Session 42: For Whom Part 2

General Summary

Summary: 3 points.

Clothday, 29th Leafbreak

The party was in a fight with skeletal horses, a figure in wispy robes and a rotting troll.

For whom the bell tolls...

Round 6 (continued)

• Sunny cast Shatter on the wagon and its attendant skeletal horses. The spells energy seems to be reduced by the glowing sigils on the horses, and the energy is redirected from the wagon to the horses, as well. The large crystalesque shape seems totally unaffected by the Shatter, however.

Round 7

• The bell tolls again.
  • Sunny and Harb shake off being deafened.
  • Unlike on the previous rings, no new horses appear, and the top word ("Hearken!") is not lit up. The words "let none impede" glow with an arcane light instead, and the horses all move some distance without provoking attacks of opportunity.
  • The horses who join the ones drawing the wagon join the glowing sigil energy.
• Leucis flies over and takes a swing at the wispy figure with the Skymaul, reducing it to tatters of robe and shatters bones in a pile on the ground. The cleric casts Healing Word on Harb.
• Saf strides confidently towards the dwarf-crafted bell and deals it a solid strike with Excowlibur. The bell collapses into itself, but may contain some pieces that are salvageable.
• The wagon moves towards the middle of the building, clearly heading towards the road. Several horses in the path attach themselves to the team pulling the wagon.
• A wild light of Pelor's influence shows in the troll figure's eyes, and it moves around the relic sloth towards the paladin. He charges through the Moonbeam (breaking the Compelled Duel) and takes a hit from Saf before grappling with Kolvonnin. His teeth and claws are no match for Kol's armor but his rotting aura does some necrotic damage.
• Harb runs over and leaps onto the wagon, noting when he arrives that it could probably be disabled with minimal difficulty.
• Maya calls down a fresh bolt of lightning on a trio of horses. Their glowing aura seems to offer them some protection but all the horses attached to the wagon seem affected by the spell.
• Kolvonnin lands two punishing blows (each with a 2nd level smite attached) and the troll figure, dealing significant damage but not fully ending it. He further casts Shield of Faith on himself to make sure that he's even harder to hit while the troll has him.
• Sunny considers trying Hypnotic Pattern on the horses, but reasons that since they seem to be undead it's unlikely to work. Instead he relies on his feline agility and moves up to the troll and kabongs it with Deep Rumble (expending a pair of charges).

Round 8

• For the first time since the combat started, the bell lies silent.
  • Every deafened player makes their save and is no longer deafened.
• Leucis moves the Moonbeam onto a group of horses, then joins Harb on the wagon.
• The Moonbeam hits the collection of horses, and the protective energy around them seems to both lessen the damage and spread it to horses outside the target area.
• Harb wrestles with the large crystal to shove it off the wagon, but is only able to shift it a few inches due to its tremendous weight.
• Maya moves to block the apparent route of escape for the wagon and horses, then calls down a bolt of lightning on the front four. The damage spreads across the whole collection at large, destroying of the horses remaining.
• Kolvonnin clobbers the troll with his morningstar, tearing an arm from the socket. The troll collapses with a gurgle.
• Sunny upcasts a Shatter on a foursome of horses, destroying one and damaging others.

Round 9

• Saf kills the last of the horses, and the energy connecting them to the wagon and shielding it fades.

Combat summary:

• Total duration: 9 rounds
• PC drops: None
• Rule clarifications:
  1. Moonbeam vs Compelled Duel
• Kill board:
  
  1. Leucis: 10 kills
     • Round 3: 1 skeletal horse (Skymaul)
     • Round 5: 6 skeletal horses (Turn Undead), 1 skeletal horse (Skymaul)
     • Round 6: 1 skeletal horse (Skymaul)
     • Round 7: 1 wispy figure (Skymaul)
  2. Kolvonnin: 9 kills
     • Round 2: 3 skeletal horses (2 via acid breath, 1 via the Hamfist)
     • Round 3: 1 skeletal horse (Hamfist)
     • Round 4: 1 skeletal horse (Hamfist)
     • Round 5: 2 skeletal horses (Hamfist)
     • Round 6: 1 skeletal horse (Hamfist)
     • Round 8: 1 troll (Pelor's Rising Sun)
  3. Maya: 9 kills
     • Round 4: 2 skeletal horses (Call Lightning)
     • Round 6: 1 skeletal horse (relic sloth claw)
     • Round 8: 6 skeletal horses (Call Lightning)
  4. Saf: 6 kills
     • Round 3: 1 skeletal horse (shortsword)
     • Round 4: 1 skeletal horse (Excowlibur)
     • Round 6: 1 skeletal horse (Excowlibur)
     • Round 7: 1 bell (Excowlibur)
     • Round 9: 2 skeletal horses (Excowlibur)
  5. Sunny: 4 kills
     • Round 2: 2 skeletal horses (Deep Rumble)
     • Round 3: 1 skeletal horse (Deep Rumble)
     • Round 8: 1 skeletal horse (Shatter)
  6. Harb: 1 kill
     • Round 4:1 skeletal horse (flail)

Post combat

The group settles on disabling the wagon pending further investigation.

Next steps:

1. Scheduled:
   • Sending(s) to/from Mia
2. Look over the combat aftermath:
   • Remains of the wispy figure
   • Remains of the troll
   • Remains of the bell
3. Find out what's in the wagon
4. Leucis: Discuss lycanthrope reclamation with more party members
5. Between session tasks:
   • DM and interested players: Review/discuss rule clarifications above
   • DM: Sendings to/from Mia
   • DM: Wisdom scene upcoming
6. Out of Character tasks:
   • Gear up for a group discussion on campaign adjustments (review the document, comment in the Discord channel, and so on). Likely to occur after the combat completes and next session wraps.

Session Feedback

Eddy: I had fun with the combat overall. It was different, enemies were all over the place.
Heather: One of these days I'll remember I have a second melee attack.
James: Yay it's over! I am glad the bell is dead. It was dynamic but I still have no clue what's going on with it.
Jeremy: Can we put the bell in the portable hole and grind it there?
Matt: Repeat last session feedback here.
Meg: Too many damn horses. Yay I got to hit wispy dude.
John: I fully expected some "feelings momentum" from the last session into this one. I'm glad some things worked even if others did not. I have some solutions for that but I didn't think it made sense to try to apply them midstream.