Session 64: Poisoned Ideals Report

General Summary

The session began in a larger tomb that the party found at the end of Session 62: Denivas Drama Report with six sarcophagi and two pillars covered in silver engravings of plants and trees and each having an alcove where an item could be placed to be deposited. Making the first move, Nitt sent an arcane eye down the alcove with a candle to see a chute and a mill in the chute destroy the candle. Omen ei' Taure then opened one of the sarcophagi to find some skin-colored mushrooms. Several in the party then assumed the mushrooms to be Fleshwort and that the six sarcophagi contained the six plants listed in the smaller tomb above (see last session for details). They also succeeded on Intelligence(Nature) checks to learn that Dathlil can be used to combat poison and Ghostroot makes someone able to turn undead, similar to a cleric. Additionally, Blueglow Moss had properties similar to healing spells, and Fleshwort is used to heal injuries and can repair lost tissues.
They put Dathlil and Bloodpurge, causing a pinkish gas began spreading from under a plate in the center of the room. After a minute, a passage opened to another room with four golems that the party recognized that they encountered in the sewers during Session 54: Below the Gold Report, however, these golems seemed inanimate.
Passing into the next room, they found a laboratory with four people in it, a Knight of the Golden Leaf, a Priest of the Golden Leaf, an Aurelian Oracle, and the one they believe to be the one they were searching for: Valera Denivas.
The battle began with Valera swiftly drinking a potion and then firing two arrows at Maro Rei 'Sky'. Maro then rushed forwards, trying to pull all the enemies toward him, but only managed to pull the priest. Eldon Caufield then tried casting Hold Person on all the enemies but was Counterspell:ed by the oracle. Baradin Godchosen followed on the idea to restrain the enemies cast Maze on Valera. The priest then tried to cast Banishment Eldon but failed before yelling "Golems, Awaken!", which caused three of the four golems to animate around the party.
The golems began attacking the party, who struck back. The Aurelian oracle then cast a Fireball into the room where the party was, but a Circle of Power from Arten Veronica Lagurdo prevented it from dealing any damage. Then, as the golems were also hit by the fire, they in turn detonated with fire around them but to little effect. Meanwhile, Nitt then sent in a Cloudkill, hitting most of the humanoid enemies in the laboratory as well as Maro.
The party was split, Maro on one side of the cloud against the priest and oracle in the laboratory, Omen against the knight inside the cloud in the doorway between the rooms, and the rest of the party in the room with the golems. Valera remained trapped in the Maze cast by Baradin.
After some rounds, most of the golems were defeated and the cloudkill had moved away from the door as Valera, the knight, the priest, and the oracle regrouped and the party did the same in the "golem room" while Omen and Maro remained in the laboratory.
As the rest of the party began to enter the laboratory, Baradin fired a Radiance of the Dawn, killing the priest. Nitt used a Hold Person on Valera after Takemura Yoshiro knocked her prone, and Omen and Maro moved to knock her out but she seemed to be resisting doing so. Then, Eldon mocked the knight asking if it was worth it to which the knight responded "My life for theirs" and fired a volley of arrows, which the party dodged but it killed Valera. Takemura and Nitt then moved ahead and knocked out the oracle and knight.
In the aftermath of the fight, the party grabbed 4 Potions of Healing, 1 Potion of Superior Healing, 1 Potion of Invulnerability, 1 Potion of Possiblity, and 1 Elixir of the Awakened Mind. Whilst this was happening and some discussions were taking place, Baradin asked the bones, though Augury, if they should resurrect Valera, getting no definite answer. They then took her longbow +1 and a bunch of notes from the laboratory.
As they were trying to walk out, they heard armored footsteps from the entrance to the tomb, as well as the now-destroyed secret passage. So, they locked down the doors and discussed how to get out of there. As they discussed having Nitt cast Teleportation Circle, which would either take them to Ironhand 's tower or Oritsu, Baradin decided to take things into his own hands as he Wished they teleported to the rust monster's hideout, so they did, bringing Valera's corpse with them. There, Eldon then sent a message to Eleesa telling her that they had grabbed Valera's corpse and returned to the hideout.
While waiting for Eleesa, they read through the notes they found and found several of them regarding "Physical Enhancement Test Results" containing details of several subjects' reactions to a potion. The subjects were each listed with name, gender, age, occupation, and risk factor. Multiple of the subjects had the same result: "Subject could not maintain reasonable sanity level and had to be put down."
They then spoke with Eleesa when she arrived and she told them that for now, they should wait. Since this was the first time in the city's history that the head of a high house had been murdered, it would probably cause quite a reaction.
Afterward, while Nitt was out shopping for disguises for the party, they talked about whether they should try and help this city and how it was difficult to see if what they were doing was right. Baradin and Omen also agreed on that if they could, they would like to cut ties with the Prism Houses, they seemed as corrupt as the Golden Houses. The only reason they might help the Prism houses was to help Takemura bring his master back. Baradin also brought up the idea that Leodan might have been behind the ambush on the envoy.
The session ended with the party finishing a rest in the rust monster's hideout.

Missions/Quests Completed

Eliminate or Deal with the Denivas house of the Golden Houses.

Character(s) interacted with

Eleesa

Valera Denivas

Related Reports

Session 54: Below the Gold Report

Session 62: Denivas Drama Report

Session 61: The Excursionists: Civil War Report

Campaign

The Excursionists

Protagonists

Nitt

Neutral Vedalkan ()
Wizard 17
Rouge 2

92 / 92 HP

STR
8

DEX
16

CON
10

INT
20

WIS
14

CHA
14

Maro Rei 'Sky'

Chaotic Good Air Genasi (Aspirant)
Fighter 8
Monk 4

92 / 92 HP

STR
12

DEX
18

CON
16

INT
13

WIS
12

CHA
10

Omen ei' Taure

Chaotic Good Tabaxi (Temple Guard)
Monk 16
Cleric 2

172 / 172 HP

STR
23

DEX
20

CON
18

INT
8

WIS
20

CHA
8

Arten Veronica Lagurdo

Lawful Neutral Fallen Aasimar (Mercenary Veteran)
Paladin 14

113 / 113 HP

STR
8

DEX
18

CON
16

INT
10

WIS
14

CHA
20

Eldon Caufield

Neutral good Halfling (Fisherman)
Bard 15

77 / 77 HP

STR
9

DEX
16

CON
10

INT
10

WIS
16

CHA
20

Baradin Godchosen

Neutral Good Hill Dwarf (Far traveler)
Cleric 14

150 / 150 HP

STR
8

DEX
14

CON
20

INT
10

WIS
20

CHA
8

Takemura Yoshiro

Report Date

23 Jan 2023

Primary Location

Niduin