Chapter 3, Session 11: Several Crits, Several Failures
General Summary
Returning to mid-combat, the assassin tried to hit Esmerae after cutting himself and preparing a smite. However Peregrine cast a Silvery Barbs, protecting Esmerae as Malus released his tentacles to block some of the damage. Malus then punched the assassin as Sigholdt hexed the man, however, Peregrine got the killing blow with a critical hit Guiding Bolt. Esmerae, being the closest, heard the assassin whisper “Fate Provides” with a smile as he died and vanished once more. Realising Hermione was in danger, Peregrine asked Esmerae to get to her side, and for Sigholdt or Malus to feed her a healing potion as all were closer or able to move faster. Hermione used a new skill, Benign Transposition, to reach the roof, almost literally stumbling into the assassin!
Hermione screamed as she saw him: “How fucking dare you impersonate him!” before using her breath weapon to try and knock the assassin off the roof. Throwing insults, she noticed she touched a nerve when she criticised his training, though was unable to knock him off the roof. She also noticed he now had the number 3 on his hand. Esmerae started hurrying to reach Hermione, firing off Eldritch Blasts as she turned into a flock of ravens to block the assassin from easily reaching Hermione. The assassin instead disengaged to move through the ravens, knocking Hermione out and striking her while she was down, leaving her on two failed death saves. Malus raced over the rooftops to body-block Hermione from another blow, punching the assassin as Sigholdt shot Eldritch Blasts at him. Peregrine pulled on her meta magic to send a twinned, high-level healing word at Esmerae and Hermione, bringing Hermione back up and keeping Esmerae somewhat healthy despite her bleed damage. Hermione staggered to her feet to release another breath weapon on the assassin.
Esmerae returned to her normal form, casting branding smite before successfully critting on the assassin. She then used her spectre ability to try and control his fleeing soul, creating a ‘little buddy’. Hermione luckily got a nat 20 to spot where the assassin had fled to, as the rest of the party were apparently blind. The assassin tried to cast Aura of Vitality on himself but was Counterspelled by Peregrine, so he tried to jump off the roof and stealth again. Esmerae sent her little buddy after him to hunt with no luck, as Malus received the same result. Peregrine fed Hermione a healing potion as both Hermione and Sigholdt failed to spot the assassin. Not even Jolly could see him! Eventually, Esmerae was able to use her ability to sense life, finally spotting him and noticing he was no longer as impassive as he tried to appear - managing to get a strong hit on him at the same time. Once more she turned into several ravens to block his path. This didn’t put off the assassin who ran through the ravens, getting two hits before managing to knock Hermione down. However, all the healing she’d received meant he didn’t have enough attacks to kill her outright! Instead, the assassin moved to close in on Peregrine as Malus hurried up to punch him with his enchanted fists and protect Peregrine. The assassin revealed he had legendary actions by teleporting to Hermione to try and kill her. However, Sigholdt foiled his plans by reaching Hermione to give her a healing potion. Peregrine boosted the healing with another Healing Word, missing her cantrip and sassing the assassin. Once more Hermione staggered to her feet, using her breath weapon and successfully knocking the assassin off the roof - finally! With a nat 20 insight, she spotted fear in his eyes. In retaliation, the assassin teleported back to the roof, beside Peregrine, and stabbed her with a high-level smite, nearly killing her in a single hit - however, Malus was close enough to block just enough of the damage that Peregrine remained upright. Esmerae ran over to flank with Malus, using a critical hit stab with a powerful eldritch smite! Despite Esmerae goading the assassin, his fear got the better of him, and he chose to retreat, fleeing and stealthing.
As the party gathered themselves, they began to hear the clamour of guards approaching in different directions, as Esmerae’s spectre spotted where the assassin was fleeing. Malus leapt off the roof, killing him with a reckless, lethal punch. As the red bead of light shot up into the sky again, Esmerae and Hermione spotted it fleeing rapidly north. The party chose not to give chase, instead choosing to retreat to their rooms as stealthily as possible. After the group quickly gathered the leftover skins from the assassin, Peregrine Misty Stepped back into her room, opening the windows wide for the others as Esmerae used her ravens form to get inside. Hermione tried to jump the gap from the rooftop however nearly missed, hanging out of the window with Peregrine trying to haul her up. Malus also attempted the same action but missed and hit the ground hard. Sigholdt meanwhile found a perch near the inn, waiting to spot the nearest approaching guards. As they arrived and spotted Sigholdt, they asked him to stop, as Sigholdt shouted “Fuck You”. Hermione managed to scrabble through the window and Malus climbed up the side of the building to also get into the rented room, leaving Sigholdt to flip the bird at the guards and run, providing a useful distraction for the others. As Sigholdt turned a corner, he vanished into his magic bottle, successfully hiding from the guards.
Sigholdt listened in as the head guard talked about bringing the situation to the Observers, as it’s a murder and they love a mystery. Esmerae then used her ravens form to pick up Sigholdt’s bottle and return it to the room, reuniting the group. The party started to ask Hermione questions, and she finally began to talk, explaining about the Woven Providence. She also told the party about Wraith, her bodyguard who had gotten kidnapped by the cult. When asked, she stated she didn’t want Peregrine to send Wraith a message to check if he was still alive. Esmerae then told the party about the Ceaseless Observers after Sigholdt relayed what he’d overheard - they were a relatively new group. The party agreed to leave in the morning before the Observers came to question them, taking the rest of the evening to rest up, with Malus and Jolly on watch.
The next morning, Sigholt quickly fetched his shield as Peregrine messaged Xanthier to say goodbye. Hermione started up the Sandspeeder and the party set off from the city. On the journey, people feat trained and read. The following skill checks were used:
- Hermione used Tinker Tools to improve the car
- Peregrine used Persuasion, trading jerky for veggies and comfort items for the car
- Sigholdt used Land Vehicle proficiency to backseat drive (driving Hermione nuts)
Report Date
04 Jun 2024
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