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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 8107856" data-attributes="member: 16069">Dark Squad in the Forge of FurySession #019 Bel(phegor).Dark Squad (in alphabetical order, no egos here).Buggles (played by Stu) Male Wood Elf Fighter Lvl 1/Rogue Lvl 3New Tricks (played by Bear) Male Tabaxi Warlock Lvl 4Ramshambo (played by Kev) Male Half-Elf Rogue Lvl 4Vincenzo (played by Haggis) Male Shifter (Wildhunt) Druid Lvl 4NPCsGarumn Male Mountain Dwarf Paladin of Moradin Lvl 4NPC hangers-on, rescued prisoners of the OrcsGeradil the “Inconceivable”, aging trapper (Male Human)“Screaming” Courana, lady’s maid (Female Human)Spandwick the Magic Gnome, ex-stage mesmerist (Male Gnome)This is session 19, yet another cracker, and this one with lots and lots of action.Just to remind you the Dark Squad are at present looking for two things- Bel (Spandwick’s wife) and the key to the forge of Durgeddin the Black, the door having already been located.Last we left the adventurers they were down in the sinkhole, and in an ancient dwarven storeroom- face-to-face (sorta, briefly) with a grey ooze. The ooze having been spotted by Ram while sneaking ahead, with a ‘26’ perception check- the lucky bastard.[ATTACH=full]127443[/ATTACH]Step away from the Ooze, which is pretty much all you have to do to out run it.And so there follows a little rough and tumble with the grey ooze, made slightly more dangerous when a second ooze detaches itself from the ceiling and briefly batters Vinnie with its acid enhanced pseudopod. But the thing is the members of the Dark Squad (with good to great monster knowledge checks) and the players (with years of experience) know how to deal with oozes. The adventurers stay back, throw spells and missiles aplenty, and pretty much take down the slow moving creatures in a matter of moments.Job done.[Two grey oozes 200 XP]The Dark Squad spend a good ten minutes eyeing up the contents of the store chambers, but there’s nothing of interest to be found here. Then an extended chat with Spandwick the Magic Gnome, the little fellow is keen to garner the PCs thoughts regarding the quest to find his missing wife- Bel. Alas some of the members of the Dark Squad have low tolerances for NPCs (Newt- often, Buggles- sometimes, Ram- every now and then). Therefore any conversation that begins with Spandwick asking “Have you found Bel yet?” is fraught with danger. Which is probably why I do it so much.But I had a reason for doing it now, not just to remind the guys...Anyway, long story short- Vinnie suggests that Bel may be hiding in a box- she’s smart, she’s small etc. she could be safe and sound just around the corner- the druid consoles Spandwick. Newt however suggests that the box could also serve as Bel's coffin. It gets chippy (but polite chippy) for a while. Vinnie, as always, smooths the way- he’s a silver-tongued bugger, and better still- a reasonable/responsible person who cares for someone other than himself.That’s not a dig at the players by the way, that’s their PCs- and they play them very well- the PCs in question have other pressing concerns.[Chatting with Spandwick some more 100 XP]Soon after a second sprawling storage chamber is discovered and investigated, which proves much easier to do as it’s pretty much empty.Then back out and into the caverns proper, following a racing river (from the sinkhole above) south which flows into a much faster torrent of water heading west to east. A fifteen foot high natural cavern running alongside the watercourse. An ancient but sturdy dwarven bridge crosses the stream, the cavern continues to the west.[ATTACH=full]127444[/ATTACH]Dark Squad in exploration mode.A waterlogged storeroom is discovered, but left for later investigation, particularly as the place is flooded to around five feet deep, and none of the members of the Squad are keen to go for a swim, and besides the last storerooms generated exactly zero percent interesting (or valuable) stuff.Let’s head on…Up a set of natural stairs that once again span the river and around the corner to… what’s this!The two rogues, as usual, are sneaking ahead of the rest of the gang, and both (Buggles has fallen into line) are stopping every now and then to make active perception checks. Keep in mind that the fast flowing river is also very noisy, but anyway- I digress, over the other side of the underground torrent is a large flopping cave fish, situated just before a very large stalagmite. Again, remember these are experienced players here.Ram spots the strange sight and cautions Buggles to stay silent and observe (in sign language/thieves cant- the pair have a system). The watched stalagmite suddenly grows a horrendous fanged maw, a whip-thin tentacle lashes out from it- snares the flopping gulping fish and flings it into the aforementioned maw.NOM-NOM goes the roper.[ATTACH=full]127445[/ATTACH]There's a fair amount of consternation in the ranks when the Roper/Stalag-biter is spotted, these guys have played this game before.Although Buggles later declares the creature to be a stalag-biter (or something similar) after his traditional monster knowledge check roll (usually a ‘4’).However in the moment the wood elf is the first to react, he fires an arrow at the stony beast (with a ‘1’) and then rushes back around the corner- alerting his comrades in arms to the presence of the stalag-biter/roper.Ramshambow fires an arrow into the now furious beast and then also takes to heels, although he remains closer to the action but now hidden within the shadows.The other members of the Dark Squad (all with better initiative than the roper) take it in turns to rush around the corner and fire off their various spells or missile weapons (eldritch blast/produce flame/hand axe/arrow) and then duck back away and out of sight.Alas their attacks are all misses, the players quickly ascertain that the roper is at least AC 19, that’s tough.Also a number of the PCs don’t retreat far enough away from the tendril sporting monstrosity, seconds later Garumn and Vincenzo are ensnared- both grappled and restrained. The dwarf paladin is reeled in and the roper’s maw opens wide set to receive, and… fails to take a bite (with advantage, bastard).Buggles and Newt do the attack hokey-cokey once more, rush in- fire (eldritch blast/arrow) and then run away again.They both miss.Garum, before the roper, grabs out Shatterspike, "I've got this guys... I'll take care of the big stony bastard", and then flails wildly- another miss. Then an inspiration point and… he misses again. "Guys? Guys? A little help!"Ram however is on target once again- he’s a stone cold killer, or else his electronic dice are weighted.Just a quick note, in this session (in the dice tower) Ram at one point rolls three ‘20’s in a row (all skill checks) while Buggles rolls three ‘1’s in a row (again, all skill checks). Buggles’ dice are busted (again).The roper chomps down on Garumn, the paladin goes from full HP to bloodied in an instant (24 damage) the dwarf will probably not survive a second bite attack.The stony bastard also sends another pair of tentacles questing around the corner of the cavern, trying to search out the PCs hidden there. Ram is almost caught in the beast’s grasp.Buggles dodges out, fires and... misses again, then flees back the way he came.Newt repeats the trick.Then again, after an inspiration point.There is screaming and shouting around the VTT- also a few cursory curses.Vincenzo however steels the show, he transforms into Vincen G. Octopod and tentacle grabs the roper right back, and so now the big stony bastard is grappled and restrained too.Oh, and the roper has also been hexed by Newt, it has disadvantage on its strength checks- the DM fumes.Just to say in game the roper makes a variety of noises during the fracas- mostly onomatopoeia, Vincen G. Octopod also has a range of battle-ready noises- all alas based around the WIBBLE-WIBBLE formula, an audio recording of this confrontation would not make for the closing moments of an action movie.NURRRR-NURRR!BLUBL-BLUB!GROMP!WIBBLE-WIBBLE!The roleplay, clearly, is intense.[ATTACH=full]127446[/ATTACH]Laydees and Gennelpersons, in the watery-blue corner VINCEN Geeee OCTO-Poddddddd! And in the red-for-blood corner, the STA-LAAAAG-BI-TERRRR! Wrastle-ON!Garumn spends all of his lay on hands on himself, in an effort to survive another roper bite, keep in mind the dwarf (and the octopod) are still in the clutches of the creature’s tendrils.Ram fires another arrow into the roper- he’s yet to miss, and now the stony bastard is bloodied (it started with just short of 90 HP).The roper however fails to bite Vincen G. Octopod (AC 11 or 12) and your glorious DM is fuming.Buggles fires an arrow into the beast, and now its critically wounded- damn!Vincen G’s tentacles batter and squeeze… and then Ram fires yet another arrow while scampering back and forth into hiding, and hits yet again- the roper suddenly lurches forward, and it’s tendrils go slack.Dead.Which of course causes Garumn and Vincen G. to be unceremoniously dumped into the fast flowing river, the dwarf paladin manages to grab hold of the stony shore and hang on as the river batters him. Vincen G. spreads his tentacles and somehow manages to bridge/span the water.The remaining members of the Dark Squad rush over to aid their companions away from danger, at which point Vincen G. Octopod is put away as Vinnie the druid returns to his everyday form.[The roper is dead 1800 XP]However, a moment later Newt announces, after a ‘20’ monster knowledge check earlier, that ropers are famed for eating precious gems and other forms of treasure.At which point, of course, the slowly slumping carcass of the roper completes its fall and drop-slides into the fast flowing river. The already assembled Dark Squad- at the river’s edge, use a variety of implements to grab/secure three of the roper’s four tendrils… and then take the strain, as the great beast is flushed away.It goes back and forth for a while, Newt is almost pulled into the racing watercourse by the weight of the dead roper (and the river’s rush). Eventually Vincenzo manages to grab out his wand of entangle and cast the spell in the area of the roper, the subsequent vegetable growth snares (briefly- act fast) the stony corpse. Then with Ram’s grappling hook embedded in the beast, the dead monstrosity is hauled out of the river/entangle area, and rolled- at last- onto the shore.The lengths they will go to for a payday.Job done.[Get the roper out of the river 200 XP]Then… well, lots of things happen at once.Buggles spots a passage to the north and investigates, there are three ancient cells off the concourse- a prison of sorts. Two of the three cell doors are wide open- and out of the first steps a small, middle-aged, female gnome. “Bel”, she says- and smiles, and then a moment later rushes around Buggles and straight into the arms of her husband Spandwick.Even the wood elf gets emotional- kidding.[ATTACH=full]127447[/ATTACH]Bel's ALIVE! The roper's dead! Get cutting- let's see what the stony bastard had for lunch... Oh, hello Bel- Garumn, have you found anything yet?The reunion continues for a while, with a teary Spandwick introducing his comrades- Bel’s heroic rescuers, the Dark Squad. Bel communicates entirely using various inflexions of the only word she knows… “Bel”, she’s been this way since the fateful show over a decade previous.Still she’s very grateful for her rescue, and particularly enamoured with her new tabaxi friend- Spandwick explains, she has always liked cats.Newt, roleplays this incredibly well, eventually curling up before the entranced gnome, purring contentedly as Bel continues to gently pet him.Meantime Garumn, with Shatterspike in hand, is in the process of gutting the roper- cutting through to the creature’s treasure-filled gizzard.Meantime (again) Buggles has searched the two open cells- they’re empty, and then located the key to the last locked cell- within is the corpse of a long dead dwarf, and hidden beneath the skeletal remains a pouch of platinum coins and… a big ornate key. The key to the door to the forge of Durgeddin the Black the PCs figure (correctly, as it happens).There is much rejoicing.[Find the key to the forge 200 XP]Then something very strange takes place- Newt decides to attempt to communicate with Bel telepathically, using a message cantrip- and she can respond to his message (he’s so very (very) clever). Somewhere within the female gnome’s mind a dam breaks.“Bel!” Bel replies.Then “Bel… Belf… BELFFFFFFF!”Finally, a much louder still-“BELPHEGOR!”But before we go on, just to remind you that Belphegor is the name of the fiery fiend that holds Newt’s soul in thrall. Belphegor is Newt’s (possibly) demonic patron.At which point, of course, Bel’s head also goes on fire… cue screaming and scrambling.The DM spams the weird button.Bel seems entirely unconcerned with the fact that she is aflame.Bel/Belphegor has a speech, here it goes, and it’s delivered in the demon’s (possibly) gravely growling voice, but through the mouth of the small fiery Bel.“Kneel before me my kindling apprentice!”Newt duly complies, Spandwick screams and scrambles away- then stumbles back towards his inferno wife- and then away again. The gnome is a wreck.The other members of the Dark Squad settle in for the show...“Harken to me my cat-salamander!”Newt harkens, as do the rest of the Dark Squad.WTF is going on here?“Tell Wildroot that you wish to join the pact of flame, resist the urge to burn the woodsman to the ground- he will set you to your task.”Newt nods, and makes notes in his book of shadows.“Discover the last ancestor, she that lives under the cover of darkness- the hag will have the answers.”“Got it, master.” Newt nods some more.“When the hands move the end will have begun.”“WAIT!”“For the pale dwarf without a face to beg you- only then should you take the ghost home.”Newt nods frantically, grinning all the while- his master is in da ‘ouse.“Do not fail me!”Newt commits to the cause- “I will not fail you master… I will not!”Belphegor, seconds later, is gone…Bel's countenance is returned to normal, she's left smiling- and unharmed.Belphegor's departure is just in time as several other members of the Dark Squad are starting to worry about the Bel to Belphegor transformation (very mostly Vinnie).[Meet Belphegor 500 XP]Much chatter follows… mostly circling around the expression- WTF?However the effect of the demon’s (possibly) brief visit is made more palatable when… Bel begins to speak normally, and to once again expresses her delight at being rescued/freed by the adventurers, and specifically- by Newt. Bel is Bel again, as she was before the accident, Spandwick cries some more.Then however Garumn, who throughout all of the above has been hard at work around the corner sawing and slicing up the roper, suddenly appears. The dwarf is swathed in blood, he announces that he has found a clutch of gems and a ring in the gizzard of the dead beast.There is much more rejoicing, particularly when Vinnie confirms that the newly found ring is magical.Yes- Bel's back. Yes- Newt's demon friend turned up for a look-see, got it. But look! We've found a magic ring!It's all about priorities.[Find the roper’s treasure 100 XP]Eventually, after a bunch more chatter we move on… the Dark Squad are heading back out of the mountain, this in order to deposit Bel and Spandwick in the secret cave in which Courana and Geradil are currently hiding. Good idea.Although, en route the pair o' rogues and Vinnie decide to go for a bit of a swim in the flooded storeroom they found earlier. Within Ram eventually (there was a lot of caution, and lots of checks here- the PCs were convinced the DM was going to attempt to kill them again... good work me) discovers the skeletal remains of an orc, in the last of the flooded chambers, and with the orc a sack containing three potion flasks.[ATTACH=full]127448[/ATTACH]"We might as well take a look..."Cue an extra-large portion of giggling and rejoicing.[A clutch of potions 150 XP]Too soon.By the time the Dark Squad get out of the mountain and back to their secret cavern lair both Buggles and Vinnie are sweating, and yet at the same time cold and shivery, the pair are also exhausted. There was something bad in the water they’ve just been swimming in it seems.Or as Vinnie the druid puts it- while breaking the fourth wall- "I knew when we went swimming in there we were gonna get screwed somehow... here it is!"Medicine checks follow, and it’s soon after decided that activity for the day is at an end- the unwell pair are made comfortable, and after a pair of lesser restoration spells (thanks Vinnie) are no longer diseased. They do however need to rest.Therefore it’s more chatter and admin-style activity for a while.First, a very strained conversation between Spandwick and Newt, the gnome is fizzing (and more than a little upset) he’s just worked it out- Belphegor has been lodged in Bel’s head for a decade or more. His wife has suffered terribly during this time, including spending three years incarcerated in an asylum in Helm’s Hold, and for what? So, that the fiery demon (possibly) could pass on a message to Newt?The tabaxi however is also at a loss- Belphegor has only communicated with him once previously (see Newt’s backstory). Spandwick’s anger is soon spent, he’s just upset because Bel has had to endure a lot of hurt… and for what?Later Newt gets around to using his identify ritual, the ring recovered from the roper’s gizzard is… a ring of spell storing- empty atm, but after a dice-off between Newt and Vinnie for ownership, it's soon after filled with helpful druid spells. Vincenzo for the win.Potions of healing, water breathing and invisibility are also identified and distributed.The rest of the day and night is spent resting- nothing happens (except a bit of Vinnie/Courana snuggling), although… on first watch Ram spots (‘20’) a huge dragon that suddenly wings over to obscure the moon, and then swoops around the Stone Tooth mountain and then away.The rogue gawps for a while, and then rushes to wake and tell his friends- he determines the great dragon was an ancient red (this after another ‘20’ check- remember Ram spent some of his last downtime reading and researching dragonkind).“Ashardalon?” Buggles asks, but none of his colleagues have the answer.[Ram spots an ancient red dragon 150 XP]Then sleep, and the morning after back to the glitterhame, and quickly and safely to the door to the forge of Durgeddin the Black, and this time Garumn has the key in hand.Beyond are wide, well-made, but ancient dwarven stairs that lead up into a hexagonal chamber- with a blue tiled floor, and containing three great dwarven statues (of dwarves, armed with axes) and also two hefty wooden doors exiting northeast and northwest.[ATTACH=full]127449[/ATTACH]Four players and a GM, that's five times 30 (minutes) = 2-and-a-half hours of our collective existence on this planet that we are never getting back. Remember this day, sadly I probably will. The rogues get into action, and… suddenly there are a lot of average to low rolls, the mooching around and checking/re-checking things goes on for bloody ages, the pair can’t find anything untoward very much. So long is the prevaricating and the false starts to an explanation regarding what's going on in here, that short fuse/curious cat Newt decides just to take an option. The tabaxi dodges forward to the northwest door, as the rogues in the room rush back and away (and out of danger) and wrenches it open. The two nearest statues swing their axes and the cat creature has taken two slashing swipes by the time he gets back to his friends and out of range.It's a beautiful thing to watch on the VTT- Newt's token suddenly scuds forward towards the northwest door, Bear (playing Newt) begins to announce "I rush forward and just grab the door..." and in the same instance, like some sort of balletic dance, the two rogue tokens on screen dash back and away- while their handlers (Buggles played by Stu & Ram played by Kev) announce in unison "Run!"At last, the other PCs/players are getting the hang of Newt.“ME-OW!”There follows more checking, re-checking and associated dice rolls- the second door- northeast, is similarly trapped Ram discovers. However, that leaves no obvious exits to the chamber. Note at this point the rogues have searched for secret doors on three separate occasions already, and have failed to break a ‘10’- including three ‘1’s out of their six checks.I kid you not, thirty bloody minutes...Eventually, at last, Ram finds a secret door behind the eastern statue, and they’re in…[The statue chamber 200 XP]Into a passage with more stairs heading up- halfway to the top and a great dwarven mouth complete with beard suddenly appears ahead of the gang and begins shouting warnings in dwarven- “Alert! Alert! Intruders approach!” Garumn and Vinnie translate.Then on, up the stairs at a rush comes Garumn- “Come on lads, the secrets out!”The dwarven paladin of Moradin bursts into a huge high-ceilinged, magnificently columned, vaulted dwarven hall- lit by torches on the walls, and a campfire amidst a sprawl of bed rolls, and over at the far end- a throne.[ATTACH=full]127450[/ATTACH]"Intaeum!" Garumn hollers- it's Scottish, or at least Irvine Welsh Scottish.Then a voice, out of the shadows- “Turn around and leave now, this is your one and only warning!”The voice possess a rich Scottish burr, which means…“Evil bloody dwarves!” Buggles states to guffaws.But that’s the end of the session- cliff-hanger.As I said at the start- another bloody cracker.Stay safe and well.Cheers the Dark Squad and goonalan.</blockquote>

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