DW Session 27: Losing Our Heads

General Summary

5/3/897

• The party goes to Nikolaj’s keep, they find Nikolaj without a head!
• Astrid explains that the skull was stolen, but they don’t know where it went
• Nikolaj can’t be seen without his head, not 36 hours before his coronation
• Beleren asks if there are any spellcasters in Nikolaj’s inner circle, Astrid says there’s a wizard named Oleg who dabbled in illusions and conjurations
• Party checks the barracks for him, they find out that he left in a hurry a couple hours ago
• In his cabin they find a map of potential sites where Baba Yaga’s been known to show up
• Flora uses clairvoyance to find out which way Oleg went, the party starts going south
• Sure enough, the group finds him banging on the door of a quaint little cottage
• He spots Flora, and she does a terrible job of lying to him
• Jax fires off a geyser of his Endless Water Decanter at him, but it misses Oleg and Flora and knocks Beleren prone
• Cereus tries to hit him with a fireball, but misses
• Eventually, Jax is able to grapple and gag Oleg, and together they all intimidate and interrogate Oleg until he wets himself
• Oleg admits that he magically removed Nikolaj’s skull and tossed it into the sewers on Gleb’s orders
• Gleb’s been tormenting him relentlessly for three weeks straight via telepathy
• While this interrogation’s going on, Baba Yaga shows up at the cottage door
• Beleren’s super suspicious, same for Cereus
• Baba Yaga welcomes them inside, and Flora’s the only one to go inside
• Oleg went to Baba Yaga to beg for a way out of town, but now the party is asking her to take them to where Nikolaj’s skull is.
• Oleg brought a high-level transmutation spellbook in return for Baba Yaga’s services
• Baba Yaga says she’ll help, but she wants a sacrifice from them in return
• Jax is the one who offers to permanently give up two of his rages in return for escorting them to Nikolaj’s head in the sewers
• This pleases Baba Yaga, and she invites them all inside her cottage
• It’s a tight fight, but she offers them all some lovely stew (only Flora and Jax eat some)
• Oleg is brought along, the party promises to let him go away with Baba Yaga if he helps them fight Gleb and rescue Nikolaj
• Jax even teaches Oleg how to use a handaxe
• The cottage suddenly starts tunneling through the earth towards the sewers, but the cottage doesn’t jostle or rumble from the digging
• Beleren asks about Baba Yaga’s power and background, he’s still suspicious about why she does favors like this
• Baba Yaga just says that she loves her Myltevian homeland and helping out the locals for a small fee
• Cereus thinks about asking Baba Yaga to remove his feelings for Flora, but he decides against it
• Baba Yaga offers to remove the aging curse from the ghost for Beleren, but he flat-out refuses.
• The party begins marching down the sewers to Nikolaj’s head
• A human head with bat wings flies past Cereus, screaming
• Jax finds a grate towards a reservoir at the end of the tunnel, it takes several minutes to open it
• Inside Flora is able to see Nikolaj’s head bobbing in the knee-deep water
• She also sees a giant man looming over them in the center of the room

Report Date

01 Mar 2020

Primary Location

Nikograd