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Post by Daos on Jul 15, 2023 16:25:51 GMT -8
XP is as follows:
Oceana Poole (Ancient Paladin 5) Defeating Giant Octopus - 40 XP Defeating Feral Undine (x3) - 420 XP Defeating Tiderippers (x2) - 180 XP TOTAL: 640 XP
That brings her to a full total of 13,401 XP, meaning she now needs 599 XP to level up.
Wyldfyre (Berserker Barbarian 5) Defeating Giant Octopus - 40 XP Defeating Feral Undine (x3) - 420 XP Defeating Tiderippers (x2) - 180 XP TOTAL: 640 XP
This gives him a total of 8,602 XP, meaning he has now needs 5,398 XP to level up.
Selena (Dream Druid 5) Defeating Giant Octopus - 40 XP Defeating Feral Undine (x3) - 420 XP Defeating Tiderippers (x2) - 180 XP TOTAL: 640 XP
This gives her a total of 9,072 XP, meaning she now needs 5,228 XP to level up.
Torrenta (Nature Cleric 3) Defeating Giant Octopus - 40 XP Defeating Feral Undine (x3) - 420 XP Defeating Tiderippers (x2) - 180 XP TOTAL: 640 XP
This gives her a total of 2,339 XP, meaning she needs 361 XP to level up.
Lement (Ranger 2) Defeating Giant Octopus - 20 XP Defeating Feral Undine (x3) - 210 XP Defeating Tiderippers (x2) - 90 XP TOTAL: 320 XP
This gives him a total of 823 XP, meaning he needs 77 XP to level up.
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Post by Daos on Jul 23, 2023 0:40:34 GMT -8
Session 20 - The Fiddler's Green We picked up again on Day 82, that evening as the Tideway docked at the garden of Shorehaven. Having already had a long rest, the party felt pretty energetic again, but it was nearing nightfall, so they figured they'd go get inn rooms anyway. (Although first they made a quick pit stop at the local market to buy more arrows for Torrenta and Lement before they closed.)
They find their way to the Fiddler's Green. It's in a seedy area, surrounded by abandoned or run down buildings. But the inn itself is pristine and in excellent condition. Stepping inside, they find it quite comfortable. It's completely spotless, and boasts entertainment every hour. Indeed, at that moment there was a human man playing a lute on a small stage. He was playing quite proficiently, but oddly seemed weary and dead-eyed, showing no expression whatsoever.
Oceana also noted the kitchen staff, servers and cleaning staff all seem the same way. Just going about their jobs--quite efficiently--but as if they were all exhausted and on autopilot.
There was one exception to this--the owner. A heavy set woman with an infectious smile approached them, introducing herself as Pizzicato and welcoming them. She got them rooms and some meals--some really excellent food, too. Oceana asked her why everyone seemed so listless, but Pizzicato shrugged it off, saying it had just been a long day, and everyone was probably tired.
As Oceana sat down with the others as they waited for their food, the human minstrel finished and quietly walked off, not even taking a bow. He disappeared into the back. His replacement then came in from the back, walking up onto the stage. A halfling woman whom Oceana recognized immediately. Clover Whitthorn!
Oceana braced herself for some grandiose song of adventure, probably stolen from Oceana's life, but oddly Clover just played on her lute, the same glassy-eyed expression as everyone else. At this point, Oceana was certain something was wrong. But she wasn't sure what. She excused herself and went outside, circling the inn through a dubious looking alley. She found a backdoor into the kitchen but it was locked. She then returned to the common room with the others.
After they eat, they waited until Clover finished her performance. She tried to leave through the back, but Oceana went after her, calling her name. Clover did not respond. Oceana even physically grabbed the bard's arm to stop her. Clover did not seem to recognize her, and while polite, was completely emotionless otherwise.
Once Clover got her arm back, she went into the back. Oceana tried to follow, but Pizzicato stopped her, pointing out that the back area was for staff only. So Oceana tried to come up with a plan.
The party went up to their rooms and waited until around 2 AM. She then gathered up Wyldfyre, Lement, Torrenta and Selena and they attempted to sneak downstairs. The party fails quite badly at stealthing. Pizzicato heard them and came out of the back, asking if they needed anything. Oceana claimed she thought she heard a noise and came to make sure everything was alright, but it was probably nothing so rushed the party back upstairs to their rooms.
After waiting another couple of hours--the party's sleep schedule was already quite messed up from their last adventure, so it wasn't too much of a problem--Oceana tried again. This time, though, she sent in Lement alone. He managed to descend the stairs quietly and then sneak into the backroom. There he found the kitchen (currently empty of people), a door with the word 'manager' carved on it (locked), and a doorway into a small servants quarters--a room with lots of side by side bunks where the staff slept.
Using his woodcarving tools as makeshift lockpicks, Lement somehow managed to unlock the manager's office. It was sort of an office/bedroom. There was a desk and chairs for business, but also a cot in the corner, where Pizzicato was sleeping now. Lement managed to successfully sneak inside and look over the papers on the desk. He found a ledger marking profits and expenses. It all looked pretty standard, although he did notice one oddity--no money was being spent on labor at all. It was as if everyone on staff was working for free.
He also looked through the drawers. Nothing of interest in most, but at least one was locked. Lement managed to sneak back to the party and report. Oceana was sure the key to what was going on was in that locked drawer, so came up with a plan. During breakfast tomorrow, Wyldfyre would cause a distraction and the others would sneak into her office to find out the truth.
On the morning of Day 83, the party met in the common room with the retainers for breakfast. As they were being served, Pizzicato inquired as to the party's origins, and where they were headed. Oceana deflected and was deliberately vague, for once not bragging about being on a quest from Elonna to save the world. She downplayed their quest, claiming it wasn't that important.
While they are eating, Oceana tried casting Detect Magic. She noted Pizzicato had an aura of Illusion around her body.
Wyldfyre prepared to start his diversion. He walked over to another table and poured someone's drink on him. The guy was flustered and confused, but didn't have the intended reaction. So Wyldfyre punched him instead. This led to a full bar brawl starting, distracting Pizzicato. Oceana tried using Turn the Faithless on her while she was busy, but it had no effect. So instead, she gathered the rest of the party (sans the retainers) into the back.
The manager's door was locked again, and not having the patience to try and pick it, Oceana just broke it open (although it took a couple of tries and made a lot of noise). Once inside, she broke open the desk drawer, as well, revealing hundreds of pink shards and several potions.
“What do you think you're doing?!” Turning around, Oceana saw Pizzicato in the doorway, having broken up the brawl and hearing the loud noises coming from her office. “Are you robbing me?”
Oceana insisted that wasn't the case, but did call out Pizzicato, claiming she was employing slave labor by not paying her employees. Pizzicato insisted her business practices were not anyone's concern, and she was breaking no laws. Unlike Oceana, who broke into her office. Pizzicato threatened to summon the garden guards to have them all thrown in jail. But...she was willing to let this go if Oceana and her party agreed to work a bit to pay off the damages to the door and drawer, as well as from the brawl. She held out her hand to Oceana.
Oceana immediately held out her hand to accept the shake, until...at the last second (and lots of DM's hints) she realized that might be a bad idea. Instead, Oceana insisted on pressing for details. How long will this deal last, specifically, in terms of days, etc.? Not having this, Pizzicato decided to just go get the guards. At this point, Selena cast Moonbeam on her. This caused Pizzicato to shift back into her natural form, some kind of fey creature with pixie like wings and purple-grey skin.
A fight broke out and things started to go poorly, as the fey had the ability to drain energy from those around her. They called out to Wyldfyre, who was outside after having been thrown out, and he eventually came to their aid. In the end, most of the party was either knocked out or on their last legs, when Oceana managed to finish Pizzicato off with a thunderous smite stacked with a divine smite, obliterating the fey and making a thunderous boom, as well.
After a bit of healing, the party went to check on the staff. They were all unconscious. Oceana determined they were fine, just exhausted. It seemed as part of her 'deal' with these people, Pizzicato was slowly draining energy from them, keeping them compliant. So they were all still alive, just drained and would recover with some rest. Oceana healed Clover and learned Pizzicato was inviting people to work for her and once they made a deal, started draining them.
Oceana returned to the manager's office and gathered up the treasure. There was 1,100 pink shards in there, so she gave 100 to each of the employees, including Clover. She kept the three potions, which turned out to be a potion of fire resistance, a potion of water breathing, and a philter of love.
The party then decided to take off before the garden guard was summoned from the loud noise of the smite. They headed back to the ship and when Captain Pisces wondered why they were covered in fey goo, Oceana tried to explain. But Pisces waved it off. “Adventurers,” he muttered, as if that was explanation enough.
My Notes This session was 2h.
More flubbed ability checks! I recall I had the party do a group stealth check, meaning only half of them needed to succeed. But I think Wyldfyre was the only one who actually passed. Granted, Pizzicato had a very high passive perception (16, if I recall).
Naturally I found a way to bring Clover back in such a way that I would not need to speak in rhyme. She wasn't doing so while under the influence of Pizzicato, and when she snapped out of it, she was too fatigued.
The fight with Pizzicato was tough. She had a special rechargeable ability that allowed her to deal necrotic damage to everyone within 30 feet of her for three consecutive rounds. Oceana resists necrotic damage, and made most of her saves, but the others weren't so lucky.
The potions were randomly rolled (I let Horizon roll them), which led to a couple of funny moments. During the fight, Oceana kept attacking with her flame tongue, so Pizzicato decided to retaliate with the flame blade spell. Which turned out to be far less impressive, but oh, well. And then Wyldfyre kept hitting her with his own hammer, which also deals some fire damage. So she was like, “What's with all the fire attacks?!”
So when Horizon rolled a potion of fire resistance, we both joked about how useful that would have been to Pizzicato when the fight broke out.
The water breathing potion was also a bit ironic, since it would have been way more useful in the previous adventure.
The philter of love was out of left field. Neither of us expected that, and it is left to the imagination what Pizzicato was doing with it. No idea how it could be useful for Oceana's quest, and Horizon didn't seem to have any ideas for it, but you never know.
Anyway, I'll try and get XP up tomorrow.
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Matt4
Paragon
Posts: 3,540
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Post by Matt4 on Jul 23, 2023 2:06:16 GMT -8
Really cool plot with the enslaving fey
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Post by Daos on Jul 23, 2023 11:26:51 GMT -8
Thanks. It seemed a good way to not only bring back Clover briefly, but to emphasize the importance of not making deals with fey. XP is as follows: Oceana Poole (Ancient Paladin 5) Successfully breaking into Pizzicato's office - 50 XP Successfully distracting Pizzicato to return to her office - 50 XP Revealing Pizzicato's true form - 50 XP Defeating Pizzicato - 580 XP Paying the freed workers - 50 XP TOTAL: 680 XP That brings her to a full total of 14,081 XP, meaning she is now level 6. HorizonsDream, let me know how you want to level her. Wyldfyre (Berserker Barbarian 5) Defeating Pizzicato - 580 XP TOTAL: 580 XP This gives him a total of 9,182 XP, meaning he has now needs 4,818 XP to level up. Selena (Dream Druid 5) Defeating Pizzicato - 580 XP TOTAL: 580 XP This gives her a total of 9,652 XP, meaning she now needs 4,648 XP to level up. Torrenta (Nature Cleric 3) Defeating Pizzicato - 580 XP TOTAL: 580 XP This gives her a total of 2,919 XP, meaning she is now level 4! Torrenta gains +2 WIS, learns the Light cantrip, gains a 2nd level spell slot, and 7 HP. Lement (Ranger 2) Defeating Pizzicato - 290 XP TOTAL: 290 XP This gives him a total of 1,113 XP, meaning he is now level 3! Lement becomes a Horizon Walker. He learns Protection from Evil and Good and Hail of Thorns, gains the Detect Portal and Primeval Awareness abilities, gains a new 1st level spell slot, and 7 HP.
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Post by Daos on Jul 30, 2023 10:12:21 GMT -8
Just a head's up, we did have session 21. I've just sort of had my hands full and haven't finished the summary yet. I'll try to get that up in the next day or so.
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Post by Daos on Jul 31, 2023 23:27:18 GMT -8
Session 21 - Fairy Market Value We picked up on Day 83, with the Tideway sailing southward down the Cascadian Coast. There was a nice sea breeze in the air. Oceana and the party were on the upper deck, taking it easy. Oceana approached Torrenta, learning some basic gossip about the crew and their personal lives. Like that the first mate was recently married and has a child on the way.
Oceana was more curious about Pisces. Torrenta revealed she learned he was the child of a single parent (his father died at sea), and he was originally from Si'ahl like her, but now works for the Van Dohrs now and again to repay old debts.
Oceana then went to check on Lement. He announced he sensed the presence of a nearby portal, one to the Plane of Salt, somewhere within a mile of the ship. Oceana was surprised he could do this, but he assured her it was an ability inherent to all Spirit Tamers (even rogue ones).
Around this point, Oceana spotted an odd sight off the bow of the ship--what appeared to be a floating building drifting in their direction. Asking Pisces about it, he explained it was the Parley, a floating tavern that sailed up and down the Cascadian coast and served as a neutral ground and temporary pit spot for travelers on the sea. Pisces decided to dock for a bit there for breakfast and several of the crew disembarked, including the party. They were asked to keep their weapons stowed while aboard.
It was filled with strange and exotic people, and there was a hole cut in the middle that led straight to the sea below, where merfolk could visit. Oceana met with the barkeep, a human named Eddy Trevarthan, a stocky person with lots of tattoos who was quite talkative and friendly. Oceana ordered the catch of the day (tuna) with veggies and a dark gravy and a drink called the 'wrack and ruin' which was a house sugarkelp rum. She was surprised to learn that Eddy's partner was an undine woman named Aula. She was a bit unnerved by this, due to her previous experiences with the undine.
Curious, Oceana probed Eddy about their life story, and they were quick to talk. Eddy used to run a tavern down in Tawny Reach, but business wasn't doing well as the place was drying up. One day they were walking the docks at night when they heard a beautiful, enchanting song. Following it led them to Aula. She had always been curious about the outside world and wanted to know more about it. The two grew close. But over time the distance between them grew into too much of an obstacle. So they came up with the idea of the Parley--a tavern on the sea, so that Eddy could keep their business and be close to Aula, too. Aula serves as protection, as she can deal with any troublemakers and her powerful magic keeps storms at bay.
Oceana figured Eddy probably hears a lot of things, so asked about Titan Forest. Eddy heard that it was protected by a Celestian city (not a garden) named Crescent. But that whole region was going through some political and social upheaval. Something about a blight and the Elonnori living there being in conflict with the Eurekeans who want to cut down the trees in the forest. Oceana was shocked to learn any Elonnori live in Celestian lands. But she became even more curious to see this 'city' and its strange stone buildings.
After eating and drinking, she and the rest of the crew returned to the Tideway and they continued on their journey south. Eventually, they reached the garden of Newport and stayed there for the rest of the night.
On Day 84 they set off again. Early that morning, the ship suddenly lurched upward, then crashed back down into the water. It was almost like they had hit a very choppy wave, but the sea was calm at the time. Then it happened again. The party tried looking over the railing, but Oceana couldn't see anything unusual. Lement, however, claimed there was a water elemental down there. Sure enough, it showed itself and climbed up onto the deck, attacking. It seemed almost single-mindedly directed at Oceana. Fortunately, the party was able to defeat it before it could whelm both Oceana and Wyldfyre. Oceana suspected someone had sent it after her.
The rest of the day was uneventful, and that evening they docked in the garden of Thicket. The party headed for a local inn, a placed called the Panacea run by a gnome named Nix Nackle. The Panacea was more of a townhouse than an inn, and while nice inside, came off more as a weird lab than a bar. Apparently Nix liked to mix interesting and magical drinks with unexpected side-effects to them. Oceana decided to experiment, so he mixed her up a black, earth flavored warm drink. It was good, but she then de-aged back into a six year old! Fortunately, the effect only lasted an hour. Nobody else was eager to try any drinks after that, and the party retired for the night.
On the morning of Day 85, the Tideway sailed off again. It was afternoon before the city of Crescent came into view. It was not like a garden at all. There were no plants or wildlife, for one. The buildings were made of stone and glass, and the streets were paved with stone. There were also a ton of people, all dressed strangely.
A little overwhelmed, Oceana asked Pisces for a layout of the city. He explained it was divided into several sectors. They were in the docks now. In the center was the marketplace, which connected to all other sectors. Then there was the university sector, the noble estates, and the slums. The Titan Forest was past the far end of the city, through the eastern gates. Even from the docks, she could see some of the trees towering over the city's wall in the distance.
Oceana decided to head to the university first. But she would need to cross the marketplace to get there. On her way there, she saw a curious sight. A halfling man had a wagon of curiosities and was holding some kind of auction. The object on sale? A glass jar with a small fairy trapped inside. Oceana overheard several potential customers talking about what they could do with a live fairy--dissecting or experimenting on her, for instance. Oceana was horrified they would sell a living creature, especially a fey spirit. She made a stink about it, but the merchant just laughed her off as a 'silly Elonnori.'
Moving closer to the jar, the fairy spoke to Oceana. She said her name was May Bell, and she begged for help in escaping. She even offered a cache of magical items if she helped. Oceana tried to steal the jar, but was easily caught and shooed off.
When the auction started, Oceana realized the halfling was looking for the best trade. Digging through her pack, she made an offer--a philter of love. The halfling was clearly enticed and decided she was the winner, and handed over the jar.
With May Bell in hand, Oceana and the party moved over to an alley and released the fairy. She said if they could find a way to sneak her inside of the wagon, she could use a special item, a bag of item (the thing she was caught trying to steal originally) to grab several more items and bring them back to Oceana. She was only interested in the bag, nothing else.
Oceana had Lament try to smuggle her into the wagon, while Oceana and Selena distracted him with an illusion of a crystal ball to trade. This worked, and after a few minutes they spotted May Bell flying out of the wagon and back to the alley. They met here there and she gave them two items: a Cloak of the Manta Ray and a Deck of Illusions (with 21 remaining cards). May Bell suspiciously insisted that was all she could get, but Oceana let her go anyway, not worried about it.
My Notes This session was 2h, 10m.
This is the second time one of Horizon's characters was magically de-aged to a child, and both were completely due to random rolls. What are the odds? At least this time the effect was temporary and did not require seeking an archmage's help, like what happened to poor Zinnia.
May Bell did have a third item, a Chime of Opening. Had Oceana made and passed an insight check, she could have insisted on it. But not a big deal.
Horizon pointed out that the cloak would have been much more useful during the undine adventure. Oh, well, the dice are ironic sometimes.
Anyway, I'll try and get XP up tomorrow.
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Post by Daos on Aug 1, 2023 7:28:07 GMT -8
I just realized, Oceana needs one more level up to catch up to Zinnia.
XP is as follows:
Oceana Poole (Ancient Paladin 6) Learning about Pisces - 50 XP Learning Eddy's backstory - 50 XP Learning about Crescent from Eddy - 50 XP Defeating Water Elemental - 360 XP Trying one of Nix's experimental drinks - 50 XP Rescuing May Bell - 50 XP Helping May Bell's heist - 50 XP TOTAL: 660 XP
That brings her to a full total of 14,741 XP, meaning she now needs 8,259 XP to level up.
Wyldfyre (Berserker Barbarian 5) Defeating Water Elemental - 360 XP TOTAL: 360 XP
This gives him a total of 10,172 XP, meaning he has now needs 4,458 XP to level up.
Selena (Dream Druid 5) Defeating Water Elemental - 360 XP TOTAL: 360 XP
This gives her a total of 10,012 XP, meaning she now needs 4,288 XP to level up.
Torrenta (Nature Cleric 4) Defeating Water Elemental - 360 XP TOTAL: 360 XP
This gives her a total of 3,279 XP, meaning she now needs 3,221 XP to level up.
Lement (Horizon Walker Ranger 3) Defeating Water Elemental - 360 XP TOTAL: 360 XP
This gives him a total of 1,473 XP, meaning he now needs 1,227 XP to level up.
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Post by Daos on Aug 3, 2023 10:46:36 GMT -8
No session this week.
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Post by Daos on Aug 10, 2023 12:30:36 GMT -8
No session this week, either.
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Post by Daos on Aug 18, 2023 7:06:29 GMT -8
No session this week, either, it seems.
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Post by Daos on Aug 26, 2023 21:19:23 GMT -8
Session 22 - Stranger in a Strange Land We picked up on Day 85, with the party leaving the docks and entering the marketplace of Crescent City. From there, Oceana led the way toward the university to the north. But along the way she saw dozens of vendors hawking wares, some mundane, but some quite exotic to her Elonnori eyes.
Before long she came across some kind of confrontation. A mob of Elonnori were feuding with some Eurekans over the Rot and the cutting down of trees in the Titan Forest. Oceana wasn't sure what to do, but fortunately things were broken up by a Goliath who showed up. He seemed to be dressed like a Eurekan, but had some Elonnori-esque qualities to him, as well. Both sides seemed to respect him to some degree. He called for peace, and dispersed the crowd, telling them that the matter of the blight would fall to the Subprefect anyway.
Once the crowds had dispersed, Oceana approached him and learned his name was Jasper. He could tell from her accent she was not from around here, and she admitted she was Cascadian. She asked about his faith, and he explained that he was Eurekan, but he followed the Way of the Branch. Oceana didn't understand, so he explained that Eurekanism has several schools of philosophy that they study, all learned from the Ancient Ones, or as they call them, the Gurus. There's the Way of the Sword, the Way of the Cowl, the Way of the Book and the Way of the Dove. The Way of the Branch is fairly new, and largely centered in this area where Elonnori and Eurekans mix.
According to Jasper, not all Ancient Ones were polluting sinners like the Elonnori claim. Some valued and cared for the planet and fought to protect it. The Way of the Branch studied the teachings of those specific Gurus. Oceana found that interesting. She asked if Jasper knew anything about a temple in the Titan Forest. He had heard rumors, but assured her no such place existed. She expressed a desire to go there herself, but Jasper told her the Subprefect had closed off that area as the Rot had infected the entire forest, which was quite large.
He was willing to escort her to the university for some research, though. Apparently the Eurekans believe all knowledge should be freely given. Unlike the Elonnori, they don't think any information is taboo or forbidden. Selena managed to find a reference in an old book to a secret, hidden temple in the Titan Forest that could only be found by a true and faithful Elonnori.
With that knowledge in hand, Oceana then asked if Jasper could help get her an audience with the Subprefect. She also asked what that was. Jasper tried to explain the Celestial Empire's hierarchy, but seeing she was getting lost, he told her that a Subprefect was essentially the equivalent of a Supervisor.
Jasper managed to pull some strings to get her an audience. He did warn her not to speak of the whole 'chosen one' thing, as the Eurekans don't believe Elonna is real. Oceana was surprised by that, asking how she is able to perform miracles if Elonna wasn't real. Jasper told her that the Eurekans have their own priests and paladins, and they don't worship any gods. Thus, that was no proof. Oceana was floored by this, and started having a bit of a crisis of faith. Was this what her mother warned her about, when she told her not to listen to the Eurekan teachings?
The Subprefect was an attractive human, a Siyouan woman in Eurekan garb. She heard Oceana out and promised to consider her request, but seemed to think that sending a foreigner to her death would only lead to a possible international incident.
After they had departed, Jasper mentioned there was one other person who might be able to help her. A crime lord who lives in the slums who can smuggle anyone anywhere. But working with her might prove dangerous. Oceana saw little choice, however.
Wishing her luck, Jasper directed her to a tavern in the slums. The tavern was a seedy bar where a man behind the bar with an eye-patch was surprised to see someone like her in his establishment. Oceana told him she wanted to see 'the boss.' He looked her over, remarking that she was rather rather pretty and clean looking. The boss likes women like that, so that should work in her favor. Oceana wasn't sure what to make of that comment.
The one-eyed man escorted her and the party downstairs into some kind of sewer area. From there, he led them to a secret passage that opened up into a rather well-decorated, posh section that could have easily fit in a castle.
There, sitting behind a desk, was a red-skinned tiefling woman with tall horns and long, raven black hair. She introduced herself as Augury. She agreed she could easily smuggle Oceana and her party into the Titan Forest with ease. But she would not do such favors for free. She had some tasks that needed done, and competent folk to do them. Oceana assured her her group could do anything needed.
Augury first decided to send them on a test run, to see if they could deliver. She told them of a ship called the Sunviper, carrying some very valuable cargo for her. The ship was late and her scouts had reported it was just anchored out at sea, seemingly abandoned. It was only a matter of time before the authorities found and seized it. She would not tell them what the cargo was specifically, only that it was alive and it might be necessary to subdue it again. She also told them that if they failed to retrieve the cargo, they must eliminate any and all evidence of her involvement instead.
Oceana agreed and after getting directions to where the Sunviper was last seen, she and her group left and returned to the docks. After leaving her retainers with the Tideway, and borrowing a rowboat, they headed south. As expected, they found the Sunviper anchored out at sea, seemingly abandoned. The upper deck was empty of anyone. The party headed for the captain's quarters. The room was a mess, with a chest full of weapons hanging open, as if someone was digging through it in a hurry. Searching the room more thoroughly, they found a severed hand. It looked like it had been chewed off.
They also found a letter written in code that seemed to name Augury's contact and the drop-off point. Oceana used her Flame Tongue to incinerate it.
She then led the group downstairs, where Oceana nearly tripped over a severed arm that also appeared to have been chewed off. They make their way to the galley, where they find numerous bodies--or rather, parts of them. None of the corpses seem whole. Oceana wonders what kind of wild animal the ship was carrying, and how it escaped.
It was then she heard a clatter in the kitchen. Going to investigate, she found a goblin woman dressed as a cook trembling in fear. She never asked the goblin's name, but apparently she was the sole survivor, having used dead fish to mask her scent during the rampage. She revealed the cargo was a mated pair of trolls. They had nested in the bilge after they escaped. Oceana cautioned the woman to remain where she was for now, and that the party would take care of the trolls.
They then checked out the cargo hold for more evidence, but found nothing. So they headed down to the bilge deck.
There, they found the two trolls which immediately attacked. There was a fierce battle which they could have handily won with Oceana's and Wyldfyre's fire weapons. But they held off, trying to knock the two unconscious. This proved difficult, because of their constant regeneration. Eventually, Oceana concluded they needed to have someone chain up the trolls while they were unconscious during the combat rounds.
Once the trolls were secured, we decided to pause there for now.
My Notes This session was 2h, 10m.
It was fun highlighting the differences between the Celestians and the Elonnori. As well as going over some of the basics of the Eurkean faith, which is more of a philosophy than a religion, really, as there are no gods or praying involved.
Of course I had to bring Augury back. As soon as I mentioned the words 'crime lord' Horizon immediately knew it was her.
While they were searching the cargo hold of the Sunviper, Oceana rolled Investigation with advantage and got two 5s. Sometimes those things happen.
Anyway, I'll try and get XP up tomorrow.
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Post by Daos on Aug 27, 2023 10:15:14 GMT -8
XP is as follows:
Oceana Poole (Ancient Paladin 6) Meeting Jasper - 50 XP Learning about Eurekism from Jasper - 50 XP Learning about the secret temple - 50 XP Crisis of faith - 50 XP Audience with the Subprefect - 50 XP Audience with Augury - 50 XP Finding one piece of evidence - 50 XP Defeating the trolls (x2) - 720 XP TOTAL: 1,070 XP
That brings her to a full total of 15,811 XP, meaning she now needs 7,189 XP to level up.
Wyldfyre (Berserker Barbarian 5) Defeating the trolls (x2) - 720 XP TOTAL: 720 XP
This gives him a total of 10,892 XP, meaning he has now needs 3,738 XP to level up.
Selena (Dream Druid 5) Defeating the trolls (x2) - 720 XP TOTAL: 720 XP
This gives her a total of 10,732 XP, meaning she now needs 3,568 XP to level up.
Torrenta (Nature Cleric 4) Defeating the trolls (x2) - 720 XP TOTAL: 720 XP
This gives her a total of 3,999 XP, meaning she now needs 2,491 XP to level up.
Lement (Horizon Walker Ranger 3) Defeating the trolls (x2) - 720 XP TOTAL: 720 XP
This gives him a total of 2,193 XP, meaning he now needs 507 XP to level up.
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Post by Daos on Sept 1, 2023 22:57:17 GMT -8
Session 23 - Augury's AssignmentsWe picked up on Day 85 again, with the party on board the Sunviper. With the trolls subdued and chained up, they were able to raise the anchor and sail the ship the rest of the way to the docks, to meet with Augury's contact at the drop point. Afterwards, they returned to her to report. Augury was pleased, but not convinced. It could have been a fluke, dumb luck, that they succeeded. She wanted to make sure that wasn't the case, so sent them on a second task. One of Augury's middlemen, an investor in a nearby establishment called The Smiling Duck Inn, has been showing signs of insubordination lately. To warn him of the potential consequences of upsetting her, Augury wants the party to cause the inn to experience a sudden loss in value (but emphasizes she does not want the inn to be damaged or the investor to be harmed). It would be unfortunate, she suggested, should the party find (or fabricate) some evidence of wrongdoing that they might use to extort or blackmail the business. Or credible rumors might spread around town of unsavory experiences that several patrons have had there. She left the specifics open to their creative interpretation, so long as the inn's financial success becomes Augury's bargaining chip to offer. The party asked about the investor, and learned his name was Hazar Flintbone. Oceana was a bit stumped about this one. But she decided to take the party to the Smiling Duck Inn and do some fact-finding. They spoke with the innkeeper, a dwarf named Malakite. He told them that Flintbone was an investor, but usually didn't come to the inn, except to check on his investment now and again. The inn itself was quite upscale, much nicer than the sort of place Oceana was used to staying. It certainly appealed to a wealthy clientele. Not sure how to proceed, Oceana ordered rooms for the party. They were very nice ones, costing more than double what she was used to paying. She and the group retired to the rooms and planned a strategy. Eventually, Oceana came up with something. The next afternoon, Day 86, she and the others except Selena went down to check out. Selena remained upstairs and waited until lunch time was in full swing. She then cast Conjure Animals to summon multiple swarms of rats, and sent them cascading down the stairs, into the common area. People freaked out and ran or climbed up on the tables to escape the rats. Oceana and the party returned to report with Augury. She was quite pleased, as word would soon spread of the rat infestation. But since they weren't real rats and were only temporary, no real damage would be done. Having completed those two tasks and proving they weren't just lucky, Augury now felt they were competent and trustworthy enough to give them the third, real task. Augury had promised a high-profile client a rare delicacy: Illithid tadpoles. She knew of an outcast illithid living in the sewer system beneath the streets of the city and had arranged a distraction to remove the Illithid from its home. Now she needed the party to infiltrate the den and recover the Illithid’s spawn, currently being nurtured in a severed human head. Though the illithid itself should not be present, Augury's agents reported that it had managed to subjugate two troglodytes to guard its young. Augury also noted that there are rumors of a hidden passageway into the heart of the Illithid’s territory in the cellar of a local abandoned temple. Oceana was very nervous about the job, but agreed to it. The party easily found the abandoned temple and Lement managed to discover the secret door leading down into a sealed off part of the sewers. From there, they eventually made their way to the creature's lair, where two troglodytes were guarding the severed head. Oceana decided to eschew stealth, negotiation or even tactics and just charge in. The party cut down the two troglodytes even before they could act. Oceana then tried to pick up the head, but was so disgusted she couldn't do it. So she ordered Wyldfyre to do it instead. However, a voice spoke in their heads, telling them to stop. Turning, they saw the illithid entering the chamber. Oceana didn't know what to make of such a creature and was disturbed. But she tried to negotiate with it. She learned from the creature how it must survive by eating brains, and how it was part of some kind of hive mind that was destroyed. It escaped death and rescued several tadpoles, and had been hiding down here since. Reasoning that Augury probably had no shortage of enemies, and reasoning further that most of those enemies were probably criminals like her, she offered a deal. In return for the tadpoles, Augury could provide it fresh brains. The creature mentally touched her mind, and she allowed it. Seeing that she was being truthful, it agrees to her deal. The party walks out with the head undamaged. The party returned to Augury and handed over the tadpoles and their report. Augury was quite pleased, as she had many ideas how a mind-reading, mind-controlling brain-eater could be very useful to her. She held up her side of the deal and had one of her men smuggle her and the party out of the city and into the Titan Forest the very next day (Day 87). This turned out pretty easy, actually; Augury's agents just bribed the guards with some shiny yellow metal disks. Inside the forest, which lay just a short distance from the eastern gates, Oceana discovered it was filled with massive trees--some 10 to 15 feet wide, and hundreds of feet tall. However, the entire place was filled with the Rot. The blight crawled all over the place, snaking up the trees and seemingly sucking the life from them. The trees were petrifying in real time, crumbling to dust. In fact, there were clouds of dust all over the place, making it hard to see and breathe. Oceana led the way, following the direction of the black tendrils to its source--a massive tree as big as a castle. Searching it, she found a small carving of the Elonnori holy icon on the bark. She placed her own icon in it, and this caused a large door within the tree to open, revealing it was at least partially hollowed out. Bio-luminescent shelf fungi growing on the walls lit the place up, but dust was everywhere, floating in the air, forcing the party to try and cover their noses and mouths with whatever spare cloth was available. Looking ahead in the massive chamber, they saw a tunnel that seemed to lead deeper into the tree. The party made for it, but the dust cloud started to coalesce into small creatures--dust bunnies! Lement recognized them right away and warned the party to avoid using magic around them. This turned out to be good advice. Although the creatures had no claws, teeth or other means of harming the party, they did swarm them and cling to them with static electricity. Any time someone cast a spell, it caused a wild surge. When the party opted to stop doing that, the dust bunnies began casting Detect Magic, causing their own surges. This led to some funny circumstances, like Wyldfyre being levitated into the air, Lement being hit by a confusion spell (he saved) and a fireball (he fell). Eventually the party cleared away the bunnies and healed up Lement, before moving onward. My NotesThis session was 2h, 45m. The Conjure Animals solution Horizon came up with was pretty clever, I thought. Her original plan was to use Minor Illusion, but that spell cannot create creatures, only objects or sounds. That was the only illusionary spell the party had access to, but Conjure Animals worked out quite well. Not exactly sure if that spell can conjure swarms, but it didn't explicitly say you couldn't, so... Horizon had a hard time not metagaming the whole illithid encounter. She knew what one was, but I had to keep reminding her that Oceana did not. In fact, none of the party did. Mind-flayers are something of an aberration in Elonnori dogma. They are not of this world or the spirit world. But something else entirely. The church wouldn't even know how to classify something like that. I had actually been looking forward to an epic fight with a mind-flayer. But Horizon was too scared it would be too strong. It was only CR 7, though, and this is 5E, after all. And Oceana is overpowered as it is with that flame tongue. I'm sure she would have been fine. Nevertheless, she avoided the fight successfully. The dust bunny swarms were a homebrewed creature I found online. You can find them here, if you are interested. They aren't much of a threat; I think they were designed more as minions to distract the party alongside a much stronger foe. But then I realized they could trigger their own surges by casting Detect Magic each round, and things got way more interesting after that. Anyway, I'll try and get XP up tomorrow.
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Post by Daos on Sept 2, 2023 14:22:40 GMT -8
XP is as follows:
Oceana Poole (Ancient Paladin 6) Coming up with a creative solution - 100 XP Defeating Troglodytes (x2) - 20 XP Negotiating with the Mind-Flayer - 580 XP Defeating Dust Bunny Swarms (x10) - 100 XP TOTAL: 800 XP
That brings her to a full total of 16,611 XP, meaning she now needs 6,389 XP to level up.
Wyldfyre (Berserker Barbarian 5) Defeating Troglodytes (x2) - 20 XP Defeating Dust Bunny Swarms (x10) - 100 XP TOTAL: 120 XP
This gives him a total of 11,012 XP, meaning he has now needs 3,618 XP to level up.
Selena (Dream Druid 5) Defeating Troglodytes (x2) - 20 XP Defeating Dust Bunny Swarms (x10) - 100 XP TOTAL: 120 XP
This gives her a total of 10,852 XP, meaning she now needs 3,448 XP to level up.
Torrenta (Nature Cleric 4) Defeating Troglodytes (x2) - 20 XP Defeating Dust Bunny Swarms (x10) - 100 XP TOTAL: 120 XP
This gives her a total of 4,119 XP, meaning she now needs 2,371 XP to level up.
Lement (Horizon Walker Ranger 3) Defeating Troglodytes (x2) - 20 XP Defeating Dust Bunny Swarms (x10) - 100 XP TOTAL: 120 XP
This gives him a total of 2,313 XP, meaning he now needs 387 XP to level up.
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Post by Daos on Sept 8, 2023 21:32:11 GMT -8
Session 24 - Dust to Dust We picked up on the same day, with the party licking their wounds from the chaotic dust bunny fight. They continued to the only passage further, a snaking tunnel that came to a fork. One way led up to some stairs, while the other branched off to the west. The party went west, and found that tunnel split into three more paths. The first one they chose led to a dead-end. But as they turned around, they found themselves cut off by a dust mephit.
The mephit was incredibly morbid and edgy, talking on and on about death, futility and the end of all things. Oceana tried to scare it off, but it summoned nine more allies and the group attacked--helping the party reach the inevitable oblivion faster. It was a tough fight, as the mephits could breathe dust to blind them, and exploded into dust clouds that did likewise upon their own deaths. But eventually the party was successful.
After taking a short rest, the party tried another path that also led to a dead end. But searching ir revealed a message carved into the wall which red 'Earth is stability.' Checking another passage that also led to a dead-end, they found the message, 'Dust is decay.' Not sure what that meant, they backtracked to the stairs and ascended to the next level.
They entered a large chamber filled with a huge cloud of dust. As they tried to cross it, the ground shook a bit, and five creatures made of dust formed and attacked. These elementals proved quite tough, and only at the very end of the fight did Oceana realize they were vulnerable to water. Nevertheless, the party defeated the creatures, and they returned to dust.
Moving on to the next room, they found it's like a small desert--there was so much dust it was knee high, and moving through was difficult. There was a large nook in the middle of the room, branching to the east. The party to investigate. There was furniture there, but it was decayed to almost nothing--like it was hundreds of years old, although that made no sense. She found a stone plaque on the wall that, while also decayed, was in a bit better shape than the rest of the decor. The plaque's message was partially gone, though. The parts Selena could read (it was Siyouan), said, “The bones of the earth last forever' and another part said something about 'the reflection of the shards.' It was unclear what any of that meant, though.
Wanting to find more clues, Oceana started digging around in the dust. But this just kicked it up in the air, making the air worse. She then got the feeling of being watched and turned around to see a dark, ghostly figure emerging from the dust and approaching the party from behind. She shouted a warning and the strange wraith-like creature attacked them.
The spirit gave them quite a challenge. It conjured up horrifying images and sounds in the dust cloud, frightening most of them. It grappled Selena, but then Torrenta was lucky enough to turn it back with her holy symbol--except Oceana's Moonbeam spell damaged it, breaking the turn. It then swallowed Selena, battering her with dust and debris while the others tried to fight it without harming her.
Eventually they managed to defeat it,and it turned back into dust. The party was pretty beat up and low on magic at this point. Oceana wanted to take a long rest, but the dust in the air kept choking them, making it impossible. They had no choice but to push forward and hope to find a better spot.
They climbed more stairs, reaching the next level, and came upon an intersection. To the left was a long, snaking tunnel. But to the right was a large chamber. A row of pink crystals seemed to grow out of the ground half-way through the room, glowing slightly with pink at the reflection of Oceana's Flame Tongue. Oddly, on the party's side of the room, there was Rot and dust clouds everywhere, like the rest of the temple. But on the other side of the crystals, it was completely clear of both.
What's more, someone was over there, laying down on the ground, completely still...
My Notes This session was 2h, 40m.
Like the previous dungeons, I had to homebrew a number of creatures for it to fit the elemental theme of 'dust.' This included the dust mephits and the sandlings. The sand silhouette, however, was from the Tome of Beasts by Kobold Press.
Some cliffhanger, huh?
Anyway, I'll try and get XP up tomorrow.
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