WotBS Tolamaker's Burning Sky
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Tolamaker
Adventurer
Sessions 112-117 Like Looking in a Mirror
112
The group teleports to Ycengled, where they see that the forest is slowly coming back to life after years of fog and undeath. They meet with Fearne or whoever and see how the elves are doing. THey say that Shaaladel hasn't sent troops in yet, and the forest still holds its haunted reputation for a little while. Wandering away from the village, Fearne pointedly wonders aloud about what a shame it would be if Shaaladel were to fall in battle, and be replaced by his kinder daughter Shalosha. The group then wonders the same thing. Hypothetically. They don't come to a conclusion.
Traveling north to the battle lines, they meet with a general who asks for their help with guarding Theorond, brother to Shaaladel. Theorond is quite insulated, not even speaking Common very well. As they tour the river, Theorond asks to cross a bridge, where ELuriah hears the sounds of an ambush before it can attack. A bolt comes flying from the trees, and a mad cackle sounds out from the assassin, Sorripa the Undying.
113
Two behirs swarm up over the bridge as well. Aripos and Gruz go to deal with Sorripa, but a half-orc steps out of hiding, announcing himself as Duke Zurg. Mishka and Eluriah defeat the behirs with axe and Control Water, and Go to help deal with the two assailants who look suspiciously similar. Seeing they are outnumbered, the two teleport away in a flash of fire.
Receiving profuse thanks from the elven general for not letting the Lord Shaaladel's brother die on his watch, the group goes further west. There, they meet with a commander, and agree to retake some territory on the Shahalesti side of the river. At a cliffside, they find a barbarian named Ashkim and a druid named Hairule alongside several T-Rexes flightless dragons. The druid calls a storm down while the barbarian and dragons hold the line.
114
Slowly, as two barbarians hack away at each other, the group manages to maneuver in a way that Hairule is forced to teleport away without Ashkim, leaving him unconscious at Mishka's feet. However, the way he teleported away left a portal behind, closing quickly. THe grouip decides to jump through, wherever it may lead them.
They find themselves in a camp, where Hairule is calling the alarm. Zurg and Sorripa are there, and they are joined by a horrific beholder inquisitor, Pontus Jikhtasceksh, wearing another beholder's skull as his mask. Hairule is quickly dealt with, but the Beholder's antimagic cone and telekinetic rays soon split the party up as Zurg and Sorripa maintain their mobility.
115
Gruz chases Sorripa around, trying to pin the little assassin in place. Mishka charges Pontus Jikhtasceksh, managing to shrug off his attempts to hold her in place. Eluriah and Aripos are less lucky, as Jikhtasceksh maneuvers to keep them in his sight so they can't benefit from Foresight or Invisibility.
Chasing Sorripa backfires as it leads to a two on one between Gruz and the remaining mercenaries, and he attempts to rally. However, His movement has brought him back into Jakshim's eyes, and a disintegrating ray hits Gruz, and he is turned to ash. Eluriah screams, Mishka fells Jakshim, and Aripos dispatches Zurg and Sorripa with two well-placed bolts. They gather Gruz's ashes and bring him back to the river, where they find that they are actually opposite Lord Shaaladel's camp. They meet with him, asking for his assistance, which he gladly offers to bring Gruz back to life in exchange for the Torch. He laughs at the faces they make, and nods to a cauldron hanging from Gruz's broom. "I believe an artifact such as that would cost quite a pretty penny. It would be a shame if he were not able to make use of it."
The group puts Gruz's ashes in the cauldron, and Aripos pours out a stolen wine into the cauldron as he sips on his own glass. In the afterlife, feeling the tug of mortality once again, he hears his patron speak into his ear. "You return to life, but death awaits at your doorstep!" Pulling himself out of the cauldron, Gruz summons forth a Blade of Disaster as vampiric ambushers descend on their tent.
116
The party rouses as vampires swarm them, while an invisible commander tosses fireballs and other control spells about, all while calling for the spawn to focus on getting the Torch. However, the vampires underestimated how weak the Stormbreakers would be after a long journey, and found themselves overwhelmed. As Gruz chases after the invisible commander, his warlock sight lets him pierce the veil to see none other than Aurana, the dark elf advisor to Lord Shaaladel. He is able to polymorph her into a rat, and they drop her into the bag of holding as elven guards come to investigate, and the party mutters about whether this was Shaaladel's betrayal.
117
The party demands to see Shaaladel, who greets them in a simple trance robe, though the blazing archangels above him are still intimidating. On the way, the party decided to play it cool, and not outright accuse him of treachery, so they simply say what happened, and dump Aurana out into the court. When she denies what has happened, a player muses that angels should be able to tell if she's lying, and what do you know, that is in the character sheet I used. With Aurana's lies revealed, Shaaladel quietly asks her how long she has been working for the Ragesians, mentioning how strange she has acted ever since "that night you were meant to assassinate Leska." The party immediately mutters about the visions they saw in the Temple of Souls. Aurana tries to maintain her innocence, but Shaaladel says there is a simple test to see if what she says is true. "If you have any loyalty to me, walk into the running river, and do not return until I ask it of you."
Aurana is led to the river, and she steps in. Her body catches alight, and she screams, but Shaaladel does not ask her to step out, until all that is left is a slurry of ash floating down the river. He apologizes to the party, and the party wonders if they hadn't doubted him too much.
The next day the armies across the continent make pushes into Ragesia, and find the information found was true: the Ragesian forces are spread more thin than they once thought. A march begins, with some skirmishes, but it soon becomes clear that the armies will converge on Ragos soon. Trying to see if they can deal with Leska's immortality beforehand, the party does some research on the march, learning that there are legends that the Flamebringer Dragon lays at the center of the Opaline Wastes, guarding the Aquiline Heart. One of their sources is Mishka's grandmother, who asks why it's so important to make Leska mortal first. "Coaltongue was immortal, and look what good that did him!" Acknowledging the wisdom of their elders, the party decides to rejoin the armies to take Ragos.
Post Session Thoughts
112
This was a very top-of-my-head session. I didn't even mention a sphinx encounter, simply because it consisted of me having a sphinx land, ask riddles that I found from a reddit thread, and then they succeeded on all of them. The real fun was when the ambush started. One of the End of D&D requests was to have a doppelganger/mirror match fight, which I had said would likely be a dream sequence, because the balance would just be out of whack. Well, this section of the adventure was planned to use the battle point and mission system from the campaign guide, and I prepared a few stock encounters that were cribbed from module 12. The VIP mission was not prepared, so of course they chose that one. In my mild panic, I realized I might not have the right monsters prepared, but I did have the PC character sheets in front of me. So last second I threw in two PCs with escape hatches, and the doppelganger arc started.
113
Nothing specific here other than the joy of calling T-Rexes "weird dragons." I have to say, it's a lot of fun to run a doppelganger party that's specifically made to be the PC's mirror in every way. All of the names are anagrams or just their names reversed. Some personality traits are the same, while others are reversed, and it really just lead to a lot of laughs.
114
I waited a turn too long to try and escape, because I had planned to have one final PC doppelganger fight, but they had corralled the barbarian too well. Plus, Transport via Plants leaves a portal open for a single round, and when Aripos realized they were in range, he immediately ran in. My players love to keep the party together, so even as they all screamed at what a terrible idea it was, they jumped in one by one. Similar to the Empyrean fight, I really find the best way to balance a fight after one that was too easy is to just roll straight into the next fight. I brought in a beholder I planned on having a different encounter in, and it worked out great.
115
Ah, my first kill in over four years. It was meant to be Aripos, but the beholder had too many Dex saves, so Gruz pulled the short straw. The group has at least three separate ways to bring someone back to life, and so when they started to try and wheedle a resurrection out of Shaaladel, I pretty much laughed in their faces.
116
This session didn't quite go as I planned. The battle was far too easy, as I thought a slew of vampire spawn and a vampire mage roughly as strong as Strahd would be a challenge at the end of an adventuring day, and I was completely wrong. CR calibration continues. This session also ended early due to a cat emergency on my end, but thankfully everything turned out alright.
117
Again, this didn't quite go how I planned, I definitely flubbed the way I wanted to present the soft accusation of Shaaladel, but the players seemed to enjoy it. I also did my darnedest to steer them to Ragos first, because I have committed that cardinal sin of planning how I want to end the campaign, and was having trouble thinking of how to make the Opaline Wastes interesting before Ragos. The tracks are set baby, all aboard.
Changes to the Module
The only book change I made was the nature of Aurana's ambush on the party. I decided a while back that I was a little tired of all o the betrayals in the campaign, and felt like Pilus's betrayal will be enough. Shaaladel is an elf, and I think he should be willing to play the long game. So, in my head, I reasoned that this ambush was a matter of Aurana failing Shaaladel too many times, starting with her failed assassination, and the rest being unnamed occasions during this war. This being her last chance, she failed, and Shaaladel felt content to cut her off as a loose end, and accept the Stormbreakers having the Torch... for now. I was a little surprised how willing the party was to go along with Shaaladel after his show, because I tried to put in a little menace with his sentencing her to death as a "proof of loyalty," but ah well, it will be a nice reveal at the end of the campaign. This is the end of Shaaladel's machinations in this game, but I plan on having him teased as a big bad post-campaign. I've already started to mention riots and fits of rebellion in Shahalesti among the Taranesti, Droalesti, and non-elves.
We are only one session behind real time now, so we'll see when I update next! The Battle for Ragos awaits!
112
The group teleports to Ycengled, where they see that the forest is slowly coming back to life after years of fog and undeath. They meet with Fearne or whoever and see how the elves are doing. THey say that Shaaladel hasn't sent troops in yet, and the forest still holds its haunted reputation for a little while. Wandering away from the village, Fearne pointedly wonders aloud about what a shame it would be if Shaaladel were to fall in battle, and be replaced by his kinder daughter Shalosha. The group then wonders the same thing. Hypothetically. They don't come to a conclusion.
Traveling north to the battle lines, they meet with a general who asks for their help with guarding Theorond, brother to Shaaladel. Theorond is quite insulated, not even speaking Common very well. As they tour the river, Theorond asks to cross a bridge, where ELuriah hears the sounds of an ambush before it can attack. A bolt comes flying from the trees, and a mad cackle sounds out from the assassin, Sorripa the Undying.
113
Two behirs swarm up over the bridge as well. Aripos and Gruz go to deal with Sorripa, but a half-orc steps out of hiding, announcing himself as Duke Zurg. Mishka and Eluriah defeat the behirs with axe and Control Water, and Go to help deal with the two assailants who look suspiciously similar. Seeing they are outnumbered, the two teleport away in a flash of fire.
Receiving profuse thanks from the elven general for not letting the Lord Shaaladel's brother die on his watch, the group goes further west. There, they meet with a commander, and agree to retake some territory on the Shahalesti side of the river. At a cliffside, they find a barbarian named Ashkim and a druid named Hairule alongside several T-Rexes flightless dragons. The druid calls a storm down while the barbarian and dragons hold the line.
114
Slowly, as two barbarians hack away at each other, the group manages to maneuver in a way that Hairule is forced to teleport away without Ashkim, leaving him unconscious at Mishka's feet. However, the way he teleported away left a portal behind, closing quickly. THe grouip decides to jump through, wherever it may lead them.
They find themselves in a camp, where Hairule is calling the alarm. Zurg and Sorripa are there, and they are joined by a horrific beholder inquisitor, Pontus Jikhtasceksh, wearing another beholder's skull as his mask. Hairule is quickly dealt with, but the Beholder's antimagic cone and telekinetic rays soon split the party up as Zurg and Sorripa maintain their mobility.
115
Gruz chases Sorripa around, trying to pin the little assassin in place. Mishka charges Pontus Jikhtasceksh, managing to shrug off his attempts to hold her in place. Eluriah and Aripos are less lucky, as Jikhtasceksh maneuvers to keep them in his sight so they can't benefit from Foresight or Invisibility.
Chasing Sorripa backfires as it leads to a two on one between Gruz and the remaining mercenaries, and he attempts to rally. However, His movement has brought him back into Jakshim's eyes, and a disintegrating ray hits Gruz, and he is turned to ash. Eluriah screams, Mishka fells Jakshim, and Aripos dispatches Zurg and Sorripa with two well-placed bolts. They gather Gruz's ashes and bring him back to the river, where they find that they are actually opposite Lord Shaaladel's camp. They meet with him, asking for his assistance, which he gladly offers to bring Gruz back to life in exchange for the Torch. He laughs at the faces they make, and nods to a cauldron hanging from Gruz's broom. "I believe an artifact such as that would cost quite a pretty penny. It would be a shame if he were not able to make use of it."
The group puts Gruz's ashes in the cauldron, and Aripos pours out a stolen wine into the cauldron as he sips on his own glass. In the afterlife, feeling the tug of mortality once again, he hears his patron speak into his ear. "You return to life, but death awaits at your doorstep!" Pulling himself out of the cauldron, Gruz summons forth a Blade of Disaster as vampiric ambushers descend on their tent.
116
The party rouses as vampires swarm them, while an invisible commander tosses fireballs and other control spells about, all while calling for the spawn to focus on getting the Torch. However, the vampires underestimated how weak the Stormbreakers would be after a long journey, and found themselves overwhelmed. As Gruz chases after the invisible commander, his warlock sight lets him pierce the veil to see none other than Aurana, the dark elf advisor to Lord Shaaladel. He is able to polymorph her into a rat, and they drop her into the bag of holding as elven guards come to investigate, and the party mutters about whether this was Shaaladel's betrayal.
117
The party demands to see Shaaladel, who greets them in a simple trance robe, though the blazing archangels above him are still intimidating. On the way, the party decided to play it cool, and not outright accuse him of treachery, so they simply say what happened, and dump Aurana out into the court. When she denies what has happened, a player muses that angels should be able to tell if she's lying, and what do you know, that is in the character sheet I used. With Aurana's lies revealed, Shaaladel quietly asks her how long she has been working for the Ragesians, mentioning how strange she has acted ever since "that night you were meant to assassinate Leska." The party immediately mutters about the visions they saw in the Temple of Souls. Aurana tries to maintain her innocence, but Shaaladel says there is a simple test to see if what she says is true. "If you have any loyalty to me, walk into the running river, and do not return until I ask it of you."
Aurana is led to the river, and she steps in. Her body catches alight, and she screams, but Shaaladel does not ask her to step out, until all that is left is a slurry of ash floating down the river. He apologizes to the party, and the party wonders if they hadn't doubted him too much.
The next day the armies across the continent make pushes into Ragesia, and find the information found was true: the Ragesian forces are spread more thin than they once thought. A march begins, with some skirmishes, but it soon becomes clear that the armies will converge on Ragos soon. Trying to see if they can deal with Leska's immortality beforehand, the party does some research on the march, learning that there are legends that the Flamebringer Dragon lays at the center of the Opaline Wastes, guarding the Aquiline Heart. One of their sources is Mishka's grandmother, who asks why it's so important to make Leska mortal first. "Coaltongue was immortal, and look what good that did him!" Acknowledging the wisdom of their elders, the party decides to rejoin the armies to take Ragos.
Post Session Thoughts
112
This was a very top-of-my-head session. I didn't even mention a sphinx encounter, simply because it consisted of me having a sphinx land, ask riddles that I found from a reddit thread, and then they succeeded on all of them. The real fun was when the ambush started. One of the End of D&D requests was to have a doppelganger/mirror match fight, which I had said would likely be a dream sequence, because the balance would just be out of whack. Well, this section of the adventure was planned to use the battle point and mission system from the campaign guide, and I prepared a few stock encounters that were cribbed from module 12. The VIP mission was not prepared, so of course they chose that one. In my mild panic, I realized I might not have the right monsters prepared, but I did have the PC character sheets in front of me. So last second I threw in two PCs with escape hatches, and the doppelganger arc started.
113
Nothing specific here other than the joy of calling T-Rexes "weird dragons." I have to say, it's a lot of fun to run a doppelganger party that's specifically made to be the PC's mirror in every way. All of the names are anagrams or just their names reversed. Some personality traits are the same, while others are reversed, and it really just lead to a lot of laughs.
114
I waited a turn too long to try and escape, because I had planned to have one final PC doppelganger fight, but they had corralled the barbarian too well. Plus, Transport via Plants leaves a portal open for a single round, and when Aripos realized they were in range, he immediately ran in. My players love to keep the party together, so even as they all screamed at what a terrible idea it was, they jumped in one by one. Similar to the Empyrean fight, I really find the best way to balance a fight after one that was too easy is to just roll straight into the next fight. I brought in a beholder I planned on having a different encounter in, and it worked out great.
115
Ah, my first kill in over four years. It was meant to be Aripos, but the beholder had too many Dex saves, so Gruz pulled the short straw. The group has at least three separate ways to bring someone back to life, and so when they started to try and wheedle a resurrection out of Shaaladel, I pretty much laughed in their faces.
116
This session didn't quite go as I planned. The battle was far too easy, as I thought a slew of vampire spawn and a vampire mage roughly as strong as Strahd would be a challenge at the end of an adventuring day, and I was completely wrong. CR calibration continues. This session also ended early due to a cat emergency on my end, but thankfully everything turned out alright.
117
Again, this didn't quite go how I planned, I definitely flubbed the way I wanted to present the soft accusation of Shaaladel, but the players seemed to enjoy it. I also did my darnedest to steer them to Ragos first, because I have committed that cardinal sin of planning how I want to end the campaign, and was having trouble thinking of how to make the Opaline Wastes interesting before Ragos. The tracks are set baby, all aboard.
Changes to the Module
The only book change I made was the nature of Aurana's ambush on the party. I decided a while back that I was a little tired of all o the betrayals in the campaign, and felt like Pilus's betrayal will be enough. Shaaladel is an elf, and I think he should be willing to play the long game. So, in my head, I reasoned that this ambush was a matter of Aurana failing Shaaladel too many times, starting with her failed assassination, and the rest being unnamed occasions during this war. This being her last chance, she failed, and Shaaladel felt content to cut her off as a loose end, and accept the Stormbreakers having the Torch... for now. I was a little surprised how willing the party was to go along with Shaaladel after his show, because I tried to put in a little menace with his sentencing her to death as a "proof of loyalty," but ah well, it will be a nice reveal at the end of the campaign. This is the end of Shaaladel's machinations in this game, but I plan on having him teased as a big bad post-campaign. I've already started to mention riots and fits of rebellion in Shahalesti among the Taranesti, Droalesti, and non-elves.
We are only one session behind real time now, so we'll see when I update next! The Battle for Ragos awaits!
Tolamaker
Adventurer
Sessions 118-121: Gates of Ragos
118
The group arrives at the siege of Ragos, with waves of armies crashing against each other. Winged cavalry clashes in the air, as wyvern who dip too close to the airship Tempest are peppered with arrows and blasts of wind. Each faction of the Alliance has set up command tents, and the armies are largely fighting their own battles.
The group finds a bedraggled Simeon in a tent, looking over a map. He welcomes the party and points to several key points, including attempting to clear the beach for a naval assault, dealing with a roving band of devils that have been harassing the Sindairese wagons, and destroying various wards around the fields that have bolstered Ragesian troops.
The group decides to take out wards, as they believe any other attempts will be made more difficult if they don't deal with them. They fight their way to a nexus of wards protected by stone golems and fire giants. They are victorious, but they take a beating.
Over the radio their sending stones, Simeon calls out that General Xava's troops have been ambushed. "It's the pit fiend, that's the bastard who took out Kiernan!"
119
Lately, Leska has conscripted convicted prisoners. The Ghost Blades are a Ragos street gang, notable for leaving their victims in the streets, with their eyes burned out. As the party rushes to Xava's aid, fog rolls in, and the Ghost Blades come in with eyes and knives flashing. The party fends off the surprise attack, largely by grappling and then finishing the gang members off. Eventually, the Ghostblades are beaten back, the more cowardly (or more intelligent) members deciding that they should seek easier prey.
Calhaxorous the pit fiend has earned his whip in the tribulations of the Hells. When an upstart dwarf, a mere mortal cut his hand off, he took a particular dislike for dwarves, and has been harassing Dasseni forces. General Xava's position of power made her a particularly juicy target.
The party arrives as General Xava is being dragged back by the remains of her battalion. Calhaxorous and his nightmare steed rain hellfire down on them. Gruz takes on the nightmare, who is teleporting in and out of existence, finishing it off on his own. The rest of the group takes on the Pit fiend, pinning him down with thorns to avenge Kiernan.
With the wards taken care of, and Ragesian forces falling back, The airship Tempest is able to move forward. A voice crackles over the sending stone. "Tell your troops to keep clear of the gate."
The gates of Ragos are a magnificent sight. One of the few structures left over from the Morusan Empire, they depict the twelve gods carved into red sandstone, welcoming entrants into what was once considered the brightest jewel of the empire. It’s said Coaltongue wept at their beauty.
You feel the thrum in your chests as the Tempest opens its eye and a white beam of light blasts the gates to damnation.
Cheers arise from the Alliance, and the armies surge forward into the breach. The Ragesians are so stunned that they can't mount a defense, and soon the choke point works to Alliance favor as elven troops take the gate. Over the stones, Pilus's voice sounds out again, laced with contempt. "I thought I told you to keep clear of the gate." The eye fires again. And again. First, the troops gathered in the breach are obliterated. Then the second blast fires at the command tents.
The party finds their teleportation scroll and activate it, seeking to end the carnage. They teleport themselves into a cavern of flesh and eyes and mouths, all speaking with Pilus' voice. "Ah, we have some parasites who have latched onto us."
120
The party makes their way down strange fleshy tunnels, all while Pilus taunts them from every orifice. "Did you know you have hundreds of thousands of these within your body?" he asks as amorphous creatures rise from bubbling sludge.
"I've reached out to minds from beyond the known universe," he says as a Star Emissary sucks out their magic. It's acidic powers have been turned to dissolve magic users in the stomach.
"I heard you spoke with a demigod in Dassen. So strange that they are waking up now." He says as the party battles a giant air elemental powering the lungs.
121
With Eluriah's medicinal knowledge, she knows they have reached the thorax, and believes they can cut their way through the body to reach the heart faster. "If we can kill this thing, we won't have to fight him." The party agrees this is a splendid idea, and carves their way through the flesh of the Tempest, with fire burning the wounds to stop them from healing too quickly.
Unfortunately, when they break through the walls to the heart, they find that Pilus is indeed there. He is flanked by another simulacrum, Ostalin Royal Guards, and Kai Lei's stitched together body. From his biomantic platform, connected to every organ of the Tempest, Pilus calls down his "pet."
A faceless creature, with only a gaping maw where its head should be, comes crawling down. Gruz feels fear and rage build within him as he hears a clinking sound of chain mail, but realizes the links are made of the badges of the Moonlit Blades. "One of my earliest creations," Pilus laughs. "Let's see if it can finish the job."
Battle happens. With Pilus behind a wall of protection, Gruz takes on the Moonbane, ELuriah focuses on Kai Lei, and Mishka takes on the royal guard. With Pilus Shielded, he's able to attack with impunity until Gruz casts Darkness outside of his sphere, butting off his line of sight.
Gruz is able to cut down the Moonbane as Mishka finishes off the guards. Even with Foresight, Eluriah has difficulty dodging attacks, but with renewed focus from the others they're able to defeat her. Aripos has been attacking Pilus, as his bolts can pierce the shield. He's finally able to defeat Pilus as his last bolt severs his spinal cord connecting to Tempest. As the light in Pilus' eyes die out, the Tempest begins to drift and fall out of the air.
The party immediately begins their digging routine downwards, and as they break through they cast out their last stone scale token, bringing out a flying dragon. As they soar out covered in biomantic viscera, they look down on a ruined city. The blasts from Tempest were clearly aimed at both Alliance and Ragesian sides of the wall, with enormous craters leaving holes in armies and buildings alike. Below them, the Tempest crashes into the walls of the palace, and despite their losses, the party knows they now have a chance to reach Empress Leska.
Post Session Thoughts
118 - This was my calibration fight, where I essentially went too hard on them for a nothing fight. Not a particularly interesting fight, though it did whittle down HP
119 - This late in the campaign I felt like I needed some more returning villains. So I used the pit fiend encounter from adventure 12 to say that it was the one who killed Kiernan back at Gate Pass. The Ghost Blades (modified Flames of the Emperor) were an easy but fun fight.
This session I started doing little lore cutscenes. Essentially, before an encounter, I turned into narrator mode, giving them backstory on the enemies they would be facing. Ghost Blades being gang members, the pit fiend's newfound hatred for dwarves. something that allowed me to provide information outside of having the villains declare during battle, or subtly hinting at the backstory.
The turn by Pilus was expected but still affecting. Seeing their own troops fired upon made everyone hopping mad, and ready to get on the airship as fast as possible.
120 - Everyone was suitably grossed out by the inside of the airship, and I also feel like making the doors sphincters lightened the mood a bit.
121 - Pilus was a good fight, and it was great for Gruz to finish off his backstory's monster. I probably didn't use the weirdness of the airship enough in the fight, and now I'm remembering that Pilus should be able to see everything, regardless of line of sight, but oh well.
The end of this session, I paused dramatically, like I always do before a level up, and a player shouted "We're level 21!" in a joking way. I laughed, and then said they were right, and started talking about level 21 options, and then it led to confusion because everyone thought I was playing around, and then I had to convince them I was serious. I've kept this secret from them from the beginning, and four years later it was a great surprise.
Changes from the module
Most of the changes on the ground were moving events from the Opaline Wastes to Ragos. I felt like making Ragos a single short mission didn't really portray Ragesia as the final boss enough. I have something planned for getting them to the Heart at the end. In the airship, I allowed them to carve their way through because it skipped a single encounter and I didn't feel like telling them they could just walk through the next door. It let a player use skills in fun ways, and was fittingly gross for the body horror in the module.
In other news, this all happened back in May, but then a long string of summer scheduling meant we haven't played again, though we hope to pick up this week. Normally, if we're missing one or two people, we play anyway, but this close to the end we want everyone on board. Still antsy, but I can see the end.
118
The group arrives at the siege of Ragos, with waves of armies crashing against each other. Winged cavalry clashes in the air, as wyvern who dip too close to the airship Tempest are peppered with arrows and blasts of wind. Each faction of the Alliance has set up command tents, and the armies are largely fighting their own battles.
The group finds a bedraggled Simeon in a tent, looking over a map. He welcomes the party and points to several key points, including attempting to clear the beach for a naval assault, dealing with a roving band of devils that have been harassing the Sindairese wagons, and destroying various wards around the fields that have bolstered Ragesian troops.
The group decides to take out wards, as they believe any other attempts will be made more difficult if they don't deal with them. They fight their way to a nexus of wards protected by stone golems and fire giants. They are victorious, but they take a beating.
Over the radio their sending stones, Simeon calls out that General Xava's troops have been ambushed. "It's the pit fiend, that's the bastard who took out Kiernan!"
119
Lately, Leska has conscripted convicted prisoners. The Ghost Blades are a Ragos street gang, notable for leaving their victims in the streets, with their eyes burned out. As the party rushes to Xava's aid, fog rolls in, and the Ghost Blades come in with eyes and knives flashing. The party fends off the surprise attack, largely by grappling and then finishing the gang members off. Eventually, the Ghostblades are beaten back, the more cowardly (or more intelligent) members deciding that they should seek easier prey.
Calhaxorous the pit fiend has earned his whip in the tribulations of the Hells. When an upstart dwarf, a mere mortal cut his hand off, he took a particular dislike for dwarves, and has been harassing Dasseni forces. General Xava's position of power made her a particularly juicy target.
The party arrives as General Xava is being dragged back by the remains of her battalion. Calhaxorous and his nightmare steed rain hellfire down on them. Gruz takes on the nightmare, who is teleporting in and out of existence, finishing it off on his own. The rest of the group takes on the Pit fiend, pinning him down with thorns to avenge Kiernan.
With the wards taken care of, and Ragesian forces falling back, The airship Tempest is able to move forward. A voice crackles over the sending stone. "Tell your troops to keep clear of the gate."
The gates of Ragos are a magnificent sight. One of the few structures left over from the Morusan Empire, they depict the twelve gods carved into red sandstone, welcoming entrants into what was once considered the brightest jewel of the empire. It’s said Coaltongue wept at their beauty.
You feel the thrum in your chests as the Tempest opens its eye and a white beam of light blasts the gates to damnation.
Cheers arise from the Alliance, and the armies surge forward into the breach. The Ragesians are so stunned that they can't mount a defense, and soon the choke point works to Alliance favor as elven troops take the gate. Over the stones, Pilus's voice sounds out again, laced with contempt. "I thought I told you to keep clear of the gate." The eye fires again. And again. First, the troops gathered in the breach are obliterated. Then the second blast fires at the command tents.
The party finds their teleportation scroll and activate it, seeking to end the carnage. They teleport themselves into a cavern of flesh and eyes and mouths, all speaking with Pilus' voice. "Ah, we have some parasites who have latched onto us."
120
The party makes their way down strange fleshy tunnels, all while Pilus taunts them from every orifice. "Did you know you have hundreds of thousands of these within your body?" he asks as amorphous creatures rise from bubbling sludge.
"I've reached out to minds from beyond the known universe," he says as a Star Emissary sucks out their magic. It's acidic powers have been turned to dissolve magic users in the stomach.
"I heard you spoke with a demigod in Dassen. So strange that they are waking up now." He says as the party battles a giant air elemental powering the lungs.
121
With Eluriah's medicinal knowledge, she knows they have reached the thorax, and believes they can cut their way through the body to reach the heart faster. "If we can kill this thing, we won't have to fight him." The party agrees this is a splendid idea, and carves their way through the flesh of the Tempest, with fire burning the wounds to stop them from healing too quickly.
Unfortunately, when they break through the walls to the heart, they find that Pilus is indeed there. He is flanked by another simulacrum, Ostalin Royal Guards, and Kai Lei's stitched together body. From his biomantic platform, connected to every organ of the Tempest, Pilus calls down his "pet."
A faceless creature, with only a gaping maw where its head should be, comes crawling down. Gruz feels fear and rage build within him as he hears a clinking sound of chain mail, but realizes the links are made of the badges of the Moonlit Blades. "One of my earliest creations," Pilus laughs. "Let's see if it can finish the job."
Battle happens. With Pilus behind a wall of protection, Gruz takes on the Moonbane, ELuriah focuses on Kai Lei, and Mishka takes on the royal guard. With Pilus Shielded, he's able to attack with impunity until Gruz casts Darkness outside of his sphere, butting off his line of sight.
Gruz is able to cut down the Moonbane as Mishka finishes off the guards. Even with Foresight, Eluriah has difficulty dodging attacks, but with renewed focus from the others they're able to defeat her. Aripos has been attacking Pilus, as his bolts can pierce the shield. He's finally able to defeat Pilus as his last bolt severs his spinal cord connecting to Tempest. As the light in Pilus' eyes die out, the Tempest begins to drift and fall out of the air.
The party immediately begins their digging routine downwards, and as they break through they cast out their last stone scale token, bringing out a flying dragon. As they soar out covered in biomantic viscera, they look down on a ruined city. The blasts from Tempest were clearly aimed at both Alliance and Ragesian sides of the wall, with enormous craters leaving holes in armies and buildings alike. Below them, the Tempest crashes into the walls of the palace, and despite their losses, the party knows they now have a chance to reach Empress Leska.
Post Session Thoughts
118 - This was my calibration fight, where I essentially went too hard on them for a nothing fight. Not a particularly interesting fight, though it did whittle down HP
119 - This late in the campaign I felt like I needed some more returning villains. So I used the pit fiend encounter from adventure 12 to say that it was the one who killed Kiernan back at Gate Pass. The Ghost Blades (modified Flames of the Emperor) were an easy but fun fight.
This session I started doing little lore cutscenes. Essentially, before an encounter, I turned into narrator mode, giving them backstory on the enemies they would be facing. Ghost Blades being gang members, the pit fiend's newfound hatred for dwarves. something that allowed me to provide information outside of having the villains declare during battle, or subtly hinting at the backstory.
The turn by Pilus was expected but still affecting. Seeing their own troops fired upon made everyone hopping mad, and ready to get on the airship as fast as possible.
120 - Everyone was suitably grossed out by the inside of the airship, and I also feel like making the doors sphincters lightened the mood a bit.
121 - Pilus was a good fight, and it was great for Gruz to finish off his backstory's monster. I probably didn't use the weirdness of the airship enough in the fight, and now I'm remembering that Pilus should be able to see everything, regardless of line of sight, but oh well.
The end of this session, I paused dramatically, like I always do before a level up, and a player shouted "We're level 21!" in a joking way. I laughed, and then said they were right, and started talking about level 21 options, and then it led to confusion because everyone thought I was playing around, and then I had to convince them I was serious. I've kept this secret from them from the beginning, and four years later it was a great surprise.
Changes from the module
Most of the changes on the ground were moving events from the Opaline Wastes to Ragos. I felt like making Ragos a single short mission didn't really portray Ragesia as the final boss enough. I have something planned for getting them to the Heart at the end. In the airship, I allowed them to carve their way through because it skipped a single encounter and I didn't feel like telling them they could just walk through the next door. It let a player use skills in fun ways, and was fittingly gross for the body horror in the module.
In other news, this all happened back in May, but then a long string of summer scheduling meant we haven't played again, though we hope to pick up this week. Normally, if we're missing one or two people, we play anyway, but this close to the end we want everyone on board. Still antsy, but I can see the end.
RangerWickett
Legend
Level 21!
Tolamaker
Adventurer
Sessions 122-124: Into the Breach
122
The group flies down on their dragon, surveying the damage caused by the Ostalin Monk’s betrayal. Huge craters have punched holes in the armies of the alliance. Flying over the Shahalesti forces, there is a noticeable untouched circle around Shaaladel, his archons raising their wings to block the blast. Sindairese wagons are decimated, as are Dasseni platoons.
Ostalin forces are untouched, though there seems to be an argument between several officers. The party lands and the Ostalin soldiers are wary. It seems that some officers seek to take advantage of the weakened armies, while some officers believe that the Alliance is worth upholding. With a show of force by the Stormbreakers, the Alliance faction takes control of the situation.
The worst hit are the Seaquen mages. Fire was clearly focused on the Lyceum tents with a vengeance. Amongst the craters, the party finds the small crying form of Crystin in a tiny space between blasts. She tearfully tells them the entirety of the Lyceum professors were killed, including Simeon.
The party look at each other and reach into their pack for the Feather of Saint Cefrey. Throwing it forth, they call to Simeon’s soul, offering him the chance to lead the broken Lyceum once again. Simeon’s soul answers, and his body reforms in a shower of light, and Crystin hugs him as he touches to the ground. Simeon looks sad, but rested like the party have never seen him before. “I almost didn’t accept,” he admits. “But I know my work is not done. Thank you.”
The party assess the situation, and decide it’s now or never. They rally the alliance together once again, and charge into Ragos.
123
On the streets of Ragos, fighting is tight and cramped, as rubble and bodies fill the streets. While skirmishing with foot soldiers, several cavalry troops charge in form several sies, led by an enormous orc riding an even larger warhorse. Wielding a standard that allows his potions to heal his entire regiment, the orc encircles the party. Through grit and more than a little luck, the party fight to the general and take him down, soon routing the rest of the cavalry after.
124
Fighting their way to Castle Ragos, the party battle devils in a courtyard, as well as a bronze statue of Coaltongue astride a horse that bursts into life and flame to defend the castle. Eluriah finally manages to battle another fire elemental, and binds the horse to her will, turning it against the devils. Its arcane core powers its flames to cut through their fire immunity, and the lead devil escapes into the castle, calling for its master. Running after it, the party sees a circle of inquisitors around a summoning sigil, a gigantic devilish form beginning to coalesce. Beyond the circle, sitting high on her throne, is the Empress Leska.
Post Session Thoughts
122
This session was almost completely off of the dome. I had planned on having them run into the city once away, but of course my RP-loving players wanted to check in on everybody. I had planned on having Simeon killed, with Crystin left as the diviner to give exposition, but the players decided that he was important enough to bring back. Honestly, it was a really nice moment before the rush in for the final battle.
123
Because Ragos isn't super fleshed out, I took the opportunity to use plenty of Czepeku maps as they fought their way towards Leska. Everything I used was just their free downloads, so I can't speak to what the paid stuff is like, but easily some of the most fleshed out battlemaps I've ever grabbed off of the internet.
This fight was fun, especially when they realized the general could heal his troops with a single healing potion. When they killed him, they immediately wanted the magic item, which isn't normal loot in the game, but I figured what the hell. I specifically limited it to single healing from potions, so Eluriah couldn't cast Heal and get a 4-for-1 deal.
124
I repurposed some enemies and cobbled two fights together, and changed the bound fire golems to be elementals so that Eluriah would have a chance to use her Ring of Fire Elemental command. Turning a fire golem against fire-immune devils was fun, as was bashing in yet another Coaltongue statue.
Changes to the module
Other than moving some fights around, I feel like I mostly stuck to the book on this one. The big summoning circle at the end changes the Pit Devil into Titivillus, a devil known for putting typos into religious manuscripts. I've spent a good while of the campaign trying to come up with a fitting source for the Inquisitors' evil ways that went beyond "Evil God." Early on I had said they were once devoted to Meditrina, the god we came up for healing and medicine and poison. Digging through my Tome of Beasts book gave me Titivillus, and suddenly I fell in love with the idea that Titivillus had corrupted some holy tomes to change a once holy order into the nightmare that is the Inquisition. There are some more ideas there, but I'll save them for the upcoming sessions.
122
The group flies down on their dragon, surveying the damage caused by the Ostalin Monk’s betrayal. Huge craters have punched holes in the armies of the alliance. Flying over the Shahalesti forces, there is a noticeable untouched circle around Shaaladel, his archons raising their wings to block the blast. Sindairese wagons are decimated, as are Dasseni platoons.
Ostalin forces are untouched, though there seems to be an argument between several officers. The party lands and the Ostalin soldiers are wary. It seems that some officers seek to take advantage of the weakened armies, while some officers believe that the Alliance is worth upholding. With a show of force by the Stormbreakers, the Alliance faction takes control of the situation.
The worst hit are the Seaquen mages. Fire was clearly focused on the Lyceum tents with a vengeance. Amongst the craters, the party finds the small crying form of Crystin in a tiny space between blasts. She tearfully tells them the entirety of the Lyceum professors were killed, including Simeon.
The party look at each other and reach into their pack for the Feather of Saint Cefrey. Throwing it forth, they call to Simeon’s soul, offering him the chance to lead the broken Lyceum once again. Simeon’s soul answers, and his body reforms in a shower of light, and Crystin hugs him as he touches to the ground. Simeon looks sad, but rested like the party have never seen him before. “I almost didn’t accept,” he admits. “But I know my work is not done. Thank you.”
The party assess the situation, and decide it’s now or never. They rally the alliance together once again, and charge into Ragos.
123
On the streets of Ragos, fighting is tight and cramped, as rubble and bodies fill the streets. While skirmishing with foot soldiers, several cavalry troops charge in form several sies, led by an enormous orc riding an even larger warhorse. Wielding a standard that allows his potions to heal his entire regiment, the orc encircles the party. Through grit and more than a little luck, the party fight to the general and take him down, soon routing the rest of the cavalry after.
124
Fighting their way to Castle Ragos, the party battle devils in a courtyard, as well as a bronze statue of Coaltongue astride a horse that bursts into life and flame to defend the castle. Eluriah finally manages to battle another fire elemental, and binds the horse to her will, turning it against the devils. Its arcane core powers its flames to cut through their fire immunity, and the lead devil escapes into the castle, calling for its master. Running after it, the party sees a circle of inquisitors around a summoning sigil, a gigantic devilish form beginning to coalesce. Beyond the circle, sitting high on her throne, is the Empress Leska.
Post Session Thoughts
122
This session was almost completely off of the dome. I had planned on having them run into the city once away, but of course my RP-loving players wanted to check in on everybody. I had planned on having Simeon killed, with Crystin left as the diviner to give exposition, but the players decided that he was important enough to bring back. Honestly, it was a really nice moment before the rush in for the final battle.
123
Because Ragos isn't super fleshed out, I took the opportunity to use plenty of Czepeku maps as they fought their way towards Leska. Everything I used was just their free downloads, so I can't speak to what the paid stuff is like, but easily some of the most fleshed out battlemaps I've ever grabbed off of the internet.
This fight was fun, especially when they realized the general could heal his troops with a single healing potion. When they killed him, they immediately wanted the magic item, which isn't normal loot in the game, but I figured what the hell. I specifically limited it to single healing from potions, so Eluriah couldn't cast Heal and get a 4-for-1 deal.
124
I repurposed some enemies and cobbled two fights together, and changed the bound fire golems to be elementals so that Eluriah would have a chance to use her Ring of Fire Elemental command. Turning a fire golem against fire-immune devils was fun, as was bashing in yet another Coaltongue statue.
Changes to the module
Other than moving some fights around, I feel like I mostly stuck to the book on this one. The big summoning circle at the end changes the Pit Devil into Titivillus, a devil known for putting typos into religious manuscripts. I've spent a good while of the campaign trying to come up with a fitting source for the Inquisitors' evil ways that went beyond "Evil God." Early on I had said they were once devoted to Meditrina, the god we came up for healing and medicine and poison. Digging through my Tome of Beasts book gave me Titivillus, and suddenly I fell in love with the idea that Titivillus had corrupted some holy tomes to change a once holy order into the nightmare that is the Inquisition. There are some more ideas there, but I'll save them for the upcoming sessions.
RangerWickett
Legend
Weird parallel to something I did. I ran a campaign set a century after WotBS, premised on the idea that the victory had been very narrow, and many people had died when trillith did some shenanigans, leaving most of Ragesia unpopulated and viewed as cursed and dangerous.
But then the party was part of the first expedition from Dassen to try to establish settlements in a mostly empty land, full of ruins, and the main antagonists were a faction from the now-quite-powerful Lyceum. They were looking to find a demon that was reported to be bound somewhere in the ruins of Ragesia that would corrupt any text it encountered. They wanted to use it to destroy Dassen's Book of Eight Lands so they could establish a magocracy.
But then the party was part of the first expedition from Dassen to try to establish settlements in a mostly empty land, full of ruins, and the main antagonists were a faction from the now-quite-powerful Lyceum. They were looking to find a demon that was reported to be bound somewhere in the ruins of Ragesia that would corrupt any text it encountered. They wanted to use it to destroy Dassen's Book of Eight Lands so they could establish a magocracy.
