The Adventures of The Big HELP, Session 10

General Summary

• The Big HELP return to Firelda Outpost. Guards directed them to report to Kilgrid. Though Kilgrid was upset that they had ignored his orders not to get involved in the Catfolk Freehold defense against Pascatia, his mood changed when he heard that the HELP had poisoned the Pascatian camp. He said he'd include this information in his report to the Catchief and suggest she increase their payment.
• Hest told Kilgrid about the plans for the Pascatian force to attack underground via explosives. Kilgrid sent Helena to investigate the basement. He rallied the outpost soldiers and left Firelda Outpost to attack the Pascatian force while they were reeling from the poisoning.
• The HELP ran into Helena after she did her search. She suggested they grab a drink and meal together. Bigwig enthusiastically agreed first and she noticed that Helena blushed at her enthusiasm. Everyone else decided to go for a drink as well.
• Helena grabbed herself and Bigwig a mug of beer before the quartermaster could ask them to pay for it. Larka ordered a strong drink to help her deal with having caused a mental breakdown just a few hours before. Petrichor ordered some milk from a saucer. Hest made fun of this, not realizing drinking milk from a saucer is of cultural significance in the Freehold.
• After sitting and drinking for some time, Helena asked Bigwig if they could speak privately for a minute. In Helena's room, she asked Bigwig about the Arazid mark. Bigwig talked about the dream she had and its relation to the Cult of Arazid. Helena knew nothing of the cult but said she experienced the same dream. She revealed that she also had a mark, along her collar bone and had been granted fire magic by the entity.
• Helena panicked about what the mark could mean. Could it be a form of control or placing a target on them for some kind of monster? Bigwig hadn't thought about this before but was now feeling the same anxiety. Helena asked if she experienced anything when she took the smaller mark from the child she healed and suggested they try the same thing with each other. When the two touched each other's marks, Bigwig felt the same heat in Helena that was in child but to a much greater degree and much more intertwined with Helena's being. She pulled away, afraid that trying to draw in the power like she had before would kill Helena.
• At that point, Helena said she was tired and ready to sleep, pointing out that Bigwig was in her room. Bigwig took this for an advance and asked to stay. Helena was flustered and said that's not what she meant, ushering Bigwig out. Bigwig heard Helena lock the door and tell her self she screwed up, and then walked into Larka who had been eavesdropping. Larka convinced Bigwig to try again but a thundering sound from below the outpost distracted everyone. The Big HELP and Helena rushed down to investigate.
• The party found the basement collapsing and two Pascatian soldiers, dusty with rubble, coming up the stairs. Larka killed one while Petrichor used Hold Person on the other. Hest tied him up and interrogated him on what happened. It took Petrichor using Detect Thoughts to learn the truth. The Pascatian explosives went off accidentally. The explosives disturbed an underground river, making the damage even greater than expected and connecting the caves with the outpost foundation. Helena, angry with her enemy, killed the soldier in the name of her friends lost in battle.
• The party continued onwards, hearing the sound of combat. Helena said she needed to clear the basement rooms to make sure there were no more enemies. The basement was shaken from the blast, though, and the party needed to be careful to avoid dangerous spots. They came across a chasm filling with water. Hest used her magic to freeze the surface and walk across.
• The party found a group of undead hunting for a scared Pascatia soldier. The underground river raged through the room, its force slowly wearing away a supporting wall. As the wall crumbled, Petrichor caught sight of a room on the other side that Helena did not recognize. She thought she saw a portal on the other side. Hest tried to convince the soldier to help them fight off the undead but he ran instead. The party were able to defeat the undead and escape the room before it collapsed. Hest needed to refreeze the water on their escape, however, as the soldier fell through the ice on his escape.
• Helena guided the party to the forge room. The caves had breached this room and the storeroom next door. Larka found a +1 dagger and Hest found several potions in the storeroom (Healing, Fire Breathing, Advantage, Climbing, and Greater Healing). She kept them for herself. The party continued on into the cave network when they heard someone cry for help.
• Navigating the tunnel, Larka followed the labored breaths of a dying soldier. He had nothing on him when he died. Larka checked his body. At first, cause of death seemed to be crushing rubble, but Larka found what seemed to be tentacle sucker marks around his head. Hest suggested trying a different path through the caves to avoid whatever this creature was.
• Hest's fear was her downfall, in the end. As she hurried back down another cave path, a dark shape fell from the ceiling and smashed her in the head. She felt tentacles wrap around her head, blinding and suffocating her. The rest of her friends were able to rip the creature from her face and kill it. Bigwig recognized it as a Darkmantle, a cave-dwelling creature indistinguishable from a stalactite when still. Fortunately, the party managed to navigate the caves without encountering another one.
• The caves eventually opened up and the party found where the explosion must have broken through, given there were many tiefling and harengon lying dead in the clearing. Bigwig pretended to offer last rites while looting them of their gold. The river raging through this clearing seemed much less turbulent than what the HELP had seen before. A red shimmer from a cave on the other side caught Bigwig's attention.
• Hest tried to form a rope bridge by lasooing a rock on the other side the river, but failed and lost her rope to the river. She was a little embarrassed when she realized the party could easily swim across.
• The party decided to check out the red glow. The glow came from lava. The cave offshoot led to a room where the floor was a pool of lava and red lightning supported a ruby crystal floating in the air. Larka made a joke about it being connected to Bigwig and Helena's abilities. Bigwig mentioned that she shouldn't have been eavesdropping on her and Helena's conversation. When Helena realized that Larka had heard her talking to Bigwig, she ran back to the clearing to take a minute and compose herself.
• The party decided to leave the crystal be as it seemed too dangerous to interfere with.
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Report Date

01 Jan 2024