Session 127
General Summary
- Kesmet finished off Dennis, and the party turned their attention towards Pendel and his Orrery, which he was still in the process of repairing.
- Though the Orrery was not at full strength, it was still a threat, altering the flow of the combat by giving off musical cues.
- Pendel opened by creating eleven illusions of himself, scattering them and himself around the room.
- Pendel did not attack the party directly. Instead, he targeted other NPCs, and party members had the chance to step in to take the damage instead.
- Most party members took most of the hits, most of the time. (Editor's note: listing the ones I found interesting here.)
- Marvin took some damage that was aimed at Kiirni.
- Dazki even got in the way of damage that was going to some random commoner.
- Dwardazik twice refused to take damage on behalf of Yacht (Marvin's two-night-stand), and she died.
- Kesmet first declined to take damage on behalf of Eunectes, but after a single hit knocked her out, he begrudgingly took every other hit that he was offered.
- All five non-Barry party members stepped in the way of one attack that was aimed towards Hemsin Quibblebits.
- The first phase needed four people to get around the Orrery and coordinate their strikes to all disable parts of it simultaneously.
- Pendel then reconfigured the Orrery — at great cost to himself — to forego any control he would have over the resurrected Great Serpent, as this could be done faster.
- The party finally destroyed the Orrery, which shattered and knocked out Marvin, Barry, and
PendelNOT Pendel, who auto-stabilized in his bat form. - Direct attacks failed to finish off Pendel, as Mirage Prime could not reach him.
- Acting on a suggestion from Baxton, Grogery grabbed the central shaft of the Orrery.
- This gave Prime what he needed to reclaim Pendel's "unworthy" soul, but Grogery was disintegrated in the process.
- The remaining party members gathered what they could and left the tower. At the bottom, they bumped into Theran, Grogery's brother.
Full Recap
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It Was the Worst of Times
Editor's note: this session was practically entirely combat, so it's going to be a bit choppy.Dennis: You were supposed to make sure none of this happened! You're a really terrible minion! I'll have you killed when this is all over unless you solve this problem!As he says this, another fire bolt from Kesmet hits him square in the face and neck, and he falls heavily back onto the ground.
Pendel sees your eagerness to solve this situation and then looks back over to his Orrery, realizing that — while it is ticking, it's not fully functioning, and so you are able to keep your faculties about you. As he looks at each one of you and your "determined" faces, he speaks.
Pendel: Why don't you guys just leave? Why do you think this problem is yours?
Pendel uses the Orrery and vanishes momentarily. Not long after, twelve images of him reappear around the room. All of his images speak at once.
Pendel: You guys don't understand what needs to be done. I'm willing to be the villain in this timeline, if it is for the greater good. Dazki: You don't need to be the villain! We can cooperate to find a solution that is amenable to all parties. If you'll just sit down, we can have a conversation and figure this out like the civilized people that we are. This doesn't have to end in violence if you choose not to let it end in violence!Dazki then approaches the Orrery and attempts to interact with it, but there's a magical barrier that stops him.
(Investigation 28) The base that the Orrery sits on — a massive bronze pedestal — is heavily enchanted. Almost electric-type runes quickly jolt from one to the other in time with the ticking of the clock tower.
(Arcana 23) Messing up one of the four major hotspots on this pedestal will only cause the other three to restart it. It will take four people to do this: the power from any one of them will be enough to restart the others, so all four would need to be disabled at precisely the same time.
Dazki relays this to everyone.
Pendel: I will not hurt any of you here, but I will test your resolve: how deep does your want for this conclusion go? What are you willing to sacrifice? He casts Toll the Dead, but something is amiss. He gives a smirk. Pendel: I will not, as I have said, attack you. I will be attacking somebody close to you. Somebody you know, somebody you may have trusted, somebody who may have trusted you. This attack will hit Deuce, of Deuce's Juice, unless you wish to take the damage on his behalf!
You all get a vision in your head, as if you are scrying on him. Deuce is wiping down the bar after some minor altercation involving a spilled drink. You hold his fate in your hands.
Dazki chooses to take the damage on behalf of Deuce.
Dwardazik, aided by Marvin's Haste, runs to the image of Pendel that's furthest away from where he starts and starts attacking — it's an illusion. Pendel aims another Toll the Dead, this time with Dwardazik being given the chance to take the damage on behalf of...
You see in your head, outside a popular casino within Ashport — the night sky bright and clear — an orcish lady, Yacht, arguing with a pair of drunken elves outside.
When Dwardazik chooses not to take the damage in her stead, Eighty falls to the floor, unconscious.
A terrible noise shrieks forth, impacting like a bomb. Your brains muddle and shake as if hit by an actual physical impact. Kesmet, Marvin, Barry, and Grogery are in the crosshairs... well, they would be:
An incredibly tired-looking elderly man is cleaning up at the end of the day, making sure that his clergy robes are nice and neat for a meeting that he has the next day. Grogery chooses to intercept the damage that would have gone to Isaiah Loprair.
Deep within the swamps, a terrible snake monstrosity! ...not a monstrosity; she is only half snake. Eunectes stares through a campfire, waiting for danger to approach. Kesmet declines to take the damage in her stead; now, nobody is there to keep watch as she falls to the ground.
Marvin's two-night-stand lays unconscious on the ground, already on the verge of dying. He chooses to take the damage instead of her, and he loses concentration on the Haste that he was giving to Dwardazik.
Barry took the damage, on behalf of someone whom we don't know.
An incredibly tired-looking elderly man is cleaning up at the end of the day, making sure that his clergy robes are nice and neat for a meeting that he has the next day. Grogery chooses to intercept the damage that would have gone to Isaiah Loprair.
Deep within the swamps, a terrible snake monstrosity! ...not a monstrosity; she is only half snake. Eunectes stares through a campfire, waiting for danger to approach. Kesmet declines to take the damage in her stead; now, nobody is there to keep watch as she falls to the ground.
Marvin's two-night-stand lays unconscious on the ground, already on the verge of dying. He chooses to take the damage instead of her, and he loses concentration on the Haste that he was giving to Dwardazik.
Barry took the damage, on behalf of someone whom we don't know.
Pendel: It seems that some are willing to sacrifice more than others! How long will your resolve last?
Grogery: Everyone, please, just group up for a second and help take out the Orrery!He casts a Beacon of Hope on his way to assist with disabling the Orrery, boosting all party members except Dwardazik.
Barry staggers to his feet, looks around for advice, stabs the image of Pendel next to him (it's an illusion), and then runs off to try to hide in a corner, squeezing himself against a pillar that's still in full view of everyone.
Marvin dashes up the stairs and towards the center, not making it very far into the room because of his slowness while Kesmet flies upward and over top of the Orrery. He then fires a torrent of Scorching Ray bolts at six of Pendel's images, critically hitting the real one and revealing it to the rest of the party.
The ticking of the clock in the middle of the Orrery slows, causing Kesmet, Grogery, Barry, and Dazki to become slowed for a while.
Dazki, shouting: Dwardazik, get on 6 o' clock. Kesmet, get on 3 o'clock. Marvin, help Grogery at 9 o'clock. Barry, get over here and help me at 12 o'clock. Once we're all in place, then we'll stop this thing together! Marvin: How do we do that? Dazki: Stop it from moving however you can. Break this thing, jam it, whatever you need to do.
Pendel aims his next attack at Dazki — or, more accurately...
Somewhere, half passed-out in an elven tavern, is an unusual sight: a muscular dwarf with an obsidian black blade. Dazki takes the damage on behalf of Tilda Hammerfall and is lost deep within his own thoughts, until his next turn.
"You are a disappointment."
Marvin casts Bigby's Hand to try to grab the pedestal that the Orrery is on, which doesn't really do anything. He moves next to Grogery.
Isaiah Loprair is again in Pendel's sights. Marvin takes the damage.
Kesmet: You want to be the villain in the story? Then play your part, and die like one!Kesmet drops a fireball (quickened, to overcome his slowness) on top of Pendel and then flies down to the position that Dazki chose for him.
All the images of Pendel reset their positions. The party no longer knows which is real.
Dwardazik blows his Eagle Whistle to get into the position that Dazki chose for him, and he starts whacking on the Orrery's pedestal. The first his causes him to get his weapon stuck; he ignores that and carries on punching it.
Pendel: The machinery is delicate and inevitable. You will leave it! Kesmet: Your mom is delicate...
Miss Fortune, of The Gentlemen's Club, is next up. She looks ominously through a slightly cracked crystal ball. The only light source is the ball, as if she's about to tell a bunch of children a spooky story — although, we're pretty sure it's just cats. Kesmet begrudgingly chooses to take the attack on behalf of this person he doesn't even remember, and he manages to withstand it just fine.
Pendel, flustered: You are messing with a history that you do not involve — ... — you — ... — GET AWAY FROM MY ORRERY!
Yacht comes up again. Dwardazik does not get in the way of Pendel's damage, and she dies.
Grogery: As soon as I'm done healing Dwardazik, I'll stop these gears!He then casts a huge Heal on Dwardazik.
Barry does a dodge roll to another pillar and actually hides more successfully.
Kesmet takes damage on behalf of Ukulele.
Kesmet, yelling: Barry, if you don't get over here right now, then you're no longer an equal and valued member of the party!
The Orrery lets forth a loud explosion of sound; Grogery and Dazki are temporarily deafened from it.
Dazki intercepts more damage headed towards Tilda Hammerfall, and he is unaffected by it.
Dazki: You're still hurting people! You're not a pacifist, you're a fucking hypocrite! It doesn't matter if we make the choice or not — your actions are still causing harm to people!
Editor's note: since everyone but Barry is standing within 20 feet of the center of the Orrery, Pendel got to cast a huge Synaptic Static that made this single round take 9 minutes.
Dwardazik chooses not to intercept the damage going to Sonny.
Kesmet is shown a familiar knife vendor, whom he had threatened during their most recent encounter. He intercepts the damage, muttering something about "useless fucking civilians" as he does so.
Dazki hardly recognizes the face he sees — it's a random taxi driver. He takes the damage anyway.
For Marvin... as Kiirni sits there in the dark, sharing a half-cooked fish with a seagull companion, she's a tough lady. He takes the damage.
Grogery takes damage on behalf of Isaiah Loprair again.
Gearing Up
Grogery magically amplifies his mace so the others will see, and then he brings it down on the nearby gear. The others respond in kind.
The gears in the clock itself stop ticking as the giant pistons that run them grind to a halt. The heart of the Orrery is now exposed and vulnerable.
Barry comes up and shoots the exposed heart of the Orrery with his gun. He misses.
Pendel readies a Thunderclap.
Pendel: I have altered the deal! All of this damage is going to one person.
Two twins argue in a workshop. Up late at night, they are not sure exactly what they should be doing with the material they have, but they know it is for the best that they finish it tonight. One of them, however, may not be up to see the completion of this new artifact. All five party members around the Orrery take damage instead of Hemsin Quibblebits.
Pendel: You don't understand what you're dealing with! Marvin: Yeah? Well, understand this hand!He flies the hand into the heart of the Orrery to punch it, but it doesn't do any damage. He then gets into range and fires with his Pyroconverger, which does work. Kesmet then unloads a maximum-power Scorching Ray on it, followed by a quickened Fire Bolt. This doesn't quite destroy it, but it does put it into an extremely perilous position.
Pendel moves from his position to the Orrery.
Pendel: You did this to yourselves! So what if I won't be able to control the Great Serpent? Unbridled destruction will be enough. You've forced my hand this time! The death and destruction that the serpent causes will weigh heavily on your souls, not mine.
The Orrery begins to pulse and tick, almost like it did before — though the clock faces themselves don't turn, and neither do the rods, the ticking has become heavy again. It's as if time itself weighs down upon you with every tick of this Orrery, its power no longer sending forth into the greater world, focusing it all here instead.
Dazki pulls out his gun, points it at the Orrery, and addresses Pendel.
Dazki: You can still stop this. Don't make us destroy this incredible piece of machinery. Pendel: The choices you make are your own. Dazki: I make my own choices, but I can be influenced. Agree to stop this, and this won't have to end in the destruction of your work. Pendel: Redemption for millions is seconds away. I will not fail them this time.Dazki fires on the Orrery.
Pendel is furious, his form slightly flickering. He fiddles with the mechanisms of the Orrery some more.
Dwardazik, moving in: Dazki, you may try and negotiate with Pendel, but I know his machinations are the only way to stop him. We must break it, destroy it, and we'll finally stop him forever. Pendel: You fool! You stop me, and worse will replace.Dwardazik swings at the Orrery, but he gets some bits of his armor stuck in the machinery. He's able to recover with only minor damage, and he continues swinging.
Pendel, frantic: The ticking of a clock, like the beating of a heart. The ever marching swells of time. I will prove myself worthy; I will remove my guilt. I need only three more pulses from this Orrery.
Pendel slams one of the gears down. He and his Orrery work in sync as he activates the first of four major connections: North. A pulse of sickening energy booms forth from the Orrery, knocking Marvin to the ground. It seems to heavily damage Pendel as well.
Pendel: Three more. You can still leave and save yourself.
Grogery runs around to pick up Marvin and to bolster Dazki and Kesmet with a Channel Divinity: Preserve Life.
Barry scrambles up to fire his gun at the Orrery. It does no damage.
Marvin fires his Pyroconverger again, and it makes the Orrery begin to shake and shiver.
Pendel: Everything you've done has been your fault. Why don't you let other people deal with their problems?
All Out of Time
Kesmet flies over the top of the Orrery and launches a Fireball on his way up, hitting Pendel and the Orrery and barely missing Dazki and Dwardazik.
Pendel flickers again, briefly revealing the bat-like entity, and it's a devastating blow to the Orrery. Bits of glass and bronze and gears fly everywhere, and the Orrery shatters hard, releasing a huge wave of magical energy everywhere. Everybody but Marvin — including Pendel — gets thrown back harshly, bringing Kesmet and Barry to the brink of death (though Dazki will immediately administer a healing potion to Barry).
It seems like this SHOULD knock Pendel unconscious as well, but he staggers to his feet anyway, "now definitely a terrible bat creature".
A familiar black oil begins to leak through the Orrery.
Dwardazik: Well, well, well. Look who decides to show his true form.Dwardazik flies over to Pendel.
(Insight 27) Though Pendel feels scared, he also seems to be feeling even more clever than he ever has. He cannot be defeated here now — you've done exactly what had to be done!
Dwardazik makes three attacks against Pendel with his warhammer, all three landing just fine, but Pendel auto-stabilizes, rewriting time itself.
Pendel: I can stall you forever, while my brethren complete their tasks! I have infinite time here, and no consequences! Dwardazik: I will be able to find you — no matter which dimension, no matter where you hide — and I will tear you apart, piece by piece. Pendel: All your actions were for naught! I am neither mortal nor god — and NEITHER can touch me here! I'm not ready to return to my patron just yet. And now, with the beacon severing my connection to him, I have all of the power, and I will prove my worth. I will let those who seek revenge have their revenge, and there's nothing that any of you can do about it, as there is no way that you can repair what was destroyed. Only I am clever enough for that! Dwardazik, resisting his Vicious Mockery: My determination will not be swayed by your maniacal laughter! Pendel: We will see. After all, there is a lifespan, and other people are doing more important work. You can't stay here forever. I can. (He snaps his head to the side, as if responding to someone else.) Don't listen to Mandrim! There is no hope for anyone now. I have won. Just lie down and die, like you deserve! I hear all your thoughts... I know what each of you is thinking... what each of you will do! I am the master of time and sound. I will write the ending. NOT. YOU. Grogery, after healing Kesmet: Baxton has an idea. I think he wants to sacrifice himself or something. Make sure nobody dies! Pendel: Or, better yet, don't listen to that fool! He has no idea what he's talking about. You have one last chance to leave, or you will stay here forever with me!Grogery races up to the Orrery and grabs the central shaft, which is covered in Turmoil goo.
As the goblin grabs the central shaft of the Orrery, Baxton's ring around his finger, the Turmoil begins to swell angrily. You begin to hear a voice echoing through the chamber, similar to how the clock would tick before.
Mirage Prime: There is no escape for the unworthy. Grogery, as the Turmoil begins to completely engulf him: Walk in the light. Have hope. There is always another sunrise. As Grogery melts, forming into the black goo: springing forth from the old goblinoid form is a massive prismatic claw reaching towards Pendel. Pendel, in a terrified yell: I'm not ready to return to you just yet! I need more time. I NEED MORE — The claw impacts Pendel. He, too, dissolves into the black goo, before the whole thing grows inert. Mirage Prime: You were ALWAYS mine.
Silence, At Last — At First
Just like that, everything is silent. No ticking clock. Nothing but the pounding of your head, the racing of your heart. Every ragged, exhausted breath.
Marvin: We need a head count! Where's everybody? Who's hurt? Dwardazik: I'm doin' just fine. But what was all that in the center? Marvin: Where's Grogery?Marvin and Dazki race to the center to look for Grogery.
The things that Grogery had are there: the ring, the specially-fit armor, even the little circlet that once rested atop the little goblin's head as a beacon of hope.
Marvin: Grogery yelled out that Baxton had "an idea". Yet I still see a ring there. Dazki collects all of Grogery's things and listens for Baxton in the ring. Dwardazik: Are you telling me that I failed? After all this, and Grogery has fallen? Just... gone? Like that? Marvin: ...can't be... Dwardazik: Damn you, Pendel. I don't know what the hell just happened to you... some kind of claw. But I'll find you and beat you for this! Dazki: Guys. If Baxton was trying to help, if he was really telling the truth, he could've released himself from the ring and let Grogery stay in there. I don't hear anything right now, but there's a chance that Grogery's spirit is still around in this ring. If he's there and he can learn how to communicate... I don't hear anything right now, but based on the magic, it is possible, if they were able to get the switch off quickly enough. Maybe. That's the only shred of hope we have. Dwardazik, slamming his hammer down on a piece of the clock tower in frustration: DAMNIT! Baxton's just manipulated us into trying to resurrect Grogery AND him at basically the same damn time. I knew he couldn't be trusted. We had this under control! Dazki: No we didn't! Dwardazik: I wasn't fooled. But, look. Grogery trusted Baxton, and now he's just dust on the ground. Kesmet: Look, what's done is done. We've gotta get outta here. Marvin: I can barely walk... Dwardazik: I'm not leaving until we've collected EVERYTHING of Grogery's. He begins collecting the gunk still splattered around the platform. Damnit, Grogery, I can't give a healing potion to dust! Kesmet checks on Barry. He's alive, but playing dead. Marvin: Would his church of Pelor offer such extravagant services such as resurrection? Dwardazik: You're damn right they'd better! Marvin: For one of their own? They'd better! Dazki: Maybe. But for now — take a minute, gather ourselves. We'll leave to find somewhere better to rest. Nothing more we can do here. Marvin: Pelor, I swear, I'm not a very religious person, but... there'd better be a second chance for someone as good as Grogery. Pendel. Are we sure he's gone? Was he pulled back to the Mirage? Is that what we just witnessed? Dazki: I would assume so. Marvin: Was that Prime himself?! ("Itself"?) Dazki: It's the same voice that Prime has used before. Marvin: And THAT'S what we're up against?! Dwardazik: I won't be satisfied until I see a corpse. Dazki: There's magic that doesn't leave corpses, Dwardazik. Dwardazik: I'm talkin' about Pendel. Beating him with my mace. Not what happened to Grogery, not the abomination that came out of him, and not the fact that Baxton told our goblin boy to go in there and just sacrifice himself. That was supposed to be me, dammit! I'm the one who's supposed to die! I'm the one who's supposed to be sacrificing! Dazki: There is no "supposed to"! There is no fate! He made his choice. It was a hard one. It hurts. It hurts everybody. We're gonna see if we can get him back, but there's a chance we can't. We need to prepare for that. You need to be strong for Grogery. He would've wanted us to continue on with this mission. Hold his memory. Marvin: That's a tall order... Dazki: It is, but you can do it. Dwardazik: He's not gone yet. As long as we still have his remains, something could be done. Maybe in Ashport. Marvin: Ashport... that feels all the way across the world right now. Think about where we are right now! Kesmet: Well, we just gotta go and lick our wounds. We gotta get out of this tower. Marvin: We do need to leave this tower, immediately. It could collapse around us at any time.Dazki cuts off Dennis's head to put in the bag of holding and searches the body for anything else of value. Dwardazik rummages through the remains of the Orrery and (Investigation 13) salvages "The Far Gear", one of its pieces. (Editor's note: the description that he got at this time was added to its section on the main Orrery page.)
Dazki: Is everyone satisfied? Dwardazik: I was able to recover what appears to be one of the gears of the Orrery. I thought that, perhaps, something like this might be able to help us. Better than leaving all the pieces here — they were split for a reason. Marvin: Just put it in the bag of holding and make sure you don't touch it with your... bare... ...hands... Dwardazik is holding The Far Gear with his bare hands, completely covered in Turmoil gunk. A few drops of the goo drip to the floor and sizzle through it. Marvin: Jesus! Put that down, Dwardazik! You saw what happened when we touched the Rotor with our bare hands. Dwardazik: I can't pass it over to the bag of holding until I wipe it clean of all the stuff. Besides, we need to wrap it in something. Let's just get downstairs and out of this tower before we worry about the details. Dazki hands Dwardazik Grogery's cloak to wrap The Far Gear in. Dazki: And I have cut off Dennis's head and put it into the bag of holding. Marvin: Yeah, you think Jack would be happy about our trophy? Dazki: Yeah. There's a chance. The life of someone who's been a constant thorn in his side, in return for helping recover a life. I don't know if he would have access to anyone who could do that, but we could certainly see if we can make that trade. Marvin: He's the mob. I'm sure he knows people. Dazki: Yeah, but only the highest of high priests can do this if you don't have a body. I don't know that he would hold sway over someone with that much power. He is just "the mob". Kesmet: I hope we'll find someone who does. Dazki: All right, let's get out of here and find somewhere safe to rest. Marvin: Barry, come on. I know you took a beating, but we'll help, OK? Dazki: And we have something that might be good news, that we can talk about later. Barry: I could really use some healing, Boss. Dazki: We all could, but Grogery's not here to do that for us. We have to mange on our own. Marvin: Yeah. Right now, Barry, you're our cleric. Kesmet: Barry. You are an equal and valued member of the party. (He puts his hand on Barry's shoulder... and drags him along.) But come on, we gotta go.Barry casts a Cure Wounds spell, healing Kesmet — arguably the party member who needs it the least, at this point — for a small amount of damage, and then they head down.
Teaser: Next Time On...
The tower — far from being on the verge of imminent collapse — is more stable and stationary than it's ever been. You travel down what still seems like an endless flight of stairs, and you begin to see little specks of red sand, similar to what was in the hourglass before — similar to some other places you may know.
And as you reach the bottom floor, a figure stands in the shadows.
Dwardazik, shield out and mace high: State your name and business! Are you friend, or are you foe? Are you an ally of Pendel and Dennis? Are you an enemy to all life? Theran: Uh... I have no idea who those people are, but... I like life and living things, a lot. Marvin: Grogery? Theran: Oh, you know Grogery? No, I'm his brother, Theran.
