In which
our heroes snatch defeat from the jaws of victory Book Two, Chapter 3.1 (session 58, 2 nd August
2018) The Party: Naergon Harna, elven wizard (diviner); Mads
Rangle, human fighter/warlock; Franz the Indifferent, human ranger (hunter);
Jamna Gleamsilver, gnome rogue (arcane trickster); Augustus Weatherby, half-orc
fighter/barbarian. With a cultist in his
face, Franz throws his bow behind him and pulls out his quarterstaff, attacking
and missing twice. Augustus, still raging, attacks Othelstan, hitting him
multiple times. In response Othelstan regains his composure [second wind] and
attacks Augustus with his flail but misses, with a growl, he attacks again
[action surge] and this time connects hard [critical]. The two cultists to the
south attack Naergon, who casts shield to ward off the blows but one attack
still gets through, breaking Naergon’s concentration – the wall of force
vanishes. Another cultist strikes at Franz but misses, the last one attacks
Augustus hitting him twice. Augustus, badly wounded, staggers but refuses to
fall [half-orc relentless endurance]. Naergon casts misty step to get out of
melee and appears at the north wall near the doorway. He then casts firebolt
into Captain Othelstan, wounding him as his magical shield flickers and dies.
Jamna steps into the cover of the archway wall and shoots the cultist fighting
Franz, wounding him badly [sneak attack]. Rezmir in her cage, screams and
pounds the invisible wall with her greatsword, black and purple sparks
showering her and the cultist trapped with her. Franz again attacks the
cultist he hunters marked earlier, missing him once and then finally hitting
him. As the staff connects, lightning erupts and burns into the cultist who
staggers but fights on. Augustus, on his last reserves attacks Othelstan in
fury, hitting him hard. The Captain staggers and nearly falls but then a surge
of strength flows through him and he plants his feet and snarls back at
Augustus [NPC relentless endurance]. Augustus swings again and hits, and again
but misses. The Captain, steps away towards Naergon but as he moves, Augustus
takes one last swing [opportunity attack] and cuts Othelstan down. The cultist,
sidesteps to take the place of the Captain and stabs Augustus, dropping him. He
then moves south and attacks and wounds Franz. The other three cultists move in
and surround Franz, stabbing remorselessly, wounding him several more times.
Naergon watching in horror, casts polymorph on Franz turning him into a
snarling T-rex which fills the space in front of the archway, cultists being
shoved back as the huge lizard roars. Stepping sideways, Naergon peers up the
corridor, spotting the frozen corpse of the red wizard standing part way up it
– the cultist in the cage hurls himself at the wall, spitting and frothing.
Naergon coolly ignores the fanatic and moves up the corridor to the wizard’s
corpse. Jamna, stepping back from the cultists, shoots but misses. Rezmir
continues to grind her sword against the impervious force cage, snarling in
rage. The T-rex (Franz) slaps
at the hunters marked cultist with its tail but misses, then bites the head off
of one of the cultists in the south, Augustus lies unmoving on the floor [death
save pass] whilst the cultists swarm the T-rex (Franz) stabbing again and again
their swords dripping with acid, the lizard takes immense amounts of damage but
doesn’t fall. Naergon returns to the doorway and casts firebolt into one of the
cultists, dropping him – the cultists in the cage roars in anger and rage.
Jamna shoots again from the hallway but misses. Rezmir continues to hammer away
at the force cage, sparks showering her whilst her great blade begins to glow. The T-rex (Franz) tail
slaps the cultist to the west, slamming him into the wall of the archway but
failing to kill him and then bites the last cultist, wounding him for the first
time. Augustus groans and coughs up a spout of blood [death save fail]. The
cultist to the south stabs the T-rex again and again, watching in triumph as
the huge body disappears and that of Franz rematerializes and collapses unconscious
on the floor. He then moves north towards Naergon, the cultist in the cage
hollers and cheers urging his comrade on. The other cultist, turns and moves in
on Jamna, stabbing her and wounding her. Naergon casts expeditious retreat and
races up the corridor, turning west to the central intersection. Jamna
carefully disengages [rogue bonus] and moves to the far side of the ruined
monument and shoots but misses. Rezmir, howls in hope and impotent rage, urging
her cultists on to victory. As Franz lies immobile
on the floor [death save success], on the stairs behind Jamna the air is rent
by a black line which with a wrenching tearing sound opens wider and wider, a
hellish red glare glowing through from some other place beyond. Through this
opening portal steps the figure of Mads, resplendent in armour of scales, the
colours (red, green, black, white and blue) shimmering and running into each
other. Rather incongruously he is also wearing high-heeled, thigh-high black
leather boots, tied at the knee with a red ribbon. Clutching a glaive, Mads
moves forward and swings at the cultist facing Jamna, hitting him hard [critical]
and killing him with one blow. Nodding calmly at Jamna, Mads turns and walks
under the archway towards the body of Franz. Augustus breathes more easily
[death save success due to inspiration]. The last cultist races after Naergon
catching up with him at the central intersection. Naergon uses his telepathic
link to advise Jamna “ be ready, I’m
coming down the northern corridor with cultists in hot pursuit ” as he
disengages and races around the corner, down the corridor and swerves under the
archway, staring in disbelief at the figure of Mads standing calmly under its
shadow. Jamna, readies herself and calls out “ Mads, I’ve no idea where you’ve been but it’s good to see you, there’s
a cultist following Naergon, be prepared .” In the next room Rezmir howls in
fear and rage as she stares at the shimmering figure of Mads. As Franz groans and
blood seeps across the floor [death save fail] Mads steps around Naergon
muttering “you took your time” and then takes station along the side wall,
waiting for the cultist to appear [dodge]. Naergon stutters “ I’ve been a bit busy. Anyway, I don’t answer
to you !” Augustus coughs more blood onto the floor and convulses [death
save fail]. The cultist races around the corner and is shot by Jamna, as he
reels from that Mads swings and hits him with his glaive [opportunity attack].
The cultist looks in horror at Mads “ Where
did you come from ?” and stabs him, wounding him lightly. Naergon turning
casts firebolt at the cultist hitting him and then moves towards Franz and
Augustus muttering “ Busy, I’ve been very,
very busy!” Jamna draws a bead and shoots but misses. Rezmir continues to
rage and hammer at the force cage. As Franz lies unmoving
[death save pass] Mads swings and swings again and yet again at the cultist
[action surge] finally cutting him down before moving through the archway to
stand behind Naergon, just in time to see Augustus convulse again and cough up
a great gout of blood and then die. [death save fail]. Naergon, cursing under
his breath attends to Franz and stabilizes him. Mads turns and says “ I don’t suppose anyone has found my gear
whilst you’ve been down here have you ?” Naergon snaps back “ in a minute, just hang on, let’s get Franz
back on his feet first at least .” Jamna says “ shall we use the wand – it’s nearly exhausted and it might fail
entirely but it will get him up. And he should have healing spells of his own
to use .” Naergon turns to her, pauses and then says “ yes, do it. It’s a risk but better in his feet now than later .” Jamna uses the wand to
heal Franz, who returns to consciousness with a groan and a splutter. To her
great relief the wand does not crumble into dust. Mads moves and turns the body
of Othelstan over, searching him for useful gear but finds only splint armour,
shield, flail and spear. Naergon runs up to the frozen body of Azbara and
starts to thaw him out with prestidigitation spells, after about 10 minutes he
relieves the corpse of its red robes a dagger and a scroll case. The potion
vial on the belt is frustratingly empty, consumed earlier by Azbara. Meanwhile Franz casts
multiple cure wounds on himself and then looking over to the force cage asks “ what are we doing about those two ?”
Naergon, turns on him “ Nothing! We’re
going ” and Jamna adds “ we’re running
away from them ”. Mads mutters “ you
can go mock them if you like, you can pull faces at them ”. “ Bu t” continues Franz, “ she’s wearing the black mask .” “ I don’t care ” snaps Naergon, Jamna pipes
in to calm things down “ we need to be at
full strength to deal with them Franz, we can’t handle them now ”. Naergon continues, “ I’m not saying . . . the point is she’s’
untouched and I’ve got nothing left in the bank. I’ve got nothing to offer, so
it’s fight her hand-to-hand or shoot her, you’ve got no magic, you’re down to
virtually nothing. I can’t speak for Mads but we don’t really have a lot in the
bag. And she, although she’s on her own, she’s going to be pretty tough .”
Jamna buts in “ so we need to make sure
we’re all at full strength ” Naergon continues “ So I ain’t doing that but if you want to stay here for an hour, you can
see how you get on ”. Franz asks “ So you’ve got nothing to hold them once the
cage drops?” “No, nothing ” says Naergon. “ I’m not staying to deal with Rezmir, I might come back later but not
now ”. “ We’ve got to be at full
strength ” says Jamna. “ I’m not doing
this now but if you want to stay, that’s entirely up to you ” says Naergon. Mads intervenes rather
peevishly, “So, w hen you say later, do
you mean the same time later as you meant when you said you’d come back for me
later? ” Naergon sputters “ I would
have come back for you later but I had to make a decision. I’ve been busy!”
Franz continues “ what are the chances of them running away? ”
Naergon says “ They might well do so but I
don’t care about that ”, Jamna agrees “ if
they do, they do, there’s nothing we can do about it right now, it’s a risk we’ve
got to take .” “If you want to stay here invisible and trail them, be my guest ” says Naergon. “ I don’t have that spell ” says Franz.
Naergon shrugs. “ I can make you
invisible” says Jamna. “ I could
hunters mark them at least, so we’d know where they were in eight hours’ time ”
says Franz. “ You can’t get a spell
through the force cage ” say Jamna and Naergon in unison. “ So, if I were invisible and waited for the cage to drop, I could
hunters mark them and then run out ” says Franz. “E xcept you would be visible as soon as you cast the spell ” explains
Jamna, Naergon confirms that would be the case. “ How about if I used pass without trace, hid and then cast hunters mark?”
“ Sure, you could do that, and them
come running to find us, we’ll be about five miles away ” says Naergon. “ Actually ” Mads adds, “ you’d lose pass without trace as soon as you
cast hunters mark ” [concentration]. “ You’re
right ” says Naergon, sounding rather depressed. “ What you could do is pour oil over the cage and then stand by with a
match for when the spell ends ” Mads suggest, tongue in cheek. “ Hmmm ” says Franz. In the background,
Naergon rolls his eyes at Jamna. “ Anyway”,
says Mads , “should we go explore now
and see if we can find my gear?”. Yes, yes, lets do that” says Naergon,
clutching at anything to shut the conversation down. Mads summons Ringo and
asks him if he ever found his gear, the imp says not. Looking around, Mads
asks “ what are we going to do with the
bodies?” “Well I’m going to throw the
wizard for one into that fire pit ” says Naergon. Together they drag the
body of the red wizard back into the chamber and in full view of Rezmir dump
him into the slag pit where he begins to smoulder and burn almost immediately.
“ I’m not fighting him again at least ”
says Naergon. Mads grins at Rezmir and wags his finger at her. She glares in
fury. “R ight, and now the rest ” says Naergon. “ Hold on now, I’m a bit concerned, what if this is the place they’re
sacrificing souls to the ritual. Won’t we just be helping them out?” says
Mads. “ They’re already dead, so already
sacrificed ” says Naergon “ what
difference will it make, besides it’s only a few. I doubt half a dozen souls is
going to swing the cosmic balance one way or another.” “I’m not sure you really
understand how rituals work” mutters Mads. Setting out to explore
the area, the party advances up the corridor north from the fire pit chamber,
past the site where the red wizard was slain they come to a pair of large stone
doors, embossed with the figure of a dwarf working at a forge. The doors are
open and the inner sides are lined with steel. Peering inside they see a large
circular chamber with three more massive
stone doors, each faced on the inside with steel plates, on the north, east and
west walls. Those to north and west are shut, the ones to the west stand open. In
the centre of the room a strange stone obelisk rises from the floor to the
ceiling, its surface covered with metal bands and encrusted with deposits of a
strange greenish mineral. The floor of the chamber is tiled in hexagonal
ceramic tiles forming alternating circles of blue and white around the central
pillar. Jamna cautiously moves
up to the doorway and searches but fails to identify anything untoward.
Stepping in, she gets part way around the pillar before a pressure plate on the
floor trips and there is a terrific discharge of electricity from the central
pillar as the doors to south and east slam shut and those to the north and west
swing open. Jamna ducks and weaves avoiding the bolts of lightning that arc
around the room from door to door to pillar. As the discharge ends Jamna
becomes aware that all the metal fittings on her tunic and belt are being
pulled towards the central pillar. Jamna, looks down at her
boot, to see that a blue tile is depressed into the floor. Looking behind her,
she sees that the doors have slammed shut with the rest of the party on the
outside, she’s on her own. Carefully, she moves towards the western doors,
stepping only on white tiles. The doors seem to have opened on an empty, dusty
cubby hole. Jamna, starts to relate to Naergon via the telepathic link what is
happening and moves to the northern door where there is another empty cubby
hole. Next, Jamna moves up to
the central pillar, examining it for clues or hieroglyphs but can find nothing
other than the steel bands and strange green encrustation. In frustration she
once more jumps onto a blue tile, which depresses and causes another arc of
lightning to spiral around the chamber but the doors do not move, nor does the
magnetic effect stop. Jamna ducks the arcs and then reports to Naergon that
there’s nothing in here to open the doors, so she’s relying on him to find
something on the other side. Mads tries to wrench the
door open but without any hand holds it is difficult and try though he might he
cannot shift it. Meanwhile Jamna inspects the ceiling and obelisk but doesn’t
notice anything more. Naergon tells Jamna to hang tight and then leads the rest
of the group west down the main corridor. Part way down (opposite
the intersection to the entry stairs) they find a chamber to the north,
dominated by a large fountain.
Steam rolls off the superheated water pouring from a stone obelisk at the
fountain’s centre, filling the entire chamber with haze. Beyond stand another
pair of doors in the north wall. Mads steps in and inspects the fountain,
determining only that it is a fountain that pours forth very hot water and then
moves up to the doors. Setting himself, he wrenches the doors open and peers
into the dark on the other side. Beyond is an arched chamber that contains two rows of
statues, one on the east wall and one on the west with another set of doors in the
northern wall. The statues to the east depict fearsome dwarven warriors clad in
simple plate armour and hefting warhammers. Opposite them are statues of
dwarves also clad in simple plate armour but wielding spears and depicted in
grotesque caricature as overly obese, pig-nosed brutes with huge grinning
mouths and beady eyes. “ Hmm ” says
Mads, “ it’s like someone was mocking
dwarves”. Franz, moves up and inspects one of the statues but can see
nothing untoward about it. Mads and Franz then step up to the northern doors but
fail to force them open. Franz turns to Mads and asks “ Just a thought but could you summon your imp and have it wait for the
force cage to expire and then follow Rezmir and report back to us?” “ Err, I could but my main concern is that
dragons tend to have truesight and so do wearers of these masks I believe, so
they’d see straight through his invisibility and squish him in an instant. So
not a good idea, I don’t think ” replies Mads. Franz won’t let it lie “ So, invisibility wouldn’t have worked for me
either. Still it might be worth hiding and putting hunters mark on her and just
running way then ?” Naergon intervenes “ enough
of this, we need to continue, find our gear and get Jamna out before the cage
collapses, we haven’t time for this nonsense ”. Naergon leads the party west to the
barracks, Mads gives them a quick inspection but finds nothing but a number of
stone plinths with recently used bedrolls. Turning north, they enter a long corridor, the stone walls beyond the
junction are carved with bass reliefs of dwarves marching to work or war, it’s
hard to be sure which. The corridor ends in what looks to be a large mess hall.
Three large tone tables stand in the middle of this room, while the long
benches that once stood next to them have been knocked askew and overturned. To
the south a once well-appointed kitchen has suffered from long neglect. Shelves
covered in broken stone and earthenware line the walls, while across the room
an old cauldron rests in the long dead ashes of a hearth. Heading west, they find the corridor that leads to the
prison where Mads and Augustus were held. The room is dominated by two large
stone blocks surmounted by hefty wooden slabs of wood, like butchers’ blocks, to
either side hang large rusty hooks over small channels in the stone floor that
lead to old drains long since clogged and chocked with debris. Manacles have
been riveted into the heavily stained butchers’ blocks. At the rear of the chamber
are a pair of barred cells, one of which has had its lockable gate wrenched off
its hinges to lay twisted on the floor. In the far corner the body of a cultist
slumps, drained of life its just a withered husk. “ Something has happened here since I scried it ” says Naergon. “ I wonder what ” says Franz darkly,
looking sternly at Mads. Mads, looks around “ You told me you were coming right back ”. “ What, I took so long that they just died ? says an incredulous
Naergon. Mads just shuffles his feet a bit and then points to the doors to the east,
“ should we try those ?” Mads and Franz together wrench the doors open to find a
chamber that contains a well. To the south are another set of doors, whilst to
the east a rough and jagged opening in the wall looms darkly. Naergon says “ that’s just a series of natural tunnels, I scried
them earlier they don’t go anywhere .” Franz says “ but if that’s natural surely that’s where Rezmir will flee to, we should
check them out, find where they go .” Naergon snaps “ we’re not looking for where they might run away to, we’re trying to
find a way to get Jamna out of that trapped room .” Meanwhile Mads wrenches
open the southern doors revealing a large chamber with doors to the west. The
chamber is stark and empty except for six stone platforms, each with worn knee
rests carved into them and well-spaced out across the otherwise empty space. “ No use, there’s nothing here ” he says,
slamming the doors in frustration. With no other exits, they retrace their steps back into
the main western corridor, heading west and then turning north to find the way
is barred by another set of doors, Mads and Franz force them again. Ahead is a dark,
unnaturally cold chamber with a corridor running north down the centre, while
to either side two large bays are lined by rows of small iron gates. At the far
end of the corridor rests an immense iron anvil. Mads inspects the niches
behind the gates but finds nothing but long dead dwarven skeletons, dressed in
rags of robes. Having run into nothing but dead ends, Naergon and Mads,
in desperation lead the way back east to the natural caverns, accessible from the
well room. The tunnels divide and re-join several times, making it difficult to
maintain a sense of direction. Compounding this confusion, thick acrid smoke
fills these tunnels making it difficult to see anything. Eventually the tunnels lead to a large natural cavern, the
sound of loud crackling and heat growing steadily. The smoke that pours from this
cavern is blistering hot and lit with a strange dull red glow. A massive forge
responsible for the hellish atmosphere takes up the entire northern wall of the
cavern. Before the forge stands a massive anvil and nearby rest hammers, tongs
and other smith tools. Frustrated, Naergon says “ we need to head back to where Jamna is, we’ve
found nothing and time is against us. ” Mads leads them south into the chamber
with the knee rests, intending to head west into the main corridor but as Naergon
enters the room for the first time he notices on the eastern wall the vague
outline of a door shape in the stone wall. Looking closer, Naergon identifies the
trigger to open the door is linked to the tiled floor. Looking around he
presses a specific tile and the door in the wall opens, revealing a corridor
running north-south. Part way down a side corridor turns west and leads to the
open door of a chamber. Deciding to investigate the chamber first, Mads leads the
way into what was clearly once the personal
living quarters of an important dwarf. A simple stone bed plinth stands in one corner near a
large stone table. A large anvil also rests here, looking somewhat out of
place. A massive steel hammerhead has been attached to the anvil by a
mechanical arm, complete with a chain to release the hammer. On the anvil lies
the skeleton of a dwarf, its skull crushed flat by the hammer. Tattered and
desiccated vestments of blue and purple fall to the ground, a tarnished
breastplate encases the chest and rib cage. Although most of the room is clearly
ancient, the bed plinth has clearly been used recently and at its foot sits a
chest, closed and locked with a dragon motif padlock. The desk is covered with
papers and documents. In one corner is a pile of gear belonging to Augustus and
Mads. Again Naergon identifies the faint oitline of a secret door in the west
wall. Investigating further he finds a release plate under the desk and the
door swings open to reveal a short corridor running west. At the end of which
is another door – the back of a secret door with a simple release lever. Mads pulls the lever and the door opens
to reveal an octagonal room with simple
stone benches lining the walls. These benches are positioned near small conical
openings along the west, northwest, and northeast walls. An unusual device that
resembles a stone trumpet is attached to the northeast wall near the opening. A
faint whispering sound permeates the chamber. Mads listens at the trumpet and
niches, he can hear the sound of hissing and whispering from the niches but
nothing from the trumpet. In
the south wall is another clearly identifiable secret door with lever, beyond
lies a simple stone room with polished obsidian walls, including two additional
central plinths, all of which are inscribed with long, long lists of dwarven
names. Another set of doors bar the way
south, Mads and Franz attempt to open them but fail. Heading
back east and south, Naergon leads everyone to the doors to the chamber where
Jamna is trapped. Mads and Franz do their best to pull them open but fail.
Naergon, sighs and says “ stand aside, I’ve
got this. Just need to use another precious resource on a mundane problem .”
And draws forth a scroll, intoning it, there is a loud crash and thud and the
door in front is blown open and Jamna steps out. “ The good thing is, the magnetic effect seems to have worn off, but we
shouldn’t go back in there. ” She says, grinning her thanks. Naergon
and Mads lead Jamna back to the living quarters where Jamna sets about
inspecting the chest. She finds a needle trap in the lock, “ I suggest you all step out whilst I disarm
this ” she says and then lays her roll of tools out on top of the chest. Within
seconds Jamna clears the trap and opens the lock to reveal several bags and
pouches of gems and coin. Gathering all this together and the breastplate from the
dead dwarf, Mads pours it all into his new bag. Heading
back to the entrance, they gather up the equipment gleaned from the bodies of
Othelstan and Azbara and head out of the dungeon. As they emerge into the evening
twilight Naergon turns to Mads and says “ I
think we need to talk about things ”. “ What?
About the bag? ” asks Mads. “ About the
bag, the armour, the boots and mostly where you’ve been and how and why. We
need to talk but not now. Now we need to leave .” Franz
again asks “ what are we doing about the
ones in the cage ”. “ I’ve told you
Franz, we’re leaving ” says Naergon. “ If
you want to do something different by all means do it but we’re leaving ”.
So, whilst the main party fills up on waterskins Franz heads back downstairs
with a plan. Franz
takes position behind the cornice of the archway where he can see Rezmir in the
force cage but can easily slip out of sight and hide before heading up stairs.
After some minutes he observes Rezmir leave the confines of the invisible cage
and walk up to the slag pit and look in, there she clenches a fist and shouts “ Bastards, they’ll pay for this. We need to
contact Galvan, he should be here soon. We’ve been waiting long enough.”
Turning to the remaining cultists she says, “ Come we need to collect our stuff and make preparation for Galvan’s
arrival. If they have left while we were so weak, they will not be back for
some time. . .” Before
Rezmir can finish, Franz, starts to cast hunters mark, as he utters the first
words, Rezmir turns, snarls and breathes a jet of acid at him. Caught in the open
before he can hide, Franz gets caught by the full stream taking significant
damage, as Rezmir closes on him. The cultist races to join her and attacks
Franz, stabbing him. Franz, staggers back and slams his staff down, emitting a
peel of thunder and a bolt of lightning through Rezmir, who dodges out of the way.
Franz then turns and races for the stairs, as he does so the cultist swings and
misses but Rezmir slashes him badly with her greatsword [opportunity attacks].
Both Rezmir and the cultist pursue, Rezmir slashing him again with her evil
sword knocking Franz to the ground. The
others, hearing the boom of thunder, turn and stare at the stairs. “ That’s not good ” says Naergon. “ How long do we wait?” asks Mads. Jamna, loading
the hippogriff says “ if he’s not here by
the time I’m at the gate, I’m not stopping ”. All three turn and stare at
the entrance to the stairwell as the sound of a dragon roaring in triumph
echoes up them. To be continued . . . No
levels were gained this session: Naergon 13 th
level Mads
12 th level Franz
12 th level Jamna
12 th level Augustus
12 th level XP
earnt is now irrelevant as the rest of TOD is based on milestone XP In-Game
the session ended at 18:00 on 21 st Tarsakh 1485 DR as the heroes retire
hurt Next
session Thursday 9 th August (Dana absent)
This
update is also online at <a href="https://app.roll20.net/campaigns/details/2734723/tyranny-of-dragons-rise-of-tiamat" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/campaigns/details/2734723/tyranny-of-dragons-rise-of-tiamat</a>