Session 34 - Unfriendly Blankets

General Summary

31 Amberspell - contd.

As the heavy moss blight smothered Jilken, the elf struggled to pull her arm free enough to jam the spear into it. The first time the Aiel wasn't able to move her arm enough to jab, but the second cut deep into mossy and frying the edges. At the same time Ranunkel rushed forward and took a swipe at the moss, leaving a deep gash.

Janora planted the dogstaff on the ground and cast Chill Touch. The spectral dog paw swiped at the blight but hit the wall instead, as one of the patches of seaweed rose up and wrapped itself around the witch's legs. Vellikar managed to evade another seaweed blight, but both Ell and Ranunkel were not so lucky and found themselves restrained as well.

Finally seeing these blights and the predicament of his new friend Vellikar conjured a Flaming Sphere directly behind the blight that had tried to grab him. The seaweed took a bit of fire damage before the druid sent his sun into the moss blight, roasting a black patch. Stepping back into the corner, Vellikar dropped his human seeming and revealed his true Firbolg face.

The moss blight pulled away from the fire and moved closer to Janora, pulling Jilken with it. Lashing out with psudopods, the blight hit both the witch and Ranunkel. Another patch of moss fell onto Vellikar and wrapped the shocked druid within itself to smother.

Ell looked down at the seaweed blight that was wrapped around his legs and cast Ray of Frost. It managed to freeze several of the stalks, but not enough for him to break free. Denye called out, "Ell, try to duck if you can. I can't shape this one the same way." The wizard held up both claws; one crackling with blue lighting, the other roiling with purple clouds. With a thunderous clap she brought them together and an enormous storm erupted out of the pool of salt water. Tracing a line through the air, Denye pointed at the blight holding Jilken and a thick bolt of lighting arced into it as it howled in pain.

A third moss blight dropped from the ceiling onto Janora's goat and began smothering it. Jilken, feeling the moss blight weaken jammed her spear into it, cutting thought the thick peat and pushing her way out as it fell dead. The Aiel's eyes widened at the sight of the other two before breaking into a smile. With two more swift swings of the spear, Jilken scythed the seaweed blight that held the witch.

Ranunkel grunted and crouched down, pulling inward. Rock and stones began flowing out of the openings on his clothes as other loose stone and rock around the cavern rolled toward the stout dwarf. Soon he was covered, but it did not end there. His arms and legs began to grow and length. In a moment a large rock elemental stood up and backed up next to Janora.

Janora now free and pissed at the moss blight attacking their goat, pointed a finger and called up a witchbolt. The lighting arced toward the blight but it got pulled into Denye's storm cloud. With a growl from the witch, the goat pulled itself out of the blight, ripping into it with horn and hoof.

One of the remaining seaweed blights struggled through the storm and wrapped itself around Denye's waist. It was enough to break the wizard's concentration and the storm vanished as the other seaweed plastered itself around Ranunkel's leg before roasting to ash in the heat of Vellikar's Flaming Sphere. Vellikar, still trapped by a moss blight, attempted to cast Primal Savagery but was having difficulty making the ritual gestures. With a grunt of annoyance, the druid pulled the Sphere over to that side of the cave and slammed it into the moss.

Ell sent two Eldritch blasts at the last seaweed holding Denye, breaking her free and slamming the remains across the wall. Denye gave the warlock a nod and walked neared to the remaining moss blights before casting Thunderwave and pushing both back. Gaping a smile she said, "This one I can exempt people from."

The nearer moss blight struggled upright and threw itself at Denye, attempting to smother her. But a gust of wind knocked the blight back as the wizard cast Shield. As it fell back Jilken skewered the moss with a bolt from the heavy cross bow. Dropping the bow on it's strap, the Aiel whipped up the Rainbow Reaper and planted another bolt in the creature.

Ranunkel, still an elemental, came up behind Janora and Denye and swung over their heads at the moss blight, but both fists caught only air. Janora growled and cast Witchbolt again, but the bolt went wide and hit the ceiling.

Vellikar struggled and attempted to break out of the moss, but couldn't push through. In frustration, he pulled the Sphere back and slammed it into the blight again, leaving another charged and blackened patch. Ell fired off two Eldritch Blasts, one at each of the blights. The one went wide, but he managed to push the moss blight holding Vellikar back to the Flaming Sphere burning even more of it.

Denye looked at the big moss and lifting a claw sent a Firebolt into it. The clorafiend tried to smother the Corva again, but she danced out of it's way with a bit of a squawk. Jilken tried to hit the blight holding Vellikar, but the bolt bounced off the wall. With a snap of her fingers, the bolt bounced off the wall and into the closer blight. Humming a bit to herself, she lined up her sights on the first blight again and buried a bolt in the creature. Vellikar let out a yelp and some swearing in Sylvan as the bolt came through and hit him in the leg.

Dropping their Wildshape, Ranunkel called out, "Vellikar, hold on," and cast Healing Word on the captured druid. Janora tried Witchbolt for a third time, but the moss dropped to the ground and the lightning hit the wall of the cavern. Swearing darkly, they sent the goat ramming into the blight. The shaggy beast pinned it to the ground and began ripping it to shreds with sharp hooves.

Vellikar continued to struggle against the blight and slammed the Flaming Sphere into it again. Blackened, charred, it was enough damage that the creature went slack and the Firbolg druid pushed free. Looking around and the now still battlefield, Vellikar dropped to his knees gasping. Denye ran forward and cast Cure Wounds on him and helped him into a sitting position. Deciding that everyone could do with a bit of a break, the party settled down for a short rest.

After spending some time patching up wounds and trading off heal spells, Denye began to examine the new blight forms. Janora and Vellikar joined the wizard and began taking samples as well as copious notes. Vellikar was appalled at this perversion of the natural and magical world, but Denye warned that the parent tree was even worse.

Meanwhile, the other half of the troop were examining the seapool and the path beyond. Filling the passage from side to side, the water currently stretched about 30ft along the tunnel. Three entrances were visible on the far side, but it was hard to see from this side where they led. The floor of the tunnel sloped down sharply before rising on the far side and a wide crack was visible at the bottom.

After some heated discussion about how to cross and whether to explore below, Ell began using Ray of Frost to freeze the top layer so that the party could just walk across to the other tunnels. Denye, seeing this opportunity to study a spell unknown to her, watched avidly as the young noble cast the spell repeatedly. The entire process took 20-30 minutes, but by the end Denye formulated a wizardly version and was able to join in the effort.

The passage to the left was merely a shelf with a small chamber beyond, clear except for a large, suspicious patch of moss near the back. Seeing nothing of interest, Denye and Janora turned to the path on the right. Ell, though wanted a look and fired two Eldritch Blasts at the moss. The blight dropped to the ground and charged, but the rest of the party quickly took it down.

Annoyed, Janora returned to the right-hand tunnel with the rest of the party following, leaving Ell to scramble down the short tunnel and sift through loose dirt at the back. At one point he caught the flicker of something shiny and thought he had found some coin, but it proved to be a large brass button.

The other tunnel was narrower and somewhat twisty, the floor sloping up. Janora followed it for 20ft or so before coming to a halt. The tunnel beyond was filled floor to ceiling with brambles. Denye, coming up behind, turned to Vellikar and asked if he had another Flaming Sphere. The druid did and quickly conjured it, with Denye casting her own Sphere a moment later.  

Together, they quickly reduced the entire blockade to ash in moments.  Sending her sphere up the tunnel, Denye revealed a small side passage and a larger looking chamber. Coming around the corner to check out said chamber, Jilken only had a moment to register a figure with bark like skin and the crossbow in their hand before a bolt slammed into her shoulder. 

Realizing that this was one of the people taken and made into a slave of the tree, the party quickly finished him off. Ell, never one to miss an opportunity, quickly rifled through the man's pockets and found a few coins and more crossbow bolts.

The tunnel continued north before disappearing around a corner. Jilken and Ell scouted up to the turn and peering past saw that the tunnel opened into a larger chamber, quite near the Gulthias Tree. Similar to the last tree, this one was thicker in the trunk, but it had the same bark, black and rust red with sharp, jagged edges. Unlike the last one which was in a fairly high cavern, the branches of this tree were sunk deep into the ceiling to the point that they resembled a second set of roots. Patches of vines and briars lay scattered on the floor of the chamber and a grey-blue skinned orc stood holding a large battleaxe. 

As the party gathered at the bend to discuss a plan, Vellikar snuck forward to get a better look in the dim light. Stubbing his toe on a rock, he swore softly to himself. It was enough to give him away and two things happened at the same time. The first was the orc whirling and charging at the Firbolg druid. The second was a wall of black, inky tentacles that swarmed up around the tree, weaving themselves into a writhing wall of void. 

As soon as the orc got close enough for Denye to see, she fired a Firebolt at it, but the flame only flickered across his chest plate. Jilken followed it up with a bolt from the heavy crossbow that slammed into his chest before swelling and exploding. The hit rocked the orc on his heels and Jilken followed it up with a second flaming shot from the Reaper that knocked the orc back into the wall. As the body hit the writhing mass, the wall began to absorb it, but also rip the body into smaller and smaller pieces. Jilken muttered, "Got it. Don't get close to the wall."

Janora unable to see anything from the back of the line, pushed their way forward with the giant mastiff. Pausing at the entrance to the larger chamber, the witch brought their hands together and before them and cast Burning Hands. The spell incinerated one of the brambles and the dog rushed forward into a group of plants and letting out a thunderous bark, knocking several of them back.

Ell called out, "Get behind me, I think I have a plan."

"Now you tell me," muttered Janora. Ranunkel, well behind the rest of the group near the dead rogue, turned and scanned the tunnel behind for anything sneaking up on them but saw no signs of movement. Vellikar, still reeling from the earlier fight panicked and Wildshaped into a large bear filling the tunnel. He attempted to backup into Jilken and then tried to kick her up onto his back, but only succeeded in throwing the Aiel into the ceiling.

Two moss blights pulled themselves away from the ceiling and began lumbering forward as another human with bark-like skin rushed at the large dog and took two rapier strikes at the steed. The fey animal evaded the first strike, but the second cut into a haunch as the dog let out a whimper. A moment later a huge gout of water burst out of the ground in front of Janora and pounded down the tunnel in a Tidal Wave. The witch managed to keep her feet in the torrent and Vellikar's large frame protected the others from most of the force.

Denye, frustrated that she couldn't do anything if she couldn't see, muttered, "I'm probably going to regret this," and climbed over the large bear. Coming out on the ledge next to Janora, the wizard tossed a Fireball almost filling the entire chamber. All of the bramble blights burned to ash as the moss blights roared and the man stumbled back.

Jilken pushed her way past Vellikar's form and fired two crossbow bolts at the closer of the moss blights, the second shot exploding and ripping the beast to shreds. The last remaining fire ivy blight wrapped itself around the dog and began squeezing, until suddenly the dog vanished with a *poof*. 

Janora, angry at the blight, attempted to cast Witchbolt at the creature but once more the spell didn't connect. Growling the witch pushed their way past Vellikar and Ell. sliding past the bear so he could see into the room cast Sickening Radiance and the entire chamber filled with sickly green motes of light. Gorscha dropped as did most of the remaining blights. One moss blight still stood and howled angrily. Frustratingly, so did the wall protecting the Tree.  

Vellikar rushed into the chamber and slammed into the blight, knocking it to the ground, where he proceeded to rip it to shreds. Backing up into the tunnel, Denye threw a Firebolt at the wall of blackness. The ray of fire burned through the wall, vanishing behind it as the tentacles filled themselves back in.

Moving forward to the edge of the chamber, Janora called out, "Ell, drop your spell. I want to get a closer look at this barrier." Doing so, Ell moved forward to examine the wall as well. Narrowing their eyes, Janora picked up a rock and threw it through the wall. The projectile passed through the wall and vanished on the other side. The witch stroked their chin and said, "I think you might be able to pass through it. The orc was already dead when it hit the wall." Pointing down at Gorscha, they added, "We could try throwing him in and see what happens. I presume that's your brother." 

Ranunkel ran into the room just as Vellikar, still in Wildshape, ran through the barrier. The cold and necrotic energies of the wall sapped the last of the Wildshape's strength and left Vellikar standing on the other side. Panting for a moment, the druid quickly cast Cure Wounds on themselves as a fourth barkskin servant appeared. This one was a moon-eyed goblin who ran around the tree and spit poison at Vellikar, but he dodged back and avoided the attack. 

Still unable to see much of anything, Denye threw another Fireball bead through the wall. The satisfying whoomph of the blast was music to the party's ears and a moment later the magical barrier dropped as the goblin fell over dead.

With all the active threats destroyed, Janora cast Blight on the Tree and the others followed suit with their own spells until the tree was wrecked and destroyed. Not content, Denye began to systematically turn every bit of the tree to ash, except for a few samples that she packed away carefully.  

Ell meanwhile turned to the corpse of his brother and began going through his pockets. Finding a coin purse and a scroll case, the warlock handed the coin purse to Denye for the group and slid the case into his bag. The young man also pulled the large signet ring off his brother's finger and slipped that into the bag as well. Ell stood up and brushed his hands clean just as Jilken called out, "There's another cave over here."

Report Date

22 Oct 2021