Sessions 6-8 - Darkest Dreams of the Defiler
General Summary
After obtaining the final piece of the cursed object that was being smuggled into the city the party returned to Soggy Wren to plan next steps. Wren advised them to meet with his Ytepka Society contact, Diamssar, who worked at the bath house and would take them to a Ytepka Society hideout. He gave the group a secret hand gesture to use to identify themselves as allies. Accompanied by Nerissa the party went to meet Diamssar, who seemed hastily in returning the hand gesture and asked to see the amulet to confirm they had it. He then took everyone to an old stone building marked as “The Northside Market Textile House”, where he led the group inside. Flashing the same hand sign to the two guards who were inside he continued through the room urging the party to follow him. But it was a trap. As they walked into the center of the room one of the “guards” sprung a pit trap.
While some members struggled to escape the pit, the others climbed out and fought off the two guards and Diamssar as well as his pet snake that had been hiding in the room. As he fell Diamssar cursed the party in Dendar’s name. Their immediate threats defeated they ventured out the back door, where they stumbled into a ritual of some kind. A man with subtle snake-like features stood at a Circular Dais with a gigantic serpent carved into its base, he was accompanied by four other humans. He snidely thanked the party for returning his amulet, extending his arm, and summoning it into his hands. A fierce battle broke out, revealing that the amulet possessed some magical abilities. Narrowly escaping a few close calls with some snakes, the party managed to kill the snake man and return the amulet to their custody.
Investigating the property further the group found a small room, extremely dirty, smelling of blood and rotting flesh, and lined with cages. Inside two cages were a Tabaxi Woman and an Elf. They both appeared to be suffering from some type of sickness, bearing dark thick veins and scaled patches all over their bodies. The elf was unconscious, but the Tabaxi was barely able to speak. She told them she had been poisoned by those “snake creatures” and that she was afraid of “Lekhet” and that they are outside. Putting two and two together it was obvious she was referring to the group in the ritual, Lekhet must have been their leader. Klevin Van'Sheran took poisoned people to be treated by The Lord's Alliance. The group carried the two sick people to safety and back to Kaya’s House of Repose, where they found Soggy Wren and the other faction contacts. It was agreed that the amulet would be kept by the harpers, and that Syndra Silvane would investigate it further and keep it locked away in Wakanga’s palace. It would take time for Syndra to decipher anything about the amulet, but the factions agreed to work together to figure out as much as they could.
Awaiting further information about the Amulet the group found themselves without no new leads to follow. Alistair Bol suggested that they partake in the great Haka Kuh-kah that was taking place the next day, a grand dinosaur race through the entire city. Alistair Bol tossed a few coins their way to bet in his name on some of the smaller derby races that take place before the main event. Before departing Pock-Marked Po approached and offered the group a job while they were waiting for new information. He needed someone to act as a distraction for The Zhentarim as they conduct and operation at Fort Beluarian , a Flaming Fist outpost north east of the Port. He noted that they were acting a bit suspicious and The Zhentarim were taking it upon themselves to be the good guys and find out what’s up. The group agreed and Pock-Marked Po told them that 2 days after the race they would need to rendezvous with a pair of guides he’s hired to take them through the jungles to the Fort, River and Flask.
The next day the party went to the Tiryki Anchorage to take part in the Haka Kuh-Kah. They were greeted by a short, dark-skinned Chultan woman named Mowbula, who acted as their guide to the days events as well as their bookie. She took them to the derby races where they placed Alistair’s bet, and some of their own. A small profit was made.
Then it was off to the main event! The Indigo Flail Snails (the party) would race against two other teams: The Yellow Almirajs and the Blue Elbis. The race consisted of four legs: A short chariot segment, an airborne race to collect ribbons, a waterborne race to collect pieces to a word puzzle, and a final all out combat race atop a triceratops. It was a close race at first, but the Indigo Flail Snails took an early lead. During the first leg someone spotted a hooded figure feeding the Blue Elbis' dinosaurs something strange. During the second leg a mysterious figure in the crowd attempted to influence the minds of the Indigo Flail Snails and the Yellow Almirajs. Snakebit managed to shake it off and notice something was up. The Indigo Flail Snails had a commanding lead going into the final leg, but the Blue Elbis quickly caught up and the Yellow Almirajs weren’t far behind. But in the end, the Indigo Flail Snails took first place! With the Blue Elbis coming in second, and the Yellow Almirajs taking third.
The teams assembled on stage for the awards ceremony. But just as the party were handed their trophy and first place winnings disaster struck. A nearby dinosaur pen became the source of a huge commotion and the crowd went wild. The hastily constructed awards stage began to collapse. The party managed to safely jump off it before it could fall out from under them, and Elijan managed to grab their first-place winnings. Seeing the opportunity afforded by the commotion, Elijan also managed to grab the second-place prize while everyone was distracted. After regaining their footing the party went to investigate the source of the disruption. They found a pair of joint dinosaur pens where a group of dinosaurs had burst through the walls of one pen and into the other. The dinosaurs were bearing down on a young girl in the second pen. The party rushed to her aid, and soon found themselves face to face with undead dinos. After dealing with them the young girl thanked them and gifted the party her father’s quarterstaff (+1 quarterstaff). Investigating the scene they also found the body of a Yuan-Ti pureblood buried in the rubble with a small satchel nearby. In the satchel they found a blank scroll and a small note detailing the location of a supply crate. Snakebit and Baldur examined the scroll and deduced that it had been used to raise the dinosaurs into zombies. Soggy Wren and the Militia showed up, and Soggy Wren asked to see the satchel. He found a hidden compartment that contained a rare and highly illegal drug known as Wanderlost. After some discussion about what to do (and some ingestion of the drug by Elijan), Soggy Wren took the party to a small hookah lounge to celebrate their victory.
The next day the party went to investigate the crate specified in the note held by the Yuan-Ti. When they arrived at the warehouse the discovered a strange yellow plant had taken root in a crate near where the one they were looking for should have been. Nearby were three pale dwarves that moved sluggishly and had similar flower buds growing from various places on their body. The flower moved and attacked, and so did the dwarves. It was a tough battle, but with the help of a surprisingly amicable Grung the party managed to destroy the dwarves and the flower. The Grung introduced himself as Wadumu. He had seen the party defeat the dinosaurs and wanted them to help him save a village from “bad bad men” and help him free his tribe from their influence. The party agreed, but first they had a crate to inspect. The crate in question contained more Wanderlost. Wadumu claimed he was familiar with the drug, and that the “bad bad men” had it.
After reporting back to Soggy Wren and running into Screaming Wind, the party set out with Wadumu to find the village and return in time to help Pock-Marked Po with The Flaming Fist . Wadumu led the party through the jungle safely to the village. It was a small village surrounded by a high wooden wall. Inside were several huts encircling a larger, newer hut. There were a dozen or so guards watching over the villagers, who were hard at work in the village. Many of the guards looked out of it, their eyes glazed over as if they were somewhere else. No one seemed to get near the central hut. At least, not until the party saw two guards escorting a Grung inside.
Wadumu explained that the bad bad snake men had convinced the leader of his tribe to follow them, and that anyone in his tribe who disobeyed was punished. Wadumu was scarred and exiled for not following the bad snake people. The Grung acted as sentries for the village, guarding it while staying out of sight in the jungle. After all, humans thought that Grung were evil. But Wadumu was good, and he wanted to help. He said the snake people came in and took over the village and were doing something strange, the party needed a plan to infiltrate the village and dispose of the snake people.
While some members struggled to escape the pit, the others climbed out and fought off the two guards and Diamssar as well as his pet snake that had been hiding in the room. As he fell Diamssar cursed the party in Dendar’s name. Their immediate threats defeated they ventured out the back door, where they stumbled into a ritual of some kind. A man with subtle snake-like features stood at a Circular Dais with a gigantic serpent carved into its base, he was accompanied by four other humans. He snidely thanked the party for returning his amulet, extending his arm, and summoning it into his hands. A fierce battle broke out, revealing that the amulet possessed some magical abilities. Narrowly escaping a few close calls with some snakes, the party managed to kill the snake man and return the amulet to their custody.
Investigating the property further the group found a small room, extremely dirty, smelling of blood and rotting flesh, and lined with cages. Inside two cages were a Tabaxi Woman and an Elf. They both appeared to be suffering from some type of sickness, bearing dark thick veins and scaled patches all over their bodies. The elf was unconscious, but the Tabaxi was barely able to speak. She told them she had been poisoned by those “snake creatures” and that she was afraid of “Lekhet” and that they are outside. Putting two and two together it was obvious she was referring to the group in the ritual, Lekhet must have been their leader. Klevin Van'Sheran took poisoned people to be treated by The Lord's Alliance. The group carried the two sick people to safety and back to Kaya’s House of Repose, where they found Soggy Wren and the other faction contacts. It was agreed that the amulet would be kept by the harpers, and that Syndra Silvane would investigate it further and keep it locked away in Wakanga’s palace. It would take time for Syndra to decipher anything about the amulet, but the factions agreed to work together to figure out as much as they could.
Awaiting further information about the Amulet the group found themselves without no new leads to follow. Alistair Bol suggested that they partake in the great Haka Kuh-kah that was taking place the next day, a grand dinosaur race through the entire city. Alistair Bol tossed a few coins their way to bet in his name on some of the smaller derby races that take place before the main event. Before departing Pock-Marked Po approached and offered the group a job while they were waiting for new information. He needed someone to act as a distraction for The Zhentarim as they conduct and operation at Fort Beluarian , a Flaming Fist outpost north east of the Port. He noted that they were acting a bit suspicious and The Zhentarim were taking it upon themselves to be the good guys and find out what’s up. The group agreed and Pock-Marked Po told them that 2 days after the race they would need to rendezvous with a pair of guides he’s hired to take them through the jungles to the Fort, River and Flask.
The next day the party went to the Tiryki Anchorage to take part in the Haka Kuh-Kah. They were greeted by a short, dark-skinned Chultan woman named Mowbula, who acted as their guide to the days events as well as their bookie. She took them to the derby races where they placed Alistair’s bet, and some of their own. A small profit was made.
Then it was off to the main event! The Indigo Flail Snails (the party) would race against two other teams: The Yellow Almirajs and the Blue Elbis. The race consisted of four legs: A short chariot segment, an airborne race to collect ribbons, a waterborne race to collect pieces to a word puzzle, and a final all out combat race atop a triceratops. It was a close race at first, but the Indigo Flail Snails took an early lead. During the first leg someone spotted a hooded figure feeding the Blue Elbis' dinosaurs something strange. During the second leg a mysterious figure in the crowd attempted to influence the minds of the Indigo Flail Snails and the Yellow Almirajs. Snakebit managed to shake it off and notice something was up. The Indigo Flail Snails had a commanding lead going into the final leg, but the Blue Elbis quickly caught up and the Yellow Almirajs weren’t far behind. But in the end, the Indigo Flail Snails took first place! With the Blue Elbis coming in second, and the Yellow Almirajs taking third.
The teams assembled on stage for the awards ceremony. But just as the party were handed their trophy and first place winnings disaster struck. A nearby dinosaur pen became the source of a huge commotion and the crowd went wild. The hastily constructed awards stage began to collapse. The party managed to safely jump off it before it could fall out from under them, and Elijan managed to grab their first-place winnings. Seeing the opportunity afforded by the commotion, Elijan also managed to grab the second-place prize while everyone was distracted. After regaining their footing the party went to investigate the source of the disruption. They found a pair of joint dinosaur pens where a group of dinosaurs had burst through the walls of one pen and into the other. The dinosaurs were bearing down on a young girl in the second pen. The party rushed to her aid, and soon found themselves face to face with undead dinos. After dealing with them the young girl thanked them and gifted the party her father’s quarterstaff (+1 quarterstaff). Investigating the scene they also found the body of a Yuan-Ti pureblood buried in the rubble with a small satchel nearby. In the satchel they found a blank scroll and a small note detailing the location of a supply crate. Snakebit and Baldur examined the scroll and deduced that it had been used to raise the dinosaurs into zombies. Soggy Wren and the Militia showed up, and Soggy Wren asked to see the satchel. He found a hidden compartment that contained a rare and highly illegal drug known as Wanderlost. After some discussion about what to do (and some ingestion of the drug by Elijan), Soggy Wren took the party to a small hookah lounge to celebrate their victory.
The next day the party went to investigate the crate specified in the note held by the Yuan-Ti. When they arrived at the warehouse the discovered a strange yellow plant had taken root in a crate near where the one they were looking for should have been. Nearby were three pale dwarves that moved sluggishly and had similar flower buds growing from various places on their body. The flower moved and attacked, and so did the dwarves. It was a tough battle, but with the help of a surprisingly amicable Grung the party managed to destroy the dwarves and the flower. The Grung introduced himself as Wadumu. He had seen the party defeat the dinosaurs and wanted them to help him save a village from “bad bad men” and help him free his tribe from their influence. The party agreed, but first they had a crate to inspect. The crate in question contained more Wanderlost. Wadumu claimed he was familiar with the drug, and that the “bad bad men” had it.
After reporting back to Soggy Wren and running into Screaming Wind, the party set out with Wadumu to find the village and return in time to help Pock-Marked Po with The Flaming Fist . Wadumu led the party through the jungle safely to the village. It was a small village surrounded by a high wooden wall. Inside were several huts encircling a larger, newer hut. There were a dozen or so guards watching over the villagers, who were hard at work in the village. Many of the guards looked out of it, their eyes glazed over as if they were somewhere else. No one seemed to get near the central hut. At least, not until the party saw two guards escorting a Grung inside.
Wadumu explained that the bad bad snake men had convinced the leader of his tribe to follow them, and that anyone in his tribe who disobeyed was punished. Wadumu was scarred and exiled for not following the bad snake people. The Grung acted as sentries for the village, guarding it while staying out of sight in the jungle. After all, humans thought that Grung were evil. But Wadumu was good, and he wanted to help. He said the snake people came in and took over the village and were doing something strange, the party needed a plan to infiltrate the village and dispose of the snake people.
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