1. Journals

Red and Green and Brown All Over

Session
February 23, 2020
  • The group met the two figures standing in the blood rain in the late morning of Lesotruth 27th
  • The Peas had a conversation with the pale elven woman with long, black hair, who introduced herself as the Nightseeker
    • The Nightseeker claimed that her actions, and ultimately everyone working with her as well as the party, were all being orchestrated by the demigoddess Tarisi
    • Due to the virulent energies that flux wildly throughout the Batra full moon, Tarisi, who is normally spying on everyone, is unable to exercise her power
  • The Nightseeker explained about her relationship with the demigoddess, and her intentions in puppeteering all these people
    • Apparently, Tarisi has fallen in love with the powerful demigod of legend, Shalde
      • Shalde is responsible for helping to end the bloodshed caused by Vortek many years ago
    • In order to impress Shalde, Tarisi fabricated a prophecy, and began to set it in motion using the members of the Peas and their antagonists, who she refers to as the Darkheart
    • Tarisi is forcing all the agents down the paths she has chosen, regardless of whether it suits them or not
      • Balnar, for example, is not evil by nature, simply misguided
    • Apparently, Tarisi has been guarding both parties against threats that are “beyond” them, as well as limiting the power of certain Darkheart members
    • Tarisi has disallowed the outright killing of the Peas with the threat of complete annihilation, which is apparently why Seamus was not completely destroyed by Abrax
    • In her prophecy, Tarisi has made it so that the Darkheart is to collect the artifacts of Vortek to revive him, while the Peas are meant to stop them in an act of heroics
  • The Nightseeker revealed the identities and motivations of various members of the Darkheart
    • The Rain Knight, or Zerist Azdragast, is the current heir to the throne of Pallam following the coup carried out by the House of Azdragast.
      • Zerist is head over heels in love with the Nightseeker, and does as she pleases
      • Zerist’s personal army has left him due to his selfish pursuit of the Nightseeker, returning to Pallam instead
    • Ventrex Caustar, the lich of Tevari, has somehow been coerced into joining up with the Darkheart, perhaps through some strong-arming by Tarisi
      • Despite his feud with Zerist destroying Tevari Port Town, he has been made to work with him in order to secure the Blood of Batrax
      • The Nightseeker described his as having an unnervingly jovial disposition, and referred to him as unconventional
    • Yyk Sen, a fiend from the lower planes, apparently was involved with Vortek at some point, and is seeking to revive him.
    • The Nightseeker is unsure whether their Abrax is the same tree of chaos from the legends, but it cannot be denied that he wields a terrible amount of power
      • Abrax is apparently singularly focused on reviving Vortek, for some reason
    • Mardyth the Shade is mostly apathetic to the whole thing, and doesn’t seem to mind his scenario as long as he gets to steal and kill
      • He has a sort of vendetta out for the group, and keeps attempting to kill them unprompted
      • The Nightseeker is unable to effectively control him due to some natural ability he has that allows him to destroy her shadows at will
      • The Nightseeker suspects that Mardyth is one of the Children of Erudia, people blessed with the light of her sun from birth
    • Leadbelly Balnar has no dogs in this fight, and apparently was chosen just to “create drama” for Tarisi’s narrative
  • While not very forthcoming with details about herself, the Nightseeker stated that she was not evil by nature, only that her natural powers made it appear that way
    • She apologized to Phaelnah regarding what she did to her arm, stating she was commanded to do so by Tarisi to cause Phaelnah turmoil
  • In return for the information the Nightseeker provided, the group revealed some details about themselves to her
  • Grognock asked who the twisted, demonic-looking knight next to her was, and the Nightseeker responded that he was “insurance”.
  • As she was beginning to say something else, she cut herself off after claiming to hear a noise, which Phaelnah corroborated
  • Suddenly, emerging from the puddles of blood that collected from the blood rain, strange creatures seemingly made of congealed blood sprang up and attacked the party as the Nightseeker and her knight vanished from sight
  • As the group was about to be overcome by the bloodbeasts, a familiar face swooped in and protected the party with a foul-smelling shield
    • The rescue was orchestrated by none other than Eugene, an old friend of the party
    • However, his “snot bubble” was only able to protect half of the party as Tyerjon, Leadbelly and Seamus were swept away by a torrent of blood
  • Teaming up with Eugene, the remaining party members began to fight the beasts, but it soon became apparent that there was no end to them.
    • Choosing to make a run for it before the beasts completely surrounded them, Eugene blasted out a path to the east using a powerful ball of fetid acid and then released his protective barrier, launching all the beasts backwards and covering the entire group in snot
    • The group carved their way out of the army of beasts, sticking with each other (mostly) until everyone was safe
  • As the group ran from the beasts, the blood began to coalesce into a wave of blood that began barreling towards the party
    • The party began running as fast as they could, eventually outpacing the wave as they came to a hilly, rocky area
    • The party deftly (mostly) ran through the rocky area, dodging away from the beasts that were spawning around them
    • Finally, they continued to run until the last beast disappeared into the darkness behind them
  • Finally safe, the group took some time to catch up with Eugene
    • Eugene had been flying around the entire continent “helping” people and erecting shrines in service of his god, Gulchax
      • He successfully delivered the elven girl Elia to her destination, or so he claims
    • Eugene had come to the area in order to destroy a group of Batraxian cultists who were attempting a summoning ritual and establish a shrine atop their altar
    • Eugene gave Journey some things he had collected over his travels, including:
      • 3 sapphires, a brilliant diamon, 67 platinum, the head of a rat, a jar of curdled milk, a dead snake, 3 rusty pitons, a bottle of congealed blood, a pickaxe, a pile of small roots, and 23 pieces of flint
    • Eugene asked if the party knew of a Jagaran Underhalt
  • Phaelnah and Wander began to track a trail of blood on the ground to the east, in an attempt to find their friends
    • Eventually, the group came upon a large stone edifice lit by dim candlelight
  • The group stealthily approached the climb of the altar, despite Phaelnah’s best attempts to give them away
  • Through sneaking, disguising, deception, and straight up murder, the group slowly made their way further up to the altar without alerting the cultists
    • Grognock made a point to snap all the cultists’ necks
  • A failed sneak attack by Wander led one of the guards to scream out in alert, prompting a battle
    • Grognock began throwing people off the sides of the climb as he cut a path to the top, while Journey cover the entirety of the altar in sleet and Phaelnah blessed the party
    • Eugene’s attempt to jump over a gap nearly ended with him falling to his death, but he managed to get up after Wander jump over him and shanked a cultist, kicking him off the edge
    • Witnessing the head cultist casting some sort of spell, Journey and Phaelnah peppered him with spells as Grognock did battle against a mercenary, eventually throwing her off the edge as well
    • As Wander and Eugene finished off the remaining cultists on the climb, the head cultist completed a sacrifice, twisting the corpse into a demonic, shadow-like entity
    • As Journey stabbed the head cultist full of holes with a series of ice spears, Phaelnah finished him off with a Guiding Bolt, sending him flying backwards off the main platform
    • The mercenary, having thrusted her swords into the side of the stone, climbed back up, but was again knocked down
    • Grognock protected the party by placing himself in between many of the major threats, dodging deftly but still taking steady damage, as Wander casted Hideous Laughter on a large brute, who buckled over laughing on the ground
    • As the remaining cultists slipped and slid around the sleet, alongside Tyerjon, Leadbelly, and Seamus, the group managed to destroy the shadow beast just as a cultist managed to summon another one
    • Grognock, in a feat of acrobatics, hooked his leg around a rock and swung down to punch the again approaching mercenary, who lost her grasp on her swords and fell into the darkness below
    • The group concentrated their fire on the new shadow beast, but it managed to take Wander down before it fell
      • Phaelnah quickly resuscitated Wander with her Channel Divinity
    • The group finished off the remaining cultists, and the last one jumped off the ledge into the forest far below
  • Reunited with their friends, the group took some time to establish a camp on top of the altar, removing the symbols of Batrax and ritualistic implements
  • Concerned with the poisoning of the surrounding forest (mostly for Phaelnah’s sanity), Journey went with Eugene to find another suitable location to establish a shrine to Gulchax
    • After creating a shrine in a relatively open, uninhabited area, an avatar of Gulchax appeared and thanked Eugene, but also commanded him to do the same to the altar as well, as it was a place of significant power
    • Hearing strange noises coming from the surrounding forests, Journey and Eugene chose to retreat back to the altar
  • The group took a long rest on top of the altar tower, listening to the strange chittering and howls of various beasts below, likely antagonized by the blood moon
  • Eugene was visited by Gulchax in his dreams, against telling him to make the shrine
  • Waking up in the morning, Eugene conducted his rituals for Gulchax, turning the altar into a giant fountain of filth that poured down into the forest below
    • Angered by this turn of events, Phaelnah attempted to dispel the magic, but failed to do so
    • Determined to undo the enchantment, Phaelnah offered a portion of her life to Aeltra, sending out a wave of purity in a radius around her
    • The slime and detritus pouring from the shrine then turned to fertile earth, from which tiny saplings formed
    • Apparently digging his way out of the dirt, the avatar of Gulchax appeared again, angered that his shrine was once again destroyed by Phaelnah
    • He attempted to reach out and touch Phaelnah, but she jumped away from him as Grognock attempted to defend her against the god
      • Grognock was effortlessly swatted aside by the avatar, nearly knocking him out
    • Gulchax then stated that “this is a bad vibe”, and left, but not before laying a curse on the entire party similar to the one Phaelnah and Journey were once afflicted with before

Kanka is built by just the two of us. Support our quest and enjoy an ad-free experience for less than the cost of a fancy coffee. Become a member.