(NSFW advisory for strong language)
In Episode 4 of Sweet Suffering, our band of heroes was sent on a mission to clear out a bandit scourge in the supply town of Longwood. An encounter with bandits on the journey threatened to tear the party apart; Ozwald rejoiced at being back in the great outdoors; the mayor of Longwood started to give us a hazy outline of the activity taking place in their forest; and Simplicity’s medical ministrations came with a rather unusual prescription for an injured lumberjack! And our personal journeys took another leap as we ascended to the dizzying heights of Level 7…
Now, read on!
The party (all Level 7, led by DM Akiva Daphydd)
- CilantroGamer as Ozwald the Grizzly, mountain dwarf barbarian;
- ThatAlice as Simplicity Hindertail, tiefling cleric;
- KateYancey2 as Amy Dameron, human ranger (plus her panther, Liandra);
- A1istor as Dixit Indicus, gnome druid (plus his mastiff, Sativa);
- Captain Talon as Daetrum Tyrixx, white dragonborn blood hunter / fighter;
- Myself as Hooktooth Savageblade, bronze dragonborn fighter.
(Note: Naming convention – PC names denote in-character (IC) actions, and usernames for out-of-character (OOC). In my case, I’ll explicitly state if I’m performing OOC actions.)
Personal character development
With another notch on my Belt of LevellingTM, I gained another class feature for my trusty fighter: Remarkable Athlete. With this, all STR, DEX and CON checks in which I’m not proficient receive a bonus of half my Proficiency Bonus (rounded up1). And, as Cil helpfully pointed out, that includes my initiative roll as well, because it’s a DEX check 😀 Additionally, when performing a running jump, my leap is extended by my STR modifier (which is maxed at +5).
And if you want to watch the episode…
… you can find it on Akiva’s YouTube channel, and this link will take you there directly 🙂 But enough preamble – on with the story!
Putting the “chaotic” in “chaotic good”
Dixit, keen to get started on helping out the loggers, gets up at 4 a.m. – well ahead of the rest of us – and settles down amongst the saplings to the west of Longwood, to spend eight hours casting Plant Growth.
Daetrum and Ozwald finally sleep off the effects of the killer brew they had the night before, but awake to the worst hangovers that either of them have ever experienced. Even the creaking of Daetrum’s bed is amplified to an unbearable level. And the various deleterious effects of the hangover result in an awful omission: Daetrum heads downstairs without his mask…
Ozwald follows shortly afterwards, letting out a massive groan in the bar area of the inn; Daetrum desperately tries to shut him up!
Daetrum’s unmasked visage already starts to make waves. The lone barmaid in the bar lets out a gasp of alarm and drops her glass when she sees the mass of scars. Daetrum apologises: “Sorry, that’s why they gave me the mask in the first place, I guess…” and then heads for a table until his head stops spinning. Ozwald joins him, claps him on the shoulder, and says loudly, “You are a mighty warrior, dragon –oh, oh, aaaaaargh!” – the latter groaned out as his head reacts badly to the volume of his own voice 😉
“Well, I don’t exactly feel like it at the moment,” Daetrum replies ruefully. The air between the two sufferers grows a little colder as the white dragonborn’s breath comes out a little more heavily than usual.
Oz, still growling from the pain in his head, blearily looks around the room in search of any member of staff who might have a remedy for the state he and Daetrum are in. He spots the lone barmaid, who by now is cowering at the sight of Daetrum, and endeavours to use his remedy for the state she is in, pulling out three gold pieces. Gingerly, the barmaid – who’s aware of what happened the night before – comes over with two glasses of orange fluid and places them in front of each of the gentlemen. She then takes Ozwald’s proffered coinage, and scarpers for the refuge of the space behind the bar counter.
Before they have a chance to drink and feel any sort of relief, the evil-minded sonofabitch Hooktooth Savageblade comes down the stairs and bellows in an annoyingly cheery yell, “GOOD MORNING, GENTLEMEN! HOW ARE YOU FEELING?!?” 😉 While Daetrum reacts with agonised protesting, Ozwald thrusts his glass upwards as if cheering some unknown good fortune, then slams back the mysterious orange liquid and smashes the glass down on the counter.
I see Daetrum’s uncovered face, and my mischievous attitude drops immediately. “Daetrum,” I ask in stern seriousness, “where is your mask?”
The dragonborn stumbles over his response. “I left – I wasn’t going to go to – I’m not exactly in the most dextrous of moments – I don’t think even to put on a mask capably at the moment.”
When the hangover remedy crashes over Ozwald’s taste buds on the way to his tonsils, the dwarf finds its flavour to be surprisingly citrus-y. And after a few seconds, the aftertaste is a touch bitter, as if Oz has been chewing on willow bark.
(At this point, I internally sigh with relief, because I’d been racking my brains, trying to remember the medieval equivalent of aspirin, and Akiva’s just named it for me. 😀 )
Daetrum cautiously decides to wait to see what effect the liquid has on Ozwald before consuming his own. If only he’d shown that same caution a few hours earlier! 😉 Instead, he asks me what time Simplicity’s getting up, but I have no idea.
After about twenty minutes, the timpani section in Ozwald’s skull reduces from fortissimo to something rather more pianissimo, and the dwarf’s a little more ready to face the day. That remedy is a most welcome thing indeed.
Amy enters the bar area, and snickers at the sight of Daetrum in the throes of his hangover. On the upside, she doesn’t seem to be bothered by the permanent state of his features.
While Daetrum recovers, he asks a favour of me: Would I be willing to obtain some ink, a pen and some parchment to take down a few notes for him? I’m happy to, and head out to the general store next door to get the supplies. As Daetrum waits for my return, he starts on his drink, and he looks around the room to see if anyone else has noticed his face. But Daetrum, Oz and Amy are presently the only people there.
Ozwald, now in a better state to observe things, politely examines Daetrum’s features. He sees blackened veins standing out, and while one of the dragonborn’s eyes is the usual blue, the other is red. Ozwald, with his big ol’ heart, accentuates the positive without even trying. “You bear your scars well, dragon.” The dwarf then uncovers a little of the bear skin covering his own form, revealing bite marks about an inch in diameter on his shoulder. “My brother bit me,” he explains, although it turns out that it’s an actual bear that bit him. “I broke his tooth – HeHeHeHeHeHeHeH!”
Daetrum chuckles for a moment in response, then says, “These are not traditional battle scars, though. The result of doing things that the body shouldn’t really be able to do; pushing the body to where it shouldn’t be able to do these kinds of things.”
“Pushing yourself makes you stronger,” comments the barbarian, patting Daetrum on the shoulder once more.
“It’s a story for another time,” says Daetrum quietly.
Meanwhile, in the general store, I discover that it’s a good thing Daetrum is covering the cost of buying the writing supplies… Although parchment and the ink pen are cheap enough (1 sp for 10 sheets of parchment, since we’re in a logging community2, and 2 cp for the pen), a bottle of ink costs ten gold! And that’s not Akiva jacking up the price – that’s the cost in the Player’s Handbook!
My return is rather speedy, and I commence to take notes on the dragonborn cultists and the bandits, as per Daetrum’s dictation. And I’m a little surprised to find that these notes will form entries in a bestiary that Dae’s developing.
Oz’s recovery is speeding along nicely, and so he leaves the bar, heading in the direction of the forest to see if the workers need any help with lifting and carrying.
Sim comes downstairs in a world of her own, as she’s utterly exhausted, and orders a glass of water.
Back outside, Ozwald finds his enthusiasm is welcomed, but a little early: It’s only about 7 a.m., and the workers don’t start until 8; they’re heading to the inn for breakfast. On hearing this, Ozwald’s stomach probably made a vote in favour of following their example, because he heads back and orders some food for himself.
Daetrum finishes the drink the barmaid gave him and, like Ozwald, is recovering most satisfactorily. He asks me to wait for a moment, then heads upstairs to his room, returning with his leather-bound bestiary. But he still leaves his mask behind.
I manage to grab the edge of Simplicity’s attention, and ask her if she has any cleric spells which can dispel illusions. I go on to state that Mayor Bigby had said that illusions were being cast by the mysterious bandits, and I’m hoping that either Simplicity or Dixit might be able to rid us of them, to make our job a little easier. Sim says that she’ll get back to me on that, when she’s roused herself a little more.
Daetrum, still not fully himself, says he’s a little confused as to where the illusions are coming from, so I repeat what Bigby had told us the night before, adding that if we can’t have them dispelled, I have another possible solution to the problem… involving rope. I lightly chide Amy for her comment of “Oh, kinky”3, before explaining that I’d thought about having a rope tied around my waist – as Ozwald had done in the cavern – and I’d crawl along the affected area, checking for traps. Should I start to fall into a pit, Ozwald could pull me out. Yes, I spend a fair amount of time between sessions, trying to plan for how we could deal with the obstacles our DM has set for us 😀 Doesn’t everyone?
Daetrum seems a little dubious about my idea, and adds that since he’s familiar with forested terrain, he’d probably stand a good chance of spotting anything illusory. I tell him that any help in this situation would be splendid.
At this moment, Mayor Bigby enters the bar for breakfast. We greet him cheerfully, although Daetrum tries to hide his scars a little. However, the mayor does get a glimpse of him, and looks startled before looking away.
Sim tells me she does have the Dispel Magic spell (this I already knew, because I’d looked up cleric spells in the PHB before the session), but she doesn’t have it prepared since waking up. Drat.
Mayor Bigby sidles over to Simplicity, and politely asks, “Water all you’re having this morning, ma’am?”
“Yes,” she replies. “I didn’t really get enough sleep yesterday, but that’s okay. I’ll make it.”
“Well, I for one feel that the alms your church received were not quite sufficient for what you did for my men.” And with that, he buys us all breakfast. I really like this guy 😀 We all thank him, and consume our free repast with varying degrees of hunger and enthusiasm 🙂
Finding Dixit; and potion prep
As we consider what to do today, Ozwald asks, “Where is Dixit-gnome?” No one knows, and Oz doesn’t see Sativa either, so he heads upstairs to Dixit’s room. Finding Sativa there, Oz sits down and begins meditating in preparation to cast Speak With Animals.
Back downstairs, I suddenly remember what Dixit did the previous day, and ask the party, “I think I know where he is… Didn’t he say something about going to the saplings to make them grow? So, he may be out there.” Amy agrees with my pondering. “Well, he’s going to be a while, then, I should imagine,” I continue. “I don’t know how long this takes.”
Daetrum feels that we need to stock up on potions before heading into the forest. He’s got a very good point, but I tell him that I’ve no idea where we’ll get them; Longwood doesn’t sell any.
Returning to Ozwald, he’s finally ready to speak to Sativa. “Good morning, walker of the wilds,” he says. “Where has Dixit gone off to?”
Sativa replies, “He’s out, talking with the trees.”
“Hmm. I like talking with the trees.”
“Yes, he makes them grow. Gives me tingles.”
“Would you like to go to the forest with me? We can run in the wilds.”
“Ooh, I like running!”
Ozwald hops up, a big smile on his face, and eager to be out in the forest with Sativa. But she doesn’t follow… Ozwald responds, “Hmm.” He becomes really sad at the mastiff’s reaction; he thought he’d made a friend in her. Sativa’s whine from Dixit’s room translates to, “Master said to stay here until he gets back – I can’t go.” Aww 😦 Ozwald is understanding, though, and the smile returns to his face. “Well, I will run for you, and tell you all about it.”
“Thank you,” replies Sativa sadly. AWWW!
Oz smiles at her again, and ruffles her hair affectionately before heading back downstairs and proudly announcing, “I know where Dixit is! He is in the forest, talking to the trees.” (It turns out that Cil had intended for this to be a comedic moment, but I must have had another of my poor-observation moments… Sorry, Cil!)
“Well, that confirms it, then. Wonderful!” I say, grateful to have had Oz confirm my assumption – and not wishing to take the shine off what he accomplished by using abilities I don’t have.
Daetrum offers to try his hand at brewing the health potions we don’t have, given his considerable experience in manufacturing his mutagens. “It’s a possibility,” I reply, “but there’s one thing we haven’t done. Mayor Bigby, sorry to interrupt your meal, but is there anyone in Longwood who prepares healing potions – presumably, they’re needed with the injuries and such, I’m thinking?”
“No, ’cause normally, the concussions you guys saw yesterday, they’re so rare, we don’t really need them.”
“Hmm.”
“Occasionally, a sprained ankle, or a cut – something like that, but nothing too serious. So we don’t really need them.”
“Thank you,” I reply, disappointed.
Daetrum looks over to Simplicity, who’s looking down at her drink. “Simplicity, you mind helping me with something?”
“Probably… I mean, I can try…”
“I think I can probably brew some potions, but I don’t have the means of being able to make healing properties. I think an infusion of your natural healing magic might be able to help me out a little bit.”
“I mean, I am a little bit of a herbalist, if that’s what you mean.”
“All right,” says Daetrum, “then if you would help me gather some herbs, I will see to working on some makeshift potions.”
“Absolutely, can do,” replies Sim. “Meanwhile, we can probably look for herbs and find Dixit.”
We all head outside to find herbs. Daetrum’s Investigation check comes up with a 5 and a 23, so he tries to argue for advantage by positing to Akiva that he probably had to have done this for his mutagen-manufacturing. Our DM points out that, in fact, Daetrum’s mutagen ingredients were either provided by his brotherhood, or harvested from animals. So no advantage for the dragonborn (but fair play to Cap for making his case).
While Cap is having this discussion with Akiva, the rest of us try our hand with Investigation checks. Sim gets a 7, Oz gets a 9, and I get a flippin’ 3… Fortunately, RNGesus is at least favouring Amy for the time being, as she rolls a Nat20 😀 Akiva tells her that she finds the one single plant with the correct properties that are needed for the potion. And, if harvested correctly, will yield enough material to make one potion. Oy. Amy waves us over to show us what she found.
I wonder aloud if Dixit would be able to replicate the plant. This dragonborn really needs to research what druids are capable of.
After a further five to ten minutes, we see Dixit as well. We greet him, and he quickly waves before putting his hand back down on the ground.
Daetrum makes his attempt at harvesting the potion materials from the plant. Unfortunately, his Survival check isn’t that great, and so he doesn’t quite get enough to make the potion. There’s enough left of the plant for it to grow back, but it’s going to take several weeks – and time is not a resource that we have in abundance. Daetrum asks Simplicity for help, but when she examines the plant, she realises that it wouldn’t survive any attempt to harvest more material, and there’s not even a guarantee that she’d get enough to make up the shortfall. Sim decides that it’s not worth killing the plant on what might turn out to be a fruitless enterprise. Daetrum agrees with her opinion, and we’re going to have to do without the potions. But at least we still have Simplicity’s and Dixit’s healing abilities.
Ozwald comes up to Dae, and tries to cheer up the dejected dragonborn. “Scars of battle make you stronger, and give you a good story to tell. Do not worry about injury. You are tough.” Daetrum nods in understanding.
At this point, I recommend that we try to find out who’s going to escort us to the work site, adding that Dixit’s probably going to be a while. Hopefully, he’ll catch us up at some point. We look across at Dixit, his hands planted on the ground, and a soft glow emanating from him. “Yes, he’s definitely busy,” I say. “I think we should go back and see Mayor Bigby.” Daetrum suggests that we simply head to the work area, but I counter that without assistance, we might run into difficulties before we even get started.
As we head back to the inn to consult the mayor, we see him headed towards his office, and beyond him, across the pavilions, the loggers. They’re on their way to the edge of the forest proper. Ozwald heads off to join the logging crew, and after a little discussion, we decide to follow.
At the forest edge
When we reach the loggers, they tell us that all we really have to do is walk straight into the forest for about an hour, and we’ll end up at the problem area. Ozwald offers his assistance to the loggers, and Simplicity and Daetrum perform Perception checks to see if there’s anything untoward about any of the workmen. However, nothing particularly stands out, so it’s probably a safe bet that the sabotage isn’t an inside job.
Daetrum feels confident that there aren’t any cultists amongst the workers, as they were dragonborns, but I gently counter that the dwarf lady was a cultist as well; we can’t assume that the cultists are restricted to any one race. Daetrum agrees with my assessment.
However, my dragonborn friend has a concern: With the area under investigation being an hour’s walk away, should we really head out there without Dixit? Sim, in agreement with Daetrum, thinks we should go back and get him. But I say that he’s probably going to be casting his spell for another four or five hours, and interrupting him could do more harm than good. Simplicity changes her mind in the face of my rebuttal.
Into the forest
We end up taking about 90 minutes to get to the investigation area, and one of the first things we spot is the ridge from which the workers fell. However, there’s no illusion on it this morning. “Hmm. That’s not to say there aren’t illusions elsewhere,” I comment, suspiciously.
When we come around one of the trees, we spot, in the centre of the forest, a paladin in full plate mail. He sees us, too, and says in an imperious tone, “Halt where you are. Turn around, before you are riddled with arrows.”
Simplicity starts to comply with the paladin’s command, while Daetrum asks the man his name. “My name is not important,” he replies.
I can’t resist. “Hello, Not Important! Why are you in this forest?” 😀 (In Roll20 chat, A1istor says, “Best response ever! Hook, you do me proud”.)
“I see we have a smart-ass,” comments the paladin.
“I see we have a pompous arse,” I shoot back.
“This forest is protected. Leave now.”
I start to get a little tetchy with this puffed-up pally. “From whom, by whom?”
“By my group, from any intruder.”
I take a more conciliatory approach. “We’re not here to seek confrontation. If anything, we seek an amicable solution. Are you the group who have been casting illusions over pits dug in this area?”
Ozwald, sensing that things might come to blows, looks around for the ambush the paladin spoke of.
The paladin does an Insight check on me, but I’m being completely honest about our intentions. He lowers his weapon slightly, and says, “The illusions were cast by denizens of the forest that have lived here long before you and I were born. However, we are here in a mutually-cooperative state.”
Ozwald presently doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Akiva asks Simplicity for a Religion check, and she rolls poorly, so she doesn’t know what religious order the paladin belongs to. But she does find it interesting that he has the head of a dragon on his shield.
“I recognise this,” says Daetrum.
“As would I,” I respond. “Surely, it’s Bahamut.” Akiva says that the two of us would have advantage on the INT check to confirm our beliefs – unless we’re followers of Bahamut, in which case we’d automatically succeed in the recognition. Daetrum answers that his brother was taken off to train with paladins of Bahamut, but Akiva says that that was so long ago, the INT check would still be needed. Daetrum succeeds the check anyway.
Akiva recalls that I grew up in a dragonborn city, so he concludes that I definitely would know. Bahamut is the major deity of the city I lived in, and I say that although I’m not a cleric, I am a follower of Bahamut. (In the days before we began the campaign, I had been considering how I would view the dragon god, and I decided that I would be a staunch follower of his – but I’d forgotten to add it into my back-story notes.)
So I’ve been sassing one of my own. Great work, Hook. In my defence, my WIS is only 10… 😉
I ask, somewhat more respectfully, “Tell me, sir: Is this the only area your group protects?”
“For now,” replies the paladin.
“And may I ask what you’re protecting against?”
“We are protecting against those who wish to encroach upon our area.”
Simplicity turns around when she hears this. “Territory?” she asks. “You have a set spot that you guys are under the impression you own? Or is there, like, housing here?”
The paladin hesitates, and then raises his weapon, sweeps it in a circle, and lowers it again. Suddenly, fourteen rangers appear from nowhere, along with four or five pixies.
The paladin continues, “We are protecting that which belongs to Bahamut.”
After a short pause for consideration of the abrupt change in circumstances, I say, “Hmm. I think we need to ask the loggers if there’s somewhere else that they can operate.”
“We’ve received word that the loggers are leaving in the next couple of weeks,” says the paladin. “And so we have decided to stand down, as they are planning on leaving.”
“No plans on expediting the process?” asks Daetrum.
“No. However, you have proven that you’re willing to talk before you seek action. Do you have…” He pauses for a moment, and a circle ignites beneath our feet – though Simplicity is just outside. The paladin’s cast Zone of Truth on us.
Simplicity comments, “So I’m the only one who can bullshit our way through this. Awesome.” (I don’t think that bullshitting is actually necessary, since I’ve been completely upfront about the situation, but then I can’t predict what might happen.)
Turns out she’s not the only one, as Oz makes his CHA save. But feeling the magic briefly coursing through him, he reaches for his weapon, utterly confused by what’s happening.
“I for one do not want to go up against my god,” I say.
“Dragon-man!” Oz calls out to the paladin, “What is this magic you used? We did not attack you – why are you attacking us?”
The paladin replies, “This is not an attack. This is merely to ensure that you speak the truth. I did not detect any evil among you as you came forward.”
“How do we know you speak the truth?” asks Ozwald.
“I am compelled to, by my order,” responds the paladin.
I ask to make an Insight check on the paladin, as does Oz and Amy. It’s just as well he does, because I fail miserably. Oz discovers that the paladin is being honest, and Amy and I can’t tell at all. Since I’ve been doing most of the talking, Oz tells me, “I believe him. I don’t like him, but I believe him. If he is your dragon friend, then we should not fight.” Daetrum, with more experience of Bahamut’s paladins than I have, states that they remain true to their beliefs, and they will not betray us.
Oz steps forward, offering to shake hands, and says, “We will leave… if you promise, and keep your promise.”
Side quest!
The paladin sheathes his weapon, also steps forward, and shakes the dwarf’s hand. “I would ask of your assistance, if I may.”
Ozwald: “Hmm.”
Me: “Ask.”
The paladin continues, “Our temple has been, for lack of a better way of putting it, taken from us.”
“By whom?” I ask.
“We do not know. We cannot enter, and it seems that those who are too close to the temple have been stopped in time.”
“Oh…” I answer, taken aback.
Ozwald’s face is one of complete and utter incomprehension, so I boil it down for him to “Powerful magic, Ozwald. Very. Powerful. Magic.”
Ozwald turns back to the paladin. “Dragon-man, I have shaken your hand. I am Ozwald the Grizzly. These are my friends. We are protectors of nature. What is your name?”
“I gave up my name when I entered my order. I am simply a tool of Bahamut.”
(OOC, I mutter, “I’m resisting the urge right now…” 😉 Cil responds, “I definitely am as well…”)
Ozwald is totally in: he slowly and non-aggressively pulls his maul out, and says, “Who needs to be smashed?”
The paladin replies, “We are unsure if anyone needs to be… smashed, as you put it. We have not been able to investigate our temple. We have merely been able to hide it.”
“How far is your temple?” asks Daetrum.
“Approximately one more hour into the forest.”
“I’m not certain that there’s anything that we can do,” I reply. “However, I would suggest that at least one of us from the group returns to the city of Burin to speak with our employer – the captain of the guard – and see if there are any magic-users that would be able to assist with dispelling the magic around the temple.”
As Daetrum starts to express concern about the length of time this would take, the paladin raises his hand. “We do not trust those from the city, as they are currently under siege. We cannot be certain of their loyalties.”
Oz asks, “How do you know about a siege, if you live in the forest?”
“The forest is not the only place we live. We know of the wars the cults are bringing upon this kingdom, and the kingdoms around it.”
I finally notice A1istor’s prompting in Roll20 chat, which reads “Think of Dixit, Hook”, and I say, “We have another compatriot in our party who is presently detained. He is a druid, and we may be able to ask his assistance.” (A1istor grins when he realises I’ve taken the prompt – and I’m happy for the assist.)
[UPDATE: A1istor tells me that he wasn’t trying to get me to tell the paladin about Dixit, when he said “Think of Dixit” – he was actually trying to get me to follow my urge, and call the paladin “Tool”. Whoops!]
The paladin cocks his head to the side, ever so slightly. “Detained?”
“Yes, he’s helping – he’s helping the trees to grow, so he’s engrossed in a druidic spell which will take some time.”
“He sings and speaks to the trees,” adds Oz.
“Yes, he would quite useful in this,” replies the paladin. “However, all I am asking is for you to look in on the temple. From what we can tell, and what word I have received from my deity, the spell is targeted specifically to those tied to this temple.”
“So in theory, we could enter without being affected?” I ask.
“I believe so, yes,” the paladin answers.
“I would prefer to wait until we can speak with our druid,” I say. “Otherwise, I feel that if we don’t, we may have to make two trips to the temple. Would you be willing to wait for a few hours, until our druid has completed his task?”
“I do not have room here to bargain,” the paladin responds resignedly. “I will acquiesce to your request.”
“Thank you. And it is but that – not a demand, I hasten to add. Thank you for your graciousness.”
“Thank you for making it a request, and not a demand. My hands are tied and, should you have made the demand, I would be powerless to negotiate in any way.”
“I would not seek to go against a paladin of my own religion,” I reassure him, and Daetrum adds that he feels the same way.
At this point, Amy (who is having to use Roll20 chat instead of speaking, due to technical issues) pouts at me, and plops down onto the floor, next to Liandra. I ask in chat if I did anything wrong, and she says she was simply eager to get started. I feel a bit bad about this, since I seem to be dominating events; I hadn’t intended to pose as some sort of leader, yet it seems to be happening.
Daetrum goes up to the paladin, and says, “I have you to thank – or at least, the paladins to thank – my brother was at a low point in his life; sought solace in trying to be a protector of everyone. He was eventually taken in by a different order than yours, and is now becoming a paladin himself.”
“He follows a righteous and honourable path.”
“I’ve not seen him in quite a while, but last time I heard, he was on a rite of passage to finish.”
“It is a difficult journey. Should his heart prove true, I am sure he will see it through to its end.”
Akiva asks us if we’re going to wait in the forest, or go back to town and fetch Dixit. Simplicity and I opt to go back for our druid, though Daetrum says that he doesn’t think it’s an errand which requires all of us. That’s a reasonable point, and the dragonborn improves his case when he suggests that he could stay in the forest and search for more of the healing herbs that Amy found earlier. Amy chooses to stay as well. I suggest, however, that Daetrum seeks permission before undertaking the search – no point in aggravating the pixies still further. Daetrum agrees, and asks the paladin.
A pixie flits down to the paladin’s shoulder, and without saying a word, the two of them just look at each other and nod, and the pixie flies off. “The forest protectors will bring you some of the herb of which you speak,” the paladin tells Daetrum. “They know what you are looking for.”
Daetrum thanks him, and tells the rest of us that he’ll stay put and brew the potions. It’s going to take six hours, though, to brew even the standard healing potions. But it’s felt that we need to take that time, as any extra help we can get will be most beneficial.
Akiva’s just about to fast-forward through that time period, when I interrupt him, saying that I’d like to apologise to the paladin for disrespecting him at the start of the encounter. I hadn’t seen his insignia, so I had no idea that I was being rude to one of my own, religion-wise.
“I took no offence,” the paladin replies. “You were unknown to me, as I was unknown to you.”
“Very well. Thank you,” I say to him, and extend my hand, which he shakes, and we nod at each other in respect.
Fetching Dixit
As soon as Dixit has finished his ritual, he gets up, looks around, and tells the trees, “Enjoy your year, fellas. See you soon.” He then heads back to the inn, because he knows that’s the best place we can find him. He also realises that Sativa’s been in the bedroom so long that she’s going to need to hit the “bathroom”, so he quickens his pace somewhat 🙂
We meet Dixit as he returns from walking Sativa, and I ask how the trees are doing – but Simplicity grabs him and takes him into a big bear hug before he even has chance to speak 😀 When Sim releases him, he tells us, “The plants will have a good year.”
“Splendid,” I reply, gladly.
“Thank you for waiting. I apologise for holding up everybody, but I had to do that.”
“Not a problem – actually, the timing couldn’t be better. Um… we may need your assistance with the situation that we’ve found in the forest.”
“What do you need?”
“The situation is that, in the forest is a paladin of Bahamut, who is helping to protect a group of pixies, who are protecting their ancestral forest.”
Dixit’s eyes go wide when he hears this.
I continue, “And, within the area – ”
“Where?” asks Dixit.
“We’ll take you there shortly.”
Dixit becomes more excited. “How shortly is ‘shortly’?”
“By the time I finish this paragraph,” I reply with a smile on my face. Then it suddenly dawns on me what Dixit appears to be driving at, and I add, “Tell you what: I’ll explain on the way.”
I seem to have hit the nail on the head, as Dixit practically leaps with joy (judging by the way A1istor reacts on camera), saying, “Even better! You are awesome, sir!”
My aside, “When did I become leader? That wasn’t the intent.” Akiva laughs.
After ensuring that nobody in the group has any present business in Longwood, I lead the way back to the forest, explaining to Dixit (without RPing it) about what’s going on with the forest and its guardians. When I get to the part about the time-freezing temple, Dixit asks Akiva if he would know anything about that. Akiva asks for an Arcana check, and Dixit’s roll of 9 leads him to understand that he knows it’s some sort of arcane magic, but doesn’t know how it would be possible…
We arrive back in the forest after about four hours in total, and return to find that the pixies had provided Daetrum with enough material to make three potions – how nice of them! 😀 But there’s still another couple of hours to go with the brewing, so Daetrum suggests that we go ahead and start checking things out while he finishes off. But Ozwald counters that Daetrum waited for us to return with Dixit, so it would only be fair for us to wait for him. A good point, and we choose to wait the extra two hours.
With this settled, Ozwald comes over to me and says, “Hook-dragon, since we have some time, I have to ask you something.”
A terrible reflex comes in for me, and I come back with, “It wasn’t me, I – [OOC] no, I’m not going to say that. [IC] Sorry, yes?”
Ozwald looks puzzled, Akiva’s laughing, and I try to protest that it was an OOC reflex, but Akiva responds that if we say it… The paladin rolls an Insight check, and he realises that my outburst was battlefield humour, so he lets it slide. Just for clarity, the line was going to be “It wasn’t me, I wasn’t there – and she said she was over 18.” I’m a terrible person >.<
*cough* Anyway.
Ozwald asks me, “Why do you fight with a shield, Hook-dragon? Doesn’t it get in the way of crushing your enemies?”
After some thought, I answer, “Soon, Ozwald, I will be able to use it to crush enemies, as well as being protected from being crushed.”
“Hmm. So it is a weapon…”
The paladin stands up, waves over one of the pixies, and have a verbal exchange – in Sylvan, so none of us understand it. He then walks over to a tree, and thrusts his shield into the tree (eliciting a shocked response from Dixit), and 37 pounds of nuts fall out of the tree!
I turn back to Ozwald, a little stunned by what the paladin did, and just say to Oz, “I can’t do that…”
The paladin comes over to Ozwald and I, and says, “Shields are for more than just hiding behind.”
Ozwald answers, “I see. I have trained with them, but I find them annoying.” He pulls out his battle axe and continues, “I only use this when I am grabbing someone. But maybe a shield would be good to try. I have trained with them, but I just… nngh it got in the way!”
“They are not for everyone,” the paladin replies generously.
Daetrum looks up, nods, and gestures to the two axes on his back. Oz says, “I find that strange, too. I like one big weapon.”
Akiva asks Dixit for a Survival check, and with a roll of 24, the druid realises that the nuts that fell are edible, if he wishes to collect them. Dixit walks up to the pixies, bows respectfully, and then takes some of the nuts. Simplicity settles for squealing at the adorableness of the pixies 🙂 Aside from that, she’s still totally out of it due to lack of sleep, despite it being close to 2 p.m. by now…
Another DM fast-forwarding through the remainder of the two-hour brewing period.
Daetrum tosses one of the potions to Ozwald – and immediately has to stop him from drinking it immediately! Ah, Oz 😀 Daetrum then asks if anyone else wants one. Simplicity replies, “Give them to everyone else, but just remember: if I’m down, you can dump a potion in my mouth.” Daetrum tosses one of the remaining potions to me, and keeps the last for himself.
Before we set off, Oz pulls out one of the ceremonial daggers that he looted, and asks the paladin if it looks familiar to him. “That is a tool of the cults,” replies the holy man. “You had a run-in with them?”
“We found it amongst their goooooo… HeHeHeHeHeHeH” Ozwald replies cheerfully, before returning the weapon to his pack. The paladin simply shakes his head slowly, and then takes us to the temple, as the pixies make the rangers invisible once more.
The temple of Bahamut
To the south of the area, the paladin leads us to a mass of small bushes and trees. “Our temple is hidden underneath those,” he explains. “This brown line that you see scratched into the ground here – that is what we believe is the edge of the time-stop spell… as you can see by the four individuals who were unlucky enough to get caught in it, in their approach to the temple.”
I reply, “Hmm. I think it’s time for some experimentation.”
Ozwald just starts walking forward, crosses the line, and nothing happens. Dixit follows behind, while Daetrum takes a gold piece and flicks it over the boundary. Neither Dixit nor the gold piece are affected, so Daetrum crosses over the line. And the rest of us follow…
It’s then that Akiva calls for the two followers of Bahamut – i.e. Daetrum and I – to make a WIS save. Daetrum gets a 16, making the save, while I get a Nat 1 😦 My speed is reduced by half, but it’s only my movement speed; my speech, thought processes, and so on are just fine. Simplicity looks over at me, and decides that (for some reason) this is a good time to pat me on the head and give me scritches behind my ear 🙂
Akiva asks me if I have any training in Arcana, which I don’t, but he has me make the check anyway, just in case. My roll of 6, of course, turns up nothing as to the reason for the difference in effect between myself and the completely time-stopped individuals.
The other party members all wonder what they can do to help me. A successful Arcana check by Sim reveals that although the spell is arcane in nature, it is acting on the tie between myself and Bahamut. But because I’m not tied directly to the temple, that’s the reason why I’m being affected differently. It’s just “pushing” against me.
I comment, “I feel so foolish…”
Simplicity is aware that, in about 10-15 minutes, I’ll be able to make an attempt to shake off the slowing effect. While she tries to figure out if she has a spell which would help, Daetrum suggests that Oz could carry me until the effect wears off. My conjecture (despite what Akiva just told me – d’oh!) is that the magic would have to be dispelled completely. I ask Dixit if he has any means of dispelling magic, and he does – but it would take an hour for him to switch out one of his prepared spells for the Dispel Magic spell. I state that, even if we have to throw away another hour, if it gets rid of the magic, then it’s an hour well spent. Dixit’s up for it, if we choose to take that direction.
Sim plans to cast Guidance on me, but Daetrum asks her if she could use Lesser Restoration on me, like she did with him after the liquor incident. Sim replies that she could, but she’s not sure it will help. I suspect it won’t, as – to my knowledge – the spell is used to relieve physical effects, rather than magical ones. Dixit moves off to the side and begins the process of preparing Dispel Magic, and I sloooooowly sit down on the floor, since I don’t have anywhere to go for an hour.
Ozwald decides to investigate the time-stopped people, to see if they’re suffering any sort of physical injury, and finds that they’re all perfectly healthy, at least on the outside. And they are alive, but just frozen in time. One of the time-stopped is straddling the boundary, and Oz decides to try to move them – not lift, because he doesn’t want to risk tearing their body apart, but simply see if there’s any “give”. There isn’t, though – not even their clothing moves.
Oz decides to try the same thing on me… and I move normally when he pushes me. So he asks my permission for him to try to carry me out of the circle, and I readily agree. While Oz is doing this, Daetrum decides he’s going to stay inside the circle, because he’s concerned that the effect might take hold if he leaves and re-enters. Probably for the best 🙂
When Oz takes me back over the boundary, my body returns to normal, and I gratefully thank my friend for his assistance. Akiva tells me that I realise I could have simply (albeit slowly) moved outside the circle myself… Whoops.
Ozwald pats me on the back and says, “Glad to help. You are strong. Try again – this time, hmm, you will be fine.” He walks back into the circle, but I don’t follow. Dixit says he’s ready to cast the spell if needed, and so I then go back in. Another WIS save, and I roll a 17, so I’m unaffected. Ozwald pats my side and says, “Told you you are strong.”
I reply, confused, “It hasn’t dispelled…” – I’d thought Dixit had actually cast the spell, but Akiva points out that he hadn’t. When I say that it would still be a good idea to have the effects dispelled, Dixit tells me that Dispel Magic doesn’t work over an area. He then goes on to say that it can work that way, but he’d need to find a more central point from which to cast. I apologise for my ignorance of how druidic spells work, but Dixit cheerfully waves off my apology. With me returned to normal, we proceed to enter the temple.
Into the temple
A small stairway leads down into a massive cathedral area. Ozwald looks around to see if there are any enemies, but it’s an empty room. We all make Perception checks, and the ones who succeed realise that the cathedral hasn’t been used in about six ten-days. The only things which are moving in the place are spiders, spinning their webs. The torches in the wall sconces are frozen in time, but they’re still giving off light. Strange.
While Simplicity makes an Investigation check to see if there’s anything around, Ozwald heads towards the dais at the other side of the cathedral. Sim’s roll is a Nat20 (to which I comment in chat, “Sherlock Hindertail is on the case” 😀 ), and she notices that there’s a stained-glass window, heavily layered with dust, but it’s still possible to make out that the design on it depicts the rise of Bahamut to godhood. There’s also a small door to the south.
I offer up a small prayer to Bahamut, which results in a nice, warm, tingly feeling 😀 “My god watches over us,” I tell my friends.
Dixit tries to detect magic – there’s a fog of magic in the area, but nothing specific particularly stands out. Meanwhile, Oz investigates what’s on the dais, but it’s just a lectern, and there’s nothing around or inside it. With nothing here of particular interest, we head for the southern door, and proceed further into the temple – thanks to Ozwald ignoring the possibility of traps, and just pushing open the door…
Immediately beyond the door is a much, much smaller prayer room, with some benches. Nothing of particular interest, and south of that, we’ve got passageways heading west and east, and double doors to the south. Ozwald checks the western passage, which quickly turns northwards, so he leaves it for the time being. I’ll call this “Passage A”, because I need to refer to it later on.
There’s rather a surprise when Dixit checks out the passage to the east: there’s what appears to be a tavern… in a temple! A bar, lit hearth, tables and chairs, the works! Oh, and several more time-stopped followers of Bahamut…
Dixit immediately calls Ozwald over: “Ozwald, you’re gonna wanna see this…” In fact, all of us join Dixit in the tavern, and Ozwald’s spirits raise a little, until he realises that the place is frozen in time. Daetrum urges caution, advising that we shouldn’t take anything from the place; dealing with angry paladins – and there are about twenty people in the place – is something we shouldn’t be doing.
As with the people outside, Ozwald inspects the frozen people for injury, and as before, they’re all physically fine. Oz (after Akiva’s prompting) tries to lift one of the patrons’ mugs, and it’s frozen in place. Dixit pokes at the liquid in the mug, and it feels like solid rock. Ozwald gets really confused, and says, “The doors work… but the mug doesn’t…” And I become just as confused as my dwarvish friend.
Dixit, Sim, Amy and Daetrum make Arcana checks – Dixit nailing his – and he realises that although the spell is tied to everything that belongs to the temple, doors are seen by the people who run this temple as being meant for everyone to use. On the other hand, the ale is seen as being from Bahamut, so it gets the time-stop effect, but the chairs move. The sooner we find out if we can stop this damn spell, the better.
I express my biggest concern: “I hope that Tiamat’s not a part of this…” Tiamat, boo, spit 😛
Ozwald’s becoming progressively angrier at the overall situation, and his fingers start to dig into the handle of his maul. Simplicity comes over and attempts some soothing scritches 🙂 But then she asks for a roll on Ozwald’s “hair table” to see what she finds, and I (OOC) accuse her of not wanting to comfort Oz, but was in fact treasure hunting 😉 A1listor laughs, “She’s a hair-digger” 🙂 Nevertheless, Ozwald does feel comforted that Simplicity has his back, ulterior motives or no, and the tiefling ends up finding four old, mouldy berries that Oz had forgotten about, rather than them going into one of his brews (when fresh, of course) 🙂
So many rooms; so many doors
Ozwald opens up the double doors to the south, finding the smallest room yet, with three doors leading off to the west, east and south again. Daetrum thinks we should check out the western passageway before going any further with this section. I respond that I feel we should check out the section we’re presently at, because it’s more logical to go with the things nearest to us. Ozwald becomes impatient by our indecision, and we all head into the small room. I tell Oz to pick a door, and he goes for the nearest one, which is the one to the east. Another flipping hallway (“Passage B”). Daetrum’s on the southern door, and reveals another small room, with just one door, to the south. Dixit opens the western door, and it’s still another hallway, with three doorways dotted along the southern edge.
Heading along the western passageway, the first door we come to leads into what appears very much to be a torture chamber 😦 On the wall across from us, there’s a sign: “ABSOLUTION CLEANSES THE SOUL”. Next to it is a rack, and on two of the walls, there are wall-mounted manacles with people chained in them… although one of the people is now a skeleton 😦
Simplicity, Daetrum and I are asked for Religion checks, and we know that, although the paladins often frown upon it, there’s a small group within the Church of Bahamut that believes in things like self-flagellation, and that’s what this room is for. They’re not actually torturing people, but assisting the penitent in cleansing their souls. That said, there’s a hooded guy in the room, and he certainly looks like a torturer. Akiva points out that he’s the one who helps to administrate the cleansing, and in this case, the mask represents anonymity, so that the penitents can effectively ignore the person, and feel a closer connection to Bahamut.
I comment, “There ought to be another poster on the wall, that says, ‘WE’RE NOT TORTURING PEOPLE – HONEST, GUYS, REALLY’.” 😀
Simplicity inspects the occupants of the room to see if they, too, are time-stopped; they are. What’s more, the skeleton in one of the pairs of manacles is actually made of papier-mâché 😀 Okay, then 😀 However, despite the sight of a fake skeleton being amusing to some of the party (particularly me), Daetrum is less than thrilled: he comments that his paladin brother would not like this room one bit.
Simplicity prepares to offer a small prayer to Ilmater on behalf of the occupants, when Akiva tells her that, because of her back story, she likes that this room exists… and Sim agrees enthusiastically. Ozwald, meanwhile, is not happy about the existence of the room: he leaves, and spits forcefully in disgust. As soon as his spittle hits the floor, it solidifies as it takes on the time-stop effect. I actually speculated internally about being able to build a wall this way (for some reason), but I at least had enough sense not to mention it until doing this blog post 😉
We move on to investigate the room next door. The room is bare except for two chests. Daetrum again states that he feels we shouldn’t raid the chests. I respond that we probably wouldn’t be able to (since I figure they, too, are time-stopped). Ozwald grumbles, and moves on to the next room. Inside that room are several crates. Daetrum once again advises us against theft, and again I reply that I don’t think we’d be able to – this time explicitly explaining to him that, since they belong to the temple, they’d be frozen in time.
Dixit’s curiosity comes to the fore, and he returns to the room with the chests. He tries to lift the lid of one of them, but it’s locked. He tries to pick it, and although he hears a click (his Lockpicking check came up 22), the lock doesn’t move. That confirms what Dixit wanted to know – and he’s careful to reset the lock’s state before leaving the room. The gnome then informs me that my suspicions about the chest were correct, and I thank him for taking the extra time to investigate.
Ozwald backtracks to Passage A, taking up the investigation from there, and we follow him. This passageway appears to be spiralling around, with a series of left turns, but actually opens up onto a huge bedroom, with beds along the western, northern and eastern walls. It looks incredibly luxurious, and quite possibly out of place in a temple such as this – but then, I’ve never been into the inner sanctum of temples, even those dedicated to my own god. Many of the beds are occupied, and the people in them range from nobles to commoners, and in various states of dress.
A quick Investigation check by several of us turns up nothing in the way of weapons, gold or anything else of that nature. And the room appears to have been used simply for people to rest – nothing kinky, Akiva is keen to point out. I express surprise that such a room exists, but Akiva indicates that, with my Investigation roll, I realise that the room is normally used as a hospital, but since none of the current occupants are injured, it’s simply being used for resting in. Ah, that makes more sense 🙂
So we return to Passage B, and continue from there. This passageway does spiral around, much to Ozwald’s chagrin. And, to everyone’s chagrin, the passageway is also trapped. Well, shit. Only Dixit and Dae make the save, and the rest of us take four points of piercing damage from wooden spikes that come out of the wall. “We should check for traps from now on!” comments Dixit 😉
Ozwald goes on ahead, and triggers a spike trap, but his DEX save enables him to avoid falling into the pit. Daetrum wonders why the paladins would place traps in this specific passageway, and successful WIS checks by Oz and me indicate that the traps might not have been set by the paladins… We finally start making Perception checks, and Dixit rolls a Nat20, revealing three traps down the length of the current passageway section. Each of the traps span the width of the passageway, and are ten feet in the forward direction, so we can’t hug the walls as we proceed. Akiva says we’d easily manage to vault over the traps, but Dixit’s taking no chances, and he climbs up onto Ozwald – who has no objection to this 🙂
We proceed cautiously for the most part, performing a series of Perception checks to find the significant number of traps. But Ozwald, Dixit and I go a little too far at one point, and trigger one. Luckily for me, this particular trap confers lightning damage, and I’m resistant 😀 Ozwald’s also resistant, but Dixit isn’t. Still, it’s only eight damage for him.
Eventually, we reach the end of the spiral – the final sections being untrapped – and come into a largely empty room, although there’s a raised platform, on which is a pillow. And on that pillow is an amulet… Daetrum tries to pick up the amulet to examine it, but it’s time-stopped, practically welding it to the pillow. Sim makes a Religion check, and finds it’s a sacred amulet related to Bahamut, but she’s not quite sure what it’s for. After an Arcana check, she discovers that it’s a communication amulet. Interesting… Simplicity doesn’t like that knowledge, but I do…
Ozwald vents his frustration that we dealt with all of those traps for what essentially amounts to nothing. But as Oz kicks the stone platform in anger, Dixit tells him, “Hold on, it may not be nothing – we still gotta figure this out.” Ozwald isn’t appeased, though, and starts growling.
Daetrum checks the platform for any hidden switches or the like, and several others follow suit, but to no avail. However, because I said the prayer to Bahamut earlier, I have a powerful urge to try to take the amulet… so I make the attempt. There’s a warm feeling as my hands grasp the object, and it does move, ever so slightly, but it’s like it’s waiting for something…
Daetrum tries to dissuade me from taking the amulet, but Dixit feels that this is something we need to do, as it might help with solving the temple’s problem. Besides, we can always just give it back. Dixit offers to cast Dispel Magic, but Simplicity thinks it might be a fruitless exercise. Instead, she thinks that the amulet might need a blood sacrifice. Daetrum pulls out an axe, and offers to be the first to attempt the blood offering, with me as a back-up option. Dixit counters that, because Daetrum uses mutagens on a regular basis, I should be the one to make the sacrifice, as my blood may be more pure. It’s a fair point, so I take Daetrum’s place.
I don’t have a dagger of my own (I chose not to have one, when I made out my equipment list during character creation), so I ask Ozwald if I may borrow one of the daggers he looted; he hands over one of them without any objection. But as I go to make the incision, the dagger passes over the amulet, vibrates, and turns to dust! Sim makes a Religion check, and realises that, because the dagger came from the cultists, Bahamut pretty much said “Fuck, no!” (Akiva’s words), and wanted nothing to do with it 😀
Dixit has a regular dagger, though, and he passes it to me, telling me I can keep it. I thank him, and start to make an incision on my left palm. But as I do so, I’m subjected to the effects of the time-stop spell! Simplicity says, “Don’t listen to me, ever! Why do you guys listen to me? I don’t understand…”
While Oz tries to push me to see if I can be moved at all, Dixit casts Dispel Magic on me, at fourth level. The time-stop is removed, and I’m thrown backwards, knocking the dagger out of my hand. And there’s a brief flash in my head of Bahamut saying, “Are you stupid?”
“Apparently so, my lord,” I reply sheepishly, and I return the dagger to Dixit, but he again states that I can keep it. Meanwhile, Simplicity apologises for making the blood-sacrifice suggestion in the first place. Akiva asks Sim, Dae and me to make INT checks. Sim’s successful roll leads her to realise that I got as far as I had with moving the amulet was because I’d made the prayer to Bahamut earlier. My successful roll reveals to me that Bahamut was saying, “Hey, I’ll let you guys take it – pray to me; don’t dedicate yourself to the temple!” Ah, silly Hook 😀 I tell everyone what I’ve learned, and Daetrum joins me in praying to our dragon god.
As I reach for the amulet, a white, glowing sphere appears briefly around the holy object, before shattering. The amulet is now able to be taken, so I take it. Daetrum suggests that I should wear it, and I tell him that I’d been debating whether to wear it, or just place it in my backpack. However, I do decide to wear it, given that I essentially have Bahamut’s blessing. Akiva tells me to add “Amulet of Communication” to my inventory… nice! 😀 He adds that I’ll need to attune to it for ten minutes or so before I can use it. Daetrum says that he’s visited Bahamut before, and thinks that the dragon god wouldn’t appreciate another visit from him. Okay, then…
So, we head back – and Akiva very generously allows us to make our way without having to re-roll Perception checks (phew!). There’s still one place we’ve not yet checked out: the room with the single door on its southern wall. Ozwald flings the door open, and it’s another bloody hallway, with three doors along its southern wall. The nearest door opens out into a small office, with a desk; Ozwald gets even more frustrated than before, and immediately heads for the next door. It’s a slightly larger office, with two desks and a safe. Dixit quickly investigates this room, and tries to open one of the desk drawers; it’s no surprise to find it immobile. And there’s just some paperwork on top of the desk: it looks like one of the clerics (who is not in the room) was working on a sermon. The safe is has a combination lock, and it doesn’t even turn.
The third room is empty, and there’s a door to the west which, when opened, reveals a staircase heading down. Finally!
I comment (OOC) that Ozwald is essentially the Binwin Bronzebottom of our party. Cil doesn’t get the reference, and I’m amazed that Cil hasn’t watched the Acquisitions Incorporated D&D games with Wil Wheaton, Penny Arcade, and Scott Kurtz. For those who aren’t aware, Scott plays the dwarf Binwin Bronzebottom, and he has a tendency to find traps by triggering them, much like Oz 😀 Akiva and I are about to begin explaining, but we both realise that it’s something better left for after the episode wrap-up 🙂
The innermost sanctum – and pain in store
The staircase opens out into a large room, and near the centre of the room is… a dragon, heavily rimed with frost, immobile, and facing the stairs. In fact, it’s so badly covered with frost that we can’t even tell whether it’s chromatic or metallic. The frost is a bright white, but that might not mean anything.
(Something I didn’t realise, when we were in the session, is that there is a massive hoard of gold in the north-west corner. But Cil looked around the whole room, unlike me, and so you’ll see it if you watch the video on Akiva’s YouTube channel.)
In front of the dragon is a sarcophagus. We head over to it, and Simplicity examines its markings, assuming them to be of Bahamut. But what’s on there is in fact the cultists’ symbol. Uh-oh.
Daetrum pushes back the lid of the sarcophagus – while Dixit and Simplicity both step back for safety’s sake. Inside… laying on its side… is an hourglass.
I gasp, exclaim “Oh, GOD…”, begin hyperventilating, and curl up into a ball on the floor. Of course, everyone is alarmed by this sudden and violent change in my demeanour. Daetrum desperately tries to get my attention, while Dixit closes the sarcophagus, but I’m whimpering “Noooooo…” over and over, in a tiny little voice.
I eventually recover and, despite being scared as shit, look at Daetrum. “What happened?” he asks. “Are you okay?”
“I knew this day would come,” I respond in a pained voice. “Forgive me.” And so the reveal of my hidden back story begins.
“I’ve stated often that… I didn’t want to be any kind of leader. And you know that previously, I was the captain in the palace guard of Tymanther, my – the dragonborn homeland.
“When I was still serving in the guard, there was – we heard tell of an orcish insurrection, estimated to be around twenty orcs, and I took thirty of my best men and women – dragonborns – to deal with them.
“We were misinformed; it was an absolute rout. There were over one hundred orcs – and out of the thirty troops that I took with me, under my command, under my say-so, only three survived.
“We were taken into captivity by the orcs for several weeks, each of us shut away – [I break down a little, and apologise while panting to regain my composure] – each of us shut away in a cell. Each cell had an hourglass… and every time each hourglass ran out, we were tortured. [Tears are coming into my (IC) voice at this point.]
“It became so unbearable that I could hear the sand roaring in my sleep.
“When we were eventually rescued, we were in a terrible condition, and I resigned my – I resigned my commission and left the palace guard.
“It is the only thing I fear, the hourglass, for the memories it brings back to me.” And I break down crying, my story ended. (I can’t do a particularly good job of conveying the changes in my voice, but you can check out what I sound like, if you wish, by clicking this link for Akiva’s YouTube video, cued up at the moment when Akiva tells us what’s inside the sarcophagus.)
Ozwald takes his maul, and goes to break the hourglass with the pommel. But the sarcophagus was closed by Dixit just before my recounting began. “OK, well, I shove it off, and then try to do it… I don’t like seeing my Hook-dragon angry.” (awwwww!)
I’m still in a ball, crying, and saying, “I’m so sorry…”, and Simplicity hugs me to console me.
Although Oz makes a strong hit on the hourglass, there’s just a plink, and his weapon just bounces off it. Daetrum says, “Simply destroying this object will not make Hook any better.”
Meanwhile, Dixit and Sim make Investigation checks, with Dixit succeeding, and he realises that the hourglass is tied to the spell. More specifically, tied to the dragon in front of us. How they’re tied together, however, is something he’s not sure of. Dixit turns to the rest of us, and asks if we want him to try to Dispel Magic. “Not with that thing about to breathe fire on us,” replies Daetrum. “We are in no way equipped to handle a dragon.” Dixit wonders if it’s hostile.
Ozwald takes the opportunity to go over to the dragon and inspect it, and Simplicity offers to Fireball it. Dixit for one says that it wouldn’t be a good idea, yet. Despite being right up against the beast, the frost is still obscuring its colour. Daetrum repeats his concern that we wouldn’t be able to go up against the dragon if the frost on it is shattered, especially with me in my distressed state.
I recover enough to say, “People, please listen. The dragon is frozen. Therefore, I surmise – is that sarcophagus closed, dammit? – I feel the dragon is metallic, otherwise it would not be frozen. All things in this temple allied to Bahamut are frozen. Therefore, I surmise that dragon is chromatic – uh, metallic – and is therefore friendly.” Quite the surmise on my part (and a lot of “therefores” 😉 ).
When Oz asks Akiva if smacking the hourglass moved it, he learns that it’s actually held in place in the box, but nobody picked it up. And Oz’s blow didn’t chip the glass.
Dixit picks up the hourglass, unimpeded, and tips it upside-down (so the base is uppermost). He notices that, as a result, the dragon starts moving backwards. The gnome immediately returns it to the sideways position, and the dragon returns to absolute stillness. So then Dixit turns it right-side-up, and time flows normally for those affected.
And the dragon lets out a huge roar, and blasts all of us.
Ozwald and I make our respective CON saves, so we only take half of the 58 cold damage that the rest of the group takes. Dixit and Simplicity are down, and the hourglass falls from Dixit’s grasp; Daetrum has resistance to cold damage.
The dragon shakes itself and opens its eyes, and it realises that we’re not the ones it meant to hit, and asks, “Who are you?”
“We’re just a group of adventurers,” replies Daetrum in Draconic, “looking to help a paladin reclaim his order’s temple.” As Daetrum says this, Ozwald goes over to check on the fallen Simplicity.
The dragon asks, in Common, “Who sent you?”
I jump in. “We were sent here by a tool of Bahamut. We mean no harm.” I ask Akiva (OOC) if we can see the dragon’s colour yet, but he’s still keeping his body covered with frost.
The dragon looks closely at me, sees the Amulet of Communication I have around my neck, and suddenly transforms into a silver dragonborn. Phew. (Ozwald, meanwhile, is pouring a potion into Sim’s mouth. Her earlier reminder to pour a potion down her neck has proven prophetic.) “My apologies,” the dragon(born) says. “One moment while I look to your friends.” He bows his head, raises a claw, and everyone is brought back to maximum hit points. Dang, if only he’d done it a few seconds sooner, we’d still be up by one potion. Ah, well. I bow deeply to the dragon in thanks, as does Sim.
Dixit slowly gets up from the prone position, groaning, “I figured it out, guys…” 😀
And that’s where we end the episode!4 We really must remember to ask the dragon’s name when the next session starts – we seem to be rather bad about that… 😉
Will we be able to convince the silver dragon of our sincerity of purpose, and can he provide help? What will the Amulet of Communication do for us… or to us? Tune in next time to find out! Remember that you can come over to Akiva’s Twitch channel to watch live – our session starts at 9pm Pacific on Tuesdays (midnight Wednesday Eastern time; 5am Wednesday UK time), and usually runs for about three hours. Maybe we’ll see you there!
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1 I messed this one up – I thought one had to round down. I’ll need to tweak my character sheet! 😀
2 The PHB has the standard price at 1 sp for one sheet, but with so much wood around, it’s driven down the price in the area.
3 Akiva also commented, “I didn’t think I’d be running this type of game!” Naughty DM 😉
4 Right after the session, Simplicity and Dixit applaud me for my acting in my pivotal moment (though it was still a long way from what the Vox Machina cast are capable of). Alice added, “You scared the shit out of us!”, and A1istor had briefly thought that the party had killed me! 😀
The Digital Quill 