Chapter 4, Session 8: Plans Go Awry

General Summary

They're broken... and it's my fault...

• Sigholdt Sofiasson confides his fears that his dream and nightmare companions are irreparably damaged.

Desdemona Boreal the tavern keeper of The Wished Well continued to get citizens to safety as Hermione of Vallea checked out the vampires for beefiness levels, then tried to cast Crushing Singularity, holding her action for people to clear the area. Hermione also sent Jolly up to investigate the remains of the roof. Sigholdt cast Hold Person on the vampire next to Esmerae, allowing Esmerae to get critical strikes and kill the first Teneted vampire. Mallus Somnium suddenly clawed out of the rubble! He rushed over to Peregrine as the head vampire ordered the other remaining vampire to take out Peregrine. Malus protected Peregrine as best he could, but between the Blood Bat and the vampire closing in on her, Peregrine went down. Hermione dropped her Crushing Singularity and saw through Jollly’s eyes the remains of the summoning circle which was no longer active.
She also saw guards trying to get to the tavern through the crowds gathering outside. Hermione then cast Aether Lance at the two vampires and the bat. One vampire - near Peregrine and Malus, was slammed into the wall, and Sigholdt quickly cast Compelled Duel on him as well, moving to flank with Malus and hit the blood bat.
Esmerae threw out Eldritch Blasts but missed both atacks. Malus tried to stabilise Peregrine but got a natural one. The compelled vampire targeted Sigholdt as the blood bat tried to escape the flanking to chase after Esmerae. It succeeded but did get hit by Malus and Sigholdt on the way. With a final death save failed Peregrine died. Malus, realising something was wrong, began to call for help. The main vampire vanished, just as Hermione hit the blood bat with a lightning chromatic orb! Through Joly, she recognised the circle was a summoning one, not a sending from a material plane one. Meanwhile, Sigholdt hit the vampire in front of him but it managed to stay up. Esmerae blood jumped through the bat out of Malus, as Malus continued to desperately try to stabilise Peregrine, not realising it was too late. Sigholdt dodged attacks when the head vampire reappeared, shooting at Sigholdt with an Eldritch Blast. The blood bat also tried to dash toward Malus, but it was very bloated and slow.
Meanwhile, Peregrine in her death didn’t see the colourful tunnel usually associated with passing. She instead tumbled in darkness, seeing a tiny pinprick of fiery light at the bottom. Back with the living, the party heard shouts outside as the crowd gathering was divided, with the guards still struggling to get through. Sigholdt wacked and Esmerae ran to flank the bat, making it explode. Esmerae shouted at Malus to get Peregrine to the clerics. Panicking, Malus picked up Peregrine’s body and ran out the door, through the crowd that parted in shock. Sigholdt shielded himself from hits as Hermione got Joly to distract the lead vampire. Hermione fired off her Aether lances, killing the second vampire and hitting the main one. She also missed a chromatic orb. Sigholdt ran up to the last vampire, cursing him and healing himself. Esmerae shot out with her Eldritch Blast, before running to the door after Malus, who continued to run down the street with Peregrine. The last vampire, seeing this, tried to disengage and flee, but Hermione hit again with her chromatic orb, and Sigholdt chased after, forcing the vampire to turn and face him in a compelled duel. With a final Eldritch Blast, Sigholdt killed the last vampire.

With combat over, Esmerae asked how much it would cost to bring back Peregrine - Hermione answered it would be 500 gold. Esmerae gave Hermione the blood vial weapon she’d picked up, telling her to sell it and the others now before time ran out. Then, Esmerae ran after Malus and Peregrine. Hermione went to Sigholdt who had gone into a mild catatonic state, making him get up and go with her to sell the weapons and get the bounty. Esmerae caught up with Malus, telling him she would try to get someone to meet them halfway, then ran to the temple.

As Esmerae reached the temple, she told them of the situation, then grabbed Head Diviner Zeiros , warning Esmerae and Malus to prepare an offering as they were unsure if Peregrine had died before or not. In the time it took for the cleric to prepare the spell, Hermione and Sigholdt reached the temple after receiving the vampire bounty. The Head Cleric, a goblin named Zeiros, began the ritual for Raise Dead. 

Malus offered a potion (a super legendary potion named Veneficium of the Mantle). Esmerae pulled out the blue vial she got from Sewastian the Gamer, asking him to open it (the condition being she had to surprise him). The bottle was successfully uncorked and a mist descended over Peregrine, as Esmerae saw a note in the vial congratulating her for surprising him by asking something of him for someone else. Hermione plucked a feather from Joly, laying it by her head. She told Peregrine “You have sacrificed so much to help your friends, and I’ve seen what it’s done. Let me sacrifice something for you”. Finally, Sigholdt took out the scimitar of life ruining, placing it down and admitting “I’m really sorry, I should be taking this more seriously at this point”.

With a shuddery gasp, Peregrine returned to life, and Hermione hugged her, crying. After taking a moment to comfort Hermione as her first act of living again, Peregrine was caught up by the party about the aftermath of the battle, and she thanked Zeiros for the spell. Malus asked if he should help her in the future, and Peregrine reassured him she was grateful that he tried. Hermione insisted Peregrine wasn’t allowed to die yet. With the tension easing, the party headed off to find a new inn, settling on The Clockwork Alehouse. Upon entering, they spotted a half-elf barkeep called Cindhart, tinkering with something. He was very shocked and worried on seeing the mess that was the party, but agrees to rent two rooms, baths and food. Hermione started to bond with him until she found out he was Peridotan, and left.

As Sigholdt bathed, he heard Hero sharpening his blade, and felt Crumble on his shoulder, whispering “We’re sick, aren’t we?”
“Yep”
“I’m sorry”
“Not your fault Crumble, not your fault. Maybe we’re not cut out for this”
Crumble went quiet before saying something was broken, and they had to try and make it right, it’s a thing to fix. Sigholdt pointed out it wasn’t just Peregrine, how many had they killed and failed to protect just to make money. Crumble pointed out that he was still trying, to which Sigholdt mumbled “We’ll see…”

Taking a moment to herself to process what had happened, Peregrine found the name of an entity that had visited her in her death, spotting it on the bone-side of her macabre Sleep Totem. After she and the others bathed, Peregrine gathered the party, ready to fill them in on her visions in death.

Report Date

30 Sep 2024