Session 11: Is That A Bug Umber There? Report

General Summary

Combat against the beetle horror began with Trysor the Terror Bird seeing it's strange and incomprehensible eyes, causing the prehistoric bird to become mentally overwhelmed and run at maximum speed in a random direction. Roy averted his gaze, then moved around so he could hit the creature with a Destructive Resonance. Quirico averted his eyes as well, but was then unable to penetrate the creature's tough carapace. Jeeves and Kaalam were likewise unable to connect. The creature tore into Kaalam, and that worthy would have fallen, if not for Roisin Marshfield's cry to save her friend's life. Boris used magic to trade a portion of his own life force to restore Kaalam further. Trysor made his way back to the group from where he had run earlier while Roy unleashed another Destructive Resonance and Kaalam chose to look the creature in the eye and found himself stunned by the strangeness he sensed there. Jeeves tried to attack, but missed, and the creature tried to tear into the party, but missed thanks to distraction from Roisin Marshfield. Boris blessed Kaalam, Roy , and Quirico , and Trysor tore into the creature with his jagged beak. Roy then tried looking at the creature only through his eyepatch, became confused about friends and foes, and shot Roisin Marshfield with Looming Shadow instead. Kaalam again chose to look at the creature, managed to resist its gaze, and struck it with his rapier. Quirico tried, and again failed, to strike the creature. Jeeves averted his gaze and tried, but failed, to strike the creature with his trusted rapier; at Roisin Marshfield's direction Kaalam struck again, and again succeeded, thanks to Boris' Blessing. Boris called forth a Sacred Flame, but the creature avoided it. Trysor again attacked with his massive serrated beak, and Roy launched a Chromatic Orb, but neither could connect. Roy 's magic, however, brought instability in The Weave, resulting in all nearby birds, including Trysor the Terror Bird, exploding. Trysor's explosion, however, sent his serrated beak through the skull of the Beetle Horror, killing it. As silence fell, Quirico , Jeeves , and Boris moved to heal their friends, and Jeeves also chose to butcher the carcass, recovering the carapace, both eyes, and the massive mandibles. These were placed in Trysor's magic hole for the time being, and the party took some time to catch their breath before continuing.

After a short rest, the party examined the tunnel left behind when this horror burst out of the mine floor, and thanks to Copper, the mystical fey owl-cat hybrid familiar associated with Roy , found that it led much further into the mines, close to their destination. It would be a difficult trek, however, as in many places the tunnel ran vertically for hundreds of feet, and its smooth sides would leave little purchase for climbing. Jeeves stepped up to the opening, and poured out a powerful oil, he claimed it was a corrosive agent, which split into thousands of tiny droplets, and as these swarmed throughout the tunnel over the next few minutes, the tunnel was re-carved and restructured into a fantastic corridor, with stairs where needed, railings and cobbled walkways, embedded stone ladders, even occasional stone benches carved and decorated ornately. The whole formed a walkway that would be at home in Victorian London (not that any of the party would recognize such things, being of a different world). Amazed at this activity, which the rest of the party attributed to "magic" (something Jeeves denied, of course), the party spent the next couple of hours making their way easily through this wondrous tunnel, at a very relaxed pace. In the end they emerged into a cavern deep in the old mines, among the deepest and most distant of locations reached before the tunnels were abandoned so many centuries before. Once there they took stock, and prepared to seek further, but were interrupted as two more six-armed impossibilities emerged from the shadows to attack.

Trysor opened by transforming again into a massive prehistoric Terror Bird, then attacking the nearest creature with his serrated beak, but failed to connect. Kaalam tried to hide behind some boulders, but failed, and managed to hit the creature anyway, striking it at a weak point with hit shortbow. Quirico , using his longsword two-handed for a change, struck the creature and sliced it strongly. Sebastian struck as well, choosing to exhaust the creature slightly rather than drawing blood while Roy launched a small bolt of magic fire. Angered, the creature tore into Trysor with a flurry of claw attacks, tearing the bird to bits and leaving only the normal form of Trysor behind. At Roisin Marshfield's direction Quirico struck again with his longsword, slicing the creature. The second creature rushed to Boris, and with a flurry of claw strikes, each carrying twisted shadow energies, tore at the worthy halfling horribly, and would have killed that stalwart were it not for a mystical life-preserving cry from Roisin Marshfield. As it was Boris fell to the earth, bleeding from dozens of mortal wounds. Trysor recovered from his travail and transformed again, this time into a Dogmole, a creature well suited to fighting in tunnels. He clawed the creature before him with powerful blade-like claws, wounding it seriously. Kaalam again tried to hide then attack, but fumbled and accidentally struck Jeeves in the back, after which he ducked back behind the boulders with an apologetic look to Jeeves who was busy striking deep into the creature's twisted form with his rapier. Roy tried to burn the creature with a magical bonfire, but it dodged aside. The creature attacked Trysor, but missed, and Roisin Marshfield directed Trysor to return with another claw attack but it failed to connect. Roisin Marshfield rallied her allies, and then gave another cry to distract the other horror as it was attempting to tear Boris to bits, causing it's strikes to miss their mark. Boris struck, but missed, and Trysor bit viciously into the creature before him but failed to connect with his powerful claws. Kaalam tried his hide and shot again, and again failed at both efforts while Jeeves , thanks to the distraction from Kaalam, managed to again strike the creature in a vital point, his rapier bending on its tough skin before punching through its head from below, killing it. Roy teleported a short distance and struck the other creature with another small bolt of fire while Quirico took the opportunity to attack the creature and sliced powerfully with his longsword. The creature launched another massive flurry of attacks at Boris, and while only one connected, Boris was again brought to the brink of death as the creature turned to pursue Roisin Marshfield. Trysor rushed after the creature, tearing at it with both tooth and claw while Kaalam finally got the drop on the creature and pierced its vitals as Quirico managed another powerful strike. Jeeves rushed over to help Boris recover while Roy launched another Chromatic Orb, which missed, and Trysor tried to claw it at Roisin Marshfield's direction, but missed. As the creature rushed after Roisin Marshfield again, it launched another flurry of attacks at Trysor, but was then struck by Boris' warhammer and finally laid low when Roisin Marshfield again directed Trysor to claw the beast, and this time the claw connected, slicing through its flesh like it was mere paper. The party thought their battle over, but suddenly Roy launched a powerful spell tearing at the minds and spirit of many, including Roisin Marshfield, with powerful Destructive Resonance. Turning now to face their own companion, who shouted "Death to the Rose, and all who guard the thorns" as he attacked, following up with a crossbow launched at Roisin Marshfield with magic to fortify the bolt, Boris attacked, but missed, and Trysor moved to attack, but was engulfed in a swarm of worms, which sent the Dogmole into a wormkilling rage. Kaalam, who seemed to fade into shadow before striking with sudden precision right at Roy 's most vulnerable point, and Quirico , who struck with his Morningstar directly to Roy 's head, quickly laid their companion low, leaving him bleeding and near death, but Boris quickly spared Roy with the last of his Source-granted healing magic. Unfortunately, Kaalam then succumbed to the unseen forces in this place, and launched a shiverstone bullet at Roisin Marshfield, harming her and those nearby, as well as detonating more shiverstone from the walls nearby. These hidden foes launched a powerful magic to drain the very life force from everyone in the party, and nearly killed them all, but a few remained to fight, Kaalam included. Kaalam launched another shiverstone, but missed, merely tearing at Jeeves with a few shards. More magic, this time bolts of force seeming to come from all directions, struck out, forcing Trysor to resume his natural form. Jeeves and Boris did their best to spare those dying from their wounds, preventing further loss, while Trysor transformed to a Terror Bird and finished Kaalam with a strike from his beak. Jeeves restored Roisin Marshfield, who had fallen, while Boris spared Roy . Things were looking better as Jeeves awakened Kaalam, but Boris, apparently succumbing to the mind-twisting power, walked up to Roisin Marshfield, said "The Rose must Die by her own thorns", and slammed his warhammer into her defenseless side. Quirico tried to stop Boris, but failed, and Boris struck again, nearly killing the young halfling princess. Kaalam, however, returned to his senses, launched an arrow at Boris which left him unconscious. Quirico caught his breath, Jeeves awakened Roy , and Roy stopped Boris' bleeding, preventing death. Jeeves then awakened Boris (again) while Roy tried to find the source of these attacks. Yet another set of powerful magic bolts struck Trysor, who finally realized the real source, and alerted the party. Roy lit a magic bonfire beneath the swarm of worm-like beings there, even as Kaalam moved to another small side cavern to begin forming a shelter for the night. Another flurry of magic bolts launched out, but none connected. Quirico stood by on the assumption that his friends would fail waiting for an enemy to emerge. Trysor rushed in and tore at the terrible creatures with his beak, Roy launched his last Chromatic Orb, but missed, then due to some wrinkle in The Weave, vomited up a large canister of some strange material which he felt could produce a powerful magical blast. Roy then launched a small bolt of fire, which burned the creatures strongly, and Boris brought a Sacred Flame upon them. The swarm brought another flurry of magical bolts of force at Trysor, and also drained his life-force strongly, forcing him to return, again, to his natural form, whereupon he slashed it with his natural claws. Jeeves struck with a crossbow bolt, and Roy 's bonfire finally burned the horrible worm-like things completely to ash. As silence fell, the party catching their breath, Roy conjured another bonfire, grabbed a burning coal, and swallowed it. He then vomited out a large diamond, proving that The Weave was still unstable in his vicinity. Roy also used his magic to clean himself, and some wrinkle of power caused the spell to lock in place, constantly cleaning the wizard, he suspects it will last a couple days before fading. Meanwhile Jeeves suddenly found himself encased in a massive white marble sarcophagus, which the party had to open to enable his escape. In a final burst of strange power, Roy found himself holding a small steel vial filled with a silver fluid.

The shelter constructed, everyone piled in, and while most set about preparing to rest, Roy spent some time casting rituals to identify what he held, and found the vial was a powerful alchemical draught, and the command word for his eyepatch, which he had forgotten, is "Coruscating Correlation". Shaken, and confused, but safe for now, the group prepared to rest for as long as their shelter lasts. They are very near their goal, and perhaps the morning will reveal a means to obtain the ore they seek, and avoid destruction by the shiverstone around it.

Rewards Granted

Items found:

• Wild Surges
  • 1 Steel Vial containing an alchemical draught (Roy)
  • 1 Diamond worth 2628 gp
  • 1 Marble Sarcophagus (8 tons high quality marble carved and engraved with beautiful scenes from the Dawn Times)
  • 1 Canister containing 20 lbs Trinitroanisole.
• Monster Parts
  • 1 Beetle Horror Carapace
  • 1 Beetle Horror Mandibles
  • 2 Beetle Horror Eyes

Missions/Quests Completed

Found the Mithril Cave. It's riddled throughout with shiverstone intermixed with the ore at about a 50/50 ratio.