Session 15: Divine Visitation and Earthen Warriors

General Summary

Summary: 2 points for the summary, 1 bonus point for assistive combat effect tracking last session.

Winding down for a long rest

Investigating the vials of orange liquid

Maya gives the vials a closer look. The cap on the vial looks like its bonded to the glass and isn't removable. He surmises that the substance appears to be a liquified spell effect of some type.
He passes the vial along to Sunny to be Identified, and he determines that the vials are Potions of Stinking Cloud. Sunny has some familiarity with that spell, as it's used for pranks by some of his colleagues in the Blue Moon Circus. It occurs to a few people that since the scarecrows and statues don't breathe, this seems like a weapon they could use that would effect the constructs themselves less.

The stone mens' eyes

Sunny Identifies the eyes of the stone men (specifically starting with the golden beryls). He gets a metallic taste in his mouth, and is a bit confused by the knowledge in his mind - it seems the stone men weren't created by a spell so much as a ritual of some kind, and they they weren't the intended outcome. The party muses about whether they know any alchemists, but no one seems to know of any - Ol'Harb is sure he's met one but can't think of when or where.

Settling in for the night

Several folks pull some tasty fish out of the nearby pond and Nock cooks them over a small fire. Maya gives the pond a closer look - it's clear and clean, cooler than he expected but crisp and refreshing as freshly dropped rainwater. He gets the sensation that nature has been aligned or clarified in this location, not tied to a specific season, but streamlined somehow. It's an odd sensation but he suspects he could get very comfortable with it.

A council on Harb's tactics

Maya cautions Harb to consider more carefully before charging into unknown situations, and expresses some concern that Harb is fighting so recklessly because he has lost something important to him. For his part, Harb initially suggests that Maya merely wanted to pummel the scarecrows more directly himself, but admits that he didn't spot the statues flanking the door until it was too late.

On the nature of the Stinking Cloud

It occurred to Maya that Harb was in a cloud that was supposed to have the effect of making people nauseated but seemed unaffected by it. Harb mentions that he's great at holding his breath, and only rarely needs to breathe - he apparently has to consciously think about breathing to do so.

Over the course of the evening

Maya and Harb's Watch

Maya inquires whether Harb has had some loss that makes him so reckless. Harb explains that he's forgotten most of the things he's ever known. He's been trying to put together what has happened to him in his long life, and has picked up the habit of sketching things out. Nock, or some of his people, figured into Harb's past somehow, and Harb was disappointed that Nock didn't know more about warforged. Maya offers to help look into this further once the issue with the lycanthropes is resolved, and Harb indicates he'd appreciate that immensely.
Harb talks about how during his rest periods, he tries to work out what he can remember and put it to paper.
Towards the end of the watch (just before midnight) the last sliver of moon rises, and as it clears the trees and hits the pond, the water takes on the same feeble glow that the fountain in the facility has. Maya suspects there may be some underground connection between the two.

Nock's Watch

Nock makes a slow circuit around the campfire.

Leucis meets with his deity

Leucis suddenly becomes aware, in his robes and wearing his holy symbol. He's ankle-deep in water that looks much like the water from the fountain in the Llyrian facility, glowing with a dim moonlight. This water seems to have thin threads of silver running through it, glistening faintly. The water extends smoothly and featurelessly to distant mountains that line the horizon in every direction. The sky is glaringly empty, the only source of light the vast body of shallow water you're standing in.
Looking around, Leucis spots just a the faintest sliver of the moon. It seems farther away that it should and isn't really giving off light. He can hear some murmuring whispers, too low to make out individual words but there the sound of many voices. He calls out "Hello?" but the silence snaps shut behind the word with no response. He touches the water, and it seems cool to the touch. The silver rivulets seem to react to his presence, but he's not sure what to make of this strange situation.
Taking a bearing on the dim, distant moon sliver, he starts walking toward it. The water doesn't splash, it more slides out of the way of his feet as he walks. The voices grow slightly louder as he moves, and then suddenly stop. Leucis feels a wave of coolness wash over him and he feels the presence of Selune, simultaneously immensely powerful and somehow incredibly remote. He can sense that Selune is inquiring about Leucis's willingness as her vessel; he immediately kneels and proclaims his faith.
The water just in front of Leucis starts to ripple, coalescing in a spot nearby where the water bows upward. It cascades downward off a solid shape of jagged silvery ice, glinting sharp edges and curved planes. There's a faint whisper that seems to come from it. Leucis brings his face close to the shard, listening. He can't make out the words, but he can still feel Selune's cool presence and knows what he must do, and feels no fear in what comes next.
He presses his face against the frozen surface. His skin parts on the jagged edges, and he can feel a warm trickle of blood from his cheek onto the spar and he takes 10 psychic damage.
Nock hear Leucis cry out in his sleep, and sees a bright light coming from the cleric's face. He calls out to awaken the rest of the party, then attempts to drag Leucis to safety. As he approaches, the searing light from Leucis's face blinds him, but he is undeterred.
In the vision, Leucis loses his balance and leans into the jagged spike. He's bleeding profusely from wounds on his face and arms. Selune continues to guide him, and he takes 15 more psychic damage.
The rest of the party has awakened now. The pond is now glowing brightly with a silvery light. Nock is dragging the cleric toward the pond, and Leucis's face has a crescent-moon shaped light radiating intensely from it.
Leucis can feel blood gushing from his various wounds, and suddenly feels something in his hand. Selune guides him to move it to his facial wound, and he feels his wounds close over. The distant sliver of moon looks slightly brighter and closer, and the water starts to rise. Leucis senses that he would have felt terror if Selune had not been with him.

The moon cleric returns

Leucis snaps awakens fully healed, unmarked and no longer emitting light. Nock's sight returns. Leucis raises his hand to his face to check for the cut, and discovers he's holding a squat potion vial. It's intricately made and appears to contain some of the silver from the water in the vision, glowing brightly. He recognizes the vial as containing some of his own blood that Selune transubstantiated, and realizes that this knowledge is a revelation directly from the goddess herself. The Potion of Lunar Communion can be used to travel to the Llyrian Moon Facility using the Moon Carving portal.
Leucis explains that he was visited by the goddess Selune, and that she needed his blood. The group muses about whether the pond glowing brightly is an omen from Selune. Leucis touches the water, and is reminded of the water from his vision; he can sense an echo of Selune but not her presence. He thanks his deity and returns to the campfire.
Maya puts forth that none of the priests of his people have had an experience like this. Harb wonders if Selune approves of the party's presence here; Leucis indicates that he believes she does approve, since she made the potion to activate the portal for him. Harb considers what he knows of such potions - he's used one like this before, but not to this place. He's aware that creating this kind of potion is usually done by an alchemist (rather than a deity) and that Selune was probably doing Leucis a favor by creating one for him, as he lacks access to the alchemical knowledge to make it.
The party settles back in to pass the rest of the night without incident.

The next day (28 Stormwake, Starday)

Getting ready for the new day

Leucis casts Gentle Repose on the gastrolith in his possession.

A chat with Cinnamon

Maya casts Speak with Animals on Cinnamon. They exchange names and Maya poses a few questions. To summarize:

• Cinnamon likes his new employers as they generally don't work him very hard.
• His prior employers didn't want him to kick things.
• His favorite treat that he's had several times is a carrot, but he really like the sugar cane he had once.
• He's fine being left in the "barn" he was kept in while the party was in the facility. He was a bit disappointed that he didn't have the opportunity to eat the straw they took out of there.
• He is, in fact, the goodest boy.
• He likes being brushed down as long as it's not done too hard.

Back into the Llyrian Moon Facility

Entrance Hall

Four stone pillars support the ceiling about 20’ up. There's a fountain in the room center, slow steady flow with almost no noise. Water seems clear/clean and gives off a bright glow (10’ of bright and 10' of dim moonlight) that doesn't quite reach the walls of the room. North wall has some engraved writing in large letters. In Gnomish, Elvish, and Dwarvish it reads: "The Llyrian druids welcome our friends from distant lands. Please see an attendant in the room to your right." The northwest wall features a pictorial clock - a tree with a sun and moon that move over it. South wall near the door has an engraving of the moon, half in dull gray stone and the other half in jet.

The fountain still glows, though it's significantly brighter now than when the group passed through here last. It covers a significantly larger portion of the room's center area, but does not quite reach the walls. Maya casts Darkvision on himself, and the group heads west into rooms they have not yet looked into this visit.

Passageway

This room appears to have been swept clean of debris.

The party members who were here previously recalled that this room had some crushed bones and stone fragments, but there's no sign of that detritus.

Guest Quarters

The wooden frames of broken furniture are piled in this room.
This room contains some broken bed frames, bits of a chest of drawers, and some bedside tables. On the previous visit, this room looked like it had been searched and tossed through, but the furniture wasn't broken then.
A few theories about this are tossed around. Very neat furniture-murderers? Scarecrows avenging their fallen brethren? There doesn't seem to be a solid answer.

Hall Closet

This room appears empty.
The party is relieved to discover the butchered remnants of the giant spider are not here any longer - there's not even a lingering smell.

Collapsed Hall

The northeast corner of this room has fallen in. Two tall clay statues depicting warriors appear to be guarding the collapsed section.
Maya spots one of the clay statues from the hallway - it's motionless in a defensive pose. Peeking around the corner, Maya can see it has a companion in a similar pose, as though they're guarding the rubble. They don't have the gemstone eyes that the stone men had, and they seem to be entirely one material.
Rightly suspicious, the group sends in Kolvonnin (shield raised, morningstar at the ready) to investigate the statues more closely. He gives them a light bump with the shield - the material does not yield. The second reacts in the same way, with a light clacking noise. The rest of the group moves into the room, and Kolvonnin steps between the two statues towards the rubble. He bumps into something large enough to stop him, the clay statues take on an aggressive stance and combat begins.

Clay Warriors and Stone Shields

Round 1

• Maya wildshapes into a dire wolf and gets his fangs around a clay leg, tearing away a chunk of the terracotta warrior and knocking it prone.
• Sunny casts Heroism on Kolvonnin.
• A clay warrior lashes out with his clay shortsword and lands one hit on Kolvonnin. The second hit is diverted at the last moment by Sunny's Silvery Barbs.
• Harb swings at a clay statue, but is thwarted when a large stone shield is interposed by the creature at the back.
• Kolvonnin lands a hit on the Stone Defender and empowers it with a smite.

Round 2

• Maya lands a critical chomp on the clay statue, stripping the upper layers of clay off the creatures leg. He's not able to knock it prone this time, though.
• Sunny attempts a Defensive Flourish, but the Defender interposes its shield and turns the blow aside.
• The Stone Defender lashes out with his shield, nearly smashing into Kolvonnin's exposed flank, but is deflected by the bard's Silvery Barbs.
• Leucis activates Divine Favor from his holy symboll but fails to land the hit.

Round 3

• Nock lands an arrow in the exposed innards of a clay warrior, which crumbles to dust.
• Harb aims a vicious jab at the remaining clay warrior but the Defender turns it aside with one of his massive shields.
• The Defender slams into Kolvonnin with his shield, knocking the paladin prone.
• Kolvonnin channels divinity to Turn the Tide, restoring some vitality to Leucis and himself. He then lands a solid hit on the Defender.
• Leucis shouts a Healing Word and recovers somewhat. He takes a swing at the remaining clay warrior but fails to land it.

Round 4

• Maya closes in on the Stone Defender and sets fangs on him, but can't seem to inflict any damage. He attempts to fling the monster to the floor, but its simply too strong.
• Sunny casts Heat Metal on the Defender, melting it from the inside out. It belches a gout of oily smoke and collapses.
• Kolvonnin lands a critical hit on the remaining clay warrior, shattering it.

Combat summary:

• Total duration: 4 rounds
• PC drops: None.
• Rule clarifications:
  
  1. Counter to the on-the-fly ruling about using luck/inspiration for initiative, some research with Matt indicates that generally speaking, effects like luck and inspiration can be applied to initiative rolls. The House Rules have been updated to reflect this.
• Kill board:
  • Terracotta warriors killed by:
  1. Nock: Shot with an arrow and crumbled(3).
  2. Kolvonnin: Shattered one with a critical hit from his morningstar(4)
  • Stone Defender killed by:
    1. Sunny: Melted its innards using Heat Metal(4).
• Loot:
  • TBD

As the combat concluded, Leucis assigns the Vigilant Blessing to himself. Maya casts Cure Wounds on Kolvonnin.

Next steps:

1. Loot and investigate the recent combatants.

Session Feedback

Eddy: Leucis's vision of Selune was cool, makes him curious about this location. Conversation with Cinnamon was a bright spot, but not enough berserker rage.
Heather: Selune bit was pretty cool. Combat was less sloggy.
James: Fun to watch John narrate a religious experience. Kinda wonder if that was something else masquerading as Selune, though... Character interactions at the beginning were nice. Combat was quick and comparatively painless. Maya is poorly spec'd out for constructs.
Jeremy: Religious experience was cool, having seen that happen to prior characters in other games. Combat was different but good. Curious about the shields, maybe mount them to Cinnamon.
Matt: Rolling high when dealing with an eldritch entity (Selune) is not always a good thing.
Meg: Maybe this location is not just a post office? Glad the vision didn't kill me...
John: Glad the vision went over well. Also glad the combat went over well.