DND Blog

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

The Eighty-Ninth Session

August 19, 2023, Campaign: As the ground quakes, evil wakes

Having finished our goals in the Yuan-Ti temple, we teleport to Sky Diamond Academy. Guy catches us up on the nature of the stars: they represent items made with Fey Seeds. We have 3 of 6, maybe? Also the divination professor at SDA is a fraud, it seems, but for a bard he's really good at teaching divination. We're responsible for his upcoming disciplinary hearing.

Table of Contents

  1. Last session
  2. To Sky Diamond Academy
  3. In the wee hours of the morning
  4. Next Session

Last session

We fought our way into the Yuan-Ti dungeon, killed many guards and priests and abominations and the risen Anathema. We then looted the dungeons and retrieved our items, and now we're debating where to go next. We're still in the dungeon.

To Sky Diamond Academy

We determine there's nothing more we need to do here, so Ryltar Teleports us out.

We arrive in the central Lyceum of the Sky Diamond Academy: A ring of teleportation circles surround a central room wth a reception desk, overlooking all the circles. The stonework is quite ornamental, and the teleportation circles are made of metal inlaid in the stone. We realize that Jerry and Vurguron are covered in viscera, and start cleaning them off.

The receptionist is shocked at the gore, and faints. We hear the thud, and some rustles, and then the young female half-elf stick her head over the edge of the desk. We eventually convince her that it's alright, and she can come out. She wasn't expecting our appearance at all; there are very few unscheduled teleportations through here.

It is the 5th Kel of Nightal? We do the bureaucratic paperwork:

With our paperwork finished, we make our way out of the Lyceum and towards the entrance of the Academy: a set of giant doors in the stone of the mountain. The doors are guarded by really large knights in armor, one of whom stops us. "Reason for entry?" "We're the Knights of the Summer Court, and we need to talk to a divination wizard, Guy." The armor stands motionless for a minute, and then says, "Access granted." The doors open, and we enter a stone tunnel engraved with depictions of arcana and casting and the school itself.

We come out into the quad, and make our way to the dorm building where Guy lives. Ryltar knocks. Nothing happens.

Jerry knocks strongly, and hears Guy jolt awake. He answers the door in his pajamas, not at all awake.

We banter a little bit with the half-awake Guy, and he invites us in while he makes tea. He falls asleep in the middle of the conversation. Ryltar pokes him; he wakes, mumbling, "I'm here, Professor … Oh."

And he keeps falling asleep. Jerry picks him up. He wakes up, protesting. Jerry says he can go back to sleep. "But I want to sleep in my bed….zzz" Jerry starts to walk down the hall with him. He tries to Shadow Step back into bed, but Ryltar counters.

"Ren Farlow is dead," says Ryltar.

"MMmmh?" asks Guy.

"We need you awake for this," says Ryltar. Jerry walks down the hall and out the door, and throws him into the nearest fountain. Guy is a young Gnome. He is a smol creature. He's treading water and not making much progress.

Jerry fishes him out. We let him go get a change of clothes. He comes back out and says, "Ren Farlow is dead."

Apparently Ren had sent him a letter saying that Guy should take over his work. But he didn't receive the item that was promised.

Guy says that a green nebula had been spotted in the area with the approaching stars. But he hasn't seen a bright white, silver, or platinum star. We poke him some about it. Ryltar says: "These stars seem to appear whenever someone awakens an item with significant strength."

Guy examines each, and says: "Ren mentioned Fey Seeds. Motes of collected powers of archfey."

He puts two and two together and identifies Vurguron's shield as a shard of divinity, and realizes that Salris' red gem was formerly carried by Thalia. He realizes, with our encouragement, that he shouldn't talk about it.

He falls asleep again.

Jerry tuck him back into bed, and leave a note on the kettle. He hadn't actually turned the stove on; no wonder his tea was cold and Ryltar had to prestidigitate it.

We go to find Professor Gon-Li, who Guy had said was another divination wizard, who would need to be told. Ryltar locates his office, and tells him, by way of an introduction, that Ren is dead. We tell him how Ren passed. Gon-Li hold a moment of silence for Ren's passing, then asks us if that's all. "If that's all the information you need," say Ryltar, but it's not a sure thing. Gon-Li starts cleaning up his office, but he's dropping things.

An insight check reveals that every time we've mentioned Ren's death, he's gotten more jittery. He's asking a lot of questions. Too many questions for a divination wizard, thinks Ryltar.

"When I told Guy about Ren's departure from the mortal realm," says Ryltar, "He didn't really seem that surprised."

"Guy is a good student." He picks up some papers.

"You look surprised." Ryltar rolls intimidation. 20

Gon-Li thinks about it for a minute before responding. "I do not have time to oversee the lives of everyone around me. I am here to teach — I am here to teach."

Jerry asks, "What is it that you teach?"

"I teach the spells and incantations necessary to draw information that is not promptly laid before."

"Do they tell you information that you haven't sought out, or is it always relevant to your question," asks Jerry.

"Do you know how to scry?" asks Ryltar. A very specific question.

"Every caster of a specific power knows how to scry." There is indeed a crystal ball on a nearby table, with a cloth to cover it. So he might actually know how to use it. "You seem nervous."

"A force has killed a great mage of our time." He's nervous.

"By which you mean the green dragon," says Jerry.

"We killed it," says Ryltar. "So there is an even greater power. Thank you for your candor." And he leaves. We all leave.

"He's a fraud," says Ryltar. "He didn't know that we were coming. I want to talk to the Dean."

So we go find a receptionist in the building, and find one.

He asks, "What does it take for the Knights of the Summer Court to get a meeting with one of the deans?" Jerry comes up behind him and looms. The receptionist stammers. "Knight of the Summer Court?" "Knights, plural," says Jerry. There's a little bit of back and forth which is solved by Ryltar saying "I don't really care which one," and continues in an aside, "I don't want to get us involved in something else, but these kids should be getting a good education, and they're not."

Kamal Kurdah is the Head Dean, who will meet us at the main fountain. We thank the receptionist, and go to the main fountain area. There's a bunch of food-truck-style vendors with carts around the fountain, so we buy some stuff and take a short rest.

Wait, this is where we found Ockoh. Did he have a family? Why did he go on a dangerous expedition? Why did he jump into his own self-heating box? We conclude both that Ockoh was not very smart, and also we need to go save him.

We recollect ourselves, and eat our pastries.

The sun sets in the sky a little bit, and a broad-shouldered human mane walks towards us, wearing a very large red beard and smoky grey tunic and black pants and boots. We stand to meet him. "Knights, you have returned!"

We wish it were under better circumstances. Ryltar opens with the news of Ren Farlow's death. He expresses his regret. We then continue on to the topic of the Divination Professor, who wasn't prepared for our arrival or the news of Ren's death. Jerry admits that there could be an innocent explanation. The dean says that he knew Ren at the academy, and that Ren was a prodigy. He says that he hired Gon-Li as a replacement for Ren, personally. Ryltar says that he didn't mean to impugn the dean's choice. THe dean continues that everything fell into place, and it seemed like he was the right person for the position. "Very well," says Ryltar. "I just wanted to bring it to your attention that he was surprised, and didn't seem to be proficient as a diviner."

We discuss how a student saw us coming; it turns out that the Dean thinks that Guy is an heir to Ren, who had been taken under Ren's wing.

We ask about why Ren left the academy; he saw that it was fated.

Ryltar asks if he knows about the pyramid. The dean says that they need to know the location of the mummy lord. They also have a Divination professor to scrutinize. How convenient. The dean says that a performance review is in order, and strides off towards the Divination Tower. This is his academy, and he commands the very walls and Sky Diamond. (Well, he shares it with the other Deans.)

We feel the Dean's power and presence, which is much greater than Ren's was.

The Dean enters and walks up the steps to the receptionist. He asks if Gon-Li is in his office; she says he is.

He comes to the door, and with a twinkle in his eye, calls out, "Gon-Li?" Doesn't even knock. There's a pause. A small click, and the door opens.

Gon-Li is standing there, says, "Yes, Head Dean Kamal? What do you pay a visit for?"

"It has come to my attention of certain events that have occurred in the vicinity of our academy, which we would desire to know more of, using your revealing and intrusive magics."

"Very well!" Gon-Li offers the Dean a seat at the crystal ball table, draws the curtains, and reveals the ball. We call for "Degrazil, the Butcher of Othe", and Gon-Li peers into his ball.

Ryltar subtly casts Detect Magic, just to see whether Gon-Li is actually casting.

Ryltar feels a probe in his mind, and rebuffs it.

Gon-Li comes up with a triviality, saying that there were charms and wards in the way.

Ryltar casts doubt.jpg. He says that the Pyramid was only recently brought back to this plane, and the Mummy lord wouldn't have had time to place those spells. And also, Ryltar felt a mental probe. He accuses Gon-Li of trying to read his mind.

Dean Kamal says that mummies would have placed those enchantments while he was entombed.

Ryltar says that he has specific information that the Mummy isn't in the pyramid.

Gon-Li: "If you knew that, why ask me?"

Ryltar: "Because between here and Leen, there are many miles of territory."

Gon-Li: "Spells of divination can be detected and rebuffed by strong wizards."

Ryltar: "So can Detect Thoughts, and I watched you weave the spell and cast it on me."

Dean Kamal: "So that wasn't just me."

Gon-Li sweats bullets.

Gon-Li gets up.

Jerry walks over and pushes him back into the chair.

Ryltar: "Sometimes it hurts less to tell the truth."

Jerry: more intimidation. "The last person who entered Sky Diamond Academy with ulterior motive resulted in alot of deaths, and spent the rest of their life wearing a collar of antimagic, living in a far-off city, working at a job antithetical to her previous goals. But if she had come to us beforehand, we could have helped her. We have … experience in such matters. We killed a demigod just this morning."

Kamal stands. "Gon-Li, you will present yourself in my office. I will call the other deans."

Jerry: "You shouldn't try running."

Kamal: "You know the reach that the Academy has."

What little blood remains drains further from Gon-Li's face.

And then Dean Kamal turns to us, and thanks us. "That does answer one question, but leaves us with more questions. We will meet again tomorrow afternoon, and discuss Gon-Li." He leaves.

Gon-Li wilts.

He asks us for help.

Ryltar asks what he was even teaching the kids.

He said that when a "w i s h" goes wrong, it goes really wrong. He does have a Wish available. He was put in a horrible position. He was granted the position of "the greatest wizard of our time", and he didn't know that that position was a teacher. "I didn't know who the greatest wizard of our time was at the time I accepted the position. Wording is everything! I just want not to die to be rendered inert."

"What's the worst that could happen? They would fire you?"

"You could resign," suggests Jerry. "Or is there something keeping you in this position?"

It transpires that the first Wish gave Gon-Li his position. And the second Wish gave him competent and successful students. He didn't realize what that meant until it happened. He wants to leave with his third Wish intact.

We suggest that he come clean, maybe not mention the "W"s. He says that he was working on the third wish language. We suggest that he doesn't need to use it, and should indeed keep it and work on his

He asks us for help retrieving the location of Ren Farlow's notes. He needs them in exchange for the third Wish, it seems. "Would you help me if I were to reveal the location of Ren Farlow's notes?"

"Would we help you do what?"

"Help me retire from this place, rather than resign."

"Why would we help you? You intercepted them," says Ryltar.

Gon-Li glances at his desk. Ryltar goes over to the desk. Gon-Li tries to stand; Jerry is already leaning on his shoulder with a 39.

"I'll reveal the location of the notes in exchange for your help helping me retire."

"Vurguron, do you have any crowbars?"

"No, I'll help you interpret them!"

"Oh? What do you know?"

"They're about the stars, and…."

"Oh, we know that already," says Jerry, massaging his shoulders.

"I'm really busy," Gon-Li says,

"Teaching the students a topic you don't know."

"Yes, indeed," says Ryltar, unamused.

It transpires that he got the wishes from a card. Ryltar pulls out the Deck of Many Things. He sees them, and gives us the key to his desk. The whole bottom drawer of the file cabinet is full of Ren's notes. We remove the drawer, to give to Guy.

"Do you want us to help you word your W?" "Yes." "What do you want?" "To retire rich." "If you want to retire rich, you're going to have to continue working until you retire rich."

"Just to clarify," asks Jerry, "What can you do, besides read minds?"

"He can read minds some of the time," says Ryltar. "But you want to retire comfortably, now."

"I can play the shawm?"

"Where did you get the cards?" "Did you give them up to a green dragon?"

"No, I gave them to a promising young wizard, Dular Morro, who was leaving Sky Diamond. When I got hired here." This name is somewhat familiar to us: Ulmos Morro was a captain in the West Haven's Verdant Guard, who led Majorie's troop across the desert and into the forest, and after the issue with the Mother of the Forest, who led us to the Yuan-Ti, and tried to sacrifice Ryltar on an altar. The brother of that Morro.

"I, we, need to work on my defense." He's familiar with Moon's case, and knows that we got her off. He wants that sort of miraculous defense. We suggest that he doesn't really need that; he didn't kill anyone.

We poke and prod his ideas for some while; he keeps coming back to wishing for retiring with great wealth. But why does he want to retire? He says that retiring comes with money. But he's already wishing for great wealth, so why not drop the retirement and just wish for money?

We suggest that he throw himself on the mercy of the deans, tender his resignation, and set up an endowment for a chair or scholarships or something like that. And then spend some time playing a shawm for money instead of making his Wish immediately.

He says he'll throw himself on the mercy of the deans, dedicate his life to philanthropy, and do other things. We suggest investing his money in profitable ventures, like an inn in the Quadroads, or building a network of Teleportation Circles.

Turns out he's a bard, and doesn't know that spell. He's also past the age of learning new spells or gaining levels. Ryltar suggests, "I wish to be a powerful arcane magic user." But that might make him a lich, and we tell him not to be a Lich. We don't want to have to add "solve a Lich" to our to-do list.

We eventually leave.

We go outside Sky Diamond and return to the Lyceum, and cast Percival's Particular Portcullis, and we sleep until 1 a.m. in n that mansion. Ryltar still has one fourth-level spell slot left, which he uses to bypass the horrible stairs.

In the wee hours of the morning

It's a little past 1:30 a.m. when we get back to the Astronomy Tower, which is the tallest building in the Sky Diamond next to the Sky Diamond's structure itself.

We climb the outside stairs and knock on the door, and catch Guy up on everything.

So what is a Fey Wild seed? It's a magical thing given by a member of the Fey to help shape the world around them. Whomever takes it upon them is granted power within the Fey Realm, whatever the Fey has granted to them. "I can only speculate on which; I haven't started on fey history." "You're saying something like an Archfey created these things?" "They are imbued with the power of the Archfey; not necessarily created by them." "Could an Archfey be slain or trapped in these?" "That is .. morbid, yes, but beyond me. I can tell you that the activations and implications is not what I understand to be the case from my research. But it would need someone with more magical crafting understanding." Guy doesn't specialize in this stuff.

"Does the name 'Belladonna' ring a bell?" Guy shakes his head. "Or 'Nightshade'?" Same no.

We have more questions, but he pauses our conversation and runs out into the main room, which is a giant cavern of a dome, with a small chair in the center, and a note-taking table. "I have to write this down."

Ryltar advises him to keep all this secret, because Belladonna and Wint's Lair and the Mother of the Forest and how Belladonna is her sister, and where we met Belladonna in the Banyo Tree. His quill snaps. "Uh."

"That creature exists, still, where Kerjes, the Green Dragon was."

"And that's only…" "A week's travel from here, yes." Jerry adds to Ryltar: "A week's travel by foot."

Ryltar thinks that Belladonna is influencing the Mummy Lord. No, we haven't told anything else about this, not even the Deans or the Woven Council.

We're not sure that Vurguron's shield is the white star. The other three are clearly Fey magics, and were found in the center of their elements. So Guy will keep looking into that, but a better source would be just going out and finding whatever the things are.

Now we're back to examining the architecture, and the giant telescope in the middle of the room. Guy cranks the seat down to full-size humanoid size, so that Ryltar can take a look at the green nebula. It takes a moment, and Guy has to apply a detect-magic lens, and then he sees the red, blue, and green spots in the sky, in an arc. He follows the arc, and sees nothing. We thank him for the view.

Ryltar asks if Guy would want to run the divination school. Guy doesn't think it's a priority. His focus is solving the problem with the stars; he doesn't have time to be a teacher.

Guy turns to Jerry with a question, at the same time that Merrill's voice appears in Jerry's head: "Jerry: Scouts have spotted a horde of undead, from the north, heading to Lanthet, We're defenseless. They're led by demons and a mummy. Help."

Next Session