The Twenty-First Session

April 4, 2020, Campaign: As the ground quakes, evil wakes

Day 7 of 11 of travel

Bugfood tells no-one of his nighttime vision, but he doesn't look like he got a lot of sleep last night. He woke up once in the middle of the night and Zelrathi asked him if he was okay, and he said that he was fine.

Ryltar's Journal

Ryltar reads the leather-bound journal he'd picked up. It's half an inch thick, with a locking clasp, or it would be if it weren't stuffed with loose-leaf paper. It's full of ambitious information-gathering for an exploration to Arcadia Infinitum, Ioun's Eye. There are reports of other expeditions that went in: some returned; many did not.

There's a parchment that looks kind of like a map. The map is of the deserts to the north of this continent. In the north, running from West to East, is the Dragon's Spine, a natural rock formation running into the desert. The map depicts many trails off away from the desert; some are circled and some are crossed-out.

There are names that Ryltar recognizes: Zarda T'haat, marked as a leader of an expedition, and the oft-mentioned names of researchers that he knows from his research with his mentor. Some of those researchers have been marked off, including one marked as a leader and then scratched off.

The book also has a list of possible treasures: Some are marked off as "impossible", "destroyed", and so on. Some are widely-known artefacts; some are quite obscure. Ones that aren't marked off include The Pale Stone, Mirror's Edge, The Delver's Leap, the Ice Heart of Winter (!). These are treasures thought to be in Arcadia Infinitum.

Out of the book falls a scrap of cloth with a symbol drawn on it.

Bugfood finds enough materials to make an additional 4 reagents for his alchemy set.

We set out on our travel, and run across an escarpment, with a cave just beside our path.

We have three spare days on our itinerary. Ryltar thinks Leen will be boring; Bugfood thinks that the cave won't try to make him eat food with a spoon. Bugfood really wants to go.

Jerry investigates the forest outside the cave, and finds sign of two creatures, in the form of four lines of divots. Our past experience tells us that these prints are definitely kuthriks. (They're not.) But Bugfood definitely wants to go in.

Bugfood takes Form of Squirrel and enters the cave, followed by Vurguron, Ryltar, Salris. The cave is shallow, with a short entrance tunnel leading to a large cavern full of webs, with things cocooned in the webs. Zelrathi Firebolts the webs, which burn away, revealing bodies in various states of decay, on a scale from mummified to recently-deceased. Bugfood investigates the bodies: some are dessicated and some are juicy. He finds a juicy one, wearing regal clothing, and decides to loot the corpses.

Zelrathi searches for things that aren't humanoids.

We find 450 gold among the six bodies, as well as alchemical components and healing potions. Jerry finds a wooden token carved in the shape of a swan.

These people all seem to be arcane practitioners or travelling merchants. Zelrathi looks at Ryltar, and says, "Oh no." "You think these are magic-eating spiders?" Ryltar looks around, with a natural 23 perception, hears a rhythmic thumping, and the scraping and thrashing of trees.

We leave the cave, to find the thumping noises going away. Our horses are fine. Slightly spooked. Jerry finds no signs of disturbances in the immediate area.

Vurguron stays outside, to watch the horses, while we go back inside the cave to loot people.

We continue onwards. It's noon; we bread out of the forests into the grasslands, and begin our trek westward.

Perception rolls:

• Jerry: 14
• Salris: 9
• Bugfood: 9

Jerry hears chittering within the forest, and turns to look to see two large spiders walking in the forest. Then the spiders notice us, and we notice they're carrying a larger and a smaller humanoids. If spiders could salivate, could drool, they would when looking at our Party.

Sparks skitter from their backs; one spider turns invisible. Roll initiative.

Spiders

1. Round 1
   1. The sparky spider sprints at Zelrathi. Zelrathi casts Shield. It claws him and Ryltar, for 16 slashing to Zelrathi, and 19 to Ryltar. The tips of its legs have nice, sharp barbs. It bites Zelrathi as well.
   2. Vurguron with a 20 and 14 hits the spider once, then Action Surges and does it again with a 24 and 11. Two hits with his longsword deal 10 and 12 damage, for 22.
   3. Salris, about 40 feet away, still on his horse, dismounts and moves 30 feet towards the spider, using his bonus action to Hexblade's Curse the visible spider, followed by Eldritch Blast for 11 points.
   4. Ryltar looks for the invisible spider, holding an action to cast Mind Spike on it when he sees it.
   5. Jerry pops Hunter's Mark on the visible spider, runs towards it, collides with the invisible spider, slashes at it twice with her halberd but misses both times, and then continues 15 towards the visible spider.
   6. Bugfood Blesses all Party members (save himself), and moves away from the conflict.
   7. The invisible spider becomes visible, and tries to attack Bugfood. With a 14 it misses him, and then Ryltar's Mind Spike hits it for 5 damage, but now it can't hide from him.
   8. Bugfood Balm of the Summer Courts Ryltar for some healing.
   9. Zelrathi heals Ryltar to full, then Eldritch Blasts it twice, hitting it once right in the eye. It loses the ability to move or take any actions this turn: it had been using Haste, and failed the save.
2. Round 2.
   1. Zelrathi, Ryltar, and Vurguron take 2d4 lightning damage from the sparky spider, which they're next to. Vurguron casts Absorb Elements in reply, absorbing 2 of the 3 damage, and his next attack will deal 1d6 additional lightning damage.
   2. Vurguron slashes twice, hitting twice for all the damage.
   3. Salris flanks that spider, doing a bunch more damage.
   4. Ryltar does more damage.
   5. Jerry fails a Wisdom save and becomes Frightened from Phantasmal Killer, and failing a Wisdom save fail at the end of her turn might lose her 4d10 damage. She flees that spider and attacks it for 10 damage, then retreats to 15 feet difference. She passes the Wisdom save, and the unnatural fear fades.
   6. Bugfood pulls out his Bag of Tricks, and throws a Large Elk at the spiders, asking it to attack them.
   7. Zelrathi pops Eldritch Blast twice, hitting the spider in front of him for 11 damage, and then 4 more.
3. Round 3
   1. The spider closest to Jerry zaps everyone, and goes invisible. Jerry loses her Hunter's Mark.
   2. Vurguron moves towards the visible spider, and slashes it for 10.
   3. Salris and the elk take 6 lightning.
   4. One spider does Fuck You With a Lightning Bolt to the elk and Ryltar and Salris, doing half of 8d6 for 5.
   5. Jerry advances 20 feet towards the visible spider, pops Hunter's Mark on it, and then stabs it twice, hitting twice for 1d10 + 3d6 + 1 + str_mod for a total 40-ish damage.
   6. Bugfood Tolls the Dead the visible spider, and the has the giant elk hoof the spider for a chunk.
   7. Zelrathi does a little damage to the visible spider.
4. Round 4
   1. The spider reappears 40 feet away, raises its legs, and casts a 4th-level Scorching Ray: one ray each at Bugfood, Zelrathi, and Ryltar, and two at Jerry. It deals damage to everyone, and then runs away.
   2. Vurguron, who's 15 feet away from the visible spider: misses, then slashes.
   3. Salris goes after the fleeing spider, with Misty Step to get within range (it was 70 feet away) and then Eldritch Blasts the spider for more than 30 damage.
   4. Ryltar rides his horse 20 feet towards the fleeing spider, then Ray of Frosts it for 6 damage and -10 feet/round speed. But it's not dead yet.
   5. Vurguron and the elk take 14 lightning damage. Then the spider spins around to cast Phantasmal Killer on Vurguron, but Vurguron succeeds against the save. It runs.
   6. Jerry runs towards the spider which is closest to her, the one which she hit with Hunter's Mark, and stabs it twice, missing once and then killing it.
   7. Bugfood spells the remaining spider, and then the elk tramples the spider. The spider dies and the elk runs off into the distance. We don't see it again. "Be free," wishes Bugfood, a tear running down his scaly face.

We go to investigate the two bodies: one a Goliath, one a Halfling. The Goliath was a bare-chested warrior of some sort; the Halfling was an arcane practitioner. We loot their bodies. The Halfling had a Diplomat's Kit, as well as two rings. We divvy up the Diplomat's kit.

"Hey, Zelrathi. Magic vision?" asks Salris. He sees three things:

• The Ring of the Arcamag is Abjuration, with a lot of functions, giving people lots of extra magical power:
  • Three times per short rest, the host can use a bonus action to cast a cantrip that would normally require an action. Each time this is done, the host loses hp equal to its spellcaster level.
  • The host gains one additional spell slot per level of spell it can cast. Each time this slot is used, the caster must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or gain one level of exhaustion.
  • Each time the host casts a spell, roll a d20. On a 1, the spell doesn't successfully complete, but the host still expends a spell slot as the Arcamag absorbs the power of the spell. The host gains temporary HP equal to the spell's level.
• The Cruel Sword is Transmutation: when you crit, you deal your level's worth of additional damage.
• The cloak on the Halfling is also Abjuration: +1 AC, +1 to saving throws.

We spend some time redistributing people's magical items. Salris gains the ring and Ryltar's Pearl of Power. And we take a short rest.

The thumping noises get louder, developing to thunderous booms, as the trees shake.

We make it away from the forest, riding into the grasslands. The thumping has died off behind us, perhaps distracted by the Bag of Tricks giant rat that Bugfood sent to distract it.

Zelrathi does Druidcraft to predict the weather, and his hand goes "Live Long and Prosper".

Bugfood says, "you're doing it wrong!" and casts Druidcraft: same result. Oh no.

The night passes without incident.

Day 8 of 11

A nice, clear day.

We travel along. There's a sudden shudder, and all the horses get spooked. Everyone except Vurguron passes; Vurguron's horse sprints off.

Bugfood casts Speak with Animals to ask his horse what's up. The horse replies: "Ground moves. No good, no good." Bugfood tells him to calm down; his horse replies by pointing with his head at Vurguron and says, "Tell him that!"

Vurguron manages to stay on his horse; it comes to the stop at the edge of a massive rift in the ground, starting 40 feet to his right and continuing southwest for a ways. We can go around it.

Bugfood and Ryltar look down. The first 20-30 feet are the usual bits of soil, and then below that is a cavern, filled with giant spiders.

Leen is to the southwest, on the far side of the rift. We fuck off in that direction, rounding the head of the rift. Bugfood and Jerry look back, seeing a black mound of fur and legs and eyes: a pile of regular giant spiders. There's at least 20, and more and more

We continue off until dusk, and with good perception checks we don't see any spiders behind us.

Bugfood gives the Cruel Longsword to Salris, who merges his pact khopesh with the sword, to pick up its conditional damage additions. The petrified wooden hilt of his pact weapon now holds a blade made of what looks like raw ore, which gradually becomes more refined further from the handle, towards the point. The blade becomes serrated. It's now the Cruel Khopesh.

We split the watches across all the party, and Zelrathi fails his thing save to take a point of exhaustion. The weather tomorrow will be thunderstormy.

Day 9 of 11

We head off across the grasslands, following Bugfood's guidance. At some point, we notice we're headed east, and reroute ourselves to say that we're headed southeast. But Ryltar rolls a 3 Survival and leads us horribly, until Jerry rolls a 15 to help us get back on track.

Then it starts pouring.

All save Salris and Bugfood take a level of exhaustion. We can see a glowing white streak of runes going down Zelrathi's neck.

We take a night of rest.

Day 10 of 11

In the morning, Ryltar asks Zelrathi about the glowy bits. Zelrathi explains that, because of his pact with the celestial, apparently the terms of the deal are to do his best to bring good into this world. But she's constantly trying to possess him, discard his mind, and control him.

There's still a ways to go to Leen: the storm passed in the night, but it's still raining.

With Jerry's leadership, we make up the time lost in the storm. At sunset, we start to see the lantern-light of civilization.

Leen is covered, not in spiders, but in —

Next session: Leen

We arrive at Leen. The Party are now arachnophobes.

Loot:

• 450 gold: divvied 75 to each
• alchemical and potion-making components: Bugfood
• 1 healing potion: Salris
• 1 greater healing potion: Salris
• Cruel Sword: Salris
• Ring of the Arcmag: Salris
• Cloak of something: Ryltar
• Wooden crane token: Jerry. It's a single-use disposaboat: touch it to a body of water bigger than 1 square mile, and it turns into a boat 50 feet long, 20 feet wide, capable of carrying 32 medium creatures for 24h. Self-propelled at 6 mph and can be dismissed as an action.
• Diplomat's Kit: Ryltar
• Two flasks of oil: Jerry