Session 6 - 15JUN2024

Attendees

• Tim ✅
• Walter ✅
• Erica ✅
• Jin ✅
  
• Nick ✅
  
• Alex ❌
  

Copy/Paste Source: ✅ ❌

Recap to Current Situation

•  RIP Eknon, Nick exacted revenge, and Erica had a vision
  

Session Notes

• Krokkak the Razor, the hobgoblin that led us to Eknon's hideout is still with us, but has a withered hand
• Erica fashions and surgically attaches a metallic hand to Krokkak to replace his withered hand
• Nick is feeling super depressed and broken after completing his revenge, something something...dig two graves
• Jin is able to find a Pearl of Power - when used (up to once a day), regain a spell slot - activation word TBD
• Erica and Nick spend the time at this settlement helping rebuild stuff for the hobgoblins
• The group decides to head back to the town of Wudu to check in with the Council of the Few for updates and to pick up our supplies and the VARDIS
• Upon reach the Council of the Few building, we find the building unchanged from the last time we were there
  
• Udo is surprised that after 5 days, he has not received any response from the Council's HQ
  • This is very strange
• We hand him the dragon scale necklace and he finds it interesting, but it doesn't seem like there are any visions he experiences
  • He says it is made from fossilized dragon scales
  • He asks to keep it for a while
  • When we are idly chatting about it, we let slip that it was a family heirloom of the town's mayor
  • Udo is shocked to hear that the mayor was in possession of this
  • Nick is able to ascertain that Udo is not lying about his assessment of the necklace, but he is definitely withholding some information that he isn't telling us
  • We are able to convince Udo to pull some books/documents relevant for the necklace and we will be back the next day
• In the meantime, we are going to jaunt around town and pick up our VARDIS
• We are surprised to find that our VARDIS was moved into the town and somebody has been taking care of the ox that pulls it
  • We decided to name the ox Porkchop
  • We are able to find a trail that somebody has been using to go to and from the VARDIS
  • Walter decides to rush into the VARDIS and finds that the main room is unkempt, but things seem to be in tact
  • As Walter explores each of the rooms...
    • In Jin's room (aka the Black Hole), we find a small human child that is terrified
    • Walter picks up the kid and drops them off in front of Jin since it was his room
  • The kid says that he, his mom, and his sister have been using the VARDIS
  • Nick and Walter decide to head outside the VARDIS to keep an eye out for others
  • Jin and Erica are talking with the kid
  • The kid says that his mom and sister are normally in the town square, helping with reconstruction during this time of day
  • The kid's story is that their house burned down in the attack and they have been using the VARDIS for the time being...they thought the owners might be dead or something like that
• Outside, Walter is attacked by a thrown dagger from a woman that is threatening him for hurting her child
• She runs in, past Walter and throws her arms around her child
• She apologizes to Walter about the dagger, but he says no hard feelings
• She will work on gathering their things and vacating over the next couple days
  • Her name is Godwyna, son is Osulf, daughter is Cyneberg - Last name is Graves
• We agree to help them find alternative living arrangements
• There are three things the group wants to accomplish:
  • Stock up on supplies for the hobgoblins - 10 gold per 5 days of supplies
    • We each spend 10 gold, Nick does 20
  • Return to the Council of the Few the next day to learn about the necklace
  • Find accommodations for Godwyna's family
• Walter and Nick have fun playing with Osulf
• We all go out to eat with the last of Nick's money for the night
• We return to the Council of the Few the next day
  • We find Udo inside and he shows us some books and scrolls that he will let us look through....but we can't take them out of the building
  • We ask Udo about the accommodations for the Graves family...he steps aside and talks with Godwyna about it while we can look through the materials he found
• Looking at the scrolls, Nick casts detect magic and finds that they have traces of conjuration and transmutation magic
• Jin casts mending on the scrolls since they seem extremely delicate...but nothing seems to be happening
• Erica decides that everybody is being silly and dives into the research materials
  • One of the books we find is a book written by a gnome called Fizzlewink that catalogs all of the known lore about draconic lore and legend, creatures that are depicted as an aloof creature, lazy and indifferent
  • Another scroll we come across describes dragons being associated with primal elements (fire, water, acid, ice, etc.) and this dragon scale could be associated with one of those
  • Common sense in this world is that dragons are ancient creatures that once roamed the world, but faded away as the humanoid races rose to power...they are basically just fossilized now, like dinosaurs in our world
  • We find another book that catalogs heroic folk tales....in those stories, the hero typically has some kind of powerful draconic-derived artifacts
  • A final scroll is a catalog of known heroes in possession of draconic artifacts
  • The mayor's name is Osgood Cantrell - perhaps his family derives from a past hero
  • One of the heroes has a similar name to Cantrell, so perhaps that is where the artifact comes from, but the ancestor is listed as having a sword that can rain down a blizzard and renders him unaffected by the cold
  • Nick has a brain fart and decides to put on the necklace and hold his hand over the flame - he then takes one damage
• Jin is able to determine that the necklace grants the wearer cold resistance
• Update on the Graves family - Udo offered Godwyna a job for the Council
  • And they lived happily ever after....maybe
• We make our way to the mayor in the remains of town hall - Osgood Cantrell
  
•  We tell the mayor that the hobgoblins likely were just taking advantage of the chaos created by the attack from the skeletons
• The mayor says that it is possible his distant relative, that was a hero, may have done bad things in the past, but seems like it would be a remarkably long time to hold a grudge
• The mayor tells us the story about Ordrick, his heroic relative, who was a sword for hire that kept fighting his way through life, consistently coming out on top against all odds, and then the stories about him were likely just exaggerated over time
• We check back in with the Council of the Few before leaving town to check in one last time
  • He hasn't heard anything back from HQ, but he is able to page us on our quill pins to let us know if he finds anything else out
• On our way out of town, we stop by the burial ground around dusk time
• The rain begins to pour and the scene is quite dramatic
• It is a MF'ing big burial ground, ~10 acres
• There is a lot of recent activity due to the large number of recently deceased from the attack
• We are looking for Ordrick's grave...
• With a clutch roll by Walter, we are able to deduce a burial vault with the name of Cantrell
• We decide to continue on our way from the burial ground to continue on our way to the hobgoblin settlement
• As we are on our way there, Jin is left with the distinct feeling that something is missing from his room...
  • There is a slightly less dark spot on his floor
• As we approach the warren, a small hobgoblin child with a homemade spear stops us
  • His name is Klox and he is friends with Walter
• We go into the warren and make our way to Krokkak
• He is incredibly grateful for the supplies
• We ask Krokkak some questions
  • What's up with the necklace?
    • Apparently Eknon became obsessed with the legend of Ordrick and sought out relics as a way to gain power to fight back against the mercenary attacks
  • How often are they attacked by the mercenaries, should they be coming back soon?
    • There is no pattern to the attacks, perhaps something else has drawn their attention away after the hobgoblins were mostly wiped out.
  • How are the bodies of the previously dead hobgoblins disposed of?
    • They were buried in the previously occupied warrens.
• The group decides to hunt down the previously occupied warrens to check them out for signs of why the attacks were happening and what might have happened to the dead.
• Naming system:
  • Warren Alpha - current residence of Krokkak and the hobgoblins
  • Warren Beta - previously occupied warren of the hobgoblins
  • Warren Gamma - previous, previous...etc.
• As soon as we leave Warren Alpha, our Council of the Few pins buzz
• So, we turn around and head back to Wudu and visit Udo
• As soon as we see him after entering the building, our vision goes white...
• We wake up in an earthen room, lit by a small lamp
• We have been transported somewhere
• Erica creates a magical fire and lights up that we are inside a natural cavern of some kind
• Udo is not with us, we are alone
• Walking through the cavern, it is eerily quiet and exceptionally dark
• The cavern begins to open up so that it is easier to walk side by side
• Eventually, we see a point of light in the distance
• Getting closer, we pass by massive stalagmites and see a bookshelf by the point of light in the distance
• These stalagmites actually are fossilized bones
• Getting closer to the light, we see two bookcases and a writing desk
• We realize that we are actually walking through the mouth of a fossilized dragon toward the skull
• Finally reaching the desk, there is a piece of parchment on the desk that simply says "Welcome..."
• As we pick up the paper, candles are lit and begin flying around the room, illuminating what seems to be a massive library
• Behind us, in the now-illuminated room, we see a bandaged figure
  • This is the same being that Erica saw in her vision
• He welcomes us in an unpracticed voice
• To be continued...