The Crits for Breakfast schedule is shifting a bit... going forward, Rise of Tiamat will be streaming on Fridays instead of Sunday, since it's more convenient for the players involved.
That said, we'll be streaming tonight at 7pm PST, as always, at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. The Party has begun to delve into the haunted halls of the Tomb of the great wizard, Diderius. Read on to see what you may have missed from last week's session, or perhaps just give yourself a reminder to make sure you're up to date...
Dahlia attempts to reason with the Lizardfolk, but starts to realize that they don’t seem to fully understand her kindness and empathy. Instead she convinces Loki to cast Purify Food and Drink on the body of the Lizardfolk’s dead Yuan-Ti Master... making the normally venomous creature safe for the Lizardfolk to eat, since Dahlia knows from experience that Lizardfolk have no qualms about eating other humanoids... or even other Lizardfolk. With this gift the Lizardfolk seem more willing to speak, especially one particular Lizardfolk who clearly has more brands on his scales than any of the others... he introduces himself as Hammertail, explaining that he’s the only member of this particular troupe of lizardfolk who wasn’t hatched and raised as a slave... rather, the Yuan-Ti used their charm magic to force him to steal his tribe’s eggs and deliver them to the Yuan-Ti before becoming a slave himself. He’s able to reveal that the Lizardfolk aren’t told much specific information, but there is a rumor amongst the Lizardfolk of a “Short Beard Man” being held somewhere, which the party assumes to be Varram. He also recognizes the tomb of Diderius, referring to it as “The House of Speaking Statues,” and he knows that the tomb is held by the Yuan-Ti and that Lizardfolk regularly deliver humanoids to be sacrificed there, but he doesn’t know what for. The Party gets the idea to have Dahlia with her Hat of Disquise and Loki with her Changeling powers make themselves look like Yuan-Ti and deliver the other two party members to the Yuan-Ti in the tomb, with HammerTail also explaining that the Yuan-Ti have no need of restraints, as their victims are hypnotized to enter follow willingly. He also reveals that the Lizardfolk do not actually know the names of any of “The Masters”, as the only thing they need to know is to obey them without question. The Lizardfolk guide the party toward Diderius’s Tomb, which is past the ruins of a lost civilization that once lived near his home.
As they travel G’houl is contacted magically by Taern “Thunderspells” Hornblade, the Wizard Councilmember that G’houl had requested information from regarding Diderius. Thunderspells is able to reveal that, upon his death, Diderius was mummified and is now considered a Mummy Lord, something that G’houl knows enough about to know it would make Diderius a truly deadly threat, so powerful that his very presence corrupts his tomb and the land around it. Fortunately, Thunderspells also reveals that Diderius is known to be harmless to anyone who enters his tomb with respect and does not attempt to steal anything... much to Loki’s chagrin. As they arrive HammerTail also explains that Lizardfolk don’t normally enter the tomb themselves... rather, any innocents they deliver are simply taken by the Yuan-Ti themselves. Knowing that, Dahlia asks HammerTail to watch their horses (and not eat them). HammerTail isn’t happy with this, but G’houl mentions that a common effect of a Mummy Lord’s tomb is that any food brought inside instantly rots, so the party offers the Lizardfolk their rations, since they can’t safely take them inside anyway. This seems to satisfy the Lizardfolk, who agree to keep an eye on the outside of the tomb for now.
As the party approaches the tomb they encounter an ancient pair of stone statues that animate magically, offering access to Diderius’s Wisdom or Knowledge, with Dahlia speaking respectfully and requesting Knowledge, with the statues de-animating and allowing them to enter without obstruction. Inside, they find the first room filled with gold and treasures... however, upon closer inspection they realize that it’s all an illusion, and the room was stripped of its true treasures long ago. They also notice that the Mummy Lord’s power has had another shocking effect... G’houl’s familar, the black cat Dusk, has suddenly grown wings. They seem to be completely functional, and although Dusk seems just as surprised as the others, he otherwise seems unharmed. Moving into the next room, a booming voice warns them not to look into “The Darkness”, which they surmise refers to the large statues of robed figures, whose faces are obscured by dark shadows. However, they also notice that the remains of several well-armed skeletons are scattered across the ground, and close inspection reveals that the shattered pieces are very, very slowly reconstructing themselves. Moving along to the next room, the guiding voice gives them no warning as a large Mosaic depicting a knight battling a Chimera begins to animate, a Chimera made of Mosaic Tiles attacking the party.
The Party refrains from dipping too much into their Spell Slots in fighting the Chimera, while Antares’ wild-magic causes Morning Glories to sprout in his hair and he releases a defensive aura to increase his AC as well as the AC of his party. The Chimera is basically two-dimensional, able to turn its thin side toward opponents in an attempt to avoid damage, but Antares’ attacks are too precise. Dahlia regrets damaging a literal piece of art, but still ultimately blasts it with a Ray of Frost, sending the pieces scattering... although she is somewhat pleased to realize that the mosaic, like the skeletons in the previous room, seems to be slowly reconstructing itself. With the threat defeated the party notices two things... a large double golden door with a relief of figures bowing to Diderius in front of a mystical pool that is bulging outward, which G’houl surmises most likely has some kind of stone trap on the other side that makes it too dangerous to open. The Party sees a smaller door that also has a relief of a pool on it (albet without the figures) but more suspiciously, written in chalk by the door is the word “SAFE” written in common. G’houl knows enough about Yuan-Ti to know that they primarily speak Abyssal, and are unlikely to write messages in Common. There is also a long, thin hallway moving downard. As they debate what to investigate first, Antares drinks one of the potions he infused with his Wild Magic... the chaotic magic causing a strange creature to suddenly appear next to him... a floating, jellyfish-like creature with two long eyestalks and dangling tentacles which speaks telepathically to the goup... friendly Flumph. Dahlia in particular is instantly smitten with the creature, who seems happy for the attention and who incessantly asks questions. Dahlia asks for its name, and it claims to not have one, but when Dahlia suggests the name “Mr. Flumph” he happily accepts the name. Mr. Flumph keeps asking more questions as they discuss what to do next, and just as they decide to investigate the hallway first, Dahlia asks Mr. Flumph if he’s willing to travel with them, which he seems happy to do. However, just as they finally decide what to do next, Mr. Flumph fades out of existance. Dahlia begins to wail and mourn the apparent “death” of Mr. Flumph... with Antares admitting he doesn’t know if Mr. Flumph literally only existed for the ten minutes he was with them, or if he was teleported there from somewhere else. Still mourning the loss of Mr. Flumph, they proceed with their plan to search the hallway.
Looking down the hallway, they notice a small seam in the wall, and rather than risk triggering any traps Antares throws a javelin at the seam, revealing that it’s some kind of door. G’houl sends Dusk to investigate, discovering that it appears to be some kind of dumbwaiter leading down lower, but they don’t want to put Dusk in danger by sending him to investigate where it leads. Instead, the party decides to investigate the room labeled “Safe”. Inside, they find a deep well, with large, blood-red mushrooms growing in the room. They also notice that bedrolls and other camping supplies have been left abandoned in the room. As G’houl and Dahlia investigate the bedrolls Antares notes that the mushrooms are known as “Livershrooms”... an edible mushroom that tastes shockingly like raw liver. As Antares pockets some of them G’houl finds a small wooden talisman with the symbol of Tiamat on it carelessly left in one of the bedrolls. With this confirmation that the Tiamat cultists were indeed here, the Party decides to continue deeper into the tomb, heading toward the downward sloping hallway.
The Party investigates the hallway carefully, looking for any signs of a trap... unfortunately, they don’t do a particularly good job, and as they step through the hallway Dahlia steps on a pressure plate deep into the hallway. As she does the sound of a large stone shifting comes from the top of the slope... and as the Party looks up they see a large mass of armed skeletal figures with bones interlocked with one another, forming a sort of boulder of bones that starts rolling toward the party... as it rolls down the grasping hands of the skeletons try to grab at the Party members, but fortunately they all manage to avoid the worst of the rolling bones before it slams against a wall at the bottom of the slope, exploding into pieces that de-animate and start to slowly vanish magically. Continuing further inside the party is once again greeted by the booming voice, telling them to “proffer humility in the manner of Mystril”, which G’houl remembers is a Goddess of Magic who, according to some legends, died and was reborn as the current Goddess off Magic, Mystra. He does know that ta common symbol of Mystril involves holding one’s hand above their head while lowering their head in submission. The room is filled with tapestries depicing Diderius bestowing knowledge, and with Sarcophogi built into the walls. A large double door with a relief of Diderius sitting on a throne surrounded by worshippers offering him gifts is seen on one end, while a much simpler door leads elsewhere. Antares curiously checks the simpler doorway, and realizes that he can hear a woman crying on the other side. There’s some concern that this is a trap of some kind, but the Party also realizes there’s a chance that this an innnocent woman captured by the Yuan-Ti, and they can’t afford to not investigate.
Entering the room (and performing the symbol of Mystril, just in case), they find that a female ghost is wailing in sorrow in what appears to have once been a great library... but the bookcases have been ransacked, the dusty shelves left empty. Dahlia approaches the ghost carefully, treating her with respect as the ghost warns them not to steal from Diderius’s library... which Dahlia of course promises not to... although the fact that the library is empty makes the promise easy to keep. The Ghost introduces herself as Ilda, a student of Diderius who was once framed for stealing from his library, and now seeks to redeem herself by protecting his library. Dahlia attempts to soothe the lost soul, but despite her kind words and promises that Ilda has no reason to feel guilty, she realizes that a ghost may be incapable of forgiving themselves no matter how much they’re soothed and given care by others... surmising that, perhaps, if at least one book is returned that may relieve Ilda of her curse. As thanks for Dahlia’s attempt to help, Ilda does share information... she knows that Diderius’s magic pool requires a sacrifice to be used. Diderius himself rarely employed the pool, as his divination skills were so great even without it that he didn’t normally need to, and in his lifetime the pool asked for nothing but gifts and trinkets. However, the more the pool is used the greater a sacrifice it requires, and she knows that the Yuan-Ti have been using it recklessly for years, and now the pool demands the life of a humanoid to grant its knowledge. She also warns not to look into the pool, as its secrets can drive one mad. With the Party promising to return any books they find, they continue further past the doorway depicting Diderius on his throne.
Entering the throne room, they’re surprised to see a tall, muscular bearded man in a majestic robe. However, on closer inspection they realize he’s made of stone, and is simply painted to resemble a real person. The statue speaks, demanding tribute of any who seek the knowledge of Diderius. Looking at the statue’s feet, the Party can see that a pile of treasure has been set before him... however, the treasure itself is mostly copper coins, simple pottery, and other seemingly worthless trinkets. G’houl knows form what he learned about Diderius in the past was that Diderius cared more about adoration than riches, and as long as they don’t offer literal garbage they’ll be allowed to continue unharmed. Dahlia and G’houl both place copper coins on the pile, while Antares gives one of his wild-magic infused potions. Loki, however, hesitates... the sight of coins is already difficult for her to resist, and the thought of leaving her own money behind is too upsetting for her, so instead she reaches into her bag of holding, pulling out a bottle of wine which, thankfully, the bag of holding has prevented from spoiling. She pours out a small amount into a cheap glass she happened to be carrying... and while this seems to satisfy the statue, the more pressing issue is a voice emanating from her bag asking to be released and promising power. Those who had held Rezmir’s enchanted blade, Hazirawn, recognize the voice as belonging to the intelligent sword... the power of Diderius’s magic allowing Hazirawn to speak audibly, instead of just into the mind of anyone holding it. However, his offer is ignored and Loki simply tightens her bag shut to silence the speaking sword.
Continuing further, the party approaches another door, with Antares listening and realizing he can hear voices on the other side, although he doesn’t recognize the language. Luckily, Dahlia and Loki both recognize it as Infernal, and they hear gruff voices complaining about “the boss” and how long he’s gone. Choosing to drop her disguise as a Yuan-Ti, Dahlia enters as her true self to find a group of Bearded Devils drinking from a large barrel full of a stinking yellow liquid. The Bearded Devils are surprisingly jovial and happy to chat. Casually revealing that they were ordered to “watch the room”, laughingly asking if Dahlia intends to hurt the room itself. They also encourage the party to investigate the nearby room, telling them it’s filled with treasure, while a second doorway leads further into the tomb. When the Party asks for more information the Bearded Devils seem happy to share what they know... in exchange for payment. Tiara offers them some Platinum, but they state that coins have no value in the 9 Hells and ask for diamonds or other riches. To everyone’s surprise, Loki steps forward and offers a large ruby, which satisfies the Bearded Devils.
Once taking the ruby, the Bearded Devils explain that they’re here to accompany Varram, and were ordered to do so by Zariel, Archduchess of Avernus. Long ago, Tiamat was trapped in Avernus by the other Gods... and according to the Bearded Devils, Tiamat is annoying and Zariel simply wants her out of Avernus... and if the cultists succeed, Tiamat will be sent to the Material Plane instead. Dahlia is intrigued by this, believing that Zariel may be a potential ally against Tiamat, thanking the Bearded Devils for their information as they proceed to the door leading further into the tomb... however, just as they’re opening the door the Bearded Devils laughingly reach for their weapons and admit that there was an additional order they had been given... kill anyone who goes through that door.
The Bearded Devils attack, using large glaives made from the spinal cords of an unknown creature that release infernal energy to inflict deadly bleeds, as well as their spined beards which poison their enemies. Loki is injured, as she had taken the most damage in the fight against the mosaic Chimera and hasn’t taken the time to heal herself yet. Antares foregoes some of his attacks to grapple and push the Devils in order to protect Loki. G’houl, meanwhile, conjures a shadow blade that takes the form of a serrated black longsword as well as casting Mirror Image to protect himself. Loki tries to heal herself with another of Antares’ wild-magic-infused potions, which causes her to float. She begins to use her newly acquired power of flight to float out of range of the Bearded Devils... only to remember that she’s been wearing slippers of Spider Climb this whole time and simply walks up the wall instead. Dahlia realizes that the liquid the Devils were drinking was some kind of urine, and she tries to mock them for that. Antares ends up defeating most of the devils, although G’houl manages to land a critical hit with his Shadow Blade, the psychic damage causing blood to spill from the Devil’s eyes and ears as he burns up and gets pulled down into the 9 Hells. Loki realizes that this means if they kill the Bearded Devil she gave the Ruby to, then he’ll take the ruby with him to Hell. The Party agrees to hold off on defeating him until Loki recovers her Ruby, with Antares once again grappling this last Devil. As the Bearded Devil tries to fight him off, Antares teases him by giving the Bearded Devil a quick kiss, stunning him with shock, which gives Loki an opening to snatch back her ruby. Once she has it, Antares finishes him off, body slamming the Bearded Devil into the ground to pile drive him directly to hell. As the Bearded Devil gets pulled to the 9 Hells Dahlia quickly shouts a request to him... she wants him to contact Zariel and ask for an alliance to oppose Tiamat. The Bearded Devil laughs eagerly at her request, although he doesn’t confirm anything. With the Devils defeated, Antares reveals one of his special skills... using his Bolstering Magic to help everyone else in the party recover spell slots as they prepare to continue their journey into the tomb.
We'll be going live with our homebrew campaign, Sacrament, tonight at 7pm PST at our home at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. Last week's session was action packed, and if you need a reminder of what happened, read on:
As the party is getting ready to finally confront the Ancient Reaver, Ash tries to persuade Facein, the Tiavet Dragon, to protect Elizabeth… but in doing so, she realizes she’s plagued with Chao’s Curse as a Black Mantle appears and latches onto her face… luckily her necrotic nature harms the creature, and Crush is able to simply grapple it off of her and smash it in his hands. They realize this is going to complicate things, as the Ancient Reaver is outside looking for them, and seems unwilling to wait for combat. Crush in particular is impatient to face off against him, but Kanec warns that it wouldn’t be safe to fight him outside of the concert hall… instead, he noticed some construction happening nearby, and directs everyone to head in that direction instead. Ash asks Fidget to find her brother, Aylis, to assist in the battle… although in truth, she was using it to keep his armor away, as it’s empowered by the female Reaver, Azmira.
On the way out, however, Ricky realizes that he’s affected with Chao’s Curse when he tries to peek out of a window and instead a group of foot long centipedes appear, and although they’re not difficult to defeat, the commotion does draw the Ancient Reaver’s attention. Crush is able to briefly intimidate him, challenging his pride to meet them in a different location, which gives them 10 seconds to reach their location. Luckily Crush and Azure are both faster than the average person, and the other Grimveils are riding in Kanec’s Genie Bag. The Ancient Reaver quickly closes the distance just as the Grimveils arrive in the construction site, facing off against him in the backyard of a half-built home. The Ancient Reaver is massive, a high level Battlemaster with multiple magic weapons. He strikes with devastating force, easily overcoming the armor of the Grimveils using a flaming sword, although Crush is touched by Fate and resistant to fire. Ash and Ricky, however, draw his ire most intensely, with Ash tearing through his health with a Finger of Death, which disables his natural Reaver healing with its necrotic damage. Seeing this, Azure focuses her Astral Arms on dealing Necrotic Damage, unleashing blows to slow his healing while Ricky uses Synaptic Static to reduce his ability to hit… although the loss of accuracy doesn’t do anything against a critical hit that knocks Azure low in health. Luckily, Crush’s Sentinel Feat helps him to dish out additional damage, that keeps the Ancient Reaver from attacking Ricky and Ash. He nearly knocks Azure unconscious, but Ricky sees him growing weak and hits him with Power Word: Stun, freezing him in place, leaving him helpless against the Grimveils… including Fidget, who returns with Aylis. Unfortunately, as Fidget attacks, the armor Azmira suddenly leaps off of his body and attaches to the Ancient Reaver… much to the rage of the Grimveils, especially Ash and Crush. Azmira attempts to use her power to escape, proclaiming she refuses to ally with “traitors”, and hopes to work with the Ancient Reaver. However, Crush’s Sentinel Feat keeps her pinned in place, leaving her weakened for Ricky to cast Synaptic Static once again, knocking him unconscious.
With the Ancient Reaver defeated, Azmira shifts her shape, sliding under his armor to hide. Still enraged, Crush begins to tear off his armor to chase her, but can’t find the fleeing armor, with Azure asking him to avoid damaging anything he’s carrying, in case it proves valuable. Crush begrudgingly agrees, and as Ricky tries to search for Azmira, Chao’s Curse activates again, and a demon is conjured. Fortunately the Grimveils are in healthy enough condition thanks to Ricky’s efforts to weaken the Ancient Reaver that they’re able to defeat the demon, allowing them to notice that the Ancient Reaver has begun to heal already… they realize there is a time limit before he wakes up and must be dealt with. Crush considers cutting his head off, but hesitates at the thought of executing an unconscious man… but Ricky and Ash both want to try to use their Snake to Gold technique… although Ricky only has enough spell slots to cast it once. Ash investigates the unconscious figure to discover several magic items, while Crush takes the Ancient Reavers blades… one that erupts into flame and deals additional damage, the other glowing brightly, dealing Radiant Damage and healing the user. He readies the Radiant Sword, realizing that the weapon is sentient, encouraging him to kill others and steal their essence.
As the Ancient Reaver awakens he looks surprisingly healthy for just being knocked unconscious, only to be transformed into a harmless garter snake, captured by Crush and held out into a straight wand-like shape for Ash to turn into a golden snake… which includes Azmira, who he was wearing as armor. With the foe defeated, Neo and Kalea arrive as well, with Ricky gifting the golden snake to Neo… knowing that the Ancient Reaver killed Neo’s family. Azure examines Fidget… his Blood Rage had been held at bay by Azmira for some time, but now without her he’s unstable and at risk of losing his mind… the only thing they can hope is to keep him calm until they can meet with the Reaver Warlord… the only man who can stabilize a Turned Reaver.
Once things are calmed, everyone heads into the nearby building under construction to examine their loot. The first thing to be checked are the swords that Crush took, which are indeed powerful… but are also cursed, with their mad rambling capable of changing the personality of anyone who wields them for any period of time. Crush is disappointed, as he was excited to try out the new weapons… but more importantly, they realize that two bags that the Ancient Reaver was carrying were both Genie Bags. Ash, Fidget, Neo and Aylis enter one, while Ricky, Kanec, and Kalea enter another… Crush and Azure remain outside, just in case.
Inside the bag Ricky entered, he finds the Ancient Reaver’s home… the walls are painted with imagery of his life, focused on his conquests in battle, depicting him as the equal to the Reaver God, Sovereign. His home is truly lavish… complete with a massive bath, a fully stocked kitchen that magically replenishes itself (although any food created is poisonous, as Reavers are immune to poison and consider it simply flavoring). Looking deeper inside, they find to their worry an infant’s high seat tucked into the back of his kitchen… examining closer, it seems it hasnt’ been used in years. Kalea even finds a dusty nursery… despite most Reavers having an intense paternal instinct, there are signs that the Ancient Reaver was a cruel, uncaring father. Kanec is able to recall stories of the Ancient Reaver… knowing that he has a reputation for any woman he impregnates dying by giving birth… and also that he only does the minimum to raise his children until they reach their Blood Rage, one in particular being deliberately released on an innocent festival during their first Blood Rage, when Reavers are perhaps their most deadly.
Looking further, Ricky discovers the Ancient Reavers bedroom, which has rather explicit carvings on his four post bed. They also discover a human-sized cage placed in the corner, with the scent of stale blood clinging to it… Ricky and Kanec can’t help but remember that they first heard of the Ancient Reaver when he was on his way to purchase slaves.
Leaving the bedroom, they check the final room in the Genie Bag, discovering a massive safe. Ricky uses his Gloves of Thievery to help him pick the lock, opening it up to discover his trophy room. It seems innocuous at first… a massive room filled with gold, trinkets, and mannequins dressed in strange clothing… but closer investigation reveals them to be treasures taken from those he killed… including a half-shattered statue of the Nightmother, which produces mystical tears that he treated as simply a good luck fountain, tossing coins into it. Ricky wants to investigate further, hoping to find evidence of Neo’s family, but as he’s looking closely suddenly a pile of coins lashes out to grab him, revealing the piles is actually a mimic…
Meanwhile, in the other Genie Bag, Ash, Fidget, Ayles and Neo find a truly massive pile of coins. Loaded into neat stacks, a small castle made of stacked platinum coins. This helps to calm Fidget, but Ash looks deeper and finds a long tunnel. Following it deeper, she realizes it leads to a large double door that radiates magic energy… the symbols on the door looking shockingly similar to the symbols used from the teleportation ritual that had transported Gilly and the other group of Grimveils somewhere far to the North.
Crits for Breakfast is having a surprise Thursday Night game! Last night's session ended a bit awkwardly... a very dramatic event occured but one of our players was experiencing technical difficulties with her ISP, so the session ended at an unusual space. We'll be streaming a short session (at most, 2 hours) tonight at 7pm PST on twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. If you missed last night's game, or if you just want to know what happened, read on:
After defeating the Ancient Reaver the Grimveils are exploring his massive Genie Bags, and while Ash and Fidget have discovered a teleporter, Ricky and Kanec discover a massive pile of coins… although some of the coins reveal themselves to actually be a mimic. When Kanec swats it with his sword, some of the coins scatter and vanish, revealing it to be another creature conjured by Chao’s Curse. Ricky responds by casting his first 9 level spell, True Polymorph, transforming the mimic into a three-tier galaxy cake. Kanec is shocked, wondering if it’s safe to eat the cake… whether it’s morally incorrect, or if damaging the cake will revert it back into a mimic. Kanec carefully slices the cake with his sword… revealing a chocolate and raspberry filling. Fortunately it seems to have properly transformed into a real cake and doesn’t revert to its mimic form after being destroyed.
Kanec delivers the cake to Crush and Azure, who are waiting outside of the Genie Bag. Ricky explains how he created the cake, and although there is some hesitation to eat a cake made from a mimic, but ultimately its too tempting and everyone decides to just eat it while they discuss what’s to be done next… especially because there’s some concern that the Ancient Reaver’s Curse might conflict with the curse that is part of their cursed nature. Ash and Fidget come out and decide to have some cake as well, although Ash’s very presence causes the cake to start to rot, and the party starts to notice that Ash herself has started to produce a sickly sweet smell. Ricky decides to try and take the rotting cake and use it as a base for a liquor, and when he asks Ash to help make it ferment faster… however, doing so produces a truly terrible funk… when Ricky investigates his drink further, he realizes that a piece of dead flesh has fallen into his brew. Ash seeks some privacy, dropping the Disguise Self she keeps up constantly, discovering that her skin has begun to fully rot. Flesh sliding off of her body, exposing her bones. Her Revenant nature is reaching its limits… Ash will rot to nothing soon, and if her body fails her soul will be absorbed into Larlock’s Phylactory.
Crush, Azure, Ricky, and Aylis discuss what can be done to save Ash. They know that a Merc might be able to disconnect Ash’s heart, giving them an opportunity to resurrect Ash properly… although Aylis worries that Larlock may have planned for this and is completely unpredictable. He’s an ancient being whose had millenia to prepare. Ash, meanwhile, returns to the cake… reaching in and pulling out her rings that slid off along with her flesh. She wears the wedding ring from Fidget, and gives the engagement ring from Larlock to Aylis, telling him to return it to Larlock if she can’t… and as aggressively as possible. The party decides to return to Kanec’s House, as Ricky had cast Private Sanctum earlier, and it can provide them secrecy from Larlock to enact their plan.
Heading outside, they spot the wagon that the Ancient Reaver had destroyed, with Crush placing 10 platinum on the wreckage as payment, since he feels a bit responsible for the damage… but once his back is turned Ricky uses Mage Hand to take 9 of the platinum for himself. They flag down a wagon to take as a taxi back to Kanec’s house. The taxi driver is friendly, chatting about the history of the Capital, and also revealing that the destroyed wagon belonged to his brother. Ricky feels a bit guilty for taking the money that Crush had tried to leave (which, in all likelihood, would have been stolen from someone else) and uses sleight of hand to sneak it into the driver’s pocket. They also realize that the light posts are set up with enchantments that summon taxis for travel… a feature that’s been present this entire time, but no one has looked at the light posts more closely.
Once back in Kanec’s house they discuss their plan to help Ash. While Ash isn’t necessarily opposed, she’s concerned that this could draw attention from Larlock, and she also knows that there’s some value she has as a way to entice their opponents into the open. However, Crush reminds her that this is a moot point if she deteriorates completely before then. Aylis guesses that, at best, she could last a few months, but he isn’t sure if she’ll be able to survive even a few days. Ash excuses herself to examine her own body, trying to discern just how much time her body has left… the phylactery in her heart glowing, but the rest of her body rotting, as if making up for all the time she had been magically preserved by Larlock’s magic. She realizes that her magic, that once drew on Larlock for power, is now pulling from her own body. If she doesn’t cast a single spell, she might survive a little over a week. The decision is made that there’s basically no choice… she must have her soul freed from Larlock’s phylactery, then have her body resurrected with the scarf of True Resurrection they had received from the Goddess Amor. As they come to this decision, Ricky has written a letter to the Merc that Ash had once sold a Hag’s Witch Stone to. Ash takes him aside and asks him for something very specific… she wants to speak to the Original Merc, who had once been placed under a similar curse… and whose treatment resulted in the creation of the mystical family of Mercs. He hesitates, but Ricky steps up to help convince him… promising that the reward will be worth the effort. He’s hesitant, but Ricky’s Persuasion skills are quite powerful, and convince him to beseech the Original Merc. He leaves, not able to guarantee anything, but still willing to help.
As the other party members wonder what happened, the light grows dark, the lights in the room flaring up… a figure appears. Taller than the other Mercs, with a stern, impatient voice that seems to have other voices echoing distantly when he speaks. His eyes glowing pure white as he speaks… recognizing the curse on Ash’s form… it’s similar to the ritual that was once performed on him, an attempt to turn him into a living god under the control of the Hags performing the ritual. The ritual was incomplete, and although he now has truly awesome power, he’s lost connection to his own Gods, and reveals that he was once a Djinn known as the “Jack of All Trades”, who now cares for nothing else in the world except for the wealth and well-being of his family. Ash asks him to help her… she wants to be able to control the power, but the Original Merc warns there’s no way to accomplish this without killing her, although he suspects she knows this already. Ash begins to push for the idea of selling Larlock’s phylactery to the Original Merc… the very life force of the eldest Lich. The Original Merc hesitates… apparently Larlock and those working for him have been making extensive purchases somewhere in the desert, but won’t elaborate further. The Original Merc is going impatient and wants Ash to state clearly exactly what she wants, and Ash asks not simply for his help to return to life as she spoke of with her allies… instead, she wants to be made stable, but still be a viable target for the ritual… so that, when it’s performed, she’ll gain the power of a Goddess, but with complete control over that power. The Original Merc dispels Ash’s illusion to examine her properly… but as he examines her he realizes she’s not a viable target for the ritual… because, in marrying Fidget, she connected her soul to his. If the ritual is performed, the power will affect Fidget as well, and with his Reaver rage he could become an unstoppable force of destruction. Still, the Original Merc believes he can do as she requests, but he knows there’s a high price.
With the call for payment, Crush offers him the Genie Bag taken from the Ancient Reaver… not the one with the teleporter inside, but instead the Ancient Reaver’s personal bag that held his palace-like home. The Original Merc is able to magically scan the entire contents of the bag, and although it is a Kingly sum, for what Ash is asking it’s still not enough. Crush also offers the Ancient Reaver’s cursed blades, and although that helps, it’s still not enough. Ash offers all the riches contained within the other Genie Bag, but hesitates to give the bag itself, as it contains the teleporter that she recognized as similar to the one their allies used before they went missing. However, when he explains where it leads they realize it will not have value, and if nothing else… if they do need to use the teleporter in the future, they know that the Merc would be willing to allow them access… for a price. With that decided, the party gives him both Genie Bags, and the Original Merc is pleased and willing to cure Ash… although he warns she will die in the process. Knowing the risk, Ash agrees, and as her last words she says “I Love You” to Fidget, only for the Original Merc to oblige, ripping out Ash’s heart, leaving Ash to drop dead.
We're streaming more Rise of Tiamat tonight at 7pm PST. The heroes (possibly named the Chainbreakers, possibly named the Protectors of Phandalin, depending on who you ask) have faced the dangers of the Tomb of Diderius and its Yuan-Ti occupants, but now they near their quarry... the Dwarven cultists Varram the White and his subordinate, Craggnor. However, if you want the full scoop for what happened last week, just keep reading:
After defeating the Bearded Devils Loki confronts Dahlia about her attempt to contact the Archdevil Zariel, showing that Loki is concerned for her friend’s eternal soul. Dahlia, however, says that she doesn’t believe she’ll be going to Heaven anyway, so perhaps having an ally in the Nine Hells will be a good thing for her. Still, Loki makes it clear that she doesn’t intend to let Dahlia give away her soul. The party decides to check the room they were told was Diderius’s bechamber. Approaching, they see that the door is braced closed with wooden poles, and they worry that there’s something dangerous inside. Willing to face the danger, they enter slowly and find a well-maintained room with rare items throughout. The party sees bodies of Tiamat Cultists on the ground, seemingly killed by necrotic damage. Since they speak politely and don’t steal anything, the party lures out a Wraith who extolls the glory of Diderius and explains some of the items in the room. However, as they’re searcing, Dahlia spies a dusty old book wedged between the stone bed and the wall... remembering the ghost librarian, Ilda, Dahlia asks the Wraith if she can return the book to Diderius’s library, with the ghost consenting. To Loki’s annoyance, the treasures are left behind as they return to the ancient library to return one book.
The Ghost Ilda greets them in the same manner she did earlier, warning them not to steal from the great Diderius, seeming to not actually recognize them despite meeting them only minutes ago. However, she seems to regain her senses. Weeping in joy as Dahlia returns the book. She thanks them profusely for helping her finally fulfill her duty to protect the library. She warns them once again that the Yuan-Ti have taken advantage of Diderius’s seeing pool, and to be careful as she vanishes in a burst of warm light which partially heals the party.
With Ilda’s soul freed the party moves on to finally examine the Seeing Pool. However, as they draw near, they find that the Seeing Pool has been the sight of a battle between more cultists and the Yuan Ti, along with their Lizardfolk slaves. Several bodies of cultists and Lizardfolk are visible in the room, along with one Yuan-Ti, but neither Varram or Craggnor are among them. The illusory light in the room flickers unnaturally, and the booming voice that had been providing guidance sounds stilted and strange. However, there is one body left in the pool itself, with Dahlia approaching to investigate further. However, as she does so she finds herself looking into the pool itself and has an overwhelming revelation... the pool doesn’t require a sacrifice to activate, rather the pool reveals countless visions and the sacrifice is used to focus it on specific content. Dahlia’s mind is overwhelmed by the visions and she stares dumbfounded into the pool until her allies drag her away, leaving her babbling and nearly mad for a full minute before her brain manages to forcefully reject the information, but in the process she does manage focus just enough to see the last vision the pool had shared... she sees that the White Dragon Mask is held by a man she’s never met before, but he wears an elaborate purple robe with Tiamat imagery upon it, and he speaks in a commanding voice to the Red Wizard, Rath Modar. This commanding man speaks of Varram having failed him, and orders that Varram be brought to him. Not sure what this means, exactly, Dahlia tells her allies what she had seen. Pulling the body in the pool out more carefully, they discover that he seems to have been stabbed with a dragon-fang dagger without participating in the battle, with them realizing that he was likely used as a sacrifice for Varram to fuel the Seeing Pool.
The Party then notices the doorway leading into Diderius’s final resting place. Entering carefully, they find an elaborately ordained room with two magical torches filling the room with bright light. A large sarcophagus in the center of the room... as they approach, the party hears the voice of Diderius himself. He states that he knows who they are and why they’re here, showing that even as a mummy his powers of Divination are still fully intact as he states that they are searching for Varram the white who has been taken by the Yuan-Ti. He warns them to prepare for danger before using his magic to open a hidden door behind him that leads into a cave. Where Lizardfolk seem to be waiting. However, both Dahlia and Loki are disguised as Yuan-Ti, and there’s no need for G’houl and Antares to appear restrained, as Yuan-Ti can simply hypnotize victims to follow them. The Lizardfolk simply lower their heads and await orders from those they believe to be their Masters. Dahlia steps forward and orders the Lizardfolk to leave the temple, where Hammertail and the other Lizardfolk they had freed before are waiting, and Dahlia orders the Lizardfolk to become free and not listen to any Yuan-Ti in the future. This clearly confuses the Lizardfolk as this is such a strange command, but Loki helps by intimidating the Lizardfolk, convincing them to obey to the best of their ability.
Moving further in, the party sees a thin stone bridge over a deep pit, although they notice a slick, wet moss growing on the bridge would make it dangerous to cross. Fortunately, Dahlia’s broom of flying can easily ferry the party safely across since they’re not under attack... unfortunately, Antares is too heavy for the broom to support, so instead G’houl casts Fly to help him cross. Moving slowly further along they see that the stone walls seem newer than the walls of Diderius’s tomb, and is decorated with symbols of Yuan-Ti religion. They follow the sound of voices down a hallway, finding a massive Yuan-Ti Abomination in a deep pit along with several Yuan-Ti Purebloods, seeming to be taking care of many small snakes. The Abomination greets Dahlia and Loki, speaking in abyssal... a language which nobody present speaks. However, they’re able to Insight from his body language that he seems to be ordering them to deliver G’houl and Antares into the pit. Dahlia, instead, wordlessly disagrees, and motions for one of the Purebloods to follow her to speak in private, and is able to be convincing enough to not raise suspicion from the fact that she hasn’t spoken yet. Once alone she again has to convince the Yuan-Ti to speak to her in common, which instantly raises the Yuan-Ti woman’s suspicion.
With some effort, Dahlia is able to Deceive the Pureblood into believing that Dahlia is a member of a different sect of Yuan-Ti known as the Golden Vipers, and she has arrived here seeking out the dwarves Varram and Craggnor. The Yuan-Ti seems to believe this, but questions how Dahlia knows about the Dwarves and questions why her sect should assist the Golden Vipers. Dahlia warns her that the Dwarves are dangerous and could draw unwanted attention, and while this is one of the few things Dahlia has said that was actually true, the Pureblood seems to take this as a threat, shouting in Abyssal, drawing Yuan-Ti and Lizardfolk from various hallways to attack the intruders.
As the snake-like Yuan-Ti rush toward them, G’houl pulls out the Staff of Fire he got from Rath Modar, using it to summon a Wall of Flame to keep the giant Yuan-Ti abomination at bay, killing the small snakes that he then realizes were actually the Yuan-Ti’s young. The Abomination willingly takes the damage from the Wall of Fire as he rushes through it... the first Party member he approaches being Loki, who he narly knocks unconscious, as Loki still hadn’t fully recovered from her injuries earlier. In a panic, Loki casts Blink on herself, vanishing to the Ethereal Plane and making room for Antares to rush in, shoving the Abomination back into the wall of flame, making it impossible for him to escape the burning fire as Antares uses his great strength against his much larger foe. Meanwhile, a pair of Yuan-Ti Malaisons lead a small troupe of Lizardfolk to attack, but G’houl pushes them back by conjuring a flood of water, knocking them prone, while Dahlia uses a ray of frost to freeze one of the Malaisons against the floor while she attempts to persuade the Lizardfolk to turn on their cruel masters, promising them freedom. This is a very difficult argument to make, especially in the heat of combat... but even with Disadvantage and an incredibly high DC, Dahlia’s intense Charisma is enough for her to convince the Lizardfolk that this is their opportunity to escape, as they have never seen their Masters turned low in this manner before. The Lizardfolk pounce on their former Master still pinned to the ground, tearing him apart as she barks orders at them, trying to reassert his dominance, but his screaming does draw more Yuan-Ti and Lizardfolk... although the Lizardfolk are able to persuade their fellows to turn on the Yuan-Ti, as they easily outnumber the Yuan-Ti present, and the Party has helped tip the scales considerably in their favor.
The Abomination Antares is fighting is trapped within the Wall of Flame created by G’houl, taking an attack of opportunity from Antares as he attempts to escape, but he still can’t get out of the wall of Flame and ends up cooked to death while Antares rushes to catch up with his allies (and keep his Rage going)... although Ash is still in the Ethereal Plane thanks to the Blink spell and doesn’t see exactly what’s happening. Two Yuan-ti Pureblood women are still in the pit that the Abomination was once in, and the small snakes they were tending to have mostly been killed G’houl’s Wall of Fire. Loki conjures her duplicate to distract them, and since Loki had been blinking in and out of the material plane anyway, they easily believe the duplicate is the real Cleric... something that becomes even easier to believe when Loki’s Duplicate delivers a Shocking Grasp, killing one of them. The other Yuan-Ti woman surrenders as Loki learns that the small snakes were actually the Yuan-Ti’s young.... a moral quandary Loki decides she’d rather not deal with right now, as she realizes her allies are all gone and she goes to catch up with them, her duplicate happily skipping along behind her.
Along with the newly turned Lizardfolk, Dahlia corners a Yuan-Ti Pureblood who fails to cast Suggestion on Antares, hoping to have him attack the Lizardfolk and hopefully turn them against the Party. With the Pureblood weakened she begrudgingly surrenders, and Dahlia needs to convince their Lizardfolk allies not to kill her outright, as Dahlia wants the Pureblood to show here where the Dwarven prisoners are kept. She shows Dahlia a hidden path that leads into their prison, warning her about a pressure plate trap... but before Dahlia can enter, another giant Yuan-Ti Abomination catches up to the Party, barking orders at the Lizardfolk and facing the Party directly, without the Wall of Fire to slow him down as his brother had been. The Lizardfolk refer to this Abomination as “Meksesi”, and seem to imply that he’s the leader of this particular sect of Yuan-Ti cultists. Meksesi is held back in a large doorway by G’houl and Antares, and although Antares does more immediate damage to him, he prioritizes attacking the visibly less-armored G’houl... who had fortunately taken the Dodge Action earlier, and although he’s not able to avoid every attack, his alertness protects him from taking a critical hit from Meksisi’s massive scimitar.
Meksesi attempts to intimidate the Lizardfolk to help him, warning that he’ll crush their eggs if they continue to aid the invaders... but rather than frighten the Lizardfolk into obeying it only fills them with rage, and although they don’t confront Meksesi directly, they support the Party by throwing bone javelins at the giant Monstrosity... however, in all the confusion, the Pureblood who was guiding Dahlia makes her escape, while Dahlia opts to leave the hidden door closed for now and instead returns to assist in combat against Meksesi, who sees the battle turning against him as he’s far too outnumbered. In a las attempt to assert his dominance over the Lizardfolk, he retreats to the Lizardfolk chambers in order to crush their eggs... with Meksesi vanishing into the other room by the time Loki finally returns, who isn’t aware of what’s actually happening, needing to be told not to attack the Lizardfolk as Loki admonishes her allies for running off without her... with G’houl pointing out that it was Loki who left to the Ethereal Plane as he rushes to catch up to Meksesi... finding him threatening a trio of Lizardfolk in their filthy, poorly maintained chambers gathering up eggs. Before Meksesi can attack, G’houl unleashes one last Magic Missile attack against the Abomination, the balls of force energy slamming the massive monstrosity like powerful sucker punches to the face, knocking him left to right until finally his neck snaps and the large creature falls to the ground with a loud thud.
With the immediate threat defeated, the focus shifts to helping the Lizardfolk escape before more Yuan-Ti arrive. Dahlia tells them to meet with Hammertail, the Lizardfolk they had met earlier. However, they also notice the Yuan-Ti woman who had spoken to Dahlia earlier trying to sneak past in the confusion, only to be confronted by Dahlia and G’houl. Dahlia doesn’t want to simply kill the retreating woman, warning that, if this Yuan-Ti woman tries to recapture the slaves or return to this Tomb she will return and destroy her, and also warns that Diderius wouldn’t appreciate having his tomb corrupted. However, her intimidation lacks conviction, even with G’houl’s assistance, using Prestidigitation to have his fingertips alight with magical fire. The Yuan-Ti laughs, explaining that Diderius is perfectly aware of what the Yuan-Ti have been doing all along, and he doesn’t care what they do as long as they feed his ego. She sees their hesitation to attack her as weakness and simply runs away, expecting them to leave her by, with G’houl’s insight enough to realize she’s simply leaving to gather Yuan-Ti from other sects to take this location back and will likely attempt to recapture any escaped slaves... with only a moment of hesitation, G’houl and Dahlia take the pragmatic decision to hit the fleeing woman with Magic Missiles, although Dahlia especially feels guilty about shooting an unarmed opponent in the back.
With the Lizardfolk fleeing out through Diderius’s Tomb, the Party regroups and makes their way to the hidden door they had been shown that leads into the Yuan-Ti’s dungeon. Inside, they find that Yuan-Ti Malison is there already, holding in his hand the Dwarven spy, Craggnor, while his other hand holds a blade to the Dwarve’s throat. The Malison seems to believe that the Party are allies of Craggnor and is attempting to hold him hostage... although Craggnor himself recognizes that he is not quite the bargaining chip the Malison believes him to be. Antares moves decisively, throwing a Javelin at the Malison, but while that does damage their foe, unfortunately the Malison had been ready and quickly slits Craggnor’s throat... and although the Party cares little for the well-being of Craggnor, especially after learning that he’s responsible for the illness that killed their close friend Katniss’s Mother, their assignment was to bring both him and Varram into custody alive. With Craggnor on the ground bleeding out, they prepare to battle this single opponent to the death, and rescue the dwarven man they hate so much.
We're going to be having a surprise Tuesday Night game! Our stream schedule is changing going forward, with streams on Friday and Saturday, but the DM for our homebrew campaing of Sacrament has a rare night off and is going to be hosting another game tonight at 7pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. We'll also be streaming Sacrament this coming Saturday as well, so come join us for two streams this week. However, for now, our last session was extremely eventful, so read on to know what happened in case you missed it:
As Ash’s body falls to the floor, Fidget and Aylis both rush to Ash’s side. Fidget is struggling not to trigger his Bloodrage, but Crush puts his hand on Fidget’s shoulder. Crush knows what it’s like to be connected to another soul, and uses his knowledge of the natural order to help guide Fidget on how to feel his connection to her… knowing that Ash’s soul is being pulled… the magic of Larlock draws her to be absorbed into his phylactery, but her marriage to Fidget tied their souls together. If Fidget can maintain that connection, she can be revived using the Scarf of True Resurrection granted by Amor. Crush, whose own soul is intertwined with his sister Crash, uses his knowledge to guide Fidget… and in the process, Crash’s soul exits him once again, entering Fidget to help guide Ash. Ricky hurries to comfort Aylis, helping the young boy to remain calm. Azure holds onto Fidget as well… expelling all her remaining Ki, carefully releasing her Astral Form… preventing it from manifesting physically, but instead imbuing it into Fidget’s body. As Azure’s consciousness shifts into her astral self, she finds herself in a dark chamber… and there before her, is Ash. And soon joining them both is a female Tortle… with a similar snap-jaw appearance to Crush, although with a slighter form, a gentler appearance, and the “mask” pattern on her scales with more of a purple tone… it’s Crash, appearing for the first time in front of Ash and Azure.
Crash guides Ash further, as Ash hears the sounds of a woman crying… a voice she soon recognizes as her mother’s. Crash explains that this moment of death is different for everyone… for herself it was underwater, in a deep cave where she had to face all the sorrows of her life and overcome them. With Azure and Crash by her side, she continues further, hearing again the night of her first death… but she also hears the voice of her patron, the Lich-King Larlock, offering her power. Azure can sense that they’re not alone in these black stone corridors… sensing a being there with them. Azure warns not to continue further, but Crash explains that she must face these challenges. Ash groans, assuming it’s the Angel of Death that has followed her, stepping forward, facing another memory… an argument with her fiancee, Cornelius. Lamenting how he always seemed to have something more important than her. She stoically marches forward, past this memory, to face more of her own history.
Stepping forward, she sees a vague memory… something from her childhood… the moment where she first realized she was incapable of using magic. Lacking the power of Sorcery that made her family famous, even lacking the innate magic that all High Elves carry. Ash focuses instead on her father… who had never held it against her… who told her that it didn’t matter if she couldn’t perform magic…. What matters is what she does with her life, and the people she helps. This helps Ash to continue further, spotting a glowing whisp… it seems harmless to Azure and Crash, so Ash steps forward to touch it… and is transported into a vivid memory.
Ash in school, when she was around Aylis’s age. The way the other students would mock her. The word “Omen” carved by others into her desk. Her parents had a reputation for not being proper nobles… disobeying the King when they objected to his commands, spending too much time helping the other elves. Other students bullying her, using their own magic, knowing she couldn’t retaliate in kind. Remembering this was the motivation she had, at that young age, to find some way to perform magic.
As the memory fades the wisp flies away, Ash attempts to follow, finding that the sorrow is making her footsteps heavy and difficult. She asks Crash if this is normal, with Crash explaining that her own sadness and loneliness will try to pull her down. Her feet sinking into the black ethereal stones of her own personal limbo.
Azure takes Ash’s hand, giving her encouragement to help her continue. With Azure’s help, Ash continues… only to be met with the next vision… her death. The assassin stabbing her with his raven-blade before kicking her off the cliff. Fighting back the rage, Ash continues further only to see the sight of her and Fidget… trapped in a slaver ship… Fidget using the bones of a dead slave to pick the lock as a corpse turns to speak to her… the voice of Larlock calling out to her. Ash struggles to continue, but Azure grips her, using her astral form to pull Ash further, helping her to escape the grasping darkness that pulls her back, trying to claim her. With Azure’s help, Ash continues further, finding another wisp… touching it, she finds a memory of herself meeting with her father when she was younger… when she was still Promethea. Her father notices the mud on her fine dress… and Ash remembers that day, the way the other girls had taunted her, telling her she belongs with the pigs, throwing her into their pit… and ruining the paperwork she was using to study Artifice… a theoretical invention she was creating to prove herself for an apprenticeship. Sorrow overwhelms Ash as the wisp fades and she marches as fast as she can, trying to escape these memories. As shadows tug at her, Azure continues to help pull her forward as Ash fights back her tears to continue.
With Azure’s aid, Ash continues further… stepping forward now to find a familiar figure in front of her… it’s herself, more corrupted… the deathly form she took in Neo’s visions. The Other Ash tells Ash that she’s wasting her time fighting this… why fight death? Why not embrace it… control it… become the Queen she was meant to be. Ash says that she knows how much of a lie that title is. Other Ash compares Ash to Cornelius… her hesitant fiancee who never committed to marriage, who always had excuses to not continue. Ash dismisses him… she’s found a better man. Other Ash tries to mock her for being a hopeless romantic, but Ash smirks confidently and admits she is… it’s something she’s always been. Ash attempts to push her way past, but the Other Ash tries to obstruct… only for Azure to interject… declaring “Out of my way, *****, she’s seeing her Man!” before punching the Other Ash, dispelling the illusory copy with a single Astral punch. As Ash continues her sorrow is lessening, feeling the warmth of her friend at her side… a reminder that she has people who are willing to fight for her.
With Azure and Crash by her side, Ash steps forward with more confidence, spotting another wisp. She doesn’t hesitate, reaching for the wisp to confront her next memory. She sees herself… dirty, dishevelled… a child’s ball hits her in the legs… and she wordlessly gives it back… the little girl seems afraid at first, but asks if she wants to play. An elven man approaches in fear, holding up a farming tool as a weapon, calling for help… The dead are walking. Fidget, when he was still a normal goblin, quickly pulling Ash away… and Ash begins to cry, watching this memory. Not out of sorrow, but in appreciation for Fidget… realizing he had been there for her. Putting himself in danger. He could have abandoned her at any point. In the early days, she wasn’t even fully conscious, and he still stood by her side, asking for nothing. Ash continues further… walking past visions of the people Ash killed… Larlock had asked for the souls of Betrayers. Rather than regret the lives she took, Ash instead laments that she gave the souls to Larlock… those she killed deserved to die, especially as Azure recognizes the Pimp who had been abducting young women, using drugs to manipulate them and sell them into slavery. With Azure and Crash assisting her, she continues further, seeing another Wisp.
Ash sees the next moment… not her own memory, necessarily… she sees herself, unconscious. It was the moment when Ash’s Undead nature was revealed to the other Grimveils… how Fidget had pulled a knife, ready to fight every other Grimveil to the death to protect Ash, assuming they would turn on her once they learned her true nature. Seeing Fidget fight for her reminds her that he would have faced certain death… with both Azure and Crash confirming that they believe Crush alone could have destroyed Fidget at that time. Feeling more confident, Ash marches forward, looking for her husband.
Moving forward, the grasping shadows reach out more aggressively. Azure begins to punch them away, but they realize they need to hurry. Running away from the grasping shadows, Ash sees another vision… herself as an infant, her parents telling her how much they love her… how they’ll do anything for her. Duncan is there as well, and they talk about their concerns… what if Promethea is cursed? They comment concern that “The Hags” have targeted them. Her father promises that he’ll die for his child if he needs to.
Ash hurries further as the grasping shadows are reaching for her… she hears Larlock’s voice, ordering her to stay. With Azure’s help Ash presses forward, even as the ground falls beneath their legs, Azure and Crash catching Ash and helping her across a deep, infinite chasm. Continuing further Ash once again sees the Angel of Death that has followed her. He speaks to her, telling her that she needs to trust him, offering Ash his hand. Ash hesitates, looking into the Angel’s face, she realizes she needs to make that last step… this moment, she’s not properly dead yet. She’s still in Larlock’s clutches. Only by accepting True Death can she hope to be returned to Fidget. Ash takes the Angel’s hand, and white light blinds her, before the dark black stone tunnels filled with shadows she was traversing vanish, and she opens her eyes in a strange, ethereal location. Resting her head on Death’s lap, laying on a large stone… and although the flames of Hell are visible nearby, a glowing, protective barrier surrounds them. As Ash looks up to Death, he says, “You were always stubborn, just like your Mother.” With tears in her eyes Ash realizes the Angel has been her father this whole time… he had watched over her, tried to guide her. And now he holds her, smiling weakly while Ash can only say sorry for everything she had done before this. He tells her only that she has nothing to apologize, and instead he should be sorry… for not trusting her more, for not telling her everything when he was alive. He says that her Mother is watching over the rest of her family, and he expresses some pride that her nephew, Saba, was named in his honor. But he had dedicated himself to watching over Ash. When Ash asks if he was always there, he said he was… although he quickly adds “when you needed me”. Ash apologizes, knowing that he saw her give in to Larlock… gave up her humanity for vengeance. Her father reveals that Ash wasn’t fully dead when Larlock found her… but he finished the job, used her death to control her and suppress her innate power… the power of the great Phoenix. The power to defy Death. The Phoenix had once fallen in love with an Elven man… that power lives on in her family’s bloodline. The night of her parent’s death, the fire that burned their home to the ground was the result of his power activating… he had to be killed many times to overcome that power, and even now that power has helped him to remain on the material plane to watch over her.
Her father tells her she has a choice to make… she could continue on to the afterlife. Cleanse her soul and ascend to the afterlife. Or she could return to life… but to do so means facing all the pain, all the suffering she had inflicted. To right the wrongs she had helped to inflict on the world. But most difficult of all, she must give up her hatred and vengeance… she must let herself be vulnerable. She must let herself cry. Ash submits, crying, and telling him how she wants to return… to her husband, and to her child. But before she leaves, she asks what will become of him… he says that, with this, he will be ready to finally ascend, return to Heaven and meet his God, Ilmater, the God of Sacrifice. However, before the two separate, she asks if he has a message for his sons… he says that he wants them both to know that he’s proud of them, that they shouldn’t be so hard on each other, and that he loves them all very much, and he can’t wait to see how big of a family they create before they see them again.
On the Material Plane, Crush is guiding Fidget on how to find Ash… how it feels to touch another soul, that feeling of an emptiness being filled. When Fidget feels it… the warmth of his connection to Ash, Ricky pulls out the scarf. Ricky, Fidget, and Crush all three place the scarf on Ash’s body. Her body suddenly erupts with flame, her body reduced, appropriately enough, to ash. But as the ashes blow away, she lays before them… heart beating for the first time in years, taking her first breath… and there before them, is the rosey-cheeked, blue eyed form of Promethea.
However, as Fidget and Aylis rush to hug her, Ash realizes her clothes have all burnt up as well. Fidget demands someone provide some clothes, and Crush steps into the nearby room, yanking off a blanket and delivering it to Ash to protect her decency. Once Ash is covered, everyone immediately hurries to give her a big group hug, with Crush happily lifting all his friends into the air… until Ricky asks if this means everyone’s comfortable with an orgy, which makes everyone break the hug, laughing as Ash realizes, for the first time in a long time, she’s hungry. Ricky and Crush hurry to the kitchen to prepare food for her… although Crush brings her some jerky to satisfy her while she waits, ordering her to snap into a slim jim. Ricky delivers a feast of flatbread, rice, and curry… the starving Ash chowing down on 5 heavily laden plates before Ricky delivers one last treat… a strawberry shortcake made just for her. Crush asks her what name she prefers, and she says she still prefers to be Ash… with Crush glancing over at the ashes still left where she resurrected, commenting that it’s an appropriate name… and that it’s more marketable. As he asks, Ash’s mechanical bird, Hermes, begins to animate again, climbing out of her bag and flying around the room, singing a song that Aylis and Ash both recognize. Ash also admonishes Aylis for not telling her the specifics of their bloodline, since if she knew she had the power of a Phoenix deep inside she would have known she didn’t need Larlock to come back to life. And although the others seem to lament that tragedy, Crush says that it’s a good thing… because if everything hadn’t happened the way it did, she would be here right now with Fidget. As Ash is realizing she can finally touch Baby Kane… she also realizes she’s too tired for it tonight, and as everyone is preparing for bed the Genie Bag at Aylis’s side starts to make noise, and the female Reaver Alex bursts out. Lamenting that she missed out on everything. Ash teases her a bit, but Alex is mostly just interested in the food now. Ash now, finally enters her Elven trance… viewing the reverie of the Elves for the first time since her death. As everyone goes to bed, Ricky apologizes to Alex for not getting her involved, and gives her some of Ash’s resurrection ash instead. However, before bed Ricky thinks to apply the cursed snake statue to the Ancient Reaver, preventing him from fighting back to life.
As Azure finishes adjusting a set of leather armor for Ash, Ricky and Neo leave to Kanec’s bedroom. Flirting aggressively as they both share the ability not actually require sleep thanks to their Bardic College, the two of them embracing, making a bit of a mess in Kanec’s bed… with Ricky’s player using her Birthday Critical to make sure it’s the best night of Neo’s life.
Join us tonight for more Rise of Tiamat, with me as your DM at 7pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. Everyone is still adjusting to their new schedules so the session might not be as long as usual, but we'll see how it goes. For now, if you missed last week's session, an important leg of the players' journey was completed, and you cand read more about it here:
The Party has found Craggnor, the Dwarven cultist of Tiamat, but he’s being held hostage by one of his Yuan-Ti captors, who mistakenly believes the Party is there to rescue him. When the party moves forward he slits Craggnor’s throat, only to be grappled by Antares, pinned against a wall as he continues to fight back aggressively. Loki begrudgingly casts Spare the Dying on Craggnor, delivering the spell with a hard slap to the Dwarf’s face while Dahlia finishes the Yuan-Ti Malison with a magic missile attack. Not certain if the location they’re in, a small jail with multiple cells, is safe, the Party still opts to take a short rest, with Antares keeping watch. He notices that the only bedding in each cell is the blood-stained, discarded clothing left behind by sacrifices the Yuan-Ti had made over the years… most seeming to be Gnomes, likely from the nearby Gnomish village, but to his horror he realize that several of them clearly once belonged to children.
The short rest provides enough time for Craggnor to wake up, recognizing how lucky he is that the party has promised to deliver him to Ambassador Brawnanvil alive. Dahlia orders him to lead them further into this temple to where he saw his ally, Varram the White, being taken by the Yuan-Ti earlier. Craggnor requests something for him to carry for his own self-defense, and Loki mockingly hands him a mostly harmless butter knife, which Craggnor quickly hides somewhere on his person. Craggnor leads them further into the Yuan-Ti temple, but he doesn’t take them far before the Party finds themselves entering a Yuan-Ti temple to their snake god, Merrshaulk, where the remaining Yuan-Ti have gathered, including the Yuan-Ti Pureblood that Loki opted not to finish off earlier in their large scale battle. Another Yuan-Ti Malison steps forward to speak, and unlike the other Malisons they had faced before, his arms are replaced with large pythons, and in one python’s mouth he holds a large tomato. Like the other Yuan-Ti, he assumes that the Party is there to rescue Varram, claiming that he has used Yuan-Ti magic to pull Varram’s soul out of his body, storing it in the tomato… he warns that if he squishes the tomato, Varram’s soul will be consumed by Merrshaulk. But after the deaths of the Yuan-Ti Abomination leaders, now he’s offering to let the Party leave with Varram and release his soul if they agree to leave without killing any remaining Yuan-Ti. Dahlia is able to discern that he’s bluffing with the tomato, and G’houl uses his knowledge of Arcana to discern that Varram is still clearly breathing at a regular pace, whereas magic that holds a creature’s soul in the manner the Malison is claiming would put the body into stasis.
Despite the Malison’s deception with the tomato, he does seem earnest about his offer to let everyone escape with Varram… although even if the remaining Yuan-Ti are killed, other members of their cult are likely to come back and reclaim the temple eventually. As they agree to the Malisons’ conditions, Dahlia steps forward and takes a bite out of the tomato just to prove she saw through his deception, warning him not to push his luck. This seems to intimidate the Yuan-Ti to step back and let the party do what they want without obstruction, as they reveal a secret exit to escape safely. They are also given the unconscious but still living body of Varram, who is strapped to Antares’s back to be carried outside. Once outside, they reconnect with the Lizardfolk the Party had released from the Yuan-Ti’s clutches.
As night begins to fall they speak with the man who seems to have taken on a leadership role for the escaping Lizardfolk, Hammertail, who was abducted from his own tribe years ago. He explains that he will guide the others back to where his peoples’ village is, although he can’t guarantee it’s even still there, or if they’ll be accepted back. Dahlia tells him about the Lizardfolk in Castle Naerytar, and although it is a great distance between the Serpent Hills and the Mere of Dead Men, she still gives them instruction on how to reach the Lizardfolk led by Snapjaw, and provides them with a written note to show Snapjaw to prove that they’re allies. Hammertail thanks Dahlia for this, and promises that his people will tell tales of their group for generations, and asks what they are called. Dahlia asks the rest of the party if they’re happy to settle on the name “The Chainbreakers”, which everyone agrees is a fine name. The Lizardfolk all stand, bowing their heads in respect, lifting their head frills in respect as they repeat the name back “The Chainbreakers”. With that, the Lizardfolk leave to seek their freedom, while the party is left to prepare their own travel.
Dahlia takes some time to question Craggnor, as Varram is still unconscious. She demands to know how he justifies what he and Craggnor did to the innocent town of Esme… how they could justify unleashing a deadly virus, killing nearly everyone in the village just to kill a few members of the Eldrath Valuuthra, an Elf Supremacist group, who were gathering there in secret. With no hint of shame or guilt, Craggnor simply states that it was the easiest way to kill their target without raising suspicion… after all, a virus outbreak can much more easily be explained as natural phenomenon, while a poisoning can be traced. It’s difficult for the Chainbreakers to hold back, hearing how callously he dismisses genocide, but Loki is the one to act… reaching into her bag of tricks and throwing a small, furry ball at him that suddenly grows into the form of a large brown bear… which is a problem, because Craggnor and Varram are both riding on Antares’ back at the time, and although Antares is able to avoid getting crushed, Loki orders the bear to sit on the two dwarves… the unconscious Varram groaning in pain while Craggnor simply remains silent to avoid further conflict.
While this is going on, G’houl had been preparing a spell. Although he had used his higher level spell slots battling the Yuan-Ti abominations, the short rest allowed his Arcane Recovery to give him back another high level slot, which he intends to use to cast Teleportation Circle. First, though, he sends a Message to Armpit, the goblin pilot of their floating island, the Nimbus, telling him to return to Waterdeep without them, with Armpit confirming he can make the trip in 5 days time. With that accomplished, he completes his Teleportation Circle, allowing everyone (and their horses) to return instantaneously to Waterdeep.
Once in Waterdeep they arrive in a high roofed stone room attended by two guards, who demand to know who they are. Luckily, they have their Writ of Intent, and they learn that the teleportation Circle is in the basement of Castle Waterdeep. They explain that the dwarven men are prisoners, and despite the late hour, they ask for Ambassador Brawnanvil. The Guards are eager to help once they learn of the Party’s pedigree, providing manacles for the Dwarves and helping everyone to a waiting room until Brawnanvil arrives, flanked by his own guards… Brawnanvil seems to be wearing some kind of pajamas, securing ceremonial armor over them as he enters. He seems particularly proud of G’houl for successfully delivering the criminals alive and, apparently, thoroughly beaten. He promises that they’ll face trial for all their crimes as they’re taken by Dwarven Guards… although as they leave Loki remembers that Craggnor still has her butter knife, and although Loki mostly just seems to want her possession back, it ultimately proves prescient to not leave even such a seemingly harmless device in the hands of a trained assassin like Craggnor.
Still, it’s late at night, and Brawnanvil encourages everyone to get some sleep. He lets them know that, if they show their Writ of Intent in the Yawning Portal Tavern, they’ll be given free room and board, as well as free meals. He also promises to commit the full might of the Mithral Hall to any future conflicts against the Cult of Tiamat, ensuring the Party a powerful ally within the Council of Waterdeep.
Once their business is complete in the castle, the Chainbreakers are escorted out of Castle Waterdeep, continuing through the streets of the large city, but even for this time of night the streets seem unusually quiet and empty. As they approach an empty crossroad they see a strange sight before them… a large, hound-like figure seemingly made of solid shadows… its eyes pinpoints of glowing flame, its mouth open in a wide, toothy grin with hellish fire burning within. As they approach, it speaks telepathically in common to the entire group, asking to speak to “The Daughter of Levistus”, which is the Devil that Dahlia’s bloodline is tied to. As Dahlia steps forward to seek Loki warns not to trust the creature, which she recognizes as Hellhound, although larger than normal, and Hellhounds normally do not possess telepathic speech.
The Hellhound introduces himself as an emissary of Archduchess Zariel, the ruler of Avernus, the first circle of the 9 Hells. Dahlia wants to know why Zariel is so intent to helping Tiamat escape Avernus, with the Hellhound explaining some of Zariel’s motivation… The River Styx flows throughout the entire afterlife, extending from the Abyss, through the circle of Avernus, and extending into the 7 Heavens. Zariel was once an angel of the 7 heavens, but she willingly fell to Avernus in order to lead the armies of Devils to oppose the chaotic Demons… the Devils honor the pact between the Heavens and the Hells, but the chaotic demons of the abyss wish to conquer all the planes, and Zariel uses Avernus as a battleground to keep the Abyssal Demons at bay to ultimately protect the 7 Heavens. Dahlia recognizes that this seems to be a noble goal (although Loki continues to tell Dahlia not to trust the Hellhound or his Devilish mistress). At the same time, Antares asks the Hellhound if he can pet it… which the Hellhound very bluntly refuses.
After learning about Zariel’s origins as an angel, Dahlia asks how she can justify unleashing Tiamat on the Material Plane, considering the untold destruction she’ll wreak on the lands. The Hellhound claims that such things do not matter, as the individual lives of mortals aren’t as important as the sanctity of the afterlife. Even as Dahlia warns that Tiamat may lead to the end of all life, which could mean no more souls entering the afterlife, the Hellhound states that would simply mean peace, as the ongoing war that ravages Avernus will finally end. Dahlia continues to criticize these explanation, with the Hellhound explaining that he’s simply the messenger, but he’s willing to deliver Dahlia’s messages to Zariel. However, he does press further… if Dahlia were to offer her services to Zariel, he could guarantee a meeting between them… and Zariel will even be willing to offer some of her power to Dahlia. At this point, Loki immediately intervenes, insisting that Dahlia can’t even entertain such a deal. However, Dahlia maintains that she isn’t concerned for her soul… considering her heritage and her general distrust of the Gods, she believes that she’s destined for the 9 Hells herself some day. Loki doesn’t believe that at all, and tells her not to give up her soul so casually.
Despite Loki’s warnings, Dahlia remains undecided. She wants time to think over this offer, asking to be given a few days to decide, with the Hellhound agreeing… stating that in 3 days time, either he or Zariel herself will contact Dahlia. Loki still maintains that this is a bad idea, flipping off the Hellhound and insulting Zariel, although the Hellhound simply ignores her and Dahlia tells her there’s no need to be impolite. Dahlia asks the Hellhound his name, and he introduces himself as Waheela, the Sabre Wolf. With their conversation complete, Waheela leaps through a portal that appears in front of him in a manner similar to how a Blinkdog teleports, and the Chainbreakers can continue making their way to the Yawning Portal.
Dahlia is frustrated by everything that has happened, and intends to simply drink herself into a stupor… with Antares joining in just because he wants to drink. Using their Writ of Intent, the Chainbreakers are able to get rooms and also pay for their drinks, although Dahlia still pays a platinum just to remain on good terms with the tavern. Loki and G’houl are worried for Dahlia, especially when she gets completely sloshed and starts talking about her plan to fly naked on her broom around the city. Seeing her go that far, G’houl casts Charm Person on Dahlia to convince her to give him her broom and go to bed. Loki opts to share a room with Dahlia, hoping to keep an eye on her (and intervene if any more Devilish creatures visit her in the night). G’houl takes a room for himself… but after everyone else has gone to bed Antares actually volunteers his room to another customer who has had too much to drink, with Antares instead choosing to sleep in the horse stalls next to Dahlia’s horse, Fractal.
Without any shyness, Loki and Dahlia share a bed, with Dahlia tightly cuddling against Loki all night. As she sleeps Loki has a vision of a grand Church, and waiting at the end is her Goddess, Tymora, idly rolling dice in a dice cup. The dice seem to be made of Emerald, with numbers written in gold on the sides, the diamond-shaped dice each ten-sided. Loki has had multiple visions of Tymora, but each time the visions were silent, but now she finally hears Tymora’s voice… a playful, teasing voice… unlike other Goddesses, which she’s heard described as either Regal, Ethereal, or Motherly, Tymora speaks with the excited tone of an Older Sister. Loki asks why Tymora hasn’t spoken to her before, with Tymora stating that she was always speaking… it’s Loki who has gotten better at listening. As she shakes the dice cup, Tymora explains that she wants to help Loki more, but there’s only so much she can do from beyond the Material Plane. She slams the cup down, leaving the cup on the table… she explains that, going forward, Loki can attempt to call on her, and, for now at least, she needs only roll these days, and if the result is below a 10, Tymora will intervene on her behalf. For the moment as well, she gestures to the cup… telling Loki that she can lift the cup right now, and accept whatever Tymora herself rolled, or she could shake the cup and change the number. Loki declares she has always trusted fate, accepting what comes, lifting the cup to find that Tymora had rolled a 7. With that, Tymora offers her aid to Loki… whether it’s a boon she requires, a question she needs answered, or whatever else Loki may ask. Loki, instead, asks for advice on how to convince her friend that she’s a good person who isn’t destined for Hell… Tymora smiles and admits there’s no simple answer but tells her to continue to be herself, and if anyone can do it, it’s Loki. She gifts the dice to Loki, before playfully pinching her nose and telling Loki to have fun before the vision fades in a burst of bright light.
When morning comes, Antares is the first to wake up as a nervous Stable Maid is checking on him to see if he’s okay, or to ask if he’s even allowed to be there. He explains that he’s friends with Fractal’s owner and assumed there’d be no trouble. The young woman is clearly flustered by all this and seems to accept his explanation and focuses on brushing and tending to Fractal… when Antares asks if she’ll brush him too the young woman immediately panics and tries to avoid him, as Antares opts to go inside. He orders breakfast for himself and his allies, while upstairs G’houl wakes up from the sounds of the active city. He checks on Dusk, who no longer has the wings that grew on him while he was in Diderius’s tomb, thanks to the Mummy Lord’s aura. He asks if Dusk liked having wings, with Dusk nodding, and G’houl thinks on it and realizes if he were to take the time to cast Find Familiar again he could more permanently turn Dusk into a winged Tressym, a type of flying cat. G’houl also hesitantly takes Dahlia’s Flying Broom, hoping to find her in a better mood as he goes to check on her and Loki, knocking on their door.
Loki awakes to the sound of the knocking, noticing that she’s holding the Emerald dice given to her by Tymora. Unfortunately, neither woman wants to wake up to get the door, with Dahlia using her nudity as an excuse to remain in bed, while Loki insists that Dahlia is on the outer side of the bed, so she’s the one who should get the door. After some wrestling, Loki ends up kicked out of the bed, begrudgingly answering the door. G’houl checks on them, finding that Dahlia is upset with him, since she knows he had cast Charm Person on her, and demands the return of her Broom of Flying. G’houl admits that the spell might have been a bit too far, but he was just looking out for her. As an apology, G’houl volunteers to get them some breakfast, and also thinks to get some Dwarven Coffee for Dahlia, knowing that it’s the ideal treatment for a hangover.
G’houl doesn’t know that Antares had given his room to a complete stranger, so when he goes to check on Antares he’s shocked to find a still-drunken man angrily answering the door before passing out again on the bed… the room is clearly a mess, and this other man has puked in the bed. As G’houl heads downstairs to try and figure out what happened he finds Antares, who has found a table for the Chainbreakers to sit and eat some steak and eggs. G’houl mentions that the girls are waiting upstairs to be fed, and he uses his Writ of Intent to order a coffee from Durnan the barkeep. Durnan recognizes the Writ, asking G’houl what he thinks about the new Open Lord. G’houl is shocked to hear this, with Durnan explaining that Lord Neverember has been demoted from his role as the Open Lord of Waterdeep, and he has been replaced by Lady Laeral Silverhand… a name that G’houl, as a well-educated Wizard, recognizes instantly… Silverhand is one of the “Seven Sisters”, ancient humans who seem nigh-immortal with intense magical power, the seven believed to have been blessed by Mystra, the Goddess of Magic… although some believe them to actually be Mystra’s daughters. G’houl asks how and why this happened, with Durnan simply shrugging and admitting that, considering a Masked Lord was murdered under his watch, it’s not surprising that the other Masked Lords voted for a replacement. Upstairs, Dahlia has a similar revelation as she looks out the window and notices several flags of the Goddes Mystra are hung in the streets. When she leans out the window to ask a passing stranger he’s staring at her dumbfounded, as Dahlia hadn’t bothered to put on any clothes yet, but he explains they’re in honor of the new Open Lord… although to Dahlia’s annoyance, her display gets the attention of some young men hoping for a peek.
The party wonders how and why a new Open Lord could be established, especially in the middle of an ongoing crisis. But unfortunately, none of them are familiar enough with Waterdeep Politics to have any real theories. Still in a sour mood, Dahlia demands her Broom of Flying back, with G’houl saying he’ll go get it from his room before Dahlia storms off to visit Fractal and calm herself down. G’houl attempts to slyly pull the Broom from his Bag of Holding… but doesn’t quite hide his movement enough as Antares and Loki both notice, for the first time, that he has a Bag of Holding of his own. Loki demands to know why she’s been forced to carry everyone’s stuff if G’houl has his own bag, with G’houl countering that she clearly prefers to be the one carrying the treasure. In annoyance, Loki reaches into her Bag of Tricks and tosses a furry ball at G’houl that suddenly transforms into a rat that scratches at his face before climbing on top of his head. G’houl asks Dusk to get rid of it, but as a Familiar Dusk is physically incapable of attacking anything, so he instead hisses, trying to frighten the Rat away, but it ignores him. Antares then attempts to simply grab the rat, but it’s surprisingly dexterous and avoids his grip. Finally, G’houl casts his recently learned cantrip, Frostbite, on the rat, and although the rat makes its save, as an Evocation Wizard G’houl’s spell still does damage, and the 1hp rat vanishes in a puff of snow flakes. Loki yells at G’houl for killing her “Rat Son”, with G’houl countering that she’s already claimed Antares as her son, only for Loki to claim it’s possible to have two sons before following after Dahlia.
Outside, Dahlia meets with the stable maid, who is taking out the horses to walk them and keep them active. When she learns that Dahlia is the owner of Fractal, she asks about Antares, making sure that it’s okay for Antares to share a stall with Fractal. Dahlia lets her know that Antares is allowed, but the young woman seems a bit interested in more details… with Dahlia pushing further, she begins to suspect that the shy young woman has developed a bit of a crush on Antares. When Antares himself arrives she quickly excuses herself to hide, until Dahlia and Loki tell Antares about her and pressure him to try and woo her. Antares is uncertain, but when Dahlia asks him to show her how he would flirt, a critical success from Antares is enough for Dahlia to briefly regret accepting the title of “Aunt Dahlia” from him earlier… something that Antares doesn’t fully understand. But with Loki and Dahlia encouraging him, he finds the Stablemaid poorly hiding just out of sight. He introduces himself and asks her name, learning that her name is Ella. She’s clearly excited at Antares’s interest, but she’s also extremely shy, panicking a bit at his attention. Still, when Antares asks to meet her for a date later that night she eagerly agrees, telling him they’ll meet at the Yawning Portal later that night before she shyly ducks away to continue her work.
Pleased with Antares’s progress, the other party members realize they all seem to have some free time again… and also, they haven’t had a proper bath in days. G’houl notes that there are baths at the Yawning Portal, but Dahlia wants to take the Chainbreakers to a proper Bath House to be pampered and really get cleaned up. Dahlia and Antares start to discuss how best to go looking for a bath house, while G’houl just walks into the Yawning Portal and asks Durnan, who tells him about a nearby bath house known as the Siren’s Call, sharing directions. Although nicer bath houses exist in Waterdeep, this location is the closest higher-quality location. G’houl steps out, able to stop Dahlia and Antares before they leave on a wild goose chase to direct them toward the Siren’s Call.
Arriving at the two-story bath house, they find a nice stable to leave their horses as they make their way inside, finding an inviting atmosphere with plenty of potted plants for atmosphere. They’re greeted by a perky young Triton woman who offers them a few different options, but Dahlia insists on the full package, with all of her friends joining in, paying the premium price for the full body treatment, which starts with a massage. Dahlia requests an intense, deep tissue massage, which the Triton woman is happy to offer, asking if anyone else wants the same thing… Antares, who remains physically fit and regularly exercises is fairly limber, opts for a standard massage. Loki, as well, isn’t interested. But G’houl, who often is hunched over tables a little too short for him and recently was slashed across the chest by a giant snake-man’s oversized scimitar opts for the deep tissue massage. The bath house seems equipped to handle Centaur guests, assigning to masseurs to Antares, while Loki enjoys a relaxing massage from a half-elven woman. Dahlia is greeted by a tall, muscular Goliath woman that Dahlia can’t help but call “Mommy” as she aggressively attacks Dahlia’s knots and stress, making G’houl start to question his decision when he’s greeted by a tall male Bugbear who picks up G’houl and practically body slams him into his massage table. Slamming an elbow into the base of G’houl’s spine, and as G’houl howls in pain the massage begins to relieve the pressure, with the party relaxing with the pampering massage… although some are clearly enjoying it more than others.
We're fully set in our new weekend-focused schedule. So come join us at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty as we play our homebrew campaign of Sacrament. We'll be going live, as usual, at 7pm PST. We had a short session earlier this week, so not as much happened as usual, but there was some emotional moments as Ash reveals her living self to her family, but if you want to know more, read on:
As morning comes, Azure is woken up by water being splashed on her by Malik, who is taunting her and Kanec for falling asleep in the living room instead of in his room. He also mentions that it’s past noon, as the Grimveils have slept in late after a long night tackling a variety of intense challenges. Malik saw Crush sleeping in the garden, but is wondering where Ricky is… checking the other rooms, he notices that Kanec’s bedroom is locked, waking Ricky up. Thinking quickly, Ricky casts Invisibility on Neo, then to hide himself he quickly cuts two holes in a pillow case to see out of and pulls it on over his naked body. Despite how unusual this is, Ricky is able to play it off as just his eccentricity, and keeps Malik from finding him and Neo… two Nightchildren, the instinctual enemies of Reavers.
As Malik is wondering who Fidget is laying next to, not yet recognizing her as Ash, Crush has a prophetic dream. He sees a red mass in the desert, outside of a city… the sun rises, then sets, then rises again and the red mass rushes toward the city. Transforming into a giant red skeleton, so massive that it chomps into the city itself as a woman’s voice laughs. Crush wakes with a start, leaping to his feet as if he was under attack. Going inside, he helps Neo to sneak out before Ricky steps out, apologizing for cutting up the pillow. Crush says that Ash can just fix it with her magic, as he’s seen her use the Mending cantrip before… but then he begins to wonder if Ash can even cast the spell now. Ash decides to test her powers… finding she can’t manifest an eldritch blast, but when she refocuses her energy she instead shoots a Firebolt… directly at a nearby curtain, which Crush has to hurry to put out. Ash is interested in testing her abilities, but before she can Crush describes the vision he had, assuming that this is Larlock’s forces he’s building in the lost Empire of Roma.
This has concern for everyone… the series of sunrises and sunsets seems like it could mean this event is occurring on the night of the Military Ball, or perhaps the next sunrise. Malik returns with food for everyone, reminding everyone that Kanec needs to prepare for the ball… that means buying formal clothing, and receiving a Sash as proof of his skills as a warrior. Malik also seems to want to just spend time with his brother, but the others realize they’ll need to get clothes for the ball as well… with Crush in particular needing to find some way to get a custom-made outfit, considering his shell. The decision is made for a “Boy’s Shopping Trip”, since Fidget will need something to wear as well… but there’s concern for Fidget, who no longer has the armor of Azmira to calm him. Crush mentions they should bring baby Kane along, since he was left with Ash’s family while they dealt with Ash’s target as a Revenant, which gives them an excuse to meet with Argus and the rest of her family at the same time. Ash also points out that her clothes was burnt to ashes by her resurrection, and she’s actually naked right now, with only a blanket covering her. Ricky cuts a neck-hole in the pillowcase, offering it to Ash… who finds that she can still cast Prestidigitation, using it to soil the pillowcase with mud before throwing it at Ricky… who responds by casting Prestidigitation himself, soiling the pillowcase with mustard before throwing it back at Ash. This upsets Fidget far more than usual, with Ash pulling him into Kanec’s Genie bag to calm him down and take a bath. The others lament that Fidget clearly is more unstable, as that exchange would have been very entertaining to him earlier.
The party opts to take a slow walk to Argus’s house, hoping to give the two of them some privacy. As they walk Crush can’t help but stare out across the desert, looking to the horizon, thinking of his vision… still, they realize that Ash and Fidget may need a little extra time to “relax” in the bath, so they end up walking a few laps and even looking for a tailor. Crush absentmindedly goes into the first Tailor shop he finds, realizing it’s actually a children’s clothing shop. Mostly making excuses, he claims to be looking for formal clothing for Baby Kane. However, Ricky thinks of a more practical desire… he wants to buy a nice dress for Elonwee, since he had borrowed one of hers for a disguise earlier and needed to replace it, since Azure had altered it to fit Ricky’s slightly larger frame. Fortunately, Azure had recorded Elonwee’s measurements, since she had planned to alter the original back to fitting Elonwee, and she helps the tailor figure out the adjustments to be made to a gorgeous night-sky blue dress that Ricky picked out… although Ricky pays a little extra, wanting star-shaped embellishments added to it.
With Aylis getting antsy, everyone decides to make their way to Argus’s house, with Ash finally finishing relaxing with Fidget and putting on her spare Kimono that had been gifted by her sister-in-law, Yurei. Once allowed in by Argus’s servant, Oyou, she recognizes Ash, shocked to see her looking alive and well… even moreso than she ever did with Disguise Self. Once let inside Oyou quickly gets lady Yurei, who can’t help but hug Ash tightly, with Ash surprised at the feeling of not being able to breathe when hugged so tight. Henri comes out with Kane, who is eager to see Fidget and Ash… although he seems confused by Ash. Looking at her curiously… reaching out nervously to touch her, as Ash hasn’t let him touch her in so long, knowing her necrotic energy could harm him. But when Kane does finally touch her she struggles to keep her tears down… but completely lose control when he finally calls her “Mama”, giggling happily as the look of joy on Ash’s face has him giggling and excitedly calling out for Mama as he’s cuddled by his parents.
We'll be streaming Rise of Tiamat tonight, but our schedule is shifting just a bit... we'll be starting an hour earlier tonight, so the stream will start at 6pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty! And in case you missed it, last week was the ever-popular Hot Springs episode, and you can read on to see what happened...
The Chainbreakers enjoy a rare spa day, with everyone getting pampered. G’houl even asks for Dusk to get some treatment as well… uncertain of how much to pay for the service, G’houl simply tips 2 platinum, which is more than enough to get VIP treatment for the entire party. After everyone is cleaned, massaged, and for Antares, reshoed, everyone gathers in the open-air hotspring behind the facility. Dahlia and Loki in particular are enjoying some alcoholic drinks, while G’houl is more shyly hiding behind some large stones before they are soon joined by the flamboyant goblin Zhentarim member, Thorn.
Dahlia is delighted to see Thorn, who arrives decked out in jewelry and nothing else, revealing her relatively slim form that’s normally difficult to discern with her preference for feather boas and flamboyant dresses. When arriving in Waterdeep, Dahlia had asked to meet with Thorn, and Ambassador Brawnanvil passed on the information, and Thorn had followed their trail to meet them at the bath house. The Chainbreakers ask about the sudden installment of a new Open Lord of Waterdeep, after learning that Laeral Silverhand has been given the title with Lord Neverember demoted… the Chainbreakers suspect foul play, as they wonder why this major shakeup would be made under such dire circumstances. However, Thorn mostly dismisses their concerns… it’s rare for a Masked Lord of Waterdeep to be killed, but she knows that, when it does happen, it’s common for the Open Lord to be replaced, as the other Masked Lords usually see it as a failure. Lord Neverember is still a high-ranking Noble and leader of the Lords’ Alliance, and is even still a member of the Council of Waterdeep, which seems to calm the party members for now.
Dahlia then uses her recently learned Major Image spell to show Thorn the vision that Dahlia witnessed in Diderius’ pool of Divination, showing an authoritative male human figure in elaborate purple robes holding Varrum’s White Dragon mask. Thorn recognizes him as Severin, the leader of the Cult of Tiamat. Zhentarim spies have been attempting to infiltrate the Cult for some time, but none have gotten close enough to truly get to know Severin, and they’ve been able to discover little about his personal history. She warns that he has some means of seeing through illusions, a trait shared by most dragons. Dahlia takes this opportunity to stand up, smack her ass and taunt any “dragons” that may be watching, much to the amusement of her friends… but to the shock and embarrassment of a Halfling family entering the hotspring.
As the Halfling family shuffles in the young son goes running around the pool, with his mother chasing him, telling him to slow down… just as he nears the group he trips and falls, catching everyone off guard as a blade is suddenly thrust through Thorn’s back, the blade sticking out of her chest as she falls unconscious. Suddenly the illusion obscuring the Halfling family is dropped… the young boy is revealed to be a Kobold with wild eyes, laughing maniacally, the mother is a lithe Gnome woman, the father is actually a human man with heavy armor wielding a spear, and the diminutive grandmother is a male goblin holding a pistol-grip wand, pointing it menacingly as he warns the Chainbreakers to stand down, as they’re just here to eliminate a “stool pigeon”.
The Chainbreakers are having none of this, and despite being naked without their weapons and armor, they fight back against the would-be assassins. Fortunately, Dahlia’s spellcasting focus is an earring that she wears regularly, and Loki has a long-established habit of bringing her shield with her at all times, with little care if it raises eyebrows. Antares, however, is forced to rely on his Barbarian toughness and his freshly-shoed hooves, while G’houl must improvise spellcasting from his environment. Fortunately, one of his more powerful spells, Tidal Wave, only requires a drop of water to conjure…. However, he finds that the Goblin spellcaster attempts to counterspell him, with the Goblin and G’houl getting into counterspell duels with basically every spellcasting, with G’houl fortunately winning the majority of these duels. The Goblin is quickly revealed to be the leader of the band of assassins, shouting orders to the others, his knowledge of spell-casting helping him to guide his subordinates, such as when Dahlia uses Conjure Woodland Beings to summon a small army of Blink Dogs. He instantly recognizes her as the spellcaster, ordering his allies to ignore Thorn and focus on Dahlia to break her concentration.
Thorn uses her goblin skills to keep hidden beneath the water, only surfacing to use her Ring of the Ram to attack. Still, despite her efforts to stay hidden and the Chainbreakers’ attempts to defend her, Thorn is still too weak to stay conscious for long, requiring constant healing as she’s knocked unconscious over and over by the assassins’ attempts to murder her. Dahlia even pulls her behind cover to help provide cover, but when one of the assassins runs into a more advantageous position, Thorn uses her skills as a Goblin Boss to swap places with Dahlia, forcing her to take a poisoned crossbow bolt to the back… much to Dahlia’s annoyance.
Thorn’s own guards finally respond to the commotion, rushing in to help their mistress, just as Antares uses his great strength to overwhelm the Goblin spellcaster, punching him unconscious, making sure not to kill him outright so that he can be questioned later. With no one to counterspell him, G’houl conjures a Sickening Radiance, using his skills in Evocation to protect his allies from the deadly Radiant energy. With their leader out of commission, the other Assassins are quickly dispatched… Dahlia melts the face of the madly cackling Kobold with Inflict Wounds, and one of Thorn’s men beheads the human warrior with a large sword. However, as the battle is clearly turning against them the unconscious goblin manages a lucky critical success on his death saves, coming back to consciousness and attempting to cast Fly on himself to escape, only for G’houl to counterspell him, sending the Goblin dashing into the bathhouse and hiding. Meanwhile, Dahlia aggressively teleports near the Gnome Assassin using Misty Step, putting herself in danger as she’s too angry to think tactically. She’s punished for her hubris as the assassin quickly knocks her unconscious, then for good measure she stabs Dahlia’s unconscious form, hoping to slow down Dahlia’s allies by forcing them to tend to the dying Tiefling. The Gnome then stabs her daggers into the nearby wall, using it to attempt to climb to safety. However, the other Chainbreakers are able to quickly revive Dahlia, and Loki stops the assassin in her tracks by conjuring a Flaming Sphere above her head, dropping her to the ground. Loki finishes her off with another Inflict Wounds, necrotizing the assassin’s neck until her head pops clean off. She then hops on Antares’s back to give chase to the fleeing wizard.
With his overwhelming speed, Antares rushes into the building and manages to find the Goblin hiding under a table. With his hiding spot ruined, the Goblin makes a mad dash for a nearby window, causing commotion in the street as the citizens see a goblin bursting out of a building. G’houl manages to get line of sight on him, firing off a Frostbite Cantrip, which the fleeing Wizard attempts to counterspell, but once again G’houl wins the counterspell duel, with G’houl careful to deal non-lethal damage to the criminal. To G’houl’s disappointment, people in the streets cheer him simply for killing a goblin… although it’s true that this particular goblin was a criminal, it’s a reminder that, to the average citizen, Goblins are seen as dangerous monsters and not as people. Carrying the unconscious goblin back inside, the workers finally come to check on the commotion, only for the Triton worker to shriek in terror as she sees the various dead bodies. Fortunately Dahlia is able to explain the situation, and she leaves to get the city guard.
Dahlia confronts Thorn for using her as a living shield earlier, and Thorn apologizes by gifting Dahlia a Ring of Protection… especially after seeing her repeatedly put herself in unnecessary danger. Based on tattoos on a few of the assassins, Thorn deduces that they’re members of The Xanathar’s, another Thieve’s Guild that operates out of Waterdeep. She knows that word of the Zhentarim working with the Lords’ Alliance has reached the Xanathars, and they now view the Zhentarim as snitches willing to work with the authorities. She points out that the symbol of the Xanathar’s is a large eyeball surrounded by 9 evenly spaced smaller eyeballs… a rough image of a Beholder, as The Xanathar himself is a Beholder. She explains that Beholders are nearly impossible to bargain with and are horribly unpredictable… unlike the Zhentarim, who are willing to work with the authorities in order to oppose a world-threatening force like the Cult of Tiamat, the Xanathar would be perfectly happy to rule over the rubble left behind of society, or even help the Cult of Tiamat if they can satisfy whatever mad whims he may request.
Loki, meanwhile, goes full Karen… using her shapeshifting powers to look even more injured than she really is as she complains to the bath house workers for their low security. She plays it up enough to learn that the Goliath Masseuse is actually the owner of the bath house, and she offers Loki and all her friends free access to the facility for the next week.
As Loki informs her friends about her deal, the city guard arrive to investigate. The Sergeant who first arrives quickly dismisses the issue as a “Lover’s Quarrel” between a pair of goblins, and he mostly dismisses the issue for that reason. However, when the Party shows him their Writ of Intent signed by the Open Lord of Waterdeep, he realizes he’s in over his head, and Dahlia vents some of her frustration by laying into him for his blatant racism and orders him to arrest the wizard and look into the increased Xanathar activity.
After the Sergeant embarrassedly leaves, one of his deputies steps up to speak frankly to the party, apologizing for his superior’s racism, and promising that not everyone in the city guard is like that… lamenting that some people are given positions of authority just through nepotism. When asked his name he introduces himself as Deputy Simon Bolbec, and promises to help them if they ask for help from the City Watch. Thorn thanks everyone for keeping her alive, and although she has work to focus on for now, she’s interested in Dahlia’s suggestion of getting together for a Girl’s Night soon. The Chainbreakers then decided to spend the rest of their day enjoying the free treatment Loki managed to negotiate for them, although Dahlia takes a moment to cast Sending to contact Granny Greenskin, the Hag who had originally gifted Dahlia the fey magic she taps into as part of her spellcasting. Dahlia had attempted to summon Greenskin a few times before, but for unknown reasons her spell only summoned a different hag each time. When contacted, Greenskin explains that Dahlia didn’t need her at those times, which seems to satisfy Dahlia for now.
As the day draws to a close everyone goes with Antares back toward the Yawning Portal for his date with Ella. Loki had been enjoying the free mimosas pretty aggressively at the spa, so she drunkenly stumbles toward Ella and offers her slurred, confusing advice for dating her “son”, much to Ella’s bewilderment. Antares offers Ella the opportunity to ride on his back, which she sheepishly, but excitedly, agrees to. Rather than take her to a restaurant, Antares instead invites her to a picnic in the fields outside of the city gates, purchasing fruits and cheeses, along with a bit of wine, from the outdoor market. The two enjoy a romantic evening together, chatting about their families as Antares picks flowers and weaves a flower crown for her. As the sun begins to set he brings Ella back to her home, which she shares with her other family members. The night ends with a tight hug, and Antares giving Ella a romantic kiss on the cheek before returning to the Yawning Portal to rest and prepare for whatever is to come next.
We'll be streaming our homebrew campaign of Sacrament tonight at 6pm PST, as always, at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty! Come join us as we're getting into some wild combat, and if you need context for what happened, please read on:
With the current threats mostly out of sight, the Grimveils have a rare day of rest as they prepare for the Military Ball coming up soon. The Party ends up splitting up… Azure and Ash traveling with Lady Yurei, while Crush and Ricky go with Kanec, Malik, and Fidget to get more men’s fomal clothes. Ricky calls on the group’s pets… the dancing goat Thaco and the emu Omelette… although it takes some convincing for Ricky to convince Yurei to take Thaco with the rest of the ladies. With the group separating, Lady Yurei immediately leads the others toward an expensive high-end tailor that seems to also have a spa-like atmosphere. There’s some confusion about Thaco’s presence, but Yurei is an important enough client that they’re willing to accommodate the goat.
The girls find themselves in an elaborate spa… each girl placed in a large seat, attended by at least 3 workers at a time. They even have supplies to handle Azure’s fur… explaining that there are a few Rakshasa that actually occasionally visit, their tiger-like fur similar to Azure’s. It seems the Reaver City is willing to accommodate even Devils if they have the money… and they behave themselves.
As the girls are preparing, Malik leads the men toward a shop known as Kisler’s… similarly impressive, but with less of a spa atmosphere. The owner is a male Lamia who is intrigued when he meets Crush, eager to test his technique on Crush’s unusual body type. Crush requests a formal outfit that is, basically, Bowser’s wedding suit from Mario Odyssey. Meanwhile, Ricky intends to rely on his Glamoured Studded Leather Armor for his own suit, so instead he focuses on paying for a custom-made outfit for Omelette… who has been pecking at some fabric, which Ricky then needs to pay for. While that is being worked on, Kanec is being presented with a formal wooden box… inside are a collection of elegant sashes. These are important formal regalia for special events, and even include patches and other embroidery that represent different accomplishments and family crests. Ricky is able to Intuit that Kanec is becoming a bit choked up with pride… with Ricky commenting that Kanec looks like someone who’s reacting to the feeling of his father’s pride… a feeling that Ricky laments he has never experienced himself… although Crush comments that he’s proud of Ricky, for what it’s worth.
Malik then reminds Fidget that he needs a sash of his own, and needs to get some formal clothes for the event. Fidget thinks this is a bit of a waste of time, but Ricky convinces him to play along… if only to be able to rub it in Malik’s face when he inevitably looks better than him. Ricky wants to help, and Crush encourages Malik to show Ricky what the various patches mean, since Ricky could help Malik figure out which patches Kanec qualifies for.
While inspecting the patches, Malik puts aside a particularly old patch reserved for Reavers born to a Queen Siren. Ricky and Crush both comment on how that applies to baby Kane, with Malik reacting in shock. They discuss it relatively casually, with even the owner, Kisler the Lamia, reacting with impressed surprise. He also mentions that it’s likely that Kane will have some innate magical power… this has Crush curious, since he knows Kane was born from the sea, wondering if he has an innate connection to the sea like he does. Crush holds Kane, looking into his eyes, relaxing and trying to feel Kane’s aura as best he can… and he does detect something like a raging storm somewhere in Kane’s soul. However, as he touches that energy spiritually, Kane suddenly sneezes, shooting a small bolt of lightning out of his nose in the process. Kane seems to be in the midst of a sneezing fit, lightning shooting around the shop, damaging some items as Crush quickly hurries out holding Kane… taking on the task of holding him, since he’s innately resistant to lightning damage thanks to his connection to the sea.
Outside, Kane’s sneezing fit seems to only get worse, and Crush can’t figure out how to calm him. He experiments with burping Kane, and even tickling him… but just as Kane seems to stop sneezing he laughs and suddenly bursts into flame, setting fire to some dry grass. Fortunately Crush is still wearing his amulet that gives him resistance to fire damage, and holds Kane still while the others try to put out the fires. Still, the sight of a baby on fire gets emergency services called… and Ricky buys some food and drinks to help calm the situation, but as it continues to escalate he decides to drink the drinks himself, using Sending to contact Ash, informing her bluntly that her baby is on fire, which interrupts their salon trip, Ash, Yurei, and Azure rushing out to find Kane.
After a short run they find the chaos in the park… fire burning, paramedics shocked by electricity and one with her hair set on fire. Finally, Ash approaches, comforting Kane and casting Sleep on him to help him relax. Once Kane falls asleep, the remaining fires instantly extinguish themselves… and they can’t help but notice that the woman whose hair was set on fire has flowers blooming in her hair.
Yurei recognizes this to be some form of sorcery, and encourages Ash to take Kane back to her home… Ash comes from a family of sorcerers, and bursts of energy from a young age aren’t unheard of… they even have a special anti-magic blanket to help protect the children. While Kane is taken to rest, the men leave to get shoes and have their weapons polish, while the women finish their salon visit. Yurei helps to select formal clothing for Azure and Ash, and Azure is even given ear piercings to match the outfit that Azure had selected. Ash and Yurei also enjoy spending time together… bonding now that Ash is once again alive, and can feel proper emotions fully.
On the way home, Azure has a tingling sensation on the back of her neck… turning around, she finds herself alone, all other figures vanishing from sight. Heavy mists surround her, and stepping out of the mists is the Goddess Chao, who taunts Azure, admonishing her for interrupting Chao’s plans. Chao shows Azure a vision… revealing Neo and the Night Children, preparing something, although it’s not clear what. As Azure is forced to watch, unable to interrupt, she sees as Chao lifts Neo’s bag, spilling out its contents… including the golden snake created from the Ancient Reaver and Azmira. Neo panics, as from his perspective, he cannot see Chao. However, the golden snake starts growing, swelling, growing… the gold shell holding it beginning to crack. Azure finds herself trapped in this alternate dimension… but as she looks around her she realizes she can see her allies in a reflection… and she also sees herself still with her alllies.
The Azure doppelganger is following, acting a bit strange, but none of Azure’s allies notice.
Just as they’re continuing, Ricky receives a magical letter from Neo, telling him that the snake is moving and that they need help. Ricky tells everyone that Neo is in danger… unfortunately, Malik is still nearby, and when he hears the name Neo he instantly recognizes it as a wanted criminal, and although he demands clarification for what that means, Crush instead pulls out his amulet, reminding him that the Grimveils are monster hunters, and if Malik wants to get in their way, he’ll have to get through Crush. This doesn’t seem to satisfy Malik, but he does let them leave without obstruction as the party goes running back toward the hideout they know that the Night Children are staying in.
As they run, Azure’s doppelganger continues to play along, but as they’re running she trips and falls, slamming into a building so hard that it shakes its foundation, and just as her allies are stopping to check on her the building quakes before crumbling down on them with thick stones.
As they’re digging themselves out of the rubble, Azure has been watching through a reflected window pane nearby. To try and connect with her allies, she summons her astral self, using her Visage of the Astral Self to scream for help, with only Crush able to hear her. Sensing her through the window, he places his palm against it and summons his rage, hoping he can use the energy to help pull Azure toward him. The other Grimveils are confused about why Crush is doing this, and when he explains why his allies are mostly incredulous, but Ricky uses his Dragon Mark to summon an Aura of Vitality… a protective energy that glows with all non-hostile creatures within the aura… and as they realize that Azure’s doppelganger isn’t glowing they realize it can’t be the real Azure, and everyone prepares for battle.
We're playing tonight at 6pm PST at our home of twitch.tv/afterdisbooy! We'll be streaming more of our Rise of Tiamat Campaign, as the party has focused on strengthening bonds with allies and each other during their downtime. In case you missed last week's session (which had some technical difficulties that slowed things down), here's what you missed:
The Chainbreakers have made their way to the Moon’s Reflection, the magical shopped owned by the Yuan-Ti enchanter, Benedict Fenwick. His shop is warded to prevent Fey from entering, which prevents Dusk from going inside (who was recently resummoned in the form of a winged Tressym, a sort of winged cat), and has just enough resistance to make it feel like passing through a wall of gelatin for Antares. It’s Antares who was hoping to visit, as he had a request for magical horse shoes to improve his mobility. Fenwick is able to enchant such a thing, but it will cost 2000 gold and take 3 days to prepare, with G’houl and Dahlia donating the money to help Antares, since he wasn’t present when the party found the treasures recovered from the cultists, and thus has a much more modest budget of his own.
Once his order is put in, Dahlia inquires about having modifications made to her Broom of Flying. Fenwick admits there’s very little he can do to modify a magical object that already has a powerful enchantment on it, but with the right cost he can do something to improve its speed, but admits any modifications will be limited in use. Dahlia is okay with this, but she also asks if he can modify its appearance to make it look more sleek and even include a place to attach a lantern… which Fenwick uses as a prompt to upsell Dahlia with an Everbright Lantern he has for sale.
G’houl is already overladen with magical equipment that he’s attuned to, so instead he expresses interest in getting some mystical chalk for his Teleportation Circle spell, which Fenwick is able to provide. Loki, meanwhile, isn’t interested in magic items at all… instead, she offers to “bless” Fenwick’s shop in exchange for payment… able to successfully deceive him as she goes through some mystical mumbo-jumbo for some gold. However, before they leave, Dahlia puts in one last request for a “personal massager”, which Fenwick admits he’s crafted before and is willing to create for a nominal fee, following specific dimensions at Dahlia’s request.
With their orders place the party then opts to split up… Dahlia wants to meet up with Thorn for the Lady’s Night she had requested before… and also to get Thorn to make up for using Dahlia as a living shield during the assassination attempt the day before. Meanwhile, Loki wants to check in on Verther Insurance, the company she helped create with a human merchant she had met in the convoy the party had traveled with earlier. Antares, meanwhile, is hoping to make some money to make up for what he had borrowed for his horseshoe commission.
Dahlia meets with Thorn at her recently opened shop, a Jewelry Store known as “The Jade Lady”… easy to find, thanks to the large wooden sign depicting a pinup-style illustration of Thorn herself, with eye-catching gold paint for the illustration’s jewelry. Inside, Dahlia finds that Thorn is now accompanied by the Elven brothers, Noohar and Selvek Serelim… two other men she had met in the convoy. In particular, Selvek, for unknown reasons, possesses True Sight, able to see through illusions… although thanks to his muteness, he requires his brother to translate his sign language. Noohar explains that they were approached by members of the Zhentarim for Selvek’s True Sight abilities… something they’re familiar with because of Zhentarim agent Jamna Gleamsilver.
Thorn takes Dahlia to a tavern known as “The Lion’s Mane”… a location less rowdy than the adventurer-friendly Yawning Portal, but not so uptight that they won’t be able to relax and dance. Thorn pays for drinks as Dahlia talks about the mission she was just on, and her concerns about both the cult itself and the politics of Waterdeep. Both women realize their intent was to go out and relax, not to sit and talk shop, so both women decide to hit the dance floor and see how many free drinks they can get from hopeful suitors.
Antares goes searching for a pit fighting arena… asking around town, he finds an arena known as the Bloody Knuckle… a rough and rowdy fighting pit where people of many varieties of races and types of fighters fight for the entertainment of an energetic, mostly drunk crowd. The polite and friendly Antares is a bit out of place in this location, dutifully waiting in line to sign up for a fight, even as others muscle past him to sign up and hopefully make some cash. Still, he finally gets to the signup, meeting an energetic Dwarven promoter going by the name Whetstone. He asks Antares to flex for him, and Antares’ awkward flex leads him to assign Antares to a lower weight class than the skilled Barbarian would normally reach… he also mishears his name as “Ant-Rees”… largely ignoring Antares’ polite corrections with each mispronunciation. Antares finds himself in battle against a lithe elven man going by the name “Johnny Knives”… an agile and skilled fighter, but luckily Antares had greater strength and constitution, and got lucky with his acrobatics against his more acrobatic opponent. Antares ends up making more money than expected, as Johnny Knives was heavily favored to win. He leaves with Gold in hand as the crowd chants for “Ant-Rees”.
G’houl has little to do with Loki’s investment in Verther Insurance, but Loki insists on him walking with her so they can discuss G’houl’s relationship with Dahlia. They’re both concerned for Dahlia, who has been in a sour mood lately, and who is considering working with the ArchDevil Zariel. Loki also asks G’houl how happy he is with her, knowing that Dahlia was, prior to dating him, extremely casual about sex and seemed interested in Polyamory… she had even hooked up with both Loki and Katniss regularly. G’houl isn’t entirely sure how he feels about that, and when Loki pointedly asks him if he loves her he’s left in stunned, embarrassed silence. Struggling to say out loud his feelings for her… Loki reminds him that, as a Baroness of her homeland, Dahlia is being courted by potential suitors. The two of them reach an interesting idea… deciding that they want to arrange a kind of Thank You party for Dahlia by gathering as many people they know of in town who owe a debt of gratitude to Dahlia as thanks for everything she’s done.
With that decision made they continue to Verther’s, and although the office is closed for business, they’re able to get Verther’s attention, who is happy to see them. He reveals that, although Loki had arranged for her portion of the payments be sent to her home she shares with Katniss in Phandalin, because of increased Cult of Tiamat activity Verther had been warned not to send money over long distances, so luckily Loki was able to find 500 gold waiting for her. Happy with her profits, Loki asks about the business and how it’s doing… she suggests expanding the business further, with Verther admitting that he has looked into opening a branch office in Neverwinter, but the company doesn’t quite have the funds necessary. Loki then volunteers not just her 500 gold payment to the cause, but she also adds in 500 gold of her own wealth, hoping to kickstart the process. G’houl as well suggests insuring the School of Knowledge, which, as a school that specializes in magical training, is prone to the occasional magical mishap both for the school itself and the buildings nearby. At Verther’s suggestion he even writes up a letter of introduction to help Verther get in the door with the School.
As they’re finishing Antares has managed to find Verther’s Insurance, reconnecting with Loki and G’houl. They explain to them their plan for Dahlia’s party, and he’s eager to help. He’s also shocked to learn Loki is giving money to Verther, considering how greedy she normally is. Loki meticulously explains to him how investing work, and Antares plays dumb about it to tease her, claiming he actually made money tonight, while she lost money. This continues until they return to the Yawning Portal, with Loki inquiring about renting a room for holding a party which, thankfully, the Portal does have private rooms normally reserved for meetings or other events that’s available for rent.
Around this time Thorn arrives in the Yawning Portal along with her Half-Orc guards, the Serelim twins, and a blackout drunk Dahlia. Thorn has her men escort Dahlia to her room to sleep off her drunkenness and meets with the others to check on them. She learns about the party for Dahlia and is happy to help… offering to use her connections both through the Zhentarim and as a member of the Council of Waterdeep to gather guests for Dahlia’s party. With that taken care of, the party then simply has to figure out what to prepare, sending Antares to Dahlia’s room to wake her and try to figure out what kind of food she wants… unfortunately, Antares has been drinking his favorite drink of “Everything they offer served in one big tankard”, and is a bit tipsy himself… he drunkenly attempts to braid Dahlia’s hair in the dark, knotting it uncomfortably as he manages to learn that she misses the spicy curry of her homeland before she passes out again. Once they’re alone, Loki says she’ll take care of gathering whatever foods are necessary, but she assigns G’houl a particular task… to gather the items commonly intended for courtship rituals in Dahlia’s homeland of Esleah. Loki starts him on this by giving him a platinum ring the party had recovered way back in Wave Echo Cave, along with a lapis she had received in a dream.
When morning comes Dahlia sleeps in as usual, making it easy for her allies to prepare for her surprise party. Antares is the first to wake up, hurrying out to buy flowers to decorate the rented room. He prioritizes, appropriately enough, purchasing dahlias, but he also buys other flowers… enough to fill a small cart. He returns to the Yawning Portal and meets with Ella who, as en employee of the Yawning Portal, can help him to decorate the back room without raising suspicion. Loki is the second to waken… despite sharing a bed with Dahlia, she manages to sneak out without waking her, hurrying out to look for food and spices to prepare a large meal for the event, and even pays Durnan in the Yawning Portal for use of their kitchen. It takes Loki some time, but she eventually finds an Esleahn merchant selling exotic spices. It takes her most of the morning, but once she meets him she’s able to convince him to share with her a recipe for a type of chicken curry. She arranges for a butcher to deliver the supplies to the Yawning Portal in preparation for Dahlia’s party.
G’houl, however, focuses on ordering Dahlia food and Dwarven Coffee to help her with her hangover, which she’s happy to receive, although she is curious about why Loki and Antares aren’t around in the morning… fortunately for G’houl, who isn’t particularly skilled at deception, he’s not lying when he says he doesn’t know where they are, since they both left without telling him where they were going. Dahlia checks on Fractal, who is happy to get out of the stable and explore the city, while G’houl takes their other horse, Cake, who is less excitable and seems to be more of simply a reliable work horse. Dahlia mentions visiting Verther Insurance, since she had also invested some money in the company (although far less than Loki), and was curious to see how they were doing. She’s also a bit upset when G’houl reminds her that he and Loki already visited last night, as she feels like they should have all gone together.
Arriving, they find Verther and his other business partner, the slightly dishonest but mostly reliable Aldor, working together on extensive paperwork as they make plans for expanding to Neverwinter. They also provide a 50gp payout to Dahlia for her contribution earlier as they discuss their plans with Dahlia. She also suggests that they open business in Esleah, which she could help them with through her connections as a Baroness. Aldor is instantly interested, but the more practical Verther regretfully admits that their business isn’t quite ready to handle International business dealings. Still, he’s interested in expanding into naval shipping, and they both ask for Dahlia’s help if they prove they can at least handle the addition of a Neverwinter Office as well. Satisfied with their progress, Dahlia then expresses interest in checking in on Thorn, especially since she gets to show G’houl the Jade Lady.
Inside, they find an employee who lets Thorn know of their appearance. Thorn enters in her usual regalia, playfully flirting with G’houl, much to his discomfort. Dahlia wants to speak to Thorn in private, which ends up being a perfect opportunity for G’houl, as he has plans for the Platinum Ring and Lapis Loki gave him earlier. In the back room, Dahlia vents about her issues, and in particular asks for Thorn’s thoughts on the opportunity she has to work with Zariel, the Devilish Archduchess of Avernus. Thorn recognizes the name, knowing that Avernus is the realm where Tiamat is trapped, and unsurprised that Zariel is willing to help the Cult of Tiamat in order to simply remove Tiamat from her realm. Dahlia asks about Thorn’s own religious beliefs, with Thorn explaining that she was raised, like most Goblins, in the worship of Maglubiyet, one of very few Goblin Gods, and one who extolls the virtues of slavery. Like Dahlia, Thorn doesn’t see the Gods as “Divine Beings”, but rather, as simply particularly powerful beings who happen to have control over specific forces. She also sees no problem in working with Devils… after all, Devils are exceedingly honest… often to a dangerous degree. Dahlia worries that it’s dangerous to trust a Devil, with Thorn teasingly implying that it’s dangerous for Dahlia to work with her as well. Meanwhile, G’houl asks the employee to help by setting the jewel into the ring in anticipation of Dahlia’s party later that day.
We'll be playing our Homebrew Campaign of Sacrament tonight! Come join us at 6pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty, and read on if you need a reminder of everything that happened in our last session:
With the party realizing that the Azure Doppelganger isn’t her, they attack this creature… not realizing that the damage is being shared by Azure. The Doppelganger summons Astral Arms of her own to attack the party. Crush, fortunately, opts to grapple and shove the doppelganger prone, dragging her out of range of the arms, wanting to keep her out of range of the others. While they try to figure out what to do, Azure manages to punch her way out of the pocket dimension she was trapped in using her Astral arms. Bursting out, she warns that anything they do to the Doppelganger affects her as well… but without knowledge of just how it works, she encourages everyone to continue attacking her doppelganger. However, the amount of damage taken by the party by her collapsing a building on them has pushed Fidget to nearly triggering his Blood Rage… although it doesn’t fully trigger, he does start lashing out, stabbing Ash in the back. In retaliation, Ash casts Sleep on him, hoping to let him rest and heal until the Rage subsides.
Meanwhile, the Doppelganger retaliates against Crush with a Stunning Strike, stunning him in place, allowing her to make her escape as she continues to fight against the party.
As Crush recovers from his stun he body slams the Doppelganger into a pile of boxes, damaging her and Azure in the process. As they’re nearing knocking the Doppelganger unconscious, Ash looks closer, trying to figure out what to do… she realizes that, in order to defeat her duplicate, Azure needs to attack herself. She does so, and as she punches herself in the face with her astral arms she dissipates her Doppelganger.
With the duplicate finally defeated, Ricky sends a message to Neo, checking to see if he’s still alive after being attacked by the Ancient Reaver. Neo warns that he’s turned into a giant golden snake, and his people are barely alive. Crush suggests the others take a Catnap while he runs to meet with Neo, but Ricky impatiently uses his new spell, True Polymorph, to transform into an Adult Black Dragon and fly to Neo… the other party members go into Kanec’s genie bag to try and recover as best they can as Ricky rushes toward Neo’s location… although a Black Dragon flying over the city draws unwanted attention, especially since he looks like the skull-like Black Dragons of his home land, and not the jeweled dragons of Tiavet. Even in his new form, Ricky is able to convince the guards not to attack as they guide them toward the building Neo was in… although it does lead the guards toward Neo and his allies, putting them in danger. They find that Neo is staying in the building under construction where they fought the Ancient Reaver the other night. Ricky and Crush can’t find a reliable trail to track him down, and as they’re looking they find Neo, who is injured. He explains that two of the Night Children died as the Ancient Reaver returned to his natural form, equipped with the morphing armor of Azmira. Fortunately, they’re able to hide in Kanec’s Genie Bag before the guards arrive. Ricky realizes that his transformation isn’t helping the situation and he returns to his true form… coming up with the excuse that he had been drinking and was trying out a new spell, and was simply trying to direct the guards toward the fire. The guards believe his excuse, but they still require them to stay and take statements.
Inside the Genie Bag, Neo warns about the Ancient Reaver, and also explains that the dead Night Children were left in the fire… when Ash admonishes him for it, since she’s capable of reviving the dead, Neo states that some people don’t wish to disobey the natural order of death and life.
Once the guards allow them to leave, Ricky enters the Genie Bag to cast Cat Nap and help the injured recover. Crush remains outside, following the trail of destruction left behind by the Ancient Reaver. He follows the shed golden scales left behind, although the more he follows, the less the gold resembles scales and the more it seems to be humanoid in nature. Following the trail, he sees it leads into a seemingly random building… following it deeper, he sees bloodstains, approaching cautiously he sees an Elven husband and wife slaughtered violently, blood sprayed around the room. By this point, everyone has finished their Cat Nap… Ricky, Neo, and Kanick (apparently that’s how it’s spelled and I’ve been spelling it wrong this whole time) come out, and Ash even pops out momentarily to cast Pass Without Trace on her allies before returning to the bag to keep an eye on Fidget. Azure as well is left to continue resting, considering the harm she took thanks to her doppelganger.
Crush assumes that the Ancient Reaver was raging when he killed the family, but with Neo giving more insight into Reaver rages Crush realizes that the Ancient Reaver had more methodically slaughtered the elves… fully conscious, and instead simply slaughtering them as a sick form of venting his frustrations. They continue to follow the Ancient Reaver’s trail until they find that it has led into a large procession of Reavers… military leaders and other nobles returning for the Military Ball. The procession makes tracking him impossible, so instead they scan the crowd, hoping his sheer size will make him visible in the crowd. They see a massive Reaver in the distance, hurrying to catch up… however, when they finally see him, Kanick and Neo instantly recognize him as The Warlord, the leader of all Reavers. They realize they’ve lost their quarry, and duck into an alleyway to discuss what they’ve seen. They realize there’s no point in trying to continue their search for the Ancient Reaver, but for now their worst concern ins Malik, Kanick’s brother.
Earlier, Malik heard about the Grimveils’ association with Neo, a wanted criminal and known worshipper of the Nightmother. They know that Malik could potentially get all of them in trouble, and although they all agree that it would be best to try and speak to Malik, trusting that he’ll do the right thing if he’s properly persuaded… for now, Kanick wants to wait to hear from Malik first… after all, if he was going to do something about this, he would have already. They also discuss the effects of the Goddess Chao… Neo’s shocked at just how aggressive Chao is being with the Grimveils. Crush explains that they killed the Siren Empress, who Chao considered a daughter… they also realize that this means Kane, who was born from the Empress, has some of Chao’s essence in him… they all realize that what they assumed was some form of Wild Magic is something far greater and more dangerous, and everyone decides to hurry back to Ash’s family’s home, where Kane has been left to take advantage of an antimagic blanket they own to help protect their own Sorcerous children.
Once back Lady Yurei’s home they find the elegant woman in a rare frazzled state… Kane’s powers have only become more erratic. He’s begun to pass through walls, cause objects to float, and other chaotic magical acts. Even now he seems to have disapparated, floating throughout the room and creating a mess. They eventually lure him out by playing, with Ricky casting Sleep to calm him down, wrapping Kane in the anti-magic blanket to help protect him. Once Kane is asleep, Ash warns that it’s not safe for Yurei to stay in her home… the Ancient Reaver is wearing the armor of Azmira, and she knows where Ash’s family is, and may guide her new wearer to seek revenge. At her suggestion, Ricky helps convince Yurei that they should use their status to convince the Warlord to let them stay in the well-protected Palace instead.
Crush and Ricky help Yurei pack while Ash enters the Genie Bag to speak to Neo, asking for advice about Kane. She reveals that Kane was born by accelerating his birth with a magical potion purchased from a Merc… which only adds to the chaotic energy. He knows that Chao can influence Kane, and he also worries that the orientation of the stars could make Kane more susceptible to her influence. Ash isn’t happy to hear this, but is hoping that Neo can use his knowledge to help stabilize Kane… something he won’t be able to do until night falls.
They send messages to their friends, everyone heading toward the Palace to meet with Argus. On the way, they pick up Yurei’s son, Saba, and continue to the palace, seeing it surrounded by massive walls decorated with enormous statues of great Reaver warriors. The front gate is crowded, as several other nobles are visiting in anticipation of the Military Ball… but most importantly, they see Argus waiting. Crush helps Ash to exit their carriage dramatically, who is stunned to see Ash alive and well once again. They embrace tightly, Argus crying tears of joy, unashamed to show emotions in public. Ash shares with Argus the message left to her by their late father… that he’s proud of him. Although talk of their father has Saba mentioning off-hand the time he “fell asleep”, with Yurei and Argus realizing that Saba actually died when he was abducted by the tall lady. This puts a damper on their reunion, but everyone is still overall happy.
Making their way further inside, they’re allowed into the gardens, where they see a massive golden tiger wandering the grounds. Azure is staring in stunned silence at the tiger, which seems equally stunned at the sight of a humanoid tiger. Ricky uses his necklace of Speak with Animals to talk to the Golden Tiger, who sees Ricky as a potential meal, and also views Azure as a potential rival. Azure is afraid to try to interact, not just from the tiger, but because she knows she’s still under the threat of Chao’s Curse, which seems to be activated by taking part in activities. But fortunately she’s able to convince the Golden Tiger that she’s no threat.
Crush is keeping an eye out for Kalea, and is surprised to find that she’s already inside the gardens. She explains that she introduced herself as an ally of Argus, and she was well behaved enough to be allowed in the gardens. Crush informs her about what’s been going on, explaining why they’re escorting Ash’s family into the Palace… and warn her about the Ancient Reaver, and how dangerous he is with Azmira. With the entire group regathered, they meet with Argus, who has arranged for the Grimveils to actually stay in the Palace for the night…. It seems The Warlord is interested to meet with the Revenant who has managed to come back to life, as well as speak with Kanick, son of General Savine. The Grimveils are hopeful that this will provide the opportunity to have Fidget’s condition treated, especially since he’s so unstable right now after the battle with Azure’s evil duplicate.
Passing through the grand palace, they eventually pass by a young human male playing with a large lion cub, who seems to watched over by a tall woman with long red hair who tenses up at the sight of the group. Ash believes that this must be the missing children of the Lord of Seamont… the port town taken over by Reavers in Estea. Ash asks Argus about her, but Argus admits he knows little about what happened in Seamont. Moving further into the Palace, Ash enters the office where Argus normally works. She finds a letter he had written to Cornelius, demanding immediate response or risk escalating the war further. He warns that Cornelius will be in attendance at the military ball the next day, with Ash lamenting that she’ll need to bite her tongue.
I'm finally posting this early in the day, although we've been sticking with a regular schedule pretty reliably for the past several weeks. We'll be streaming Rise of Tiamat again tonight! Come join the Chainbreakers at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty at 6pm PST for more fun and intrigue as the party prepares for the next meeting of the Council of Waterdeep... and also deals with the repercussions of one character making contact with a powerful archdevil. However, if you missed last Friday's session or if you just need a refresher, read on and see what happened with a surprise party and a reunion with a beloved friend:
G’houl keeps Dahlia busy by taking her to the Siren’s Call, since Loki had “negotiated” free use of the bath house for her party. Loki herself, meanwhile, accompanies Antares to the Bloody Knuckle once again as he wants to make some more money pit fighting. Although Antares performed admirably the night before, Loki skillfully spreads a rumor that he was injured in his previous fight in order to shift the odds and increase her own payout, betting a full 100 gold on Antares’ performance, easily tripling her investment before they all realize it’s time for Dahlia’s party.
On the way back to the Yawning Portal, Dahlia’s extremely high Perception has her smelling the familiar scent of curry from a distance. Hurrying inside, she realizes it’s coming from a back room, rushing in to find a group of friends and a large table with pots of freshly made curry. Dahlia is first greeted by Jundo, the Loxadon merchant whose boisterous personality instantly draws attention. They’re also greeted by Verther, who seems to be under the impression that this is a wedding between Dahlia and Antares, gifting them a cast iron bread toaster for use in campfires… although the misunderstanding is explained when his business partner, Aldor, tries to claim that it’s “from both of them”, and further questioning reveals he was the one contacted by Thorn and he apparently wasn’t really paying attention to what this was all about.
Leosin was also a bit confused, thinking this was a more formal occasion, arriving in formal robes, with Deeg also wearing similar robes. Deeg hurries to Dahlia, worried that he heard she’s feeling bad, reminding her that she’s the one who told him that, no matter how he’s treated by others, deep down he’s a dragon… something he proves by displaying a monk technique he’s discovered, manipulating his ki to blow a stream of fire at the ceiling… which G’houl quickly extinguishes with magic. Leosin also speaks to Dahlia, commenting that he didn’t realize the Kobolds were victims in this situation, and if she hadn’t shown up and talked to him he may have killed the Kobolds, but instead he now has Deeg as an apprentice, and is learning about Kobolds as much as he’s teaching Deeg about being a monk.
The most surprising guest is the guard they traveled with in the convoy who got the nickname “Bad Luck Tony”, as any time a guard was in trouble during their journey it was almost always Tony who found himself in danger. He breaks down in tears, talking to Dahlia about the time she flew in to rescue him from Ettercaps who were trying to abduct him for food. He gives Dahlia a gift of a lopsided, homemade mug emblazoned with the words “Tahnk You”.
During all this, Antares, who doesn’t actually know most of the people here, decides to go on a run with Ella. The two of them head out, Ella riding on his back as they head out of the main city walls to enjoy the open fields once again. Galloping through the cool open fields under the starry sky, the two eventually leading their conversation into discussing their future. Ella seems to understand that Antares is some kind of adventurer, although she doesn’t know exactly what he’s doing, but she knows enough to see that he won’t be in Waterdeep forever. Antares, as well, admits that even beyond his adventures with the Chainbreakers, in the future he’s expected to take the lead on his herd… a task that can’t be taken on from Waterdeep. While the two are in a whirlwind romance, the truth is both of them realize it’s not wise to try and fully commit. Instead Ella asks Antares to promise to check on her any time he’s in Waterdeep, and that they both be honest with each other if anything in their life changes. They both relax a bit, as the pressure of serious romance lessens, but still, after seeing refugees from Cult of Tiamat attacks being led into town by guards, they realize it would be best to get back within the city walls. Antares takes Ella home, and she wordlessly requests a kiss, the two sharing a gentle kiss before Antares returns to rejoin his friends at the Yawning Portal.
Dahlia plays some music on her pan flute, all her friends gathering together to sing along before the party begins to die down, everyone saying goodbyes… some more inebriated than others. On his way out, Dahlia uses the Message Cantrip to send a private message to Leosin… asking him, if he could stop all this conflict by selling his soul, would he do it? This seems to take him by surprise, but he eventually admits that, if he could guarantee all this suffering would end, he would do it, but anything short of that he doesn’t think would be worth it. She thanks him for his insight, as everyone makes their way to bed. Antares opts to sleep in Loki’s bedroom, while G’houl and Dahlia make their way to different rooms… that is, until Dusk grabs Dahlia by her pant leg, pulling her toward G’houl’s room. The two lovers haven’t spent any time alone since their dramatic reunion… the stress of the duties of the Council of Waterdeep, and a lack of privacy on the Nimbus, paired with Dahlia’s fears concerning her suitors from her home country has put a wedge between the two… and with Dusk pushing them, they both realize that they both assumed that the other was avoiding them simultaneously. With that misunderstanding finally cleared up, the two embrace and kiss, sleeping in bed together, holding one another tightly as they quickly fall asleep after the long party.
The next day, G’houl uses his newly learned Teleportation Circle spell to travel instantly to Neverwinter so the Chainbreakers can reunite with their busy member, Katniss. G’houl teleports everyone to the School of Knowledge in Neverwinter. He’s greeted by Professor Raphael, the Orcish Wizard who took G’houl under his wing during his training, and who provides G’houl with more enchanted chalk for use in the Teleportation Circle spell. They also meet with Katniss, who has been on a mission along with Corinth, the Dragonborn Paladin, and Ella Rowntree, the Human Wildmagic Sorcerer. Katniss informs the party that They had successfully investigated the hoard of Arauthator, a powerful White Dragon that lives on the Sea of Moving Ice. In Their investigation, Katniss learned that Arauthator indeed owned the Draakhorn, but it was gifted nearly 6 months ago to members of the Cult of Tiamat. Unfortunately, Katniss wasn’t able to defeat the White Dragon, and although the group escaped, Arauthator nearly killed Ella, and he seems to be now on the hunt for interlopers. Still, Katniss has a few magic items They discovered to give as gifts to Their friends… giving G’houl a pair of Potions of Invisibilty, giving Dahlia a Ring of Evasion, and finally giving Loki a Dagger of Coins, which creates gold coins by attacking creatures.
Returning to Neverwinter, Corinth and Ella must leave to report to the Lords’ Alliance, leaving the friends to reconvene and enjoy themselves before night falls, and Katniss is hoping to visit the Moon’s Reflection to have Their bow modified. Katniss had already modified their Bow, Talon, using the Forge of Spells… combining it with Their Double-Bladed Scimitar to make it a more versatile ranged and melee weapon. They’re hoping to find some way to integrate silvered arrows into the weapon… Benedict claims that there’s no need to alter the Bow itself, but he is capable of crafting a bowstring that generates silvered arrows, but doing so requires arrows to be provided and a hefty investment of funds. Fortunately, Katniss has both, and is able to order an enchanted bowstring to be picked up before the next meeting of the Council of Waterdeep. Dahlia is also able to pick up the items she ordered… a Broom of Enhanced Flying, which grants a limited number of bonus action dash actions on her broom, and she also picks up her custom-ordered “Rod of Self-Care”… a magical personal massager that grants a very minor amount of additional health recovery as part of a short rest.
With their magical items recovered, the Chainbreakers head back into the streets, heading back toward the Yawning Portal. They begin to discuss what they’ll do when Dahlia is contacted regarding her attempts to communicate with Zariel. However, just as they’re having this discussion, Dahlia suddenly disappears. As they search for her, Dahlia finds herself in a familiar wintery swamp, with a large Blink Dog at her feet. She recognizes her as Peaches, Granny Greenskin’s pet Blink Dog, who leads Dahlia to Greenskin’s hut. Once inside, Dahlia is greeted by Greenskin, who explains that she intervened when Zariel wanted to meet with her. She leads Dahlia further inside, where Zariel is waiting… Zariel is a tall winged figure, her angelic wings resembling glowing, dripping lava. No matter what angle she’s looked at, a halo of burning flames is behind her head, obscuring her features in deep shadows, only her glowing red eyes visible. It can be seen that she’s wearing armor, and her left hand is missing, replaced instead with a chained maul. Zariel refers to Dahlia as “Daughter of Levistus”, and admits to being impressed that Dahlia’s “soup” (a symbolic pot of stew in Greenskin’s Hut that seems to contain the heads of anyone Dahlia has killed) holds multiple Dragon heads.
Dahlia questions Zariel’s motivation, with Zariel making clear that she doesn’t care about the Material Plane or even the 9 Hells… her motivation is to protect Avernus against the Abyssal Demons, who intend to cross the River Styx to reach the 7 Heavens. Anything that happens in the other planes is temporary, only the Afterlife truly matters. Dahlia vehemently disagrees, but is given little indication from the mysterious figure whether her words are taken seriously. However, as a sign of her intent, Zariel gives Dahlia a gift… heavy, iron coin depicting on one side the symbol of the Archdevil Mammon, while the other shows the pained, screaming face of the Baron Whipstaff… Dahlia’s former husband who she manipulated and murdered in revenge for his torture of her family, including the murder of her beloved father. Zariel explains that this is something called a Soul Coin… a cursed magical object holding the soul of the deceased. This is, indeed… the very soul of the man Dahlia hates the most, given to her to do with as she pleases.
Dahlia is confused until Zariel explains that, those loyal to Tiamat have their souls taken by her when entering Avernus, strengthening Tiamat’s forces within the 9 Hells. Particularly powerful souls can even be converted into Fiends in Tiamat’s service… with Zariel implying that Rezmir, the Half-Dragon, has undergone a similar transformation. Dahlia wants to know more, but before she’ll give more information, Zariel has one question for Dahlia… what can Dahlia do for Zariel?
It seems like this always happens when I remember to post about the next game early... unfortunately, one of our players isn't feeling well so we won't be able to stream tonight. We're still hoping to stream our homebrew campaign of Sacrament for tomorrow night, but unfortunately tonight's stream is cancelled
Rise of Tiamat was cancelled this week, but fortunately all the players are feeling healthy again so we'll be streaming our homebrew campaign of Sacrament tonight at 6pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. Some pretty wild stuff happened last week, and if you need a refresher, here's what happened:
The Grimveils are meeting in Argus’s office in the Reaver Ziggurat, the home of the Warlord, leader of the Reavers and the capital of all of the country of Tiavet. Ricky notices a particularly nice Violin on Argus’s desk… with Ash recognizing it as her father’s violin. Ricky is allowed to examine it, but Ash is instead intent on working on some of her Artificer projects that she’s beginning to remember in full now that she’s fully recovered all her memories from her past life. Ricky is eager to meet with the Warlord, but Argus admits that he’s busy with military obligations and isn’t even in the Ziggurat at the moment. At Ash’s suggestion, Crush informs Argus about the visions they’ve been experiencing, and in particular the vision he had of a skeletal force emerging from the desert to assault the Capital. He also explains that Larlock has taken over the lost Kingdom of Roma in the Desert of Lost Bones… Argus takes these concerns very seriously, and immediately sends notes to experts who can help prepare for whatever this might turn out to be.
The party finds themselves just waiting to see what comes next… Crush focuses on carving a figurine of a lion cub, after seeing a live cub playing with Lord Brailen from Seamont. Azure and Kanec step out onto the balcony to watch the stars, while Ash focuses on her work… tinkering with her project. Lady Yurei also arrives, letting everyone know that dinner will be served soon, after arranging a proper table be brought for the guests. Ash’s project hits a bit of a road block as she requires feathers from the Blink Bird, the same blue feathers used to create feathers of sending. She writes to a Merc, hoping for a delivery.
Azure and Kanec look out from the high balcony, looking down at the lights of the massive capital city. Kanec in particular is nervous about the upcoming military ball… as the son of a general, he’s expected to be his representative… made even more stressful because his brother knows about his alliance with the wanted criminal Neo. At Azure’s suggestion, Kanick leads Azure down to explore the gardens to help relax. Seeing that they’re free to roam the Ziggurat, Ricky speaks to Crush in Halfling, discussing whether or not he should look for the lost Temple of the Nightmother tonight. Kalea, who also speaks Halfling, suggests they should focus on reconnaissance for now. They decide to ask Ash and Fidget if they want to join… Ash is too busy with the project she’s working on, but Fidget offers his expertise as a thief to help them case the palace and get a sense of what challenges are between them and the Temple.
Meanwhile, Azure is outside with Kanec where she sees Ash’s nephew, Saba, as well as Young Lord Brailen, watched over by his older sister, Lady Betheah. Azure chats with the children, learning that they’re happy and seemingly safe… although Omelette is putting himself in danger, playing with some of the lion cubs. The two of them continue on towards the statue gardens, only for Crush, Ricky, Kalea, and Fidget to step out. They meet with Brailen and Betheah as well… Ricky performs his hit song, “Somebody Killed your Stepmom” for the young boys, who are excited to hear it, although Betheah feels it might be a bit inappropriate. Crush eases the tension by giving Brailen the wooden carving of a lion cub he was working on, much to his delight. The young trio excuses themselves, as it’s starting to get late, but Ricky insights Lady Betheah, realizing that she looks surprisingly comfortable and happy, especially considering the people of her home city of Seamont seem to believe she was kidnapped.
Azure and Kanick visit the statue garden, admiring in particular a statue of a tall, elegant, and powerful Siren. Kanick recognizes her as Sovereign’s Mother, noting that this statue is famous because Sovereign Himself oversaw its creation, ensuring that it is a fully accurate representation of her… capturing the moment she died defiantly protecting her son from stones. Kanick sits with Azure so they can discuss Kanick’s concerns for the Military Ball. Azure comforts him, helping him to stop thinking so much about it, Kanick taking her hand and stealing a gentle kiss under the starlight. Kanick still worries that this night is simply the calm before the storm, with Azure agreeing about the feeling. The two lovers embrace, kissing passionately as they enjoy this rare moment of peace in the chaos they’ve been experiencing.
The other group continues exploring the Ziggurat. As they move through the halls their presence doesn’t raise much concern. However, they hear the sounds of weapons clashing, drawing Crush’s attention… when he listens closely and realizes it seems to be women training. Ricky is interested in sweaty, active women, while Crush is curious about what combat techniques they’re using. They’re behind a closed door, but Ricky’s sleight of hand allows him to open the door quietly, seeing a gathering of many women training or tending to their equipment. They seem to be from a variety of races, but they’re all tall and fit. Ricky and Crush discuss the sight, which draws the attention of the women. They seem enraged at being interrupted, one woman drawing a dagger and throwing it past them with such force that it embeds itself in the stone wall. They quickly excuse themselves and leave… with Fidget examining the blade to realize that it’s been coated in poison… which he tastes, since his Reaver transformation makes him immune to its damaging effects, enjoying instead the numbing effect. Kalea, however, is disappointed with Ricky’s perversion.
Continuing further, they discuss the vision Ricky had been given by the Nightmother, showing him how to reach the temple. He knows that the room with the women training was one path that could lead to the lost temple, but there’s another path further ahead, beyond the Throne Room, where the Military Ball will be held. They find the interior unguarded, but filled with tables set up to accommodate many people. Continuing deeper, they come across a Kobold servant, named Blue, who is embarrassedly changing tablecloths in the dark, since had accidentally put up “It’s a Boy” tablecloths instead of the formal military tablecloths. Ricky volunteers to help him, and Crush takes advantage of the distraction to try and slyly see what’s beyond the door that Ricky knows he’ll have to get past… only to alert guards on the other side, as well as servants. Fortunately, the only cost is Blue’s embarrassment as his mistake is revealed to his co-workers… but Crush and Ricky take advantage of the situation to go further into the Ziggurat under the pretext of volunteering to help prepare for the Military Ball… apparently a couple important workers have gone missing.
Ash, meanwhile, finishes modifying her mechanical bird, Hermes, infusing him with the feathers of a Blink Bird. She tests him out, recording a message on a blue jewel attached to Hermes’ chest, sending Hermes to teleport away, appearing in front of Fidget and delivering Ash’s recorded message… informing him of how the bird works. Hermes can now record messages, and his hollow chest cavity can hold small trinkets to be delivered in this manner as well. Ricky and Crush are still doing work, with Ricky looking for an opportunity to sneak away… planning to polymorph into a form that can travel stealthily forward to search for the Lost Temple and see if there are any dangers ahead.
After sharing messages back and forth with Fidget, Ash is suddenly contacted by Larlock through a psychic conversation… he admits that he’s been too busy to contact her lately, although he questions why she didn’t contact him herself. Ash plays coy, trying to act like she’s still his loyal servant. He informs her that he’s readying their marriage, and he’s prepared a present for her. When he says this Ash steps outside, seeing that the waning moon shifts to black, as though an eclipse were occurring… only for a massive red eye to suddenly open in its place… and stars in the sky start to fizzle out, and torches begin to light with black flames. Panic erupts in the Ziggurat… Ricky and Crush realize this distraction is the perfect opportunity to scope out the Lost Temple… that is, until Baby Kane suddenly goes limp and stops moving.
Fidget is panicking, nearly triggering his Blood Rage, but Ricky manages to calm him down. Kane seems to be in some kind of stasis… breathing slowly, seeming almost dead. Ricky is able to tell that he’s still okay, but Fidget nearly attacks a guard who’s checking on the child. Ricky has to step up again to help protect Fidget, and Crush realizes, despite what a prime opportunity this is to complete his reconnaissance, it would be best not to split up at this time, especially with Kane in danger.
Hurrying back to Argus’s office, they reconvene and try to figure out what’s wrong… with Argus’s help, they determine that the anti-magic blanket he’s wrapped in is putting him in a comatose state… removing it causes him to wake and start moving… however, he begins to scream in panic. The chaotic magic in his body going wild again… the baby climbing up to the ceiling, vomiting out bats and creating other chaos. Crush holds out a blanket like a net to catch Kane as Ricky casts Sleep on him… and surprisingly, Kane remains stuck to the ceiling, as though gravity was reversed just for him. Ash casts Fly on Fidget, and Azure runs up the wall to reach him… only to find that while Kane is asleep, the force possessing him is still active. Everyone finds themselves readying for combat, but Ricky quickly ends everything by casting Force Cage on Kane, trapping him, preventing him from harming any others.
With Kane subdued for now, Crush looks out at the massive eye in the sky, trying to figure out what’s happening. He realizes what he was worried about was true… this is Chao’s influence, and Kane basically needs to be cleansed. He turns to Kalea, who admits that her magic isn’t quite right for something like this, opposing the influence of the Goddess of Chaos requires a Cleric or priest of some kind. At this point everyone remembers that Neo and the other Nightchildren are still in Kanick’s Genie Bag… with Ricky hurrying inside to inform Neo of what’s happening. Neo gets dressed and realizes what needs to be done, but it requires Ricky’s help, and the amulet of the Nightmother on his neck...
We're going to be playing Rise of Tiamat again tonight! In case you didn't see the announcement before, but we had to cancel Rise last week, so there's no new summary... just check above to see what you might have missed. That said, we'll be streaming at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty tonight at 6pm PST.
We weren't able to play Rise of Tiamat yesterday, but we'll be rescheduling to play on Sunday instead. However, tonight, at 6pm PST we'll be playing our homebrew campaign of Sacrament! Come join us at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty in about an hour. We weren't able to play Sacrament last week, because of an illness, so here's a reminder of what happened just in case you need it:
To Ricky’s shock, he receives a Sending spell from Jem, the young Cleric that Ricky used to date… the two of them ending their relationship poorly. Ricky is nervous, but isn’t sure what to do about it… Ash is also concerned, more worried about her younger brother, Aylis, who was last seen with Alex, the Female Reaver who is dangerously close to her first Blood Rage… with the chaos going on tonight, she’s concerned that he could be in danger. Not wanting to use more spells, she sends her bird, Hermes, with a letter to her older brother Argus to check on him.
Neo prepares everyone for the ritual to cleanse Kane, who is possessed by Chao and currently trapped in a Force Cage. He knows that, in order to cleanse Kane, he needs to come in direct contact with Ricky’s necklace of the Nightmother. There’s some concern, as Kane touching the necklace got the attention of Sovereign in the past, but Neo admits this is the only chance… and besides, with the chaos going on outside as the stars are going out and the moon has shifted into a giant eye, there might be other things keeping the God of Reavers busy. Crush uses his Climber’s Kit to crawl near Kane, while Fidget still has Fly cast on him… Neo relies on his acrobatics to climb up along with Ricky… Meanwhile, the others hold a large blanket like a net under them.
Ricky releases the Force Cage holding Kane, the chaotic energy in his body erupting in elemental attacks against the Grimveils. Neo practically throws Ricky at Kane, who manages to catch onto him. Crush attempts to help, but a truly terrible roll causes him to lose his grip, left dangling, entangled in his rope. However, Fidget is able to properly help hold his son against Ricky, who holds Kane’s forehead against the necklace… repeating a prayer that Neo teaches him…
As Ricky does so, he enters a vision… surrounded in darkness, he sees Kane crying. Rushing to Kane’s side, Ricky sees Chao, who is tormenting the child. Ricky stands up to her, and although Chao continues to simply tease him… however, the Night Mother’s wolf companion leaps out of the darkness, and Chao disappears in a burst of black smoke, and the voice of the Nightmother warns Ricky to avoid touching Kane further, as it will draw Sovereign’s attention.
Finally, Kane is calmed… Ricky and Neo drop down into the net held by the others. Kalea fires a crossbow to help Crush get down… although he breaks a table in the process. Everyone hurries outside, finding that the Eye of Chao that had opened over the moon was closing… however, the stars are still darkened. Neo notes that his College of Stars abilities aren’t functioning without the stars in the sky… but also, he knows that Sovereign sees through the stars in a similar manner, and while the stars are darkened, there’s no chance that he would be able to find Ricky through his contact with Kane. With that, they realize there’s little more they can do than try and get some rest.
As they’re heading in, Kalea gets a letter magically delivered to her from Verrick, the Firbolg Druid. He informs her that this same phenomenon with the moon is occurring near them as well, far across the world. He also says that he is being “allowed” to send a letter, but doesn’t explain what he means by that. Ricky notices that the letter is written on the same unusual paper they had received from the other Grimveils earlier.
Ricky takes a moment to cast Identify on Kane to see if he’s still under any influence, finding that Protection from Evil and Good has been cast on him through the prayer to the Nightmother. Ricky then helps Fidget by casting Calm Emotions to help him relax and get some sleep… Crush attempts to repair the table he fell on, doing just enough to keep it from collapsing as Kalea expresses interest in doing some meditation, hoping to contact the Spirit of Water of guidance, and Crush volunteers to go with her and help… once again getting teasing from his allies.
Argus, Yurei, and Saba return to the room to check on everyone, with Yurei vaguely recognizing Neo… a well-known wanted criminal, but luckily Ricky is able to distract her while he and Neo return to Kanick’s Genie Bag. Neo explains that him and the other Night Children need to be let out somewhere outside of the Ziggurat to prepare for the ritual once Ricky acquires the tears of the Nightmother from the Lost Temple in the Ziggurat itself. Ricky steps out to find Azure comparing the letters they had received from their allies before… finding that there seems to Mithril dust on the letters. Ricky manages to find a single, barely visible strand of hair… examining it more closely, he can tell that it seems to actually be fur of some kind, silvery grey in color. Asking Kanick about it, he’s able to identify it as Wolf fur. Still unsure what this means, everyone is at least tired enough that they feel the need to get some sleep and prepare for the next day.
Ash takes some time to speak to her brother, Argus, in private… revealing that Larlock had intended Kane’s possession as a sarcastic gift in preparation for their wedding. Argus is shocked, but Ash explains she doesn’t want to talk about it openly because it might trigger Fidget’s bloodrage… but once she’s able to convince the Warlord to stabilize him, she has big plans for dealing with Larlock and Chao. As they discuss their plans, Argus admits that he was the one who invited Cornelius to the Military Ball… and actually insisted on Cornelius specifically being the one sent to represent Ortheia. Discussing the ball, Argus explains that the Warlord is a brilliant man and a great leader… but he’s also a dangerously vindictive individual when pushed. They discuss some of the drama they’ve experienced, with Ash wondering how many of Cornelius’s family knows about the Patriarch and his secret life as an assassin.
Crush and Kalea make their way out to one of the ponds outside. They note that Chao’s Eye finally closes, and the stars are beginning to light up again, and the animals in the gardens seem to have calmed down. Making their way to the Pond, the two tortles sink beneath the water and meditate… through their combined meditation, they contact the Spirit of Water. Crush asks some questions… he asks Chao’s goals, with the Spirit stating that Chao hopes to return the world to the state it was before Hearth… before Water, before Life… the Primordial Chaos that she once ruled. He also asks about the Water in the Lost Temple of the Nightmother, with the Spirit proclaiming that it is still there and it seems safe, but there are powerful beings near it, and it would not be safe to consume the tears there. He also asks what they can do to help cure Fidget… the Spirit explains that all Reavers are descended from Sirens, monsters created by Chao… that same chaos deep within them. Even the Warlord can’t truly cure Fidget… it’s only the God Sovereign who could ever truly cure him. However, items crafted by Reavers may hold a portion of the curse, and could help stabilize Fidget, if only temporarily. Kalea asks the Spirit to inform Hearth to be ready, as they’ll call on her the next day to finally face the challenge of resolving the centuries-old conflict between Sovereign and the Nightmother. With their meeting complete, both of them drift to sleep, as everyone rests for the night.
When morning comes, they find that Neo and the Night Children have managed to sneak out, and the Ziggurat seems busy in preparation for the ball… the revelers jovial, as though they believe that the conflict of the previous night is over. The Party reconvenes in the guest room they’ve been alloted, with Ricky preparing breakfast while Aylis has rejoined with his family, safe and sound… and putting breadcrumbs on everyone’s sleeping faces as a silly prank. Crush takes some time to do a few more repairs on the furniture he fell on.
As everyone enjoys the generous meal prepared by Ricky and Azure, Ash’s family need to eat quickly and head out to prepare for the day, except for Aylis. They discuss their plans for the day, realizing there’s little to do but wait for the party. Crush shares what he and Kalea learned from the Water Spirit, and Ricky admits that Jem is in town. Aylis realizes that out of the people he knows Ricky has been in a relationship with, two of them are full-on Clerics, Neo is a Priest of the Nightmother (even if he’s more of a bard, technically), and all three of them have multicolored hair. He teases Ricky for having an obvious type, and also reveals that he had seen Jem that morning… apparently he had arrived in the Ziggurat, accompanied by an armored Paladin and a purple-scaled dragonborn, which Ricky recognizes as Jem’s fiancee and Amethyst, another former orphan raised in the Starlight Children’s Home. Ricky invites Jem for lunch, since Crush is interested in seeing him again as well. As everyone starts to note that Aylis is being more playful than usual, he quickly makes excuses and leaves. Azure is able to Insight that he’s in a playful mood because he’s got some kind of secret… so Azure, Ricky, and even Kanick decide to stealthily follow him to satisfy their curiosity about what he’s up to. They find that Aylis begins to sneak out of the Ziggurat, acting suspicious and seeming to take roundabout paths before finally ducking into a Caravan Wagon. Thankfully, Ricky and Azure are hidden by Ricky’s invisibility spell… following him closer, they see that he’s meeting with Alex, the female Reaver he studies with. Alex admits that she’s going to be attending the Ball that night as well… one last formal event before she’s taken somewhere for her first Blood Rage. She also reveals that she had taken some more forbidden books, with Aylis using Eyes of the Runekeeper, a technique he learned from Ash’s Grimoire, to begin translating the text. Alex has also gathered vials of blood for some purpose, and they talk about having made a “kill count” the night before. Neither Ash or Azure can discern what, exactly, he’s up to, but they do leave Aylis alone and change to getting supplies to prepare a proper lunch later in the day.
We're playing Rise of Tiamat tonight! We had to reschedule from our usual Friday stream, and tonight's stream will still be a bit shorter than usual, but even for us that's still 3 hours. Come join us at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty tonight at 6pm PST. And, as always, read on if you need a reminder of what happened last week:
As Dahlia is being interviewed by Zariel in Granny Greenskin’s Hut, Dahlia admits there’s little she can offer Zariel, other than a willingness to oppose their mutual enemy, Tiamat. Zariel appreciates her honesty, and explains the duty she has in mind for Dahlia… Zariel shows Dahlia a stack of 5 Soul Coins, although unlike the Soul Coin she has already given Dahlia containing the soul of the Baron Whipstaff, these coins are blank. She wants Dahlia to capture the souls of Tiamat’s five Wyrmspeakers… she explains that the souls of those loyal to Tiamat in life are delivered to her in death… and sufficiently powerful souls can become Fiends in Tiamat’s army, with Zariel stating that this has already happened to Rezmir, the Black Half-Dragon Wyrmspeaker that was killed on Skyreach Castle.
Dahlia accepts the Coins, but she rejects Zariel’s offer of even greater power, much to Zariel’s disappointment. Dahlia also returns the Soul Coin containing the Baron Whipstaff’s soul, explaining that she doesn’t feel the need to carry the weight of his soul with her, which Zariel seems to understand. Dahlia also explains that, perhaps, if her friends hadn’t done so much to show how much they cared for her, she might have been willing to accept Zariel’s Power, but for now while she has no intention of becoming Zariel’s loyal servant, she wants to continue to help her. Dahlia can tell that Zariel has sacrificed everything for her mission… her divinity, her family, and apparently, her left hand. Zariel, who maintains an emotionless calm throughout this interaction, gives the slightest hint of surprise at Dahlia’s sympathetic analysis of Zariel. This momentary lapse in her cold demeanor is caught by Granny Greenskin, who begins to cackle with delight. When Zariel demands to know why she’s laughing, Granny Greenskin explains that the reason she intervened and arranged this meeting in her hut wasn’t so that Zariel could help Dahlia… it was so Dahlia could help Zariel. This seems to baffle Zariel, but she leaves Dahlia with instructions to place the coins on the eyes of the Wyrmspeakers… their souls will be absorbed into the Coin, and Waheela will come to collect. If Dahlia can deliver the soul of at least one Wyrmspeaker, Zariel will cease assisting Tiamat in her attempts to escape Avernus.
Meanwhile, on the Material Plane, the Chainbreakers see that Dahlia has vanished and go into a momentary panic as they don’t know where she went or if she’s safe. However, despite Dahlia spending enough time in the Feywild for her entire discussion with Zariel and Greenskin, for her friends it was only a few seconds. She gets to see their reaction briefly before revealing herself, much to everyone’s relief. Dahlia explains the assignment she was given by Zariel, even showing them the Soul Coins. G’houl alone knows enough stories about Soul Coins to know that to utilize them is an evil act, even if it’s used against reprehensible people like the Wyrmspeakers… to capture another creature’s soul is a deep sin in the eyes of any of the “Good” Gods. However, he keeps this information to himself, at least for now.
With Dahlia safely returned everyone returns to the Yawning Portal, realizing they need to explain to Katniss what they had learned about Varram the White and Craggnor… Antares, Katniss’s God-son, is the first to explain that these are the men who unleashed the disease the wiped out the town of Nesme, where Katniss was at first raised by her Mother. Antares struggles to explain further than that, so G’houl steps forward to explain what he had learned from Ambassador Brawnanvil… Varram and Craggnor were tasked with stopping a group of Eldreth Valuuthra who were planning some kind of assault on the Dwarven capital of the Mithril Hall. In order to stop the Elven Supremacists, the Dwarven spies chose to kill everyone in the village. This baffles Katniss, who can’t conceive of why they would release a deadly virus with such devastating collateral damage, but no one can explain why they would do something so cruel and callous. All G’houl knows is that the Virus was designed to be harmless to half-bloods as some kind of prank against the purity-obsessed Eldreth Valuuthra… meaning that Katniss, the sole Half-Elf in the village, found Themself the only survivor.
Katniss tries to distract Themself from this tragic news by playing darts. Loki, seeing the sorrow in her lover’s eyes, hurries to Katniss’s side. Holding Their hand and, against all odds, somehow helping Them to throw darts, holding Katniss’s hands and subtly shifting her shape to assist Them in landing a bullseye. Loki and Katniss retreat to the privacy of Loki’s bedroom… although Loki initially shared that bedroom with Dahlia while Katniss was away. Dahlia, meanwhile, wants to test out her modified Broom of Flying and take her mind off of things… G’houl offers to let Dusk keep her company, with the Winged Black Cat Familiar filled with a mix of excitement and fear at the thought of flying through the sky… despite having wings of his own now. After letting out some stress with her starlit flight, Dahlia returns to join G’houl in bed, the two lovers holding one another as they fall asleep after a long, stressful day… knowing the next day will be stressful as well.
When the next day comes, Antares focuses on making some extra money early in the morning, going back to the Bloody Knuckle for a quick battle. He finds himself faced against the Man-otaur… a bull with the head of a man who speaks very politely and plainly. The crowd isn’t as heavy at this time of day, so although Antares wins his payout is less than he had gotten at other times. Still, the moment of levity helps everyone to relax before they make plans to go to Castle Waterdeep in order to request an audience with the prisoner, Varram.
Making their way to the castle, they need to speak with Ambassador Brawnanvil, as Varram is technically in his custody. They find him discussing tactics with a group of advisers, but he doesn’t hesitate to speak to the Chainbreakers in private. When he learns that Katniss was from Nesme and lost everything he apologizes with the solemn sincerity of a man who once sat on the throne as King. Katniss accepts his apology, not blaming him for what happened. Especially after learning of Katniss’s history, he’s more than willing to give them permission to speak to Varram. The Wyrmspeaker is kept under tight security, and they need a letter written and signed by Brawnanvil himself to speak to him.
A Dwarven page escorts the party deep below ground, far deeper than any other dungeon in the castle. They find an isolated cell watched by two fully armored Dwarven Guards, who carefully track the names of everyone entering, and who carry an enchanted sundial that functions even deep below the earth in order to record exactly when everyone enters the cell. Inside they find a large, but extremely basic cell lit by three torches where the Wyrmspeaker is kept isolated, with nothing but the most basic of beds and a bucket in the corner to handle his business. Varram seems eager to meet his captors, sarcastically thanking them for sparing his life. He seems to enjoy the attention. While Dahlia greets him with insults and derisions, Katniss instead speaks with complete, unwavering sincerity, explaining Their history as a villager in Nesme. And although Varrram at first seems to take delight in taunting Katniss, seeing Their intense stare… not filled with hate, but actual, honest pity gives him pause, his bravado faltering as Katniss asks him to explain why he did what he did.
Varram becomes unwilling to speak face to face, turning his back on his captors as he explains very matter-of-factly exactly why he unleashed his deadly virus on the remote village. He explains that he was assigned the task of eliminating the Eldreth Valuuthra, and if he had simply murdered them it would draw further suspicion, and may have led to more direct conflict. However, by posing their assassination as a natural disaster… an untraceable virus that kills everyone in the village, not just the Elven Supremacists, he claims that they had drastically reduced the number of deaths that would have occurred, and he seems to sincerely believe his justification.
Katniss manages to maintain Their calm despite learning that Their entire village was seen as disposable by this man, but Dahlia cannot. Instead she casts Telekinesis, using it to slam Varram against the bars and angrily demand how he can use innocent people like pawns. Varram, however, calls for the guards to help, taunting Dahlia and implying she should be angry at Brawnanvil, not him, as he was simply following orders. The guards burst in, interposing themselves between Dahlia and Varram as G’houl uses Sending to contact Brawnanvil, asking him to come down to the dungeon to intervene. Varram again thanks the party for saving his life, implying that his knowledge of the cult makes him too valuable for them to simply kill, much to Dahlia’s annoyance.
Finally, Dahlia relents and storms out, just in time for Brawnanvil to arrive. He’s not happy that Dahlia lost her cool, reminding her that this was a victory for Varram… although he has no sympathy for the villain, no longer even considering him worthy of the honor of being considered a Dwarf, he knows that to give in to hatred like this only empowers him further. Although the party is still on his good side, Brawnanvil asks them to leave, and while there was some talk about them speaking to Craggnor as well, he makes it clear that this is no longer an option and they should all leave the dungeon.
With their discussion with Varram resolved, G’houl wants to investigate the surviving assassin from the group that attacked Thorn the other day, with Loki and Katniss choosing to accompany him. Dahlia, however, wishes to stay in Castle Waterdeep and check on Azbara Jos. G’houl leaves the heavily defended, below-ground dungeon and finds his way to a much more lightly defended jail headed by the City Watch. He meets with Simon Bolbec, the human City Guard who was willing to help the party, leading them to a crowded jail cell where the Goblin Wizard is kept. They know that the Goblin is a member of the Xanathars, a dangerous and unpredictable crime syndicate operating out of Waterdeep’s literal underground. When asked about why he attacked Thorn the Goblin remains tight-lipped, maintaining that he wasn’t there at all and claiming he was framed. G’houl’s attempts to reason wit him go nowhere, as he bluntly ignores the obvious logical fallacies or pretending he was framed to the very people who captured him.
That is, until Loki steps forward and threatens the Goblin Wizard with her surprisingly robust collection of short jokes. He remains tight lipped at first, but eventually relents and begs her to stop. Loki holds back for a little bit as the Goblin Wizard explains that the Xanathars learned that the Zhentarim were working with the Lord’s Alliance, and his group was sent to kill the highest ranking Zhentarim member they could track to send a message. He admits that he doesn’t expect to be rescued… if he was, the Xanathars would have done it already… or at least killed him to keep his mouth shut. He also doesn’t believe more assassins will be coming for Thorn, as the Xanathars’ message was sent. They’re mostly satisfied, but with the Goblin still insulting Thorn, Loki decides to give out a few more short jokes… much to the delight of the guards and many of the other prisoners.
Meanwhile, Dahlia and Antares head toward’s Jos’s cell… a far cry from Varram’s dark below-ground dungeon, Jos is housed in a tall tower and provided comforts. Jos is currently being visited by Delaan Winterfloe, the Tortle representative of the Emerald Enclave, who is sharing some tea with Jos as he is seeking advice from the Red Wizard. Jos is pleased to see Dahlia, who thanks him for suggesting the name “Chainbreakers”. She casts Major Image in order to show Jos her vision she had briefly seen in Diderius’s Well of Seeing. Jos instantly recognizes Severin, admitting that he never spoke directly with the leader of the Cult of Tiamat, but knows that Severin is the man behind everything, and is the Wyrmspeaker of Red… Red Dragons believed to be the most powerful and dangerous of the Chromatic Dragons. More worryingly, he recognizes Rath Modar’s voice in Dahlia’s vision… with Jos believing that, despite Modar seeming to help the Chainbreakers in Skyreach Castle, he seems to have chosen to continue assisting the Cult of Tiamat in their destructive goals.
Jos doesn’t have much more to share, as the protective magics in the castle prevent his former teacher from contacting him magically. While Dahlia and Antares are there, however, Delaan has some information to share, and is hoping for advice… after the loss of Skyreach Castle, cult attacks increased in the South Wood, attacking small forest villages of elves. According to rumor, a figure in elaborate robes was seen riding a green dragon, but there are very few who survive their attacks, and the ones that do are too far away to get a good look at their attacker. King Melandrach increased military involvement following these attacks, but has refused to investigate further… but a young Elven man named Alagarthas sought the Emerald Enclave, hoping they would take the matter more seriously. Antares instantly recognizes the name, realizing that Alagarthas is Melandrach’s own son. Dahlia, who already dislikes Melandrach, thinks he’s just ignoring problems that don’t involve High Elves, but Delaan explains its more complicated than that. He also informs Dahlia that Melandrach is very old… even older than other elves are normally capable of reaching, and he has seen much treachery from humans and other races over the years. He was King when the deception of Humans forced the Elves to leave their ancestral homelands. Dahlia isn’t impressed, as she believes he should have learned not to judge others by race in those years. Delaan can’t quite disagree with that, and although he would love to discuss further, his duties as representative of the Emerald Enclave keep him busy, but he’s at least grateful that Dahlia and Antares both share with him advice on how to deal with Melandrach, and Dahlia promises to help him as much as she can.
With their work complete for the day, the Chainbreakers gather together once again at the Yawning Portal, getting some food and drink while they share what they learned from their investigations. As they’re talking, one of Thorn’s half-orc body guards steps in and approaches them. However, he speaks in an unfamiliar voice, and he drops the illusion disguising himself… revealing a human-looking figure, albeit with dark, reddish skin, piercing blue eyes barely visible behind dark glasses, and shoulder length black hair braided into tight corn rows. He greets G’houl, clearly recognizing him, before introducing himself as Harle.
We're playing Rise of Tiamat again tonight! Come join us at our usual time, 6pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. Last week our schedule was shifted around a bit, but everything should be back to normal this week. But just in case you need a reminder, here's what happened with last week's session:
The Chainbreakers are weary about being suddenly greeted by Harle, who seems interested in learning information from them. As a test of character, Antares orders what the group has been calling “Jungle Juice”… Antares’ preferred drink of everything at the bar all poured into one tankard. Although Harle is unwilling to chug it the same way Antares does, his willingness to at least drink the concoction is enough to get Antares off his back. Harle reveals himself to be a member of the Zhentarim, and that he was originally planning to interview the same Goblin Assassin that G’houl had spoken to the other day… once he learned that the Chainbreakers had talked to him, Harle decided he should just ask the Chainbreakers directly. G’houl explains that Thorn was targeted by the Xanathars simply by virtue of her being a high-ranking Zhentarim agent whose flamboyant personality makes her easy to track… the Xanathars trying to send a message warning the Zhentarim to be careful with what they reveal, since they’re aware on some level that the Zhentarim are working with the Lords’ Alliance, but it’s not clear if they’re aware of the rest of the Council of Waterdeep.
During this conversation, they’re met in the Yawning Portal by Leosin and Deeg… Leosin is arriving after Dahlia asked him to look into the names of her suitors in her home country of Esleah. Leosin spoke to other Harper members, finding that they have records of Nephira, the Tiefling merchant has ties to disparate, low-level smuggling groups… the Harpers do not suspect that he’s an active smuggler, rather, he seems to simply be a negligent goods transporter who criminals know won’t bother to look into what they’re shipping or why. Meanwhile, Vicount Kokuma, the Loxodon military man, has a squeaky clean record, and his sister, Enya, is even a registered member of the Lords’ Alliance.
Katniss takes advantage of Dahlia stepping away in order to speak to her more privately. Katniss apologizes for being aggressive earlier at the thought of Dahlia working with Zariel… They see now that Dahlia has been taking a calculated risk, and makes clear that They will support her, rather than question her. Dahlia is grateful, and also realizes she was being a bit overly defensive… she offers to “bury the hatchet” by doing Body Shots with Katniss… something that Loki also joins in with… much to G’houl’s embarrassment. Still, the showy drinking draws a crowd, with other people taking body shots, distracting from G’houl and Harle, who start to speak in Orcish to one another.
Harle and G’houl are clearly very close, as they speak candidly in private, with the cool and detached Harle expressing concern for G’houl’s well-being. They spend some time catching up, with Antares still at the table, wondering what they’re saying in the guttural and harsh Orcish language. However, Harle is eventually contacted via Thieve’s Cant, informed that the boss wishes to speak to him. He uses the Message cantrip to get more direct information, learning that Thorn is waiting for him at the bath house (taking advantage of the free week of treatment that Loki had arranged), with Harle excusing himself… he also willingly pays back Antares the silver his drink had cost… although this leads to some confusion, as technically Antares didn’t pay anything for it, since their drinks are covered by the Writ of Intent given to them by the Council of Waterdeep.
With Harle leaving to catch up with his boss, everyone else gets some sleep, readying for the next day when Armpit will be arriving in Waterdeep along with the Nimbus, the Chainbreaker’s flying Cabin designed as an attempt to replicate the powers of a Storm Giant’s flying castle. Reconnecting with Armpit, the goblin inventor is, as always, fairly calm and unfazed by any shocking revelations. The seeds that Antares planted on the floating island have started to bloom, with Antares realizing he can use them to craft Potions of Healing. Armpit has also followed everyone’s emphatic suggestion and has installed a guard rail around the exterior of the island. Pleased with Nimbus’s improvements, the party spends their remaining free time preparing for their future journeys.
Within the Waterdeep Military Surplus, basic supplies are purchased with little trouble other than the sarcastic and openly annoyed attitude of the cashier, with Dahlia taking the time to purchase a Stone of Cleansing and two Chests of Preserving… simple comforts, the stone allowing anyone to magically wash themselves and their clothing magically in an instant, while the Chests of Preserving prevent food from rotting. However, Loki notices Antares as he struggles with the urge to steal the shiniest thing he saw on the sales floor… a collapsible Spyglass… the well-used piece of military equipment sold at a discount at 500 gp, but still rather expensive for a non-magical object. Loki takes advantage of the moment to teach Antares a lesson… don’t steal from any place you’re expecting to come back to. However, she attempts to get a discount in a different way… paying for the item slowly, one coin at a time, counting each one out slowly and loudly. This frustrates the cashier enough that he eventually stops her at around 430, saving her 70 gold as she gives the Spyglass to Antares.
G’houl and Dahlia purchase some spell scrolls, but when Dahlia asks about getting a proper bath for the Nimbus the cashier has no idea where she could go for one. Left to her own devices, she finds a furniture store called Mithanmyr’s. She makes a purchase of a simple wooden tub, as well as a water heater to provide it with hot water. Once it’s delivered to the Nimbus, everyone gathers there to discuss their plans going forward… with Dahlia taking advantage of the occasion to teach Armpit about bathing… something the socially inept Goblin has no problem doing in front of everyone, wholly unbothered being seen naked by everyone else. He conducts the bath almost like an experiment, carefully documenting the entire process. Dahlia also arranges for Leosin to visit them, hoping to learn anything they can from him. Although Leosin is flabbergasted by Armpit casually bathing in the open (since the bath was set up outdoors), Antares plays with Deeg, the two of them racing circles around the island… with Deeg at first keeping up with Antares… using his Ki to increase his speed, but soon spending the few he has and falling behind. Leosin talks politics with the others… he doesn’t know the specifics of what Dahlia learned from Delaan regarding the Green Dragon attacks in the South Wood… rather, he had heard that the problems were resolved thanks to King Melandrach increasing military activity in the South Wood. He also explains that Melandrach has a guest who seems to be incredibly important, but he’s not sure who she is. Katniss knows that Melandrach had intended to bring a Dragon allied to the Elves into the Council in hopes of translating the message being conveyed through the repeated sounds of the Draakhorn… adult dragons can easily shapeshift, taking on the forms of humanoids in order to travel without drawing attention in large cities. With Deeg tuckered out, Leosin carries him out as everyone prepares to rest, knowing that their meeting with the Council of Waterdeep will come early the next morning.
We'll be playing our homebrew campaign of Sacrament tonight at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty at our usual start time of 6pm PST. There were some technical issues at the end of our last stream, so we might be re-doing some of the stuff from the very end of our last stream, but if you want to see how everything went down at the time read ahead to see my summary:
Crush accepts a delivery of custom clothing in preparation for the ball. He tries his on to make sure it fits, although Kalea admits she’s not interested in such things, and she intends to just wear her Druid robes. This immediately draws Ash’s disapproval, who quickly writes a letter to her sister-in-law, asking for emergency assistance. Meanwhile, Ricky, Azure, and Kanick are trying to sneak away from the caravans gathered in the courtyward, where Ricky was spying on Jem, his ex-boyfriend. However, despite having the benefit of Pass Without Trace, Kanick stumbles, drawing unwanted attention… his suspicious movement getting him questioned by the guards. Kanick stumbles to come up with an excuse for what he was doing, so Ricky decides to imitate the sound of a baby crying, knowing that always draws the attention of Reavers.
Azure, who is still invisible from Ricky’s magic, carries the still-visible Ricky at lightning speed, making their way back to the room the rest of the party is waiting in. Crush, looking out, manages to spot Ricky invisibly floating as carried by Azure, and shouts in Halfling for him to stop screaming and the guards will stop chasing them. Unfortunately, Ricky replies in Halfling, which gets the guards curious about what Crush is doing. However, Azure can quickly climb the side of the building, and Crush quickly snatches Ricky to show the guards that he’s an adult man. Ricky quickly claims that the entire thing was a drill… his deception being high enough to convince them.
With everything calm, they realize they have a few minutes to prepare some food before their planned lunch with Jem. Soon they’re joined by Jem, Amethyst the purple Dragonborn (or “Amy” as she’s called), and Jem’s fiancee… a human paladin of Kelemvor with streaks of pink in his hair. Amy is excited to see Crush and Ricky again, but Jem is clearly less enthusiastic, but remains polite. They explain that Jem’s fiancee is in Tiavet because he’s been trailing a powerful undead, which he believes is a sign of greater undead activity. The specifics of his research leads everyone to realize he’s actually talking about Ash, and Crush shares with him some information, but is careful not to reveal too many specifics… Ash and Fidget have chosen to avoid this lunch, and Crush doesn’t want to reveal any of Ash’s secrets without her permission.
Their discussion is interrupted, however, as Neo suddenly bursts into the room, apparently hiding from the guards. This immediately raises suspicion on why the party is assisting someone hiding from the guards, with Crush trying to explain the Night Mother, but Ricky steps forward to take over, feeling it’s his responsibility to explain everything… telling how he first connected with the Nightmother after being abducted by his Father and forced to train with Peeter. Jem, however, is fixated on the fact that Ricky left without giving him any kind of message… and didn’t try to contact him any time sooner. This leads to an emotional confrontation between them all, with Jem stubbornly refusing to budge on his issues, until Neo comes out of the Genie Bag to see what’s happening. He sees how the argument is proceeding, but speaks more bluntly… he recognizes Jem from the visions he saw of Ricky’s past… calling out Jem for projecting his own insecurities on Ricky and being needlessly stubborn, and out of frustration Jem slaps him.
The two begin bickering until Ricky steps in, trying to calm them down. Jem seems ready to leave, but before he does, Crush gives him a gift… a carving of Duncan, showing Duncan kneeling and reaching out a hand in support… an image Jem may remember from when he was rescued by Duncan as a child. This breaks through Jem’s rough exterior… Ricky apologizes for everything that happened and Jem realizes how unreasonable he’s been. Still, Jem is having a hard time giving up his decade of anger at Ricky, with Crush commenting that he knows Jem has experienced worse than most folks, but also notes that everyone there has… stating that they’re all just broken pieces, trying to find other pieces to fit together and complete themselves. This seems to really connect with Jem, who opens up more and apologizes for everything.
Once the awkwardness is complete, everyone finally relaxes and talks more openly. The talk shifts to the Depraved Gloom, which Jem’s Fiancee has also been tracking. Jem also reveals something new they had learned… when Jem was a young man, he was abducted by an Oni who impersonated his father and used him to lure children into the woods. The Oni was thought to just be a standard child-murdering demon… but in truth, they’ve learned that he was an agent of the Depraved Gloom. The children lured away weren’t all devoured… instead, the Depraved Gloom were converting them into hags, and those that couldn’t be transformed were given to the Oni as food. Realizing the reach of the Depraved Gloom is even deeper and more sinister than they already knew, they resolve to do everything they can to help one another. Crush gives Jem a hug, trying to let him feel Crash’s life force, but he can’t really pull it off. Crash speaks to him, telling him to just let Jem know that the hug was from her. Jem is shocked to realize that Crash is still there… with Crush admitting he didn’t know how to speak to her until recently. Crush apologizes for what he did… knowing that when he killed Crash was when everything went wrong… for him, for Ricky and for Jem. As Crush is apologizing, Jem let’s him know that he forgives him, and Crush can’t help but hug Jem tightly in response. He also takes the time to hug Amy while Ricky tells Jem that, after everything that went down, all he wanted for Jem was for him to find someone who could keep him safe and make him happy, and he gives his blessing for their union… although he does request that they keep Neo’s presence a secret.
With their visitors leaving, there’s nothing to do but prepare for the Ball. Everyone gets dressed for the occasion… Crush wears quite literally Bowser’s white suit from Mario Odyssey, while Azure puts on a flowy silk outfit with loose fitting pants that look a bit like a dress while letting her move more freely. Ash has an elegant black dress with red accents that clings tightly to her figure, while Ricky uses his Glamoured Studded Leather Armor to conjure a purple outfit with flowing sleeves and large boots. They make their way to the ball, where they reconnect with their allies… even Neo attends, although he uses illusory magic to disguise himself. They also see Alex there with her father… although Aylis is nowhere to be seen. Ash questions Alex about Aylis, and while she claims to not know, Ash’s insight is enough to tell that she’s not sharing the whole truth. Still, Ash does little but tease Alex by making it clear she knows the young Reaver is lying.
With the ball underway, Crush invites Kalea onto the dance floor… partly to bond with her, but mostly hoping to get a better view of the ballroom. He takes a long look at the Warlord, who is surrounded by visitors… a long waiting list in place for those hoping to speak to him. Crush can surmise that the Warlord doesn’t seem enthusiastic to be there… it seems his presence is purely out of obligation, and he occasionally gets annoyed with those speaking to him… but he does calm when spoken to by Argus, but especially when Lady Betheah of Seamont speaks to him.
Everyone steps out to dance, although Neo needs to slip away, leaving Ricky alone to watch over Kane. As the ball continues, Aylis arrives as well, inviting Alex out onto the dance floor (at Ricky’s insistence). As everyone is bonding on the dance floor, the music suddenly comes to a stop as two figures enter… Cornelius and his wife Missy… the daughter of the man who killed Ash’s family. They’re carrying a bundle, which a close examination reveals to be their daughter. Aylis marches after him as Cornelius approaches the Warlord… suddenly grabbing Cornelius and punching him in the face. In the commotion, Crush hurries to Ricky… he takes Kane, telling Ricky in halfling that this is the distraction they need for Ricky to make his way to the top of the Ziggurat. Ricky quickly dashes through the crowd as the confrontation with Cornelius continues.
As Cornelius is reeling from the sudden attack, Argus stands up to speak to Cornelius. He states that, if it wasn’t for his position as adviser to the Warlord, he would punch Cornelius himself. He explains what they had learned about Missy’s father… the fact that he had killed Argus’s family. That if Cornelius had married Ash when she was still Promethea she wouldn’t have been killed that night. That Missy’s father was in Tiavet, stalking children and plotting murder… something that shocks Missy, who claims to know nothing of this. Cornelius gives excuses, until eventually Ash steps forward out of the crowd.
Ash’s sudden appearance shocks Missy so much she passes out, nearly dropping her infant daughter. Cornelius is baffled, assuming her to be an illusion, he attempts to dispel her, only for Ash to mock him for it. Lighting her cigarette held in a long, thin holder, she blows smoke in his face… calling him a coward for how he was with their relationship, never standing up for her, and after Ash’s death he married Missy almost immediately. Ash warns the things that his father-in-law did could be considered an act of War against Tiavet. Cornelius claims he can’t make that decision, but Ash tells him, as the High Mage of Ortheia, he has some influence, with Fidget teasing him. Cornelius is annoyed, wanting to know who this is inserting himself into their conversation, with Ash teasing him and asking why he thinks he’s the only one who can move on as she introduces Fidget as her husband.
Last night we had some technical difficulties, with the DM losing internet connection in her area thanks to conditions that were completely out of our control. As a result, we'll be playing a short session tonight to make up for lost time, so come join us at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty tonight at 6pm PST for more of our homebew campaign of Sacrament! And just in case you weren't able to join us last night, here's the (admittedly short) summary of what happened last time:
Ash is confronting her former fiancee, Cornelius, in the Reaver Military Ball. She demands that Cornelius needs to make up for what his wife’s father did, as he’s the man who killed Ash and her parents. She also reveals that she’s married to Fidget, much to Cornelius’s shock and dismay. Ricky notices that his cousin, Misty, and Uncle Henri are in the crowd watching… even his mother, Elizabeth, enters… and while normally her entrance is the center of attention, all eyes are still on Ash and Cornelius. He refers to her as Promethea, but she makes it clear that she goes by Ash now.
The Warlord, after the drama slows, stands up to address the crowd. He makes clear that he doesn’t condone the actions seen before him. This ball is meant not only as a gathering for active military, but as a memorial for those lost in combat. Just as he’s beginning to give a speech, the Ziggurat is suddenly rocked by explosions. Looking out of a window, Crush sees that his vision is coming true… the Eye of Chao has taken over the moon once again, the stars beginning to dim as a literal wave of undead is flowing over the walls of the city. As Crush shouts that they’re under attack, several of the party goers stand up, illusions disappearing as they reveal their true forms… a mixture of Depraved Gloom assassins, Larlock’s necromancer, the mutated Brutes, fire elementals and even flaming skeletons. Ricky hesitates, but realizes this is the best chance he’ll get to reach the temple… especially since the Ziggurat itself is being attacked, and the temple risks being lost forever. He runs out, trusting his allies and the military members to remain safe as he makes his way to the temple.
Crush, who was watching Baby Kane, gives Kane to Professor Fletcher before rushing forward to Kill a mummy and throw a chair at a necromancer. Azure summons her full astral self, using it to inflict Necrotic damage against a brute while Ash casts Blight to destroy it. Elizabeth sees that Ricky has run off, and uses her own bardic skills to allow the Grimveils to hurry into the hallway and help Ricky in his mission. However, they’re slowed down when they see that a group of Reavers have set up a barricade in the hallway, with strict orders not to let any Non-Reavers past… while Ricky attempts to remain hidden, Crush willingly runs staight toward the Reaver guards, intent on becoming a distraction to let his allies continue toward the Lost Temple.
The Crits for Breakfast schedule is shifting a bit... going forward, Rise of Tiamat will be streaming on Fridays instead of Sunday, since it's more convenient for the players involved.
That said, we'll be streaming tonight at 7pm PST, as always, at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. The Party has begun to delve into the haunted halls of the Tomb of the great wizard, Diderius. Read on to see what you may have missed from last week's session, or perhaps just give yourself a reminder to make sure you're up to date...
Dahlia attempts to reason with the Lizardfolk, but starts to realize that they don’t seem to fully understand her kindness and empathy. Instead she convinces Loki to cast Purify Food and Drink on the body of the Lizardfolk’s dead Yuan-Ti Master... making the normally venomous creature safe for the Lizardfolk to eat, since Dahlia knows from experience that Lizardfolk have no qualms about eating other humanoids... or even other Lizardfolk. With this gift the Lizardfolk seem more willing to speak, especially one particular Lizardfolk who clearly has more brands on his scales than any of the others... he introduces himself as Hammertail, explaining that he’s the only member of this particular troupe of lizardfolk who wasn’t hatched and raised as a slave... rather, the Yuan-Ti used their charm magic to force him to steal his tribe’s eggs and deliver them to the Yuan-Ti before becoming a slave himself. He’s able to reveal that the Lizardfolk aren’t told much specific information, but there is a rumor amongst the Lizardfolk of a “Short Beard Man” being held somewhere, which the party assumes to be Varram. He also recognizes the tomb of Diderius, referring to it as “The House of Speaking Statues,” and he knows that the tomb is held by the Yuan-Ti and that Lizardfolk regularly deliver humanoids to be sacrificed there, but he doesn’t know what for. The Party gets the idea to have Dahlia with her Hat of Disquise and Loki with her Changeling powers make themselves look like Yuan-Ti and deliver the other two party members to the Yuan-Ti in the tomb, with HammerTail also explaining that the Yuan-Ti have no need of restraints, as their victims are hypnotized to enter follow willingly. He also reveals that the Lizardfolk do not actually know the names of any of “The Masters”, as the only thing they need to know is to obey them without question. The Lizardfolk guide the party toward Diderius’s Tomb, which is past the ruins of a lost civilization that once lived near his home.
As they travel G’houl is contacted magically by Taern “Thunderspells” Hornblade, the Wizard Councilmember that G’houl had requested information from regarding Diderius. Thunderspells is able to reveal that, upon his death, Diderius was mummified and is now considered a Mummy Lord, something that G’houl knows enough about to know it would make Diderius a truly deadly threat, so powerful that his very presence corrupts his tomb and the land around it. Fortunately, Thunderspells also reveals that Diderius is known to be harmless to anyone who enters his tomb with respect and does not attempt to steal anything... much to Loki’s chagrin. As they arrive HammerTail also explains that Lizardfolk don’t normally enter the tomb themselves... rather, any innocents they deliver are simply taken by the Yuan-Ti themselves. Knowing that, Dahlia asks HammerTail to watch their horses (and not eat them). HammerTail isn’t happy with this, but G’houl mentions that a common effect of a Mummy Lord’s tomb is that any food brought inside instantly rots, so the party offers the Lizardfolk their rations, since they can’t safely take them inside anyway. This seems to satisfy the Lizardfolk, who agree to keep an eye on the outside of the tomb for now.
As the party approaches the tomb they encounter an ancient pair of stone statues that animate magically, offering access to Diderius’s Wisdom or Knowledge, with Dahlia speaking respectfully and requesting Knowledge, with the statues de-animating and allowing them to enter without obstruction. Inside, they find the first room filled with gold and treasures... however, upon closer inspection they realize that it’s all an illusion, and the room was stripped of its true treasures long ago. They also notice that the Mummy Lord’s power has had another shocking effect... G’houl’s familar, the black cat Dusk, has suddenly grown wings. They seem to be completely functional, and although Dusk seems just as surprised as the others, he otherwise seems unharmed. Moving into the next room, a booming voice warns them not to look into “The Darkness”, which they surmise refers to the large statues of robed figures, whose faces are obscured by dark shadows. However, they also notice that the remains of several well-armed skeletons are scattered across the ground, and close inspection reveals that the shattered pieces are very, very slowly reconstructing themselves. Moving along to the next room, the guiding voice gives them no warning as a large Mosaic depicting a knight battling a Chimera begins to animate, a Chimera made of Mosaic Tiles attacking the party.
The Party refrains from dipping too much into their Spell Slots in fighting the Chimera, while Antares’ wild-magic causes Morning Glories to sprout in his hair and he releases a defensive aura to increase his AC as well as the AC of his party. The Chimera is basically two-dimensional, able to turn its thin side toward opponents in an attempt to avoid damage, but Antares’ attacks are too precise. Dahlia regrets damaging a literal piece of art, but still ultimately blasts it with a Ray of Frost, sending the pieces scattering... although she is somewhat pleased to realize that the mosaic, like the skeletons in the previous room, seems to be slowly reconstructing itself. With the threat defeated the party notices two things... a large double golden door with a relief of figures bowing to Diderius in front of a mystical pool that is bulging outward, which G’houl surmises most likely has some kind of stone trap on the other side that makes it too dangerous to open. The Party sees a smaller door that also has a relief of a pool on it (albet without the figures) but more suspiciously, written in chalk by the door is the word “SAFE” written in common. G’houl knows enough about Yuan-Ti to know that they primarily speak Abyssal, and are unlikely to write messages in Common. There is also a long, thin hallway moving downard. As they debate what to investigate first, Antares drinks one of the potions he infused with his Wild Magic... the chaotic magic causing a strange creature to suddenly appear next to him... a floating, jellyfish-like creature with two long eyestalks and dangling tentacles which speaks telepathically to the goup... friendly Flumph. Dahlia in particular is instantly smitten with the creature, who seems happy for the attention and who incessantly asks questions. Dahlia asks for its name, and it claims to not have one, but when Dahlia suggests the name “Mr. Flumph” he happily accepts the name. Mr. Flumph keeps asking more questions as they discuss what to do next, and just as they decide to investigate the hallway first, Dahlia asks Mr. Flumph if he’s willing to travel with them, which he seems happy to do. However, just as they finally decide what to do next, Mr. Flumph fades out of existance. Dahlia begins to wail and mourn the apparent “death” of Mr. Flumph... with Antares admitting he doesn’t know if Mr. Flumph literally only existed for the ten minutes he was with them, or if he was teleported there from somewhere else. Still mourning the loss of Mr. Flumph, they proceed with their plan to search the hallway.
Looking down the hallway, they notice a small seam in the wall, and rather than risk triggering any traps Antares throws a javelin at the seam, revealing that it’s some kind of door. G’houl sends Dusk to investigate, discovering that it appears to be some kind of dumbwaiter leading down lower, but they don’t want to put Dusk in danger by sending him to investigate where it leads. Instead, the party decides to investigate the room labeled “Safe”. Inside, they find a deep well, with large, blood-red mushrooms growing in the room. They also notice that bedrolls and other camping supplies have been left abandoned in the room. As G’houl and Dahlia investigate the bedrolls Antares notes that the mushrooms are known as “Livershrooms”... an edible mushroom that tastes shockingly like raw liver. As Antares pockets some of them G’houl finds a small wooden talisman with the symbol of Tiamat on it carelessly left in one of the bedrolls. With this confirmation that the Tiamat cultists were indeed here, the Party decides to continue deeper into the tomb, heading toward the downward sloping hallway.
The Party investigates the hallway carefully, looking for any signs of a trap... unfortunately, they don’t do a particularly good job, and as they step through the hallway Dahlia steps on a pressure plate deep into the hallway. As she does the sound of a large stone shifting comes from the top of the slope... and as the Party looks up they see a large mass of armed skeletal figures with bones interlocked with one another, forming a sort of boulder of bones that starts rolling toward the party... as it rolls down the grasping hands of the skeletons try to grab at the Party members, but fortunately they all manage to avoid the worst of the rolling bones before it slams against a wall at the bottom of the slope, exploding into pieces that de-animate and start to slowly vanish magically. Continuing further inside the party is once again greeted by the booming voice, telling them to “proffer humility in the manner of Mystril”, which G’houl remembers is a Goddess of Magic who, according to some legends, died and was reborn as the current Goddess off Magic, Mystra. He does know that ta common symbol of Mystril involves holding one’s hand above their head while lowering their head in submission. The room is filled with tapestries depicing Diderius bestowing knowledge, and with Sarcophogi built into the walls. A large double door with a relief of Diderius sitting on a throne surrounded by worshippers offering him gifts is seen on one end, while a much simpler door leads elsewhere. Antares curiously checks the simpler doorway, and realizes that he can hear a woman crying on the other side. There’s some concern that this is a trap of some kind, but the Party also realizes there’s a chance that this an innnocent woman captured by the Yuan-Ti, and they can’t afford to not investigate.
Entering the room (and performing the symbol of Mystril, just in case), they find that a female ghost is wailing in sorrow in what appears to have once been a great library... but the bookcases have been ransacked, the dusty shelves left empty. Dahlia approaches the ghost carefully, treating her with respect as the ghost warns them not to steal from Diderius’s library... which Dahlia of course promises not to... although the fact that the library is empty makes the promise easy to keep. The Ghost introduces herself as Ilda, a student of Diderius who was once framed for stealing from his library, and now seeks to redeem herself by protecting his library. Dahlia attempts to soothe the lost soul, but despite her kind words and promises that Ilda has no reason to feel guilty, she realizes that a ghost may be incapable of forgiving themselves no matter how much they’re soothed and given care by others... surmising that, perhaps, if at least one book is returned that may relieve Ilda of her curse. As thanks for Dahlia’s attempt to help, Ilda does share information... she knows that Diderius’s magic pool requires a sacrifice to be used. Diderius himself rarely employed the pool, as his divination skills were so great even without it that he didn’t normally need to, and in his lifetime the pool asked for nothing but gifts and trinkets. However, the more the pool is used the greater a sacrifice it requires, and she knows that the Yuan-Ti have been using it recklessly for years, and now the pool demands the life of a humanoid to grant its knowledge. She also warns not to look into the pool, as its secrets can drive one mad. With the Party promising to return any books they find, they continue further past the doorway depicting Diderius on his throne.
Entering the throne room, they’re surprised to see a tall, muscular bearded man in a majestic robe. However, on closer inspection they realize he’s made of stone, and is simply painted to resemble a real person. The statue speaks, demanding tribute of any who seek the knowledge of Diderius. Looking at the statue’s feet, the Party can see that a pile of treasure has been set before him... however, the treasure itself is mostly copper coins, simple pottery, and other seemingly worthless trinkets. G’houl knows form what he learned about Diderius in the past was that Diderius cared more about adoration than riches, and as long as they don’t offer literal garbage they’ll be allowed to continue unharmed. Dahlia and G’houl both place copper coins on the pile, while Antares gives one of his wild-magic infused potions. Loki, however, hesitates... the sight of coins is already difficult for her to resist, and the thought of leaving her own money behind is too upsetting for her, so instead she reaches into her bag of holding, pulling out a bottle of wine which, thankfully, the bag of holding has prevented from spoiling. She pours out a small amount into a cheap glass she happened to be carrying... and while this seems to satisfy the statue, the more pressing issue is a voice emanating from her bag asking to be released and promising power. Those who had held Rezmir’s enchanted blade, Hazirawn, recognize the voice as belonging to the intelligent sword... the power of Diderius’s magic allowing Hazirawn to speak audibly, instead of just into the mind of anyone holding it. However, his offer is ignored and Loki simply tightens her bag shut to silence the speaking sword.
Continuing further, the party approaches another door, with Antares listening and realizing he can hear voices on the other side, although he doesn’t recognize the language. Luckily, Dahlia and Loki both recognize it as Infernal, and they hear gruff voices complaining about “the boss” and how long he’s gone. Choosing to drop her disguise as a Yuan-Ti, Dahlia enters as her true self to find a group of Bearded Devils drinking from a large barrel full of a stinking yellow liquid. The Bearded Devils are surprisingly jovial and happy to chat. Casually revealing that they were ordered to “watch the room”, laughingly asking if Dahlia intends to hurt the room itself. They also encourage the party to investigate the nearby room, telling them it’s filled with treasure, while a second doorway leads further into the tomb. When the Party asks for more information the Bearded Devils seem happy to share what they know... in exchange for payment. Tiara offers them some Platinum, but they state that coins have no value in the 9 Hells and ask for diamonds or other riches. To everyone’s surprise, Loki steps forward and offers a large ruby, which satisfies the Bearded Devils.
Once taking the ruby, the Bearded Devils explain that they’re here to accompany Varram, and were ordered to do so by Zariel, Archduchess of Avernus. Long ago, Tiamat was trapped in Avernus by the other Gods... and according to the Bearded Devils, Tiamat is annoying and Zariel simply wants her out of Avernus... and if the cultists succeed, Tiamat will be sent to the Material Plane instead. Dahlia is intrigued by this, believing that Zariel may be a potential ally against Tiamat, thanking the Bearded Devils for their information as they proceed to the door leading further into the tomb... however, just as they’re opening the door the Bearded Devils laughingly reach for their weapons and admit that there was an additional order they had been given... kill anyone who goes through that door.
The Bearded Devils attack, using large glaives made from the spinal cords of an unknown creature that release infernal energy to inflict deadly bleeds, as well as their spined beards which poison their enemies. Loki is injured, as she had taken the most damage in the fight against the mosaic Chimera and hasn’t taken the time to heal herself yet. Antares foregoes some of his attacks to grapple and push the Devils in order to protect Loki. G’houl, meanwhile, conjures a shadow blade that takes the form of a serrated black longsword as well as casting Mirror Image to protect himself. Loki tries to heal herself with another of Antares’ wild-magic-infused potions, which causes her to float. She begins to use her newly acquired power of flight to float out of range of the Bearded Devils... only to remember that she’s been wearing slippers of Spider Climb this whole time and simply walks up the wall instead. Dahlia realizes that the liquid the Devils were drinking was some kind of urine, and she tries to mock them for that. Antares ends up defeating most of the devils, although G’houl manages to land a critical hit with his Shadow Blade, the psychic damage causing blood to spill from the Devil’s eyes and ears as he burns up and gets pulled down into the 9 Hells. Loki realizes that this means if they kill the Bearded Devil she gave the Ruby to, then he’ll take the ruby with him to Hell. The Party agrees to hold off on defeating him until Loki recovers her Ruby, with Antares once again grappling this last Devil. As the Bearded Devil tries to fight him off, Antares teases him by giving the Bearded Devil a quick kiss, stunning him with shock, which gives Loki an opening to snatch back her ruby. Once she has it, Antares finishes him off, body slamming the Bearded Devil into the ground to pile drive him directly to hell. As the Bearded Devil gets pulled to the 9 Hells Dahlia quickly shouts a request to him... she wants him to contact Zariel and ask for an alliance to oppose Tiamat. The Bearded Devil laughs eagerly at her request, although he doesn’t confirm anything. With the Devils defeated, Antares reveals one of his special skills... using his Bolstering Magic to help everyone else in the party recover spell slots as they prepare to continue their journey into the tomb.
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We'll be going live with our homebrew campaign, Sacrament, tonight at 7pm PST at our home at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. Last week's session was action packed, and if you need a reminder of what happened, read on:
As the party is getting ready to finally confront the Ancient Reaver, Ash tries to persuade Facein, the Tiavet Dragon, to protect Elizabeth… but in doing so, she realizes she’s plagued with Chao’s Curse as a Black Mantle appears and latches onto her face… luckily her necrotic nature harms the creature, and Crush is able to simply grapple it off of her and smash it in his hands. They realize this is going to complicate things, as the Ancient Reaver is outside looking for them, and seems unwilling to wait for combat. Crush in particular is impatient to face off against him, but Kanec warns that it wouldn’t be safe to fight him outside of the concert hall… instead, he noticed some construction happening nearby, and directs everyone to head in that direction instead. Ash asks Fidget to find her brother, Aylis, to assist in the battle… although in truth, she was using it to keep his armor away, as it’s empowered by the female Reaver, Azmira.
On the way out, however, Ricky realizes that he’s affected with Chao’s Curse when he tries to peek out of a window and instead a group of foot long centipedes appear, and although they’re not difficult to defeat, the commotion does draw the Ancient Reaver’s attention. Crush is able to briefly intimidate him, challenging his pride to meet them in a different location, which gives them 10 seconds to reach their location. Luckily Crush and Azure are both faster than the average person, and the other Grimveils are riding in Kanec’s Genie Bag. The Ancient Reaver quickly closes the distance just as the Grimveils arrive in the construction site, facing off against him in the backyard of a half-built home. The Ancient Reaver is massive, a high level Battlemaster with multiple magic weapons. He strikes with devastating force, easily overcoming the armor of the Grimveils using a flaming sword, although Crush is touched by Fate and resistant to fire. Ash and Ricky, however, draw his ire most intensely, with Ash tearing through his health with a Finger of Death, which disables his natural Reaver healing with its necrotic damage. Seeing this, Azure focuses her Astral Arms on dealing Necrotic Damage, unleashing blows to slow his healing while Ricky uses Synaptic Static to reduce his ability to hit… although the loss of accuracy doesn’t do anything against a critical hit that knocks Azure low in health. Luckily, Crush’s Sentinel Feat helps him to dish out additional damage, that keeps the Ancient Reaver from attacking Ricky and Ash. He nearly knocks Azure unconscious, but Ricky sees him growing weak and hits him with Power Word: Stun, freezing him in place, leaving him helpless against the Grimveils… including Fidget, who returns with Aylis. Unfortunately, as Fidget attacks, the armor Azmira suddenly leaps off of his body and attaches to the Ancient Reaver… much to the rage of the Grimveils, especially Ash and Crush. Azmira attempts to use her power to escape, proclaiming she refuses to ally with “traitors”, and hopes to work with the Ancient Reaver. However, Crush’s Sentinel Feat keeps her pinned in place, leaving her weakened for Ricky to cast Synaptic Static once again, knocking him unconscious.
With the Ancient Reaver defeated, Azmira shifts her shape, sliding under his armor to hide. Still enraged, Crush begins to tear off his armor to chase her, but can’t find the fleeing armor, with Azure asking him to avoid damaging anything he’s carrying, in case it proves valuable. Crush begrudgingly agrees, and as Ricky tries to search for Azmira, Chao’s Curse activates again, and a demon is conjured. Fortunately the Grimveils are in healthy enough condition thanks to Ricky’s efforts to weaken the Ancient Reaver that they’re able to defeat the demon, allowing them to notice that the Ancient Reaver has begun to heal already… they realize there is a time limit before he wakes up and must be dealt with. Crush considers cutting his head off, but hesitates at the thought of executing an unconscious man… but Ricky and Ash both want to try to use their Snake to Gold technique… although Ricky only has enough spell slots to cast it once. Ash investigates the unconscious figure to discover several magic items, while Crush takes the Ancient Reavers blades… one that erupts into flame and deals additional damage, the other glowing brightly, dealing Radiant Damage and healing the user. He readies the Radiant Sword, realizing that the weapon is sentient, encouraging him to kill others and steal their essence.
As the Ancient Reaver awakens he looks surprisingly healthy for just being knocked unconscious, only to be transformed into a harmless garter snake, captured by Crush and held out into a straight wand-like shape for Ash to turn into a golden snake… which includes Azmira, who he was wearing as armor. With the foe defeated, Neo and Kalea arrive as well, with Ricky gifting the golden snake to Neo… knowing that the Ancient Reaver killed Neo’s family. Azure examines Fidget… his Blood Rage had been held at bay by Azmira for some time, but now without her he’s unstable and at risk of losing his mind… the only thing they can hope is to keep him calm until they can meet with the Reaver Warlord… the only man who can stabilize a Turned Reaver.
Once things are calmed, everyone heads into the nearby building under construction to examine their loot. The first thing to be checked are the swords that Crush took, which are indeed powerful… but are also cursed, with their mad rambling capable of changing the personality of anyone who wields them for any period of time. Crush is disappointed, as he was excited to try out the new weapons… but more importantly, they realize that two bags that the Ancient Reaver was carrying were both Genie Bags. Ash, Fidget, Neo and Aylis enter one, while Ricky, Kanec, and Kalea enter another… Crush and Azure remain outside, just in case.
Inside the bag Ricky entered, he finds the Ancient Reaver’s home… the walls are painted with imagery of his life, focused on his conquests in battle, depicting him as the equal to the Reaver God, Sovereign. His home is truly lavish… complete with a massive bath, a fully stocked kitchen that magically replenishes itself (although any food created is poisonous, as Reavers are immune to poison and consider it simply flavoring). Looking deeper inside, they find to their worry an infant’s high seat tucked into the back of his kitchen… examining closer, it seems it hasnt’ been used in years. Kalea even finds a dusty nursery… despite most Reavers having an intense paternal instinct, there are signs that the Ancient Reaver was a cruel, uncaring father. Kanec is able to recall stories of the Ancient Reaver… knowing that he has a reputation for any woman he impregnates dying by giving birth… and also that he only does the minimum to raise his children until they reach their Blood Rage, one in particular being deliberately released on an innocent festival during their first Blood Rage, when Reavers are perhaps their most deadly.
Looking further, Ricky discovers the Ancient Reavers bedroom, which has rather explicit carvings on his four post bed. They also discover a human-sized cage placed in the corner, with the scent of stale blood clinging to it… Ricky and Kanec can’t help but remember that they first heard of the Ancient Reaver when he was on his way to purchase slaves.
Leaving the bedroom, they check the final room in the Genie Bag, discovering a massive safe. Ricky uses his Gloves of Thievery to help him pick the lock, opening it up to discover his trophy room. It seems innocuous at first… a massive room filled with gold, trinkets, and mannequins dressed in strange clothing… but closer investigation reveals them to be treasures taken from those he killed… including a half-shattered statue of the Nightmother, which produces mystical tears that he treated as simply a good luck fountain, tossing coins into it. Ricky wants to investigate further, hoping to find evidence of Neo’s family, but as he’s looking closely suddenly a pile of coins lashes out to grab him, revealing the piles is actually a mimic…
Meanwhile, in the other Genie Bag, Ash, Fidget, Ayles and Neo find a truly massive pile of coins. Loaded into neat stacks, a small castle made of stacked platinum coins. This helps to calm Fidget, but Ash looks deeper and finds a long tunnel. Following it deeper, she realizes it leads to a large double door that radiates magic energy… the symbols on the door looking shockingly similar to the symbols used from the teleportation ritual that had transported Gilly and the other group of Grimveils somewhere far to the North.
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Crits for Breakfast is having a surprise Thursday Night game! Last night's session ended a bit awkwardly... a very dramatic event occured but one of our players was experiencing technical difficulties with her ISP, so the session ended at an unusual space. We'll be streaming a short session (at most, 2 hours) tonight at 7pm PST on twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. If you missed last night's game, or if you just want to know what happened, read on:
After defeating the Ancient Reaver the Grimveils are exploring his massive Genie Bags, and while Ash and Fidget have discovered a teleporter, Ricky and Kanec discover a massive pile of coins… although some of the coins reveal themselves to actually be a mimic. When Kanec swats it with his sword, some of the coins scatter and vanish, revealing it to be another creature conjured by Chao’s Curse. Ricky responds by casting his first 9 level spell, True Polymorph, transforming the mimic into a three-tier galaxy cake. Kanec is shocked, wondering if it’s safe to eat the cake… whether it’s morally incorrect, or if damaging the cake will revert it back into a mimic. Kanec carefully slices the cake with his sword… revealing a chocolate and raspberry filling. Fortunately it seems to have properly transformed into a real cake and doesn’t revert to its mimic form after being destroyed.
Kanec delivers the cake to Crush and Azure, who are waiting outside of the Genie Bag. Ricky explains how he created the cake, and although there is some hesitation to eat a cake made from a mimic, but ultimately its too tempting and everyone decides to just eat it while they discuss what’s to be done next… especially because there’s some concern that the Ancient Reaver’s Curse might conflict with the curse that is part of their cursed nature. Ash and Fidget come out and decide to have some cake as well, although Ash’s very presence causes the cake to start to rot, and the party starts to notice that Ash herself has started to produce a sickly sweet smell. Ricky decides to try and take the rotting cake and use it as a base for a liquor, and when he asks Ash to help make it ferment faster… however, doing so produces a truly terrible funk… when Ricky investigates his drink further, he realizes that a piece of dead flesh has fallen into his brew. Ash seeks some privacy, dropping the Disguise Self she keeps up constantly, discovering that her skin has begun to fully rot. Flesh sliding off of her body, exposing her bones. Her Revenant nature is reaching its limits… Ash will rot to nothing soon, and if her body fails her soul will be absorbed into Larlock’s Phylactory.
Crush, Azure, Ricky, and Aylis discuss what can be done to save Ash. They know that a Merc might be able to disconnect Ash’s heart, giving them an opportunity to resurrect Ash properly… although Aylis worries that Larlock may have planned for this and is completely unpredictable. He’s an ancient being whose had millenia to prepare. Ash, meanwhile, returns to the cake… reaching in and pulling out her rings that slid off along with her flesh. She wears the wedding ring from Fidget, and gives the engagement ring from Larlock to Aylis, telling him to return it to Larlock if she can’t… and as aggressively as possible. The party decides to return to Kanec’s House, as Ricky had cast Private Sanctum earlier, and it can provide them secrecy from Larlock to enact their plan.
Heading outside, they spot the wagon that the Ancient Reaver had destroyed, with Crush placing 10 platinum on the wreckage as payment, since he feels a bit responsible for the damage… but once his back is turned Ricky uses Mage Hand to take 9 of the platinum for himself. They flag down a wagon to take as a taxi back to Kanec’s house. The taxi driver is friendly, chatting about the history of the Capital, and also revealing that the destroyed wagon belonged to his brother. Ricky feels a bit guilty for taking the money that Crush had tried to leave (which, in all likelihood, would have been stolen from someone else) and uses sleight of hand to sneak it into the driver’s pocket. They also realize that the light posts are set up with enchantments that summon taxis for travel… a feature that’s been present this entire time, but no one has looked at the light posts more closely.
Once back in Kanec’s house they discuss their plan to help Ash. While Ash isn’t necessarily opposed, she’s concerned that this could draw attention from Larlock, and she also knows that there’s some value she has as a way to entice their opponents into the open. However, Crush reminds her that this is a moot point if she deteriorates completely before then. Aylis guesses that, at best, she could last a few months, but he isn’t sure if she’ll be able to survive even a few days. Ash excuses herself to examine her own body, trying to discern just how much time her body has left… the phylactery in her heart glowing, but the rest of her body rotting, as if making up for all the time she had been magically preserved by Larlock’s magic. She realizes that her magic, that once drew on Larlock for power, is now pulling from her own body. If she doesn’t cast a single spell, she might survive a little over a week. The decision is made that there’s basically no choice… she must have her soul freed from Larlock’s phylactery, then have her body resurrected with the scarf of True Resurrection they had received from the Goddess Amor. As they come to this decision, Ricky has written a letter to the Merc that Ash had once sold a Hag’s Witch Stone to. Ash takes him aside and asks him for something very specific… she wants to speak to the Original Merc, who had once been placed under a similar curse… and whose treatment resulted in the creation of the mystical family of Mercs. He hesitates, but Ricky steps up to help convince him… promising that the reward will be worth the effort. He’s hesitant, but Ricky’s Persuasion skills are quite powerful, and convince him to beseech the Original Merc. He leaves, not able to guarantee anything, but still willing to help.
As the other party members wonder what happened, the light grows dark, the lights in the room flaring up… a figure appears. Taller than the other Mercs, with a stern, impatient voice that seems to have other voices echoing distantly when he speaks. His eyes glowing pure white as he speaks… recognizing the curse on Ash’s form… it’s similar to the ritual that was once performed on him, an attempt to turn him into a living god under the control of the Hags performing the ritual. The ritual was incomplete, and although he now has truly awesome power, he’s lost connection to his own Gods, and reveals that he was once a Djinn known as the “Jack of All Trades”, who now cares for nothing else in the world except for the wealth and well-being of his family. Ash asks him to help her… she wants to be able to control the power, but the Original Merc warns there’s no way to accomplish this without killing her, although he suspects she knows this already. Ash begins to push for the idea of selling Larlock’s phylactery to the Original Merc… the very life force of the eldest Lich. The Original Merc hesitates… apparently Larlock and those working for him have been making extensive purchases somewhere in the desert, but won’t elaborate further. The Original Merc is going impatient and wants Ash to state clearly exactly what she wants, and Ash asks not simply for his help to return to life as she spoke of with her allies… instead, she wants to be made stable, but still be a viable target for the ritual… so that, when it’s performed, she’ll gain the power of a Goddess, but with complete control over that power. The Original Merc dispels Ash’s illusion to examine her properly… but as he examines her he realizes she’s not a viable target for the ritual… because, in marrying Fidget, she connected her soul to his. If the ritual is performed, the power will affect Fidget as well, and with his Reaver rage he could become an unstoppable force of destruction. Still, the Original Merc believes he can do as she requests, but he knows there’s a high price.
With the call for payment, Crush offers him the Genie Bag taken from the Ancient Reaver… not the one with the teleporter inside, but instead the Ancient Reaver’s personal bag that held his palace-like home. The Original Merc is able to magically scan the entire contents of the bag, and although it is a Kingly sum, for what Ash is asking it’s still not enough. Crush also offers the Ancient Reaver’s cursed blades, and although that helps, it’s still not enough. Ash offers all the riches contained within the other Genie Bag, but hesitates to give the bag itself, as it contains the teleporter that she recognized as similar to the one their allies used before they went missing. However, when he explains where it leads they realize it will not have value, and if nothing else… if they do need to use the teleporter in the future, they know that the Merc would be willing to allow them access… for a price. With that decided, the party gives him both Genie Bags, and the Original Merc is pleased and willing to cure Ash… although he warns she will die in the process. Knowing the risk, Ash agrees, and as her last words she says “I Love You” to Fidget, only for the Original Merc to oblige, ripping out Ash’s heart, leaving Ash to drop dead.
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We're streaming more Rise of Tiamat tonight at 7pm PST. The heroes (possibly named the Chainbreakers, possibly named the Protectors of Phandalin, depending on who you ask) have faced the dangers of the Tomb of Diderius and its Yuan-Ti occupants, but now they near their quarry... the Dwarven cultists Varram the White and his subordinate, Craggnor. However, if you want the full scoop for what happened last week, just keep reading:
After defeating the Bearded Devils Loki confronts Dahlia about her attempt to contact the Archdevil Zariel, showing that Loki is concerned for her friend’s eternal soul. Dahlia, however, says that she doesn’t believe she’ll be going to Heaven anyway, so perhaps having an ally in the Nine Hells will be a good thing for her. Still, Loki makes it clear that she doesn’t intend to let Dahlia give away her soul. The party decides to check the room they were told was Diderius’s bechamber. Approaching, they see that the door is braced closed with wooden poles, and they worry that there’s something dangerous inside. Willing to face the danger, they enter slowly and find a well-maintained room with rare items throughout. The party sees bodies of Tiamat Cultists on the ground, seemingly killed by necrotic damage. Since they speak politely and don’t steal anything, the party lures out a Wraith who extolls the glory of Diderius and explains some of the items in the room. However, as they’re searcing, Dahlia spies a dusty old book wedged between the stone bed and the wall... remembering the ghost librarian, Ilda, Dahlia asks the Wraith if she can return the book to Diderius’s library, with the ghost consenting. To Loki’s annoyance, the treasures are left behind as they return to the ancient library to return one book.
The Ghost Ilda greets them in the same manner she did earlier, warning them not to steal from the great Diderius, seeming to not actually recognize them despite meeting them only minutes ago. However, she seems to regain her senses. Weeping in joy as Dahlia returns the book. She thanks them profusely for helping her finally fulfill her duty to protect the library. She warns them once again that the Yuan-Ti have taken advantage of Diderius’s seeing pool, and to be careful as she vanishes in a burst of warm light which partially heals the party.
With Ilda’s soul freed the party moves on to finally examine the Seeing Pool. However, as they draw near, they find that the Seeing Pool has been the sight of a battle between more cultists and the Yuan Ti, along with their Lizardfolk slaves. Several bodies of cultists and Lizardfolk are visible in the room, along with one Yuan-Ti, but neither Varram or Craggnor are among them. The illusory light in the room flickers unnaturally, and the booming voice that had been providing guidance sounds stilted and strange. However, there is one body left in the pool itself, with Dahlia approaching to investigate further. However, as she does so she finds herself looking into the pool itself and has an overwhelming revelation... the pool doesn’t require a sacrifice to activate, rather the pool reveals countless visions and the sacrifice is used to focus it on specific content. Dahlia’s mind is overwhelmed by the visions and she stares dumbfounded into the pool until her allies drag her away, leaving her babbling and nearly mad for a full minute before her brain manages to forcefully reject the information, but in the process she does manage focus just enough to see the last vision the pool had shared... she sees that the White Dragon Mask is held by a man she’s never met before, but he wears an elaborate purple robe with Tiamat imagery upon it, and he speaks in a commanding voice to the Red Wizard, Rath Modar. This commanding man speaks of Varram having failed him, and orders that Varram be brought to him. Not sure what this means, exactly, Dahlia tells her allies what she had seen. Pulling the body in the pool out more carefully, they discover that he seems to have been stabbed with a dragon-fang dagger without participating in the battle, with them realizing that he was likely used as a sacrifice for Varram to fuel the Seeing Pool.
The Party then notices the doorway leading into Diderius’s final resting place. Entering carefully, they find an elaborately ordained room with two magical torches filling the room with bright light. A large sarcophagus in the center of the room... as they approach, the party hears the voice of Diderius himself. He states that he knows who they are and why they’re here, showing that even as a mummy his powers of Divination are still fully intact as he states that they are searching for Varram the white who has been taken by the Yuan-Ti. He warns them to prepare for danger before using his magic to open a hidden door behind him that leads into a cave. Where Lizardfolk seem to be waiting. However, both Dahlia and Loki are disguised as Yuan-Ti, and there’s no need for G’houl and Antares to appear restrained, as Yuan-Ti can simply hypnotize victims to follow them. The Lizardfolk simply lower their heads and await orders from those they believe to be their Masters. Dahlia steps forward and orders the Lizardfolk to leave the temple, where Hammertail and the other Lizardfolk they had freed before are waiting, and Dahlia orders the Lizardfolk to become free and not listen to any Yuan-Ti in the future. This clearly confuses the Lizardfolk as this is such a strange command, but Loki helps by intimidating the Lizardfolk, convincing them to obey to the best of their ability.
Moving further in, the party sees a thin stone bridge over a deep pit, although they notice a slick, wet moss growing on the bridge would make it dangerous to cross. Fortunately, Dahlia’s broom of flying can easily ferry the party safely across since they’re not under attack... unfortunately, Antares is too heavy for the broom to support, so instead G’houl casts Fly to help him cross. Moving slowly further along they see that the stone walls seem newer than the walls of Diderius’s tomb, and is decorated with symbols of Yuan-Ti religion. They follow the sound of voices down a hallway, finding a massive Yuan-Ti Abomination in a deep pit along with several Yuan-Ti Purebloods, seeming to be taking care of many small snakes. The Abomination greets Dahlia and Loki, speaking in abyssal... a language which nobody present speaks. However, they’re able to Insight from his body language that he seems to be ordering them to deliver G’houl and Antares into the pit. Dahlia, instead, wordlessly disagrees, and motions for one of the Purebloods to follow her to speak in private, and is able to be convincing enough to not raise suspicion from the fact that she hasn’t spoken yet. Once alone she again has to convince the Yuan-Ti to speak to her in common, which instantly raises the Yuan-Ti woman’s suspicion.
With some effort, Dahlia is able to Deceive the Pureblood into believing that Dahlia is a member of a different sect of Yuan-Ti known as the Golden Vipers, and she has arrived here seeking out the dwarves Varram and Craggnor. The Yuan-Ti seems to believe this, but questions how Dahlia knows about the Dwarves and questions why her sect should assist the Golden Vipers. Dahlia warns her that the Dwarves are dangerous and could draw unwanted attention, and while this is one of the few things Dahlia has said that was actually true, the Pureblood seems to take this as a threat, shouting in Abyssal, drawing Yuan-Ti and Lizardfolk from various hallways to attack the intruders.
As the snake-like Yuan-Ti rush toward them, G’houl pulls out the Staff of Fire he got from Rath Modar, using it to summon a Wall of Flame to keep the giant Yuan-Ti abomination at bay, killing the small snakes that he then realizes were actually the Yuan-Ti’s young. The Abomination willingly takes the damage from the Wall of Fire as he rushes through it... the first Party member he approaches being Loki, who he narly knocks unconscious, as Loki still hadn’t fully recovered from her injuries earlier. In a panic, Loki casts Blink on herself, vanishing to the Ethereal Plane and making room for Antares to rush in, shoving the Abomination back into the wall of flame, making it impossible for him to escape the burning fire as Antares uses his great strength against his much larger foe. Meanwhile, a pair of Yuan-Ti Malaisons lead a small troupe of Lizardfolk to attack, but G’houl pushes them back by conjuring a flood of water, knocking them prone, while Dahlia uses a ray of frost to freeze one of the Malaisons against the floor while she attempts to persuade the Lizardfolk to turn on their cruel masters, promising them freedom. This is a very difficult argument to make, especially in the heat of combat... but even with Disadvantage and an incredibly high DC, Dahlia’s intense Charisma is enough for her to convince the Lizardfolk that this is their opportunity to escape, as they have never seen their Masters turned low in this manner before. The Lizardfolk pounce on their former Master still pinned to the ground, tearing him apart as she barks orders at them, trying to reassert his dominance, but his screaming does draw more Yuan-Ti and Lizardfolk... although the Lizardfolk are able to persuade their fellows to turn on the Yuan-Ti, as they easily outnumber the Yuan-Ti present, and the Party has helped tip the scales considerably in their favor.
The Abomination Antares is fighting is trapped within the Wall of Flame created by G’houl, taking an attack of opportunity from Antares as he attempts to escape, but he still can’t get out of the wall of Flame and ends up cooked to death while Antares rushes to catch up with his allies (and keep his Rage going)... although Ash is still in the Ethereal Plane thanks to the Blink spell and doesn’t see exactly what’s happening. Two Yuan-ti Pureblood women are still in the pit that the Abomination was once in, and the small snakes they were tending to have mostly been killed G’houl’s Wall of Fire. Loki conjures her duplicate to distract them, and since Loki had been blinking in and out of the material plane anyway, they easily believe the duplicate is the real Cleric... something that becomes even easier to believe when Loki’s Duplicate delivers a Shocking Grasp, killing one of them. The other Yuan-Ti woman surrenders as Loki learns that the small snakes were actually the Yuan-Ti’s young.... a moral quandary Loki decides she’d rather not deal with right now, as she realizes her allies are all gone and she goes to catch up with them, her duplicate happily skipping along behind her.
Along with the newly turned Lizardfolk, Dahlia corners a Yuan-Ti Pureblood who fails to cast Suggestion on Antares, hoping to have him attack the Lizardfolk and hopefully turn them against the Party. With the Pureblood weakened she begrudgingly surrenders, and Dahlia needs to convince their Lizardfolk allies not to kill her outright, as Dahlia wants the Pureblood to show here where the Dwarven prisoners are kept. She shows Dahlia a hidden path that leads into their prison, warning her about a pressure plate trap... but before Dahlia can enter, another giant Yuan-Ti Abomination catches up to the Party, barking orders at the Lizardfolk and facing the Party directly, without the Wall of Fire to slow him down as his brother had been. The Lizardfolk refer to this Abomination as “Meksesi”, and seem to imply that he’s the leader of this particular sect of Yuan-Ti cultists. Meksesi is held back in a large doorway by G’houl and Antares, and although Antares does more immediate damage to him, he prioritizes attacking the visibly less-armored G’houl... who had fortunately taken the Dodge Action earlier, and although he’s not able to avoid every attack, his alertness protects him from taking a critical hit from Meksisi’s massive scimitar.
Meksesi attempts to intimidate the Lizardfolk to help him, warning that he’ll crush their eggs if they continue to aid the invaders... but rather than frighten the Lizardfolk into obeying it only fills them with rage, and although they don’t confront Meksesi directly, they support the Party by throwing bone javelins at the giant Monstrosity... however, in all the confusion, the Pureblood who was guiding Dahlia makes her escape, while Dahlia opts to leave the hidden door closed for now and instead returns to assist in combat against Meksesi, who sees the battle turning against him as he’s far too outnumbered. In a las attempt to assert his dominance over the Lizardfolk, he retreats to the Lizardfolk chambers in order to crush their eggs... with Meksesi vanishing into the other room by the time Loki finally returns, who isn’t aware of what’s actually happening, needing to be told not to attack the Lizardfolk as Loki admonishes her allies for running off without her... with G’houl pointing out that it was Loki who left to the Ethereal Plane as he rushes to catch up to Meksesi... finding him threatening a trio of Lizardfolk in their filthy, poorly maintained chambers gathering up eggs. Before Meksesi can attack, G’houl unleashes one last Magic Missile attack against the Abomination, the balls of force energy slamming the massive monstrosity like powerful sucker punches to the face, knocking him left to right until finally his neck snaps and the large creature falls to the ground with a loud thud.
With the immediate threat defeated, the focus shifts to helping the Lizardfolk escape before more Yuan-Ti arrive. Dahlia tells them to meet with Hammertail, the Lizardfolk they had met earlier. However, they also notice the Yuan-Ti woman who had spoken to Dahlia earlier trying to sneak past in the confusion, only to be confronted by Dahlia and G’houl. Dahlia doesn’t want to simply kill the retreating woman, warning that, if this Yuan-Ti woman tries to recapture the slaves or return to this Tomb she will return and destroy her, and also warns that Diderius wouldn’t appreciate having his tomb corrupted. However, her intimidation lacks conviction, even with G’houl’s assistance, using Prestidigitation to have his fingertips alight with magical fire. The Yuan-Ti laughs, explaining that Diderius is perfectly aware of what the Yuan-Ti have been doing all along, and he doesn’t care what they do as long as they feed his ego. She sees their hesitation to attack her as weakness and simply runs away, expecting them to leave her by, with G’houl’s insight enough to realize she’s simply leaving to gather Yuan-Ti from other sects to take this location back and will likely attempt to recapture any escaped slaves... with only a moment of hesitation, G’houl and Dahlia take the pragmatic decision to hit the fleeing woman with Magic Missiles, although Dahlia especially feels guilty about shooting an unarmed opponent in the back.
With the Lizardfolk fleeing out through Diderius’s Tomb, the Party regroups and makes their way to the hidden door they had been shown that leads into the Yuan-Ti’s dungeon. Inside, they find that Yuan-Ti Malison is there already, holding in his hand the Dwarven spy, Craggnor, while his other hand holds a blade to the Dwarve’s throat. The Malison seems to believe that the Party are allies of Craggnor and is attempting to hold him hostage... although Craggnor himself recognizes that he is not quite the bargaining chip the Malison believes him to be. Antares moves decisively, throwing a Javelin at the Malison, but while that does damage their foe, unfortunately the Malison had been ready and quickly slits Craggnor’s throat... and although the Party cares little for the well-being of Craggnor, especially after learning that he’s responsible for the illness that killed their close friend Katniss’s Mother, their assignment was to bring both him and Varram into custody alive. With Craggnor on the ground bleeding out, they prepare to battle this single opponent to the death, and rescue the dwarven man they hate so much.
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We're going to be having a surprise Tuesday Night game! Our stream schedule is changing going forward, with streams on Friday and Saturday, but the DM for our homebrew campaing of Sacrament has a rare night off and is going to be hosting another game tonight at 7pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. We'll also be streaming Sacrament this coming Saturday as well, so come join us for two streams this week. However, for now, our last session was extremely eventful, so read on to know what happened in case you missed it:
As Ash’s body falls to the floor, Fidget and Aylis both rush to Ash’s side. Fidget is struggling not to trigger his Bloodrage, but Crush puts his hand on Fidget’s shoulder. Crush knows what it’s like to be connected to another soul, and uses his knowledge of the natural order to help guide Fidget on how to feel his connection to her… knowing that Ash’s soul is being pulled… the magic of Larlock draws her to be absorbed into his phylactery, but her marriage to Fidget tied their souls together. If Fidget can maintain that connection, she can be revived using the Scarf of True Resurrection granted by Amor. Crush, whose own soul is intertwined with his sister Crash, uses his knowledge to guide Fidget… and in the process, Crash’s soul exits him once again, entering Fidget to help guide Ash. Ricky hurries to comfort Aylis, helping the young boy to remain calm. Azure holds onto Fidget as well… expelling all her remaining Ki, carefully releasing her Astral Form… preventing it from manifesting physically, but instead imbuing it into Fidget’s body. As Azure’s consciousness shifts into her astral self, she finds herself in a dark chamber… and there before her, is Ash. And soon joining them both is a female Tortle… with a similar snap-jaw appearance to Crush, although with a slighter form, a gentler appearance, and the “mask” pattern on her scales with more of a purple tone… it’s Crash, appearing for the first time in front of Ash and Azure.
Crash guides Ash further, as Ash hears the sounds of a woman crying… a voice she soon recognizes as her mother’s. Crash explains that this moment of death is different for everyone… for herself it was underwater, in a deep cave where she had to face all the sorrows of her life and overcome them. With Azure and Crash by her side, she continues further, hearing again the night of her first death… but she also hears the voice of her patron, the Lich-King Larlock, offering her power. Azure can sense that they’re not alone in these black stone corridors… sensing a being there with them. Azure warns not to continue further, but Crash explains that she must face these challenges. Ash groans, assuming it’s the Angel of Death that has followed her, stepping forward, facing another memory… an argument with her fiancee, Cornelius. Lamenting how he always seemed to have something more important than her. She stoically marches forward, past this memory, to face more of her own history.
Stepping forward, she sees a vague memory… something from her childhood… the moment where she first realized she was incapable of using magic. Lacking the power of Sorcery that made her family famous, even lacking the innate magic that all High Elves carry. Ash focuses instead on her father… who had never held it against her… who told her that it didn’t matter if she couldn’t perform magic…. What matters is what she does with her life, and the people she helps. This helps Ash to continue further, spotting a glowing whisp… it seems harmless to Azure and Crash, so Ash steps forward to touch it… and is transported into a vivid memory.
Ash in school, when she was around Aylis’s age. The way the other students would mock her. The word “Omen” carved by others into her desk. Her parents had a reputation for not being proper nobles… disobeying the King when they objected to his commands, spending too much time helping the other elves. Other students bullying her, using their own magic, knowing she couldn’t retaliate in kind. Remembering this was the motivation she had, at that young age, to find some way to perform magic.
As the memory fades the wisp flies away, Ash attempts to follow, finding that the sorrow is making her footsteps heavy and difficult. She asks Crash if this is normal, with Crash explaining that her own sadness and loneliness will try to pull her down. Her feet sinking into the black ethereal stones of her own personal limbo.
Azure takes Ash’s hand, giving her encouragement to help her continue. With Azure’s help, Ash continues… only to be met with the next vision… her death. The assassin stabbing her with his raven-blade before kicking her off the cliff. Fighting back the rage, Ash continues further only to see the sight of her and Fidget… trapped in a slaver ship… Fidget using the bones of a dead slave to pick the lock as a corpse turns to speak to her… the voice of Larlock calling out to her. Ash struggles to continue, but Azure grips her, using her astral form to pull Ash further, helping her to escape the grasping darkness that pulls her back, trying to claim her. With Azure’s help, Ash continues further, finding another wisp… touching it, she finds a memory of herself meeting with her father when she was younger… when she was still Promethea. Her father notices the mud on her fine dress… and Ash remembers that day, the way the other girls had taunted her, telling her she belongs with the pigs, throwing her into their pit… and ruining the paperwork she was using to study Artifice… a theoretical invention she was creating to prove herself for an apprenticeship. Sorrow overwhelms Ash as the wisp fades and she marches as fast as she can, trying to escape these memories. As shadows tug at her, Azure continues to help pull her forward as Ash fights back her tears to continue.
With Azure’s aid, Ash continues further… stepping forward now to find a familiar figure in front of her… it’s herself, more corrupted… the deathly form she took in Neo’s visions. The Other Ash tells Ash that she’s wasting her time fighting this… why fight death? Why not embrace it… control it… become the Queen she was meant to be. Ash says that she knows how much of a lie that title is. Other Ash compares Ash to Cornelius… her hesitant fiancee who never committed to marriage, who always had excuses to not continue. Ash dismisses him… she’s found a better man. Other Ash tries to mock her for being a hopeless romantic, but Ash smirks confidently and admits she is… it’s something she’s always been. Ash attempts to push her way past, but the Other Ash tries to obstruct… only for Azure to interject… declaring “Out of my way, *****, she’s seeing her Man!” before punching the Other Ash, dispelling the illusory copy with a single Astral punch. As Ash continues her sorrow is lessening, feeling the warmth of her friend at her side… a reminder that she has people who are willing to fight for her.
With Azure and Crash by her side, Ash steps forward with more confidence, spotting another wisp. She doesn’t hesitate, reaching for the wisp to confront her next memory. She sees herself… dirty, dishevelled… a child’s ball hits her in the legs… and she wordlessly gives it back… the little girl seems afraid at first, but asks if she wants to play. An elven man approaches in fear, holding up a farming tool as a weapon, calling for help… The dead are walking. Fidget, when he was still a normal goblin, quickly pulling Ash away… and Ash begins to cry, watching this memory. Not out of sorrow, but in appreciation for Fidget… realizing he had been there for her. Putting himself in danger. He could have abandoned her at any point. In the early days, she wasn’t even fully conscious, and he still stood by her side, asking for nothing. Ash continues further… walking past visions of the people Ash killed… Larlock had asked for the souls of Betrayers. Rather than regret the lives she took, Ash instead laments that she gave the souls to Larlock… those she killed deserved to die, especially as Azure recognizes the Pimp who had been abducting young women, using drugs to manipulate them and sell them into slavery. With Azure and Crash assisting her, she continues further, seeing another Wisp.
Ash sees the next moment… not her own memory, necessarily… she sees herself, unconscious. It was the moment when Ash’s Undead nature was revealed to the other Grimveils… how Fidget had pulled a knife, ready to fight every other Grimveil to the death to protect Ash, assuming they would turn on her once they learned her true nature. Seeing Fidget fight for her reminds her that he would have faced certain death… with both Azure and Crash confirming that they believe Crush alone could have destroyed Fidget at that time. Feeling more confident, Ash marches forward, looking for her husband.
Moving forward, the grasping shadows reach out more aggressively. Azure begins to punch them away, but they realize they need to hurry. Running away from the grasping shadows, Ash sees another vision… herself as an infant, her parents telling her how much they love her… how they’ll do anything for her. Duncan is there as well, and they talk about their concerns… what if Promethea is cursed? They comment concern that “The Hags” have targeted them. Her father promises that he’ll die for his child if he needs to.
Ash hurries further as the grasping shadows are reaching for her… she hears Larlock’s voice, ordering her to stay. With Azure’s help Ash presses forward, even as the ground falls beneath their legs, Azure and Crash catching Ash and helping her across a deep, infinite chasm. Continuing further Ash once again sees the Angel of Death that has followed her. He speaks to her, telling her that she needs to trust him, offering Ash his hand. Ash hesitates, looking into the Angel’s face, she realizes she needs to make that last step… this moment, she’s not properly dead yet. She’s still in Larlock’s clutches. Only by accepting True Death can she hope to be returned to Fidget. Ash takes the Angel’s hand, and white light blinds her, before the dark black stone tunnels filled with shadows she was traversing vanish, and she opens her eyes in a strange, ethereal location. Resting her head on Death’s lap, laying on a large stone… and although the flames of Hell are visible nearby, a glowing, protective barrier surrounds them. As Ash looks up to Death, he says, “You were always stubborn, just like your Mother.” With tears in her eyes Ash realizes the Angel has been her father this whole time… he had watched over her, tried to guide her. And now he holds her, smiling weakly while Ash can only say sorry for everything she had done before this. He tells her only that she has nothing to apologize, and instead he should be sorry… for not trusting her more, for not telling her everything when he was alive. He says that her Mother is watching over the rest of her family, and he expresses some pride that her nephew, Saba, was named in his honor. But he had dedicated himself to watching over Ash. When Ash asks if he was always there, he said he was… although he quickly adds “when you needed me”. Ash apologizes, knowing that he saw her give in to Larlock… gave up her humanity for vengeance. Her father reveals that Ash wasn’t fully dead when Larlock found her… but he finished the job, used her death to control her and suppress her innate power… the power of the great Phoenix. The power to defy Death. The Phoenix had once fallen in love with an Elven man… that power lives on in her family’s bloodline. The night of her parent’s death, the fire that burned their home to the ground was the result of his power activating… he had to be killed many times to overcome that power, and even now that power has helped him to remain on the material plane to watch over her.
Her father tells her she has a choice to make… she could continue on to the afterlife. Cleanse her soul and ascend to the afterlife. Or she could return to life… but to do so means facing all the pain, all the suffering she had inflicted. To right the wrongs she had helped to inflict on the world. But most difficult of all, she must give up her hatred and vengeance… she must let herself be vulnerable. She must let herself cry. Ash submits, crying, and telling him how she wants to return… to her husband, and to her child. But before she leaves, she asks what will become of him… he says that, with this, he will be ready to finally ascend, return to Heaven and meet his God, Ilmater, the God of Sacrifice. However, before the two separate, she asks if he has a message for his sons… he says that he wants them both to know that he’s proud of them, that they shouldn’t be so hard on each other, and that he loves them all very much, and he can’t wait to see how big of a family they create before they see them again.
On the Material Plane, Crush is guiding Fidget on how to find Ash… how it feels to touch another soul, that feeling of an emptiness being filled. When Fidget feels it… the warmth of his connection to Ash, Ricky pulls out the scarf. Ricky, Fidget, and Crush all three place the scarf on Ash’s body. Her body suddenly erupts with flame, her body reduced, appropriately enough, to ash. But as the ashes blow away, she lays before them… heart beating for the first time in years, taking her first breath… and there before them, is the rosey-cheeked, blue eyed form of Promethea.
However, as Fidget and Aylis rush to hug her, Ash realizes her clothes have all burnt up as well. Fidget demands someone provide some clothes, and Crush steps into the nearby room, yanking off a blanket and delivering it to Ash to protect her decency. Once Ash is covered, everyone immediately hurries to give her a big group hug, with Crush happily lifting all his friends into the air… until Ricky asks if this means everyone’s comfortable with an orgy, which makes everyone break the hug, laughing as Ash realizes, for the first time in a long time, she’s hungry. Ricky and Crush hurry to the kitchen to prepare food for her… although Crush brings her some jerky to satisfy her while she waits, ordering her to snap into a slim jim. Ricky delivers a feast of flatbread, rice, and curry… the starving Ash chowing down on 5 heavily laden plates before Ricky delivers one last treat… a strawberry shortcake made just for her. Crush asks her what name she prefers, and she says she still prefers to be Ash… with Crush glancing over at the ashes still left where she resurrected, commenting that it’s an appropriate name… and that it’s more marketable. As he asks, Ash’s mechanical bird, Hermes, begins to animate again, climbing out of her bag and flying around the room, singing a song that Aylis and Ash both recognize. Ash also admonishes Aylis for not telling her the specifics of their bloodline, since if she knew she had the power of a Phoenix deep inside she would have known she didn’t need Larlock to come back to life. And although the others seem to lament that tragedy, Crush says that it’s a good thing… because if everything hadn’t happened the way it did, she would be here right now with Fidget. As Ash is realizing she can finally touch Baby Kane… she also realizes she’s too tired for it tonight, and as everyone is preparing for bed the Genie Bag at Aylis’s side starts to make noise, and the female Reaver Alex bursts out. Lamenting that she missed out on everything. Ash teases her a bit, but Alex is mostly just interested in the food now. Ash now, finally enters her Elven trance… viewing the reverie of the Elves for the first time since her death. As everyone goes to bed, Ricky apologizes to Alex for not getting her involved, and gives her some of Ash’s resurrection ash instead. However, before bed Ricky thinks to apply the cursed snake statue to the Ancient Reaver, preventing him from fighting back to life.
As Azure finishes adjusting a set of leather armor for Ash, Ricky and Neo leave to Kanec’s bedroom. Flirting aggressively as they both share the ability not actually require sleep thanks to their Bardic College, the two of them embracing, making a bit of a mess in Kanec’s bed… with Ricky’s player using her Birthday Critical to make sure it’s the best night of Neo’s life.
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Join us tonight for more Rise of Tiamat, with me as your DM at 7pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. Everyone is still adjusting to their new schedules so the session might not be as long as usual, but we'll see how it goes. For now, if you missed last week's session, an important leg of the players' journey was completed, and you cand read more about it here:
The Party has found Craggnor, the Dwarven cultist of Tiamat, but he’s being held hostage by one of his Yuan-Ti captors, who mistakenly believes the Party is there to rescue him. When the party moves forward he slits Craggnor’s throat, only to be grappled by Antares, pinned against a wall as he continues to fight back aggressively. Loki begrudgingly casts Spare the Dying on Craggnor, delivering the spell with a hard slap to the Dwarf’s face while Dahlia finishes the Yuan-Ti Malison with a magic missile attack. Not certain if the location they’re in, a small jail with multiple cells, is safe, the Party still opts to take a short rest, with Antares keeping watch. He notices that the only bedding in each cell is the blood-stained, discarded clothing left behind by sacrifices the Yuan-Ti had made over the years… most seeming to be Gnomes, likely from the nearby Gnomish village, but to his horror he realize that several of them clearly once belonged to children.
The short rest provides enough time for Craggnor to wake up, recognizing how lucky he is that the party has promised to deliver him to Ambassador Brawnanvil alive. Dahlia orders him to lead them further into this temple to where he saw his ally, Varram the White, being taken by the Yuan-Ti earlier. Craggnor requests something for him to carry for his own self-defense, and Loki mockingly hands him a mostly harmless butter knife, which Craggnor quickly hides somewhere on his person. Craggnor leads them further into the Yuan-Ti temple, but he doesn’t take them far before the Party finds themselves entering a Yuan-Ti temple to their snake god, Merrshaulk, where the remaining Yuan-Ti have gathered, including the Yuan-Ti Pureblood that Loki opted not to finish off earlier in their large scale battle. Another Yuan-Ti Malison steps forward to speak, and unlike the other Malisons they had faced before, his arms are replaced with large pythons, and in one python’s mouth he holds a large tomato. Like the other Yuan-Ti, he assumes that the Party is there to rescue Varram, claiming that he has used Yuan-Ti magic to pull Varram’s soul out of his body, storing it in the tomato… he warns that if he squishes the tomato, Varram’s soul will be consumed by Merrshaulk. But after the deaths of the Yuan-Ti Abomination leaders, now he’s offering to let the Party leave with Varram and release his soul if they agree to leave without killing any remaining Yuan-Ti. Dahlia is able to discern that he’s bluffing with the tomato, and G’houl uses his knowledge of Arcana to discern that Varram is still clearly breathing at a regular pace, whereas magic that holds a creature’s soul in the manner the Malison is claiming would put the body into stasis.
Despite the Malison’s deception with the tomato, he does seem earnest about his offer to let everyone escape with Varram… although even if the remaining Yuan-Ti are killed, other members of their cult are likely to come back and reclaim the temple eventually. As they agree to the Malisons’ conditions, Dahlia steps forward and takes a bite out of the tomato just to prove she saw through his deception, warning him not to push his luck. This seems to intimidate the Yuan-Ti to step back and let the party do what they want without obstruction, as they reveal a secret exit to escape safely. They are also given the unconscious but still living body of Varram, who is strapped to Antares’s back to be carried outside. Once outside, they reconnect with the Lizardfolk the Party had released from the Yuan-Ti’s clutches.
As night begins to fall they speak with the man who seems to have taken on a leadership role for the escaping Lizardfolk, Hammertail, who was abducted from his own tribe years ago. He explains that he will guide the others back to where his peoples’ village is, although he can’t guarantee it’s even still there, or if they’ll be accepted back. Dahlia tells him about the Lizardfolk in Castle Naerytar, and although it is a great distance between the Serpent Hills and the Mere of Dead Men, she still gives them instruction on how to reach the Lizardfolk led by Snapjaw, and provides them with a written note to show Snapjaw to prove that they’re allies. Hammertail thanks Dahlia for this, and promises that his people will tell tales of their group for generations, and asks what they are called. Dahlia asks the rest of the party if they’re happy to settle on the name “The Chainbreakers”, which everyone agrees is a fine name. The Lizardfolk all stand, bowing their heads in respect, lifting their head frills in respect as they repeat the name back “The Chainbreakers”. With that, the Lizardfolk leave to seek their freedom, while the party is left to prepare their own travel.
Dahlia takes some time to question Craggnor, as Varram is still unconscious. She demands to know how he justifies what he and Craggnor did to the innocent town of Esme… how they could justify unleashing a deadly virus, killing nearly everyone in the village just to kill a few members of the Eldrath Valuuthra, an Elf Supremacist group, who were gathering there in secret. With no hint of shame or guilt, Craggnor simply states that it was the easiest way to kill their target without raising suspicion… after all, a virus outbreak can much more easily be explained as natural phenomenon, while a poisoning can be traced. It’s difficult for the Chainbreakers to hold back, hearing how callously he dismisses genocide, but Loki is the one to act… reaching into her bag of tricks and throwing a small, furry ball at him that suddenly grows into the form of a large brown bear… which is a problem, because Craggnor and Varram are both riding on Antares’ back at the time, and although Antares is able to avoid getting crushed, Loki orders the bear to sit on the two dwarves… the unconscious Varram groaning in pain while Craggnor simply remains silent to avoid further conflict.
While this is going on, G’houl had been preparing a spell. Although he had used his higher level spell slots battling the Yuan-Ti abominations, the short rest allowed his Arcane Recovery to give him back another high level slot, which he intends to use to cast Teleportation Circle. First, though, he sends a Message to Armpit, the goblin pilot of their floating island, the Nimbus, telling him to return to Waterdeep without them, with Armpit confirming he can make the trip in 5 days time. With that accomplished, he completes his Teleportation Circle, allowing everyone (and their horses) to return instantaneously to Waterdeep.
Once in Waterdeep they arrive in a high roofed stone room attended by two guards, who demand to know who they are. Luckily, they have their Writ of Intent, and they learn that the teleportation Circle is in the basement of Castle Waterdeep. They explain that the dwarven men are prisoners, and despite the late hour, they ask for Ambassador Brawnanvil. The Guards are eager to help once they learn of the Party’s pedigree, providing manacles for the Dwarves and helping everyone to a waiting room until Brawnanvil arrives, flanked by his own guards… Brawnanvil seems to be wearing some kind of pajamas, securing ceremonial armor over them as he enters. He seems particularly proud of G’houl for successfully delivering the criminals alive and, apparently, thoroughly beaten. He promises that they’ll face trial for all their crimes as they’re taken by Dwarven Guards… although as they leave Loki remembers that Craggnor still has her butter knife, and although Loki mostly just seems to want her possession back, it ultimately proves prescient to not leave even such a seemingly harmless device in the hands of a trained assassin like Craggnor.
Still, it’s late at night, and Brawnanvil encourages everyone to get some sleep. He lets them know that, if they show their Writ of Intent in the Yawning Portal Tavern, they’ll be given free room and board, as well as free meals. He also promises to commit the full might of the Mithral Hall to any future conflicts against the Cult of Tiamat, ensuring the Party a powerful ally within the Council of Waterdeep.
Once their business is complete in the castle, the Chainbreakers are escorted out of Castle Waterdeep, continuing through the streets of the large city, but even for this time of night the streets seem unusually quiet and empty. As they approach an empty crossroad they see a strange sight before them… a large, hound-like figure seemingly made of solid shadows… its eyes pinpoints of glowing flame, its mouth open in a wide, toothy grin with hellish fire burning within. As they approach, it speaks telepathically in common to the entire group, asking to speak to “The Daughter of Levistus”, which is the Devil that Dahlia’s bloodline is tied to. As Dahlia steps forward to seek Loki warns not to trust the creature, which she recognizes as Hellhound, although larger than normal, and Hellhounds normally do not possess telepathic speech.
The Hellhound introduces himself as an emissary of Archduchess Zariel, the ruler of Avernus, the first circle of the 9 Hells. Dahlia wants to know why Zariel is so intent to helping Tiamat escape Avernus, with the Hellhound explaining some of Zariel’s motivation… The River Styx flows throughout the entire afterlife, extending from the Abyss, through the circle of Avernus, and extending into the 7 Heavens. Zariel was once an angel of the 7 heavens, but she willingly fell to Avernus in order to lead the armies of Devils to oppose the chaotic Demons… the Devils honor the pact between the Heavens and the Hells, but the chaotic demons of the abyss wish to conquer all the planes, and Zariel uses Avernus as a battleground to keep the Abyssal Demons at bay to ultimately protect the 7 Heavens. Dahlia recognizes that this seems to be a noble goal (although Loki continues to tell Dahlia not to trust the Hellhound or his Devilish mistress). At the same time, Antares asks the Hellhound if he can pet it… which the Hellhound very bluntly refuses.
After learning about Zariel’s origins as an angel, Dahlia asks how she can justify unleashing Tiamat on the Material Plane, considering the untold destruction she’ll wreak on the lands. The Hellhound claims that such things do not matter, as the individual lives of mortals aren’t as important as the sanctity of the afterlife. Even as Dahlia warns that Tiamat may lead to the end of all life, which could mean no more souls entering the afterlife, the Hellhound states that would simply mean peace, as the ongoing war that ravages Avernus will finally end. Dahlia continues to criticize these explanation, with the Hellhound explaining that he’s simply the messenger, but he’s willing to deliver Dahlia’s messages to Zariel. However, he does press further… if Dahlia were to offer her services to Zariel, he could guarantee a meeting between them… and Zariel will even be willing to offer some of her power to Dahlia. At this point, Loki immediately intervenes, insisting that Dahlia can’t even entertain such a deal. However, Dahlia maintains that she isn’t concerned for her soul… considering her heritage and her general distrust of the Gods, she believes that she’s destined for the 9 Hells herself some day. Loki doesn’t believe that at all, and tells her not to give up her soul so casually.
Despite Loki’s warnings, Dahlia remains undecided. She wants time to think over this offer, asking to be given a few days to decide, with the Hellhound agreeing… stating that in 3 days time, either he or Zariel herself will contact Dahlia. Loki still maintains that this is a bad idea, flipping off the Hellhound and insulting Zariel, although the Hellhound simply ignores her and Dahlia tells her there’s no need to be impolite. Dahlia asks the Hellhound his name, and he introduces himself as Waheela, the Sabre Wolf. With their conversation complete, Waheela leaps through a portal that appears in front of him in a manner similar to how a Blinkdog teleports, and the Chainbreakers can continue making their way to the Yawning Portal.
Dahlia is frustrated by everything that has happened, and intends to simply drink herself into a stupor… with Antares joining in just because he wants to drink. Using their Writ of Intent, the Chainbreakers are able to get rooms and also pay for their drinks, although Dahlia still pays a platinum just to remain on good terms with the tavern. Loki and G’houl are worried for Dahlia, especially when she gets completely sloshed and starts talking about her plan to fly naked on her broom around the city. Seeing her go that far, G’houl casts Charm Person on Dahlia to convince her to give him her broom and go to bed. Loki opts to share a room with Dahlia, hoping to keep an eye on her (and intervene if any more Devilish creatures visit her in the night). G’houl takes a room for himself… but after everyone else has gone to bed Antares actually volunteers his room to another customer who has had too much to drink, with Antares instead choosing to sleep in the horse stalls next to Dahlia’s horse, Fractal.
Without any shyness, Loki and Dahlia share a bed, with Dahlia tightly cuddling against Loki all night. As she sleeps Loki has a vision of a grand Church, and waiting at the end is her Goddess, Tymora, idly rolling dice in a dice cup. The dice seem to be made of Emerald, with numbers written in gold on the sides, the diamond-shaped dice each ten-sided. Loki has had multiple visions of Tymora, but each time the visions were silent, but now she finally hears Tymora’s voice… a playful, teasing voice… unlike other Goddesses, which she’s heard described as either Regal, Ethereal, or Motherly, Tymora speaks with the excited tone of an Older Sister. Loki asks why Tymora hasn’t spoken to her before, with Tymora stating that she was always speaking… it’s Loki who has gotten better at listening. As she shakes the dice cup, Tymora explains that she wants to help Loki more, but there’s only so much she can do from beyond the Material Plane. She slams the cup down, leaving the cup on the table… she explains that, going forward, Loki can attempt to call on her, and, for now at least, she needs only roll these days, and if the result is below a 10, Tymora will intervene on her behalf. For the moment as well, she gestures to the cup… telling Loki that she can lift the cup right now, and accept whatever Tymora herself rolled, or she could shake the cup and change the number. Loki declares she has always trusted fate, accepting what comes, lifting the cup to find that Tymora had rolled a 7. With that, Tymora offers her aid to Loki… whether it’s a boon she requires, a question she needs answered, or whatever else Loki may ask. Loki, instead, asks for advice on how to convince her friend that she’s a good person who isn’t destined for Hell… Tymora smiles and admits there’s no simple answer but tells her to continue to be herself, and if anyone can do it, it’s Loki. She gifts the dice to Loki, before playfully pinching her nose and telling Loki to have fun before the vision fades in a burst of bright light.
When morning comes, Antares is the first to wake up as a nervous Stable Maid is checking on him to see if he’s okay, or to ask if he’s even allowed to be there. He explains that he’s friends with Fractal’s owner and assumed there’d be no trouble. The young woman is clearly flustered by all this and seems to accept his explanation and focuses on brushing and tending to Fractal… when Antares asks if she’ll brush him too the young woman immediately panics and tries to avoid him, as Antares opts to go inside. He orders breakfast for himself and his allies, while upstairs G’houl wakes up from the sounds of the active city. He checks on Dusk, who no longer has the wings that grew on him while he was in Diderius’s tomb, thanks to the Mummy Lord’s aura. He asks if Dusk liked having wings, with Dusk nodding, and G’houl thinks on it and realizes if he were to take the time to cast Find Familiar again he could more permanently turn Dusk into a winged Tressym, a type of flying cat. G’houl also hesitantly takes Dahlia’s Flying Broom, hoping to find her in a better mood as he goes to check on her and Loki, knocking on their door.
Loki awakes to the sound of the knocking, noticing that she’s holding the Emerald dice given to her by Tymora. Unfortunately, neither woman wants to wake up to get the door, with Dahlia using her nudity as an excuse to remain in bed, while Loki insists that Dahlia is on the outer side of the bed, so she’s the one who should get the door. After some wrestling, Loki ends up kicked out of the bed, begrudgingly answering the door. G’houl checks on them, finding that Dahlia is upset with him, since she knows he had cast Charm Person on her, and demands the return of her Broom of Flying. G’houl admits that the spell might have been a bit too far, but he was just looking out for her. As an apology, G’houl volunteers to get them some breakfast, and also thinks to get some Dwarven Coffee for Dahlia, knowing that it’s the ideal treatment for a hangover.
G’houl doesn’t know that Antares had given his room to a complete stranger, so when he goes to check on Antares he’s shocked to find a still-drunken man angrily answering the door before passing out again on the bed… the room is clearly a mess, and this other man has puked in the bed. As G’houl heads downstairs to try and figure out what happened he finds Antares, who has found a table for the Chainbreakers to sit and eat some steak and eggs. G’houl mentions that the girls are waiting upstairs to be fed, and he uses his Writ of Intent to order a coffee from Durnan the barkeep. Durnan recognizes the Writ, asking G’houl what he thinks about the new Open Lord. G’houl is shocked to hear this, with Durnan explaining that Lord Neverember has been demoted from his role as the Open Lord of Waterdeep, and he has been replaced by Lady Laeral Silverhand… a name that G’houl, as a well-educated Wizard, recognizes instantly… Silverhand is one of the “Seven Sisters”, ancient humans who seem nigh-immortal with intense magical power, the seven believed to have been blessed by Mystra, the Goddess of Magic… although some believe them to actually be Mystra’s daughters. G’houl asks how and why this happened, with Durnan simply shrugging and admitting that, considering a Masked Lord was murdered under his watch, it’s not surprising that the other Masked Lords voted for a replacement. Upstairs, Dahlia has a similar revelation as she looks out the window and notices several flags of the Goddes Mystra are hung in the streets. When she leans out the window to ask a passing stranger he’s staring at her dumbfounded, as Dahlia hadn’t bothered to put on any clothes yet, but he explains they’re in honor of the new Open Lord… although to Dahlia’s annoyance, her display gets the attention of some young men hoping for a peek.
The party wonders how and why a new Open Lord could be established, especially in the middle of an ongoing crisis. But unfortunately, none of them are familiar enough with Waterdeep Politics to have any real theories. Still in a sour mood, Dahlia demands her Broom of Flying back, with G’houl saying he’ll go get it from his room before Dahlia storms off to visit Fractal and calm herself down. G’houl attempts to slyly pull the Broom from his Bag of Holding… but doesn’t quite hide his movement enough as Antares and Loki both notice, for the first time, that he has a Bag of Holding of his own. Loki demands to know why she’s been forced to carry everyone’s stuff if G’houl has his own bag, with G’houl countering that she clearly prefers to be the one carrying the treasure. In annoyance, Loki reaches into her Bag of Tricks and tosses a furry ball at G’houl that suddenly transforms into a rat that scratches at his face before climbing on top of his head. G’houl asks Dusk to get rid of it, but as a Familiar Dusk is physically incapable of attacking anything, so he instead hisses, trying to frighten the Rat away, but it ignores him. Antares then attempts to simply grab the rat, but it’s surprisingly dexterous and avoids his grip. Finally, G’houl casts his recently learned cantrip, Frostbite, on the rat, and although the rat makes its save, as an Evocation Wizard G’houl’s spell still does damage, and the 1hp rat vanishes in a puff of snow flakes. Loki yells at G’houl for killing her “Rat Son”, with G’houl countering that she’s already claimed Antares as her son, only for Loki to claim it’s possible to have two sons before following after Dahlia.
Outside, Dahlia meets with the stable maid, who is taking out the horses to walk them and keep them active. When she learns that Dahlia is the owner of Fractal, she asks about Antares, making sure that it’s okay for Antares to share a stall with Fractal. Dahlia lets her know that Antares is allowed, but the young woman seems a bit interested in more details… with Dahlia pushing further, she begins to suspect that the shy young woman has developed a bit of a crush on Antares. When Antares himself arrives she quickly excuses herself to hide, until Dahlia and Loki tell Antares about her and pressure him to try and woo her. Antares is uncertain, but when Dahlia asks him to show her how he would flirt, a critical success from Antares is enough for Dahlia to briefly regret accepting the title of “Aunt Dahlia” from him earlier… something that Antares doesn’t fully understand. But with Loki and Dahlia encouraging him, he finds the Stablemaid poorly hiding just out of sight. He introduces himself and asks her name, learning that her name is Ella. She’s clearly excited at Antares’s interest, but she’s also extremely shy, panicking a bit at his attention. Still, when Antares asks to meet her for a date later that night she eagerly agrees, telling him they’ll meet at the Yawning Portal later that night before she shyly ducks away to continue her work.
Pleased with Antares’s progress, the other party members realize they all seem to have some free time again… and also, they haven’t had a proper bath in days. G’houl notes that there are baths at the Yawning Portal, but Dahlia wants to take the Chainbreakers to a proper Bath House to be pampered and really get cleaned up. Dahlia and Antares start to discuss how best to go looking for a bath house, while G’houl just walks into the Yawning Portal and asks Durnan, who tells him about a nearby bath house known as the Siren’s Call, sharing directions. Although nicer bath houses exist in Waterdeep, this location is the closest higher-quality location. G’houl steps out, able to stop Dahlia and Antares before they leave on a wild goose chase to direct them toward the Siren’s Call.
Arriving at the two-story bath house, they find a nice stable to leave their horses as they make their way inside, finding an inviting atmosphere with plenty of potted plants for atmosphere. They’re greeted by a perky young Triton woman who offers them a few different options, but Dahlia insists on the full package, with all of her friends joining in, paying the premium price for the full body treatment, which starts with a massage. Dahlia requests an intense, deep tissue massage, which the Triton woman is happy to offer, asking if anyone else wants the same thing… Antares, who remains physically fit and regularly exercises is fairly limber, opts for a standard massage. Loki, as well, isn’t interested. But G’houl, who often is hunched over tables a little too short for him and recently was slashed across the chest by a giant snake-man’s oversized scimitar opts for the deep tissue massage. The bath house seems equipped to handle Centaur guests, assigning to masseurs to Antares, while Loki enjoys a relaxing massage from a half-elven woman. Dahlia is greeted by a tall, muscular Goliath woman that Dahlia can’t help but call “Mommy” as she aggressively attacks Dahlia’s knots and stress, making G’houl start to question his decision when he’s greeted by a tall male Bugbear who picks up G’houl and practically body slams him into his massage table. Slamming an elbow into the base of G’houl’s spine, and as G’houl howls in pain the massage begins to relieve the pressure, with the party relaxing with the pampering massage… although some are clearly enjoying it more than others.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
We're fully set in our new weekend-focused schedule. So come join us at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty as we play our homebrew campaign of Sacrament. We'll be going live, as usual, at 7pm PST. We had a short session earlier this week, so not as much happened as usual, but there was some emotional moments as Ash reveals her living self to her family, but if you want to know more, read on:
As morning comes, Azure is woken up by water being splashed on her by Malik, who is taunting her and Kanec for falling asleep in the living room instead of in his room. He also mentions that it’s past noon, as the Grimveils have slept in late after a long night tackling a variety of intense challenges. Malik saw Crush sleeping in the garden, but is wondering where Ricky is… checking the other rooms, he notices that Kanec’s bedroom is locked, waking Ricky up. Thinking quickly, Ricky casts Invisibility on Neo, then to hide himself he quickly cuts two holes in a pillow case to see out of and pulls it on over his naked body. Despite how unusual this is, Ricky is able to play it off as just his eccentricity, and keeps Malik from finding him and Neo… two Nightchildren, the instinctual enemies of Reavers.
As Malik is wondering who Fidget is laying next to, not yet recognizing her as Ash, Crush has a prophetic dream. He sees a red mass in the desert, outside of a city… the sun rises, then sets, then rises again and the red mass rushes toward the city. Transforming into a giant red skeleton, so massive that it chomps into the city itself as a woman’s voice laughs. Crush wakes with a start, leaping to his feet as if he was under attack. Going inside, he helps Neo to sneak out before Ricky steps out, apologizing for cutting up the pillow. Crush says that Ash can just fix it with her magic, as he’s seen her use the Mending cantrip before… but then he begins to wonder if Ash can even cast the spell now. Ash decides to test her powers… finding she can’t manifest an eldritch blast, but when she refocuses her energy she instead shoots a Firebolt… directly at a nearby curtain, which Crush has to hurry to put out. Ash is interested in testing her abilities, but before she can Crush describes the vision he had, assuming that this is Larlock’s forces he’s building in the lost Empire of Roma.
This has concern for everyone… the series of sunrises and sunsets seems like it could mean this event is occurring on the night of the Military Ball, or perhaps the next sunrise. Malik returns with food for everyone, reminding everyone that Kanec needs to prepare for the ball… that means buying formal clothing, and receiving a Sash as proof of his skills as a warrior. Malik also seems to want to just spend time with his brother, but the others realize they’ll need to get clothes for the ball as well… with Crush in particular needing to find some way to get a custom-made outfit, considering his shell. The decision is made for a “Boy’s Shopping Trip”, since Fidget will need something to wear as well… but there’s concern for Fidget, who no longer has the armor of Azmira to calm him. Crush mentions they should bring baby Kane along, since he was left with Ash’s family while they dealt with Ash’s target as a Revenant, which gives them an excuse to meet with Argus and the rest of her family at the same time. Ash also points out that her clothes was burnt to ashes by her resurrection, and she’s actually naked right now, with only a blanket covering her. Ricky cuts a neck-hole in the pillowcase, offering it to Ash… who finds that she can still cast Prestidigitation, using it to soil the pillowcase with mud before throwing it at Ricky… who responds by casting Prestidigitation himself, soiling the pillowcase with mustard before throwing it back at Ash. This upsets Fidget far more than usual, with Ash pulling him into Kanec’s Genie bag to calm him down and take a bath. The others lament that Fidget clearly is more unstable, as that exchange would have been very entertaining to him earlier.
The party opts to take a slow walk to Argus’s house, hoping to give the two of them some privacy. As they walk Crush can’t help but stare out across the desert, looking to the horizon, thinking of his vision… still, they realize that Ash and Fidget may need a little extra time to “relax” in the bath, so they end up walking a few laps and even looking for a tailor. Crush absentmindedly goes into the first Tailor shop he finds, realizing it’s actually a children’s clothing shop. Mostly making excuses, he claims to be looking for formal clothing for Baby Kane. However, Ricky thinks of a more practical desire… he wants to buy a nice dress for Elonwee, since he had borrowed one of hers for a disguise earlier and needed to replace it, since Azure had altered it to fit Ricky’s slightly larger frame. Fortunately, Azure had recorded Elonwee’s measurements, since she had planned to alter the original back to fitting Elonwee, and she helps the tailor figure out the adjustments to be made to a gorgeous night-sky blue dress that Ricky picked out… although Ricky pays a little extra, wanting star-shaped embellishments added to it.
With Aylis getting antsy, everyone decides to make their way to Argus’s house, with Ash finally finishing relaxing with Fidget and putting on her spare Kimono that had been gifted by her sister-in-law, Yurei. Once allowed in by Argus’s servant, Oyou, she recognizes Ash, shocked to see her looking alive and well… even moreso than she ever did with Disguise Self. Once let inside Oyou quickly gets lady Yurei, who can’t help but hug Ash tightly, with Ash surprised at the feeling of not being able to breathe when hugged so tight. Henri comes out with Kane, who is eager to see Fidget and Ash… although he seems confused by Ash. Looking at her curiously… reaching out nervously to touch her, as Ash hasn’t let him touch her in so long, knowing her necrotic energy could harm him. But when Kane does finally touch her she struggles to keep her tears down… but completely lose control when he finally calls her “Mama”, giggling happily as the look of joy on Ash’s face has him giggling and excitedly calling out for Mama as he’s cuddled by his parents.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
We'll be streaming Rise of Tiamat tonight, but our schedule is shifting just a bit... we'll be starting an hour earlier tonight, so the stream will start at 6pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty! And in case you missed it, last week was the ever-popular Hot Springs episode, and you can read on to see what happened...
The Chainbreakers enjoy a rare spa day, with everyone getting pampered. G’houl even asks for Dusk to get some treatment as well… uncertain of how much to pay for the service, G’houl simply tips 2 platinum, which is more than enough to get VIP treatment for the entire party. After everyone is cleaned, massaged, and for Antares, reshoed, everyone gathers in the open-air hotspring behind the facility. Dahlia and Loki in particular are enjoying some alcoholic drinks, while G’houl is more shyly hiding behind some large stones before they are soon joined by the flamboyant goblin Zhentarim member, Thorn.
Dahlia is delighted to see Thorn, who arrives decked out in jewelry and nothing else, revealing her relatively slim form that’s normally difficult to discern with her preference for feather boas and flamboyant dresses. When arriving in Waterdeep, Dahlia had asked to meet with Thorn, and Ambassador Brawnanvil passed on the information, and Thorn had followed their trail to meet them at the bath house. The Chainbreakers ask about the sudden installment of a new Open Lord of Waterdeep, after learning that Laeral Silverhand has been given the title with Lord Neverember demoted… the Chainbreakers suspect foul play, as they wonder why this major shakeup would be made under such dire circumstances. However, Thorn mostly dismisses their concerns… it’s rare for a Masked Lord of Waterdeep to be killed, but she knows that, when it does happen, it’s common for the Open Lord to be replaced, as the other Masked Lords usually see it as a failure. Lord Neverember is still a high-ranking Noble and leader of the Lords’ Alliance, and is even still a member of the Council of Waterdeep, which seems to calm the party members for now.
Dahlia then uses her recently learned Major Image spell to show Thorn the vision that Dahlia witnessed in Diderius’ pool of Divination, showing an authoritative male human figure in elaborate purple robes holding Varrum’s White Dragon mask. Thorn recognizes him as Severin, the leader of the Cult of Tiamat. Zhentarim spies have been attempting to infiltrate the Cult for some time, but none have gotten close enough to truly get to know Severin, and they’ve been able to discover little about his personal history. She warns that he has some means of seeing through illusions, a trait shared by most dragons. Dahlia takes this opportunity to stand up, smack her ass and taunt any “dragons” that may be watching, much to the amusement of her friends… but to the shock and embarrassment of a Halfling family entering the hotspring.
As the Halfling family shuffles in the young son goes running around the pool, with his mother chasing him, telling him to slow down… just as he nears the group he trips and falls, catching everyone off guard as a blade is suddenly thrust through Thorn’s back, the blade sticking out of her chest as she falls unconscious. Suddenly the illusion obscuring the Halfling family is dropped… the young boy is revealed to be a Kobold with wild eyes, laughing maniacally, the mother is a lithe Gnome woman, the father is actually a human man with heavy armor wielding a spear, and the diminutive grandmother is a male goblin holding a pistol-grip wand, pointing it menacingly as he warns the Chainbreakers to stand down, as they’re just here to eliminate a “stool pigeon”.
The Chainbreakers are having none of this, and despite being naked without their weapons and armor, they fight back against the would-be assassins. Fortunately, Dahlia’s spellcasting focus is an earring that she wears regularly, and Loki has a long-established habit of bringing her shield with her at all times, with little care if it raises eyebrows. Antares, however, is forced to rely on his Barbarian toughness and his freshly-shoed hooves, while G’houl must improvise spellcasting from his environment. Fortunately, one of his more powerful spells, Tidal Wave, only requires a drop of water to conjure…. However, he finds that the Goblin spellcaster attempts to counterspell him, with the Goblin and G’houl getting into counterspell duels with basically every spellcasting, with G’houl fortunately winning the majority of these duels. The Goblin is quickly revealed to be the leader of the band of assassins, shouting orders to the others, his knowledge of spell-casting helping him to guide his subordinates, such as when Dahlia uses Conjure Woodland Beings to summon a small army of Blink Dogs. He instantly recognizes her as the spellcaster, ordering his allies to ignore Thorn and focus on Dahlia to break her concentration.
Thorn uses her goblin skills to keep hidden beneath the water, only surfacing to use her Ring of the Ram to attack. Still, despite her efforts to stay hidden and the Chainbreakers’ attempts to defend her, Thorn is still too weak to stay conscious for long, requiring constant healing as she’s knocked unconscious over and over by the assassins’ attempts to murder her. Dahlia even pulls her behind cover to help provide cover, but when one of the assassins runs into a more advantageous position, Thorn uses her skills as a Goblin Boss to swap places with Dahlia, forcing her to take a poisoned crossbow bolt to the back… much to Dahlia’s annoyance.
Thorn’s own guards finally respond to the commotion, rushing in to help their mistress, just as Antares uses his great strength to overwhelm the Goblin spellcaster, punching him unconscious, making sure not to kill him outright so that he can be questioned later. With no one to counterspell him, G’houl conjures a Sickening Radiance, using his skills in Evocation to protect his allies from the deadly Radiant energy. With their leader out of commission, the other Assassins are quickly dispatched… Dahlia melts the face of the madly cackling Kobold with Inflict Wounds, and one of Thorn’s men beheads the human warrior with a large sword. However, as the battle is clearly turning against them the unconscious goblin manages a lucky critical success on his death saves, coming back to consciousness and attempting to cast Fly on himself to escape, only for G’houl to counterspell him, sending the Goblin dashing into the bathhouse and hiding. Meanwhile, Dahlia aggressively teleports near the Gnome Assassin using Misty Step, putting herself in danger as she’s too angry to think tactically. She’s punished for her hubris as the assassin quickly knocks her unconscious, then for good measure she stabs Dahlia’s unconscious form, hoping to slow down Dahlia’s allies by forcing them to tend to the dying Tiefling. The Gnome then stabs her daggers into the nearby wall, using it to attempt to climb to safety. However, the other Chainbreakers are able to quickly revive Dahlia, and Loki stops the assassin in her tracks by conjuring a Flaming Sphere above her head, dropping her to the ground. Loki finishes her off with another Inflict Wounds, necrotizing the assassin’s neck until her head pops clean off. She then hops on Antares’s back to give chase to the fleeing wizard.
With his overwhelming speed, Antares rushes into the building and manages to find the Goblin hiding under a table. With his hiding spot ruined, the Goblin makes a mad dash for a nearby window, causing commotion in the street as the citizens see a goblin bursting out of a building. G’houl manages to get line of sight on him, firing off a Frostbite Cantrip, which the fleeing Wizard attempts to counterspell, but once again G’houl wins the counterspell duel, with G’houl careful to deal non-lethal damage to the criminal. To G’houl’s disappointment, people in the streets cheer him simply for killing a goblin… although it’s true that this particular goblin was a criminal, it’s a reminder that, to the average citizen, Goblins are seen as dangerous monsters and not as people. Carrying the unconscious goblin back inside, the workers finally come to check on the commotion, only for the Triton worker to shriek in terror as she sees the various dead bodies. Fortunately Dahlia is able to explain the situation, and she leaves to get the city guard.
Dahlia confronts Thorn for using her as a living shield earlier, and Thorn apologizes by gifting Dahlia a Ring of Protection… especially after seeing her repeatedly put herself in unnecessary danger. Based on tattoos on a few of the assassins, Thorn deduces that they’re members of The Xanathar’s, another Thieve’s Guild that operates out of Waterdeep. She knows that word of the Zhentarim working with the Lords’ Alliance has reached the Xanathars, and they now view the Zhentarim as snitches willing to work with the authorities. She points out that the symbol of the Xanathar’s is a large eyeball surrounded by 9 evenly spaced smaller eyeballs… a rough image of a Beholder, as The Xanathar himself is a Beholder. She explains that Beholders are nearly impossible to bargain with and are horribly unpredictable… unlike the Zhentarim, who are willing to work with the authorities in order to oppose a world-threatening force like the Cult of Tiamat, the Xanathar would be perfectly happy to rule over the rubble left behind of society, or even help the Cult of Tiamat if they can satisfy whatever mad whims he may request.
Loki, meanwhile, goes full Karen… using her shapeshifting powers to look even more injured than she really is as she complains to the bath house workers for their low security. She plays it up enough to learn that the Goliath Masseuse is actually the owner of the bath house, and she offers Loki and all her friends free access to the facility for the next week.
As Loki informs her friends about her deal, the city guard arrive to investigate. The Sergeant who first arrives quickly dismisses the issue as a “Lover’s Quarrel” between a pair of goblins, and he mostly dismisses the issue for that reason. However, when the Party shows him their Writ of Intent signed by the Open Lord of Waterdeep, he realizes he’s in over his head, and Dahlia vents some of her frustration by laying into him for his blatant racism and orders him to arrest the wizard and look into the increased Xanathar activity.
After the Sergeant embarrassedly leaves, one of his deputies steps up to speak frankly to the party, apologizing for his superior’s racism, and promising that not everyone in the city guard is like that… lamenting that some people are given positions of authority just through nepotism. When asked his name he introduces himself as Deputy Simon Bolbec, and promises to help them if they ask for help from the City Watch. Thorn thanks everyone for keeping her alive, and although she has work to focus on for now, she’s interested in Dahlia’s suggestion of getting together for a Girl’s Night soon. The Chainbreakers then decided to spend the rest of their day enjoying the free treatment Loki managed to negotiate for them, although Dahlia takes a moment to cast Sending to contact Granny Greenskin, the Hag who had originally gifted Dahlia the fey magic she taps into as part of her spellcasting. Dahlia had attempted to summon Greenskin a few times before, but for unknown reasons her spell only summoned a different hag each time. When contacted, Greenskin explains that Dahlia didn’t need her at those times, which seems to satisfy Dahlia for now.
As the day draws to a close everyone goes with Antares back toward the Yawning Portal for his date with Ella. Loki had been enjoying the free mimosas pretty aggressively at the spa, so she drunkenly stumbles toward Ella and offers her slurred, confusing advice for dating her “son”, much to Ella’s bewilderment. Antares offers Ella the opportunity to ride on his back, which she sheepishly, but excitedly, agrees to. Rather than take her to a restaurant, Antares instead invites her to a picnic in the fields outside of the city gates, purchasing fruits and cheeses, along with a bit of wine, from the outdoor market. The two enjoy a romantic evening together, chatting about their families as Antares picks flowers and weaves a flower crown for her. As the sun begins to set he brings Ella back to her home, which she shares with her other family members. The night ends with a tight hug, and Antares giving Ella a romantic kiss on the cheek before returning to the Yawning Portal to rest and prepare for whatever is to come next.
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We'll be streaming our homebrew campaign of Sacrament tonight at 6pm PST, as always, at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty! Come join us as we're getting into some wild combat, and if you need context for what happened, please read on:
With the current threats mostly out of sight, the Grimveils have a rare day of rest as they prepare for the Military Ball coming up soon. The Party ends up splitting up… Azure and Ash traveling with Lady Yurei, while Crush and Ricky go with Kanec, Malik, and Fidget to get more men’s fomal clothes. Ricky calls on the group’s pets… the dancing goat Thaco and the emu Omelette… although it takes some convincing for Ricky to convince Yurei to take Thaco with the rest of the ladies. With the group separating, Lady Yurei immediately leads the others toward an expensive high-end tailor that seems to also have a spa-like atmosphere. There’s some confusion about Thaco’s presence, but Yurei is an important enough client that they’re willing to accommodate the goat.
The girls find themselves in an elaborate spa… each girl placed in a large seat, attended by at least 3 workers at a time. They even have supplies to handle Azure’s fur… explaining that there are a few Rakshasa that actually occasionally visit, their tiger-like fur similar to Azure’s. It seems the Reaver City is willing to accommodate even Devils if they have the money… and they behave themselves.
As the girls are preparing, Malik leads the men toward a shop known as Kisler’s… similarly impressive, but with less of a spa atmosphere. The owner is a male Lamia who is intrigued when he meets Crush, eager to test his technique on Crush’s unusual body type. Crush requests a formal outfit that is, basically, Bowser’s wedding suit from Mario Odyssey. Meanwhile, Ricky intends to rely on his Glamoured Studded Leather Armor for his own suit, so instead he focuses on paying for a custom-made outfit for Omelette… who has been pecking at some fabric, which Ricky then needs to pay for. While that is being worked on, Kanec is being presented with a formal wooden box… inside are a collection of elegant sashes. These are important formal regalia for special events, and even include patches and other embroidery that represent different accomplishments and family crests. Ricky is able to Intuit that Kanec is becoming a bit choked up with pride… with Ricky commenting that Kanec looks like someone who’s reacting to the feeling of his father’s pride… a feeling that Ricky laments he has never experienced himself… although Crush comments that he’s proud of Ricky, for what it’s worth.
Malik then reminds Fidget that he needs a sash of his own, and needs to get some formal clothes for the event. Fidget thinks this is a bit of a waste of time, but Ricky convinces him to play along… if only to be able to rub it in Malik’s face when he inevitably looks better than him. Ricky wants to help, and Crush encourages Malik to show Ricky what the various patches mean, since Ricky could help Malik figure out which patches Kanec qualifies for.
While inspecting the patches, Malik puts aside a particularly old patch reserved for Reavers born to a Queen Siren. Ricky and Crush both comment on how that applies to baby Kane, with Malik reacting in shock. They discuss it relatively casually, with even the owner, Kisler the Lamia, reacting with impressed surprise. He also mentions that it’s likely that Kane will have some innate magical power… this has Crush curious, since he knows Kane was born from the sea, wondering if he has an innate connection to the sea like he does. Crush holds Kane, looking into his eyes, relaxing and trying to feel Kane’s aura as best he can… and he does detect something like a raging storm somewhere in Kane’s soul. However, as he touches that energy spiritually, Kane suddenly sneezes, shooting a small bolt of lightning out of his nose in the process. Kane seems to be in the midst of a sneezing fit, lightning shooting around the shop, damaging some items as Crush quickly hurries out holding Kane… taking on the task of holding him, since he’s innately resistant to lightning damage thanks to his connection to the sea.
Outside, Kane’s sneezing fit seems to only get worse, and Crush can’t figure out how to calm him. He experiments with burping Kane, and even tickling him… but just as Kane seems to stop sneezing he laughs and suddenly bursts into flame, setting fire to some dry grass. Fortunately Crush is still wearing his amulet that gives him resistance to fire damage, and holds Kane still while the others try to put out the fires. Still, the sight of a baby on fire gets emergency services called… and Ricky buys some food and drinks to help calm the situation, but as it continues to escalate he decides to drink the drinks himself, using Sending to contact Ash, informing her bluntly that her baby is on fire, which interrupts their salon trip, Ash, Yurei, and Azure rushing out to find Kane.
After a short run they find the chaos in the park… fire burning, paramedics shocked by electricity and one with her hair set on fire. Finally, Ash approaches, comforting Kane and casting Sleep on him to help him relax. Once Kane falls asleep, the remaining fires instantly extinguish themselves… and they can’t help but notice that the woman whose hair was set on fire has flowers blooming in her hair.
Yurei recognizes this to be some form of sorcery, and encourages Ash to take Kane back to her home… Ash comes from a family of sorcerers, and bursts of energy from a young age aren’t unheard of… they even have a special anti-magic blanket to help protect the children. While Kane is taken to rest, the men leave to get shoes and have their weapons polish, while the women finish their salon visit. Yurei helps to select formal clothing for Azure and Ash, and Azure is even given ear piercings to match the outfit that Azure had selected. Ash and Yurei also enjoy spending time together… bonding now that Ash is once again alive, and can feel proper emotions fully.
On the way home, Azure has a tingling sensation on the back of her neck… turning around, she finds herself alone, all other figures vanishing from sight. Heavy mists surround her, and stepping out of the mists is the Goddess Chao, who taunts Azure, admonishing her for interrupting Chao’s plans. Chao shows Azure a vision… revealing Neo and the Night Children, preparing something, although it’s not clear what. As Azure is forced to watch, unable to interrupt, she sees as Chao lifts Neo’s bag, spilling out its contents… including the golden snake created from the Ancient Reaver and Azmira. Neo panics, as from his perspective, he cannot see Chao. However, the golden snake starts growing, swelling, growing… the gold shell holding it beginning to crack. Azure finds herself trapped in this alternate dimension… but as she looks around her she realizes she can see her allies in a reflection… and she also sees herself still with her alllies.
The Azure doppelganger is following, acting a bit strange, but none of Azure’s allies notice.
Just as they’re continuing, Ricky receives a magical letter from Neo, telling him that the snake is moving and that they need help. Ricky tells everyone that Neo is in danger… unfortunately, Malik is still nearby, and when he hears the name Neo he instantly recognizes it as a wanted criminal, and although he demands clarification for what that means, Crush instead pulls out his amulet, reminding him that the Grimveils are monster hunters, and if Malik wants to get in their way, he’ll have to get through Crush. This doesn’t seem to satisfy Malik, but he does let them leave without obstruction as the party goes running back toward the hideout they know that the Night Children are staying in.
As they run, Azure’s doppelganger continues to play along, but as they’re running she trips and falls, slamming into a building so hard that it shakes its foundation, and just as her allies are stopping to check on her the building quakes before crumbling down on them with thick stones.
As they’re digging themselves out of the rubble, Azure has been watching through a reflected window pane nearby. To try and connect with her allies, she summons her astral self, using her Visage of the Astral Self to scream for help, with only Crush able to hear her. Sensing her through the window, he places his palm against it and summons his rage, hoping he can use the energy to help pull Azure toward him. The other Grimveils are confused about why Crush is doing this, and when he explains why his allies are mostly incredulous, but Ricky uses his Dragon Mark to summon an Aura of Vitality… a protective energy that glows with all non-hostile creatures within the aura… and as they realize that Azure’s doppelganger isn’t glowing they realize it can’t be the real Azure, and everyone prepares for battle.
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We're playing tonight at 6pm PST at our home of twitch.tv/afterdisbooy! We'll be streaming more of our Rise of Tiamat Campaign, as the party has focused on strengthening bonds with allies and each other during their downtime. In case you missed last week's session (which had some technical difficulties that slowed things down), here's what you missed:
The Chainbreakers have made their way to the Moon’s Reflection, the magical shopped owned by the Yuan-Ti enchanter, Benedict Fenwick. His shop is warded to prevent Fey from entering, which prevents Dusk from going inside (who was recently resummoned in the form of a winged Tressym, a sort of winged cat), and has just enough resistance to make it feel like passing through a wall of gelatin for Antares. It’s Antares who was hoping to visit, as he had a request for magical horse shoes to improve his mobility. Fenwick is able to enchant such a thing, but it will cost 2000 gold and take 3 days to prepare, with G’houl and Dahlia donating the money to help Antares, since he wasn’t present when the party found the treasures recovered from the cultists, and thus has a much more modest budget of his own.
Once his order is put in, Dahlia inquires about having modifications made to her Broom of Flying. Fenwick admits there’s very little he can do to modify a magical object that already has a powerful enchantment on it, but with the right cost he can do something to improve its speed, but admits any modifications will be limited in use. Dahlia is okay with this, but she also asks if he can modify its appearance to make it look more sleek and even include a place to attach a lantern… which Fenwick uses as a prompt to upsell Dahlia with an Everbright Lantern he has for sale.
G’houl is already overladen with magical equipment that he’s attuned to, so instead he expresses interest in getting some mystical chalk for his Teleportation Circle spell, which Fenwick is able to provide. Loki, meanwhile, isn’t interested in magic items at all… instead, she offers to “bless” Fenwick’s shop in exchange for payment… able to successfully deceive him as she goes through some mystical mumbo-jumbo for some gold. However, before they leave, Dahlia puts in one last request for a “personal massager”, which Fenwick admits he’s crafted before and is willing to create for a nominal fee, following specific dimensions at Dahlia’s request.
With their orders place the party then opts to split up… Dahlia wants to meet up with Thorn for the Lady’s Night she had requested before… and also to get Thorn to make up for using Dahlia as a living shield during the assassination attempt the day before. Meanwhile, Loki wants to check in on Verther Insurance, the company she helped create with a human merchant she had met in the convoy the party had traveled with earlier. Antares, meanwhile, is hoping to make some money to make up for what he had borrowed for his horseshoe commission.
Dahlia meets with Thorn at her recently opened shop, a Jewelry Store known as “The Jade Lady”… easy to find, thanks to the large wooden sign depicting a pinup-style illustration of Thorn herself, with eye-catching gold paint for the illustration’s jewelry. Inside, Dahlia finds that Thorn is now accompanied by the Elven brothers, Noohar and Selvek Serelim… two other men she had met in the convoy. In particular, Selvek, for unknown reasons, possesses True Sight, able to see through illusions… although thanks to his muteness, he requires his brother to translate his sign language. Noohar explains that they were approached by members of the Zhentarim for Selvek’s True Sight abilities… something they’re familiar with because of Zhentarim agent Jamna Gleamsilver.
Thorn takes Dahlia to a tavern known as “The Lion’s Mane”… a location less rowdy than the adventurer-friendly Yawning Portal, but not so uptight that they won’t be able to relax and dance. Thorn pays for drinks as Dahlia talks about the mission she was just on, and her concerns about both the cult itself and the politics of Waterdeep. Both women realize their intent was to go out and relax, not to sit and talk shop, so both women decide to hit the dance floor and see how many free drinks they can get from hopeful suitors.
Antares goes searching for a pit fighting arena… asking around town, he finds an arena known as the Bloody Knuckle… a rough and rowdy fighting pit where people of many varieties of races and types of fighters fight for the entertainment of an energetic, mostly drunk crowd. The polite and friendly Antares is a bit out of place in this location, dutifully waiting in line to sign up for a fight, even as others muscle past him to sign up and hopefully make some cash. Still, he finally gets to the signup, meeting an energetic Dwarven promoter going by the name Whetstone. He asks Antares to flex for him, and Antares’ awkward flex leads him to assign Antares to a lower weight class than the skilled Barbarian would normally reach… he also mishears his name as “Ant-Rees”… largely ignoring Antares’ polite corrections with each mispronunciation. Antares finds himself in battle against a lithe elven man going by the name “Johnny Knives”… an agile and skilled fighter, but luckily Antares had greater strength and constitution, and got lucky with his acrobatics against his more acrobatic opponent. Antares ends up making more money than expected, as Johnny Knives was heavily favored to win. He leaves with Gold in hand as the crowd chants for “Ant-Rees”.
G’houl has little to do with Loki’s investment in Verther Insurance, but Loki insists on him walking with her so they can discuss G’houl’s relationship with Dahlia. They’re both concerned for Dahlia, who has been in a sour mood lately, and who is considering working with the ArchDevil Zariel. Loki also asks G’houl how happy he is with her, knowing that Dahlia was, prior to dating him, extremely casual about sex and seemed interested in Polyamory… she had even hooked up with both Loki and Katniss regularly. G’houl isn’t entirely sure how he feels about that, and when Loki pointedly asks him if he loves her he’s left in stunned, embarrassed silence. Struggling to say out loud his feelings for her… Loki reminds him that, as a Baroness of her homeland, Dahlia is being courted by potential suitors. The two of them reach an interesting idea… deciding that they want to arrange a kind of Thank You party for Dahlia by gathering as many people they know of in town who owe a debt of gratitude to Dahlia as thanks for everything she’s done.
With that decision made they continue to Verther’s, and although the office is closed for business, they’re able to get Verther’s attention, who is happy to see them. He reveals that, although Loki had arranged for her portion of the payments be sent to her home she shares with Katniss in Phandalin, because of increased Cult of Tiamat activity Verther had been warned not to send money over long distances, so luckily Loki was able to find 500 gold waiting for her. Happy with her profits, Loki asks about the business and how it’s doing… she suggests expanding the business further, with Verther admitting that he has looked into opening a branch office in Neverwinter, but the company doesn’t quite have the funds necessary. Loki then volunteers not just her 500 gold payment to the cause, but she also adds in 500 gold of her own wealth, hoping to kickstart the process. G’houl as well suggests insuring the School of Knowledge, which, as a school that specializes in magical training, is prone to the occasional magical mishap both for the school itself and the buildings nearby. At Verther’s suggestion he even writes up a letter of introduction to help Verther get in the door with the School.
As they’re finishing Antares has managed to find Verther’s Insurance, reconnecting with Loki and G’houl. They explain to them their plan for Dahlia’s party, and he’s eager to help. He’s also shocked to learn Loki is giving money to Verther, considering how greedy she normally is. Loki meticulously explains to him how investing work, and Antares plays dumb about it to tease her, claiming he actually made money tonight, while she lost money. This continues until they return to the Yawning Portal, with Loki inquiring about renting a room for holding a party which, thankfully, the Portal does have private rooms normally reserved for meetings or other events that’s available for rent.
Around this time Thorn arrives in the Yawning Portal along with her Half-Orc guards, the Serelim twins, and a blackout drunk Dahlia. Thorn has her men escort Dahlia to her room to sleep off her drunkenness and meets with the others to check on them. She learns about the party for Dahlia and is happy to help… offering to use her connections both through the Zhentarim and as a member of the Council of Waterdeep to gather guests for Dahlia’s party. With that taken care of, the party then simply has to figure out what to prepare, sending Antares to Dahlia’s room to wake her and try to figure out what kind of food she wants… unfortunately, Antares has been drinking his favorite drink of “Everything they offer served in one big tankard”, and is a bit tipsy himself… he drunkenly attempts to braid Dahlia’s hair in the dark, knotting it uncomfortably as he manages to learn that she misses the spicy curry of her homeland before she passes out again. Once they’re alone, Loki says she’ll take care of gathering whatever foods are necessary, but she assigns G’houl a particular task… to gather the items commonly intended for courtship rituals in Dahlia’s homeland of Esleah. Loki starts him on this by giving him a platinum ring the party had recovered way back in Wave Echo Cave, along with a lapis she had received in a dream.
When morning comes Dahlia sleeps in as usual, making it easy for her allies to prepare for her surprise party. Antares is the first to wake up, hurrying out to buy flowers to decorate the rented room. He prioritizes, appropriately enough, purchasing dahlias, but he also buys other flowers… enough to fill a small cart. He returns to the Yawning Portal and meets with Ella who, as en employee of the Yawning Portal, can help him to decorate the back room without raising suspicion. Loki is the second to waken… despite sharing a bed with Dahlia, she manages to sneak out without waking her, hurrying out to look for food and spices to prepare a large meal for the event, and even pays Durnan in the Yawning Portal for use of their kitchen. It takes Loki some time, but she eventually finds an Esleahn merchant selling exotic spices. It takes her most of the morning, but once she meets him she’s able to convince him to share with her a recipe for a type of chicken curry. She arranges for a butcher to deliver the supplies to the Yawning Portal in preparation for Dahlia’s party.
G’houl, however, focuses on ordering Dahlia food and Dwarven Coffee to help her with her hangover, which she’s happy to receive, although she is curious about why Loki and Antares aren’t around in the morning… fortunately for G’houl, who isn’t particularly skilled at deception, he’s not lying when he says he doesn’t know where they are, since they both left without telling him where they were going. Dahlia checks on Fractal, who is happy to get out of the stable and explore the city, while G’houl takes their other horse, Cake, who is less excitable and seems to be more of simply a reliable work horse. Dahlia mentions visiting Verther Insurance, since she had also invested some money in the company (although far less than Loki), and was curious to see how they were doing. She’s also a bit upset when G’houl reminds her that he and Loki already visited last night, as she feels like they should have all gone together.
Arriving, they find Verther and his other business partner, the slightly dishonest but mostly reliable Aldor, working together on extensive paperwork as they make plans for expanding to Neverwinter. They also provide a 50gp payout to Dahlia for her contribution earlier as they discuss their plans with Dahlia. She also suggests that they open business in Esleah, which she could help them with through her connections as a Baroness. Aldor is instantly interested, but the more practical Verther regretfully admits that their business isn’t quite ready to handle International business dealings. Still, he’s interested in expanding into naval shipping, and they both ask for Dahlia’s help if they prove they can at least handle the addition of a Neverwinter Office as well. Satisfied with their progress, Dahlia then expresses interest in checking in on Thorn, especially since she gets to show G’houl the Jade Lady.
Inside, they find an employee who lets Thorn know of their appearance. Thorn enters in her usual regalia, playfully flirting with G’houl, much to his discomfort. Dahlia wants to speak to Thorn in private, which ends up being a perfect opportunity for G’houl, as he has plans for the Platinum Ring and Lapis Loki gave him earlier. In the back room, Dahlia vents about her issues, and in particular asks for Thorn’s thoughts on the opportunity she has to work with Zariel, the Devilish Archduchess of Avernus. Thorn recognizes the name, knowing that Avernus is the realm where Tiamat is trapped, and unsurprised that Zariel is willing to help the Cult of Tiamat in order to simply remove Tiamat from her realm. Dahlia asks about Thorn’s own religious beliefs, with Thorn explaining that she was raised, like most Goblins, in the worship of Maglubiyet, one of very few Goblin Gods, and one who extolls the virtues of slavery. Like Dahlia, Thorn doesn’t see the Gods as “Divine Beings”, but rather, as simply particularly powerful beings who happen to have control over specific forces. She also sees no problem in working with Devils… after all, Devils are exceedingly honest… often to a dangerous degree. Dahlia worries that it’s dangerous to trust a Devil, with Thorn teasingly implying that it’s dangerous for Dahlia to work with her as well. Meanwhile, G’houl asks the employee to help by setting the jewel into the ring in anticipation of Dahlia’s party later that day.
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We'll be playing our Homebrew Campaign of Sacrament tonight! Come join us at 6pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty, and read on if you need a reminder of everything that happened in our last session:
With the party realizing that the Azure Doppelganger isn’t her, they attack this creature… not realizing that the damage is being shared by Azure. The Doppelganger summons Astral Arms of her own to attack the party. Crush, fortunately, opts to grapple and shove the doppelganger prone, dragging her out of range of the arms, wanting to keep her out of range of the others. While they try to figure out what to do, Azure manages to punch her way out of the pocket dimension she was trapped in using her Astral arms. Bursting out, she warns that anything they do to the Doppelganger affects her as well… but without knowledge of just how it works, she encourages everyone to continue attacking her doppelganger. However, the amount of damage taken by the party by her collapsing a building on them has pushed Fidget to nearly triggering his Blood Rage… although it doesn’t fully trigger, he does start lashing out, stabbing Ash in the back. In retaliation, Ash casts Sleep on him, hoping to let him rest and heal until the Rage subsides.
Meanwhile, the Doppelganger retaliates against Crush with a Stunning Strike, stunning him in place, allowing her to make her escape as she continues to fight against the party.
As Crush recovers from his stun he body slams the Doppelganger into a pile of boxes, damaging her and Azure in the process. As they’re nearing knocking the Doppelganger unconscious, Ash looks closer, trying to figure out what to do… she realizes that, in order to defeat her duplicate, Azure needs to attack herself. She does so, and as she punches herself in the face with her astral arms she dissipates her Doppelganger.
With the duplicate finally defeated, Ricky sends a message to Neo, checking to see if he’s still alive after being attacked by the Ancient Reaver. Neo warns that he’s turned into a giant golden snake, and his people are barely alive. Crush suggests the others take a Catnap while he runs to meet with Neo, but Ricky impatiently uses his new spell, True Polymorph, to transform into an Adult Black Dragon and fly to Neo… the other party members go into Kanec’s genie bag to try and recover as best they can as Ricky rushes toward Neo’s location… although a Black Dragon flying over the city draws unwanted attention, especially since he looks like the skull-like Black Dragons of his home land, and not the jeweled dragons of Tiavet. Even in his new form, Ricky is able to convince the guards not to attack as they guide them toward the building Neo was in… although it does lead the guards toward Neo and his allies, putting them in danger. They find that Neo is staying in the building under construction where they fought the Ancient Reaver the other night. Ricky and Crush can’t find a reliable trail to track him down, and as they’re looking they find Neo, who is injured. He explains that two of the Night Children died as the Ancient Reaver returned to his natural form, equipped with the morphing armor of Azmira. Fortunately, they’re able to hide in Kanec’s Genie Bag before the guards arrive. Ricky realizes that his transformation isn’t helping the situation and he returns to his true form… coming up with the excuse that he had been drinking and was trying out a new spell, and was simply trying to direct the guards toward the fire. The guards believe his excuse, but they still require them to stay and take statements.
Inside the Genie Bag, Neo warns about the Ancient Reaver, and also explains that the dead Night Children were left in the fire… when Ash admonishes him for it, since she’s capable of reviving the dead, Neo states that some people don’t wish to disobey the natural order of death and life.
Once the guards allow them to leave, Ricky enters the Genie Bag to cast Cat Nap and help the injured recover. Crush remains outside, following the trail of destruction left behind by the Ancient Reaver. He follows the shed golden scales left behind, although the more he follows, the less the gold resembles scales and the more it seems to be humanoid in nature. Following the trail, he sees it leads into a seemingly random building… following it deeper, he sees bloodstains, approaching cautiously he sees an Elven husband and wife slaughtered violently, blood sprayed around the room. By this point, everyone has finished their Cat Nap… Ricky, Neo, and Kanick (apparently that’s how it’s spelled and I’ve been spelling it wrong this whole time) come out, and Ash even pops out momentarily to cast Pass Without Trace on her allies before returning to the bag to keep an eye on Fidget. Azure as well is left to continue resting, considering the harm she took thanks to her doppelganger.
Crush assumes that the Ancient Reaver was raging when he killed the family, but with Neo giving more insight into Reaver rages Crush realizes that the Ancient Reaver had more methodically slaughtered the elves… fully conscious, and instead simply slaughtering them as a sick form of venting his frustrations. They continue to follow the Ancient Reaver’s trail until they find that it has led into a large procession of Reavers… military leaders and other nobles returning for the Military Ball. The procession makes tracking him impossible, so instead they scan the crowd, hoping his sheer size will make him visible in the crowd. They see a massive Reaver in the distance, hurrying to catch up… however, when they finally see him, Kanick and Neo instantly recognize him as The Warlord, the leader of all Reavers. They realize they’ve lost their quarry, and duck into an alleyway to discuss what they’ve seen. They realize there’s no point in trying to continue their search for the Ancient Reaver, but for now their worst concern ins Malik, Kanick’s brother.
Earlier, Malik heard about the Grimveils’ association with Neo, a wanted criminal and known worshipper of the Nightmother. They know that Malik could potentially get all of them in trouble, and although they all agree that it would be best to try and speak to Malik, trusting that he’ll do the right thing if he’s properly persuaded… for now, Kanick wants to wait to hear from Malik first… after all, if he was going to do something about this, he would have already. They also discuss the effects of the Goddess Chao… Neo’s shocked at just how aggressive Chao is being with the Grimveils. Crush explains that they killed the Siren Empress, who Chao considered a daughter… they also realize that this means Kane, who was born from the Empress, has some of Chao’s essence in him… they all realize that what they assumed was some form of Wild Magic is something far greater and more dangerous, and everyone decides to hurry back to Ash’s family’s home, where Kane has been left to take advantage of an antimagic blanket they own to help protect their own Sorcerous children.
Once back Lady Yurei’s home they find the elegant woman in a rare frazzled state… Kane’s powers have only become more erratic. He’s begun to pass through walls, cause objects to float, and other chaotic magical acts. Even now he seems to have disapparated, floating throughout the room and creating a mess. They eventually lure him out by playing, with Ricky casting Sleep to calm him down, wrapping Kane in the anti-magic blanket to help protect him. Once Kane is asleep, Ash warns that it’s not safe for Yurei to stay in her home… the Ancient Reaver is wearing the armor of Azmira, and she knows where Ash’s family is, and may guide her new wearer to seek revenge. At her suggestion, Ricky helps convince Yurei that they should use their status to convince the Warlord to let them stay in the well-protected Palace instead.
Crush and Ricky help Yurei pack while Ash enters the Genie Bag to speak to Neo, asking for advice about Kane. She reveals that Kane was born by accelerating his birth with a magical potion purchased from a Merc… which only adds to the chaotic energy. He knows that Chao can influence Kane, and he also worries that the orientation of the stars could make Kane more susceptible to her influence. Ash isn’t happy to hear this, but is hoping that Neo can use his knowledge to help stabilize Kane… something he won’t be able to do until night falls.
They send messages to their friends, everyone heading toward the Palace to meet with Argus. On the way, they pick up Yurei’s son, Saba, and continue to the palace, seeing it surrounded by massive walls decorated with enormous statues of great Reaver warriors. The front gate is crowded, as several other nobles are visiting in anticipation of the Military Ball… but most importantly, they see Argus waiting. Crush helps Ash to exit their carriage dramatically, who is stunned to see Ash alive and well once again. They embrace tightly, Argus crying tears of joy, unashamed to show emotions in public. Ash shares with Argus the message left to her by their late father… that he’s proud of him. Although talk of their father has Saba mentioning off-hand the time he “fell asleep”, with Yurei and Argus realizing that Saba actually died when he was abducted by the tall lady. This puts a damper on their reunion, but everyone is still overall happy.
Making their way further inside, they’re allowed into the gardens, where they see a massive golden tiger wandering the grounds. Azure is staring in stunned silence at the tiger, which seems equally stunned at the sight of a humanoid tiger. Ricky uses his necklace of Speak with Animals to talk to the Golden Tiger, who sees Ricky as a potential meal, and also views Azure as a potential rival. Azure is afraid to try to interact, not just from the tiger, but because she knows she’s still under the threat of Chao’s Curse, which seems to be activated by taking part in activities. But fortunately she’s able to convince the Golden Tiger that she’s no threat.
Crush is keeping an eye out for Kalea, and is surprised to find that she’s already inside the gardens. She explains that she introduced herself as an ally of Argus, and she was well behaved enough to be allowed in the gardens. Crush informs her about what’s been going on, explaining why they’re escorting Ash’s family into the Palace… and warn her about the Ancient Reaver, and how dangerous he is with Azmira. With the entire group regathered, they meet with Argus, who has arranged for the Grimveils to actually stay in the Palace for the night…. It seems The Warlord is interested to meet with the Revenant who has managed to come back to life, as well as speak with Kanick, son of General Savine. The Grimveils are hopeful that this will provide the opportunity to have Fidget’s condition treated, especially since he’s so unstable right now after the battle with Azure’s evil duplicate.
Passing through the grand palace, they eventually pass by a young human male playing with a large lion cub, who seems to watched over by a tall woman with long red hair who tenses up at the sight of the group. Ash believes that this must be the missing children of the Lord of Seamont… the port town taken over by Reavers in Estea. Ash asks Argus about her, but Argus admits he knows little about what happened in Seamont. Moving further into the Palace, Ash enters the office where Argus normally works. She finds a letter he had written to Cornelius, demanding immediate response or risk escalating the war further. He warns that Cornelius will be in attendance at the military ball the next day, with Ash lamenting that she’ll need to bite her tongue.
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I'm finally posting this early in the day, although we've been sticking with a regular schedule pretty reliably for the past several weeks. We'll be streaming Rise of Tiamat again tonight! Come join the Chainbreakers at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty at 6pm PST for more fun and intrigue as the party prepares for the next meeting of the Council of Waterdeep... and also deals with the repercussions of one character making contact with a powerful archdevil. However, if you missed last Friday's session or if you just need a refresher, read on and see what happened with a surprise party and a reunion with a beloved friend:
G’houl keeps Dahlia busy by taking her to the Siren’s Call, since Loki had “negotiated” free use of the bath house for her party. Loki herself, meanwhile, accompanies Antares to the Bloody Knuckle once again as he wants to make some more money pit fighting. Although Antares performed admirably the night before, Loki skillfully spreads a rumor that he was injured in his previous fight in order to shift the odds and increase her own payout, betting a full 100 gold on Antares’ performance, easily tripling her investment before they all realize it’s time for Dahlia’s party.
On the way back to the Yawning Portal, Dahlia’s extremely high Perception has her smelling the familiar scent of curry from a distance. Hurrying inside, she realizes it’s coming from a back room, rushing in to find a group of friends and a large table with pots of freshly made curry. Dahlia is first greeted by Jundo, the Loxadon merchant whose boisterous personality instantly draws attention. They’re also greeted by Verther, who seems to be under the impression that this is a wedding between Dahlia and Antares, gifting them a cast iron bread toaster for use in campfires… although the misunderstanding is explained when his business partner, Aldor, tries to claim that it’s “from both of them”, and further questioning reveals he was the one contacted by Thorn and he apparently wasn’t really paying attention to what this was all about.
Leosin was also a bit confused, thinking this was a more formal occasion, arriving in formal robes, with Deeg also wearing similar robes. Deeg hurries to Dahlia, worried that he heard she’s feeling bad, reminding her that she’s the one who told him that, no matter how he’s treated by others, deep down he’s a dragon… something he proves by displaying a monk technique he’s discovered, manipulating his ki to blow a stream of fire at the ceiling… which G’houl quickly extinguishes with magic. Leosin also speaks to Dahlia, commenting that he didn’t realize the Kobolds were victims in this situation, and if she hadn’t shown up and talked to him he may have killed the Kobolds, but instead he now has Deeg as an apprentice, and is learning about Kobolds as much as he’s teaching Deeg about being a monk.
The most surprising guest is the guard they traveled with in the convoy who got the nickname “Bad Luck Tony”, as any time a guard was in trouble during their journey it was almost always Tony who found himself in danger. He breaks down in tears, talking to Dahlia about the time she flew in to rescue him from Ettercaps who were trying to abduct him for food. He gives Dahlia a gift of a lopsided, homemade mug emblazoned with the words “Tahnk You”.
During all this, Antares, who doesn’t actually know most of the people here, decides to go on a run with Ella. The two of them head out, Ella riding on his back as they head out of the main city walls to enjoy the open fields once again. Galloping through the cool open fields under the starry sky, the two eventually leading their conversation into discussing their future. Ella seems to understand that Antares is some kind of adventurer, although she doesn’t know exactly what he’s doing, but she knows enough to see that he won’t be in Waterdeep forever. Antares, as well, admits that even beyond his adventures with the Chainbreakers, in the future he’s expected to take the lead on his herd… a task that can’t be taken on from Waterdeep. While the two are in a whirlwind romance, the truth is both of them realize it’s not wise to try and fully commit. Instead Ella asks Antares to promise to check on her any time he’s in Waterdeep, and that they both be honest with each other if anything in their life changes. They both relax a bit, as the pressure of serious romance lessens, but still, after seeing refugees from Cult of Tiamat attacks being led into town by guards, they realize it would be best to get back within the city walls. Antares takes Ella home, and she wordlessly requests a kiss, the two sharing a gentle kiss before Antares returns to rejoin his friends at the Yawning Portal.
Dahlia plays some music on her pan flute, all her friends gathering together to sing along before the party begins to die down, everyone saying goodbyes… some more inebriated than others. On his way out, Dahlia uses the Message Cantrip to send a private message to Leosin… asking him, if he could stop all this conflict by selling his soul, would he do it? This seems to take him by surprise, but he eventually admits that, if he could guarantee all this suffering would end, he would do it, but anything short of that he doesn’t think would be worth it. She thanks him for his insight, as everyone makes their way to bed. Antares opts to sleep in Loki’s bedroom, while G’houl and Dahlia make their way to different rooms… that is, until Dusk grabs Dahlia by her pant leg, pulling her toward G’houl’s room. The two lovers haven’t spent any time alone since their dramatic reunion… the stress of the duties of the Council of Waterdeep, and a lack of privacy on the Nimbus, paired with Dahlia’s fears concerning her suitors from her home country has put a wedge between the two… and with Dusk pushing them, they both realize that they both assumed that the other was avoiding them simultaneously. With that misunderstanding finally cleared up, the two embrace and kiss, sleeping in bed together, holding one another tightly as they quickly fall asleep after the long party.
The next day, G’houl uses his newly learned Teleportation Circle spell to travel instantly to Neverwinter so the Chainbreakers can reunite with their busy member, Katniss. G’houl teleports everyone to the School of Knowledge in Neverwinter. He’s greeted by Professor Raphael, the Orcish Wizard who took G’houl under his wing during his training, and who provides G’houl with more enchanted chalk for use in the Teleportation Circle spell. They also meet with Katniss, who has been on a mission along with Corinth, the Dragonborn Paladin, and Ella Rowntree, the Human Wildmagic Sorcerer. Katniss informs the party that They had successfully investigated the hoard of Arauthator, a powerful White Dragon that lives on the Sea of Moving Ice. In Their investigation, Katniss learned that Arauthator indeed owned the Draakhorn, but it was gifted nearly 6 months ago to members of the Cult of Tiamat. Unfortunately, Katniss wasn’t able to defeat the White Dragon, and although the group escaped, Arauthator nearly killed Ella, and he seems to be now on the hunt for interlopers. Still, Katniss has a few magic items They discovered to give as gifts to Their friends… giving G’houl a pair of Potions of Invisibilty, giving Dahlia a Ring of Evasion, and finally giving Loki a Dagger of Coins, which creates gold coins by attacking creatures.
Returning to Neverwinter, Corinth and Ella must leave to report to the Lords’ Alliance, leaving the friends to reconvene and enjoy themselves before night falls, and Katniss is hoping to visit the Moon’s Reflection to have Their bow modified. Katniss had already modified their Bow, Talon, using the Forge of Spells… combining it with Their Double-Bladed Scimitar to make it a more versatile ranged and melee weapon. They’re hoping to find some way to integrate silvered arrows into the weapon… Benedict claims that there’s no need to alter the Bow itself, but he is capable of crafting a bowstring that generates silvered arrows, but doing so requires arrows to be provided and a hefty investment of funds. Fortunately, Katniss has both, and is able to order an enchanted bowstring to be picked up before the next meeting of the Council of Waterdeep. Dahlia is also able to pick up the items she ordered… a Broom of Enhanced Flying, which grants a limited number of bonus action dash actions on her broom, and she also picks up her custom-ordered “Rod of Self-Care”… a magical personal massager that grants a very minor amount of additional health recovery as part of a short rest.
With their magical items recovered, the Chainbreakers head back into the streets, heading back toward the Yawning Portal. They begin to discuss what they’ll do when Dahlia is contacted regarding her attempts to communicate with Zariel. However, just as they’re having this discussion, Dahlia suddenly disappears. As they search for her, Dahlia finds herself in a familiar wintery swamp, with a large Blink Dog at her feet. She recognizes her as Peaches, Granny Greenskin’s pet Blink Dog, who leads Dahlia to Greenskin’s hut. Once inside, Dahlia is greeted by Greenskin, who explains that she intervened when Zariel wanted to meet with her. She leads Dahlia further inside, where Zariel is waiting… Zariel is a tall winged figure, her angelic wings resembling glowing, dripping lava. No matter what angle she’s looked at, a halo of burning flames is behind her head, obscuring her features in deep shadows, only her glowing red eyes visible. It can be seen that she’s wearing armor, and her left hand is missing, replaced instead with a chained maul. Zariel refers to Dahlia as “Daughter of Levistus”, and admits to being impressed that Dahlia’s “soup” (a symbolic pot of stew in Greenskin’s Hut that seems to contain the heads of anyone Dahlia has killed) holds multiple Dragon heads.
Dahlia questions Zariel’s motivation, with Zariel making clear that she doesn’t care about the Material Plane or even the 9 Hells… her motivation is to protect Avernus against the Abyssal Demons, who intend to cross the River Styx to reach the 7 Heavens. Anything that happens in the other planes is temporary, only the Afterlife truly matters. Dahlia vehemently disagrees, but is given little indication from the mysterious figure whether her words are taken seriously. However, as a sign of her intent, Zariel gives Dahlia a gift… heavy, iron coin depicting on one side the symbol of the Archdevil Mammon, while the other shows the pained, screaming face of the Baron Whipstaff… Dahlia’s former husband who she manipulated and murdered in revenge for his torture of her family, including the murder of her beloved father. Zariel explains that this is something called a Soul Coin… a cursed magical object holding the soul of the deceased. This is, indeed… the very soul of the man Dahlia hates the most, given to her to do with as she pleases.
Dahlia is confused until Zariel explains that, those loyal to Tiamat have their souls taken by her when entering Avernus, strengthening Tiamat’s forces within the 9 Hells. Particularly powerful souls can even be converted into Fiends in Tiamat’s service… with Zariel implying that Rezmir, the Half-Dragon, has undergone a similar transformation. Dahlia wants to know more, but before she’ll give more information, Zariel has one question for Dahlia… what can Dahlia do for Zariel?
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Bad News
It seems like this always happens when I remember to post about the next game early... unfortunately, one of our players isn't feeling well so we won't be able to stream tonight. We're still hoping to stream our homebrew campaign of Sacrament for tomorrow night, but unfortunately tonight's stream is cancelled
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Rise of Tiamat was cancelled this week, but fortunately all the players are feeling healthy again so we'll be streaming our homebrew campaign of Sacrament tonight at 6pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. Some pretty wild stuff happened last week, and if you need a refresher, here's what happened:
The Grimveils are meeting in Argus’s office in the Reaver Ziggurat, the home of the Warlord, leader of the Reavers and the capital of all of the country of Tiavet. Ricky notices a particularly nice Violin on Argus’s desk… with Ash recognizing it as her father’s violin. Ricky is allowed to examine it, but Ash is instead intent on working on some of her Artificer projects that she’s beginning to remember in full now that she’s fully recovered all her memories from her past life. Ricky is eager to meet with the Warlord, but Argus admits that he’s busy with military obligations and isn’t even in the Ziggurat at the moment. At Ash’s suggestion, Crush informs Argus about the visions they’ve been experiencing, and in particular the vision he had of a skeletal force emerging from the desert to assault the Capital. He also explains that Larlock has taken over the lost Kingdom of Roma in the Desert of Lost Bones… Argus takes these concerns very seriously, and immediately sends notes to experts who can help prepare for whatever this might turn out to be.
The party finds themselves just waiting to see what comes next… Crush focuses on carving a figurine of a lion cub, after seeing a live cub playing with Lord Brailen from Seamont. Azure and Kanec step out onto the balcony to watch the stars, while Ash focuses on her work… tinkering with her project. Lady Yurei also arrives, letting everyone know that dinner will be served soon, after arranging a proper table be brought for the guests. Ash’s project hits a bit of a road block as she requires feathers from the Blink Bird, the same blue feathers used to create feathers of sending. She writes to a Merc, hoping for a delivery.
Azure and Kanec look out from the high balcony, looking down at the lights of the massive capital city. Kanec in particular is nervous about the upcoming military ball… as the son of a general, he’s expected to be his representative… made even more stressful because his brother knows about his alliance with the wanted criminal Neo. At Azure’s suggestion, Kanick leads Azure down to explore the gardens to help relax. Seeing that they’re free to roam the Ziggurat, Ricky speaks to Crush in Halfling, discussing whether or not he should look for the lost Temple of the Nightmother tonight. Kalea, who also speaks Halfling, suggests they should focus on reconnaissance for now. They decide to ask Ash and Fidget if they want to join… Ash is too busy with the project she’s working on, but Fidget offers his expertise as a thief to help them case the palace and get a sense of what challenges are between them and the Temple.
Meanwhile, Azure is outside with Kanec where she sees Ash’s nephew, Saba, as well as Young Lord Brailen, watched over by his older sister, Lady Betheah. Azure chats with the children, learning that they’re happy and seemingly safe… although Omelette is putting himself in danger, playing with some of the lion cubs. The two of them continue on towards the statue gardens, only for Crush, Ricky, Kalea, and Fidget to step out. They meet with Brailen and Betheah as well… Ricky performs his hit song, “Somebody Killed your Stepmom” for the young boys, who are excited to hear it, although Betheah feels it might be a bit inappropriate. Crush eases the tension by giving Brailen the wooden carving of a lion cub he was working on, much to his delight. The young trio excuses themselves, as it’s starting to get late, but Ricky insights Lady Betheah, realizing that she looks surprisingly comfortable and happy, especially considering the people of her home city of Seamont seem to believe she was kidnapped.
Azure and Kanick visit the statue garden, admiring in particular a statue of a tall, elegant, and powerful Siren. Kanick recognizes her as Sovereign’s Mother, noting that this statue is famous because Sovereign Himself oversaw its creation, ensuring that it is a fully accurate representation of her… capturing the moment she died defiantly protecting her son from stones. Kanick sits with Azure so they can discuss Kanick’s concerns for the Military Ball. Azure comforts him, helping him to stop thinking so much about it, Kanick taking her hand and stealing a gentle kiss under the starlight. Kanick still worries that this night is simply the calm before the storm, with Azure agreeing about the feeling. The two lovers embrace, kissing passionately as they enjoy this rare moment of peace in the chaos they’ve been experiencing.
The other group continues exploring the Ziggurat. As they move through the halls their presence doesn’t raise much concern. However, they hear the sounds of weapons clashing, drawing Crush’s attention… when he listens closely and realizes it seems to be women training. Ricky is interested in sweaty, active women, while Crush is curious about what combat techniques they’re using. They’re behind a closed door, but Ricky’s sleight of hand allows him to open the door quietly, seeing a gathering of many women training or tending to their equipment. They seem to be from a variety of races, but they’re all tall and fit. Ricky and Crush discuss the sight, which draws the attention of the women. They seem enraged at being interrupted, one woman drawing a dagger and throwing it past them with such force that it embeds itself in the stone wall. They quickly excuse themselves and leave… with Fidget examining the blade to realize that it’s been coated in poison… which he tastes, since his Reaver transformation makes him immune to its damaging effects, enjoying instead the numbing effect. Kalea, however, is disappointed with Ricky’s perversion.
Continuing further, they discuss the vision Ricky had been given by the Nightmother, showing him how to reach the temple. He knows that the room with the women training was one path that could lead to the lost temple, but there’s another path further ahead, beyond the Throne Room, where the Military Ball will be held. They find the interior unguarded, but filled with tables set up to accommodate many people. Continuing deeper, they come across a Kobold servant, named Blue, who is embarrassedly changing tablecloths in the dark, since had accidentally put up “It’s a Boy” tablecloths instead of the formal military tablecloths. Ricky volunteers to help him, and Crush takes advantage of the distraction to try and slyly see what’s beyond the door that Ricky knows he’ll have to get past… only to alert guards on the other side, as well as servants. Fortunately, the only cost is Blue’s embarrassment as his mistake is revealed to his co-workers… but Crush and Ricky take advantage of the situation to go further into the Ziggurat under the pretext of volunteering to help prepare for the Military Ball… apparently a couple important workers have gone missing.
Ash, meanwhile, finishes modifying her mechanical bird, Hermes, infusing him with the feathers of a Blink Bird. She tests him out, recording a message on a blue jewel attached to Hermes’ chest, sending Hermes to teleport away, appearing in front of Fidget and delivering Ash’s recorded message… informing him of how the bird works. Hermes can now record messages, and his hollow chest cavity can hold small trinkets to be delivered in this manner as well. Ricky and Crush are still doing work, with Ricky looking for an opportunity to sneak away… planning to polymorph into a form that can travel stealthily forward to search for the Lost Temple and see if there are any dangers ahead.
After sharing messages back and forth with Fidget, Ash is suddenly contacted by Larlock through a psychic conversation… he admits that he’s been too busy to contact her lately, although he questions why she didn’t contact him herself. Ash plays coy, trying to act like she’s still his loyal servant. He informs her that he’s readying their marriage, and he’s prepared a present for her. When he says this Ash steps outside, seeing that the waning moon shifts to black, as though an eclipse were occurring… only for a massive red eye to suddenly open in its place… and stars in the sky start to fizzle out, and torches begin to light with black flames. Panic erupts in the Ziggurat… Ricky and Crush realize this distraction is the perfect opportunity to scope out the Lost Temple… that is, until Baby Kane suddenly goes limp and stops moving.
Fidget is panicking, nearly triggering his Blood Rage, but Ricky manages to calm him down. Kane seems to be in some kind of stasis… breathing slowly, seeming almost dead. Ricky is able to tell that he’s still okay, but Fidget nearly attacks a guard who’s checking on the child. Ricky has to step up again to help protect Fidget, and Crush realizes, despite what a prime opportunity this is to complete his reconnaissance, it would be best not to split up at this time, especially with Kane in danger.
Hurrying back to Argus’s office, they reconvene and try to figure out what’s wrong… with Argus’s help, they determine that the anti-magic blanket he’s wrapped in is putting him in a comatose state… removing it causes him to wake and start moving… however, he begins to scream in panic. The chaotic magic in his body going wild again… the baby climbing up to the ceiling, vomiting out bats and creating other chaos. Crush holds out a blanket like a net to catch Kane as Ricky casts Sleep on him… and surprisingly, Kane remains stuck to the ceiling, as though gravity was reversed just for him. Ash casts Fly on Fidget, and Azure runs up the wall to reach him… only to find that while Kane is asleep, the force possessing him is still active. Everyone finds themselves readying for combat, but Ricky quickly ends everything by casting Force Cage on Kane, trapping him, preventing him from harming any others.
With Kane subdued for now, Crush looks out at the massive eye in the sky, trying to figure out what’s happening. He realizes what he was worried about was true… this is Chao’s influence, and Kane basically needs to be cleansed. He turns to Kalea, who admits that her magic isn’t quite right for something like this, opposing the influence of the Goddess of Chaos requires a Cleric or priest of some kind. At this point everyone remembers that Neo and the other Nightchildren are still in Kanick’s Genie Bag… with Ricky hurrying inside to inform Neo of what’s happening. Neo gets dressed and realizes what needs to be done, but it requires Ricky’s help, and the amulet of the Nightmother on his neck...
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We're going to be playing Rise of Tiamat again tonight! In case you didn't see the announcement before, but we had to cancel Rise last week, so there's no new summary... just check above to see what you might have missed. That said, we'll be streaming at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty tonight at 6pm PST.
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And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
We weren't able to play Rise of Tiamat yesterday, but we'll be rescheduling to play on Sunday instead. However, tonight, at 6pm PST we'll be playing our homebrew campaign of Sacrament! Come join us at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty in about an hour. We weren't able to play Sacrament last week, because of an illness, so here's a reminder of what happened just in case you need it:
To Ricky’s shock, he receives a Sending spell from Jem, the young Cleric that Ricky used to date… the two of them ending their relationship poorly. Ricky is nervous, but isn’t sure what to do about it… Ash is also concerned, more worried about her younger brother, Aylis, who was last seen with Alex, the Female Reaver who is dangerously close to her first Blood Rage… with the chaos going on tonight, she’s concerned that he could be in danger. Not wanting to use more spells, she sends her bird, Hermes, with a letter to her older brother Argus to check on him.
Neo prepares everyone for the ritual to cleanse Kane, who is possessed by Chao and currently trapped in a Force Cage. He knows that, in order to cleanse Kane, he needs to come in direct contact with Ricky’s necklace of the Nightmother. There’s some concern, as Kane touching the necklace got the attention of Sovereign in the past, but Neo admits this is the only chance… and besides, with the chaos going on outside as the stars are going out and the moon has shifted into a giant eye, there might be other things keeping the God of Reavers busy. Crush uses his Climber’s Kit to crawl near Kane, while Fidget still has Fly cast on him… Neo relies on his acrobatics to climb up along with Ricky… Meanwhile, the others hold a large blanket like a net under them.
Ricky releases the Force Cage holding Kane, the chaotic energy in his body erupting in elemental attacks against the Grimveils. Neo practically throws Ricky at Kane, who manages to catch onto him. Crush attempts to help, but a truly terrible roll causes him to lose his grip, left dangling, entangled in his rope. However, Fidget is able to properly help hold his son against Ricky, who holds Kane’s forehead against the necklace… repeating a prayer that Neo teaches him…
As Ricky does so, he enters a vision… surrounded in darkness, he sees Kane crying. Rushing to Kane’s side, Ricky sees Chao, who is tormenting the child. Ricky stands up to her, and although Chao continues to simply tease him… however, the Night Mother’s wolf companion leaps out of the darkness, and Chao disappears in a burst of black smoke, and the voice of the Nightmother warns Ricky to avoid touching Kane further, as it will draw Sovereign’s attention.
Finally, Kane is calmed… Ricky and Neo drop down into the net held by the others. Kalea fires a crossbow to help Crush get down… although he breaks a table in the process. Everyone hurries outside, finding that the Eye of Chao that had opened over the moon was closing… however, the stars are still darkened. Neo notes that his College of Stars abilities aren’t functioning without the stars in the sky… but also, he knows that Sovereign sees through the stars in a similar manner, and while the stars are darkened, there’s no chance that he would be able to find Ricky through his contact with Kane. With that, they realize there’s little more they can do than try and get some rest.
As they’re heading in, Kalea gets a letter magically delivered to her from Verrick, the Firbolg Druid. He informs her that this same phenomenon with the moon is occurring near them as well, far across the world. He also says that he is being “allowed” to send a letter, but doesn’t explain what he means by that. Ricky notices that the letter is written on the same unusual paper they had received from the other Grimveils earlier.
Ricky takes a moment to cast Identify on Kane to see if he’s still under any influence, finding that Protection from Evil and Good has been cast on him through the prayer to the Nightmother. Ricky then helps Fidget by casting Calm Emotions to help him relax and get some sleep… Crush attempts to repair the table he fell on, doing just enough to keep it from collapsing as Kalea expresses interest in doing some meditation, hoping to contact the Spirit of Water of guidance, and Crush volunteers to go with her and help… once again getting teasing from his allies.
Argus, Yurei, and Saba return to the room to check on everyone, with Yurei vaguely recognizing Neo… a well-known wanted criminal, but luckily Ricky is able to distract her while he and Neo return to Kanick’s Genie Bag. Neo explains that him and the other Night Children need to be let out somewhere outside of the Ziggurat to prepare for the ritual once Ricky acquires the tears of the Nightmother from the Lost Temple in the Ziggurat itself. Ricky steps out to find Azure comparing the letters they had received from their allies before… finding that there seems to Mithril dust on the letters. Ricky manages to find a single, barely visible strand of hair… examining it more closely, he can tell that it seems to actually be fur of some kind, silvery grey in color. Asking Kanick about it, he’s able to identify it as Wolf fur. Still unsure what this means, everyone is at least tired enough that they feel the need to get some sleep and prepare for the next day.
Ash takes some time to speak to her brother, Argus, in private… revealing that Larlock had intended Kane’s possession as a sarcastic gift in preparation for their wedding. Argus is shocked, but Ash explains she doesn’t want to talk about it openly because it might trigger Fidget’s bloodrage… but once she’s able to convince the Warlord to stabilize him, she has big plans for dealing with Larlock and Chao. As they discuss their plans, Argus admits that he was the one who invited Cornelius to the Military Ball… and actually insisted on Cornelius specifically being the one sent to represent Ortheia. Discussing the ball, Argus explains that the Warlord is a brilliant man and a great leader… but he’s also a dangerously vindictive individual when pushed. They discuss some of the drama they’ve experienced, with Ash wondering how many of Cornelius’s family knows about the Patriarch and his secret life as an assassin.
Crush and Kalea make their way out to one of the ponds outside. They note that Chao’s Eye finally closes, and the stars are beginning to light up again, and the animals in the gardens seem to have calmed down. Making their way to the Pond, the two tortles sink beneath the water and meditate… through their combined meditation, they contact the Spirit of Water. Crush asks some questions… he asks Chao’s goals, with the Spirit stating that Chao hopes to return the world to the state it was before Hearth… before Water, before Life… the Primordial Chaos that she once ruled. He also asks about the Water in the Lost Temple of the Nightmother, with the Spirit proclaiming that it is still there and it seems safe, but there are powerful beings near it, and it would not be safe to consume the tears there. He also asks what they can do to help cure Fidget… the Spirit explains that all Reavers are descended from Sirens, monsters created by Chao… that same chaos deep within them. Even the Warlord can’t truly cure Fidget… it’s only the God Sovereign who could ever truly cure him. However, items crafted by Reavers may hold a portion of the curse, and could help stabilize Fidget, if only temporarily. Kalea asks the Spirit to inform Hearth to be ready, as they’ll call on her the next day to finally face the challenge of resolving the centuries-old conflict between Sovereign and the Nightmother. With their meeting complete, both of them drift to sleep, as everyone rests for the night.
When morning comes, they find that Neo and the Night Children have managed to sneak out, and the Ziggurat seems busy in preparation for the ball… the revelers jovial, as though they believe that the conflict of the previous night is over. The Party reconvenes in the guest room they’ve been alloted, with Ricky preparing breakfast while Aylis has rejoined with his family, safe and sound… and putting breadcrumbs on everyone’s sleeping faces as a silly prank. Crush takes some time to do a few more repairs on the furniture he fell on.
As everyone enjoys the generous meal prepared by Ricky and Azure, Ash’s family need to eat quickly and head out to prepare for the day, except for Aylis. They discuss their plans for the day, realizing there’s little to do but wait for the party. Crush shares what he and Kalea learned from the Water Spirit, and Ricky admits that Jem is in town. Aylis realizes that out of the people he knows Ricky has been in a relationship with, two of them are full-on Clerics, Neo is a Priest of the Nightmother (even if he’s more of a bard, technically), and all three of them have multicolored hair. He teases Ricky for having an obvious type, and also reveals that he had seen Jem that morning… apparently he had arrived in the Ziggurat, accompanied by an armored Paladin and a purple-scaled dragonborn, which Ricky recognizes as Jem’s fiancee and Amethyst, another former orphan raised in the Starlight Children’s Home. Ricky invites Jem for lunch, since Crush is interested in seeing him again as well. As everyone starts to note that Aylis is being more playful than usual, he quickly makes excuses and leaves. Azure is able to Insight that he’s in a playful mood because he’s got some kind of secret… so Azure, Ricky, and even Kanick decide to stealthily follow him to satisfy their curiosity about what he’s up to. They find that Aylis begins to sneak out of the Ziggurat, acting suspicious and seeming to take roundabout paths before finally ducking into a Caravan Wagon. Thankfully, Ricky and Azure are hidden by Ricky’s invisibility spell… following him closer, they see that he’s meeting with Alex, the female Reaver he studies with. Alex admits that she’s going to be attending the Ball that night as well… one last formal event before she’s taken somewhere for her first Blood Rage. She also reveals that she had taken some more forbidden books, with Aylis using Eyes of the Runekeeper, a technique he learned from Ash’s Grimoire, to begin translating the text. Alex has also gathered vials of blood for some purpose, and they talk about having made a “kill count” the night before. Neither Ash or Azure can discern what, exactly, he’s up to, but they do leave Aylis alone and change to getting supplies to prepare a proper lunch later in the day.
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We're playing Rise of Tiamat tonight! We had to reschedule from our usual Friday stream, and tonight's stream will still be a bit shorter than usual, but even for us that's still 3 hours. Come join us at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty tonight at 6pm PST. And, as always, read on if you need a reminder of what happened last week:
As Dahlia is being interviewed by Zariel in Granny Greenskin’s Hut, Dahlia admits there’s little she can offer Zariel, other than a willingness to oppose their mutual enemy, Tiamat. Zariel appreciates her honesty, and explains the duty she has in mind for Dahlia… Zariel shows Dahlia a stack of 5 Soul Coins, although unlike the Soul Coin she has already given Dahlia containing the soul of the Baron Whipstaff, these coins are blank. She wants Dahlia to capture the souls of Tiamat’s five Wyrmspeakers… she explains that the souls of those loyal to Tiamat in life are delivered to her in death… and sufficiently powerful souls can become Fiends in Tiamat’s army, with Zariel stating that this has already happened to Rezmir, the Black Half-Dragon Wyrmspeaker that was killed on Skyreach Castle.
Dahlia accepts the Coins, but she rejects Zariel’s offer of even greater power, much to Zariel’s disappointment. Dahlia also returns the Soul Coin containing the Baron Whipstaff’s soul, explaining that she doesn’t feel the need to carry the weight of his soul with her, which Zariel seems to understand. Dahlia also explains that, perhaps, if her friends hadn’t done so much to show how much they cared for her, she might have been willing to accept Zariel’s Power, but for now while she has no intention of becoming Zariel’s loyal servant, she wants to continue to help her. Dahlia can tell that Zariel has sacrificed everything for her mission… her divinity, her family, and apparently, her left hand. Zariel, who maintains an emotionless calm throughout this interaction, gives the slightest hint of surprise at Dahlia’s sympathetic analysis of Zariel. This momentary lapse in her cold demeanor is caught by Granny Greenskin, who begins to cackle with delight. When Zariel demands to know why she’s laughing, Granny Greenskin explains that the reason she intervened and arranged this meeting in her hut wasn’t so that Zariel could help Dahlia… it was so Dahlia could help Zariel. This seems to baffle Zariel, but she leaves Dahlia with instructions to place the coins on the eyes of the Wyrmspeakers… their souls will be absorbed into the Coin, and Waheela will come to collect. If Dahlia can deliver the soul of at least one Wyrmspeaker, Zariel will cease assisting Tiamat in her attempts to escape Avernus.
Meanwhile, on the Material Plane, the Chainbreakers see that Dahlia has vanished and go into a momentary panic as they don’t know where she went or if she’s safe. However, despite Dahlia spending enough time in the Feywild for her entire discussion with Zariel and Greenskin, for her friends it was only a few seconds. She gets to see their reaction briefly before revealing herself, much to everyone’s relief. Dahlia explains the assignment she was given by Zariel, even showing them the Soul Coins. G’houl alone knows enough stories about Soul Coins to know that to utilize them is an evil act, even if it’s used against reprehensible people like the Wyrmspeakers… to capture another creature’s soul is a deep sin in the eyes of any of the “Good” Gods. However, he keeps this information to himself, at least for now.
With Dahlia safely returned everyone returns to the Yawning Portal, realizing they need to explain to Katniss what they had learned about Varram the White and Craggnor… Antares, Katniss’s God-son, is the first to explain that these are the men who unleashed the disease the wiped out the town of Nesme, where Katniss was at first raised by her Mother. Antares struggles to explain further than that, so G’houl steps forward to explain what he had learned from Ambassador Brawnanvil… Varram and Craggnor were tasked with stopping a group of Eldreth Valuuthra who were planning some kind of assault on the Dwarven capital of the Mithril Hall. In order to stop the Elven Supremacists, the Dwarven spies chose to kill everyone in the village. This baffles Katniss, who can’t conceive of why they would release a deadly virus with such devastating collateral damage, but no one can explain why they would do something so cruel and callous. All G’houl knows is that the Virus was designed to be harmless to half-bloods as some kind of prank against the purity-obsessed Eldreth Valuuthra… meaning that Katniss, the sole Half-Elf in the village, found Themself the only survivor.
Katniss tries to distract Themself from this tragic news by playing darts. Loki, seeing the sorrow in her lover’s eyes, hurries to Katniss’s side. Holding Their hand and, against all odds, somehow helping Them to throw darts, holding Katniss’s hands and subtly shifting her shape to assist Them in landing a bullseye. Loki and Katniss retreat to the privacy of Loki’s bedroom… although Loki initially shared that bedroom with Dahlia while Katniss was away. Dahlia, meanwhile, wants to test out her modified Broom of Flying and take her mind off of things… G’houl offers to let Dusk keep her company, with the Winged Black Cat Familiar filled with a mix of excitement and fear at the thought of flying through the sky… despite having wings of his own now. After letting out some stress with her starlit flight, Dahlia returns to join G’houl in bed, the two lovers holding one another as they fall asleep after a long, stressful day… knowing the next day will be stressful as well.
When the next day comes, Antares focuses on making some extra money early in the morning, going back to the Bloody Knuckle for a quick battle. He finds himself faced against the Man-otaur… a bull with the head of a man who speaks very politely and plainly. The crowd isn’t as heavy at this time of day, so although Antares wins his payout is less than he had gotten at other times. Still, the moment of levity helps everyone to relax before they make plans to go to Castle Waterdeep in order to request an audience with the prisoner, Varram.
Making their way to the castle, they need to speak with Ambassador Brawnanvil, as Varram is technically in his custody. They find him discussing tactics with a group of advisers, but he doesn’t hesitate to speak to the Chainbreakers in private. When he learns that Katniss was from Nesme and lost everything he apologizes with the solemn sincerity of a man who once sat on the throne as King. Katniss accepts his apology, not blaming him for what happened. Especially after learning of Katniss’s history, he’s more than willing to give them permission to speak to Varram. The Wyrmspeaker is kept under tight security, and they need a letter written and signed by Brawnanvil himself to speak to him.
A Dwarven page escorts the party deep below ground, far deeper than any other dungeon in the castle. They find an isolated cell watched by two fully armored Dwarven Guards, who carefully track the names of everyone entering, and who carry an enchanted sundial that functions even deep below the earth in order to record exactly when everyone enters the cell. Inside they find a large, but extremely basic cell lit by three torches where the Wyrmspeaker is kept isolated, with nothing but the most basic of beds and a bucket in the corner to handle his business. Varram seems eager to meet his captors, sarcastically thanking them for sparing his life. He seems to enjoy the attention. While Dahlia greets him with insults and derisions, Katniss instead speaks with complete, unwavering sincerity, explaining Their history as a villager in Nesme. And although Varrram at first seems to take delight in taunting Katniss, seeing Their intense stare… not filled with hate, but actual, honest pity gives him pause, his bravado faltering as Katniss asks him to explain why he did what he did.
Varram becomes unwilling to speak face to face, turning his back on his captors as he explains very matter-of-factly exactly why he unleashed his deadly virus on the remote village. He explains that he was assigned the task of eliminating the Eldreth Valuuthra, and if he had simply murdered them it would draw further suspicion, and may have led to more direct conflict. However, by posing their assassination as a natural disaster… an untraceable virus that kills everyone in the village, not just the Elven Supremacists, he claims that they had drastically reduced the number of deaths that would have occurred, and he seems to sincerely believe his justification.
Katniss manages to maintain Their calm despite learning that Their entire village was seen as disposable by this man, but Dahlia cannot. Instead she casts Telekinesis, using it to slam Varram against the bars and angrily demand how he can use innocent people like pawns. Varram, however, calls for the guards to help, taunting Dahlia and implying she should be angry at Brawnanvil, not him, as he was simply following orders. The guards burst in, interposing themselves between Dahlia and Varram as G’houl uses Sending to contact Brawnanvil, asking him to come down to the dungeon to intervene. Varram again thanks the party for saving his life, implying that his knowledge of the cult makes him too valuable for them to simply kill, much to Dahlia’s annoyance.
Finally, Dahlia relents and storms out, just in time for Brawnanvil to arrive. He’s not happy that Dahlia lost her cool, reminding her that this was a victory for Varram… although he has no sympathy for the villain, no longer even considering him worthy of the honor of being considered a Dwarf, he knows that to give in to hatred like this only empowers him further. Although the party is still on his good side, Brawnanvil asks them to leave, and while there was some talk about them speaking to Craggnor as well, he makes it clear that this is no longer an option and they should all leave the dungeon.
With their discussion with Varram resolved, G’houl wants to investigate the surviving assassin from the group that attacked Thorn the other day, with Loki and Katniss choosing to accompany him. Dahlia, however, wishes to stay in Castle Waterdeep and check on Azbara Jos. G’houl leaves the heavily defended, below-ground dungeon and finds his way to a much more lightly defended jail headed by the City Watch. He meets with Simon Bolbec, the human City Guard who was willing to help the party, leading them to a crowded jail cell where the Goblin Wizard is kept. They know that the Goblin is a member of the Xanathars, a dangerous and unpredictable crime syndicate operating out of Waterdeep’s literal underground. When asked about why he attacked Thorn the Goblin remains tight-lipped, maintaining that he wasn’t there at all and claiming he was framed. G’houl’s attempts to reason wit him go nowhere, as he bluntly ignores the obvious logical fallacies or pretending he was framed to the very people who captured him.
That is, until Loki steps forward and threatens the Goblin Wizard with her surprisingly robust collection of short jokes. He remains tight lipped at first, but eventually relents and begs her to stop. Loki holds back for a little bit as the Goblin Wizard explains that the Xanathars learned that the Zhentarim were working with the Lord’s Alliance, and his group was sent to kill the highest ranking Zhentarim member they could track to send a message. He admits that he doesn’t expect to be rescued… if he was, the Xanathars would have done it already… or at least killed him to keep his mouth shut. He also doesn’t believe more assassins will be coming for Thorn, as the Xanathars’ message was sent. They’re mostly satisfied, but with the Goblin still insulting Thorn, Loki decides to give out a few more short jokes… much to the delight of the guards and many of the other prisoners.
Meanwhile, Dahlia and Antares head toward’s Jos’s cell… a far cry from Varram’s dark below-ground dungeon, Jos is housed in a tall tower and provided comforts. Jos is currently being visited by Delaan Winterfloe, the Tortle representative of the Emerald Enclave, who is sharing some tea with Jos as he is seeking advice from the Red Wizard. Jos is pleased to see Dahlia, who thanks him for suggesting the name “Chainbreakers”. She casts Major Image in order to show Jos her vision she had briefly seen in Diderius’s Well of Seeing. Jos instantly recognizes Severin, admitting that he never spoke directly with the leader of the Cult of Tiamat, but knows that Severin is the man behind everything, and is the Wyrmspeaker of Red… Red Dragons believed to be the most powerful and dangerous of the Chromatic Dragons. More worryingly, he recognizes Rath Modar’s voice in Dahlia’s vision… with Jos believing that, despite Modar seeming to help the Chainbreakers in Skyreach Castle, he seems to have chosen to continue assisting the Cult of Tiamat in their destructive goals.
Jos doesn’t have much more to share, as the protective magics in the castle prevent his former teacher from contacting him magically. While Dahlia and Antares are there, however, Delaan has some information to share, and is hoping for advice… after the loss of Skyreach Castle, cult attacks increased in the South Wood, attacking small forest villages of elves. According to rumor, a figure in elaborate robes was seen riding a green dragon, but there are very few who survive their attacks, and the ones that do are too far away to get a good look at their attacker. King Melandrach increased military involvement following these attacks, but has refused to investigate further… but a young Elven man named Alagarthas sought the Emerald Enclave, hoping they would take the matter more seriously. Antares instantly recognizes the name, realizing that Alagarthas is Melandrach’s own son. Dahlia, who already dislikes Melandrach, thinks he’s just ignoring problems that don’t involve High Elves, but Delaan explains its more complicated than that. He also informs Dahlia that Melandrach is very old… even older than other elves are normally capable of reaching, and he has seen much treachery from humans and other races over the years. He was King when the deception of Humans forced the Elves to leave their ancestral homelands. Dahlia isn’t impressed, as she believes he should have learned not to judge others by race in those years. Delaan can’t quite disagree with that, and although he would love to discuss further, his duties as representative of the Emerald Enclave keep him busy, but he’s at least grateful that Dahlia and Antares both share with him advice on how to deal with Melandrach, and Dahlia promises to help him as much as she can.
With their work complete for the day, the Chainbreakers gather together once again at the Yawning Portal, getting some food and drink while they share what they learned from their investigations. As they’re talking, one of Thorn’s half-orc body guards steps in and approaches them. However, he speaks in an unfamiliar voice, and he drops the illusion disguising himself… revealing a human-looking figure, albeit with dark, reddish skin, piercing blue eyes barely visible behind dark glasses, and shoulder length black hair braided into tight corn rows. He greets G’houl, clearly recognizing him, before introducing himself as Harle.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
We're playing Rise of Tiamat again tonight! Come join us at our usual time, 6pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. Last week our schedule was shifted around a bit, but everything should be back to normal this week. But just in case you need a reminder, here's what happened with last week's session:
The Chainbreakers are weary about being suddenly greeted by Harle, who seems interested in learning information from them. As a test of character, Antares orders what the group has been calling “Jungle Juice”… Antares’ preferred drink of everything at the bar all poured into one tankard. Although Harle is unwilling to chug it the same way Antares does, his willingness to at least drink the concoction is enough to get Antares off his back. Harle reveals himself to be a member of the Zhentarim, and that he was originally planning to interview the same Goblin Assassin that G’houl had spoken to the other day… once he learned that the Chainbreakers had talked to him, Harle decided he should just ask the Chainbreakers directly. G’houl explains that Thorn was targeted by the Xanathars simply by virtue of her being a high-ranking Zhentarim agent whose flamboyant personality makes her easy to track… the Xanathars trying to send a message warning the Zhentarim to be careful with what they reveal, since they’re aware on some level that the Zhentarim are working with the Lords’ Alliance, but it’s not clear if they’re aware of the rest of the Council of Waterdeep.
During this conversation, they’re met in the Yawning Portal by Leosin and Deeg… Leosin is arriving after Dahlia asked him to look into the names of her suitors in her home country of Esleah. Leosin spoke to other Harper members, finding that they have records of Nephira, the Tiefling merchant has ties to disparate, low-level smuggling groups… the Harpers do not suspect that he’s an active smuggler, rather, he seems to simply be a negligent goods transporter who criminals know won’t bother to look into what they’re shipping or why. Meanwhile, Vicount Kokuma, the Loxodon military man, has a squeaky clean record, and his sister, Enya, is even a registered member of the Lords’ Alliance.
Katniss takes advantage of Dahlia stepping away in order to speak to her more privately. Katniss apologizes for being aggressive earlier at the thought of Dahlia working with Zariel… They see now that Dahlia has been taking a calculated risk, and makes clear that They will support her, rather than question her. Dahlia is grateful, and also realizes she was being a bit overly defensive… she offers to “bury the hatchet” by doing Body Shots with Katniss… something that Loki also joins in with… much to G’houl’s embarrassment. Still, the showy drinking draws a crowd, with other people taking body shots, distracting from G’houl and Harle, who start to speak in Orcish to one another.
Harle and G’houl are clearly very close, as they speak candidly in private, with the cool and detached Harle expressing concern for G’houl’s well-being. They spend some time catching up, with Antares still at the table, wondering what they’re saying in the guttural and harsh Orcish language. However, Harle is eventually contacted via Thieve’s Cant, informed that the boss wishes to speak to him. He uses the Message cantrip to get more direct information, learning that Thorn is waiting for him at the bath house (taking advantage of the free week of treatment that Loki had arranged), with Harle excusing himself… he also willingly pays back Antares the silver his drink had cost… although this leads to some confusion, as technically Antares didn’t pay anything for it, since their drinks are covered by the Writ of Intent given to them by the Council of Waterdeep.
With Harle leaving to catch up with his boss, everyone else gets some sleep, readying for the next day when Armpit will be arriving in Waterdeep along with the Nimbus, the Chainbreaker’s flying Cabin designed as an attempt to replicate the powers of a Storm Giant’s flying castle. Reconnecting with Armpit, the goblin inventor is, as always, fairly calm and unfazed by any shocking revelations. The seeds that Antares planted on the floating island have started to bloom, with Antares realizing he can use them to craft Potions of Healing. Armpit has also followed everyone’s emphatic suggestion and has installed a guard rail around the exterior of the island. Pleased with Nimbus’s improvements, the party spends their remaining free time preparing for their future journeys.
Within the Waterdeep Military Surplus, basic supplies are purchased with little trouble other than the sarcastic and openly annoyed attitude of the cashier, with Dahlia taking the time to purchase a Stone of Cleansing and two Chests of Preserving… simple comforts, the stone allowing anyone to magically wash themselves and their clothing magically in an instant, while the Chests of Preserving prevent food from rotting. However, Loki notices Antares as he struggles with the urge to steal the shiniest thing he saw on the sales floor… a collapsible Spyglass… the well-used piece of military equipment sold at a discount at 500 gp, but still rather expensive for a non-magical object. Loki takes advantage of the moment to teach Antares a lesson… don’t steal from any place you’re expecting to come back to. However, she attempts to get a discount in a different way… paying for the item slowly, one coin at a time, counting each one out slowly and loudly. This frustrates the cashier enough that he eventually stops her at around 430, saving her 70 gold as she gives the Spyglass to Antares.
G’houl and Dahlia purchase some spell scrolls, but when Dahlia asks about getting a proper bath for the Nimbus the cashier has no idea where she could go for one. Left to her own devices, she finds a furniture store called Mithanmyr’s. She makes a purchase of a simple wooden tub, as well as a water heater to provide it with hot water. Once it’s delivered to the Nimbus, everyone gathers there to discuss their plans going forward… with Dahlia taking advantage of the occasion to teach Armpit about bathing… something the socially inept Goblin has no problem doing in front of everyone, wholly unbothered being seen naked by everyone else. He conducts the bath almost like an experiment, carefully documenting the entire process. Dahlia also arranges for Leosin to visit them, hoping to learn anything they can from him. Although Leosin is flabbergasted by Armpit casually bathing in the open (since the bath was set up outdoors), Antares plays with Deeg, the two of them racing circles around the island… with Deeg at first keeping up with Antares… using his Ki to increase his speed, but soon spending the few he has and falling behind. Leosin talks politics with the others… he doesn’t know the specifics of what Dahlia learned from Delaan regarding the Green Dragon attacks in the South Wood… rather, he had heard that the problems were resolved thanks to King Melandrach increasing military activity in the South Wood. He also explains that Melandrach has a guest who seems to be incredibly important, but he’s not sure who she is. Katniss knows that Melandrach had intended to bring a Dragon allied to the Elves into the Council in hopes of translating the message being conveyed through the repeated sounds of the Draakhorn… adult dragons can easily shapeshift, taking on the forms of humanoids in order to travel without drawing attention in large cities. With Deeg tuckered out, Leosin carries him out as everyone prepares to rest, knowing that their meeting with the Council of Waterdeep will come early the next morning.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
We'll be playing our homebrew campaign of Sacrament tonight at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty at our usual start time of 6pm PST. There were some technical issues at the end of our last stream, so we might be re-doing some of the stuff from the very end of our last stream, but if you want to see how everything went down at the time read ahead to see my summary:
Crush accepts a delivery of custom clothing in preparation for the ball. He tries his on to make sure it fits, although Kalea admits she’s not interested in such things, and she intends to just wear her Druid robes. This immediately draws Ash’s disapproval, who quickly writes a letter to her sister-in-law, asking for emergency assistance. Meanwhile, Ricky, Azure, and Kanick are trying to sneak away from the caravans gathered in the courtyward, where Ricky was spying on Jem, his ex-boyfriend. However, despite having the benefit of Pass Without Trace, Kanick stumbles, drawing unwanted attention… his suspicious movement getting him questioned by the guards. Kanick stumbles to come up with an excuse for what he was doing, so Ricky decides to imitate the sound of a baby crying, knowing that always draws the attention of Reavers.
Azure, who is still invisible from Ricky’s magic, carries the still-visible Ricky at lightning speed, making their way back to the room the rest of the party is waiting in. Crush, looking out, manages to spot Ricky invisibly floating as carried by Azure, and shouts in Halfling for him to stop screaming and the guards will stop chasing them. Unfortunately, Ricky replies in Halfling, which gets the guards curious about what Crush is doing. However, Azure can quickly climb the side of the building, and Crush quickly snatches Ricky to show the guards that he’s an adult man. Ricky quickly claims that the entire thing was a drill… his deception being high enough to convince them.
With everything calm, they realize they have a few minutes to prepare some food before their planned lunch with Jem. Soon they’re joined by Jem, Amethyst the purple Dragonborn (or “Amy” as she’s called), and Jem’s fiancee… a human paladin of Kelemvor with streaks of pink in his hair. Amy is excited to see Crush and Ricky again, but Jem is clearly less enthusiastic, but remains polite. They explain that Jem’s fiancee is in Tiavet because he’s been trailing a powerful undead, which he believes is a sign of greater undead activity. The specifics of his research leads everyone to realize he’s actually talking about Ash, and Crush shares with him some information, but is careful not to reveal too many specifics… Ash and Fidget have chosen to avoid this lunch, and Crush doesn’t want to reveal any of Ash’s secrets without her permission.
Their discussion is interrupted, however, as Neo suddenly bursts into the room, apparently hiding from the guards. This immediately raises suspicion on why the party is assisting someone hiding from the guards, with Crush trying to explain the Night Mother, but Ricky steps forward to take over, feeling it’s his responsibility to explain everything… telling how he first connected with the Nightmother after being abducted by his Father and forced to train with Peeter. Jem, however, is fixated on the fact that Ricky left without giving him any kind of message… and didn’t try to contact him any time sooner. This leads to an emotional confrontation between them all, with Jem stubbornly refusing to budge on his issues, until Neo comes out of the Genie Bag to see what’s happening. He sees how the argument is proceeding, but speaks more bluntly… he recognizes Jem from the visions he saw of Ricky’s past… calling out Jem for projecting his own insecurities on Ricky and being needlessly stubborn, and out of frustration Jem slaps him.
The two begin bickering until Ricky steps in, trying to calm them down. Jem seems ready to leave, but before he does, Crush gives him a gift… a carving of Duncan, showing Duncan kneeling and reaching out a hand in support… an image Jem may remember from when he was rescued by Duncan as a child. This breaks through Jem’s rough exterior… Ricky apologizes for everything that happened and Jem realizes how unreasonable he’s been. Still, Jem is having a hard time giving up his decade of anger at Ricky, with Crush commenting that he knows Jem has experienced worse than most folks, but also notes that everyone there has… stating that they’re all just broken pieces, trying to find other pieces to fit together and complete themselves. This seems to really connect with Jem, who opens up more and apologizes for everything.
Once the awkwardness is complete, everyone finally relaxes and talks more openly. The talk shifts to the Depraved Gloom, which Jem’s Fiancee has also been tracking. Jem also reveals something new they had learned… when Jem was a young man, he was abducted by an Oni who impersonated his father and used him to lure children into the woods. The Oni was thought to just be a standard child-murdering demon… but in truth, they’ve learned that he was an agent of the Depraved Gloom. The children lured away weren’t all devoured… instead, the Depraved Gloom were converting them into hags, and those that couldn’t be transformed were given to the Oni as food. Realizing the reach of the Depraved Gloom is even deeper and more sinister than they already knew, they resolve to do everything they can to help one another. Crush gives Jem a hug, trying to let him feel Crash’s life force, but he can’t really pull it off. Crash speaks to him, telling him to just let Jem know that the hug was from her. Jem is shocked to realize that Crash is still there… with Crush admitting he didn’t know how to speak to her until recently. Crush apologizes for what he did… knowing that when he killed Crash was when everything went wrong… for him, for Ricky and for Jem. As Crush is apologizing, Jem let’s him know that he forgives him, and Crush can’t help but hug Jem tightly in response. He also takes the time to hug Amy while Ricky tells Jem that, after everything that went down, all he wanted for Jem was for him to find someone who could keep him safe and make him happy, and he gives his blessing for their union… although he does request that they keep Neo’s presence a secret.
With their visitors leaving, there’s nothing to do but prepare for the Ball. Everyone gets dressed for the occasion… Crush wears quite literally Bowser’s white suit from Mario Odyssey, while Azure puts on a flowy silk outfit with loose fitting pants that look a bit like a dress while letting her move more freely. Ash has an elegant black dress with red accents that clings tightly to her figure, while Ricky uses his Glamoured Studded Leather Armor to conjure a purple outfit with flowing sleeves and large boots. They make their way to the ball, where they reconnect with their allies… even Neo attends, although he uses illusory magic to disguise himself. They also see Alex there with her father… although Aylis is nowhere to be seen. Ash questions Alex about Aylis, and while she claims to not know, Ash’s insight is enough to tell that she’s not sharing the whole truth. Still, Ash does little but tease Alex by making it clear she knows the young Reaver is lying.
With the ball underway, Crush invites Kalea onto the dance floor… partly to bond with her, but mostly hoping to get a better view of the ballroom. He takes a long look at the Warlord, who is surrounded by visitors… a long waiting list in place for those hoping to speak to him. Crush can surmise that the Warlord doesn’t seem enthusiastic to be there… it seems his presence is purely out of obligation, and he occasionally gets annoyed with those speaking to him… but he does calm when spoken to by Argus, but especially when Lady Betheah of Seamont speaks to him.
Everyone steps out to dance, although Neo needs to slip away, leaving Ricky alone to watch over Kane. As the ball continues, Aylis arrives as well, inviting Alex out onto the dance floor (at Ricky’s insistence). As everyone is bonding on the dance floor, the music suddenly comes to a stop as two figures enter… Cornelius and his wife Missy… the daughter of the man who killed Ash’s family. They’re carrying a bundle, which a close examination reveals to be their daughter. Aylis marches after him as Cornelius approaches the Warlord… suddenly grabbing Cornelius and punching him in the face. In the commotion, Crush hurries to Ricky… he takes Kane, telling Ricky in halfling that this is the distraction they need for Ricky to make his way to the top of the Ziggurat. Ricky quickly dashes through the crowd as the confrontation with Cornelius continues.
As Cornelius is reeling from the sudden attack, Argus stands up to speak to Cornelius. He states that, if it wasn’t for his position as adviser to the Warlord, he would punch Cornelius himself. He explains what they had learned about Missy’s father… the fact that he had killed Argus’s family. That if Cornelius had married Ash when she was still Promethea she wouldn’t have been killed that night. That Missy’s father was in Tiavet, stalking children and plotting murder… something that shocks Missy, who claims to know nothing of this. Cornelius gives excuses, until eventually Ash steps forward out of the crowd.
Ash’s sudden appearance shocks Missy so much she passes out, nearly dropping her infant daughter. Cornelius is baffled, assuming her to be an illusion, he attempts to dispel her, only for Ash to mock him for it. Lighting her cigarette held in a long, thin holder, she blows smoke in his face… calling him a coward for how he was with their relationship, never standing up for her, and after Ash’s death he married Missy almost immediately. Ash warns the things that his father-in-law did could be considered an act of War against Tiavet. Cornelius claims he can’t make that decision, but Ash tells him, as the High Mage of Ortheia, he has some influence, with Fidget teasing him. Cornelius is annoyed, wanting to know who this is inserting himself into their conversation, with Ash teasing him and asking why he thinks he’s the only one who can move on as she introduces Fidget as her husband.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
Last night we had some technical difficulties, with the DM losing internet connection in her area thanks to conditions that were completely out of our control. As a result, we'll be playing a short session tonight to make up for lost time, so come join us at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty tonight at 6pm PST for more of our homebew campaign of Sacrament! And just in case you weren't able to join us last night, here's the (admittedly short) summary of what happened last time:
Ash is confronting her former fiancee, Cornelius, in the Reaver Military Ball. She demands that Cornelius needs to make up for what his wife’s father did, as he’s the man who killed Ash and her parents. She also reveals that she’s married to Fidget, much to Cornelius’s shock and dismay. Ricky notices that his cousin, Misty, and Uncle Henri are in the crowd watching… even his mother, Elizabeth, enters… and while normally her entrance is the center of attention, all eyes are still on Ash and Cornelius. He refers to her as Promethea, but she makes it clear that she goes by Ash now.
The Warlord, after the drama slows, stands up to address the crowd. He makes clear that he doesn’t condone the actions seen before him. This ball is meant not only as a gathering for active military, but as a memorial for those lost in combat. Just as he’s beginning to give a speech, the Ziggurat is suddenly rocked by explosions. Looking out of a window, Crush sees that his vision is coming true… the Eye of Chao has taken over the moon once again, the stars beginning to dim as a literal wave of undead is flowing over the walls of the city. As Crush shouts that they’re under attack, several of the party goers stand up, illusions disappearing as they reveal their true forms… a mixture of Depraved Gloom assassins, Larlock’s necromancer, the mutated Brutes, fire elementals and even flaming skeletons. Ricky hesitates, but realizes this is the best chance he’ll get to reach the temple… especially since the Ziggurat itself is being attacked, and the temple risks being lost forever. He runs out, trusting his allies and the military members to remain safe as he makes his way to the temple.
Crush, who was watching Baby Kane, gives Kane to Professor Fletcher before rushing forward to Kill a mummy and throw a chair at a necromancer. Azure summons her full astral self, using it to inflict Necrotic damage against a brute while Ash casts Blight to destroy it. Elizabeth sees that Ricky has run off, and uses her own bardic skills to allow the Grimveils to hurry into the hallway and help Ricky in his mission. However, they’re slowed down when they see that a group of Reavers have set up a barricade in the hallway, with strict orders not to let any Non-Reavers past… while Ricky attempts to remain hidden, Crush willingly runs staight toward the Reaver guards, intent on becoming a distraction to let his allies continue toward the Lost Temple.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium