[D&D 5e] The Wild Bunch in Galyria

[Jeremy]

3/5/22​

Veldra’s echo manifests and opens the door wider to the chamber only to be snapped up by tentacles from the monster and destroyed. However as it moves, it is revealed that the mass seems to be chained to the center of the room and can only reach so far. Spells and attacks from polearms at reach bleed the beast until it has no fight left in it. Rho got a little banged up and Grath chastises him for getting too close as there was no need to approach the chained monster. Veldra searches through the monster’s treasure but ends up getting a face full of mushroom spores.

One of the chests contains another journal of Alexander who as his paranoia accelerates has taken to disguising his musings in a scratched form of draconic. He describes people coming for him and him slaying them in some kind of mausoleum trap and starts describing a ritual to extend his life unnaturally.

There is a large room with blue, red, and green crystals and banners with three dragon heads that Rho identifies as a blue dragon, red dragon, and green dragon. The banners are well secured to the wall. Rho checks behind the red dragon banner but finds nothing but wall behind it. Gribitz notices there are some foul markings around the floor of each of the crystals. Grath puts together to use the elements of the breath weapons of each of the crystals. Gribitz mixes up a toxic concoction assembled from rotten meat and questionable mushrooms and dumps it on the green crystal which lights up. After that he throws a bit of fire at the red one that also lights up. Finally he moves around the room scuffing his feet building up a charge and zaps Grath in such a way the arc of static electricity crosses the blue crystal. Whether it was precisely necessary to shock Grath is unclear but the giggling would suggest not.

The doors open but draconic whispers beckon Grath and Rho and Kith to set them free. They claim to be mighty dragons, trapped in the crystals. However they speak in draconic so Veldra and Gribitz can’t understand and head off to search for more clues and treasures. They find an old rusted safe with a coin slot in the front, but Gribitz sets to work taking the safe apart as it is so decrepit that much of its security has rusted away. A bit of magic fades from it once he finally gets the hinges off.

Meanwhile, Grath notices Rho is particularly reticent about dealing with the green crystal. He points out that chromatic dragons don’t work together unless forced. The dragons report they have been imprisoned for multiple centuries. While Rho is questioning them about their age prior to imprisonment they reveal that they were slain in their youth.

Rho picks up the blue crystal and smashes it. A disembodied voice celebrates its freedom but when the blue crystal shatters, a spectral red dragon appears, shackled, and apologizes as if it is not in control of what is about to happen. Grath moves to smash the red crystal quickly prompting the chains of the red dragon to swarm around the crystal defensively. Encouraged he is on the right track, Grath summons spiritual power to swing at it further, cracking its surface beyond the protective chains though not shattering it outright.

Meanwhile Rho moves to occupy the spirit, taunting it. Some of the remaining pixies try to distract it, summoning up phantasms of necromancer spirits chaining the dragon further driving it into a frenzy. It strafes the room with fire and catching Kith full on in the blast who falls, charred and blistered, and dying to the ground.

Veldra’s kneels over the kobold and her hands glow with healing magic with the after image of celestial wings appearing behind her. Kith's burnt flesh scars and she sucks a shaky breath back into her scorched lungs. Her eyes flutter open and look around. Grath moves with urgency and finishes off the red crystal, releasing the red dragon but also causing the spectral green dragon to take form. It seems not at all conflicted about the destruction it is compelled to unleash on the party.

Rho calls out a warning and slides under the green apparition and charges past, shattering the remaining crystal before the green spirit has a chance to spew its poison into the chamber. Rho collects shards from the crystal prisons and takes down the draconic banners.

In the next room is a library with a hungry mimic that demands food. Rho feeds it and in return it offers insight into the surroundings. Talking about the various adventurers, goblins, and duergar or derro that have come through. Grath goes through the library pulling out various historical tomes, reference documents, and even a treatise on building labyrinths. He also finds a backup spellbook, possibly of Alexander.

Further on they find an animated broom that starts sweeping and a bit later they find the matching bucket that collects the broom's detritus before feeding the remains into mimics. After a while the party tires and heads back to the myconid colony to rest up. In the morning the orb of fates annoys Grath until he smashes it to Laz and Gribitz's cheers.

Later the party sets out again, encountering another gazer babbling about Ocelot, Gribitz immediately blasts the mad abberation against the Green with fire. Unlike the previous floating aberrations, this one survives the first attack and begins to spin around to react but it is too slow and the others finish it off. There are some more treasures added to the bag of holding as well as secret tunnels before Veldra opens a heavily runed chamber.

There is a talking pillar in the room that summons cards from thin air. Gribitz asks it about talking to Alexander. It wants to play poker. Gribitz makes an absolute mess of it, not understanding any of the rules. He flips between Go Fish, Poker, Blackjack, and Uno before declaring himself the winner. The pillar affably agrees with the nonsensical rules of the goblin and gives Gribitz his random prize: 16 fish.

 

[Jeremy]

3/12/22​

For as blithe as Gribitz is, Grath is extremely troubled by the pillar. When he touches it, the pillar giggles which creeps the priest out even more causing him to try to leave the room. But all the doors beyond are just endless darkness now and the pillar still refuses to let us go or give us its name.

When the party asks about Alexander, the pillar answers that he is much beyond Alexander. When Gribitz cooks up the fish and offers some, the proffered meal starts to slowly disappear as if an invisible creature is eating it. Next the pillar challenges Grath to a game with figures and monsters and replicas of the party. When the priest reluctantly agrees, the party is summoned to an open field seemingly outside where a group of knights are arrayed against another group of ogres and orcs. Veldra is shocked to see one of the soldiers is her old commanding officer. Her heartbeat races and breathing becomes frantic as one by one she looks around and sees the faces of her former unit. While she knows they are all dead, here they are looking fresh and unharmed and looking to her for orders. She locks up, rigidly looking from one to the next and her hand drifts to her sword as a glut of emotions overwhelm her.

She calls them ghosts, refusing to believe. When Gribitz pokes one of them, they feel real. The plants underfoot taste like paper though and the soil doesn’t have any life in it. Grath and Veldra continue to investigate the soldiers as they ask for orders. Eventually it is decided to start attacking the enemy from range and hold the starting hill as the orcs and ogres approach.

As Grath begins to cast a spell a booming voice echoes from the sky commanding the battle to start. A moment later he tries again and this time it works as apparently each side can only take actions during their “turn”.

Both sides begin advancing and as manifestations fall, they dissolve into the ground. Gribitz offhandedly comments to Pillar that its hard to believe the game when the pieces fall so unconvincingly. The orcs have a shaman with a fireball attack that dramatically changes the tide of things as well as the plan. Rho breaks ranks to charge forth and endures a fusillade of javelins from orcs and ogres on his approach.

The knight side begins striking back as Grath and Veldra charge into the fray as well. Grath steps into the air and his healing power suffuses and strengthens our pieces enough to keep them up while the enemy leader is brought down by Rho and fades away. Eventually all the enemy forces fall and in reward Pillar awards two remaining beads of the Necklace of Fireballs the shaman had used. Veldra stands mute as the phantoms of her fallen comrades vanish as if they never were. Pillar states that any of the remaining doors will lead to the blue dwarves beyond which is the domain of Alexander.

Gribitz picks a hall and starts down it only to be welcomed into the warm embrace of a gelatinous cube. Grath rolls his eyes and hurries forward to plunge his arms into the cube to yank Gribitz’s dripping form free. Gribitz tries to hug his savior but the priest turns his nose up at the goblin dripping with acid. Gribitz shrugs before darting away to safety, only for Grath himself to be engulfed by the cube. The others charge to help and just as Grath struggles free, the animated ooze finally collapses. Gribitz collects a bit of it in some empty healing potion bottles figuring the acid could come in handy.

Grath finds another gazer muttering about how pretty Ocelot is. When Grath leaves it be, Gribitz insists that it is a blight upon the Green and needs to be eliminated. Grath obliges him, obliterating the abomination and spinning on his heel to walk down an extremely lengthy hallway. At the end of the very long hallway is a well maintained and upgraded door that Veldra says is dwarven work.

Surprisingly, Rho speaks Dwarvish and talks to a dwarven guard on the other side of it until a slot in the door opens (at Rho’s knees). The conversation appears to be progressing until the sentry notices a goblin standing behind Rho picking his nose. Upon seeing the dragon is allies with Gribitz the dwarf abruptly cuts off the conversation and slams the blind closed, telling us to naughty word off.

Grath sighs and knocks again insistently, he tries to convince the dwarves to speak Common to him. Grath asks about an exit or Alexander and the dwarves are surprised to hear some of the history of this labyrinth and begin opening the mechanisms on the door as Grath has gathered a trove of knowledge about the tower during the party's time trapped there. The dwarves invite him to see their chieftain but command us to relinquish our weapons and speak with respect. Gribitz bursts out laughing until Grath and Rho both clamp his mouth shut and Rho stuffs the goblin in his backpack alongside the sleeping Kith.

 

[Jeremy]

3/26/22​

The floor and walls of the duergar portion are clean, decorated, and reinforced. It is a shocking difference from the rest of the underground complex. The dwarves have amassed tools, weapons, food, and treasure in their area. There is an enormous collapsed tunnel to the west. Grath steps forward in greeting past the initial two guards.

The duergar have an obvious leader who is bedecked and armored. He gestures to the end of a table for the party to sit. Grath is diplomatic and formal. Veldra and Rho are silent. The duergar’s eyes are narrowed with suspicion that Veldra returns in kind. The leader however is strangely apathetic. The leader introduces himself with some dwarven name that is more consonants and apostrophes than any distinguishable sound. He requests more information about the complex that the party has discovered.

The information he wants in particular is that of Alexander, the founder of this complex. Grath volunteers that he has found several of his journals. The dwarf offers a possible escape and a guide in return for a tribute of an interesting or powerful item. Grath sizes him up at first thinking weapons might work but given the ornamentation and scholarly bent of the dwarf reasons that trinkets of interesting properties might be more effective. Grath thinks about the orb but regrets having smashed it earlier. He goes digging through the bag of holding.

Grath offers a wizard’s spellbook, a magic blue book of riddles, and a magic platinum coin. The duergar wants to know what they do but Grath admits we have no idea. The duergar is pleased with both the spellbook and the riddle book. Accepting this, he reveals that there is a large central chamber with a confused creature with many eyes and an enormous locked door. After that he summons up a guide from further into their chambers. When Grath describes Clorox the duergar king raises a hand and shakes his head revealing the creature he speaks of had only four eye stalks and an enormous central eye which differs considerably from Clorox’s configuration.

As the party is dismissed Gribitz tries to steal a snack but is caught by an extremely alert duergar who yanks him out of Rho’s backpack. Things turn hostile and Grath tries to command them to let Gribitz go. Rho stares down at the dwarf that has Gribitz like a pull-toy between them. In return the dwarf grows and grows and grows until he towers over Rho and looks down on him.

Grath again tries to be diplomatic, calling to mind that an agreement was reached. The duergar is honorbound to follow it. He motions and the dwarf shrinks in size and relinquishes Gribitz to a small smirk by Rho. The party is escorted out the back of the chamber through a dwarven hall filled with banners and stories. The party is led through various doors and hallways, the duergar gets more nervous as he approaches the main chamber and is reluctant to continue any further.

Magical terror tries to overcome Grath as he reaches for the door but his desperation to get out of this dungeon or die trying mutes the fear as inconsequential. Beyond is a decaying chamber with many entrances and one enormous twenty foot door in the back. As promised there is a floating beholder of some kind conversing with a smaller adoring gazer. There are other small eye orbs floating about the room. Grath takes a steadying breath and strides into the room drawing multiple eye stalks from about the room.

The main creature grins a toothy grin and is excited to have visitors. Grath asks if the creature is Alexander. The insane aberration changes demeanor erratically at the name and devours the gazer nearest it. The creature proclaims it is no longer a slave to Alexander and that all of this is now its sole domain. Grath asks for an exit, the creature suggests we turn on each other and slay one another to escape in spirit, he offers to assist. Grath declines and throws a bead of Fireball at the monsters and immediately vanishes from sight, turning invisible.

Rho charges out from behind a pillar and charges the spectator. It floats out of reach of his first swing taunting the dragonborn only to be interrupted by the backswing of his maul clocking it across the jaw. The pillars in the room start to spin and one of them electrocutes Rho with a bolt of lightning.

Fozzie and the Bearoness are summoned forth and begin attacking the various abominations while Gribitz cowers and hides from the aberrations. Veldra charges forth, slashing another gazer out of the air as her form splits in two and her echo slashes at the spectator. From out of thin air a massive Guiding Bolt slams into the spectator, it is visibly rocked as its various eyes spin around searching for the invisible Grath.

The spectator vanishes and reappears about the chamber but Rho continually chases it down. His thunderous blows shake the chamber and the rotting roof begins to cave in. Finally, one of the magical eye rays of the creature takes hold on Rho and he freezes in place. The spectator cackles madly to itself, ichor dripping from all of its rents and gashes and one of its eye stalks hanging limply. It moves its floating maw over top of Rho then freezes in place itself, Veldra’s sword bursts forth through the large central eye from behind.

The bloated and beaten form of the spectator almost deflates as the remainder of liquid runs out of it on the floor and its whole body slurps and slumps to the floor. Pillar begins cackling about our victory again before his voice and the runes on the pillars fade away to nothing. A key appears and descends in the center of the chamber, Grath grabs it and picks Gribitz up, putting him on his shoulder and opens the enormous door.

On the other side of the door are 8 large magical vases and a magical chest. Laz solemnly asks that he be burned. Gribitz hardly waits an instant before gleefully throwing fire multiple times before anyone else can form a thought or protest. As the sentient spellbook burns away to ashes, there is a knocking sound from one of the vases and an old humanoid falls out of one weakly and dripping with goo. Alexander Lazandrias III feebly makes his way to the chest and dons some rich purple robes from it, takes up a green crystal staff, and finally dons a large purple and gold wizard’s hat. His shoulders settle back into place and his back straightens somewhat before he turns to face his new/old friends.

Grath bursts into tears and embraces the old wizard and begs to be released from his dungeon. Alexander smiles through his white lustrous beard and gestures, opening a portal to the outside. Gribitz launches himself through and immediately entombs himself in the ground, surrounding himself in the Green once more. Grath returns Alexander’s journals and asks the wizard some of what he remembers. Gribitz chastises him for summoning up all manner of aberrations against the Green trying to extend his life. Alexander explains that this form is one of his contingency Clones he created. He wants to go traveling the planes trying to find wherever he blasted his tower off to as he gestures ruefully to the nearby ruined foundations the party had first delved into what seems like weeks ago.

The party has only been in his tomb of horrors for four days. They tiredly make their goodbyes to the now re-personified Laz and trudge back to Honeywood. Gribitz turns into a hare and hops around enjoying being back in nature. Thromshfulsk sees the party coming into town and greets us excitedly to see what bounty of ichors we’ve returned with, but Grath is incredibly done and tells him to find us tomorrow, reiterating it with a magical shout when the tiefling tries to question us further.

The party recuperates and recovers and drinks and eats at Kruk’s tavern. There isn’t a lot of physical exhaustion or injuries to recover from but the mental toll is eased by ale and meat and chocolate. Veldra’s headaches don’t really ease but she dismisses it, she had actually been drained of intelligence by some of the aberrations of the wizard's lair but didn't fully comprehend what had happened and no one else had seen it happen. The next morning Rho brings up the next side track to keep him from visiting the dragonborn tribes, that of Grath’s holy relic but Grath cuts right through that emphasizing that Rho can’t run from his past forever.

Grath is much more complacent towards Thromshfulsk in the morning and relays the success of our mission. The remainder of our pay is collected and the party sets out to the east riding out while Grath immerses himself studying his tome. So immersed that he doesn't notice the wagon going east towards his relic rather than south towards Rho's clan.

 

[Jeremy]

4/2/22​

During the journey Grath pauses in his study of the tome Alexander had bestowed upon him and instead ponders a skull Gribitz had deposited in the bag of holding. It had belonged to one of the adventurers that had fallen in their exploration of the dangers beneath Alexander's tower. Thinking he can perhaps provide closure to the loved ones of this adventurer he summons back the memory of the departed spirit to the skull. He questions it and learns about the deaths of some of the treasure seekers who met their end at the hands of any number of terrible traps and creatures within. One of the adventurers was a knight of a southern order that Grath asks Rho about. Rho doesn’t recognize the order but he’s heard the name before, he thinks they might be in a village in the Sandlands.

Rho is unnerved a little by the whole conversation, Gribitz is absolutely terrified that after spending a few days immersed in a book (Gribitz's frequently warned about nightmare) suddenly the priest is displaying mastery over the dead and forcing them to answer his questions. Grath tries to reassure the goblin and the two have a brief interchange about the nature of life after death that one participant may or may not comprehend. The wagon rolls on uneventfully and the party camps once more in one of Grath’s magical sanctuaries. Gribitz converses inanely with various birds and scampering critters aroudn the chosen campgrounds as well as a few plants with Stick’s help. Some old trees share ancient wisdom that is utterly wasted on the small goblin mind.

The next day the party comes up on a very obvious ambush, a murdered horse and looted cart shattered on the road to block the way. Rho even spots one of the hobgoblins lying in wait before they spring their trap. Grath attempts diplomacy. Unnatural twilight forms and swirls around him and he lifts ominously into the air, the semi-darkness following him, as he calls out that this doesn’t need to come to death. Whatever reassurances he had offered Gribitz the previous day about how the tome of "wisdom" wasn't affecting him is immediatley called into doubtin the goblin's mind.

At a gesture several of the hobgoblins making up the ambush reconsider and lower their bows. A spellcaster emerges and speaks for them, negotiating the terms of a truce. Minutes go by and the twilight fades from around Grath, his form descending once more to the earth. The hobgoblin arcanist speaks as if he believes he is negotiating from a position of power but Rho is limbering up his shoulders even as Grath is inquiring what manner of toll would allow the party to pass without bloodshed. Gribitz has climbed under the wagon and is performing a ritual that makes little faerie mushrooms spring up in a circle around him that burst into tiny invisible pixies.

Grath makes several offers but the hobgoblins continually demand more. Negotiations break down as Grath comes to realize that this is going to come to blows regardless. He sighs and offers them instead a bead from his Necklace of Fireballs that he throws directly at the spellcaster.

Who is only 15 feet away from the cart.

The party's Awakened horse and friend, Yip, as well as several of the summoned faeries are instantly annihilated in arcane fire and as the forest itself is set ablaze in the nearly point blank explosion. Grath is unprepared for the waves of fire followed immediately by waves of guilt that explode over him. Rho shrugs off the heat and hops off the cart striding directly into the blaze. He climbs up a rocky shelf the hobgoblins had perched on before slamming into the front of the spellcaster’s ranks. Grath summons up an immense amount of necromantic energy to inflict boils and sores on a hobgoblin only to have the singed hobgoblin arcanist Counterspell his magic.

Several pops of pink and purple light flash about many of the hobgoblins, Confusing them. Taken as a whole, the hobgoblins are well trained and equipped and are skilled fighters. Rho and Veldra fight hard into their midst with blows and arrows raining down on them. Grath is distracted by his guilt and his guard isn’t what it could be, he is rapidly slashed and stabbed and slides to the ground gripping his wounds as his blood seeps forth.

Veldra interposes herself and while warily eying the soldiers. She manages to reach a glowing hand out to Grath clearing his mind and slowing his bleeding. She continues fighting even as a dusting of faerie magic settles onto Grath and his form swells immensely, growing hairier and taking on a terrifying visage Grath takes on the enormous form of the Spirit of the Jungle. One of the injured hobgoblins drops his weapons and flees in terror at the sight.

Another one steels itself and ducks and weaves as it approaches and slashes upwards at the 20' tall towering Spirit. Some of the others are still Confused but others are forming up and pressing Veldra and Rhoseth dearly. The Spirit of the Jungle smashes the ever loving naughty word out the hobgoblin that had the gall to engage it.

Gribitz reaches deep into his bag of tricks, throwing everything he can at the hobgoblin detachment causing masses of vines and thorns and roots to rip forth from the ground and try to bind and hold the soldiers. And more powerfully, Stick calls out to the Green and causes many of the tangled roots and vines to swell to a massive size spouting thorns like swords that impale many of the hobgoblins.

Rho seizes the opportunity to tear through their ranks, mangling their bodies with his massive maul. The more their numbers fail, the more hobgoblins break from the fight and flee, leaving their battle brothers to their fate.

As the last one flees (under rain of boulders from the Spirit of Jungle) the party gathers back together, assessing. The Spirit leaves Grath and his form shrinks to the bloodied and bruised man who seems so small by comparison. His eyes are haunted as he makes his way to Yip’s blasted corpse. He pulls out an unbelievably intricate and expensive scroll with dense incantations inscribed on it. Minutes turn into an hour as Grath passionately prays over the scorched bones of our Awakened horse paying careful detail to every ritual prescribed in the incredibly complex liturgy. Though it is beyond his current grasp of divine magic, his passionate pleas are heard and Ilmater restores a form and body as well as the soul of Yip once more to mortal life.

Grath is a wreck. He is exhausted and lost in despair, and he sobs about having failed again while Gribitz, Rho, and Veldra make heartfelt if clumsy attempts to console him. Even Kith tries, even more cluelessly. She offers some of her treasured shinies to make Grath happy.

Gribitz tries talking things through with the confused Yip for a bit asking about what it was like and is reassured that this summoned from the dead by the book-tainted master necromancer, Grath, is indeed still the affable and congenial friend that has accompanied the party for so long.

Rho sets about clearing the wreckage from the trail, Gribitz whispers to the earth to part and bury the remains of the previous cart's horse. They follow the clues back to the hobgoblin encampment to find it abandoned. The party picks through the hobgoblin tents as well as among the fallen at the ambush collecting a few valuables. There is time spent making sure the fires are out in the woods, coaxing burned plants back to life, and putting the grounds back to right with druidic magic.

A full moon rises that night after the long day's work. Gribitz continually checks in on Grath bringing him soups, a particularly nice pine cone he found, and trying to draw Grath out of his inner conflict. He is not successful. Rho is also pensive, staring up to the full moon. In the morning, the party sets out once more towards the east.

After another day, the party comes across another obstruction in the road, this one due to a tree fallen by lightning. Gribitz scouts about as a deer to find a detour around it. While he’s gone a gnome approaches the rest of the party. Rho waits on Veldra or Grath to speak to the bearded fellow, however neither does anything, as they are both lost in their own thoughts while Kith is asleep. Rho curses and tries to choke out ‘Hello?’ which he immediately regrets as the gnome streams out greetings, offers, and conversation at a pace the taciturn dragonborn is unable to match.

Rho’s eye twitches as the gnome just keeps rapid-fire talking incessantly, with the dragonborn barely getting a word in edgewise here and there and not really able to keep up with the rapidly changing train of thought of the gnome. Grath rouses from his contemplation long enough to demand the gnome state his business or begone. The gnome even gets all the way to a farewell when Rho was almost through a question but that just rekindles the gnomes interest. Rho returns to silence, having completely given up on finding any meaning in the verbal onslaught and just hoping the burns itself out in time.

Multitudes of tangents and seemingly unimportant anecdotes pour from the gnome until the gnome eventually gets around to another farewell leaving the exhausted Rho to slump in relief. When Gribitz returns from scouting he checks on Rho to make sure he’s not enchanted, warns him not to give his name to fey creatures, then helps the party along the detour to continue onto the village marked on Grath’s map where the holy relic the bishop had told him about is enshrined.

When they eventually arrive, the village is abandoned and fallen to ruin with a small hill and a crumbling church. Gribitz gets a terrible vibe from it, it seems to be leeching the life from the Green around it. Nothing lives the closer you get to the ruins of the church. Grath can’t make out any standing iconography or architecture that would identify the deity the temple was dedicated to. Grath gets the feeling the temple has been defiled or desecrated somehow. Gribitz mutters under his breath that it was probably books that caused this.

Grath annoints his eyes and peers into the ethereal of the village and spots ghostly wraiths drifting through the ruins. Gribitz talks to a crow that states the town is cursed and the dead walk it. The party cautiously enters the ruins. There are zombies shuffling around the entrance of the church, growling and gnashing. Gribitz takes this as confirmation that someone has been reading books again.

 

[Jeremy]

4/16/22​

You ever have one of those games that is just tonally all over the place?
This one has some great character moments in it, but it does swerve way into silly.
Not the normal for the game but if you're still here I hope it makes you giggle.

Grath calls out to Ilmater and with a curt gesture and immediately calls down holy light on the closest zombie. Strangely it doesn’t react at all, it just stands there and burns. Veldra investigates out of curiosity but when she gets within reach it suddenly claws at her so she beheads it. Unfortunately, it continues to fight. Rho isn’t having that and smashes the entire body of the rotting corpse. Rounding the corner there are more shambling dead including some more intelligent looking ones ripping apart and feasting on one of their own.

Veldra interposes herself and her Echo between the undead and her friends, raising her crystalline shield. Gribitz calls to the Green to cleanse this place of rotten unlife summoning Fozzie and the Bearoness to the village. Grath’s reaction is even more visceral, he chokes on the wrongness of this desecrated temple and his holiness is equally repulsive to the ghouls that were feasting on the zombie so they turn their attention to him.

Grath clutches his holy symbol and waves of holy energy begin pouring off of him with several of the zombies instantly crumbling away to dust. Veldra and Rho surge into the gap Grath opens and are met by the oncoming ghouls which utter epithets in a garbled Elvish. More zombies pour out of the ruined out-buildings around the temple.

Grath and Gribitz hang back with spells ripping into the undead ranks while Rho, Veldra, and the bears push forward. As Rho passes the open doors of the temple, he spies ranks of organized and coordinated ghouls lying in ambush, directed by a pair of terrible ghasts. Black smoke begins to pour off Rho and he charges into the ambush.

The other undead around the ghasts seem empowered by their presence and their movements seem directed by them. They have very long tongues and begin speaking some kind of blasphemy but it is difficult to decipher in the chaos. Grath meets this profanity with his own holy prayers as spirits of the martyrs of Ilmater begin to manifest all about the threshold of the temple and begin engaging the ghoul army.

Rho lays about on all sides with his fiery maul smashing the overripe bodies of the front rank of ghouls into black piles of goo. When the ghasts leap over the carnage the first one that arrives rips the Bearoness apart limb from limb sending her spirit back the Fey while the earthen body she was animated crumbles back away to dust. Ghouls surge forth and are met by spirits of Ilmater as Stick vibrates in Gribitz’s hand until he slams it into the earth and an immense outpouring of the Green’s wrath rips apart the entire front rank of ghouls with a thick wall of razor sharp thorns.

The demonic undead force their dead bodies through the sword-like barrier to rip through Veldra’s armor as if it wasn’t even there. When Grath’s spiritual energy pulls apart one of the weakened Ghasts, the ghouls bonded to it fall like puppets with their strings cut. The priest is not satisfied with just one demonic undead banished from the temple and lowers his holy symbol at the other one blasting a smoking hole through its chest and disintegrating its body like dust on the wind.

The remainder of the undead thralls fall to the ground. As Gribitz starts trying to figure out how to bury this army of undead, flocks of carrion birds answering the call of the Green descend en masse and begin feeding on the various corpses to Veldra’s utter disgust.

Out in front of the temple, illuminated in the now open sky, is a statue of the Saint Gunter Malokah and his defaced offering bowl. Grath gets to work attempting to set the holy relic to rights. Veldra finds a large statue of Ilmater inside the temple and pauses to look up at it with consideration. It holds a large leather book with empty pages she hands to Grath. Grath reflexively grasps the book but he is awed and staring up at the statue.

The two have a discussion in the shadow of the statue with Veldra trying to comprehend why Grath wants to exemplify the god of suffering and martyrdom. Grath delivers an oration that Veldra considers silently as Grath begins examining the book. The tome is the Opus of Sacrifice, a holy relic of Ilmater, and it brings the priest to his knees. Veldra, having seen nothing but blank pages in the book, is surprised by this reaction and settles in against a pillar to watch over Grath.

It takes Gribitz hours to buy the many fallen and he is covered in mud when he trudges back into the temple, exhausted. Grath looks at the mud he’s tracking in and picks him up to carry him out. Grath is melancholy to leave the temple but it has been cleared as well as he can and may provide shelter in future for travelers or even be resettled one day.

Looking southeast to the horizon, the party considers setting out with Gribitz arguing passionately for leaving the cursed town, but with the idea of camping in the wild vs the remains of civilization—they choose the spooky ruins.

Gribitz dreams of a darkened desert, the soil turning sandy and dry to rich loam as water starts flowing and becomes a lush savannah. Grath dreams of an enormous library that he is reading in surrounded by bruised and bloodied monks that smile down approvingly at him. In the morning after eating and seeing to Yip and the others, Gribitz speaks to Rho about his dreams but only gets a non-committal grunt out of him.

Grath checks in the Bag of Holding and finds the Orb of Fates has returned, it starts talking in its usual pompous way and he stuffs it quickly back in the bag and digs out his Tome of Understanding instead. Grath approaches Veldra and requests she not allow him to fall asleep as he crams the book as hard as he can to Gribitz's great distress.

******

On the road the next day, two heavily armored figures stop the cart in the name of the Law of the Woods and accuse the party of assassinating Brunningam Lumpines in his sleep. Veldra asks what the grounds of this accusation are and by whose authority they are doing this. They respond naming the knighted gnomes of the forest. Gribitz offers them Good Berries partially to smooth things over and partially to bribe them out of whatever this is. They indignantly respond that bribery is a crime and try to arrest him.

The last one to speak to the victim was Rho as per the testimony of several woodland creatures. Grath explains that the party left the exceptionally long-winded gnome they encountered in good health on their way to cleanse the temple of Ilmater. Gribitz starts driving the cart back down the road away from the sentries but the armored gnomes appear in the cart. As the party looks on in wonder, one of the gnomes casts a spell that takes the party to a woodland court presided over by a giant owl.

The owl speaks in owl which the court of gnomes understands but most of the accused do not. The prosecutor is a weasley little gnome that twirls his mustache. The proceedings are chaotic with questioning following no clear order. The accuser claims to know nothing of the murder scene and it is the judge who explains it was a 5 foot house, and the door was shattered in three pieces. It is revealed during questioning that the victim was killed with a shabby knife, barely a kitchen knife, in bad condition. Gribitz points out that all of Rho’s weapons are in immaculate condition. He also points out that Rho takes fancy doodads and weapons with him. When asked if Brunningham had any valuables, the accuser, apparently named Stabbar, excitedly declares he had a lot of gold.

Gribitz finally catches this clue and some guards check Stabbar’s home for a knife set missing a knife and a bag of gold still marked with Brunningham’s seal. They swiftly find both as the giant owl finds in favor of the party. The case is dismissed, and Mr. Stabbar is summarily abducted by the giant owl who swoops off with him to eat him.

The gnomes look around and mutter in wonder, “Maybe Mr. Stabbar WAS the stabber.” With little apology the party is magically returned to their cart. Kith awakens only to explain with extreme rancor the plague that is all gnomekind.

 

[Jeremy]

4/23/22​

For a few days on the road between Honeywood and Yvril Grath has been consumed with absorbing every tenet and revelation of the tome Alexander Lazandrias had gifted him. Physical and mental exhaustion war with his formiddable will as he refuses food and rest instead gorging himself on ancient wisdoms all through the night and day. He powers through the first night with an almost fond remembrance of his studies in Sun's Grace, but making it through the second night is a constant battle to hold focus and comprehension.

He can’t stop turning the pages; the tome consumes him as his friends grow more and more consumed. As the remaining pages dwindle, Grath spends almost as time flipping back pages trying to remember what he just read as he does making faltering progress to the very end. Grath is holding the book in his lap in the back of the cart when his shoulders slump and he closes the tome solemnly. He hands the book back to Rho to put in the bag of holding not even noticing Gribitz with Stick lowered at him. Grath's eyes close in quiet contemplation of what he has read with only a lot of snoring.

The next day a strange object streaks through the sky and crashes into the ground into the road in a wreckage. A gearmonkey goblin climbs out of the wreckage coughing up smoke before immediately scrambling off into the woods without even looking around. After a completely shocked and stunned lack of comprehension, the party investigates the barrel-like wreckage of some sort of construct with crudely constructed wings seemingly nailed onto the side of it. It had some kind of rotating blades attached to the front of it, and gears and ropes inside. Gribitz dives into the contraption and tears through it looking for whatever terrible concoction the goblin consumed to invent or climb into such a contraption. One particular golden gear wrapped up in cloth draws his attention almost as much as some berries that are not completely spoiled.

Gribitz wonders if the gold makes it fly better because all the other gears are a rusted mess of iron and bronze. At least for a moment before he unceremoniously chucks it over his shoulder. It actually flies on its own at high speed and thunks solidly into a tree that it embeds itself in. Grath sighs and tracks it down, he finds it gives off magic of Abjuration.

When Grath returns to the wreckage he finds Rho and Veldra cautiously keeping watch as Gribitz is pulling every lever, turning every dial, and pressing every button he can find. The contraption is quite inoperable though some lurching sounds and crashes make the others sweat. Rho suggests tracking down the former resident of the crashed thing. Everyone can see the obvious trail the pilot has left as it is littered with screws, bolts, tools, and broken bits.

The party tracks the strange goblin to a small a clearing that has a wild ramshackle hut. The shack is very oddly modified similar to the plane and is emitting various goblin profanities and sounds of work. Gribitz tries to just walk in but Grath grabs him and stops him, lecturing Gribitz on manners. Grath instead knocks, but receives nothing in return other than more curses in goblintongue from within and without. Gribitz shouts out his claim to all recovered wreckage in the area which immediatley halts all activity inside and results in the strange goblin bursting out of the shack to babble and gesture angrily at the party.

Gribitz ignores this and sneaks into the shack in the chaos. While Grath assures the goblin that Gribitz meant nothing by his claim, Gribitz picks through the goblin's workshop and finds a great number of odd tools as well as three more golden gears. When Gribitz starts inexpertly assembling the gears together the goblin outside rushes back in and tries to snatch them away. Gribitz is convinced he is doing it right and the two goblins struggle over the bits until Gribitz breaks one. Grath replaces it with the working gear from the wreckage trying to calm the situation.

The goblin demands the party bring him more gears, but Gribitz asks where he got the last one. The goblin reports that he found a pile of magical tools and gears that made him smart which Gribitz finds hilarious. Whether he is doubled over laughing at the thought of this particular goblin being smart or any of goblinkind being smart is hard to say. The goblin engineer just stomps and points imperiously at the door. Grath tries to ask for some directions to where the cache was found but the goblin gives no intelligible directions or clues.

As they walk Grath lectures Gribitz endlessly who fails to repeat anything back correctly (maliciously). Their destination is quite hard to miss, as the party comes across a crater in the ground 120 feet across. Veldra suggests it is some manner of wagon that fell from a great height. Peering down, it is more like a sea-faring vessel made of metal and wood and separated into rooms below decks exposed by great rents in the hull from where the ship broke apart either on impact or before. The closest anyone can guess, the construction seems dwarven in origin but a ship in the middle of the land is impossible to explain. There are dwarven corpses strewn throughout the crater and the wreck. Grath rolls one over and his stomach turns as its face is completely gone and smeared on the ground in a path back towards the wreckage.

There are pieces of wreckage everywhere, but no golden gears readily apparent. Something does catch the light and grab Grath’s attention. When Grath tries to pull it out of the wreckage he awakens some kind of automaton it was attached to that doesn’t recognize Grath’s authority and immediately starts marching off to the north and east. Hundreds of miles distant there are several dwarven clan holds the party is vaguely aware of, but even Rho who has spent time among the stout folk in the Southlands can offer nothing about the northern clan holds.

Inside the ship Gribitz finds mostly collapsed areas but several rooms and halls are big enough for the goblin to squeeze into. In a control room he finds a wealth of buttons and levers he starts interacting with to great effect. The ship tries to move and falls apart even worse with Gribitz getting conked on the head by a golden runed gear that falls loose.

Gribitz calls once more on the spirits of the Fey and once more the girls answer his call. They zip off to every corner of the ship they can squeeze into and find another golden gear and a few silver pieces. Gribitz emerges sometime later to find the others who have setup camp in the crater. He shares what he’s found, even as the necromancer Grath animates the corpse of the dwarf outside the wreckage and begins questioning the spirits of the dead.

“What is this contraption on the ground?”

“Dis ‘ere me FLYING CRAFT!”

“What is the magic of these golden gears?”

“Dat d’ere is me MAGIC GEAR crafted by the most expert of the dwarves. It makes naughty word fly.”

“Where can I find this most expert of the dwarves?”

“In the MOUNTAINS up north in the dwarven hold of Uth’unskhath!”

“What was the golem that came from the wreckage?”

“Officer of the Watch. Pilot testing. Did not go well.”

“Do you want me to bury you and your other dwarves?”

“Nah! Just take the gears, give them back to the clan!”

Grath, Veldra, and Rho are all amazed at the ingenuity of the dwarves. Gribitz takes a nonsensical counter argument but in his attempts to show how the whole thing isn't so clever ends up knocking himself (and two of his teeth) out. Later when he awakens, Gribitz sheepishly buries the corpses the party has recovered though there are some that not even Rho can pull free of the wreckage.

The party returns to the mad goblin workshop. No one points out what a bad idea it might be to give more experimental dwarven magical tech to a goblin that has already crashed one ship. But the journey to the dwarven lands seems too long and at some level the curiosity of the party is too strong. The mad goblin excitedly crows over the new gears and integrates them into his new craft. The party watches as he wheels it into position and climbs into it. It blasts into into the air spirals out of control and immediatley explodes as it crashes back to the earth.

The party stands open-mouthed at the catastrophe except for Gribitz who shrugs and sets about looting the goblin’s workshop mercilessly. He finds two wrenches and a screwdriver. He finds food which he pockets, more of the berries from the earlier wreckage, he finds a strange bag. He dumps it out but it just keeps dumping and dumping all kinds of goblin junk. Gribitz eventually gives up and starts stuffing all the junk back into the bag of holding along with everythying else he can scoop up in the workshop. When he emerges he finds no one waited on him. Shrugging, he straps on the heavy bag of holding and turns into a rabbit.

Once reunited, Grath is pretty sure Gribitz was up to no good and has all manner of lectures stored up for when the Wild Shape wears off. The party makes camp again and Grath sleeps like a necromancer.

In the morning, the party resumes their journey south to Yvril, getting further and further away from Uth’unskhath and the golden gears their fallen sailors requested being returned with their already dead last breath. On the fourth day when Yvril should be getting fairly close, a commercial center finally comes into view. Caravans and merchants, houses and people all bustling about their activity.

Gribitz looks about for the most exotic looking merchant he can find. There are three scaled beings, more lizard than dragonborn. They are travelers from the far east. Gribitz asks them what the best thing to eat in town is, but they don’t know. They aren’t up on the local cuisine, Gribitz trades some dwarven teeth and goblin teeth to them for a feather decorated sickle he likes the look of. It’s very tribal looking.

Grath still hasn’t caught up on his sleep and trudges straight to the Humble Man’s Eatery which he assures the party is a good place to stay. They are mostly full up however with only one room remaining. It has two beds but that’s it. It is very cheap, two copper per night, and accordingly the accommodations are very humble. Still, the more civilized members of the party appreciate not sleeping on the ground for a change. Rho takes care of getting Yip and the cart stabled for the night. Rho doubles the price to get things well taken care of. At the kindness the stablemaster remarks on a large dragonborn coming through a couple months ago, but just by himself.

Gribitz asks around about the best food in town, the stablemaster says there’s a place in between the Dragon’s Hoard and the Dragon’s Lair (two competing taverns that hate each other), in the alley between them is a guru that serves up the best food (and drugs) in town. Rho is asked by Gribitz which one had the good food, but he mistakenly points to the Hoard. A creepy guy in a large hat emerges from a dark alley and says neither of those places has good food, but the real good food is his specialty. He takes us back to his tent where he mixes all manner of ingredients neither Rho nor Gribitz have ever seen.

His cooking is more a magical ritual than cooking. Gribitz is overwhelmed with flavors when he shoves his face in the cauldron. It is life changing for Gribitz. He bawls with how good it is. Rho is similarly enchanted by the taste of the concoction but it speaks to his draconic heritage, like fire in his belly at the first taste. It’s got exotic kick even for the big dragonborn. It is reminiscent of the spiritual journey drugs of his tribal shamans.

Gribitz asks for the recipe but is told it is beyond his ken. The ingredients are gathered from all over and the combination is too complex. Gribitz pays for some to go and is asked to spread the word about Mr. Worldwide. Afterwards the party reunites back at the Humble Man’s Eatery. Veldra isn’t having any of the colorful dish Rho and Gribitz bring back and goes for a basic stew while Grath gets the super basic porridge.

Rumors around the eatery about kobolds from the south, strange objects flying through the air, and necromancers infiltrating Yvril. Grath perks up at the last one and asks about how long ago that started. He is pointed to the stablemaster to find out more. Grath ponders murdering the slanderous loudmouthed goblin he travels with and talks with Veldra in Celestial about what he suspects Gribitz to be responsible for. Grath is furious but Veldra is unmoved.

Grath goes shopping in Yvril in a general store for two watertight barrels. 10 empty vials, incense, 10 candles, rations, and other supplies he believes he will need on the road ahead to Rhoseth's desert tribes.

 

[Jeremy]

4/30/22​

The party discusses where to go from Yvril in search of the dragonborn clans. They could head towards Arvenfall in the Southlands, which from what Rho can remember is a town settled around an oasis fed by an underground spring. They use it to irrigate fields within their walls. Alternatively the party could head southwest to the larger city of Bleeding Stone. Prior to heading out, Grath heads to a jeweler. He tries to find a jeweled horn and a glass eye to augment his Clairvoyance spell. The jeweler he meets loves to hear the sound of his own voice and cuts off Grath several times as he tries to get a word in edgewise. Thankfully with enough patience, Grath is able to get what he needs even if he isn't able to speak his mind.

Rho has an emerald he had pulled out of the communal funds and he asks if the jeweler has a setting that would suit it. He does not but he offers to make one, though it will take the entire afternoon. Rho is happy for the delay and his friends are curious to see where this leads so they set about spending another day in Yvril. Gribitz searches for a merchant in the market that has come from the south and asks them about the best places to eat in the desert. He receives recommendations for the Sand Crab.

When Gribitz returns to the party he finds Grath stooped over yet another book, this one with a cover that looks like flesh with a face set in it and appears to him to have blank pages. The fact that he got it from the unhallowed temple filled with undead does not make matters any better. Veldra is not concerned and Grath teasingly insists it will make him a better necromancer to the goblin's utter horror. Eventually when Rho returns with his emerald ring and the party mounts up in Yip's wagon to resume their trek to the desert.

Gribitz tries to pester Grath to take a break from the evil pull of books and enjoy the beauty of the countryside they are traveling through but he is unsuccessful. Gribitz tries instead to ask Rho about his new ring which Kith tries to steal a few times, but both are unsuccessful and Rho regrets anyone finding out about it in the first place. Veldra is lost in her own thoughts, though she does keep an eye on the horizon.

The party falls into a simple rhythm as the days pass and the countryside rolls by. Gribitz enjoys the Green during the journey. Grath spends his time in quiet contemplation and meditations on the teachings of Ilmater. Veldra feels a certain pride in all she has endured along with the party. Rho feels some trepidation as his homeland comes closer and closer.

On the fourth day a bruised and dirty traveler is encountered; the youth is barefoot, and seemingly in shock. Gribitz calls out to him to make way and the child steps aside. Rho pauses the wagon and asks the child if he is headed to Arvenfall but only gets a shrug in response. A child suffering finally pulls Grath away from his holy tome and he leaps out of the wagon towards him, actually terrifying the child, though he tries to reassure the boy when he realizes the effect of his own enthusiasm.

Gribitz asks Veldra with wry cynicism if this is bait or a trap but the soldier is convinced it is worth the risk. Rho offers the child water by way of Grath. Gribitz wonders any number of crazy theories aloud while Grath waves them off and sees to the child. After the boy gets a few swallows from Grath's waterskin he finally manages to speak. The child claims to be the victim of bandits, but he breaks into tears as he tries to recount what happened to him and his parents a few days past. His name is Chris.

There is some discussion of whether or not to go see about the bandits or continue on. Chris doesn’t report any family in Yvril or Arvenfall but it is difficult to gently extract information from the boy. The party decides to continue on. Grath finishes his initial study of Ilmater’s tome with the disturbing cover, ignoring Chris for twelve hours straight of focus and meditation. When he finishes he closes the book and experiences a vision. He is in a temple somewhere, he stands among a multitude of humble monks that nod at him as a respected peer. In a flash the vision is gone, the face on the cover of the book is now recognizably Grath's face protruding in high relief.

During the final day of travel the Green gives way to desert sands. There is still a faint presence of the Green in the sands; it has a different voice and a power, but it is still there. That night Chris tries to sneak away but nearly everyone notices and when he bolts Grath runs him down. The boy hadn’t taken anything, but he’s afraid to answer Grath when he is interrogated. Given enough time Chris breaks and apologizes. Grath analyzes him closely and decides the boy is just terrified and running from the extremely odd party.

Grath tries to console him as best he can. Chris eventually relents and seems to accept Grath’s calm and soothing counsel. Grath takes Gribitz aside and gives him a talking to before arriving in Arvenfall about referring to Grath as a necromancer in front of other people. When the distracted goblin doesn't react in the way the priest prefers he bodily takes hold of the small creature and forcibly holds his gaze. The way Grath does it, preventing Gribitz from talking or answering or having any say doesn’t seem to rub Gribitz the right way. In the night the goblin has his revenge by carefully tunneling under him and slowly and quietly submerging the priest bit by bit until only his head rests above the sand.

When Grath awakens the next morning to his predicament he knows instantly who is at fault and he is deadly calm. He looks over at Gribitz, and is the bigger man, refusing to play his games. Grath deliberately digs himself out of the soil and silently cleans the sand out of his clothes before beginning his normal morning rituals. Grath introduces a new Ilmateri ritual from the Opus of Sacrifice to Rho and Veldra which they awkwardly participate in with the assurance it will grant them additional protections. They are nervous about his religious rites newly learned from the book from the temple that was overrun with undead and now they begin to share Gribitz's reservations about Grath's tome when they notice that the leather cover of the book is now molded and shaped to look like Grath’s face.

In the morning the party beholds Arvenfall, it is a walled city, with gates guarded by soldiers in desert garb. Gribitz requests that their first stop be the Sand Crab he had heard about. The guards are initially reticent about the hunched and antlered little green creature but his differences from the local sand goblins and his enthusiasm to try their cuisine wins them over. They point it out beyond the gates and endorse the inn next to it. Upon arrival Gribitz sits down and orders one of everything. There is chatter around the place about normal subjects but also quite a few comments about the very odd appearances of the party from their solemn soldier with the otherworldly appearance, to the towering dark red and purple dragonborn with the bulging (and moving?) satchel, and of course the tiny green antlered creature. The chatter especially picks up when Gribitz proves he can pay for his expansive order by flashing his money. It takes quite some time to fill the goblin’s odd order.

Many plates are brought out. Various permutations of sand crab and beef. Gribitz encourages everyone to eat with gusto, though Grath is overly concerned with his manners and etiquette. Gribitz confidently and convincingly tells him that eating with reckless enthusiasm is the culture here, but whether the goblin knows of what he speaks or is just a talented liar is unclear. Gribitz immerses himself fully in the cuisine both enjoying it and learning from the different culture’s dishes. There are occasionally some local dishes that Rho is familiar with that he comments on to his little ally.

The bill is 63 gold, but Gribitz isn't reliable at counting even small amounts so he just dumps all his money out on the table telling the waitress to take what is right. Grath apologizes and picks out the right amount from among the other various junk in Gribitz's bag. Gribitz asks to head back to the kitchen and speak to the chef but they tell him he is busy so Gribitz remembers to not ask in future. Afterwards the party heads next door to the inn to sleep off the extensive and exotic meal. Grath selects the more modest rooms of those available. Kith and Gribitz are stowed in the first room (which was probably a terrible idea), Grath and Chris take the second, and Rho and Veldra the third. In the morning the heat is oppressive, so Gribitz launches out of the window into the river below. The river is full of crabs of all sizes. Gribitz spends some time among the crabs learning from them and outsmarts a giant crab which is a first for him, though to be fair the crab was very disoriented by the unfamiliar creature that could speak with crabs.

Rho greatly enjoys the heat, Veldra not as much but at least the oasis has some refreshing breezes. Grath performs his Ilmateri rituals with Veldra and Rho again and they discuss what to do about Chris. Grath brings Chris to talk with the other adults about what he will do next. His parents were merchants and lived on the road, and he doesn’t know anyone he can turn to. Veldra asks if his parents were guild associated. Chris thinks and remembers meeting a smith in Bleeding Stone that she hopes will give them a starting point in their search for the boy.

If nothing else, she believes that someone can be hired to take him. Grath checks on Kith and Gribitz. Kith is sleeping soundly. By the time Gribitz returns he has multiple small crabs on his person. Grath sees about finding a caravan Chris can travel with to Bleeding Stone. While checking out, the innkeep advises that there could be a caravan coming from Bleeding Stone in a week or so. Veldra however prefers the party personally escort the boy so that if the merchant there doesn’t remember Chris or isn’t willing to help he isn’t stranded.

Gribitz heads to the main marketplace, Grath heads to find an apothecary with Rho and the bag of holding in tow. Veldra accompanies Gribitz to keep an eye on him. Gribitz sees some dragonborn in the market bringing in goods to trade, and he excitedly approaches a tall strong blue dragonborn. He asks if they can direct him to the desert clans of dragonborn and after some initial confusion he eventually discovers these dragonborn are of the Sand Whisperer tribe that is currently watering at another oasis to the south of Arvenfall. Apparently they have something called a great shaman that Gribitz is excited to tell Rho about.

Grath seeks out an apothecary and stocks up on potions of healing. There are some questionable wares on offer but neither Grath and Rho are interested in elevating their consciousness via chemical means.

 

[doghead]

Thanks for sharing. An interesting group of characters, I’m looking forwards to seeing how things develop.

 

[Jeremy]

Thanks! 3 stoics motivated by duty who at times are barely holding it together, inches away from lashing out or exploding. 2 chaos gremlins who don't even try to keep it under control but have surprisingly giving hearts when it comes down to it. And 1 brain cell to share among the 5 of them.

Appreciate you reading and very much the comment/encouragement!

 

[Jeremy]

5/7/22​

Traveling through the sand is slower than thought, it may take 4 days to reach Bleeding Stone. The day’s travel is hot and relentless but the Tiny Hut keeps away the chill of the night. Gribitz learns about the local flora.

The cart gets stuck in the sand on the second day. It takes some time for Gribitz to figure out how to work the different Earth but he is able to smooth the path enough to get the cart going again. He is fascinated by all the different lizards and snakes and scarabs and desert mice. Gribitz asks Rho about the Sand Whisperer tribe. They talk to a lizard and discuss storms.

A giant vulture flies down and perches and speaks in Common he asks if he can tag along to Bleeding Stone, Grath says no but Gribitz says yes and asks for a flight around. It’s a good thing he does as he sees a sand storm sweeping across the desert that will be on them soon. The party pulls the cart to a stop and Grath summons up a protective dome that holds through the storm.

The next day Grath and Gribitz both spot a large section of sand moving and Rho suggests holding very still to see if it passes. Something shines in the sand as it moves, some kind of silky strand. Rho recognizes it just as the sand bursts in every direction as the thin layer of material holding it together is shredded, revealing a huge spider snake monstrosity.

The creature has a multitude of alien eyes that try to ensnare Veldra in their hypnotic gaze but she just slams her visor down, raises her shield only for her double image to appear next to the creature and slash at its exposed underbelly. Gribitz however feels an unnatural terror wash over him that chases him into hiding. But Grath fills the area with his sanctuary and reaches out to Gribitz, reassuring him. Rho is already facing his fears by returning to the sands of his homeland, when the creature turns its gaze on him it is met only by steely determination. Black smoke starts to wisp from his nostrils and he leaps into combat with it.

Rho is immediately met by the serpent’s fangs and an immense amount of venom is injected into him. Kith is super excited to see a creature with so many eyes to pop and opens fire on it. It tries to entangle Rho in webs before it burrows back beneath the sands. Gribitz slaps Yip on the butt as it starts to tunnel towards the horse and tells him to run (cart and all) while he summons up a defensive screen of cave badgers around the area telling them to call out when the monster is nearby.

When it bursts back up from the sands Rho swings his maul at it, smashing its spider legs aside but its serpentine coils bind him tightly and begin to squeeze the life out of him. Terrifyingly it vanishes beneath the sands with the large dragonborn still trapped in its coils. The party fans out searching for them but Rho climbs his way back to the surface on his own. Grath immediately Banishes the creature when it bursts forth again from the sands, he warns the others it is coming back. The party begins to prepare their best for the return of the monster.

Grath drains himself of his own lifeforce as he sacrifices to his Opus to heal Rho of his many wounds. The red bands bandage and stitch Rho while simultaneously tightening and wounding Grath. When the monstrosity reappears it is assaulted by the prepared barrage but it weathers it and continues to try to abduct Rho. However it is unable to escape as Gribitz changed the earth under its arrival spot into a densely compacted soil while it was gone to slow its passage. Finally it falls as Kith sinks a heavy bolt into one of the many eyes of the aberration and they all close.

Rho finally succumbs to all the venom in his system, collapsing paralyzed to the sands. Grath is able to restore him to mobility again though it gives everyone a scare. Rho suggests extracting the venom sack but as he just smashed the living hell out of its head it is uncertain how much will remain undiluted. Three vials worth are extracted. The party checks in on each other and the orphaned Chris before heading west trying to outrun the storm coming in from the north.

The vulture rejoins the party on the third day, Gribitz calls him Gus. Gus says he spent a long time with a man dressed in cacti. But he just wants to see a rock that bleeds. Finally on the fourth day the party arrives in Bleeding Stone. The guards challenge the party for their business and they announce they are there to see the smith Vigor Ainfun. The city is largely constructed of sandstone. The party takes Chris to see Vigor at his place of work. He’s got a couple apprentices working with him. He’s a big barrel-chested man. Grath reintroduces Chris and Vigor, Gribitz intimates that Chris’s parents are dead. Vigor harrumphs that he can always use another set of hands though his eyes betray his compassion for Chris. He dismisses the party and suggests they stay at the Smiling Snake inn. Apparently the proprietor has a knack for magical things.

The Smiling Snake inn looks more like a repurposed ancient temple. Behind the counter is a gentle faced old man with the body of a long serpent. Gribitz shoots his mouth off and gets muzzled. He makes several cracks about the proprietor not having hands to Grath’s mortification, but actually the goblin is working up a sales pitch and offers to sell the naga a magical animated broom and bucket from Lazandrias's dungeon.