Session Report [O3] Avoid the Smells

Running an online session nearly back-to-back with a live session in a persistent campaign environment is a bit weird.  One party seems to nearly always be stumbling across the remains of the other party, so I decided to keep things interesting to actually conjoin their timelines a bit - in other words some encounters I'm keeping even if they are fully played out because frankly, it is more fun that way.  Ahh fun. Also, I remembered to take notes this time.

The Party

• Feener: wields the "sweet-ass silver serpent blade" and generally tries to keep it together
• Gramps: really enjoys shooting things with his flintloque - a lot.  seriously he is power-crazy
• Armon: cool and slightly aloof, he is doing his best to prove he isn't the Manchurian Candidate
• Goblin: bald, wide-mouthed, and a bit stone-agey with a dash of mystical knowledge

Action Highlights

• The party spent some time investigating the rotting corpse of the hulking brun - it is now covered in blue-green mushrooms.  Some holy water didn't do much to make it smell better.  What it did do, however, was convince the party to explore the hole in the ceiling on the side far away from the wretched lemony stink.  Armon put himself in harm's way to ensure that Feener could climb up, and fresh bonds were beginning to be formed.
• The cavern they climbed into appeared to be hollowed out through natrual caustic action of some sort of huge worm.  This was based on both the smooth "cuts" into the stone, the acrid smell, and the mashed up guanno on the floor.  After some poking about Goblin found an old skeleton, but at the same time the Giant Mottled Cystworm returned!  Feener got kicked through the side passage and saved by Armon.
• Goblin snuck back close the othe cystworm to claim a prize he had identified just as Gramps blew a hole in the side of the thing, guts and flesh chunks spilling everywhere.  The GMC took the damage and let loose with a high-pitched howl as it fled deeper into it's lair.  The party considered following, but the acrid smell made them decide to turn around.
• Exploring one of the passages the party disocvers a series of cages filled with long dead oddities ... and get a feeling something is wrong.  With a sudden rash of minor thefts the party realizes that that aren't quite seeing something - Armon gets the first glance of a small lizard-like humanoid creature wearing a white cloak.  A sudden rash of violence and the crack of the flintloque later the party is feeling up an invidble creature.  Feener gets his hands on a black book of some sort that is clearly not "of the light".  He brushes away invetigation and tucks it in his pack ... everyone is wary.
• After much role playing an uncomfortable conversation, the party frees a trio of humans that have been "fixed by the masters".  They have been here a long time, are very hungry, and miss their dead "tree friends".  The party gets into some clever action with physics and breaks them out.  Both of them.  I mean just the one.  Once free, he gets a bit ... intense.  They name him Vern.  He calls himself MetaVern.
• Ignoring some stairs down, the party moves past a portcullis and beings to examine a strange construction of wood and bone, upon which fire sprites are dancing.  Vern gets into a conversation with someone behind a door.  "Sounds like a Fire Thief ... and a dead one at that.  I don't know much about ghosts."  MetaVern makes several uncalled for suggestions that the party ignores.
• The party opens a metal door and catches the salty scent of low tide.  The only way they have to go is now either Down (and they want to go Up) or into one of the smells.  As time was running low, we decided to call it for the evening.

GM Notes
There was some fantastic role playing with this session.  Four players, even online, is much easier than seven face-to-face.  Nonetheless, in both session I can see a spot where I need to help out - Bonds.  The bonds system of Dungeon World is AWESOME, but having everyone create their own from scratch is a bit difficult.  I'll be making a "Bonds cheat sheet" to help folks out.