D&D Encounters Season 12 – Against the Cult of Chaos – Session 6

This week saw us back to two seperate sessions once again, though as the late group had missed the previous session we just recapped as if they had done similar to the early group (normally I would have organised a catch-up game but I was away at the UKT4 Tweetup event in Leeds on Saturday).

Early Group

Discovering the tunnel appeared to lead below the Temple of the Lawbringer the heores returned to the surface and the Temple entrance. The goliath knocked the door but before it could be opened the swordmage kicked it open, knocking the surprised Sister Euphemia to the floor.

They asked her why there were tunnels leading to the Temple and what was going on, to which she pleaded ignorance, saying they would need to ask Priestess Devi who was still tending the fallen paladin upstairs. She led them to the room where they found the door ajar and the room wrecked. Sir Moonbrook lay lifeless on the floor, his flesh flayed and a part scrawled message in his own blood.

Moonbrooks message, created by my daughter after I mentioned the scene to her.

The heroes demanded to know where Devi was, and the obviously distressed Euphemia showed them to the door to the undercrypts saying that only the high Priestess’ were allowed down there. The party descended the spiral staircase to see a pair of priests praying at altars and Devi come running up the corridor saying that they were under attack by bullywugs as a number of the swampdwellers chased her.

Realising the altars had been desecrated with some sort of mummified snakes the swordmage pulled the hood off the nearest kneeling priest, revealing that they were some horrid undead and initiating a brutal combat. Devi fired a blast of energy at one of the undead but didnt seem to affect it.

 Photos of the combat

The heroes were unsuprised mid combat as Devi revealed that the undead and bullywugs were here allies and joined the forces arrayed against them. By the end of the combat all the heroes had been bloodied at least once and the rogue had fallen, luckily revived by the runepriest (after failing his first two death saves).

Binding their wounds the party determined the triggering phase to activate the teleportation power of the desecrated altars and stepped through the magical portal.

Late group

The party decided to ignore the tunnels and their link to the temple and head to the fens in search of the Death Circlet that Haffron’s ghost had mentioned. The boggy area was covered in a low hanging mist above the wetlands broken in several places by the large hillocks common to the area. Eventually they came across one such mound with a large dark cleft in the side, closer inspection revealed cart tracks running in and out and they deduced that they were to and from the village.

Descending into the cleft they found the natural cleft had been widened on purpose and led to a wide chamber with a natural shore to an underground lake. Several bullywugs were stacking barrels and crates before a gong across the lake summoned them into the watery darkness. The party checked the crates discovering general foodstuffs not normally found in the fens and a crude raft. One of the minotaurs lobbed a stone into the lake and they heard several loud splashes and an alarm-like horn blowing, the heroes decided to retreat to the dark tunnel entrance and see what happened.

A handful of bullywugs hopped ashore and quickly found the heroes, the ensuing combat alerting more of the beasts. More bullywugs appeared supported by a pair of wights rising from the dark waters. The heroes fought valiantly, despatching the bullywugs but the terrible powers of the undead threatened to overwhelm them. With discretion being the better part of valour the heroes retreated to lick their wounds and find another way in.

 

Two very different sessions, the late one being mostly winging it with the party deciding to head into the fens rather than tackle the Lawbringers temple (though how much this was affected by them seeing the much of the early groups escapades due to arriving partway through the earlier session) and as that group hadnt suffered any damages having not played the previous week I thought it unfair to simply let them walk straight into the third part of that particular mini-adventure.