Daily Work: A significant breakthrough with artifacts—the new direction looks promising, and the two I’ve written so far (Eye of Vecna and Axe of the Dwarvish Lords) are things I’d put into my campaign in a heartbeat. The only significant downside? Each individual artifact takes up some real estate—more than we planned. But they’re frickin’ artifacts, man! So we’ll see. My next step is to wave them under the noses of some colleagues and see if we can’t get another page or two for the artifacts section. And it’s also a good time for me to ask the “Is Dave crazy?” question of my colleagues, because artifacts have become more than just really good magic items with backstories.
SNIP
Thursday Night D&D: The PCs have collectively hit 10th level, although there wasn’t much room to celebrate in the Frostfell ice cavern they were in. Guided by the Gatekeepers, the PCs are checking on a number of ancient gates that a cult devoted to the “prince of madness,” Mu Tahn Laa, would very much like opened so Mu Tahn Laa can run free and ruin Eberron as we know it. They found this particular gate unopened—but mystically unlockable. Worse, the arrival (and subsequent slaying) of some giants who possessed the opening ritual had the PCs worried. Those giants knew the opening ritual but didn’t seem like the sort to discover it independently, the PCs reasoned. Finding whomever taught the ritual to the giants (and making sure that they don’t teach it to anyone else) is the only way to keep the gate closed for good.
So the first step in following that thread back to the source was following the snowy footprints of the giants back to their encampment. (After a brief amount of time cursing the fact that they didn’t keep any of the giants alive for questioning.) After dispatching a giant-and-polar-wyv ern patrol, the PCs arrived at the encampment to find an obvious leader fomorian chanting over a hole in the frozen ground while around him other giants, trolls, and their gorgon guard animals milled about.
Demonstrating a heretofore latent sense of caution, the PCs watched and waited until about half the giants marched off to find out how the ritual in the ice cave was going (Answer: poorly, but they didn’t know that yet.). When the warlock figured out that the fomorian was almost done with whatever ritual it was performing over the hole in the ground, the PCs leapt into action to disrupt the ritual. They didn’t know what the ritual did, but they were pretty sure they didn’t want to find out.
They daze the fomorian and end the ritual prematurely. As the remaining giant guards lumber into position and start hitting the PCs with, well, lumber, the fomorian yells, “It’s uncontrolled! It’s uncontrolled!” and retreats from the fray.
The ground shakes for a few rounds while the PCs trade blows with the giant guards, slowly retreating from the encampment. And then a purple worm roars up out of the hole!
I figured that the purple worm would turn the PCs’ fighting withdrawal into a full-on retreat, but the PCs figured, “The purple worm is on the far side of the giants from us, so it’s more their problem than ours, given that we know it’s uncontrolled.” So their stately, measured withdrawal continued.
And that was indeed an accurate assessment of the tactical situation…until the purple worm realized that it couldn’t swallow the giants, but it could easily snack on the PCs. So it started ignoring the giants and preferentially targeting whatever PC looked most appetizing.
The battle that ensued was a knock-down, drag-out affair. I’m guessing at least 20 rounds, but I’m not totally sure. Four PCs spent time in various parts of the purple worm’s insides. The PCs used every power at their disposal and every trick of positioning they knew. I saw fingers crossed as dice were rolled. And at the end of it, the purple worm lay dead on the snow, having previously vomited up the paladin, ranger, and warlord. Covered in gore and worm bile, the PCs are casting eyes at the encampment, saying, “Let’s find that fomorian”—but also mindful of how much that fight took out of them.
In two weeks, we’ll find out what they do next.
It's the only D&D mini I ever bought as a single (even if it's not at its full, magnificent Gargantuan size). Outside of Spelljammer-specific monsters that I know aren't guaranteed a slot, or even likely to have one, it's my favorite D&D monster.
