SESSION 87: The Raven Queen Report

General Summary

Session 87 – Wednesday November 17, 2021 – The Raven Queen

4 Hour Role Play/ battle session. 6:00 PM to 10:00PM

Party of 5 (The order of Heroes, Inc.):

It is the 18th day of the month of Uktar (The Rotting) in the 3rd year of the Age of Enialis

Annalisa (Anna) – Human L8 Monk – L6 Wizard /L3Fighter – Ryan Armstrong (remote)
Jaquette Mara – L17 Human Druid – Jackie Armstrong
Lucky Lightfoot – Leprechaun – L16 Bard/L1 Sorcerer – Jacob Munson
Luigi Risotto – Wood Elf L15 Monk/L2 Wizard – Dan King (Absent-Church)
Rolen – Human L17 Warlock – Josh Pozsonyi
Tyrena Rechs – Human L14 Ranger/L3 Fighter – Nathan Gioconda (Stuck at school)
Jeter Kaiser – L16 Human Sorcerer – Spencer Armstrong (Back at school)

Goals:

Harvest acid from the Neothelid
Find the Mind Flayer lair and raise an army to take out the Elder Brain
Gather the other parts of the god Destroyer (Blade, Hilt and guard)
Locate the Amber Sarcophagi and destroy them with the god Destroyer
Take the sword to the Summer Queen and have her destroy it.
White Dragon at Purple Rocks

Harvesting from the Neothelid

The Order of Heroes began looking for methods of gathering it’s acid. Rolen focused on the stomach acid and Jaquette examined the body and pinpointed exactly where the stomach would be. Lucky examined the creature and tried to figure out what else could be harvested. Lucky realized the skin was a heavy-duty leather and the meat was not very appetizing but Jaquette realized it could be used as a cleaner. Rolen dug through the body from above and found the stomach membrane and then asked Lucky to fabricate a container.

Rolen created a new demi-plane to store the stomach acid. Lucky created a stone tub and placed it in Rolen’s “Tub” demi-plane. Anna and Lucky both had unseen servants collect acid and put it into the tub. Unfortunately, the acid ate through the stone. Anna realized the Leather may be used to line the tub and they cut a very large piece of skin to create a lining for the Tub and then they were able to fill the tub with the Neothelid’s stomach acid. During this process Jaquette healed Rolen and Tyrena.

The Shadar-kai

The party heard sounds from behind the worm and Rolen and Anna went to investigate. They saw a large hoard of Shadar-kai Shadow Jumping down the hall towards them. Anna went to cast a spell but Rolen advised her against it when he saw how many Shadar-kai were approaching. A very tall Shadar-kai appeared in the shadow next to Rolen, stepped out and asked him in a very grave tone, “What have you done?” Several of them knelt before the Neothelid and began to weep. The Shadar-kai talking with Rolen said, “This creature has protected the Raven Queen and her fortress for over 800 years. Come with us.” Jaquette said “We’re harvesting at the moment.” The Shadar-kai said, “Please stop. This is a sacred creature.” Lucky said, “It was.” Rolen looked at the OoH side eyed. They realized they had plenty of stomach acid and lots of leather.

The Shadar-kai escorted the OoH deeper into the tunnels. The walk was long, and Ann succumbed to the despair of the Shadowfell suddenly felt that she couldn’t make a difference to anyone or anything. After about 6 hours of marching the path started leading up. They exited the tunnel into the surface of the Shadowfell. Upon exiting the tunnel, they saw a massive castle, the “Fortress of Memories.”

The Raven Queen

The party were escorted into the castle where they saw hundreds of Shadar-kai along with whisps of ghosts drearily passing through the gates. They were taken into the throne room where they were brought to the presence of the Raven Queen. She addressed Rolen and asked him, “What have you brought for me?” He handed her the burnt scraps of Acererak and 2 phylacteries recovered from the Tomb of the 9 gods. She then asked, “Why did you kill my guardian?” Rolen explained the Mind Flayers and the need for the Acid to get to the Elder Brain.

The Raven Queen said “The Mind Flayers pose no threat to me. But Orcus does pose a threat to me.” She explained their rivalry and how Orcus would like to overthrow her reign and how the Neothelid has protected her. Lucky offered to bring back a Neothelid, but it would require a life. The Raven Queen said “No, I have a better idea.” She then told they have 2 options and then a task which would be non-negotiable. The choice she gave them was, “Give to with me your most precious memory of your dearest loved one or bring me the Wand of Orcus.”

Lucky said, “The Wand of Orcus it is.” Lucky was insistent that he would not give up any of his memories. Anna was willing to give up her memory of her dead sister and said, “I don’t want to face Orcus.” The Raven queen opened a door to a large room with lava pits and Pillars and told them I would bring Orcus here where you can get his Wand. She offered the party 9 hours to prepare and make their decision. She then provided them a large room with six four-poster beds so they can rest.

The Decision

Lucky insisted he would not give up any memories. Anna did not want to fight Orcus. Jaquette asked, “What their odds are to that Orcus can kill us? Anna and Rolen said “high” but Lucky said “low.” They debated for quite some time. Jaquette noticed Anna’s depression and cast greater restoration to help her. Jaquette was very upset being manipulated. Jaquette made the decision for the group saying they can overcome the odds and they need to defeat Evil! The decision was made was to fight Orcus.

Lucky seeks advice

Lucky cast a spell to get advice from the Summer Queen. He asked 5 questions:

Does Ducia know last piece of the sword is with a Kraken. The answer was “Most Definitely”
Is she on her way there? Answer: Irrelevant.
Is there a likelihood we will succeed in defeating Orcus? Answer: Yes
Does the Raven Queen think we can handle Orcus? Answer: She doesn’t care.
Is fighting Orcus the best reasonable option? Answer: That’s not for me to answer.

Lucky told the party what he had learned. Jaquette told him “Our decision has been made.” The party got some much-needed rest and woke up 8 hours later at Level 18.

The fighting room.

In the morning, the party went back to the Raven Queen and said they would get her the wand. The Raven Queen assured the party that she would not let Orcus take their soul if they should die. Jaquette said nothing as she disliked the arrogance of the queen. A Shadar-kai opened a door into a large arena with pillars and several lava pits. The Shadar kai walked into the room and began opening a portal. The party entered; Lucky transformed himself into a Goristro.

The party was told that once the portal is closed, there can be no interdimensional travel. The portal opened and the Shadar-kai whispered a name and then said Orcus. The great demon Lord and several of his Bodak minions appeared on the other side of the portal and Orcus walk through the portal into the room.

Orcus

Orcus walked into the room and saw the Goristro. Orcus looked at the Goristro skeptically and waved his had and dispelled the magic turning the Goristro into Lucky. Lucky (seriously ticked off) cast a wall of force around Orcus, not completely obscuring him but blocking his ability to leave or fly. Rolen cast Blade of Disaster (which can pass through a wall of force) and hurt Orcus. Tyrena went on a knee and took 2 shots at Orcus. Jaquette started looking in her bag for components to a spell but couldn’t find them so she cast Sunburst on Orcus wounding him some more. She then called out to the group “Does anyone have an object with the image of a dragon engraved on it, worth at least 500 gp? I need it to cast my spell.” Rolen said, “I’ve got a sword with a dragon hilt in my bag, come to me.”

The portal disappeared and Orcus cast Finger of Death on Rolen but Rolen resisted part of the damage. Lucky cast Lightning against Orcus but he both avoided the strike and was resistant to Lighting. Rolen used his Blade of Disaster and bloodied Orcus and then stabbed and smited him with his dagger. Simultaneously Rolen dropped his bag of holding so Jaquette could find the sword with the dragon hilt. Orcus fell prone after Rolen’s attack. Orcus’s tail reached up and smacked Rolen. Tyrena took 2 more shots with her Laser Rifle. The tail smacked Rolen again bloodying him. Anna ran up with the whip and attacked Orcus. The whip hit but it was unable to remove his fire resistance. The Tail of Orcus reached up and smacked Anna. Jaquette opened up Rolen’s bag and rummaged through it and found the Sword.

Rolen nearly dies!

Orcus stood up and pointed his wand at Rolen and cast “Power Word Kill.” Seeing the wand move to Rolen, Anna cast Counterspell and saved Rolen’s life! Lucky cast Nathair’s Mischief and created a ring of flowers squirting water in his eyes. Of course, to do this he had to drop concentration on the Wall of Force containing Orcus. The Tail of Orcus moved freely and smacked Rolen again. Rolen used his blade of disaster to “Critically” slice into Orcus and then followed up with his Dagger (with the help of some Luck from Lucky.) Rolen used Smite on his 2nd dagger attack and hit Orcus directly in the stomach. Orcus’s wand dropped into Rolen’s hand as Orcus melted into a black pool of ichor. The final words form Orcus as he went back to the Abyss was “I will remember you!” Jaquette, finally with the dragon sword in hand, looked up as she began to cast her spell and said, “Now I’m ready, Where’s Orcus?”

The Wand of Orcus

With the wand in Rolen’s hand he heard a voice in his head speak to him. It offered him unlimited power and freedom from his master. The Wand told him “I can fulfill your greatest desire.” Rolen said “Sorry, no time to attune.”

Anna Knocked on the door. The door opened and a Shadar-kai looked in, visibly surprised that the party was still there, and Orcus was gone. The party walked into the Throne room and Rolen presented the Wand of Orcus to the Raven queen. She congratulated the OoH and told them she was impressed. She asked Lucky about bringing back the Ancient Neothelid. Lucky said he was mistaken and couldn’t do it.

Quest from the Raven Queen

She handed Rolen an obsidian greatsword (Blackrazor.) She told them of a Nobel in Waterdeep that has betrayed her and evaded her Shadar-kai. She told them that his name is Zelraun Roaringhorn. The Raven Queen said, “Kill him with this blade and bring me his Shield Guardian and amulet.” She told them the sword will capture his soul. She then provided them a Plane Shift scroll with a tuning fork to Shadowfell. She told them focus on the "Fortress of Memories" and they would return near her fortress. She also told them they only have 3 days to kill Zelraun Roaringhorn and then must return to her within 3 more days or the sword will attack its wielder (It must take a soul every 3 days.) She warned them, “Do not try to kill an undead with this sword.”

The party accepted the sword. Rolen recognized the name of Roaringhorn as he was the one that gave them some magic items when they party was looking for Artus Cimber. They recalled that Zelraun is very high in the Harpers. The Raven Queen told them “Complete this task and I will forgive your trespasses. You have 6 days to return to me with his soul.” The Shadar-kai then escorted the party to a teleportation circle and teleported them to Waterdeep.

Campaign

Rebuilding in the Age of Enialis

Protagonists