Session 12: Confrontation with Vindross (and Gertrude)

General Summary

Time to get knee deep in Vindross’s ass.
We turned the corner and there was Vindross. After a short monologue, he called forth a giant turtle. Vindross leaped upon the mighty shell of Gertrude, the Giant Terrapin.
Rath charged forth recklessly and his blessed blade bounced off of the shell. The turtle reeled back and let forth an unbelievable stream of steam, splashing over Rath. Rath fell over, nearly fatally harmed by the water part of the steam. Blu released his elemental fury, firing ice at the turtle. Trent healed Rath and himself, saving Rath from death. Bud Towers began foaming at the mouth and swung his mighty maul, causing a sickening “thud” against the large body of the turtle. Rath got up to his feet and repeated his previous failure to penetrate the shell. Blu stepped up and continued his icy assault upon the turtle.
The turtle then snapped at Bud Towers (The Hero of our Time), who suffered a terrible gaping wound. After taking a step back, he felt ill as venom coursed through his veins. His skin paled and his wound started turning a dark black. Trent’s muscles began to spasm all over his body. His skin shorn and fur sprouting all over his body, he miraculously grew in mass into the form of a terrifying bear. The turtle swung its tail, smashing Bud Towers (the hero of our time). In return Bud Towers (The Hero of our Time) wildly swung his Maul of Manliness (TM), crushing part of the shell. Continuing his streak of complete misses, Rath swung twice in frustration. He lost his footing and the turtle attempted to finish the sad, flaming mess.
Bud Towers (The Hero of our Time) immediately protected his friend by slamming his massive maul into the monster, causing it to narrowly miss Rath. In his swift desperation, he put the full force of his weapon behind the swing, holding nothing back, and further cracked the shell. Blu, capitalizing upon Bud Towers' (The Hero of our Time) massive blow, continued the frosty assault upon the turtle. The turtle moved away, and after another unsuccessful swing from Rath, the turtle entered the water and circled around to Blu. The turtle bit Trent, who began to turn pale and his wound became dark, similar to Bud Towers (the hero of our time). The turtle swung its tail at Blu, sending him flying, crushing his ribs and bruising his entire body. Bud Towers (The Hero of our Time) ran like a maniac upon the turtle and slammed him maul upon the meats of the turtle. The sound of tenderizing mean echoed through the water as Vindross looked on from the back of the beast. Rath, realizing he will not be hitting anything…ever, decided to grab his bear companion and exploded from where they were and reformed atop the turtle. Blue, who landed in the water, pointed to the turtle and a beam of icy death sprang forth and chilled the side of the turtle.
The turtle began to retreat and went underwater. Trent swam to the dry ground and shifted his moon beam to the place where he last saw the turtle. The turtle shook everyone off of his shell. Bud Towers (The Hero of our Time) swung his maul viciously into the water, connecting with the behemoth. The turtle returned with its own assault, flailing in the water and connecting with Bud Towers (The Hero of our Time) and sent him through the water and colliding violently with the stone walkway. Rath swam and lit a fire…because. Blu intuitively cast another vicious ice spell at the monster and found his mark.
The beast reeled back and released it scalding steam breath, hitting Rath who began to drown. Bud Towers (The Hero of our Time), jumped an astonishing 15 feet into the air, screaming gibberish that could only be understood as vile threats coming from the frothing mouth of the berserking madman, came down upon the turtle with enough force that the water parted down to the bottom of the sewer. After a second, and everyone’s ears recovered from the fearsome reverberations, the turtle sank to the bottom….and the pink bow floated to the top of the water.
After the epic battle, Yngis, whose name is *almost* an anagram for stingy, talked Vindross into giving Yngis the shop and kept the diamond. The party grappled with the morality of the methods Yngis employed, but reluctantly assented. They left the sewers.
Vindross led the group to a hidden chest, full of loot (check the sheet). After the all of this, the stupid snail stopped screaming. The loot was divvied among the team. We returned to the guard and the woman we had *ahem* detained. After Bud Towers (The Hero of our Time) explained with grace, eloquence, and great detail the harrowing account of the “huge thing”, the guard recommended that we bring our story to the mayor. Bud Towers (The Hero of our Time) tried to console the woman that may or may not have been an accomplice.
The party then went to Darkthorn Alley where they ran into Boxed Text. After listening to the Boxed Text, the party began debating where to go next. Blu decided to go to the wand store against the wishes of everyone else. Blu, one man, all alone, beset by his friends, unable to gain support, unwilling to agree with the consensus, played publicly with his orb while checking out the wares. Mr. Mollyander (not Oleander) showed Blu, the gullible, a wand that he tried to pass it off as a “wand of water”. After haggling Blu put 5 gold down to hold the wand. Blu immediately darted through the streets and got to the Crossed Wands Inn before the rest of the group. Vendra had gone off to have her fortune told. Nernani, was the nice, old lady that ran the establishment. They party rented two rooms, cleaned themselves up with the magic of the Cleansing Stone provided to guests of the Inn, and had some food and drink (the young heroes trying alcohol for the first time and getting a little rowdy before being shushed by a few patrons).
Blu went to see Vendra at the fortune teller while the others were getting clean. The fortune teller noticed Blu, and started her pitch. Blu asked Vendra what her fortune was. Blu, being sarcastic, asked for his fortune to be told. The swindler fortune teller went into her bullshit money-stealing methods her normal routine of fortune telling and revealed that we were on a quest, a quest to find a fire dragon. She said he was to the south, in a mountain, and that we should find our way to Arcanum and the Headmaster would likely have some more knowledge about the dragon. Blu did not believe the fortune teller and tried to rationalize it away. The fortune teller restated that the dragon was to south and if they wanted to know more, we should talk to the Governor of Marabin or the Headmaster of the Magic Academy in Arcanum. Blu and Vendra returned to the inn where the party turned in for the night, waking up to a hearty breakfast in the morning and gathering to do some shopping.

Rewards Granted

2,112 gp total: 1,200 cp 5,000 sp 800 gp 90 pp
25 gp art objects (×5): Black velvet mask stitched with silver thread Carved bone statuette Copper chalice with silver filigree Embroidered silk handkerchief Pair of engraved bone dice
100 gp gemstones (×15): Chrysoberyl (transparent yellow-green to pale green), ×5 Coral (opaque crimson) Garnet (transparent red, brown-green, or violet) Jade (translucent light green, deep green, or white), ×2 Jet (opaque deep black), ×2 Spinel (transparent red, red-brown, or deep green), ×4

Missions/Quests Completed

Find Vindross / Retrieve the Dragon Diamond

Character(s) interacted with

Yngis, Vindross (Jeweler/Scoundrel), Gertrude (Vindross' Pet Giant Turtle) Vendra (Blu's Sister), Croyze (Fortune Teller), Nernani (Innkeeper), Bartleby (Wandsmith), Grane Highthorne (Guard), Karinn Lormus (Clerk)

Report Date

11 Mar 2019

Primary Location

Marabin

Secondary Location

Kantrinna