Eggcellent, "Do we have enough time to go to Halruaa and buy an airship?", Zanticor foiled

Session Notes #23 - 5/1 and #24 - 5/8

No session on 5/15 as I was ill. Likely doing a make-up session this Friday. Schedules are all over the place during the next few months due to summer vacations, we'll get in where we fit in! (Or perhaps do our first Roll20 session not in the same room *wink*)

In an amusing twist of fate, Rogtar's first attempted Legato Piece on the Infernal Bargain masterpiece (what the hell bard naming conventions) summoned up a couatl to help with their struggles against the plane hopping, recurring villain Zanticor in exchange for the mystery eggs. Little did any of us know that, according to their, lore couatls - 1. particularly enjoy fighting against evil planar travelers and 2. are highly motivated by offerings of food. Well played.

Rumor has it the eggs were thunderbird eggs, but I guess we'll never know.

The white dragons the party encounter early in the first session got absolutely annihilated, I think it was 3 rounds? Seriously, ouch. Delaying and readying around the tactical use of Dimension Door to get full-attacks is effective.

Spent longer than usual prepping the Cloud Peaks section up next and think it paid off with an enjoyable encounter. While the party has quickly adapted to flying and short-range teleportation to get the hitters in striking positions, the anti-magic shielded, flying deva posed quite a bit of trouble by flitting back and forth between Talon and Rogtar and bringing the fiery non-magical sword smackdown. Zanticor took careful advantage of the "distraction" to taunt the party and pull out some force wall and programmed image shenanigans before shifting out.

Sensing a pattern, the party debates tactics a bit, then sends out Spot, the courier hound archon, to procure some specific scrolls/pages of spell knowledge to counter his bull. It pays off. Who needs dedicated casters when you've got the teleport-without-error-express, a searchable SRD spell list, and melee damage.

Day Tracker
Start Day 167
Descending the Cloud Peaks (169)
Two days travel to Keczulla (171)
Two more days travel to Eshpurta (173)
Four days thru Snakewood enroute to Parlfray's keep (177)
One day to Thurmaster (178)
Two days to Baldur's Gate and then waiting around two days for crafting (182)
Back to Snakewood for meeting and fighting (185)

5/1
Jimmenju - 3,200 EXP
Cloud Peak Path - bound Movanic Deva and Flayer Demon, Zanticor (fled) - 7,400 EXP

White Dragon diplomancy - Toristryx and Auronus (mature adult white dragons) - 4,250 EXP

Rogtar's amusing "luck" with the couatl, Stisix, summoning - 500 EXP

5/8
Snakewood - Zanticor and reduced CR for Veruguran fighting dumb dominated - 14,000 EXP
Cowl Character Bonus - 2,000 EXP
30 Total Slaves Saved - 9,000 EXP

DM Notes

The Snakewood session marked the culmination of a fairly long Cowl story-line the rest of the party wasn't even aware of. In short, wanting to continue his growth into a Dragon Disciple, Cowl sent out a number of his Meowswitchian followers to attempt to ally with a green dragon that would become his "mentor" and protect the town. While they were successful, Zanticor struck Meowswitch before Cowl could meet said dragon. Unknown to Cowl, his followers were interrogated by the mind-controlling illithid and spilled the beans. Zanticor then planted a false journal message detailing an arranged meeting where he took the form of a green dragon and convinced Cowl to accept a spell to verify his dedication to the proposed alliance. One dominate later (along with the injection of a mystery fluid), and Cowl was fighting for the wrong side. While he did manage to slip the control, Jobin and Or'Tree were having none of it and slew the potential ally (lawful evil) dragon Veruguran during the encounter despite Cowl's protests. To be fair, it definitely would've killed Jobin without Or'Trees sacred shield halving damage (I'd estimate that ability has prevented ~5ish deaths).

We'll have to wait and see how the conflict shakes out for the party!

...I wonder what the City of the Glass Pool has been up to during all these time-consuming diversions. Probably nothing important...

Salving Slaves, Caucus Blocked, a Little Fungus Among Friends

Session Notes 4/15, 4/22, and 4/24

Lumping two short Friday sessions (20+21) and a full Sunday session together (22) for this update. Ended up not playing our normal session Sunday 4/17 due to Rogtar/Mark and Cowl/Chris participating in the Bernie Sanders hipster rally democratic caucus which only ran ~6 hours overtime.

Last session ended with the party escaping the City of the Glass Pool and stone shaping the wall shut behind them, leaving Jobin to his fate. Chase and I played out what happened during his attempted escape - it involved a potion of burrow, a potion of air bubble, the stone cavern floor, a Survival of 0 for determining direction, a potion of gaseous form, and being successfully reunited with the party 10 or so hours later by merely gaseously floating past the stone giants working to collapse the tunnel to them. And for some reason Jobin thinks only 2 hours have passed, nothing suspicious at all.

Day Tracker

Start Day 160

Jobin arrives 10 hours later+2 hr march back to city (161)

Fight with illithid and free slaves (161)

Roughly 4 day trip to Neverlight (165)

Neverlight to surface (Day 167, 8 days since first assaulting City)

The Ramblings of Jobin

First session:

Attack upon entering:1 Eye, 1 Lt, 2 Whips, 1 Priest, Dagapre - 4,600 EXP

Slave Pens Assault: 2 Whips, 2 Lts, 1 Captain, 4 Citizen - 1,800 EXP
SCP's: +8 (total 31)

Second/Third:
7 Fungal Dancers - 8,000 EXP
Defeating the Avatar of Zuggtmoy and saving Neverlight Grove - 12,200 EXPYestabrod and Amalgam - 6,400 EXP
Sovereign Phylo's Corpse Lotus: 6,800 EXP

DM Notes

Lessee...lot to talk about!

Most of the first session was the fight against the illithids Dagapre (a witch, now dead) and Zanticor (powerful arcane caster, fled the battle after his allies fell). The fight against the few guards in the slave building seemed underwhelming and the party fled through the secret passage to the north that the Rakshasha Rukh told them about when they spared his life during session 13.

The Slaves

The next session introduced the former slaves (total 39) they managed to save:

Dwarves - 6 - of Gauntlegrym

Halfings - 6 - of Lurabar and Iraebor

Humans - 18 - from all over the area

Svirfneblin - 5 - from an un-met clan to the north

Half Elf - 2 - traveling “entertainers” from Athkatla

Geronmen (currently has no equipment) - defender of Clan Battlehammer and Paladin of Clangeddin - captured during travel to Gauntlgrym with the other dwarves. Has sworn service to the party and hopes to rescue the priests Yoin and Gorki. He tells you that he was severely beaten upon attempting escape shortly after capture and that his feet were smashed between rocks, leaving him crippled and with a 5 ft. movespeed until Regenerated or Healed.

Ashanarel - prissy half-elf who seems very demanding and rude

Kali Noodlin - Halfling of Lurabar (along with other 4 halflings) - traveling acting troupe. Their bard, Hickle Honeytongue, was separated from them upon reaching the city. They have requested that the party try to help him, but worry that they are unsuited to adventuring.

Topsy and Turvy - leaders of the captured Svirfneblin - depart soon after arriving in Neverlight Grove with thanks to the party for the rescue.

On the Way to Neverlight

A few hours after leaving the city, the party all staggers under the following mental intrusion:
(A horrific image swims in your mind of Zanticor’s alien face shorn of two of the tentacles, leaving behind only wriggling, bloody stumps)

Greetings wretches,

Know this: Your antics have become troublesome to my master, he has reminded me of the price of failure and wishes me to prove myself by destroying you and all you hold dear. Consider yourselves fortunate to receive his attention, it is a rare and precious gift for ones so weak.

Thanks to your pathetic half-breed slave, I now know all I need to do just that. How quickly he broke under my gentle caresses. Don’t worry Jobin, my friend, we will replace your failing devotion to a weak god with a much higher purpose.

Tomoe, too cowardly to wear your true form: your little tool was quite the surprise. I will grind it under my heel and you will enjoy swallowing the shards.

Cowl, you aspire to be great, but you are only a hairy worm, crawling through the muck. I regret that you won’t be able to hear the screams of those you swore to protect as I devour them.

Talon - you owe these fools nothing, what stake do you have in their unconscionable meddling? Stand aside when I come, join us willingly and you will be granted power beyond your comprehension. Power enough to slay he who hunts you…Defy me and I will rip that soul from your body and watch you writhe.

Oh Or’tree, deaf, but who knew just how dumb? What thanks we have to give to you! Who would have guessed that my master’s old foes were so close! I’m sure they would love to thank you personally for revealing their existence to us, but I’m afraid they won’t be around long enough. Perhaps my master will be kind enough to save one or two to kill you themselves after we are done with our fun…

And finally, you, Rogtar, the inspiring leader! You denied your heritage to take up arms in defense of a pile of worthless halflings. And what can you do now that I come for them? Nothing! Just pathetic, but how strong you could be as the leader of my own servants. Yes, I think that is just the future you deserve.

Goodbye for now my friends, know that soon I will have taken all those you have cared about, destroyed your works and homes, and that I am coming for you next.

Using their ring of sending, the party contacts their followers in Meowswitch and sends them off to gather their allies on the surface to defend Parlfray's keep. They also send some to warn Carmenarin's clan of Svirfneblin. Upon attempting to use the ring again the next day they receive no response.

After that bit of good news, the party encounters some environmental challenges including a section of Araumycos, Rogtar and the Svirfneblin twins fill the party in on what it is.

After Neverlight

Thanks to Sovereign Basidia's warning about Soverign Phylo's "pet" lurking in the tunnels to the south, the party is none-too-shocked to encounter an enormous corpse lotus which puts up quite the fight. It quickly grapples party members and waves them around like a slightly less deadly carnival swing ride. Sadly for the lotus, it only has four tendrils and can't squeeze the life out of the nabbed party members before Talon and Tomoe cut their way out of its, uh, plant stomach...area...thing. I should probably chock this one up to poor creature design, but hey, it did have Improved Bull-Rush and a 10 ft. speed, so that's something. Talon also stole Tomoe's dagger and left it in the plant remains, that ingrate.

The party rests afterward. Except Rogtar and Cowl, who try to rest, but are disturbed by nightmares. Despite her professed unfamiliarity with magic, Tomoe suggests using her wand of Keep Watch to the two exhausted spell-casters next time.

Upon reaching the surface and emerging from a cave high on a snowy mountainside, the party makes its FIRST EVER KNOWLEDGE GEOGRAPHY CHECK, WOO! and finds out they're some days travel south of Haranshire in the Cloud Peaks. When we left off, the party was debating whether to disturb a pair of beach-ball sized eggs found in a nest suitable for a Large or Huge creature at the mouth of the cave...

A Fish Fry Gone Too Far, Jobin's Underground-Underground Escape-ades

Session Notes 4/3

Was out last week for ECCC working with Lone Shark Games. Back on track now! Party is now level 10. Current character sheets! Talon's - I tried to post the cocktail napkin Chris (Cowl) is using for his character sheet, but it dissolved before I could take a picture of it.

Lot of fun email discussion during downtime resulting in the outright obliteration of the Lyre of Building from the game world. Seriously, this thing, I don't even.

We'll be running a short, 4-person session this Friday, and then hopefully a full group session on Sunday after the democratic caucus.

Day Tracker
Retreat from the city and resting - 1 day (160)

The Ramblings of Jobin

Ixzan Wizard, 1 Illithid (+1 fled, he shall be Nixincis)
2 Giant Black Widow mounts, 1 Derro Savant
6 Derro Pipers, 3 Lts, 24 Xbows, 5 Shriekers, Commander Gorik (two survivors gain a name, Lt. Durby and Xbowman Heggin)
3 KT Whips, 2 Lts, Duke Dagoorg (heard during combat)

Net: 20,020 EXP and 12 SCPs (total 24).

DM Notes

This happened: Very late in the fight, bogged down in fairly dire straits, Cowl (played by Mark) hail mary'd the CL 16 Scroll of Chain Lightning and scroll misshaped it. I rolled on the chart and the spell effect went off in a deafening 30 ft. burst in a nearby building the party was attempting to rescue slaves from. Both KT and other humanoid screams were heard shortly afterward.

Unknown number of slaves and KT fried in that building by 16d6 sweet electric justices - 0 EXP

Chase and I resolved what happened during his escape off-screen. What did happen, exactly? We'll find out soon!

Special thanks for Mark and Chase for covering the Roll20 subscription for the next couple months!

The Time Sensitive Path to the City, Hot Lobster Mama

Session Notes 3/13

Significant change in normal business as I'm now running the game on Roll20. Just couldn't envision a way to run it as I have been previously with the number of NPCs that are bound to get involved with the party's full out attack on the City of the Glass Pool. Happy to say it worked out great, lot of issues still to fiddle with, but those are all due to my lack of familiarity with the program. Overall, incredibly faster combats with all the attacks/saves macro'd and certainly going to continue running it this way. Still going to meet up personally for the session, I feel you lose a bit much going full digital (some people just never speak).

Day Tracker

First part of notes details a section that had to be played out of time-sync with the rest of the campaign. All resolved now and no more flash-backs should be needed until the time traveling deeper-than-deep gnomes show up.

Finishing up Derro hold and resting - 1 day (158)

Southern Derro hold to back entrance to city - 1 day (159)

Time spent in City - maybe 5 minutes?

The Ramblings of Jobin

 

Experience given out throughout the City of the Glass Pool section will be ad hoc based on my own interpretation of the encounter. CR/EL go right out the window when you're acid balling questionably capable civilians.

You'll also be getting SCP points based on your actions in the city. "What are SCPs?" you ask? An acronym that I know and you players do not! See if you can figure out what they stand for before we finish out the area.

Last Derro fight that we skipped through because it would've been a non-challenge - 1,000 EXP

Crapping up the Blibdoolpoolp statue, finding a way into the City, obtaining info from chilling fish guy, slaying 6 monitors/breaking up their place, embarrassing the Ixzan wizard and mutant, killing 70~ odd citizens and a few tougher fellows on your way out via the Or'Tree memorial overpass - 9,000 EXP and 12 SCP.

No loot because you ran away, though I guess living is something... 

New Neighbors, The Wizard's Retreat, The Pitfalls of Fighting Derro

Session Notes 3/6

Using their Sending ring set, the party contacted the NPC cohort party in Meowswitch to rendezvous in Gnomehome with their newly crafted gear and escort the freed slaves back to the surface. They also gave the slaves 100 gold each to either start a new life as Meowswitchers or book passage back to their homeland. With their menfolk/children still presumably in bondage, none of the grateful women left and have taken up farming and crafting in the hopes of one day being reunited.

The party also handed over 3 Flying Giant Black Widow spider eggs harvested from the Servitor's webs to be hatched and hopefully trained on the surface. I'm sure that won't be terrifying to anyone.

We ran out of time to finish clearing out the Derro hold and will pick up there next time!

Day Tracker
Servitor warrens to Quaggoth flux point - 5 days (146)
Flux to Grell, Grell to Gnomehome - 5 days (151)
Gnomehome fluxpoint (the crystal coffin is a flux point - forgot to mention) to Quaggoth - (151)
Quaggoth to southern Derro hold - 6 days (157)

The Ramblings of Jobin

Wizard's Retreat - Bronze Orb and 2 Stone Golems - 4,200 EXP
Worm Pool Guards - 8 Xbow - 1,600 EXP
Barracks - 9 Xbox, Lieutenant - 2,100 EXP
Webbed Hallway - 8 Xbow, Savant, Piper, 4 Giant Black Widow Spiders - 3,000 EXP
Grand Cavern - 16 Xbow, Lieutenant, Savant, Monk - 3,600 EXP

Of Dwarves and Pits, My Sword is Named Diplomacy, Female Illithids are a Thing

Session Notes 2/28

Faced with a few branching paths, two with Derro and two leading further south toward the City of the Glass Pool, the party debates the merits of leaving foes at their flanks, but wisely decides to wipe them all out before pressing on. With the warnings of Carmenarin in their mind, the party wasted no time trying to negotiate with the evil Derro clan and went in guns blazing. Though quite sneaky, the degenerate dwarves were no match for Tomoe's off the chart Perception and their ambush was easily turned against them.

The Derro are very proficient at using poison and had a huge supply of a particularly nasty poison harvested from their giant spiders. Now the party is in possession of said supply.

They are also very focused on maintaining battlefield control through the use of fortification and spells like Web and Spiked Pit. The party is becoming ever more prepared for these types of shennanigans thanks to Rogtar's freedom of movement masterpiece and various other equipment chosen specifically to bring their very high melee power to bear.

Day Tracker

Travel from outpost to Northern Derro tunnels + resting after fights - 1 day (140)

The Ramblings of Jobin

 

Entry Hallway - 9 Crossbowmen, 2 Pipers, 1 Lieutenant, Crossbow Wall - 3,000 EXP 

Slave Farm - 8 Crossbowmen, 1 Piper, 1 Lieutenant, 2 Savants - 3,300 EXP

Rescuing all 12 slaves - 2,000 EXP

Tunnel two-front fight with Savant Nest and Barracks - 9 Crossbowmen, 1 Lieutenant + 3 Savants, 1 Savant-King, Bodyguard - 6,000 EXP

Loot Haul

Savant 1: Emerald set gold neckchain (3,500gp) large potion of cure serious wounds (3 sips/STD per)

Savant 2: Gold ankle bracelets (800gp set), black pearl (6,000gp), scroll of dispel magic, fly, baleful polymorph CL 9.

Savant 3: Platinum ring (4,500gp) Bracers of Armor +3

Savant King 4: Matched gold ruby rings (1,500gp set) Ring of Fire Resistance - minor, Green silk robe with emerald-studded collar functions as a Blazing Robe of acid (Acrid Robes)

Bodyguard: Small Greataxe +1, Small Studded Leather +1

Illithid: Illithid smelling hat with skull brooch and a hole for your head-growth - functions as a Circlet of Persuasion, brooch from handout #17, shoulder bag of holding (type 1) with a little skull on it - currently holds 5 potions of domination as those seen earlier, a fine jade tea set (1,000gp) with a nice collection of teas (500gp), and a selection of what you guess are Illithid adventuring dresses (400gp). She also had a baton with a skull on the end of it - pressing a button extends it into a black silk parasol (20gp)

Some of the window dressing from the books is just odd. Apparently the artist couldn't figure out what a flying giant spider would look like either.

In two trapped chests Tomoe, easily spots and disarms (1,200 EXP):
21,000gp
pouches of gems of all types totaling 32,000gp
2 5k diamonds
6 potions (later found to be potions of Bull's Strength mixed with potions of domination)

Tome of Leadership and Influence +1, usable by Good aligned only
2'x1.5'x1 coffer, functions as a bag of holding (type 2) with the additional property of it+contents being impossible to scry by any means. (Price 15,000gp)
It contains a glimmering sapphire stone dragon statuette, roughly 10 inches long. Every facet of the creature glints with rainbow colored light. (200,000gp) It doesn't ping on anyone's knowledge checks, though Rogtar if you have some sort of legend lore effect you can give me numbers.

 DM Notes

Due to Chris/Or'Tree's schedule, some events happened at weird (non-session chronological) times and got left out of notes. At Carmenarin's recommendation now that the shadow dragon had been defeated, the party traveled back to the mysterious area past his lair (timeline from last post - Day 125). As they poked and prodded around, Or'Tree was pulled bodily into a stone wall by four arms. Sensing no evil and strong magic afoot, the party decided to wait and took a rest in their portable cabin. Sure enough, Or'Tree was unconscious outside of it when they awoke, none the worse for wear, but with no memory of what happened and a Geas spell laid on him of unknown origin.

Chris and I hashed out the roleplay of what went on inside the wall off-screen a bit later. The relevance of this is that, upon discovering the sapphire dragonette statue, Or'Tree was overwhelmed with a strong desire to keep it safe and transport it back to where he was abducted. With the paladins again sensing no evil, the party decided to play along with this and let him hang onto it.

Meowswitch Property Values are Already Dropping, A New Challenger Appears, Worm Charmers Denied

Session Notes 2/21

George/Thorn joined up this session as a new PC. He spent the first part of the evening watching the initial Meowswitch development discussions and the extremely long fight with the kidnappers. This fight was on a somewhat larger scale than the PC's were used to and fighting the unseen, flying reckless abandoned, primal archer with a boatload of buffs was pretty rough. Really digging these types of fights, but they sure are time consuming. The encounter definitely highlighted the party's relative inability to fight things that don't want to hang around and get full-attacked in the face. I suspect this fact may have been a direct influence on George's build, and while the party now has a dedicated ranged DPS type, they're almost critically low on arcane and divine utility. Only time will tell if this is fatal or irrelevant in the face of their fairly high burst damage potential.

George/Thorn joined in on the next encounter with a skin and bones build to shoot some illithids with his warbow. Next week we'll hopefully have a full backstory!

Day Tracker
Time spent in Meowswitch organizing and training followers - 1 day (119)
Meowswitch to Underdark Crossroads - 2 days (121)
Crossroads to Gnomehome - 2 days (123)
Gnomehome to Crossroads - 2 days (125)
Crossroads to dead end - 3 days (128)
Dead end to Crossroads - 3 days (131)
Crossroads to Grell fluxpoint to Quaggoth fluxpoint - 3 days (134)
Quaggoth to Derro outpost/crossroads - 5 days (139)

 

The Ramblings of Jobin

Mercenary Strike Party - Jackit!, Godkiller, Grimjaw Arrowthrower, Crystenna, Lar'tel Dances with Demons, and Nar of the Spider People - 4,800 EXP

Fun fact, you just ended the campaign of your evil alter ego lv 8 adventuring party.

Derro Outpost - 6x Derro crossbowmen, Savant, 2x Illithids (Savant and 1 Illithid escaped) - 2,400 EXP + 800 EXP for avoiding the gong (coulda farmed dem worms, or been worm food, who knows?!)

Bonus: 1,000 EXP to Or'Tree for sprucing up that old Torm shrine in the basement of Brokenspire Keep.