Verna
700 CP
160 SP
90 GP
Vala
Ash Zombie ash sealed in a vial
Mo
Smithing tongs
Party
3 diamonds (100GP a piece) - clearly meant as an offering
Cult of the Dragon Headdress
18 food rations
16 water rations
← Previous Session: Session 015: The Long, Strange Road to Thundertree
Greengrass - 1 Mirtul, 1471 (Day 36-37)
Midday
-
As the fight ends, The Party hears an odd noise like glass being cut and
starting to crack coming from the direction of Erynn.
- Erynn looks down at her black glass sword. Her hand has fused to the hilt of the sword and began crystalizing into black glass. She quietly and ruefully utters “Oh, not again.”
- The Party hears an unintelligible voice speaking to her. It sounds somehow like angry, scraping glass.
-
The black crystallization spreads up Erynn’s arm and rapidly encases her in
glass, which then shatters and the shards blink from existence.
- Vala says “Fuck!” then ponders the oddity that she’s always present during people’s disappearances, but never disappears herself. She guiltily wonders if it’s her fault.
- Vala heals Raemund, who had been Bloodied in the last battle.
- Verna investigates a few nearby cottages
-
In the second cottage Verna finds a loose flagstone and pries it up to find a
small chest
- Verna gets really excited, and makes a noise somewhat like a rabid squirrel.
- Verna opens it up.
- It has 700 copper, 160 silver, and 90 gold.
- She states to no one in particular, “There’s nothing sweeter than the life savings of a dead person.”
- She takes the money and leaves the chest.
- It has 700 copper, 160 silver, and 90 gold.
-
In the second cottage Verna finds a loose flagstone and pries it up to find a
small chest
- The Party continues searching the outskirts of town, avoiding the mage tower
-
As they move south, they hear heavy footsteps running toward them from further
south
- Vala tries to listen more closely and tells The Party that it’s a biped, something large, but that’s all she knows.
- The Party hides and waits to see what approaches
-
Orthanc barrels into Thundertree, entering into the muddy area where The Party
just fought, finding lots of footprints in the mud and dead semi-humanoid
plant creatures hacked to bits everywhere.
- Orthanc pulls out his Great Axe, ready for a fight
- Vala knows that sound and immediately pops up from where she’s hiding and calls to her friend.
- Orthanc asks what Vala is doing here alone
- Vala tells him she’s not alone
- Vala is not offended by this at all saying truer words have never been spoken and thanks Orthanc again for his protection..
- Orthanc says “not to be too immodest, but I am slightly more capable alone than Princess Vala. That is why I accompany her when she prays.”
- Verna emerges and pointedly asks what he’s doing here alone.
-
Mo tells Orthanc that his arrival is very good timing, and Verna agrees,
telling Orthanc about Erynn’s mysterious fate.
- Orthanc takes this in stride as unexplained disappearances seem to plague The Party.
- Raemund reminds The Party that on a somewhat positive note, Erynn did say something like, “oh, not again,” suggesting that this was a somewhat regular or expected occurrence.
- Verna notes the strangeness that The Party seems to have high turnover rate that's not death-related.
- Raemund tells Orthanc that The Party has found the druid Reidoth that they were sent to find
- The Party tell Orthanc of what they’ve learned from Reidoth
-
There is a Thayan Dread Ring to the south that Reidoth is investigating.
- Orthanc notes that he didn’t see anything on his 2 day run north
- The Dragon Cultists are in a fortified building nearby
- Reidoth gave The Party the location of Cragmaw Castle
- If The Party can run off the Young Green Dragon that has made a lair here, he will provide the location of Wave Echo Cave.
- Vala skips up to Orthanc and greets him happily, asking him if he got her letter.
-
Orthanc tells The Party that he stayed behind because he was afraid of
poisoning everybody with his cooking and he has no useful skills other than
killing things
- When he fell asleep the night they left, he had visions that told him The Party was in trouble. He woke filled with shame that he had stayed behind and left Lady Vala vulnerable when it seemed like she needed him most, especially just to learn to cook (Particularly given the amount of blood that he’s seeing around this building.).
- Vala tells him that it was only a little bit hers and they’re all alright now.
- Orthanc says he had grabbed his Axe and run north as soon as he woke, and he promises to not abandon The Party in the future.
- Mo tells Orthanc he’s glad to have him back and just as long as he doesn’t turn into glass he thinks things will be all right.
-
There is a Thayan Dread Ring to the south that Reidoth is investigating.
- Verna goes to investigate the last unchecked building.
BEGIN COMBAT
Round 1
- Ash Zombies lay scattered around the room. The movement awakens them and they begin to climb to their feet to attack.
- Mo casts Shelleligh and attacks an Ash Zombie with his staff.
-
Verna runs up and casts True Strike, stabbing the same zombie with her short
sword.
- As she stabs through it, it doesn’t seem to do anything, but then the radiant energy from the spell courses through the blade and the Ash Zombie vaporizes.
- Verna cackles and runs away from the door.
- An Ash Zombie stands and shambles toward Mo. The Party hears more shambling from beyond a closed door to the south, but can’t see anything.
- Vala turns to Orthanc and says “Remember the fight with Hamund Kost when Rig kept stabbing and it did nothing? SMASH, Orthanc.” Then she steps into the room to cast a spell and utterly fails.
- Mo hears more movement from the other room, but still can’t see it.
-
Raemund casts Sacred Flame on a zombie, scorching an arm off with
radiant energy..
- The Party realizes that the Ash Zombies are vulnerable to radiant damage
- Orthanc equips his Morning Star and hits a nearby zombie.
- The Ash Zombie puffs ash but Orthanc is too tall and the effect misses him entirely.
- An Ash Zombie shambles into melee range of Mo and slams him with its dead arms.
Round 2
-
Mo casts Shelleligh and attacks an Ash Zombie with his staff, landing a
perfect blow as the zombie dissipates into a cloud of ash.
- Mo mounts the bar to spy any additional zombies from a higher vantage point.
- Verna moves further into the room, casts True Strike, and stabs the Ash Zombie closest to Orthanc with her short sword. It explodes in a blast of radiant light and burns away.
- A few of the remaining Ash Zombies attempt to hit Orthanc and, much like the fight at the Old Owl Well, they fail to harm his superior rock skinned body..
-
Vala gives Mo Bardic Inspiration by complimenting his , telling him he
looks good up on the bar. Then she casts Firebolt, hitting an Ash Zombie,
though it does no damage.
- Vala realizes these are burned corpses from the ruining raised again from the thayans, gets really sad thinking of nearly everyone she knows being dead, and runs back outside.
- An Ash Zombie attacks Verna but she parries it away.
- Raemund casts sacred flame on a zombie, Burning it away in a single hit of radiant light
- Orthanc pulls out his greataxe and cleaves through two zombies.
Round 3
- Mo casts Starry Wisp on an Ash Zombie, blasting away a large portion of it with the spell, then moves closer to Verna.
- Verna casts True Strike, stabbing the Ash Zombie that has cornered her and killing it in a blast of radiant energy from her short sword. Verna disengages and moves away.
- Orthanc brutally dispatches the single remaining Ash Zombie, cleaving it in twain.
END COMBAT
- Mo goes behind the bar and sees if there’s any booze remaining but everything is looted or destroyed.
- Vala collects Ash from the Ash Zombie remains for her Alchemical work
- The place seems otherwise completely looted, The Party finds nothing else.
- The Party discusses how to best approach the tower.
- Raemund lays out The Parties options,
- They could take road that goes through the town
- Or skirt the periphery of Thunder Tree.
- Raemund lays out The Parties options,
- Verna takes the lead and leads The Party to skirt the tower, giving it a wide berth.
- Verna and Mo investigate an abandoned house, finding only farming implements but make a lot of noise.
- Twig and needle blights attack The Party.
BEGIN COMBAT
Round 1
- Mo casts Shelleligh and attacks a Twig Blight, smashing it with his staff and nearly killing it.
- Vala casts Firebolt at the twig blight Mo attacked and burns it up, killing it.
- A twig blight attacks Mo and he knocks it away with his sword.
- Two needle blights attack Verna, shooting a shitload of needles at her, bloodying her and damaging her armor.
- A bloodied Verna retreats, climbing a tree and hiding so she doesn’t get hit again.
- A razorvine attacks Orthanc, Vala, and Raemund, hitting them all.
- Orthanc goes into a rage, and swings his greataxe at the Razorvine and a twig Blight nearby, hitting them both.
- Raemund casts Sacred Flame on the Razorvine, and burns it with radiant damage.
Round 2
- Mo casts Shelleligh and attacks another twig blight, smashing it to bits with his staff killing it, then runs in the direction Verna retreated to.
- Vala lifts Lil Miss (her tressym) from her shoulder and whispers “Go find her, my sweet” and sends her flying to the tree with Verna.
- A few Twig blights attack Orthanc, slashing with their hands and doing minimal damage
- A Needleblight rushes Mo, one of them misses, but the other hits him with a needle attack that leaves him bleeding and damages his armor.
- Verna fires her light crossbow from her vantage point in the tree, instantly killing the Needleblight attacking Mosely in an explosion of twigs, then hides back in the foliage.
- The razorvine attacks Orthanc twice.
- Orthanc swings at the Razorvine and misses, then focuses on his anger, keeping his rage going despite his lack of bloodshed.
-
Raemund moves closer to the remaining enemies, grasps his holy symbol, and a
30 ft radius blinding light emanates from him (Radiance of the Dawn Channel
Divinity)
- The razorvine and the remaining Twig Blights burst into radiant flames.
- The Needleblight is on death's door.
Round 3
- Mo casts Shelleligh and attacks the needle blight, killing it.
END COMBAT
Late Afternoon
- After their short rest, The Party continues to explore Thundertree, skirting the Tower
- Verna approaches another abandoned house and approaches the closed door.
-
Before she can open it, Mo places his hand on her shoulder, stopping her and
activating Stone Cunning, giving him tremor sense for 60 ft for 10 minutes.
- Mo doesn’t sense anything from the ground, but looks inside to see 4 Ash Zombies slumped against the walls.
- Having dealt with the Ash Zombies many times now, The Party gets in position before opening the door.
BEGIN COMBAT
Surprise Round
- Verna, Raemund, Vala, and Mo coordinate ranged Radiant attacks on the Ash Zombies
- Orthanc bursts through the door to finish the job but finds all the Ash Zombies are dead.
END COMBAT
- Mo investigates the building, which appears to have been a smithy.
- Mo finds a set of tongs, and pockets them
-
Verna approaches the next building, which is surprisingly intact with shutters
closed over all of the windows
- The intact building stands next to what appears to be a destroyed carriage house with a tree growing out of it
- Mo joins her, telling The Party that he can sense movement coming from inside various parts of the building, and cautions them to stay quiet.
- Verna investigates around the building and finds no tracks, two closed doors, and all of the window shutters latched tight.
- Verna puts caltrops in front of one of the doors and then continues to sneak around with Mo as The Party makes an infiltration plan
-
A voice calls out from the house “who goes there? We know there's at least two
of you out there. I heard someone clamoring up the walls. Who goes there?”
- Verna pretends to be a little girl and calls down from the roof “We lost our way.”
- The voice doesn’t buy it, replying “I find it quite hard to believe that someone got lost and came to Thundertree. We have no interest in any violence or aggression. We just want to be left alone to do our work. So unless you have some good reason to speak with us, we would entreat you to leave our premises.”
-
Verna doubles down on her ploy, pretending to be not only a child, but hurt,
crying out “Mommy, mommy, my arm. I think it’s broken.”
- It is not convincing.
- She looks around and finds a chimney, but it is too small for her to use as an entry point.
- The voice from inside the house says “Many have come here to speak with the Green Dragon, and if you have come to try to speak with the dragon, we may be able to work together.”
-
Vala motions to Mo to be silent as the cultists only know of two people
approaching, then reveals herself, speaking to the cultist
- Vala greets them warmly saying “hello, friend. I apologize for my companions. We've had quite a time. You said there was a dragon. Do you all speak Draconic?”
- The cultist scoffs, saying “Of course. We would not come here just to entreat with a green dragon if we could not speak to it. That's a good way of getting yourself melted.”
- Vala concurs and asks how their attempts are going
- They respond that they have not yet approached, they’ve been scouting and planning for the past few days.
- Vala asks for their goals with the dragon.
- They tell Vala that their goals are their own and asks if she’s a follower of Sammaster.
- Vala cagily responds that she dabbles.
- Verna yells down from the roof asking if they need help getting to the dragon since it sounds so dangerous. She tacks on that her arm is feeling much better
- The cultists state that before they can discuss any cooperation, they would need to know The Party’s number, position, and disposition. Generally, their intentions with the Dragon and The Cult of the Dragon cultists themselves.
- Verna calls back “Well, we don't know you. What intentions could we have for you? Nothing bad.”
- The cultist calls back that the cultists have no way of knowing The Party’s intentions and reminds them that the house is well fortified. They say they don’t want any violence but will defend themselves from their fortified position if necessary.
- Verna calls that they would never instigate violence and Vala agrees lying and saying it doesn’t even sound like them.
- The cultist doesn’t believe them, saying that the two of them would have had to know violence to survive getting to Thundertree in the first place.
- Orthanc says “Just because we know it, doesn’t mean we use it” alerting the cultists to a third person.
- Vala reiterates “We would love to be of assistance to you. There are just the three of us.”
- The cultist believes Vala is lying, that a party of three would not have survived the long trek through Thundertree.
-
Orthanc attempts to intimidate the cultists saying “We are three. But if you
come out and take a look, you'll see that I am at least 2.”
- He succeeds, and the cultists reply “ Judging by your demeanor and your voice, I don't believe we will be coming out of this building.”
- Vala asks how they will meet the dragon if that’s the case
- The cultists make it clear they have months of provisions and can wait them out.
-
Vala pretends again to want to help the cultists, trying to mine them for
information about the dragon. She finds out:
- If The Party works with the cultists, then The Party can have the dragon's hoard. The cultists are interested only in the dragon itself.
-
It is a young green dragon that has been present since the fall of
Thundertree.
- Vala knows Thundertree fell in the ruining, meaning the dragon has been here for 20 years
-
The Party deliberates whether to kill the cultists from their fortified
position right now or continue with their chicanery.
-
As The Party repeatedly tries to figure out how to get inside, Verna mentions
the chimney and that it’s too small
- Vala looks at Mo and whispers to him that he could slip in quietly.
- Mo tells Vala to keep him talking and WIld Shapes into a rat.
-
Vala very successfully keeps the cultist talking, casting Guidance and giving
bardic inspiration to Mo as he climbs up to the chimney in rat form.
- Verna walks around on the roof, creating noise to cover Mo.
-
As The Party repeatedly tries to figure out how to get inside, Verna mentions
the chimney and that it’s too small
-
Mo climbs down the chimney, still hot from being lit earlier in the day, and
stealthily gets halfway before he falls into the pot belly stove inside the
fortified building with a loud clang.
- The cultists immediately hear this and investigate the stove saying it sounds like a rat.
-
The second the stove door is open, Mo tries to run away, but one of the
cultists hits him as he does, sending him flying across the room and falling
beneath a bed.
- The cultists seem to think Mo is actually just a rat, but still want to kill him.
-
Hearing the scuffle inside, Orthanc looks quizzically at Vala and Raemund. Vala
instructs: Orthanc SMASH!.
- Orthanc bangs on the door and asks what happened, saying they have 5 seconds to respond or they’re coming through.
- Mo scurries away, reverts from his rat form, and casts Entangle on the room, restraining several of the cultists.
-
On the other side of the door Mo is near, Verna yells “Pick it or Kick
it?”
- Mo yells back “Kick it’
BEGIN COMBAT
Surprise Round (excludes external combatants)
- One of the Dragon Cultists stands against the barred door, further reinforcing it.
- Mo immediately Wild Shapes into a Brown Bear and attacks the cultist blocking the door, missing him with his claws, but managing to bite him.
Round 1
- Orthanc hears the commotion and approaches the outside of the door. He ignored the caltrops dropped by Verna and his thick soled feet grind them into the ground without Orthanc’s notice. Orthanc kicks in the heavy, barred door, knocking it off its hinges and smashing it down on the cultist attempting to brace it. The combined weight of the door and Orthanc instantly crush the cultist to death, blood and organs spurt out from beneath.
- Mo, as a bear, attacks the cultist that appears to be the leader, a man
wearing a cultist headdress, studded leather, and wielding a saber and a long
knife.
- Mo misses the cult leader, getting his claw stuck in the nearby table.
- The cult leader slashes Mo with his saber but is unable to break free of his entanglement.
- Raemund dashes around the building and positions himself near the open doorway to be in line of sight for spell casting.
- Verna steps off of the roof, grabs the door lintel, and swings herself in an acrobatic flip through the door to enter the fray. As she lands, she slashes a restrained cultist with her scimitar and follows with a stab from her shortsword, killing him instantly.
- A cultist rushes to attack Bear Mo while he is vulnerable with his claw still stuck in the table, but misses wildly as Mo thrashes about to free himself.
- A remaining cultist pisses himself in fear and runs away from the bear to the main door that is still barred. He throws the bar to the side, opens it, and finds Vala on the other side. He, very briefly, considers the relative threat levels inside and outside the building, finds the effete-looking waif in front of him less threatening than an angry bear, and runs directly past Vala to hide behind a tree.
-
Vala yells at the retreating cultist, beseeching him to keep running and to
make better choices.
- The cultist contemplates his life momentarily, and replies in a sob “I probably won't!”
- Vala steps into the open doorway and casts a red Chromatic Orb, immolating a cultist where he stands. As he dies, the orb of fire jumps to the cult leader, burning him but not killing him.
- Vala steps back outside seeking cover.
Round 2
- 2 Dragon Cultists remain
- The subordinate cultist manages to slip free of his restraining entanglements and begins to flee.
- Orthanc swings his Greataxe at the cult leader, deeply gashing him.
- Mo frees his claw from the table and attacks the cult leader, but misses. He ends the Entanglement spell.
-
The cult leader attacks Mo again, slashing him with his scimitar, then
following with a stab from his longknife.
- Before the blow connects, Raemund casts Warding Flare, blinding the cult leader and causing him to miss with his longknife.
- Raemund steps into the room and casts Sacred Flame on the cult leader, but misses and returns to cover provided by Orthanc.
-
Verna runs up to the Cult Leader and thrusts with her shortsword. The cult
leader pulls the remaining cultist in front of him, matter-of-factly uttering
“You are expendable.”
- The cultist seems surprised, whimpering to the leader that he thought he was his favorite.
- Verna further brutalizes the cultist by informing him that “You’re no one’s favorite” as she runs him through with her shortsword, killing him.
- The cultist that fled to the woods manages to run away south while The Party is distracted.
- Vala steps into the room and casts a red Chromatic Orb on the cult leader, burning him to death.
END COMBAT
Early Evening
- Verna flips the place looking for loot
- 3 diamonds (100GP a piece) - clearly meant as an offering
- Cult of the Dragon Headdress
- 18 food rations
- 16 water rations
- The Party reinforces what they’ve damaged in the fight, rehanging a door and securing the shutters.
- Mo casts Goodberry, giving everyone rations for the night.
- Vala ritual casts Alarm at the entrance to each door.
- Raemund cannibalizes the leather armor from the dead cultists, using it as material to cast Mending and repair Mo’s damaged Studded Leather armor.
- The Party takes a Long Rest in their well-fortified location
Next Session → Session 017: Thundertree (Day 2)