Ugly Ghost Squad #22 recap
Sep. 1st, 2016 11:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jkcarrierUgly Ghost Squad #22
"Attack on the Poseidon Line"
Played 8/27/2016
Roll Call:
Captain America
Hulk
Martian Manhunter
Experience Level: 9
Enemies Fought:
Midas and his crew:
Ajax
Delphi
Narcissus
Phaestus
Golems
Hellhound
Kyklopsos
Warriors
Other NPCs:
Ruby Ryder
The Olympian
Passengers and crew of the Poseidon
Adventure Modules Used:
Villains and Vigilantes: "Attack on the Poseidon Line" by James Bishop
Synopsis:
The Ugly Ghost Squad's patron and landlady, Ruby Ryder, sought out the team's help on behalf of one of her business partners. Shipping magnate Drako Koronikis had been the victim of repeated acts of piracy on his cargo ships. His stockholders were growing nervous, so to prove that his ships were safe, he decided to hold a celebrity-filled pleasure cruise aboard his newest ship, the Poseidon. Ryder asked the heroes to attend the cruise as well, just to make sure there were no incidents.
The squad arrived at Kornikis' Mediterranean island estate just in time for the pre-launch party. There they met Draco himself, as well as his ladyfriend Daphne Metaxis, his vice-president Mikelos Zouraiso, and sculptor Sid Meltier, who provided the strikingly realistic golden statues that decorated Kornikis' estate. They also met the superhero The Olympian, the so-called "Superman of Greece".
The next day, the heroes joined the other celebrity guests aboard the massive luxury cruise ship Poseidon, and began their tour of the Mediterranean. The team made a thorough examination of the ship, noting all the various amenities. As they traveled further down, they saw that the bottom-most decks were still being worked on by a construction crew. The workers discouraged the team from examining the very bottom decks, and when the heroes persisted, they threw off their disguises to reveal Warriors dressed in ancient Greek-style armor (though their laser guns were throughly modern). The heroes subdued and interrogated them, and the Warriors claimed they had snuck aboard and were waiting for the right moment to rob the ship. Searching the bottom three decks revealed nothing but a lot of empty space, but the heroes were convinced that something was going on down there, and decided to stake the area out.
But before long, a commotion drew them back to the upper decks, where a villain named Ajax had taken several passengers hostage. The Ghost Squad floated up through the deck, separating Ajax from his victims, and proceded to pound him into submission. Ajax turned out to be an android, and when he was subdued, a self-destruct mechanism was activated. Luckily, the Martian Manhunter managed to toss him overboard before he exploded, and no one was injured.
The next day, there was another attack on the ship, this time in the form of more Greek Warriors manning gun-boats. They circled the ship, firing their artillery guns, but the heroes had little trouble disabling them. Strangely, although none of the Warriors seemed injured, none of them surfaced after their boats were sunk.
Before the team could investigate, the Poseidon was rocked by a series of explosions that tore massive holes in the hull. The ship began taking on water, and it was soon clear that nothing was going to prevent it from sinking. The heroes rallied to help evacuate the passengers and crew to the lifeboats, and Captain America went looking for Olympian to help in the effort. He found the Greek hero passed out in his stateroom, apparently sleeping off an epic drinking binge from the night before. As Cap roused him and helped him get back on his feet, the Olympian muttered something about "joining his friends" and nearly pitched over the railing, but the Captain restrained him.
With the surviving passengers and crew safely evacuated, the squad dove underwater to look for signs of the disappeared Warriors. They found them loading cargo stolen from the ship onto a submarine. Slipping on board, they fought more of the Warriors manning the sub. The Hulk found a stash of torpedos, and used them to disable the ship's engines. They also found Drako, Daphne, and Mikelos, who had apparently been taken captive during the confusion on the Poseidon. The heroes suspected that Drako knew more than he was telling, but had no proof. The captured Warriors revealed that they had a base on the nearby island of Thera, and the team raced there to investigate.
The alleged "base" turned out to be nothing but a barren cavern, guarded by giant one-eyed androids called Kyklopsos. The creatures were powerful, and fired disintegration beams from their eyes, but the heroes ultimately triumphed. Searching the premeses, they found a radio transmitter. On the other end was a familiar voice, giving orders to the Kyklopsos in Greek: Drako Koronikis. Their suspicions confirmed, they traced the radio signal back to Drako's island estate.
Deep beneath Drako's mansion was the headquarters of his criminal empire. Searching the area for other exits, the Hulk stumbled upon a giant three-headed Hellhound, but made quick work of the fire-breathing beast.
In the throne room of the base, the masterminds of the plot were waiting for them: Drako aka "Midas", Mikelos aka "Narcissus", and Sid Meltier aka "Phaestus". Midas fired blasts of molten gold at the heroes, while Narcissus tried to manipulate their minds (with little success) before resorting to his considerable martial arts skills instead. Phaestus wielded a large mystical hammer, and summoned Golems made of animated clay to even the odds. It soon became obvious that there was another unseen force in the room, harrassing the heroes with bolts of psychic power. Captain America finally broke through her illusions and discovered Daphne aka "Delphi" lurking on the edge of the battle, and the heroes concentrated their efforts on her. The battle was long and difficult, and it nearly went against the forces of good, but the heroes finally managed to take out Midas and his crew.
It turned out that Midas/Draco was responsible for the "pirate" attacks on his own ships, keeping the loot and then filing insurance claims to essentially double his profits. The sinking of the Poseidon was to be his biggest score yet. The submarine full of Warriors was actually moored in the unfinsihed bottom decks, but when the Ghost Squad got too close, they hastily moved the sub out into the water via a hidden airlock while the "construction crew" delayed them.
The gun-boats were meant to fire phoney "missiles" at the Poseidon, to serve as cover for the detonation of explosives that had been previously planted on the lower decks (which the heroes failed to find, despite making several searches of the area...nobody's perfect). But the heroes sank the gun-boats before they could launch their missiles, and Midas was forced to detonate the explosives anyway, and hope no one investigated the sinking of the ship too closely.
And he would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for that meddling Ugly Ghost Squad...
Memorable Quotes:
"You're going to need more henchmen...after you get out of the hospital." - The Hulk, speaking to Midas via radio after taking out his Kyklopsos.
Sources and References:
The Olympian is a member of DC Comics' international hero team, the Global Guardians (the team locked horns with some of the other Guardians back in issue #6). A native of Greece, he wears the legendary Golden Fleece, which gives him all the abilities of the Argonauts (strength of Hercules, speed of Atalanta, etc.). I mainly included him as an obstacle to keep the heroes from poking around too much in Drako's mansion early in the game (though it turned out not to be necessary). After that, he was under Delphi's influence -- she couldn't completely take him over, due to his psychic immunity, but she was able to seduce him and keep him in a drunken stupor for most of the voyage.
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/olympian/4005-6530/
"Attack on the Poseidon Line"
Played 8/27/2016
Roll Call:
Captain America
Hulk
Martian Manhunter
Experience Level: 9
Enemies Fought:
Midas and his crew:
Ajax
Delphi
Narcissus
Phaestus
Golems
Hellhound
Kyklopsos
Warriors
Other NPCs:
Ruby Ryder
The Olympian
Passengers and crew of the Poseidon
Adventure Modules Used:
Villains and Vigilantes: "Attack on the Poseidon Line" by James Bishop
Synopsis:
The Ugly Ghost Squad's patron and landlady, Ruby Ryder, sought out the team's help on behalf of one of her business partners. Shipping magnate Drako Koronikis had been the victim of repeated acts of piracy on his cargo ships. His stockholders were growing nervous, so to prove that his ships were safe, he decided to hold a celebrity-filled pleasure cruise aboard his newest ship, the Poseidon. Ryder asked the heroes to attend the cruise as well, just to make sure there were no incidents.
The squad arrived at Kornikis' Mediterranean island estate just in time for the pre-launch party. There they met Draco himself, as well as his ladyfriend Daphne Metaxis, his vice-president Mikelos Zouraiso, and sculptor Sid Meltier, who provided the strikingly realistic golden statues that decorated Kornikis' estate. They also met the superhero The Olympian, the so-called "Superman of Greece".
The next day, the heroes joined the other celebrity guests aboard the massive luxury cruise ship Poseidon, and began their tour of the Mediterranean. The team made a thorough examination of the ship, noting all the various amenities. As they traveled further down, they saw that the bottom-most decks were still being worked on by a construction crew. The workers discouraged the team from examining the very bottom decks, and when the heroes persisted, they threw off their disguises to reveal Warriors dressed in ancient Greek-style armor (though their laser guns were throughly modern). The heroes subdued and interrogated them, and the Warriors claimed they had snuck aboard and were waiting for the right moment to rob the ship. Searching the bottom three decks revealed nothing but a lot of empty space, but the heroes were convinced that something was going on down there, and decided to stake the area out.
But before long, a commotion drew them back to the upper decks, where a villain named Ajax had taken several passengers hostage. The Ghost Squad floated up through the deck, separating Ajax from his victims, and proceded to pound him into submission. Ajax turned out to be an android, and when he was subdued, a self-destruct mechanism was activated. Luckily, the Martian Manhunter managed to toss him overboard before he exploded, and no one was injured.
The next day, there was another attack on the ship, this time in the form of more Greek Warriors manning gun-boats. They circled the ship, firing their artillery guns, but the heroes had little trouble disabling them. Strangely, although none of the Warriors seemed injured, none of them surfaced after their boats were sunk.
Before the team could investigate, the Poseidon was rocked by a series of explosions that tore massive holes in the hull. The ship began taking on water, and it was soon clear that nothing was going to prevent it from sinking. The heroes rallied to help evacuate the passengers and crew to the lifeboats, and Captain America went looking for Olympian to help in the effort. He found the Greek hero passed out in his stateroom, apparently sleeping off an epic drinking binge from the night before. As Cap roused him and helped him get back on his feet, the Olympian muttered something about "joining his friends" and nearly pitched over the railing, but the Captain restrained him.
With the surviving passengers and crew safely evacuated, the squad dove underwater to look for signs of the disappeared Warriors. They found them loading cargo stolen from the ship onto a submarine. Slipping on board, they fought more of the Warriors manning the sub. The Hulk found a stash of torpedos, and used them to disable the ship's engines. They also found Drako, Daphne, and Mikelos, who had apparently been taken captive during the confusion on the Poseidon. The heroes suspected that Drako knew more than he was telling, but had no proof. The captured Warriors revealed that they had a base on the nearby island of Thera, and the team raced there to investigate.
The alleged "base" turned out to be nothing but a barren cavern, guarded by giant one-eyed androids called Kyklopsos. The creatures were powerful, and fired disintegration beams from their eyes, but the heroes ultimately triumphed. Searching the premeses, they found a radio transmitter. On the other end was a familiar voice, giving orders to the Kyklopsos in Greek: Drako Koronikis. Their suspicions confirmed, they traced the radio signal back to Drako's island estate.
Deep beneath Drako's mansion was the headquarters of his criminal empire. Searching the area for other exits, the Hulk stumbled upon a giant three-headed Hellhound, but made quick work of the fire-breathing beast.
In the throne room of the base, the masterminds of the plot were waiting for them: Drako aka "Midas", Mikelos aka "Narcissus", and Sid Meltier aka "Phaestus". Midas fired blasts of molten gold at the heroes, while Narcissus tried to manipulate their minds (with little success) before resorting to his considerable martial arts skills instead. Phaestus wielded a large mystical hammer, and summoned Golems made of animated clay to even the odds. It soon became obvious that there was another unseen force in the room, harrassing the heroes with bolts of psychic power. Captain America finally broke through her illusions and discovered Daphne aka "Delphi" lurking on the edge of the battle, and the heroes concentrated their efforts on her. The battle was long and difficult, and it nearly went against the forces of good, but the heroes finally managed to take out Midas and his crew.
It turned out that Midas/Draco was responsible for the "pirate" attacks on his own ships, keeping the loot and then filing insurance claims to essentially double his profits. The sinking of the Poseidon was to be his biggest score yet. The submarine full of Warriors was actually moored in the unfinsihed bottom decks, but when the Ghost Squad got too close, they hastily moved the sub out into the water via a hidden airlock while the "construction crew" delayed them.
The gun-boats were meant to fire phoney "missiles" at the Poseidon, to serve as cover for the detonation of explosives that had been previously planted on the lower decks (which the heroes failed to find, despite making several searches of the area...nobody's perfect). But the heroes sank the gun-boats before they could launch their missiles, and Midas was forced to detonate the explosives anyway, and hope no one investigated the sinking of the ship too closely.
And he would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for that meddling Ugly Ghost Squad...
Memorable Quotes:
"You're going to need more henchmen...after you get out of the hospital." - The Hulk, speaking to Midas via radio after taking out his Kyklopsos.
Sources and References:
The Olympian is a member of DC Comics' international hero team, the Global Guardians (the team locked horns with some of the other Guardians back in issue #6). A native of Greece, he wears the legendary Golden Fleece, which gives him all the abilities of the Argonauts (strength of Hercules, speed of Atalanta, etc.). I mainly included him as an obstacle to keep the heroes from poking around too much in Drako's mansion early in the game (though it turned out not to be necessary). After that, he was under Delphi's influence -- she couldn't completely take him over, due to his psychic immunity, but she was able to seduce him and keep him in a drunken stupor for most of the voyage.
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/olympian/4005-6530/
