room at the motel. He asks his soul computer to recreate his wife's voice, listens to her scold him for a while, and once again plays Russian Roulette. The adrenaline kicks him back to sobriety, and he's further convinced he's meant to live a long time, if not forever.
The next morning, everyone returns to the ship as requested, and no punishments are doled out. Things are normal… for now.
Category:Session Summaries