The Fifty-First Session
August 21, 2021, Campaign: As the ground quakes, evil wakes
We sprint towards Quadroads, interruped only by a midnight battle with Rezzik Brazzik and two bands of assassins. Kerjes is on our tail, as are the Drow. The Drover dies, and Ryltar puts a hit out on Dirius with Rezzik Brazzik. Thrai is aghast.
Table of Contents
Last session
Thrai triggered a divine kaboom: the biggest sphere of Obsidian Pumice is probably gone. The resulting explosion created a big depression, which we named "Rogo's Lake" in honor of Thrai's beloved halfling party-member.
Ryltar and Jerry still have some in their bags, however.
And then there's the matter of the acid-soaked scroll, which really seems like a Kerjes item: "In Majorie Trouble."
What next?
The Quadroads are three days away. We're traveling on the roads, and aren't resource-constrained by rations or other supplies.
The Party puts the question to Jerry: Should we check in on Majorie immediately? Jerry doesn't want to use Bugfood's spell scroll of Sending to contact Majorie. She's worried about the replacement cost, if we even can get a replacement scroll.
We think of potential alternatives to casting Sending. Ren, over in the Woven Council, is a divination wizard, and could give us information, but Ryltar points out that that's both closer to Kerjes and farther from Majorie. Who else might know Sending, or other divination spells? The priests in Quadroads, perhaps. They owe us money.
Jerry says that we should push to Quadroads as fast as possible.
Salris decides to search the Robe of Useful Items for something useful, and pulls off a patch at random. It's a window; he places the window in a nearby tree.
We set off at a strong pace, but make it half a day before we are tired. Salris and Ryltar were very slow in the morning. Threatening to Dimension Door his way to Quadroads, Ryltar finds his second wind. But Salris is still slow.
Night falls. We're about 25% further than a normal day's travel. And we all pass the first constitution save. Jerry elects to sleep tonight; we do not push on.
Salris settles down for the first watch. A wave of lethargy hits him. He sits, thinking about what occurred and what will happen. The discussion of his patron. He hears a soft rustling from just off the road. Out from the rain comes a humanoid figure: purple skin, horns curling around the ear, a seafaring jacket with leather armor underneath. With curiosity he looks over to the fire. Salris recognizes him: Shamus Dereshar, his brother. Last time we saw him - last time we saw a version of him, was on top of the World Spire. That one was Salris' perception of Seamus. This one is real.
He wraps Salris in a hug, saying, "I thought the assassins got you!"
"Assassins?"
They got you, Mom, and Dad."
"No, I got away."
Shamus hugs Salris even tighter.
Salris welcomes him to the mainland; Seamus has been living a harsh life. When the assassins killed his parents, Seamus was rushed away by their cook, who kept him hidden. Seamus had been camping up the road a bit, and came down here to see what the fire was. Salris points out the danger of traveling alone, due to spiders. Seamus says that he was traveling with a party on horseback; they were attacked. Salris invites him to join the Party's camp, and travel with us to Quadroads.
Seamus wants to stay, but is conflicted, and eventually runs away to get his stuff.
Salris hears Seamus run away, crunching through the leaves, and then a grunt, and a large explosion. The Party wakes, and runs after Salris.
Salris and Jerry arrive first. Salris, keeping a keen eye on his brother, sees him with two arrows: one in his gut and one in his shoulder. Seamus' left half of his body is growing in size. He shifts from the gaunt, dessicated Tiefling into hulking figure that Salris has seen before.
It's Rezzik Brazzik, who pays Salris sometimes. Salris says, "My mistake, not my brother. Kill him."
Rezzik Brazzik is looking around, because he definitely didn't shoot himself with arrows.
Rezzik Brazzik and the Dueling Assassin Bands
- Round 1: Rezzik can turn invisible, and has a crossbow. Assassins are found and attacked, and attack each other? Are we dealing with two different packs of assassins?
- The "Orthon" known as Rezzik Brazzik takes out his Harpy Crossbow, loads a bolt, and fires it off to the right of the approaching Party. We hear the sizzle of acid, and someone takes 37 points of damage. And then Rezzik disappears.
- Salris casts Eldritch Blast at Rezzik's last known place. He moves forward, and bumps into a cloaked figure, hiding behind a tree. He says, "Who the fuck are you?"
- Ryltar enters the scene, and looks around with his darkvision, seeing nothing unusual. He casts Dancing Lights.
- The cloaked figure stabs Salris twice; he takes
7piercing and23poison, reduced to11. The figure is a Tabaxi. - Another cloaked figure runs up and stabs Salris twice.
- Jerry advances and uses the Cloak of Arachnida to cast Web around one assassin, one other person, and what she hopes is an invisible Rezzik Brazzik.
- Peeking over from the corner, someone casts Fairy Fire on the two assassins and Salris, Jerry and Vurguron. One assassin glows with purple energy. The black-cloaked caster has stepped out of the trees to the southeast of the scene, and then the figure Shadow Steps away.
- Another black-cloaked assassin steps out from the trees to the east, and fires two crossbow bolts at the fairy-fired assassin. That assassin collapses, unconscious.
- Thrai enters the scene, and deals
10radiant to the still-standing assassin.
- Round 2: Rezzik makes an offer to Salris. Salris makes an offer to a Tabaxi assassin. The Drow are here, led by the Drover. We kill the Drover, as more Drow and non-Drow assassins arrive on the scene.
- Rezzik shoves an infernal dagger into the standing assassin, but misses. He leans over to Salris and says, "100 gold a head" and disappears.
- A new assassin breaks free of the web and moves within it, over towards Jerry. It's a Drow figure, carrying a bone whip and a black leather whip. It's the Drover! We have chosen a side.
- Salris tells the Tabaxi assassin: "You don't like them? They killed your friend? Help us out, we'll talk this over later." Then he walks into the web, and is restrained as he stands over the unconscious Drow assassin. Salris casts Negative Energy Flood on the Drover. The energy is sucked in. Then he shouts, "Don't attack the Tabaxi!" and points at the two non-Drow assassins.
- Ryltar casts Slow, hitting the Drover and one of the assassins. The Drover is slowed.
- Three more people show up from the west:
- A grey-haired human assassin shoots at one of black-cloaked assassins.
- A golden-haired human assassin shoots Salris for
20piercing and22poison reduced to11, bringing him down to11. - A green-scaled assassin shoots at the Drover, downing him.
- The Tabaxi steps out of Salris' attack of opportunity range, and revives their purple-cloaked assassin friend.
- Vurguron moves to Ice Knife one of the black-cloaked assassins, at range. He misses, and the exploding knife deals no damage.
- Jerry drops Web and pops Hunter's Mark on the Drover. She attacks the slowed, downed, unconscious Drover twice, dealing
29on her first attack,32on the second, killing him. She moves towards one of the identified black-cloaked Drow. Doing so, she bumps into a fourth! - That black-cloaked Drow stabs Jerry twice, hitting once, for
25damage total. A 5-foot cube of darkness begins to form behind him. - Now it's his actual turn; he fails two more attacks against Jerry.
- The northernmost black-cloaked Drow attacks the grey-haired Human assassin, who falls unconscious.
- The Drow in front of Jerry Shadow Steps away, and a new one steps in. The necrotic cube flanks Jerry. This new Drow stabs Jerry twice, for
11piercing9necrotic6poison and bonus27necrotic, bringing her to14/92. The mote goes away. - Thrai advances into the melee, and casts Guardian of Faith, which moves to defend Jerry against the Drow.
- Round 3: Rezzik Brazzik almost kills Jerry, as he kills a Drow. Salris is downed. The non-Drow assassins were sent by a "she". The Drow are here to kill their enemies, apparently. Thrai heals everyone, bringing Salris back.
- Rezzik Brazzik casts Concussion Bolt on the Drow attacking Jerry; the wave of force deals damage to many people, bringing Jerry to 0 HP.
- Jerry uses Relentless Endurance to instead fall to 1 HP, and then uses Orcish Fury to attack the Drow that attacked her for
7slashing. - Salris runs over to Jerry, but the purple-cloaked assassin stabs him. He goes down.
- Ryltar casts Cone of Cold, which has a 60-foot range, which hits the Tabaxi, the purple-robed Human, the golden-haired human, the green-scaled assassin, the unconscious grey-haired Human, and one of the Drow. Only the Drow passes the Constitution save, taking half. That's
50damage per character, except25for that Drow. The purple-robed assassin made a mistake in not listening to the Tabaxi. Ryltar uses a feature of the Ice Heart of Winter to shove the Drow away. - The non-Drow assassins book it, running away. One of them says, "She's not going to like this!" as they flee.
- Vurguron. He's next to a Drow. Standard attack, does some damage.
- Jerry knows that Thrai will heal Salris. She does
9slashing to the Drow. Then she moves away from the Drow assassins. - The Drow who had been yeeted moves
20feet onto the board, and gains line of sight to Salris, Thrai, and Jerry. He shoots at Thrai and misses. - The Drow next to Vurguron and the Guardian of Faith take some damage; the one next to Vurguron looks rough.
- One Drow stabs Vurguron for a lot of damage, and the black shadow appears around him, giving the Drow a flanking advantage. Vurguron takes
9piercing9poison,9necrotic,22necrotic. And the darkness is gone. The Drow Shadow Steps away. - The other Drow moves between Thrai and Salris, and stabs Ryltar for
30damage. Ryltar shouts, "I'm killing your enemies, you shit!" The Drow replies, "And I'm killing mine." The darkness appears and seeps back in. Ryltar collapses. The Drow Shadow Steps away. - Thrai casts Mass Cure Wounds for
3d8+3, healing the whole Party. Then she runs over to the one assassin, interposing herself.
- Round 4: Rezzik Brazzik attacks Vurguron, for some reason, downing him. Ryltar grows into a huge Giant Ape. The fleeing non-Drow assassins return for another attack. Thrai heals Vurguron back to life.
- Rezzik Brazzik appears and attacks Vurguron, poisoning him, dealing
36damage, downing him. - Salris stands up.
- Ryltar stands up and casts Polymorph on himself, turning into a Giant Ape (huge). He stomps through some trees. =
- We hear one of the assassins say, "She will eat us!" And they reeenter the field, attacking the northernmost Drow. Four bolts hit him, but still he stands. One of the assassins shoots at Ryltar the Giant Ape, but he flexes his arm and the bolt is ejected from his arm.
- Vurguron makes a death save, and passes.
- Jerry casts Lightning Arrow and throws a dart at the southeastern Drow, but misses, and so he only takes
4lightning. - One Drow attacks Thrai; another attacks Jerry with a bolt that fails to poison her.
- Thrai moves closer to Vurguron, and casts Healing Word at third level once he's in range, for
9health. But he's still poisoned. She then moves to the southeastern Drow and whacks him twice.
- Rezzik Brazzik appears and attacks Vurguron, poisoning him, dealing
- Round 5: The non-Drow assassins attack the Drow; the Drow continue attacking the Party. Jerry is downed.
- Rezzik Brazzik moves near Ryltar, and Salris' held attack goes off:
6damage. - Some spells happen.
- Ryltar punches at the western Drow for
12bludgeoning damage, then multiattacks with his other fist for a critical hit for47bludgeoning. This Drow is worse off than the far one. He points at the non-Drow assassin who shot him, and says in Ape, "You're next." - The non-Drow assassins make their attacks: 2 at the northern Drow, 2 at Salris, 1 at the big ape. The Drow dies. Both bolts miss Salris. And one bolt connects with Ryltar, who takes
32damage. - Vurguron moves around a little, takes Second Wind, and dodges.
- Jerry moves to flank the Drow near Thrai, and deals
26damage against him. - That Drow Shadow Steps behind Jerry, attacking with the shortsword, dealing
24damage and downing her. The darkness blot appears next to Jerry. Then the Drow moves 15 feet closer to Thrai and stabs her for35damage. - The western Drow attacks Ryltar, bringing it to partial HP, causing Ryltar to lose concentration. He's no longer a Giant Ape. The Drow then Shadow Steps away.
- Thrai casts Banishment on the Drow in front of her, but fails.
- Rezzik Brazzik moves near Ryltar, and Salris' held attack goes off:
- Round 6: Facing overwhelming firepower, four of the non-Drow assassins die. The fifth runs away, pursued by a spectre Salris created from one of the dead assassins. Thrai heals Jerry.
- Rezzik Brazzik appears, facing the non-Drow assassins. He fires a Concussive Blast against the Tabaxi, killing it. The other assassins take
13damage, putting them all in the single digits. Then he disappears. - Salris fires Eldritch Blast against two of the assassins. He kills one, raising a Cursed Specter. Then he kills the second one. Then he uses the Ring of the Arcamag to gain more Eldritch Blasts and with those two, he kills the golden-haired human. The non-Drow assassins are down to just the purple-robed humanoid, who runs away.
- The Spectre chases after him, moving next to him. If he moves, it has an attack of opportunity to kill him.
- Vurguron attacks the Drow with his Shadow Blade, hitting twice. He sees that the Drow is looking rough, so he Action Surges for two more attacks, killing that Drow.
- Jerry fails her first death save.
- The Shadow Drow teleports in front of Vurguron, but misses its first attack. Then it runs around to another side of him.
- Thrai Healing Words Jerry at second level for
10, then moves next to Vurguron to bludgeon the Drow, missing twice. Her maul thunks into the tree.
- Rezzik Brazzik appears, facing the non-Drow assassins. He fires a Concussive Blast against the Tabaxi, killing it. The other assassins take
- Round 7: The last Drow is killed. Rezzik Brazzik pauses.
- Rezzik Brezzik appears to attack the Drow with his Infernal Dagger. He stabs the Drow and lifts it into the hair, before shaking it off. And then he does not disappear.
- Salris holds an Eldritch Blast until Rezzik Brazzik does anything hostile.
- Ryltar casts Slow on Rezzik Brazzik. He shouts after the running man, "If you make it through the night, you'll make Kerjes very happy!" The guy doesn't hear him, but we hear his death scream.
- Vurguron tries to intimidate Rezzik Brazzik, but fails.
- Jerry stands up, and goes over towards the Guardian of Faith to examine it.
- Thrai heals Jerry for
8, holding action of two maul attacks. She looks around, asks, "What are we doing here?"
Rezzik dismisses his dagger and crossbow. We see an Orthon, with one tusk broken off. He says, "I would have thought we would be meeting in a more civilized manner, but it seems that some people don't have manners. Some people have debts paid."
A conversation with Rezzik Brazzik
He turns to Salris and says, "Want some gold?" His offer earlier in the fight is apparently still valid.
We count it out: 9 miscellaneous assassins. Rezzik Brazzik tosses Salris a bag of 900 gold.
Rezzik wasn't expecting to meet with these people here. His stab against Vurguron was just an attack of opportunity, for old time's sake. He says that yes, Seamus isn't here. But on the other hand, he says something about Seamus being involved with Rezzik's body.
Why is Rezzik following us? He thinks Salris is still in the contracting business. Salris lists off people that Rezzik wants killed; we learn that there's contracts for Guy and Thalia and Boris Highhelm, but Rezzik says that Guy is off the list now. "I"m in the business of revenge. The cycle will always continue. I just start it."
Ryltar: "I'm glad that you have come open about all this,"
"Well, you did murder me," says Rezzik, and his skin ripples.
"Why me?"
"You're one of the most-accessible groups. Able to go places, meet people. There will be so many parties happily inviting you to celebrate the success of their freedom to move."
"Who do you want me to kill? I'll tell you yes or no, just name the name." And he turns to Thrai, who is looking on with an open mouth, "Thrai, I'll have an explanation later."
The discussion comes to Dirius; Ryltar asks what her price is. Rezzik leans in and says, "For Dirius … You are desperate for her removal." We make mention of tying up loose ends. "Loose ends tied up are boring. I want to loosen up the ropes and have everyone hang by the threads."
Salris pushes on Thrai: "Certainly you would enjoy the opportunity to slay the worshipper of some demon. A self-respecting devil as yourself." There is long-lasting emnity between the demons and devils.
"Fifteen thousand," says Rezzik Brazzik, and extends a hand. We have the money. Ryltar shakes the offered hand. There's this pulse. "For someone else to kill Dirius…. Salris, are you as willing? A halfling who lives in the Regular Inn in Quadroads. Seven thousand." It's the halfling who we played a Disguise Self prank on.
Salris says, "We'll be in touch."
"If you won't get it, I know someone who will." And he vanishes.
We are left with a horrified, horribly confused, slightly very angry Thrai. Salris starts by explaining Thalia. " Over in West Haven, there was an issue which required warm healing magics. Thalia —"
"You dealt with the devil to kill her!"
"She asked me to kill her, and now I have her blessing."
We offer that she cast Zone of Truth, but she doesn't. "What scares me the most is that I believe you," she says.
Salris continues, describing himself as a different person than he was then, calls Rezzik as "an inconvenience", and says that he's going off to loot the bodies. Jerry goes with.
Thrai summons a Guardian of Faith and just sits, mulling over everything. Ryltar sits and goes to sleep.
Among the Drow:
- 4 uses of Drow poison
- the bone Whip of Wounding
- 4 cloaks
- 4 sets studded leather armor that emanates shadow: currently magical.
- 750 gold
- Drover no longer wears a half mask covering his mouth; now he has burns or scars covering his mouth and neck, in the shape of the blooming tree in flames.
Among the assassins:
- 100 gold
- low-quality armor and weapons — they're not a dedicated band.
Salris takes one of the cloaks; Jerry puts the cloaks and armor in her bag.
Salris takes the Bone Whip of Wounding to attune to; giving Ryltar back his Pearl of Power, as promised.
Ryltar spends some time talking with Thrai about Dirius. Thrai only knows Dirius as leader of the Harbingers of Discovery; Ryltar mentions that it's a cover story. Ryltar says that if Salris were to attack Thrai, he's pretty sure that Vurguron and Jerry would defend Thrai. Jerry and Vurguron concur. Thrai says she has questions, but she's not sure she wants to know.
"What is the end goal of yours?" she asks.
Ryltar spends the end of the first watch explaining the prophecy, and Guy, and Bugfood, and the rest of it. "So I suspect my mentor has befallen bad things from these people. They killed the professor of Sky Diamond Academy, Galindann." Jerry mentions the Battle Locusts and Moon, and how she's in the Temple of Ioun in Quadroads.
"It's going to be a long road ahead of us," says Thrai, and rolls over. She doesn't sleep that night.
The second day of travel, and Quadroads
The rest of the night passes uneventfully. The morning comes faster than we hoped.
We decide to try to run the rest of the way to Quadroads today, but we're going pretty slow, except for Vurguron. He's well-rested.
Ryltar feels a very faint tickle in the back of his skull, as we jog along.
In the afternoon, we make better time, but Jerry, Salris and Thrai take a level of exhaustion. We arrive at night, at the closed gates of Quadroads.
Next session
We've committed the 10k gold of reward money from Quadroads to having Dirius assassinated, plus 5k gold more.
We need to claim our reward, and find what's up with Majorie.
Other stuff:
- Ryltar has contracted with Rezzik Brazzik to have someone kill Dirius.
- Rezzik Brazzik wants Salris to kill a hobbit.
- We know how to trap the Jester, with Magic Circle
- What's going on with the stars? Are Ryltar's theories about colors and significant plot-relevant things' colors correct?
- How can the Mummy Lord be defeated?
- Determine how to resolve the Eta'el-Kerjes plot
- Remember to un-petrify Ockoh in the Ice Lord Wint's Lair — if Dirius didn't shatter him. Grab the de-petrification potions from the Elven town.
- Is Salris' brother also a bearer of the curse that afflicts Salris? Or is he just part of Rezzik Brazzik now?