2nd Campaign, Session 21. 11/4/25

11:10 AM, Icemonth the 19th. The 2 lava lizards lunged forward, Hrimvar and Yandr taking the front as the stony reptiles attacked. Meanwhile, a few of the distant kobolds ran for the horns from the sleeping ones and began blowing them hard. As bolts and arrows were coming their way, they hit the walls, getting some cover. In the distance we could hear kobolds coming.

The lizards were rough to fight, their skin blocked all but the most powerful of blows. However, Hrimvar did get a solid shot, smashing the closest one in the chest so much that shrapnel flew into its chest – dooming it to a rough tony stark style death in less than an hour.

Being that hurt, it backed up, hissing and snarling, which inspired the other to turn as well. A few shots drove them off and they ran to the slope and slid down the 60’ to the lava where they hid. But we could hear the kobolds coming. We ran forward, lacing the bridge with caltrops and oil. Bolts were readied and finally a bless spell shot off again.

And the kobolds came – over 25 of them. The leader was bracketed by his 3 guards and an 8 count of kobolds fired bows, 16 arrows streaking towards us. Shields were raised and we hunched low, blocking and getting a few light scoring wounds. The chief handed a few potions out, making two of his guards invisible and the last one swelled up to 13’ in height from a growth potion.

Damn it. Cara called on Thor and used her new spell to bathe the chief in fairie fire lights – which snagged both invisible guards as well, spoiling their camouflage. And then the archers on our side shifted their aim at the chief. And even though he was being blocked and hemmed in, bolts flew.

He was struck in the chest, knocked down. Then the next shot was called and Fjord shot him…in the asshole. Bullseye. The bolt ran almost unimpeded into the chieftain’s guts, ripping and tearing them apart. Then another volley of arrows flew from Nevah, one of them pegging the prone whimpering kobold chief in the cloacae, ending his life in a single 9 second agonizing moment of time.

Morale check. The kobolds failed and they turned and ran, falling over each other in their mad dash to escape. We watched amusedly as they ran for the exit and eventually fled. We gathered up the caltrops carefully, used grit and sand and rocks to make the oil walkable, and crossed to the other side. The Chief had been left there so we went through his stuff. Elven chainmail, his enchanted blade, some fish head wine, belt of gold and silver coins.

It was quarter after 11 when we were ready to go on. Any distant kobold noises had been gone for some time, we heard nothing anymore. So we left with care, heading west out of the cave, weapons ready.

Cara could spot signs that the kobolds had left the area in a haste. Discarded broken items litters the passage. Eventually the passage moved back to the east and opened to a chamber in that direction or a passage south that we could see the kobolds had fled down. We opted to go east instead.

Decent sized room, another passage south in here. A fancy ornate horse decorated faintly glowing table was in the corner, 6 mismatched chairs around it. A brazier of copper with some logs burning brightly but without heat. The clerical types looked over the table – definitely Aine’s and magical as well according to Atlas. Hrimvar, Yandr, Carl, and Cara all took the time to meditate around it. Carl and Hrimvar felt themselves taken out of place and time.

A n avatar of Aine was here. She was surprised to see them and hoped they had slain the goblins who had been using her table. She wanted to save some of her lost important pieces of her temple. One, the three books of which 1 was nearby but two were still in the Monastery (makes sense). Two, this table which for the Matriarchs of her temple allowed them to commune easier with her in times of trouble. And Three, her follower’s remains had been covered and ensorcelled with a defilement, and she’d like it resolved (as soon as we get dragon blood, Rosabella and Rosalinda will be able to fix the triggering tattoos on the child). Do all three and she will give a gift to the two of them. As for lifting the table (250 lbs), Aine gives both Hrimvir and Carl the ability to carry it regardless of weight capacity.

They felt the connection end, no time passed. Shared what they had learned. We decided to check out the south passage here next. Corridor curved east then north to a chamber. Some barracks room. Signs that kobolds packed in haste and fled. We looked it over, finding mostly garbage. We did get lucky though and found a secret door on the north end of the cavern. Shoving it open showed a dusty webby passage beyond.

We entered, went the 20 or so paces to the end and a blank wall. Another search showed another secret door and this time, we lucked out and shoved it open – coming back to the east end of the lava bridge room. Ok! Good to know. We closed the secret doors and retracesdsteps all the way back to the chief conference room and then west to the passage south the kobolds had fled down. Noon.

We went south for a while, corridor then turned east and after a short bit, ended as a set of stairs...Going up. Like a lot. We decided a few of us would go and check out the stairs first. Fjord, Gun, and Nevah went up slowly with care, checking each section of the steps for traps or anything. Steps went up 50’ before coming to a passage heading east. More signs of the kobolds had fled up this way. We all gathered together and mapped out the area a bit.

20 paces down was a side passage to the north, another 30 paces past that was another wider passage north. Then it seemed another passage went south a bit past there. Lots to explore. We figured to be methodical and start at the beginning.

We went to the first passage and following it north, it curved along and back a bit to the west and showed a big enough chamber that was empty for now, but had evidence that the kobolds had been mining in here at some point in the past. We looked it over, chip marks on the wall, rocks fragments on the floor. Nothing else.

Leaving here we went back to the main chamber and kept going east to the next north passage. According to Cara, she was sure the kobolds had gone north and south from here a lot, but wasn’t sure if the marks were fresh or older. We went north and the passage split “Y” northwest and north east after 30 or so feet. We went northeast. And after some 20, 25’ of pacing – there was a just a black void there.

No light got past. Fjord pushed the Chief’s flaming blade into it and it snuffed out. He had to reignite it. Cara then called to Thor and fired off a light spell on a rock in her hand and entered. The magical void darkness fought back against her light, shredding and shedding constantly at the edges, trying to find a weak spot. We followed the ball of light in the room and here we found a figure in the chamber. It had been here decades. The clerical raiments and miter hat here undamaged in time, and it held a metal box tight in his bony grasp. 2’ x 2’x 1’. The darkness was coming FROM the dead guy. Detect evil? Yep.

We talked about it and decided the box was the right thing to get, leave the body. Using a spear and pick, and shifted the hand aside and then Yandr shuffled the box back and forth before he was able to take it away. Handing it to Nevah, we backed out of the chamber and then took a breath. While we were discussing what to do and how to do it, Nevah idly unlatched the box.

Triggered the poisoned needle and it stabbed himself in the hand. Immediately the gnome collapsed and black veins started running over his flesh, crawling up his arm. He dropped 20 hp immediately. Gun looked it over – blue faint color, smell of spices and oil. He looked at the gnome’s spitting and drooling face and said, “Boy, you done got poisoned. Blue Winnis. You’re gonna die.”

Hrimvar, Carl, Cara, and Yandr slammed healing into the convulsing gnome, raising his hit points once more – just in time before the second impact struck him. More black lines ran through his skin and he coughed and gasped and hunched over taking another ripping amount of hit points. Eventually he got his strength back but he had some permanent problems

Fjord had been looking over the box in the meantime. There was a reverse leaf spring on the back hinge. If the box was opened a tiny bit, the cover would fly off. Gas trap inside? Something else? We tied the cover closed and talked about options.

Hrimvar came up with a plan. He gave the box to his skeletal servant and coaxed it to walk back to the chamber that had the mining stuff going on inside. Then, while we were all safely away, had it open the box. We heard some sort of snapping sound and a wet splat. But after 5 minutes and skeleton not answering, we snuck into the chamber and looked.

There was a pelvis and legs standing there amidst faintly translucent green acid coating everything in an 8’ radius. The box was undamaged, and open. We used a spear to turn the box and coax it back but the spear began to hiss and eat so we tossed it into the room and away. Ok, we used a second one and slid the box closer again.

Inside was a holy symbol, dark, metal, twisted, and decidedly evil. Carl and Hrimvar looked it over, confident it was to Graz’zt, Demon Prince of decadence, self indulgence, and forbidden pleasure. What he was doing here and the symbol’s presence we did not know. Fjord was thinking about taking the symbol but the entire party told him resoundingly, “NO!!!”

3 PM, Icemonth the 19th.

Meet 139, Adv 16, 10/25/25

Heatmonth the 4th, 289 of the 29th age. 7:50 AM. The party discussed plans. Lots of plans. Wyvern? Bear? Both? Either? Contingencies. Too many to detail, too many to list. But after an hour and 10 minutes, they had boiled down to a decent operation.

Wilhelm cast Hide from animals twice on the party, making them invisible to normal and giant sized animals for up to 6 hours. Wouldn’t affect the wyvern, but the bear is fair game. Then a series of delay poisons were cast on Darius, Nate, and Connal – assuming that these 3 would be the ones in front of the wyvern when we attack. After that a light spell was cast on a single rock. That would give us 70 minutes of time.

Nate was hit with an invisibility spell so the thief (Fighter) could place himself for a backstab. We then walked down the hall, commanding the animals to stay behind for now. And just before entering the chamber, a bless, a bull strength on Connal, and a divine protection spell followed.

We entered the lair and the Wyvern lunged forward, tail weaving and stabbing. We shot and hit at hit, arrows struck but the scales of the wyvern turned some of the damage away. Shim’s magic missile spell tore in as well. Darius took a stab from the tail to the chest but the delay poison spell held it back for now.

Connal and Darius tanked the wyvern who wasted 2 of its attacks trying to rip Darius tower shield aside so it could get more tail stings at him. More arrows followed and another round of shim’s missiles. Nate got close enough for a solid back stab, and the Wyvern was down past half hit points. For those still down the hall, they could hear the bear coming closer, looking to investigate the combat.

The wyvern was shot by one of Eoghan’s stone biters, the arrow drilling deep into the muscle. That was it, it turned, screeched at the party and charged forward trying to flee. It mowed Darius down, then smashed Connal to the floor. The rest of the group leapt and dodged, trying to get away from the wyvern. As it made its way out, its tail was waving back and forth, daring anyone to get too close and get stabbed. As the trailing line was running out, Darius and Connal snatched it up and braced back, wrapping it around a stalagmite, making the Wyvern snarl and jerk to a stop briefly.

A second Wyvern had arrived from outside and was anxious, jumping about. Meanwhile the Cave bear, 13’ of it, was at the entrance of the other cave and watching. The arrow tore free and the Wyvern made to run outside. Connal snatched up Shim and the 2 of them threw their AC to the wind, charging out of the cave and trying to make the wyvern.

Meanwhile the animals was barking at the bear who advanced a bit, and the animals went back down the wyvern lair. Jack stood their alone another 30 seconds before joining the rest. The party also moved back down the hall, watching the bear and deciding of what to do. Outside Shim managed to fire off a blast of Shim’s missiles and the wounded wyvern fell over dead. The 2nd one took to the sky and Shim and Connal returned to the cave.

Still invisible to animals, they found themselves entering the bear’s portion of the lair, but a fired off dancing lights attracted the bear’s attention and it followed them back that way. Connal and Shim were forced to hug the wall as the bear sniffed and walked, getting closer. A hurled rock by Nate to distract the bear made it turn back to the main cave briefly, giving the monk and gnome a chance to go around it.

Eventually the Cave bear returned to its lair and we all joined up again. In the wyvern’s lair we looked for treasure. We did find old signs of eggs – Wilhelm and Eoghan were sure 4 or 5 years olf, and maybe 5 of them. Wyverns reach adulthood after 3 years so there were more wyverns out there.

As for treasure, we did find a portion of a goblin victory obelisk. Maybe 5’ tall, 4” square. A few of them read the goblin marks that were still visible. “During the razing of Mende….Powers beyond even that of Maglubiyat, the clans…Four Peaks, Dark Fathoms, and Torn Flesh came as one under…Site of the victory of the dark beast without the need…Eternal Queen Helen Back.”

Some of them had to be goblin clans, but the name Helen Back didn’t sound…gobliny. We took the obelisk to put in the hut and went outside, not wanting to engage the cave bear yet. We took some teeth, blood, and Nate along with some help from others, tried to milk some of the poison from the Wyvern’s tail. He got coated – quite a bit, but did get a single dose of Type D for now.

At this point Neutralize poisons were given out to those infected and we discussed plans on the bear. Friendship? Charming? Attack? Summon monsters and get past in the fight? Hide from animals on the animals? Lots of options and none were the best choice.

Heatmonth the 4th, 10:55 AM.