There and Back Again - session recaps for three weeks

This is a sketch of events:

Orvalion gave two choices of teleport destination, and the players chose the small, seedy port town.

They fought a troll spider and got some animal-transformation-themed magic items.

In town, they were mistaken for another group of adventurers, and told to stay indoors. The other group of adventurers swapped stories with them, and taught them a teleportation trick. They claimed that they were going to explore the edges of the map, from which no one had returned before.

The party secured passage on The Suffering Bastard, with Captain Barnabus. The other party left port with a Jack Sparrow look-alike on the same day as our heroes. The other party were pursued by someone who was very angry with them. Jen asked why our group wasn't in their campaign. The two boats set sail at right angles to each other.

On the fourth day out, the party noticed a vertical shaft of light out beyond the horizon, roughly in the direction the other party went. Hours later, rough waves slapped at their ship.

One of the Suffering Bastard's crewmembers stabbed another sailor, and was sentenced to keel-hauling. The party healed the stabbed man, but left his scars so that he would not be dishonored. After the keel-hauling, they healed the other man, but erased his scars.

In the deep ocean, Orvalion deployed the submersible ritual platform and spent a few hours performing the ritual. When he was finished, the mallet head had been compressed a bit (it was solid adamantium to begin with!) and the party teleported off of the ship back to his hideout.

From there, they teleported to the ancient lair of Casmet Parthanak's first dragon domination. It was guarded by basilisks, and Xakoraki and Ander were turned to stone. The party made a fighting retreat up to the secret lair, where they were able to find ritual scrolls that removed the affliction from the stoned party members.

The party now needs to help Orvalion activate and calibrate the special mirrors so that he can finally destroy the dragonstone.

This Might Not Be Our Dragon - 6/24 session recap

Thoric started a theological discussion with Kylian, and the party relocated to a tavern called O'Connors on the south side of town. Instead of burgers and grits, Xakoraki was able to get lamb schwerma and some sort of rice cous-cous. Boreas performed a Sending to Vrisana to tell her that they were ready for this evening.

As twilight approached, Ander changed clothes and slipped out of town. He was the first to see the distraction. A red dragon flying low from the south swooped upon some wagons straggling into town before sundown. They were about a half mile away, but Ander could see the wagons engulfed, and running human figures on fire. The dragon picked one up and bit it in half as it was fleeing. Ander ran up close to the wall and made his way to the side of town opposite the spectacle.

After a couple of close calls, Ander snuck into the keep and found Caelebhan's quarters. He uttered the magic password, and stepped into the room. Minutes passed as he scanned for the journal, and he was starting to get worried when he finally spotted it on a low shelf. It looked as if it hadn't been touched in weeks, so he carefully lifted it and substituted the fake without disturbing the dust too much. He then made it out on the heels of two guards who stepped outside briefly to catch a glimpse of the dragon attack. Soon he was over the wall and making his way to the rendezvous at the teleportation circle.

In town, the rest of the party heard the roar of a dragon overhead and the screams of people on the street. Figuring that they'd be able to slip outside with the fleeing crowds, they began to move down the road towards the south gate. They were somewhat surprised, then, to find that the gates had been shut, and that no one was trying to get out of town. After a few minutes of discussion, Kylian rode up to the gates with the rest of the party behind him, and he demanded that they let him out to fight the dragon. The guards asked if he was suicidal, but eventually relented. The gates were open just long enough to let them out, and then it was barred behind them.

As they moved away from the wall, the party was able to see the dragon in the field of boulders to their north. A couple of guardsmen were running out from the walls of the town, apparently attacking the dragon head on. This definitely seemed curious and suicidal. The dragon blasted them with flame, and devoured one.

Xakoraki said, "Oh, shit. This might not be our dragon." The dragon turned and noticed them, whereupon it beat it's massive wings and started to circle for altitude. "Run for the river!" Thoric took up the cry as well, and Kylian followed through with it. He lifted Thoric by the scruff of his neck and deposited him on his horse before spurring it towards the river. Xakoraki was left to run behind. Boreas, seeing the futility of running at this point, stood his ground and prepared to teleport to one side if the dragon attacked him. Sure enough, the dragon dropped, gained speed, and then leveled out on a direct course for Boreas.

As it drew alarmingly close, Boreas saw it wink at him. The blast of air almost knocked him over as the dragon passed overhead, and flames erupted all around him. He was not harmed however, and he held his staff up high in a warding gesture. He then used prestidigitation to simulate minor charring of his clothes, and he mimed patting out small flames on his sleeves and shoulders. The dragon rose out of it's low pass and flew steadily off to the southeast.

After reaching the river, Kylian looked back, and seeing the dragon flying away, turned his horse and headed for the teleportation circle south of town. Boreas and Xakoraki joined up a little way down the road and followed after them. The sun set, and a little while later everyone regrouped at the circle.

Ander pretended that he had forgotten to get the journal, but then showed them that he had been successful. The party almost decided to teleport to Vrisana's tower or the cursed mesa before someone realized that her distraction would be taking place in one or both of those locations. Rather than make things more complicated, they opted to teleport back to Orvalion's den. He met them with sword drawn, but after seeing who it was, he sheathed his blade.

Orvalion took a couple of hours to read the journal, and he eventually found what he had been looking for. To harness the destructive power of water, he would have to construct a combination warding and teleportation circle that would be powered by crushing pressure. Casmet mentioned the construction of such a device in his journal. Orvalion said that he would start creating one, and that afterwards, the party was welcome to join him in his trip to the southwest. He planned to teleport close to the coastline, then hire a ship to take them out into deep water. The party said that they were prepared to accompany him.

The Inn's on Fire - 6/17 session recap

Thoric and Boreas made it down to their Inn (Molly's Bed and Banquet) without being attacked. They did get a few interested looks, however. When they went to get rooms from Ian the innkeeper, he asked them if they had coin. Thoric said they definitely did. Ian eyed the chest meaningfully, and Thoric said no, that was just linens and things. Then he winked conspiratorially. Thoric paid for five rooms, and described his other three companions :
- A halfling, harmless fellow
- A beautiful woman
- A man of the road, an elf

Naturally, Ian was only slightly confused when Ander, Xakoraki, and Kylian came in from their shopping trip. Once reunited, the party decided to go ahead and divvy up the gold. Ander went to scout the walls and defenses while everyone else counted coins. A few hours later, each player had an extra 40 lbs of loot in their backpacks. They went down to a nice dinner while Ander remained out scouting.

After dinner, Thoric excused himself and went to the temple of Linitheriva to pay his respects and meditate over a sculpture of a rose. Boreas, Kylian, and Xakoraki lingered in the dining room over a few mugs of an excellent stout from down south.

Perhaps an hour later, someone came running into the inn yelling, "Fire! Fire next door!" Most of the patrons leaped to their feet and ran out to look, including the innkeeper. A few stayed, including Boreas and Xakoraki. Kylian left his backpack with Xak and went to go help put out the fire. He joined the bucket brigade as it slowly formed, and started tossing water on the flames.

Boreas and Xak decided to check on their rooms, and as they were heading up the stairs a man from the common room said, "Excuse me, but I think you dropped something." He was holding a gold coin. Boreas stopped for a moment to interact with the man, and Xakoraki continued up the stairs. As she rounded the corner, she saw a man fiddling with her door. He was wearing mostly black, and had a dark bandana over the lower part of his face. His eyes went wide, and he immediately dashed to the end of the hallway and smashed through the window to escape.

Meanwhile, Boreas was looking as the man pointed to a spot on the floor where he supposedly found the coin. Boreas knew something was not right, and sure enough, Xakoraki came bounding down the stairs yelling about thieves. She grabbed the guy, and Boreas incapacitated him with a well-placed blast of cold. Xak started to tie up the frozen man.

Boreas then went back upstairs to check the rooms, and found all of the doors locked. He came back downstairs, and Xakoraki told him to check all of the rooms to make sure no one was inside, or that anything was missing. He went to do this, all while the building next door was burning. Kylian was helping as much as possible, but the flames were still spreading. Thoric returned from his visit to the temple to find chaos in the streets. He then immediately went to check on the rooms and treasure with Boreas and Xakoraki. A few minutes later they were finally satisfied that nothing had been stolen, and they wandered back downstairs and outside. Thoric tried to get a guardsman in the bucket brigade to attend to the attempted theft, but was turned away in the face of the immediate danger.

By this time, the fire had spread to the roof of their inn. Boreas, with a bored sigh, unleashed a freezing fog which dampened the flames considerably, and kept the inn from burning down too. After another 15-20 minutes, the flames were finally extinguished by the bucket brigade.

The guardsman was then willing to listen to the party's story about the attempted theft, and took the restrained man into custody.

While all of this was going on, Ander was completing his survey of the defenses. He determined a couple of likely spots to scale the walls, and got a feel for the habits of the guardsmen on top.

Bigby's Happy Ending - 6/10 session recap

After two full sessions of planning, we finally had... another session of planning, some roleplaying for a character whose player was absent, and a single die roll.

As the party stood on the snow-covered mountainside, a gleaming silver dragon descended near them. It was perhaps 100-150 feet long, nose to tail, and could not be viewed directly for long. Orvalion thanked her for answering his call, and he referred to her by name : Niathramyina (nye-ath-rah-mye-ee-na)

She asked if the party wanted her to provide a diversion. When Ander began to describe possible ways for her to distract the town she merely asked for how long she needed to distract them. Ander said for about ten minutes at twilight. He said that in such conditions it might be harder for the people of Shandrapur to determine her true color. She replied that it shouldn't be a problem, and in an instant of swirling snow appeared as a red dragon. She changed back to her true form a moment later and then gave her terms.

Niathramyina stated that each of the party would have to swear a binding oath to help Orvalion destroy the dragonstone. Everyone gave their assent, and as they did so they felt a tingling pass over them briefly. She said that they must all pledge a single service to her in the future as well. When asked, Orvalion said that he thought that it was a fair exchange, since she was risking her own safety. It was only fair that she ask the party to do the same for her in return. The party agreed.

She said that it would take her about a day and a half to fly there, and that she would linger in the vicinity for a week. If she had not received a sending before then, she would go about her business. And with that, she took to the air. She had gone only about a quarter of a mile when she suddenly disappeared from sight.

Thoric spent the next two days manufacturing a replica of the journal with the help of Orvalion's recollections about it. The party then teleported to Shandrapur and got a room at the inn. Thoric and Boreas went up to the keep to speak with Caelebhan, and were granted an audience. Matt roleplayed Thoric's diplomacy with a little coaching from Sean and Jen, and then he rolled a 17 on the die. Caelebhan seemed to accept their reasoning without any question, and he asked a little about what they found at the cursed mesa. He agreed to give them the painting back, and also paid them 10,000 gold (5,000 apiece) for bringing back hard information about Orvalion's whereabouts.

Thoric and Boreas left the keep toting a two hundred pound chest full of gold and a leather case with the painting in it.

Next week we'll see whether they can make it to the inn unmolested.

Burn the Inn - 5/27 session recap

The discussion about how to steal the journal continued. It was agreed that Ander could probably sneak in relatively easily if there were a suitable diversion.

"We should set fire to the inn!"
"What if we teleported zombies out of Kopatri to attack the town?"
"We can send the goblins and hobgoblins against the town!"
"Pirates from the river?"
"Let's set a barge on fire and crash it into the docks!"

Ander came up with an interesting idea. "Orvalion, what about your friend? The one who flew you up to the top of the mesa?" Orvalion said that it was possible that she would be interested in helping to create a diversion.

"Okay! So we have the dragon attack the town, knock down a few walls, and eat some guards. Then we set fire to the inn!"

Orvalion said that he didn't think that she would be up for carnage, but that her presence alone might serve to distract the guards for a while. He agreed to summon her to discuss the plan, though he could not guarantee her cooperation.

This left the question of how to obtain the painting of Kendrini. Thoric asked Orvalion if he thought that she was really dead. "I am certain of it." Orvalion seemed to be containing himself, but the party could tell that the question had upset him deeply. Regaining his composure somewhat, he suggested that perhaps the party could return to Caelebhan to report what they found at Kopatri, and to ask to buy back the painting in order to use it to lure Orvalion from hiding. Caelebhan would not know that they had already found him, and later, when Vrisana summoned him to Kopatri, this would lend credence to both ruses.

"I still think we should burn the inn."

The party then fell back into a torpor, and ruminated upon their options again. Thoric spent a day enchanting his holy symbol, and Boreas mastered the Sending ritual.

We Need a Wooden Badger - 5/22 session recap

Orvalion explained what he knew of the creation of the dragonstone so that the party would understand what was necessary to destroy it. Based on his research, he knew that Casmet Parthanak (founder of the Empire) forged the stone itself by harnessing the energies of the four elements. Brain matter from a living dragon was also necessary to forge a link with dragon minds. But a single dragon would not provide the power necessary to overcome the mighty will of another dragon. Casmet's secret lay in the knowledge of parallel dimensions. More importantly, he had discovered that dragons co-existed in multiple planes of existence at the same time.

By fashioning a set of magical mirrors, Casmet was able to bring multiple congruent universes together at the same time. At the focus was a subdued dragon. He drove a spike into the dragon's head in a myriad of universes at the same moment, and bound the power of that mental link into the first dragonstone.

This meant that the dragonstone could only be destroyed by using the same mirror apparatus and the same elemental forces that originally shaped it. Orvalion said that he knew where the mirror assembly was, and he had already harnessed destructive energies from three of the four elements.

He forged a mallet head from adamantium in raw lava while channeling a fire elemental's rage into it. He channeled lightning on top of the cursed mesa, Kopatri. And an earth elemental was summoned deep in the caves north of Tregynon.

Water energy was the only thing he said he was missing. He said that he knew the rituals to summon and bind the destructive energies of water, and he even knew where Casmet initally forged the stone (a deep ocean trench off the southwestern coast). But a simple Water Breathing ritual was not sufficient to protect the caster from the crushing depths.

The party mused on this for a while, and Orvalion said that he was pretty sure the answer was in a steel-bound journal of Casmet's that was on display at the royal residence before the rebellion and sack. He said that he strongly suspected that a magister was in posession of the journal. Vrisana revealed that she had, in fact, seen the book with Caelebhan.

This prompted a flurry of discussion amongst the party. Thoric's first impulse was to sneak in disguised as servants and steal the journal. Orvalion pointed out that a dwarf, a halfling, and a dragonborn might be easily discovered in this ruse. Other plans were made involving wooden badgers, but these too were scrapped.

The party was keen to double-dip and get paid a second time for finding Orvalion. But Orvalion said that he would never put himself or the dragonstone within the grasp of Caelebhan. But he did want his painting of Kendrini back.

Vrisana said that she could probably distract Caelbhan by summoning him to Kopatri, and showing him the clues to Orvalion's presence there. This would give the party a window of opportunity to somehow get in and steal the journal without having to face Caelbhan directly. She also said that she knew the password to his private chamber: the word "scholar" in draconic. With a scowl she said that yes, Caelbhan was that pompous.

From Ander's recollection of the party's first visit to Shandrapur, they determined that there were perhaps a dozen patrols and guards. These comprised of a mix of minions and officers. The nearby barracks housed 30 men, and would pose a problem if alerted.

A lot of other options were discussed, including the possibility of using illusions to make it seem as if the journal were still there. But by the end of the session, the party had not come up with a working plan. All they had were a few good ploys and a set of vague goals.

The McGuffin - 5/13 session recap

During the trip back to Jalakampathra, Thoric and Kylian succumbed to blindness, and were led the rest of the way by their companions. Thoric played the pity card with the tribal elder back at town, but ruined it by making reference to Linitheriva. It still had an emotional impact, but Kej said that he had no official capacity to reward or cure them. He suggested that the townspeople would be thankful should they simply tell their story.

So the party went to the only inn in town and told their tale. They garnered a lot of sympathy and praise, and everyone bought them drinks and food that evening. Even the semi-local people who were staying in the inn gave up their rooms that the party might be able to sleep in comfort. Everyone expressed regret that there was no one in town who could cure their blindness, but free quarterstaves were provided to help them navigate. It was suggested that perhaps the Magister would be able to help them. A woman tried to give Thoric a pouch of gold that she had collected from the townspeople in order to help him pay for a cure. He refused the money, but thanked them for their kindness.

The next day, several teens dragged a large block of sandstone into the middle of town by rolling it on logs, and they presented it to Thoric for carving into a sculpture. He set to work immediately. Ander picked up his map from the town scribe, and Kylian was taken to a small roadside shrine to Peshtem just outside of town. Boreas bartered for magical reagents and manged to sell his magical orb too.

Xakoraki and Ander went out to visit Hondro and Nunpar, who were still engaged in their ceremonial vigil at the cursed mesa. Ander snuck up on the militia encamped there, and was greeted warmly after the surprise had subsided. Xak spoke to the two boys, and they seemed to have gotten a little braver in the last few days. This was ruined when Xakoraki described the tentacled hobgoblins and aboleth that they encountered in the temple just a few days away. The boys recovered some of their poise when they realized that aboleths needed water to move around. But Ander said that this one had generated its own water, and that it might decide to escape one day. That scared the crap out of them again. Mission successful, Xak and Ander returned to town.

One the second day, Thoric was still working on his sculpture when Vrisana appeared with a flash of light. She gathered the townspeople together and told them that the party had been acting as her agents to clear the goblinoids out of the temple of Yama. She said that they had exceeded her expectations, and that they were to be honored for their service. She then escorted the party into the elder's house, and the official formalities were completed. She then asked the party to accompany her back to her tower. She did not have accommodations for all of them, but was able to conjure a magical pavilion for them to inhabit for a few days.

Vrisana gave each party member, including Kylian, 3000 gold pieces. She granted access to her Linked Portal and Cure Disease rituals. She also cured both Kylian and Thoric of their blindness. Boreas worked on upgrading his staff, but Vrisana wouldn't buff it for him.

After two days, she said that she was concerned that Orvalion might have relocated in the days since their divination. She was anxious to figure out if he was still there. The party packed up and teleported to the location that John had shown them. Thoric called out to Orvalion, and everyone stood in place so as not to make a misstep, either figuratively or literally. Orvalion showed up quickly, sword in hand, but stood and listened patiently while Thoric explained the entire story of their search for him. He studied each of them for their reactions to Thoric's story, and then nodded once. He touched the wall to one side of the corridor, and told the party to follow him, and not to linger too much in the room where he was just standing. Portions of the glyph on the floor had bits of thorium worked into it.

When asked about the effects of thorium, Orvalion said that he did not believe Caelbhan was seeking him for that reason. He said that the dragonstone did not contain any thorium, and that he had no way to cure Caelbhan, even if he wanted to. Which he didn't. He said that he believed Caelebhan merely wanted the dragonstone for study, and didn't trust him.

After some brief discussion about whether Vrisana could be trusted, they went back and told her that they had found Orvalion and that it was safe to teleport into his location. She then returned with them.

Too Close - 5/6 session recap

The party defeated a group of carrion crawlers, but one of them escaped. Xakoraki and John were left behind to guard while everyone else went down the only tunnel from which crawlers had not emerged. Thoric determined that this passageway had been widened by non-dwarven humanoids. Even so, it was only about five feet wide. A few hundred feet down the tunnel, Boreas spotted a secret door in the wall. It opened onto a short corridor that led to a small chamber with a teleportation circle inscribed on the floor. Hovering in the air above the circle was a small irregularity. It was suggested that perhaps the portal was open on the other end.

The party returned to find Xakoraki and John missing. Before they could panic, however, the two emerged from one of the carrion crawler tunnels. John had pursued the wounded beast and finished it off. Xakoraki followed to make sure that the lair was properly looted. Sadly, no loot was found. Only pieces of armor, broken weapons, and bones.

Someone mentioned the portal room, and John wanted to investigate. Boreas said that they'd come back to it later, but that they were going deeper into the dungeon first. John said that such a portal was the entire reason he was in the dungeon in the first place, and that if they would not show him the secret door, then he would look for it himself. Once again, the party left Xakoraki and John behind.

Several hundred feet later, the passageway opened into a large cavern filled with murky water. The last ten feet of the tunnel was a few inches underwater already. The air was rank and musty, and there was a sporadic dripping sound. As they took in the scene, they noticed ripples on the surface of the water, as if something submerged were moving around. The small waves became more pronounced, and a scummy coating began to creep up the sides of the tunnel walls. The party backed up, and the sheen of wetness continued towards them until they were about 25 feet away from the cavern opening. Spells were cast at the wetness with no effect. Growing curious, Boreas walked to the edge of the cavern, casting the occasional ray of frost at the water.

Once at the edge, he stopped. Something lashed out of the water and struck him in the face with great force. Nobody could see much of anything, due to the spray of water. Ander attempted to throw a shuriken into whatever it was, but it bounced off and was lost to the water. Boreas teleported behind the party, leaving Kylian in the lead.

Believing that Peshtem was with him, Kylian plunged forward into the cavern, immediately submerging in water that was deeper than his height. He felt something slightly springy under his feet, and then something smashed into his torso, giving him a squeeze before letting go. He made a prayer to Peshtem to punish the creature whenever it attacked him, but this seemed to merely enrage it.

Thoric threw himself flat at the edge of the cavern to reach down and grab Kylian's arm. Before he could start hauling him out of the water, a tentacle thudded into Kylian's leg. There was a snap, and he felt his femur break. Ander jumped into the water to save his friend, but his attack failed to find it's mark. A tentacle then wrapped itself around Kylian's leg and squeezed. There were crunching sounds, and he blacked out from the pain as Thoric pulled him to the surface. Boreas, having no target above the surface of the water, grabbed hold of Thoric and helped pull them further up the tunnel. Ander climbed over his unconscious friend and collapsed on slick floor.

Thoric murmured a prayer to Linitheriva while pulling Kylian another few feet. He regained consciousness in a tangle of bodies on the wet stone. His first words were, "Did I kill it?"

Ander reflexively rolled to one side just as a tentacle sprang forth from the water and slammed down where he had just lain. He then quickly moved up the tunnel along with everyone else. Once out of reach of the scum and tentacles, they stopped for a breather.

When they went back up the passageway, they saw that the secret door was open. Xakoraki was activating the lever every time the door tried to close. John was there with her. He said that he had completed his mission. He wanted to thank the party for their help, and said he had a certain divinitory power. He offered to answer one question for them, and that if he couldn't answer it, they could ask another one.

After some discussion and recollection of names, they asked John where Orvalion Parthanak the red dragonborn was currently located. John's eyes rolled back into his head and fluttered for several seconds. He then asked for a piece of paper, and Ander handed over his journal. John drew a teleportation circle and said that Orvalion was in a cave that had been the lair of a dragon, and that this circle would allow them to travel there. He then touched his amulet, and the glow at its tips began to pulse. He thanked them for helping him.

The party then started to discuss whether they should destroy the circle on the floor before them. About midway into the discussion, John vanished with a tiny popping sound. They then produced some climbing pitons and a hammer, and chiseled away the runes on the floor. The anomaly in the air above the circle vanished. Thoric then chiseled a rose into the floor beside the now-defunct teleportation circle.

Having accomplished one mission, and having a firm lead on the second, the party spoke of returning to Vrisana for their reward.

Death is a Dark Hole - 4/29 session recap

The party parleyed with the remaining hobgoblins and let them leave. When the party asked where the hobgoblins came from, they said that scary tentacle monsters had driven them up here.

The party descended to a deeper level of the temple and discovered the catacombs. Rows and rows of funeral niches made up the entire level, and in the corner they found a dark hole with ancient writing around it. The runes were not magical, and simply said, "This Way Lies Yama". The darkness itself was magical, but John offered to go first. He was unharmed on the way down, and the party followed.

A tunnel led to a small chamber that was halfway filled with water. Three tunnels led out of the chamber, and carrion crawlers started to emerge from one of them.

Big Skull - 4/15 session recap

There was no skull on the floor of the dungeon. Don't even ask about it.

A long corridor faced the party. Two alcoves were on the left hand wall. A body lay near the end of the hall, just short of a large chest. Each alcove was floored with a pressure plate. Two areas on the floor were covered by large metal gratings, set flush into the stone floor. An electricity trap, in Ander's estimation. He jammed it as best he could.

The party ventured over the zapping zones, and Boreas reached out to check the body. A small spark jumped between him and the body, and it jerked. The man, as they could see now, breathed in sharply, but lay still for a moment, blinking his eyes. He wore slick leather armor, several daggers, and a triangular amulet with three softly glowing points at the corners. Soon he sat up and started answering the questions that were asked of him.

His name was John Oldhamshire, and he said that he had infiltrated this place to discern the source of the goblinoids. He did not believe that renewed habitation was caused merely by reproduction, though he allowed that some of that was happening as well.

He politely declined to give any information about his origins or employers, but he asked if he could continue his mission with the party. His initial plan was to sneak in. But considering that he had run afoul of traps already and the party was making better progress through the use of concentrated force, John figured his mission would be better served by tagging along. Without much discussion, it was agreed that John could join them.

The chest had no traps, and the lock gave way easily. Five magic items were in the chest, which were then distributed amongst the party.

They returned to the large room with the tentacled bugbear corpses and explored one of the corridors that led out of the room. This led to a set of rooms with several pressure plates scattered here and there, as well as some recessed metal poles that appeared to be able to act as bars to a cage. Ander was able to disarm the traps for the duration of the exploration, and nothing bad happened.

Other bones were found in a corner, however, and they appeared to be from a large four-legged animal of some kind. No further encounters or treasure were found in this room.

So the party went back to the large room and tried the other exit through which the single hobgoblin had escaped. There was yet another trap in this winding corridor, a scything horizontal blade about two and a half feet off the ground. It was discovered that the blade only deployed when a weight equivalent to a humanoid creature was standing on a pressure plate in an alcove just before the trap. One of the hobgoblin bodies was dragged over to perform this guard service, and the party settled in for an extended rest in the large room.

May Cause Blindness - 4/9 session recap

Despite last week's decision to charge forward, the party decided to take a 5-minute breather on the stairs of the temple. Healing surges were spent, and encounter powers regained. Then they traipsed back to the fight.

The hobgoblins were arrayed in a line formation, shields interlocked. Kylian ran in and proceeded to duel a single hobgoblin for the entire battle. Thoric blasted his enemies with beauty and granted Kylian some spare hit points. Ander ran in and blinded several of them with a barrage of shuriken, and Xakoraki followed in order to take up a defensive position in the corner. Boreas used his new Spectral Ram spell to blast an enemy out of formation. Then things got serious.

Two bugbears joined the fray from behind pillars in the room, but something was not right about them. Each wielded a mace in one arm. The other arm was a mass of long tentacles. One grappled Ander from a distance, and the other failed to grab Boreas. Boreas retreated to a safe firing distance at that point, but everyone else remained locked in melee combat.

Ander was able to break free from the tentacle, but later Xakoraki was squeezed by a successful grabbing attack. Combat continued for a few rounds, and blows were exchanged. As the first hobgoblin fell, the rest became more determined. They used more powerful moves, which brought Kylian almost to his knees. Thoric healed him fully with the radiance of Linitheriva, however.

Xakoraki was not as lucky. She stepped forward to finish off a hobgoblin, and the two at her back bludgeoned her into unconsciousness. Ander knocked one of her attackers unconscious with the hilt of his short sword, but its tentacles continued to writhe. Boreas blasted it with spell, and it expired.

Kylian was victorious in his duel, and the other bugbear was brought down by Thoric's warhammer. The remaining hobgoblin fled deeper into the dungeon while Thoric stabilized Xakoraki. Kylian then healed her by laying on hands.

The party then backtracked to one of two side corridors that they had passed on the way. It was a short hallway with a small room at the end. Upon seeing chests in the room, Xakoraki, Ander, and Boreas moved into the room to check for traps while Kylian and Thoric stood in the hallway. Unfortunately, the trap was triggered by the floor surrounding the chests. There was a click, and a low rumbling sound that ran along the ceiling of the hallway. Thoric and Kylian looked up reflexively, and caught a dusting of fine powder on their upturned faces. Their eyes and noses started to burn, but after a while it subsided to a dull sting and ache. The chests were not trapped, and contained 2500 gold pieces plus two healing potions.

Thoric performed some medical diagnosis, and determined that he and Kylian were diseased. If they were unable to shake off the infection, they would become permanently blinded, perhaps only in a few days.

A Paladin and a Cleric Walk Into A Dungeon... 3/2 session recap

The party continued on to the other side of the temple of Yama. Boreas discovered a pressure plate on the floor, and Ander noticed the nozzles facing him on the opposite wall. Ander took a javelin and prodded the plate from around the corner, and the resulting blast of flame caught his arm on fire. After putting out the flames, he proceeded to carefully jam up the pressure plate with dirt and small rocks. As he was doing so, Boreas noticed a hobgoblin peer around from an alcove down the long hallway. Before he could get a spell off, the hobgoblin fled down the hall away from the party.

Several rounds of nothing then occurred. No one was willing to move past the trap with someone still standing on it, and the player in front was unwilling to move forward to open up room.

Boreas blasted down the corridor to try and catch the hobgoblin, who he suspected was at the end, just around the corner. He heard a yelp and a curse, indicating a successful hit.

The party finally got moving, and despite Kylian and Ander's best attempts, they failed to find the next trap. Kylian was engulfed in flame, but Ander was able to dodge it. Kylian then continued forward to battle with a hobgoblin in a second alcove. He was still on fire as he fought.

Ander charged to the end of the hall and around the corner to attack the first hobgoblin. Xakoraki followed him. They pushed the enemy past two other side passageways, and engaged him with precision teamwork. Ander eventually knocked him unconscious and then returned to help his other three companions in their ongoing battle against a single, cornered hobgoblin. Xakoraki took the opportunity to finish off the unconscious one at her feet.

Kylian stood, on fire, in a protracted duel with the other hobgoblin. Thoric kept him healed up, but it was taking forever to whittle down the opponent. Boreas kept hammering his foe with spells, and all but one were turned aside by the hobgoblin's shield. After several rounds, the fire finally burned out on Kylian, and he was able to deliver a fatal blow.

What Ander had seen while separated from his party was a well-organized phalanx of hobgoblins in a large room. He reported this to the rest of the party while Xakoraki hid in one of the two side passages. The other group did not attack the party immediately, so they decided to attempt a short rest. After a few minutes of this, a hobgoblin poked it's head around the corner. Boreas attempted to blast it, but failed. It retreated. The party had to restart their rest since it was interrupted. A few minutes later, the hobgoblin took another peek, and Boreas started to cast a spell. It retreated again. The short rest was once again interrupted.

The DM finally explained that they could not rest this close to a known enemy force. After some discussion, the party decided to go ahead and push through to the next encounter. Since it was running late, we went ahead and called it a night. Next week we'll start that encounter.