Session 27: The Infamous Bargle Events
Miscellaneous
2020KC
24/11 17:00
24/11 17:00
2020KC
24/11 20:00
24/11 20:00
Leafall 24, 2020KC
Ziggurat of Tharizdun, below Skola Vale, Skola Vale, Upperdark, The Underdark, The Dark Rain Forest, Kampos
Story so far
The party has come to Skola Vale, the home of Calliope Galanodel & the Elder of the Dawngreets and of the Skola Vale, which was overrun by a large band of mercenaries -- paid off by a Warlock. This Warlock, named Bargle has been in the Ziggurat of Tharizdun, below Skola Vale long ago built and hidden with the death of the Archfey which originally created the Vale. The creator Archfey had desired to place his Domain as a conduit between the Material Plane and the Shadowfell. The Domain of Dread and death.
Instead, it would seem that a long time ago, a band of adventurers with the assistance of other powerful Archfey beings killed him and then made the Domain a conduit between the Material Plane and the Feywild instead. This also placed this large cavern and temple into a pocket universe.
Not too long ago, Bast, the cat goddess, came into this pocket universe and took the Gem of Tharizdun, which had been left behind on the Flying Ship, Adventurer Class Airship. She put it into a magical Bronze Orb to hide it from others and to keep it safe. This she imparted to Sas W.T. Rayce, a Tortle hermit.
Now the party, with this knowledge, finds them exploring this dark temple, and after facing off some protector wraiths, they have found the Warlock and his crew searching for something. It seems they are looking for this orb. They overheard how there are other Deific artifacts in this temple and that the warlock Bargle already has an orb, one for the world of Mystara. He seems intent to find a second orb so that he can use one to fuel his travels back to his realm and to keep one on his person for when he returns, granting him immeasurable power.
They also learned how the young Pradam Estorich, a Wizard kid traveling with the "Fortunate Mead Heroes," a band of adventurers led by Cellymas & Jeets, happens to possibly have an orb to Venger's Realm in his hat. They heard how Bargle spent a lot of his wealth on the mercenaries and that he is also working with the Arcane Order -- a group the party has already heard about due to their run-ins with Jacoby.
Bargle spoke of a "magic research facility," and the rumors of a Arcane Forge on Outding Refuge -- the Arcane Forge for which the party helped secure, but the rumors of a "facility" makes it seem as if Lars Heyton & Ursa have been doing more than just a few items here and there. There was also talk of Philander and another possible Arcane Forge out there, wherever that may be -- but it did bring up another Familiar name. Vyerith -- the dark-skinned Elf who was held in the prisons of Tharros the Wanderer. She was supposed to board a ship in Neyer, but the contact from "The Road" had not made it as he had been "lost at sea."
It seems they are planning their next step, and they have a few different options, unlike the party. The party didn't seem to have many options at the moment as they entered the large chamber, and their stealth was not enough to keep them hidden.
As the Warlock saw them come up to the door, he let them know he saw them and let it be known he had intentions of not being peaceful.
Bargle, the Warlock across the room, says, "My patron wasn't sure if the orb was still here or not, seems that when that cat bitch came here and intruded on this sacred grounds as it wasted away in that pocket dimension -- she helped him "awake" and find me. It also seems you may know more about the orb than we first thought. Let's see how well you really fight -- get them!" he tells the others.
(a bit of "retconning" about the black stretched orb of darkness at the top of the stairs and the two large stone tablets in the first room.
Also retconned that Sas W.T. Rayce & Bastion Bladesinger used their Darkvision Magic Tattoo as they came down the steps).
(note: if a player wants the full-time Darkvision tattoo, they can pay the difference for an upgrade)
"Those diamonds are in the chest." - Ursa
The Battle:
Combat Round 01R.1
- Bargle looks around, then flies up into the air. He shifts back towards the throne, so he can get a bit of a catbird seat view. (30 ft. in the air)
- Bastion Bladesinger moved forward, and then he readied the spell
- Sas W.T. Rayce moves forward and summons her Chill Touch, which doesn't affect the Orc with Longbow.
- Shadow in the Snow pulls out her Frost Brand Shortsword and notices it is glowing. She moves up to the first Troglodyte she can see, and as she strikes, it is more than enough to take him down. She cuts his head off, and he slinks down; there is a horrible stench. ☠️
- Calliope Galanodel uses her Uncommon Glamerweave cloak to give her some camouflage and gives her inspiration to Bastion Bladesinger
- Barlo runs forward and strikes at the Orc with a longbow, BAM! BAM! And he pounds him to the ground with his multiple strikes. ☠️
- Satyr plays a ditty on his panflute. The party is not affected, thanks to their feast.
- Bastion Bladesinger notices Bargle and lets loose with his Scorching Rays -- with two hitting him.
- Troglodytes & Orcs move forward to the party. Some let loose with their javelins. Barlo gets hit by at least one of them; Shadow in the Snow sees two javelins fly over her. The surviving Troglodyte moves to Barlo, his bite almost hits, but Barlo strikes him with his tail across the face. The first claw misses, but the second pierce through.
- Arktos moves
Combat Round 02Chaos Quadrapod
R.2
- Bargle says, "not too bad, taking out the hired hands. We just need to see some more 'chaos'"… He uses his gauntlet to summon a Chaos Quadrapod from a tear to the Far Realms. Bargle: "This'll be fun." (Bastion Bladesinger realizes he read a bit about this creature in the Far Realms book.)
- Cairael Donoghue was a fly, and she turned back into her form. "It took me a while to catch up, you left town before I knew it, but I'm here now." She moves closer to Barlo & Shadow in the Snow. She casts Stoneskin on herself.
- Chaos Quadrapod grabs an Orc and throws him down the pit. It then shoots out a pulsing light mass from its center towards Barlo and Shadow in the Snow, which stuns Barlo and the Troglodyte.
- Bastion Bladesinger shoots his Scorching Ray at level 3 and hurts two of the orcs but misses the third.
- Sas W.T. Rayce moves forward, past Bastion Bladesinger, and uses Chill Touch on the Chaos Quadrapod, which doesn't' work as the save goes through.
- Shadow in the Snow shifts her Hex. She then cuts the Troglodyte in half with her attack. And then she strikes at the Quad with its strange blood going everywhere.
- Calliope Galanodel moves forward and uses her Vicious Mockery, "Hey you, you ever been confused for a slug?"
- Barlo loses his turn due to being Stunned.
- Satyr uses his Howling Void at Shadow in the Snow & Barlo to open a momentary extraplanar rift which was screma0filled and tried to cause fright and psychic damage. They are both still safe from Frightened; Barlo succeeded in the check and ignored the 1/2 damage thanks to his cowl. Shadow in the Snow takes full damage.
- Troglodytes & Orcs move and attack. An Orc uses a greataxe on Cairreall hits. Another Orc slashes at Shadow in the Snow. Another Orc attacks the Chaos Quadrapod as they are now no longer concerned by the contract and feel betrayed by Bargle. The other two also attack the CQ.
- Arktos moves to attack the Orc near Shadow in the Snow and kills him.
R.3
- Bargle Misty Steps to the side and continues to watch.
- Caireall Donoghuei attacks the Orc next to her and misses.
- Chaos Quadrapod reaches out to an Orc near it, grapples it, and squeezes it to death. It then goes for Barlo, who misses as he dodges out of its path.
- Bastion Bladesinger uses his Magic Rapier +2 on the Orc near Caireall Donoghuei and kills him, then turns around and uses Frostbite on the CQ, which fails even with its magic resistance.
- Sas W.T. Rayce moves to the CQ and strikes with a Shillelagh critical hit slamming down on a tentacle, and she moves back to get away from it.
- Shadow in the Snow strikes with all of her attacks to the CQ, and a few hits connect, not enough to kill it yet, and she leaves his area of opportunity due to Mobile Feat.
- Calliope Galanodel moves up to Caireall Donoghuei and sets up her Cloud of Daggers right between the two orcs and the CQ.
- Barlo feels invigorated that he finally gets a chance to fight again. He moves towards the CQ and slams down on it, but the tentacles swipe the hit away.
- Satyr Goes to Bargle and whispers to him.
- Orcs - we see two of them take damage from the Cloud of Daggers. One of them charges Barlo and strikes him down with a greataxe. The other goes after the Chaos Quadrapod.
- Arktos goes to the Orc on the other side of Shadow in the Snow and kills him with two strikes.
R.3
- Bargle says, "you hold yourselves up very well, waiting for when we meet up next." Barlo: "Why not now, coward?" Shadow in the Snow: "Coward!" Bargle: "oh, I'm no coward -- I just have plans. Before I go…" and he shoots Eldritch Blast at Shadow in the Snow but misses.
- Caireall Donoghuei moves up to Barlo and uses Cure Wounds on Barlo to give back some HP.
- Chaos Quadrapod takes the damage from the Cloud of Daggers. It then squeezes the life out of the other Orc. And then at Barlo, who takes bludgeoning damage from the tentacle, and he is now Restrained as he was unable to get out.
- Bastion Bladesinger moves up to the CQ, Hex attack misses, uses Calliope Galanodel's Inspiration, and it still missed --
- Sas W.T. Rayce charges with Shillelagh onto the CQ, misses, and retreats.
- Shadow in the Snow contemplated Web… But instead charges the CQ and strikes at it hitting it with swarm and ice, with multiple attacks putting it so close to death's door.
- Calliope Galanodel Another Vicious Mockery "I was going to cast Detect Thoughts, But I didn't think I'd find any there." and it strikes it, the tentacles writhe a bit, and the light pulses a bit duller.
- Barlo strikes out in anger at the CQ, and unfortunately, none of his attacks strike home.
- Satyr moves up to Bargle and communicates with him, then shoots out an Eldritch Blast at Arktos.
- Orcs both strike and miss at Barlo
- Arktos strikes out at an Orc and kills it, then growls at the other one.
R.4
- Bargle: "If I really want to hurt you, it looks like I need to kill the Owlbear… But I do think our time here is done." and he disappears as his body is bathed in bright light. The Satyr curses out loud.
- Caireall Donoghuei moves to Shadow in the Snow and casts Cure Wounds on her.
- Chaos Quadrapod takes damage from the Cloud of Daggers, and it cuts through, delivering the killing blows. Calliope Galanodel: "good work, everybody," and then she covers herself again.
- Bastion Bladesinger punches his rapier through the last Orc's eyeball and kills him. He shoots a Ray of Frost at the Satyr and hits him.
- Sas W.T. Rayce summons her Chill Touch and connects with the Satyr
- Shadow in the Snow casts Web onto the area focused with the Satyr
- Calliope Galanodel's Vicious Mockery: "No wonder you are hiding back there, I'd hide with a face like that too!" but his Fey advantage protects him.
- Barlo moves closer to the Satyr and is now Restrained in the Web, then he takes two swings and connects -- with Reckless to overcome the disadvantage of Restrained.
- Satyr resists the webbing again. He then pulls out a dagger, misses the first strike, but connects with the second -- but the damage was psychic damage, so Barlo's cowl protected him; he still took the physical damage. He is pissed and doesn't like being left behind.
- Arktos moves to Shadow in the Snow.
R.5
- Caireall Donoghuei casts a spell*
- Bastion Bladesinger moves into the webbing and resists its grasp. He attacks the Satyr and hits.
- Sas W.T. Rayce tries her Chill Touch but a critical failure
- Shadow in the Snow readies her bow for an attack
- Calliope Galanodel casts Tasha's Hideous Laughter, which doesn't land as the Fey has an advantage against such magics
- Barlo reaches out to grapple the Satyr and succeeds. He then threatens him to stop fighting and to yield. Intimidation 19
- ☠️☠️☠️ Arktos (3 Orcs)
- ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ Barlo (6 Orcs)
- ☠️☠️ Bastion (2 Orcs)
- ☠️ Calliope Galanodel (Chaos Quadrapod)
- ☠️☠️ Shadow (2 Troglodytes)
- ☠️☠️☠️Chaos Quadrapod (3 orcs)
- Bargle: () Escapes
- he Satyr goes limp.
t Combat Experience: 10850 (1808 Each) | Total: 19,388 (Next Goal: 23,000) t
He then steps off the edge. Satyr: () Leaps to the Darkness As he steps, Shadow in the Snow shoots an arrow at him, and it strikes him in the shoulder, and he falls down with a grunt. Nothing. No scream. No sound."I see I've been left here all by myself. I could have you fight each other… but now I'm more pissed at Bargle than you. I could end my hostilities if you can. Not a surrender, a ceasefire." "So, that was fun." The Satyr takes a step back. "Not trying anything, just want you to know that right now we are equals. I suppose I can answer some questions for you, but after that, we are done." Bastion Bladesinger reminds him they can still fight, and the Satyr reminds him that he at least stood down out of respect for his friend (Barlo). Shadow in the Snow comes up to him, "What are you doing down here?" Satyr: "Sigh. So, pretty much what it comes down to is I am a warlock of Tharizdun. I was to help out that little Warlock, ex-wizard find the orbs." Shadow in the Snow: "what orb?" Satyr: "Each world is an orb, eventually when the end of a world, they become an orb. At that moment, all the magic in that world is now there. Every time you cast a spell or use magic -- you pull from The Weave, but by using that magic, you actually add to The Weave as well. Imagine you have a bowl, and you fill it with sand. It is finite; only so much would pour out -- but with magic, you can make that sand continue to pour out indefinitely. Same with magic -- the more you use it, the more you create. At the end of any Universe, and there is always an end -- there is a weave. That weave is power. My patron needs 333 such worlds to exist and to end to ultimately be freed." Shadow in the Snow: "how many are there now?" Satyr: "hard to say. With such a thing, it is always fluid. It's timeless almost; all I can say is that it's always just about getting the next one. And I realized when you showed up -- I was already about to get betrayed by Bargle as he was just about getting power for himself from them." Shadow in the Snow: "why are you being so chatty?" Satyr: "Well, because your friend there asked me to stop, and at that moment, I was done fighting. To be honest, I'm not too worried about myself. I helped him to get down here as I was tasked to do. He got what he wanted out of this place. Well, his patron will be able to come back at least." Shadow in the Snow: "Tharizdun?" Satyr: "His patron is the corpse you came down here through." Calliope Galanodel: "Who is that, though?" Satyr: "That's the Archfey corpse up there. It seemed when your goddess came down here to get the orb; she was able to let some of his essence get out. The cat goddess came here to get that orb. My understanding was she wants that power to help out someone or something. So that was able to help him out, so Bargle's patron got what he needed - he'll be able to accumulate power and come back." Someone asked: "Where did Bargle go?" Satyr: "Oh, I don't know. He said he had some prisoners of interest. And after how many of those hired hands are now Dead down here, I am sure they won't just give him those prisoners back. I know he wants to go after that Pradam kid who came here the same time he did." Someone asked if they came from the same place. Satyr: "No, Bargle comes from the Realm "Mystara," it seems he was some powerful Wizard there. He came here, and the Archfey started to use him for his own purposes. Now, in the end, you ask why am I being this calm and unconcerned -- because my patron is about destruction. Whether you go after him or he wins --, there will be destruction." Shadow in the Snow: "Right, but if we kill you now -- you won't see it." Satyr: "You think you can kill me? All you'll do is destroy the body I'm in." Shadow in the Snow says they can destroy the body. Satyr: "I thought we were talking." Bastion Bladesinger: "are you a vessel? If we throw you in the Bag of Holding, will you die and not be able to go anywhere?" Satyr: "You can talk to me as long as you want, but right now, you got him going after some poor little kid or some of your loved ones he knows about…." Shadow in the Snow: "You think we don't have them protected?" Bastion Bladesinger: "Who does he know about?" Satyr: "You don't know, do you?" and a bit of small smile and laugh "One of you has been missing their daddy for a long time now. He knows where the Dad's at." and he looks at Sas W.T. Rayce. Sas W.T. Rayce, Deer in the headlights look. Looks at Barlo: "I think one of your siblings is missing to that you haven't talked to in a while." Barlo asks for the name. Satyr: "The one who has mellowed out over time… so at this point, I think you have a better understanding of what's at stake here." Shadow in the Snow: "what do you expect us to do? Go after Bargle? What was the point of this conversation?" Satyr: "For the most part, I've done what I need to do. I see you have things to do, he has things he will do, and I'm the only one stopping the return of her homelands... And at this point, I'm done with this."
At this point, Caireall Donoghuei says, "we need to go. With what he said if he was the last thing… I don't know what is going to happen, but the Vale will be coming back." They ask if this will trap them. Caireall Donoghuei: "I think so."So the party runs out of the temple, up the stairwell, they see a strange black mass that they can only barely see in the corner of their eye floating at the top of the stairwell. The doors are now open. Barlo reaches out to the mass but feels nothing. They exit the Ziggurat of Tharizdun, below Skola Vale, and Shadow in the Snow asks if they can use the ship; Bastion Bladesinger says it should be able to Fly -- it isn't 100%, but it might work. And they see the light is starting to thin. Bastion Bladesinger puts on the hat, Sas W.T. Rayce puts the Orb of Toril into the ship -- its magic spreads out. The hat reminds Bastion Bladesinger to Fly. He pulls out the rods on the ship's wheel to go up and back in to go down. Everyone boards the Adventurer Class Airship.
Barlo: "I don't believe a ship can Fly, but prove me wrong."Calliope Galanodel gives Bastion Bladesinger a bardic inspiration. As he pulls out the rods, the ship begins to pull up, but there is a lot of sand, but with his will, it helps pull the ship up, and they begin to Fly. They head to one of the holes, and they barely get out of the narrow pass (narrow for such a ship). The Sun is beginning to set, and they see the buildings begin to return, and they start to populate the area. Some are a bit translucent, and it is a weird effect from their vantage point, but it seems for all intents and purposes the Skola Vale is back. They are airborne, and the Vale is back. They realize they need a rest, so they land the ship.
t Milestone Experience: 2500 (500 Each) | Total: 19,888 (Next Goal: 23,000) t
**Left in Village of Skola Vale**
Related Location
Ziggurat of Tharizdun, below Skola Vale
Ziggurat of Tharizdun, below Skola Vale
Related Species
Chaos Quadrapod
Related timelines & articles
Chaos Quadrapod
Master DM Timeline (article)
The Wild Cards of Dierde (article)
I really do try to make most of this original, but since Forgotten Realms is an integral part of the world I can't help if anything is used without formal permission, but is still "fair use" as I am just using this for my private games.