DND Blog

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

The Hundred and Twenty-First Session

April 12, 2025, Campaign: As the ground quakes, evil wakes

We decide to go hunt down the missing Ascendant. We enter the damaged temple of Oghma and begin to delve its basement, encountering many different enemies.

Table of Contents

  1. Last session
  2. Percival in Quadroads
  3. Thrai
  4. To the temple of Oghma
  5. The Basement of Oghma
  6. Next Session

Last session

We returned to Quadroads.

Percival in Quadroads

He does some cooking. It is, without effort, the best cooking in the city.

Then he goes out on the town. There aren't that many people, but he meets a half-elf named Lilia, who's bussing tables at a sidewalk bar, at the Death's Door Inn. He asks for their most-expensive liquor, and flashes 50 gold. She comes back with a bottle of wine and he pours a half pour for himself and her. They drink, and it's pretty good. He is inspired and casts Dancing Lights, and everyone's attention is drawn to him. He offers to pull her up to a chair, but she scampers. He stands, and then says, "I'm going to go downstairs and put my pinky in the door, and if anyone is braver than me, I'll give them a cup of this wine."

The barful of rogues laugh and stand and carry him down.

He casts Enemies Abound on the toughest guy in the bar, which makes him think that everyone around him is an enemy. Percival stands on the bar and plays his lyre, and the bar fight begins. They're really pressing him, though, so he Polymorphs into a velociraptor, and is instantly popped. He crawls through the broken glass and the fight to lick some of the wine from the floor where the bottle broke, and takes 2 slashing damage. He then Dimension Doors out, and returns to the Inn. He is sassed for only having been out for 15 minutes.

Thrai

It now being evening, we go to talk to Thrai.

An Ascendant is missing, and the guards don't have any leads for us.

No word recently from Sky Diamond. No word on which Ascendant is missing.

We decide to go get some incense and have Embersia go ask Bahamut for guidance. "Where will we find the missing Ascendant tomorrow?" Embersia inhales the smoke, and her eyes flash white with a vision of a desecrated stone statue of a man with a outstretched arm, arm broken, a shattered effigy covered in graffiti, the stone broken away and chipped and defaced. Stairs. A roar of shadow being pushed through a windstorm of black darkness. A bald dwarf, pockmarked and covered in dried blood, who opens his eyes.

Religion: 20. Embersia knows this is a defaced statue of Ogma. This is one of the three gods of the Arcadia Infinatum: Denier, Ioun, and Oghma.

We go to the Temple of Ioun. We're only allowed in because of who we are. The building is still in lockdown. They know where there's a temple of Oghmna: in the northeast quadrant, removed from the main streets.

So tomorrow we'll go there, and we'll bring Salris along because he's going cottage-crazy. We warn him that the chances of death have increased, but he's fine with that. He's a man of the law, but also he's looking for action.

We send a Message to the dean of Sky Diamond Academy, Kamal.

Returned from Arcadia. Quadroads not looking good. Dirius servant of Belladonna, dead. How are you? Need assistance, or poutine recipes? Hugs and kisses, Percival.

The reply:

Very well. Efforts to encircle tree are trying. We cannot get close and keep an effective perimeter.Any help from Quadroads may strengthen our defenses.

Degrazil is running around the countryside, with an army fit for a pharaoh.

Hey Guy. Found the Library. How are the stars looking? Anything to report?

In a monotone voice with other words overlaid:

Who oppose me, this is my warning. Those who bear my mark and exact my will, will see a new Eden. Join me or fall forever.

Guy seems to have been corrupted by Belladonna.

We take a long rest.

To the temple of Oghma

We Pass without Trace and case the joint.

There's not much movement outside, in the wee hours of the morning. One of the entrance doors is off its hinges. Multiple points of entry. Signs of light traffic at multiple doors. No drag marks.

Jerry goes up to the open windows and listens. There's snoring.

She looks through the crack in the front door and sees a room 40' x 50', with broken furniture and a central statue.

We decide to sneak in and investigate people. We start by Mending the door, and stealthily repair the door so it opens silently. We sneak in.

Jerry determines that there are two snorers. The first is a mottled-green male Tiefling in rags, curled in a corner. The second is a half-elf. They've been here for a while. The paths in the dust and rubble leave space for a firepit. There's firewood pulled from broken furniture. There's a path leading to the back areas,

Salris misses stepping on a pile of rubble, and then does a full Dad sneeze. It echoes off the rafters. Nothing happens.

We go from the main sanctuary to the backrooms, and find the stairs going down.

The Basement of Oghma

In one room we find scattered remnants of the daily lives of temples. Down another corridor, we find another room, with a bed and more scattered items.

From the locked door to our south, we hear footsteps walking away. Ryltar uses Shape Water to make a skeleton key, and we open the door.

  1. Round 1
    1. Creepy Hoody casts Hold Person on Ryltar, who shrugs it off. "They're in!" shouts Creepy Hoody.
    2. Percival casts Vicious Mockery and grievously insults the Creepy Hoody. Then he Inspires Jerry.
    3. Embersia can see into the room, because it's lit, and casts Guiding Bolt on the Creepy Hoody.
    4. Another cultist tries to stab Ryltar, and a second tries to Hold Person on him. Both fail, and run away.
    5. Ryltar casts Psychic Lance on the dude who tried to stab him. 22. Bonus action: Dog to attack Creepy Hoody.
    6. Dog drips shadow ichor. Dog knocks Creepy Hoody prone and bikes for 9,
    7. jerry pops Hunter's Mark and stabs the nearest cultist, killing him. She advances into the room. She stabs a cultist by the door, and advances to flank the cultist that the dog dragged down.
    8. Salris kills the door-adjacent cultist, and advances to the other two cultists in the corner, angelic blade in hand.
  2. Round 2
    1. Percival uses Storm Boomerang! It's very effective.
    2. Embersia uses Radiance of the Dawn, blinding every enemy. This kills Creepy hoody, who had been brought down by the dog.
    3. One of the two remaining cultists is still stunned.
    4. The other stabs Salris, critting, for a little damage.
    5. Ryltar casts Cone of Cold on a cultist, freezing it solid and killing it. He turns to the other and says, "Why, to what end? For what purpose?"
    6. Jerry walks over to the cultist who's coming out of a stun and punches the wall to intimidate. She asks, "Where is the Ascendant who's gone missing?"
    7. Salris holds an action, and casts Crown of Stars.
  3. Round 3
    1. Percival walks over, snapping, and pulls out Mythcarver, saying, "One thing's gonna spill today: your guts or your secrets."
    2. Embersia moves to look down the west hallway. She sees a door.
    3. Our intimidated cultist is about to talk, but the cultist's own shadow reaches up and snaps their neck.
    4. Another cultist appears! Salris turns away a Hold Person.
    5. Jerry stabulates for 40, killing that new cultist. She sees the edges of several cultists in the room.
    6. Some damage is done towards those cultists by Salris and Percival.
    1. Scythe Cultist enters the room, and makes a Spirit Wail. With a 17 save, Jerry takes 6 Psycic damage. Failures Percival, Ryltar, and Salris takes 13 Psychic and are Frightened. Then the Scythe Cultist tries to attack Jerry, and keeps missing. We think this is called "Executor."
    2. Embersia opens the door in front of her, and gets stabbed by her new cultist friend. Another cultist in the same room shoots an upcast Scorching Ray for 49 fire damage from the cultist named "Firebug". Embersia closes the door and walks back to the hub. "Guys?" she says, covered in scorch marks. She casts Cure Wounds on herself.
    3. A train of cultists enters the room, dealing a little damage.
    4. Ryltar casts Ice Wall around the , hiding him and removing his fear.
    5. Jerry kills two cultists, then walks up to the third of the train and says "Boo!"
    6. Salris sends a mote from the Crown of Stars to attack the cultists, then Eldritch Blasts the cultist in front of Embersia.
    7. Firebug casts Fireball, dealing lots of damage to the Party.
    1. Scythe Cultist attacks the ice wall, destroying it, then cuts at Ryltar thrice. He misses twice and gets Cutting Words on the remaining attempt.
    2. Ryltar holds an attack.
    3. Jerry deals 37 to Scythe Cultist and cuts his health in third.
    4. Percival hits Firebug with Tasha's Hideous Laughter.
    5. Salris stabs Scythe Cultist. Embersia helps. Ryltar turns him into a popsicle.
    1. Jerry runs over to Firebug and stabulates.
    2. Firebug shurgs off the laughter.
    3. A second Firebug makes his appearance known, from the other direction. Percival Counterspells successfully.
    4. The First Firebug casts another Fireball and hits, dealing a lot of damage to the Party except for Jerry.
    5. Percival casts Tasha's Hideous Laughter on one of the Firebugs.
    6. Embersia does some healing.
    7. Jerry hits First Firebug for 41, and Hides
    8. Salris fires off a mote for exactly the damage needed to kill the Firebug. Then he moves over to Second Firebug, who is hideously laughing, and does some stabbing.
    9. Percival joins in the stabbing, but gets hit with hellish Rebuke for 12 fire
    10. Ryltar joins in the killing.
    11. Jerry returns from the far room.
    12. Salris continues stabbing.
    13. Firebug stands up, and tries to deal some damage.
    14. Percival tries Vicious Mockery but fails.
    15. Ryltar finally kills the Firebug.

Time for healing.

Next Session

"The next dude", and half the dungeon.

New things to look up:

To do: