WotBS Emeraldbeacon's Burning Sky (live game)

[emeraldbeacon]

(And then the added confusion of you posting a second game too. grin)

Also, she's a druid. Eventually her feet might vanish when she turns into a snake or something.

Or multiply when she turns into a giant spider.

 

[emeraldbeacon]

After going over the plan one last time, the gang gets into position to ambush the elvish wizard Shealis. Diogenes loudly challenges her to one last duel before she flees from Gate Pass, which she accepts, if only to shut him up. In tow are Larion and the Lantern Archon, seemingly frustrated that the matter is taking longer than necessary.

The fight opens with Diogenes setting up a fog cloud to disorient Shealis, at which point the trap is sprung. Ellith deftly nabs her component pouch before the rest of the upper crew races in to block their escape and lay down some SERIOUS beating. In time, the Lantern Archon is dispelled, Larion is knocked unconscious, and Shealis is forced into surrender after Gor'aan grappled her and continued punching her in the face.

Meanwhile, Brena and Gnelly broke into her dorm room, pinching her spellbook and a cache of potions. Once the fight was over, a casual casting of Charm Person made the interrogation much less stressful, as she revealed that the case was delivered to a safehouse in the elvish ghetto, two districts to the east. A note in her spellbook offered a note about three elven deities that could prove important... perhaps a passphrase?

Eventually leaving the elves to sleep off their defeat, the team travels through two gates, then decides that being exhausted and injured was no way to continue their journey. They booked a set of empty rooms at the Mannish Inn, and most crashed HARD at roughly 5am. Brena stayed up to play music for a bit (as part of the long rest), but as she was getting ready to head upstairs to bed, she noticed a disconcerting sight: the mercenary captain, Kathor, stepping into the tavern area, requesting breakfast...

 

[emeraldbeacon]

In a mild panic, Brena quickly and quietly casts disguise self, and slips out the front door of the tavern before Kathor notices her. She tries to find the stable where his horse is currently lodged, but has little success gaining access without good reason. Reluctantly, she returns to the tavern and, still disguised, heads back to the rooms upstairs, where she quietly informs the rest of the party of Black Horse's presence. They spend a tense rest, ready for an ambush, but none comes.

Now in the early afternoon, the rested party heads into the Elven Ghetto to hopefully find the case of intelligence. The slum-like part of the city is disorienting and confusing to outsiders; thankfully, one of their number once lived there for several years. Guided to the woodworker's shop, they have some trouble entering the building, noting that the doors and windows all seem to be fake. Distracted by a particularly annoying rat, some move around the sides of the building, thinking they may need to enter via the roof... until the rat chides them for their blindness. It turns into an imp, and shows them the secret door; once they know where it is, opening it is a simple task.

Inside, they make short work of the badgers, which CAN hit like trucks, but also go down like a house of cards when hit. After a few false starts, they proceed upstairs, but soon find themselves in a bottleneck, as the elves hold them on the stairway while peppering them with shots. Gnelly decides to make her own entrance, and busts a hole in the ceiling with a few castings of Catapult, serendipitously causing one of the Shahalesti to fall to the first floor. The line broken, the attack was soon concluded, and the elves subdued...

 

[emeraldbeacon]

After taking a moment to collect themselves, the heroes secure the elves and explore the woodshop (some of them taking the time to take a short rest, as they suffered some significant injuries in the fight. After finding a surprising amount of Shahalesti money, they indeed locate the metal case from Ragesia. The imp demands they hand it over immediately, while the heroes work at a way to try and crack it open. After a few problematic attempts, they manage to overcome its arcane lock with pure brute strength, sending the contents spilling out across the floor. Greedily, the imp collected the case itself, gave the party a dirty look, and went invisible. Rather than inspect the books & papers there, the team collected the information and departed, eager to find a way out of the city.

A quick examination of the south gate near the elven ghetto revealed that the exits were very well guarded and monitored, with only those bearing authenticated paperwork permitted to travel through. Gnelly suggested that they speak with her colleague Erdan Menash, who might be able to facilitate their exit. Arriving at his garish estate, they waited for his arrival while looking over his... interesting goods. When Erdan arrived, he at first tried to shoo them out, stating his shop was closed... but quickly came around when Gnelly asked for help. Though easily distracted by discussions about his wares, the party eventually left with a suitable cover story, and some notably garish goods.

En route to Herriman's Barracks, the team realized they were being followed, both by city guardsmen and a shadowy figure moving along the rooftops. When ordered to stop, a few of the party came to the disturbing realization that they had been cornered by the Black Horse gang, yet again... but found a peculiar ally in Rantle, hero of Gate Pass, who helped them subdue the thugs, and provide an alibi for them all when the ACTUAL city guard arrived. In time, he asked for a favor: delivering a message to his sister Katrina.

Eventually, at the barracks, Herriman explained the plan: Using a pair of falsified orders, under Erdan Menash' name, the party would be allowed out of the city, while his smaller force would re-enter from a different gate. Spending the night at an abandoned watchtower outside of the city, the heroes noticed figures passing them on the road, in the wee hours of the morning...

 

[emeraldbeacon]

Traveling along the mountain pass towards the Innenotdar Forest, the adventuring troup was suddenly (though to be honest, not entirely unexpectedly) beset upon by raiders wearing familiar red armbands. Disgusted at this group's tenacity (and extremely poor judgement), the party turned to attack, NOT exactly what the Black Horse Mercenaries' leader, Renard, had planned! Instead of overwhelming the party with a single large force, they were spread out... meaning that they could only attack in steady waves. The fight was brutal, and Violet the druid burned through two Bear wild shapes, before being knocked unconscious TWICE more. In the end, though, Renard fled in a panic, and Kathor surrendered, barely clinging to life.

Kathor explained that the mercenaries were hired by the Ragesian military - an inquisitor, to be specific - to collect and deliver spellcasters pursuant to the Scourge Project, whatever that was. Kathor himself was compelled to cooperate, after Renard found out about his own magical skills. The party graciously allowed him to leave, after he renounced his association with the group, AND hinted at Renard's final location.

The party traveled to a cavern where the Black Horse Mercs - now just Renard - had made camp. Sneaking in, they ambushed him rather efficiently, taking him out of commission. Spending the night in the camp, they left him alive but restrained, giving him the same chance of freedom as the other dead man they found in the alcove...

SESSION NOTE: The party decided to take the dream shroud, which faintly radiated magic, without doing anything about the dead sorcerer. As such, it has no power. I'm considering giving the local paladin a dream of his authority figures berating him for not tending to the body properly, as one of his station should... they didn't really notice the shroud until the morning they left, though, so it'd be tough to give them any second chances until the home of Haddin & Crystin, which is nearly half a day's journey away... what're your thoughts on how to handle this missed opportunity?

 

[RangerWickett]

I think a dream of being chastised for not respecting the dead is a reasonable step. Do that, and then whenever they use the text magic again mentioned that the shroud is no longer magical, and they ought to be able to put two and two together.

 

[emeraldbeacon]

I think a dream of being chastised for not respecting the dead is a reasonable step. Do that, and then whenever they use the text magic again mentioned that the shroud is no longer magical, and they ought to be able to put two and two together.

If the dream comes after the fight at the farmhouse, but before they enter the fire forest (which, there should be time to do so), they would have the chance to risk adding an extra day to their journey, to "do the right thing" by going back to the cave. Renard will have escaped & fled by then, and they might have an "encounter" with some raccoons rummaging through the debris of camp, but it would be easy and safe enough to do the deed and recharge the shroud IF THEY CHOOSE... but it'll be their last option.

Notable: The character I'm going to "punish" is the paladin, who is both in the order of the aquiline cross (meaning he'll be scolded by someone he respects for not treating the dead with more respect), AND a celestial aasimar with a very powerful divine parent (who will accuse them of not properly meting out justice upon the wicked man who allowed an innocent to die).

 

[emeraldbeacon]

Without me suggesting anything, everyone else decided to time-step backwards to the cave, to ensure that the poor soul who died there got at least some degree of a burial. Doing so gave them the Dream Shroud, which the paladin equipped as a cape of sorts.

Moving south, they came to the home of Crystin & Haddin, and her sudden prophesy left them all shook. They were on edge the entire time, as the long-time resident of Gate Pass realized the name connection, and quietly shared Haddin's story with the group before going in. The conversation was both brief and brusque; many efforts at persuasion were made, but they all seemed to fall on deaf ears. While Crystin begged for the heroes to help, as she believed they could thanks to her "visions," Haddin simply rejected any suggestion of leaving home, both for himself and his daughter. In time, a quiet conversation to the side revealed that Crystin was indeed under the effect of some kind of enchantment, of an oddly incomprehensible kind.

The discussion, though, was cut short, as a ragesian troupe was spotted travelling south along the elf road. The fight was brutal, bloody, but ultimately averted, as the heroes nobly defended the farmhouse. Haddin seemed impressed, but still unwavering in his dedication to stay home, even after being presented with the fact that Ragesia had ordered his own death. Resigned, the team still managed to earn a night's respite, before they set out in the morning for the fire forest... though the night didn't exactly prove entirely restful, as strange, vivid dreams came to everyone...

SESSION NOTES: Though the episode is not ENTIRELY over yet, I granted everyone their Level Ups at the end of the session. I'm planning on having Haddin experience an undisclosed dream of his own (an aspect of Crystin's power surging outwards into the party at large), that will prompt him to accept the heroes' terms to escort him through the fire forest, into Dassen, and to Seaquen (his words, not theirs)... we'll see how that pans out, since Crystin is still very much his thrall at the moment.

 

[emeraldbeacon]

Awakening the next morning, after everyone had strangely vivid dreams (or nightmares), Haddin shocked the crew by accepting the "offer" of safe travel to Seaquen. Though put off by his brusque nature, they accepted, and set off at morning, leaving the farmhouse unlocked... clearly, they would never return, so why bother? After Torrent distributed the vials, everyone consumed one potion of Stand the Heat, and they proceeded into the Fire Forest.

Within Innenotdar, they soon realized that the heat was not the only hazard, as swirling smoke clouds left some of the party wheezing. They were put off by finding corpses directly on the Elfroad less than a mile in, but were shocked when one of them suddenly lurched towards them! Holding back, the Paladin promptly surged healing into them, granting them some semblance of stability. They asked of their wife and son, but upon learning of their deaths, fell despondant. At his wish, he was quickly dispatched. As the party discussed their next steps, he suddenly gasped, returning to life! Everyone panicked, including the man, who stumbled off into the fires in a confused panic.

Later, continuing their journey south, they came to a damaged bridge across a narrow but deep ravine, crossing it carefully to avoid any additional damage to the structure, but still drawing the attention of swarms of fiery bats! Though the critters were dispatched easily enough, they were much more difficult to keep down, as one by one, they rose again to continue their strikes. Though they noticed a destroyed cart at the base of the ravine, they moved along quickly, unwilling to explore it further.

The incredibly perceptive Druid, meanwhile, continued to notice odd bursts of flame in the woods around them, perhaps even containing a figure within. Was something watching them?

Ultimately, though, they heard the sound of their planned destination... the White River that bisects Innenotdar, right near the old elvish village that should provide some suitable shelter. Their advance was blocked with a sudden crash of trees before them, and a shriek from Crystin to get out of the way. Fire elementals burst into being, pushing the team to its limits, but ultimately falling before their combined forces... barely. Stopping to catch their breath, the team was suddenly confronted with a terrifying visage of a burning draconic face, demanding that they free it from its prison, lest they remain sealed in the forest for all time; unable to escape, and unable to die...

 

[emeraldbeacon]

After a brief conversation, the team decided to take Indomitability up on its offer... at least, until they found something better to do. Proceeding across the bridge, they examined the old watchtower outside the elvish village, then picked the lock on the way in, surprised to discover that the doorway was warded against undesired entry. After outrunning the Spiritual Weapon trap and waiting its duration out, they returned to find a way to disable both that, and the explosive cold runes trap inside the door (commenting that the tower seemed far better guarded than it had any right to).

Inside, they searched about the tower, finding a defensible (if crowded) place to camp, along with the journal of Bhurisrava, and a strange sack of seeds. Curious as to what it meant about causing visions of the flamebringer, the halfling bard tried one, instantly falling comitose. Worried about the "poison" it warned of, the paladin neutralized that poison, but not before two dream elementals apparated within the tower. Already weakened, the party burned through several resources like healing potions trying to stay awake and alert, eventually fending off the sleep spells, causing the creatures to dissolve into nothing. Battered and bruised, a long rest was sorely welcome.

A decision was made to travel south to the lake, and try to release the fire spirit Indomitability as soon as possible, but they were interrupted twice along the way: once, a devilish agent of Ragesia offered them an alternative way out of the woodlands; then, a strange fey-like being, whom seemed quite excited to see them, was suddenly accosted by a number of their kind... choosing sides quickly, the party fended off the attackers, as this mysterious woman "Tiljann" invited them to her village, to explain their quest to maintain the Song of Forms...

Session Notes: The party threw two curveballs at me, once by recklessly popping a dream seed while already badly depleted from Indomitability's initial challenge, then by ignoring the Taranesti village AND the White River, in a single-minded quest to find the source of the fire, and free it. They might be dissatisfied with the results of their hasty actions in the end...