The Adventures of the Big HELP, Session 18

General Summary

• Eris Tisani was pulled away from the group by her patron.
• Bigwig looked through the bag of rings she and the others had found. Both she and Larka decided to wear the rings and found their melee attacks infused with fire. Larka hoped wearing multiple rings would empower her further but found this not to be the case. After investigating the priest's corpse again, the HELP saw his Arazid mark fade away.
• Walking further into the mine, The Big HELP decided not to investigate what sounded like a quartermaster taking inventory. They instead decided to sneak around with Petrichor casting Pass Without Trace. Bigwig kept going forward while Petrichor and Larka investigated a room marked Captain's Quarters. Amroth stayed behind to keep watch.
• Bigwig found a large chamber filled with Cult of Arazid members. Someone in charge asked her if she had brought any items empowered by fire magic. She showed him the rings he found, playing stupid to learn more about what the cult was up to. She found out that the Fireblood had ordered her cultists to hunt down magic items imbued with fire magic by any means necessary. The cultist ordered Bigwig to search through some of the recent aquisitions.
• Petrichor and Larka found the leader of this cell of the cult writing in his journal. Larka stabbed him by surprise, leaving him just barely alive. Before falling unconscious, the captain, Royce, spoke a command word and the journal burst into flames. Larka almost let it burn before dousing and retrieving it. "...will lead the attack. Artifacts will continue to be sent to you. Nothing matching the report of the Ghispar branch has been found, but we will keep searching. Yours faithfully, Royce." Burned into the page in another script. "Keep attentive. The one I wrote to you about has been moving in your direction. My last successful scrying saw her moving through Vala Pass. She's brimming with potential, but untapped. No one drains her but me."
• Bigwig started chatting with a cultist who seemed very excited for the gifts Fireblood would bestow upon those faithful to her. She seemed in awe of Bigwig for how powerful she was and talked about how the Fireblood would bring his knowledge and power to her followers. Bigwig caught sight of crates of armor that seemed to be separate from the other items. Investigating it, she found that it was armor marked with lenoin heraldry. Another cult priest caught site of Bigwig and interrogated her on why she was interfering with items she had nothing to do with. Bigwig failed to convince him she was not interfering so he escorted her to the captain's room for further questioning.
• Petrichor investigated further in Royce's room and found a canary in a cage. She tried to cast Animal Friendship on it but failed. In casting Speak with Animals, she was surprised to learn the bird recognized her. Opening the cage, the canary escaped and turned out to be Zinnia in Wild Shape form. She explained that things had changed since the last time they spoke and that the cult was dangerous. Zinnia instructed them to flee while she continued investigating the cult and that she would fill them in on the details. later.
• Bigwig contacted Petrichor via Sending Stone that cultists were on their way to Royce's room. Petrichor wild shaped into a rat to hide while Larka sat Royce up to look like he fell asleep at his desk before hiding. The priest entered the room with Bigwig and found Royce. He realized that Royce had been attacked. Larka sprung into action but not before the priest could call for help. She and Bigwig took down the priest quickly and Bigwig took the chance to absorb his Arazid power before more cultists came into the room.
• Bigwig managed to intimidate the cult fanatic that made it to the room first while Amroth hurried to help. Unfortunately, she lost control of the cult fanatic when she claimed to be the cult's messiah. His faith in the Fireblood proved stronger and he attacked. Amroth was able to sneak up from behind and kill him before he could hurt Bigwig. More cultists flooded into the captain's room but the HELP were easily able to fend them off. Following the battle, Amroth was concerned about the HELP penchant for murder. He asked if they were alright but was brushed off a little. The HELP decided to kill Royce at this point since he was already going to bleed out.
• Returning to the magic item sorting room, the HELP saw there was only one cultist left and he seemed to be guarding a corridor. He said only those with the Fireblood's permission were allowed to go further. The corridor seemed to nullify the magics she gave her followers. Bigwig talked to him and convinced him they were his relief. Larka and Petrichor went to investigate the armor Bigwig had seen earlier and recognized the heraldry on it as belonging to King Hespiro. Larka did her best to destroy the armor. The guard said he had to report to Captain Royce before taking his break. Bigwig tried to convince him not to but failed. Larka killed the guard before he could find Royce.
• Down the corridor was a dark room filled, ankle-deep, with water. Bigwig started to feel tired as soon as she touched the water, her Arazid powers suppressed. In the center of the room, the water got much deeper and seemed to lead into an underwater cave. Petrichor cast Water Breathing on everyone. Before they could explore the cave, a water elemental and several steam mephits rose up to attack them. The water elemental was a massive threat, but Amroth kept it and the mephits at bay by casting Bane. Petrichor wild shaped into a crocodile while Larka attacked from afar. The HELP were able to defeat the elemental after a rough start and swam down below.
• The HELP found themselves in a cavern filled with bright red crystals that radiated magical power, matching the description of the crystals given by Nascour. Bigwig went straight to mining some of the crystals. Larka and Petrichor investigated the cave further only to find an immense stone door. The only feature was an immense depiction of the Mark of Arazid faintly glowing red. At the foot of the door was a skeleton made of crystalline water. They searched their collective knowledge for creatures with skeletons like this but couldn't think of anything. Larka eventually recognized it as a genasi skeleton and vaguely remembered hearing stories of ancient genasi having bodies made of the elements their gods infused them with.
• Petrichor and Larka both decided to take bones from the skeleton. As soon as they did, the skeleton collapsed. Bigwig, who had just finished getting the crystals they needed, suddenly felt her Arazid powers return. The three of them wondered if there had been some kind of ward emminating from the skeleton that inhibited the cult's power. Bigwig looked at the door and felt immense power from it, almost like whatever was behind there would transcend her to godhood. She touched the door, but only managed to make the Mark flicker brighter. She realized she needed more power to open the door.
• The HELP returned to the the rest of the mine only to hear an anguished cry of rage. To their surprise, the Fireblood was there herself, hurling fire and lightning wildly while cursing whoever killed Royce. The HELP tried to sneak past, but the Fireblood was able to smell Bigwig and called out to her. At first, the Fireblood was angry at Bigwig and threatened her. Bigwig managed to get her talking and was able to open a dialogue. In truth, the Fireblood seemed confused, unaware of who she was before taking this power. She wondered if she and Bigwig were sisters or if they were blessed or cursed in the same way. Why else would they be so gifted with these power of Arazid? The Fireblood seemed ready to attack Bigwig when she cast Detect Thoughts and realized that Bigwig had found an artifact related to Arazid. In order to distract her and give the HELP a chance to escape, Bigwig revealed the existence of the door they had just found.
• At this moment, Petrichor threw the bone she had taken at the Fireblood. It bounced off harmlessly and she went into a rage. She hurled a bolt of lightning from her staff, downing Bigwig. Zinnia returned just in time to shield the HELP and give them time to escape. Petrichor revived Bigwig and they all escaped the mine while Zinnia and the Fireblood fought.
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Report Date

21 Apr 2024