DND Blog

A place to keep DND session recaps, from various campaigns.

The Thirty-Fifth Session

November 28, 2020, Campaign: As the ground quakes, evil wakes

Several days' travel later, we are woken in the night by the distant sounds of cultists sacrificing bodies to a Tree-mother. In the ensuing fight, Bugfood plants a bean. The cultists outclass us, though we manage to kill the reincarnated Jester, and the fight is ended by the bean's sprouting into a mummy's pyramid.

Table of Contents

  1. Last session
  2. Morning
  3. Day 1
  4. Day 2
  5. Day 3
  6. Next session

Last session

We left Quadroads and came to the small town of Renewal, which was covered in spiderwebs. We stayed the night, and then battled a lot of spiders.

Now we're going to escort the children to Sky Diamond Academy, if we can.

Morning

We wake and venture outside the house.

The acid spider is still misting slightly, though it is dead. Viroth blames it on the obsidian pumice crystal, which Jerry tells the team that it's from that blood fountain outside the town of Skyfall, where Boris Highhelm's family lived. Viroth says that the crystal is something he's seen in books in his training, and he knows that the rocks have Transmutation and Conjuration influences on the world.

With Bugfood's Identify, we learn that these are Botid Rocks, not of the Material Plane, but from The Far Realm. In the magical spectrum, it glows in infrared, which is nothing he's ever seen before. Bugfood learns that these rocks change the world around them, over time.

Bugfood casts Call Lightning on the stone, and we see a giant crash of lightning leaving a crater, which crushes the pumice to bits.

The other spiders do not have these crystals.

We head out along the road around this lake's northern shore.

Day 1

Halfway through this day's travel, the number of spider webs abates, and we leave them behind us to the south.

Day 2

Nothing happens on the stone road, or at night.

Day 3

Travelling along the stone road, we come to a deserted town. There are carts strewn about, with evidence of a hasty exit via the seasonal waterway heading northeast. There are no spiderwebs in evidence.

We look for ways to board up the house that we're going to stay in; Salris discovers a warm obsidian rock in his pocket. Bugfood Identifies it, and determines that it's got residual magic from being used as an arcane focus. Meanwhile, Ryltar finds nails, and Viroth boards up the house.

Ryltar rolls a natural 25 on the performance roll necessary to teach these kids Mage Hand, and the youngest three kids fail to understand. But the older three learn the spell's parts, and understand how to cast it, but they're still not yet able to cast it.

We spend the better part of the evening entertaining the children with trying to teach them various forms of magic. Bugfood weaves the Hearth of Moonlight and Shadow.

During the first watch of the night, Jerry and Ryltar hear voices coming from the north, headed down the road from Sky Diamond. These voices are loud; there are horses in their train. In that direction, a campfire starts. There are five voices there:

The group are outside the range of the Party's darkvision when the gruff voice says, "We'll wait for them here."

But we decide to not go investigate them.

Keeping an alert ear out, we hear two more voices appear:

And we hear two sacks being dragged across the ground. The woman starts to chant. Ryltar recognizes the language: Elvish! The woman is chanting something of nourishment and encouragement for the Tree to grow so that the Dark Mother can return. We know that "Dark Mother" is not one of the titles of Lolth. The tree reference brings Jerry to think it's Kerjes. And then some big splashes come, like of bodies thrown into the water.

Ryltar wakes Bugfood, and asks him to go investigate the campfire. Bugfood takes the Form of a Chipmunk and goes to listen from a nearby hollow or drainpipe. With his vast command of language, he listens. But his animal nature shines through, and he squeaks a bit as he runs past them. They ignore him; they pay no attention to mice.

There are two cloaked figures standing next to the lake, chanting. One is 5', one is much shorter. There are six other individuals milling behind, and there are even more individuals cocooned in spider silk, lumped over the back of their horses. There's a goblin with a white shirt with pink-dyed stripes. A particularly jolly goblin. The Jester figure from West Haven.

Bugfood runs closer, and gets attacked by a cat that had been pacing around the cultists. It swipes at the chipmunk, dealing 1 damage, popping the chipmunk's disguise. The cat is solid black with glowing red eyes and three red stripes across its back: it is a familiar. Bugfood quickly plants the bean and waters it, while Ryltar casts Darkness on Bugfood. Jerry wakes the rest of the Party. The goblin's group all turn to watch this 15-foot-radius black sphere encasing Bugfood and a rowdy cat.

  1. Round 1: It's a clusterfuck; no one was expecting combat at this hour, including the cultists.
    1. Bugfood plants and waters the bean. He accidentally steps on the cat.
    2. The cat runs out of the darkness, looking confused.
    3. Viroth and Salris are shaken awake.
    4. Bugfood feels the impact of a speedster running up to him, and then it makes two attacks with a Moonlit Rapier, a slash across his back that deals 8 slashing and 6 cold, and a stab in the back for 9 slashing and 3 cold.
    5. One of the cultists dispells Ryltar's Advanced Darkness, which is a win-win all around. The caster used a high-level spell slot, and we can see what's going on now.
  2. Round 2: One of the cultists is that pink Jester figure. We do a lot of damage, but to little effect.
    1. Ryltar casts Ice Storm in the middle of the cultists. Some math happens.
    2. One non-cultist member of the opposing force fires a light crossbow at Bugfood, and deals 22 piercing to him as a Sneak Attack. Then this rogue runs forward, past him: a female hobgoblin wearing martial arts robes.
    3. Laughter. "Sneaky, sneaky!" calls the Jester. "How about you just be a chipmunk forever?" Bugfood rolls a 13 and saves on his wisdom roll.
    4. Jerry leaves the house and pops Hunter's Mark on the Jester, and prepares a slash attack against anyone approaching her that's not part of the Party.
    5. Once cultists disappears into invisibility.
    6. An accessory figure advances towards Bugfood, a bit. He casts Lightning Bolt on Jerry, for 18 damage.
    7. Bugfood casts Balm of the Summer Court on himself for a little health, and then he Inflicts Wounds on the guy in front of him for a bit of damage, and then he runs away.
    8. Vurguron advances to the hobgoblin, action surges, and attacks her several times for a lot of damage, decapitating her.
    9. Viroth activates one of his Blood Rites to attack the Jester, takes 6 damage, fails a Charisma save to resist being charmed by the Jester, and then ends up spending his turn laughing maniacally.
    10. Salris leaves the house, cuts himself on the Ring of the Arcamag, and pops another cult group member with two Eldritch Blasts
    11. Another group member charges up to Vurguron and slices him twice, for 26 piercing and cold damage.
    12. Another cult member disappears.
    13. A cult member casts Flame Strike on Salris and Vurguron. Ryltar casts Counterspell and fails. Vurguron and Salris are both fire-resistant, and take 1 fire damage and 3 radiant apiece.
  3. Round 3: The cultists are more-powerful than we are, yet Ryltar manages to kill the Jester.
    1. Ryltar casts Fairy Fire on a blank area, hoping to hit any of the invisible creatures. No tagged creatures in the area.
    2. Bugfood is hit by another light crossbow shot from a goblin with a light crossbow, for 24 piercing.
    3. Salris and Vurguron get his with Confusion.
    4. Jerry advances to the goblin attacking Vurguron. Having moved more than 10 feet to do so, the goblin's fancy-feet ability saves it from her attacks, so she rolls past it towards the Jester.
    5. Bugfood heals himself.
    6. Vurguron's confusion has him run in a random direction: east, straight into a tree.
    7. Viroth activates a Blood Maledict as he shoots something, which takes no damage from the radiant damage. With a Blood Curse of Binding his second arrow has some effect.
    8. Salris casts Phantasmal Killer on the Jester, which succeeds, so at the end of each of the Jester's terms it takes some psychic damage. It also takes disadvantage on attack rolls and saves. On its next turn, it dies, but because Salris didn't attack it directly, he takes no ill effects.
    9. Vurguron is thrice attacked by a goblin; he uses his reaction to cast Shield which cuts the incoming 38 pierce/slash/cold damage to 8.
    10. The taller of the two cultists waves a hand, casting Silence on Ryltar, Jerry and Salris.
  4. Round 4: The cultists die or flee.
    1. Ryltar casts Glow in a big square, making all the hidden goblins visible.
    2. A goblin shoots Jerry with a hand crossbow for 15 piercing. ~Jerry spends a turn laughing thanks to Tasha's Hideous Laughter, falling prone and incapacitated.~ Nope, Silence blocks that spell's effect.
    3. Jerry makes two attacks against the Goblin closest to her, misses both times, and moves next to another Goblin. She then prepared Hunter's Mark against whomever attacks her next.
    4. A cultist reappears from Invisibility and casts Power Word Stun on Jerry. Ryltar's fourth-level dispell fails. She's incapacitated, can't act, can't react, can't move, and can't really speak. She automatically fails strength and dex saves, and attacks against her have advantage.
    5. Bugfood Summons Four Woodland Creatures to bring out four satyrs, which he orders to attack the Hoboblins. They all have crossbows; there's a lot of shooting as a result.
    6. Vurguron attacks a Hobgoblin for a lot of damage.
    7. Viroth moves forward to where he can see the cultist that stunned Jerry, and shoots that cultist twice, for a total of a lot of damage, including 10 radiant.
    8. Salris walks up next to Vurguron and casually decapitates the Hobgoblin that Vurguron had been vigorously attacking.
    9. The taller cultist grabs the shorter cultist, and then they disappear. Not Dimension Door but instead a spiralling teleport out. Ryltar, Salris and Viroth's Arcana checks reveal that this was in fact Teleport, a 7th-level spell.
    10. The last Hobgoblin flees.
    11. Bugfood tells the Satyrs to attack the fleeing Hobgoblin. Their four attacks do significant damage to the Hobgoblin.
    12. There's a rumbling underfoot, like a heavy thud. Remember Bugfood's bean?
  5. Round 5: The bean begins to sprout; now the Party must flee.
    1. Vurguron lands some attacks on the Hobgoblin, but doesn't succeed in killing it outright.
    2. Viroth stops the Hobgoblin's further movement via a Blood Maledict, and pops the Hobgoblin. Viroth asks why the ground is rumbling. Ryltar explains that bean.
    3. Ryltar grabs the kids and starts heading them south.
    4. Bugfood tells the satyrs and weasel to gather 'round.
    5. Jerry runs to the cultists' camp and grabs their four horses. She sees a curly-haired blonde elf, who steals a horse. She hits him with Hunter's Mark to track him.
  6. Round 6: Flee, flee for your lives, and kill an elfish cultist. Bugfood does not flee; he preaches to his summoned satyrs.
    1. Viroth, now on a horse, rides up to Bugfood to slap him with a Brand of Castigation, so that he knows where Bugfood is, and then rides off.
    2. Vurguron is chilling with Bugfood while Bugfood gives a pre-death pep talk to the summons.
    3. Ryltar shoots the blonde with Ray of Frost, slowing his movememnt by 10 feet per second and doing 16 cold damage to him.
    4. Viroth shoots him for 15 piercing and 2 radiant damage. He falls off the horse.

We're all on our horses when the bean sprouts, except Bugfood.

The ground shifts away, revealing a pyramid! "The pyramid's only bad if you go into it," says Bugfood. "Okay team, break. Go on in," he says to the weasel and satyrs, before running away.

There's a deep growling roar as the pyramid settles in. Viroth identifies it as a powerful mummy.

Next session

Tonight:

Medium-term:

Ongoing questions: