Session 10 - 2NOV2024
Attendees
- Tim ✅
- Walter ✅
- Erica ✅
- Jin ✅
- Nick ✅
- Alex ❌
Copy/Paste Source: ✅ ❌
Recap to Current Situation
- We
metgo thedive Empress.into Shesome is pretty sassy when we got her alone. She is going to commune with the forest to calm it downruins and thinksfight thata thebig Redtree/undead Omen is extinct and The Archivist is freaking out about nothing.monster. We have been tasked with finding proof that the Red Omen is back and bring it back to her for her to take this more seriously.
Session Notes
We decide to poke around Gulg forcollect a
bit
The city might have heavily integrated with nature, but the amenities are pretty backwater
We decide to check out the local wandwright - a kind of unusual store
"Nichye & Odag's Wands"
wands in this context are preloaded with spells, so basically magic for the mundane man
Erica checks them out and finds that the wands are pretty dated in their magical design
After conversing with the shopkeeper, she figures out that this shopkeeper, Nichye, really does know what he is talking about
Erica decides to buy a wand with False Life (at 2nd level) (gives 1d4+9 temp HP that lasts 1 hr) that has a single charge for 80 gold (we all contribute 16 gold)
Nick decides to turn invisible to try to watch Nichye make the wand...but it doesn't work as the room is protected against invisibility
Weather report for Gulg: a little breezy, beautiful temperate weather
As we leave the shop, we see a royal page that tries to talk to us...but he is extremely nervous
Nick decides to loudly yell "Tell us what you know about the Red Omen"
This page asks to go somewhere more private
We head into "The Ugly Apple's Pub" to chat some more
The people in here are, true to their namesake, pretty ugly
After sitting down, this guy is named, Kaeso Crito
He explains...
He believes he has some useful information for us
~2 days ride to the northeast, there is a set of ruins that has been reclaimed by the forest
He provides us a map/sketch showing the location and entrance
He is too scared of curses to go himself
He believes that this is related to the Red Omen due to it being kept secret for so long
He learned about it because he is a royal surveyor and had surveyed this area as part of his duties
Despite previous survey teams in this area, nobody had previously reported it...which scared him about reporting it himself
Before we leave the town, Nick picks up a freshly cut Gulgian Tulip (favorite flower of his dead wife) and sticks it behind his ear in her memory
We head to a small town between us and the ruins that Kaeso told us about and stop by a Council of the Few building
As we enter the building, we find ourselves in that cave again where we previously met The Archivist
We chat with him and he allows us to call him Nibenay if we want
We fill him in with our conversation with the Oba
The Archivist says that the Oba's relationship with the forest is something that she has been cultivating for some time
When we told The Archivist about the forest telling us about Bashuk Ushat...
he thinks it is concerning, but it could also just be a side effect of the forest's extremely long memory
Bashuk Ushat - archaic term that would now be translated something like black beast or black mist
Bashuk Ushat was trying to return the world to a more primitive or basic state, simplifying things through purging more complex things (likegiant, sentient
life)
Thousands of years ago, the great dragons and followers were able to seal away Bashuk Ushat
These signs are indications that the seal on Bashuk Ushat may be weakening
Bashuk Ushat, during its reign, did have a soft spot for humanity and found them useful as tools and followers
We ask his opinion on the ruins that we were told about
He thinks it is a decent lead. The location matches up with the location of an ancient city named Gring.
We decide to head to the ruins
There is a light drizzle as we head out for the ruins
We manage to find the location easy enough, and wriggle our way through a hole underground
Heading further down, we see less natural cave, and more architecture and hallways
It is very thick with roots and other naturey things
The architecture seems to have been formed rather than carved from the earth
It reminds us a lot of the first set of ruins we came across
We are heading down some stairs and Erica sees some small critters scurry about ahead of us
We enter a large room that contains a skeleton that is overgrown by roots
Nick casts detect magic and the skeleton is non-magical while the roots have a faint trace of conjuration magic
Erica investigates the room's exit and finds that the door can be slid open
Walter throws the door open and makes a large noise
We hear shuffling noises grow louder and louder up ahead in the hallway
Jin decides to use an ability to crawl on the ceiling up ahead and scout things out
Jin sees a room up ahead that contains a couple of metal caterpillars that are attached to some rope that move out of sight
Jin enters the room by crawling on the ceiling
There are two doors, one straight ahead (closed) and one to the right (open, where the caterpillars went)
We head to the right, in pursuit of the caterpillars
We go into another room that has a pedestal. On the pedestal is a gauntleted forearm. The metal caterpillars are actually fingers that are being sucked back towards this arm
Roll Initiative
We are attacked by some humanoid creatures wielding clubs dressed in tatters
Three of the fingers for the gauntlet are still on their way to the gauntlet
We blast the gauntlet away from the pedestal and it stopped all the fingers in their tracks
Battle Won!
Erica decides to check out the gauntlet now that it is seemingly inactive now that it has been knocked off the pedestal
It turns out to be mundane, filled with a jerky-like flesh
Jin decides to investigate the pedestal
In the pedestal is a cavity that contains a contusion of plant matter that seems to have a slow pulse
Erica does a nature check on the tree-heart and finds that there is also flesh intermingled with the plant matter
Inside the cave, it is fairly chilly and humid
We go through a series of foibles as we engage with the tree-heart. We end up taking a bunch of psychic damage and Walter almost loses his arm
We do a rest where Jin and Nick do a short rest and Walter and Erica do a long rest
First watch: Nick
Hears a lot of activity and movement coming from deep below, not getting closer
Second watch: Jin
Hears the activity start to die down, feels a large thud of some kind
Jin's watch has ended
We decide to head deeper
The odor changes to the smell of rot
We end up in something that looks like a city square with buildings all around us
Roots and plants are grown up and ensnaring all the buildings around us
We run across a standing figure, roughly Walter's size, clad in armor
Its right forearm is unarmored and looks like it has been torn off of a troglodyte
Roll initiative!
After a grueling battle, we manage to win
Victory!
As the big boss falls apart, the helmet is making noises, seemingly still alive
Jin tries to commune with the helmet/skull
He detects that the thoughts are pure, unbridled rage
When he asks, "Who created you" he gets back one single, clear word, "Myself"
We decide to bring
this with us back to the Empress as proof of the Red
OmenOmen.
We
stickSession it in a bag of holding that Erica whipped up
Options for next session:Notes
Go directly back to the Empress
Go to the archivist first