Session 027: The Infamous Bargle Report

The Party meets Bargle.

General Summary

02/11/2022
The Mighty Menagerie (3)

 

Leafall 24, 2020KC

  Ziggurat of Tharizdun, below Skola Vale, Skola Vale, Upperdark, The Underdark, The Dark Rain Forest, Kampos     Story so far
The party has come to Skola Vale, the home of Calliope Galanodel & the Elder of the Dawngreets and of the Skola Vale, which was overrun by a large band of mercenaries -- paid off by a Warlock. This Warlock, named Bargle has been in the Ziggurat of Tharizdun, below Skola Vale long ago built and hidden with the death of the Archfey which originally created the Vale. The creator Archfey had desired to place his Domain as a conduit between the Material Plane and the Shadowfell. The Domain of Dread and death.   Instead, it would seem that a long time ago, a band of adventurers with the assistance of other powerful Archfey beings killed him and then made the Domain a conduit between the Material Plane and the Feywild instead. This also placed this large cavern and temple into a pocket universe.   Not too long ago, Bast, the cat goddess, came into this pocket universe and took the Gem of Tharizdun, which had been left behind on the Flying Ship, Adventurer Class Airship. She put it into a magical Bronze Orb to hide it from others and to keep it safe. This she imparted to Sas W.T. Rayce, a Tortle hermit.   Now the party, with this knowledge, finds them exploring this dark temple, and after facing off some protector wraiths, they have found the Warlock and his crew searching for something. It seems they are looking for this orb. They overheard how there are other Deific artifacts in this temple and that the warlock Bargle already has an orb, one for the world of Mystara. He seems intent to find a second orb so that he can use one to fuel his travels back to his realm and to keep one on his person for when he returns, granting him immeasurable power.   They also learned how the young Pradam Estorich, a Wizard kid traveling with the "Fortunate Mead Heroes," a band of adventurers led by Cellymas & Jeets, happens to possibly have an orb to Venger's Realm in his hat. They heard how Bargle spent a lot of his wealth on the mercenaries and that he is also working with the Arcane Order -- a group the party has already heard about due to their run-ins with Jacoby.   Bargle spoke of a "magic research facility," and the rumors of a Arcane Forge on Outding Refuge -- the Arcane Forge for which the party helped secure, but the rumors of a "facility" makes it seem as if Lars Heyton & Ursa have been doing more than just a few items here and there. There was also talk of Philander and another possible Arcane Forge out there, wherever that may be -- but it did bring up another Familiar name. Vyerith -- the dark-skinned Elf who was held in the prisons of Tharros the Wanderer. She was supposed to board a ship in Neyer, but the contact from "The Road" had not made it as he had been "lost at sea."   It seems they are planning their next step, and they have a few different options, unlike the party. The party didn't seem to have many options at the moment as they entered the large chamber, and their stealth was not enough to keep them hidden.   As the Warlock saw them come up to the door, he let them know he saw them and let it be known he had intentions of not being peaceful.   Bargle, the Warlock across the room, says, "My patron wasn't sure if the orb was still here or not, seems that when that cat bitch came here and intruded on this sacred grounds as it wasted away in that pocket dimension -- she helped him "awake" and find me. It also seems you may know more about the orb than we first thought. Let's see how well you really fight -- get them!" he tells the others.

 
    Table talk on Tatoo Upgrades & retcon on observations
(a bit of "retconning" about the black stretched orb of darkness at the top of the stairs and the two large stone tablets in the first room.   Also retconned that Sas W.T. Rayce & Bastion Bladesinger used their Darkvision Magic Tattoo as they came down the steps).   (note: if a player wants the full-time Darkvision tattoo, they can pay the difference for an upgrade)
 
  As the battle is about to start -- Bastion Bladesinger gets a Message:    
"Those diamonds are in the chest." - Ursa
 
 

 

 
 

The Battle:

  Combat Round 01
R.1
 
  • Bargle looks around, then flies up into the air. He shifts back towards the throne, so he can get a bit of a catbird seat view. (30 ft. in the air)
  • Bastion Bladesinger moved forward, and then he readied the spell
  • Sas W.T. Rayce moves forward and summons her Chill Touch, which doesn't affect the Orc with Longbow.
  • Shadow in the Snow pulls out her Frost Brand Shortsword and notices it is glowing. She moves up to the first Troglodyte she can see, and as she strikes, it is more than enough to take him down. She cuts his head off, and he slinks down; there is a horrible stench. ☠️
  • Calliope Galanodel uses her Uncommon Glamerweave cloak to give her some camouflage and gives her inspiration to Bastion Bladesinger
  • Barlo runs forward and strikes at the Orc with a longbow, BAM! BAM! And he pounds him to the ground with his multiple strikes. ☠️
  • Satyr plays a ditty on his panflute. The party is not affected, thanks to their feast.
  • Bastion Bladesinger notices Bargle and lets loose with his Scorching Rays -- with two hitting him.
  • Troglodytes & Orcs move forward to the party. Some let loose with their javelins. Barlo gets hit by at least one of them; Shadow in the Snow sees two javelins fly over her. The surviving Troglodyte moves to Barlo, his bite almost hits, but Barlo strikes him with his tail across the face. The first claw misses, but the second pierce through.
  • Arktos moves

 
 

 

Chaos Quadrapod
  Combat Round 02
R.2
 
 
    Combat Round 03
R.3
 
 
    Combat Round 03
R.3
 
 
    Combat Round 04
R.4
 
 
    Combat Round 05
R.5
 
 
 



 

t Combat Experience: 10850 (1808 Each) | Total: 19,388 (Next Goal: 23,000) t
   

  "I see I've been left here all by myself. I could have you fight each other… but now I'm more pissed at Bargle than you. I could end my hostilities if you can. Not a surrender, a ceasefire."   "So, that was fun." The Satyr takes a step back. "Not trying anything, just want you to know that right now we are equals. I suppose I can answer some questions for you, but after that, we are done."   Bastion Bladesinger reminds him they can still fight, and the Satyr reminds him that he at least stood down out of respect for his friend (Barlo).   Shadow in the Snow comes up to him, "What are you doing down here?"   Satyr: "Sigh. So, pretty much what it comes down to is I am a warlock of Tharizdun. I was to help out that little Warlock, ex-wizard find the orbs."   Shadow in the Snow: "what orb?"   Satyr: "Each world is an orb, eventually when the end of a world, they become an orb. At that moment, all the magic in that world is now there. Every time you cast a spell or use magic -- you pull from The Weave, but by using that magic, you actually add to The Weave as well. Imagine you have a bowl, and you fill it with sand. It is finite; only so much would pour out -- but with magic, you can make that sand continue to pour out indefinitely. Same with magic -- the more you use it, the more you create. At the end of any Universe, and there is always an end -- there is a weave. That weave is power. My patron needs 333 such worlds to exist and to end to ultimately be freed."   Shadow in the Snow: "how many are there now?"   Satyr: "hard to say. With such a thing, it is always fluid. It's timeless almost; all I can say is that it's always just about getting the next one. And I realized when you showed up -- I was already about to get betrayed by Bargle as he was just about getting power for himself from them."   Shadow in the Snow: "why are you being so chatty?"   Satyr: "Well, because your friend there asked me to stop, and at that moment, I was done fighting. To be honest, I'm not too worried about myself. I helped him to get down here as I was tasked to do. He got what he wanted out of this place. Well, his patron will be able to come back at least."   Shadow in the Snow: "Tharizdun?"   Satyr: "His patron is the corpse you came down here through."   Calliope Galanodel: "Who is that, though?"   Satyr: "That's the Archfey corpse up there. It seemed when your goddess came down here to get the orb; she was able to let some of his essence get out. The cat goddess came here to get that orb. My understanding was she wants that power to help out someone or something. So that was able to help him out, so Bargle's patron got what he needed - he'll be able to accumulate power and come back."   Someone asked: "Where did Bargle go?"   Satyr: "Oh, I don't know. He said he had some prisoners of interest. And after how many of those hired hands are now Dead down here, I am sure they won't just give him those prisoners back. I know he wants to go after that Pradam kid who came here the same time he did."   Someone asked if they came from the same place.   Satyr: "No, Bargle comes from the Realm "Mystara," it seems he was some powerful Wizard there. He came here, and the Archfey started to use him for his own purposes. Now, in the end, you ask why am I being this calm and unconcerned -- because my patron is about destruction. Whether you go after him or he wins --, there will be destruction."   Shadow in the Snow: "Right, but if we kill you now -- you won't see it."   Satyr: "You think you can kill me? All you'll do is destroy the body I'm in."   Shadow in the Snow says they can destroy the body.   Satyr: "I thought we were talking."   Bastion Bladesinger: "are you a vessel? If we throw you in the Bag of Holding, will you die and not be able to go anywhere?"   Satyr: "You can talk to me as long as you want, but right now, you got him going after some poor little kid or some of your loved ones he knows about…."   Shadow in the Snow: "You think we don't have them protected?"   Bastion Bladesinger: "Who does he know about?"   Satyr: "You don't know, do you?" and a bit of small smile and laugh "One of you has been missing their daddy for a long time now. He knows where the Dad's at." and he looks at Sas W.T. Rayce.   Sas W.T. Rayce, Deer in the headlights look.   Looks at Barlo: "I think one of your siblings is missing to that you haven't talked to in a while."   Barlo asks for the name.   Satyr: "The one who has mellowed out over time… so at this point, I think you have a better understanding of what's at stake here."   Shadow in the Snow: "what do you expect us to do? Go after Bargle? What was the point of this conversation?"   Satyr: "For the most part, I've done what I need to do. I see you have things to do, he has things he will do, and I'm the only one stopping the return of her homelands... And at this point, I'm done with this."
    He then steps off the edge.   Satyr: () Leaps to the Darkness   As he steps, Shadow in the Snow shoots an arrow at him, and it strikes him in the shoulder, and he falls down with a grunt.   Nothing. No scream. No sound.    
At this point, Caireall Donoghuei says, "we need to go. With what he said if he was the last thing… I don't know what is going to happen, but the Vale will be coming back."   They ask if this will trap them.   Caireall Donoghuei: "I think so."
    So the party runs out of the temple, up the stairwell, they see a strange black mass that they can only barely see in the corner of their eye floating at the top of the stairwell. The doors are now open.   Barlo reaches out to the mass but feels nothing.   They exit the Ziggurat of Tharizdun, below Skola Vale, and Shadow in the Snow asks if they can use the ship; Bastion Bladesinger says it should be able to Fly -- it isn't 100%, but it might work. And they see the light is starting to thin.   Bastion Bladesinger puts on the hat, Sas W.T. Rayce puts the Orb of Toril into the ship -- its magic spreads out. The hat reminds Bastion Bladesinger to Fly. He pulls out the rods on the ship's wheel to go up and back in to go down.   Everyone boards the Adventurer Class Airship.    
Barlo: "I don't believe a ship can Fly, but prove me wrong."
    Calliope Galanodel gives Bastion Bladesinger a bardic inspiration.   As he pulls out the rods, the ship begins to pull up, but there is a lot of sand, but with his will, it helps pull the ship up, and they begin to Fly. They head to one of the holes, and they barely get out of the narrow pass (narrow for such a ship).   The Sun is beginning to set, and they see the buildings begin to return, and they start to populate the area. Some are a bit translucent, and it is a weird effect from their vantage point, but it seems for all intents and purposes the Skola Vale is back. They are airborne, and the Vale is back.   They realize they need a rest, so they land the ship.  
City Map | Village of Skola Vale
Just referred to as the Village of Skola Vale, or even Skola Vale it is the village in this wide green valley. This vale exists both in the Feywild and the Material Plane in The Dark Rain Forest on Kampos.
  (I said gateways to the town)   But it was one of the only gates/walls prominent in the city, which are at the Elder's Keep of Skola Vale.   The Elder of the Dawngreets and some guards come up.   They land the Flying Ship.   Sas W.T. Rayce takes back the orb.   And they exit the ship to meet the Elder and the guards.  

t Milestone Experience: 2500 (500 Each) | Total: 19,888 (Next Goal: 23,000) t
         

Rewards Granted


 
Experience
 

  t Combat Experience: 10850 (1808 Each) | Total: 18888 (Next Goal: 23,000) t   t Milestone Experience: 2500 (500 Each) | Total: 19388 (Next Goal: 23,000) t  
 

Missions/Quests Completed

   

Notes

  • The party fought Bargle, Satyr Warlock of Tharizdun and their hired mercenaries.
  • Bargle has a Gem of Tharizdun, which he uses to summon a Chaos Quadrapod from the Far Realms.
  • Bargle then bails: ): "If I really want to hurt you, it looks like I need to kill the Owlbear… But I do think our time here is done." and he disappears as his body is bathed in bright light.
  • The Satyr Warlock of Tharizdun "surrenders" to talk to the party.
    • He admits he is a warlock of Tharizdun
    • He was helping Barglefind Gems of Tharizdun
      • Each world is an orb, when the world ends they become an orb
      • All the magic in that world is now in that orb
      • Every spell or use of magic in the world pulls at the weave
      • That pull also adds to the weave
      • Tharizdun needs all 333 Gems of Tharizdun, meaning he needs 333 such worlds to exist and thne end to find freedom
      • Not sure how many exist, since time is not always linear
    • He claims he knew Bargle was about to betray him. Bargle only wants power from the orbs
    • When asked why he was being chatty: "Well, because your friend there asked me to stop, and at that moment, I was done fighting. To be honest, I'm not too worried about myself. I helped him to get down here as I was tasked to do. He got what he wanted out of this place. Well, his patron will be able to come back at least."
    • Bargle is a warlock and his patron is the Archfey of the Vale
      • when asked, who is that: "That's the Archfey corpse up there. It seemed when your goddess came down here to get the orb; she was able to let some of his essence get out. The cat goddess came here to get that orb. My understanding was she wants that power to help out someone or something. So that was able to help him out, so Bargle's patron got what he needed - he'll be able to accumulate power and come back."
    • When asked where Bargle went: "Oh, I don't know. He said he had some prisoners of interest. And after how many of those hired hands are now dead down here, I am sure they won't just give him those prisoners back. I know he wants to go after that Pradam kid who came here the same time he did."
    • Bargle comes from the Realm, Mystara. When asked about it: "No, Bargle comes from the Realm "Mystara," it seems he was some powerful wizard there. He came here, and the Archfey started to use him for his own purposes. Now, in the end, you ask why am I being this calm and unconcerned -- because my patron is about destruction. Whether you go after him or he wins --, there will be destruction."
    • "You think you can kill me? All you'll do is destroy the body I'm in."
    • When the party begins to threaten him: "You can talk to me as long as you want, but right now, you got him going after some poor little kid or some of your loved ones he knows about…." then... ): "You don't know, do you?" and a bit of small smile and laugh "One of you has been missing their daddy for a long time now. He knows where the Dad's at." and he looks at Sas W.T. Rayce.
    • Looks at Barlo: "I think one of your siblings is missing to that you haven't talked to in a while."
    • Satyr: "The one who has mellowed out over time… so at this point, I think you have a better understanding of what's at stake here."
    • before he steps off the ledge: Satyr: "For the most part, I've done what I need to do. I see you have things to do, he has things he will do, and I'm the only one stopping the return of her homelands... And at this point, I'm done with this."
 
Area Map | Kampos (Simple & Color)
Kampos, much of the land is not fully explored and that which has been exploited has been settled by the more anthropomorphic species of Dierde.

Session 27: The Infamous Bargle Report

Table of Contents

 
 
Campaign
The Wild Cards
Protagonists
Bastion Bladesinger
/
Sas W.T. Rayce
Calliope Galanodel
Barlo
Chaotic Neutral Tabaxi (Smuggler)
Barbarian 8
85 / 85 HP
STR
18
DEX
16
CON
16
INT
10
WIS
11
CHA
14
Shadow in the Snow
Report Date
11 Feb 2022
Secondary Location
Wild Cards
Organization | Aug 22, 2024

The Heroes of Outding Refuge and Kampos

 
Timeline of The Wild Cards
Generic article | Jul 11, 2024

A simplified view of key events for the campaign of The Mighty Menagerie