GB Chapter 49: The Undying Huntsman

General Summary

Round 4 resolutions (from GB Chapter 48)

• Master Obu: Fails his Fate Flipper
• Balcazar: Succeeds his Fate Flipper
• Stonius: Seeing Obu in danger and recognizing the mummy's vulnerability to fire, Stonius casts Infernal Buzzsaw (4th level) to tear through Solya, Darkjaw & the Mummy Blight, starting with 33 fire damage before resistance/vulnurabilities are calculated. However, Solya casts Dark Redirection (3rd level Reaction) to capture the energy and fling it back at Stonius, who takes the damage reduced to 16 (fire resistance).
• Mummy Blight 1: Uses two Rotting Constrictions on Sevira (since she is terrified of it and the mummies are drawn to creatures that fear them), dealing 31 bludgeoning/necrotic damage & casts Blight on her for 14 necrotic damage (45 total to Sevira), downing her via rotting engulfment.
• Draconius: Succeeds on a Death Save (1 of 3)
• Amon: Casts Shadow Scorch (5th level) on the mummy blight eating his sister, burning it to cinders. This will leave Sevira free to make Death Saves; if she succeeds, her body will burst with an arctic cloud and she'll transform into Teenage Sevira. If she fails, she dies
• Shade Walker: Burns a Gaiodrenaline (Bonus Action) to cast Dark Tunnel (Action) at 9th level (cast it at 7th before & has special abilities to keep the spell prepared after usage), determined to escape with Amon. If this fails (no one is conscious/in range to Counterspell), he runs with the kid down the Aeortic Tunnel, risking an opportunity attack from Fork (has 1 Indominable usage left/reroll failed saving throw).

Combat: The Gaiobros vs. The Dread Queen & Darkjaw

Initiative Order

• Darkjaw: 24
• Lair Action: 20
• Chazzle: 22
• Fork: 19
• Master Obu: 18
• Sevira (The Girl): goes after Obu
• Dread Queen Solya: 18
• Balcazar: 14
• Stonius: 12
• Mummy Blight 1: 10
• Draconius: 3
• Amon (The Boy): goes after Draconius
• The Shade Walker: goes at the end

Round 5

• Darkjaw: Fires three shots at Balc, dealing 7 piercing/8 fire/42 fire/3 Favored Enemy/3 Hunter's Mark, then 10 piercing/4 fire/3 Favored/2 Hunter's/16 lightning (101 total, used a Dragonfire & Dragonspark arrow). Moves Hunter's Mark to Chazzle.
• Chazzle: Tries to tickle Draconius awake, but fails. Activates Demonic Rage (6 rounds), hits Darkjaw for 53, who returns with 12 (Retaliatory Strike)
• Lair Action: Calls two Zalcovian Knights to kill Stonius, then starts closing the door
• Fork: Takes a swig of ale, runs up, Gaelforce, Action Surge, Shock Therapy for 30 damage to Solya.
• Master Obu: Succeeds on first Death Save
• Sevira: Makes her FIRST Death Save with a nat20 and burst from prone in a cloud of snow, lightly obscuring her as Teenage Sevira. Seeing Obu down & her brother nowhere in sight, she casts Avalanche (8th level) on Solya & Darkjaw for 68 cold damage (full damage to Solya, 17 to Darkjaw). However, she is only at 1 HP.
• Solya: She uses her Dread Queen's Glare on Sevira, who fails horribly and is both paralyzed & frightened. Deals 61 necrotic to Fork with the Scepter of Zalcophet (4 charges)
• Balcazar: Fails on first Death Save.
• Stonius: Looks to Fork for a signal, giving Fork the ultimate decision: surrender or fight. If he chooses FIGHT, Stonius attacks Zalcovian Knights enhanced with two fiery smites (2nd level), dealing 30 bludgeoning/15 (increased to 30) fire & 22 (increased to 44) fiery Divine Smites (104 total, 62 damage to each knight)
• Draconius: Succeeds on his second Death Save.

Round 6

• Darkjaw: Fighting Chazzle in Werbear form. Deals 23 piercing (reduced to 11) with the Bite & 8 bludge/6 fire/3 Hunter (reduced to 10 total)
• Chazzle: Attacks Darkjaw, hits once for 25 damage. Tickels Draconius back to life, taking 10 damage from Darkjaw. After this, Solya casts Bone Storm (6th level, 2 Legendaries), dealing 18 to Chazzle, Draconius & Balc take a Death Fail, Fork takes nothing.
• Lair Action: If she has troops in here, they have advantage on Turn Undead saving throws.
• Fork: Casts Twirlwind (3rd level), on Solya, taking 23 thunder damage. Solya uses the Scepter (Legendary Action) to down Fork.
• Master Obu: Makes his second Death save; passes
• Sevira: Breaks free of her paralyzing fear at the end of her turn.
• Solya: Casts Dark Lightning (4th level) to kill Balc, hurt Draconius, & deal 27 lightning to Chazzle
• Balcazar: Meets the Shadow King, succeeds on your first Afterdeath Save.
• Stonius: Will multiattackthe Zalcovian Knights (36 fire/13 bludgeoning/16 piercing/8 acid)
• Draconius: Stablizes with his final Death Save

Round 7

• Darkjaw: Claws Chazle for 20 damage, downs Sevira with a Frostshard Arrow while dealing a Death Fail to Obu
• Chazzle: Uses a Gem of Imperfect Revivify on Balc, restoring him to 1 HP. Blows the Horn of Soiling, but no one is afraid. Middle fingers Darkjaw. Solya cast Dark Warp (2nd level, 1 Legendary)
• Lair Action: Stonius is murked by a Zalcovian Knight, getting called back to Thalonius
• Fork: Succeeds a Death Save
• Master Obu: Stablizies out. Solya uses 2 Legendarty Actions to Toxic Whirlwind through Obu, Sevira & Fork; 1 Death Fail to each
• Sevira: 1 Death Success
• Solya: Walks over to Sevira, stabs her with the Scepter of Zalcophet while casting Create Lesser Undead (4 charges) to raise her an undead.
• Balcazar: Kills Solya with Lava Slide (3rd level), then deals 9 damage to Darkjaw while regaining 4 HP
• Draconius: T-poses

Round 8

• Darkjaw: Attacks Chazzle twice, then whiffs with an arrow shot at Balc. Casts Hunters Mark (1st level) on Balc
• Chazzle: Bonus Action spits at Darkjaw (earning his wrath), then
• Lair Action: Zalcovian Knights moves into position to flank Chazzle/kill Draconius
• Fork: Pops up with 2 HP (nat 20 Death Save), then waps Darkjaw
• Master Obu: Fails his Death Save (2 fails)
• Sevira: Kills Obu
• Balcazar: Casts Aqua Whip (2nd level) for 7 cold to Darkjaw. Burns a sorcery point for Quickened Spell, then casts Firebolt for 9 fire. Flies away.
• Draconius: Pops back up with 1 HP. Tries to revive Obu, but fails

Round 9

• Darkjaw: Attacks Draconius & Balc with regular arrows, downing them both
• Chazzle: Kills Darkjaw with 58 damage, then plays an inspiring song on his sax, giving Fork advantage.
• Lair Action: Knight deals 19 to Fork
• Fork: Deals 8 damage to the Knight (54 HP left)
• Master Obu: Talks to the Shadow King and rejects his offer to serve as his wandering death priest/missionary
• Sevira: Deals 2 Death Fails to Draconius
• Balcazar: 1 Death Fail
• Draconius: 1 Death Success

Round 10

• Chazzle: 36 damage to Zalcovian Knight (18 HP left). Then falls unconsious
• Lair Action: Zalcovian Knight kills Fork
• Sevira: Kills Draconius
• Balcazar: Passes his Death Save (1 pass 1 fail)
• Draconius: Divine Interventions with Thalonius, having his soul (sans Gaiofoce) taken to serve his draconic patron forever while the Shadow King collects the Gaioforce from his soul

Rounds 11-13

• Chazzle: unconscious
• Lair Action: Zalcovian Knight finishes off Balcazar, then goes to start hurting Chazzle
• Sevira: Moves to attack Chazzle and eventually helps get him down to half his conscious health, which wakes him up

Rounds 14-16

• Chazzle: Rages, takes out the Zalcovian Knight. Then kills Zombie Sevira in a blind rage at the loss of his friends, who are unrecoverable

Aftermath (not updated for the outcome of combat)

1. If the Gaiobros die, the events as listed in the Darkjaw/Solya post-campaign article occur, as well as World War Gaelica.
2. If Balcazar, Fork and/or Draconius die and are not revived within 1 minute, they are gone forever as their souls are split between the Gaioforce & their consciousness, going to the Shadow King & the Caring Pharaoh as described in the articles from Step 1. If any of them are revived while the others aren’t, the Shadow King will send the Shade Walker back in anger to kill them, getting there in 1d4 rounds after the revival. His approach (becoming the target’s shadow) can be detected by a Perception check against his Stealth check, and it can be Counterspelled if Balc or Draconius are the ones that spotted it. If Chazzle, Fork or Obu spots it, they can a) make an Athletics check against the Shade Walker’s attack to tackle the target out of the way, taking the Shade Walker’s attack instead if it hits their AC, or b) warn the target to make a Dex saving throw against the Shade Walker’s spellsave DC.
3. If the Gaiobros defeat the Caring Phamily, they can attempt the lock 3 more times before it resets the whole system. They can keep trying the lock after the reset (3 successes needed, DC 25 Arcana, Religion or Nature check), but Solya’s spirit will call for the Zalcovian Knights to enter the Heart Chamber and kill them, which will take about 2-3 rounds to get to them. If they get in and kill the heart before the knights kill them (all while the Solya/Darkjaw murals in the room shout insults), the temple’s magic will begin fading from Zalcovia, forcing a temple run sequence (2 Survival checks to get to the manual exit/Ice Foundations, 5 Survival checks to get to the Everstorm Plateau). Failed Survival checks will cause the mummies to get close enough to attack w/ disadvantage before they disintegrate; successful ones will not incur this penalty.
4. If they go to the Ice Foundations, they will have to climb down the ice vein before it crashes. The Spoonmaster & Santa’s Sleigh will be flying towards them (The BoneMobile has become Lady Gaelica’s personal war carriage) to attack/hurt the bridge. The Gaiobros can hijack the sleigh with successful Athletics/Acrobatics checks or spell maneuvers. If all 5 Gaiobros are alive, the BoneMobile will be available & Santa’s Sleigh will be Gaelica’s. If less than all 5 Gaiobros are alive, they can later resume the campaign as the Shadow King’s Final Quest.
5. If they go to the Everstorm Plateau, they will have to use the gazebo to meditate into the Darksun with a DC 20 Charisma, Wisdom or Constitution saving throw. The Spoonmaster will show up the same as in step 4.

Report Date

14 Dec 2023

Primary Location

Necropolis

Secondary Location

Cyregnor

Related Plots

• The Daidrin Expedition

Related Characters

• Darkjaw the Scalp Warden
• Solya the Afterfairy