Kingdom on the Brink - Session 37
General Summary
The group gathers together and exchange information, Hendred brings up the corpse that regained consciousness and ran off and Ashara brought up the dragon skeleton that the kobolds were guarding (Kingdom on the Brink - Session 22). The party decides to travel to the kobolds, they talk to Salwor and take his airship to the kobold tribe, once they arrive several kobolds run up to them and start yipping and pointing at the airship. Hendred and Stormsong explain what an airship is and the kobolds ask if they see ocean waves in the air, this gets a chuckle from the group. Ashara approaches Sukba and Vogs (the chieftain and shieldguard) and explains they need to move the dragon skeleton from their sacred ground (fearing Kalzoz will animate it). There's some argument back forth, but between Ashara and Duromar they manage to convince the kobolds, Sukba brings up the prophecy and Vogs caves. Vogs agrees to moving the dragon skeleton, but mentions that there's many strange creatures killing kobolds in this area and if the party wanted to excavate the dragon they needed to deal with the strange monsters first. The group asks for more information and the kobolds show them the body of one of the latest victims, at first the party thought it was another a false hydra but after closer examination they realize it wasn't. The group head out and finds themselves in a rocky outcropping, they don't see anything but Del Varis hears something and moves to investigate. As Del Varis moves up and dodges, two Invisible Stalkers move to flank him and slam him several times, seeing danger Hendred moves up and blesses the party. Gareth activates his boots of speed and moves to assist Del Varis and Stormsong readies a spell to hurl if she sees something. Ashara moves up fires off with her longbow and Duromar activates his bladesong and casts haste and speeds up to help Del Varis and Gareth. Del Varis punches each of the Invisible Stalkers and manages to stun one and he continues to dodge, Hendred casts healing word on Del Varis, Stormsong moves up and casts Eldritich Blast on the stunned Stalker. Another Stalker makes itself known (For a total of three) and Slams into Hendred with a critical strike and the Stalker next to Gareth slams into him and then moves away from the group. Gareth and Del Varis focus on the stunned Stalker and Duromar attempts locate the one that moved away by casting fireball but it only vaguely silhouettes it for a brief moment. Ashara and Stormsong launch several volleys into the Stalker on Hendred and move in closer to assist. Del Varis continues to keep the stunned Stalker in position and Gareth finally puts it down, a sonic boom howl reverberates through the area, Duromar and Stormsong deal with the second Stalker with causes the same sonic boom to happen. Hendred and Ashara focus on the last Stalker, seconds later a silvery figure with glowing blades appear (an Algorith), it moves into position and focuses an explosion of force damage that hits the majority of the party, most are able to resist it but Ashara gets stunned. The party turns their attention to the Algorith, Hurling Fireballs, Eldritich blasts, and arrow fire at it while Del Varis stuns the last Stalker. The Algorith is able to maneuver and launches a cone of force damage at Gareth, Hendred, and Duromar, Duromar and Gareth remain up but this proves too much for Hendred and she collapses. Oneiro Runs up and joins the fray and blinds the Algorith, which forces it to land and engage Duromar, Stormsong launches a Witch Bolt at it which gets partially resisted and Duromar and Del Varis bring it down in melee, Gareth and Ashara assist Hendred and stabilize her and the group finishes off the last Stalker. The party short rests and Del Varis cuts off the arm of the Algorith.
The party continues on and as they come across the site where they first met the kobolds they are met with several more odd entities, two Monolith Champions and a Guardian Naga. Oneiro is first to react and and hits the Naga between its eyes and banishes it, it reappears a split second later but is unable to act. Ashara fires a volley into the Naga and moves up, Stormsong attempts to command one of the Monolith Champions to grovel but it fails to understand what she said. Gareth and Del Varis move to flank one of the Monolith Champions and Duromar sings his bladesong and casts haste and moves to engage the Monolith that Ashara is running towards. Hendred begins to move up and blesses the party, Oneiro fires off several more arrows and hits the Naga with a grasping arrow that holds it in place and hexes it. The Monolith Champion attacks Gareth and lands a critical strike but Del Varis and Gareth continue their assault, the Naga spits poison at Del Varis but it's evaded. Stormsong launches a fireball which partially hits the Naga and one of the Monolith Champions, Hendred and Ashara launch more ranged strikes of sacred flame and arrows into the other Monolith Champion and Duromar moves into single combat with the Monolith Champion. Oneiro burns a spell slot and an action surge and launches six scorching rays at the Naga, five of which hit and leaves it greatly hurt between the fire and necrotic hex damage. The Naga retaliates with a flame strike but it caused limited damage to Gareth and Del Varis, Gareth and Del Varis fell their Monolith Champion and move to engage the Naga. The other Monolith Champion lands two devastating strikes on Ashara as she attempts to break away from it, Ashara quickly heals and action surges and launches several volleys into the Monolith Champion and Duromar moves to strike it down and finishes off the Naga. Del Varis inspects the Monolith Champion husk, Stormsong and Duromar find some diamonds in a Naga burrow, and Oneiro starts to talk in infernal. Oneiro's activity catches Hendred's attention and she asks what Oneiro is doing, Oneiro shows her an imp and says it's his familiar, this leaves her slightly unsettled but reasons it's a good imp. The party finishes up and ensures the rest of the area is clear and heads towards the sacred dragon skeleton site. The party calls for the airship and as the site gets more people the group talks about the idea of a dragon skeleton (as the only dragons are gods), Oneiro vocalizes that it seems a god can die, which leaves some tension in the air. The group decides to leave the airship behind to recover the skeleton and they make it back to Strongfare on the 5th day of Nyroth.
The party learns that there are deforestation groups being sent out to cut down large swathes of the forest on either side of Strongfare, essentially making it impassable on either side, this is to funnel the enemy into the defenses of Strongfare. The party also learns that the sickness that Hendred encountered is continuing to spread, they gather some information and head to the spot of the latest outbreak. The party slowly moves up and begins to buff themselves as Oneiro sends his imp and sees there are two bloated ghoul corpses and two corpse looking humaniods (Darakhul), Ashara is the first to engage and fires off some arrows, the Darkhul respond with two crossbow bolts and they start to move back. This action clumps them together and Duromar casts a fireball and scorches the group, he then uses his hasted action to break his elemental gem and summons an air elemental. The party starts to pick off the group at range and Stormsong sends in another Fireball, the ghouls begin to feast on the dead and begin to heal, Oneiro relays this information to the party. The air elemental moves in and attack the Darakhul, the Darakhul quickly gang up on the air elemental and strike it down, Duromar moves and launches a firebolt and closes the distance and strikes with his rapier on the nearest Darakhul. Oneiro fires several arrows into one of the ghouls and banishes it, during this time the party hears loud clacking coming from the west and Oneiro sees through his imp that it's a Cadaver Collector and casts darkness at the shortest path between the group and the Cadaver Collector. Ashara bait and switches with Duromar which makes him exceptionally hard to hit and she begins to fire more arrows into the ghouls, Stormsong launches another fireball at the two Darakhul but is partially evaded. Del Varis moves into the melee to assist Duromar and the Darakhul begin to push back but cause limited damage due to Duromar's shield spell. At this time the Cadaver Collector moves up and Oneiro and Ashara direct their fire at that, Oneiro moves into his magical darkness which he can see out of. The Cadaver Collector dashes up to Ashara and summons six Spectors all around her, four start to slowly drain Ashara's life force and the other two move to drain Hendred's. Hendred casts word of radiance to try and clear her immediate battlespace but only the spector is unable to resist and she then casts healing word on Ashara. Del Varis stuns one of the ghouls but gets bitten by another and starts to feel a weird sensation run through his body, the Darakhul attempt to follow up with more attacks but Ashara uses her spirit shield to minimize the damage. Oneiro continues to fire into the Cadaver Collector and lands a critical strike, Del Varis continues to keep the ghouls stunned and then uses his flurry of blows to strike again and attempt to cure himself of this disease he believes it is. The Cadaver Collector slams Ashara twice which leaves her badly bruised, Duromar uses a 5th level slot (Steelwind strike) to teleport across the battlefield and strike down five of the spectors, Stormsong Firebolts both ghouls and burns them to ash. Duromar uses Steelwind Strike again and clears everything else out except for the Cadaver Collector, the Cadaver Collector attempts to slam Ashara again but is evade and it's quickly overwhelmed by the full force of the party. Hendred quickly heals the group, she examines Del Varis and casts greater restoration to rid him of the Darakhul fever he contracted from the Ghoul. They locate where the Darakhul's base was and burned it to the ground. The party has eight more days before the full might of the undead horde is on them, during this time the kobolds make it to the city in the airship and bring Ashara a gift. As the days pass they see smoke fill the sky and the deforestation groups slowly returning (though not all make it back), the funnel has been successfully created into Strongfare.
The party continues on and as they come across the site where they first met the kobolds they are met with several more odd entities, two Monolith Champions and a Guardian Naga. Oneiro is first to react and and hits the Naga between its eyes and banishes it, it reappears a split second later but is unable to act. Ashara fires a volley into the Naga and moves up, Stormsong attempts to command one of the Monolith Champions to grovel but it fails to understand what she said. Gareth and Del Varis move to flank one of the Monolith Champions and Duromar sings his bladesong and casts haste and moves to engage the Monolith that Ashara is running towards. Hendred begins to move up and blesses the party, Oneiro fires off several more arrows and hits the Naga with a grasping arrow that holds it in place and hexes it. The Monolith Champion attacks Gareth and lands a critical strike but Del Varis and Gareth continue their assault, the Naga spits poison at Del Varis but it's evaded. Stormsong launches a fireball which partially hits the Naga and one of the Monolith Champions, Hendred and Ashara launch more ranged strikes of sacred flame and arrows into the other Monolith Champion and Duromar moves into single combat with the Monolith Champion. Oneiro burns a spell slot and an action surge and launches six scorching rays at the Naga, five of which hit and leaves it greatly hurt between the fire and necrotic hex damage. The Naga retaliates with a flame strike but it caused limited damage to Gareth and Del Varis, Gareth and Del Varis fell their Monolith Champion and move to engage the Naga. The other Monolith Champion lands two devastating strikes on Ashara as she attempts to break away from it, Ashara quickly heals and action surges and launches several volleys into the Monolith Champion and Duromar moves to strike it down and finishes off the Naga. Del Varis inspects the Monolith Champion husk, Stormsong and Duromar find some diamonds in a Naga burrow, and Oneiro starts to talk in infernal. Oneiro's activity catches Hendred's attention and she asks what Oneiro is doing, Oneiro shows her an imp and says it's his familiar, this leaves her slightly unsettled but reasons it's a good imp. The party finishes up and ensures the rest of the area is clear and heads towards the sacred dragon skeleton site. The party calls for the airship and as the site gets more people the group talks about the idea of a dragon skeleton (as the only dragons are gods), Oneiro vocalizes that it seems a god can die, which leaves some tension in the air. The group decides to leave the airship behind to recover the skeleton and they make it back to Strongfare on the 5th day of Nyroth.
The party learns that there are deforestation groups being sent out to cut down large swathes of the forest on either side of Strongfare, essentially making it impassable on either side, this is to funnel the enemy into the defenses of Strongfare. The party also learns that the sickness that Hendred encountered is continuing to spread, they gather some information and head to the spot of the latest outbreak. The party slowly moves up and begins to buff themselves as Oneiro sends his imp and sees there are two bloated ghoul corpses and two corpse looking humaniods (Darakhul), Ashara is the first to engage and fires off some arrows, the Darkhul respond with two crossbow bolts and they start to move back. This action clumps them together and Duromar casts a fireball and scorches the group, he then uses his hasted action to break his elemental gem and summons an air elemental. The party starts to pick off the group at range and Stormsong sends in another Fireball, the ghouls begin to feast on the dead and begin to heal, Oneiro relays this information to the party. The air elemental moves in and attack the Darakhul, the Darakhul quickly gang up on the air elemental and strike it down, Duromar moves and launches a firebolt and closes the distance and strikes with his rapier on the nearest Darakhul. Oneiro fires several arrows into one of the ghouls and banishes it, during this time the party hears loud clacking coming from the west and Oneiro sees through his imp that it's a Cadaver Collector and casts darkness at the shortest path between the group and the Cadaver Collector. Ashara bait and switches with Duromar which makes him exceptionally hard to hit and she begins to fire more arrows into the ghouls, Stormsong launches another fireball at the two Darakhul but is partially evaded. Del Varis moves into the melee to assist Duromar and the Darakhul begin to push back but cause limited damage due to Duromar's shield spell. At this time the Cadaver Collector moves up and Oneiro and Ashara direct their fire at that, Oneiro moves into his magical darkness which he can see out of. The Cadaver Collector dashes up to Ashara and summons six Spectors all around her, four start to slowly drain Ashara's life force and the other two move to drain Hendred's. Hendred casts word of radiance to try and clear her immediate battlespace but only the spector is unable to resist and she then casts healing word on Ashara. Del Varis stuns one of the ghouls but gets bitten by another and starts to feel a weird sensation run through his body, the Darakhul attempt to follow up with more attacks but Ashara uses her spirit shield to minimize the damage. Oneiro continues to fire into the Cadaver Collector and lands a critical strike, Del Varis continues to keep the ghouls stunned and then uses his flurry of blows to strike again and attempt to cure himself of this disease he believes it is. The Cadaver Collector slams Ashara twice which leaves her badly bruised, Duromar uses a 5th level slot (Steelwind strike) to teleport across the battlefield and strike down five of the spectors, Stormsong Firebolts both ghouls and burns them to ash. Duromar uses Steelwind Strike again and clears everything else out except for the Cadaver Collector, the Cadaver Collector attempts to slam Ashara again but is evade and it's quickly overwhelmed by the full force of the party. Hendred quickly heals the group, she examines Del Varis and casts greater restoration to rid him of the Darakhul fever he contracted from the Ghoul. They locate where the Darakhul's base was and burned it to the ground. The party has eight more days before the full might of the undead horde is on them, during this time the kobolds make it to the city in the airship and bring Ashara a gift. As the days pass they see smoke fill the sky and the deforestation groups slowly returning (though not all make it back), the funnel has been successfully created into Strongfare.
It is the 15th day of Nyroth
Notes
| Male population | Female population | |
| total | 425,100* | 423,600* |
| under 15 | 106,800* | 106,900* |
| 15 - 55 | 213,100* | 211,300* |
| over 55 | 105,200* | 105,400* |
| sick/injured - 20,000 | Malnourished - 50,000 | Mage initiates - 451 |
| Professional fighting force - 129,000 | 22 - greater healing potions, 14 potions (heal 10 HP) | 1 potion of unknown potential |
| Healing doses - 300 doses (dose equals 1d4+1) | 7 acid potions (16 acid damage over 3 rounds) | Dead 11,300* |
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