Session 104: Running Just to Catch Yourself Report

General Summary

Technical difficulties limited the notes available.

The party briefly discussed, via the telepathic connection enabled by Roy's spell, what to do next. They agreed that surrendering was out of the question, so they quickly prepared a few things, then charged out around the corner as fast as they could run.

Initially, little happened as they rushed forward, trying simply to close the massive distance to this pit. As they rushed closer, they experienced a sudden slide as slime appeared beneath their feet and they slid much closer. Realizing they needed more mobility, Roy used deep focus to empower a far step while Jonas used magic to begin blinking in and out of existence. Boris, ahead of the others, began taking fire from the remaining and returning troops on the rooftops, as a hail of crossbow bolts flew through the air. Bastion also took fire, but the alchemist's heavy armor deflected nearly everything. Jonas drew first blood with a pair of beams of eldritch force. The Wallower in the Dark rose up, revealing itself to be a massive hundred foot tall mass of ooze and rot, as it leveled a terrifying visage at Bastion, but Roisin's inspiring words bolstered his courage. Unfortunately, words could not block massive oozing tentacles, and three slammed into Bastion, severely injuring him even as the enwrapping tentacles held him fast. Roy fired off a trio of eldritch beams, but only one struck true. Boris conjured a storm of lightning above, and struck the mass with a bolt. Roisin called out further words of encouragement to rally Bastion's spirits and her bodyguards rushed in to attack, but missed. Bastion punched the tentacles wrapped around his form, and discovered that thunder and fists were not as effective against this massive ooze as he hoped. Jeeves shot the creature with two arrows, one of them poisoned, but the creature resisted the poison. The Wallower simultaneously crushed Bastion in its grip. The gathering troops on the walls shot a massive volley of bolts, but only one struck due to the long ranges involved. Jonas moved closer to Boris and Bastion to conjure a beacon of hope. The Wallower in the Dark lashed out with a flurry of tentacles, striking all of Roisin's bodyguards, Boris, and Jeeves, then again leveled its gaze at Bastion, leaving the stalwart warrior paralyzed with fear. Roy launched a beam of green energy at the mass, striking true and disintegrating a large chunk of the horror. The Wallower in the dark magically summoned existential dread, frightening two of Roisin's bodyguards, and Jeeves, but most of the group saw through the magical deception. Roisin ordered Jonas to attack, and the powerful familiar launched a pair of eldritch beams, striking once. Jeeves, captured and afraid, threw two darts, but missed with both. Boris gestured with his magical cape and Boris and Bastion disappeared in a swirl of smoke, reappearing atop the buildings over an hundred feet away, free from the creature's tentacles. Over a dozen troops had regained their courage by now, and the flurry of bolts found several sensitive gaps in Boris' armor, severely injuring the halfling. Roy summoned a Fiery Furnace to burn the horror, then disappeared. The Wallower in the Dark absorbed the energy of fear from Roisin's bodyguards, but Jeeves resisted. Boris gave magical sanctuary to Bastion and quaffed a healing draught to sooth his own injuries. Jeeves conjured a familiar tolling bell to damage the ooze. Bastion remained paralyzed as Jeeves was crushed in the creature's tentacle and failed to break free. Another hail of crossbow bolts assailed the group, but only three found their mark. Jonas used a dimensional shove to push Roisin away from the Wallower in the Dark, then Roy launched a cone of cold at the horror, only to learn it was somewhat inured to cold. Boris threw his hammer at one of the troops on the walls, killing the unfortunate soldier, then healed Bastion slightly with a holy word. Roisin ordered Boris to attack another guard, and Bastion remained paralyzed in the grip of eldritch fear. Jeeves fled, unable to resist his own terror. Another massive volley of bolts flew, but again only a few found a mark. One soldier even fell to friendly fire. Jonas launched another pair of eldritch beams, but both missed. The Wallower in the Dark again tried to terrify everyone, but had little impact, then launched a flurry of tentacles at Jonas, but the powerful creature's stony back deflected everything. Roy reappeared, launched three beams of force at the creature, striking with great precision, then disappeared. Boris, tired of taking distant fire, conjured a wall of time around himself, Bastion, and Roy, and pulled his featherweight berzerker crossbow. Roisin ordered Boris to attack again, and Boris fired a rainbow bolt from his crossbow into the ooze-like horror, seriously injuring it. The Wallower in the Dark lashed out at the last bodyguard, and destroyed it. The party continued trying to gain distance, as the troops on the rooftops launched another volley, but failed to connect with any. Jonas conjured a branding smite, then struck the ooze in a weakened point with his massive clubbed tail, both tearing into the creature and burning it with powerful holy fire. The Wallower in the Dark, unable to reach any targets with tentacles, used magic to sicken Bastion. Bastion remained paralyzed, unable to muster the strength of character to throw off the effects. Roy launched a ball of lightning, and discovered that the creature, which had been near death after Jonas' strike, healed slightly. The Wallower in the Dark tried again to draw forth Bastion's fear, but Bastion held fast to his own mind. Boris, unwilling to risk further horrors, launched an immensely powerful bolt of holy radiance. The bolt struck the creature, holy radiance engulfing the form and flowing along all the many tentacles of ooze, before burning it all away, leaving only a black shadow, which erupted in a powerful wave of terror throughout a large portion of the city. Nearly all of the soldiers on the walls and rooftops succumbed to the terror and died horribly. The heroes mostly resisted, but Bastion and Jeeves suffered briefly before Bastion finally threw off his fear and Jeeves used a powerful herb to sooth his own.

Roy rushed to manufacture walls across two roads into the square from the flagstones of the street, then summoned a fortress in the center of the square, as Boris conjured a magic stone wall across the third. Jeeves then gave Roy another alchemical draught to help him recover his strength, but using such magic too often is dangerous, and the magic erupted chaotically as Roy downed the drink. That magic, unconstrained, enveloped the entire city. As Roy reeled, everyone sensed the sudden telepathic exclamation from their contact among the rebel forces outside "What the hell have you done! The entire city just disappeared, as though it was never there. There is nothing but dense swamp where the city was before."