Session 32 - Battle Won, Memories Lost
8 Klarmont 1010 - 11 Klarmont 1010
General Summary
The now wary party is unsurprised to find the horror that is the False Hydra just on the other side of the basement from them. They immediately respond with force, which may be a slight surprise to the False Hydra, which normally has lulled its targets with its singing.
Leo attempts to use Hypnotic Pattern targeting the body and all four heads, in hope of giving them significant tactical advantage; alas, it seems immune to the charming effect. In the same vein, Elincia casts Faerie Fire, and paints two of the heads and the body in iridescent purple glow. The creature lets out a roar from its many heads, striking fear into Leo and Tork. Tork shifts to the creature's right, and throws his spear at one of the lit up targets and rages. Stavos prepares himself for the heads to attack. Now the hydra strikes out with its heads attacking various targets. Tork, Stavos, and Seraphina are all struck and grappled by the long necks, a second head attacking Seraphina misses.
By concentrating their efforts, the party is able to take down two of the heads over the next couple rounds, but they seem to simply pull back into the body rather than dying.
Not too surprisingly the heads come back, though they seem weakened. One head shrieks at Stavos, Elincia, and Leo, and deals some sort of psychic damage. Unfortunately this breaks Elincia's concentration on Faerie Fire, and with the two heads regenerated, both she and Seraphina elect to put Moonbeam on the creature's body to start injuring it. Leo drops a Shatter on the main body and the two smaller heads. Meanwhile the melee combat is going less well with the loss of advantage from Faerie Fire.
One of the returning smaller heads goes after Leo, and Seraphina intercedes, protecting him from the attack, The second smaller head goes for Seraphina, but Stavos strikes at it with his reaction.
Between Seraphina and Stavos, the two smaller heads are dealt with pretty quickly, and this time they seem to stay dead. The body tries to lumber away from the moonbeams, but they are shifted right back on to it, and it seems the tide of the battle is turning, as the two remaining full sized heads are soon dealt with, and between rage, healing light, second wind, and potions, everyone is able to keep their health "safe enough", and they whittle it down and eventually triumph!
They take a quick break, and Stavos breaks out one of the special silver coins, and his recently acquired needle and thread, and delivers their first of ten obligations to Waldhexe. Seraphina also pours holy water over the creature and performs a prayer. They dig through the remains and carnage looking for any evidence of the poor victims. Seraphina finds an intact pocket from one of the victim's shirt, and inside finds a note and a heart shaped stone from a Clara - perhaps this is the love interest of Stefan, or one of the other victims. That done, they sit down in some of the chairs that the town keeps down here. The relief is somewhat short-lived however, as the reality of what this creature has done to this small town weighs on them. Soon someone pokes their head through one of the holes in the floor joists, and someone then walks down the stairs into the basement - It turns out to be the Mayor.
Stavos and Leo work to explain the horrible situation to him. Leo runs over to the library to get Darrington's Creature Catalogue (Volume 2) to help explain the situation to the Mayor. He quickly reads the entry on the False Hydra, and looks around at the carnage and destruction within the town hall. Stavos explains that many people seem to have gone missing, the front desk clerk, the older son of the shopkeeper, the librarian, Katya Wensk's husband, the blacksmith, etc. The mayor starts to say that these people do not exist, but he recalls what the False Hydra entry said, and grimly begins to understand. By now other curious folk from the town hall offices above begin to filter in. They develop a plan to inform the residents of the town, and how to deal with the tragic situation. They will also dig through the census to try to figure out who else has gone missing. The party sticks around and helps with the cleanup efforts and repairs. They go back to the inn, where one of the guests is bewildered by holes in the walls of his room. Stavos once again explains the actions of the False Hydra, and what has happened.
The party also has to determine the situation with Rach, as they clearly have no memory of Rach, but it is entirely possible that this is the action of the False Hydra. Unsure how to learn more about this besides heading back to Saltmarsh, they begin making plans to head back west. They stay a few days to help with repair efforts, disposal and destruction of the creature, and to rest.
The day before they intend to leave, Katya discovers her wedding ring, and makes some connections. She asks Stavos about the letter for Vinko, and he shows her. She reads through it and knows the writer of the letter and their son, but still has no memory of Vinko and doesn't know *why* she knows the writer and son. The party offers any help they can give, but don't really know what they can do to help her through this situation, as well as the situations the whole town is dealing with.
Meanwhile, the Mayor asks what he can do for them for all the help they have provided. The party doesn't have any immediate needs, but asks that in the future they will be welcome in town. Stefan's horse and other belongings, including the packages, are all turned over to the party. The party plans for departure the following day.
In the morning they are breaking their fast when they hear the sounds of a large group of soldiers outside. Shortly, troops in Karameikan army attire, including two elves in fancier armor, enter in a flurry and speak to Katya. All the guests are gathered into the main tavern room, and the male elf casts a spell upon everyone in the room.
Tork falls under the influence of the spell, though the rest of the party is unaffected. The folks are separated with those affected by the spell on the east side and the others on the west side of the room. The sergeants starts by asking those on the east side of the room where they have been for the past three days, most of whom were either in town or coming from the west. Tork also has been in town all of that timeframe helping with the repairs and rebuilding of the town. They also ask if anyone has had contact with any "bandits, brigands, or kidnappers" which no one has.
After finishing with the eastern group, they begin questioning the folks on the west side of the room. As each person answers, a follow-up question is asked of the eastern group to verify their answers - Tork vouches for the party members. The soldiers seem satisfied with the answers given and ask everyone to stay put for a while as they investigate further in town. They leave, but post two guards at each door to the Inn.
Leo chats up the guard trying to get a sense of what is happening. He doesn't seem to know much, but admits that this is definitely out of the ordinary activity. They do drills and such, but they've never been out interrogating townsfolk before. Whatever is afoot is very important, as the elves are part of the King's Guard, and have been attached to their company - clearly current circumstances are highly unusual. Leo offers his help if he needs anything and the guard eyes the bar, but thinks better of it. Leo offers him a drink, but the guard is sure it's a bad idea.
Eventually the guards are recalled, and move at a heightened pace to catch up with the main contingent. The party wants to follow the troops and begin preparing to leave town. As they are finishing their preparations a paper bird lands at Stavos' feet.
It is a note from Eliander in Saltmarsh. It says, "King Stefan has been kidnapped. Aid any authorities in searching for him - your skillset could be a great boon. You will be empowered by the council and reimbursed for any expenses incurred on behalf of the town of Saltmarsh. You will each shortly receive further documentation." As promised, paper birds begin arriving one-by-one to each of the party members, a few minutes apart. Each letter proclaims "The bearer of this letter, [party member] is hereby named a captain and agent of the Town of Saltmarsh, and by extension Karameikos, in service to the aforementioned." The letters are signed by the Saltmarsh Town Council members and bear the town council seal.
The party has some ground to cover to catch up!
Character(s) interacted with
Report Date
06 Nov 2020
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