Session 3: The Sleepwalkers Report

General Summary

(GM Note: Kuno's part was played by the GM for this adventure.)   The group began the session by choosing to follow the goblins down the hallway they fled down, pausing first to look for traps in a nearby damaged statue. No traps were found, but it did display a strange effect where with a strange flick of reality the statue appeared undamaged for a moment before reverting to its destroyed state.   Down the alleyway (there was a pit trap, but Anima deftly noticed and avoided it) the came to a place where tracks pointed in numerous directions. Picking one, they moved into a four-way intersection. Anima went in first, but Raelyn and Kaz both were able to spot the ambush awaiting them. The group repaired themselves for a heated battle.   The party fought back three waves of the Sleepwalkers--some firing arrows, others with poorly maintained scimitars. Many suffered wounds, but none as severe as Anima, who put herself ahead to take the brunt of their fury. She stood strong, however, with the aid of Raelyn's and Maul-Moir's healing.   Kaz's necrotizing magic took down several, as did Maul-Moir's divinely summoned staff. Kuno electrified an entire wave of goblins attacking the group's backline with a thunderblast esoterie, and Anima killed two goblins with a single, devastating blow. All fought bravely, spirited on by Raelyn's inspiring bardic dance.   Suffering serious losses, the goblins withdrew from their ambush, using their natural elusiveness to avoid being struck during their retreat. Before the group could compose themselves, however, they heard a loud noise of something large striking metal and stone.   The party regrouped as best they could in time to see the creature rushing in from the darkness. Barely fitting into the cramped confines of the halfway, a massive, deformed giant of a man squeezed it's way towards them. It was a sleepwalker, there was no doubt of this judging by the massive whorled metal horn protruding from its skull, scraping sparks along the walls and roof. It clambered it's towering, corpulant bulk towards the party, hurrying with one hand along the ceiling and the other on a massive club.   The giant proved a devastating opponent. Anima unleashed a cypher at it, firing a necrotizing ray the left a gaping, festering wound upon its stomach, but this did not deter the creature. She withstood one of its blows and the group around fired and attacked upon it, but once it had properly positioned itself and struck two mighty blows upon Anima and Maul-Moir, both of them were left on the ground and fatally injured.   Knowing defeat loomed dangerously close, Kaz stepped up to heal Maul-Moir, putting himself between the group and the giant. The elf managed to deftly avoid the creature's blows as he brought Maul-Moir back, who in turn returned Anima to health with his own magic.   At the peak of their danger, as the giant repaired to strike again, from behind a robed, masked figure appeared. He struck at the back of the giant's knee, distracting it. He suffered for his intrusion, being knocked several dozen feet back by a hearty strike of the giant's club, but it was enough. The time the robed figure bought them was enough for Kaz to step forward and, with a brilliantly aimed magic missile, to slay the giant by blowing out both his knees and eyes, sending his towering corpulence collapsing to the ground in a bloody, moaning heap.   The robed, masked figure returned to the light, revealing itself to be Nillian, the dwarf who had only just passed to his Second Life. He explained in slow, dwarven sign language (for those who have passed are unable to speak) that he had come from a room with several of the kidnapped people to the south. They had been guarded by goblins, but suddenly with neither warning nor sound the goblins left--presumably to deal with some silent alarm raised by the party's arrival.   Taking his chance, Nillian broke his bonds with the undying strength and moved to see if the way was clear. He soon came upon the party fighting the giant, and joined in as he could.   Nillian explained that the goblins were definitely engaged in some conflict with another group taken up in the dungeon, for he heard multiple instances of fighting outside his cell. He knew no more than that, however.   With this information and the direction toward the room where several of the kidnapped villagers and fairgoers were, MAul-Moir sent Nillian on his way to embark upon his final journey to take up arms in defense of the Dwarven temples.   Still wounded, the group opted to retreat a bit further back the way they came to rest, putting up alarms and posting watch while they rested. It was during this time of tranquility that Raelyn and Anima explored a few rooms to the north. They found mostly refuse, a ruined armory and a storeroom, but within the debris they found some valuables and a strange gleaming dagger Kaz was able to identify as magic.   Rested, the group moved south to find the massive giant's poorly decorated, filth-ridden room. The gave his barrel sized chamberpot a wide birth, but did find a chest full of oddly shaped bones and a jewel encrusted necklace. The latter of which the group kept.   It was then they came upon the scene of a battle, presumably between the goblins and the strange undead they seemed to be facing--the tek-implanted undead that Urulay was experimenting with in her secret basement. The battle was recent, presumably occurring while the group had been resting.   It was then, as we ended the session, that from the cell noted by Nillian, that two people, undeniably dead by the wounds across their faces and chest, shambled out. Behind them was one of the tek-implanted undead, striding purposely into the hall, where it beheld them with its baleful gaze, a glowing, pulsing cypher grafted into the side of its skull.

Rewards Granted

• 3 Red Gems: 10 GP apiece.
• Dagger of Venom
  • https://5e.tools/items.html#dagger%20of%20venom_dmg
• 1 Gem Encrusted Necklace: 150 GP.

Missions/Quests Completed

• Nillian was found and provided aid. He has left for his journey to the dwarven temple he is to spend his Second Life guarding.
• A large number of sleepwalker goblins were killed, as well as a sleepwalker giant, dealing a sizeable blow to the Sleepwalker's power.
• The tek-implanted wights the sleepwalkers were fighting have struck during the time the party spent resting, and have turned at least two of the kidnapped townspeople/fairgoers into zombies.

Character(s) interacted with

Nillian

• Arrived to aid during the fight with the sleepwalker giant.
• Communicated (through dwarven sign language) that he was with several of the kidnapped people to the south.
• Said that when the goblin guards left them (presumably to respond to the threat the party presented) Nillian was able to break his bonds (with crazy undead dwarf strength) and left the other prisoners to join in the fight with the giant.
• Left for his final journey at Maul-Moir's urging.