D&D 5E Time for Adventure! (A Homebrew Campaign Log)

[pukunui]

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
Dramatis Personae: Berrian, Bhára, Karth
Source: The Speaker in Dreams

The Cellar
After reviving Karth and taking a quick breather, the heroes were ready to continue the search for the missing Ser Alein. As she did not appear to be anywhere on the upper levels, Torea suggested they look in the cellar. As the party headed back down, they found that the feelings of unease they'd felt when they first entered the bookshop were growing again. Citing the need to find somewhere quiet to lie down and watch the world spin around them, Gil and Tasklar abandoned their mates to whatever fate awaited them down below.

As the remaining heroes descended into what appeared to be a meeting room of sorts, their feelings of vertigo and disorientation grew unbearably intense. Bhára found herself clinging closely to her brother's side as though he were some kind of good luck charm she could use to stave off her burgeoning feelings of inadequacy. Karth, meanwhile, found himself being deafened by a constant buzzing in his ears. Berrian, however, managed to hold himself together and moved to open a door in the south wall.

As the door opened, the group was assailed by a babbling of voices coming from an amorphous blob in the middle of the floor. Another gibbering mouther, this one flanked by two of the mad sorcerers. Beyond them lay a woman in a red gown, grimacing in pain as she clutched her hands to her ears.

Trying not to look at the maddeningly distorted walls and floor, Berrian charged into the room and swung his magic sword at the monster, Bhára following closely at his heels. While Torea stood motionless in the doorway, stunned by the mouther's babbling, Karth pushed through and, blissfully unable to hear the babbling, charged into the fray.

Despite Bhára feeling like she was running on empty, and Berrian and Karth still injured, the heroes managed to prevail in short order. Soon, the mouther was nothing but a pile of goo, and the sorcerers had followed their leader into the afterlife. Trying not to throw up, Torea staggered across to her master and knelt down beside her. Shakily getting to her feet, Ser Alein asked for the heroes' help to get her back to the shrine. Once there, she would explain all that she knew.

At the shrine, after changing into something more comfortable, Ser Alein thanked the heroes for rescuing her. She explained that she had heard a cry for help outside, but when she'd gone to investigate, she'd lost consciousness. When she'd next awoken, she'd found herself in a strange place. She didn't know how she'd ended up wearing that red party dress, but she suspected that the crazy sorcerers, whom she'd heard refer to themselves as "Those Who Hear", had planned to sacrifice her in some mad ritual.

In gratitude for their efforts, Ser Alein offered to let the heroes rest in the shrine overnight. Karth happily accepted, while the Starflowers were simply too exhausted to go in search of more luxurious accommodations.

Downtime
The next morning, the Starflowers felt well-rested enough to head out into the fair and find a spot to set up shop themselves. They proceeded to spend the better part of the day using their magic to clean and mend people's garments* to earn a bit of coin. As they worked, a small boy approached them with a message from the dwarf weaponsmith, Shoomma, congratulating them on their efforts to clean up the city and inviting them and their fellow heroes to a feast to be held in their honor that evening.

Meanwhile, Karth had wandered about, getting the lay of the land, and ended up paying a visit to the thieves' guild. When he stopped by the elves' booth, they showed him the invitation. Aware that they still had the wererats in the bell tower to deal with, the group decided that they'd leave them until after the party.

The Party
Everyone who was anyone in Brindinford was at the Stony Gaze Tavern, so named for its medusa theme, when the heroes arrived. Ser Alein and Torea accompanied them in their fully knightly regalia. Various aristocrats schmoozed with them, and the Starflowers were able to make accommodation arrangements with one well-heeled family for after the party.

Curiously, Baron Euphemes II did not attend the party, sending his sister, Eriana, in his stead. Various locals assured them that this was perfectly normal, however. As a token of the city's gratitude, Lady Eriana presented each of the heroes with a fine silver brooch set with a purple amethyst.

The feast itself was lavish, with roast boar and plenty of ale and mead for everyone. The entertainment culminated with a poetic retelling of the heroes' exploits, with some episodes fabricated from whole cloth but all very grand and heroic. There were also numerous toasts and much applause in the heroes' honor.

Ambushed!
The party lasted well into the night, and as the last guests staggered away, the heroes departed with their would-be hosts. As they passed a dark alley on their left, a low voice called out to them. The heroes caught a brief glimpse of a hulking figure shrouded in a cloak that was quickly obscured by a blast of freezing air that billowed out into the street. As the heroes shook off the cold, they saw with dismay that both Torea and the kindly nobles who had been escorting them home were frozen solid.

Charging after the retreating figure, the heroes entered a confusing maze of alleyways. A number of assassins leapt out of the shadows to attack with steel and spell. In addition to a number of roguish types, armed with short swords and hand crossbows, the heroes also found themselves being attacked by another of the mad sorcerers from the bookstore, as well as a pale figure with hellish symbols on his robes who seemed to be able to conjure up hellfire. The hulking figure who'd cast a cone of cold at them was nowhere to be seen, but a well-armored woman wielding a glaive entered the fray and quickly displayed magical powers of her own, at one point rising up into the air to land on a roof above.

Berrian had climbed up onto a roof to take out a pesky assassin with a crossbow. Seeing the woman with the glaive standing across the alley from him, he backed up and attempted a running leap. Unfortunately, he misjudged the distance and began to fall. Luckily, his sister had his back and saved him from embarrassment by casting feather fall on him.

In the end, only two would-be assassins survived, hightailing it away into the darkened streets. Both magic-users were cut down, with the diabolist's body turning to ash upon his death, and even the glaive-wielder was laid low, at which point her broken body transformed before the heroes' eyes into a blue-skinned giantess with small horns on her head and hair as white as snow. An oni! How strange.

While the group searched their attackers' bodies, Bhára sifted through the diabolist's ashes and came across a small black pearl that was warm to the touch. Feeling it contained some magic power, she pocketed it. Later, when she'd had a chance to examine it properly, it turned out to be a pearl of power.

The heroes helped Ser Alein carry Torea's frozen remains back to Lurue's shrine. Although she again offered her home to the heroes for the night, they gave her some space to mourn in private. As they rested, the heroes were troubled by bizarre dreams. Images of their would-be assassins mingled with hissing words that twisted and writhed together, like snakes within their minds, making their sinister intent clear despite their foreign syllables. After what felt like an eternity, words suddenly rang out clearly over the cacophony, as if howled by a madman: "The bells toll! The gate swings wide!"

The Baron's Proclamation
In the morning, the heroes were roused from their troubled rest by the blaring of trumpets coming from the direction of the keep. Gearing up, they headed out into the streets and followed the crowds to the square below the southeast tower. Up above, the baron himself appeared on the parapet. With an oddly emotionless voice, Euphemes began addressing the crowd. Speaking about the lawlessness and disorder that had overwhelmed even the efforts of an heroic band of adventurers, not to mention the town guard, the baron announced that he would be bringing in a new force of law to make the city safe again.

On top of that, the baron issued some new edicts, among them the ending of the street fair and the closing of the city gates. Carrying weapons would also be prohibited. The septry would be closed and the godsworn declared outlaws. All able-bodied citizens were also ordered to report to duty in the militia.

At this point, Bhára spotted a shadowy figure lurking in the background. Her keen elven vision allowed her to see a pair of milky white eyes peering out of the figure's cloak. She passed this information on to her brother, who bristled in anger - the baron was being controlled like a puppet!

As Baron Euphemes concluded his speech, a tall, skeletal figure with shimmering gossamer wings stepped into view on the roof of the tower. A tail like a scorpion's lashed around behind it, stinging at the empty air. With that, the baron turned on his heel and disappeared into the tower.

As the crowd erupted into chaos, Berrian let loose a fire bolt at the retreating figure. His shot went wide, but the town guard noticed and began making their way towards the elf warrior.

Just then, cries arose from the crowd as a column of fire rose into the air from the direction of the Andarian Septry. The sky began to darken with hellish smoke. As the guards drew closer, Ser Alein suggested they head for the Reality Wrinkle bookstore. It would still be empty, and it was unlikely that anyone would think to look for them there.

Evading the guards easily, the heroes soon found themselves on an empty street, face-to-face with a large monster with ruddy scales and sharp talons. As it leapt towards them, Karth and Berrian ran forward, blades flashing, and laid the creature low.

As they made their way back towards the bookstore, they saw a number of other fiendish creatures chasing people through the streets, laughing gleefully at the mayhem they were causing.

Terror in the Streets
Back at the bookstore, the heroes discussed their next steps. Bhára told everyone about the figure she'd seen lurking behind the baron, and they concluded that he was being manipulated by someone. It would also seem that someone had summoned fiends from the Nine Hells. They would have to be dealt with.

Ser Alein mentioned that there was a druid enclave in the woods on the other side of the river, not far from the bridge at the north end of town. The druids and rangers there might be able to provide some assistance, should help be needed.

When Bhára complained that this wasn't their problem and they should just get out, Ser Alein pointed out that if left unchecked, the fiends would spread. It would eventually become everyone's problem. If there was an open portal to the hells somewhere in the city - and the pillar of fire above the septry seemed to suggest to the knight that there was - it needed to be closed urgently.

After some further discussion, the group resolved to head for the thieves' guild across town in an attempt to reunite with Gil and Tasklar. Unfortunately, as they made their way through the eerily deserted streets, they were accosted by a group of frightened-looking militia members led by the bony fiend they'd spotted earlier.

It spoke in their minds, telling them they were under arrest for breaking the new law against carrying weapons in the streets. Berrian drew his sword and yelled at the fiend to come and take it. He charged in to attack, and the others watched on in horror as the fiend rent him with its claws and stung him with its venomous stinger. The elf collapsed to the ground, his face pale and sickly.

Karth dashed forward and grabbed his friend's limp body, then everyone made a run for it. Grabbing a potion and pouring it down Berrian's throat, he thrust the elf at his sister and then shouted for the fiend to follow him. He split away from the others, telling them to get back to the bookstore. The brave half-orc led the fiend away from West Hill, buying the elves and Ser Alein time to get back to the bookstore.




*Berrian and Bhára's players have been using some of their PCs' downtime days to run a "drycleaning" business. While they have a physical shop, run in their absence by an assistant, back home in the elf kingdom, they can actually operate from anywhere since they mostly just use their prestidigitation and mending cantrips to due the cleaning and mending.

 

[pukunui]

THE SPEAKER IN DREAMS
Dramatis Personae: Berrian, Bhara (and some others)
Source: The Speaker in Dreams

The Guild
Safely ensconced at the Reality Wrinkle, the Starflower siblings and Ser Alein rested and discussed their options going forward. They had no way of knowing if Karth had survived his heroic gesture, or where their friends Gil and Tasklar were. Nevertheless, they decided they'd try heading for the thieves' guild again in hopes of making contact with some of their friends. From there, they would seek help in infiltrating the baron's manor so they could investigate the hooded figure Bhára saw lurking in the shadows during the proclamation. After that, they'd deal with the hellish portal in the septry. [Their reasoning being that if they shut that off first, the hooded figure seemingly in charge of things might just open it up again. Better to strike at the head of the snake first, then take care of the body as it writhed about in its death throes.]

This time, they stuck to the back alleys and managed to keep out of sight of both the militia and their fiendish overlords. That is, until they were getting ready to cross Southspur Street. As they approached the mouth of an alley, a familiar voice called out from around the corner: "O wand of wonder! Please will you conjure something frightening, like a bolt of lightning!"

Sure enough, as Berrian popped his head around the corner and looked out into the street, he saw the familiar form of Bruce the Goose, pointing his wand at a horrid-looking fiend with a wicked glaive in its hands and a beard consisting of what appeared to be barbed tentacles. As the elf watched, a beam of light shot out from Bruce's wand and caused the fiend to glow with purple faerie fire, marking him as an easy target.

Berrian and Ser Alein dashed out into the street, swords in hand, while Bhára moved to where she could see the foul creature and readied her magic. Although Bruce's wand hadn't given him the result he'd wanted, the effect nevertheless assisted his rescuers in making short work of the devil before it could harm the halfling. As Ser Alein landed the killing blow, the creature disappeared in a puff of black smoke. Seeing her companions exchange worried glances, Ser Alein told them not worry: "That fiend has gone back to where he came from. We won't be seeing him again any time soon."

Grabbing Bruce before he could finish thanking them for rescuing him, they dashed across the street into another alley and continued on their way to Brindinford's thieves' guild, using the directions Karth had given them before he'd disappeared. They arrived at the Gold Tabard Merchant Company building in Eastgate without further ado and found themselves being welcomed by an amiable human named Thos, who explained to the heroes that, while their companions had been and gone, they were welcome to make themselves at home in the warehouse.

Partaking of the guildmaster's hospitality, the heroes soon learned that a hooded figure had been approaching various merchants in the Eastgate district with offers of large sums of money. When the thieves' guild looked into it, they discovered that the figure was seeing to expand the influence of a diabolical cult - the one now in possession of the septry across town - to other towns and cities in the vicinity. One merchant had even accepted the offer.

Upon learning that the heroes had spied a hooded figure lurking behind the baron, Thos suggested they could be one and the same. He offered to have a scout around the baron's manor, if the heroes were willing to wait overnight. They readily agreed and settled down to get more rest. Before leaving, Thos joked to Ser Alein that now that she knew where the guild was located, they'd have to move ... once the fiends had been dealt with, of course.

Thos and his spies returned an hour or so before daybreak. They informed the heroes that a mysterious hooded figure was indeed hanging around with the baron. They hadn't spotted the baron's regular bodyguards either. Lady Eriana and her family appeared to be all right, though; they weren't being kept hostage or anything like that. Giving a description of the manor layout, Thos added that there was a trapdoor on the roof of the tower.

The Manor
Following directions from the thieves, the heroes made their way across town without encountering any wandering fiends or militia patrols. They scaled the walls of the keep without any trouble and made their way to the baron's manor.

Climbing up to the top of the tower, they found that Thos had even oiled the hinges of the trapdoor for them. It turned out to be a piece of cake to get into the tower. Creeping down the spiral stairs, they first passed a room in which Lady Eriana and her family were sleeping. Seeing that they appeared to be all right, they continued down to the next floor, where they found Baron Euphemes II snoring away in his large, ornate bed.

While the others waited in the stairwell, Berrian crept into the baron's room and then eased open the door that led out onto the balcony overlooking the main hall. He spied two comfortable chairs positioned in front of a roaring fire. Two figures were sitting in the chairs, one wearing a dark robe stitched with arcane symbols, the other wearing hide armor and fondling an axe. The latter pricked up her ears and turned her sightless gaze toward Berrian. A grimlock! Probably the one that got away from the abandoned warehouse. Berrian quickly closed the door and went back to report what he'd seen.

Not knowing if there was any other way to flank these foes, the heroes decided to charge right in. Berrian went first and found that the grimlock was waiting. She tossed a handaxe at him as he came through the door. The figure in the robes, however, was now floating near the ceiling. He could see that the creature had tentacles on its face and its eyes were milky white, as was its skin.

Chaos ensued. Bhára cast thunderwave, which pushed the grimlock towards the balcony's edge and woke up everyone in the manor. As the baron rose from his bed, seemingly in a trance, and reached for his sword, Bruce stepped forward and cast Tasha's hideous laughter on him, causing him to fall back onto his bed in a fit. Ser Alein rushed in to assist Berrian with the grimock. As she did so, the heroes's minds were pummelled with a blast of psychic energy. Ser Alein and Bhára were both stunned but Berrian managed to shake it off.

The grimlock soon fell to sword and spell, her dead body toppling off the balcony into the hall. The heroes were rather surprised to see that it floated down gently. They vowed to look into that more closely later. There was still the tentacle-faced mage to deal with! It attempted to take control of Berrian's mind, but he was again able to resist. Then one of Bhára's spells broke its concentration, and, as it floated back down to the ground, Berrian and Set Alein leapt forward with their blades. Just as Berrian thought he was about to land the killing blow, the creature vanished into thin air! It hadn't merely turned invisible either. One moment it was there, the next it was simply as if it had never been there at all!

Perplexed, the heroes returned to the baron. As Bruce released him from the spell, he came to his senses. As the heroes explained to him what had happened, Euphemes was most remorseful. He told them that he felt like he'd been living a dream and couldn't fully remember what it was he'd said or done over the past few days. He was most shocked to learn that he had invited fiends into his beloved town! When his thoughts turned to the welfare of his sister and her family, the heroes assured him that they were quite all right and suggested that he take them somewhere safe while they dealt with the fiends. Euphemes agreed to take them down into the dungeons beneath the manor house.

Berrian went and checked on the dead body of the grimlock. A quick search revealed a metallic ring in the shape of a twisted feather on one finger. Pocketing the ring, he later discovered that it was magical and conferred upon its wearer a feather fall effect. He offered it to his sister, but Bhára replied that she didn't need it as she could already reproduce the effect with her own magic, so he decided to keep it for himself.

The Grove
After ensuring that the baron and his family were as safe as could be, the elf siblings and their companions set off for the druid grove in the woods across the river in hopes that they might be able to help them close the portal in the septry. Cutting across the Chatterstreet Market district to avoid having to pass the septry, they scaled the outer walls and headed across the open fields towards the northern bridge. They soon found themselves being approached by three hell hounds, though they were able to dispatch them without too much trouble.

They also discovered that the druids' grove was not too difficult to locate either. The circle tending the grove was led by an elderly woman named Enselle, who was only too happy to provide what healing she could to the heroes. She was also able to provide them with a scroll of dispel magic inscribed on a strip of bark, though she warned them that she could not guarantee it would work. Successfully closing a gate was a difficult thing.

For some reason, Berrian then brought up their friend, Iriandel the unicorn, lamenting that he was too far away to be able to help them in their current predicament. At the mention of unicorns, both Ser Alein and Enselle perked up. It just so happened that this forest had its own unicorn, one who went by the name Dawnstrider! Berrian was able to convince Enselle to summon the unicorn. It took a few hours for him to arrive, but when the majestic beast strode into the grove, the heroes set about asking him for his assistance. Convincing a unicorn to enter a walled city and assist with driving out some powerful fiends was never going to be easy, but Berrian and Bhára proved to be up to the task. They even managed to convince Enselle to accompany them. [DM note: I went with the default DC 20 Persuasion check to get a friendly creature to take a significant risk to help, and they nailed both checks! I think they even rolled a natural 20 for one of them.]

After a quick pow-wow to discuss strategy, Enselle magicked up a view of the burning septry in the grove's pond so that Dawnstrider could teleport himself, Ser Alein, and the elves to the back door, while Enselle shapeshifted into a large owl and flew Bruce across the river in her talons.

The Septry
Without Gil there to help them break in, Berrian decided to just smash a window. Luckily for him, it opened into a closed stairway. He climbed through and entered the hallway with great caution, but there was no one about so he went and unbarred the door to the outside so the unicorn could get in.

At that moment, a door across the hall opened and one of the diabolists stepped out ... and died a swift death for his troubles. Berrian then had to fend off a pesky imp that came out of the kitchen it had been trashing to investigate the noise. The heroes could also hear scratching and pawing coming from the other side of another door.

Setting up an ambush, they had Ser Alein open the door so they could get at the hell hounds inside. Bruce's magic wand turned one of them to stone and sword and spell made short work of the other one. Enselle and Dawnstrider provided the heroes with some healing and then they proceeded up the stairs rather than heading straight into the septry's main hall. Upstairs they found what had once been the chamber of Ser Marith, the septry's champion. A gory scene greeted them inside. They weren't sure if the remains were those of Ser Marith herself or someone else, but they decided to leave the room be for now and headed over to a door leading onto a balcony overlooking the septry's main hall.

Berrian pushed the door open quietly and then crept out onto the balcony. The roar of the flames rising up through the hole in the domed roof helped cover his movements. Peering over the railing, he saw the bone devil lurking amidst the wreckage below, talking to a blond warrior woman who appeared to carry some authority. The woman soon turned and walked out the door on the far side of the hall, and the bone devil resumed its watch over the portal. Berrian crept back to report his findings.

As the group headed back down the stairs, Dawnstrider used his magic to suppress the sound of their movements. This even enabled him to creep up on the bone devil without it being aware of him so that he could banish it back to its home plane with a touch of his horn. The devil never even knew what had hit it! Bhára then whipped out the bark scroll and intoned the words to dispel the magic holding the portal open. Her will was strong and as she read the last words, the portal closed with a strange sucking noise, and the fire dissipated. [DM note: With gate being a 9th level spell, the DC was 19. Bhára got a high roll on the check. If she had failed, though, she had been (jokingly?) intending to use Ser Alein as a sacrifice ...]

With that done, the heroes decided to sweep through the rest of the septry complex. They encountered the blond woman and another diabolist underling in the library. A fierce battle ensued, in which Berrian fell not once but twice and wound up with partial amnesia, Bruce finally got his wand to cast lightning bolt, and the diabolist immolated himself and all the books in the room with a fireball. The blond woman did not last long under the combined might of the heroes and their allies either.

As Berrian wondered aloud where he was and who all these strange people were, the others patched up their wounds and set about searching the rest of the septry. They found another hell hound that had taken up residence in the vestry and quickly slew it. And that was it. No sign of any other fiends or diabolists.

Epilogue
As the heroes emerged from the still-smoking wreckage of the septry and headed back towards the keep at the top of the hill, a crowd of followers quickly grew behind them. Everyone wanted to know what had happened. The crowd's curiosity quickly turned to elation as the heroes told their tale, and all of a sudden the heroes found themselves in the middle of a street party as vendors began handing out free food and drink and minstrels retold their story in song as the townsfolk danced in the streets. Brindinford was saved! All hail the mighty heroes!

After taking their fill of the festivities, Bhára and Berrian went in search of their missing companions. Those scoundrels had some explaining to do ...

 

[pukunui]

SCARLET MOON HALL
Dramatis Personae: Berrian, Karth, Tasklar
Source: "Scarlet Moon Hall" (Princes of the Apocalypse)

NB. This episode's recap is brought to you by Karth (edited by me)!

I was sitting at the inn, nursing another beer, my scowl enough to keep the other patrons from coming closer. My contacts had said they might finally have some information for me regarding the sigil I hunted. I thought back to how my life ought have been ... actually not too different, a life of battle, but with my people rather than as a wanderer, the last of my tribe. I stroked Tamaich's blade ... something to be proud of, a remnant of my ancestors. I laughed to myself. The others looked on fearfully, remembering that septon who bad decried it as a cursed weapon.

The little halfling slid next to me, showing me the familiar bowl-like symbol of the fire cult. "A wagon heading north. A merchant carrying goods stamped with the symbol you had us watch for. He mentioned Scarlet Moon Hall, several days from here. Said he was gonna sell beer to the druids gathering there for a festival."

I tossed over a small sack of coins. The next day, I gathered what companions I could find, the elf and the bard. It would appear the elf's sister (?) was off on a tryst with her lover, while my buddy Gil was on a heist. Or something. Though the elf is a dandy, he is deadly with the blade, and the bard has been a faithful companion for years. They would be sufficient. No need for the others ... or so I thought.

The land was dry. The weather unseasonably hot. Following the merchant's trail, we came across a hill, on its top a great burning effigy and a ruined tower or keep. Scattered on the hillside were several small campfires. We agreed that this was not a case of running in blades bared. For once, we would try talking first. Perhaps it was the absence of the elf's sister, but more likely the thief, that made us act sensibly.

The first group we came across seemed harmless enough: a bunch of young tree huggers having fun. Apparently some grand druid was planning a ritual the next day that would stop the damn heat. A few pleasantries and then we moved on.

The next group were a strange pair of men in red robes. More druids, of the Circle of the Scarlet Moon. The hosts of this festival. They had a bear chained next to them. I didn't like that, for bears are my totem animal. Fortunately, I was able to hold back the red wave and, literally biting my tongue, listened as Tasklar asked them of the wagon. They said they hadn't seen it. Strange.

Heading further up the hill, we encountered an odd pair of hunters. Rough-looking men, but men who were still willing to share their beer. My type of men.

Further around to the right, we found another group of huggers, including a short stunted one from some swamp. They were dozing by their fire. They didn't seem to know anything about a merchant either. Had the man not made it this far?

The group furthest to the right was different: three cloaked men and two enormous wolves, almost as big as me! As we got close, I heard one of the wolves speak, muttering something in Goblin. Stepping back in shock, I realized that these weren't wolves but worgs! And the three men were actually bugbears in disguise!

A mighty battle ensued. The bugbears couldn't get past Berrian's shield as he gradually wore them down, while Tasklar attempted (and failed) to mark them with guiding bolts. As for me, I had held my temper long enough. As I felt the rage build up, I jumped towards the worgs, marking one as a new fur cloak and the other as a new bedroll for the bard. My shield and my furious resilience protected me from the worgs' sharp teeth and claws as I hacked them down.

The nearest group of druids came running to see what had caused all the noise. They were horrified to learn that the druids they had previously met at this eastern-most camp had obviously been killed by the bugbears. Yet there was no sign of them anywhere.

With our enemies defeated and looted, I quickly cut out the heart of one worg. Searing it in the flames of the bugbears' campfire, I offered to share it with the others, but they all turned the honor down. After a quick meal, I skinned the two worgs as I thought about how my new cloak would look.

Deciding to warn the other groups that all was not as it seemed, we headed off around the hill, past the hunters, and on to a larger group led by a half-elven druid in the same red robes as the druids with the bear. She did not seem concerned about the danger. However, when questioned of the wagon, Berrian let me know that she seemed to know more than she was saying. Curious.

Pushing on to the final fire along the western slopes, we met another druid, a painted wood elf named Gariena, who was making music with a pair of faeries! She seemed more with it than the other druids. I asked if I could make music with her and proceeded to impress everyone with my playing of the Orcish war screamer (aka "bagpipes"). Tasklar joined in too, but much to everyone's amusement, he just made an awful noise. The faeries had a lot of fun teasing him after that. Gariena warned us not to stay the night with her because she couldn't make any promises that her companions wouldn't prank us. Fair enough!

I was still concerned about the bear, though, and managed to convince the others to head back down the hill. Instead of sticking to the trail, though, we went straight down to the first camp of druids, warned them of the danger and suggested they leave, and then headed over to the red-robed druids.

Ignoring their protests, I began a ritual to commune with the bear. The druids didn't like that one bit and, attacking us, revealed themselves to be fire wizards! The battle was mighty, and the camp was soon a blazing ruin, but I was protected by my magic fire-resistant armor and my bestial rage. My friends and I cut down the hateful wizards, marked with the symbol of those that had destroyed my tribe!

Unfortunately, we also had to put the enraged bear down, but hey ... it was war. And the bear had been about to maul the bard to death. I made my peace with the beast's spirit as I committed its body to the flames. After that, we convinced the remaining druids to leave, explaining that the Scarlet Moon druids were really fire cultists. Most decided to leave at once, but the gnomish swamp druid said he would help. He claimed to have seen the fire mark previously. In fact, he seemed quite angry about it.

Heading back to the red-robed half-elf and her encampment, I crept up behind one of her guards and surprised him with a loud ''boo!''. A drawn sword wasn't exactly the reaction I had been expecting, although he had looked pretty nervous about something! Once again battle was joined. The hunters from the next camp over joined in, revealing themselves to be werewolves as they clawed and bit at Tasklar!

Gariena and her faeries came down to help us, and soon the werewolves and the fire cultists all lay dead on the ground. Worryingly, though, the bard had been bitten at least once and was beginning to feel a bit funny. He will need watching in the future, especially around the next full moon ...

After clearing out the last of the "false druids", we headed uphill to the ruined keep ... where it all turned to custard. As we crested the hill, we saw two fire mages praying in front of the burning wicker giant. Rushing forward, we focused our attacks on them, killing one mage before he could react. Unfortunately, the bard's shatter spell also broke the giant apart, which unleashed a raging creature of fire that quickly enveloped Berrian and me in flames!

Though I was only mildly hurt, Berrian was not so lucky. With crossbowmen up on the scaffolding firing down on us, the surviving fire mage hurling flames at us, and hell hounds and a fiery-haired fighter bearing down on us, we were forced to flee.

Having been forced to put aside my desire for vengeance for now, I vow to return another day and finish the job ...

 

[pukunui]

FIRE & BLOOD
Dramatis Personae: Karth, Berrian, Gil (plus Gariena and Sauruki)
Source: "Temple of Eternal Flame" (Princes of the Apocalypse)

NB. This recap is brought to you by Karth (and edited by me).

Player Note: Now we were warned that this next section was above our level before we got into it ... and our DM has done the odd TPK in the past. Karth in particular felt nervous as he seems to attract criticals from the DM's dice, plus whenever there is a random chance of something bad happening, 75% of the time the dice roll the big bad orc.

After the valiant battle on the hill where the enemy was crushed and the brave heroes elected to strategically retire for some time, we decided to head back to look for allies. While we found Tasklar's cousin, the rogue Gil, we lost our bard, who decided it was more important that he search for a cure before he turned into a werewolf. So the three of us and the two druids, Gariena and Sauruki (who seemed to be far too inexperienced), headed back to the hill. Given this was a week or so later, we were astounded to see the surrounding area blackened and burnt.

Before getting to the ruined tower, however, we heard the eerie sounds of baying hounds and over the hill came several hell hounds and their handler - one of the cultists, a genasi, whom we had fought on the hill. The battle itself went relatively well, though our druid allies were forced to retreat after some early bits. The fire-breathing hell hounds did little damage to me with my fire-resistant armor. We quickly overcame the enemy ... as I stood over the genasi, someone shouted "Don't kill her! She needs to be questioned!" I feigned temporary deafness - my anger at seeing my enemy once again surging through my veins - and I dashed her brains in before anyone could stop me.

Heading to the hill, we found the camps abandoned. The tower itself was nothing but a burned out shell. Gil put on his fancy magic slippers and walked up the wall, then threw down a rope for the rest of us. Making our way into the tower, we found a caved-in tunnel under the rubble piled up on the ground floor. I was not to be stopped so easily! We spent the next day or two hauling stones and rubble out while the elf watched.

Once the way was finally cleared, we found a tunnel descending into the darkness. We surprised ourselves by deciding to send the rogue ahead as a scout. Unused to this novelty, we spent some time discussing the mechanics of this unfamiliar task. In the end, the rogue turned himself invisible and snuck down the tunnel. A good thing he did, as first he found a guard post of hobgoblins and then, after heading down some steps, a strange room with two heavily armored warriors in it.

When Gil had returned to tell us what he had seen, we discussed options and then decided on a full frontal assault (well almost). Gil, still invisible, was to head down to the middle of the steps and wait to strike any guards that tried to escape, while I called upon the power of my dragonmark to disappear into the shadows, and with the grace of the wolf, I was still able to make it down to the guard post and strike their leader with surprise! The pathetic hobgoblins fell swiftly to our vicious attack.

Things took a turn for the worse when, midway through the battle, the armored soldiers decided to attack! Hearing Gil's warning, I raced to his aid on the stairs ... and was nearly stunned out of my wits as memories came flooding back. These soldiers with long flaming spears and fire in their hearts ... they were there! They killed my people! But my rage was too great, and I did not hesitate, but brought the black blade of Tamaich to bear against them.

At this point, Berrian also decided to aid us. The soldiers were tough, and much to our surprise, they exploded in flames and twisted bits of metal when we struck their death blows!

The hall the soldiers had come from also had four big pillars that radiated intense heat. I was once again grateful for my armor. The others were more singed than I was after dashing through the room. Gil then scouted ahead again, using his bat familiar as an extra pair of eyes. Down the opposite hall, past some ancient dwarf statues, he found another guardroom occupied by ogres. Some were dressed in full plate armor! Taking one of the magical torches from the wall, we chose to leave that area alone and headed down the main wide passage leading towards an area that rang out with the sounds of the forge.

To the right, a set of stairs led up to a smoky guard room occupied by hobgoblins resting and cooking food over an open fire. To the left, a long corridor stretched away into darkness with heavy stone doors on either side. Straight ahead, a wide stone stairway led down to a huge forge and furnace area. Gil reported seeing lava flowing into the chamber! There were also fiery dwarves and giant fiery snakemen who appeared to be slaves, working away at the forges to make weapons while a huge red-skinned brute and some cultists drove them on.

Naturally, we attacked the weakest opposition first: the hobgoblins. They barely knew what hit them. Their captain had a nice wooden box with some potions in it. Some of the potions glowed like fire. The druids said they would make the drinker resistant to fire. Could come in handy for the others!

There were more rooms beyond, including one that was clearly the ogres' room and another that opened onto a stone bridge over the river of lava, but we turned back and headed for the long hall that looked like a cell block of sorts. This turned out to be a mistake ... we found two fire mages and two cult warriors who caused us a bit of trouble. One of them was able to hypnotize our druid companions, taking them out of the fight. The others used lots of fire magic on us. A little luck saved us, though, as the druids were able to break free at the last minute, and the weird swamp gnome paralyzed his attacker, allowing us to cut him down quite easily.

Definitely on our last legs, we headed off to lick our wounds and acknowledge how much tougher these creatures were than we are used to! My thirst for vengeance remains strong, however. I am hopeful that Tasklar will have found a cure so he can help us. Maybe the elf's sister (?) will have come back from wherever she went, too. We could use her magic.

 

[pukunui]

THE CULT STRIKES BACK!
Dramatis Personae: Bhára, Berrian, Gil, Karth, Tasklar
Source: "Temple of Eternal Flame" (Princes of the Apocalypse)

NB. This recap is brought to you by Karth (and edited by me).

I sat at the bar and looked across the table. My friends were all there. Bhára had come back from spending time with her lover, and Tasklar had seemingly found a cure for his lycanthropy, although it appeared to have cost him his voice, as he wasn't talking at all. Just trying to communicate with weird dance moves or something. We brought them up to speed with our adventure in the lair of the fire cult. It was time to plan our next steps.

Before we could really get down to business, though, we were rudely interrupted as a bearded, leather-clad man entered with his entourage: two of the armoured fire cultists and another of the heavily armoured pike wielders that explode when killed. Gariena whispered that it was Elizar himself. The man puffed on his pipe and muttered something that I barely heard as the rage started coming down on me again. Before we could act, however, a wall of fire burst around us, burning Berrian, Gil and me.

We were helped by an early action from Tasklar. who could still cast spells. He made Elizar's two guards run away in fear, although two more came in through the back door in the kitchen. A mighty battle then commenced. Gil was forced to flee out a window invisibly to escape the flames, while Bhára slowed down the fresh guards with an ice storm. Elizar puffed on his pipe, conjuring up four smoky imps who tried unsuccessfully to blind us with their ash breath. Berrian and I took the lead again, first forcing the druid to flee out the door, then taking down his large minion, weathering the shrapnel exploding around us as he fell.

We were unwilling to let the druid also escape and charged into the darkness, with the orc gods hearing my pleas and striking Elizar down with lightning (OK, it actually was Bhára ...).

Unfortunately, we couldn't save the inn. It burned to the ground. A number of the staff and patrons also died. We will avenge them.

We were able to capture one of the cult soldiers alive, though. After some cajoling, including a fierce war dance from Tasklar, he agreed to lead us to a back entrance to the temple. It wasn't what we were expecting, though. A deep cave filled with billowing steam. It led to a hole in the ceiling of an underground chamber that, thanks to Gil's bat familiar, we discovered was guarded by a chimera!

At first, we were stumped as to how to progress, until I, relying on my keen hunter's sense, recalled a typically cunning orcish tactic. Telling the party to hide, I tied my donkey, Bessie, near the cave entrance, then smacked her flank several times, causing her to bray loudly. Sure enough, the chimera heard the sound and emerged from the steam to capture this easy prey. It quickly killed my faithful companion and settled down to eat, but then we pounced. Gil was the star of the show. shooting the chimera's goat head straight between the eyes [with a critical sneak attack hit that dealt 50 points of damage!]. The chimera abandoned its meal and fled back into the steam.

I chased after it, leaping down into the chamber with no concern for my wellbeing. Berrian came floating daintily down after me like the faerie he is. The others followed more slowly, using ropes.

I rushed up the chimera's nest of coins and, after a couple of blows, succeeded in slaying the beast! As the rest of the party entered the cave complex, we were surprised when four soldiers and another fire mage came down a stairway.

This was a desperate battle with us out of position. Both the bard and rogue had trouble defeating the fighters that targeted them with flaming swords. I, meanwhile, rushed the mage but quickly found myself having to fend off two of the soldiers as well. The mage fled before she could do us much damage. Wrongly suspecting her to be near death, I chased after her. In a strangely-shaped room, the mage stunned me with pretty colors. Berrian managed to resist, however, and pursued the mage and killed her in a hallway, though not before she'd managed to raise the alarm. With the rest of the party finally taking out the soldiers, we retreated up to the cave for a much needed rest.


Player's Note: While we effectively only had two battles for the entire session, both were challenging. There is a big step up in the creatures we are fighting with even the basic fighters being AC 17 and having over 40 hp. The mage had well over 100 hp, while my barbarian only has 66 at full health. We are, however, getting better at scouting first and retreating before getting too far into things, and concentrating our attacks. The temple is yet to be cleared!

DM Note: The battle at the inn took a lot longer than I'd expected, so we didn't get as far into the temple as I'd have liked. The players used excellent tactics against the chimera. And while Ignatia the fire mage did indeed have more than 100 hp, that didn't help her last more than a few rounds, and because of Karth's aggression, she was on the defensive for most of the fight. Things could have gone much differently for the PCs if she'd been able to pull out her big guns.

 

[pukunui]

TEMPLE OF ETERNAL FLAME
Dramatis Personae: Berrian, Bhára, Gil, Karth, Tasklar
Source: "Temple of Eternal Flame" (Princes of the Apocalypse)

NB. This recap is the last in a series written by Karth (and edited by me) and covers two sessions of play.

After a short rest, we returned once again to the temple, half-expecting the remaining cultists to have fled. Sneaking in the same way we had entered the last time, it all seemed eerily quiet at first. Heading up the stairs, with our invisible rogue with his slippers of spider climbing scouting ahead, we re-entered the room with the large crucible. This time, however, the cultists had set a trap. It summoned a fire elemental and then all hellfire broke loose. Surging ahead, it engulfed me and set upon Berrian. The damage from being hit by the elemental was not significant, but the damage from me hitting it was moreso! After defeating it, we headed deeper into the dungeon.

Heading to a previously unexplored section of the temple, we came across a strangely cold room. After some time exploring, and discovering that one corner was extremely cold, I realized that there was brown mold there. With no way to harm it, we left it alone. Fortunately our bard, Task, was successful in locating a long unused secret door, thanks to his dragonmark. Heading down the dusty corridor, we came to an old dwarven armory. Looking around, we found a strange shield with a clockwork mechanism on it, which Berrian decided to use [Basically you can elect to roll a d6, 1 = slowed, 3-4 = nothing, 5-6 = hasted for 1 minute). At this point we all decided it was time to rest and regain spells.

The next morning, we followed the disused corridor to the other end, where we came to another area with locked rooms. Opening them, we found many enslaved creatures: salamanders and azers. At this point it all turned against us. It turned out they hated each other, but we had no real way to communicate with them. Rather than having an army to support us, instead they started attacking each other. We decided to support the azers. I killed one salamander, only to realize that its companions had killed several of the azers in the meantime.

We decided to leave them to their fight and run. So run we did, straight into an area we thought would be the main exit out but which still held several ogres. The battle itself wasn’t too bad, with our bard using his fireball spell (from some bard skill he has) to kill most of them. A search of the area found us some loot buried in the rubble, and a scout down long corridors made us realize this was not the way we wanted to go.

Scouting back to the great furnace, we found what we had hoped: the salamanders had gone on a rampage, killing most of those in the furnace area and dying themselves. It was now empty of enemies. We located what appeared to be a lift down, but we had no interest in using it just then. We headed back to the final area we were interested in searching, deep in the temple beyond the red door.

Now this is where it got crazy ... we followed a long corridor down into a shrine area, where we found what we thought were the leaders of the cult. They had captured Bhára and were about to kill her. One of them was the damned mage who could turn invisible and still attack us ... and the other was Calla!

To everyone's surprise, I tried to reason with Calla. I was in shock that she was still alive. Before I could calm matters down, however, the elf raced in to attack those that held his sister. A mighty battle it was, the four of us (five once Bhára was free) managed to kill the other mage (I was convinced she was somehow controlling Calla but it turned out she wasn't) and a couple of the guards, while Calla fled. We were all badly damaged with many fireballs thrown, and these somehow ignored my fire resistance, so even I was hurting. We were forced to hole up and have a short rest. We scouted around and found a secret room that held little of value beyond a scroll of wall of sand, which Berrian took. Bhára also explained to us that our druidic allies, Gariena and Sauruki, had also been captured. They'd been taken "down below", whatever that meant.

Then it was time to leave. I had blocked the door into this area shut, though we knew someone had tried to break in at one point. Bhára used clairvoyance to scout the room on the other side of the red door, and we knew we were in for a major fight: four fire cult guards, two fire mages, Calla, and another fire cult leader of some kind.

But we were prepared! Opening the door, we took some immediate damage before our shatter spells, and more importantly, wall of sand went off. The wall of sand meant the mages lost line of sight to us, so they couldn't attack us with whatever spells they'd prepared.

It was a mighty battle! I called out to Calla that I would save her as we quickly smashed through the soldiers even though spells of fire and necromancy rained upon us. Victory was in our grasp! Calla had been forced to flee with Berrian chasing after her. The two weaker mages were dead, and the other leader - a fire genasi - was forced to flee as well, misty stepping to Calla and Berrian … and then victory was taken away.

First Berrian went down, allowing the two enemy leaders to flee, then Gil fumbled his attempt to heal Berrian. And the rest of us reached our dying comrade just in time to be met with a departing fireball from Calla (I think). Fortunately, I'd taken out my healing kit and tossed it to Gil as I'd gone running down the corridor.

I awoke lying in circular room with a well in it. Tasklar and Berrian were still alive, but Gil had some bad news for us. He'd been unable to get to Bhára in time. There were simply too many friends to keep alive and not enough time (or hands). [DM note: Everyone was rolling death saves, and we had Gil, whose player was actually absent for this session, spending an action each round to use the healing kit on one of his allies. Unfortunately, there were four people he had to use it on, and he left Bhára for last, and her player rolled three failures in a row. Luckily, her player enjoyed the fact that her new character had been killed by her old one.]

I decided it was time to abandon my quest for revenge ... for now. The remaining fire cultists would just have to wait till later.



Player's note: OK, the final battle had highs and lows and definitely challenged us. We have all levelled up, and Bhára’s player is now deciding what she will do next. Karth is now a Barbarian 6 / Rogue 2, looking at the extra mobility as a means to get behind the front lines to attack the squishy mages! I prefer playing multi-class characters, even though I miss out on the top level buffs, because I like the extra flexibility and flavor. It means I am running behind the others stat/feat-wise for a bit but the aim is another 2 rogue levels (going for assassin), using a finesse weapon for extra damage and using sneak more to try and get surprise attacks in … The problem is stats or feats next ... I like shield master with my advantage on dex saves at this point!

 

[pukunui]

AMARANTHINE
Dramatis Personae: Berrian, Gil, Tasklar (and Galindan)
Source: "The Hall of Harsh Reflections" (Dungeon 127)

After hauling their asses out of the fire cult dungeon, the PCs went their separate ways. Tasklar headed back to see Aunty Wormtooth for some more restorative magic, while Karth headed off to the big city to see if he could upgrade his gear. Who knows where Gil went.

Berrian, meanwhile, lovingly wrapped his sister's body in cloth soaked in linseed oil and alcohol and carted it off to Iriandel's domain. Unfortunately, the unicorn and his wood elves knew of no way to restore Bhára to life in her own body. Not wanting to reincarnate her in a new body, nor willing to go home and tell his parents that he'd failed to protect her, he took a different path ...

Back in Larchwood, Gil and Tasklar were hanging out at the inn when Berrian walked in with another elf, whom he introduced as Galindan Galanodel, Bhára's lover. Berrian went and spoke privately with Kaylessa, who suggested he visit an old acquaintance of hers, a sage named Eligos, in the city of Amaranthine. She gave him a letter of introduction, wrapped up in a pretty little bow. The cousins agreed to accompany Berrian on his journey, and off they went.

When they arrived, Tasklar was able to talk the city guards at the gate out of searching them for contraband. Berrian led them into the swanky Garden District, where they found Eligos' marbled mansion. He was shocked to see an aged elf acting as the sage's manservant! Eligos himself was a rather impressive fellow. He agreed to help but said it would take him about a week to find out what he could, based on the rather vague clues Berrian had given him. He refused to say where he'd gotten these clues as well.

Eligos suggested they stay at an inn called the Crooked House, run by a friend of his, a gnome by the name of Tarquin Shortstone XXIV. The PCs spent the next few days wandering around the city, seeing the sights and getting to know the place a bit better.

On the evening of the third night, after Galindan had retired early to "study his spellbooks", the elf suddenly came back down to the common room and proceeded to stab Tarquin in the neck with a dagger. Thinking it was very unlike a mage to use a knife, Gil leapt up and dashed after the mage as he ran back up the stairs. Berrian leapt over the bar and used his dragonmark of healing to save Tarquin's life, while Tasklar found himself having to placate an angry, drunken crowd being riled up by a portly merchant.

After a bit of a scuffle, it turned out that the would-be assassin was not Galindan but a doppelganger who'd taken on his form! The merchant turned out to be one as well. Tasklar was convinced that Tarquin must be mixed up with the wrong crowd, but the gnome was equally adamant that it had had nothing to do with him. He suggested that someone had it out for the PCs!

The next day, Gil took a strange key he'd found on the body of the doppelganger assassin to a thieves' guild friend of his named Archie. A few hours later, he'd learned that it unlocked the doors to an old warehouse on the riverfront called the "Sodden Hold".

The PCs went to check it out. The main warehouse floor was filled with dusty crates and barrels. Some of them turned out to be mimics, much to everyone's surprise. Gil found something he swiftly pocketed in a back room (a ring of swimming made of fire coral), and then Tasklar discovered that a section of the floor was trapped. Up on the catwalk at the back of the room, they found a secret door that led to a prison area! Two men dressed as city guards turned out to be more doppelgangers! There was also a human with a broken mind and a traumatized elf noblewoman, who let Tasklar keep her periapt of health as a reward for saving her life. She also told Berrian that her family now owed him favor.

The room beyond that was mostly broken apart, with river water swirling around below the few remaining planks and pylons that once held up the floor. An invisible stalker was guarding this room, but Tasklar lit it up with faerie fire and it was swiftly dispatched. Unfortunately, the good bard made the mistake of treading out onto a plank that tipped him into the water, where he ended up getting impaled on some hidden blades. Gil and Berrian fished him out and revived him, and that is where we left things.

 

[pukunui]

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
Dramatis Personae: Berrian, Gil, Karth (plus Galindan and Dorn)
Source: "The Hall of Harsh Reflections" (Dungeon 127)

Not knowing how to proceed, the PCs dragged Tasklar back to the Crooked House, where they found a seriously inebriated Karth being looked after by a city watchman - the same watchman that Tasklar had given a bit of lip to after the fracas with the doppelgangers the night before! His name was Dorn Greywood, and he informed the PCs that he'd drunken half-orc rambling about his friends being in town. Did they know him? Why, yes, they did!

Meanwhile, Tarquin the innkeeper let the PCs know that, in gratitude for having saved his life, he would be giving them free drinks and rooms for the next month!

Once Tasklar and Karth were installed in their room, the others thanked Dorn. The watchman wasn't about to leave just yet, though. He wanted to know more about the doppelgangers. He listened intently as the PCs related what they'd found in the Sodden Hold warehouse. Dorn told them he'd send some guards to check it out on the morrow.

Dorn stayed in the inn's common room, chatting with Tarquin, long after the others had retired for the night. Well after midnight, he heard a commotion from above and raced upstairs to see what was the matter. As it turned out, the PCs were under attack from drow assassins! Two drow had snuck into their room, while a third drow was firing poisoned bolts at them through a window. Berrian was looking quite hurt, having taken a shot to the back of his neck! The two assailants in the room went down quickly, one of them only unconscious, and then Karth and Berrian smashed through the window and leapt across the alley to land on the roof where the third assassin had been.

They chased the drow across the rooftops and through washing-laden alleyways before Karth, with his superior speed, finally caught up to her and grabbed her firmly. Berrian came up from behind and ran her through. Searching her body, Karth discovered that she was wearing a nice pair of magic stealth-enhancing boots with a spider motif on them. They were also covered in sewer muck and residue from a fungus he recognized as Beggar's Gold, which was quite common in areas where there was run-off from forges and smithies.

In one of the drow's pockets, the PCs found a crumpled up note from someone telling his "thrall" to meet him beneath the cold forge. There were some "troublesome small minds" that needed dealing with. Small minds?! Berrian and Karth tried not to feel insulted as they dragged the drow's body all the way back to the inn.

Dorn questioned Karth about having stolen the drow's boots but ended up deciding it wasn't worth fussing about. Instead, he turned his attention to the still-living drow, whom he'd made sure to truss up securely. As the drow came round, they attempted to question him, but a strange tentacle-like sigil materialized on his forehead and he grimaced in pain, then keeled over dead.

When Karth showed Dorn the note, the watchman was able to help them puzzle out the clues. He knew of a smithy named the Cold Forge. They decided they'd check it out in the morning. Dorn opted to deputize the PCs, which enabled them to enter the sewers beneath the city legally.

As they slogged through the sewers, following what signs they could of the drows' passage and the presence of Beggar's Gold, they came across a spillway where a strange telepathic voice warned them that some "spawn of the Faceless Lord" lurked ahead. Sure enough, a large black pudding and several gray oozes with psychic powers were blocking their way. After dealing with the monsters, another strange creature emerged from the darkness ahead: it looked a lot like a floating jellyfish. Dorn freaked and fired a crossbow bolt at it, causing it to flee, but Karth ran after it and convinced it to return.

It turned out to be a flumph - a good-aligned parasitic being that fed on psychic energy. It informed them that they were close to the lair of an illithid. The flumph was quite keen to show them the way to the lair's entrance in hopes that the PCs would get rid of it. Wondering if the illithid was behind the attacks, the PCs were reminded of the illithid that had been behind all the strange goings-on in the town of Brindinford. But why was this one targeting them? What had they done?

The PCs agreed to let the flumph guide them the rest of the way. It led them deeper underground to a point where a hole in the wall of the sewer opened into a natural cave tunnel. Just beyond, around a slight bend, was a large fungus garden carpeted with yellow mold! Stepping forward, the PCs also discovered the presence of several shriekers in the garden. So much for the element of surprise!

After hacking apart the shriekers, the PCs then set about burning their way through the yellow mold, only to come under attack from some drow guards positioned on a ledge further along the tunnel. Dorn was knocked out (by drow poison) and woken up again several times before the drow guards were dealt with.

Pushing on, the PCs came to a cave with a little stream ending in a pool. Gil sent his bat familiar into the cave to scout ahead. Through the bat's eyes, he caught a glimpse of some treasure at the bottom of the pool, visible thanks to some phosphorescent fungus illuminating the cave. He then also caught a glimpse of a large snake with a humanoid face just before it killed his familiar.

This snake-like creature turned out to be a naga. It was incensed that the PCs had disturbed its rest and demanded tribute. Karth decided to attack it instead, but it turned invisible and slithered away, so they decided to press on deeper into the caves.

Next up was a larger cave with a bunch of drow in it, who were now poised in a defensive stance, having been alerted by the shriekers. One of the drow looked to be a mage, and he had a strange winged shadowy creature lurking next to him. Karth used his dragonmark to turn invisible and slink up behind the mage.

The ensuing battle was fierce! In the end, all the drow were dead except for their leader, the mage, who had turned invisible and then retreated further into the caves. The naga, which had reappeared in the middle of the fight, had also been slain at Karth's hand, although the half-orc knew, thanks to Galindan's long-winded ecology lesson, that it would return to life in a day or so.

Still, everyone was hurting badly, and Dorn had nearly died, so the party decided to withdraw and rest up before returning. Gil made sure to steal the naga's loot from the pool on their way out, though. And that is where things stand.



DM Note: Bhára's player had not yet finished up her replacement PC by the time this session came around, so she ended up playing Galindan instead. He is a high elf evoker. Dorn was a last-minute NPC I whipped up for a friend of Bhára's player who joined us on the night. Gil's player was not present, but he was happy to have the group manage him anyway. Tasklar sat out this session, but he'll be back next time. We'll be missing both Karth's and Gil's players, though.

 

[pukunui]

I have created a blog: Time For Adventure. I will be posting all future session recaps there.

You can check out the latest one here: "The Illithid". In it, our heroes delve deeper in to the mind flayer's lair and finally meet the mastermind itself, only to retreat in disarray when it proves to be too powerful for them.

 

[pukunui]

It's a long weekend here in NZ, so I ran a somewhat last-minute bonus session last night. Once again, I only had two players, but they had greater success this time. You can read about their fourth (and ultimately final) foray into the mind flayer's lair here: "The Illithid, Part II".

Enjoy!