Session 85 Report

General Summary

The creatures began to chant and dance in a circle with their arms joined. They were each under the effect of a Mirror Image spell so the party saw several of them. Some of the party recognized these creatures as vrocks, dangerous demons from the Abyss. Energy began to pulsate and crackle around the vrocks arms as they danced and it slowly grew more intense. Selia Roselyn Maxwell managed to break up the vrocks’ Dance of Ruin by casting Great Thunderclap when one of the demons was knocked prone by the spell, causing it to release its grasp with its brothers. The party then swarmed on the vrocks and pressed the attack. At first, their strikes only broke through some of the mirror images, cutting through the fakes before finally connecting with the real vrocks. One of the vrocks unleashed a frightening screech that left a few of the party stunned. It also released a cloud of spores from its body that burrowed into the skin of the adventurers around it. These spores then started to grow beneath the skin and sprouted vines from their flesh. When eventually two of the vrocks were killed, the third teleported away. The vines continued to grow on those infected until a Remove Disease spell was used to cure them. The vines then withered and fell off harmlessly. The party examined the scene and noted bruises around the wrists and ankles of the slain man. They speculated that he must have been an escaped prisoner. They continued to follow the map towards the Doom Bringer stronghold and also picked up humanoid tracks here and there suggesting they were getting close. That evening, they reached a cave entrance in the hills that was shaped like an eye. Haymin’s Heroes decided to find a place to camp for the night away from the cave entrance and rest. In the morning, they would go inside and see what dangers awaited them within. Early on May 4, 499 AV, Haymin’s Heroes entered the cave dressed in Doom Bringer robes and bearing holy symbols of the Elder Elemental Eye. The interior was made of black stone with purple veins, just like the previous Doom Bringer strongholds they had raided. A long hallway stopped at a door. The flicker of torch light could be seen beyond it. They stopped to prepare some spells and planned to blitz through the complex like they had done through Darkhold Manor. Kyrie Eleison Thatcher-Stone used Mass Align Weapon to enchant their weapons with good energy and Ladigo Farthon cast Mass Align Fang on Pennig and Fisher. Selia and Mogi Delvin cast defensive spells on themselves and prepared for combat as well. Beyond the door they found a room with four exits. The door to the east was the one they entered from. Across on the west wall was a door bearing the symbol of the Elder Elemental Eye. Corridors led north and south from the room and both eventually turned west. The party decided to check the western door. Beyond that was a short passage that opened into another room. It was empty, but on the west wall there was another door. The party entered the room and proceeded to this door. But when they opened it, the floor gave way and they started to fall. Selia quickly cast Feather Fall and the party slowly descended the thirty foot drop. However, Pennig was still above in the short corridor as he could not fit into the room when they had lined up at the door. When they hit the floor, six small demonic beings were suddenly summoned in. they had blackened skin and blood red hands with long fingers ending in sharp claws. The room was cramped and the six demons surrounded the party. Mogi immediately cast Mass Snake’s Swiftness. Pyzar Zim, Auren Sylynn, Titta Morco and Fisher all attacked the demons with damaging blows. But every time one of these demons was damaged by a strike, the entire party in the room felt the blow as well. All of Haymin’s Heroes except for Pennig safely thirty feet away were seriously wounded. Selia was knocked unconscious as a result. But Fluffy, tucked away in Mogi’s pocket was killed from the damage inflicted. Realizing what was happening, Haymin’s Heroes took the defensive and focused on protecting themselves from the demons’ claws instead of attacking them. Ladigo, wild shaped into a blink dog used Dimension Door to teleport into the first room above. Kyrie healed Selia, then Selia cast Dimension Door to take Auren, Mogi, and Kyrie away. Pyzar had Titta jump into the Bag of Holding so Selia could return and take Fisher and him away with the next Dimension Door. Once the party was safely above, they hurled spells down to eventually kill the demons. After the battle, they could see Mogi was emotionally distraught. The rest of the party learned that Fluffy had died. Kyrie told him he could raise the familiar tomorrow, but she did not have the spell prepared at the moment. The party healed their wounds and discussed their options. They were split between leaving the compound and returning the next day, but eventually resolved to continue on while they still had some time on their preparatory spells. They took the south corridor and eventually entered a room with four statues of elementals, one air, one earth, one fire, and one water. This reminded them of one of the rooms in the Doom Bringer Stronghold in the Lioden Peaks. When they entered the room, they each said, “Praise the Elder Elemental Eye,” the password from that stronghold that avoided all the traps. However, in this complex, it did not work. The statues began casting elemental effects. There was a twister that tried to hurl whoever stood closest to the air elemental statue into the air. Water filled the nose and mouth of whoever stood closes to the water elemental statue. The fire elemental statue shot a Scorching Ray at the closest target. And the earth elemental statue covered the nearest target in a ten foot cube of sand. After a bit of chaos, the party fled the room, all except Fisher who was stuck in sand. Ladigo cast Wall of Sand and stretched it around the room covering all the statues except the water elemental. Then Mogi ran back in and attacked the water elemental statue with his heavy flail in an attempt to destroy it as well as draw its fire away from Fisher. Fisher eventually powered through the sand and ran out of the room. Then Mogi reluctantly followed having heavily damaged the water elemental statue. The party regrouped and continued beyond. They came to a large ceremonial chamber with a black altar at the far end. There was also a huge circular hole in the center of the floor and several large stone columns spread around the room. Within the ceremonial chamber awaited several Doom Bringers. They were armed and ready to strike at the intruders.

Campaign

The Heart of Embril

Protagonists