Session 33: Ogres in Zelbross Report

General Summary

Session 33 – Wednesday March 15, 2023 – Ogres in Zelbross

4.5Hour Role Play/battle session 5:45 PM to 10:30PM

The Stone Bearers. Party of 7:

It is the 21st day of the month of Uktar (The Rotting) in the 50th year of the Age of Enialis (Mid November.)

• Abrash – Wood (Desert) Elf, L6 Druid – Jacob Munson
• Ajani– High Elf, L6 Wizard – Nathan Gioconda
• Gazlowe – Goblin, L6 Artificer – Josh Pozsonyi
• Thomas – Human, L6 Blood hunter – Ryan Armstrong (Remote)
• Isabella – Forest Gnome, L6 Barbarian – Jackie Armstrong
• Introducing Juan Peyote – Gnome L6 Paladin – Will Johnson
• Digby – Gnome, L6 Cleric – Dan King (Last regular session )

Who’s that?

Isabella, still raging called out to the party to go into the pit and finish the job. However, Abrash was still unconscious. Thomas sneezed and a sphere of darkness appeared. As it dissolved, there were 3 people standing with the party. Ajani and Digby had returned but Gazlowe saw another. He pointed and yelled “Stranger” at a dignified older looking Gnome wearing Chainmail. The Gnome swung at Gazlowe but was disoriented and off balance and he fell over. He looked up to the strange people around him and thought that many of them looked like monsters in the strange environment, but he saw a two fellow Gnomes. He saw Thomas with many of his bandages fallen, walk over to Abrash and heal him, reviving him from unconsciousness. Juan stood up and recognized they were not demons and introduced himself as Juan Peyote. Isabella asked “Can you fight? We need to go after that Drider.” Thomas gave Abrash a healing potion.

Finish off the Drider.

Isabela continued to interrupt the introductions and stressed the urgency of the situation. Abrash briefed the party as to what’s going on. Abrash wild shaped into a War Ostrich. Digby climbed on the back of the Ostrich and Juan said, “A trusty Steed!” as he too climbed on the back of Abrash. The party then walked down into the pit to find the Drider.

They saw the Drider hiding behind a Rock and Thomas tried to speak to it, but it didn’t respond. Ajani spoke to it in Undercommon, and he quickly realized there was no hope. Its mind was devoted to “The Master.” The Drider made it clear that he wanted to present the party to the master as a gift. The party prepared for battle and then attacked. Unfortunately, the first volley of bolts failed to hit the Drider. Abrash was able to dash and jump through the sticky webs to bring Juan and Digby closer. Juan tried to jump at the creature and did a faceplant into the muck. He stood up and fired a bolt at the Drider, but it was a glancing blow and did minimal damage. The Drider slashed his sword into Juan. The rest of the party all failed to land a blow on the creature.

Isabella made her way through the muck up to the creature. Abrash as the ostrich finally landed a blow as did his summoned beast. Juan landed a blow with his maul. The spider slashed and bit into Juan and bloodied him. Digby and Ajani both used spells but missed. Finally, Gazlowe cast magic missiles and killed the creature.

Treasure found.

Thomas extracted web spinning glands from the Drider corpse and realized he could probably sell it for 50-100 gp. Juan pointed out a small chest behind a rock. Gazlowe ran over saying “I got it.” Gazlowe disarmed the trap and obtained a single poisoned needle. In the chest he found:

• Keoghtom's Ointment (5 uses)
• Two +1 Arrows
• Potion of hill Giant Strength
• 2 potions of greater healing
• Chime of Opening
• a gilded flower worth 350 gp

Get the Drow to safety.

The party, covered with slime and gunk left the Drider area and grabbed the unconscious Drow. They put them on the back of the Ostrich. Thomas went through the Drow’s pockets and collected 43 hand crossbow bolts. Remembering that they’re heading towards the pink crystals, Digby cast Beacon of Hope to help the party avoid the lure of the crystals. Juan also gave the party an aura of protection aiding them even more and they made it past the crystals without any serious temptation.

They found the small pile of Drow: Nimkos, the Drow that said “Take me with you” only to be lured to a trap of 2 Driders; four from the Blue Shrine area; and three from Drider’s webbed area. Thomas felt that there were still some Drow missing but he also felt that the place had been thoroughly searched. Juan asked, “Why are you collecting Drow?” Gazlowe and Abrash explain the situation.

Digby tried to take the crystal from Gazlowe but failed. Digby cast Calm Emotions on him twice, until Gazlowe failed the save, and Digby coaxed Gazlowe to show him the crystal. With the crystal in the open, Thomas successfully shot the crystal. Immediately, Gazlowe realized that the crystal was manipulating him. However, Digby’s Calm Emotions didn’t remove the curses; it simply suppressed them for the moment.

The party carried the Drow down the long passageway and eventually found the Eclivian camp. Victor was talking with Leszyr Hlatar. Leszyr was very happy to see her rescued people. She introduced the party to Ephreita, a Cleric of Sharindlar, who took the time to examine each of the Stone Bearers individually. Ephreita was easily able to identify who was affected and who was not and knew that she didn’t have the skills needed to heal them. Gazlowe was affected deeply.

Back to Zelbross and the Temple of Sharindlar

Victor walked up to the party and suggested that they go to Zelbross. Victor explained to Digby what the cleric had learned and told Digby who was cursed and that the priests in the temple of Sharindlar in Zelbross will be able to help (for a modest fee.) Aghast at the suggestion of charging to remove a curse, Digby cast “Remove Curse” on Gazlowe. A pink cloud of Snufflesnort was seen enveloping Gazlowe but then it was sucked into a black abyss and disappeared.

Concerned, Digby tried the same on Abrash with the same results. Realizing that the curse is beyond his abilities, Digby reluctantly agreed to take the party to the temple. Victor also asked, while they’re in Zelbross to go into Revalor’s shop and see if he’s been there, and retrieve any references to Niptu. He’ll meet them back in Nordahaeril.

It was a four-day walk to Zelbross. The party shared their stories with Juan, and they all got to know each other a bit better. They made their way back to Zelbross.

They had been gone a full month and saw that the damage to the town center had been repaired. They recalled the adventures they had and made their way to the Temple of Sharindlar and met with Fredricha. The priestess then met with those who were showing signs of madness and evaluated them. The party explained where they were, told her of Acheros, and provided her with one of the cultists robes. After some research she told the party that Acheros isn’t a god, but an ancient Aboleth who has intense psychic powers.

She told Digby that the three with mild madness can be cured in a couple hours for 250 gold each. But Gazlowe will be several sessions and normally cost about 2,500 but she would give them a group rate and cost 2,750 gp total. Digby asked Gazlowe for 2,800gp. Digby had to cast Calm Emotions on Gazlowe for him to agree. After one session, everyone except Gazlowe had their madness removed. Gazlowe only lost 1 trait (the worshiping of the void.) He was still obsessive compulsive and afraid of strangers.

Looting the Front of the shop

After the sessions, the party made their way to Revalor’s shop. Gazlowe picked the lock on the front door. They noticed that the place had not been vacant for a month. Someone had recently visited and cleaned up the place. There was very little dust in the front of the shop.

The party spent a bit of time pilfering items they could use, including many spell components they needed. Ajani collected some incense and powdered iron. The crew as a whole gathered:

• 5 vials of holy water.
• 1 Vial of Acid
• 2 Vials of perfume
• 1 Vial of Basic Poison
• 10 other vials that can be emptied.
• 3 potions of healing

Looting the Storage area

Thomas examined the curtain to the back room to be sure there were no traps or alarms, but he found nothing. The party went into the back room. They were faced with four doors: 2 doors leading further back, a door to the outside that was blocked by a storage rack, and a door to a large closet below the stairs to the 2nd floor. The back room itself had several shelves of various potions and potion mixing solutions in addition to alchemist supplies and a shelf of potion mixing, alchemist and herbology books.

The party was making a lot of noise rummaging through things. Thomas suggested Abrash cast Pass Without a Trace and even though he did, the party was still making a lot of noise. Gazlowe went into the closet area and saw a label on the shelf that said, “Warning! Volatile” Thomas’ eyes opened wide aghast as he saw Gazlowe purposely smash a bottle on the ground. “Just wanted to see what would happen,” Gazlowe reasoned. The potion sizzled a bit but didn’t explode, to Gazlowe’s disappointment. Abrash looked in on the commotion and noticed that the liquid was flowing into a crack in between the floor and the back wall. He carefully moved the shelf of potion bottles and explosive vials out of the way and pressed on the wall. Gazlowe examined the wall and saw a secret latch. Flicking it, the back panel slid revealing a stairway to the basement. Their total loot from the back room included:

• 1 Elixir of Health
• 1 Potion of Climbing
• 1 Potion of fire Breath
• 1 Potion of Frost Giant Strength
• 1 bottle of alchemist fire
• 6 potentially explosive volatile bottles for Gazlowe and 3 for Juan.

Secret lab in the basement

Gazlowe lead the way into the basement. They found a small lab area. There was a dissecting table in the center of the room and a body of an adult male elf laying on the table, his body completely drained of blood. There was a large glass cylinder containing an adult female elf floating in a green liquid in one corner and a similar container in another corner containing the body of a young male elf. Digby looked at the bodies in the liquid and determined that they were dead but there were no visible wounds. They didn’t look like their blood was drained but he did notice an indentation in her head as if she was possibly bludgeoned. Thomas found a journal and handed it to Ajani to read.

“Uktar 14
The wizard Kishen is in need of an advanced necrotic Niptu ritual to animate a single creature from an amalgamation of many like creatures. In exchange for 3 Elven bodies with minimal blood loss I promised him the book of multipeeds. I told him that the processes were very advanced, and it would take a very skillful mage to understand and duplicate the process (I didn't tell him it was beyond me but truth be told, there are some runes in that process that scare even me.) ...

Uktar 17
I met with Kishen's contact today at the farm of Farmer Brown. I knew Jedadiah, he was a decent Elf. It's a shame that it had to be him but I'm grateful for fresh blood. Knowing what is to come soon, it's best the week be killed and harvested properly for the strong. Kishen's gernal Doz was a surprise. I certainly didn't expect a somewhat intelligent Ogre clearly with demonic power. I wonder if the Horn is the key to his power?
…
The Exchange went well and General Doz and his Lieutenant Urso provide me with Jedadiah, his wife Efemalia and their boy Johosaphai, all killed without major blood loss. Bringing the bodies back was a challenge
...
The Empress will be Pleased.”

Thomas examined the body and found that the blood was drained within the past 3 days. He also determined that the other 2 bodies were not drained yet. He determined the blood from the one elf was used to make some of the Niptu Reagents. They found a tray with Niptu’s reagents:

• 15 Bloodantomoniumunimen
• 1 Healium
• 1 Duplicitousim
• 1 Thickandgewium
• 1 Hittemallium
• 1 Rangeium
• 1 Clamupium
• 1 Nomveium
• 1 Saveafriendium
• 1 Maxiboomium

The rest of the building

Leaving the basement, Digby walked up to the 2nd floor. He found it was a living space and it had been used recently although there was nobody there at present. He started looking out the windows for anybody suspicious looking but didn’t see anyone that looked unusual. There were plenty of citizens of Zelbross walking up and down the street. It was midday and the weather wasn’t too bad for this time of year.

Juan used his Divine Sense to see if he could detect anything unusual or undead in the house and, other than Thomas and Digby, he sensed no one. The party started examining the rest of the building. In the back room they found another lab, but it was a standard but more complex herbology and potions lab. They found:

• 1 Potion of Speed
• 1 Potion of Vitality
• 1 Alchemists fire
• 2 Potions of Greater Healing
• 1 Potion of Superior healing

Disturbance in the streets

Looking out the window on the 2nd floor, Digby noticed that the villagers seemed to freeze for a moment. The crowd began, slowly at first to back away from something in the center of town. Then they begin to scream and run. Digby called out to the others. “We’ve got some trouble outside.” The others gathered. Juan looked at Abrash and said, “Quick Steed! Transform!” Abrash looked back blankly and led the others to the front door. They went into the street and watched citizens fleeing from something in the center of town.

The sound of approaching footsteps thundered. They were not in unison like an approaching army, but they were thunderous as if they are a lot of large creatures. At the far end of the recently renewed village Green, they saw an approaching horde of Ogres. Perhaps a dozen of them spread out in a line about 5 wide.

The ogre in the center stepped forward with a lop-sided gait. As it approached, it rose, revealing it was an abomination of Ogre torsos held together by stitches. The eyes were cloudy, and the skin was much greyer than a normal living Ogre. Two Ogres to either side of the large abomination also had unhealed wounds that looked like they were fatal. Not all the Ogres looked undead. There were 9 more. The two on the far flanks seemed to be giving orders. 5 Ogre goons appeared to be leading. The huge creature of sewn together Ogre Torso's leaned to one side. Two of the Ogre Goons to that side reach up to push it back and they were instantly pummeled and slashed by the myriad of arms from the Ogrepede.

Ogrepede!

Thomas lit his whip while Ajani cast Mage Armor. Everyone did some quick prep as they raced toward the Ogres. Gazlowe downed the Potion of Speed he had just found in the shop and cast Mirror Image upon himself. Isabella drank a potion of Hill Giant Strength and dashed towards the Ogres. Juan cast Armor of Agathys and hopped on Abrash who turned into a War Ostrich. One of the Ogre’s carrying a Ballista fired a shot at Gazlowe and scored a critical blow. Digby shot a guiding bolt at the Ogre with the ballista. Abrash moved forward and summoned a fey creature. Ajani saw a building to the north of the green that had a balcony over it. He dashed into front and up the staircase.

Gazlowe healed a bit from a quick slurp of Superior Potion of Healing and then shot a fire bolt at the Ogre with the ballista. Isabella shot and killed one of the goons in the front with her bow. She took a 2nd shot and killed another. The remaining 3 goons swamped Gazlowe, but they hit his Mirror Image. Juan cast Command and Commanded the Ogrepede to attack, and it slashed into the Ogre Zombie. The Ogre with the Ballista hit Digby with a bolt. The Ogre Zombie ran from the Ogrepede and the Ogrepede bloodied it. Abrash jumped up to the Ogre Zombie and the fey spirit hit the Ogrepede. Thomas took out the bloodied Ogre Zombie. He then took another shot at the other Ogre Zombie and wounded it. Digby cast a 3rd level Guiding Bolt at the Ogre with the Ballista and critically hit him. The other Ogre smashed Thomas with his club and then grappled him. Ajani made it out onto the balcony of the 2nd floor of the building and cast a Chromatic Orb at the Ogrepede. Gazlowe yelled out “stand back” as he cast Thunderwave. It killed the three remaining Goons and the Ogre with the Ballista. He then ran to the Ogrepede and with his Potion of Speed made a single punch against it with his gauntlets.

Isabella hit the Ogre holding Thomas with her axe. Juan threw his maul (with 3 Volatile Potions attached to it) at the Ogrepede. The maul struck the creature and 2 of the potions exploded hurting it badly. He then shot the creature with his crossbow bloodying it. The Ogrepede tried to attack Gazlowe but missed. Abrash and his fey spirit both hit the Ogrepede. The Ogre Zombie smashed Isabella with its mace. Thomas took a shot at the Ogrepede with his crossbow and then whipped the Ogre holding him bloodying it. Digby shot a 3rd level Guiding Bolt at the Ogre holding Thomas and critically hurt him. The Ogre screamed loudly frightening Isabella and then bowled Thomas at Isabella and Gazlowe. Isabella dodged it but Gazlowe got hit and knocked over.

Ajani shot a Bolt of Lightning taking out the Ogre, and the Ogrepede, leaving only the Ogre Zombie remaining. Gazlowe finished off the Ogre Zombie with a catapulted piece of the gallows and then a follow up punch with his gauntlet.

After the last Orge fell, Digby came across a young girl who was killed by the horde of Ogres. With a tear running down his cheek, feeling compassion for her young life, he revivified her. Having made amends for his felt shortcomings, Digby rose up and told the party that his connection to Snufflesnort isn’t as strong as it once was. He told them that he needs to seek Snuffelsnort and strengthen his bond. He waved to the party saying “May Snuffelsnort embrace you all.” The party watched a pink cloud of Snuffelsnort envelop their undead friend and vanish. Covered in blood amid Ogre carniage, the crew sighed deeply and shed a tear for their beloved companion.

Campaign

The Forest

Protagonists

Thomas Elliot

Abrash Asim

Chaotic Good Moon Wood Elf (Folk Hero)
Druid 1

9 / 9 HP

STR
7

DEX
10

CON
13

INT
8

WIS
19

CHA
14

Report Date

20 Mar 2023