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Story Hour
The Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh #135 Sorry For The (Attempted) Genocide.
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<blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 8039627" data-attributes="member: 16069"><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Dark Squad in the Sunless Citadel</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Session #008 Dark Squad versus The Outcast AKA Lockdown Combat.</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Dark Squad (in alphabetical order, no egos here).</strong></p><p><strong>Buggles (played by Stu) Male Wood Elf Fighter Lvl 1/Rogue Lvl 2</strong></p><p><strong>New Tricks (played by Bear) Male Tabaxi Warlock Lvl 3</strong></p><p><strong>Ramshambo (played by Kev) Male Half-Elf Rogue Lvl 3</strong></p><p><strong>Vincenzo (played by Haggis) Male Shifter (Wildhunt) Druid Lvl 3</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>NPCs</strong></p><p><strong>Garumn Male Mountain Dwarf Paladin of Moradin Lvl 3</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Left back with the Kobolds</strong></p><p><strong>Erky Timbers Male Gnome Priest of Tymora</strong></p><p></p><p>So, session #8, and here we go again- last we left the Dark Squad they were holed up back in the ‘goblin spa’ (for which read goblin work rooms) this after taking an extended rest and ringing the level 3 bell.</p><p></p><p>Outside of the chamber in which the brave adventurers rest are the scattered and/or burnt remains of a dozen goblins- the site of last week’s/session’s massacre. The stench is horrific and may haunt a few of the Dark Squad for quite a while.</p><p></p><p>But possibly only Vincenzo as the other guys really don’t give a stuff.</p><p></p><p>Then onwards- to victory, the Dark Squad lead by a stealthy Ram cautiously make their way back to the Twilight Grove proper, the massive cavern, at the entrance to which they previously fought more smock wearing goblins and a clutch of twig blights.</p><p></p><p>A little more chatter- how are we going to play this, follows- now they’re facing the thing. Note the Dark Squad take the time to examine the vegetation within the massive cavern (stunted snarly briars) and are of the opinion that moving slowly, and stealthily, and cautiously is the order of the day.</p><p></p><p>However, to begin with Vincenzo will scout ahead- hang on, what’s that, Vincenzo?</p><p></p><p>Well, may I introduce to you Vincen G. Spider, the druid wildshapes into a terrifying giant arachnid, and then scuttles up the wall of the cavern and from there onto the ceiling forty feet overhead, and then eight-legs-stealthy he creeps ahead.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]123879[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Spider-Druid!</strong></p><p></p><p>Down below the rest of the Dark Squad slowly, carefully make their way into the fungus and briar choked cavern, every now and then Newt using a message cantrip to make contact with Vincen G. Spider up above to take direction.</p><p></p><p>The first obstacle, as spotted by Vincen, are a clutch of twig blights- all heading in the Dark Squad’s general direction- the adventurers are therefore forewarned of the impending attack, although that doesn’t seem to help their cause.</p><p></p><p>Note, there are some real bad rolls from the PCs at the start of this session (and continuing throughout, a little). Even the players were snarling and gnashing their teeth at the number of ‘1’s and ‘2’s flying by. At one point the PCs rolled four ‘1’s in a row- nice.</p><p></p><p>And so a clutch of twig blights get into action, Newt gets clawed and then attempts to get away from his attacker by using a nearby wall and his cat-like reflexes to leap up and over the enemy, he succeeds only in demolishing the wall and then only just managing to stay on his feet (‘1’).</p><p></p><p>Less than a second later Vincen G. Spider shoots a web down onto a twig blight but misses by a mile and ends up covering Garumn in his sticky offering, the dwarven paladin is left screaming/mumbling his fury (that’s another ‘1’).</p><p></p><p>Newt gets a hit in with his eldritch blast, but not with enough force to kill a twig blight (damage ‘1’+).</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]123880[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Look Out! Tree Demons!</strong></p><p></p><p>Buggles, alas is not the most stealthy (‘1’) but his twin scimitars are by far the most effective in these opening moments, he Crits a twig blight to death. Ram, with his bow however, is much less effective (and another ‘1’).</p><p></p><p>Then normal service is resumed- Newt blasts another twig blight dead, Garumn escapes Vincen G. Spider’s webs- still grumbling and moaning, Buggles carves another twig blight- but not enough to kill it, the little beast scratches the wood elf right back.</p><p></p><p>Then, after another turn of mostly missing, Garumn rumbles forward and smashes down the last of the little scratchy bastards.</p><p></p><p>Note, Vincen G. Spider- still up above, watches several more twig blights in retreat- heading deeper into the cavern, towards the twenty foot ruined walls of some ancient fortress or keep (perhaps) further in to the chamber.</p><p></p><p>[More dead twig blights 100 XP]</p><p></p><p>The Dark Squad re-orientate themselves, and then press on- spider-Vince leading the way, with more messages being sent by Newt to the druid.</p><p></p><p>And remarkably their collective stealth check is bloody marvellous (lowest roll an adjusted ‘13’), the Dark Squad spot enemies ahead- within the compass of the ruins, also present there is a massive dead-looking tree.</p><p></p><p>This is the Gulthias Tree, although introductions come a little later.</p><p></p><p>Spider-Vince silently scouts ahead, the enemies present include, he’s certain- the Outcast (a crazy looking robe and staff guy), the two missing adventurers- the expensively robed Sharwyn and the heavily armoured Sir Braford- this pair are standing statue, they also look wan and ill. Also present are at least two more of the scratchy twig blight bastards.</p><p></p><p>He’s seen enough, and so the druid scurries down the cavern wall- out of sight (he thinks) and then transforms back into, well… himself.</p><p></p><p>At which point he drops a spike growth spell onto the largest group of enemies he can see from his present position back on the cavern floor. Sir Braford and a clutch of twig blights are now cut off from their allies, and surrounded by a sea of hostile spikey vegetation.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]123881[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>And the Lockdown begins.</strong></p><p></p><p>In the chat window on FG, meantime, Ram is counting down, and we get to ‘1’- the attack is launched, this as several twig blights emerge from hiding and start moving towards Vincenzo (who’s last stealth check was a… no, not a ‘1’, a ‘2’- 100% better, but still not enough).</p><p></p><p>Ramshambow scurries forward to help the druid and then misses his opening attack (‘1’) but manages to slash the twig blight with his off-hand dagger, it still lives.</p><p></p><p>Buggles destroys a twig blight in an instant with a deadly accurate arrow shot from his longbow- at which point the Outcast begins shouting and calling for parley from the centre of the ruined fort/tree clearing.</p><p></p><p>“You know not what you do. I mean you no harm, I have caused you no offense- why do you attack me so?”</p><p></p><p>We go back and forth for a while (over twenty minutes), the Outcast letting the Dark Squad know the origins of the beautiful tree that is his life’s work. The Gulthias Tree grew from the wooden stake that was hammered through a vampire’s heart on this spot a millennia (or thereabouts) ago. The crazy druid introduces the twig blights, and tells how the tree produces the magical apples, he even takes the time to introduce his latest pride and joy- the supplicants. Sir Braford and Sharwyn, who have been ‘accepted’ by the sentinel plant monstrosity.</p><p></p><p>Several of the PCs also make their feelings known- primarily Vincenzo, of course, because he is the most outwardly offended by the spectacle before him- the perversion of nature, the tyranny of the Outcast- to fashion new beings for evil. A few of the other PCs snipe and make threats culminating in Vincenzo’s threat-finale, basically the shifter druid is going to destroy the Outcast and his tree, and then return this place to nature.</p><p></p><p>The Outcast makes his own threats, of course, he’s going to either- feed the Dark Squad’s blood and broken bones to the soil, or else he’s going to get himself a few new supplicants- nice.</p><p></p><p>It gets to fighting again, as we drop back into initiative.</p><p></p><p>And just to say ahead of time, how I work this magic (the write up here) is I just copy the text from the chat window in FG and translate, so apologies ahead of time but this one has a lot of he did… she did… etc.</p><p></p><p>It’s not meant to be literature, just writin’.</p><p></p><p>Back to the action…</p><p></p><p>But also just to say that over the course of the next few (10+) turns another ten or so twig blights emerge from a variety of locations and get into action against the Dark Squad. I’m topping up the enemies as I go on.</p><p></p><p>Buggles is the first to suffer from the little scratchy bastards.</p><p></p><p>Then however Belak, the Outcast, settles an entangle spell over a clutch of the PCs- and Newt, Vince and Ram all fail their saves and are grasped by the snarly vegetation.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]123882[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Working for the Clampdown.</strong></p><p></p><p>The trio are going nowhere fast- that’s not an idle brag, I was there to witness it- around the VTT (real-time) Newt was still struggling to get away from the plants nearly an hour later.</p><p></p><p>The tabaxi however has enough about him to blast another approaching twig blight, but again the creature doesn’t fall.</p><p></p><p>Note, I maxed the hit points of every enemy creature in this combat, and so the twig blights have 7 hp each (they’re tanks), Sharwyn 20 hp, Sir Braford 30 hp, Kulket (the giant frog- he’s biding his time, we’ll meet him soon) 30+ hp, and the Outcast 45 hp. The big bad. Note I also gave the Gulthias Tree a few extra hp- 45, same as Belak.</p><p></p><p>Meantime a pair of twig blights and Sir Braford, all caught within the Vincenzo’s spike growth, attempt to escape the spell’s compass- the twig blights are left badly wounded, while Sir Braford even more so- he takes 20 hp damage escaping the terrain horror (and is down to 10 hp), the ex-paladin scurries to the Outcast’s side for healing.</p><p></p><p>Vincenzo fires an Ice Knife at the Outcast, high wide an handsome- another ‘1’.</p><p></p><p>Ramshambow fails to escape the entangling plants, and fails with his flailing off-hand dagger to make a mark on one of the twig blights that are gathering at the spot to tear the restrained adventurers apart (he rolled a… ‘1’, funny that).</p><p></p><p>To make matters worse Sharwyn fires a ray of frost into the rogue- that hurt, and chilly.</p><p></p><p>Buggles however is still in action, he cuts down another twig blight and then finds a hiding place for himself.</p><p></p><p>He rolls a ‘1’ for his stealth check.</p><p></p><p>And keep in mind that a lot of these rolls are made in the tower on FG, so the players can’t see the results- they can however hear me giggling and snorting- so unbecoming, but I enjoyed it.</p><p></p><p>Another twig blight gets its claws into Ramshambow, and now the rogue is bloodied.</p><p></p><p>Note, throughout all of this the Outcast is adding his commentary track- a mixture of dire threats and exhortations to the adventurers to surrender to the inevitable.</p><p></p><p>The Outcast hits Garumn with a poison spray, although the tough dwarf barely notices.</p><p></p><p>Newt fails to escape the entangling plants, as does Vincenzo, and Ram- and so the rogue spends his inspiration point, and… fails again.</p><p></p><p>Note the entangled adventurers also can’t get a bead on their enemies, who are dodging back into cover behind the ruined walls of the former fortress.</p><p></p><p>Buggles however is now making his way around the action (and unseen, at times)- with the Outcast and his associates concentrating on the entangled bunch. The wood elf therefore has the time and space to manoeuvre, his twin scimitars go snicker-snack, and another two twig blights are turned to tinder.</p><p></p><p>Note, throughout the above Garumn is surrounded by twig blights- with his back to the entangled area, he’s also flailing and missing repeatedly.</p><p></p><p>The paladin of Moradin usually never misses- most odd.</p><p></p><p>The Outcast meantime heals Sir Braford and sends him forward to face the foe, and to give himself some cover.</p><p></p><p>At which point Vincenzo stops concentrating on his first spike growth spell, it fades, and then casts his second spike growth spell- which now encompasses the Outcast and his two supplicants (Sir Braford and Sharwyn).</p><p></p><p>Oh bother, the DM sighs, they’re (the PCs) stuck, and now my guys are stuck again- send in more twig blights.</p><p></p><p>Then seconds later Vincenzo casts a Moonbeam spell from a scroll (after spending an inspiration point to do so) and briefly bathes Sir Braford in the power’s glorious radiant light- the ex-paladin falls, broken.</p><p></p><p>A moment later Ram, at last, escapes the entangle and slices a twig blight down and destroys it.</p><p></p><p>Sharwyn, now defending the Outcast, fires a trio of magic missiles into the attackers- one force missile each for Ram, Garumn and Newt (the DM was feeling generous).</p><p></p><p>Buggles however is now in place, he lets an arrow fly- a Crit (for 14 damage) and now the Outcast is really screaming threats, no more Mr Nice-Guy-Crazy-Druid.</p><p></p><p>Garumn meantime smashes down a twig blight- at last, however the dwarf cannot charge forward- as the way ahead, to Sharwyn and the Outcast, is all spike growth.</p><p></p><p>The Outcast cures himself, while all the time making more dire threats.</p><p></p><p>Newt continues to fail to escape the entangle spell (‘1’).</p><p></p><p>Alas, for Buggles, the wood elf is now out in the open- Kulket, the Outcast’s Giant Frog, leaps down out of the Gulthias Tree and bites the wood elf, grappling and restraining him.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]123883[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Frog Attack!</strong></p><p></p><p>Vincenzo has had enough, he wildshapes again- this time into a brown bear (Vincenbear) and then rips his way free of the entangling vegetation.</p><p></p><p>Meantime more twig blights are emerging from the wild and heading over to slash and cut at Buggles.</p><p></p><p>Ram, also free of the entangle, scurries over and attempts to skewer the Outcast with his rapier, alas- a miss (‘2’), he attempts to retreat but is caught in Sharwyn’s colour spray and left staggering aimlessly and blinded.</p><p></p><p>Buggles meantime escapes the close attentions of his attackers (Kulket, the giant frog & two twig blights) by leaping over them and away (acrobatics ‘20’), and then heading back into cover and hiding some more.</p><p></p><p>Garumn, at last, trundles forward and warhammer in hand attempts to end the Outcast (he’s ready and waiting with his divine smite option) but he misses, and so uses his inspiration point to… miss, again.</p><p></p><p>The Outcast needs to get away, and so thunderwaves Garumn and (the blind and broken) Ramshambow back the way they came- the result a bloodied and beyond Garumn (on 8 HP) and Ram bleeding out and taking a dirt nap.</p><p></p><p>Newt, finally escapes the clutching vegetation, and then immediately launches three scorching rays at the Outcast- two of which connect with the ranting druid. The big bad is bloodied, at last.</p><p></p><p>Meantime Vincenbear stomps into the mess of enemies that were formerly in Buggles’ grill, he tears into Kulket the giant frog- the creature is very quickly critically wounded.</p><p></p><p>Ramshambow makes his first death save- success.</p><p></p><p>Sharwyn conjures again and seconds later Garumn hits the dirt, the dwarf paladin of Moradin however is only sleeping.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]123884[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Sleepy-Sleepy Time. Shhh… Don't wake the Paladin.</strong></p><p></p><p>Buggles stealthily creeps from his hiding place and settles himself just behind the Outcast, his twin scimitars cut and slice, and Belak is left critically wounded (and on 3 HP), but only for a moment as the evil druid casts an enhanced cure wounds on himself (and the grinning DM rolls just short of max healing).</p><p></p><p>Newt, now unleashed, changes tack and fires three more scorching rays- this time at the Gulthias Tree (two hits) the evil plant sentinel is left smouldering (from 45 HP to 15 HP- vulnerable to fire). Then the wild tabaxi uses his feline agility to get in the Outcast’s face and scream a few threats of his own.</p><p></p><p>Vincenbear meantime gets clawed repeatedly by a pair of twig blights, the wildshape creature is now bloodied too.</p><p></p><p>Kulket the giant frog, tries to leap to his master’s side, Vincenbear however swats the loyal amphibian out of the air- it crashes hard into a nearby ruined wall and lies silent and unmoving- dead.</p><p></p><p>Note, at this point- with the Gulthias Tree on fire, Sir Braford gone- over half the twig blights spent, his giant frog dead- the Outcast is shouting threats at every instance, he’s losing it man!</p><p></p><p>And this DM thinks that the end is mostly very nigh.</p><p></p><p>Vincenbear claws and bites yet another twig blight dead, but another of the scratchy bastards emerges from hiding and claws the roaring ursine.</p><p></p><p>Note I kept adding one more twig blight from hiding every round, until I had added an additional ten of the little bastards to the mix.</p><p></p><p>Ramshambow succeeds on another death save- that’s two.</p><p></p><p>Sharwyn, still protecting the Outcast- fires three more magic missiles at the nearest enemy, that’s Newt- and now the tabaxi is well beyond bloodied, and making a screechy din. He’s not happy.</p><p></p><p>This however is going to the wire.</p><p></p><p>Ram & Garumn are down- the latter however is only sleeping, but the paladin is also low on HP, Newt- likewise- low HP, Vincenbear- also low on HP. The ace in the Dark Squad’s hand is, of course, that bad bastard wood elf- Buggles.</p><p></p><p>And so it comes to pass…</p><p></p><p>Buggles gets two more shots at the Outcast with his scimitar, alas the first blade is a miss (and another ‘1’) but the second cuts deep- and the evil druid is back to screaming in fury and pain (and back on 3 hp).</p><p></p><p>So, he heals himself- there’s nothing much else he can do to stay alive, what d’you know (and I’m making these rolls out in the open) Belak’s enhanced cure wounds is only one off maximum. The Outcast is soon back to grinning and making threats.</p><p></p><p>I did say it went back and forth.</p><p></p><p>Newt tries to get some distance from his enemies, the warlock finds himself stood right next to Sharwyn and the Outcast- he (in his own words) got far too close to the action.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]123885[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Newt realises he's too close to the action, just prior to getting AoO'ed unconscious as he attempts to slip away.</strong></p><p></p><p>Alas the tabaxi’s retreat doesn’t go to plan- Sharwyn stabs the warlock, while the Outcast catches the cat-man with his flailing staff, and a second later Newt is sprawled head-ringing and dirt napping, unconscious and making death saves.</p><p></p><p>That’s three of the PCs down.</p><p></p><p>Keep Winnie the Pooh busy with the twig blights, and that just leaves the Outcast and Sharwyn vs Monsieur Buggelz.</p><p></p><p>I nearly got this.</p><p></p><p>Vincenbear is still taking hits, and now down to 6 hit points. The ursine however ploughs on, he destroys another twig blight, and then bounds over to the smoking Gulthias Tree and tears at the evil giant plant.</p><p></p><p>Just to say guys- if you had taken the Gulthias Tree down, then… all of the bad guys still standing would have turned on the Outcast- there was an insight DC available, if you had asked about this…</p><p></p><p>And when you hit the Tree with the flames, I had the Outcast plead with you to not harm it, amid his ongoing threats.</p><p></p><p>The Gulthias Tree was the key, although destroying it would, of course, lead to problems later (with the supplicants).</p><p></p><p>Vincenbear is scratched again, as the last (ever) twig blight is flushed from its hiding place behind the great tree.</p><p></p><p>The Gulthias Tree has resistance to piercing damage, and so is only taking 50% damage from Vincenbear’s attacks.</p><p></p><p>Still, at this point the Tree has 3 HP.</p><p></p><p>So, very close…</p><p></p><p>A second later and Ram is back on his feet, although clearly not in great shape (death save ‘20’ = 1 hit point back), the rogue however has it in him to stumble forward and skewer the Outcast some more- and now it’s Belak’s turn to stagger (he’s on 1 hit point).</p><p></p><p>Sharwyn has one last spell- she evokes a trio of magic missile, the first of which slams into Ram and sends the rogue back down into the dark place. he'd dying again.</p><p></p><p>The second two force missiles hurtle into, and knock the wind right out of, Buggles- the wood elf is now heavily wounded, and angry- he makes his threats and then stabs at the almost dead Outcast with his twin scimitars, and misses, and then misses again.</p><p></p><p>There follows cruel haunting laughter on the VTT, from memory- my laughter.</p><p></p><p>The fight goes on…</p><p></p><p>The Outcast has one spell left- another cure, or… he thunderwaves Buggles back again, the wood elf staggers and almost falls (now below 10 HP).</p><p></p><p>But suddenly Vincenbear scents the Outcast’s blood, the great ursine turns from the Gulthias Tree and bounds over to the druid, he bites and tears and the evil Outcast falls. For good measure the big bastard also manages to claw (and bloody) Sharwyn.</p><p></p><p>That happened very quickly.</p><p></p><p>The last twig blight scurries after Vincenbear and claws the beast again, the ursine is down to 4 hit points, Sharwyn (out of spells) stabs it with her dagger, and the druid’s wildshape fades as Vincenzo suddenly stands in the creature’s stead.</p><p></p><p>Buggles, desperate, gets his second wind and then slashes wildly at Sharwyn- but, yet another miss.</p><p></p><p>Vincenzo manoeuvres and gets to Newt with a cure wounds, the tabaxi blinks open his eyes- he’s alive.</p><p></p><p>Ramshambow meantime begins to fit and splutter as he fails his first death save.</p><p></p><p>Then, at last, Buggles’ scimitar comes again- the flat of the blade making a loud clonking sound as it connects with Sharwyn’s head- the Hucrele is left sprawled and unconscious.</p><p></p><p>The last twig blight is incinerated, moments later, by Newt’s burning hands.</p><p></p><p>Victory, it only took 12 rounds to play out, and nearly two hours to play through around the virtual tabletop, although that included a ten minute rest break and over twenty minutes of collective threats and ranting.</p><p></p><p>[Everything is dead (or similar), including 15 twig blights, a giant frog, the Outcast and the supplicants (sorta) 1325 XP]</p><p></p><p>Vincenzo is quickly over to Ramshambow with the cure, Buggles meantime gets to Garumn and kicks the snoring dwarf paladin back awake.</p><p></p><p>But the Dark Squad just don’t stop- first up Sharwyn and Sir Braford are examined, extensively (medicine and nature checks, with a bit of arcana for good measure). The findings being both creatures live, although- and this after more investigations of the Gulthias Tree, the woody pair are linked (in life) to the strange plant monstrosity.</p><p></p><p>[Primary investigations 100 XP]</p><p></p><p>Kill the tree and the supplicants die too… probably, is Vince’s thinking- which is right on time as the Dark Squad were just about to fire the Gulthias Tree.</p><p></p><p>Vincenzo and Newt’s investigations continue apace, and eventually a woody knot on the tree is discovered, and then reaching in- a rosy red apple is found.</p><p></p><p>[The apple 250 XP]</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]123886[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Making sense of the Gulthias Tree. </strong></p><p></p><p>Which leads to more checking and cross-checking, for which I mean another half-a-dozen, mostly guidance enhanced, skill checks. This until the solution is at hand- the solution being stewed apple, which is fed to the now restrained supplicant pair.</p><p></p><p>It takes an age, over an hour, with the Dark Squad breathing hard after a little light healing, and after Monsieur Buggelz has taken all he can find from the fallen, but… eventually, the flicker of life. It seems Sir Braford and Sharwyn are for the land of the living.</p><p></p><p>Just to note Newt had a real go at persuading the other members of the Dark Squad about the potential value of the apple, basically should we be wasting this healing magic on the no-mark supplicants. I’d like to tell you that this suggestion was met by scorn and derision, it mostly wasn’t- several members of the Dark Squad took the time to do the maths.</p><p></p><p>How much do we earn if we sell the apple versus how much do we earn if we take the supplicants home, alive?</p><p></p><p>The reward is greater if the supplicants are hale and hearty.</p><p></p><p>Actually, Garumn has the last word, and its life.</p><p></p><p>Sharwyn and Sir Braford are fed the healing apple stew.</p><p></p><p>I loved this chatter by the way, the Dark Squad are toting round an NPC paladin, Vincenzo is for the light, and the right, and what is good etc. The other three- Ram, Newt and Buggles are (for different reasons) a little more flexible with their approach.</p><p></p><p>So, the supplicants are awake, but broken- inside and out, incoherent and, well… broken, about covers it.</p><p></p><p>[The supplicants are cured 250 XP]</p><p></p><p>Note during Sir Braford’s lie down Garumn took the opportunity to have a look at the supplicant paladin’s blade- this as he was asked to do so by Rurik, the dwarf smith back in Thundertree. The dwarf paladin shows the blade to his companions, the weapon (a longsword) was made by Durgeddin the Black- coincidence?</p><p></p><p>Remember, the ancient scroll the Dark Squad found here, pointed to the location of the long lost holdfast of Durgeddin the Black, it’s somewhere near Mount Hotenow.</p><p></p><p>There are conversations to be had, if and when Sir Braford is back to being compos(t) mentis.</p><p></p><p>Also, here’s a thought for the Dark Squad which they have not asked themselves (or anyone else, as of yet)- where is Karakas, the missing ranger that accompanied the Hucrele’s? Sharwyn and Sir Braford are all present and correct, Talgen was killed by Durn the goblin chief, that’s known. What then happened to the missing ranger?</p><p></p><p>Ram has been asked to find out and report back.</p><p></p><p>Also, and I’m writing this for the PCs/players to read, where’s the light that doesn’t go out? The one you need to find to access the dragon key?</p><p></p><p>But that’s for next time, probably… possibly, we’ll see.</p><p></p><p>Stay safe and well.</p><p></p><p>Cheers goonalan.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Goonalan, post: 8039627, member: 16069"] [CENTER][B]Dark Squad in the Sunless Citadel[/B][/CENTER] [B]Session #008 Dark Squad versus The Outcast AKA Lockdown Combat. Dark Squad (in alphabetical order, no egos here). Buggles (played by Stu) Male Wood Elf Fighter Lvl 1/Rogue Lvl 2 New Tricks (played by Bear) Male Tabaxi Warlock Lvl 3 Ramshambo (played by Kev) Male Half-Elf Rogue Lvl 3 Vincenzo (played by Haggis) Male Shifter (Wildhunt) Druid Lvl 3 NPCs Garumn Male Mountain Dwarf Paladin of Moradin Lvl 3 Left back with the Kobolds Erky Timbers Male Gnome Priest of Tymora[/B] So, session #8, and here we go again- last we left the Dark Squad they were holed up back in the ‘goblin spa’ (for which read goblin work rooms) this after taking an extended rest and ringing the level 3 bell. Outside of the chamber in which the brave adventurers rest are the scattered and/or burnt remains of a dozen goblins- the site of last week’s/session’s massacre. The stench is horrific and may haunt a few of the Dark Squad for quite a while. But possibly only Vincenzo as the other guys really don’t give a stuff. Then onwards- to victory, the Dark Squad lead by a stealthy Ram cautiously make their way back to the Twilight Grove proper, the massive cavern, at the entrance to which they previously fought more smock wearing goblins and a clutch of twig blights. A little more chatter- how are we going to play this, follows- now they’re facing the thing. Note the Dark Squad take the time to examine the vegetation within the massive cavern (stunted snarly briars) and are of the opinion that moving slowly, and stealthily, and cautiously is the order of the day. However, to begin with Vincenzo will scout ahead- hang on, what’s that, Vincenzo? Well, may I introduce to you Vincen G. Spider, the druid wildshapes into a terrifying giant arachnid, and then scuttles up the wall of the cavern and from there onto the ceiling forty feet overhead, and then eight-legs-stealthy he creeps ahead. [ATTACH type="full" alt="8.1.jpg"]123879[/ATTACH] [B]Spider-Druid![/B] Down below the rest of the Dark Squad slowly, carefully make their way into the fungus and briar choked cavern, every now and then Newt using a message cantrip to make contact with Vincen G. Spider up above to take direction. The first obstacle, as spotted by Vincen, are a clutch of twig blights- all heading in the Dark Squad’s general direction- the adventurers are therefore forewarned of the impending attack, although that doesn’t seem to help their cause. Note, there are some real bad rolls from the PCs at the start of this session (and continuing throughout, a little). Even the players were snarling and gnashing their teeth at the number of ‘1’s and ‘2’s flying by. At one point the PCs rolled four ‘1’s in a row- nice. And so a clutch of twig blights get into action, Newt gets clawed and then attempts to get away from his attacker by using a nearby wall and his cat-like reflexes to leap up and over the enemy, he succeeds only in demolishing the wall and then only just managing to stay on his feet (‘1’). Less than a second later Vincen G. Spider shoots a web down onto a twig blight but misses by a mile and ends up covering Garumn in his sticky offering, the dwarven paladin is left screaming/mumbling his fury (that’s another ‘1’). Newt gets a hit in with his eldritch blast, but not with enough force to kill a twig blight (damage ‘1’+). [ATTACH type="full" alt="8.15.jpg"]123880[/ATTACH] [B]Look Out! Tree Demons![/B] Buggles, alas is not the most stealthy (‘1’) but his twin scimitars are by far the most effective in these opening moments, he Crits a twig blight to death. Ram, with his bow however, is much less effective (and another ‘1’). Then normal service is resumed- Newt blasts another twig blight dead, Garumn escapes Vincen G. Spider’s webs- still grumbling and moaning, Buggles carves another twig blight- but not enough to kill it, the little beast scratches the wood elf right back. Then, after another turn of mostly missing, Garumn rumbles forward and smashes down the last of the little scratchy bastards. Note, Vincen G. Spider- still up above, watches several more twig blights in retreat- heading deeper into the cavern, towards the twenty foot ruined walls of some ancient fortress or keep (perhaps) further in to the chamber. [More dead twig blights 100 XP] The Dark Squad re-orientate themselves, and then press on- spider-Vince leading the way, with more messages being sent by Newt to the druid. And remarkably their collective stealth check is bloody marvellous (lowest roll an adjusted ‘13’), the Dark Squad spot enemies ahead- within the compass of the ruins, also present there is a massive dead-looking tree. This is the Gulthias Tree, although introductions come a little later. Spider-Vince silently scouts ahead, the enemies present include, he’s certain- the Outcast (a crazy looking robe and staff guy), the two missing adventurers- the expensively robed Sharwyn and the heavily armoured Sir Braford- this pair are standing statue, they also look wan and ill. Also present are at least two more of the scratchy twig blight bastards. He’s seen enough, and so the druid scurries down the cavern wall- out of sight (he thinks) and then transforms back into, well… himself. At which point he drops a spike growth spell onto the largest group of enemies he can see from his present position back on the cavern floor. Sir Braford and a clutch of twig blights are now cut off from their allies, and surrounded by a sea of hostile spikey vegetation. [ATTACH type="full" alt="8.2.jpg"]123881[/ATTACH] [B]And the Lockdown begins.[/B] In the chat window on FG, meantime, Ram is counting down, and we get to ‘1’- the attack is launched, this as several twig blights emerge from hiding and start moving towards Vincenzo (who’s last stealth check was a… no, not a ‘1’, a ‘2’- 100% better, but still not enough). Ramshambow scurries forward to help the druid and then misses his opening attack (‘1’) but manages to slash the twig blight with his off-hand dagger, it still lives. Buggles destroys a twig blight in an instant with a deadly accurate arrow shot from his longbow- at which point the Outcast begins shouting and calling for parley from the centre of the ruined fort/tree clearing. “You know not what you do. I mean you no harm, I have caused you no offense- why do you attack me so?” We go back and forth for a while (over twenty minutes), the Outcast letting the Dark Squad know the origins of the beautiful tree that is his life’s work. The Gulthias Tree grew from the wooden stake that was hammered through a vampire’s heart on this spot a millennia (or thereabouts) ago. The crazy druid introduces the twig blights, and tells how the tree produces the magical apples, he even takes the time to introduce his latest pride and joy- the supplicants. Sir Braford and Sharwyn, who have been ‘accepted’ by the sentinel plant monstrosity. Several of the PCs also make their feelings known- primarily Vincenzo, of course, because he is the most outwardly offended by the spectacle before him- the perversion of nature, the tyranny of the Outcast- to fashion new beings for evil. A few of the other PCs snipe and make threats culminating in Vincenzo’s threat-finale, basically the shifter druid is going to destroy the Outcast and his tree, and then return this place to nature. The Outcast makes his own threats, of course, he’s going to either- feed the Dark Squad’s blood and broken bones to the soil, or else he’s going to get himself a few new supplicants- nice. It gets to fighting again, as we drop back into initiative. And just to say ahead of time, how I work this magic (the write up here) is I just copy the text from the chat window in FG and translate, so apologies ahead of time but this one has a lot of he did… she did… etc. It’s not meant to be literature, just writin’. Back to the action… But also just to say that over the course of the next few (10+) turns another ten or so twig blights emerge from a variety of locations and get into action against the Dark Squad. I’m topping up the enemies as I go on. Buggles is the first to suffer from the little scratchy bastards. Then however Belak, the Outcast, settles an entangle spell over a clutch of the PCs- and Newt, Vince and Ram all fail their saves and are grasped by the snarly vegetation. [ATTACH type="full" alt="8.3.jpg"]123882[/ATTACH] [B]Working for the Clampdown.[/B] The trio are going nowhere fast- that’s not an idle brag, I was there to witness it- around the VTT (real-time) Newt was still struggling to get away from the plants nearly an hour later. The tabaxi however has enough about him to blast another approaching twig blight, but again the creature doesn’t fall. Note, I maxed the hit points of every enemy creature in this combat, and so the twig blights have 7 hp each (they’re tanks), Sharwyn 20 hp, Sir Braford 30 hp, Kulket (the giant frog- he’s biding his time, we’ll meet him soon) 30+ hp, and the Outcast 45 hp. The big bad. Note I also gave the Gulthias Tree a few extra hp- 45, same as Belak. Meantime a pair of twig blights and Sir Braford, all caught within the Vincenzo’s spike growth, attempt to escape the spell’s compass- the twig blights are left badly wounded, while Sir Braford even more so- he takes 20 hp damage escaping the terrain horror (and is down to 10 hp), the ex-paladin scurries to the Outcast’s side for healing. Vincenzo fires an Ice Knife at the Outcast, high wide an handsome- another ‘1’. Ramshambow fails to escape the entangling plants, and fails with his flailing off-hand dagger to make a mark on one of the twig blights that are gathering at the spot to tear the restrained adventurers apart (he rolled a… ‘1’, funny that). To make matters worse Sharwyn fires a ray of frost into the rogue- that hurt, and chilly. Buggles however is still in action, he cuts down another twig blight and then finds a hiding place for himself. He rolls a ‘1’ for his stealth check. And keep in mind that a lot of these rolls are made in the tower on FG, so the players can’t see the results- they can however hear me giggling and snorting- so unbecoming, but I enjoyed it. Another twig blight gets its claws into Ramshambow, and now the rogue is bloodied. Note, throughout all of this the Outcast is adding his commentary track- a mixture of dire threats and exhortations to the adventurers to surrender to the inevitable. The Outcast hits Garumn with a poison spray, although the tough dwarf barely notices. Newt fails to escape the entangling plants, as does Vincenzo, and Ram- and so the rogue spends his inspiration point, and… fails again. Note the entangled adventurers also can’t get a bead on their enemies, who are dodging back into cover behind the ruined walls of the former fortress. Buggles however is now making his way around the action (and unseen, at times)- with the Outcast and his associates concentrating on the entangled bunch. The wood elf therefore has the time and space to manoeuvre, his twin scimitars go snicker-snack, and another two twig blights are turned to tinder. Note, throughout the above Garumn is surrounded by twig blights- with his back to the entangled area, he’s also flailing and missing repeatedly. The paladin of Moradin usually never misses- most odd. The Outcast meantime heals Sir Braford and sends him forward to face the foe, and to give himself some cover. At which point Vincenzo stops concentrating on his first spike growth spell, it fades, and then casts his second spike growth spell- which now encompasses the Outcast and his two supplicants (Sir Braford and Sharwyn). Oh bother, the DM sighs, they’re (the PCs) stuck, and now my guys are stuck again- send in more twig blights. Then seconds later Vincenzo casts a Moonbeam spell from a scroll (after spending an inspiration point to do so) and briefly bathes Sir Braford in the power’s glorious radiant light- the ex-paladin falls, broken. A moment later Ram, at last, escapes the entangle and slices a twig blight down and destroys it. Sharwyn, now defending the Outcast, fires a trio of magic missiles into the attackers- one force missile each for Ram, Garumn and Newt (the DM was feeling generous). Buggles however is now in place, he lets an arrow fly- a Crit (for 14 damage) and now the Outcast is really screaming threats, no more Mr Nice-Guy-Crazy-Druid. Garumn meantime smashes down a twig blight- at last, however the dwarf cannot charge forward- as the way ahead, to Sharwyn and the Outcast, is all spike growth. The Outcast cures himself, while all the time making more dire threats. Newt continues to fail to escape the entangle spell (‘1’). Alas, for Buggles, the wood elf is now out in the open- Kulket, the Outcast’s Giant Frog, leaps down out of the Gulthias Tree and bites the wood elf, grappling and restraining him. [ATTACH type="full" alt="8.4.jpg"]123883[/ATTACH] [B]Frog Attack![/B] Vincenzo has had enough, he wildshapes again- this time into a brown bear (Vincenbear) and then rips his way free of the entangling vegetation. Meantime more twig blights are emerging from the wild and heading over to slash and cut at Buggles. Ram, also free of the entangle, scurries over and attempts to skewer the Outcast with his rapier, alas- a miss (‘2’), he attempts to retreat but is caught in Sharwyn’s colour spray and left staggering aimlessly and blinded. Buggles meantime escapes the close attentions of his attackers (Kulket, the giant frog & two twig blights) by leaping over them and away (acrobatics ‘20’), and then heading back into cover and hiding some more. Garumn, at last, trundles forward and warhammer in hand attempts to end the Outcast (he’s ready and waiting with his divine smite option) but he misses, and so uses his inspiration point to… miss, again. The Outcast needs to get away, and so thunderwaves Garumn and (the blind and broken) Ramshambow back the way they came- the result a bloodied and beyond Garumn (on 8 HP) and Ram bleeding out and taking a dirt nap. Newt, finally escapes the clutching vegetation, and then immediately launches three scorching rays at the Outcast- two of which connect with the ranting druid. The big bad is bloodied, at last. Meantime Vincenbear stomps into the mess of enemies that were formerly in Buggles’ grill, he tears into Kulket the giant frog- the creature is very quickly critically wounded. Ramshambow makes his first death save- success. Sharwyn conjures again and seconds later Garumn hits the dirt, the dwarf paladin of Moradin however is only sleeping. [ATTACH type="full" alt="8.5.jpg"]123884[/ATTACH] [B]Sleepy-Sleepy Time. Shhh… Don't wake the Paladin.[/B] Buggles stealthily creeps from his hiding place and settles himself just behind the Outcast, his twin scimitars cut and slice, and Belak is left critically wounded (and on 3 HP), but only for a moment as the evil druid casts an enhanced cure wounds on himself (and the grinning DM rolls just short of max healing). Newt, now unleashed, changes tack and fires three more scorching rays- this time at the Gulthias Tree (two hits) the evil plant sentinel is left smouldering (from 45 HP to 15 HP- vulnerable to fire). Then the wild tabaxi uses his feline agility to get in the Outcast’s face and scream a few threats of his own. Vincenbear meantime gets clawed repeatedly by a pair of twig blights, the wildshape creature is now bloodied too. Kulket the giant frog, tries to leap to his master’s side, Vincenbear however swats the loyal amphibian out of the air- it crashes hard into a nearby ruined wall and lies silent and unmoving- dead. Note, at this point- with the Gulthias Tree on fire, Sir Braford gone- over half the twig blights spent, his giant frog dead- the Outcast is shouting threats at every instance, he’s losing it man! And this DM thinks that the end is mostly very nigh. Vincenbear claws and bites yet another twig blight dead, but another of the scratchy bastards emerges from hiding and claws the roaring ursine. Note I kept adding one more twig blight from hiding every round, until I had added an additional ten of the little bastards to the mix. Ramshambow succeeds on another death save- that’s two. Sharwyn, still protecting the Outcast- fires three more magic missiles at the nearest enemy, that’s Newt- and now the tabaxi is well beyond bloodied, and making a screechy din. He’s not happy. This however is going to the wire. Ram & Garumn are down- the latter however is only sleeping, but the paladin is also low on HP, Newt- likewise- low HP, Vincenbear- also low on HP. The ace in the Dark Squad’s hand is, of course, that bad bastard wood elf- Buggles. And so it comes to pass… Buggles gets two more shots at the Outcast with his scimitar, alas the first blade is a miss (and another ‘1’) but the second cuts deep- and the evil druid is back to screaming in fury and pain (and back on 3 hp). So, he heals himself- there’s nothing much else he can do to stay alive, what d’you know (and I’m making these rolls out in the open) Belak’s enhanced cure wounds is only one off maximum. The Outcast is soon back to grinning and making threats. I did say it went back and forth. Newt tries to get some distance from his enemies, the warlock finds himself stood right next to Sharwyn and the Outcast- he (in his own words) got far too close to the action. [ATTACH type="full" alt="8.6.jpg"]123885[/ATTACH] [B]Newt realises he's too close to the action, just prior to getting AoO'ed unconscious as he attempts to slip away.[/B] Alas the tabaxi’s retreat doesn’t go to plan- Sharwyn stabs the warlock, while the Outcast catches the cat-man with his flailing staff, and a second later Newt is sprawled head-ringing and dirt napping, unconscious and making death saves. That’s three of the PCs down. Keep Winnie the Pooh busy with the twig blights, and that just leaves the Outcast and Sharwyn vs Monsieur Buggelz. I nearly got this. Vincenbear is still taking hits, and now down to 6 hit points. The ursine however ploughs on, he destroys another twig blight, and then bounds over to the smoking Gulthias Tree and tears at the evil giant plant. Just to say guys- if you had taken the Gulthias Tree down, then… all of the bad guys still standing would have turned on the Outcast- there was an insight DC available, if you had asked about this… And when you hit the Tree with the flames, I had the Outcast plead with you to not harm it, amid his ongoing threats. The Gulthias Tree was the key, although destroying it would, of course, lead to problems later (with the supplicants). Vincenbear is scratched again, as the last (ever) twig blight is flushed from its hiding place behind the great tree. The Gulthias Tree has resistance to piercing damage, and so is only taking 50% damage from Vincenbear’s attacks. Still, at this point the Tree has 3 HP. So, very close… A second later and Ram is back on his feet, although clearly not in great shape (death save ‘20’ = 1 hit point back), the rogue however has it in him to stumble forward and skewer the Outcast some more- and now it’s Belak’s turn to stagger (he’s on 1 hit point). Sharwyn has one last spell- she evokes a trio of magic missile, the first of which slams into Ram and sends the rogue back down into the dark place. he'd dying again. The second two force missiles hurtle into, and knock the wind right out of, Buggles- the wood elf is now heavily wounded, and angry- he makes his threats and then stabs at the almost dead Outcast with his twin scimitars, and misses, and then misses again. There follows cruel haunting laughter on the VTT, from memory- my laughter. The fight goes on… The Outcast has one spell left- another cure, or… he thunderwaves Buggles back again, the wood elf staggers and almost falls (now below 10 HP). But suddenly Vincenbear scents the Outcast’s blood, the great ursine turns from the Gulthias Tree and bounds over to the druid, he bites and tears and the evil Outcast falls. For good measure the big bastard also manages to claw (and bloody) Sharwyn. That happened very quickly. The last twig blight scurries after Vincenbear and claws the beast again, the ursine is down to 4 hit points, Sharwyn (out of spells) stabs it with her dagger, and the druid’s wildshape fades as Vincenzo suddenly stands in the creature’s stead. Buggles, desperate, gets his second wind and then slashes wildly at Sharwyn- but, yet another miss. Vincenzo manoeuvres and gets to Newt with a cure wounds, the tabaxi blinks open his eyes- he’s alive. Ramshambow meantime begins to fit and splutter as he fails his first death save. Then, at last, Buggles’ scimitar comes again- the flat of the blade making a loud clonking sound as it connects with Sharwyn’s head- the Hucrele is left sprawled and unconscious. The last twig blight is incinerated, moments later, by Newt’s burning hands. Victory, it only took 12 rounds to play out, and nearly two hours to play through around the virtual tabletop, although that included a ten minute rest break and over twenty minutes of collective threats and ranting. [Everything is dead (or similar), including 15 twig blights, a giant frog, the Outcast and the supplicants (sorta) 1325 XP] Vincenzo is quickly over to Ramshambow with the cure, Buggles meantime gets to Garumn and kicks the snoring dwarf paladin back awake. But the Dark Squad just don’t stop- first up Sharwyn and Sir Braford are examined, extensively (medicine and nature checks, with a bit of arcana for good measure). The findings being both creatures live, although- and this after more investigations of the Gulthias Tree, the woody pair are linked (in life) to the strange plant monstrosity. [Primary investigations 100 XP] Kill the tree and the supplicants die too… probably, is Vince’s thinking- which is right on time as the Dark Squad were just about to fire the Gulthias Tree. Vincenzo and Newt’s investigations continue apace, and eventually a woody knot on the tree is discovered, and then reaching in- a rosy red apple is found. [The apple 250 XP] [ATTACH type="full" alt="8.7.jpg"]123886[/ATTACH] [B]Making sense of the Gulthias Tree. [/B] Which leads to more checking and cross-checking, for which I mean another half-a-dozen, mostly guidance enhanced, skill checks. This until the solution is at hand- the solution being stewed apple, which is fed to the now restrained supplicant pair. It takes an age, over an hour, with the Dark Squad breathing hard after a little light healing, and after Monsieur Buggelz has taken all he can find from the fallen, but… eventually, the flicker of life. It seems Sir Braford and Sharwyn are for the land of the living. Just to note Newt had a real go at persuading the other members of the Dark Squad about the potential value of the apple, basically should we be wasting this healing magic on the no-mark supplicants. I’d like to tell you that this suggestion was met by scorn and derision, it mostly wasn’t- several members of the Dark Squad took the time to do the maths. How much do we earn if we sell the apple versus how much do we earn if we take the supplicants home, alive? The reward is greater if the supplicants are hale and hearty. Actually, Garumn has the last word, and its life. Sharwyn and Sir Braford are fed the healing apple stew. I loved this chatter by the way, the Dark Squad are toting round an NPC paladin, Vincenzo is for the light, and the right, and what is good etc. The other three- Ram, Newt and Buggles are (for different reasons) a little more flexible with their approach. So, the supplicants are awake, but broken- inside and out, incoherent and, well… broken, about covers it. [The supplicants are cured 250 XP] Note during Sir Braford’s lie down Garumn took the opportunity to have a look at the supplicant paladin’s blade- this as he was asked to do so by Rurik, the dwarf smith back in Thundertree. The dwarf paladin shows the blade to his companions, the weapon (a longsword) was made by Durgeddin the Black- coincidence? Remember, the ancient scroll the Dark Squad found here, pointed to the location of the long lost holdfast of Durgeddin the Black, it’s somewhere near Mount Hotenow. There are conversations to be had, if and when Sir Braford is back to being compos(t) mentis. Also, here’s a thought for the Dark Squad which they have not asked themselves (or anyone else, as of yet)- where is Karakas, the missing ranger that accompanied the Hucrele’s? Sharwyn and Sir Braford are all present and correct, Talgen was killed by Durn the goblin chief, that’s known. What then happened to the missing ranger? Ram has been asked to find out and report back. Also, and I’m writing this for the PCs/players to read, where’s the light that doesn’t go out? The one you need to find to access the dragon key? But that’s for next time, probably… possibly, we’ll see. Stay safe and well. Cheers goonalan. [/QUOTE]
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The Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh #135 Sorry For The (Attempted) Genocide.
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