Team Gnarl answer the Call of the Netherdeep – session 14 – New Horizons

The characters:

• Badger – Ginger, a male halfling Gunslinger
• Hinesh – Gnarl, a male kobold Way of Mercy monk physician
• Lyam – Tezmin, a male harengon warlock of the Genie (dao) (Unavailable this session)
• Sarah – Hildegarde, a female tempest cleric of the Wildmother (Melora)
• Grey – Bek, a Shadar Kai bladesinger wizard

As may be apparent, we are utilising some non-WotC sources for this campaign. In addition to the usual 5e books, characters could draw upon the Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount, Tal Dorei Reborn, and Gunslinger.

Da’leysen, 27th Fessuran, 836 PD

Arriving at the former temple of Avandra the heroes found Fogholme, the firbolg cleric of the Wildmother in conversation with a pair of tieflings. One they recognised as Question, the young member of the Cobalt Soul that they had explored the Hythenos house for. The other was a chubby-faced sandy-skinned man with a selection of archaeologist’s tools. As they approached Fogholme saw them and the body they carried.

The tiefling pair stood aside, realising the heroes need to be more important, and the firbolg helped them settle Hildagarde’s body as they prepared to perform a resurrection ritual. As he had done with Gnarl previously, Fogholme called upon the other heroes to assist. Ginger knelt beside the body, removed his hat (with the wig still attached) and said:

O Melora the Wild please hear our plea; Resurrect our friend and not just for me. Take pity on us and hear our appeal, For this friend of ours does more than heal. As Hilda’s blood starts to congeal; Through that cleric I was shown some zeal. Will your power shine through a big reveal, Or have they had their last meal? When we set out, we were five; Dropped one, gained one & now they’ve died. Help me make sense and make this jive; How can this death be justified. Help us know how to seek your grace; Alive & kicking! That’s Hilda’s place. So if found at all amongst the dead; listen to all they’ve done and said; We’re seeking that boon to restore us full, Because we’re like a ship with a broken hull. But if this plea falls on deaf ears, At least send someone to help face our fears.

Gnarl also beseeched the Wildmother in his own way, “Send her back, or don’t, whatever” as he sewed closed the many wounds on her body, adding a few extra stitches on the back of her neck to sign his handiwork. Bek just stood aside and watched silently.

Hildegarde was strolling through a lush, overgrown garden. Not neglected, the plants had just been allowed to grow to their full potential. As she walked along the path trailing her hand in the flowers blooming beside her she heard the screech of a rusty iron gate opening that seemed oddly out of place amongst the serenity of the garden. She headed towards the gate and as she did she heard the voices of her companions. Hildegarde glanced back into the garden as a warm comforting breeze blew her closer to the gate and she took that as a sign, turning and stepping through into the blinding white light beyond.

With a dramatic intake of breath, the formerly dead cleric sat up, surrounded by her allies and the familiar face of Fogholme. The sandy-skinned tiefling was ecstatic at having witnessed the reviving of the cleric and eagerly introduced himself as Prolix, an archaeologist of the Allegiance of Allsight. The name meant nothing to the heroes and he explained that he was from Ank’Harel and the Allegiance were seekers of history and knowledge there. He had come to Bazzoxan to learn more about Alyxian as his story was linked to the city. When the heroes recounted how Hildegarde had died and mentioned the red-robed elf mage he spat “That bitch!” and explained that she was named Aloysia and a member of a rival group known as the Consortium of the Vermilion Dream who sought out ancient magical secrets.

The heroes showed the tieflings the stone tablet that Aloysia had dropped and Prolix explained that it was a teleportation tablet and that he had one also which he was planning on using the next day to return home. Prolix offered to take the heroes with him and they accepted, rather than using Aloysia’s and teleporting into possible danger. They agreed to meet up the next day and the heroes retired to the Ready Room.

Miresen, 28th Fessuran, 836 PD

The next day they met up with Prolix and Question as arranged and the archeologist used his tablet to transport them all to Ank’Harel. The chilly air and gloomy clouds of Bazzoxan were replaced by dry heat and a brilliant blue sky visible through the arched window of a magnificent building with walls of white marble. Beneath their feet was a teleportation circle, from which the glow of magic slowly subsided.

Prolix asked if the heroes would be willing to meet with one of his superiors and they agreed. Question thanked him for helping her get home but had to go and report to her own superiors at the Library of the Cobalt Soul, but before she left she gave them a tourist map of Ank’Harel and a sending stone, explaining that one of her order would contact them soon.

Prolix led the heroes across what he explained was the Sigil District, passing its manicured lawns lined with fig trees between the white marble structures that resembled a massive university campus. They came to a smaller building, the sign outside read “Headmaster Alakritos” and the tiefling led them inside and to an office on the upper floor. He knocked on the door and a voice called out “Enter”.

Inside sat a male goblin in brown robes, tiny spectacles perched on the tip of his long nose. Rather than the expected desk, he was sitting on a plump cushion and sipping tea from a delicate cup. He invited the group to join him and began pouring them each a cup of tea.

The heroes recounted their run-in with Aloysia for the Headmaster, though they omitted any mention of the Jewel of Three Prayers and kept it hidden. In return, the Headmaster explained that the Allegiance had by royal decree, permission to explore and catalogue the ruins of the city that had been discovered below Ank’Harel which they believed dated back to the time of Alyxian and the Calamity. He told them that the Consortium of the Vermillion Dream had been trying to gain access to the ruins for their own reasons but the guards of the Allegiance kept anyone that wasn’t a member out. They showed him Aloysia’s teleportation tablet and upon examining it he announced that it appeared to be linked to somewhere in the Suncut Bazaar, an area the Consortium were known to frequent.

Prolix offered to take the heroes to quarters but they declined, asking about lodgings within the city instead. The Headmaster told them about various establishments throughout the city and they decided to head for the Suncut Bazaar before finding lodgings of their own and bid the Headmaster and Prolix a good day.

Using the map that Question had given them, and stopping a few times to ask locals for directions, they found themselves at the Suncut Bazaar at late afternoon. Hildegarde bought some lighter clothing from one of the market stalls while Gnarl explored the food stalls of the Courtyard.

T1 – Welcome Arch, T2 – Patrolled Battlements, T3 – Central Street, T4 – Market Stalls, T5 – Luck’s Run casino, T6 – The Bone Garden pawn shop, T7 – Mystic Pursuits arcane supplies, T8 – First Eclipse tavern, T9 – Food Stall Courtyard

The heroes entered Mystic Pursuits, as Gnarl wanted to see what magical artefacts they might have. The kobold was a little disappointed to find that the shop merely traded in spell components and a soothsayer offered to read customer’s futures in her prophetic deck of cards. The soothsayer told them that the sale of magical items was pretty much monopolised by Gilmore of Gilmore’s Glorious Goods, an overpriced establishment in the Sand Herald District.

Next, the heroes visited the Bone Garden, the sign outside signifying that it was a pawn shop. The proprietress was a young woman with a colourful parrot seated upon her shoulder. When they tried to talk to her they discovered that she communicated by a combination of hand signals and verbal comments from the parrot. The heroes perused her wares and enquired if she had any magic items but she didn’t, and when Ginger began enquiring about smoke powder and firearms the parrot became extremely agitated and they were quickly ushered out of the shop.

With the evening drawing in they decided to make their way through the sprawl of the Bazaar to the River District and seek out one of the taverns the Headmaster had marked on their map, the Harried Mongoose. By the time they reached it, the sky had already darkened and they rented a pair of adjoining rooms to rest in.

Grissen, 29th Fessuran, 836 PD

It took a little time to adjust to trying to sleep in the different climate but sleep eventually found them and their rest was undisturbed. When they awoke the next morning a note had been pushed under one of their doors, sealed with the symbol of the Allegiance of Allsight.

Allegiance hopefuls,

We need you to pick up and deliver a marble figurine of an elephant that was stolen from us. We have located it at a curio shop called the Bone Garden in the Suncut Bazaar and arranged for the proprietor, Rerosha, to hand over the merchandise without a fuss. Simply bring the figurine to Gatekeeper Raashid at the Crystal Chateau, and your task is complete.

Welcome in advance to the team!
—Professor Lymmle Wist, Allegiance of Allsight

…

Gnome Force Ultra delve the Dungeons of Drakkenheim – session 19 – Incy Wincy WTF?

The characters:

• Jack S – Dalin Light, a female tiefling Light Cleric of the Sacred Flame.
• Steve – Varis, a male drow Bard of the College of Swords.
• Morgan – Deena, a female human Sorcerer with a Haunted past
• Jon – Velvet “Vel” Claw, a male tabaxi (foxkin) Rogue Scout for hire.
• Lee – Fezzik, a male goliath Beast Totem Barbarian, first mate from Boot’s ship
• Jack E – Tinker, a male tabaxi Rogue Thief from the streets
• Kiefer – Balor, a male human Paladin of Devotion

Firesday 30th Hearthstone, Year 1.126

The buildings and ruins lining the street glistened from the crystalline webbing that stretched amongst them and the heroes heard the tap-tapping of hammers chipping at stone ahead. As they neared the source of the sound they saw eight ratlings hard at work chipping delirium chips from the walls, they were so intent on their task that they were oblivious to the hero’s approach.

Tinker scrambled up onto a nearby roof to see if there were more ratlings in the area but instead spotted a quartet of odd-looking arachnids stalking through the crystalline webs towards the rodent men. The tabaxi was about to return to his companions when he saw one of the furthest away ratlings suddenly get covered in shiny webbing before getting yanked into the concealing ruins before it could cry out a warning to its fellows. As the returning Tinker told his allies about the spiders in the ruins Dalin stepped forward, pointing the sceptre of Saint Vitruvio towards the largest clump of ratlings and unleashed a fireball.

The flames obscured the view for a moment but once they cleared the remaining ratlings as well as Balor, Dalin, Deena and Fezik had all disappeared. The sorcerer quickly realised that Dalin’s spell must have damaged the delirium and triggered an arcane anomaly, turning them invisible and called out to reassure their companions.

Suddenly one of the spider creatures appeared beside Balor, having also been turned invisible by the anomaly, sinking its fangs into the paladin and pumping necrotising venom into him. Another couple of spiders appeared further along the street where ratlings had previously been.

There was a flash of movement as an enormous, armour-shelled spider sprung out of the ruins and onto the spot where Dalin’s fireball had erupted. It rose up on its legs, towering over the nearby buildings as its spinneret shot a thick strand of webbing across the street to strike Tinker in the chest, pulling the rogue halfway towards it before he even thought to try and escape. The tabaxi struggled against the webbing but couldn’t break free before he was in the spider’s grasp.

The other heroes watched, almost mesmerised, as their ally was rolled around and quickly wrapped into a glistening, webbed parcel before being dropped at the spider’s feet.

When the heroes began to strike back at the spiders they found that if they failed to connect the odd arachnids seemed to leave a mirror-image of themselves behind that shattered under their blow while the actual spider reappeared safely nearby. But thankfully when striking the smaller spiders they didn’t miss that much and quickly it was only the massive spider remaining.

Balor ran to try and free Tinker from his cocoon as the monstrous spider began springing about the ruins, into and out of striking range of the heroes and biting them viciously. The heroes realised that the arachnid’s venom was not only necrotic but also contaminated.

The spider curled up into a ball, leaving only its armoured carapace exposed, the heroes continued to assault it but found it even harder to hit than before until it unfurled and they realised that it had healed many of the wounds they had inflicted upon it so far. The heroes didn’t relent though, renewing their efforts and wailing upon it with everything they had.

In a last desperate attempt, the spider unleashed a torrent of attacks, biting and spitting acidic webbing at the heroes before Balor brought Twilight down in a final devastating strike upon it and ended its life.

After gathering up the delirium the ratlings had mined they made their way wearily to the Hooded Lantern’s garrison. They confirmed that the message had got back to the garrison about the Silver Order’s occupation of Emberwood before heading down to the barracks to rest.

Starsday 1st Sowing, Year 1.126

In the morning Dalin once again used the Rod of Purging and her spells to free them of their contamination, and they discussed their options over breakfast. They decided that after a quick visit to the quartermaster to acquire more components they would head to Eckerman’s Mill to sell the delirium they had acquired and see what Aldor had on offer.

The journey through the Outer City was quiet and they soon saw the familiar ruined windmill ahead, though now the camp around it was larger. They easily found the familiar oversized wagon of Aldor and the other caravan owners and were able to sell their delirium, though Velvet tried to haggle the price and ended up losing money on the deal.

Aldor sold them an assortment of his healing potions and despite having a few rare items available they were for the most part beyond their price range, though Deena did purchase a scroll or two before they bid him good day and turned back to the city.

They made their way to the ferry landing, ringing the bell and summoning Stick. They paid the fare and the ferryman took them across as wordless as always. They began making their way through the city but they were distracted and found themselves back at the ferry landing. With a resigned sigh they set off once again, this time finding their route easily and without incident to the road that led to Emberwood Village.

The evening was drawing in as they arrived at the village, patrols of armed Silver Order knights walked the streets and watched them stroll in but didn’t interfere with them. The heroes made their way to the Velvet’s home and settled in to rest, wondering what the morning would bring …

Gnome Force Ultra delve the Dungeons of Drakkenheim – session 18 – Livin’ on the Edge

The characters:

• Jack S – Dalin Light, a female tiefling Light Cleric of the Sacred Flame.
• Steve – Varis, a male drow Bard of the College of Swords.
• Morgan – Deena, a female human Sorcerer with a Haunted past
• Jon – Velvet “Vel” Claw, a male tabaxi (foxkin) Rogue Scout for hire.
• Lee – Fezzik, a male goliath Beast Totem Barbarian, first mate from Boot’s ship
• Jack E – Tinker, a male tabaxi Rogue Thief from the streets
• Kiefer – Balor, a male human Paladin of Devotion

Tidesday, 27th Hearthstone, Year 1.126

The crowd was full of excited murmuring until Lucretia stepped forward and they all fell into a hushed silence. She announced that the pilgrimage to the crater was to begin and simply turned and walked away, the fifty-strong crowd falling into line behind her. Father Flint was near the heroes and told them to come along if they wished and they fell into step with the slow-moving congregation.

The walk to the crater edge was slow but uneventful, the Haze grew thicker the nearer they got to it until they could barely see a stone’s throw ahead. The heroes and most of the pilgrims were beginning to show signs of being affected by the contamination by the time the procession halted at the crater’s edge. Lucretia used her magic to augment her voice so all could hear her as she instructed the pilgrims to each search for a shard of delerium that “spoke” to them. Varis, Velvet, Deena and Tinker joined the search and after two hours Lucretia called everyone back together. Around two-thirds of the pilgrims had found a suitable shard, including Velvet’s mother. Velvet and Deena had also found suitable pieces. Lucretia then called those who had secured their shards to accompany her to the nearby Chapel of Saint Gresha, those who hadn’t were welcome to return to the monastery but were advised to return to Hendrix Farm to recover from their journey but were welcome to try again in the future.

To the heroes, she said, “Only the faithful may enter the Chapel and partake in the sacred ritual that is to come. You’re welcome to do so but if you aren’t willing to then you must remain outside and not interfere”. Velvet asked his mother if she was going ahead with it and she replied that of course she was, that’s why she had come, and so accompanied her.

Lucretia led them northwest of the crater towards what remained of the Chapel of Saint Gresha. It had been constructed in much the same style as that of Saint Brenna but nothing remained of the domed roof and the walls looked to have been trapped mid-explosion and were held in place by octarine magic. Velvet decided to follow his mother inside but Deena chose not to. No one noticed Tinker slinking inside and into the shadows behind one of the twelve statues of armoured warriors that lined the interior of the circular chamber. The main stained glass window of the chapel remained surprisingly intact and the congregation gathered before it as Lucretia called upon Saint Gresha to appear and administer the Sacrament.

The ghostly apparition of the saint appeared above Lucretia and led the whole congregation in an hour-long ritual prayer, at the end of which the pilgrims (including Velvet and his mother) all plunged their delerium shards into their chests! Tinker was shocked but held his place as none of them appeared to be hurt by this act. Dark shadows were expelled from the members of the congregation and as the ritual prayer reached its zenith a flare of radiant energy flashed from Saint Gresha and incinerated the dark forms. As the light returned to normal all those that had received the sacrament relaxed and now showed no signs of contamination, even the minor mutation that Velvet had gained was gone. The spectral saint disappeared and Lucretia welcomed everyone as members of the Falling Fire before leading them back outside.

Reuniting with the others Velvet kept the shard in his chest hidden but told them that he was fine. He asked Lucretia what happened now and she told him he was free to do whatever he wished, as was his mother. The leader of the Falling Fire remarked that those who had undergone the sacrament were welcome to come to the monastery at all times but those who hadn’t had now outstayed their welcome, and with that she prepared to lead the other new members back through the streets, all of them apparently unaffected by the Haze surrounding them.

Velvet’s mother told him that she was returning to the monastery for now but would be spending her time between there and home should he need to find her, just as they were about to part Lucretia caught his elbow, “I had a vision during the ceremony, the one you have been seeking has not crossed over” she said and walked away. Velvet was understandably shocked and confused by this news but had to put it aside for the moment as his companions were still affected by the Haze and needed to find somewhere to rest and recover. Rather than travel all the way back through the city to either the Garrison or Emberwood Village they headed for the reclaimed Clocktower.

They had almost reached the river that split the city in two when their path was blocked by a pair of massive humanoids walking towards them.

They were taller than the surrounding buildings and dragged large clubs along with them the size of trees. Delerium chunks had fused with their bodies and their muscles pulsed with arcane energies as they lumbered forward. Balor and Fezzik closed the distance between them and the lead gargantuan opened its mouth as if to roar but instead unleashed a beam of octarine energy that struck the paladin squarely, rocking him back on his heels and leaving him further contaminated. The heroes’ eyes had barely recovered from the flare of the beam when they saw a chunk of masonry from one of the nearby buildings hurtle over the head of the gargant and smash into Deena.

The sorceress sent her spectral minion forward to attack the gargant while she retreated behind the cover of one of the buildings to avoid being hit with more building pieces. Tinker sped through the ruins and clambered up onto the roof of a building but waited below its apex, hoping to be out of the line of sight of their massive foes. Dalin and Velvet sent spells and arrows into the monsters as Balor finally got into melee with the lead figure. His glowing greatsword, Twilight, slashed left and right on the monster before him as Deena’s spectre drained the life force from it beside him and it fell.

Deena sent a spell at the gargant that left it dazed and struggling to focus on its enemies as Fezzik joined the paladin and spectre in assaulting it, but the three of them were temporarily pushed back as the massive monster swung its club in a wide arc that smashed into them and knocked the corporeal ones off their feet. It wasn’t enough though, the heroes were able to focus all of their attacks on the single foe and it quickly fell to their attacks and they made it to the bridge without further incident.

Once across the bridge they pushed through the Haze surrounding the clocktower, though they had to drag Varis as he was overcome by his contamination, and made their way up the staircase to the observation deck and the small corps of Lanterns manning it.

Windsday, 28th – Firesday 30th Hearthstone, Year 1.126

The heroes spent the next two days resting and recovering atop the clocktower, using the rod and Dalin’s spells to purge the contamination from almost all of them before heading back down to the streets and the Garrison. They were halfway between the marketplace and the Garrison when they were stopped in their tracks …

Another fan-tarrasque-tic model painted by Jon

I mainly wanted this monster printing because the boss wanted to try resin printing a larger, multi-part model and it had just arrived via the subscription I have to Flesh to Gods miniatures. The comments from fellow subscribers mentioned that they had even tried upscaling it even bigger but I just wanted it as it came, on a 100mm base.

In all the years I’ve been playing D&D (and it’s about 40 at this point) I have never used a tarrasque in a game. We came close at the end of the Frostmaiden campaign with Team Gnome Force Ultra when they tried to use the scroll of tarrasque summoning.

It was only the day after Jon messaged me to say it was finished that I found out that there is a possibility of the beast making an appearance in one of the two current campaigns I’m running, I won’t say which at this point but it would be hilarious to get up mid-session, pick him up from the cabinet in the store where he resides, and plop him down on the battlemap and watch the players faces drop!

Epic Encounters Savannah of the Gnoll Pack from Steamforged Games

Let’s take a look at one of the latest packs from Steamforged Games’ Epic Encounters range (see the full range here https://steamforged.com/games/epic-encounters?tab=Overview), the Savannah of the Gnoll Pack. As always these have been painted for me by my friend Jon.

Now I have a fair few gnoll models already for my Dungeons of Drakkenheim campaign but when Steamforged announced this pack I knew I had to get more.

First, we have the CR 1/4 Dire Hyenas, I wasn’t sure if the spiked mounds on their backs were natural growths or added armour but pointed out after painting that there appear to be straps holding it on. The models are on 50mm bases but their stat block says medium? The stats are similar but lower than the standard Giant Hyena of the Monster Manual and I would definitely consider running them as a combination of the two.

Something to note, this is the first time the accompanying booklet comes with a “Stat Block Modifications” section at the bottom of (most) entries to assist you in altering between lower or higher tier play, so it appears that as written the stats are for tier two play. However, I spotted a couple of errors in these and passed them on to the Steamforged team via their Discord; they are aware and gave the correct information there. For the purposes of this post, I’ll just refer to the as-written stats.

(Higher tier HP should read 25 (5d8+3))

Also sharing the CR 1/4 spot are the Gnoll Seekers. These seem to have the standard Monster Manual ability scores though lower HP/HD. They don’t get the gnolls Rampage trait but, instead, gain On High Ground and Precision Accuracy which can combine to make their javelin strikes very dangerous for low-level pcs.

Taking up the final CR 1/4 slot in the book is the Vulture Flock stat block, sadly we don’t get either miniatures or tokens for this. It functions as a swarm and would have been a great single mini base.

Next up is the CR1/2 Feral Gnoll. You get four of these in the box and their stats are pretty much the same as the standard Monster Manual gnoll though with lower AC due to not having shields, and a reduced Int and Wis. They gain a new trait, Blood Lust, which is basically the become Reckless once bloodied. They also lose their spear in favour of either two claws or a bite attack.

The CR 2 Gnoll Reavers also come in a group of four. Armoured in toughened hide they have a better AC than their Feral compatriots and forego a shield in favour of wielding a two-handed greataxe, though the models seem to have glaives but that’s just visual flavour. The Reavers don’t have the standard gnoll rampage ability but do get the Reckless trait. Their basic HP/HD seems low especially since the Lower Tier suggestion gives it more – I hadn’t noticed this till writing this and have messaged Steamforged again for clarification.

(Standard Reaver’s Hp should be 67 (9d8+27) hit points)

Next up we have the CR 3 Striga. According to their stat blocks traits, their wings are formed from the arms but the models clearly have arms and the wings look like they are built from scraps of bone and flesh. These seem to be gnoll shamans that have partly turned fiendish. There is no equivalent stat block in either the Monster Manual or Volo’s Guide to Monsters, but I would have liked to see their spell list include animate dead to allow them to create Witherlings.

The final model is the CR 5 Gnoll Fang. The pack leader (unless you run the accompanying gigantic gnoll boss monster, but I don’t have that one – yet) and is much more powerful than the CR 2 Gnoll Pack Lord from the Monster Manual.

His Empowered trait uses a scenic piece from earlier in the book to create a thematic combat bonus, while the standard Rampage is replaced with Bloody Rampage. As a pack leader his Slaughter! Blood! Death! Kill! trait allows him to whip his underlings into a frenzy.

His basic attacks are a Bite for a respectable 3d6+4 piercing damage, and a swipe with his Slaughter Blade for a vicious 2d12+4 slashing and an additional 4d8 necrotic damage, as well as forcing the target to make a CON save or make their own next attack at disadvantage. Both of these melee attacks have 10 ft reach so getting close to this beast is dangerous!

The accompanying map is lighter visually as have been a couple of their more recent ones, and the encounters in the booklet at first read seem good fun. The suggested block modifications are a great addition and I hope they issue a free errata pdf to supply the same for the older packs.

Last summer when they released the booklets and maps on DrivethruRPG it was asked if they would be putting codes into new boxes for those buying the physical products to automatically get the digital version too and they said they would look into it – however, since then we’ve had six releases (Bandits, Manticore, Lizardfolk, T-Rex, Gnolls and Big Gnoll) without such – a shame.

Team Gnarl answer the Call of the Netherdeep – session 13 – Betrayers

The characters:

• Badger – Ginger, a male halfling Gunslinger
• Hinesh – Gnarl, a male kobold Way of Mercy monk physician
• Lyam – Tezmin, a male harengon warlock of the Genie (dao)
• Sarah – Hildegarde, a female tempest cleric of the Wildmother (Melora)
• Grey – Bek, a Shadar Kai bladesinger wizard

As may be apparent, we are utilising several non-WotC sources for this campaign. In addition to the usual 5e books, characters could draw upon the Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount, Tal Dorei Reborn, and Gunslinger.

Da’leysen, 27th Fessuran, 836 PD

Continuing up the corridor they followed it along until they came to a T-junction and after a brief discussion chose to follow the left-hand path. The corridor twisted and turned several more times before ending in a door that had a set of concentric metal discs set in its centre. They also noticed pairs of narrow holes in the floor, walls and ceiling before the door.

As they examined the discs they could see letters carved into their surface and realised they could be rotated. Before they could touch the discs they heard a disembodied voice call out “Running through the woods at night, we look up at the silver disc”. Hildegard thought this meant wolves or wolf but noticed that the discs couldn’t accurately spell either but could put the letters W O L F in a different order and rotated the discs to do so. As she released the final disc there was a slight click and gouts of flames sprayed out of the holes bathing the area in front of the door and burning the heroes.

The heroes understandably decided to think it through a bit more before touching the door again, and eventually decided to try M O O N and were rewarded by hearing heavy bolts being drawn back. But the door remained closed and they heard the voice once more call out “My face is covered in these arcane symbols”, this time they easily guessed the word was R U N E and rotated the discs accordingly and heard a second set of bolts drawn back.

The voice called out a third time “What I will lead you into”, Bek suggested Hell, and when they tried it they once again were blasted with flames. Then Gnarl thought about the name of the temple they were in and realised that you could spell R I S E and tried that. The final set of bolts were drawn back and the door cracked open.

Beyond the door was a short corridor of the familiar matte black stone that led into the familiar chamber with the kneeling chained statue with the three over-arching arms. However, this time there were no other exits on the other walls of the chamber.

Not wanting to turn on each other they kept a respectable distance from the statue and with Tezmin having previously poked (and even licked) one of the pustules on the palm of one of the hands they tried attacking it. Ginger fired a pair of gunshots as Bek blasted a magical bolt and they were rewarded by watching the pulsing pustule being blasted to pieces, leaving a clean and clear palm behind and one side of the triangle carved into the floor lit up. They repeated the process with the other two pustules and as the third and final side of the triangle lit up the doors in the chest of the statue swung open revealing a prismatic light within.

Hildegard cautiously climbed up the statue and peered within the door, seeing a tunnel barely wide enough to walk in single file disappearing within, clearly extraplanar in origin as it led deeper than the thickness of the statue. She returned to the rest of the party and told them what she’d seen and they decided to take a brief rest before they entered. As they finished their short rest, however, the lights went out, the doors closed and the pustules reformed on the palms of the arms.

After a slight grumble, the heroes once again destroyed the pustules and opened the doors, this time heading in with Gnarl leading the way. The tunnel twisted and turned and the heroes were sure that at one point they were walking directly downward but somehow remained perpendicular to the floor, eventually opening out on the east side of a circular chamber. The walls were covered with softly glowing amber-coloured crystals that filled a crater at the room’s centre. At the bottom of the crater sat an altar made of the same crystal.

Carefully the heroes made their way down to the altar at the base of the bowl and Tezmin felt his necklace pull towards it, and a compulsion to place it upon the altar.

A spectral figure blossomed forth from the amulet. This warrior, who called himself Alyxian in their previous vision, looked up at them with a faint smile and said, “You came… you followed… you can find me.” The crystals around them glowed brightly, and their vision went white. Then they saw a company of armoured soldiers, Alyxian among them, marching into the Betrayers’ Rise. Their expressions were grim. Though they did not speak, they could tell that none of them expected to come home.

The vision shifted again, and everyone in the company of soldiers was dead except for Alyxian, who continued to fight while surrounded by the corpses of mortals and demons. He was hurled across the battlefield by the claws of a gorilla-like demon. The scene blurred, and he fell to his knees, pleading, before a simple wooden altar that bore the holy symbol of Avandra. At the end of his prayer, he was lifted to his feet by a tall young woman with light brown skin and flowing black hair.

A foreboding voice cut through this scene of divine intervention, and Alyxian froze. “The Change Bringer and a mortal,” the voice intones. “What brings you into my sacred, devouring darkness? Even if you save him, Change Bringer, he will suffer. He will die. He will be forgotten. All that he has worked to save will crumble and be devoured by worms. Why invite further suffering? Let go. Give in. All is futile in the end, so why…”

As the voice trailed off, Alyxian turned to face the heroes and fell to his knees in tears. The scenery shifts, and the forsaken warrior was now underwater, amid the ruins of a sunken city. “The Crawling King spoke true,” he muttered. “All was futile. All has been forgotten… and I am lost in darkness. Please, help me set it right.”

The heroes were able to ask Alyxian a few questions and he told them he had fought in the Calamity and was called the Apotheon because he beseeched the gods for power three times and three times received it—first on the shores of Wildemount, again in the depths of the Betrayers’ Rise, and once more in a temple of Corellon the Arch Heart in a city of elves and orcs in the jungles of Marquet. These divine gifts transformed him from a mortal being into something more. Alyxian says that the city of elves and orcs was destroyed centuries ago. Alyxian is imprisoned in an underwater place lit by a crimson glow. He grows angry as he explains that mortals are harvesting the source of the glow and leaving him in darkness and that this is torture for him.

As the vision of Alyxian fades the heroes saw that the necklace of Three Prayers had transformed upon the altar, and heard a slow clap coming from the entrance to the chamber and turned to see their competitors from Jigow accompanied by the red-robed elf standing on the lip of the bowl. “Well done, heroes!” said the elf. “Now, if you would simply hand over the jewel, we can all get out of here without spilling any more blood.” “If we don’t?” asked Gnarl as he stood upon the altar, blocking the necklace from their sight and nudging it back towards Tezmin before jumping forward to be between his friends and the new arrivals. “Well then we’ll just retrieve from your corpses” replied the elf with a wicked grin.

Tezmin snatched up the necklace and put it back on quickly turning invisible and flying up towards the ceiling as Bek cast a fireball at their foes, the elf tried to counter it but Hildegard countered her counter, only to have her spell countered in turn by Galsariad with a resigned frown. The goblin cleric, Dermot, chanted a blessing on his allies as the drow threw a crackling black orb down into the bowl that created a pulse of intense gravity that pulled all the heroes within range closer together and knocked most of them off their feet.

Ginger had managed to stay upright and stalked backwards up the far side of the crystalline bowl before taking aim at the red-robed elf and unloading four rapid shots at her and injuring her quite badly. Irvan threw daggers at the kobold monk but whether his aim was bad or his heart wasn’t in it, none of them came close to striking Gnarl. The genasi, Ayo, snarled like an animal and charged Gnarl with her ivory spear, but her strikes went wide of the nimble kobold and she called the ogress down to help her.

Maggie strode down and swung her hammer almost reluctantly at the monk but thankfully neither swipe connected. Then the red-robed elf cast a spell, a ball of crimson energy streaking into the centre of the bowl and almost as a reverse of the drow’s earlier spell, pulsed with force and threw the heroes nearest away and knocking Bek and Hildegard unconscious.

Gnarl struck out at Ayo, and even as she reactively struck him with the ivory spear he hit her with a stunning strike. Tezmin moved closer to the exit of the chamber but realised that to get into the tunnel he would have to get past the elf. Dermot moved to stand beside his friend Ayo, casting a searing smite at Gnarl as he approached and readying his hammer to strike too, but the little kobold’s luck had run its course and the cleric’s spell knocked him out. Despite having the opportunity Dermot didn’t strike the unconscious Gnarl, he cast spare the dying and stabilised him instead.

Galsariad threw another of the black orbs to the rear of the altar, its gravitic pulse pulling the unconscious forms of Hildegard and Bek towards the far side of the flat bottom but Ginger was able to keep his footing and stay upright, answering with another pair of dead-eye shots at the red-robed elf. Irvin moved to stand beside the elf and whispered something to her. With a shriek of exasperation she shouted “Fine, we’re leaving!” and ordered her allies to retreat as she pulled a scroll from her satchel and cast an earthquake spell!

The chamber shook and large chunks of the ceiling began falling around the heroes as they rushed to check on their fallen comrades. As they did so they realised that neither Hildegard nor Bek were breathing, and as they watched the bladesinger melted into a pool of shadows and was gone. Ginger grabbed the cleric’s body as Tezmin fed Gnarl a potion to revive him, and pursued their foes into the tight tunnel but, unfortunately, they had disappeared, but they had left behind a small stone tablet covered in arcane runes. They took it with them and made their way out of Betrayers Rise, heading for the dilapidated temple in the hopes of reviving Hildegard …

B1 – The Gates, B2 – The Crematorium, B3 – Infirmary, B4 – Gatehold Barracks, B5 – Dilapidated Temple, B6 – Wall of the Unforgotten, B7 – The Ready Room

Gnome Force Ultra delve the Dungeons of Drakkenheim – session 17 – Dark times in Emberwood

The characters:

• Jack S – Dalin Light, a female tiefling Light Cleric of the Sacred Flame.
• Steve – Varis, a male drow Bard of the College of Swords.
• Morgan – Deena, a female human Sorcerer with a Haunted past
• Jon – Velvet “Vel” Claw, a male tabaxi (foxkin) Rogue Scout for hire.
• Lee – Fezzik, a male Goliath Beast Totem Barbarian, first mate from Boot’s ship (unavailable this session)
• Jack E – Tinker, a male tabaxi Rogue Thief from the streets (unavailable this session)
• Kiefer – Balor, a male human Paladin of Devotion

Moonday, 26th Hearthstone, Year 1.126

Having spent another restful night back at the Hooded Lanterns Garrison the heroes were joined by another new recruit, a drow bard named Varis. As they ate their breakfast they caught him up on their current status then got their gear together and set off out of Shepherd’s Gate and headed south through the Outer City.

Unfortunately, they got a little turned around cutting through the alleyways of the city and found themselves too close to Temple Gate. They tried to avoid detection and get away from the gate as quickly as they could but they ran into a garmyr hunting party, the hunter’s howls mixed with those of their accompanying worgs as battle commenced. Dalin was quick to react and the cleric threw a bead of flame at one of the clusters of enemies that ignited into a fireball when it reached them. Though it didn’t kill any of the hunting party outright, all were severely burned and injured.

The garmyr surged forward, most bringing their bows up as they ran and loosing a volley of arrows into the heroes, one of them managed to get close enough to stab at the tiefling cleric with its spear but her armour was able to deflect the attempt. Balor stepped up to help defend Dalin, swinging his greatsword in mighty strikes at the snarling garmyr.

Despite the ferocity of the garmyr’s assault the heroes quickly dispatched their furry foes with only Deena taking any major wounds which were dealt with easily by her companions. Patched up, they continued their journey onto the southern edge of the city and then onward to Camp Dawn and the Knights of the Silver Order.

A tall wooden palisade wall surrounded by a ditch filled with water and sharpened stakes protected the camp. Each corner was anchored by a defended guard tower. Entry into the camp was by one of four gates—one at each cardinal direction, flanked by towers, with a wooden bridge leading over the ditch to the wooden doors. Inside, the camp was an array of activities. Most of the enclosure was filled with neatly organized rows of large canvas tents, grouped around small cooking fires and supply carts

Camp Dawn

Guards at the gate demanded the party identify themselves and state their business, to which the heroes answered they were there as representatives of the Hooded Lanterns to discuss a proposal with the leader of the Silver Order. After a minute or two they were allowed in but ordered to surrender their weaponry before going any further. Begrudgingly they complied and were then escorted through the camp. They passed the massive bonfire burning at the centre of the camp close enough to notice that it gave off no heat or smoke, obviously magical and that it was being used for prayers rather than warmth or cooking. Eventually, they arrived at the largest of the tents which had another pair of knights standing guard outside. They were shown inside and presented to the leader of the Silver Order forces.

Knight-Captain Theodore Marshall

Knight-Captain Theodore Marshal was a man in his prime. Athletic and tall with boldly sculpted features, bronzed skin, and unkempt sandy brown hair. Unshaven stubble had grown into a beard over the crisscross of scars on his face. A leather patch covered his right eye. He wore gleaming silver plate armour etched with golden trim, a shimmering sword and a broad shield engraved with the symbol of the Sacred Flame lay on the table before him.

The Knight-Captain was a little brusque in his demeanour and when the heroes said they brought an important proposition he replied “Not important enough for the Lord Commander to come and see me himself though”, as the heroes began to explain that Commander Drexel was extremely busy, Marshal burst into a laughing grin “I’m just busting you, I know only too well the demands on a leaders time”.

After explaining Commander Drexel’s proposal for a joint assault on Temple Gate, and then the Cathedral, the Knight-Captain agreed that it would be militarily sound and that he would agree to a meeting with the Commander “I propose we meet on neutral ground, Emberwood Village would suffice, say, in five days hence”. The heroes thanked him for his time, leaving the camp after retrieving their weapons and heading back to the Garrison to inform the Lantern commander of the agreed meeting.

As it was barely past noon they decided to head down to Emberwood Village and see if River, the tiefling mage of the Amethyst Academy could arrange for her people to be represented at the meeting too. The journey through the city was less eventful than earlier and as the evening drew in they entered the outskirts of the village.

They immediately noticed that the mood of the village was more subdued, and as they passed the watchtower they saw knights of the Silver Order station there instead of the familiar Hooded Lanterns. Dalin suggested heading into the nearby chapel and asking the Flamekeeper what was happening.

Flamekeeper Hanna was happy to see the heroes again and answered their questions. The Silver Order had come into the village several days ago, dismissing the Lanterns at the watchtower before routing the rougher crowd from the Skull and Sword. There had also been an incident at Caravan Court, two soldiers of the Order had been injured when they tried to commandeer Aldo’s caravan. The burly trader then left the village, leading the other caravans out of town and telling folks that if they wanted him he’d be at Eckerman’s Mill. The heroes were aghast that the Silver Order had practically put the village under martial law, and that their Knight-Captain had obviously known this when he had suggested the meeting be held here earlier that day. They were just leaving when Hanna said to Velvet “Oh, and I’m sorry about your mother”.

Velvet whirled around, asking what she meant, was his mother injured, or worse? The flamekeeper apologised, having not realised he was unaware, his mother had packed up her belongings and left the town a few days ago, after attending a “prayer meeting” of the Falling Fire over at Hendrix’s farm. As the rest of the heroes headed for the watchtower, Velvet rushed off to his family’s cottage.

The guards at the watchtower were belligerent as the heroes approached but as Balor was currently wearing the armour from the knight they had killed a few days ago he was able to convince them that he was a higher-ranking member of the order and demanded to see their commander. They were directed to the upper floor and knocked loudly on the door when they got there.

A muscular blonde woman, probably in her late twenties or early thirties, answered. The heroes could see her armour and weapons in the room beyond her. She was very curt with them and when they asked on whose orders she had deposed the Lanterns and taken control of the village she told them “The Knight-Captain’s of course, he is the one in charge”.

Knight-Lieutenant Elaina Highcastle

Velvet almost dropped his key in his haste as he unlocked the door to his family home. Once inside he saw that everything was pretty much as it normally was, his mother had only taken the barest things she needed when she left. As he came out of the cottage and locked the door behind him, his companions arrived and they all decided despite evening getting late, to head over to Hendrix’s farm as it was just to the south of the village.

Farm was a generous term these days, none of the fields had yielded crops since the meteor fell but the farm had two large buildings still, a large barn and the farmhouse itself. The barn was dark but a little light could be seen through the shuttered windows of the farmhouse.

Deena sent her spectral familiar to investigate the barn, seeing through its eyes. The interior of the barn was dark but she was able to make out almost thirty bodies on the floor, carefully she looked if any of them were foxkin, like Velvet, but they all appeared to be human. She was about to tell her companions that the barn was full of corpses when one of the bodies rolled over and yawned before settling once more into sleep.

Deena sent the spectre towards the farmhouse but it couldn’t get within twenty feet of the building, some invisible barrier prevented its approach. Velvet moved beside the spectre and then stepped past it, whatever the barrier was it only seemed to block the spectre, and the rest of the heroes made their way to the farmhouse.

They kicked the door open and burst inside, startling the half a dozen people seated at the table within. A middle-aged man dressed in simple brown robes came to his feet, hands raised in a sign of being unharmed. “Please, there’s no need for violence. We don’t have much but what we do have we’re happy to share”. Everyone at the table was human, and Velvet immediately asked where his mother was.

The man in the robes introduced himself as Father Nathaniel Flint and explained that Velvet’s mother had indeed been with them a few days ago but had gone with a group into the city on a pilgrimage to Saint Selina’s Monastery. After a brief, but tense discussion the heroes learnt that another Father Flint was leading the next group the next day and agreed to accompany them. With that, the heroes returned to the village and spent the night in Velvet’s cottage.

Father Nathaniel Flint

Tidesday, 27th Hearthstone, Year 1.126

The next morning the heroes were up bright and early and returned to Hendrix’s Farm where they joined the large group of pilgrims and began making their way through the Outer City towards Champions Gate. En route they encountered a Hooded Lantern patrol, the patrol leader recognised them and checked everything was alright and that they had their flares, “just in case”, before wishing them luck and moving on. The going was slow but steady and soon they began to approach part of the city that was thick with the Haze. Father Flint seemed unbothered by the Haze but the heroes and the other pilgrims felt its effects but continued onwards.

When they arrived at Champions Gate they could see the gate was a ruin, having been hit hard when the meteor hit, one of its towers totally obliterated and the passage through the gate strewn with rubble. Beyond the gate was a collection of tents and a group of Falling Fire followers that all seemed similarly unaffected by the lingering Haze.

Before the heroes could question this a figure approached them, an elderly woman in simple robes that Dalin recognised as Lucretia Mathias. She was trailed by a dozen armed and armoured men, two wearing ragged uniforms of the Hooded Lanterns, two still sporting the regalia of the Silver Order and the other two appeared to be unaffiliated mercenaries.

Lucretia Mathias

Lucretia spoke briefly with Father Flint, the latter gesturing towards the heroes and Velvet in particular before he led the pilgrims onward and she approached the party. “I thought it best to come and greet you personally,” she said in a quiet but strong voice that belied her frail appearance. The heroes wondered how she knew they were coming and she told them “I saw you were coming in a vision, I have them on occasion” as she looked at Dalin. Velvet demanded to know where his mother was and she calmly told him that she was at the Monastery, there of her own free will and free to leave at any time. Lucretia could see he was obviously anxious and invited the party to come to visit the Monastery and see for themselves, “normally only the followers of our faith are allowed entry but I think this warrants an exception”. With that, she led the heroes toward a hill on the southern bank of the river inside the city wall upon which stood the Monastery.

Saint Selena’s Monastery

When they reached the Monastery Lucretia asked where Velvet’s mother could be found and they were directed to the laundry, “she wanted to be useful” said the pilgrim. They went to the chamber that was used for cleaning the linens and clothing of the Monastery and Velvet’s mother and three human women were in there washing bedsheets. Upon seeing Velvet enter his mother cried out “What the hell are you doing here?”. The foxkin scout was a little taken aback as it was not the reaction he had expected and as they talked he realised that his mother had indeed come here and was staying by her own free will. She was waiting to undertake the pilgrimage to the crater’s edge to complete her joining the Falling Fire.

The heroes asked if they could accompany Velvet’s mother, still not quite believing what was happening, and Lucretia said that they could accompany them to the crater’s edge but only the faithful could be witness to the ceremony that followed. The bell in the tower rang out and everyone began to move out and congregate in the open garden of the Monastery …

Team Gnarl answer the Call of the Netherdeep – session 12 – Secrets and Sharks

The characters:

• Badger – Ginger, a male halfling Gunslinger (unavailable this session)
• Hinesh – Gnarl, a male kobold Way of Mercy monk physician
• Lyam – Tezmin, a male harengon warlock of the Genie (dao)
• Sarah – Hildegarde, a female tempest cleric of the Wildmother (Melora)
• Grey – Bek, a Shadar Kai bladesinger wizard

As may be apparent, we are utilising several non-WotC sources for this campaign. In addition to the usual 5e books, characters could draw upon the Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount, Tal Dorei Reborn, and Gunslinger.

Da’leysen, 27th Fessuran, 836 PD

The heroes prepared the gear and Tezmin paid the barkeep enough gold to secure their cots for another couple of days and left his giant rat resting on his bed before they set off once again to to the north of the city and mounted the steps to the entrance to Betrayer’s Rise.

The guards checked their permission to enter slip and let them inside. Hildegard and Tezmin summoned their magical light as they again walked across the black basalt bridge to the massive door carved with the face of Avandra. With the Jewel of Three Prayers in their possession, the door opened easily at their touch and they entered the temple proper, the door closing behind them.

As on their previous visit, they found themselves in a corridor made of the same matte black stone, though this time it was smooth and didn’t appear to have the multitude of holes that the gibbering mouthers had oozed out of. Unlike last time the corridor seemed to follow a different route, twisting and turning until finally, they noticed it was steadily inclining upwards until it ended in a large door carved in bas-relief with a skull upon it. They tried to look for a lock or handle and found that while there wasn’t a lock the handles were recessed in the eye sockets of the skull. Cautiously they opened the door and peered beyond.

The chamber beyond was once again made of the same matte black stonework. The nearer half of the chamber had its vaulted ceiling held up by numerous pillars that formed an aisle and had four side chambers lining the sides. Beyond that, the chamber was dominated by a raised dais where pillars on its corners held up the ceiling and had stern-looking warriors standing on each corner facing outwards to the room. The top of the dais glowed with an eerie green light.

Cautiously the heroes began to advance through the chamber, Bek and Hildegard walking up the central aisle while Gnarl hugged the southern wall and looked in the pair of chambers on that side and Tezmin did the same to the north. Both of the southern chambers were empty but the second northern chamber had a skeleton slumped in the northeastern corner.

From the doorway, Tezmin cast his mage hand spell and sent the arcane limb towards the recumbent corpse, fully expecting it to rise up and attack. The magic hand poked the skeleton in the collar bone and as it did so the head swivelled to face the Harengon in the doorway, and then continued to roll free of its neck and onto the floor. The warlock held his breath for a second but when the rest of the skeleton remained motionless he relaxed and joined his companions standing before the dais.

The figures standing watch on the corners of the dais were revealed to be statues and the glow was coming from a large sigil carved into the top of the dais. The heroes couldn’t see any other exit from the chamber and thought perhaps they needed to somehow turn off the sigil. Bek took a brief moment to cast detect magic while the others attempted to either topple, move or twist the statues, but they found them very securely fixed in place. Completing his ritual, the bladesinger examined the sigil and learned that it was giving off transmutation and conjuration auras. Tezmin sent his familiar, Renfield, onto the sigil and they watched as the light flared and the pudgy imp burst like an over-ripe fruit.

With no other options springing to mind, Gnarl stepped onto the illuminated sigil. Immediately he felt the temperature around him drop and involuntarily shivered. Then he felt hot breath on his neck and heard a whispery voice from beside his left ear ask “What is your deepest, darkest, secret?”. The little kobold glanced at his companions and saw that they appeared oblivious to the voice so answered, “I left someone to die even though I could have saved them” and then he disappeared.

The other heroes watched Gnarl step into the glow of the sigil, they couldn’t hear what he said but saw him say something and then disappear. For a moment they were panicked but then realised that there was no other way forward and one by one entered the sigil.

Each felt the same cold and heard the whispery voice but was asked a different question. Bek was asked “What is your heart’s desire?” to which he responded, “To return home”. Hildegard’s question was “What is your biggest regret?” and her answer was “That I couldn’t convince my family of the power of the Wildmother”. Finally, Tezmin stepped onto the sigil and was asked “What is your biggest failure?” and responded “Getting my crew caught”. Each of the heroes disappeared after their answers and the chamber was empty once more.

As their eyes recovered from the flash of the sigil’s magic, the heroes found themselves standing on a raised area looking over a flooded chamber. The air was heavy with the scent of brine and the sound of water lapping on the sloping lower level of the floor below them. A quartet of sturdy-looking pillars held up the ceiling twenty feet above the water’s dark surface and a rowboat bobbed gently untethered.

The heroes passed one end of their rope to Tezmin as the warlock activated his flying ability, floated gently over to the boat and tied the rope to it. As he gave the others a thumbs up he spotted a pale yellow light pulse in the depths of the water ahead of him and flew to the other side of the chamber where another platform rose out of the water. As he did so the heroes began pulling the boat over to them and they all saw a dark triangular fin break the surface and begin to lazily move across the width of the chamber.

In a rare example of bravery, Tezmin flew over to where the fin was but remained up against the ceiling and began dropping a couple of crumbled rations from his bag into the water. The pulsing yellow light reappeared, this time nearer the centre of the chamber and almost distracted the flying harengon as the water below him burst upwards as a large grey-striped shark leapt upwards and took a bite out of him before splashing back down into the water.

Having pulled the boat close enough the remaining heroes clambered aboard and tried to row it across the chamber, unfortunately, none of them were familiar with the correct way to do it so it was slow progress. They also saw several fish-like heads appear at the water’s surface – sahuagin!

One of the sahuagin was a spellcaster and engaged Tezmin in a duel of magic, even taking a moment to counter Hildegard’s attempt to cast a spiritual guardian spell. The other sahuagin assaulted the boat and its occupants. Claws slashing and jaws gnashing. The cleric was temporarily mesmerised by the pulsing lure hanging from the forehead of one of the fishy foes, but Bek and Gnarl abandoned the boat and used their own abilities to rapidly swim across to the safety of the far platform.

Unable to get through Hildegard’s armour the large sahuagin with the pulsing orb dove back into the water and began savagely wrecking the hull of the rowboat which began to rapidly flood. Tezmin blasted the sahuagin caster with his eldritch blasts and forced him backwards and away though was shocked and surprised when a jolt of lightning travelled back along the path of his bolt to strike him squarely in the chest. Not wishing to get that again the harengon pulled the door behind him open and ducked into the corridor beyond and used the door to hide behind.

The caster swiftly swam up onto the platform and assaulted Bek and Gnarl but the pair of heroes easily smashed the sahuagin shaman to a pulp.

With the boat sinking Hildegard had no choice but to risk swimming in her heavy chain mail. She quickly cast spirit guardians before jumping in and trying to swim, but the armour began to weigh her down. The sahuagin around her had no such problems and swarmed her, her spirit guardians still managed to kill the lesser foes but the larger sahuagin quickly ripped into her in his watery domain and left her unconscious before turning to look at the circling shark which suddenly sprinted at the platform and beached itself so that it could snap at the bladesinger and monk.

Gnarl leapt atop the shark and mercilessly pummelled the ferocious fish until it was dead and Bek assaulted the final fishman with his magic. With their foes defeated they rushed back into the water to retrieve Hildegard, dragging her to the safety of the platform and happily surprised when Bek’s healing word spell was able to revive her, though she did spend a minute coughing up a large amount of swallowed salt water.

With the fight over, Tezmin opened the door and his companions staggered through to join him and see what awaited them beyond …

B1 – The Gates, B2 – The Crematorium, B3 – Infirmary, B4 – Gatehold Barracks, B5 – Dilapidated Temple, B6 – Wall of the Unforgotten, B7 – The Ready Room

A few acknowledgements.

Thanks to Sarah for the additional photos during the sahuagin fight. Map book is the Giant Book of Battlemaps from Loke Battlemats along with the doors. The battlemat of the sahuagin chamber is from Dungeon Craft. The sahuagin themselves are a mixture of Wizkids minis from the Ghosts of Saltmarsh boardgame, the Critical Role Monsters of Wildemount II, and an Abyssal Fisherman from Flesh of Gods. The scenic items of the sahuagin chamber are created from PDFs from Crooked Staff Scenery on DrivethruRPG. The boat is from Badger’s son.

Gnome Force Ultra delve the Dungeons of Drakkenheim – session 16 – Many Mouths to Feed

The characters:

• Jack S – Dalin Light, a female tiefling Light Cleric of the Sacred Flame.
• Steve – Ugo, a male human Warlock of the Genie (Dao).
• Morgan – Romy, a female human Fighter Commander seeking troops to heroically lead/ Deena, a female human Sorcerer with a Haunted past
• Jon – Velvet “Vel” Claw, a male tabaxi (foxkin) Rogue Scout for hire. (unavailable this session)
• Lee – Captain Boots, a male tabaxi Rogue Swashbuckler privateer between ships/ Fezzik, a male Goliath Beast Totem Barbarian, first mate from Boot’s ship
• Jack E – Tinker, a male tabaxi Rogue Thief from the streets
• Kiefer – Balor, a male human Paladin of Devotion

Starsday, 24th Hearthstone, Year 1.126

The swirling spiritual guardians of Dalin’s magic and her companion’s well-placed weaponry swiftly dealt with the trio of remaining harpies. Still, they could see the rapidly approaching form of the Crimson Countess. The heroes repositioned themselves ready to face the harpy leader’s assault, Ugi and Dalin hurling spells as Velvet fired an arrow at the flying foe. As she closed they looked on in horror as she launched her javelin at them, the weapon turning into a bolt of lightning as it sped towards and then through their ranks, striking Balor, Dalin and Ugo before she flew in, claws raking and shrieking at them.

Balor, Tinker and Dalin were all affected by her frightening shriek and began fleeing uncontrollably down the stairs of the tower as she raked Ugo with her claws. By the time the trio recovered their senses and returned to the rookery the remaining heroes had killed the Countess and the warlock was busily looting her remains. Dalin reminded them that Romy still lay below and they rushed back down into the hazy streets to recover their dead companion. and begin the journey back to the garrison.

Their journey was interrupted as they spotted a trio of dregs ahead, these ones sporting a single eye each. Even in their beaten and depleted state the heroes were confident they could handle three dregs and began to advance up the street to engage them.

Unfortunately, three fleshy oozing blobs squeezed through the brickwork of the nearby ruins before rising into shapeless mounds covered in mismatched eyes and mouths, all crying and wailing in dissonant cacophony.

The wailing blobs spat exploding goo towards the heroes that hit the ground in a blinding flash, leaving Ugo temporarily blinded. As the blobs inched closer their gibbering began to mess with the hero’s concentration, causing Balor to strike Tinker down with Lightbringer, and Dalin and Velvet to utterly forget what they were doing for a moment. Once they got control of themselves the heroes began a fighting withdrawal, but Ugo got caught by one of the blobs gnashing mouths as it bit deeply into the warlock’s leg and he passed out.

Velvet had reached a safer distance atop a building’s roof and turned back to the fight, blasting arrow after arrow into the blobs as Balor dragged Romy’s body to safety. Dalin hurled radiant flames at the nearest blob as it loomed over the fallen warlock, burning it to ash, but a second one was close enough to ooze over the unconscious Ugo and absorb him into its mass.

Keeping their distance the remaining heroes were eventually able to destroy the monsters and returned to the remains in the hopes of finding any trace of their comrade. But it was for nought, Ugo’s body had been fully absorbed into the blob, but his non-organic equipment remained, including the Steward’s Seal, and they retrieved them and made the rest of their journey back to the garrison.

In the safety of the barracks, they used the rod of purging and Dalin’s remaining purge spell to remove some of the corruption they had and let Captain Ansom know that the tower was now clear. With their numbers reduced the Captain assigned a pair of new arrivals to their team, Deena, a sorcerer, and Fezzik, the goliath first mate from Boot’s ship who had come looking for his captain.

Sunday, 25th Hearthstone, Year 1.126

The next morning they took Romy’s body out of the city and headed towards Reed Manor, but instead of going into the grounds and seeing Oscar Yoren, they continued along the road and out to the northern countryside where the woodlands grew at the base of the cliffside below Castle Drakken. Fezzik helped identify a well-used animal track that led them into a deep ravine that eventually opened into a grove. At the centre of the grove was a stone altar stained with ancient blood and ringed by five ancient menhir stones decorated in spiralling patterns. Dalin called out, announcing why they had come, and a sharp wind blew around them, causing dirt to obscure their vision for a moment. As quickly as it had come, the wind disappeared and they saw a figure had appeared behind the altar.

They asked the druid if it was true that she could bring the dead back to life, and she acknowledged that it was possible but the Goddess of Death required a life for a life. The heroes weren’t sure that Romy would appreciate them sacrificing another being to bring her back and decided to hold off on doing it for now, returning to the garrison.

As they walked they discussed their options, Dalin noted that perhaps the High Flamekeeper at the Silver Order’s headquarters, Camp Dawn, might be able to bring Romy back, and if not she would soon be powerful enough to do so herself. In the meantime, it would be prudent to pay some of the clerics at the garrison to cast a prayer of gentle repose upon the body to keep it from becoming ruined …

Team Gnarl answer the Call of the Netherdeep – session 11 – Three heads are better than one

The characters:

• Badger – Ginger, a male halfling Gunslinger
• Hinesh – Gnarl, a male kobold Way of Mercy monk physician
• Lyam – Tezmin, a male harengon warlock of the Genie (dao)
• Sarah – Hildegarde, a female tempest cleric of the Wildmother (Melora)
• Grey – Bek, a Shadar Kai bladesinger wizard
• Tom – Mercutio, reborn Air Genasi College of Tragedy Bard (special guest visit)

As may be apparent, we are utilising several non-WotC sources for this campaign. In addition to the usual 5e books, characters could draw upon the Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount, Tal Dorei Reborn, and Gunslinger.

Conthsen, 17th Fessuran, 836 PD

The remaining burly orc roared incomprehensibly at the heroes when they suddenly heard a familiar voice from behind them call out a scathing insult that looked to utterly shock the brute, a quick glance over their shoulders confirmed that their former companion, Mercutio, had indeed appeared. Greetings had to wait, however, and the beleaguered heroes renewed their assault upon the remaining orc as the boiling blood continued to rise almost to their knees (Ginger was standing on the chest of the dead orc while Gnarl simply swam in it). They reigned blows and spells upon the orc and in return his brutal axe swings missed their mark on every swipe, inevitably he fell to their assault. As his body splashed to the floor the blood rapidly began to drain back until it only remained in the central pool, and the stone slabs receded into the floors to once again allow access and egress from the chamber.

Gnarl, Tezmin and Ginger greeted their friend warmly, curious as to how he had got there. “I have no idea, one minute I’m backstage preparing for a show rehearsal, I walked through the door into my dressing room and then, POP!, I’m here” replied the skeletal bard. Hildegard and Bek were introduced and the group explored the corridor leading south from the chamber.

It was the same as the previous corridors in construction but only went around twenty feet until reaching a dead end, one thing they did notice was that sound seemed to be deadened within it, not silenced, but any noise made in the corridor didn’t echo out of it like it did in the others. As they were unable to determine the cause of this oddity they returned to the large chamber with the chained statue. Mercutio went straight up to the doors in the chest of the statue to examine them and then whirled upon his allies, attacking them with his magic. The rest of the heroes recognised that he had succumbed to the same corrupting influence that had affected Ginger and Hildegard previously but thankfully the bard seemed to be able to snap himself out of it very quickly. They agreed to leave the statue alone for now and instead head down the eastern corridor leading from the chamber.

It wasn’t long before the corridor turned south, then further down it turned southeast but there was also a pitch-black side corridor leading off to the west. Gnarl donned the goggles he had taken from the Hythenos Estate and was able to see in the magical darkness that this side corridor turned south. But as the rest of the group couldn’t see in the magical darkened corridor they followed the other route.

The corridor reached a junction, one way was lit in a violet light the other in a crimson, and the heroes chose to follow the violet route. The corridor twisted and turned, they felt as if they had been walking for hours and a few of them began to feel exhausted doing so. Eventually, they came into a long corridor and once again saw that there were the same three exits, back up the violet corridor, a red corridor or a pitch-black one. Hildegard recalled one of the tenets of Torog, “Seek and exalt places where no light touches.” the heroes roped themselves together with Gnarl leading the way through the blackened corridor.

The walk through the eerie darkness was tense as they expected something to attack them at any second but they quite quickly emerged back into the corridor where they had first found the tunnels without any such incident. Slightly annoyed that they had traversed the tunnels with nothing but exhaustion to show for it they crossed back through the statue chamber to the western archway, finding a staircase leading upwards. While they ascended about a hundred feet they actually climbed closer to triple that as the staircase wound around and around before reaching a small landing and set of double doors.

Cautiously they opened the doors to reveal an all too familiar long black stone corridor, though this one had narrow silver blades embedded in the walls along its length. Mercutio volunteered to lead the way but as he began walking along the corridor he felt it tip left and right, throwing his body into the walls and the razor-sharp blades sliced into him. As he turned to his companions he spotted a small crystal cylinder mounted above the doorway in the corridor and saw a small trickle of blood appear within it.

Not wanting to be shredded by the corridor Tezmin activated his flight and sped down the corridor trailing the party’s rope. In the chamber at the end of the corridor were a pair of statues of swollen, worm-bodied abominations, each with three arms and the hairless head of a howling, fang-toothed man wearing a crown of black spikes. The harengon tied the rope to one of them and the rest of the party tied the other end to the stair bannister. Using the rope to traverse the corridor made it easier, though the tilting of the corridor still caused a couple of them to catch themselves on the blades. Once everyone was through Tezmin flew back and retrieved the rope before trying to pry the cylinder free (which was now full of blood) but wasn’t strong enough to do so, and returned to his allies.

Turning their attention to the archway on their right the heroes discovered it led into a short corridor ending in an iron door that had unreadable symbols upon it. Before Bek could offer to translate it the door was opened, revealing a trio of skulls floating amidst green flames!

Immediately Gnarl punched and kicked at the nearest skull, shattering it into fragments. The other two skulls opened their mouths wordlessly as a tiny bead of fire erupted out of each that then sped to the far end of the short corridor before blossoming into a pair of fireballs, incinerating the heroes.

As the flames cleared most of the heroes lay unconscious on the stony floor. Tezmin and Gnarl used their healing potions and abilities to revive Hildegard and Mercutio, who then used their healing magic to bring Ginger and Bek back to consciousness.

The two floating skulls then spat magical missiles at the three nearest heroes, Hildegard called forth a magical shield to prevent hers from hitting. Gnarl, the only one who had actually stepped into the room beyond the door, grabbed the door handle and as the kobold monk dove back into the corridor pulled the door closed behind him. For a tense moment, the heroes waited expectantly for the skulls to open the doors and resume their attack but as the seconds passed and nothing happened they relaxed. As the adrenaline of battle faded the pain of injuries rose and they all agreed they needed to rest.

They tested the blade corridor, finding that for some reason it was no longer tilting when they walked it and quickly made their way back to the sound-deadened corridor to make camp and rest up.

Grissen, 22nd Fessuran, 836 PD

Despite their dreams being filled with images of the horrors and depravity of the Betrayer Gods their rest was enough to let them recuperate, but as they awoke they realised they were not where they had gone to sleep. They were instead on the bridge over the mist-filled chasm before the door carved with the woman’s face.

Gnarl finally admitted to his companions that he was still suffering from being brought back from the dead and the heroes agreed to exit the Rise and spend a few days in Bazzoxan recuperating fully.

Grissen, 22nd – Da’leysen, 27th Fessuran, 836 PD

Over the next five days, while rooming at the Ready Room the heroes gathered their strength. Ginger, Gnarl and Hildegard traded their skills at the temple and infirmary for a handful of healing potions as they prepared to return for a third attempt at discovering the secret hidden within Betrayer’s Rise …

B1 – The Gates, B2 – The Crematorium, B3 – Infirmary, B4 – Gatehold Barracks, B5 – Dilapidated Temple, B6 – Wall of the Unforgotten, B7 – The Ready Room

Great to have Tom back at the table, while he visited the UK. He’s due to head back to New York imminently but if he’s still around he’s always welcome to attend the sessions.