Heavy is the Head - Campaign thread

The edge of the rapier smacks bluntly and violently against the back of the lizardfolk's head, and for a brief moment his rage seems to fade to a look of confusion, recognition flashes momentarily in his eyes. Then, as Saoirse's dagger approaches, he reelt and squirms, just managing to avoid it. The blind rage returns, and his fingers tighten around the hilt of the enchanted sword, knuckles whitening.

 "The Ansar family will have their vengeance!"

Lam struggles to keep his grip on the squirming, writhing, angry lizardfolk as his foe dodges many of his friends’ attacks. He lets his greataxe fall to his side, struggling to lift it with only one arm. Then he swiftly wraps his freed arm around the lizardfolk, to catch him in a two-armed reverse bear hug. He holds fast as he takes a couple of careful steps back, away from his friends. He notices the first sign of a name from their former ally, but furrows his brow at it being a family name and still not having an individual name. Unsure how to approach that, he instinctively repeats the name in a grunt: “…Ansar.” And then follows up: “We do not want to fight.” He focuses all his efforts on keeping the lizardfolk from escaping and keeping the sword out of reach of his friends.

"You, can, not, hold, me! میں ہوا ہوں!" The last few words are spoken in a language that sounds roughly similar to what the Kobolds had been speaking, but not quite, but it becomes clear that the lizardfolk has the same habit that many of you share - that of speaking the incantations for his magic in his native tongue. In a puff of green mist, Lam's arms suddenly tighten around nothing at all, and the lizardfolk reappears in another puff of mist directly beside Sha-Gravis. He slices furiously at the tabaxi. "Put down the egg!" 

Sha shielding the egg with his body takes the surprise attack blood oozing onto his attire.  As gently as possible sets the egg down assuming a defensive posture ready to defend his unhatched harpy infant.

As a bonus action Sha casts shield of faith on himself.

When the lizard folk disappears, Spiderlock spins around on the spot, his eight legs doing a merry dance which for all the world looks like they will get tangled up, but they don't. He spots the re-appearance of the lizard folk by Sha, and seeing the sword impact Sha with great force rushes to his aid.

He makes his way over to stand behind the lizard folk, with it between himself and Sha, and once more goes for the bite.

Movement: Close the distance to the Lizardfolk, flanking it with Sha

Action (with Advantage for flanking if possible): Attack it with a bite - To Hit: (8, 16)+3=19, Damage 1+1=2 [piercing], DC 11 Con or take 7 [poison], 3 on save (might this be two incidents of damage, for two separate saves?)

The lizardfolk cries out as he is bitten, the venom dissolving his veins around the two small puncture wounds. For a few seconds, he still seems ready to attack with the dark blade, but then it clatters to the floor, landing dangerously right next to the vulnerable harpy egg. He looks around at all of you in shame and dismay. "An enchantment. I am..." (he looks at the bleeding wounds on Saoirse and Sha) "I should have known better." 

We are out of initiative, and the enchantment is ended. The room has not changed, despite the violence it has seen. The stairs remain retracted, cut off. The workbenches and their respective magic items sit inperturbed, aside from the sword with the wolf pommel, laying on the floor between you, dripping your blood. 

Sha-Gravis gently retrieves the egg, once again cradling it in his arms.  Then he will cast cure wounds recovering 7 hp.  "I only fear had Saoirse been faster than you we would have been facing powers beyond a blade alone, though you cut me to the bone.  I know it was not of your choosing and I of course forgive your attack.  Thank you both Lam and Spiderlock."

Sha also then casts a cure wounds on Saoirse for +6hp.

Lam starts when the lizardfolk disappears from his grasp, and whirls to see Sha getting brutally attacked. Lam looks ready to just lunge at the lizardfolk, but takes a step back when his spider friend jumps into the fray. He lets himself process what is happening and, rather than going to attack the lizardfolk in rage, stands still for a moment. He slowly goes to pick up and put away his dropped weapons- the javelin he threw, and his poor greataxe. He begins to breathe again when Sha starts to heal himself and Saoirse, and his eyes widen slightly when Sha talks about what could have been- facing their lizardfolk friend was scary, but facing Saoirse would have been far worse.

Lam nods when Sha thanks him, but the look of worry and concern on his face has not gone away. He speaks up to say, “We should not touch anything else.” He stops and stares at his spider friend for a good few moments before he says, “Thank you, Hemlock. …We needed that.” Giving the sword a wide berth, he begins to make his way towards the stairs. He will only head upstairs if everyone else does too.

The stairs receded when Saoirse pressed a button just after you got to this floor. The ways out of the room are closed.

Spiderlock does a strange spiderish bow as the others thank him, and then follows Lam over to where the stairs had been, voting with his eight feet as to what he thinks their next plan of action should be.

He looks for the button to recall the stairs, and if he spots it he will scurry up the wall and wait next to it.

Whilst he waits, he surveys his companions, looking to see if anyone urgently more healing beyond Sha has provided.

When you approach the button, a familiar voice appears in the air. "As a precaution, the enchantment room is sealed until all items are appropriately organized. Sorry for the inconvenience.

A small stone tile snaps down over the button, marked with an abjuration symbol.

"Foul-blood wizards," the Lizardfolk mutters from where he has sat down against the wall of the room, looking away from all of you in shame and reawakened grief.

When the combat finishes, Saoirse steps back a little, visibly hurt and trying to catch her breath. She had only been hit once, but that hit had been strong enought to take a toll on her.

- That could have been me ... - she mutters, and after a few laboured breaths adds - I'm sorry. I didn't think twice. All I thought is that sword looked magnificent and would strenghten me. I'm glad I was too slow to grab it. You  - she says looking at the lizardfolk - sure know how to use a sword. I felt that. 

The genasi welcomes Sha's healing spell, and as a result of it stands up again looking better, but she really hopes they don't need to fight much more that day, as she isn't fully patched up.

- What was that about the egg? Was what you said part of the enchanment? This isn't really the egg you're looking for, right? This is a harpy egg. Can you please tell us more? I'd also would like to know your name. We know your family's, but not yours.

Then, realizing that the room is sealed, she asks:

- "Organizing"? Does this mean we need to put the blade where it was? Maybe if we don't touch it with our bare skin we can safetly put it back in the workbench?

As the small stone snaps over the button, Spiderlock skitters back away from it, and then moves to the floor and across the room to the sword. He looks to try and secrete some webbing so it sticks to the handle and can be used to move the sword back to the table without touching it.

Just as Hemlock finishes secreting silk on the sword hilt, he can feel the spinnerettes close up for good, and begin to recede into his body. The entire abdomen draws inwards, as organs migrate into your expanding thorax and change form to the mammalian vasculature of a firbolg. Your middle four limbs pull in as well, and in a blur, we are left with Hemlock, stoic and composed firbolg, squatting over an ornate sword in very much the position one might take when crouched behind a tree after morning tea. Though it may be an awkward stance, the result looks effective: a thick layer of webbing around the hilt, with just enough of a string hanging off to confidently lift the sword without touching it with your skin.

"I spoke aloud during the enchantment? Hmn. Then you have my name, and I am sorry for the things I called you. I am the last of the Ansar family, Ali bin Ansar. We protected the Drakewood, and any egg laid there. Then, we failed, though I did not die. Now you have my story."

Ali's face and voice are heavy with emotion during these brief sentences. Then he takes a deep breath, stands up, and pulls his face back into a neutral expression, taking a little longer to fully calm his breathing.

Hemlock looks around to the others as he squats over the sword, and then ever so slowly stands.

"I guess that is how long I can stay a spider", he says attempting to be nonchalant.

He looks to the lizard folk, "It is good to finally know who you are, Ali Bin Ansar. It would be good to learn more of this Drakewood when time permits. Now, let's get this sword back where it belongs. And be careful of the mirror, it tried to give me the serious giggles. I expect all these items are dangerous".

With that he picks up the sword by the string of webbing, and moves it back to the table it came from.

Ali nods acknowledgement, and seems to consider this sufficient response.

The sword sits on the workbench, fully inanimate, giving no outward sign of its enchantment. That same is true for the key, book, and mirror. The abjuration tile remains stubbornly sitting on top of the button that controls the stairs.

When Ali finally shares his name, Saoirse nods, and waves a hand, dismissing any worries the lizardfolk might still have for what has transpired. She would ask more about his family and the Drakewood, but he doesn't seem willing to share anything more for the moment. 

When Hemlock places the sword in its original place and nothing seems to happen, she rolls her eyes:

- ... damned wizards and their tricks... I shouldn't have pushed that button - she sighs and looks at the others - We didn't touch anything else apart from the sword, right? Why does the button is still stuck, then? Did we not place the sword  as it was before? Arghh, I'm at a loss.

She inspects the key and the book just in case, thought they don't seem related to the room being sealed. If the book is opened, she'll try to read what it is about.

The key is fashioned to look like a newt, its short limbs and toes splayed to be the key's teeth, and its tail curved into a spiral handle. It is.golden in colour, though unlikely to be made of the solid metal.  Without touching it, there is no more you can tell from your inspection. 

The book has a beautiful jade scorpion emblazoned on the cover, and the title's words seem to make sense as you try briefly to read them. But you can't quite remember what it was, so your eyes try to read it again. This repeats several unconscious times in a couple seconds, your eyelids becoming heavier and heavier as you do. You drift off during this process, falling into a dreamers sleep. From the other characters' perspective, you glance at the book and immediately fall asleep on the floor in front of it.

Though he isn’t sure what to think of the process of Hemlock’s transformation back into himself, Lam is more than a little relieved for his friend to be looking like a Firbolg again. Hemlock might notice Lam’s whole body relax slightly once the transformation is complete.

He repeats Ali’s name: “Ali bin Ansar.” Then he says, searching for the words as he says them: “I am glad you are on our side. …Without the sword.” He nods in respect to Ali’s abilities.

He watches Saoirse as she begins to investigate the room, hoping she might figure out some answers that they seem not to have. When she begins to collapse, he rushes over to try to catch her or at least prevent her head from hitting the floor-whichever he can get there fast enough to do. “Saoirse! What- you-“ the words come out without prior thought from his part. Then he turns to the others and asks, “How do we wake her up?” He looks back at her sleeping body, still pretty injured even after Sha worked his magic, and follows up with: “Should we?”

While he hopes for an answer from his friends, he looks over at the sword they just put back and studies it to see if he notices any difference between how it was when they got there and how it is now.

"If she is only asleep, try shaking her gently", Hemlock suggests. "If that doesn't work, maybe a splash of water?".

He moves over to the key, "I wonder if when we opened the door the enchantments on these were activated, and we have to expend the enchantment on each item before we can leave. That would mean someone has to activate the key".

"I myself looked in the mirror, Saoirse read the book and Ali held the sword. Sha or Lam, would either of you like to be the one to try the key? It might even be the literal key to getting out of here", he adds with a chuckle.