Chronicles of the Accursed (Group 2)

With the cultists arriving, Tamphalic keeps concentration to the webbing, and tries to stay out of sight from the opening; unless they fully walk in of course than they'll see him.

The silent thunder of Perdita's flaming hooves returns from the depths of the cave as the strange power of the Wish draws the shards of the Seven Heroes' archnemesis together into the singular ruinous artifact. Hildegard bows her head for this solemn moment, knowing now that the fight to decide the fate of all of existence is in their hands.

"Be, ready, Sir Stephen," she whispers to her enchanted armor. "Today we stand or fall in the service of the Seven Heroes."

(Rolled Investigation 18 to see if Hildegard found an alternative way out of the cave while she was searching).

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

Quote from Ben_Evolent >>

Hewelathan-Bear moves carefully to the entrance of their "cave"....

You see Firion immediately. The dark archmage stands amidst his cultists.

Hewelathan-Bear moves back into the "cave" and growls a warning to the others.  "Firion and Zolgu and their cultists.  Getting closer."  As the others prepare the group's defenses, he lumbers into Jodie's Cozy Hut to check on the progress of the ritual and enlists Ruby's assistance to feed him 4 of the goodberries from the pouch around his neck, healing the injuries he sustained fighting the Couatl.   

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

As Jodie lowers her hands after pronouncing her wish, it seems as if nothing happened.

Then, every item containing a shard of Sserah's soul begins to glow with a sickly purple light. You can hear hisses and whispers in some ancient language as the shards of Sserah's soul are pulled towards their new vessel. Three shards... and then... a fourth. Pulled from outside of the cavern. From the dark wizard himself. You can feel the shards pulling away, resisting the call, but even the Mad Dragon Lord cannot overcome this power

You hear a chorus of gasps from outside...
"You two! Find out what happened!" Firion screams.
Two of the cultists approach the cavern entrance, staffs raised defensively.

Hewelathan thinks at first that Jodie made a mistake with her wish: weren't they planning to put each of their cursed items' soul shards into a different cursed item, like his Horn of Beckoning Death?  The "belt" that he wears as a great collar in his bear form glows purple, and he feels as much as hears the soul shard's cries as it is ripped away and siphoned into the Ruinstone.  He feels suddenly unburdened.  Less hungry.  Lighter. His power less clouded by the curse.  The world also seems to warp and shift, returning his perception of things to their regular size when they had long seemed somehow smaller, like toy things.  The world feels closer and, in a way, more real.

All of that happens in a moment.  But even as he adjusts to his new perspective, he hears Firion's cries from outside.  He realizes that Jodie also captured the soul shard from Firion's Dragon Vessel!  Hoping that she has a viable plan, he gets ready to defend his companions from the cultists.

Hewelathan-Bear counsels everyone: "Quickly!  Everyone take cover in Jodie's cozy hut while it lasts."  While lower-level spells cannot be cast through the hut, Nickeline and Tamphalic can concentrate on their spells while hidden in Jodie's "hut."   And the party can step out of the AoE to make ranged attacks before ducking back into its protection. 

Of course, that keeps them grouped together, and the hut's protection won't really help them when Zolgu or Firion arrive!

Before the ritual finishes: consume 4 goodberries, healing 4 x 3HP each = 12 HP.

[[ OOC: Timing and line-of-sight matters here.  If we're entering initiative, then Hewelathan is starting inside the Jodie's hut, and I guess I'm saying what he plans to do on his first round when the cultists try to enter the cave.  If not, he'd like to establish the Moonbeam before the cultists enter the cave, hoping that they take damage as they enter the Moonbeam and then get stuck in the Web, taking damage again every round they remain stuck. ]]  

After the ritual finishes, Hewelathan steps out of Jodie's hut to cast Moonbeam (a Circle of the Moon spell) just at the entrance to the cave.  He would like to place the AoE so that it's

• Right at the entrance to the cave.
• "Inside" Nickeline's Silent Image
• "Inside" Tamphalic's Web

Movement: If Hewelathan can place that spell before the cultists enter the cave, he'll move back into the protection of Jodie's hut, waiting for them to enter.  If they're entering the cave before he gets a chance to cast the spell, he'll be starting in Jodie's hut and then moving out to cast the spell, trying to catch both of them in the AoE.  Then he'll continue forward, closing distance.
Action: Cast spell (LVL 2 slot) Moonbeam
Free Action: Talking

Concentration: Moonbeam round 1 of 10

Ruby gasps at the sight of the ritual and knows the moment she'll face Zolgu draws near.  With an arcane gesture, one...two...three kobold wizards step 'out' of Ruby.  Eight reptilian eyes narrow to seek out to curse Zolgu.

Quote from ConstancePhokas >>

The silent thunder of Perdita's flaming hooves returns from the depths of the cave as the strange power of the Wish draws the shards of the Seven Heroes' archnemesis together into the singular ruinous artifact. Hildegard bows her head for this solemn moment, knowing now that the fight to decide the fate of all of existence is in their hands.

"Be, ready, Sir Stephen," she whispers to her enchanted armor. "Today we stand or fall in the service of the Seven Heroes."

(Rolled Investigation 18 to see if Hildegard found an alternative way out of the cave while she was searching).

You spot an opening about 100 feet away from the first. It's not as large; you could probably get out single-file, though. But... as you look up, you notice something else...

The cultists step onto what they expect to be solid ground... and immediately find themselves in Temphalic's web!

Dex saves
Cultist 1 - 8
Cultist 2 - 4

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

The cultists step onto what they expect to be solid ground... and immediately find themselves in Temphalic's web!

Dex saves
Cultist 1 - 4
Cultist 2 - 13

 And both of them are caught... and also trapped in the Moonbeam!

Con saves
Cultist 1 - 20
Cultist 2 - 11

Hew, please roll damage for Moonbeam

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

 And both of them are caught... and also trapped in the Moonbeam!

Con saves
Cultist 1 - 9
Cultist 2 - 18

Hew, please roll damage for Moonbeam

For this round, Moonbeam damage: 14 (radiant)

Since Cultist 2 passed their saving throw, they take Unable to parse dice roll. (radiant)

I don't think that it's relevant here, but a failed save also forces a creature that is shape-shifted (as a result of the Polymorph spell, for example) to revert to its true form.  It cannot shape-shift again until it leaves the AoE.

Jodie, previously considering the power of words over magic, decides these allies are worth a little more grace (Cha)

Jodie turns to the Astral Lich, "Perhaps you've heard of the Horn of Beckoning Death?  Imagine what entropy you might wrought.  Teleport us back to our ship and it is yours."

Persuasion: 21

The Lich eyes the horn hungrily... and reaches its bony hands out, caressing the object.

I can ferry eight souls, the Astral Lich says, its face ever locked into a skeletal grin. Give me the horn now, and you shall have paid your debt to me.

At the same time, the Sserah Cultists are still fighting to get out of the web, and you can hear the other cultists approaching.

I'll just go ahead and put up their Initiative real quick (I'm using static initiative for them, to save time)

Remnant of Sserah (Currently... more than half of her soul has been assembled): 22
    Damage -
Firion: 17
    Damage -
Zolgu: 16
    Damage -
Sserah Cultists (x5): 12
    Cultist 1 - 6 damage
    Cultist 2 - 3 damage
    Cultist 3
    Cultist 4
    Cultist 5
Kobold Dragonshields (x4): 12
    Kobold 1
    Kobold 2
    Kobold 3
    Kobold 4

You fine folks have 3 rounds to figure out what you're doing. The two dragons cannot enter the dead god's body (yet...)

Jodie uses the last of her wiles on Smiler: "How's about that distraction Smiler?  Imagine if this God were to 'come alive' again?  Maybe grow a little facial hair like a great bamboo forest and bewitch them to ensure our escape.  Selariel can return and provide you passage beyond.  You don't want the trouble that will follow us."

Persuasion: 26 

Quote from Faux_Beau >>

Jodie uses the last of her wiles on Smiler: "How's about that distraction Smiler?  Imagine if this God were to 'come alive' again?  Maybe grow a little facial hair like a great bamboo forest and bewitch them to ensure our escape.  Selariel can return and provide you passage beyond.  You don't want the trouble that will follow us."

Persuasion: 26 

[[OOC: So, things we've learned for the millionth time - Jodie is ridiculously persuasive.]]

Smiler's grin widens enough that you could swear his cheeks are about to split open.

"My my, what a clever girl you are," Smiler says, patting Jodie on the head patronizingly. "Now let's light this place up and make things a little more interesting!"

Smiler twirls theatrically, a finger pointed out at the surroundings. The terrain [spells]hallucinatory terrain;warps[/spell]. The desiccated heart blooms with strange plants and stones. The entire terrain blossoms with a thick moss-like substance with tiny flowers in numerous colors. The inside of the dead god has turned into some kind of strange mushroom jungle.

[[OOC: Mechanically, Smiler has just given you folks a plenty of stuff to hide behind, whether cover to retreat or for ambush. Nothing here acts as cover, as it's an illusion, but it does make targeting harder. Since you know it's an illusion, you have an opportunity to study the illusion, per the spell description, and you can make the Investigation checks at advantage to see through it clearly.]]

Hildegard rides back to the group to report what she's seen: two circling dragons and an alternative, if smaller, exit. Perdita's flaming hooves hiss through a sudden overgrowth of mossy flowers and fungal tendrils. After she tells the others, she turns to get a look at the new terrain, and Hildegard's gaze falls on Smiler. Transfixed for a moment, she bows low from atop Perdita. "Zenxeral. It is an honor."

Tamphalic's investigation: (15,26)->26

Tamphalic can immediately recognize what is an illusion and what is not, seeing clearly through it, but knowing it will be an advantage aswell.

Jodie looks to her companions, "At least one will need to stay behind". Hildegard eyes Jodie as if instinctively the know the first person to consider that sacrifice is the paladin.  The paladin strokes Perdita, as if to stay We can do this.

 "Teleporting out is probably the best chance we have to escape.  And hopefully Perdita's speed would be enough.  I do not think we can withstand two dragons and the archmage.  Unless..."

Jodie turns to the Astral lich, testing it's appetite for power.  "Now if you were to help us defeat the archmage, I'd include the Talisman of Ultimate Evil. We Accursed have powerful allies." 

Persuasion: 16

The Lich looks at the talisman for a moment... then whispers an incantation. Likely Identify to make sure it is genuine. Then he reaches out and takes it.

You have a bargain, the lich says, its voice echoing with power.

Initiatives

Ruby: 19
Jodie: 15
Astral Lich: 11

Quote from Faux_Beau >>

Initiatives

Ruby: 19
Jodie: 15
Astral Lich: 11

Yeah, that's a good call there...

Everyone, please roll initiative! Looks like there's going to be a confrontation.

Tamphalic: 24
Gorash: 8
Selariel: 6