ZEITGEIST Aartvb's Zeitgeist

[RangerWickett]

I don't recall what my advice was in the adventure on getting the whole party to come, but yeah, hopefully the players are okay with you nudging them to situations that they'll enjoy, as long as you aren't trying to thwart specific intentions. They probably thought, "Splitting up is a good way to pursue our mission," but in truth there's nothing else going on in Sid Minos except what you can learn on Odiem.

I liked the speech too.

 

[Tormyr]

Yeah, my goal was to help the PCs realize that Luc was the primary target and convince them that Luc and everyone else were making a break for it and not going to Vendricce. They then follow Ottavia to the island. The part of player agency in my campaign was that they were in no way, shape, or form going to have a face-to-face meeting with the lady of the forked tongue. They left the crypt through the main entrance at dawn and booked a ship to Vendricce, arriving just ahead of the train.

 

[aartvb]

They probably thought, "Splitting up is a good way to pursue our mission," but in truth there's nothing else going on in Sid Minos except what you can learn on Odiem.

Yes, probably. And that's also not a strange thought, considering that was the best course of action in the previous cities.

 

[aartvb]

Session 50 (27-11-2024): The Lighthouse of the Damned

The group launches an attack against the zombies. However, they quickly realize there is an almost endless stream of zombies, meaning they cannot defeat them all.
They try to enter the lighthouse while the zombies continue their assault.

Meanwhile, Bella, Ben's mechanical bird, flies up to attack Ottavia. Ottavia strikes the bird with such force using magic that it explodes.
During the fight, Morthos takes a heavy beating, and Ben falls unconscious.

At the same time, Aurelius is on his way to the island. He sees the zombies rising from the water but notices that all the zombies around him become stunned as he gets close. When Aurelius and the skipper arrive at the island, the skipper drops Aurelius off on the shore. Aurelius offers to bring the skipper along where it's safe(r), but the skipper refuses (due to a low Wisdom roll); he is too afraid of Aurelius.

Aurelius also hears the voice, inviting him to come below in the name of the Dawnbringer. The voice feels familiar, as if she comes from his home plane. Intrigued, Aurelius heads toward the lighthouse entrance, where the rest of the group is holding off the zombies.

Ravarel manages to open the door. The zombies lose interest in the group and instead pour inside, heading up a staircase. Once everyone is inside, Ravarel shuts the door.

The voice continues to lure them downward.

Eventually, Morthos, Levi (Ben's mechanical dog), and Ravarel's mechanical spider descend into the depths. They find many rooms that have been completely looted. Heretical messages are scrawled on the walls.

As they move through the rooms, they finally reach a chamber containing several golden mirrors. In front of one of the mirrors sits an old man, dressed in tattered robes resembling those of a godhand (a type of priest) of the Clergy. The man rushes toward them and attacks.

Levi is struck down in one blow. Morthos carries Levi with him and retreats.

The voice tells them they will gain freedom if they free her from the man.

Note: Because I wasn't able to travel to the location where we usually hold our sessions, we had an online session, using Roll20. This already gave this session a bit of a weird vibe. But then also this: the players really had no idea what they were 'supposed' to do on this island. After they saw Gene the godhand, they now don't trust the voice, so they don't want to fight him, just simply avoid him. I am curious how next session will go!

Note: I have been uploading my Zeitgeist and WotBS logs daily for almost 2.5 months now, and I have finally caught up with where we are now with both games. It was lots of fun to relive all of the great D&D moments! But this means that my log updates will be a lot slower from now on. Both games are planned for every 2 weeks, but often there is a bit more time in between sessions due to circumstances.

 

[aartvb]

Happy new year everyone! Here the summary of my first D&D session of 2025!

Session 51 (8-1-2025): The Chains of Ashima-Shimtu

The group hears the female voice say: "The zombies will attack you shortly. If you kill that lunatic downstairs, you’ll gain your freedom!"
They decide to head to the basement to defeat the old man and ensure their safety from the zombies.

They attack the man.During the fight, Aurelius stands in front of two golden mirrors. Two golden doppelgangers of Aurelius appear. BenDER also stands next to a golden mirror, and a golden doppelganger of BenDER appears. The doppelgangers attack Aurelius and BenDER. Aurelius goes down. Zuna destroys several golden mirrors.

After some time, the party finally manages to defeat the old man. However, during the fight, Aurelius has died. Shortly after his death, Ravarel runs to Aurelius, places a ring on him, and then takes the ring back. The group doesn’t know what the ring does, but it traps Aurelius’s soul within it. They take the enchanted brass knuckles (+1) from the godhand. Morthos swears to avenge Aurelius' death.

The mysterious voice tells the group to come upstairs, and they comply. Ravarel carries Aurelius’s belongings, and whatever Ravarel can’t carry, BenDER takes with him.

When they reach the next room, they see a naked demon woman hanging from chains, her body pierced with hooks. She speaks about herself in the third person. Her name is Ashima-Shimtu. She explains that when Triegenes, the founder of the Clergy (a religion), defeated the Demonocracy, many demons were killed—but not her. She made a deal to survive by betraying other demons. She was then hung above this pit filled with holy water. The essences of other demons were also stored in this vault.
Five hundred years ago, two people came to this island. Ashima-Shimtu gave them a ritual that could give belief a physical form. This ritual was used to summon an avatar of the goddess Srasama, who was later killed by the Clergy. The Clergy wanted to know the ritual as well, but Ashima-Shimtu refused to reveal it.

She seems to know personal details about the characters.

• Zuna: The woman who embraces chaos and loves poultry and eggs.
• BEN: The entity that sometimes pretends to be purely factual, but harbors feelings inside.
• Ravarel: The man driven by a quest for vengeance against another man.
• Morthos: The man driven by a quest for vengeance for a goddess.

Ashima-Shimtu claims that through meditation, she has improved her morality. She offers the characters free teleportation to anywhere they choose. All they need to do is jump into the pit and name their destination. The group debates whether they trust the demon and, if so, where they should go.

BenDER sends his bird upward. It sees that Ottavia has died from the zombies. Luc and Bree are nowhere to be seen. Eventually, the group decides to teleport to Vendricce. They jump into the pit of water and name a Vekeshi temple in Vendricce as their destination.

501 A.O.V., Winter, Day 16
They wake up, washed ashore near the temple in Vendricce.

Note: Interestingly, the group still isn't sure if Luc is to be trusted or not. Their behavior made Luc think they were on to him (destroying the lanterns, mentioning Caius Bergeron to Bree, etc.), but that was actually a miscalculation of Luc. I am planning on changing the dialog at the Vendricce train depot to make sure they understand why Luc thought they knew they were on to him.

Note: Aurelius died! But I think his player understands that it was a consequence of his own actions. He shouldn't have 'summoned' a second golden doppelganger before really finding out what the doppelganger was all about. Also his teammates should have tried to stabilize or heal him. He died simply by rolling bad on his death saves.