Session 8: And the Shit Doth Poppeth Off

General Summary

The session resumes where a dramatic cliffhanger the previous week left off: Amanita Guttata awaking in the middle of the night to agonizing psychic pain and a burning glow of red in their chest. In disturbingly rapid succession they fell into complete unconsciousness from the pain/mental damage, were suddenly healed as if nothing happened, and rushed out of the room in a ferver (glowing low ember crimsons from their breast all the while).
In the distance, a tremor shakes the entire City of Wrath, the ghostly echoes of corvid cries haunting the wind.
The team follows hastily out of their sleep quarters after their wayward Owlin, meeting a fully war-ready Gleddy Goodvine also in a rush out of the AHARRG Guild Hall. Gleddy acknowledges that she can't order anyone to ignore what's happening (especially with Amanita fleeing with the speed of an Owlin possessed) but she does beg the team to be careful and perhaps stay out of the way of the big kids going in to deal with the problem.
The big kids in question turn out to be the full Ad Hoc Adventurers Recruitment and Resettlement Guild leadership group:

• Gleddy Goodvine, who the gang now sees is a Fighter (Banneret) wielding the magical hammer that so fascinated the party on first meeting

• G'Vi Na T'For, the quiet but loyal Goliath, mistress of the Guild Forge, Master Smith and blueprint architect, Path of the Giant Barbarian and paramour of Gleddy

• Dortlitt (revealed to be a powerful Artificer with a powerful handmade gun to match) and his Steel Defender (modeled after a Displacer Beast kitten) Stell

• One Who Smiles For the Dark, the bugbear mental health liasion for the guild and a powerful Domain of Life Cleric

• Alaion Elsatra, one half of the medical leads, a High Elf Wizard of Necromancy and Phantom Assassin

• Eldrin Elsatra, the other half of the medical clinic leads and Alaion's twin, a Drow Oath of Vengeance Paladin with extensive Way of Mercy Monk training

• Norville Aurabithin, the Guild's lead for all things magic (including the alchemy & artifice labs and library), an Air Genasi and Pact of the Tome Warlock.

They are all sufficiently badass and instill awe in the handful of people awake in this pre-dawn scene and brave enough to watch through their windows. (DM note: They're all Level 15 and extremely cool, I'm not too proud to say it.)
The party reaches the town square and source of the ruckus, finding a large and horrifying monstrosity that Wynnie Bishop is able to identify as a Deep Crow, specifically an Ancient one arisen from somewhere deep underground. The Ancient Deep Crow brings with it a heraldry of undead and monstrosities: Death Dogs, Ghouls, and Ghasts.
The Nerd Squad does a commendable job of staying on their feet and add to the damage the group is laying down, knowing it's a race against time to minimize the damage to the city and any civilians in the psychic blast radius of this crow's devastating cries.
The party claims a few feathers as trophies from the Crow before regrouping with Gleddy. Gleddy directs the group (particularly Amanita Guttata, whose yearning pull led them to the Crow but finds no relief or cessation of glowing in its demise) to Norville, the archmage of all things arcane in the Guild.
Norville sits the team down in his office and tells them with no small measure of reluctance that he thinks he has their next mission, and it's a doozy.
To the south of the City Plateau, there is the Grove of the Cat forest, the arboreal city of The Endeavour, and one of the most mysterious and dreaded places in Ostelliach: the Mill of the Gods. Strange occurences have been originating from the Mill, seemingly necromantic in nature and tied to the appearance of a Deep Crow in the middle of the city. Of note is that the glow on Amanita's chest is actually underneath the feathers a sigil, the ancient archaic symbol for the Necromancy school of magic no less.

Norville posits that since Amanita felt this pull to the crow and the beast appeared at the same time and since the crow is thought to be related to the Mill, it's likely that Amanita's new brand and psychic link are similarly related. The Genasi admits it is coincidental evidence in many ways but also notes sagely that with arcane events there are often no such thing as coincidences, at least not when you're dealing with strange events of this scale.
Gleddy reassures the team in her motherly way that they'll be provided resources to make the journey easier and frets over them some before dismissing everyone for a day or two of rest and preparation. As the sun rises over Ostelliach, our party is dismissed to determine what they need to steel themselves to walk into the maw of dead titans.

Rewards Granted

• Ancient Deep Crow feathers for each person

• Knowledge that the guild is presided over by a bunch of really fuckin' heavy hitters

• An ennui-esque yearning in one Owlin's chest, burning with 'scientific heartburn' and curiosity mixed with dread

Related Reports

Session 7: The Rizzbot Strikes Again Session 9: The Gang Explores Their Feelings About Connection...and Buys a Lot of Stuff

Report Date

01 May 2024

Primary Location

City Plateau

Secondary Location

AHARRG Guild Hall