Re: [Spoilers] Return to Greyhawk
Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2022 9:11 pm
Session 20 - 11/25/2022 - "Persimmon and the Dread Lever"
DM : Lasarian
Party: Baiz - Dour Warmfury - Mountain Dwarf Fighter/Champion - Mason's and Smith's Tools
Talo - Easeis - Human - Sorcerer/Spell Void - Dice Set and Thieves' Tools
Stel - Eilo - Fairy - Warlock/Celestial - Flute
Rox - Kismet of the Woods - Wood Elf Druid/Circle of the Land (Forest) - Herbalism Kit
Khaie - Magar - Grey Elf Wizard/School of Evocation - Herbalism Kit
Kor - Koram Orchammer - Hill Dwarf Cleric/Life Domain - Mason's, Cartographer's and Smith's Tools - Herbalism Kit
Session starts with the group having moved back to the keg storage room resupply and then to the forge room so Dour can repair his chainmail.
The party stacks kegs of water (2), ale, raisins, seasonings, hard candy, honey, barley (3) and sunflower seeds. Koram casts purify food and drink on the pile and then loads all the listed kegs into the Bag of Holding.
The group returns to the forge so Dour can patch up the damage to his armor with Koram assisting.
The party heads back north near the blue crystal room and Koram spots a secret door. Eilo summons a fuzzball ape from the Bag of Tricks and names it Persimmon. The room behind the secret door is about 20' X 20' and the NW corner of the room has collapsed. The room contains an empty cage and a 50lb ball and chain, which the group puts in the Bag of Holding. Nothing else if interest is in this chamber, so everyone heads back out and follows the hallway to the east, which dead ends and a door to the south.
While investigating the hallway and door, Eilo notices there is a slot in the ceiling directly above where Easeis is standing in the hallway. She looks closer and warns everyone that there is a portcullis retracted into the ceiling, so Easeis steps back to the west away from the opening. The group also notices a receiving slot in the floor for the portcullis. Magar casts his detect magic ritual, but there appears to be nothing in range, so the group thinks it may be a mechanical trap of some kind. Dour and Koram agree that there is no practical way to stop the portcullis from falling if it is released. Magar uses his mage hand to open the door to the south and the group sees what appears to be another storeroom filled with lots of tools and building materials. There is also a lever on the north wall near where the portcullis is located in the hallway outside to the north. Eilo sends Persimmon towards the east dead end hallway to investigate and the portcullis comes crashing down, making a huge racket, as the ape gets a short distance from the slots in the ceiling and floor. Dour and Koram cannot move the lever and eventually the group gives up on trying to lift it.
Defeated by the stubborn lever, the party heads back out into the hallway to the west and circling back south and east, before being attacked by the giant spiders that must have been attracted by the noise of the portcullis. Koram casts toll the dead and one of the spiders barely flinches. A spider sprays a web at Easeis, trapping him in place. Kismet throws a ball of produce flame, scorching a spider, but is then also hit by a spun web and trapped. Magar moves forward and cuts Easeis free with his dagger. Dour throws a hand axe, burying it into the body of one of the spiders. Easeis kicks the last of the webbing off him and aims a ray of frost at the spider that webbed him, but misses. Another spider sprays a web at Koram, but the webbing clips his shield and piles up on the floor. Eilo focuses her hex and and an eldritch blast on the northern-most spider, hitting it with both force and necrotic energy, killing the arachnid. Koram tolls the dead again, but it seems to not affect the spider near Dour, and the spider responds by biting at Dour, but misses. Kismet, struggling against the webbing entrapping her, tries to throw a ball of produced flame, but is too off balance to hit. The spider furthest to the east scuttles forward across the ceiling and bites Kismet deeply on the shoulder injecting her with poison. Magar begins to cut Kismet free from her web, as he did for Easeis, and then steps back around the corner. Dour moves west and smashes his maul into the spider that attacked Kismet. Easeis mind slivers the same spider spiking psychic damage into its mind. Eilo shifts her hex and eldritch blasts the spider on the floor near Koram just noticeably damaging it, and flits back around the corner to the west. Koram turns and tolls the dead on the spider in front of Kismet and Easeis, the necrotic sound rolling over and killing the creature. Kismet throws another ball of produced flame on the southern spider, but it splashes harmlessly against the wall, and she steps back around the corner with Magar and Eilo. The spider next to Koram lunges to bite at him, but its fangs cannot get through the dwarf's chainmail. Magar steps from behind the corner and severely burns a spider with fire bolt. Dour steps up, winds up a haymaker swing with his maul, but misses. Easeis points a ray of frost at the remaining spider, but just misses, hitting the floor under the spider. Eilo flies out from the corner and eldritch blasts at the last spider but it skitters to the side and she misses. As the spider skitters away from Eilo's eldritch blast, it also avoids a strike from Koram's war hammer. Kismet steps out, throwing a ball of produced flame, but unable to line up correctly with all the combatants in the way. The spider recovers from its jerky maneuvers and clamps its fangs into Koram's leg above his boot, but below his chainmail, drawing blood, but not able to poison the resistant dwarf. Magar steps out and singes the spider with a fire bolt, causing it to shift sideways right into a massive overhand from Dour's maul, smashing its exoskeleton. The party checks themselves over, and no one seems to be too badly injured.
Eilo convinces everyone to go back once again to try and rescue Persimmon. Koram and Dour manage to fix the lever, even adding an extra long handle, from all the tools in the storeroom. Everyone tries to move the lever, but it wont budge. Eilo summons another fuzzball from the Bag of Tricks and gets Artichoke the II axebeak, and Eilo's first command is for Artichoke II to try and lift the lever, but it fails as well. Eilo eventually eldritch blasts the lever from above and using Grasp of Hadar, tries to magically pull the level upwards. All that happens is the lever snaps. Koram repairs the lever with some tools from the room for the distraught fairy, but even with a longer handle now attached, no one can budge the lever.
The group moves on following a zig zagging hallway to the north and then east. The hallway turns south and there is a series of doors on the eastern wall. The first door leads to a bedroom containing typical furnishings like a desk, table and bed. Eilo is sure there is a secret door, but after a half hour of searching, cannot find anything. The middle door on the eastern wall of the south hallway is also a similarly furnished bedroom to the first, but there is a door in the eastern wall of the bedroom opposite the door the party entered on the west wall. The group checks the door and finds it locked. Easeis is unable to pick the look, but Dour is able to force it open. The opening revealed appears to lead into a dark room, but then there is a flickering and the room is replaced by a solid stone wall. Magar detects magic and it seems that the level of magic is fluctuating in time with the appearance and disappearance of the room beyond and the solid wall. It seems the magic may be failing and the opening is flickering in and out of existence. Eilo tries to enter push against the wall, hoping to fall through when the opening appears, but then the magic seems to fail altogether leaving nothing but a solid wall.
The group then settles in, talking for a while before taking a long rest. (PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DISCORD IN CHANNEL ROLEPLAY IS OUT OF SEQUENCE A BIT. SOME OF THE DISCUSSIONS TOOK PLACE AS IF THE PARTY HAD ALREADY COMPLETED THIS SESSION, WHEN IN GAME TIME, THE LONG REST AND DISCUSSION OCCUR BEFORE THE SESSION TAKES PLACE.)
Eilo asks, "Did anyone else have strange dreams last night? I fear some evil in this place is trying to worm its way into our minds.", She then exclaims, "Let's go try and free Persimmon again! That will make things better."
Koram replies, "Nope. Slept like a baby. Nothing like a well made stone floor when ya need a good night's sleep."
Easeis interjects with, "Eilo, why do you get so upset when something happens to your pets after you intentionally put them in dangerous stations? I'm pretty sure they aren't real creatures anyway. They are manifestations of magic. Hrm, that would be an interesting experiment. Kismet, you appear to be attuned to nature. Can you speak with animals?"
"I’m not worried about Persimmon being in a dangerous situation, I’m worried about her being LONELY. We’re in peril all the time, but we’re together.", the distraught fairy replies.
Koram states, "If you want to look on the positive side, Persimmon will just go poof at dawn, and then no more worries."
Eilo sniffles, "But what if she’s like a mayfly, and these short hours are all she has?"
Koram replies, "I will say a prayer for Persimmon to Moradin when we rest, since He is the All-Father and Creator of life. Easeis is probably right in this case though little one. Your bag simply creates a manifestation of magic in the form of an animal." Turning to Easeis, he simply states, "It would be interesting to see if Kismet can speak to them Easeis." Turning back to Eilo, Koram says in a tone usually reserved for talking to upset children during temple services, "Think of this though, Eilo, whether they are with us or not, they disappear at dawn, but you are able to call them back. We saw Artichoke the axebeak "die", but you called it back again."
Eilo throws her little arms partway around Koram’s neck. "Thank you for your kindness. You’re right, Artichoke did come back to us."
Padding along the pitch black corridor, Kismet wearily rubbed her eyes. It hadn’t been easy but she had finally convinced Persimmon to fall asleep. If it hadn’t been for her affection for the tiny fairy, she wouldn’t have bothered with trying to comfort the giant gorilla. Catching sight of the party, she gently tapped the tiny fairy on her shoulder. "Fret not, Eilo. I’ve just come from visiting Persimmon and he is fast asleep. And…it wasn’t easy getting a 500 pound gorilla to fall asleep! I had to tell him stories but he calmed down quick enough. I suspect he will be just fine until he disappears."
"Thank you Kismet, you are a true friend.", responds Eilo, "I may need you to tell me one of those calming stories the next time we rest. I fear my dreams of late."
Seeing Eilo and Kismet together, Koram quietly steps over to them. Sensing his presence, Kismet looks over at Koram.
Koram asks, "Eilo, have you spoken to the Rainbow Unicorn lately? Just wondering if it has said anything to you about some greater evil in our world, not in the Fey, but here. Kismet, anything from the Old Gods?"
A troubled look passes over Kismet's face. "It is hard to say, ever since we came to this wretched place my dreams have been troubled. I suspect this plague, this red death, is only just beginning. I have not felt or heard of anything like this before."
Koram declares, "Lately Moradin's will has been clearer to me than ever during my prayers. There is a clarity to His responses that has never happened before. I feel that we are all somehow tied together, and as a group, have some part to play in facing this evil. I thought perhaps that the two of you might have received some form of message or guidance from your Patrons."
Easeis leans in, "Going from being hired by a headhunter in Greyhawk to being bound by fate is a bit extreme, don't you think?"
"I agree Easeis, but in all the decades I have served Moradin, I have never felt a more direct message from Him. Maybe Fate or some other power had something to do with bringing us all to Helden looking for work at the same time. I can only say that I am absolutely sure there is something more at play here."
"I have not had another message from the Rainbow Unicorn, but I did receive a message from another being, one who hoped to supplant my Patron in my loyalty and affection. I may have enjoyed the test to my fealty a bit too much, and I fear a subtler challenge. I know that something dark and full of guile is trying to make me stray from my path. You do not see the markings of Fate at play here Easeis? I do not know where our journey will lead, but I believe we are all bound together by stronger ties than chance.", and then Eilo adds, "Here, have a pickle."
"Well, slag me!", Koram grumbles, "Some dark critter is playing mind games with ya little one? Stay true to your rainbow horse."
Easeis replies easily, "Moradin doesn't speak to me, and I've never met a Rainbow Unicorn, so no, I can't say I feel drawn to you by fate."
Koram, true to his nature replies, "Totally respect your thoughts and beliefs, Easeis. Not saying you have to feel it, but asking that you simply acknowledge that there may be something more than the simple day to day trials we face."
Rubbing at her eyes, weary to the bone, Kismet eyes her companions. "I shall need to rest soon, I have wounds that need to be healed. Not that I could get any real rest, not with the dreams I’ve been having lately." Her voice trails off as she listens to her companions discuss their predicament and what may be really going on.
Eilo pats Easeis on the shoulder. "It is not always a blessing to be sworn to such. Some days, I imagine the freedom of a quieter life, without the reins of obligation guiding me."
Easeis states plainly, "You have all talked about dreams and tests and not elaborated on them. Are you keeping them secret for a reason?"
Eilo stammers, "I… I am a little embarrassed to say that I enjoyed my time with the “dark critter”, as Koram called it. It appeared in the form of a beautiful unicorn, and I… I asked to ride it. It was a joyful thing, but there was much danger in the enjoyment of it."
"Well, in my case, the differences in Moradin's Word, noted as happening lately, are literally in the last day or two since we came to Roghan and Zelligar's hideout. Since Eilo mentioned foul dreams, thought it might be a good time to discuss."
"You see, I would never ask Rainbow Unicorn for such a thing.", Eilo continues.
Easeis, frustrated, "Would it kill you to speak plainly? Every story has a beginning a middle and an end, and I feel like you left out two of the three."
Koram agrees with Easeis, "I would definitely like to hear more of the story about this Dark Entity that appeared to you as a unicorn, Eilo. All I can tell you, Easeis, is that my loyalty has always been to Moradin, and that he is trying to tell me something that is related to all of us."
Easeis asks, "How is Moradin doing this though? Pretend I've never talked to a God and explain it like I'm a goblin."
Eilo explains, "I will not name the dark critter, but it came to me, disparaging my Rainbow Unicorn and questioning my punishment by her. I knew then that she was evil, because I knew in my heart that I had done wrong by killing a fleeing foe. I deserved to smell foully and cover myself in ashes. But nevertheless, the dark critter was tempting and beautiful, and was the perfect size for me to ride. I told her to never come to me again, and she flung me from her back."
"And was this a dream?", Easeis questioned.
Eilo grimly replies, "A dream, a vision… yes. She gave the true name of my Rainbow Unicorn. It sounded crooked in her mouth."
Easeis wonders, "What if it was really just a dream?"
Eilo, seeming unsure, "Perchance it was, and I have not been tempted by a malign being. I would be happy if it were true."
Koram says to Easeis, "Just as you know that your sorcerous powers come from your force of will, from within you, I know that my power comes from Moradin. During my prayers, or simply my musings throughout the day, I can hear Him whispering his thoughts to me, but as of late His Word has become louder and clearer to me. There is some great evil coming to our world. Even Moradin cannot yet name it, but he is warning us that it approaches and we have some role to play in facing it."
Easeis admits, "I believe you. But you have to admit that you talk about these things rather cryptically unless pressed. Also, the nature of my magic is something of an open question."
"I feel no need to try and press my beliefs on to you or any other, my friend. I simply tell you what I know to be true once I am sure of the message. That is why I brought this up now. As to your magic, I know it is real and unless you tell me it comes from somewhere else, I believe it comes from your inner strength.", Koram states directly.
Eilo, in an uncharacteristic moment of seriousness, "I owe my life to a Rainbow Unicorn. I know I am sometimes a silly fairy, but that is a deep truth that I do not often discuss, openly or not."
"No need to discuss something you do not want to talk about, but you should never waver in your loyalty to your Patron, especially if you truly owe them your life.", Koram replies flatly. "One additional thought, Eilo, if ever a dark evil critter comes knockin', please let us know."
Eilo, curiously asks, "What do you know about the nature of your magic, Easeis?"
"I know that I have it. I can do things that other people can't, and I have never studied to do it, nor pledged myself to a God or other power. It is just there. I have done some reading on basic arcana as a result, but it wasn't terribly helpful.", Easeis states matter-of-factly.
"Well, not that the magic I do is similar to your magic, but if ever ye feel the need to look into it more, just let me know and I'll do what I can to help ye out. Maybe when we aren't in a ridiculously designed stronghold made by a couple of twinkle-toed crazies.", Koram chuckles.
"Right after I get a series of frescos painted telling my life story.", Easeis jokes.
Kismet chimes back in, "I would like to see that one day, Easeis." The tall Druid smiles at the thought of learning his life story. Then hesitantly, "Or we’re you not serious? Sometimes I have difficulty discerning humor from fact."
"It would be a rather short story, and not one I can tell in the present company. He looks over at Dour. Some of our number like to clap people in irons.", Easeis states.
Kismet responds, "Glancing at the sour faced dwarf Perhaps one day you will be free to tell it, I like short stories as well as long."
Koram answers, "Dwarves tend to be practical and pragmatic beings at heart. Believe that no matter your past, I think Dour will look more to your current deeds than your past. That is not what defines you."
"I'd rather keep my feet attached if you don't mind.", comes the straight faced reply from Easeis.
Koram laughs again, "Understood."
Eilo, seemingly a bit back to her old self, "I like stories about the ocean. I would like to see the ocean one day. Oh, and bears. Bear stories are good, too. Maybe Easeis’ story has a bear in it? I bet Dour would like a story about a bear."
Koram smiles, "Dour would definitely like a story about eating a bear.", as he steps away heading for his bedroll.
End Session 20
100 XP for cobat with giant spiders. (Everyone)
100 XP for roleplay in Discord in character channel (Easeis, Eilo, Kismet, Koram)
135 XP for Journal keeping (Koram)