Session 47: The Beholder's Minions and Interlopers Events
Miscellaneous
2023KC
13/9 13:00
13/9 13:00
2023KC
13/9 15:00
13/9 15:00
Lowsun 13, 2023 KC, Early Afternoon
At Beholder Lair north of Village of Skola Vale, Skola Vale, Kampos
Adventure Recap
The party had cleared out River's Keep, being told they can get 1,000 gp each or the opportunity (and responsibility) of rebuilding, maintaining the keep and security in the area.
Returned to Skola Vale and took care of some situations, in an effort to obtain a new set of saddlebags of holding they went off to fight a Beholder.
6 The Battle:
Combat Round 1
Barlo comes around the corner, rages and rushes all the way to the furthest enemy -- using all of his special movement features.
"Where is the Beholder?" He asks
Calliope moves forward and uses Prestidigitation and creates a little sparkling "firework" display on the table where the card players are. It seems one is more interested in that than the others. She then retreats a bit and gives some intel to the party.
Hobgoblin is surprised. The one by Barlo.
Sas comes around and looks, to find a creature to cast Chill Touch on, but it doesn't connect. It then dissipates to spores.
Shadow shoots a Lightning Arrow at the gamblers, which strikes the closest one, and then shoots out at the others -- the one entertained by the lightning show takes a lightning to the face taking full damage, and the other takes half as it shifts its chair a bit.
Her second attack with all of the special features goes right into the dumb one's face, killing him.
Arktos moves forward
Bastion casts Hex and Ray of Frosts onto the first Hobgoblin, turning him into a frozen Hobsickle.
Sends Princess forward.
Most of the Hobgoblins seemed surprised, so not much happened.
Barlo loses his rage. Walks up to the guy in front of him, grabs the Prone Hobgoblin in his sleeping bag -- "you're gonna show us the way to the beholder", and attempts to intimidate him, with no real success, but he seems afraid.
Calliope casts Vicious Mockery "You sure you want to join this fight? That would be very embarrassing." Which succeeds. The pain hurts.
Hobgoblin held by Barlo hits at him, but he is Prone -- even with a disadvantage, he slashes at him.
Sas moves and calls forth Chill Touch.
Shadow moves, Ensnaring Strike and succeeds. Second arrow hits. Both on the Hobgoblin Devastator.
Arktos moves forwards.
Bastion shifts his Hex and then casts Ice Knife which fails to make it and explodes over the fire (rolled a 1).
Hobgoblin Devastator starts his turn with the ensnaring vines cutting into his flesh and taking his life, just as he is starting to rise up. He was starting to cast some acidic spell and the vines chock him to death.
Another Hobgoblin stands from his bed, grabs a longbow and misses Barlo, who flips him off -- then runs forward.
Hobgoblin captain stands grabbing his greatsword with one hand and the other grabs a javelin, which fails to hit Barlo.
Barlo sees the captain, "oh big sword? You must be the one in charge..." he drags his new friend (using the kitty-cat afterburners) and slashes at the guy's face "Do you wanna show us where the big guy is?" An elbow to the face, hits. It cuts the lip. Intimidation, and then he looks down "I only need one of you to show me the way..." The leader's nose is broken, he spits some blood and is looking a bit worried around the room.
Calliope moves. Cloud of Daggers to the Hobgoblin to the north. Ducks back.
Hobgoblin held by Barlo panics as he sees the leader losing will. He tries to break free, fails.
Sas can only see two of the survivors, not really able to see the one in the Cloud of Daggers. Sees Barlo is trying to pressure the boss, so goes for the one in the daggers. The Chill Touch fails to connect.
Shadow has Arktos run to Barlo's side. Roars menacingly to the leader. She then shoots an arrow at the Prone Hobgoblin being held by Barlo. Hits and kills him. Winks at Barlo. He says "I guess you're it" to the boss.
Bastion shoots two Ray of Frosts at the Hobgoblin in the Cloud of Daggers.
Hobgoblin ☠️ ☠️ ☠️ Shadow in the Snow ☠️ ☠️ Bastion Bladesinger Hobgoblin Devastator ☠️ Shadow in the Snow Barlo takes the Hobgoblin Captain as a prisoner.
t Combat Experience: 1150 (230 ea) | Total: 54230 (Next Goal: 48,000) t
Hobgoblin sees his last compatriot go down... "Fine what do you want?"
Barlo: "You're gonna show us how to get to the Beholder, and point out the traps as you're going first."
Hobgoblin: "If you take me in there, he's just gonna kill me anyways."
Shadow: "Or you can die at our hands..."
Bastion suggests the Beholder will be more concerned with the party than a Hobgoblin betrayer.
Barlo: "Just show us where it's at and we'll let you go."
Hobgoblin: "There are two paths from here, depends on what ways you have to travel. He can Fly, which is why he has tunnels just for him. "
Barlo: "Just show us the way you would go."
Hobgoblin: "there will be trouble before you get to him."
Shadow: "What kind of trouble?"
Hobgoblin: "He has other guards in the path... c'mon let's go this way"
Barlo is holding him by the collar as they go to the SE tunnel and he takes them through some tunnels.
Late Afternoon
They find themselves in a large dark room and he tells them to not go ahead of him at this point. "This room is very dangerous." Everyone's perception was to assist in making sure they step where he steps. Near the end, Sas loses her balance a bit and steps on what seems to be a hunting trap and as she lifts up her leg hits on the outside of the Bear trap so it doesn't get her. The Hobgoblin warns that some traps will take them all out.
He points out the left tunnel "That wil lead to a great fall forever", and the north leads to his "gallery" where he stores the treasures he gets from adventurers who find their way in here. There are lots of guards in there, I can't take you in there.
Shadow: "What kinds of guards? More hobgoblins?"
Hobgoblin: "Yeah, more of my kind."
Shadow: "How many?"
Hobgoblin: "Depends on the day and time. Us guards don't usually change out with those guys. especially lately..."
"... I I think the last time I was in that room, we had more guards. There used to be lots of guards, I think there might usually be around 8 or 10 in there. They take shifts. There is another resting room like where we just met."
Barlo asked about why the changes.
Hobgoblin: "Part of it is that his madness has gotten worse. and then he has been getting even worse with his recent fascination, his endeavour.... some of my kind were able to break lose of his hold. They have been able to escape, some have joined the bloodhands . His madness..."
Shadow: "The Beholder's madness?"
Hobgoblin: "Yeah. Beholders are insane. They spread a bit of madness about. He has been in his "Dreamstate" so much that it is spreading the madness about. He's been trying to replicate himself."
Shadow: "How's that going?"
Barlo: "would you say he's more vulnerable now?"
Hobgoblin: "I wouldn't say vulnerable. I mean it might allow more of an opportunity, if you can get to him. The problem is ... When you go into the next room there will be guards there. As it is one of his treasure rooms. But he's almost always in his main room, - in the next room there is a hole in the ceiling, that goes up to his room. The hole is around a hundred feet up and then you climb to the next room."
Shadow: "How do you guys normally climb that?"
Hobgoblin: "We don't. We don't go up there."
Shadow: "He comes down to you?"
Hobgoblin: "Yes. That's his private chambers, his sanctum."
"The reason this might give you an advantage is ... well, I don't know how much you know about beholders, but they are already a bit mad. They tend to overplan and be prepared for all outcomes. That's the one way in which you will have an advantage, he has not been as careful these days. He is mostly just relying on how hard it is to get to his room. also... the way they create offspring is through Dreams. As they Sleep, they can alter reality around them. As they Sleep they can Dream and create a new Beholder, and he is trying to replicate himself because he has this one green scale he finds to be the one thing making him ugly."
Shadow: "A green scale?"
Hobgoblin: "yes. It alters his perception of his idealized beauty. My understanding is he has been up there creating copies of himself. None of them are perfect, so he keeps trying. Ever since that stupid Wizard came by..."
The party looks at each other... Shadow: "Wizard?"
Hobgoblin: "Yeah, he came here months ago. He tried to make a deal..."
Barlo: "Describe him, was it..." and he describes Jacoby.
Hobgoblin: "not a Human, but a Tiefling. He thought he could make a deal with the Beholder, but the Beholder took what he wanted from him. Seems there was some kind of power the Tiefling had. He wanted to makes some deal with the Beholder, but the Beholder seemed to think the power source would help him make a new body for him. "
Bastion: "What power source?"
Barlo: "Is this Tiefling alive now?"
Hobgoblin: "I don't know, just stuff I hear. All I know is that I never saw the Tiefling come back out.
The party wonders if they have come across any Tiefling Wizard and none comes to mind at this time.
Barlo asks if there is anything that draws out the Beholder and has him leave his little room.
The Hobgoblin says he is sure it will leave at some point when it gets itself a new greenscale-free form. But even before, it didn't really leave much unless it had to.
Shadow asks if it has a new form yet, or not and the Hobgoblin brings up how hard it is for stories to spread to his side of the caverns.
Shadow thinks of things she has read on beholders, not much, but if anything comes to mind about green scales. Low roll, so nothing.
The bulk of what the recall from any of their history is that each Beholder is unique, but generally they are a large floating sphere with a huge eyeball and a large gaping maw filled with teeth and then they have 10 eyestalkes that look all around. Skin types or colors can vary. even attributes of the eyes can vary greatly.
Missing jars
Barlo was thinking of the beholder-in-a-jar they had found and what it looked like...
It had a blue triangle-shaped iris. Eyestalks were long/thick like earthworms. Sharp vampire-esque teeth, and the skin was purple-blue and wrinkled.
Back to the current situation...
Shadow says they need to figure out how to enter the next room.
Barlo, to the Hobgoblin: "How do you normally go into the room? Do you go in there?"
Hobgoblin: "no I don't ever go in there. That's my point, if I go in there, they're gonna know. Our job is to ensure no one gets into those chambers, so they are trained to kill anyone who enters"
Shadow: "Is there another way to enter?"
Hobgoblin: "In the room we fought there was a hole in the cieling that leads up there."
Shadow: "You don't know how many are in there?"
Hobgoblin: "My understanding is around 8 or 10 usually."
Barlo: "Is there a way you would normally signal them? Like if you all got wiped out and shit was coming?"
Hobgoblin: "It's never happened."
Shadow: "not a Knock or anything? How do you pass messages between you two?"
Hobgoblin: "We don't. We have our responsiblities, they have theirs."
Shadow: "That's stupid."
Barlo: "Actually, it's kind of smart, keeping the factions separated like that... Well we gotta go in there."
Shadow: "I say our new friend goes in first."
Hobgoblin: "I'm not going in there."
Shadow: "I didn't say I was asking."
Hobgoblin: "fine.. I'll go in."
Marching Order:
Barlo leads.
Bastion.
Calliope
Sas
Shadow
They go through more tunnels. He directs where they need to go to get to the treasure room.
Shadow sneaks in. reports back to the party. Pile of treasure in center, two at entrance of room. 4 around the treasure.
They make plans. (I'm not going to transcribe the planning)
They are thinking of having Bastion use steelwind strike to take out the four center people.
Shadow is thinking of using Spike Growth.
Barlo asks if there is anything else they should expect.
Hobgoblin: "There are other passages. A room full of hobgoblins, waiting in case of the Alarm. Ogres off in another tunnel. If anyone of them sees anything they hit the Alarm. including the boss above."
Shadow: "What Alarm? is it a horn? a bell?"
Hobgoblin: "Honestly, I don't know."
They argue about the Alarm, he claims he has never heard it only been told of its existence.
Barlo: "How many adjoining rooms are there?"
Hobgoblin: "To the East it goes to the Ogres. A ceiling hole in the Northwest to the boss and the floor hole to the last room we fought in and another to a prison cell. A stairwell to the west leads to other hobgoblins."
They debate using tiny hut or other spells...
Bastion takes the Hobgoblin back to the caves where the hole was. He asks if there was anything else they should know... then kicked him down the stairs. The guy lost his balance and at the end the floor opened up and "swallowed" him. Then the floor came back in place.
discussion on Bladesong and anti-magic
NOTE:
in Session 33: Spider Forest of the Feywild Report they found the bag of a Gnome botanist. It held:
Spellbook of a Feywild Botanist and a Journal of a Botanist
a bunch of Crystal jars: the glass/Crystal seems to have transparent runes and a getstone topping the corks
1. tiny Beholder
2. tiny Displacer Beast
tiny Fomorian
a broken jar with label for Ettercap
empty Pixie
somehow this seems to not be on anyone's character sheet....
I wonder what could have happened...
The description says "magic" so it would be expelled, but I am willing to let it be like an "item" and not a "spell". I might have been leaning the other way, tbh -- but I did more research.
The Battle:
Combat Round 1
Barlo runs in and takes attention, rage and bonus speed -- Takes a swipe at two guys, then another try on first. Crit, grievously wounded. He was holding an attack. Misses with greatsword. Barlo then runs up to the other two guys.
**note: I f'd up. Surprised characters do NOT get a reaction, per the rules: "If you’re surprised, you can’t move or take an action on your first turn of the combat, and you can’t take a reaction until that turn ends." I also realize, now, that these are guards. They should have been on full alert (or maybe there was a reason they weren't, but guards on full alert should not get surprised, and should have an attack on ready at all times... heads up for the future.**
Barlo is attacked (martial advantage) by a Hobgoblin.
Calliope pulls out her pan flute, she casts Invisibility, then goes into the room.
Hobgoblins attack Barlo. One blows three bursts in the horn.
Shadow runs in and casts Spike Growth in the center. She has Arktos run in and attack. He gets attacked with an opportunity attack as his attack misses.
Sas comes in and Shillelagh attacks.
Bastion runs in and casts Steel Wind Strike, because the spell doesn't move he is not affected by Spike Growth, (**NOTE: I fixed the spell. I also made a bad call on forced movement in Spike Growth, that should take damage.**) The last 3 hit and they are Dead
One attacks Bastion, misses. Some start running down a side tunnel.
Another hits Bastion. One takes spore damage from being too close to Sas.
retcon: we allow Sas to use reaction to raise an animated Zombie.
A Hobgoblin attacks Sas and hits.
note: icons for features such as Barlo's attack, sas's zombies
Barlo animates his Shield, then strikes out 3 claw attacks. He then reposistions, and the other guy misses on his opportunity attack.
Calliope loses her Invisibility as she shoots a crossbow bolt at a Hobgoblin next to Sas, and it goes right into the neck. Sas uses her reaction to raise a second Zombie.
hobgoblins attack, misses. One hits Barlo, then runs away ... Barlo uses his opportunity attack and slices him across the neck so he stumbles and falls to his death.
Another Hobgoblin misses with the longbow.
Shadow sends in Arktos, he uses his block attack to carve his name into the chest... but misses.
**note: discussion on Spike Growth. I said she couldn't drag, but since then I have researched it and there seems to be a consensus that this is acceptable.**
Shadow shoots an arrow, and kills one. then another one.
Sas uses Shillelagh
Bastion looks around, sees no one. ...
Hobgoblin (2 were captains) ☠️ ☠️☠️ Bastion Bladesinger ☠️Barlo ☠️Calliope Galanodel ☠️☠️Shadow in the Snow
t Combat Experience: 1150 (230 ea) | Total: 54,460 (Next Goal: 64,000) t t Milestone Experience: 540 ea | Total: 55000 (Next Goal: 64,000) t
**Left at Beholder Lair north of Skola Vale Village**
Related Location
Beholder of Skola Vale's Mines
Beholder of Skola Vale's Mines
Related Species
Hobgoblin
Related timelines & articles
Hobgoblin
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.