Session 38: The Druid Ogian Report

General Summary

Session 38 – Wednesday April 26, 2023 – The Druid Ogian

  4.5 Hour Role Play/battle session 5:30 PM to 10:00PM

The Stone Bearers. Party of 6

It is the 28th day of the month of Uktar (The Rotting) in the 50th year of the Age of Enialis (Late November.)

• Abrash – Wood (Desert) Elf, L7 Druid – Jacob Munson
• Ajani– High Elf, L7 Wizard – Nathan Gioconda
• Gazlowe – Goblin, L6 Artificer – Josh Pozsonyi
• Thomas – Human, L7 Blood hunter – Ryan Armstrong (Remote)
• Isabella – Forest Gnome, L7 Barbarian – Jackie Armstrong
• Juan Peyote – Gnome L7 Paladin – Will Johnson

Rescuing Leszyr

Isabella stood there, still stunned and unable to clear her mind. The last cultist dedicated to save Acheros cut deeply into Abrash. Thomas rushed to the pit after the escaping Aboleth and shot a couple bolts at him but missed. Thomas sneezed ,and Gazlowe re-appeared from the Ethereal plane. Gazlowe stretched a bit and complained that the Ethereal isn’t quite as nice as the hotel. Gargling his own blood, Abrash pointed at the pit. Gazlowe said, “Yeah, I saw what’s going on.” Sauntering up to the hole in the floor, he dipped his hand into the water and then cast Magic Missiles at the fleeing Aboleth. This gesture finally killed the Aboleth, who floated slowly in the bottom of the pit.

A visible wave of psychic energy rippled through the room. Abrash’s summoned “Green” finished off the sole-remaining cultist. The party became aware of Leszyr, and ran to her on the floor. Everyone recognized that she was in a deep state of hypnosis but was starting to come out of it. They decided to use this to their advantage and implanted several thoughts in her head:

• “It was the failure of her own clerics that resulted in the death of your people. It was not the fault of the Stone Bearers.”
• “You want to make us pancakes.”
• “You want to be friends with the Red Lady and make an alliance because the Stone Bearers are your friends.”
• “You are eternally in debt to us and will provide us whatever we want no matter how crazy it sounds.”
• “You will always be distracted by squirrels.”
• “Alliances are best sealed with pancakes.”

As Leszyr came to, Abrash cast Detect Thoughts to be sure she wasn’t crazy. Isabella noticed that Abrash was a bloody mess and threw her Splash Potion of Healing on him. He did not thank her. The party determined that Leszyr was mentally sane, but very mentally drained. Ajani cast Encode Thoughts to preserve the moment. Leszyr told them they can have whatever they want.

Leaving the temple

Thomas drank a potion of water breathing and dove into the pit. He was able to successfully extract the mucus membrane from the dead Aboleth knowing that it could be sold for about 590gp. Juan took a head from one of the cultists. They noted the psychic energy emanating from this place was beginning to fade. They also saw that some of the other cultists were leaving. They made their way to the surface very confident that the cult has been destroyed.

When they reached the surface, the sole surviving Eclivian Drow rushed to greet Leszyr and gave the Stone Bearers a dirty look. She immediately corrected him and told him that the fault of the lost Drow is upon her and the Stone bearers are to be praised and thanked for what they have done.

A Message from the Red Lady

Eversus greeted the party without any overt expression. He handed Ajani a sending stone and said, “The Red Lady has a message for you.” Ajani held the stone and heard the Message from the Red Lady: “I am unable to be there personally. I'm aware of the situation. I believe in 2nd chances. I trust Eversus. He knows of my needs.” Ajani responded: “Red Lady, I would love to sit down and talk soon.”

Eversus took back the stone and had the faintest of smile with a hint of approval as if he is pleasantly surprised by the group. They watched the two remaining Eclivian Drow comfort each other. Eversus said, “They will save and recruit other Drow.” Ignoring the snide remarks from Gazlowe, Eversus told them, “The Red Lady needs the assistance of the Druid Ogian. With your recent accomplishments, you are well suited to aid him. Rest, we will talk more in the morning.”

Abrash tarnishes the party’s reputation.

Abrash brazenly complained and refused to do anything more until he receives the command word for the Onyx statue that he was promised. He then threatened to kill Leszyr if he wasn’t given what he asked for. He tricked Eversus to identify the word and then cast detect thoughts on him to find the code word “Bow Wow Wow.”

Eversus was rather disgusted with the petulant behavior. Abrash read his thoughts: Eversus was thinking, they would sacrifice the entire race of Woodland elves for command word for a trivial magical trinket that turns into a dog once every 7 days. He realized that they don’t really care about the entire civilization of their own kindred that is at stake.

Abrash turned and asked, “Where were the wood elves when my people needed help?” He continued to insult Eversus ending with “You are beneath us.” Any good will gained from rescuing Leszyr was lost. Eversus realized that the party cares not for others, but are merely mercenaries. The Stone Bearers released an unspeakable evil into the world and demand to be paid to help contain it.

The Nine

The party rested and, in the morning, Eversus provided them a map to the Stronghold of the Nine. He told them, “Follow the road south. By the end of the day, you find the Stronghold. Do what Ogian asks and then tell him that the Red Lady now needs him. Respect his beasts.” He also gave them a sending stone so they can inform him when they’re done or if there is another issue.

The party packed their tent and headed south down the road. Ajani informed the party that “The 9” were a group of adventurers about 80 years ago. The last surviving member was Lady Silverhand. She was also one of the open lords of Waterdeep and a high Harper. The Nine had acquired an artifact called the Crown of Horns. When Laeral Silverhand, the leader of the group, donned the headpiece, she descended into madness and the band fragmented into three warring parties. Their base of operations was a stronghold atop an ancient Dwarven mine. The place was given the name, the Stronghold of the Nine.

Wolves on the road

Walking south down the road, light snow began to fall. Abrash spotted a pack of wolves eyeing the party from within the cover of the forest. Abrash cast Speak with Animals, wild shaped into a wolf and approached them. He told them that he and his friends mean no harm and they’re looking someone named Ogian. The wolves were friendly and told Abrash that Ogian is their boss. They will tell him that the party is on their way and mean no harm. After a little butt sniffing, they wolves left. Abrash told the party, and they proceeded down the road.

Ogian and his crew

As the sun set, they came to an encampment just outside a large stone keep. The keep looked to be in excellent shape compared to other structures they’ve seen in the forest. There were about a dozen or so Elves walking about dressed in common work garb. They looked like cooks, gardeners, craftsmen etc. The encampment looked very hastily built with simple lean-tos and tents.

They spotted a very tall elderly Elf, with a grey beard and a long cloak made of dark wool. He spotted the party and began to approach. A large cave bear limped behind him. The large bear favored his front right paw. The grey elf spoke with a very tired elderly voice. He said, “Come Ghe'Bher. Let us see who Mielikki (my-LEE-key) has sent to us today." He then ranted about the goddess Mielikki, praising her as he walked. When he reached the group, his eyes lit up and he asked if they were “The Brothers in Arms.” The party hemmed and hawed for a moment and then told him no. He then had Ghe’Bher sniff them out.

Abrash noticed the right front paw of the cave bear was withered, with very short hair and pink skin, the bear was favoring it. After sniffing the group, the bear stood towering over the group, extended his paw and introduced himself (with a faint French accent) as “Ghe’Bher.” He then formally introduced the Druid Ogian. The Druid approached and inquired as to their presence.

Ajani said, “The Red Lady requires your assistance.” Ogian said, “In exchange for you helping me I will help her.” He then examined each of the group and identified them by their class. After the introductions he explained that he has a couple of issues. Of course, Gazlowe had to first ask Ghe’Bher about his gimpy paw. The bear said, “It’s a long story but it’s being mended by Myrtle.

Ogian said that he has several packs of wolves that are his friends but there are two “imposter packs” that have arrived recently, and they need to be disposed of. Once that task is completed and no other wolves are hurt, he knows the party is trustworthy. Only then would he let them into the keep for the 2nd task. Gazlowe had a vision of burning weasels in his head. The bear said, “They should go and see Myrtle, she’ll help them.”

Mad Myrtle

The party was pointed to a shack about 100 yards away from all the other tents. The shack had three sides of mortared stone and the front was made of wood and facing away from all the other tents. He affirmed that Myrtle is unusual but not evil. As the party walked, they discussed how to identify the good wolves from the bad wolves. Gazlowe said, “Abrash figures that out and if he was wrong, we blame him. Lesson 1 of teamwork, ‘Isolate the blame’.”

Inside the shack they found an elderly hunchback female with wild gray hair. She was not attractive but had no serious deformities other than the hunched back. She was organizing the place, but it was still quite a mess. The party told her that they need to go find wolf imposters and she agreed to help them.

Lending Myrtle a hand

But first she asked, “Would one of you lend me a hand?” Thomas and Juan volunteered. She chose Juan and brought behind her desk and told him to wait and when she says to, pull down hard on a rope. She gave Ajani a scroll and a small fireplace shovel with a large wooden handle. She had him read the parchment. After correcting his pronunciation, the end of the shovel glowed red as he had cast Heat Metal. She then had Juan pull. A massive blade swung and chopped off Juan’s hand. She had Ajani quickly put the red-hot shovel on his arm to cauterize the stump. Juan was in a bit of a shock.

Myrtle quickly picked up the hand and put it in a jar next to a larger jar that held a bear’s paw. She gave Juan a potion and said, “Don’t worry, it’ll grow back in a day or two.” They asked why and she said she’s making a special gift for Ogian since he’s so “Handy!”

Myrtle said thanks to the group and said, “In return I will give you what you need to help with the wolf problem.” She gave them a single Wolfsbane flower and a vile that contained 8 uses of wolfsbane extract. She told them that the flower will irritate werewolves to the point that any werewolf within 10 feet of it will have disadvantage trying to attack. She also told them that the wolfsbane extract will work like a silvered weapon allowing normal weapons to harm a werewolf. However, it only lasts for about an hour. She also gave Ajani a flask of alchemist fire.

Shhh… Be very quiet. We’re hunting wolves.

In the light of the full moon, the party searched around the camp and found some wolf tracks. They followed them to the north. After an hour or two, they spotted something moving in a clump of trees. They heard a low growl. Isabella tried to talk to it nicely. Abrash tried to howl like a wolf, but his voice cracked. Thomas cast Thaumaturgy and with a loud booming voice said, “Come out so you can die peacefully.” The wolves scattered up a wall and went further north. Following the trail, they found a regurgitated mouse that made them believe that the wolves were real and they were following the wrong group.

They began again to look around for new tracks. Abrash cast Speak with Animals and spoke with an Owl and asked if the Owl had seen any other groups of wolves. The Owl came back after about 10 min and pointed the party to the southwest. They party eventually found the tracks and traced them into a clearing. Abrash again spotted movement in the south at the edge of the clearing. Ajani flanked to the west and Isabella to the East.

There wolves!

Abrash walked straight into the clearing and said that he’s interested in talking to the werewolves and didn’t want to kill them. He also placed some berries in front just in case they were real wolves. Both Ajani and Isabella both heard movement in the woods where they were. Then a deep growling voice near Ajani said, “They have Wolfsbane. Focus on the one with the flower, I’ll take care of the Druid.” Six wolves in hybrid form came out from all around the party. One large Alpha werewolf ran past Ajani towards Abrash.

Thomas cast Shield of Faith on Ajani and shot the Alpha with his crossbow. The Alpha werewolf ran past Ajani towards Abrash. Ajani struck at him with his dagger. Thomas used his reaction to curse the werewolf, making him susceptible to non-magical damage and Ajani’s dagger did a bit of damage. The Alpha made it to Abrash and even though his claws missed, his bite was a critical hit. Not only did he cut Abrash to less than half of his health, but he also cursed him with Lycanthropy. Several of the werewolves ran to Ajani. Abrash ran from the Alpha, but the Alpha took another swipe at him as he did. Abrash, badly bloodied, got away and cast Spike Growth on three of the werewolves, slowing them down and causing a bit of damage to them.

Isabella raged and struck one of the werewolves critically. Ajani psychically pushed one of the werewolves near him way, cast Mage Armor on himself and ran away a little. Juan reached down to Abrash and laid his hands on him, healing him. Gazlowe punched one of the werewolves near Ajani. The werewolf near Isabella ran to attack Ajani but Isabella took him down before he could make it. Thomas bloodied the Alpha with his whips. The Alpha struck back at Thomas and broke Thomas’ concentration.

One of the werewolves critically hit Ajani and badly wounded him. Isabella continued to use her axe striking the nearest werewolf. Abrash summoned his “Green” fey who was able to hurt one of the werewolves. Ajani was attacked again and was critically wounded. Ajani used his Potion of Superiorior Healing and healed himself fully. Ajani then hit the Alpha with Mind Spike. Abrash was hit again and so was Ajani. Juan smite one of the wolves and hit him with his lance, causing the wolf to fear.

Gazlowe pulled out a little sphere and threw it near three of the werewolves and Abrash’s Green. It exploded with the Shatter spell, hurting all of them. Thomas finished off the Alpha with his chain whips. Thomas then cursed one of the werewolves attacking Ajani and caused the wolf to miss.  Abrash and his Green killed one of the werewolves. The werewolves continued to focus on Ajani but, with the help of Abrash, he wasn’t cursed until the 3rd werewolf bit Ajani. Then, Ajani became cursed with Lycanthropy.

Juan killed one of the werewolves with his Lance. The rest of the Stone Bearers continued to attack the werewolves that were attacking Ajani. Thomas took one of them out with his Whip. Abrash took one out with a Guiding Bolt followed up by his Green. The Green then teleported to the last one and killed it. 

Abrash sniffed the bodies trying to memorize the scent. Thomas collected some blood and teeth from the werewolves. Exhausted and beaten up badly, the party took a short rest to tend to their wounds.