Echoes of Time Sessions 21-30

General Summary

Session 21 The party pressed on through the tunnels, defeating the assassins who ambushed them, though taking some hits along the way. They were able to capture one of the assassins and compel him to give them information on where Ximon might be kept. After raiding the secured supply cache the Phantoms kept in a statue chamber, they found the entrance to the bunker.
Upon entering, the party found it guarded by two golems. During the battle, cultists fighters appeared from deeper in the bunker and joined the fray along with two more Phantoms. After a tense battle and creative usage of a bag of devouring, the party was victorious, but needed a breather. After retreating back to the statue room to rest, Echoless finally attuned to her amulet (alerting Shepherd to its location and insighting his invasion later this evening). During the rest, the party, specifically Echoless was attacked by an invisible stalker. Regardless, the party was able to complete their rest and are ready to delve deeper into the bunker, unaware of the danger brewing back on the surface…
XP earned: 5,700 each
Session 22 After regrouping farther back into the tunnels, the party set out again for one final push into the bunker in a bid to free Ximon. After blundering through the traps, defenses, and ambushes set up by the Phantoms and Cultists during the long rest, the party found themselves crashing a ritual to summon invisible stalkers run by Garav and his Phantom/Cultist entourage.
After a strenuous battle, Garav was defeated. However, he was able to flee, uttering a Divine Word on his way out, stunning some of the more injured party members and outright killing Venatrix, at least for a moment before Sarword revived her. After taking a moment to recuperate and loot the chamber, the party was reunited with Ximon.
The somewhat tense reunion was short lived however, as Mr. Buttons received a distressing message from Jemma Havik about something happening topside. Almost simultaneously, Ximon sensed the dracolich moving in on the city. The undead horde was attacking.
The party returned to the surface to find the battle raging on two fronts: the horde was to the northeast, but the dracolich was to the southwest. Sarword bid farewell to the party to join the battle with the horde, while the rest of the party turned to confront the dragon…
XP earned: 4,300 each
Session 23 The party devised a clever plan to tackle the dragon: They would lure it to one of the fortified towers on Wall Antecea and bombard it with siege weapons and their most potent magical abilities. And so Venatrix, Eladan, and Evan made haste to the nearest tower to warn the garrison about the impending battle.
Meanwhile, Echoless, Ximon, and Mr. Buttons made their way towards the dragon, stumbling across a barricaded street being maintained by a militia made up of city guards and civilian fighters, as well as a few priests from the nearby temple who were acting as healers. The lieutenant in charge mentioned that a group of Knights of the Spiral had ventured out some time ago to combat the dragon, but had failed to return. After taking a moment to stock up, the group ventured into the fog cloud cast by the undead to find the beast.
Back with the other group, the party made a quick clip towards the tower, passing several groups of terrified civilians. They also got the attention of a group of cloaked and masked deathlocks, scouring the city for signs of the Oculus. They followed the party for a time, but they were eventually able to lose them in the twisting streets of Crucible. Finally at the guard tower, the garrison commander was none too happy about the party's plan, but saw he didn't really have a choice in the matter, and ordered his men to man the ballistae.
Back in the fog cloud, the party found and followed signs of the Knights. Bodies of both the undead and civilians littered the streets. In an abandoned chapel, Mr. Buttons even discovered a few lone wights stacking the bodies of the dead in a huge pile. Further along, they came across a watchtower, where they found a heavily injured Knight. He told them of their attempt to lure the dragon to the tower, and how it worked a little too well. Echoless gave him a healing potion while Ximon splinted his leg. The knight wished them luck and offered to head towards the wall to assist in any needed healing after the battle.
Finally, the party summoned the dragon with the bell on the watchtower, and soon enough it came, dealing a good deal of damage to the party before they could flee. The dragon gave chase, and eventually the party was successful in leading it to the guard tower.
An epic battle ensued. The dragon demolished the siege weapons on the wall, but not before they did a decent amount of damage. It knocked down Mr. Buttons and gravely injured Venatrix, but after the constant barrage of magical attacks and arrows, the dragon lost its grip on the tower. Ximon leapt after it and delivered an epic pile-driver (falling to the streets below and knocking himself out in the process) giving Venatrix an opening to deliver the killing blow with a well placed arrow.
Unfortunately, killing the dragon did not disperse the undead. What's more, when Ximon recovered, he could still sense the presence of it back at Waypointe. As the party went to regroup with the main army, they were confronted by an extravagantly robed man flanked by the masked deathlocks: Shepherd, in the flesh.
He greeted Echoless as Aria, and spoke at length as if he knew her, and demanded she hand over her amulet. She refused, and encouraged the party to run, which they (wisely) did via Ximon's nomadic gate, narrowly avoiding Shepherd's grasp.
Soon after, they were approached by the acting archmage of the Lunar Forum campus in Crucible: Palios Pseftis. Again offering to teleport them out of the city. The party reluctantly agreed, until Ximon realized that Palios was casting the spell plane shift, and not teleport. The party broke the ritual, save for Echoless, who agreed to go wherever Palios intended to send her, with the only hope that it would get the amulet away from Shepherd. And with a sly grin, Palios and Echoless vanished, leaving the party to deal with the rest of the undead horde…
XP earned: 6,600 each
Session 24 After taking a second to regroup, the party decided to move towards the heavy fighting to the north. Along the way, they met a warlock named Poppi engaged with a group of Wights who were cutting down anyone in their path. Poppi agreed to join up with the party and attempt to get out of the city. Farther along the group stumbled into Bartimaeus, who had been given leave to assist in the city's defense. He pointed them towards the central command post that Crucible's commanders were currently utilizing.
At the compound, the party met up with General Laidir, his fellow generals, a Night's Song and Lunar Forum liaison, and most curiously, Dauntless of the Dragon's Fangs, representing his group that had attacked from the outside to relieve the pressure on the city. The general discussed with them the state of the battle, informing them that losses have been heavy, but they've been able to fortify here, at least for the time.
Also at the compound was a mysterious figure who sought Eladan. He introduced himself as De'lan, a fellow son of Logira, and invited him to Logira's Paradise. The party also re-met Xoddrosdam, who was revealed to be a silver dragon who was currently aiding in the city's defense.
Most chilling though, was Shepherd's message to the city. Using magic to amplify his voice, he demanded that "the tiefling known as Aria Shalva" be turned over to him within three days time or he would destroy the city.
In the morning, the party found that the King had ordered tieflings all over the city to be rounded up in order to be brought before Shepherd, much to the chagrin of Dauntless, who threatened to pull Dragon's Fangs support if this continued. The party also reunited with Jemma and Cameron Havik, who had survived the battle the previous night. Jemma mentioned again to Mr. Buttons that they may have a way to exit the city, but it will likely involve breaking into the Lunar Forum's repositories. Despite the danger, the party agreed and headed back into the Central Wards.
The inner city surprisingly still had an air of normalcy to it, though there was a palpable sense of fear in the air. Cultists paraded through the streets and wanted posters bearing Echoless' description were plastered everywhere. It also seemed that there was still room for crime in the besieged city, as a group of swindlers attempted to charm the party out of some gold through enchanted mead and an illusory tent. Ximon promptly smashed the tent and Poppi murdered the leader. Twice.
Finally, at the Lunar Forum, after some trial and error, the group was able to infiltrate the basement with Ximon's teleportation abilities and Venatrix being able to distract Filip, the wizard in charge of the Lunar Forum's shop. Once past the illusory wall, the party found the door guarded by an imposing stone golem. They were able to defeat it, but not without making a great deal of noise. Regardless, the party now finds themselves in the depths of the Lunar Forum repository…
XP earned: 2,500 each
Session 25 The party was able to sneak through the Lunar Forum repositories relatively undetected after their initial encounter with the golem. They avoid setting off most of the traps and discover some interesting information. Specifically, they came across Archmage Pseftis' private study, where they encountered an illusion of the archmage himself, as well as his homunculus.
The group nabbed some books and letters that were left on his desk, including books on magical history, the Battle for the Eye, and letters of correspondence referencing the Night's Song's dealings with a group called the Immortals and a specific type of demon breed referred to as a Loumara. They also found the library of scrolls and were able to retrieve a couple of spell scrolls and an alchemy lab, which they raided for supplies.
While wandering around, they also found the hall of mirrors, where Ximon inadvertently set off a mirror of life trapping, getting himself sucked into the mirror and trapped in a demi-plane. Fortunately, Eladan was able to free him by tactfully smashing the glass, releasing Ximon, a dwarf and a halfling, a very confused drow, and curiously, Filip Klein, the shopkeeper of the Lunar Forum. Oddly enough, he did not recognize the party.
Realizing something was afoot, the party left the repository with new Filip and went to confront old Filip, who they found at the repository doors with a contingent of guards and wizards who were still attempting to find whoever had broke in.
Calamity ensued. Eventually, old Filip was revealed to be a doppelganger and was promptly murdered. While the other wizards went to clean up the mess and investigate farther, new Filip agreed to help the party retrieve the materials they needed to create a teleportation circle, as well as grant them a couple other items from the wondrous items vault as a "thank you" for saving them. This included a deck of illusions and a foldable boat.
With what they needed in-hand, the party set off to return to the Noble Lion Tavern, where they would set their circle and be gone from the city. However, they were met by Rolf just outside the tavern. He brought news that the Night's Song intended to attack Shepherd at St. Merridan's Cathedral while the ceasefire was still in effect. He asked if the party would join him.
After some lengthy deliberation, it was decided that the party would stay and fight. They agreed to meet up with the Night's Song the following morning, and Jemma and Cameron Havik set their teleportation circle to reunite with their brother. Now the party begins preparations to bring the fight to the mad lich…
XP earned: 1,600 each
Session 26 Having agreed to face the mastermind behind the undead horde with the Night's Song, the party faced potentially their last night on earth. In response, they decided to just go have fun. Eladan managed to hook up with the dwarven magistrate Kathra Frostbeard, Mr. Buttons scared off a housemaid, Poppi killed a man by luring him into bed, Venatrix hooked up with Rolf, Evan drank his worries away, and Ximon read his book. A good night all around.
The next day, the group met with the Night's Song to plan their assault. A strategy was decided on and arms and armor were dolled out. With the rest of the day to prepare, the party went into the Outer Wards in search of the dragon Xoddrosdam and word on FreeDom. They were able to find the former, who eagerly agreed to help. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the latter, only a few stories of them fighting fiercely near the wall breach.
At dusk, the party reconvened with the Night's Song and marched into the tunnels. From there, the party, along with Rolf, branched off from the main group in order to infiltrate the cathedral. They met minimal resistance and were able to sneak in without incident.
Inside, they found the man himself: Shepherd. And with him, a most unsettling sight: the zombified remains of Freeth and Dominic under the thrall of Shepherd. They exchanged words. Shepherd offered the party their lives in exchange for their service in finding Echoless and the amulet. They refused, and battle ensued.
After an intense battle, the party defeated Shepherd. Miraculously, no one was killed in the endeavor. However, as Shepherd's body fell to the floor, his amulet vanished without a trace. Regardless, the party was victorious, and exited the Cathedral to see the undead in full retreat. Not only that, but Dorian Havik and a few fighters of the Dragon's Fangs had joined the fray and greeted the party personally. It seems for the time being, peace has returned to Crucible and the party can breathe easy…
XP earned: 7,250 each
Session 27 The party partied it up with the Dragon's Fangs and had quite a raucous night. Venatrix got everyone super drunk with "tricksy juice," Eladan and Dorian stood in a fire, Ximon read his alchemy books, Mr. Buttons tried to find out more about the Immortals, Evan danced like a maniac, and Poppi prowled around looking for trash. Towards the end of the night, Evan nearly revealed a very deep secret to Cameron but passed out before he slipped up. Shortly after, Venatrix felt compelled to stab Evan with Shepherd's knife, but she was able to recompose herself before doing so.
In the morning, Eladan strode naked through the camp with a cool new set of wings and the rest of the gang got breakfast. Before heading back to the city, Dorian asked them if he could count on them as allies when he and the Fangs inevitably returned to liberate the city. He was met with a resounding, "maybe". And with that, the party rode back to Crucible.
Upon returning, the party made for the Lunar Forum and Night's Song to resupply and get a sense of how things were coming after the undead attack. At the Night's Song, Venatrix and Ximon checked in with Rolf and Falkra, who were just a smidge concerned that Ven nearly murdered a man. They also learned that the teleportation circles had been smashed while the rest of the guild was out fighting the undead. Before they left, Ven went down to see if that one man was still downstairs and check out the archive room for any info on Loumara demons. In the search, she finds the demonology book she took from Fendelen which she promptly took. Again.
At the Forum, Eladan, Evan, and Poppi found that the campus was largely deserted, save for a few lingering students and professors. The shop was closed due to the break-in, and Filip implored the group to help find the miniature chests if they wished to have the shop re-opened. Without any course of finding magic items there, they went across the way to the Parthenium in the hopes of finding a scroll of resurrection with the priests. Meanwhile, Mr. Buttons went to check out the living conditions of the poorer citizens who were returning to their homes now that the undead were gone.
Instead they found Garav Arashammad, who had resumed his roll as Bishop at the temple and had much of the clergy fall into line with him. Eladan implored him for a scroll of resurrection in exchange for his life. Garav, amused by the concept, agreed, on the condition that Eladan make a donation of 100 gp to the church.
With scroll in hand, the party returned to St. Merridan's Cathedral, where clean up was still underway and attempted to revive Freeth and Dom. Unfortunately, the ritual did not succeed.
In the evening, the party reassembled to discuss their next move. They decided that Garav needed to be eliminated and came up with a plan to lure him into a trap the following evening. After a day of prep and other miscellaneous activity (mostly book-reading), the party was ready to move. Ximon, Venatrix, Evan, and Poppi went to the warehouse where they encountered the House of Phantoms to prepare. Meanwhile, Eladan and Mr. Buttons went to the Parthenium to track down Garav and lure him away. Mr. Buttons attempted this by disguising himself as a clergyman. After some bumbling around and subtly asking for directions, he found what he believed to be Garav's office and pinned a note to the door. He then immediately fled via a window in another office. From there, they went as well to the warehouse to wait to see if he would take the bait…
XP earned: 450 each
Session 28 The party laid their trap for Garav at the warehouse where they had originally encountered Phantom agents, rearranging the empty crates into a more defensible formation and blocking the trapdoor access to the undercity. After dodging some "women of the night" plying their trade, Mr. Buttons and Eladan reunited with the group and began waiting for Garav to show.
And wait they did. For several hours in fact. Unfortunately for them, the rain concealed the approach of Phantom scouts, who took up positions on the roof across the street and inside the building via rooftop access. There they waited for the cavalry to arrive.
The cavalry came at around 2 a.m. in the form of two cultist warriors on horseback and the leader of the House of Phantoms himself, the Phantom Knight astride a Nightmare. Also with the Knight was Garav, come to see if Echoless or the amulet was even there. And thus the battle began.
Garav, after realizing that the amulet was not there, attempted to leave. However, the party focused fire on him, and he was killed once and for all before he could escape. Unfortunately for the party, the battle went south for them after that. Evan was felled by one of the assassins, succumbing to blade and poison. Ximon, Mr. Buttons, and Venatrix all fell before the mighty blows of the Phantom Knight. Fortunately for them, Poppi was able to save the day. Casting darkness over the group of Phantoms and reviving her comrades, the group was able to teleport out of the warehouse and were even able to grab Garav's body, which they promptly fed to the bag of devouring.
Having narrowly survived the encounter, the party promptly returned to the Noble Lion Tavern and went to sleep. In the morning, the party woke up to a message from General Laidir courtesy of his courier, Fleet. At the Palace of Chronicles, Laidir offered each party member a reward of 5000 gp each for their assistance in stopping the undead as well as the deed to Shadehaven Manor, which the party gleefully accepted.
At the manor, they were greeted by their new steward, a dwarf named Reginald Taylor, who informed the party of the amenities and took care of their customization requests. The party also found the manor to be haunted by the ghost of an Antecean Magister named Lucian Copernicus, who after a brief misunderstanding, was excited to have company again, showing them around his old lab and offering what magic items he had left to the party.
Now the party has an opportunity to relax and recuperate before setting off on their next adventure. As to what they'll get up to, that is something they'll need to decide amongst themselves…
XP earned: 2,900 each
Session 29 The party opted to spend the next few days recuperating: Ximon studied alchemy and enchanting extensively, Eladan finally used his Manual of Gainful Exercise to increase his physical abilities, Mr. Buttons found a vague threat from the Immortals on his quarter's wall, Poppi did what Poppi does, Venatrix set up a "tricksy juice" stand and "returned" the Lunar Forum's chest miniatures, and Evan chilled.
After three days, the party was ready to move on. They gathered supplies and set out to the south in a bid to find the Dracolich's soul in Waypointe. The weather turned cool as they travelled back towards Luma Forest as the days marched into late Fall.
On the road, the party came across a ruined castle where a bizarre, melodic sound drifting from it. Upon investigation, a hippy of sorts had taken up residence at the castle, playing some sort of woodwind instrument. He cheerfully greeted the party and asked if they'd help him get rid of "the weird ass-chickens this pale dude summoned". The party quickly realized this man was describing Palios. Intrigued, they investigated the castle, in which they found a horde of Wretched: small, feral creatures of the Shadowfell. In the castle's cellar, the party found an Antecean Foci, crackling with wild magic. In front of it was an Angry and two Lost, which the party banished and slew, respectively.
After messing around with the Foci (Ximon was turned blue, Mr. Button's hair fell out) and smashing the stone ring around the Foci to see what happened (pretty much nothing), the party set off again. After another couple days of travel and an encounter with goblins trying to ride a couple of ogres that Eladan promptly incinerated, the party encountered the road blocked by a nomadic tribe of orcs. A scouting party warned them that they needed to go around or turn back, but also mentioned that if they were to go after their scouts in the mountain pass, they may be more amicable.
The intriguing part of this though, was the mention of a large, blue goliath being part of the scouts. And so the party agreed to look into it. In the night, a trio of orc children snuck into the camp and nearly got eaten by the bag of devouring. They fled back to their camp in hysterics, but alive. In the morning, the party set off the beaten road and headed towards the mountain pass, passing by another orc party that was busy ransacking another trade caravan for supplies (though surprisingly, they had not killed the merchants and were planning to let them go once they took what they needed).
In the mountains, the snow became heavier. The party was nearly attacked by a pack of winter wolves, but Poppi was able to scare them off with an illusory giant from the deck of illusions. After travelling through the path for a good portion of the day, they were suddenly attacked by a Remorhaz and it's two children. The adult Remorhaz managed to swallow Ximon and attempted to flee with him, but Ximon was able to kill it from the inside and worm his way out.
Lastly, as the battle settled, the party was approached by none other than Dawncaller, who was thrilled to see the party again (Venatrix even returned his axe, still encrusted with Quasit blood). He was more than happy to regale them with his story of after he left the group as the party returned to the orc encampment and then farther on to Waypointe, where little did they know that Shepherd's forces were waiting…
XP earned: 5,400 each
Session 30 The party returned successfully to the orc camp and were welcomed in as orc-friends, being gifted worg-tooth pendants from the orc chief Gnarg. After bartering to get their wagon cover repaired (Ximon traded his cloak of protection for canvas and healed some sick orcs in exchange for help attaching the canvas), the party was ready to settle in for the night.
During the evening, a blizzard swept through the area, dumping over a foot of snow on the ground. A group of frost giants also moved through the area, but they left the party and orc camp alone, as they were unprovoked. In the morning, the party said their goodbyes to Dawncaller and continued on their journey into the mountains. After a day of travel they came to Stone's Landing, still abandoned, save for Jakob Woods, who let them stay again in his cottage. Whilst exploring the library, Eladan and Evan found a surprising amount of porn.
From there they moved on into the mountains proper and came across the avalanche blocking the pass past the watchful towers. However, they quickly learned that it was an illusion blocking the path. With no real resistance to be had, the party continued on and found Waypointe covered in a fog cloud. They camped out on the outskirts, seeing nothing out of the ordinary during the night save a few shadows passing over their camp early in the morning.
In the morning, the party went into the fog to find the town abandoned. Or so it seemed, until Venatrix investigated a building to find zombies milling about, seemingly waiting for something. When they reached the town square, they suddenly found themselves surrounded by undead who promptly swarmed.
Hundreds of zombies surged from every direction, threatening to overwhelm the party. Wights up on the rooftops rained down arrows and a zombified abominable yeti charged the party, who ended up retreating down a well to escape. Eladan was knocked out momentarily, but Ximon was able to teleport them all back to their wagon on the outskirts, while also causing a great deal of zombies to fall from the sky via portals.
However, as the party breathed a sigh of relief from escaping the horde, they found they were not quite out of the woods as a contingent of skeletons had circled around and were waiting for the party to retreat…
XP earned: 1,200 each

Report Date

13 Dec 2022