Adventures in Syrup

Session 12 Don tells the party to go ahead without him, as he's too out of it, and then goes to a place to sleep. Taka tells Teaks to take the lead, and they move towards the area where the gnolls have been spotted. Teaks brings up using someone as bait to lure a gnoll, and Chama immediately nominates Teaks out of spite, and the rest of the group follows. He transforms into a halfling to better sell the bait. Taka suggests he acts like a homeless person, and so Teaks does so, dirtying their clothes and equipment and "begging" for money. Taka takes position on the roof, Chama turns into a Chimeric fox in the bushes, and Ale takes place in the field. The group then begins to stake out. After about an hour they hear footsteps begin approaching.     All of the party aside from Ale see that coming from the Northeast are three gnolls. Teaks begs them for help in character, and they talk in a language the group cannot understand. They reach towards Teaks as he casts Thunderwave on them, knocking two back.     Combat Begins   Teaks goads the gnolls towards him as he runs away. One runs at him and swings twice but misses both attacks. Ale then uses scorching ray on the nearby gnoll, missing all of his attacks. Chama runs forward and changes back to a human form, then blasting the gnolls with heat. The one behind runs up and swings twice, missing both attacks on Chama. From above, Taka jumps down onto the gnoll near Teaks and crashes down onto it with his body. One of the gnolls near Chama tries to run away, and she smacks its leg with her staff, breaking it and making it land on its face.     Teaks takes their dagger and drives it into their gnoll, ending it. Ale walks up and mind slivers the remaining gnoll, trying to not hurt it terribly bad but putting it to sleep. Chama tells them to tie these gnolls up, as she stands back and cleans the blood off her staff.     Combat Ends   Teaks asks if the gnolls speak Common. They don’t respond, and so Chama asks them in Halfling if they speak Halfling. When Ale asks if they speak Common in Halfling, they say no, only "master speak." After some threatening, Chama gets them to say that by that, they mean it's what language master speaks. They ask the gnoll where the cave is, and it responds it's about an hour away. Ale asks which direction it is in, and he points East. Ale then asks if the gnoll has met the master, and the gnoll responds that nobody has. He also says there is a leader in the cave. Ale also asks if they've always looked like this, and they say they have. Chama asks how long they've known themselves to be alive, and they say 32, and 27. She asks how many times they've slept and awoken, and it responds 32 again. Chama says she has no clue how to understand the sentimental bullshit required to maybe pull the thoughts of the halfling back, and that it likely has very minimal but still some memories of before since it can speak Halfling.     Teaks asks Ale to bring out some memories of before the 32. Teaks enters its mind to try and find any sort of memory from before, and is unable to find any memories from before. Chama says that in that case the others don't need to feel as bad about killing them. She tells Ale to check the bodies for loot since he's got an annoying eye for detail. She asks if they want to take these gnolls to the King or to the wizard. Durammond Gorquins is the name, and Chama somehow knows this is a powerful halfling family that specialized themselves in the academy, mostly being scientists, mages, or artificers. Chama gets the others to carry the gnolls, and they decide to go towards the tavern to see the wizard.     They arrive at the tavern early in the morning. They decide to go to the arena first to visit Durammond, as they do not wish for these gnolls to escape. They find a trapdoor behind the inn and see that it is locked. They send Teaks in to the tavern to find someone who can open it, while Chama remains behind. Teaks enters and talks to the barkeep, asking if Durammond is in. The barkeep says the man is not very fond of strangers, and that you have to "earn" his trust. Teaks says he misunderstands, as he comes bearing "gifts." The barkeep says that in the morning they can try their luck, but if they fought in his arena it would definitely earn his favor. Teaks also asks if they can leave some "livestock" in with the horses. The barkeep allows this for one gold each.     Teaks returns and tells the group. They then go to tie up the gnolls and horses in the stable, forcing Teaks to do so. They all go to the tavern and elect to go to sleep, resting until morning. In the morning they go to the trapdoor, finding that it is now open. They go down the stairs, and as they continue going forward they begin to hear cheers, and the sounds of fighting. They emerge into an underground arena area, and find a giant fighting against some lizardfolk, and that the entire place is a massive illusion. The giant eventually kills all the lizardfolk and roars in victory, then lies down and dies from his wounds. Across the arena from them, they can see an old halfling with a large white beard and what looks like a lamp staff, and a huge armored half-dragon next to him.     Ale goes over to the corner of the stands after failing to get the wizard's attention. Taka meanwhile goes over to some concession waiters, and gets some snacks and ale from them. Chama is able to notice that a lot more people here are finely dressed, seemingly more affluent and well-kept. She is able to see that this place is so huge that it will be difficult to talk to the wizard. Chama begrudgingly says they might have to fight in the arena. Teaks meanwhile walks up and uses Telepathy to ask if the wizard can look at Teaks. He asks if Teaks can get out of his head, as Teaks walks forward talking normally. Teaks says they have gifts for the great Durammond Gorquins. Teaks explains about the disturbances, saying they have captured some of the creatures responsible, and wants to see if the wizard can help them with the investigation.     The wizard says that he is retired, fed up with the academics and doesn't want to interfere with academic affairs but this creature has caught his attention. First of all though, he wants to see the group in action. When Teaks asks if the fights are to the death or not, the half-dragon speaks up that they are to the death, but it is the winner's choice whether or not to spare the loser. Teaks goes back over to the group and explains that they can get him to do the research if they fight in the arena. They agree, and Teaks waves to the wizard that they're in. A coordinator of some kind comes over, and asks if they're gonna fight. They say they are and ask what they'll be against. The guy doesn't say, just saying either big monster or many small, and even Teaks cannot discern what they would be. They seem to agree they'll fight the big one.     They announce the party as the King's champions, and their opponent as someone who has returned. Teaks hears the voice of a dragon and is really nervous, Chama tries to get out of him what it is they're facing, but he's too scared. Out of the corridor emerges a small dragon. Chama chastises Teaks for being afraid of such a small dragon, and then summons a blade of flame from her hand. Taka blesses the party, Teaks summons their construct. They step into the arena and notice that the dragon isn't even a young dragon yet, more like a child, but very very arrogant.     Chama tells the group to spread out, and then angers the dragon by calling it an oversized lizard.     Combat with Dragon   Teaks runs to the left and mocks the dragon as their statue moves up. The dragon flies straight up to the party, but is too arrogant to use his breath weapon, and instead goes to swipe at Teaks. It then swipes at the statue and knocks it back. Lastly, it bites at Taka, who is able to deflect the blow. Taka then dashes in and slams up at the dragon's head with his hammer. Chama summons her fire spirit upon the dragon and teleports Teaks to safety on a ledge above, and then backs away, getting bit hard by the dragon as she moves away. Ale then moves to the side and shatters the sound around the dragon.     From above, Teaks stabs down at the dragon with their rapier and then yells at the golem to punch butt, so it walks behind the dragon and swings, smacking the dragon. The zombie near Chama goes up to her and bites her arm. The dragon flies into the sky, gets smacked by the golem and Taka doing so, and looks to Taka and Teaks, blasting them with ice breath, knocking out Teaks. Taka moves up and shatters the area near the dragon, hurting it greatly. Chama moves up and gets attacked by the zombie as she runs over, and turns her flame blade into beads of fire, and eviscerates the dragon with burning beams of flame.     Combat Ends   The crowd goes wild as the announcer commentates on the victory of the King's heroes. He then approaches the party and tosses a bag to Teaks, with the bag being filled to the brim with gold. The group dusts themselves off as Taka gets Teaks up from their downed state. The group sits down on some benches and watches other battles as they patch themselves up. While Teaks is freezing and Chama is looking away, her wildfire spirit hugs Teaks and warms him up, stopping every time Chama looks back.     Afterwards, they go up to Durammond to talk to him. He says if they ever need money again they can participate here. Teaks is too emotionally hurt to actually speak, so Taka does in their stead. They tell him the gnolls were likely under a transmutation spell, and that they brought them to him because of that. They bring the wizard the dead one, which he is horrified by. He asks Ale if he knows the origin of his species, the 10th level spell that was created by Laverius the Psycho. The spell Furrymorph was cast in a large wood elf village that caused the descendants of the animal people of today, from 33000 years ago. They also tell him that they were turned from halflings, the ones that were kidnapped. He says that he'll research it for a while.     Taka asks for the body of the dragon for the resources, and is allowed it. Chama brings up that there is more information they should give the wizard. She brings up that the gnolls are new, have no memories, the master is likely a halfling, and this prompts Teaks to also bring out the mushroom. He talks about the usage of the mushrooms, and the fact that the scholars have been working on it for a while and finally have been able to utilize it.     The group harvests the dragon, and then take their leave back to the tavern. They decide to go get Don first, as at this point they believe he's just being a bitch and isn't that hurt. They go to the manor, and learn from the butler that Don is already in the manor. The group drops some stuff off in their rooms and then proceed to the dinner table to talk to the king and Don. They greet the king and sit down, beginning to eat. He says his daughter and wife were unable to attend, and Chama is able to see the disappointment in Don's eyes. The king is clearly stressed and beside himself with anger. He talks about how the goblins and orcs attack, and the fact that the gnoll kidnappings are occurring. He's tired of the halflings being targeted. They bring up though, that it was a halfling who is likely the main culprit.     The king says one of his Lieutenants has been trying to figure out what the goblins and orcs are doing, and that he'll pay them 10 gold for each goblin and orc killed. Taka asks about if there is any armor smiths nearby, and the king responds that there is one in the iron mine. After they finish talking, the group discusses more with the King and Don about general conversations, and eventually go to their rooms and rest, but not before Chama and Teaks dragging Don by the ear to a room to lecture him about being a lazy ass that day.     The next morning they wake up, gear up, and go to the place where the gnolls arrived from, aside from Teaks who had some errands to run. Chama tracks the footprints of the gnolls they killed before. A while later, they eventually find the mouth of a forest cave. The party prepares themselves to enter.     Session 13   They enter the cave, noticing the dryness of the atmosphere. As they enter, Chama can hear from the left some sounds, sounding like some sort of sleeping beast, and to the right some whispers talking to each other. After some discussing, they decide to go to the left sneakily with Don leading the party. Don realizes the sounds are of wind entering the place, no longer hearing any wind as they continue, and that the beast is sleeping at a dead end chamber ahead. He returns back to the group saying they should just go the other way. Chama suggests she scouts the right chamber, turning into a chimeric fox and going ahead. She finds herself in a wide and long chamber, and in the back of the chamber she sees a desk. On the desk is a bunch of papers, and a small chest. Beside it are a couple of cages, with halflings inside who are whispering to each other. Beside those cages are a gnoll who looks like a fighter, but is sleeping. She is also able to see that it continues forward into a right, with the sounds of laughing gnolls coming from inside.     She hops up onto the desk and looks at the papers, seeing mostly orders of many purchased weapons, a ton of rations of only meat, wood, stone, and ingredients that are magical components. She also finds a letter as well, seemingly of a scientist's log. She grabs the papers into her maw and brings them to the party. She etches onto the ground "1 G" and an arrow pointing forward. The group picks up the papers and reads a little bit of them. They realize it's a scientific log of the researcher who successfully created the gnolls. While they do this Chama draws on the ground again a picture of a caged stick figure talking, telling the group that there are prisoners. Taka asks her if she could investigate the dead end and she does so. She finds a quadruped with lots of metallic scales, though they are definitely leather. It has sort of the head of a shark, and the tail of one. It is absolutely massive as well. She returns to the group and digs it out into the ground in an image.     The group is able to identify it as a Bulette. Taka brings up the possibility of killing the Bulette, but Chama wants to go to the right. They proceed forward sneakily, and Taka manages to not give them away with his heavy armor. Chama, still a fox, goes forward and quickly looks down the path forward to see if there's any more gnolls down the path while the group continues forward near the gnoll. Taka accidentally steps on the gnoll's feet and wakes it up. Immediately Chama shifts back and turns into herself, casting Pass Without Trace to dampen the sound, cutting off the screaming of the gnoll to the path ahead. The group unleashes attacks and magic upon the creature as well, hurting it but not putting it down.     It immediately gets up and runs through the party, screaming as it does so, breaking through Chama's silent area and screaming for help in halfling. From ahead, Chama can hear the gnolls ahead are chewing and eating things, but immediately arming themselves.     Combat   Ale tolls the dead on the gnoll, hurting it but not completely killing it. Don throws a dagger but misses, then lighting up a torch for the party to see. Chama draws fire from her Pass Without Trace, and then throws it at the fleeing gnoll, killing it. She tells the party to open the cages so they can run if need be. Taka walks up to the cages and locks and tries to break it open. The gnolls start running down the corridor towards the party.     Ale can't see down the hallway very well, preparing to throw a firebolt as Don tries to pick the locks of the cage. Chama controls the flames on the corpse of the gnoll to expand it and show more of the hallway, then retreating back a bit to avoid the incoming gnoll. The group hears a spell being cast down the hall, and a ball of acid comes down the hallway at Chama, coating her in it and burning away a ton of skin. She screams in pain and tells the group the enemy has a sorcerer. Taka steps up and blesses the group before readying his weapons and standing in the corridor. From the dark hallway comes an arrow, embedding itself directly into the shoulder of Taka as two more fly in with one hitting.     Ale throws the firebolt but misses, as he mind slivers the gnoll in front of the group and tries to push it away with his magic. Don notices that there are stalactites that can fall on top of the enemies that can drop, pointing it out to Chama. He then runs over and drinks his potion of invisibility. Chama runs up and summons her spirit onto the enemies, burning a lot of them and then teleporting it away, leaving a massive blast of fire from where it left. The enemy gnoll sorcerer shatters the sound around Taka and Ale, hurting both of them, but not managing to take them down, though it grievously injures the gnoll in front of Taka. Taka takes the opportunity to attack, breaking the neck of the creature with his hammer. The gnolls in the hallway take more shots at Taka, though only hitting him once. The brutes run up, with one hitting Chama, almost putting her down, as the other two cut into her spirit.     Ale shatters the sound around the gnolls, and at the stalactite, dropping some rocks on top of the gnolls below, and then pulls away the gnoll that is on Chama using his magic. Don runs up, running along the wall next to the gnolls in the hallway and jumps onto the gnoll sorcerer to stab him, appearing as he jumps. He stabs the sorcerer's face downward into the ground, ending him. Chama walks to the side and brings writhing roots from the ground, piercing through the enemies, brutally murdering one and quickly ending another. Chama's sprit then teleports in a flash of fire away, burning the remaining gnoll. The few remaining gnolls lower their weapons and begin to plead for their life, though Don just punctures the heart of the gnoll that did not drop its bow, killing it.     Chama tells the party through clenched teeth to interrogate the remaining gnoll as she swears in pain from her burn wounds. Taka tells Chama that he'll do her a solid, and just try not to get came on again as he heals her, fixing the damage the acid caused her. She doesn't say much in protest due to the pain. The rest of the group ties up the remaining gnoll. Taka feels his god's grace, realizing he now has the power to revive those who have recently died. He asks each party member for gold, getting a no from Don, but Ale is ready to give some. Chama tells them there might be gold in the chest on the desk. Don goes up and tries his luck opening the chest with a lockpick, and he manages to do so on his third attempt, breaking two lockpicks.     Taka says he wishes to try and revive the dead, so he needs some gold, seeming to be rather shocked about the mere notion of doing so. Chama tells him that it was common with the elders of her village, and so he should stop being so nervous and just do it already, tossing him 50 gold. The group ties up the gnoll sorcerer. Taka evaporates 300 gold, and then uses the magic within to revive the gnoll sorcerer. The gnoll looks shocked as it comes back. Meanwhile Chama's spirit is trying to comfort her but she's telling it to bugger off.     Session 14   Chama is able to smell the downpour of rain and the smell of rotting burning dog flesh. During this rain, Teaks comes in, soaked from it. Chama crudely welcomes him in as he sees what happened to her, acid burns and all. Teaks observes all the dead gnolls and internally laughs at Chama as Ale gets the keys and frees all the halflings. The halflings immediately go to each other, hugging in fear. They nervously give a thanks to the party and ask if there's anything they can do for the party. Chama stands up still annoyed, and asks them what happened. The halflings try to explain in detail but Chama tells them to cut the crap and tell the story. He says a chemical was used on them, and when they woke up they were here, and the gnolls were feasting in the room ahead. Apparently they were supposed to be transported to the mine, but the group came in time.     Chama was also able to learn that it was likely chloroform that they used to kidnap the halflings. She heavily degrades the halflings as she walks away, getting a concerned reply from Teaks that she shuts down. The two kidnapped halflings hold each other in fear, as the group starts to gather around the sorcerer gnoll.     The gnoll is praying to the god of Ravenus in halfling. Chama says the others can take the spotlight for this one, as since she's currently not the most pleased it might be best for another to take point on this one. She goes to the wall and makes a tiny gnoll with fire magic, practicing torturing it. Taka walks over and tells it to shut the fuck up. He tells it that the party killed him, and he brought the gnoll back. The gnoll seems extremely confused, as Ale steps up and asks what's the last thing it remembers. He says he remembers a halfling cutting his face with a sword and then everything went black. Taka deduces that the gnoll cannot grasp the concept of life and death. Taka asks the gnoll if it had a name, and the gnoll responds that its name is Igor.     Taka says that he heard they've been up to naughty things, and Igor responds that master says they're only doing good things, and that capturing more and making more is good. Taka asks if the creature knows how the master does it, and it responds that the sorcerers use two substances to get something that he doesn't know, from a hyena. He says they enchant some words of magic, and that creatures started appearing. Taka uses magic to make his eyes crackle with lightning more intensely and asks for everything the creature knows about that substance. The creature looks like it's about to say something, and then stops, saying master wouldn’t like that. Teaks draws their rapier and touches the point to the neck of the sorcerer. This gets the sorcerer to talk, saying it's something the master calls the "Spear," something he got from the woods. He also gets some mushroom from somewhere. They use this to get the thing from the hyena that they need to create gnolls.     Teaks then asks who gathers the stuff from the woods. The creature responds that the master uses gnolls. Originally he did it himself but now the gnolls do it. Chama asks them if it mentioned where the gnolls get the substances, and notices the gnoll can understand her so she calls over Taka. She tells him to ask where in the woods they get this substance, so they can possibly shut down this aspect of the organization. Taka goes over and asks, and learns the gnoll does not know where they are. Ale steps up and asks if the gnolls of this group take the prisoners to the mine, and learns that yes they do. Chama gets up and asks if anyone else has questions for it. She goes into a spiel of how she won't kill it, though she would want to make it suffer. She asks if Don perhaps has any more questions, and he says that since she so kindly asked, he asks the gnoll why the master is creating gnolls.     It says that he is doing it to protect the halflings, the other kingdoms are prejudiced against the halflings, and so the master wishes to create these gnolls as a threat against the others, as a weapon for the halflings. Chama is appalled at this, saying that the gnoll's master is stupid, having gone against nature and it ending in such a failure. The gnoll was defeated by a halfling after all, the very ones they were made from to become stronger. The gnoll says back that Ale says that if you become gnolls from halflings to protect halflings, there are no longer halflings to protect. Chama adds that the very people they are meant to protect hate them, despise them, fear them. They protect nobody. The gnoll says out loud that he did his job, master, and then misty steps away. Ale uses his telekinesis to push him down as Chama's fire spirit brings it back. Chama says that she has nothing more to say to it, and that the group can now take it to the wizard and then search the forest.     Chama explains that she can summon some animals for scouting purposes, but she'll have to brush up on her animal speak. Don says he has some things in town to take care of so he takes his leave, bringing the gnoll sorcerer with him, as well as the prisoner halflings. Ale decides to do some more exploration into the cave, as they hadn't really before. He somewhat regrets this, finding their feasting ground of deer. The party saddles up on their horses, planning on making their way to the kobold village after remembering their "life essence." As they are coming out of the cave, they notice the downpour going on outside. The rain outside is fierce, they are in the thick of a thunderstorm. Their vision is blocked, their hearing is obscured. They push on eastward. As they go, something appears from seemingly nowhere. Chama sees a small purple dense ball that enlarges itself. Once it's the size of about their horses, it starts to move as if it's a liquid. Out of the ball comes a creature that begins attacking Taka, and another that attacks her. They're felines that are like panthers, but have some sort of tentacles coming out from their legs. At the ends of the tentacles are some sort of mouths with teeth. Chama knows that these creatures teleported, but has no time to think about it as they're upon the group.     Combat Begins   One of the beasts jumps at Taka, hitting him directly and painfully in the stomach, as Chama dodges out of the way of the other one. Taka runs an electric charge through the tentacle, shocking the beast. Teaks inspires his ally while his golem as the cats try to alert something in the storm. Some of the party are able to hear the flapping of wings through the storm. Chama uses her magic to take control of the thunderstorm, bringing down lightning upon the one that just attacked her, nearly bringing it down. Both the feline creatures then attempt to spear Chama and Taka as Taka swings his hammer down upon the one that attacked him. He yells at the party to not let up, and that Chama better not disappoint with that lightning. Ale recognizes these as void creatures, and is confused as to how and why they are here. They are known as ambushers. Taka does not know of these creatures, but he does find them to be unholy. To their right, they can see a very strange creature. It seems to be something similar to an octopus, but it floats, and floats towards the party.     Teaks casts Vicious Mockery upon a feline, then ordering his golem to attack the beast Chama attacked. It grabs the cat and then slams it onto the ground, killing it. From above swoops bat winged balls of flesh upon the party. The one footed creatures descend upon the party. Ale recognizes these as fliers. Chama blinks away, then runs to a nearby position and fires another bolt of lightning down. This kills the feline and a flier, frying the other two to a crisp. Taka looks up and prepares to blast the fliers away, telling Chama she could do better and the other two to cover him. Ale casts shatter on the fliers, hurting them but not dealing anything substantial. The octopus creature continues to approach and the party now gets a good look. It's another fleshy abomination with a horrifying look and numerous tentacles. A purple ball encompasses the creature and then it teleports right in front of the party. Taka releases his wave of thunder as it does so, but he was unprepared and thus did not gather nearly as much as he wished to. Doing this stopped the horse from being attacked by the tentacle. The remaining tentacles strike at Taka, with one grabbing him as he sends bolts of electricity through the creature. It starts squeezing him, crushing him.     Teaks drops their golem, and plucks on their lyre to force the enemy creatures to slow down and stop. Teaks takes control of their horse and turns it around to make it run away as the flier hits them on the way out. The rest slowly float down, and all begin to attack the horses, killing one and injuring Chama's. Chama summons her fire spirit in the middle of the creatures, killing two instantly. Chama then sends her spirit up to Taka and teleports him out of the creature's grasp. A pissed Taka then takes control of the clouds as well, calling down lightning to obliterate one of the fliers and scorch the octopus. Ale then points to the ground, firing a blast of fire that expands outward, scorching all in the area that Ale wishes to. This fireball kills all of the fliers, and mortally wounds the octopus. It then slowly approaches, and grabs the horse, crushing it to a pulp.     Ending the Octopus   Teaks mocks the creature, telepathically ending its life by insulting it. Chama ignores the fact that it is dead, and continues to rain lightning upon it. Chama uses her knowledge of forests and natural layouts to try and find the group a cave to rest out the rain in.     Session 15   Chama finds a stream to the north that comes down from a slight incline, and knows that going up is their best chance. She crouches down and inspects the corpses, and knows she can harvest some of them to extract void essence, used in magic but she does not know where it would be in these creatures. She goes over to the feline creatures and tries to harvest them as they are the closest to normal animals. Teaks pokes the large corpse of the flying abomination, as Taka asks Chama to hurry. She says she'll patch him up in just a bit, and so he goes to sit beneath a tree. Ale meanwhile harvests the abomination, getting as much as he can. They do this for about 10 minutes, and manage to get teeth, claws, and some essence.     Chama heals Taka up a little bit, and then leads the party for about half an hour until they reach a cave. It is not that large of a cave, and it holds little of interest inside, but it offers them shelter. Chama sets up a campfire, warming the party and slowly drying them. They sit around the fire and think about what happened until most of the party dozes off, with Chama keeping watch. Nothing happens, and Teaks takes the next watch. Ale takes the next one, daydreaming during it and not really keeping watch that well. Taka, who has gotten a proper rest takes the final watch. During Taka's watch, Teaks feels as if he's being poked throughout his body with needles. Though not painful, it wakes him up and he sees a centipede crawling all over him. He stands up, shouts loudly, and slaps it off of him. Chama wakes up and asks him why he's making such a racket, and Teaks claims it was a dream of the flying creatures. Taka invites Teaks over and asks what that was all about, and Teaks tells him it was actually a bug. He invites Teaks to just sit with him and keep him company during the rest of the watch.     Teaks asks how Taka is holding up, and after Taka says he's doing terrible because of the horrible flashes he sees, Teaks makes an illusion of the creature. Taka doesn't seem amused by it and tries to gently tell Teaks to never do that again. The rest passes by, and the full party has now awoken and they are well-rested. As they get their things they feel that their bags are a little lighter, and find that they have lost half their rations. Chama finds the footprints of rats, and blames Teaks.     Eventually they set off, and go towards the kobold village, finding a trap made by gnolls along the way that Chama spots out. They go around and continue their journey, eventually arriving at the village. The village is miserable to look at, as the kobolds seem to be a low level of development, and the kobolds seem sick. They see a crying female kobold holding an infant, though it seems as if it is dead and has necrotic injuries across its face. She cries of a curse, as the group continues passing through. They find a pair of brothers holding hands, but they are already dead, their corpses positioned to stare at the horizon. Ahead of them they see a gathering of kobolds, and a huge stone with what seems like a waterfall going through it. The water is seemingly crystallized, which Chama recognizes as a great/mother stone. It is a place that for some reason contains a large amount of magic, and can be used for rituals and conducting magic. Taka knows that many tribes see these things as a gift of Durancha, the goddess of life. In front of it is a tribal altar with stones and bones piled up, and a tied kobold on top of it. Behind him is another one, who is different because he is wearing robes even though no other kobolds wear clothes. He also has a monkey skull tucked in a pocket, a necklace of claws, and a staff with a skull on top of it.     He talks to the kobolds, saying they have suffered too much from the curse that has attacked them, and that it no longer will. He says that Oka has decided to sacrifice himself to the goddess to vanquish the plague hitting them. He then raises a dagger. The group notices the kobold on the altar is serene, and seems at peace. Ale uses his invisible mage hand to knock the dagger out of the kobold's hand and then yells in Common that it must be a miracle, and all the kobolds turn to him. Chama tells Ale that he should've just let it happen, which he seems rather shocked about. Teaks yells out in Draconic that it was a miracle, and all the kobolds start shouting the same, and praising the goddess. The kobold on the altar asks if they were sent by the goddess, and Teaks says that they were. The one wearing clothes comes over to them to talk to Teaks.     Chama notices that he's a druid, and also that he's incredibly smelly. She visibly recoils and holds her nose, telling him that he really needs to take a bath but he cannot understand her. He thanks them for coming, and says that even the halflings couldn't help them, and asks if they are from the "big folk" town. He then says that they should talk more in private, and leads them somewhere else. They follow, even though Chama doesn't really want to.     He talks to Teaks since he realizes they are the only one that can understand him, and says that about two weeks ago some kobolds started to feel ill. After a few days passed, some of the others started to be sick as well. Progressively more kobolds began to get sick, and so Oka volunteered to be a sacrifice to life the plague. He said he didn't want to but the tribe wanted to. He admits it would've not been of any use, and that this plague was not sent by any of the gods or goddesses, but that it's manmade. He says he can sense necrotic energy around, and that when people started feeling ill he started to feel deathly and malignant energy coming from the south. Something was sucking their energy, their life force. After a few days when he was patrolling the village, he found a dead cow and dead deer in a nearby mud pool. They had necrotic injuries and their eyes were removed.     Chama and Ale know they were likely killed and their vital force was used for necromantic spells. He says this likely means a necromancer is on the continent, and attacking their village for some reason, as he doesn't really think anyone would curse a peaceful kobold village and they don't even communicate with many outsiders. He says that aside from him, nobody in the village knows about magic, and it's that secluded from the outside world. He wants them to know why they came here, asking if they were sent by the goddess just to cure them from the plague. Teaks says they are healers sent by the halflings and Durancha, and that they require help with a small task. He continues by saying that doing this will help the halflings as well as the kobolds, and that while they don't know the exact identity of the leader, they know it is a powerful wizard who has created the gnolls. He says they need life essence, and the kobold says that to harvest it, they use the mother stone by retrieving the essence of their common folk and turning it into pure life energy. He says that first though, he asks for half a day to create it, and that during that time requests they find out who or what cursed them. Teaks agrees, and the kobold says he'll even gather some stuff from the village to help them in their journey. He says he'll tell the village that the group is here to help them, and gives the party the location of points of interest.     Now that the kobold has mentioned the necrotic energy, Taka and Chama can both feel it now. They get up and leave, searching the area where the corpses of the animals were. They find a mud pool with the creatures in it, and there's a strong stench of decay and death here. They find a deer and a cow, and the cow seems extremely decomposed at this point. The deer's stomach has been torn open as well, leaking blood into the mud pool. Strangely, there are no scavenger animals here.     Chama investigates the area, finding tracks that are seemingly orc tracks. Behind the tracks the dirt makes it seem as if there were robes of some kind dragging in the dirt, which she finds weird. She also sees another set of tracks, and identifies them as gnoll tracks, 2-3 sets of them. She also notes that the animals were brought here, and that the gnoll tracks go to both the south where the necromantic energy is, and to the northeast where the mother stone is. Teaks just sits there and takes a few notes of what they see, not knowing much of what they can do. Taka goes over to the corpses and gathers some of the necrotic scarred flesh from them in a vial. Ale is just looking around, not able to do much here.     Chama explains what she found, telling them of the interesting and strange things she discovered. Ale remembers that the kingdom of the orcs and goblins is where necromantic magic is legal, and that the magic itself is more powerful when there is the presence of the dead. Ale asks if she's sure that it was a robe and she says she is. He says that the animals may have been used in a powerful spell to curse these kobolds. He asks himself why someone would curse the kobolds, and believes it's to try and manipulate the mother stone. He says they need a totem to start the curse, and asks Chama to lead them to where the tracks end up. They reach the mother stone and Chama feels the life force draining from the kobolds and into a green ball by the stone, and they pass by it to go behind the stone. They find a totem that looks crafted with intertwined roots and branches making it up, and on the top of it is an ox skull.     Chama chastises Ale for knowing everything about the necromancy magic except how to stop it, and then takes a look at the totem for herself. She inspects it and finds a defense rune that even she found to be well-carved. She compliments them for being able to create something so interesting despite being such savages. She then places her hand against the rune and shoots a magic spark that crackles and pops before smoke starts flowing out from it. They get knocked back as a massive skeleton appears, and as Ale starts to yell at Chama it bursts into smoke and crumbles to the ground. She smugly asks him what he was saying. She gets up and starts to walk away as the three others talk amongst themselves and congratulate Ale. He makes a dumb pun and gets hit with a rock from Teaks and Chama's entire backpack.     The others get up and follow Chama over to the village and see what happened. The kobolds all seem to be feeling much better now, and the sun shines down upon them. As they approach, the kobold in clothing thanks Chama specifically, which Teaks has to translate for her. He tells them also that they can now investigate wherever they need to, and that he'll continue the ritual. The party knows that to the South lies some sort of disturbance involving gnolls and orcs, and talk about what to do. They decide to go investigate the South first.     On the way down, Chama hears arrows being loosed and makes the group duck for cover, however it's only halflings practicing firing shots. After that slightly embarrassing experience, Chama and Taka feel the necrotic energy growing only stronger. In the distance, she can see a very ancient graveyard amongst the trees. Among the graveyard, she can see roaming creatures that she only knows from fairy tales and books. She sees zombies roaming all along the area, and on the other side of the graveyard she can see a house that she feels the necrotic energy radiating from.     Chama tells them all to dismount and then brings them over to the side and hides the horses. She asks if they can see up ahead. They identify what is going on, seeing about 40 zombies. Chama says that it may be best to go to the hut as they can perhaps do something similar to what they did with the totem. She says they should sneak in, and Teaks says they can make an illusion. They begin to approach the graveyard.     Teaks uses their magic to summon an illusion of a running and screaming human through the graveyard up to a nearby tree. They start sneaking around the graveyard's side, but Teaks steps on a round rock and loses their footing, falling to the ground which Ale sees and tries to help, but also ends up falling against the graveyard wall. From the house they see three gnolls emerge, and Chama is able to feel the necrotic energy moving, entering the graveyard energy. They also see an orc with dark robes and bones and skulls spread across it. He sniffs the air and says "illusion." Chama and Ale notice that he was using Detect Magic. The orc begins walking towards the illusion as the group quietly talks about what they should do.     Chama says they should go into the house and ambush the orc when it returns and the group seems to agree. They continue forward and stealthily move forward, and Ale is able to use his telekinesis to keep Teaks up after they almost fall. They continue, but this time Ale falls and lands on a pile of leaves and branches. This alerts some orcs and gnolls, but they don't see the exact thing that happened. They continue forward and get behind the place, and Chama waves everyone over as she climbs onto the roof. Ale boosts Teaks up, and then Taka and Ale ask about what they should do. They decide to boost up Taka and then Ale will follow, as they hear footsteps in the place. Ale peers in and then hides himself, as Chama peers in to get a good view of the situation. She sees the creatures in the building and the orc approaching, and is unable to see anything totem-like. The orc enters the house, and the gnolls are getting close to Ale. She looks at Teaks and Taka to see if they're ready, and they all begin to cast spells.   Session 16 Chama hurls a fireball into the house, creating a ball of flame that envelopes multiple creatures, killing one. One of the gnolls immediately sprints out of the house and then behind it, not quite reaching Ale but losing the party's sightline. Teaks plucks a tune on their lyre, slowing the movements of the two remaining gnolls. Ale peeks into the now burning house, and lets loose a firebolt into the other gnoll in the house, finishing it off before teleporting up on top of the roof. Taka peeks into the room before casting a shattering sound inside, destroying debris and shaking the house as he injures the orc. The orc necromancer then twirls his staff and chants before running away and commanding the zombies to attack the party. Ale recognizes the chanting as that of the Greater Invisibility spell, meaning the orc is now invisible.     Chama moves forward and casts a Flaming Sphere near the zombies and around where she heard the voice, ramming it into a zombie. The zombies quickly move over to where the group is as Teaks inspires Ale with music and draws their sword. Ale casts Detect Magic to try and spot out where the orc is. He sees all the zombies coming, and inside the house a little bit of necromantic magic as well as a bit of divination magic. He then runs over and shoves a zombie off of the roof. Chama asks if he'd like to get closer to try and find the orc, but he says no and leaves it at that. Taka walks over next to Chama and says a prayer to his god before raising his holy symbol and unleashes divine power to kill the zombies nearby. From below them they hear the voice of the orc, chanting another spell, and then from below the zombies seem to be unmade. They turn into scraps and spores of bodies that flow into Ale, knocking him unconscious in an instant.     Chama recognizes this as a blight, and after she slams her fire into a zombie she bends down and minimum effort heals Ale, getting him back up. The gnoll that survived earlier manages to get up onto the roof, and stabs Teaks with his spear, then bites them. Teaks retaliates with their rapier, ending the remaining gnoll and grouping up with the rest of the party. The zombies begin climbing onto the roof, starting to make it up as Ale casts magic that distracts a large number of zombies, taking away their attention. Taka then runs up and blasts multiple away with thunder. He blows apart one and sends another flying. Chama feels a pinch in her head and it starts to grow, but she quickly dodges out of the way, avoiding most of the energy being sent her way.     Chama rams her fiery sphere into another zombie and then leans over the edge of the roof and sends a burning wave of heat downwards to cook the zombies climbing the side. Teaks then casts Detect Thoughts to try and find the orc and is unable to do so, then inspiring Taka. One of the zombies climbs up and punches Chama in the gut as more continue to swarm. Ale shatters the area around more of the zombies, injuring some of them but not doing much else, and he tries but fails to push the zombie that hit Chama away. Taka once again holds up his holy symbol, and blasts six more zombies into dust instantly. One of the zombies near Chama suddenly begins throwing up, covering Ale and Chama while healing himself and taking down Ale.     Chama is now surrounded by the zombies, so she summons her spirit above her, and teleports the unconscious Ale away next to Taka, burning herself and the zombies in the process. Teaks hops down to the ground and continues to try and find the orc. They can't find him, but they spot tracks leading to behind the house. Multiple zombies start trying to swarm Teaks but they are unable to hit them. Taka wraps around to behind Ale and then heals him, bringing him back to consciousness before stepping back in front of him and the zombies. Multiple zombies stop being distracted and start climbing the building again. They start swarming Taka and Chama, Chama taking a lot of hits and getting bitten. Chama is injured quite badly at this point, and hears the orc chanting again, flinging bolts of necrotic energy at the party, and knocking Chama out cold.     Chama hallucinates of her home of the past, as the combat continues around her. Her spirit teleports into a mass of zombies to burn them, as Teaks tries to use thunder to blast away the zombies near them. Teaks then runs over towards the building, trying to find the orc still. Ale then flings a fireball behind him at the mass of zombies near Chama's unconscious body. The zombies near Chama get wiped out, and the house catches further fire, as he shields Chama and reveals that the necromancer is on the roof with the party. The zombies below swarm Teaks, hitting them a few times, and try to hit Taka, but he blasts them away with thunderous energy, killing three. More continue to swarm him and Teaks though, they continue hitting the two. The zombies are hitting him, and he releases a burst of electricity that kills two of the zombies. He tries to cast a spell to fear the two but fails to do so, so he backs off in anger.     Chama's fight starts to weaken, as she starts to go under. Teaks dips around to the side of the zombies, being bitten in the thigh as they do so, and blasts another wave of thunder out. Two zombies die and another two are injured, as Teaks finally detects the orc's presence, and sends him a telepathic threat. Ale shatters the air around the zombies on Taka, as he then pushes the orc off the roof, and he hits the ground hard. The orc swears at the party in pain from the ground. Taka runs over and heals Chama back to consciousness, and then telling her where the orc is after she asks. The orc runs over to Teaks and attacks Teaks, knocking them down into unconsciousness by sending a shadowy hand through their chest.     Chama sees Teaks on the ground and the orc next to them, she misty steps 30 feet into the air and then brings her staff down hard onto the orc, bashing his skull in but breaking her legs and going unconscious again. She exclaims that it was worth it before passing out. Ale rolls off the roof in his shell and lands on the ground as Taka slides down. Taka looks up to see Chama's fire spirit giggling at Chama's situation. Taka comes over and heals the two individually, healing Chama a bit more. The fog starts to slowly dissipate now that the orc is dead. Chama tries to get up but falls on her ass, her legs still extremely injured. She complains a little but less than usual. Teaks rummages through the necromancer's stuff, finding some gold and a note that seems to be the orders the orc was given. It also seems to say that the Hunter's District will be attacked the next day.     Ale investigates the house, finding a chest where he sensed that magical presence earlier. He goes out and finds Teaks and asks if they can help open the chest. Teaks comes over and tries to pop it open and manages to successfully do so. Inside they find a large amount of money, a spell scroll, and a potion of healing. Taka meanwhile just talks to Chama a little, who is complaining about her injuries and her look and such being ruined. Teaks passes out the loot from the chest, even to Chama. They rest up a little, and then decide to return to the kobold village for resting.     Along the way they see a dragon flying over them. At first they are scared that it is the black dragon from before, but upon closer inspection can recognize it as an ancient crystal dragon, usually living in crystal caves as elegant creatures who love to be luxurious. Eventually though, they manage to return to the village without issues. They see that the kobolds look much better now, the plague having mostly subsided.     They thank the party for all they've done as they arrive. The kobolds set up a rudimentary tent which Chama is not much a fan of, but has to deal with it since she cannot walk. She just has to lay on the ground and keep her legs still so that they'll heal well, but Teaks repairs clothing for themselves and Chama as well, which is about the only thing of excitement for her laying there. Ale uses the time to study the spell scroll and add it to his spells, and Taka hunts for food with the kobolds before. The group then takes a rest for the night.     Orc Encounter   The group decides to go to the Hunter's District, and against Chama's wishes they will go quickly. Before they go however, the druidic kobold grants them six life essence orbs. They make their way towards the district. On the way, they encounter an orc with skulls lined around his neck. He says that the party was just what he was looking for, and that he's going to be rich, as he charges the group with battleaxes in hand. Teaks tries to make it grovel, but he shrugs off the magic. Ale tries to run down the orc with the horse but it's terribly afraid and doesn't do so. Ale then mind slivers the orc, weakening its resolve as Taka commands it to go to the ground as Chama blasts three beams of fire into its chest. He swears at the party while groveling on the ground.     Teaks commands it to stay again as Ale points a finger at the orc and blasts it with magic. Taka walks up and smashes his head in with a hammer and severing his ear. Chama hurls fire at him, as the orc continues groveling. Teaks forces him to stay on the ground still, as they keep hitting him over and over again, and somehow Chama misses her flame. Teaks doesn't want to waste more spells so they walk over and stab the orc hard. Ale goes over and sits on him, pinning him to the ground and making him unable to fight back as Chama insults him unrelentingly. Chama decides to put him out of his misery with some internal fire inside his head, but in his last moments he lashes out and hits everyone with his axes.     After he's dead, the group loot him and fine some platinum and find that his axes are magical. Up ahead they find a celebration of fey, of which the group knows nothing. After some deliberation, the party surprisingly decides to go to the party as well, instead of heading directly to the district. They come out and the fey surprisingly greet them with open arms. After some partying with them, Teaks asks if they can help with the current problem, and they agree if the party can beat them in some games. They tell Chama the situation, and she comes over and transforms into a cat to join the game. They easily win the game due to Chama in cat form, and then a pixie comes over to ask if they want to play blackjack.     The group agrees and so Teaks, CatChama, Taka, and Ale play. They all get very high numbers, and Taka goes on to win the whole thing. After a while they all pass out, and they wake up a while later. They learn that the fey were here to pick apples for the halflings, and that they make cider of it. After their rest they immediately head out towards the Hunter's District to make up for lost time. They make it to the Headquarters of the Daring Mangooses. Chama looks around in annoyance saying that they made it too early, while Teaks starts shouting about an attack coming in four hours and that everyone should go hide. They surround the party and ask what they mean, and why anyone would ever attack such peaceful folk. Teaks holds up a letter and says that it will be orcs and gnolls. They halflings start running in panic and yelling about being attacked.     The mayor comes out of his house and greets them, asking what is going on and what the group is talking about. They tell him that an attack is coming and they wish to prepare the place against it, and start to go over information with him.

Session 26 All but Chama and Taka are surprised as this creature emerges, as it tells them that it will kill them all and they need to run.     Combat Begins   Chama immediately summons her spirit and teleports her and Ale away, running a bit farther away as she sees that her spirit's fire has scorched it far better than usual. They hear the sounds of clanking and orders being given as the guards nearby start to get ready. A majority of the party is too in shock to do anything, as Taka summons his massive guardian on top of it, radiating holy energy. The hit causes flesh to fall to the ground, forming into a flesh golem that also is injured heavily by the energy of the guardian. The dragon bites down deep into Taka with an acidic bite, who blows it back with lightning. It comes back and tries to slash down into Taka but misses, so it instead slashes Teaks. The golem then gets between the two and swings at both but misses. The dragon then screams into the air that it'll kill them and make it a part of his flesh, trying to frighten them. It fails to do this, but slashes once more down into Teaks and injuring them further.     From inside the manor the party hears the voice of the king asking what the hell is going on outside. Chama and Teaks snarkily respond to ask for help and the king goes back inside to do something. Chama tries to wrap the dragon in flammable material, but it breaks free. She instead shoots it with a flame from her summon, burning it further. Teaks then slows down the space around the dragon and golem, slowing the golem but not the dragon. They then run away, as the dragon kicks Teaks. It then attacks Taka again, hitting him directly in the stomach. Don sneaks forward and inspects the dragon, finding a weak point. Taka then blasts away the golem with a wave of thunder, sending it hurdling and far away from everyone. Ale starts running away with his spellbook, looking through it before deciding to cast a fireball on the dragon and golem, singeing both. The dragon then runs over to Teaks and hits them once with its claws as it spins to hit Taka with his tail. The tail hits, and Taka injects lightning into it once again. It then rears back with a green glow in its mouth, and blasts Taka, Chama, and Ale with acid. Chama avoids the brunt of it, but Ale and Taka take it full force, and Taka is knocked down. The flesh golem then moves forward, and gets annihilated by the guardian statue.     The king jumps out of the manor at the dragon as wings appear upon his back. Chama sees Taka goes down, and teleports him away from it as she gathers magical energy. She blasts into the dragon with four beams of fire, scorching the dragon with powerful magic. The dragon is terribly frightened of this power, and launches itself into the air to run. Multiple of the halflings make their way outside at this point, ready for combat. Teaks makes a psychic attack at the dragon, injuring it further as the creature uses everything it has to resist the spell. Don takes note of the dragon's actions, then runs over to the King and yells at him to get inside as he pulls him up. The king notes this, and begins pulling out his bow. The queen yells to get to cover as she casts a spell upon herself. Ale blasts it with a fireball before running into the building for cover. The dragon begins to run away, hiding from the party as he runs.     The king yells out what they should do, and Chama yells to get to her. He does so, and as he does so Chama heals Taka with a magical portion of healing. She then grabs the king and wraps him in her cloak before teleporting him up to the roof. She hushes his attempt to yell in confusion, pointing at the dragon and moving back to cover on the roof. The rest of the party starts making their way over to follow the dragon. As Don runs, he sees the Queen appear and asks if the dragon is gone in a panicked voice. She has bird wings upon her back and asks about the King as Don says they need to prepare to deal with the dragon by raising a resistance. The Queen yells for them to get inside as Ale and many halflings do so. The dragon jumps onto the roof where Chama and the King are, and yells that the King is lucky it's not allowed to kill him before biting into Chama. It then claws at her twice but is completely unable to hit her. She hits it as it tries to fly away with her staff.     The King complains about hiring such crazy people in Halfling, and Chama yells to stop complaining and just kill it. The King runs up and slashes into the dragon multiple times as Chama blasts hellfire into it with her magic. The dragon then turns around and smacks at Chama once again but completely misses. The party makes their way over to try and help as Teaks tries to distract the dragon with an illusion of the creature's master. It ignores it though and continues trying to attack Chama. Ale nails it with lightning and blasts it away, as the dragon finally knocks Chama unconscious. Teaks inspires the King, as the dragon bites into Chama and throws her off the roof, leaving her barely alive. It grabbed the King and tried to fly off, but as it did so the King stabbed into it, killing it and finishing it off. The dragon plummeted to the ground as the King jumped off, floating to the ground as it crashes behind him.     Combat Ends   Teaks and Taka run over to the scene, finding Chama horribly injured on the ground, nearly dead. Taka quickly sprints over and heals her, barely saving her life. Don and the Queen run over and find the King alive, with the Queen sobbing as she makes it to the King. The guards see this scene and start clapping and cheering for the King and Queen as Chama desperately clings to life. The King starts yelling at her saying that she's stupid for what she did, and continues insulting until he starts laughing and asking what tales will be told about the King now. Chama is less than pleased, but not able to say much as she lays bleeding out dying on the floor and being attended to by Taka. Don meanwhile sneaks inside the mansion to try and investigate the King. Outside, the King is finally told off by Taka to start getting people to help them save Chama.     Don sneaks around in the manor as the others heal up Chama enough to allow her to speak and bring everyone except Don into the Dining Hall. The Queen chastises the King about always jumping into danger as he invites the guards over to the table, saying they saved a lot of lives this day. Chama complains in the corner to Taka about the King taking all the credit, but is unable to voice her opinion on it due to her wounds. She calls over Teaks and Ale, saying that she's only going to do this once. She calls upon her healing spirit and pumps all of her magic into healing her allies. After a while the King orders the soldiers to return to their barracks, and then turns seriously to the party and asks for any information they have.     The party angrily talks about the butler, and the King tries to defend him by saying that the butler would never do such a thing. Teaks asks for a favor, asking if they can look into the King's mind to see if they could find any information. The King looks to the Queen but reluctantly agrees. Teaks looks into the memories and finds a point where the King felt something was off with the butler, the same way the butler described the King. Teaks asks about any times the butler would go off alone, and the King says he loved the tavern. Teaks leaves the King's mind and says it was a relatively recent change. The King then asks the party what they found in the mines, and as he does so Don walks in. Don asks if everyone is accounted for, and asks if it isn't too early for feasting and that they might suffer another attack.     The King asks who he is even able to trust anymore, and Don says that the King should order his men to increase security now. The King apologizes to the guards and orders them to increase the security. Don then asks about the whereabouts of the princess, and learns that she's out partying at a friends' house. He says that they should send security to get her, before falling into rank with the rest of his party. The King then asks about what they had been doing the past few days to cause such an event to transpire. Taka goes on to relay what they had done. The King says that they should respond swiftly and put this to a stop before anything else happens. Taka talks about what they found in the camp, notably how they turned halflings into these gnoll creatures.     The King asks for any other information they might have found, and Chama responds that she'll write it down once she's better. He asks if anyone else can do it but Chama is the only one that has read all the information. Teaks instead gives the information that they found in the mind of the gnoll sorcerer. The King moves on to the next subject, asking about the festival. He says he should cancel, but the party seems to disagree. Don goes on to talk about the next bit of information. He says that the goblins and orcs from the Enchanted Jungle have allied a bit with the master of the gnolls, and they might grow bolder to attack. Don then brings out a map that the party has never seen before, showing the location of the camp as well as the places around it. Don suggests invading it, but the King says that the jungle would be very hard to invade due to the way it is.     The King asks if the party thinks this attack is a good idea, and says that this attack reeks of desperation. He says that they need to carry this out fast if they are going to at all. Chama says she's fine with that, but they'll absolutely need equipment to do so and the rest of the party agrees. The King then asks if they should go on with the festival, and Chama brings up the goblin and orcs' orders to not attack during the festival. The King says they're likely to go for him above all. He then asks if the party would rather take a small force of rangers or a large force of troops. Most the party seems to think they should bring the small force, but Don rallies the King to his side of bringing a large force. Don then continues to say that they should stay in the city while this campaign goes on. He says that they should do so to protect the place while the army invades the jungle. The King thinks this is a very good idea, and that he should put the party as the culprits of this attack.     The party is stunned to hear this, but the King continues that after a very hard battle the guards and royalty managed to kill the party and they died in the fight. He says they should stay here and set up an ambush in the manor. He says that if they do this, their enemies might attack the manor directly. Don suggests having one stay openly alive and promoted to give their deception more credibility. The King agrees with this plan, saying that the journey will take a while and the attack won't attack for a while. Don also says that they should bring the King's family members back for protection. Chama brings up that Don should be also written as a betrayer to the party, and at first is disagreed with. Teaks then brings up that instead they should have it as the party coming back "different" and Don having put the party down. The King likes this plan, and they agree to carry it out.     Session 27   Chama passes out in her chamber as the others attend to numerous different things. Don goes to some of the most capable guards and tells them to be on high alert before sending them to get the princess. The dragon was an assassin and there likely will be more. They need to be on the lookout for anyone suspicious. Don also sends the best guards he picked to defend the King. He then gives a rallying speech, and gives the guards some platinum. Ale goes out to check on the dragon, looking it up and down and studying it. He sees that most of the flesh of the dragon has turned into a liquid goo, and that the bones are starting to crumble into dust. The creature was something temporary, and he knows this spell was not created by a spell or a rune, but a seal. The magic was dormant until the seal was broken. He remembers a spell that could transform a creature into something far more chaotic, and thinks that the spell could be used to not only transform things into dragons, but also the hyena creature with the face of a man. He knows this must have been cast by a very powerful wizard. He also recalls that there was a spell that could recreate every aspect of a body, the clone spell.     Before the princess arrives, Don goes to meet Teaks. He asks Teaks to fake being him, and to greet the princess and command the guards, and make sure to be seen a lot. Teaks agrees as Don leaves to find everyone else. He tells them that they will be making a written death note for them all and until that point they need to stay hidden. They need to make sure there are no spies or assassins before making any sort of move. The other two agree, as Don gathers Teaks to go talk to Chama. They brace themselves before they enter and then try to talk to her. Despite the insults they manage to get her to listen, telling her the same thing as Taka and Ale. She bluntly tells him that she can't move anyways so it's fine. They leave, being insulted as they do so, and make their way to the guards at the front.     After a while out, Teaks is told to transform now, and Don jumps into a tree to hide. Teaks returns to the manor as Don keeps watch of the road. The guards don't suspect a thing, as Don realizes after a few hours that the princess has not arrived despite needing to have arrived over an hour ago. He heads back into the manor and relieves Teaks of Don duty, before going to the Queen's bedchamber and waking her up at the door. He tells her about the situation and asks if the Queen is able to contact her daughter in any way. The Queen whispers to a bird and sends it off, and Don takes a listen in. He then asks what the contents of the message are and is told that it was just a message telling her daughter to come home. Don checks the validity of this claim with Ale, and learns that she was telling the truth. He goes to the front of the manor and waits overnight for the princess' return.     In the morning, Don is informed of a carriage approaching but is told that it doesn't bear the crest of the Royal Family. He gives orders to prepare for its arrival. Don tells Teaks to go as him again before jumping out the window and climbing to the roof. Don sees the carriage with a strange symbol on it. The symbol is seemingly that of a person whipping a cow. The queen comes down and tells Teaks that it's Lema. She says they should know what happened to the princess. A red-haired lady comes out and tells the Queen that something has happened that she is ashamed to talk about. She says that they were having the party and the guard arrived with urgent news from the king. The guard went to talk to the princess, and they decided to go to the basement of Lema's manor. Within that place they stood for hours. After three hours, Lema and others tried to break into the basement but to no avail, with the door just refusing to open. She apologizes to the Queen, saying she doesn't know what happened. They tried to talk to the princess but after some time she no longer would respond.     The Queen turns to Teaks and asks what they should do and how soon they should go to the manor to check up on things. Teaks as Don asks how they tried to get in and is told they tried everything physical and a few low level magics. The real Don goes to find an off duty guard and tells him that he needs him to do something urgent. The guard is to go find the King on the trail, and get him to immediately return because the matter concerns his daughter. The guard wakes another of his friends and they then set out. The Queen asks if they should go now, and Teaks tells her that going now would likely be a poor and dangerous decision. They say they need to contact the King before they do anything. The Queen asks if Don's group can go out to stop this, and is told that unfortunately most of his team fell during the dragon attack.     As Lema tries to leave, Don rides out in front of the carriage she's in and says he's got urgent news for her. Don greets her and says they conferred with the King's advisors and learned a bit of the situation. He recommends and fully extends an invitation to her to stay at the manor itself. She says she needs to alert her husband and children, and Don says that they can do it themselves. She asks what is happening and is told that they don't know either. She thanks Don for his service as they turn around the carriage and Don rides back ahead of them. He gathers the party in Chama's room, much to her annoyance, and tells them all the details of what is going on. He also mentions that she and her family will be staying and they need to come to a decision.     He says they should split up so some people can protect the King and others don't. Chama asks about the magical talent of those who tried to destroy the basement door. She then says that Taka or herself should go due to them knowing how to cast a specific magical spell. The group continues discussing who should and shouldn't go, and Ale thinks that this is a trap. They eventually decide on Chama and Teaks going in disguise, and the rest staying behind to guard the place. Teaks now starts deciding on disguises for the party, switching Chama and Taka's hair and eye colors and putting Chama in a suit. They set off on horses, making their way to Lema's manor.     They encounter some guards who stop them, saying that there's an investigation going on and they aren't permitted to pass. Teaks acts quickly and says that they are sent by the King, presenting the fake seal made by Don much earlier. They are allowed through, and make it all the way to where the basement is. Teaks and Taka try their hand at opening the door but aren't even able to approach doing so. Chama does a ritual to allow herself to see magic, seeing that it has abjuration magic. She then casts Barkskin on herself, and gets the fake names from both Taka and Teaks. Taka calls himself Enano, Teaks calls themselves Kerrion, and Chama calls herself Beleza. Chama dispels the magic of the door and Teaks detects a mind behind it, sensing boredom.     They open the door and find the guard, who is just staring at the wall. Chama sees that the man is surrounded by enchantment magic, which she relays to the two next to her. Teaks goes to talk to them but it obviously fails, as they enter his mind. They know now that the guard was told to stare at the wall for 8 hours. They probe deeper, and find a memory of a halfling woman casting a spell on the guard while in the basement. The spell the woman was casting was Detect Thoughts, and they then see the person casts a spell, goes to the window, and then they see nothing else. Teaks slaps the guard and gets a slight response, and Chama says to do it again since he seems to be conscious.     The guard is brought back into consciousness and panics as he doesn't recognize any of the three. Chama threatens him asking if he needs a reminder who they are as she summons fire, and just gets slashed at by him. He's about to continue as Teaks manages to calm him down and get him to talk. The guard says he thinks it was the princess that cast the spell but he doesn't know why. They decide to follow the princess, but know that she has gotten far at this point. Chama goes to the window and finds that there is the remnants of a teleportation spell that Chama herself uses often, Dimension Door. She then finds the tracks leading to a horse. The tracks themselves then lead all the way towards the farmer's district.     Chama asks if Taka has the Sending spell ready, and is severely disappointed in the fact that she seemingly has to do everything. She calls forth a bird messenger and then sends it off towards Don, telling him the situation. She summons some tracking animals and the three of them set off in chase.     After a while, the King arrives in a hurry to Don, just as Don receives Chama's message. Don tells the King that they should no longer proceed with their plan, but also that they need to prioritize saving the King's heir as she may have been kidnapped. He tells the King to start spreading the word of the princess' disappearance. The King agrees to do so, and thanks Don for having him at his side.     As the party of three arrive in town, they hear the town crier yelling out about the war. Following the tracks eventually lead to a place in the Farmer's District beyond many buildings they recognize. In the afternoon, they reach a fort atop a hill. There is a small stone walled fort with many armored halflings. They are pretty sure this is the HQ of the Defenders, Fort Leander. They discuss about possible ways in, mostly involving Chama using magic to scout it out. Chama complains, but turns into a small sparrow and flies in to investigate. When she flies over she sees the soldiers all training as normal, and then she notices the tracks.     The tracks lead in and out of a house before going to the horse pen. Chama flies over as a small bird to the grain and investigates the area. The horse tracks then lead out of the fort. One of the nearby women says that the bird in the grain looks weird. Her friend then takes out a crossbow and shoots at Chama in bird form, who dodges it and then flies to peck the person before flying out again. She then flies around Teaks and Taka and tweets before flying towards the tracks. She manages to find out that the tracks lead towards the Mining District, and tweets inquisitively at the other two as to what they should do. They decide to scout out the place before returning, and head over to do so. Chama arrives far earlier, scouting out the place a bit.     Chama notices the place is far richer than most other districts, having paved stone roads and well-off houses and a large manor. She is also able to notice that in the main street of the place is a homeless kid which they could possibly use to their advantage in a bit. Chama flies around the place before the others arrive, finding a path further up the mountain, the more humble area of the place, and the richer area of the place. She searches the trail and believes it to be old and unused. She then flies over to the manor to find out who it is, and sees a crest of a pickaxe mining an ore. She doesn't know what this crest is, so she continues flying around to look for anywhere of note. She realizes that the royal family is not a noble family however, so she has no need to hide at somewhere of status.     She flies down to the party when they arrive, transforming on the way down and hitting her face on the ground as she does so. After some laughing, the other two hear what Chama found in the city, and decide to ask the homeless child that Chama saw. Teaks goes up to him and asks while dangling a silver coin. The boy holds out his hand for more and eventually gets a gold coin, but is robbed of it as Teaks magically grabs it back. They make it up the trail, having Chama use her bird form to scout out the place, and sees an entire gnoll fortress built into the mountain with archers posted. Chama freaks the hell out by tweeting and moving around near them. Teaks reads her thoughts and learns of the fortress. They decide to immediately head down to get a place in the city to keep watch for the princess trying to escape.     They then send a message about this to Don, warning him about what the princess might be doing and letting him know what is going on. Chama also says that the princess is likely working with the gnolls herself. Don receives the messages, and starts arranging what needs to be done. He puts one of the guards in charge of the area before heading out and making it to the King. He finds the King talking to one of his commanders, and asking where his general is as she's been missing the whole day. Don goes up to them and says he has troubling news. He says there is a gnollish fortress at the top of the Mining District, and that he's been advised by his allies about what has been happening frequently. He says that a force should be amassed, but not something so massive that it is obvious that their moves are being made.     The King says that this news is definitely troubling. He agrees, saying that the party, the King, Queen, and some other elites should go. Don tries to argue that they shouldn't due to their status, but is told that the King is a hero and needs to lead his people as he once did. The King says he needs to address something. First: The reward promised should be given now, and the King motions to have gold given, but Don raises his hand. He says that he saw the King in battle all those years ago, and it is because of him that they have what they do now. Don says that the King is an inspiration to all of them, but there are those who wish to take the happiness from them, and that they have made their way within. Don says he knows what this kingdom means to him and everyone else. If the King wishes to fight, to spill his blood for the kingdom once again, he should be an inspiration and do it, but Don warns that he may face a death he would not want. Those who continue to lead when the King and Don are gone may jeopardize the future of this kingdom, and for now he is what this kingdom needs.     The King says he is very proud to have chosen Don for this mission, and that he heeds his words. Maybe he should stay in the district safely. If Don and his party unfortunately die in that place, at least the King will be around to fix the problem afterwards. He then turns to his men and orders for them to get the reward. He says it would mean a lot to him for Don and his companions to do this for him. He would not only award the party with the rest of his vault of riches, but if Don brings his daughter back safe and sound, even if she's behind all of it, then he will offer something special. If Don brings her back then the King will give Don the title of Lord and the rest of the riches in his vault. Don says the King is quite generous, but his loyalty needn't be bought as the King already has it.     The King asks for Don's opinion on what to do. Don says for the King to gather his men and assemble them in the district quietly. The King says he'll gather his absolute elites, and they will strike under Don's command. The King says that today Don is only Don Francois, but tomorrow he may be one of the heroes written into the history of this planet. He says to meet tomorrow when the sun first rises.     Session 28   The three in the Mining District talk to some guards and discover the Lame Duck Inn, a place to sleep for the night. The owner, Amanda Draconis is a dwarf from the north. The place is apparently rich and well established, but also has accommodations for the less wealthy. They are told that they will be received warmly in the place. Chama isn't excited, but they make their way on horseback over to the inn, reaching an elven-shaped structure. They enter the stables nearby to put their horses up before they head inside, surprising a halfling inside. He brings them inside and says they don't look like they're from around here. Kerrion (Teaks) responds that they are travelers here on business, and the halfling says they are Gustavo Drunkus. He says they can head inside if they'd like, as Amanda has likely finished preparing the meals for the evening. They pay him 3 silver for taking care of their horses as he takes them away.     The three enter the tavern, seeing the sign of the Lame Duck Inn, and a duck in the entrance of the place. Chama identifies that it's actually a goose though, and that it's annoying people for food. They then notice a tall man behind a counter distributing drinks to the waiters. The party enters, finding it to be a far finer place than they had been previously. It is well-furnished, with multiple paintings depicting times of war, and ornate rugs. Most of the people in this place seem to be nobles and workers, in the same establishment. The nobles here don't seem to mind the workers. A beautiful dwarven lady then approaches them, decorated in golden attire and accessories. She greets them, saying it's been a while since she's seen such exquisite people, complimenting their beauty as she looks at Enano (Taka). Beleza (Chama) holds her tongue, pinching herself to not respond snidely. Enano returns the greeting and compliments the establishment, letting Amanda kiss his hand.     She says that she's grateful for the King allowing her to build this place, and that the idea was a very halfling thing to do. She asks for their names, and they each give a greeting in their own way, with Beleza holding herself back. She asks for them to take a seat, and that she'll be back to talk to them again in a bit. Beleza continues to hold herself back, as they select a table with few extra chairs since Beleza says it'll stop them from being sat next to by randoms. Amanda then comes over, saying it is weird they sat back here but she'll take their orders. Enano asks for a pint, and they then confirm they'd wish to have a room here and are asked for what type of room. They ask for the prices, and are told the common rooms cost a copper a night, private rooms a silver a night, and deluxe suites a gold per night. Beleza tries to discretely say that it'd be fine to get a private room, but she is instead given a suite as the other two get private rooms. Amanda then heads off, as the group starts to discuss what to do.     Beleza says that it'll be hard to get Ale here due to his unique looks, and that they need to search around for possible exits from the mountain. They also say that it would be best for the elite troop that the King would send to be sent in disguise and incognito. Beleza asks for the things they might need as well, saying the King would likely be able to provide. Early in the morning a sparrow flies in and over to Beleza, telling her the plans the King has to send Ale, Don, and a few elites. It also tells them that the King has paid them for their job, and that Don is bringing the payment. Beleza asks if they remember the potion saleswoman, saying that they could likely get even better quality from the King and that he'd be willing to splurge due to the daughter being in trouble. They continue discussing what they should do and ask for, calculating prices and what to do.     Meanwhile, Ale hears a knock on his door and Don comes in. He tells Ale about what Chama has found, and that the King and them have decided to make an attack on the fortress. Don also pulls out a sack of gold, tossing it to Ale. He then brings out a bead which he calls the "Bead of Rest" that the King gave him. Don poorly explains it, but Ale understands that it is an item that allows up to 10 people to have a proper rest quickly. Don says they aren't sure how many are in the fortress, and so this will be good to have. He says they'll leave first thing in the morning, and that they'll go to the Wizard who is preparing a spell scroll to disguise Ale.     The group has decided to ask for many potions, and equipment for Beleza. Amanda approaches them and asks if there's anything else she can help them with. Beleza asks if there is an apothecary and about blacksmiths. Amanda says they have no apothecary but multiple blacksmiths. She says that there is also another weirder one who makes her laugh. She says that his name is Irineu Hammerhand. He is apparently a magical blacksmith from the corporation but was expelled due to his work with magic. He is just around the corner, and she whispers that he's way better than Alfonzo but just has family issues. Amanda then takes her leave, bidding them a good night. Beleza tells them that she's sending the messages now, as she sends her messages to the other two about what they need.     Ale ponders about the fortress, remembering that it is the fortress of a Forge God, and that its bricks are definitely magical to have stood the tests of time. He then wakes up, heading out to meet Don. They ride off to the tavern, finding that the arena has been shut down. The two meet the wizard and get the scroll to disguise Ale, but were unable to procure a Greater Restoration scroll for Beleza. They then set out for the Mining District.     The other group awakens later on, quickly meeting the other two. Don starts to greet Chama but she quickly cuts him off, makes him come over and tells him that her name is Beleza and the other two are Kerrion and Enano. Ale also comes up, as a human, saying that his name is going to be Joe. She says they need to have their conversation in private, so they all go to Chama's room to talk. They discuss their plan, and learn that they likely won't be able to properly get all the potions they need, so they'll need to come up with something new. After some discussion, Chama asks for the armor she requested, and Teaks does as well. They manage to get it, gearing themselves up properly with the things Don brought. The party decides to go talk to both the blacksmith, and the owner of a pawn shop that Don learned of from the guards.     The party goes to the blacksmith first, finding an old man banging on an anvil while wearing a pair of goggles and a tank top. Kerrion greets him, and Hammerhand excitedly comes up asking for their names, seeming to be happy about the prospects of a customer. He asks if they are here to browse the wares, and Kerrion says they are. He invites them outside, and they see his many titles and awards on the wall. Hammerhand sits down, and then asks what they require from his shop. Enano speaks up, saying that they are here to upgrade their gear and asks if they received a note from the King for Dragon Hide. Hammerhand says that he did, and asks if Enano was the one who it's for. He confirms this, and tells him that they got this due to business they were conducting, and thought it would be an interesting challenge for the blacksmith. Hammerhand then says that they could purchase the armor for a 600 gold discount, and that it'll be ready rather soon. Kerrion purchases it, and then the party is told that he can enchant their gear if they wish.     Hammerhand says that he passed the rite of his blacksmith group, allowing him to gain the special plate armor behind him. He says that Enano is really one of them, as the armor is put onto him. Beleza inquires about something related to invisibility, and is told they can maybe find something at the pawn shop. Joe asks about something that can improve his shell's defensive power, making the blacksmith laugh. He inspects Joe closely and says that he sees they are hiding something, but won't judge them. He says everyone is welcome here, especially those who are not welcome in other places. Hammerhand continues by saying that enchanting the shell would be dangerous, since when he fails enchantments the item breaks. Enano notices that the man is highly experienced, but the risk means it's up to Joe to decide. Joe says that currently they don't have time to waste, but that he may come back later. Hammerhand says that if it is much later, he may be able to procure magical tools to make it safer.     Joe brings out the mushrooms, asking if anything can be done with it, and Hammerhand seems to think of it as something to eat. Beleza warns against it, saying that she's telling them this for their own good but they are free to ignore her. Beleza purchases a breastplate before leaving, as they all head to the pawn shop. Inside, they are greeted by a Tortle with an eyepatch smoking from a wooden pipe. He says he hasn't seen people like them in a while, and invites them to browse his wares. The party looks around, seeing the disorganized mess in the place. The tortle says his name is Lugmus, as Enano asks for a little information on some of the items.     He brings up a ring with electricity coming from it, saying it allows them to resist electricity. Another thing he brings up is a wand that contains a spell of Erupting Earth, and then a broom that allows you to fly from a kingdom of witches. The tortle continues to show them items, one by one. The party is interested in the Night Goggles, due to their use. Kerrion approaches and says he has a deal for the tortle. He asks for the Goggles and the Boots for a 400 gold discount. The tortle says that he needs a reason to do so for a stranger, and so Kerrion gives him a journal that he says contains information on and the locations of multiple magic items. The tortle translates the book using a spell, and starts to read about some of the items. He reads of some of the items, one being the staff that Chama has. The tortle then says that he doesn't believe he'll have any interest in the book. Kerrion then slaps down a ring they had on, which he says is a ring he procured off of a nobleman many years ago and has no means to return.     The tortle says that if they promise to come back and sell or buy something else then they'll have a deal. They make their trade, and Kerrion says they'll be back in a few days. After they leave, Beleza insults Kerrion for his terrible skills in bargaining. They return to the inn to set their stuff down and get ready to scout out the place. Chama first takes a flight over to the mountain to scout it out once again, in the form of a Hawk. She sees four gnolls on watch, and a stone fortress with at least four levels. It seems to be more of a tower than a fortress, and a little bit larger at the base. There is a main bridge that leads to a portcullis, and she sees no other entrance besides possibly jumping into the hole and going straight down. She then sees some gnollish movements within the trees, but she isn't sure of how many are there. Chama notices the gnolls starting to move around and bring out a bow. They shoot at her, but miss. Chama flies into the sunlight's direction, cloaking her in a shroud of light before flying all the way back.     They then all convene, discussing any possible plans that they can make. Don reveals that they will be joined by 6 elite soldiers and 6 elite Daring Mongooses. Beleza tells them all she found about the fortress, and Ale confirms from this information it is the fortress he had thought it was. He knows it was a fortress that had gods fight within. Beleza first expresses that she is tired of how these people try and treat birds, and then restates the information she found about the place. She says that there is an insane suggestion she has of flying in from the Sun's position, using the sun as a cloak to the enemies' eyes.     Don suggests that they move in through the trees stealthily, then send the defenders and Taka in through the front. Chama counter suggests using an illusion to lure out the ambushers before taking them out. She then suggests using a ladder to open the portcullis afterwards. Don says that they should combine all their plans, and that he should be carried by the eagle over to the top of the fortress to open the portcullis. Chama brings up that they should also do these things simultaneously. Don seems extremely hesitant to do this, bringing up numerous dangers, but Chama says they could simply teleport out if things get extremely dire. Don seems slightly calmer hearing this, but continues to bring up worries such as the fact that this person sent a dragon at them, and that they're clearly dangerous.     He says that it is very important that they do this entrance as swiftly and quietly as possible. Chama says that this is their plan, and that afterwards they will sneak in as quietly as possible, and deal with the mastermind as they need to. If the princess is the mastermind, they will quickly incapacitate and gag her, and if she's not, then they will just kill the mastermind. Don says that they will let the soldiers know, and carry out this plan in the mid-day tomorrow.   Session 29 The party confirms the fact that they are going to rest before the attack, and make a new plan. They disguise Don, and send him out to scout the fortress' grounds from the outside. As he steps outside, he finds the assigned troops, who are all in civilian attire. There are 10-12 elites here, and they tell Don they are ready to fight for the sake of the kingdom. They say that it might not be wise to all show up to the inn at once with the amount of people they have. Don says that they'll try doing it while claiming to be a mining crew. They enter the tavern and aren't doing a good job convincing the tavernkeep, but Don persuades her with a large amount of gold to let them stay and stay quiet about it. The elite all settle in, finding their own rooms as a disguised Don sets out on horseback to the mountain. Kerrion meanwhile goes to get their armor, Chama and Taka meditate to focus their powers, and Ale reads the spellbook he found to acquire new magic.     After making it to the mountain, Don sneaks his way into the trees and starts to look around. He continues sneaking in to the place, keeping his eyes trained on the place where gnolls should be. Don doesn't really see anything specifically, but he knows for sure there are gnolls in the trees. He eventually makes it to the bridge, still not having been seen. He runs from cover to cover on the bridge, hearing the gnolls talking from above but understanding nothing. Don tries to look down the hole beyond the portcullis but it's too dark. He does hear something though, between a man and a woman talking in Halfling.     Don gets closer, jumping on to a nearby lantern to continue. The lantern breaks and he falls down, hurting himself a bit. He moves forward a little bit and finds himself able to enter the place. He sees multiple sets of staircases that are meant to take someone downstairs. He then looks over the ledge, and sees a group below. There is a large gnoll, a few other special looking gnolls, and a man and a woman halfling. There is a man in black robes with a hood covering his face, and an old woman in full plate armor. Don doesn't hear much, but he does hear. "But I want to talk to the Prime right now." The man responds that the Prime cannot respond right now as he is in the middle of an important ritual. The man then stops what he was saying and looks up to the ledge Don is at, silently moving his hands in a motion to the woman.     Don backs off immediately, and starts moving away as he hears a commotion from the creatures below. One of the gnolls searches the area and says "There's nobody here, Master." Don then peaks out from his hiding space to see those there. He sees that the woman is the aunt of the King and the general of the kingdom. This is the person that took the princess away. Don continues sneaking forward, seeing the lava and rocks below that the fortress seems to neighbor. He approaches the bridge nearby and goes across it, accidentally triggering spike traps on it. A nearby massive gnoll sees spikes activate and goes to check it out, and Don starts hanging off the ledge by his fingertips. The gnoll tells the master that the traps seem to be failing since they are activating by themselves.     Don sneaks his way down even further, finding a room with a large table filled with meat. There are hungry gnolls as well in this room, feasting on the meat and drinking mead. He tries to hear anything they are saying but cannot make out any words. He then scales down a nearby wall, hurting himself again before peering through another archway. He proceeds, being extremely careful of traps. Don finds a small group of weapons in a room, and runs over to them. He grabs as many as he can and runs over to the ledge, throwing the weapons over into the lava. Don then goes into a nearby room, finding a prison with the butler from before inside. He finds another door with the sounds of bubbles coming from behind it.     He picklocks the door open, and finds a bubbling purple liquid inside the cauldron, as well as an alchemical workbench beside him. He finds a book called Elementalization 101 inside the place, as well as a large amount of manuscripts. He takes some salt-looking material and the manuscripts, throwing it all into the cauldron. The cauldron starts violently bubbling as he exits the room and closes the door. Don continues investigating the place, finding another room that leads to a hall. There is banners within the hall, displaying the image of a hyena biting a human's head. He finds a torturing room, that has clearly been used recently. He goes up to another nearby door, and behind it hears a snoring growl from beyond it. He quietly opens it, and finds a gnoll within the corner of the room in a prison room. The gnoll is injured, seemingly tortured and on the verge of death. Don picks the lock and swings the door open, making a loud screeching noise from the rusty door.     The gnoll wakes up and instantly runs into the corner, cowering and begging for nothing more. Don quickly goes away, cutting his hand open and creating a small trickle of blood across the floor and a trail to a door, as if someone used it. He then leaves down some stairs, and sees a prison with metal cages holding a gigantic gnoll. Surrounding the cage is a bunch of salamanders that are the size of humans, and are on fire. They are chanting something to complete a ritual, enchanting something into the giant gnoll. On the other side, he sees the princess kneeled down noting something into her notebook. The princess is clearly fine with her situation, despite how obscenely hot it is down here. In addition he sees a passageway behind the princess. Don decides he has seen enough, beginning his climb all the way back up.     He makes it back to the place where he saw the hooded figure from before and manages to spy on them this time. The hooded figure is chewing out a gnoll for "activating a trap on his own." He continues climbing up the place all the way to the top. He gets back to the bridge, sneaking across, and makes it all the way back into the tree line. Don then sneaks back down to the mountainous region, hops on his horse, and starts making his way back down to the party.     Amanda comes up to the party who is sitting at the table and asks if everything is going alright and if they will be staying another night. Taka says that it is taking longer than expected so they will be staying another night. Amanda then asks if they were acquainted with the man who came in before. Kerrion plays with the band on the stage, with Beleza trying to mess him up by blowing wind into the bell of their instrument. The leader of these bards comes up to Kerrion after the show and invites them to join their band here in the inn. Kerrion says he thinks he will but has business to finish first. The band leader gives a 5 gold tip to Kerrion. They then discuss what might have happened to Don, and after a bit of such a discussion Don comes limping in over to them. He only asks for a drink, and gets one from Amanda.     Don downs his drink and tells them that the princess is in the deepest reaches of that place. He then says she is the master of the place and Chama questions this. He quickly takes out the book saying Elementalization 101 on it, and drops it between the party. He asks them what they know about it. The other party members know about it being the same magic used for giving elemental aspects to a weapon. Chama and Ale also know that this can be used on living creatures, and can even turn creatures into variants of a creature in an elemental form. Chama explains this and then also quickly says that Don is wrong about the princess being the master of the place since she doesn't have a son. Don is annoyed but gives a little bit more information. He says that the general of Syrup is within that place, and that the princess is orchestrating the magic of the place and possibly infusing the giant gnoll with magic.     He also offhandedly mentions fire salamanders, which Chama is confused about but Ale recognizes. He knows that Chama would not know this because they are magma salamanders that never leave volcanoes but says nothing. Chama says she's never heard anything about fire salamanders, and asks Don if he's sure. Don says that he saw salamanders made of fire, and he is only describing what he saw. Teaks makes an illusory form of one, and Don says that it was about 40x that size. Ale comments that it is interesting that Don seems to have seen these creatures, seemingly out of mythology.     Don says that he seems to have an idea of what to do, and that it will require Chama's cloak. He gets up and gets a drink before returning. He says that he needs Chama's cloak to teleport out of the place. Chama asks why she can't simply do that herself, and they tell her she's not sneaky. Don suggests that they sneak down there, suggest her to come with the party, and then teleport up. He also says that they just get her out and bring the army in to destroy the place. Ale says that he knows of this fortress, and that the siege weapons will not work on the wall due to being protected by some sort of magical barrier.     Chama suggests that they possibly get the broom of flying from the shopkeep to fly her up, since Teaks' spell could fail. Ale mentions that he found a spell for raising the dead in the necromancer's spellbook. Don says that it would probably be quite difficult to kill her actually. Ale says that in the way the people managed to duplicate the butler, it's possible they did the same with the master, and that they may be using this to create an army of themselves. He says this may be what they mean by "The Prime." Don says that the way he sees it, they've been hired for two things. They were hired to find the suspect of this incident, and now they were hired to bring back the daughter of the King. Whether there is a mastermind or not is unconfirmed, and if they get the princess they can ask her. He thinks it's a lot easier to do that rather than running in and dying to whatever is in there. He thinks they should try and get the princess out before any other options are considered.     Chama mentions the fact that they might also want to consider getting the butler, as he might have information as well as having seen the master's face. The others seem dismissive, and Don adds another thing. He says he did some sabotage by throwing weapons into the lava, and that they could possibly take over many floors due to this fact. He also adds the fact that there was a gnoll being tortured to near death and that he freed it and created a trail of evidence. He made it seem as if the gnoll destroyed the arms. Chama points out that this is rather important information, but Don just gets angry, especially when Chama claims that a real investigator looks into every piece of information they can.     Teaks brings up the possibility that the general just comes out and orders the men to stop, which Don has to think on. He stands up without answering and just walks over to the defenders, getting them a round of drinks and addressing them. He says they have a plan and he wanted to go over it with them, as well as getting their input on it. Don asks when exactly the captain was promoted, saying that due to the circumstances he believes there might possibly be a mole in the King's advisors, or that someone may have blinded the King's eyes in some sort of situation. Don judges the reaction of the captain, who seems to be rather panicked about hearing Don's words. He suddenly mentions the general, which Don picks up on. The captain says that the general would possibly know something about the mole but she definitely wouldn't be a mole.     The captain continues to speak in a panicked tone, saying that Don should speak to the King about this. He says that he wouldn't know about any moles, and Don tries to reassure him that he's not accusing him and just knows that the captain is one of the finest in the army. The men at the table are looking at each other, thinking that the way the captain is acting is weird. The other captain also seems to be suspicious of this one, looking at him closely. The captain in a panic makes up someone who might be able to be blamed, someone who doesn't show up for work like "Captain John." Don immediately can tell that this is made up.     Don then asks about the princess. The captain says that from what he has heard the princess is a nice girl attending nursing lessons, and is quite fond of her family such as her parents, cousins, and even aunts and uncles. From what the captain has heard she's been away the past few weeks and that she sends away her guards and then does something alone. Don says something is bothering him about this situation. He asks for confirmation that the direct superior of the captain is the general, and then if it was the King who assigned him to this position. The other captain says he did, and is starting to regret it.     Don says that means that the General hasn’t been in command for a while now then. He asks where she is and the captain says she hasn't been around for a bit and went out with the princess a day ago. The other captain says that the General hasn't been around since the princess left. He says that he thinks Don is onto something but is finding it hard to believe. The General was good to him all his life, brought him up from his days on the streets, raised him through the ranks. He says that maybe the princess is playing her, or perhaps the other way around, but that he's just confused. Don says that this has certainly been a good talk, and then asks for one more thing. He asks for one good reason why the General wouldn't be the mole. He says that she couldn't be since she's the aunt of the King. Don asks why she'd be in the fortress then. The captain tries his best to come up with an excuse and says she must be trying to negotiate with the enemies.     The captain seems to be desperate to believe that the General is not a traitor. Don reveals that he had went to the keep himself, and saw the General. As he talks, the man runs away quickly out of the tavern. Don follows him, as the man runs his way to the stables. Don slashes at him as the man runs away towards the horses still. He breaks away as Teaks yells at the man to stop magically, and Chama summons vines to entrap the man. Ale summons a hypnotic pattern to stun him but it fails to do so, as Don takes the opportunity to tackle the man to the ground and restrain him. Don wraps the man in the vines, tying his feet together. The other captain comes running and tries to punch the captain but Don holds his hand up to stop it.     The rest of the party comes out now as well, as Teaks casts Detect Thoughts, and Don asks why the man would run. The captain tries to come up with a flimsy excuse before saying they should cut the crap already. Teaks senses that the captain feels he got caught and just immediately ran away. The man is apparently a traitor. Don asks Chama to untangle him, and they take the traitor away to a place behind the tavern. Don then asks the captain what the princess has been up to, truly. The captain says he knows nothing, and gets punched. He yells out that he knows nothing about the princess. Teaks then asks what the captain knows about the general.     The captain says he'd rather die, and Chama says that can easily be arranged, saying she and Taka is able to bring back the dead, and that he should be careful what he wishes for. The man spits at Chama's face, Teaks brings out their sword to his throat, and Don gently pushes both back. Don asks why the captain would betray the kingdom and these men for the sake of the general. The captain says that she promised them vengeance. Don asks for what, and the captain laughs, asking what he means for what. He talks about the discrimination and suffering they have suffered for so long from the humans and elves. He says that maybe Don didn't suffer when he was a child, but he has. Don says that he understands this, but they are free. They have a kingdom, and an army, and can truly live their own lives. The incursions of goblins, orcs, and gnolls are by the hand of the general. The captain seems confused, saying that Don is crazy and that the general would never.     He says that they may be wood halflings but he doesn't think they deserved what happened. He then has a realization in his eyes and says "oh no." He says that she may be in league with the greenies for the good of the kingdom, to get strength to fight the human empires. Don asks if letting enemies raid their lands is good for the kingdom. He then says he remembers that she was once talking to someone and seemed to have vengeance on her mind. He says maybe she got crazy enough to do something. The captain says that it's because of her son. Her son died by the hands of the Human King himself. He says that maybe vengeance took her, and that maybe she now only wants the king dead. Don asks if he truly thinks the captain is purely doing this for vengeance.     The captain says that more may be involved and other incentives such as gold and power. Don asks what the captain has done, and what she has ordered him to do. He says that she ordered him to divulge to her their plan of attack. The man has great regret on his face as he says that his orders were also to turn his back on the men during the battle. As he says this, the other captain starts punching him repeatedly, and Don sends him away with Taka to calm down. Don says that if the captain truly wishes to be useful to the kingdom, he can tell Don everything he knows about the princess and the general. The captain says that the princess is news to him, as he didn't know she was involved in the coup attempt. He says that her husband may also be in league with her. Chama says to wait, saying that within the notes was a mention of the loss of a son. Mandarius is likely the culprit of the whole incident.     Teaks asks if any of the soldiers knew what the little boy looked like, and Chama realizes what his intentions are, even she herself being shocked. Teaks explains they want to see an image of the son, and that all they need to do is trust him and think of the son. The soldier reluctantly agrees, and Teaks manages to see an image of the son telling a joke at a tavern table. Don then says that in the name of the King he places the captain under arrest and he will be tried for his crimes. He says that he thinks the captain is a good man, but simply made poor decisions. The other captain says he will vouch for him. He then orders two of his men to take him away to the entrance of the district and that the captain will be trialed by the King.     Session 30   The group discusses as much information as they can to find out what they can do. Teaks learns that the son of Mandarius is named Ferdinand. They decide that as a backup plan they should use the Broom of Flying. As Don grabs the broom, he hears the word "Freedom" as he does so. The party is alarmed by this, asking if it's cursed and the shop keep just says it "isn't." Don then takes out a piece of paper and a charcoal and starts mapping out their situation, poorly. Don details that he and Teaks will use the broom to sneak into the keep below. Teaks will then suggest the princess to come with them, and if that works then they will teleport back to safety as Don flies up. The defenders and rest of the group will then retreat from their assault back towards the town. The other three will storm the gates with the defenders, making as much noise as possible at the surface. Chama then brings up the giant gnoll, asking what would happen if they unleashed it. Don says that they wouldn't be able to get the gnoll up the stairs. Chama says it's possible that there is a secret exit within the fortress, or that the giant simply climbs the fortress to the surface.     Don moves past this and just talks about Plan B. Their backup plan is to use the Broom of Flying to fly the princess up and out. If all else fails, they'll blast their way through. They take quite a bit of time to map out a plan, before setting out for the fortress on horseback. The captain of the forces goes up to Don and greets him, thanking him for being able to serve under him and being there for the men. The captain of the Rangers then gives a similar speech, as Chama cloaks them in smoke and she and the rangers move into the smoke. Teaks and Don climb onto their broom, as Teaks casts their spell to summon a large amount of guards. Chama points out where she sees each of the enemies, almost 20 gnolls hiding in the trees. She sees sorcerer gnolls, monks, and warriors as well. The enemies grab their weapons and the ones with melee weapons charge the illusion. Don and Teaks swoop down into the hole beside the fortress as this happens, making their way in.

Session 45 The party decides to head out to talk to Mandarius together. They meet him and he seems to have gone slightly insane, saying it's good to have company for once. Teaks says they've got this, inciting fear into Mandarius and then mentioning the fire giant. Mandarius laughs and says the fire giant will come for them, all of them. Teaks says that they're trying to play nice, and will give him a sandwich if Mandarius tells Teaks the deal he made. Mandarius eats the sandwich, and asks if they'll kill him if he tells them. Teaks says no, and Mandarius says that he has nothing to gain from this. Teaks transforms into both Mandarius' son and wife to elicit a response, but Mandarius says he won't fall for this anymore. Clavicus asks Teaks why they even need him alive, and Teaks walks into the cell twirling a dagger.     Teaks grabs Mandarius and pushes him against a cell wall, pressing a knife against him and saying the faster Mandarius talks the faster they get him out of here. Mandarius still won't talk, and Teaks asks for the idea Clavicus has. Clavicus says he should just kill Mandarius like he wants. Teaks instead decides to magically influence Mandarius to give up the deal, but Mandarius resists once. Teaks tries again, and Mandarius says the fire giant helped him with the fire transformations, so he helped the giant with Fajen. Teaks asked what needs to be helped with Fajen. Mandarius then uses all his strength to launch against Teaks and knocks him over while grabbing Teaks' rapier. He then tries to cut his own throat as Chama tries to magically hold him in place. Clavicus slips into the cell to try and grab the rapier. He does so as Mandarius cuts his throat. Taka quickly rushes into the room and heals Mandarius' wound.     Mandarius curses, asking them to let him die. Taka says they'll let him die when he tells them the deal with the fire giant. He says there is a being. The weak minded would call it an elemental, but Mandarius calls it a God. It is a servant angel of Esquetet and its purpose is to carry out its God's will. It means to use the volcano as a sort of headquarters to drain the surroundings. These "entropy elementals" need energy to live on. The fire giant has managed to calculate when the being will arrive. Mandarius doesn't know when this is though, but his end of the deal was to help the fire giant when the being arrived. The giant and the salamanders are weak against such an enemy, as their energy is drained from them by it. He says that if the group does not now help the giant, the being will absorb all life. Taka is unsure how to respond, but recalls his knowledge on Esquetet. He remembers that she is one of the betrayer Gods, and isn't well seen among the common folk.     Chama asks what his plan was for actually fighting Fajen. He says that if it weren't for them, he would've constructed an even greater army of gnolls. Chama looks dumbfounded and asks if he was seriously going to try to take on an angel of a God with a mere army of gnolls. She says that it's no wonder they beat him, and if they went against someone more intelligent they would've actually struggled. She asks if there is anything else, and he dodges the question. Taka picks up on this and grabs him by the hair. He tells Mandarius he's sick of these games and wants the answer. Mandarius says he'll do it only if they make a blood pact. Chama notes that this blood pact could be dangerous but Mandarius seems to only want death. They make the pact, and Mandarius begins to explain.     He says there is a tree on top of the mountain that absorbs energy from its surroundings. The roots from the tree, when cut, produce a special kind of fire that burns far hotter. It is able to deal a large amount of damage even to a being like Fajen. He says the energy of the roots remain for only a few seconds. He is not sure how they will cut it while they fight, as his plan was to use the gnolls. Taka asks if that is all, and Mandarius says it is. Taka then reaches for his sword, as Chama wonders out loud what would happen if she reincarnated Mandarius as Taka pierces Mandarius heart. This causes the guard in the chamber to jump and seems unsure if he should raise his weapon. Chama tells the guard to be at ease as there was nothing Taka could do. He was forced to kill Mandarius by blood magic. The party leaves.     They discuss what to do next in the manor, as Taka says he needs some time alone. They overall decide that dealing with the issue sooner rather than later is best. Chama suggests they check out the tree first, which Ale seems to believe is a Mother Tree. He says that looking at the tree won't do anything for them. They decide that they need to go down and talk to the Fire Giant. Chama says she'll go find Taka before they go, as they discuss what to do about the salamanders in the volcano. They decide they'll just say that Mandarius died of his wounds, as Chama goes up and meets with Taka. She puts her hand on his shoulder and says that she understands he's thinking things through but they really need to get up and going. He thanks her, and then follows her down.     The party proceeds to the volcano, with Ale casting the spell to protect them from heat and the party heading down the volcano. As soon as they approach the salamanders, swords are drawn against them. They shout out that the party are traitors, and shouldn't have dared to show their faces here. They ask why the party should be heard out and Teaks responds that they are here to help with Fajen. The salamanders look at each other, and ask why Teaks wants to help with that. Teaks says they don't want the place they live at to be destroyed and doesn't want everyone to die. The salamanders allow them through, and the party makes it to the bridge.     Teaks yells out loudly that they are over here to the giant. The giant slowly approaches, as the party now notices that it is not exactly a giant. It is absolutely massive though, and wields a huge staff. It says in Giant "How dare you show your face here after what you pulled" as the party smells terrible breath. Teaks says they have come to help with Fajen, and the giant says that is good. He offers them his hand, gesturing for them to hop on. They do so, and he asks how they learned of Fajen. Teaks asks if before they continue they could cast a spell to all be able to talk with him. He says he can do it himself, then slamming his staff into the lava, and allowing the party to understand him.     Teaks then tells him that they learned of Fajen from Mandarius. The giant asks about what happened to Mandarius, and Teaks says that he succumbed to his wounds from the gnolls. The giant tells him to not lie to him, and gives him another chance. Teaks says that they made a pact with him to fulfil his wish for death. The giant notes Clavicus, calling him an old friend. They get into the discussion about Fajen. The giant says the creature is coming here to draw the energy from the magma. Taka asks if the giant knows when the creature is coming, and the giant squints at Taka, saying he should have somewhere else to be, but he will take what help he can get. He says that the creature is coming in 28 days in a weakened state. He says that even in its weakened state, he and the salamanders cannot fight it. It would engulf their temperature and energies into its own being. They can fight it due to being of Durancha. He asks if they have any plan, saying that they should need an army. He asks if perhaps they might believe in their own prowess however, looking closely at each of them and pausing on Chama. He says if they amass a large amount of people to help with the burning of the roots they might stand a chance.     He says this creature controls both the heat and the cold, and can regain energy by encapsulating itself. Clavicus asks if that means that means anything fire would be useless. The giant responds that both heat and cold would do nothing to it, but arcane magic and enchanted weaponry would be effective. Clavicus suggests them making a massive weapon to fight it with, and just destroying it with a single blow. Chama suggests possibly destabilizing and dropping the fortress on it, and Ale suggests using the tree on it. Clavicus believes that somehow life could be used against it. Spells that take life away would injure entropic beings greatly. Clavicus says they should use the tree. The giant seems amused and says that fire users such as Chama and Ale can control and throw the flames that spew from the tree, and that Clavicus would be able to throw it as well. The party discusses how to fight against the creature, bringing up multiple ideas of how to send the roots into the creature.     Ale asks if the salamanders could help with the creation of magic weapons. The giant says that the salamanders could. Clavicus says it would be good to first find a way to be able to access the roots, and Chama notes that the roots are actually quite sparse in this area. Ale asks how they're supposed to be able to fight the creature, and one of the salamanders comes up and says that they can find a way to harness the energy into an artifact of some kind but it would take time. Ale asks if it would be able to be converted into a form of arcane focus, and the salamander says it's possible. Chama says this would probably be best. Chama says that they could likely get their magical weapons from the blacksmith. They then decide to leave, as the salamanders begin to prepare the arcane focuses.     The party enters the Miner's District, and talk about what to do as they make their way to the manor. They discuss what to do, with Chama saying they should attack the mine and steal the crystals there. The party agrees, but decides to first go back and rest at the manor. During the night, Clavicus draws up magical diagrams, plans, and schemes in the basement. He figures out that making weapons of the wood itself would be a solid solution. In the morning, he tells this to the party. Ale looks at it and says that Clavicus should talk to Ale's master since he might have a better understanding.     The party then sets out for the mines. About 30 minutes from their destination Chama goes over what her plan is. She wishes to sneak the party up as close as possible, and then have her and another fly up and shoot at the invisible targets from above. She then revises the plan to have her fly invisibly upwards and mark the targets for Ale to bomb. The party agrees to this idea, and begin to sneak up as far as possible using Chama's magical smoke. She overhears goblins in the tavern just like before. She asks in the telepathy if Ale can see anyone, and Ale notes he can see two blue hues on the roof. Chama tells Teaks to turn her invisible as she flies up into position and prepares to attack the tavern. As she does so, Taka kicks a rock that reveals his position, and then reveals Row's position in turn.     Combat Begins   Teaks takes cover from the arrows that are flying at their position as Row begins running up towards the roof of the tavern. Clavicus slinks around the other building and passes by a window. From the tavern roof emerges a goblin decked out in crystal robes. He thrusts his staff into the sky and asks for the help of Ravenus. He tries to cast down a spell but Teaks counterspells it. Another emerges from the other roof, and casts a spell that lays into the party still in the entrance. Chama summons her fire elemental inside one of the clerics, which touches the cleric and sets him on fire as Chama's wildfire spirit misses its attacks. Chama flies high into the sky as Taka summons his celestial and has it fire upon the cleric. Arrows pelt into Row, hit Taka's shield, and miss Chama. Ale turns himself invisible and backs off, as a sword wielding goblin slashes and misses at Taka.     Teaks whips the minds of three goblins, which one fails to land. Row jumps onto the roof while yelling, tripping and pushing the other goblin cleric into a hole. He then pulls back and fires an arrow into one of the goblins. Clavicus meanwhile squeezes into the window and finds two halflings hiding within. He then cracks open the door and hides behind it and sees one of the goblin fighters has a bright shining sword. The cleric next to the fire elemental then tries to fire a beam of energy into the summons but Teaks counterspells, another cleric comes out of the tavern and summons a spiritual weapon that hits Taka hard. Chama reacts by firing 5 beams of fire into the cleric that did it, causing the holy weapon on the warrior to vanish. She then flies up and has her spirit move as the elemental kills one cleric and enters one of the archers. Taka heals himself as the archers let loose more arrows into Taka and Teaks. Ale unleashes a fireball into three archers and a cleric, killing one of the archers. The warriors run up and try to attack Taka but can't break through his armor.     Teaks mind whips three more goblins, as Row jumps off the roof and kicks the cleric back into the hole and fires an arrow at one of the archers, killing it before running to the other archer. Clavicus bursts from the house and slashes 4 times at a goblin archer hitting only once. One of the clerics attacks Taka with his spiritual weapon but misses, as his magic blast gets counterspelled. The cleric in the hole drops a flame strike onto the party, injuring a large amount of them. Chama throws down a fireball that kills a cleric and two archers, as her spirit teleports Taka up towards the goblin archer on the roof. Her elemental jumps down onto the two warriors below and starts laying into them as Taka slices into the goblin archer and his celestial finishes it off and kills another goblin warrior. One of the archers dodges away from Clavicus and shoots him directly. Ale then drains the life of the last warrior, killing it.     Teaks whips the last archer, who resists the attack. Row sees the few remaining enemies and positions himself to kick the goblin cleric back down. Clavicus meanwhile runs up and kills the final archer. The cleric climbs up, and Row kicks the cleric to its death.   Session 46 The two halflings come out of their hiding place and talk to Teaks, who directs them to go towards the city and get them out of the way. Ale meanwhile loots the bodies, and Taka begins to heal the injured. Row keeps watch over everything, overhearing goblins within the cave. He then inspects the arrows the goblins fired at him and picks a few up. Ale meanwhile inspects the armor and finds them too small to wear for normal people, as well as swords and shields. The clerics are the most well-equipped, being covered in crystalline trinkets. The holy symbols have incredibly ancient symbols that worship Ravenus, nothing like the symbol of today. Ale believes these creatures have been isolated from the world for a very long time.     Chama meanwhile is gearing up all the summons at the front of the cave and preparing to send them in. Teaks summons their golem and Clavicus starts moving with a goblin body. He hands the body off to the golem and moves into the cave. The party gathers around the cave entrance and prepare. Chama throws a fireball deep into the cave and hears a goblin scream, as she teleports the summoned creatures inside.     Combat Begins   Clavicus runs in and hides in the corner, as Chama's fire spirit comes around the corner and finds a goblin peeing. It shoots him with a bolt of fire, killing it. Taka casts aid on most of the familiars, as Teaks' golem moves in as well. The fire elemental charges down the hallway and to the left into a large group of goblins. Ale casts a sickening radiance into the area on top of all the enemies.     Clavicus starts moving more quietly as Chama's fire spirit fires another shot around the corner. Taka and the golem start retrieving a minecart, as the fire elemental starts slashing at the goblins. The goblins start to retaliate with shots, spells, and swords as the fire spreads everywhere.     Clavicus lights himself on fire and then pulls a goblin's leg from the smoke, attacking it from out of nowhere. The fire spirit heals the elemental using the spirit of a goblin that the valkyrie killed. It then shoots another shot of fire at the goblin wizard. It moves up and heals the elemental again, as the goblins attack the elemental and it fights back. Ale throws a fireball into the center, killing the wizard and four goblins while keeping alive the valkyrie.     Clavicus screeches in an attempt to intimidate the goblins, before killing one and scuttling away. The fire spirit kills another goblin as the elemental crashes into the group of goblins, setting them all on fire. Another spirit is then extinguished to heal the elemental. The valkyrie fires another shot into the crowd as the flaming goblins keep hitting the elemental and manage to bring it down.     Clavicus' smoke screen enhances when he throws his bag into the group. Chama's fire spirit shoots around the corner as Chama herself flies up and throws a fireball into the large group of goblins. One of the goblins moves towards Clavicus and gets hit with a flame from the spirit of his ally, as the spiritual weapon smacks Chama, and the cleric himself shoots a Guiding Bolt at Chama.     Clavicus runs over to the mage and stabs into him hard, as Chama's spirit finishes it off. She then comes around the corner and throws a flame at the last goblin. The last goblin throws down his weapon in fear.     Combat Ends   Clavicus grabs the goblin's throat with his hand, and it breaks away with the hand. Chama trips it but it continues to run. Clavicus then tries to grab it but fails. Chama gets tired of the jokes and just holds it in place magically, then tying it up.

Session 71 Teaks mind whips the dragon as Chama summons her spirit. It fires but misses its attack. The ghost dragon then roars, setting fear in Teaks and Dat and they are paralyzed. Clavicus was walking nearby and hearing the roar. He is frightened by the roar but isn't paralyzed by the fear. Teaks snaps out of the fear and Chama fires blasts of fire at the dragon, as Clavicus moves closer in a wide ring. The dragon flies towards Chama and claws and bites at her for a high amount of damage. Clavicus continues sneaking around, afraid of the dragon and looking through Teaks' stuff. Teaks tries to mind whip it again but it resists, as Chama teleports away and throws another fire at it.   The dragon flies over and prepares a dragon breath against Chama's spirit, breathing on the spirit, Chama, and Dat, which Dat mostly resists. Chama is meanwhile nearly knocked out immediately. Dat casts Disintegrate on the creature but it engulfs the spell into its own body and resists it. Dat also appears out of thin air near her. Teaks looks to their side and sees Clavicus trying to take their money. Teaks smacks Clavicus and then shoots an Eldritch Blast at the dragon, a pale blue light being what is shot. Chama moves away and heals as her spirit runs the other direction. The dragon kills the spirit and then attacks Teaks as it bites them. Dat shoots a firebolt at the dragon again. Clavicus hexes the dragon and then hides, as Teaks slashes at the dragon with their sword. Chama peeks out and fires 6 beams of fire straight into the dragon for some serious damage.   The dragon bites Teaks and releases breath. Teaks is hurt even more as Dat also blasts it with scorching rays. Clavicus prepares to attack if it gets close, as Teaks slashes against it, reducing it to almost only its head. Chama teleports over to nearby the dragon using her cloak and enhances her staff. The dragon misses its bite and claws Teaks hard to knock them down. Dat fires one final spark of fire at it, evaporating the ghost dragon's head. Chama sees no soul appear, but sees Clavicus run over and grab something from Teaks. Chama immediately casts Hold Person on him. It fails due to Clavicus' race, and she uses smoke sticks to heal Teaks. Teaks angrily shouts out for Clavicus, hitting him with a spell as Dat comes over and turns him into a turtle. They then place him face down into a bag and tie him up to a tree. Chama can tell they are on the edge of the forest, and sees spider tracks all around them. She is able to tell the driders have already long passed here, and she is pretty sure the driders know of their deceit.   Chama explains this to the party, and then asks if they should explain their adventures to Clavicus. They begrudgingly agree, deciding to dig a hole for Clavicus to return in, and bury him up to his neck. As he switches back Chama sees the figure of the Clavicus that betrayed them. She gets angry, but calms herself down. Clavicus awakens, and he calls them assholes, and says that they tricked him, as Teaks juggles Clavicus' head while saying not to steal their shit. Teaks asks telepathically if they should tell Clavicus. Chama responds in telepathy not to tell him about the end of the world but tell him about it being a calamity. Teaks beams some images to Clavicus' mind. They continue messing with Clavicus' skull, and Clavicus is dropped to the ground. Dat hears something in his mind and shouts "FINE, I'LL DO IT THEN!" as he casts Disintegrate onto Clavicus' skull. Chama shouts for Teaks to counterspell but it fails. The skull turns to dust, as Chama and Teaks turn to Dat and ask what is wrong with him. Dat responds that he was going to attack them again. Teaks reads Dat's mind and detects something influencing him, and Chama casts Greater Restoration on Dat. She can see that she has calmed him down and talk a bit better, but in the depths of his eyes this is something deeper and stronger. She thinks of trauma, and knows not only magic is needed, but therapy is needed too.   Chama tells this to Teaks, asking Dat if he's in his right mind yet. Dat says he never left, as Chama goes over to the bones and casts Detect Magic. She sees an incredible force of necrotic energy from the sword. She telepathically tells Teaks that the phylactery is still in effect, so he should revive but she has no idea how. Teaks responds that they remember Clavicus saying that he could come back via a skeleton's body. Chama uses mage hand to move the sword to another skeleton's body, and they then rest. Chama and Teaks can tell now that Dat is paranoid.   Session 72 The party makes their way through the forest, with Chama noticing the trees have black leaves with unusually large black acorns as well. Some of the trees also spill out a black or grey ooze/sap. Chama knows this type of tree is called Black Oak. She has heard the sap can be used as materials for enchanting items such as magical ink. Chama has them stop for a minute as she collects some of the sap into some glass vials. She gets some on her hands and it sinks in a little, but they continue forward in the rain. Chama hears wolves howling, seeing shapes of wolves through the mists. Teaks immediately makes magical lights spin quickly and makes the illusion of a roar emanate. Chama then sees that these are not regular wolves. Part of their skin and flesh are torn and their bones are visible. Skulls and ribs are showing, and these are clearly skeletal or shadow wolves.   Acting quickly, they hop onto the broom with Chama turning into a cat and Teaks into a gnome. A wolf almost reaches them but fails, instead blasting them with breath of necrotic energy that knocks Chama out of her cat form. Two wolves jump at her, biting her ankle as she teleports into the sky using her cape. She turns into a giant eagle, and they fly for about an hour before the two return to the ground to continue following the tracks. Chama stays in the air to keep an eye on things. They notice they've gone the wrong way for a bit and have lost time. In the sky, Chama sees what looks like a very big tree moving towards the two below. Chama warns the two below, and Dat gets into his shell, and Teaks hops on them, riding him like a sled down the hill. Chama then hears the creature bellow out in Sylvan "No, please! Don't leave! I wish only to converse." As it moans. Chama tells this to the party, and they decide to try to talk to it.   Teaks has Chama translate, asking "Halt. What is your business with us?" The tree responds that it only wishes to exchange. It wishes to exchange knowledge, stories, and vital force. Chama makes Teaks ask if the vital force part is necessary. The tree says that it is necessary for it to receive vital force for stories. They eventually ask it if they could lead it to life force and tell them the story and hear it. The tree responds that the ones who hear the story must provide the life force. They also learn it has no life force, and Teaks asks if something else tells their story, does it lose life force or does Teaks lose it. The tree responds that the life force is gathered as you hear it for stories of ancient times are not easily heard. It says the life force is always gathered. They decide to ask if it would like to be brought to the driders for the life force, and it asks if they do not wish to hear its ancient stories. They decide to leave, and as they do so, Teaks and Dat feel a massive amount of stories starting to flow into their mind. Their life force is slightly sapped, as Dat counterspells the effect. They fly away as the tree complains about being alone again.   The rain eventually subsides, as Teaks struggles to properly track the tracks. Chama sees to the west a skeleton tied to some trees, a skeleton of a horse. She notices it is not regular, and that it is not made of horse bones, but human bones. She descends to them and reverts, pointing at it. They decide to investigate it, finding first that the humans were alive when this was being made. They see it is dedicated to Char, and decide to camp near it with Teaks messing with it a bit. They make a tiny hut to sleep in. Dat takes first watch, and sees a note written outside the hut saying "Your prize for killing the lich awaits under the light of the moon. Be unseen, for it is knowledge not to share." He turns invisible and leaves the hut. He feels a skeleton jump on his back and a "Night Night wizard boy."   Chama and Teaks wake up to see Dat hanging from a tree upside down like they had Clavicus, and Clavicus is playing the viol. Chama comes out with Teaks and she throws a minor illusioned tomato at Clavicus' face. She then yells for Clavicus to drop Dat since he'll die from the blood loss otherwise. Clavicus seems surprised and cuts down Dat quickly, as they have a talk. Clavicus explains to them that he was visited by death itself, and told that it wasn't happy he was alive. They struck a deal that he would be able to finally die if he aided them. They agree to let him join if he does a funny dance, and he does so. Dat then gets up, asking how he can trust them, They explain that Clavicus is bound by the God of Death, and then Dat asks how he can trust the party. They explain that they have stuck with him and would've betrayed him if they were against him. Dat believes them for now, and they return to a rest with Dat simply not wanting Clavicus anywhere near him.   Teaks views Dat's mind with magic to see what is going on. They see his mind still in the apocalypse, and see the hordes of demons. They see a book with a face whispering things to Dat. As it whispers, Dat gets more paranoid and anxious with all of it. Teaks thinks that Dat thinks the book is alive and crushing his will and power. Dat looks and asks Teaks why he is here, readying his magic. Teaks says this is all a dream in the future, and they will be able to stop this. Dat sees that while his friends may be out to get him, they may also be his salvation. Dat feels a bit more hope as he wakes up and sees his friends. He looks at Teaks, who tells him to go back to sleep because it's still night time. Chama wakes up and sees them close, telling them to go to sleep while slightly disgusted.   She then goes on her watch, and Clavicus joins her. They sit and talk for a while, with Clavicus noticing Chama is a lot nicer than before, and she tells him of what they experienced in the future, telling him that he was alive but they couldn't take him with them. Clavicus asks where Chama is from and how life was there. She talks about the druid grove, how she was better than the others, and how she was even more cocky back then. He says she seems cocky now, too. Chama says she was even worse, then, and then explains that she lived in the grove until it burned down. He can tell she is hiding something, but doesn’t press it. They stay on watch together for the rest of the time, and Clavicus witnesses Chama consider them all companions.   Session 73 The party continues their path, and along it they spot an array of hanging people. They spot a human clad in armor, an elf in elven robes, a dwarf with a religious symbol, and a halfling with a bow and leather armor. They also notice they are undead, and the undead start trying to get at the party, but are restrained. Chama asks if anyone recognizes this type of party, and Clavicus says that he's only seen this as a type of warning measure. He says he could check for intelligence, and Chama says to start with the human, and to search for identification if possible. Clavicus cuts down the human and picks up a pouch with a letter in it, which he reads. He finds out this group of people were adventurers who came here to search for the necropolis as well, but as they were making their way towards the mountain they were attacked by feral ghouls. They survived this encounter, but the cleric said they were going to turn into ghouls themselves. They decided to not allow that to happen.   They can tell the party are just common undead, not ghouls, because it takes decades to turn into ghouls. He then strips the human of its full plate armor to put it on his animated undead, as the human undead bites him. He knows this would've been dangerous if he were living, but he's fine. He kills the undead and then goes to loot the other undead. He finds some gold as well as a scroll of flaming sphere and a potion of healing. He then goes back, handing the healing potion to Chama and the scroll to Dat. Clavicus also complains about needing healing, and Chama does so to make him be quiet about it. In the distance, Chama sees a group of skeletal elephants strolling the land, trying to eat leaves that don't exist from dead trees. She informs the group of this, knowing they can be turned by necromancers, come into existence from necromantic energy, or by the whims of the gods. The assumption they make is that it is from when the necropolis was active. Clavicus had the idea of trying to tame them, but sees far too many to try that.   Continuing forward, Chama sees that they have reached an improvised drider camp with 4 tents made of web, and one tent with a bigger drider inside that she knows as the spider queen. In addition there are driders patrolling the tents. Clavicus asks what the plan is, and Chama says the entire place looks flammable. They come up with their plan, and Teaks and Clavicus go invisible by putting Clavicus in Teaks' bag, as Dat and Chama prepare to attack magically. Teaks drops off Clavicus near the queen, who starts to rearrange himself slowly as Teaks makes it over to the middle tent.   Combat Begins Teaks sets fire to one of the tents and runs around as Clavicus slashes into the drider queen numerous times. Chama fires a ball of flame into the camp, burning the queen, another drider, and setting webs and trees on fire. One of the driders with a bow calls out the position of Chama and Dat, and Teaks lets the party know this. The drider takes out a lightning arrow and aims at Chama. Chama gets hit despite her cover, being shocked by the lightning. Dat fires a ray of frost at that drider as another drider shoots him with their bow. Another drider dashes over to the queen.   Teaks unleashes an array of prismatic rays that hit the driders. One is hit with acidic magic, another with poison, and another with two cold beams. Clavicus meanwhile slices open the drider queen, killing her. He then moves his servant up and points at another drider indicating that they are next. Chama sends another fireball flying in, hitting three driders at once with it including the one that shot her. The driders turn their attention to Teaks now, firing three arrows at them. Dat fires another fireball as the driders continue attacking Teaks.   Teaks retaliates with a psychic blast of energy on the same driders, as Clavicus is attacked by a drider and he attacks back. Chama raises up on her broom and unleashes a storm of fire upon the driders, still killing none of them but injuring all of them. The drider with the lightning arrows runs over to shoot Teaks three times, who counterspells his lightning but is still attacked by a shot from the bow. Dat fires another bolt of magic at a drider, as the driders start making their way over to Clavicus and Teaks again.   Teaks continues to cast spells at the drider nearest to them as Clavicus runs over to Teaks. Chama flies over and summons a wall of fire that burns one of the driders to a crisp, but only injures one other. The lead drider runs around the wall and fires multiple shots but misses all of them. Dat shoots another fireball, as the drider moves through the fire wall and misses attacks on Clavicus and hits Teaks.   Teaks responds by psychically whipping both the main and another nearby drider. One of the last remaining driders charges Dat and misses all its attacks on him. Clavicus stays near Teaks as the skeleton servant attacks one of the last driders with its shortbow, killing it. Chama scorches the final drider with scorching ray as Dat hits it with firebolt. It fires a shot at Dat and hits him for not much effect. The party then all stare at the drider and jump on him, killing him together.   Combat Ends Clavicus goes into the flaming tent of the queen to investigate it for what he can as Dat goes to help him by extinguishing the fire. Clavicus finds a staff covered in webs with an onyx spider on it, as well as a wooden chest inside the tent. It is gold-trimmed. He drags the chest out of the tent. Clavicus opens the chest and finds platinum, gold, expensive artwork, gems, and then some Dust of Disappearance, a Potion of Animal Friendship, a Potion of Necrotic Resistance, and a Spell Scroll of Wall of Stone. They decide to rest now, where Clavicus mentions to Chama that she's quite adept at burning things down. He continues to mention how Chama is being rather racist, where she laughs, saying she thought he knew her. He then jokingly guesses her favorite color is green, and she surprisingly says that is correct. She explains that she is a druid after all, and that she takes care of the environment because she cares for it.   They argue back and forth about the possibility of Clavicus going to get an elephant, and Teaks joins Clavicus' side once getting paid. Chama is annoyed by the entire situation, eventually simply going to sleep. The group takes their watches, and in the morning Clavicus sees a dark mist engulfing his companions as they disappear.