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Road Hogs: Chronicles of Redemption
Chapter 11: The Ancient Arcana
Adventure 11: The Crossroads Sanctum
Ten noble marks stood on their tally. Only their jagged, protruding tusks remained of Morwen's hideous curse. The open road gave way to a twisted, surreal landscape where the asphalt cracked open to reveal veins of raw, pulsing ley-line energy. The generator tables rolled up a mystical dilemma:
| Element | Result | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Town Type | Magical or supernatural | Omen Hollow, a misty village existing halfway between the mortal realm and the ether. |
| Noteworthy Feature | Ancient ruins nearby | The monolithic Stones of Destiny cast long, reality-bending shadows over the highway. |
| The Scenario | Defend a location or person | Protecting an ancient temple guardian holding the final key to the curse's origin. |
| The Location | The Sunken Obelisk | An subterranean temple exposed by a recent, magical earthquake. |
| The Objective | Divine Intervention | Stopping a radical cult from siphoning the shrine's ancient power to summon an old evil. |
| The Complication | Morwen’s Vengeance | The warlock Morwen has sent his elite Shadow Stalkers to eliminate the Hogs before they break his spell. |
The air in Omen Hollow tasted like ozone and old parchment. The Hogs guided their choppers into a gaping chasm in the center of the road, down into the glowing chambers of the Sunken Obelisk. There, an elderly, blind avian mystic named Elder Zephyr lay pinned beneath a fallen magical pillar, surrounded by robed cultists chanting in dark tongues.
Elder Zephyr: Hogs of the road! You have come... just as the prophecy foretold! The cultists are siphoning my life force to charge the Gateway of Oblivion! But worse... Morwen knows you are close to breaking your bonds! He has sent his personal wraiths to make sure you never perform your eleventh deed!
Perry: Morwen is panicking. That means we are right on schedule. Hang on, old-timer, we are about to lighten your load.
Elder Zephyr: Wait! The pillar holding me down is bound by an unstable gravity rune. One wrong touch and it will collapse, crushing the subterranean foundations of the town above!
Mac: A magical gravity lock? That is just an inverse kinetic grid. Perry, keep those cultists talking. Buster, prepare to catch the weight when I invert the poles!
🎲 Challenge: Reversing the arcane polarity of the gravity rune to lift the stone pillar
GM Designations: Crafty Challenge | Difficulty: 5
Player Dice Pool: Mac uses his technical knowledge to hack the magical inscription using a copper wire ground-loop. He rolls 3 dice (Matches Crafty Trait). Driven by his Impulsive quirk, he scratches out the main glyph with a screwdriver instead of waiting for a proper diagnostic, bumping the difficulty to 6!
Dice Result: [3, 1, 6]
Outcome: Success! The 6 matches the high difficulty exactly. The rune flashes bright blue, momentarily making the multi-ton pillar weightless so Buster can hurl it aside! Mac recovers 1 Resolve Token!
Mac: *Phew!* Magic is just science with flashier lights! Get up, Elder, the perimeter is about to get messy!
As Elder Zephyr scrambled to safety, the shadows along the temple walls lengthened, twisting into terrifying, faceless silhouettes with glowing violet blades. Morwen’s Shadow Stalkers had arrived to execute the final judgment.
Shadow Stalker Leader: The Warlock’s curse is eternal, swine! You will die in the dark!
Perry: We are down to our last teeth, shadow-boy. And we bite hard.
Banishment of Shadows
The wraiths lunged forward, moving like liquid darkness across the illuminated stone tiles of the ancient sanctum.
⚔️ Combat Challenge: Banish Morwen's Shadow Stalkers and protect the Elder
GM Designations: Brawny/Crafty Battle | Effort Tokens Required: 6
Round 1: Buster uses his chrome tailpipes to reflect the temple's magical light beams!
Dice Pool: 3 dice (Brawny). Difficulty: 5.
Dice Result: [5, 5, 2] — Exceptional Success!
Outcome: 2 successes remove 2 Effort Tokens. The reflected light sears through the wraiths! (Remaining Effort: 4).
Round 1: Perry uses his roaring engine to disrupt the dark cultists' chanting!
Dice Pool: 3 dice (Crafty). Difficulty: 5.
Dice Result: [4, 3, 1] — Failure.
Action: Perry uses his Gift of Gab to scream an insulting counter-chant over the exhaust notes, spending 1 Karma Token to lower the difficulty to 4. The 4 now counts as a success!
Outcome: 1 success removes 1 Effort Token. The portal's energy begins to fluctuate wildly! (Remaining Effort: 3).
Round 1: Mac uses his customized magnesium flares to blind the entities!
Dice Pool: 3 dice (Agile). Difficulty: 5.
Dice Result: [6, 5, 4] — Exceptional Success!
Outcome: 2 successes remove 2 Effort Tokens. (Remaining Effort: 1).
Brawny as ever, Buster wheeled his chopper directly into a beam of pure ethereal light pouring from the ceiling, using the polished chrome of his custom exhaust shields to redirect the beam like a laser cannon. The light tore through the front rank of the Shadow Stalkers, vaporizing them into harmless mist.
Mac pulled two high-intensity magnesium road flares from his saddlebag, struck them against his handlebars, and hurled them into the center of the dark mass. The blinding, mundane white fire shattered the magical dark, sending the remaining cultists running for the exits as their spell unraveled completely.
⚔️ Combat Challenge: Purging the Last Shadow (1 Effort Remaining)
Round 2: Perry executes a crushing tire-burnout across the shadow leader!
Dice Pool: 3 dice (Crafty). Difficulty: 5.
Dice Result: [5, 2, 3] — Success!
Outcome: The final Effort Token is removed. The shadow vanguard is completely destroyed!
Perry popped his clutch, spinning his rear tire over the stone altar and spraying a wave of sparks that dissolved the Shadow Leader into nothingness. The Sunken Obelisk fell completely silent, the ancient energy returning to a peaceful, golden glow.
Eleven Down, One to Go: The Final Climax Approaches
Elder Zephyr leaned heavily on his staff, his sightless eyes welling with tears as he looked toward the three exhausted riders.
Elder Zephyr: You have done it. The eleventh deed is fulfilled! But listen to me closely—Morwen has retreated to his ultimate stronghold, the **Citadel of Spire Rock**, located at the absolute dead-end of Highway 666. He is currently weaving a cataclysmic spell that will lock the entire realm into a permanent curse, ensuring no one can ever challenge him again!
Perry: Then it is a good thing we are fast drivers, Elder. We have a date with a warlock.
As they walked out to their choppers, a monumental wave of golden light tore across their faces. The sharp, protruding tusks—the very last remnants of their bestial transformation—snapped and dissolved into glittering stardust. Their faces were now entirely human, smooth and unblemished. Except for one final detail: **their skin still bore a faint, glowing pink hue**, a lingering signature of the curse that would only break when Morwen himself was defeated.
Mac: Look at us! No snout, no ears, no tusks! Eleven deeds down! We are one single victory away from being completely human again!
Buster: This is it, boys. The big one. No more small-town disputes. We are riding straight into the heart of the storm.
Perry: Load up everything you’ve got. Check your oil, check your ammo, and tighten your vests. Next stop: Spire Rock. Let's go finish this story.
The three choppers thundered to life with an apocalyptic roar, shaking the ancient stones of Omen Hollow. The Road Hogs opened their throttles wide, tearing down the cracked asphalt of Highway 666, racing straight toward their twelfth, final, and greatest battle of all...
The stage is set for the epic finale! Road Hogs balances fast-paced, high-stakes action with the brilliant, rules-light Tricube Tales system.
Will the crew defeat Morwen and claim total redemption? Prepare your dice for the final showdown in this remarkable universe by Richard Woolcock.
👉 You can find it here: DriveThruRPG - Road Hogs
