HHI Session 28: Reshuffling the Deck
General Summary
Month 6, Week 2, Year 908
Well-rested after the first night of tavern sleep in days, the party put off a meet-up with the Gatekeeper to go hunt down a wyvern with some local firbolgs. The brother/sister duo helped guide the party to the wyvern's cave in rapid time, Rolfir the brother keeping watch outside while Keldra the sister helped the party fight through the wyvern's lair. Mavis nearly got eaten by a cloaker near the cave's entrance, but quick thinking from Ithilwen and her new winter wolf Snowdrop helped save the kenku from suffocation. Later on the party found an alcove full of gold and rare items, two troglodytes sleeping among the treasures. Siegfried managed to tie up them up undetected, while Ownka intimidated them with the power of Gruumsh. She learned that the troglodytes were enslaved by the wyvern to keep watch over its horde, exhorting them to find a new good worthy of their strength and power. The Seeking Scorpions finally confronted the wyvern, a lengthy battle that nearly killed Siegfried with the wyvern's poisonous stinger and powerful wings. But with a combination of attacks from Ownka and Ithilwen, the party survived the fight fully intact with Mavis delivering her trademark 'Shatter' as the killing blow. Ownka took the wyvern's head back with her to the troglodytes to prove their enslaver was an imposter and that Gruumsh was the true god, but the troglodytes were only interested in eating squirrels and rocks. The party found plenty of gold and some enchanted greaves in the wyvern's horde, heading back to Kita Outpost to collect the 2,900GP bounty on the creature's head. The next morning Siegfried picked up his freshly-silvered glaive while Ownka got the enchanted greaves inspected. They were part of an old draconic suit of armor, granting +1 to the wielder's AC and providing an additional 10 ft. of movement per round. Ownka gifted them to Siegfried, and with the wyvern business settled the party made their way down the frigid coastline for their long-dreaded reunion with the Gatekeeper. Nearly half a year had passed since the party was first contracted by the mysterious Gatekeeper in Oridelfa, and after months of traveling they'd succeeded in finding a stronghold suitable for him in the Temeraire Mtns. Ithilwen signed away her rights to the stronghold she'd obtained from the Deck of Many Things, and the Gatekeeper rewarded each party member 6,000GP for a job well done (it would've been higher if they'd arrived earlier). The Gatekeeper was willing to let the party split up and spend their hard-won earnings as they saw fit, he was even open to the idea of letting Mavis leave his service on the condition that she drew all remaining nine cards from the Deck of Many Things.
Willing to do anything to break free of her contract, she started drawing wildly from the deck and first suffered the humiliations of The Fool. Next she drew Flames, a card that summoned a shaky, emaciated devil in a well-tailored suit by the name of Naberius. The fiend gave Mavis two choices: either help him sow chaos and reap souls throughout the continent, or see everything she'd worked for and loved destroyed. Tired of being bossed around by selfish patrons, Mavis made a counter-offer to Naberius: draw a card from the Deck of Many Things, and Mavis would willingly offer up her soul to the Nine Hells. And that's how Naberius got his Intelligence score lowered by 3 points thanks to The Idiot card, and Mavis disappeared from the face of Ekal down into the rocky pits of Malbolge. The Deck itself and Mavis' winnings still remained aboard the Gatekeeper's ship, so he rewarded each surviving party member with an additional 2,000GP. One less problem to worry about. The Gatekeeper, ready to start studying from the comfort of a well-defended stronghold, paid the remaining members of the Seeking Scorpions each an additional 1,000GP to ensure their silence regarding his whereabouts. The experience was unpleasant and involved numerous tentacles, but the three of them would now have trouble remembering anything about their short time under the Gatekeeper's employment. Even memories of their old adventuring partner Mavis would become painful and difficult to recall. Whenever someone would ask them about how they made so much money in a short amount of time, the only answer they'd give is 'hunting monsters'. Epilogue The party went their separate ways, the only bind tying them together being the short-term gig they worked for a tyrannical manager. Control of The Minnow sailboat went to Ithilwen after Mavis' disappearance, so she paid 100GP to both Maiko and Sora for their final month of work with for party before selling ownership of the boat to Ownka. She tried returning to the Elflands, but many of her old friends like Thalion were critical of her mercenary lifestyle and she soon left her homeland once more. This time she stayed in Southern Pescat, collecting a gang of outcasts and becoming an urban legend in the region's mountainsides. Ownka sailed back to Sanjuro City to regroup with Log, taking their burgeoning band of lizardfolk and grung cultists on a campaign of destruction through the Northern Territories. With the region destabilized after the Oda-Kiri War, the 910's became a golden age for pirates and warlords like Ownka profiting from the chaos. The people of the Territories turned to the gods for stability, leading to the kind of religious extremism that gods like Gruumsh thrived on. Siegfried chose to stay in the Northern Territories, acting as an anti-prophet against the area's religious revival. His anti-divinity teachings were often met with violent disapproval from village to village, but his enchanted greaves always kept him one step ahead of the angry mobs. He sometimes met up with Ownka for religious debates. A decade would pass, each of these former adventurers finding a way to survive in an ever-changing world. The Deck of Many Things, the most unpredictable variable of this entire adventure, disappeared somewhere far from world's attention along with the Gatekeeper.
Well-rested after the first night of tavern sleep in days, the party put off a meet-up with the Gatekeeper to go hunt down a wyvern with some local firbolgs. The brother/sister duo helped guide the party to the wyvern's cave in rapid time, Rolfir the brother keeping watch outside while Keldra the sister helped the party fight through the wyvern's lair. Mavis nearly got eaten by a cloaker near the cave's entrance, but quick thinking from Ithilwen and her new winter wolf Snowdrop helped save the kenku from suffocation. Later on the party found an alcove full of gold and rare items, two troglodytes sleeping among the treasures. Siegfried managed to tie up them up undetected, while Ownka intimidated them with the power of Gruumsh. She learned that the troglodytes were enslaved by the wyvern to keep watch over its horde, exhorting them to find a new good worthy of their strength and power. The Seeking Scorpions finally confronted the wyvern, a lengthy battle that nearly killed Siegfried with the wyvern's poisonous stinger and powerful wings. But with a combination of attacks from Ownka and Ithilwen, the party survived the fight fully intact with Mavis delivering her trademark 'Shatter' as the killing blow. Ownka took the wyvern's head back with her to the troglodytes to prove their enslaver was an imposter and that Gruumsh was the true god, but the troglodytes were only interested in eating squirrels and rocks. The party found plenty of gold and some enchanted greaves in the wyvern's horde, heading back to Kita Outpost to collect the 2,900GP bounty on the creature's head. The next morning Siegfried picked up his freshly-silvered glaive while Ownka got the enchanted greaves inspected. They were part of an old draconic suit of armor, granting +1 to the wielder's AC and providing an additional 10 ft. of movement per round. Ownka gifted them to Siegfried, and with the wyvern business settled the party made their way down the frigid coastline for their long-dreaded reunion with the Gatekeeper. Nearly half a year had passed since the party was first contracted by the mysterious Gatekeeper in Oridelfa, and after months of traveling they'd succeeded in finding a stronghold suitable for him in the Temeraire Mtns. Ithilwen signed away her rights to the stronghold she'd obtained from the Deck of Many Things, and the Gatekeeper rewarded each party member 6,000GP for a job well done (it would've been higher if they'd arrived earlier). The Gatekeeper was willing to let the party split up and spend their hard-won earnings as they saw fit, he was even open to the idea of letting Mavis leave his service on the condition that she drew all remaining nine cards from the Deck of Many Things.
Willing to do anything to break free of her contract, she started drawing wildly from the deck and first suffered the humiliations of The Fool. Next she drew Flames, a card that summoned a shaky, emaciated devil in a well-tailored suit by the name of Naberius. The fiend gave Mavis two choices: either help him sow chaos and reap souls throughout the continent, or see everything she'd worked for and loved destroyed. Tired of being bossed around by selfish patrons, Mavis made a counter-offer to Naberius: draw a card from the Deck of Many Things, and Mavis would willingly offer up her soul to the Nine Hells. And that's how Naberius got his Intelligence score lowered by 3 points thanks to The Idiot card, and Mavis disappeared from the face of Ekal down into the rocky pits of Malbolge. The Deck itself and Mavis' winnings still remained aboard the Gatekeeper's ship, so he rewarded each surviving party member with an additional 2,000GP. One less problem to worry about. The Gatekeeper, ready to start studying from the comfort of a well-defended stronghold, paid the remaining members of the Seeking Scorpions each an additional 1,000GP to ensure their silence regarding his whereabouts. The experience was unpleasant and involved numerous tentacles, but the three of them would now have trouble remembering anything about their short time under the Gatekeeper's employment. Even memories of their old adventuring partner Mavis would become painful and difficult to recall. Whenever someone would ask them about how they made so much money in a short amount of time, the only answer they'd give is 'hunting monsters'. Epilogue The party went their separate ways, the only bind tying them together being the short-term gig they worked for a tyrannical manager. Control of The Minnow sailboat went to Ithilwen after Mavis' disappearance, so she paid 100GP to both Maiko and Sora for their final month of work with for party before selling ownership of the boat to Ownka. She tried returning to the Elflands, but many of her old friends like Thalion were critical of her mercenary lifestyle and she soon left her homeland once more. This time she stayed in Southern Pescat, collecting a gang of outcasts and becoming an urban legend in the region's mountainsides. Ownka sailed back to Sanjuro City to regroup with Log, taking their burgeoning band of lizardfolk and grung cultists on a campaign of destruction through the Northern Territories. With the region destabilized after the Oda-Kiri War, the 910's became a golden age for pirates and warlords like Ownka profiting from the chaos. The people of the Territories turned to the gods for stability, leading to the kind of religious extremism that gods like Gruumsh thrived on. Siegfried chose to stay in the Northern Territories, acting as an anti-prophet against the area's religious revival. His anti-divinity teachings were often met with violent disapproval from village to village, but his enchanted greaves always kept him one step ahead of the angry mobs. He sometimes met up with Ownka for religious debates. A decade would pass, each of these former adventurers finding a way to survive in an ever-changing world. The Deck of Many Things, the most unpredictable variable of this entire adventure, disappeared somewhere far from world's attention along with the Gatekeeper.
Rewards Granted
- Siegfried obtained enchanted greaves
- Siegfried obtained a silvered glaive
- Ithilwen, Ownka, and Siegfried each received 9,000GP from the Gatekeeper
- Ownka purchased full ownership of The Minnow from Ithilwen
Character(s) interacted with
- Rolfir and Keldra - a firbolg brother and sister duo making a living as hunters near Kita Outpost
- Two troglodytes named Skoff Squirreleater and Rag Rockhunter
- Kuranes - the ugliest kuo-toa you ever did see
- The Gatekeeper - the party's mysterious (former) employer
- Naberius - a somewhat desperate devil working for Glasya who dragged Mavis to the Nine Hells
Report Date
26 Jun 2021
Primary Location
Featured Players
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