The Adventures of the Big HELP, Session 31

General Summary

• Bigwig returned to consciousness after purging Arazid from her mind. With all traces of him gone, her body rejected his draconic aspect and her harengon features began to return and heal. She then realized that she was still speared by the Fireblood's Staff of Thunder and Lightning and that whatever power was healing her was going to cause her to heal over the staff. She shouted for help and Helena organized the others. Petrichor and Larka held Bigwig's arms while Helena pulled the staff through. Bigwig decided to keep the staff.
• Helena rushed over to Bigwig to heal her. She asked Bigwig what happened when the fires consumed her. Bigwig explained that she was confronted by Arazid who tried to force her to take on all of the Arazid power the Fireblood had concentrated around her. Bigwig instead rejected the power and channeled it back into Arazid himself, causing him to disappear. Helena was glad she banished Arazid but was surprised Bigwig didn't want that power for herself. Bigwig admitted that it had been enticing, but she didn't think she could take the power without Arazid taking control of her.
• Bigwig went over to where the Teleportation Circle had been and picked up the Fireblood's gauntlet, only then realizing that her arm was still inside. Bigwig tried to pull the arm out but failed and handed it to Larka. When Larka touched the arm, she could feel the anguish the Fireblood must have felt in the moment she lost it. Larka pulled out the arm and wondered if she could use it to sense the Fireblood's mind, determing whether she was still alive.
• Larka meditated on the arm and tried to find the Fireblood's mind. The Fireblood's agony overwhelmed her and Larka was unable to focus on anything else. She found herself in the Fireblood's mindscape, the state of her mind visualized as a field. All around was ashen and scarred with only the occasional sign of life peeking through. It seemed that Arazid really had burned out most of the Fireblood's mind.
• The Big HELP were exhausted and in desperate need for a rest, but weren't willing to stay near where the ritual had been. Larka led them further away so they could rest far away. Once they settled on a place, Larka spent some time meditating to reach out to King Hespiro. He applauded her seriously wounding the Cult of Arazid. She was less glad when he mentioned that his people had made a tenuous peace with the people of Cathedra and that he needed to move onwards.
• Hespiro planned to take the Catfolk Freehold in a pincer movement now that he secured the allegiance of Pascatia. Larka tried to persuade him to stay put or march elsewhere but failed. Hespiro at least planned to offer Catchief Urthpaw a role ruling the former Freehold lands. Larka asked why he couldn't just form an alliance but Hespiro wouldn't listen, insisting that he needed to conquer in order make the people respect him. He did aquiesce to Larka on one point. Baron Feaulup of the Ingvar Wildlands had requested an alliance with Hespiro. If such a meeting went well, he would consider Larka's request in more detail.
• Petrichor sat on watch first. When Larka finished her meditation, she warned Petrichor that Hespiro meant to march on the Catfolk Freehold. They sat for a bit trying to figure out how to warn the Catchief when Larka suggested they send a raven or crow. She made a poor attempt of a crow call that only resulted in scaring one away. Petrichor cast Speak with Animals and convinced the crow to come back. The two offered it some of the crystals Larka had found in the Morda Crystal Mines (shinies as the crow called them) in exchange for taking a message to Ghispar. They were originally going to give him some of the crystals as an upfront payment, but they got the impression he would run off with the crystals and not deliver the letter so they decided not to.
• Petrichor was finishing up her watch shift when she started to hear a gentle, comforting lullaby, barely audible, coming from her Staff of the Woodlands. When she went to sleep, she found herself wrapped up in a warm blanket of desert plants. She looked up and saw the aspect of Sindara from inside her staff towering over her. Sindara's expression was that of nurturing and gentleness and Petrichor found herself surprisingly calmed by her presence. Petrichor stayed swaddled up in the blanket until she felt Sindara's aspect was trying to tell her something. Unfortunately, she couldn't hear what Sindara was saying. The Goddess of Nature then pointed behind Petrichor to a land dessicated and dead.
• In the center of this land was a hidden village bathed in green light. Petrichor stepped through the dead land. When she looked back at Sindara, she saw that life returned wherever she stepped. Petrichor passed into the village and found she couldn't interact with any of the people. At the center of the village, she found a large glowing emerald, seemingly the source of the light that protected this village. Petrichor touched the emerald and felt herself flooded with the power of nature. In this moment, she could hear Sindara mention a place called Moonvale Grove. The dream began to fade and Petrichor hear another voice, that of Ivy, urge her to come help her fend off an encroaching darkness.
• Later, during Bigwig's watch, Helena woke up screaming and holding her chest where the Fireblood had planned to plunge a dagger into her heart. Larka ignored this while Petrichor let Bigwig comfort her. Helena had been having a nightmare about almost being sacrificed. She chastised herself for being so shaken by the ordeal. Bigwig told her it was okay to take some time to process things. Helena decided to stay with the HELP until they arrived at the Six Tenet Monastery where she might stay for a while. Bigwig got the impression Helena needed some physical comfort so held her hand until she fell back asleep.
• The rest of the night passed peacefully. Petrichor explained her dream to the other, worried that some terrible disaster may soon befall the mysterious Moonvale Grove. Larka was sympathetic but knew Hest needed to get back to her monastery soon. Petrichor agreed, believing that the monastery may have information that would help her find the grove. She thought more about her dream and recalled that the former Archbishop Darvus had mentioned Moonvale when they spoke. She recalled him talking about how her Staff of the Woodlands was incomplete and that the missing fragment ended up there. Petrichor realized that the missing fragment was likely the emerald from her dream and that fixing the staff may allow her to access the full power of her staff and talk to Sindara.
• The Big HELP traveled without much issue that day. The only problem they encountered was a patch of quicksand they easily passed by.
• Bigwig took first watch when the party rested for the night. She heard something large move in the distance and went to check it out, thinking it was a bear. Unfortunately, she had not gotten used to the fact that she lost her darkvision when she purged herself of Arazid's influence. The sound of footsteps rushed by her and she tried to run back to the camp. She shouted "BEAR" to wake everyone up.
• Everyone at camp bolted up except Petrichor who found herself staring into a dagger dripping with inky black goop. Larka studied the vargar holding the dagger and determined she was not vargar from the Ribahrn Territory. She did have an amulet that suggested she was a Church of Gorthag follower, though. Helena woke up in a cold sweat from another night terror. Before anyone could get to Petrichor, the assassin stabbed her and fled.
• Petrichor could feel the poison start to sap her strength. She cast Lesser Restoration to purify herself. She swore she heard a voice pleading for help that faded as the spell worked its magic and wondered if she should not have removed the poison. The HELP deliberated for a bit about what to do next. Bigwig asked Petrichor if she really wanted to let this knife wielding maniac just run free. Petrichor said no and that she wanted a little bit of revenge. Petrichor took to the skies as a giant eagle while Larka followed the assassin on the ground. Helena had to guide Bigwig throught the dark.
• Larka chased after the vargar. A storm gathered and she had to dodge a bolt of lightning as she dashed after her target. Helena and Bigwig were less lucky and took the brunt of another lightning bolt. Petrichor caught sight of her attacker and dive bombed her. The panicking assassin looked back and ended up crashing into a sleeping bear.
• Bigwig and Helena stumbled through the dark until they found a corpse that had been dead for quite some time. Bigwig looted the corpse and found 50G and scroll of Polymorph. Larka caught up with Petrichor and the assassin. Petrichor raked her talons across the vargar and Larka threw one of her psionic daggers. It wasn't enough and the assassin survived both blows. She panicked and attacked the bear, hoping to run by it. The bear made the final blow and swiped her head clean from her shoulders.
• The assassin's poison began to affect the bear. Larka dissolved into the shadows but Petrichor stuck around. She dropped her Wild Shape, cast Lesser Restoration on the bear, then Speak with Animals. She managed to talk the bear down and he went on his way, after stamping the assassin's body into mush.
• Petrichor investigated the assassin's body briefly until Bigwig and Helena arrived. Bigwig offered the use of her amulet that let the wearer cast Speak with Dead. Petrichor used it but only learned that the former Archbishop had called for the death of Larka. She wondered how this vargar could have mistaken her for Larka.
• The rest of the night passed uneventfully and the party found themselves a short march from the Six Tenet monastery. Petrichor recognized that the six monastery towers were designed to look like statues of the gods. They were unexpectedly blue and the HELP realized, when looking at all the vendors and visitors, that this must be for The Festival of Saint Kynthas.
Previous Session                       Next Session 

39 Days After the Crash of the Raziel

Report Date

03 Nov 2024