Session 12

Fact Sheet: Foot pics for the devil

Date: 21-12-22

Date in-universe: an unspecified Saturday

Players present: Ecchima, Marty, Meinhart, Tuur and Vinnie. Dins was our DM.

Major developments:

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Notes

1. Frei punches the closest salamander, hitting him twice (alas, TWO TIMES a NATURAL ONE for the damage)

2. Storm fails a death save

3. Eldrin activates toll the dead on the salamander with an arrow sticking out of his head. The salamander rolls a NATURAL ONE and is enveloped in shadowy bells (from Eldrin's dark sword). The salamander is very frazzled

4. Hali shifts her moon beam to a new target & moves to a better position

5. Fyllion, having fled behind some other buildings, hears Storm's groan. It sounds like a death rattle, so he slows his so-called tactical retreat. With misty step he moves to a roof closer to Storm, in a puff of oxblood-coloured smoke. Moving closer to the edge of the roof, he looks at Hali, who's sprinting to a better position & at the two salamanders who overpowered Storm. He throws his dagger at one of them & coordinates with Hali on how to heal Storm

6. the salamander in the moon beam recoils in anger and pain. He attacks Hali and the pain triggers another memory of the beach: Anastasia and Archibald are fighting back-to-back, Magpie is throwing firebolts, and as Hali feels how she whirls around, trying to help Eluviel in an attack on Virgil, she remembers a dark blast slamming into her body… with the memory of her last breath, she’s thrown back to the present.

The young, unarmed salamander spits fire at Fyllion, but isn't very accurate. He slithers up the building

The wounded salamander hits Frei once and misses once

The salamander attacking Eldrin misses completely

7. Ezra shoots at the salamander fighting with Eldrin, but the beast is carrying a shield

1. Frei wrestles on with the salamander in front of her

2. Storm succeeds a death save

3. Eldrin shoves the salamander, but they can't get enough of a grip. They snap a bunch of swear words at him & mark him with their hunter's mark. A wave of shocked gasps flutters through the crew, we’re not used to hearing Eldrin swear

4. Hali moves her moon beam onto the enemy closest to Fyllion & confronts the salamander attacking her. Her scimitar misses her mark, but she's able to slip past the salamander & Hali can kneel next to Storm

5. throwing off his panic over the sudden appearance of this moon beam, Fyllion starts a lovely song: stand up and dance with me, it's your destiny. This heals Storm a little bit. Though he's fascinated by the moon beam, Fyllion refrains from touching it & jumps down onto a canopy to join Hali

6. The salamander in the moon beam flinches away and takes minimal damage. He attempts to follow Fyllion & attacks with his claws (missing once, thanks to a NATURAL ONE). The pain triggers a memory for Fyllion: salamanders are rising from the lava around the beaches of our island, everyone is fighting, a salamander slices off Fyllion's arm and he bleeds to death... he returns to the present & feels the mental strain of the memory

The salamander in front of Eldrin attacks Eldrin with a NATURAL TWENTY and then misses with a NATURAL ONE

The salamander fighting with Frei misses twice

The last salamander follows Hali, but he misses twice

7. Ezra twangs with their longbow, but misses

1. Frei misses twice

2. Storm notices Aqueel wants to join the fight, but luckily Enza holds him back. With primal savagery, Storm fails to hurt the salamander hunting Hali. Storm scrabbles upright

3. Using all their mental strength and inspiration, Eldrin slams an eldritch blast into the salamander with the arrow in his head. Ezra cheers Eldrin on, unaware that the cold darkness of the spell feels soothing on Eldrin's wounds

4. Hali hacks away at the salamander pursuing her & moves her moon beam onto him

5. Fyllion is flustered by the memory of losing his arm. He snaps at the young salamander that stalkerish fans are never fun. He sings some scales, activating mantle of inspiration (for Eldrin, Hali, Storm and himself) and shifts his scales into a screech of dissonant whispers, but the salamander resists

Benefitting from the extra movement Fyllion provided, Eldrin jumps into a building, seeking shelter from the midday sun. Hali repositions herself and Storm and Fyllion jockey for position too

6. The salamander in the moon beam is pulverized

The young salamander is scared and cries out to the one fighting with Frei: we should flee! He joins the fight on the roof & hits Frei once

The last salamander hits Frei twice

7. Ezra looses an arrow, but it goes wide, and they miss.

1. Frei shouts for help but keeps fighting. She knocks her original enemy out & launches a flurry of blows on the young salamander, hitting once. The young salamander screeches in panic and rage

2. Storm launches an arrow through the armpit of the young salamander (with a NATURAL TWENTY). The arrow jabs out of his neck, cutting his screams short. Blood splatters everywhere as he dies

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While the crew is trying to recover their breath, Ezra’s adrenaline crash triggers the final memory. Before their mind’s eye, they see themselves leave a building in the city of brass. They feel they’re holding a bag, and instinctually they know they have the bag with the crystal, which is what they came to secure. As soon as they exit the building, Ezra becomes aware of many angry stares levelled at them, from both the fire genasi in the streets and from the fire salamanders perching everywhere. Ezra realises they’ve been ratted out!

Dashing through the streets, Ezra heads to the island, zigzagging through the crowd. They’re horrified to realise the island is also under attack! Virgil is there, whipping his troops into a frenzy! From the Young Kraken, Eluviel and Laithe are desperately flinging spells everywhere, the firebird has been hurt, Archibald is lying motionless in the sand, captain Magpie and his adopted goddaughter Anastasia are swarmed by fire salamanders, Fyllion and Storm are screeching in death throes, Ezra’s hears Hali’s breathless death rattle as an eldritch blast slams into her body, they can hear Eldrin keening but where are they…?

Rallying, Ezra manages to lob the bag with the crystal to Eluviel before they wade into the fray. Anastasia is being dragged towards a magma-filled crevice. As Ezra desperately fights their way towards her, they hear Eluviel start the chant of the plane shift spell. The second’s worth of distraction proves fatal – Ezra feels how they’re mortally wounded, while they’re watching Anastasia disappear under the boiling rock.

The last thing they see before the memory fades, is a kind face with milky white eyes hanging over them, with the words “I’ve got you now” as the healing magic begins. Ezra snaps back to the present, we see them gasping and crying from the memory.

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As Eldrin steps out of the building, they hear a soft scratching noise coming from under the carpet in the corner of the room. There's an unlocked hatch, which Eldrin lifts. A soot covered child brandishes a tiny dagger at Eldrin.

Eldrin tries to reassure the kid, as well as the 4 other kids and the older woman and older man (with a bad burn) cowering in the cellar. Eldrin calls over the others, Enza and Aqueel join us. Hali offers goodberries, Eldrin cures the older man's burns.

Enza recognizes the woman as Miriam and the man as Hamza. They're not related but found shelter together. Myriam's Sufyan appears to be missing, he was probably taken by the sable serpent. We take the time to heal, both ourselves and the villagers, through Fyllion's song of rest or Hali's magical help.

As we explore the ruins, we notice the smoke signals came from the black smithy, where the salamanders were hiding, looking for whatever heat they could find.

We share parts of our memories of the attack on the beach near the city of brass. Fyllion thinks it's an illusion, but when we check our bodies, we find hairline remnants of scars that speak of supernatural healing. Fyllion makes the band from his lopped-off arm disappear as soon as he can. Storm rubs over it, but it's really gone! Can he disappear other scars too, like the one on Ezra's butt where Simeon stabbed them?

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Enza found some personal belongings in her underground storeroom and the other Nawa survivors gather some stuff too, like clothes, linens, some jars that survived… Eventually we all regroup to discuss how we can help them. The town is badly damaged, and the pollution in the well probably seeped into the ground water. It’s unfeasible they stay here and several of us are quietly convinced reconstruction will prove impossible. In the short term, clearly, the best option is everyone travel with us to Koh’Shar. We find a cart that's still serviceable, we could jury-rig a rope contraption to our camels to help the transport.

Enza checks with Ezra, they comfort each other as much as possible in their pain. Enza ran a kindergarten, so she knows the children. We find only two or three dead villagers; the other corpses appear to be bandits. Myriam leads the burial rites.

Eldrin spends a long time praying to Soliman:

Oh Lord, I have neglected your worship. I want to thank you my friends and myself are well. I want to humbly ask you for guidance on our purpose, so I can fulfil your wishes to the best of my abilities. Please, Lord, grant me the wisdom to accept my fate, the courage to face my destiny, the heart to face the ones that defy your grace.

Myriam thanks Eldrin for their help, feeling they're a good person: I can feel Soliman's warmth inside you. At her words, Eldrin feels an ember of warmth ignite, like a friend is putting a hand on their shoulder. Soliman is still with Eldrin!

Frei brings up the bronze statuette: it's a little nasty looking demon in a weird pose, wearing armour similar to Virgil's! Eldrin's sword (at a distance) doesn't respond to it. Everyone seems wary, but Storm decides to explore it. With natural curiosity and some suggestions from his friends:

If you rub it, nothing happens
If you rub it with your feet, nothing happens
If you stomp on it, nothing happens
If you shake it like you're an angry nanny with a crying baby, nothing happens

Clearly, it'll only work if someone channels magic into it. We decide to take to Koh'Shar, to see if Sabor or Mi'Kal can help with it.

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We check what the survivors want to do. They feel they're not able to rebuild Nawa as they are, eps. with the well being polluted. They also prefer to know the fate of their loved ones first.

Eldrin offers them the 300 gold pieces they'd destined for an orphanage; on the condition they pay it forward in the future.

Storm, Hali and Aqueel work on sorting out the pond as best they can. Removing the dead bodies is step one, but the carnage seeped into the ground water, so magic help is needed. Hali and Aqueel can't solve everything, but they make a good start at least. Hopefully, this will speed up the water table’s natural recovery.

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We start heading to Koh'Shar. It's a long and hot afternoon, with the camels and the cart, but we've got gear enough to manage.

On the way, we're regaling the children with stories of the high seas. We gloss over the similarities between pirates and bandits from the Sable Serpent, thanks to the Northern Fairy tales Fyllion tells them. Ezra and Baaloo illustrate the stories as they walk along.

Eldrin encourages Hali to make sure Aqueel is included, by introducing him. Soon they're nattering away with signs and some water illusions, as kids do whenever there’s a language barrier.

Eldrin's migraine from the sunlight keeps getting worse, so Ezra helps them out with a thin veil to shade their eyes.

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When we pass the transportation circle, with the barely-cooled magma, Storm falls back and attempts the statue again. As soon as he channels some of his innate magic into it, Virgil responds with mockery and smugness

Storm attempts to reason with Virgil, claiming we’re mad at Eluviel for stealing our memories, but Virgil doesn’t bite
Storm attempts to torment Virgil by dunking the statue’s head into the lava, but Virgil is attuned to the element fire, so that doesn’t phase him
Storm tries snark like “does your daddy say about the mess you’re making” and quickly breaks the connection, hoping Virgil will stew over the insult a little

Catching up to the others, Storm shakes his head – no luck!

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As we safely reach Koh'Shar, we see

several caravans are leaving town
the most delicate crops starting to wilt and wither under the unrelenting sun

The effects of the drought are slowly becoming more pronounced.

The gate guards suggest we ask Skourja as queen of respite to harbour these refugees. Ezra uses Baaloo to shield their face: it’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to their identity as a Saree. Eldrin underlines to Myriam that paying it forward is essential for the money they gave her. They promise she can still call on our group if she needs help in the future.

We divide our jobs:

Hali and Fyllion will work on Skourja to help the refugees
Eldrin and Storm will visit Sabor with the statue
Ezra and Frei will check in with Akram, returning the camels

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Though taken aback by the sudden number of grubby, traumatized children in her fancy office in her most beautiful inn The Moonflower, Skourja prepares a place in the inn "The Slumbering Sands", it will do as a temporary refuge. In the council, Akram mentioned more Nawan people might be freed when the guards go after the Sable Serpent, so the inn would work till then. She writes a letter to the manager to organise this. She can re-assess when it's clearer how many people will be involved.

She wants to discuss something with Fyllion in private, who also has a question for her.

He wants to know if there's an audience for a smaller more acoustic concert. She's pleased, the previous concert was a good deal for her thanks to the beverage sales. They concoct a plan to organise it this very evening, by invitation only
She wants to discuss a previous guest. Simone Facouri checked out without paying her room or the dry-cleaning cost of all that blood in her bathroom, leaving a note to put it on the tab of Fyllion Springcrest. At the time, it seemed implausible the famous bard would ever shouw up in their quaint desert town, so Skourja wrote it off as a loss, but now Fyllion is here… Skourja isn’t gauche enough to charge him retro-actively, but she is willing to hand over some forgotten personal items, like a black shirt with a big gash and crusty, dried blood, smelling of Simeon's musk and blood, a forgotten healing salve and an anti-dote, a crumpled up letter with only "Dear Fyllion" on it with the “dear” crossed out and rewritten, some random items like hair ties, some food, a few empty vials.

Fyllion clutches the shirt and the letter to his heart. He's planning to wear the shirt as cute sleepwear... maybe he should ask Ezra to wash & repait it a little? But then Simeon's musk might dissipate...?

Episode Guide

Previously: session 11 Expedition to Nawa

Next up: session 13 Dunking (on) this demon