Session 163

General Summary

• Theran returned from his unplanned visit to the Red Desert. He briefly spoke to Marshall, who is apparently sorry for "being a bad influence".
• In the first room, there was a pool of red liquid populated by "hydroids" that responded to sound, which the party mostly avoided.
• There was also another glowing crystal, which played an image of "Jahdzan" complaining about being blindsided by something.
• Finally, there was a chunk of possibly sentient "meat", and an altar surrounded by a spiral. Bringing the "meat" to the altar opened up the next area.
• The second room had what looked like mushrooms all over the wall, but these were actually eggs. A crazed dragon was tending to the eggs as if they were its hoard.
• A side tunnel led to a nursery with a "ghost" that resembled the one who had previously interrupted their sleep. It identified itself as Maedia Widelove, and it (or the room itself?) wanted them to stay and keep it company for either a minute or an eternity. They declined, which caused it to wail loudly.
• The wailing put the dragon on alert; Dwardazik kept its attention while Dazki identified the single exit, which the party followed immediately.
• This led to a network of stone pipes covered in rust left behind by some red oozes.
• Following one of the oozes led to a large room with several more oozes, a heavily armored knight, and a pile of discarded rusted metal.
• Most of the party scampered, but Theran uncovered that the knight was an illusion, so Dazki ran back in to loot the metal pile before running out again.
• While Dazki was looting, Theran also noticed that the oozes were only attracted to metal, so he was able to singlehandedly destroy all of them with cantrips.
• This cleared out the room enough for the party to take a short rest, which they eagerly did.

Full Recap

Nice to... "meat" you?

The first chamber on this floor is initially characterized by a large red pool in the middle. They take some cautious steps into the chamber, when Theran suddenly reappears, taking the place of the figurine that Dazki was holding (and knocking Dazki to the floor).

Marvin: "Nathan"! You're back!   Dwardazik, helping Dazki up: Shh... not so loud... but Theran! You're back!   Theran: It's "Nathan", and yes. What happened?   Marvin: We were hoping you could tell us? You turned into a little doll.   Dwardazik: Maybe now is not the best time. But, the short version is that we went down that big worm and kept proceeding down the tunnels, and now we're here. We've encountered some undead and other kinds of strange creatures. It doesn't look like anyone's alive here.   Theran: How long was I out?   Marvin: About 15 minutes.   Theran: It felt more like 3. So, oof.   Dwardazik: Well. I'm worried, though. Dazki, you used some of those spells and stuff, right? Do you feel like you could still do those?   Dazki: Absolutely not.   Marvin: Yeah, we were kinda able to piggyback off your druidic powers while holding the doll. But you're back to owning your own powers again.   Dwardazik: Damn. Theran, what about you, do you think you have all your magic? Or are you kind-of "spent"?   Theran: It makes sense that it would be linked to my magic, I guess, if it was a statue of me.   Dazki: Did anything happen to you?   Theran: I went to the Red Desert for about 3 minutes.   Marvin: Oh.   Dazki: OK, what happened?   Theran: Well, it wasn't talking to me... and usually, it's chatting up a storm. So, I thought something was really, really wr — well, more wrong than usual.   Dwardazik: Can you explain that a little more?   Theran: Usually whenever we've gone there, it's like, "hey, you need to stop coordinating with Riley". Or we'll see your dad, and then he's like, "The Damsel needs to communicate this message to you". That sort of thing.   Dwardazik: Ah, so it was more of an unplanned sort of visit?   Theran: Yeah. I don't think something like that would've happened without a reason, so the question is to still try to figure out what happened.   Marvin: Does that not imply that there's any "reason" to these events, at all?   Dazki: A hypothesis out of thin air — it could be that the planes are getting close, and because we have been tethered to / linked to / in the Red Desert, someone randomly got pulled in there because of the proximity of the planes.   Dwardazik: I really hope that doesn't happen in the middle of combat.   Theran: Again, I don't think it happens randomly. It always seems to happen with purpose.   Marvin: I hope you're right.   Dwardazik: Maybe we'll discover that purpose.   Theran: Either way, still being able to have a conduit for my magic while I'm in another plane is extremely powerful stuff.   Dazki: And absolutely nothing happened to you while you were there?   Theran: I did speak to Marvin's dad for a hot second.   Marvin: What did he say?   Theran: He's sorry for being a bad influence.   Marvin: ...in what regard?   Theran: I honestly felt a bit too awkward about it to ask for further... like, the way he said it, he seemed to think that he'd be understood? I don't know.   Marvin: I think I get what he's saying.   Dwardazik: Well, do you think you'll be OK to continue, or do you need a few minutes to recover?   Theran: I think I'll be fine.   Dwardazik: Because we're pushing hard right now, and we're not sure if it's safe to take any kind of short rests.   Theran: I'm good. Let's keep going.

Examining the room, they see a few features:

• a cyclone in the middle of the red lake
• a large rock on the other side of the pool
• a rickety wooden bridge with red footprints starting about halfway through
• something that resembles "meat", resting on some tables on the other side of the bridge

They walk across the bridge, but they make enough noise to attract the attention of some hostile creatures hidden in the lake.

Mini-Combat Summary

• Marvin started with a Vicious Mockery spell to test whether or not his more powerful spells would work on them, but his target ignored him outright and just focused attacks his way.
• Theran brought out his Broom of Flying and lifted Dwardazik across to the other side.
• Dazki ran across the bridge; as soon as he reached the spot where the red footprints started, some crystals suddenly appeared in his path, seemingly trying to push him off, (Dexterity Save 27) but he dodged them handily and continued across. He started blowing his signal whistle to attract attention to him, and then he ducked around a corner where there was another glowing crystal. Reaching that crystal caused "Jahdzan" and "Argon" to appear nearby.
• Marvin used Fly to get to the other side quietly, with the others.

"Jahdzan" is lamenting to "Argon" again:

Oh, how I feel ill, this having happened! So ill! Sick to my stomach about the whole thing! I didn't know. Does she know that I didn't know? It shouldn't have even been possible! ...improbable? Impossible? Inconceivable!   "Jahdzan" notes down the word "inconceivable" in his book.

They quietly turn their attention to the "meat", which rests on a dwarven table. A tablet next to it reads in dwarvish, "Example specimen for comparison". (Investigation 22) The "meat" seems to have been severed from whatever it came from by some kind of piercing weapon like a pickaxe. It seems to dislike being touched.   Dwardazik lifts it. It feels much heavier than it looks, especially as it actively tries to squirm away from his grasp. (Athletics 23) He manages to keep a hold of it, but it squirms the whole way. He grumpily chastises it for trying to squirm away.   They bring the "meat" to an altar of sorts, surrounded by a spiral in blood. The "meat" gets more nervous as they get closer. As "meat" is not normally supposed to be able to get nervous, Dazki pulls out the Wand of Magic Detection to see what's going on. Besides the party's magical items, the only other magical thing in the room seems to be at the bottom of the blood lake.   Dwardazik places the "meat" onto the altar, but he is unable to hold it there for very long, as it escapes and squirms away. He chases after it and recovers it, putting it right back onto the altar. This time, the "meat" seems to melt a hole down into the rock altar, opening up a passage that the party uses to move down to the next floor down.

Hoard Mode

The chamber is full of (apparently) mushrooms along the walls. A large pool of green liquid is at the center of the largest open space, with a stone pipe in the middle of it. There are small worms (some larger than others), and a dragon who appears to be obsessively tending to the (apparently) mushrooms as though they are part of its hoard. They decide to sneak down away from the dragon, into some side tunnels. There's an actual door, which creaks open on its own as Marvin approaches. Dwardazik defends the rear while the others look into what's behind that door.   Dazki looks inside — it seems to be some kind of a nursery. Inside is another "ghost", much like the other one who interrupted their sleep the other night, rocking in a rocking chair. (Investigation 30) No traps, but seeing through the illusions of the room, Dazki does see that the ground is covered in a red mist, and the walls are covered in spider egg sacs and webs. Dazki is about to leave, when the room calls out to him.

Room: Stay a while! But keep it down, the babies are sleeping.   Dazki: I appreciate it... we have places to be, why should we stay with you for a time?   Room: sigh. Nobody ever stays, do they!   Dazki: That didn't really answer my question. Can you give me some kind of a compelling reason?   Room: Perhaps a deal? What is it I could grant you to stay with me? I'm so lonely here, and it's so hard taking care of all these kids.   Dazki: Well, first off, I'd like to know... who are you?   Room: I am the lost — and forever lonely! — Maedia Widelove. And I do so enjoy your company! Won't you stay?   Dazki: How long would you like us to stay and share your company?   Room: I do say, perhaps but a minute? Maybe an eternity? I could give you so much! I have so much love to give...   Dazki: I have enough love in my life at the moment, thank you. I do appreciate the offer, but I think I'm going to have to decline your generous proposal.   The cavern shakes.   Room: Foolish betrayer! You're nothing! You're like the others! WHY WON'T YOU LOVE ME?!?!

The door slams shut, and Dazki and the others quickly regroup. The dragon seems shaken up, and it quickly goes back to check on its hoard. Dazki describes the situation, and they discuss what to do — and catch Theran up on the situation with "Jahdzan" — when the dragon appears around the corner to check other nearby (apparently) mushrooms. They scamper, and Theran uses "Really Good Insight" to read the dragon's surface-level thoughts: the dragon is very concerned about intruders, and it intends to check up on every single last one of his treasures to make sure that it is safe.   There's a bit of a scare as the dragon suddenly turns down the hallway that they are in, but it just grabs the "meat" and leaves to squirrel it away somewhere. They take advantage of this opportunity and try to sneak past the dragon, (Stealth 12) but Dwardazik makes a little too much noise, and the dragon rushes towards him.

Combat Summary

• As someone would get close to the (apparently) mushrooms on the wall, it became even more apparent that they were not mushrooms, but eggs, and the maggots inside of them seemed to want to reach out to touch the nearby person.
• The dragon was solely focused on Dwardazik the whole time, and Dwardazik made sure it stayed that way by using Goading Attack. The dragon even helped that cause, slamming Dwardazik into the wall hard with a tail attack, breaking several of the eggs in the process.
• Dazki used his movement throughout the fight to scout for exits; he almost stumbled over an illusion but stayed upright. He found no other exits other than the pipe.
• An unfortunate miss by Theran's "Stardust Pew-Pew" veered off and hit a large worm, bringing it into the combat as well. A Dissonant Whispers spell from Marvin caused it to run away, straight into the pit that Dazki had avoided before, though this didn't keep it down entirely.
• Dwardazik was the first to jump down the pipe, making a long jump over the acid in the pool and (Acrobatics 20) landing it cleanly, descending the ladder inside.
• Theran was about to run away, but he also encountered one of the illusion-covered pits, (Dexterity Save 9) falling into it. He stood up and cast a trio of "Shooty Blam-Blam" spells to knock the dragon into the wall, breaking its own eggs. He was also the last one to make a move for the pipe, and the dragon hit all its attacks at Theran for very heavy damage. The newly freed worm also tried, but it accidentally hit a nearby egg, drawing the attention of the dragon, who briefly turned its attention at the worm instead of Theran. This gave Theran the room to cast a "Speed-of-Light Starblink" spell, teleporting him to the top of the pipe. He gracefully hovered down and out to regroup with the others.

Test Your Metal

Down the pipe is a series of more pipes made out of stone. Despite them being made of stone, they are covered in rust which seems to be left behind by a strange-looking red ooze. Dazki scouts around, (Perception 32) finding a weak spot that he hurried the others past so they wouldn't have to worry about it leaking any acid on them. They see an ooze move past a rotating doorway to an unknown chamber; they work the doorway so that people can get through, and they try the next chamber behind it.   Inside that chamber are several oozes gathered near a pile of rusted metal and someone in heavily rusted knight's armor. There is a waterfall of red liquid falling from the ceiling in the corner, the liquid getting absorbed into the fleshy material underneath. Dwardazik, seeing the metal-covered knight, waves his arms around, trying to attract the attention of the other metal-clad individual. It shouts, "Metal for the metal god!" and charges.

Mini-Combat Summary

• Marvin threw a crowbar into the room as an offering, taking "Metal for the metal god!" very literally.
• Dazki tried to usher everyone else out, and Dwardazik immediately took him up on that.
• Theran had his own plan: he cast a "Mega Frost Blast", which damaged the oozes but showed that the "knight" was an illusion. On a hunch, he stays in the room.
• Confirming Theran's hunch, the oozes didn't pay him any mind, preferring to focus on the crowbar that Marvin had thrown at them.

The party regrouped and decided to give the room another shot, especially with the chance that the pile of rusted metal might contain a powerful item (it did). Dwardazik tried coming in, but an ooze attacked him immediately — he's practically made of metal now — and grappled him, so he had to break free (helped by a much-needed Silvery Barbs spell from Marvin) and wait outside. Dazki also retreated after grabbing some gold and the powerful item for Dwardazik, worried about his metal sword causing the same to happen to him.   Theran also gave in and retreated, but he convinced the rest of the party to let him go back in there to freely cast free cantrip spells at the oozes for a while, since he figured they probably would continue to ignore him, as he had no metal on him. This worked, and he defeated them, clearing the room at the expense of taking a relatively long time. The party take a short rest in the chamber.