Session 073: Cultists Under the Church Report
General Summary
NEED TO FINISH & CLEAN UP!! 03/05/2023
Redfall 20, 2023 KC, evening
Thornwinds
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As the party returned to the ship to take a long rest Calliope began to come down with a cold. She starts sneezing, feels a chill. Says if she doesn't feel well, she will stay behind.
During the night, a slight rain comes down, causing some more rocking than normal. No real mechanical issue -- but Sleep was a bit rough.
Some colds are not "cured" by magic and it is safe to say this is one of them.
The party had explored Thornwinds, and learned that Garm was here. He had some look-alikes as well as a Drow Bard assisting him. There was intel that they were at an abandoned church with an undead problem.
The party planned to go visit in the morning.
Redfall 21, 2023 KC, early morning
Port of Thornwinds
As morning comes, the party finds their way through the town, through the Bone Arch.
At one point they do see a child being a brat because they lost a stuffed animal, but the mom was persistent in making them come.
The Battle:
R.1
Shadow in the Snow reacts. Claw attack (20) then moves back. Swings around and shoots an arrow at him. hits. More than enough, as the arrow goes into the eye socket. They see a slight blue electrical spark up and go out as the neck breaks. Arktos moves up, attacks, with all 3 attacks. Sas W.T. Rayce moves, so she can flank. Shillelagh. Hits and kills it. The force of the club goes down and splits the skull in half with shattered Bone everywhere. The slight blue spark at the end as the last bits of Bone break. It falls down. They seem to not like bludgeoning. Bastion Bladesinger casts Misty Step then strikes out twice with his rapier. Stabbed in the eye and the skull breaks off so he flings it at another Skeleton. There was a blue tinge as the skull broke off. Barlo walks forward and pulls out his Moon-Touched Sword and strikes. This is one with some Armor pieces, so it wasn't enough to take it down. He is a bit downtrodden as Sas took hers down very quick. "oh, you're still up." It strikes back with a shortsword it seemed to have been holding, and Barlo deflects with his sword. Barlo says: "I must be fighting the leader over here, he is really tough!"R.2
Arktos moves and attacks, two misses but the last one hits with a slash. This one has some Armor, so the Metal protected it. Shadow: "it's okay buddy." She attacks with the bow, misses. "Wow, Barlo you are right -- he is hard to hit." That arrow hit a piece of Metal that flung off. Sas: "I got you Barlo" and attacks. The bludgeoning blow smashes down, and the Leather turns to dust and Armor breaks apart as it goes to the ground. Barlo: "Hey"... as the blue spark reacts
t Combat Experience: 2500 (500 ea) | Total: 104,500 (Next Goal: 120,000) t
Dearest Amelia,
The flickering candlelight dances on these cold stone walls, mocking the warmth you always brought. It's strange, writing to someone who can't hear, yet the words tumble out like a dam finally breaking. There's a freedom in confessing to the empty air, knowing it can never reach you, but the burden is heavy nonetheless.
Remember that day by the lake, the one where we swore our futures were intertwined? We were young, naive, convinced our bond was unbreakable. But life, that cruel puppeteer, had other plans. My path took a darker turn, a path you wouldn't have walked with me. Fear, Amelia, Fear of losing you, drove me away.
I told myself it was for your own good, that the Darkness clinging to me wouldn't taint your Light. But the truth, the truth that twists like a viper in my gut, is that I couldn't Bear the thought of your disappointment. I was a coward, Amelia. I chose the shadows over the Sun, over you.
The years since then have been a desolate wasteland. Every success, every fleeting moment of joy, has been tinged with the bitter ash of regret. I see your Ghost in every sunrise, hear your laughter in the wind. It's a constant reminder of what I threw away.
They say time heals all wounds, Amelia. But mine festers, a gaping hole in my Soul. I know you wouldn't want me to wallow in self-pity, and perhaps that's the point of this letter. To finally release the truth, to let go of the "what ifs" that have haunted me for so long.
You deserved a life bathed in sunshine, Amelia, a life filled with love and laughter. Instead, I gave you Silence, a void where our shared Dreams once resided. Forgive me, if forgiveness can even reach you beyond the veil.
You will always hold a piece of my heart, Amelia. A reminder of the Light I extinguished, the love I let slip through my fingers.
With a love that echoes in the Silence,
The one who failed you,
Alistair
Shadow investigates the area as well, they are looking for any secrets or passages or devices, as well as foot prints... nothing
They begin to tap, touch, push everything -- Bastion with his sword taps for hollow spots...
Nothing seems to happen.
Bastion asks why they are there. The others said to investigate the church, rumor was Garm was here and the City folk complained of the undead here.
Barlo notices the broken stone is missing a few letters (where they found the old letter), leaving the letters "...LIA" as the only letters left.
Shadow notices the church is not far. She uses her Ring of Alertness and casts Detect Evil and Good, while Bastion does something... (hard to hear)... Detect Magic I believe
As she looks at the church there is a mixture of both all around these grounds -- faint mist of both in various places with some places almost mixed together so much it is almost a third type. The areas seem to have had sacraments done when the Dead were first buried, but over the years there have surely been messed with and had some negative or evil applied...
nothing stands out too much.
Except for the church is blessed with Good.
Abjuration is all around as well as Necromancy. No real strong presence of Necromancy or magic items -- just bits of spells and old energies still residing here, as well as the presence of so many Dead that has long been here.
He then notices one tombstone has a ring, a magic ring on top of the stone. Bastion goes to the ring...
A floating skull is now moving towards Arktos...
The name on the stone is "Elrohir", it is an elven name.
The ring is simple Wood. It has Illusion, Divination, and Enchantment on it. He notices the ring is simple with carvings of various animal creatures on it. It seemed someone placed it there.
..Arktos hits at the skull... it shatters. Barlo waves with the spectral hand since he used Mage Hand.
NOTE: Mage Hand reads "A spectral, floating hand appears at a point you choose within range". Only an arcane trickster gets an invisible mage hand. I will have to remind the party this.
Bastion picks up the ring. He examines it and with an Arcana (20) he notices this is a common ring from many elves.
Stone pews are in rows. Much of the decay outside is not as bad in here. This interior seems the least run down. They look for tracks. Shadow looks around, goes to stage and podium. There are stale candle and incense from who knows when this was last used for such purposes. Shadow is looking for papers, but instead finds a simple hidden button. Also looks for religious iconography. She points out the button to Barlo. No real iconography, a generic church for whomever wanted to use it. Sas casts Find Traps as no one finds any with physical searches. She detects no traps. She is confident of no traps. "push the button, barlo" shadow says. So he does. a hum of mechanisms... Sas grabs Barlo's wrist as the lectern shifts to one side. a tight tunnel goes down with a ladder. The Fear is if an Owlbear can climb up or down, so they leave him to protect the lectern. Shadow tells him to "give a hoot" if anything happens. The bond they have allows him to understand. He finds a comfortable place to lie down and keep watch. Shadow looks to possibly tying a rope to the lectern. She does it (dex: 14) The hole is dark. goes down about 20 some feet or something, so Barlo sees the base. It seems the ladder is rusty, a blackish stonework. A button at the bottom. A hallway goes down, 6' high, 5' wide with a slight downward slope. There are some markings and prints that Shadow finds going into the tunnel. The stonework in the church was white, but these tunnels seem like a darker stone. Barlo pulls out the Moon-Touched Sword and sees how the stones are black. they go down ... the middle of the path is a reddish stone. dull red, like a red path. Almost like a brick, but natural. Marching... Sas in rear. Bastion in middle. Barlo in Lead. stealth... Shadow casts Pass Without Trace as they begin to walk. at a point they see where Light is at the end of the tunnel, and it appears to open into another area... slight murmurs of a discussion. Barlo puts his finger to his mouth signifying to be quiet. Hard to discern much from discussion from here... As it gets to the end they see it opens into a large room. large pillars, some destroyed. Old room. Old ceremonial sarcophagis. They sneak in, hugging a wall to the left of the passage. To the other side is some ornate runic design on the ground. A handful of individuals. Garm is talking to someone. Some individuals in black cloaks, one is talking to Garm. Garm has two in brown cloaks who look like they are made of chrome looking like him. Similar to the Metallic Mimic they met before.
There is also a Dead body near the party. No one recognizes the priest. General acolyte robe, no discernable religion. They try to see if they can hear the conversation. Seems like a trade Garm: "I have what you asked for..." the other one is hard to understand as he speaks with a gravely voice: "...we have had this artifact for a long time and its nice to see its value finally coming to help us..." He pulls out something from a bag and hands to garm, you see Garm has the Metal encased arm and he hands it over. the party whispers... stop him? follow him? shadow: "do we do this now? I can..." She shoots out with Spike Growth centered on the two doing the trade.
The Battle:
R.1
The main cultist: "What is this?" The party isn't sure how violent they should be... Barlo: "Garm, you son-of-a-bitch -- you have some explaining to do. Start talking before we wipe everyone out." Shadow moves out, "Don't move and you don't get hurt". Holds her action. note: Sage Advice on multiple attacks, no readying multi-attacks Because it is on your turn Barlo moves forward... Waiting for a response... one of the black robes looks to the boss who yells "ATTACK!" So Shadow unfurls her arrows at the boss. Misses, then HITS. She uses her swarm to move him, or attempts to. Fails. One of the guys is on the edge and he takes some damage as he exits, the same one who had looked to the boss. As he leaves he pulls out a scimitar and he slides his off hand to the side of the blade. It takes on a red Light as he does so, it momentarily glows red hot... The next one runs out, takes some damage, does the same thing. Garm leaps as far as he can, which is enough to get out of the brambles -- he seemed to have done something before he did so, not a spell, but some other feature. He pulls out a rod, off his belt and it has a glowing rapier point come out of it. Sas moves, casts Chill Touch which connects. Another one leaps out and pulls out his blade. Bastion moves forward. Scorching Ray (at 6th level) 3 on Garm and 3 on ..., hoping to Knock out Garm, not kill... NOTES on Nonlethal Damage I was going to let him try to do an Arcana Check to see if he could control it, and I will allow that moving forward if it comes up. Just as I will allow a DC check for ranged attacks. As the rays come in you see some force avoid the energies. Garm gets hit only on the last one. The Leader of the cultist can't do the cool Jump thing, but he still attempts after seeing the others do it. Then sprints, taking damage... He does the same thing to his scimitar as he pulls it out..R.2
Shadow pulls off a bead from the Necklace of Fireballs and throws it. All the cultists hit take damage, but not so much for Garm and the two mimics--they move in ways to avoid the bulk of the damage. She then uses BA to cast Hunter's Mark on Garm (at 3rd level, 8 hours), which drops the Spike Growth. Barlo pulls off his Animated Shield, Rages, then moves forward as he looks at Garm saying: "hey, we don't have to do this. We can talk! Tell us what the fuck is going on here.." And he attacks the cultist. Not reckless as many are around... HIT. HIT. he is hurting... off-hand hits... Non-chalantly as he is trying to taunt/intimidate Garm. One cultist attacks and misses. Garm attacks Bastion, 3 times. One of the cultists hits Barlo, he takes necrotic... and fails the wisdom save. Takes Short-Term Madness which stuns him... (rules says 1 minute, I changed it to a new saving throw each round for 1 minute -- that is too much for combat, let's say it is due to something the characters are still unaware of going on behind the scenes...) One of the mimics hit, misses Barlo. Then hits (bludgeon and psychic) Sas uses Chill Touch to hit a cultist. At attack at Sas, hits -- from the other Mimic, so it has psychic damage as it hits with its fist. A cultist misses Sas, then a miss on Barlo. Bastion uses his Blade Ward song. Then attacks with Steel Wind Strike, the first one takes down a cultist. Hits a second. But misses Garm. He returns to his original spot. Tells Shadow: Throw me a Potion!R.3
Shadow casts Healing Spirit at Bastion. A transparent Owlbear appears. So she then shoots at Garm 2x with the bow. The first one strikes (damage 22, and swarm attempts to shift him- he succeeds), second attack hits (29). She then doubles her speed with the feline agility. Barlo passes his saving throw (natural 20, 12) He feels his tail twitch and he is able to move.A miss on Barlo. Sas' spores attack Garm as he moves towards her, he then hits (nat 20)
Halo of Spores
TCE p36
Starting at 2nd level, you are surrounded by Invisible, necrotic spores that are harmless until you unleash them on a creature nearby. When a creature you can see moves into a space within 10 feet of you or starts its turn there, you can use your reaction to deal 1d4 necrotic damage to that creature unless it succeeds on a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC. The necrotic damage increases to 1d6 at 6th level, 1d8 at 10th level, and 1d10 at 14th level.
Reminder to V. from S. about Symbiotic Entity
Symbiotic Entity
TCE p36
At 2nd level, you gain the ability to channel magic into your spores. As an action, you can expend a use of your Wild Shape feature to Awaken those spores, rather than transforming into a beast form, and you gain 4 temporary hit points for each level you have in this class. While this feature is active, you gain the following benefits:
- When you deal your Halo of Spores damage, roll the damage die a second time and add it to the total.
- Your melee weapon attacks deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage to any target they hit.
As the attack comes in, Bastion uses his Wings to raise her AC, protecting her on the second hit making that a miss. The first one is 33 radiant damage, then the third one hits (13).
Miss on Sas from Mimic, as well as a miss against Barlo from cultist.
Sas Wildshapes into a Giant Hyena.
Barlo gets hit by a Mimic. Two times.
Cultists misses.
Bastion gets some healing from Shadow's Healing Spirit. then he does the Steel Wind Strike again, kills a cultist. misses garm as he moves to the side. Bastion moves up with this.
The main cultist misses
R.4
Shadow moves the Healing Spirit to Bastion. Attacks Garm, uses her piercer feat to change the damage..
Piercer
You have achieved a penetrating precision in combat, granting you the following benefits:
- Increase your Strength or Dexterity by 1, to a maximum of 20.
- Once per turn, when you hit a creature with an attack that deals piercing damage, you can reroll one of the attack's damage dice, and you must use the new roll.
- When you score a critical hit that deals piercing damage to a creature, you can roll one additional damage die when determining the extra piercing damage the target takes.
She then attacks again.
Barlo strikes out, including a crit (12) to a Mimic (gives him disadvantage on attacks due to grievous hit)
at this point the characters have all seemed to notice something is trying to happen at such high and low peaks of their life lately...
Barlo then says to Garm: "hey - we don't need to kill you over this, we can talk about this. You really fucked up when you did what you did on our ship."
Garm looks at him "I got what I needed out of this, he's got your hand. I don't have anything else you want."
Shadow: "That remains to be seen."
Garm disengages from the Hyena and goes into a protective defense stat. Then a Mimic does the same.
Hyena goes to attack and misses. (got a 1 then a 9)
Other Mimic looks to Garm, then the others and steps back with himself also going into defensive mode.
Bastion gets more healing. He then attacks and then two True Strike attacks.
An attack from Garm who was just hit by Bastion, it seems he didn't like being hit, but it seems all th estrikes miss. Bastion says: "You aint going nowhere until you explain what's going on."
He looks at Bastion "I came to get one thing and I have it. It has no regards to you all. If you want the hand, that's the guy who has it."
Shadow: "We know!"
Bastion: "That wasn't what I said."
The cultist leader looks to Garm "What the fuck, pal?!" He strikes out twice and misses.
Garm: "If it is answers you want, I will gladly give those." stares at bastion with his sword brought up at him "shall i stop?" Bastion: "Tell us what you got and what you plan to do with it." Garm disengages, steps back and puts the sword up again in a defensive pose. the first Mimic does the same. Sas holds Mimic holds Bastion is getting a bit impatient for answers... looks around and sees that the conflict is done. He moves to block his path. Bastion tells him to put his sword away. Garm has the Light go down, and puts it on his belt... Garm: "So, we will talk." Shadow is keeping her bow ready.
R.5
Shadow moves. Attacks with non lethal attacks in the hope to take him down alive. The second strike hits as she intended. Barlo runs up to someone, looking at Garm. Hits (crits, 12). again attacks. hits again. Garm "I got what I needed out of this and you continue to attack." Shadow: "you need to give us answers."Garm: "If it is answers you want, I will gladly give those." stares at bastion with his sword brought up at him "shall i stop?" Bastion: "Tell us what you got and what you plan to do with it." Garm disengages, steps back and puts the sword up again in a defensive pose. the first Mimic does the same. Sas holds Mimic holds Bastion is getting a bit impatient for answers... looks around and sees that the conflict is done. He moves to block his path. Bastion tells him to put his sword away. Garm has the Light go down, and puts it on his belt... Garm: "So, we will talk." Shadow is keeping her bow ready.
☠️ Barlo ☠️ ☠️ Bastion ☠️ Shadow ☠️Unsure, possibly bastion?
t Combat Experience: 5000 (1000 ea) | Total: 105,500 (Next Goal: 120,000) t
Rewards Granted
Experience
t Combat Experience: 2500 (500 ea) | Total: 104,500 (Next Goal: 120,000) t t Combat Experience: 5000 (1000 ea) | Total: 105,500 (Next Goal: 120,000) t
Missions/Quests Completed
Character(s) interacted with
Characters
- Garm Pavond
- Cultist Leader in Thornwinds
- Barlo
- Bastion Bladesinger
- Calliope Galanodel
- Sas W.T. Rayce
- Shadow in the Snow
- Arktos
- Princess
Creatures
Created Content
2023
10 (Redfall)
Redfall 20, 2023 KC
- The Wild Cards explore the church of Thornwind
Locations
Items of Note
- Moon-Touched Sword
- Potion
- Ring of Alertness
- Armor
- Animated Shield
- Ring of Animal Influence
- Necklace of Fireballs
- Bone
- Leather
- Lead
- Metal
- Wood
Factions
Misc
- Redfall
- Dead
- Invisible
- Monstrosity Creatures
- Halfling Language
- Necromancy
- Illusion
- Enchantment
- Abjuration
- Divination
- Soul
- Bard
- Dreams
- Work
- Detect Magic
- Healing Spirit
- Spike Growth
- Steel Wind Strike
- Blade Ward
- Darkness
- Mage Hand
- Find Traps
- Silence
- Speak with Animals
- Misty Step
- Jump
- Awaken
- True Strike
- Fear
- Sleep
- Scorching Ray
- Chill Touch
- Detect Evil and Good
- Pass Without Trace
- Hunter's Mark
- Shillelagh
- Light
- Knock
