Session 53 Recap [Meta] This was without a doubt one of the more complex games I’ve run so far in terms of timing. In retrospect, I think Bakra’s folks should have arrived 2-3 rounds before Shonn’s group, but whatever. I was not unhappy with the results. This could have gone many other ways. Overall I was happy with the results, I hope everyone had a good time. Scene 1: Ailekk is finding Shonn [Meta Question: Has Ailekk seen Revivify work yet? If not, he wouldn’t know it is possible.] Ailekk found Shonn still in the dining hall with Urd’s 5 sisters, Kalrithni, Lindal, the 3 guards, and Urd’s older half-sister the cook. She motioned for Ailekk to lay Kaaska’s body on the table. She began probing his body, placing her hands about his army, legs, head, and chest, and laying her cheek/ear to several parts. After a few moments Shonn said, “He completely dead, Ailekk” Ailekk responded, “Is there some way to bring him back? Shonn said, “I can bring back the dead, yes. But typically only if they are willing. Your brother’s soul was, never a healthy one. Bringing him back will be costly. But I could try, I’m just telling you I’m not sure if it would work.” Ailekk thought about this for a moment. Shonn offered, “I could cast a spell so you can speak with him, if you’d like.” Ailekk said, “Yes, please.” Shonn said, “You can ask him 5 questions.” Shonn lit some incense on either side of Kaaska’s body and put a hand on his chest. His mouth opened and Ailekk could hear faint air escaping from his mouth. Shonn looked at Ailekk, waiting for his question. Ailekk asked, “Why did you attack me?”, and Shonn repeated the question to Kaaska. He answered, “I was trying to get the tomes.” Ailekk asked, “For who?”, [always assume Shonn repeats the question]. Kaaska answered, “The Lonely Socket hag coven” Ailekk asked, “Why didn’t you ask [for the books]?”. Kaaska answered, “You would have asked why I wanted them, and I wasn’t allowed to tell you.” Ailekk asked, “If we brought you back what would you do?”. Kaaska answered, “Try and kill them.” Finally, Ailekk asked, “Do you want to come back?”. There was a long pause as Kaaska’s soul carefully considered this question. After several moments, he finally replied, “Yes. I want to kill the hags for twisting my mind.” Scene 2: Urd is finding Bakra Urd ran into his father’s throne room/tavern to see 10 orcs, his father Bakra, and the half-ogre bartender are sitting down. Bakra was now at the bar. When Urd came rushing in, Bakra said, “Son, come over here and have a drink.” Urd shouted, “Father, there’s been an attack. Some kind of devil attacked us, we’re in danger.” The two veteran orcs, scarred but heavily armed stood up, looking alarmed. No one else did. Bakra said, “Just calm down son, come over here and have a drink with me.” He then turned around and ordered a drink for Urd from the bartender. Urd looked confused, and the two veterans looked confused as well. Urd ordered them to sit down and obey Bakra, which they did. He sat down next to Bakra who slid him a mug. Bakra said quietly in thieves’ cant, “I’m sorry son. I’m not in control right now.” He then said in common, “Now tell me son. You and your friend have three tomes you found in Guilds Town. Where are they?” Urd said, “I don’t know. I don’t have them.” Bakra nodded and took a drink, “Okay, where are your friends.” Urd said, “Upstairs, in the jail where the devil attacked.” Bakra said, “Are they still there?” Urd nodded and said, “Yes.” Bakra stood up immediately, his demeanor changing from relaxed to driven. He said, “You heard my son, the tomes are upstairs. Everyone with me.” Urd said quickly in thieves’ cant, “What can I do?” Bakra responded in thieves’ cant, “Get your mother.” The orcs, bartender included, followed behind Bakra as he began marching upstairs with purpose. Urd took the two veterans and said, “Some thing’s wrong, follow me.” and left to the east to go to the dining hall. Scene 3: Ailekk, Urd, and Shonn Urd entered the dining hall to see the last of the ritual with Ailekk and Shonn. He said, “Mother, quick. Something is wrong with Bakra. He’s headed upstairs, he said he’s not in control.” [or something like that] Shonn said to the guards (humans and orcs), take my children and this body into the meat locker in the kitchen. Barricade yourselves in. She looked at the triplets, and said, “Guard Ailekk’s brother’s body with your life.” Two of the triplets began going through their component pouches, getting their spells ready while the third got out her blade. Urd’s older sister grabbed the two smaller children and began hustling them into the kitchen. Kalrithni said, “I guess its safe to say my nephew is up there and is in danger, huh?” Ailekk and Urd nodded. “I’m coming with you I guess then.” Shonn turned to Ailekk and said, “I’m sending my children with your brother’s body to protect it, that I may bring him back. This is not something that I do for strangers, or even friends. You are no longer a guest in this house, you are family Ailekk.” Ailekk nodded, and said, “Then I will protect you with my life.” Shonn nodded. Urd, Shonn, Ailekk, Kalrithni, and the two orc veterans began moving as fast as possible up to the third floor, going up the northeast stairs to the second floor, then the southeast entrance to the third floor. Along the way, Urd explained what he could to Ailekk in the 3-4 rounds it took them to get up there, also Shonn cast Detect Thoughts. Scene 4: Rurrick, Ron, Cassius, Volandra, and Namfoodle Rurrick sat down next to Namfoodle, offering him a drink. He asked “Why did you do it? [or something like that] and ungagged Namfoodle. Namfoodle responded by saying, “Why? Why? Because of three blind mice, three blind mice, see how they run, see how they run…” and kept singing the song over and over again. After studying the creature, Ron recognized his mannerisms as the possible result of a powerful enchantment effect such as geas. Rurrick cast dispel magic and was successful. Namfoodle was thankful. Apparently, he had been mind controlled by three powerful hags known as “The Empty Socket”. According to them, they set this whole thing up. Just then darkness spilled in the tower to the west of the jail. Cassius used his true sight coin, and could see two dark goblins descending upon the guards, and then shouted an alarm to the others. Rurrick asked Namfoodle if he would fight with them if released, Rurrick and Ron believed he wouldn’t act maliciously, but would also probably act with his self interest in mind. Scene 5: The Battle Arata Teruo, Kaaska’s partner, was hiding on the side of the ramparts, opposite Urd, Ailekk, Shonn, and Kalrithni. Shonn detected her thoughts and shouted, there’s one over there. Ailekk jumped on the other side, ready to throw his javelin. He was about to lower it when he saw a familiar looking talisman around her neck and her weapons drawn. Their group spent the next 3-4 rounds taking down Arata Teruo and then making their way to the jail. Meanwhile, in the main tower next to the jail, wights, ghouls, and the dark goblins met resistance from Bakra’s escorts. Only Bakra and an orc Soldier made it into the jail and he demanded, “Who has the tomes?” Meanwhile, in the fight against the undead, the Goblin Prince teleported into the jail from the tower and cast “Circle of Death”, creating a sphere with a 60 foot radius and doing to everything in that area who didn’t make a saving throw. This cleared out much of the riff-raff, including the orcs. Now the wights and ghouls came into the jail, surrounding Cassius. Volandra started attacking the Goblin Prince then fled down the hallway. Meanwhile Ron used an illusion and a high deception roll to convince Bakra the tomes were down the south hallway. The Goblin Prince was taking legendary actions and downed Volandra. Meanwhile, Rurrick used a wall of fire to take out several of the undead, while Cassius killed one or two as well then went after the Goblin Prince. He ran down the hallway casually, looking to make sure the goblin wasn’t hiding in the hay. After reaching Volandra, the Goblin Prince jumped out of some hay but Cassius hit him with his attack and then a hellish rebuke. The Goblin Prince unloaded chill touch cantrips on Cassius, knocking him out of commission. By this time Bakra had discovered the ploy and made it back into the main chamber of the jail where Ron was hiding. Rurrick turned into a giant elk, a misnomer because they are huge and not giant around the same time Urd came running in. Ron cast invisibility on himself and flew away from the charmed Orc Soldier. Bakra said, get the dwarf and the Orc Soldier attacked the elk. Then Bakra also attacked, jumping up and stabbing it in the throat (doing somewhere close to 50 points of damage). On his turn, Rurrick cast dispel magic on Bakra and succeeded, removing the effect. The Goblin Prince began his escape, taking a shot from Kalrithni, and then having Ailekk come up after him. He downed Ailekk, and Urd chased after him. The Goblin Prince ran off to the north edge of the keep and fled downward using a mixture of teleportation and running. Urd got to the edge and called for guards to seize him. Being at night, they were still a little bit away. The Goblin Prince turned back to Urd, and waved to him as his form shifted into that of an Orc guard, and he began walking down the city streets at a brisk pace. Scene 6: The Aftermath After making some death saves, Cassius and Volandra survived. Ailekk was also brought back and Arata Teruo had been stabilized by Shonn during the fight. They talked to Namfoodle who revealed the tomes were instructions on how to bind and link the appropriate talismans. They were given to Dead Man’s Grace (cult of Ruara) as, “Good faith” measures. Of course, the truce was broken not long after the attack. While each of them had the ability to still use the Talismans, there was no coordinated attack planned that he was aware of. Post Game: Shonn’s Legend Lore Shachik-Guarg Shonn looks at all of you. She says, “I have some information for you. I was going to wait until you’d had some time to rest but I suppose that’s off the table now. Behyla sent word of the three creatures, along with Namfoodle yesterday. In that time, I’ve managed to use my powers to inquire about them. I do, after all, want to know what my son is getting into. My powers can impart to me knowledge of legendary things. Objects, people, or places of importance whom stories have been told of over the years. The first thing I focused my powers on was Namfoodle. Alas, while he might have a roll to play in this drama, his is not legendary enough for me to learn anything about him. Instead, I simply asked around and found out that he was Queen Lightcrown’s consort and personal slave for many years. The next was Schachik-Guarg, Prince of Goblin. Apparently he is quite legendary in some circles. I should explain how my magic works for seeking this knowledge. The reason non-legends give me no knowledge is that the magic granted to me by Savras doesn’t impart me knowledge from Savras, but instead searches through all known knowledge from the humanoids of our realms. What I am imparted is the knowledge known from large groups of mortals. When I concentrated on the name Schachik-Guarg, what came to my mind was difficult and disturbing to understand. Goblins underneath Bonehammer itself in the under realms revere the name Schachik-Guarg. I could tell because the tales themselves of his presence and leadership all invariably involved the freeing of their people and subjugation of Bonehammer. There are tales of his ability to manipulate darkness, control demons, and even transport creatures across distances. I won’t regale you with all of the stories I learned from casting the spell, but he lives in the crypt of the Beauty’s Slumber. Apparently, the same place where Prince Oron found his magic. According to the stories the goblins tell, he lives in a den of chains and spikes, a temple to an ancient being now twisted into his own home. It is there you will find him. If you can’t catch him retreating, that is. I have also used my magics on Ruara and Duardriag, if you’d like to hear the tales.” Druardriag “Druardriag is truly legendary. A relic of the ancient days when titans roamed the lands and these realms still had areas that overlapped directly with the elemental planes that formed its existence, Druardriag is either related to, or perhaps a lesser clone of Ogremoch himself the evil Prince of Elemental Earth. Druardriag has spent thousand and thousands of years on this plane. Little has been told of his evil designs, but currently most legends come from orcs and hobgoblins in Vinarr who live close to what believed to be his current lair. Older legends speak of him flying across the lands and burrowing deep into the earth both, spreading the seed of Ogremoch, waging war on those who attempted to claim the skies, and also those who attempted to take treasures from the earth. Over time, dragons became too powerful, and the creatures of the under realms were too much for him to contain, so Duardriag retired to his home built into a mountain. Whispered stories say he’s already sown his goals, and that he hasn’t resigned to his fate quite yet.” Ruara “Ruara was legendary, once, but his name has fallen from the lips of the living over the last few hundred years. The most recent legends of him come from Dree, where one of the older, smaller families still worships him, a family called the Flaycrown. They are one of the original families of Dree and say it was Ruara who rescued them from servitude in western Umbaroth half a century ago in the lands now known as Eridizad. According to them, Ruara learned the secrets of life and death from none other than Orcus himself. They say that the Raven Queen no longer has sway over the life and death of Ruara, something she despises and that Ruara is plotting to destroy the Raven Queen, and take her mantle as god of the dead.” Shonn looks at you quite disturbed. She hands you all a scroll where she wrote down all of the knowledge she gained.
