Chapter 9, Session 3: One Factory, 2 vampires and several descents
General Summary
Yes of course, we are home, no we are not, I'm sorry but she isn't coming back... no the Horde will be okay without me... Oh, I'm sorry Ez, I was thinking of another eagle.The session started with the party staring upon the factory floor and the Firbolg's guarding the area. The group took stock of their surroundings and condition before unanimously realising they needed to try and rest and so they went back to the library and many tried to rest in that time.
- Kodo continues to rant idly to himself...
As the group returned to the library they noticed with a disturbing feeling, that the corpses of Aist Mages killed in the fight were all gone and the library had lost it's well-preserved lustre, instead becoming rotted and decayed... though the books in the groups possession were still well preserved... Ez and Kodo kept this in mind as they kept watch whilst the remaining members of Persicorum rested and recovered from their injuries. As they rested, the group again made a series of wisdom saving throws, with Anastasia alone in failing and gaining another point that gave her advantage on checks but disadvantage on maintaining concentration.
Full recovered, the party went back to the factory level and decided to approach it with a unique and ingenious plan in which Olympia and Fen each turned every party member invisible and they moved through the factory. However, disaster struck when Kodo, moving forward, didn't realise he was walking over broken test tube and beaker glass, making it crunch beneath his feet and drawing the attention of the two firbolgs who descended on the space he was in by teleporting in a pool of blood and using their Life Sense ability which helped them detect the members of Persicorum and realise their numbers but not their location; at this moment the stakes became high enough to enter a strict initiative.
The party moved forward with intense urgency now and found they had split into smaller groups; Kodo remained isolated but was sure footed enough in regaining his composure and, using his spider climb boots and running along the ceiling, he stealthily made it to the grate at the end of the factory room without much issue.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party had a tense route to the grate, with Olympia quickly climbing into Mimsi's bag and using it as cover whilst she cast spells like Minor Illusion to cover the rest of the party's escape... though she also had to contend with motion sickness after experiencing Mimsi parkouring her way across the factory and tampering with the factory machinery as she did so after recognising it as being very similar to the machines used in The Hook and Knife Foundation to contain The Talented.
Ez tried to distract the vampiric firbolgs in the factory by casting Conjure Animals to summon several black bears in the hope the firbolg vampires would be attracted to an easy meal and one of them was... however, this became risky when Ez, breaking invisibility to cast the spell, was spotted by the other vampire and attacked brutally by them before Anastasia summoned Blackey to protect Ez and Fen took the chance by Dimension Door-ing with Ez and himself directly on top of the grate where they quickly used violent spells and magic to tear the grate apart and cast a brutal sunbeam at one of the firbolg vampires before flying beneath to await the rest of the party whilst Kodo dove straight down the hole alone.
The party were soon joined by Mimsi and Olympia as the bard, in a moment of reckless abandon, climbed out of the bag and carried Mimsi, vaulting over the wall and diving into the hole with their magic carpet in tow before then climbing back out and saving Thordak as well...
The last descent was Anastasia who, after lagging behind and watching Blackey get brutally killed by a vampire firbolg, managed to stealth through and, in a moment of her own reckless abandon, dove over the factory equipment and, narrowly dodging the vampiric firbolgs, she dove into the hole whilst yelling 'See ya motherfuckers!'.
With the party breaking past the factory but still scattered Ez could hear Kodo absent mindedly muttering to himself and not paying attention to his own movement and so Ez asked Lyren Killian to tail Kodo and make sure their companion was staying safe before the rest of the party made their way down the tunnel and descended further into darkness with Ez transforming into an eagle to carry Fen, Anastasia sliding down and Olympia, Mimsi and Thordak choosing to ride the tunnel down by using their carpet like a helter skelter.
Kodo was absent minded and confused in his descent, the darkness played with his thoughts and he struggled to maintain knowledge of where he was; failing to notice Lyren despite the tiefling just quietly being 5-10ft away from Kodo.
Anastasia moved downwards alone and was caught in a dark, silent solitude that left her dread filled and alone before she found Kodo and tried to talk to him; Kodo addressed her as Aeleith and started talking about The Monkey's Paw restaurant, greatly confusing Anastasia until he became lucid for a moment and apologised before they moved forward in silence with Lyren remarking to Anastasia that he believes Kodo to be cracking and breaking.
Ez and Fen moved quietly down the tunnel and each of them were gripped by a sensation in the back of their minds before Fen heard the voice of The Chaos whispering for him to move left whilst Ez heard a whisper of pure finality that stated 'right'.
Meanwhile, team joy rode the helter skelter which was tremendous fun for the first few minutes before becoming decidedly dull afterwards... during their ride down, Thordak felt a primal invasion of his mind and a new found clarity of it before hearing a voice, in the back of his mind, whisper 'right'.
The party regathered soon after and there was a deep concern for the well being of Kodo who seemed to not understanding where he was whilst Mimsi and Ez tried to support and help him to little effect... however, they did manage to speak to Kodo for a time and he revealed that he saw stagnation in staying still and didn't wish to stop until he was convinced to rest for an hour. At which point the party took a short rest to recover and discuss their experiences whilst Kodo took a rest and dreamt of once more meeting The Stranger where Kodo showed the figure an inn he visited that made an experimental meal and Kodo revealed his philosophy that food is something that ties everyone together... something the figure agreed with but stated he saw weather and sensation the same way. They then discussed their philosophies on life and whether or not they were right to want to explore and travel. Kodo didn't have an answer to that question yet but explained that he did care about his party but that he just couldn't be as committed as they wanted him to be, meanwhile the stranger expressed that they once told their family the truth and it ruined their bonds forever. The Stranger then asked Kodo if he would consider a travelling companion and Kodo gladly accepted the company on his future adventures and the Stranger then warned Kodo that Anastasia would be visited by a figure in her sleep and will find it simpler to accept the loneliness and the company it would bring...
With that, the party finished their short rest and came upon a fork in the road, an option of a left turn or a right turn. And session ended there.
Report Date
19 Aug 2023
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