Kingbeast's Lair

[Author’s Note: This is the log for the 5th session. Note that the order of the events in this record may not be in the exact order that they occurred during play. The narrator is shown in italics.]

In this hair-raising adventure of Tesla’s Power Corp you can follow the exploits of the following heroes:

Two Wheeled Chaos

While partaking of his afternoon tea Miles receives a call from one of his former acquaintances, a Professor Hamilton Dickenson. Dickenson is an Oxford professor with a penchant for the Knights Templar. He invites Miles to Washington D.C. to listen to a seminar that is giving about the Knights Templar. In the conversation Professor Dickenson warns Miles that he should come with friends as he believes that someone is following him.

After a pleasant train ride from N.Y. to D.C Miles rents a limo and the group heads towards the seminar. Getting caught in traffic delays their arrival to the hotel where the seminar will be held. As they approach they see Professor Dickenson wave at them. In this left hand he holds a small wooden box. As the car moves towards the curb a motorcycle races by and grabs the box from the Professor! In a burst of speed Mike jumps out after him and Liam guns the engine of the limo. As the car nears the cycle Tommy pushes open the door knocking the rider from his motorcycle. Mike scoops up the man and box then puts them into the back seat of the limo. As he throws in the stunned man and box he spots three motorcycles pull up to the front of the hotel. One of the three large men pulls out a pistol! Liam guns the car while Professor Dickenson runs inside the hotel. While the three riders race after the limo Miles uses his confusion spell to send two into spins. As Liam expertly avoids pedestrians while racing through a city park the third pursuer runs into an open manhole cover sending him sprawling!

As the limo races to safety they decide to interrogate the man on the first motorcycle. After some back and forth conversation the man admits that he is from a modern group of Knights Templar. He was instructed to retrieve the box at any cost. After finishing their conversation the group returns to the hotel to check on Professor Dickenson…

Stay with our valiant Corp as they encounter nefarious villains and travel to foreign lands to try and get to the bottom of this ancient mystery. It will take brains and brawn in spades to deal with all of this danger!

[Author’s Note: This is the log for the 5th session. Note that the order of the events in this record may not be in the exact order that they occurred during play. The narrator is shown in italics.]

In this hair-raising adventure of Tesla’s Power Corp you can follow the exploits of the following heroes:

Temple Of The Spider God

After the midnight assault on the riverboat Captain Santiago is very upset as one of his crewmen has been killed. The Corp assuages his fears by paying him to deliver them to their destination. Reluctantly the Captain accepts the money. Several hours later Captain Santiago informs the Corp that the river is narrowing and that they must continue with the launch. With a bit more river travel Liam informs the group that they must continue on foot. As night falls and rain starts to fall Liam finds a cave that they can use for shelter. Upon investigating the cave the group finds an image carved into the stone walls. The image is that of a strange ziggurat with two spider-like legs emerging from the top.

The next morning the Corp continues to the center of the Spider Cult’s web with Liam giving directions and Mike hacking down the thick undergrowth using his machete. Eventually the group reaches a small clearing with one path leading forward. The path forward is blanketed with webbing! Liam then lights a fire and makes some torches for the group. After he starts down the path burning away the webs spider swarms then huge spiders the size of small dogs start to emerge from the undergrowth behind the party. Thinking quickly Tommy drops his lantern. Mike lights it with a torch chasing back the spiders. While backing down the path Miles lets loose on the large spiders with his confusion spell.

As the group reaches the end of the path the see a rope bridge leading across a deep ravine. The bridge is made of webs instead of ropes! As the group races across giant spiders climb up from underneath! Liam dashes across then turns and begins to shoot spiders off of the bridge. Mike takes up the tail end of the group while kicking a spider off the bridge. As the spiders start to follow Mike picks up Miles and dashes the rest of the way across the bridge. Once across Liam burns the webs sending the bridge falling back across the ravine. Now there is no choice but to proceed.

Once the brush clears the Corp makes out an ancient ziggurat that is covered in vines. At the corners of the ziggurat are burning braziers which produce a purple colored smoke. At each stairwell up the ziggurat stand a pair of ancient Aztec warriors. At the top of the ziggurat is a powerful looking warrior with a huge obsidian axe and a cloak that appears to be made of spiders. The chief appears to be standing next to what could only be a shaman wearing a feathered mask. The shaman is directing two Aztec warriors toward the top of the pyramid. The two warriors are holding the arms of a blonde woman who appears to be drugged. As the Corp nears the warrior declares the strength of the Spider Cult in English then orders the warriors to attack in Spanish. Miles start blasting away with his lightning bolts to devastating effect! Mike lets loose with his rifle. Liam and Tommy rush forward to try and help the captive. One of the warrior knocks over one of the braziers towards Miles! The brazier flares up into a dangerous cone that sears Miles a bit. Tommy then reaches the blond woman and runs towards the far side of the ziggurat with her. The shaman then lets loose a fantastically terrible spider swarm spell on Liam! In a turn of fate the spider spell hits Liam’s compass leaving him without a scratch! In a flash Liam scales the ziggurat and opens fire on the shaman sending him flying off the side of the temple! The next second Miles fells the chief with a well placed lightning blast.

As the leaders fall a giant spider the size of several men emerges from a pit in the center of the ziggurat! As the spider god emerges it skewers two of the Aztec warriors while Mike opens fire. After felling the warriors the spider moves toward Mike and Tommy. Thinking quick Mike knocks over a nearby brazier towards the spider god! In an explosion of flame the spider god reels back! After some ferocious bolts from Miles the charred body of the giant spider god falls down the side of the ziggurat!

With everything in hand the Corp learns that the woman is named Marian Darlington. She was part of the original expedition by Professor Brakespear. Searching around Tommy finds a necklace on the chief that can apparently call a swarm of spiders. On the shaman Miles finds some magical powder than can be mixed with certain oils to produce a massive flame.

Now to return to civilization…

Ancient knights! Fabled treasure! Dastardly enemies! You can find it all in our next Daring Tale Of Adventure!

-== What is it? ==-

Billy Fog And The Gift Of Troubled Sight (Billy Fog)
is a graphic novel that tells the story of a boy who can see things other kids cannot. Billy can see death and decay. The graphic novel was created, written, and illustrated by Guillaume Bianco. It was published by Archaia Press.

This hardcover graphic novel has a color cover. The interior pages are black and white with a few colored panels sprinkled throughout. Billy Fog is 8.5″ x 11.25″ and is 144 pages in length. I am reviewing a print copy that I bought from my local comic shop.

-== What I Like ==-

Billy Fog is a collection of cartoon strips, letters, newspaper articles, poems, stories, monster details, ads, games, and other miscellaneous content. As I read through the book I couldn’t wait to see what would come up next. Amazingly this collection of various content forms a coherent and cogent whole. In this case this vast array of content acts to enforce the gothic mood of the work.

EVERY page in Billy Fog contains some amount of artistic content. For example, in a section with a cartoon script the page number show a strange knife. These “doodles” make every page deliciously time consuming to digest. The back inside cover has a fantastic Ouji board. There is literally no blank page in the entire book.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

There is some semblance of a main storyline in Billy Fog but because of the varied content it can be hard to follow at times. It can also be a bit twisted in parts depending on the content. Billy Fog is not a book that is intended for younger readers. I think teenagers would love it but younger folks would be confused and maybe grossed out by some of the content.

-== Summary ==-

Billy Fog feels like the offspring of Tim Burton and Edward Gory. It mixes childlike wonder with a strong dose of gothic horror. This is an enchanting romp that will keep you busy trying to examine every page for that tiny bit of content that you missed from the previous reading. For an $18.27 Amazon price tag this is a great deal for a quality product.

I give it 8 out of 10 paws.

Copies of Billy Fog can be picked up at Amazon for $18.27 at this URL.