DND Blog

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

The Hundred and Thirty-First Session

January 3, 2026, Campaign: As the ground quakes, evil wakes

We solve a political problem for Vurguron with some minor violence, and incidentally unocver another Cult attempt to kill lots of people, this time in the South Haven.

Table of Contents

  1. Last session
  2. South Haven
    1. The temple
  3. Messaging
  4. Next session

Last session

We battled Belladonna, saved the Ascendants, and got sent by the Ascendants to South Haven. We landed in a pillar of divine light on the front step of the Third House.

South Haven

It sounds like a normal city. Smells like it.

The two guards approach us with definite looks of disdain — they were the ones we ordered to go take the day off; their uniforms show signs of missing rank — who tell us that we were expected.

We're led to the front door, and through the cathedral of the building to Vurguron's office. He's doing paperwork, with his father at his elbow.

We look kinda rough.

We tell him about the events of the last few days:

Vurguron tells us what's been going on in the last few months:

Valinor speaks now: the Ascendant of Bahamut in the Quadroads messaged him; he asks us whether Quadroads is safe.

The immediate danger has ceased, we tell him.

Another message he received: One of "our temples" has had something terrible befall it. It was ransacked. This raises concerns in the present context. It's within the Third House to deal with. His power is questioned.

Jerry breaks in: "Is this something that needs to be dealt with today? Because we've got a long list or requests for aid, and my family is on that list, and your town seems pretty quiet right now, like it's not an issue that needs to be dealt with today."

For political reasons, the Third House can't deal with this at the moment, and need to bring in some discreet outsiders to deal with the issue.

There's some discussion of what Vurguron will wear; if he shows up in vestments then this is an Official Act but if he goes in armor then he's off-duty and it's just the leader of the Third House going clubbing with his friends.

In the luxurious carriage ride over to the temple, Vurguron catches us up on stuff:

We catch him up on the whole desert arc.

The temple

There's a line of people outside, and two guards, who are slowly letting people in.

Vurguron walks up, says his name and title, and is greeted with deference. The guards tell us that they weren't aware that Vurguron was coming; Vurguron spins his fisit and our presence as a spur-of-the-moment thing. The Lesser Fiduciary introduces himself, saying he's in control today, as the Fiduciary is feeling ill.

(His robes are ill-fitting. He's lying about the Fiduciary, who should have been able to heal himself of that illness. But he is the real Lesser Fiduciary.)

Inside, the building is pretty quiet and empty. Up front, there's someone being administered communion-thingy in a personal ceremony.

Ryltar runs a distracting patter about the stained glass and linework. The temple attendants aren't paying attention to him; they're clustered around Vurguron.

Percival sees red in the mop-water.

Jerry's attempted investigation of the stonework for hidden doors finds nothing. There are non-hidden doors and alcoves. She ducks into an alcove and obscures her presence, and starts people-watching: entrances, exits, movements.

Vurguron's religious investigation of the goings-on notices that it's noon right now. The sun should be coming more-or-less straight down. He has a natural understanding that the Light of Bahamut does not shine here: he's not aware of anything happening here. It should shine through the stained glass and display a symbol on the floor, and it's not. The room is darker for it.

Ryltar subtly Detects Magic. Normally there would be lots of magic here, in the ceremonies and the items. There isn't. He can see magic items just fine, but even the spell that would consecrate a holy area is missing.

"What kind of consecration is here?" asks Ryltar.

"This guy is such a church nerd. He always asks this," says Percival. 24.

The Lesser Fiduciary is offended. "But of course! This is a House of Bahamut." Ryltar thinks that this is true offense.

An acolyte begins preparing a large censer, and Ryltar immediately goes over and begins asking tourist questions. Vurguron follows, and investigates. It's not the typical incense, but there had been recent issues with incense delivery, and Vurguron knows that this is one of the alternate batches.

The Lesser Fiduciary says that they were about to let people in, and have a little prayer.

"I would love that," gushes Ryltar. "Do you have time, Vurguron?" He burns three sorcery points to cast See Invisibility. Nothing unforeseen.

Jerry sticks to the shadows and climbs the walls to a good sniping position.

The doors open; the line of people are allowed to enter.

Ryltar suggests that Embersia run the ceremony.

Jerry sees the lizardfolk putting the incense in grab a small vial and drink it, and eyeball another person, who does the same, and there's this line of communication running throughout the room. Not everyone does it, but there are a number of people.

Thinking quickly, Jerry lobs a bottle of Lanthet wine through the air and it smashes by the front door, just at the place where someone coming in would have dropped it.

That group react with tension. In the distraction, the Lesser Functionary also drinks it.

Ryltar, alerted by the smell of the Lanthet Wine, with a natural 20 on perception, recognizes the potion as an antitoxin. He Messages Percival that they need to evacuate the church, and drinks his own potion of antitoxin.

Percival prepares a Fireball to scare the crowd, and will kick over the bloody mop bucket and scream as if it is his blood.

Jerry prepares to fall from the ceiling onto the censer acolyte, to shove the censer into the Bag of Holding.

Vurguron is out of practice. Ryltar messages him.

Percival's fireball goes off.

Jerry falls from the ceiling onto the acolyte. She weighs 200 pounds nude. The acolyte becomes a flat circle, taking 12 damage. She grabs the censer and puts it into the bag.

Percival's performance of being stabbed is a 35. He screams bloody murder.

Ryltar sees the Lesser Functionary panic and reach into his robes for something. Ryltar hits him with Faerie Fire, and the two people doing the ceremony. The priest defeats it; the other two now become glowing with purple fire.

  1. Round 1.
    1. The Lesser Fiduciary pulls out a knife and tries to stab Vurguron; he deflects it with armor. "Poison the well so that they will no be poisoned by this false god," he cries.
    2. The two acolytes stop running the false ceremony and instead run over to Ryltar, stabbing him for 17.
    3. Jerry takes 9 poison from the censer, and then gets stabbed by the censer acolyte for 17.
    4. The mopbucket Tortle decides to stab Percival, for 9.
    5. The four people sitting among the crowd begin attacking the crowd, downing four people.
    6. Jerry slices the censer acolyte twice, dealing a little damage, and then pops Hunter's Mark on him.
    7. Percival casts Tasha's Hideous Laughter on the Tortle.
  2. Round 2.
    1. Vurguron is an epic hero; he downs the Lesser Fiduciary and an acolyte, Action Surges and flattens another.
    2. Censer Acolyte fails to connect with Jerry.
    3. Mopbucket Acolyte breaks the laughter.
    4. Three more innocents are cut down.
    5. Jerry downs the Censer Acoltye, then moves into the crowd, and attacks one of the crowd attackers for 15.
    6. The crowd continues to flee.
    7. Percival turns into a Giant Ape.
    8. Ryltar shoots one of the four crowd killers with a Ray of Frost, dealing 16 cold damage, reducing speed by 10 feet.
  3. Round 3
    1. Vurguron hits the nearest ceremony acolyte for 10, 15, 9.
    2. Jerry gets stabbed by a crowd killer with Spiritual Weapon, for 9.
    3. Jerry grabs the nearest crowd killer and throws him to the back of the temple.
    4. Innocents continue to flee. Some stragglers hide among the pews, but most have left the temple.

This devolves with additional rounds, as the crowd finishes fleeing. Two crowd killers remain and try to flee; Jerry attacks them in the doorway. Vurguron has killed all but a few. The Lesser Fiduciary has a brand on his chest and keys in his pocket.

Guards arrive and we explain the situation.

We sweep the building and find a storeroom with more of the poison incense and antitoxin.

Another locked door leads to the basement, and a trail of blood leads down to a pile of body, with the Greater Fiduciary at the bottom. Each has their throats slit.

The incense problems that the South haven had been experiencing was a supply-chain attack, and the incense was replaced with poison. The person who said that this supply-chain problem was resolved was Azur, the lead of the Fifth house.

We remove the brands from the dead prisoners before handing them off to the morgue; Vurguron wants to keep knowledge of the Cult quiet.

Vurguron and Embersia have their conversation. She confesses giving the item away; he allows her to show her repentance by continuing to help the Knights of the Summer Court. He charges her with the destruction of the Cult of the Burning Tree: never do nonlethal attacks against them.

Messaging

Through Vurguron's dad, we send a message to Guy at Sky Diamond:

From Ryltar. Do you still need help? We're struggling to help everybody.

He responds:

The danger has passed. Through forges destroyed, students attacked, the barrier remains. W're secured, i think, but headmaster Kamal was slain. Kamal was leading the surrounding of the Banyo Tree.

To Merrill, in Lanthet, we send the same message. Her response:

I'm imprisoned. Elementals controlled by summoners attacked all the temples. They're attacking anyone that sides with me. I'm bait.

So Lanthet is not a "today" problem. We message Umara, who replies that they're all safe; they've escaped to the sewers, they're trying to protect themselves. "Why is this happening?"

Percival's sister next, and Setton:

From Percival: Sorry I couldn't keep my promise. How is the state of the house? I can't promise expediency but I wish for your safety.

No response.

We message Magister Andraste Netyoine, in West Haven. Response:

Ren trusted you. So I put my trust in you. The city remains, despite your absence.

Jerry's insight, and Embersia and Vurguron less so, realize that if you wanted to have a grand plan to go into effect, it would be best to have people demoralized from the start. To have people give up, to have them roll over. Each battle today was targeted so that the most amount of people would lose that will.

Jerry turns to Vurguron, and tells him that he needs to go loud with this event. Don't hide it, don't cover it up. Don't do the secret police stuff.

Ryltar realizes that Enigma Cortex Belladonna could have just killed him, but instead she forced him to hand it over: she wanted him to surrender. A normal person might feel down, but Ryltar is too bitter about it. She created a bigger enemy than she realized.

Jerry argues for contacting the only other person in Setton who we know, who also doesn't want to hear from Ryltar: Guelva.

From a fellow Rakshasa hater. Other cities have come under attack. How is Setton? Have you heard anything?

Response:

No uprising? Nothing's happening? Um?

Next session

A press conference for Vurguron, then sleep, then Lanthet, then Setton.