Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk

Nightblade:

”Well-said, Jorzu,” comments Nightblade, “Do the rest of you feel the same?  If so, we should get moving.”

Boona knew the cultists were back past the broken statue but she remembered another door they hadn't tried and marched north to the room with the sundered table and pushed on the untried door there.

• " Karst, go to statue room. Keep watch."

Boona heads north, leaving Karst to keep an eye out for errant mutate cultists from the east. (Is everyone following?)

The scene of the wailing mind flayer and the armored dwarf smashing both flayer and table plays out once again in the room. The image of the dwarf retreats toward the stacked chests  to the west with a triumphant cry, beckoning the viewers to follow.

Boona opens the door south. She dimly sees an ancient dwarven kitchen within – stone counters, a sink full of water, and an oven glowing orange with heat. A rack of implements of some sort hangs from the ceiling. Nightblade has not been in this room, but some of his comrades had explored it earlier, and it matches their description.

Boona enters the kitchen....

(Are the rest of you following Boona or hanging back?)

Nightblade:

Following Boona, Nightblade tries to determine her purpose…She hadn’t said yes or no, and she wasn’t leaving, but she wasn’t moving towards the cultist lair.

Eventually, he decides on assuming a tactical exploration motive and says to Boona, “Other than the one insane cultist who was following me around for a bit, I don’t think there are other potential enemies hiding here—but it is wise to check behind us before we move forward.”

Nightblade, behind Boona, gets a good look at the kitchen from behind her. He was told by his employers that the sink is enchanted, and replenishes itself periodically with fresh water. The oven, likewise enchanted, is always lit. He also sees that one of his drow comrades - probably Thiala – left her backpack behind here, perhaps forgotten in all the excitement of carrying the bound Ontharyx out of Talhundereth.

That's when their minds explode in a cacophony of screams and sound. Nightblade and Boona and anyone who would have accompanied them: Make a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or become incapacitated.

Then: roll initiative!

Nightblade:

”Looks like Thalia may have left her pack behind. I…” starts Nightblade, then his world fuzzes with mental static.  He tries to resist and fight through the haze, then search out the source of the attack!

Wisdom Save:  7

Initiative:  11

Initiative:

Nightblade: 7
Unknown entity infiltrating your brains: 22

Nightblade grabs his head, as a writhing, echoing cacophony of sounds of hundreds of terrified creatures fills his mind. He is incapacitated. 

Boona and anyone else with her must make a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or be incapacitated. Nightblade and anyone else who fails this save may repeat the saving throw at the start of each of their turns to end the effect (and become immune to it, at least temporarily.)

Anyone who remained behind, near the doorway (where many of you appear in the last iteration of the map) are out of range.

But everyone should roll initiative!

Boona Wisdom Save- 22

Initiative- 11

Bryony WIS Save - 17

Bryony Initiative - 11

Bryony had followed Boona. She wanted to explore the rest of this place and make sure her Aunt Qelline wasn't here before they moved on. As she follows the giantess, suddenly a cacophony of screams fills her mind, and she screams herself, her hands clutching the sides of her head. She just barely manages to remain lucid enough to keep walking and stay aware of her surroundings. The pain in her head from the terrified wailing had been intense.

"What's going on?" the halfling cries out in alarm.

Initiative:
  Entity infiltrating your brains: 22
  Bryony: 11
  Boona: 11
  Nightblade: 7

An unearthly horror appears... A small, writhing ball of tentacles, a conglomerate of wayward shreds of pure thought, echoing with the cacophonous sounds of every thought it had ever consumed. It shoots out tentacles toward both Nightblade and Bryony.

Tentacle Attack vs. Nightblade: 25 Hit: 7 force damage and he becomes grappled if hit.

Tentacle Attack vs. Bryony: 14 Hit: 8 force damage and she becomes grappled if hit. 

Nightblade feels his thoughts being siphoned away. Nightblade: Make a DC 17 Intelligence saving throw, taking 27 psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Everyone may act. Nightblade may roll a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw at the start of his turn, and act normally on his turn on a success (and remain incapacitated if not.) The escape DC of the grapple is DC17. 

Jorzu 

Running to keep up with the determined steps of Boona, Jorzu rounds the doorway just in time to see Nightblade pause mid-step. "That's quite pecul...." That's when the assault on his brain begins. 

WIS save 22

Initiative 14

Jorzu 

A whisper passes through his mind. A terrible whisper. He shakes his head clear and instinctively begins casting a spell he hopes will eliminate the threat albeit temporarily. Meanwhile Alâedixx enters the room and begins heading towards Nightblade.

Alâedixx WIS save 21

A - casts Banishment with a CHA15 DC or the creature is shipped off somewhere

(If Alâedixx makes his save he is there to offer his reaction and a +2 to Nightblade's save if he needs it.)

Nightblade:

Incapacitated from the initial assault, Nightblade is unable to mount much of a defense as he is struck and grappled by the horror's tentacle!

Intelligence Save on the horror's turn:  8

Wisdom Save at start of his turn:  21

Nightblade:

Head spinning and aching from the massive psychic assault, Nightblade comes to his senses heavily injured and wrapped in the tentacle of this strange psychic horror--or does he?  

(Nightblade's initiative count is 11, after Jorzu's attempted banishment)

If the horror still grips him, Nightblade will Misty Step away from the grapple, drop Sacred Flame on it from a distance, then try and move around a corner from it. 

 If it is instead Banished, he will stumble back a single move, then use his armor to cast Cure Wounds on himself.

Boona roared, " Don't touch my friends!!"

She lashed out with her maul, crawling with green light...

Attack: 11 Damage: 8 + Smite 13

Attack: 27 Damage: 12 + Smite 17

BA- Divine Smite.

DC15 Charisma save vs Banishment: 7

<pop!>

The unearthly tentacled thing vanishes. The voices in your head suddenly cease.

Combat is paused; everyone may act!