Session XXV - 11.05.2021

General Summary

• The session starts with the group starting their pilgrimage with the cult of Tiamat lead by Hecutis. Everyone except Jo is treated as servant and hence stripped of their weapons and foci.
• After one or two days of travel, the caravan of dragon creatures and the group make camp at a giant dragon skeleton. While the "servants" get chained, Jo is lead by Hecutis a bit outside of the camp. Here, he asks Jo to take the first part of her "trial" to follow the path of Tiamat - he asks her to drink a viscous potion. Jo does so and her mind is flooded by visions of her climbing on a throne devoted to Tiamat (dragon heads in the room with pools of the corresponding heads beneath them). Also, Tiamat seems to speak to her and offers her great power if she becomes her champion, for example by granting her a stunningly powerful greatsword.
• In the meantime, the camp gets attacked by devils and the "servants" need to break their shackles to be able to defend themselves. This goes very well (a bearded devil dies swiftly). After her vision has ended, Jo also enters the camp to fight alongside her allies, one-hitting a bearded devil with a critical divine smite! The group continues to fight and eventually the devils are overwhelmed. The group manages to interrogate one of the surviving devils (after Jo had to scold Hecutis who wanted to just rip the devil apart) after making a contract with him (he is allowed to leave but has to tell the group who sent him and he cannot enter the camp for 50 years). It turns out that these devils were sent by Zariel to find a Hollyphant (= Lulu) and an elven woman (= Laenwynn). Obviously, the group does not tell Hecutis and his followers about these two and so the devils run away. After the fight, the "servants" are deemed worthy and are from now on allowed to roam the camp freely and also carry their weapons.
• After a few more days of travel, the caravan reaches an icy cavern. Hecutis tells Jo that here the second part of her trial lies. She is supposed to retrieve something from deep within the unnaturally cold cavern. And so the group ventures into the cavern to overcome several obstacles (e.g. melting ice by clever use of the spells withing the Shield of the Hidden Lord or by a very unsuccesful lullaby by Darius that was supposed to force an ice troll fall asleep). Eventually, the group reaches the final chamber (after Jo had melted the blocking ice magic with her fiery breath weapon). Herein, multiple silver and white dragon eggs were residing - a hatchery for Tiamat. Jo concludes that if here the eggs of dragons connected to elemental ice (silver dragons, white dragons) are kept then maybe something similar exists for fire dragons. Maybe here she could find her stolen egg? Tiamat asks her to bring forth one of the silver eggs and to sacrifice it. Jo has to face a tough decision - sacrificing a being of pure good to not lose their cover and maybe learn the location of her egg or at least to have vengeance? Or refuse and not stain her soul? Eventually, she decides to sacrifice the egg as her desire for vengeance is too great. And so the group can return to Hecutis who is pleased with the outcome of this part of the trial ...

Report Date

11 May 2021