Session 74: Ancient Mysteries Report

General Summary

The session began as the The Excursionists arrived outside of a strange cottage near the center of the Encio Valley, next to a frozen lake. Naaldoshi, a gnoll that had guided them through the valley had warned that the cottage was cursed and when they had arrived, the door had opened on its own.
They entered the cottage, which had a sign on the door reading: "Gavin's Shack", finding nothing strange inside, except that the cottage seemed tidy, with a warm stew in a cauldron in the fireplace, as though someone had recently made it, yet there was no one to be seen inside. As they investigated the cottage, Omen ei' Taure cast Detect Magic, sensing faint traces of magic throughout the building. With no real answers to what the cottage was and who made it, the party settled down inside for a night's rest, waking up feeling well-rested the next morning.
The next day, they decided to follow Naaldoshi's request to hunt his "neighbor" in a cave to the north. So, they headed north and on the way, they briefly discussed the possibility of requesting the giants to fight against the dragon in Velámón and theorizing about who built or made the cottage, with Eldon Caufield suggesting it could've been built as a shrine or sanctuary of Hestia, The Comforting. As they arrived in the cave they found the beast inside, a large bipedal monster covered in fur and red scales across its arms that during the engagement showed an ability to create a blade of ice on its arms.

Fight against the "Neighbour"

Round 1

The fight started with Eldon enchanting Omen's Halberd with Holy Weapon and creating some Mirror Images. Maro Rei 'Sky' then began making his way toward the creature with Omen joining him shortly after just as the beast jumped down towards the other members of the party, and as Nitt attempted a Mental Prison on it, the beast hit the ground damaging Arten Veronica Lagurdo, Eldon, and Nitt. After that Naaldoshi fired a Disintegrate and summoned a pair of Vulture wings, flying to the ceiling, and Baradin Godchosen cast Bless on the melee fighters and summoned a Spiritual Weapon to strike the monster. Arten then followed up with three strikes infused with Divine Smites. The monster created an Ice Sword on its hand before hitting a breath attack on Arten, Eldon, Naaldoshi, and Nitt, who got downed. Near the end of the round, Eldon heard a roar from outside the tunnel.

Round 2

Eldon yelled a warning and a Healing Word to Nitt as he fired a Psychic Lance on the beast, Incapacitating it. Maro then ran next to the beast before using his Mark of Lightning to go to the entrance. Omen then jumped onto the monster and struck it with his halberd at the back of its skull, killing it. Then another monster approached from the underbrush toward the cave, a quadrupedal wyvern covered in orange scales, with streaks of blue scales, similar to a tiger's stripes. Nitt cast a Blight on the new monster before using a Misty Step to back further into the cave. Naaldoshi summoned two Minotaur Skeletons and commanded them to charge at the monster, managing to make it prone. Baradin then enchanted Maro's sword with Holy Weapon and moved his spiritual weapon closer. Arten cast a Circle of Power and blessed Maro as a Champion of War. The new monster went around one of the minotaurs before unleashing a thunderous roar, deafening Maro and Baradin and destroying one of the skeletons.

Round 3

Eldon fired another Psychic Lance, now against the beast and speaking a Healing Word to Nitt again. Then the monster ran, attempting to trample everyone in the party except Naaldoshi who was flying, but everyone managed to avoid it. Maro ran to it and used his buffs to perform a surge of attacks, striking true for a total of 223 damage, finishing it with a stomping kick to the head, landing it on the cavern floor.

End of Combat

The party spent about an hour or so carving up the killed creatures for materials. As Naaldoshi wrapped itself in the furs of the killed creature, he started to take a form similar to it and Omen remarked that Naaldoshi was "as scarce as hen's teeth", seeing how strange and unique they were. Naaldoshi wondered what was so weird, he had always been like this, and that was why he was alone. They then started heading toward where Naaldoshi had seen dragons.
On the way toward the spire, Eldon asked Nitt about how it was to die. He couldn't remember much except near the end but didn't describe much. Setting camp, Baradin summoned a large tower out of snow in an open area. While on the way in, Maro noticed what looked almost like a person in the mist in the distance. They found it a chimney but decided not to head inside when Naaldoshi told them of a dwarf stalking the woods.
Nitt then used his Mirror of the Past to see scenes about Naaldoshi's past and saw that when he was young, his form seemed to always be undulating or changing showing scenes of Naaldoshi moving to the valley and seeing the settlers in Wikrum. Baradin spent the night inside the topmost chamber of the tower, which none of the other characters had entered while Naaldoshi made a campfire in the sleeping quarters.
The day after, they investigated the chimney, and as Eldon climbed down it, they found a building buried under the snow where foods would've been smoked to preserve better. Eldon managed to gather some smoked fish and meat before climbing back up and continuing their journey south, toward the Gael Spire, the largest of the mountains surrounding the valley. Eventually, they began climbing up toward the top of the mountain when Maro noticed an ancient staircase snaking across the mountainside. So, they made their way to the staircase and began climbing it, until eventually they reached a building, some sort of temple built among the heights. As they made their way inside, a thick, freezing, mist began to surround them and a voice spoke out from the mist saying: "The hunt begins..." and the session ended.

Rewards Granted

Materials from hunted monsters

Missions/Quests Completed

"Deal" with Naaldoshi's "neighbour".

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

Report Date

12 Aug 2023