Kingdom on the Brink - Session 57
General Summary
The party moves out to find the area where the cultist had se tup residence. They find themselves at the base of a set of cliffside stairs, they start to ascend the stairs. Halfway up the party notices a Dracohydra and Uriel notices an Algorith. Rosemary casts dimension door and takes Uriel with her, they appear next to the Algorith. The Algorith uses a cone of negation which hits Uriel full blast and Rosemary evades it. The Dracohydra bite Rosemary, Duromar casts dimension door and takes Bob with him, Del Varis runs up the side of the cliff and engages the Algorith. The Algorith falls under the combined strength of Uriel, Rosemary and Bob, the Dracohydra launches its acid breathe at the group. Duromar casts finger of death on the Dracohydra and Uriel critically strikes it with smite, killing it. Merigold and Gregori make it to the top just in time to see the Dracohydra collapse. The party investigates the Dracohydra and sees it seems to be artificial in creation, the party debates the morality of eating it, as it's the closest thing to dragon on this plane (the Order of the Dragon makes all dragons deities essentially God, so are they eating a divine being?). Del Varis decides to experiment and tries to cook the red dragon head with alchemical fire and attempts to eat it, throwing up shortly thereafter. Duromar gets healed and looks over the mountain top and sees the path they're on leading into the distance and sees a glint. The party continues on the path.
The party comes across a cave entrance and the surrounding area is filled with artificially constructed architecture and metalwork. The party investigates, Uriel pulls out his gryphon statue and scouts the area. Duromar takes careful notes, and the party pushes forward, they see several dragon statues above the cave entrance and a statue in the middle of the entrance. The party sees the statue in the cave entrance looks a lot like a Doom Golem, after searching the rest of the area the party cautiously approaches the motionless Doom Golem. Merigold fires an arrow at it, the Doom Golem lights up and uses its reaction to fire a doom bolt at Merigold. Duromar casts scatter on the party, Merigold and Gregori teleport to the top of the cave next to a dragon statue. Uriel is on his gryphon and the rest of the party surround the Doom Golem. The dragon statues awaken, and moving like Clockwork Dragons, the one next to Merigold attempts to spray oil on her and Gregori, but they both dodge. The Clockwork Dragon then attempts to bite Merigold (but is dodged) and punches Gregori. The other Clockwork Dragon takes flight and attempts to spray Duromar with oil. Rosemary critically hits the Doom Golem but is overtaken by fear shortly thereafter and her other strikes fail to connect, she moves away. Uriel and Amber Kerogen engage the flying Clockwork Dragon, Amber hurling eldritch blasts while Uriel moves into melee on his Gryphon. Duromar casts haste on himself and flanks with Bob to strike the Doom Golem several times. Del Varis sees Merigold is in trouble and moves to assist, running up the side of the cave. Merigold and Gregori exchange blows with their Clockwork Dragon, evading most of the attacks it performs on them. Rosemary shakes her fear and engages the Doom Golem once more, Bob follows up with his hove attacks and the Golem breaks apart. Uriel Jumps onto the arial Clockwork Dragon and forces it to crash into the ground, causing some damage himself. Del Varis his hand of withering to greatly weaken the Clockwork Dragon on the cliff, Merigold finishes it off. The proned Clockwork Dragon doesn't last much longer as the party moves in to finish it off.
The party decides to long rest here for the night, Duromar casts tiny hut just inside the cave entrance, the party goes about using their downtime. Rosemary and Uriel continue to read their tomes, Merigold makes dinner, Duromar goes to sleep, and Del Varis continues working on a helmet for Gregori. Uriel performs one last check before going to bed, he sees Del Varis sleeping outside the hut and drags him back in. Several hours pass when the party is awakened to Gregori barking, they look outside the hut and see two Golems approaching from inside the cave. At first the party doesn't do anything, the Golems can't enter the hut, but the Golems start to climb the sides of the cave. Once they get to the top they start to throw boulders down on to the hut and slamming the top of the cave, attempting to bury the hut. The party springs into action, Rosemary embolden bonds the party and Duromar starts his bladesong and casts steelwind strike, hitting both Golems. Del Varis runs up the side of the cave and attacks the Steam Golem, the Steam Golem retaliates and strikes Del Varis twice with an ax. The Iron Golem attempts to strike Duromar but he casts shield to avoid the slams. Merigold fires her short bow from the ground and Amber follows those up with eldritch blasts, Uriel mounts Bob and they start to scale the side of the cave. Duromar cast haste, the Steam Golem attempts to stop it by whistling loudly, Duromar maintains focus and haste takes effect. Del Varis continues to strike the Steam Golem and then moves to flank with Duromar, Bob gallops up and Uriel strikes with his storm lance. The Steam Golem unleashes a blast of steam which hits Del Varis, Duromar, and Bob; it also heals the Iron Golem. Rosemary enters the melee and destroys the Steam Golem; the rest of the party is able to focus on the Iron Golem and it falls shortly thereafter. The party moves the hut and continues to long rest.
The party enters the cave and descends the staircase, they finds themselves facing an open hall, Gregori uses his gem of seeing. As the group moves further in, they see an opening to a pit, several alcoves that were used for Golems (most broken but appears there might have been activity recently), and statues that are giving off a cult like presence. As Gregori is searching he starts to focus on an orb that's next to Duromar and starts barking, the rest of the party looks and sees nothing, Gregori is adamant it's there it describes it best as he can. Uriel attempts to dispel it twice, but fails, he and Del Varis move towards the pit. When they look inside, they see a mound of skeletons, there is a faint stench just over the pit. The party heads towards the stairs and descend into the complex, at the bottom they enter a large open cavern. Uriel and Rosemary keep watch as the rest of the party explores, they find that it was some sort of containment facility, finding references to experiments and subjects. Uriel and Rosemary start to feel the ground shake and they warn the party, at the far end of cavern they see a War Machine Golem and an Azi Dahaka appear. The party buffs themselves as the War Machine fires off a boulder from its catapult, striking Merigold and Gregori. Rosemary and Uriel move to engage the Dahaka, it unleashes its breath weapon, though it gets mostly evaded, Rosemary strikes it several times and poisons it. The Azi Dahaka uses its legendary action to call lightning down onto Uriel. Amber starts to hurl eldritch blasts at the Dahaka, Duromar and Merigold attack the War Golem from range and then Duromar moves into melee. The Golem continues to fire its catapult at Merigold and Gregori and slams Duromar twice (Duromar absorbs some of the damage with his song of defense). Uriel attempts to command the Azi Dahaka to grovel, but it has no effect, the Dahaka moves between Rosemary and Uriel and attempts to attack (misses most due to being poisoned). Rosemary continues to strike and keeps poisoning the Dahaka, it responds by flapping its wings which prones Uriel and takes flight. Amber continues to hurl eldritch blasts and Del Varis moves up and strikes the War Golem with his withering touch. Duromar strikes the Golem with a booming blade and Rapier strikes and Merigold moves up into the melee, Del Varis manages to climb the Golem and continues to punch it. The Golem starts to break apart, Del Varis gets partially buried in the rubble. Guiding bolts, javelins, and eldritch blasts pelt the flying Dahaka, Duromar and Merigold move to help the others. Del Varis drinks his vial of wonder and randomly misty steps away, also gaining an AC boost and randomly setting things on fire. Del Varis moves up and launches some needles at the Dahaka which makes it fall to the ground. The Dahaka furiously starts to strike Del Varis, but due to being restrained most miss, it calls down another lightning bolt, but isn't enough to save it. Rosemary moves in to finish it off.
The party further investigates and Duromar starts to take careful notes, realizing this facility was being used to make things that were extremely powerful in nature, the purpose being unclear. The group spreads out and finds some crystals that play some recorded journal entries:
With the disappearance of high priest Harzog and that……. Abomination appearing around the same time, we have been divided; there has to be a link. In the face of this new adversary the weak-willed have forsaken the teaching, they have forsaken the truth. Our benefactors in the Crystal Bay see this as only a minor setback, but swift action is required. We have selected Gnomebreaker for this task, they have proven to be unwavering.
We aren’t completely sure of the success of the mission, but from what we can make out, Leagallow has paid for his treachery. Gnomebreaker did not escape unscathed, but that might work to our benefit. Our benefactors need more intelligence, it seems some old adversaries are coming our way.
The heretics are getting bolder, they have rallied more to their false cause. We must conserve resources and are going to pull back to mass our forces. We have a few small bands looking for anything of use in this area, the experiments are none of our concern.
The party comes across a cave entrance and the surrounding area is filled with artificially constructed architecture and metalwork. The party investigates, Uriel pulls out his gryphon statue and scouts the area. Duromar takes careful notes, and the party pushes forward, they see several dragon statues above the cave entrance and a statue in the middle of the entrance. The party sees the statue in the cave entrance looks a lot like a Doom Golem, after searching the rest of the area the party cautiously approaches the motionless Doom Golem. Merigold fires an arrow at it, the Doom Golem lights up and uses its reaction to fire a doom bolt at Merigold. Duromar casts scatter on the party, Merigold and Gregori teleport to the top of the cave next to a dragon statue. Uriel is on his gryphon and the rest of the party surround the Doom Golem. The dragon statues awaken, and moving like Clockwork Dragons, the one next to Merigold attempts to spray oil on her and Gregori, but they both dodge. The Clockwork Dragon then attempts to bite Merigold (but is dodged) and punches Gregori. The other Clockwork Dragon takes flight and attempts to spray Duromar with oil. Rosemary critically hits the Doom Golem but is overtaken by fear shortly thereafter and her other strikes fail to connect, she moves away. Uriel and Amber Kerogen engage the flying Clockwork Dragon, Amber hurling eldritch blasts while Uriel moves into melee on his Gryphon. Duromar casts haste on himself and flanks with Bob to strike the Doom Golem several times. Del Varis sees Merigold is in trouble and moves to assist, running up the side of the cave. Merigold and Gregori exchange blows with their Clockwork Dragon, evading most of the attacks it performs on them. Rosemary shakes her fear and engages the Doom Golem once more, Bob follows up with his hove attacks and the Golem breaks apart. Uriel Jumps onto the arial Clockwork Dragon and forces it to crash into the ground, causing some damage himself. Del Varis his hand of withering to greatly weaken the Clockwork Dragon on the cliff, Merigold finishes it off. The proned Clockwork Dragon doesn't last much longer as the party moves in to finish it off.
The party decides to long rest here for the night, Duromar casts tiny hut just inside the cave entrance, the party goes about using their downtime. Rosemary and Uriel continue to read their tomes, Merigold makes dinner, Duromar goes to sleep, and Del Varis continues working on a helmet for Gregori. Uriel performs one last check before going to bed, he sees Del Varis sleeping outside the hut and drags him back in. Several hours pass when the party is awakened to Gregori barking, they look outside the hut and see two Golems approaching from inside the cave. At first the party doesn't do anything, the Golems can't enter the hut, but the Golems start to climb the sides of the cave. Once they get to the top they start to throw boulders down on to the hut and slamming the top of the cave, attempting to bury the hut. The party springs into action, Rosemary embolden bonds the party and Duromar starts his bladesong and casts steelwind strike, hitting both Golems. Del Varis runs up the side of the cave and attacks the Steam Golem, the Steam Golem retaliates and strikes Del Varis twice with an ax. The Iron Golem attempts to strike Duromar but he casts shield to avoid the slams. Merigold fires her short bow from the ground and Amber follows those up with eldritch blasts, Uriel mounts Bob and they start to scale the side of the cave. Duromar cast haste, the Steam Golem attempts to stop it by whistling loudly, Duromar maintains focus and haste takes effect. Del Varis continues to strike the Steam Golem and then moves to flank with Duromar, Bob gallops up and Uriel strikes with his storm lance. The Steam Golem unleashes a blast of steam which hits Del Varis, Duromar, and Bob; it also heals the Iron Golem. Rosemary enters the melee and destroys the Steam Golem; the rest of the party is able to focus on the Iron Golem and it falls shortly thereafter. The party moves the hut and continues to long rest.
The party enters the cave and descends the staircase, they finds themselves facing an open hall, Gregori uses his gem of seeing. As the group moves further in, they see an opening to a pit, several alcoves that were used for Golems (most broken but appears there might have been activity recently), and statues that are giving off a cult like presence. As Gregori is searching he starts to focus on an orb that's next to Duromar and starts barking, the rest of the party looks and sees nothing, Gregori is adamant it's there it describes it best as he can. Uriel attempts to dispel it twice, but fails, he and Del Varis move towards the pit. When they look inside, they see a mound of skeletons, there is a faint stench just over the pit. The party heads towards the stairs and descend into the complex, at the bottom they enter a large open cavern. Uriel and Rosemary keep watch as the rest of the party explores, they find that it was some sort of containment facility, finding references to experiments and subjects. Uriel and Rosemary start to feel the ground shake and they warn the party, at the far end of cavern they see a War Machine Golem and an Azi Dahaka appear. The party buffs themselves as the War Machine fires off a boulder from its catapult, striking Merigold and Gregori. Rosemary and Uriel move to engage the Dahaka, it unleashes its breath weapon, though it gets mostly evaded, Rosemary strikes it several times and poisons it. The Azi Dahaka uses its legendary action to call lightning down onto Uriel. Amber starts to hurl eldritch blasts at the Dahaka, Duromar and Merigold attack the War Golem from range and then Duromar moves into melee. The Golem continues to fire its catapult at Merigold and Gregori and slams Duromar twice (Duromar absorbs some of the damage with his song of defense). Uriel attempts to command the Azi Dahaka to grovel, but it has no effect, the Dahaka moves between Rosemary and Uriel and attempts to attack (misses most due to being poisoned). Rosemary continues to strike and keeps poisoning the Dahaka, it responds by flapping its wings which prones Uriel and takes flight. Amber continues to hurl eldritch blasts and Del Varis moves up and strikes the War Golem with his withering touch. Duromar strikes the Golem with a booming blade and Rapier strikes and Merigold moves up into the melee, Del Varis manages to climb the Golem and continues to punch it. The Golem starts to break apart, Del Varis gets partially buried in the rubble. Guiding bolts, javelins, and eldritch blasts pelt the flying Dahaka, Duromar and Merigold move to help the others. Del Varis drinks his vial of wonder and randomly misty steps away, also gaining an AC boost and randomly setting things on fire. Del Varis moves up and launches some needles at the Dahaka which makes it fall to the ground. The Dahaka furiously starts to strike Del Varis, but due to being restrained most miss, it calls down another lightning bolt, but isn't enough to save it. Rosemary moves in to finish it off.
The party further investigates and Duromar starts to take careful notes, realizing this facility was being used to make things that were extremely powerful in nature, the purpose being unclear. The group spreads out and finds some crystals that play some recorded journal entries:
With the disappearance of high priest Harzog and that……. Abomination appearing around the same time, we have been divided; there has to be a link. In the face of this new adversary the weak-willed have forsaken the teaching, they have forsaken the truth. Our benefactors in the Crystal Bay see this as only a minor setback, but swift action is required. We have selected Gnomebreaker for this task, they have proven to be unwavering.
We aren’t completely sure of the success of the mission, but from what we can make out, Leagallow has paid for his treachery. Gnomebreaker did not escape unscathed, but that might work to our benefit. Our benefactors need more intelligence, it seems some old adversaries are coming our way.
The heretics are getting bolder, they have rallied more to their false cause. We must conserve resources and are going to pull back to mass our forces. We have a few small bands looking for anything of use in this area, the experiments are none of our concern.
Upon seeing the messages and listening to them over and over, Amber says she vaguely recognizes the person speaking. He is connected to her torcher by the Cult of Nadranth, Uriel tries to help her regain her memories by using cleansing touch. At first it seems to have an effect, but it isn't quite enough, Uriel surmises it is either more powerful magic, or her memory loss isn't magical in nature. Duromar takes 6 hours to get careful details of his findings, the rest of the party waits by the stairs, Uriel and Rosemary continue to read their tomes and Del Varis finishes Gregori's helmet. Duromar has Rosemary send a message to Bronze Cliff informing Lord Valeros (see House Valeros) about this discovery and to send forces to secure it. The party continues down the stairs.
It is early afternoon on the 29th day of Leranth 2517 AGF
Report Date
30 Mar 2024
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