2nd Campaign, Session 5. 3/18/25

Icemonth the 3rd, 9 AM. We reclosed the storeroom and then wrapped the chain 4 times around the door handle and C clamp on the wall before the assassin relocked the padlock. No reason to alert anyone we had been here. From here we listened (it was quiet) and made our way back down the hall to the 1st door on the south wall.

Listening to it and checking it for traps, we went to open it but it was stuck. Took a few tries to get it open and when we did it was a sizable chamber – 50 x 60? What it was used for in the past we did not know as the room was devoid of everything. Windows, furnishings, markings, paint – only about ¾ of an inch of dust on the floor that was slowly wafting about as the door had been opened.

Party was torn on searching it but the half ogre opted to go in. He quickly disturbed the dust, making a cloud that surrounded him as well as billowed further ahead, blocking vision, and then eventually the hall as well. We were backing up as the half ogre was coughing and gasping – eventually losing consciousness and falling down about 2/3rds of the way in. the paladin went in to save him, covering his mouth with the edge of his cloak soaked in water. He got the half ogre and was dragging him back, slowly, and he too was succumbing to the dust. At this point then the half orc held his breath and raced in, helping to drag them both out. We closed the door and poured water on faces, hands, and hair to get the worst of the dust off. Eventually everyone was able to gasp and breathe.

“Find anything?” The half ogre was asked. “Um..brian…nothing.”

“Oh, want to further check out the room?” “Um…brian…no, I think we can safely say this room had nothing in it we need to look for.”

Good call.

The next chamber further down the hall was also opened, and it was at one point a prayer room. A large 8’ tall granite statue of Maglubiyat was at the south end, two small windows were in the room, foot and a half square, 7’ off the ground. There had been pews in here bolted down but had been removed. The floor bolts here still here, mortared into the ground. We gave the room a solid look over. No secret compartments, statue was one solid piece and had to be carved in here at some point some time ago. There was a blank section of the wall the assassin said his map might lead to another room but after a solid check, we were sure there were no secret doors in this chamber. The torch was getting dim so at 9:50 we swapped it and left the room.

At the end of the hall area by the secret door we had taken from the sanctuary we could go east (door on the north wall halfway down, hall ends another 25, 30’ past the door), or go north behind the sanctuary. We discussed it and opted to go east.

The door on the north wall had us stop and the paladin detected evil – getting a dozen solid pulses of evil. All of them tasting like sweatsocks and bananas to him, and half of them also having a spicier flavor like cayenne. Goblins. And maybe…hobgoblins? The gnome wanted to take them out but cooler heads prevailed – 12 goblinoids versus us seemed like too much. We did note the hall here had lots of traffic marks on the floor and did not want to get caught. For now we’d go back to the north corridor and make our way behind the sanctuary.

After 80’ passage kept going north 50’ and ended (no visible doors), and west with 2 doors here – north wall and west wall. We checked the north corridor first, expecting to find secret door or something but nothing was discovered here. So going back to the west corridor, we went to the end and could hear ogrish voices from behind the west door. Detect evil had us with 2 targets in that room, 30’ or so from the door in. Definitely ogres.

We backed up from both doors and discussed options. The long hall would be a place to force a fight but did not want to get caught behind. Also, 1 ogre we might take, 2 was a bad idea. We talked about the goblins and maybe waiting for night. Thobar did let he group know that after being a porter for 8 years, he ‘s learned a bit about monsters. And goblins were decidedly nocturnal – not liking day light.

That decided it for us. We went back down the long hall to the T intersection and spent some time sneaking back and forth, looking for secret doors. Discovering one, the half ogre was trying to get it open when he stumbled through and the rest of us saw a flash of daylight and it was dark again.

He was in the monastery’s gardens. The walls were about 20’ tall and the ceiling was missing. Floor was thick loam grass and flowers, 9 big birch trees stretched up. No snow, 20’ up the snow was falling, hit something unseen melted and ran off to the left and right. Oversized font here, Aine statue in the middle, feeding off to a long pool that ran north over 100’. The place was undisturbed and still holy to Aine. Single door here on the west wall, south of the secret way in. He marked the place he pushed on the wall with a dagger and went back through to let the group know.

Thobar and the paladin Yandr opted to go last as the heaviest armor and most largest of the group. And we ran down the hall, hitting the secret door one at a time and getting flipped through. We did make enough noise and most likely alerted the goblins, but the party had moved quick enough that if they did come and investigate, we were long gone for now. After a few minutes and sure we were not going to be accosted we looked around.

The trees were tall and in good health, no bad plants anywhere. Fountain had some old markings on it, talking about judgement and rewards and good intentions. The half orc decided to dip his mug into the water, brought it up, and took a drink. And got 2 permanent new hit points.

Whoa!

The group all took turns drinking, it wasn’t until the halfling that things went bad as he drunk and was paralyzed for 9 hours. We had a variety of good things occur (more good than bad), the wizard actually getting a +1 on all his ability scores. But between the druid, the gnome, and the halfling – they shared 3 poor results from the font.

We looked over the entire place, sure that the other door here was the only way out and the druid was shocked as the secret door opened and an ogre was there with an empty bucket. “HEY!?!” Combat ensued as the group shot, fired, and attempted to finish off the Ogre. A summoned badger and a manes demon helped join the fight but the party did fairly well and the ogre was eventually killed.

We took a key from its neck, some coins (gold and copper), and the half ogre took its fur clothes to maybe use to wear to trick the other ogre if need be. It was almost 12 noon on Icemonth the 3rd and we had about 8 hours to go before the halfling could move.

Meet 116, Adv 14, 3/15/25

Ragnarok. I've had a random check every 5 days on a D30 and on this day in game time, Ragnarok hit. I rolled off  the tome and we ended up with 9:05 AM. And here it went:

Workmonth the 10th. We awoke early enough and by 8ish were ready to take care of whatever missions we needed done. Firstly, Wilhelm and Gryg left the homestead, took the trip to town, waited to get in through the Rot Gate and then proceeded to return to the party’s home block.

Not wanting to tip off if the place was being watched, Gryg led the druid throughout the nearby alleyways looking for a cat. They found one but it ran off before they could get closer. Hunting some more they found it a second time along with 2 others. Wilhelm approached with care and after casting a speak with animals, learned the cat’s name was Marko. He explained that he was eventually going to give it a job, a job to watch the party’s house. And if anyone entered it for any reason, it was to find him and tell him no matter what. Once he got it across, he cast Animal Messenger and then the two of them were discussing what to do next. The thought was to go to the Adventuring Guild and maybe get some healing potions.

Then Darius, Rhygar, and Connal were heading to town. They were going to get at least a cord of wood and maybe get a few axes as well. They bid Eoghan, Nate, and Asher good luck and moved on. Eventually they arrived to town, entered though the Rot gate and got some direction to the local North timber and lumber yard. Once there they ordered the wood, gave the address, and arranged to have them delivered today. They then purchased a few worn and used axes and after that left, looking about to figure out where to go next.

Back at the house, Thalin, Godrick, and Shim (invisible) then spent some time writing some scrolls. After that Shim went back to his reading. As for the other 3 outside, Nate and Eoghan were working hard on getting the fallen wood and bracken to the house while Asher was watching. Supervising. He did say the wood was dirty and should be cleaned – making the other two just sigh. He went off to the homestead across the street where the widow there let us use her well.

However once there, he sort of lost track on what he was doing and instead joined the widow and her two adult sons for a second breakfast, enjoying the sunshine and laughing with them at some general jokes.

At 9:05 Am exactly on Workmonth the 10th, 191 of the 30th age, something happened.

There was a blast that seemed to rip across the sky from the distance, a clarion call that rings out somewhere to the east and north. Its sound is so unearthly, so unnatural that everyone felt compelled to stop what they’re doing for a moment and glance that way. And then the heavens themselves caught fire, lit from below a yellow red and white ball of smoky flame reached straight up, striving to touch the sky like an expanding wavering mushroom cloud.

Ragnarok

The air shimmered as cascading waves of rippling superheated force raced across the atmosphere and the horn blast turns to a rumbling tooth jarring vibration of deafening cacophony before the pressure blast hit the city; blowing out windows, shattering stone, and knocking everyone down and back on their ass. The ground itself actually dropped…and then slammed UPWARD, further driving air from everyone’s lungs and causing the nearby structures to shake and crack.

The pressure wave raced away, filling the entirety of the Randari lands as the last call from Gjallarhorn echoed forlornly across the torn heavens. A glance skyward shows a blossoming wave of hot stones the size of oxen and larger flying out and across the firmament. But it’s the smell of fire that alerted the party to the closer problems as every candle, lantern, torch, and oven in Erylond had set the city on fire. And through the slowly growing sounds, you can hear screams and cries for help.

Help in a land that is torn asunder, help in a land where the end of time is slowly blotting out the sun behind an expanding mushroom cloud, and the sky is vomiting bolts of prismatic lighting from a roiling aurora colored cloud deck.

Nate regained consciousness first. Seeing Eoghan unconscious and the rising heat to the east, he lifted the ranger up and ran for the cottage, the roof of which had already begun to fall in. Godrick, covered in blood from the busted window, dragged Thalin and Shim into the next room. Wilhelm in the city looked over his cats, the 2 smaller ones had passed out. He managed to lift Gryg off the floor and move south, hoping to find some safety. The mage’s district was closed, the mages rising up and covering the area in prismatic shield, blocking lighting bolts that were tearing down from the sky.

Asher awoke as the adult sons of the widow were begging for help., The widow was dead, head at a strange angle. He suggested they run as he took off charging across the street to the house but multiple strikes of lighting tore from the broken sky, bracketing the Captain before he was hit with a bolt that struck down not 12 feet from him. Electrified his feet smoked and he was blown up and forward, knocked unconscious.

Thalin awoke and the thought was to get to the Orphanage as fast as possible. He called for his broomstick and then worked on getting Shim tied to his body.

In town Connal dragged Rhygar and Darius to the wood cutter. There were bodies trapped under the wood but he had no time. He wrote a fast note and stuck it in the fighter’s belt. He then ran off, but there was a chasm in the street here as the road split and the land lifted up.

Nate ran out of the house and charged to Asher, daring the lighting bolts as he scooped up the fallen Captain and hoofed it back, bracketed by lightning flashes. Fires were chewing through the city and then portals started opening up, as citizens from Grymeria were fleeing – but all the zombie types lost their higher brain functions on arrival in Erylond – and instead started eating the people! Wilhlem ran on, sobbing under Gryg’s weight.

At the cottage Shim awoke and the party was discussing the best way to go. Broom? Bracer? Eoghan had a scroll of dimensional folding and wanted to use that. Asher awoke, hurting but up. A huge stone, torn from the Donnegarten Stronghold whistled as it fell from the sky, plowing into a building and then smashing into the wall of the city. More fire sprung up. Darius and Rhygar couldn’t understand the note but they immediately took to freeing the closest woodworker buried under the wood. Connal showed back up, warned about the zombies, and then took off.

Gryg was up now and the two men ran south, Wilhelm using Longstrider to speed himself up, charging for the inner gate, his cats with him. The barbican had fallen away but he climbed up and over the wreckage and made the 30’ long tunnel. Gryg could see it but he could also see another huge stone blowing towards him and he ran south as it ripped through the top of Innergate and then smashed an entire block of houses down, killing 60 and setting more of the city on fire. Inside the tunnel, the druid lurched forward and was stunned but still alive – but trapped by the fallen portcullis.

Eoghan used the dimensional folding scroll hoping to get the group inside the orphanage but failed – getting them outside the orphanage and aging everyone 1 year from temporal wending. The scroll failed because the orphanage was on fire in the back and part of the roof had caved in. They had to get the door open, and the smell of burnt veal was heavy in the area.

Darius was slinging stones at zombies as Rhygar was supporting him, the two of them seeing the chasm and not sure they could cross it, instead moved eastward to the Northern Inner gate. Connal had climbed the nearest building and jumped the chasm, running south through the streets. Gryg went back to the gate, covered now and unable to go through. He called to his god and gave himself to climb, Atlas and him hitting the mound of stone as Connal arrived. The two of them, happy to see each other alive, climbed up the mass of broken stone.

At the Orphanage, they managed to tear the front door open and began funneling smoke and kids out. 11 of them in total succumbed to smoke by the entrance but still alive. Once there they got low and entered, making their way to the ruined vestibule.

Wilhelm cast Crumble on the side wall of the portcullis blasting out a large enough area for him and his cats (wounded but still alive) to get through. He looked around the mess of the area and caught his breath before looking to head east. Marko the cat showed up to tell him that an ugly gnome and a demonic looking bald dwarf were at the party’s house. Fucking shit – the doppelganger and Dizzy? Now is NOT a good time. Connal and Gryg showed up and they all caught up. The heavens shook again and the mushroom cloud had been replaced by the sinuous shape of Jormungdr, the world serpent. And just like that – every bit of divine magic stopped as the Asgardians were now locked in a battle with the great beast. Clerical magic just ended.

Running east, a lighting cel burst open over Darius and Rhygar, the two of them buffeted and scored by electric blasts. They continued to run off to the east, getting to the Northern Inner Circle gate and then passing under.

The same lightning cel tore across Wilhelm, Connal, and Gryg – and sadly, Gryg was hit with a direct stroke, immolating the dwarven ranger and Atlas in a single concussive blast, leaving a 20’ circle of glass with his boots burned and scored in the middle. Holy fuck. They ran on. Inside the orphanage, the party could smell fire and in the distance, an orange glow. But another pressure wave hit and part of the ceiling fell down – burying Thalin and Nate under a ton of broken beams, 2nd floor, and roof. They had to be dug out. But we were running out of time. Eoghan offered to go on with Shim to the Temple and check out the font of Lathandar. Where was Connal?

Connal and Wilhelm arrived at the Sunrise Rabbits, and using the blade of sharpness, tore through the gate locks. They entered the orphanage and could hear the group on the other side of the rubble. They climbed their way up and over. Some of the group was digging out the 2 party members who were getting crushed to death.

In the air over the Inner Circle near the mage’s guild, Darius and Rhygar watched a 30’ diameter gate rip open and a gnomish airship power through. 9 gnomes ran out of the guild and ran for the ship which threw ladders over. As they were climbing up, other non gnome mages came out but 45 crossbow bolts sprung out from the rails of the gnomish ship, leveling them flat. Bolts of lightning tore from the sky and hit the ship but they were channeled through the fins and stored into lightning canisters, doing no damage. Not wanting to be involved or killed by gnomes, the fighter and his squire ran off towards the orphanage.

The font had partially fallen through the floor and was leaning at a 30 degree angle. The edges of the floor were in bad shape and looked like it could collapse any moment. Eoghan, Shim, and Connal were trying to figure it out. Rope was tied to Shim but there was not nearly enough water. We needed more. The group had shifted enough of the rubble to take the pressure off Thalin and Nate, but they were still buried. The fire was getting closer and the Connal went back to get Wilhelm, hoping the druid could create water.

However, his connection to Frey was gone. BUT, his connection to Shakak, Lord of Winter, was still alive! The very distant god managed to shove a splinter of power through for the druid and standing over the font, caused a rip to appear near the top and 10 more gallons to run down to the puddle below. Shim had tied the Desmondian Diamond to his hand and holding tight, cast Read Magic as he was lowered to the water below.

The diamond and water glowed blue and from outside a 120’ diameter circle of prismatic light arced down from the hellish sky, encompassing a large part of the Orphanage and its grounds. Darius and Rhygar charged through the gates and entered the circle, calling to their friends.

The diamond pulsed and flashed and the world seemed to stretch and bend, everyone sparking in agony and then…

Nothing.

When we came to, we were in the Orphanage still. The fires had been blown out and it was dark and quiet. We sounded off, everyone hurt and worn out. Some of us down to single hit points. Gryg was gone, Shim and Thalin had almost none of their gear. Darius was without most of his. The Orphanage was a broken mess and not all of it was here. We were not in Erylond. In fact we were on some hill somewhere in the wilderness. The sky was dark and black clouds were moving across it, making it impossible to see stars or moon. What damned time was it?

When Asher and Wilhelm tried to contact Tyr and Frey – there was nothing there. Nothing. But Asher could contact Maglubiyet. However, the goblin god did NOT know Asher and had no idea who he was. He could feel the connection but did not know him. And Wilhelm had the same problem with Shakak. They were able to get some healing out and prove their worth, but it was difficult. We healed what we could and then Captain Asher tried a Know Time spell.

And got…2:50 AM, Plantmonth the 4th, 289 of the 29th age.

202 fucking years in the past.

What the fuck. And we also found out the 11 unconscious kids had portaled back with us. Fucking hell damn it. We were fucking tired and did not know where we were. Eoghan was able to tell us which was north was so that was something. Also, anything that had a date on it was wiped clean – our coins were slugs no date stamp on them. Thalin opened up the Leomund’s Hut and it was tight for everyone , 11 kids and all of us and animals, but for now, it would have to do. Plus there was enough food in there for 6 days (maybe 4 now with all the kids). We would get a good night’s sleep and look into this entire mess tomorrow.

And there it was, epic Ragnarok night – after almost a year of talking about in real life.