Session 31: The Boys Fucking Die

General Summary

Fighting the Fetus

• The decision was made. Maleakos would ritually create a Tiny Hut, and the party would short rest before descending further. The thought of waiting about 18 hours for a long rest was delving too much into the unknown for the party's taste.
• Instead, they proceeded to delve into the unknown. Philip, after relaying Anzan's warning of the immense danger that lie below, tied a rope securely to one of the rocks, and loosed it into the nasty fleshy tube that descended downwards.
• Dooturr and Thanos went first, having to spread the fleshy outer layer of the tube in order to make it through, as it was clinging to them. The rest of the party proceeded after the Skelebros, and it was a viscerally disgusting experience descending this birth canal-like tube into the darkness below.
• And dark it was. Dark, cold, and covered in disgusting orange amniotic fluid, with pulsating eggs throughout. And as the Crypt Crew descended, a harsh voice rang out: "Weak, pathetic creatures. You stand no chance against the darkness before you. Arawai has no place here any further, and the world will forget you as your carcasses rot before me."
• The party, led by Dooturr and Thanos, crept forwards carefully. When they spotted a patch of eggs up ahead, N'nchyk decided to run up and smack one with his club loudly. The egg burst, releasing a swarm of maggots all over N'nchyk. He, Viribus, and Dooturr all managed to rid him of the maggots very creatively, but they had attracted the attention of a nearby creature: a wraith.
• The creature was the very essence of undeath and the bane of those who live. Its strikes drained the essence of its targets, and reduced Viribus to very near death. Ashpin, unable to see in the dark, was unable to use his protective emblem to help.
• The party forged onwards nonetheless. They moved as a unit, but were not careful enough to avoid the next wraith. They defeated this one as well, but as they moved to the center of the chamber, they saw the cause of the curse, the source of The Devourer's presence, babbling in nonsensical Celestial: A warped, slimy black creature in the likeness of a fetus, hovering above a dark, slimy pit. Umbilical cord-like appendages suspended it 30 feet in the air, and as it saw the party, it let off a horrendous screech and began to scurry towards them.
• The radius of negative energy around it prevented any healing abilities from working, and dealt damage to anyone that stood within it. The creature shot off rays of freezing black energy, and absorbed the life force of the party members. It was also the source of the wraiths, which would occasionally suction out of its body into existence. Even just being in its lair was dangerous, as dark portals were opened, pools of black ichor were formed, and necromantic energy was funneled into targeted creatures to make them vulnerable to the attacks of the fetus.
• The fight quickly went downhill. Viribus, in his weakened state, was reduced to shooting Eldritch Blasts from afar, but was helping keep the creature at bay by pushing it backwards each time he connected. Ashpin could not reach the floating creature, so he focused on beating up the minions instead. Philip was having to carefully ration his few remaining spell slots, and continued to save the one 3rd level spell for Revivify.
• Maleakos, too, was running low on magic. When Verin was the first to go down, he used his precious 4th level spell slot to Dimension Door out of danger, falling into a portal beneath him that suspiciously looked like it led to hell. Before Verin went down, he was unleashing the full potential of his Eldritch Blasts against the creature, but it was not affected in the slightest by his necrotic attacks. Ape'cnhyk was constantly fleeing from a wraith, as he too was in danger of being destroyed in one go by the undead creatures.
• Dooturr and Thanos loosed their arrows against the fetus, but it did not seem affected as much by their non-magical weapons. Dooturr went down, and Thanos was left in a difficult situation, so he did the most Thanos-thing possible and jumped into the dark portal. He found himself in a land of undeath, standing on black sand, surrounded by a pitch-black sea, and was surrounded by all manners of undead creature. After cracking some of Dooturr's bones back into place to stabilize him, he assumed the likeness of the other undead, and managed to pretend to be just as one of them.

A Dreadful End

• The Crypt Crew tried to retreat, but it was too little too late. The wails of the creature were dreadful to hear, causing the party to become more and more lethargic as the fight dragged on. The fetus was forcing itself through tighter spaces to pursue the party, cracking stone as its umbilical cords flicked from wall to wall to push itself forwards.
• Ashpin was the first to die. Surrounded in a pool of ichor, engulfed by the negative aura of the creature, and just about drained of resources, Ashpin used his final dying breaths to use the last of his healing magic to bring Philip back to consciousness. Ashpin said that he had loved him like a father, and with tears in his eyes, Philip said he had loved all of them like his sons, as Ashpin took his last gasping breath.
• Maleakos was lying below the creature, which took no pity and did not hesitate to blast the downed tiefling to the next life. In one final "fuck you", Maleakos spat at the fetus, saying "At least I was born", before his vision faded to black.
• N'nchyk, completely broken, had nothing left. His life force was incredibly weakened, but wanted to spend his final breaths with his friends. He spent his last moments crawling into the arms of the best friend he ever had, Maleakos. He died in Maleakos' warm embrace, but it very quickly began to grow cold.
• Viribus, weakened beyond anything he had felt before, struggled to his feet, red shield completely shattered. Gathering every last ounce of his remaining strength and sheer willpower, he spat in the face of the closest wraith, channeling his red energy into a devastating strike that banished the wraith into a red puff of smoke, before collapsing to the ground, dead.
• Verin was trying to crawl to the exit, but was far too slow. He didn't want to creature to escape, and tried to cave in the exit with a Fireball. As the bead of red energy was flung towards the tunnel, Verin had but one final thought. "This world is but one stop on the soul's journey toward perfection, and death is merely a passage."
• Philip was never quite in time to use his magic to raise one of the party members from the grave. Using the last of his energy, he used the final spell slot that was meant to bring one of his allies back. Sending one final goodbye to Alice, he told her and his kids that he loved them, and that he will always be with them.

Catacombs of Dolurrh

• They felt cold. Cold, and tired. Even just opening their eyes was a challenge. When they did, the party found themselves in a dim, grayish room, and felt completely exhausted. They were merely shades of their former selves, and could only remember some of their previous life, as the weight of trying to remember pressed upon them heavily.
• In the room of banal, uniform gray architecture was a chest, containing various random items that had accumulated throughout the ages. Grayish spirits of varying transparency were all throughout, all whispering their own phrase over and over. Six pillars stood in the room, each bearing a unique, cryptic symbol.
• This was Dolurrh, the Realm of the Dead. Some knowledge is known about this place. It is known that all dead spirits come to Dolurrh, and that they all inevitably fade to an unknown future, their memories and essences fading. It's seen almost as an uncaring machine; a system to process souls. Its denizens that aren't merely the intangible spirits of the dead are either anomalies, or creatures dedicated to eradicating the anomalies and keeping the cogs of the machine turning.
• A brief existential discussion was had. What the hell had happened, who the hell they were...they weren't the intagible spirits that they saw around them, but they weren't their tangible selves. Shashpin was very much not his former self. He was emptier, and much more hollow. Shade'nchyk, on the other hand, was almost a completely different personality. He was shaken, scared, and could not remember anything from the past 8 years. Not even his friends. The last thing he could remember was escaping the caves, seeking food, and finding a strange mushroom.
• After seeking help from a nearby spirit, the party managed to press the symbols in the correct order in order to form arrows, that allowed the doors to open. The failures, however, had significantly damaged those who pressed them.
• Shiribus, either distracted by his previous failure, or driven by external motivations, decided to separate from the party. He went to the left exit, while the rest of the party proceeded through the door. He encountered a creature known as a meld, which is the combination of several dead husks combining into one. Their overlapping whispers coalesced into two words: "Your memories..."
• The rest of the party proceeded onwards. They heard a horrifying growling, and the sounds of spike through flesh. As only shadows of their former selves, the party made to run, with the horrifying creature instead making its way into the main chamber they had all just vacated, with the limp bodies of elvish creatures hanging from its many spiked limbs. They all knew, as they were filled with this existential dread, this creature would hunt them, and destroy them if they were not careful.
• Shiribus, in an attempt to calm the meld pursuing him, began to describe how he traveled to Sharn via the House Orien lightning rail. How it was a city of all kinds of people, and one where someone could escape their past, and become his own man. These recollections were transmitted neither through words, nor thought, but simply memory.
• The creature shuddered in satiation at these juicy, personal memories, but Shiribus slowly began to forget what Sharn was...why he went there...it was a maddening, frustrating experience, knowing he had forgotten something, but not managing to remember what he had forgotten. Nonetheless, he took advantage of the creature's temporary distraction to flee in the opposite direction.
• Shashpin and shapeshifted Shider'chyk leapt over a pit of tar, with Sherin, Shaleakos, and Shilip left behind to consider their options. They encountered a fleshy, dough-like creature, that through punches and spider bites, managed to destroy. Sherin and Shaleakos, after the latter touched the tar and was scalded, leapt over the pit, and were close behind them.

Thanos, the Mad Skeleton

• Seeing the baby-like creature disappear, Thanos jumped back through the dark portal, as he had begun to feel the dark energy of the plane start to bear down on him. Eith Dooturr's limp skeleton in his arms, he ducked farther into the chamber, with the sounds of his allies' dying yells and breaths slowly fading. 
• The fetus creature began to retreat, and Thanos slowly maneuvered around it, returning to the bodies of his allies. After killing one of the nasty zombies, he tucked Dooturr's body back above, and snatched a healing potion to bring him back to consciousness.
• The fetus creature was attempting to summon more wraiths to harvest the bodies of those that had died. Thanos and Dooturr were on a ticking clock. 
• It was an extremely forlorn moment, as Dooturr saw the carnage of his slain allies. N'nchyk, face mashed in and insides spilling out. Verin, mask cracked and skin completely drained of color. Viribus, red shield gone, dark red blade fallen by his side. Ashpin, usually radiating divine energy, cold and lifeless. Philip, completely drained with his skin wrinkled and gray. Maleakos, one horn broken and wide eyes white.
• They began dragging their bodies back as fast as they could, with Dooturr's quick movements helping compensate for their low physical strength. Before long, however, a wraith had come to claim the bodies. With Thanos' instincts and Dooturr's quick intellect, they gave Thanos roids and magic brass knuckles to beat the fuck out of the wraith. They made quick work of it, but had clearly alerted the fetus, as they heard it screech in the distance.
• They were almost done bringing most of the bodies to the entrance of the tunnel, but the fetus had caught up with them. Buff Thanos began to carry bodies up while climbing the rope with one arm. Dooturr, after dragging Ashpin up, stole another of his potions, taking the Potion of Haste. Maleakos' body was the only one left behind, but Mach 3 Dooturr dooted his trumpet to go invisible and zipped through the chamber to grab him. 
• The fetus, clearly confused, tried shooting a bolt of cold at the lifeless body seemingly moving by itself, but missed terribly. Before retreating through the rope, Thanos and Dooturr gave one final attack as a middle finger before scurrying back up to relative safety, collapsing among the bodies of their fallen allies.

Date begun:
13 Olarune, 998 YK
Date ended:
13 Olarune, 998 YK
Party level:
7

Report Date

19 Aug 2021

Primary Location

Khorvaire