#33 Among the Dead

Hey all! We're still playing through cirion's Antumbra Saga campaign as 1nv4d3r, a fool-punching ork shadowrunner.

Yikes.

Previously, on Before the Shadow:

We started the campaign with 1nv4d3r saving the people and holdings of Antumbra, a Seattle nightclub run by music artist and producer Kali on behalf of megacorp Mitsuhama. Mitsuhama hired our fool-puncher to investigate the Aztechnology corporation in San Francisco. While we were there, an thief-assassin killed a guy and stole the data we wanted.

Our search led us to the devotees of Norton IX, the (disputed) absolute ruler of California. Norton became our ally and we uncovered the thief-assassin - a troll extremist named Shavarus, who teamed up with the elves of Tir Tairngire to strike back against the city's oppressive ruler, Saito. We stopped him but spared his life so that he could reverse his original plan to destroy the city's water supply.

This module started with our shadowrunner on the run from unwanted publicity. Kali recruited him to gather allies and supplies and protect Northern California from an impending invasion by Tir Tairngire and their megacorp allies.

After recruiting a dour elf with dreadlocks named Elorn and stopping another dastardly Native Californian plan that involved invading our base, we returned to our refurbished base to take stock of our supplies and allies, get to know Elorn, and check in on our friends.

Next stop: Colma. Where we first found Norton, and where Norton's army hides among the gravestones.

...or used to hide.

We find ourselves before a looming monument of a building, the road deteriorating into something almost cobbled. Distant ravens announce our arrival.

Elorn and the Emperor accompany our hero today. As Hailey herself said, drones are of little use out here. We follow the path -

And find a familiar face. This is definitely a graveyard.

Zombies. It's zombies, isn't it?

I KNEW IT

Are you messing with us, woman?

Maybe not, seeing that she did turn into a flock of birds last time.

Wait - are our allies under attack by zombies?

After punching the gate open, she stands beside it to let us pass.

We pass through.

Fresh blood stains the ground. Even more damningly, a trio of ghouls surround a young, black dwarf.

Wait no, five ghouls.

Between 1nv4d3r's toughness and Elorn's gunnery, we finish off with just 4 health missing.

I guess this is a rescue mission now. We pause by a very familiar grave.

Awkward. Further ahead, more ghouls guard another captive, with an unexpected form nearby.

Time to rescue an ork and sucker-punch a ghoul!

As before, our guy is too tough to actually be hurt by his enemies. We pick up a nearby PDA, full of intel -

- and continue on.

More blood. The magical tree trunk bathes the skeletal trees in an eerie, green light. We soon find ourselves barging in on another group -

- crowded around the altar where we first met Norton and Shavarus. Also here - a Tir operative. Well, this is starting to make a horrible kind of sense.

We free the troll who runs for his life, and Elorn gets shot by the enemy elf.

His revenge is swift.

Norton manages to protect himself and Elorn from the fire elemental and our ork kicks the remaining ghouls into oblivion.

On our way out, Norton decides to stop the group.

Hopefully better than YOUR comrades out here, Captain N.

Ouch, sniped.

Down with the 1%!

No Elorn! Don't listen to him! Viva la revolución!

"Where are your armies" hits different in this graveyard at this time.

That response is l'âme.

I like that no one really wins this debate but no one is really declared right or wrong either.

We seem to have found the last hostage - and two medpacks.

And by found I mean 'freed' and 'taken' respectively.

Elorn takes out a mage and we stun a commando right away.

Shot a few times, burned once --

13 health? Call me when it's serious.

-- but it ends pretty well.

Tabitha now stands guard by a shady-looking crypt.

So, we're going in there next?

Oh no!

My abilities? But all I know how to do is punch fools and talk smack!

Oh God.

if you're forgotten, Tophet was that angry fire elemental from the very beginning of the campaign. The first mission to destroy the nightclub.

I don't think we learned his name in character but he was clearly labelled in the dialogue box, so players are probably expected to recognise him.

So the real questions are - what does Tophet want and who is it bound to?

But instead we ask... that.

This is foreshadowing about the ending of the campaign.

Either that or Tabitha is seriously goth.

I mean, she does turn into a flock of crows.

With no other options left, we go - well, looking for options.

And with our conversation over, Tabitha unceremoniously takes her leave.

Some exploring brings us back to the magical tree stump.

Touching it calls up this terrifying thing.

Oh, yikes. The last spirit I remember dealing with was in a junkyard and that was pretty gross.

Hm, much better. We can do that.

We're given the option to disturb several graves and start with the nearest one -

- out jumps a fire elemental!

I admit, I did not see that coming. Considering that we fought groups of ghouls with a fire elemental as support earlier, one elemental does little more than singe our heroes.

The second one gives a little more damage to heal -

- but the ride's over in no time.

We make our way back to the crypt.

Its stone chipped, decorated by splattered blood and scorched earth, and surrounded by tree-skeletons, the crypt is a grim reminder of Tabitha's equally grim warning.

Yes we are.