Session 31: Shards and Slabs, Heaps and Henchmen

General Summary

Summary: 3 points
The group decides to make camp near the strange slab area but not within it (as it gives them uncomfortable feelings). They set up camp with the group, Cinnamon, and the captive in the Tiny Hut for the night. There's some discussion around what spells and abilities to use for the upcoming tasks.

Passing the night

Sunny and Harb on watch

The prisoner regains consciousness and starts squirming in his bonds, so Ol'Harb gives him a closer look. He's got a few obviously old scars, though he has a few more recent scrapes and the longsword wound from the fight. One of his tusks has been chipped, and it looks like he tried to sharpen it after. He's pretty muscular but very lean; he probably doesn't eat as much as he would like. Harb notes that he has a wild look about the eyes, as though he's panicked.
Harb decides to confer with Sunny about the prisoner; the bard agrees that a close eye is in order but no other action is really necessary. After a while, the prisoner passes back out from exhaustion. While he's out, Harb puts a blindfold on the prisoner as an additional precaution.

Maya and Saf on watch

Taking over the watch with Harb and Sunny's observations, Maya asks if anyone fed the poor guy. Harb says no, but he's awakened a time or two.
The next time he stirs, Saf attempts to open a dialogue with the prisoner. Sizing him up, Saf realized immediately that he's panicked about not seeing something he feels is important, and that he pays no mind whatsoever to the armed person standing over him. She suggests that if he refrains from crying out, she will remove the gag and they can talk. He nods his agreement.
Taking a quick cue from Maya indicating his assent, Saf removes the gag. Once he can speak, the prisoner mutters quietly but desperately, "I have to find it. I have to find it! The lord will protect me if I can find it...."
A little disturbed by this, Saf suggests some food. The prisoner's eyes light on her again, and there's the same moment of recognizing that Saf isn't what he's looking for, but maybe she can help him. "I've lost it, can you tell me where it went? I need it! It's important that I have it; I don't want him to give me to the other guy!" he sputters pleadingly.
"You don't want who to give you to the other guy?" Saf inquires.
"I need the... the rock. I need it. It's imporant, he's going to kill me," the half orc babbles on.
Maya, careful not to touch it directly, pulls out one of the gray stone shards. The prisoner's eyes lock on the shard and he goes silent, transfixed.
When Maya puts it away, the prisoner snaps back to reality a bit. "I need that. You need to give that to me. It's dangerous for me to not have that. I need it. I need it, please!" Saf cuts in, "The last time you had that, you tried to kill us. You're only alive because I decided to spare your life. I'm going to give you some food, and then we're going to talk about this in the morning when we've all had time to think about it some more."
Saf feeds the prisoner through his continued pleas to have the shard restored to him - despite his apparent willingness to eat, he keeps talking in singular focus. Once he's had some food and water, Saf gags and blindfolds him again and shares her insights into the prisoner with Maya.

Leucis and Kolvonnin on watch

The cleric and paladin aren't sure what to make of the prisoner's fixation. Leucis casts Healing Word on the prisoner, closing up the worst of his recent wounds.

Starday, 16th of Leafbreak

The evening passes pretty quietly and a new day dawns; the full moon is setting as the sun rises. The group spends some time discussing which tasks are important and what order they should happen in.

Dealing with the prisoner

After a quick conference, the group decides to handle the prisoner first. Since he seems pretty single-minded without his shard and nearly catatonic when he can see one, they set about figuring out how to handle his condition.

Breaking the curse

Sunny takes a few minutes to Identify the cause of the prisoner's malady while Maya uses Detect Magic. The druid sees a few overlapping auras and effects that all appear to be the Enchantment school. The bard determines that the half-orc if effectively possessed, linked to another creature through his particular shard. Dispel Magic or Remove Curse would remove the possession.
The group muses over destroying the shards, but aren't sure if that will be easy or not. They decide to uncurse the prisoner, so Leucis lays a hand on him. As the spell takes hold, where the cleric touches the prisoner becomes intensely hot for a moment and the prisoner goes slack.
The bystanders see what looks like motes of hot ash tumble off the half-orc towards the slab. It's very noticeable that much of the prisoner's tension has left his body, so this seems to have had a salutory effect. When asked if he's willing to talk, he nods, so the group removes his blindfold and gag.

Skill Challenge: Extracting Information

Party goal: Find out what happened here, via good cop/bad cop intimidation.
Challenge information: Since the curse has been removed, the prisoner is fairly amenable. 3 successes should get him to tell the group everything he considers relevant.
Base Difficulty: 22 -> (curse removed) -> 18 -> (Medicine applied) -> 16
Skills Used:

• Leucis: Insight
• Kolvonnin: Intimidation
• Sunny: Persuasion
• Saf: Deception
• Harb: Investigation
• Maya: Medicine

For their efforts the group accumulates four successes. The prisoner tells his story:

With a somewhat concerned glance at the initimidating paladin, Bursk admits he was part of a bandit gang that used to rove further northwest but pickings got slim; lots of the hamlets and farms are abandoned. They also ran into lycanthropes more than once, so they decided leaving the area was wise. They had a lot of wounded guys, so they made for the river to see if they could get on with a pirate crew. They gave Sohmweyr a wide berth (since Sohmweyr is large enough to have a some real guards and they'd been fought off from there before).

There's a short break in the story where the half-orc gets a bit choked up - he's looking around and realizes everyone he knows is no longer alive. He continues explaining that:

He was a forward scout for the bandits when he ran across the two odd priests. They had knocked off the corner of the strange stone slab and gave the scouts a shard.

Leucis notes that Bursk's face is marked by fear, but he continues:

The shard whispered to him, in a voice very deep but very quiet, like someone way down in a cave. It told Bursk that the great lord Ogremoch was coming, and that he could help open the path. He just had listen to the priests, who spoke with the same voice, and good things would happen. He and all his friends would be taken care of. It whispered about how people stole from the earth, and that that wasn't right, the priests were reclaiming what people stole from the earth for Ogremoch. But there was another voice, too...

Bursk's countenance is consumed by full terror.

There was another one, and it sounded far away, like the one for the lord, but it spoke of disobedience and torturous punishment. It said that anyone who didn't serve the Lord was its to play with, and it was so very hungry.

The prisoner stares off into space for a moment and looks momentarily confused.

He explains that his memory is hazy after that. He had to hold the shard, and keep the shard, the shard was the most important thing. He doesn't know why that's not still how he feels, but he's still so afraid of the thing in the shard. He remembers taking a bunch of shards to the rest of the bandit gang, handing out several to the gang during the night. Then there was a fight, a bunch of the gang died, but the priests got the drop on the captains and knocked out most of the gang. Bursk thinks the captains all survived the combat.
The priests had the converts haul the prisoners back here. They picked out some of the survivors and dragged them to the slab one by one, then jammed shards directly into their bodies. The priests chanted over them for a while. The bigger ones got up with some armor, and some other ones had a weird aura; those guys called up one of Ogremoch's helpers, a man-thing made of rock. It took a while, and the servants had to rest after. The lord sent it to protect the converts and the priests, but it couldn't leave the slab.
Lord Ogremoch told the two priests there was another slab. They dumped out the "loot hole" (he's not sure why they did that) and left to go find the other slab.

A few of the party consider what they know of Ogremoch and his apparent cult, but aside from having heard the name before they don't know much beyond what Bursk has said. Maya suggests that the three sacrifices were the bandit captains, which Bursk confirms.
There's no name associated to the other entity, but Bursk got the feeling they worked with Ogremoch but didn't like each other.
Sensing potential treasure, Saf asks about the details of the "loot hole" - Bursk points the group at the heap of junk near the northeast part of the camp as the place it was dumped out. Leucis shows the portable hole to him, and the bandit affirms that's what he meant.
Maya is very concerned about the possibility of another slab, and muses aloud about the other spot marked on the dirty map potentially being that.
Sunny inquires about the tabaxi bandit captain. Bursk recalls that the captains weren't really forthcoming with their origins so much as treasures they had stolen and who they'd killed. That captain did steer the group away from Sohmweyr but cited practical concerns (large groups, guards, and so on) - it could be he had history there, but it's just as likely he just considered it a bad idea.

Deciding Bursk's Fate

Saf tries to ascertain what Bursk things he group will do with him. The general perception is that he was a bandit (and thus not really accepted much of anywhere) and then killed several of his outcast comrades. Given that Kolvonnin cuts such an intimidating figure, Bursk seems resigned to his own imminent death.
The rogue declares:

I spared your life. You had no life, so your life is mine. You are my servant until such time as I free you.

Kolvonnin raises an eyebrow (he's fought many bandits and never taken a survivor), but the prisoner doesn't balk at Saf's dictate - he seems somewhat surprised to still be alive. Saf expounds to the group that she will provide his food and no one else need concern themselves with him. Bursk pleads with the vedalken "Just... don't give me over to the other one." There's a general murmur of shock and confusion from the group at large, but no one directly opposed what Saf is doing. The paladin levels his morningstar at the bandit but says to Saf, "His first misstep, and he performs his final atonement."
Saf unties Bursk and instructs him to look after Cinnamon.

Looting and Bodies

Skill Challenge: Combing through the junk heap

Party goal: Collect any valuables or useful items from the junk heap.
Challenge information: This heap of junk is roughly 10' by 15' and a few feet deep in spots. Leucis noted earlier that there were several auras from items not in plain view. More successes is more potential loot, but 2 would get the party the "standard" haul.
Base Difficulty: 18 -> (Detect Magic) -> 16
Skills Used:

• Leucis: Arcana plus Detect Magic
• Kolvonnin: Athletics to lift heavy objects out of the way
• Sunny: Help action for Leucis
• Saf: Sleight of Hand (Int) to find things hidden in other things
• Harb: Investigation
• Maya: Perception plus the Enhance Ability spell on both Saf (Int) and Maya (Wisdom)

For their efforts the group accumulates four successes. Saf locates a strongbox with an intricate spring catch (but no real lock) that she deftly opens to reveal a fair collection of cash and gems. This in addition to an array of items, sometimes on the corpses and other times buried among the junk.

Skill Challenge: Collecting shards from corpses

Party goal: Safely collect shards from the bodies of the fallen opponents:

• The 3 sacrificed bandit captains
• 2 plate guards
• 1 priest
• 4 chanters
• 1 summoned insectoid/demon
• 1 rock monster

Challenge information: The corpses aren't resisting, so this isn't especially difficult. However, it will take at least three successes for nothing to go wrong, potentially more information with more successes.
Base Difficulty: 14
Skills Used:

• Leucis: Arcana
• Kolvonnin: Athletics
• Sunny: Performance to keep the group's spirits up in this grisly task.
• Saf: Sleight of Hand (Int)
• Harb: Investigation
• Maya: Medicine

For their efforts the party accumulates six successes (including a natural 20).

• The three sacrificed bandit captains crumble when they are moved and do not contain a shard.
• The summoned insectoid/demon has already been largely dismantled and doesn't contain a shard.
• The rock monster has largely fallen apart but even when broken into smaller pieces does not have a shard in it.

Given their relative experience with extracting these things, the group encounters few difficulties in locating and removing the shards in the other bodies. Several had the shard lodged in tricky or uncomfortable places, but the group was able to avoid mishaps.
It was notable that the chanters and the guards have the unfed and stringy look of bandits pressed into service, whereas the priest doesn't show signs of prior life as a bandit.

Dealing with the slab

Having accumulated 18 shards that seem to belong to the slab, the group attempts to determine if these are all the missing pieces - there don't appear to be any missing. However, the slab itself may require particular attention - destroying it would probably produce many more shards, and it may be difficult regardless.

Creating tools for banishing fiends

The cleric and the paladin could create holy water, but there's not a ready source of the required powdered silver. The idea of using the Shatter spell to turn some silver coins into powder, but it may take several castings. The cleric, recalling some rituals using holy water, reckons two flasks of holy water would be sufficient to fully coat the slab, and if the shards were placed atop they'd be similarly cleansed. Musing about how to turn silver coins into powder, Maya considers that he's done some herbalism that involved powderizing something hard, but nothing as hard as actual metal. The mortar and pestle in the heap, upon closer inspection, is mostly steel reinforced with adamantine with flecks of diamond on the business end. It might be up to the task, so Maya loads it up with silver coins and uses wild shape for the strength of an ape. It takes about 15-20 minutes of hard work for each batch, but the druid is able to render the silver with minimal difficulty.
Leucis and Kolvonnin invoke their deities to bless the water with the freshly powdered silver, then take up stations next to the slab. Maya places the shards on the top so they get the same treatment. Harb is standing relatively close, but the rest of the group is further away in case of explosion or other unexpected outcomes.

Divines drive out the devil

The paladin and cleric pour their holy water onto the slab and shards. On contact there's a hiss and the water starts to steam; the slab itself seems to pulse with arcane power. Leucis detects the uncanny thinness of the borders between worlds here draining away in the direction of the slab. The demon's corpse collapses into embers of hot ash that also flow into the stone.
The cleric notes that the otherworldly sensation is gone once the holy water is completely applied, and while the slab itself seems largely unaffected, the fiendish presence has been expelled.

Keys to the keystone

The slab now only shows a Conjuration aura to Detect Magic when Maya investigates. The group decides that Sunny should probably Identify the slab, but are concerned it may still have some effect that engages on a touch, so Maya reaches out and touches it. He feigns a seizure but the cleric and paladin nearby don't buy it. The druid notes that while it's in a worked shape, it doesn't bear the marks of tools like most worked stone would. He's sort of reminded of Hearthstone, and makes a note to inquire of the elders about it.
Sunny uses Identify as a ritual, and as the knowledge flows into his mind, he's reminded of his experience with the Sun Carving (Session 8). In this instance, he's able to more properly channel the energy and receives some additional knowledge about the recent effects on the slab: Harb, seeing a potential opportunity, inquires if the gems in the earthen keystone were part of the original design, and they seem to be. The broken off shards seem to have no power of their own at this point.
Considering what they've learned, the group brainstorms what to do next. Look into the other keystone the priests were after (downriver)? Try to obscure/re-bury this keystone (possibly using a burrowing wild shape)? Try to move the stone? They don't arrive at any solid conclusions, but Maya burns the bodies of the slain while they discuss. Sunny works his way through Identifying the various loot.

Next steps:

1. Talk to Saf about Bursk's situation/status.
2. Talk to Saf about combat tactics. (OOC: Matt is retooling mechanics, so some RP about that would be fitting.)
3. Figure out what to do about this keystone/camp.
4. Determine the next destination.
5. Out of Character tasks:
   • Divvy up loot.
   • Finalize Sohmweyr (Heather, John).
   • Work out how wishlisting/loot distribution works going forward.
   • Rollable sheet for Bursk
   • Stand up an article for Skill Challenges (that includes some lessons learned from the use of them this session)

Session Feedback

Eddy: Not a whole lot to complain about. Skill challenge system is an improvement on the 4th edition version. Hopefully it runs smoother, but I'd rather just give people info. The info dump was interesting; getting more info about the world is cool. Despite not roleplaying a lot as Harb, I enjoyed finding out stuff. Not murder-hobo-ing the prisoner was good, and Matt had a cool moment trying to take him on.
Heather: I liked the skill challenges because it allows people to be more creative with their skillsets. Great for when you don't have the obvious skill. Excited about loot, particularly the endless coffee flask. It will be interesting to see if the villagers know the mysterious man with the glass eye. If the keystone keeps the river from getting too far afield, that probably has something to do with the village as well.
James: Skill challenges allowed more people to participate. Enjoyed the implementation; rough draft but positive so far. Lore dumps are good, learning more about the world was good. Interrogation and cleansing were good for the world-building side.
Jeremy: Seeing the fruit of our labors in fat piles of currency. Skill challenges were a good, should go quicker going forward; wouldn't mind seeing it again. Closing out the keystone was good, of course now there may be another.
Matt: Skill challenges were interesting but took longer than I might have liked, especially because there were several in a row. I don't know that they're always necessary for the every thing they were used for. Concept is good but fine tuning is needed; it works but it took a while. I was interested to see that Saf was able to "acquire" Bursk. Since I didn't know he was a bandit, friends all dead, and we were able to save him from the possession, it was not an outcoming I saw coming. Interesting loot, divvying it may be rocky given how many there are. It's likely to require live conversation to work that out. I would have expected a badass file rather than a mortar and pestle for turning metal to powder, but it worked out.
Meg: I liked the new system of skill challenge where we all pick something different to apply to it. The session was a really slow at the front. Divvying up loot I think may be hard.
John: Challenges are a work in progress, but it still needs work. I was trying to avoid activities being isolated to folks with the relevant skill of the moment or hot dice. I didn't see taking on the survivor coming, but it was a cool idea so why not run with it. Using Shatter to make powdered silver did not occur to me, and I could let you do it the hard way, but I felt like folks might be a little grumpy once they saw the other solution.

Rewards Granted

Dread Helm
Adamant Mortar and Pestle
Orange Alchemy Jug
Ersatz Eye
Dagger of Blindsight
Cloak of Protection
Cloak of Many Fashions
Potion of Vitality
*Scratchbite Ring
*Wand of Magic Detection
*Bottle of Boundless Coffee
Ring of Evasion
Charlatan's Dice (set of 2 in the box of 8 dice)
A strongbox containing:

• 140 Platinum
• 1800 Gold
• 9000 Silver
• 600 Copper
• 1 A bronze crown value 250 gp each
• 1 Citrine (transparent pale yellow-brown) value 50 gp each
• 1 Moonstone (translucent white with pale blue glow) value 50 gp each
• 2 Chrysoprase (translucent green) value 50 gp each
• 1 Jasper (opaque blue, black, or brown) value 50 gp each
• 1 Chalcedony (opaque white) value 50 gp each
• 1 Quartz (transparent white, smoky gray, or yellow) value 50 gp each
• 3 Sardonyx (opaque bands of red and white) value 50 gp each
• 2 Amber (transparent watery gold to rich gold) value 100 gp each
• 2 Jet (opaque deep black) value 100 gp each
• 2 Amethyst (transparent deep purple) value 100 gp each
• 2 Jade (translucent light green, deep green, or white) value 100 gp each
• 1 Garnet (transparent red, brown-green, or violet) value 100 gp each

Morningstar (2)
Crude quiver (6)
Crossbow bolts (10 each, in the quivers)
Worn but serviceable light crossbows (6)
Scimitar (6)
Glaive
Stone club (6)
Trident
Half a dozen serviceable looking daggers
* An unadorned platinum ring
A dozen torches
5 used but serviceable scimitars
5 sets of leather armor in poor condition

* denotes an item that was wishlisted or otherwise requested by a player

Missions/Quests Completed

18 shards and the keystone cleansed of fiendish influence