Session 69 - The Mystery of the Mouldy Satchel
14th April 2023
In-game timeline: Start of session: 1490DR Ches 9. End of session: 1490DR Ches 9
Our Heroes spend their time recovering from a vicious attack from a patch of moss discussion how Jaxii was planning to marry their horse, Thumb. Things started off weird in this session. They didn't get better.
Karoshi spots some small legs standing behind some more moss within a nearby cave. Further, careful, investigation from a distance seems to imply this is another dead body beneath another moss-like creature. They decide to leave this well alone for now. The paladin also spots some movement from further up the 'path' but is unsure what it is.
Iwee searches the body that is beneath the moss that they have just killed. It seems to be that of a Duergar, or dark Dwarf, and there seems to be some purple mushrooms starting to grow from his skin. Euch. He has a mouldy satchel around his waist and this description led to much mirth from the party for reasons (sparked by a giggle from Jaxii) that are much beyond the poor, innocent DM. Within the bag Iwee does find a few of the sought-after bluecap mushrooms (though not enough for the ritual), along with a very useful potion of healing and some crayons and a purse. The Duergar himself is carrying a hook on a rope, that the party also takes since they are desperate for loot.
Derrick summons Pacino and sends him scouting ahead where Karoshi spotted some movement earlier - northwards, towards an area of the cavern system that has since been labelled the "Katherine" area. Derrick zones in on what Pacino is seeing, and reports back to the others what he sees.
As the owl flies around a corner, he, and Derrick, is surprised to see a large, floating ball, with a large eye in its centre and a number of tentacles, or 'eye stalks'. Derrick shouts to the others - "A Beholder!!"
Knowing that Beholders are supposedly big, scary monsters used to frighten small children, the party wonder if this is actually just an illusion placed there to keep people away. There are calls - many calls - for Derrick to get Pacino to fly straight into the creature and see if it is an illusion or not. Derrick - and in fact Pacino too - is reluctant to do this, in case it is not an illusion. After much discussion, the decision is for Owl to pick up a decent sized rock and have him drop it onto the creature from above. This he does, to the tune of the Dam Busters, and the last thing that Derrick sees before Pacino is 'killed' is a large explosion as the rock hits the floating creature. Pacino is no more!
Until Derrick produces the portable brass brazier that he obtained for being nice to Azkael. He fishes out some Find Familiar components from his backpack and spends the next 10 minutes re-summoning Owl Pacino from his plane of existence.
Meanwhile Iwee and Jaxii head to the "Katherine" area to see what had happened. They see a tangled mess of tentacles on the ground, and a floating ball in the distance. The floating ball seems to be moving towards them! They are *fairly* convinced that the creature is not a Beholder, but they don't really want to test the theory. Instead that run back to the rest of the party and let them know what they have seen. As they finish relating what they saw, the floating creature rounds a corner and continues to float towards them!
A the group backs away, Derrick steps up and throws a javelin at it. As soon as the javelin hits it, the creature bursts into a mass of spores, filling the surrounding area, but the remains of the creature itself, now deflated, falls to the floor, unmoving. Luckily the rest of the party had all backed away and none of the spores reached them.
The group wait for the spores to settle, then press forward, careful to not stir up the spores on the ground. As they all reach the area called Katherine, they encounter another of these creatures. Iwee is concerned that they are killing potentially innocent plants, and she tries to pass by the creature. As she gets close, the creature seems to move towards her and as she turns to run back, one of its tentacles lashes out and hits the little gnome. The damage is minimal, but she feels as if her body has been infected with a form of disease by the strike. She starts to feel a little unwell, though this may be due to the concern about what may happen to her as the disease spreads.
Karoshi shoots the creature from a distance and destroys it before it can do any more harm. The paladin takes a sample of the spores in case they may help in curing Iwee. He then remembers he has a Lesser Restoration spell, and casts it on Iwee and she seems to make a quick recovery from the disease. Hopefully. The funghi puns continued though, so maybe the disease was not fully cured?
Jaxii stops to use her survival skills to see which route to take from here. She makes out some recent tracks that go across the river at this point and head off down a tunnel on the other side of the river. There are other tracks that head alongside the river too. The party decide to follow the recent tracks across the river.
After about 20 minutes down a winding tunnel, the path seems to end in a dead end cavern. The cavern contains a campsite, however, though any attempt at approaching stealthily was scuppered by the constant calling out to Legion and declaring that they come in peace. The campsite looks abandoned, but only recently.
As the others search around in the tents, Derrick is a little surprised by a large Ogre appearing from behind a nearby large mushroom - he is running in to attack!
Derrick runs away and throws a javelin.
The Ogre runs towards Derrick but spots an easier target who happens to be ransacking his tent. So he runs into the tent and tries to attack Iwee! Unfortunately it trips over a guy rope and falls onto the ground inside the tent. Jaxii hears the commotion and runs over to the large tent, smashing her greatsword into the Ogre on the ground. It is getting quite crowded in the tent now, so Iwee takes advantage of the distraction and runs out of the tent, giving Jaxii more room.
Meanwhile, Karoshi is surprised when the tent he is looking in suddenly collapses around him, trapping him under canvas.
As Karoshi and Jaxii struggle inside tents, Iwee and Derrick see a Duergar suddenly appear at the far end of the campsite and a bolt of lightning flies out from his fingers towards Iwee and Jaxii! Iwee dodges the worst of it, but Jaxii takes full force of the bolt, as does the Ogre lying at her feet. Karoshi escapes his tent and then spots Iwee standing out in the open and decides to Sanctuary the little gnome. This decision proves fortuitous later as a number of attacks that would be directed towards the bard have to find an alternative target instead. However, the DM has just realised that Sanctuary is cancelled if the warded creature makes an attack or casts a spell, so it should not have lasted as long as it did. The DM makes a mental note for the next battle…
Jaxii meanwhile manages (with the help of the earlier lightning bolt!) to dispose of the Ogre, whose dying words seem to confuse Jaxii, as he seems to speak in draconic!
At this point a few more Duergar seem to appear from nowhere. Two engage Karoshi and two take on a now-enlarged Derrick. One of these thinks Derrick's trick is a good one, and he also enlarges himself. Iwee manages to Slow a couple of them.
As the lightning-bolt caster runs away into the tunnel, the Duergar are slowly taken down by Karoshi and Derrick. Karoshi uses Smite to hit and push away the two attacking him. Jaxxi takes out one of these at close range with her breath weapon and he drops to the floor, burning. As his corpse blazes, he manages to crawl towards Jaxii, lifting his head towards her and whispers to her, in draconic.
The other Duergar pushed away by Karoshi turns and runs. Derrick takes down the enlarged Duergar (and complains that he doesn't whisper anything to Derrick when he dies!). The fighter then smashes the last remaining Duergar with his sword, causing the Duergar to turn and run, thinking that Jaxii is an easier target. Derrick proceeds to stab him in the back as he runs, and he falls to the ground, dead.
Karoshi lines up a crossbow shot at the fleeing Duergar and manages to drop him with a single bolt. With no more enemies visible, the party decide to take a breather and rest for a short while. Jaxii relays the information she heard from the dying Ogre and Duergar.
As the others rest, Karoshi checks around the campsite, finding a couple of bits and pieces. Jaxii confers with her Ancestors, asking them what was the reason behind the dispute between her clan, the Nakshatra clan, and their relatives, the Sintara clan. The ancestors respond saying that there were cultural differences between them that grew. The Sintara clan were more war-like and aggressive than their kindred Nakshatra.
After an hour's rest, there is no further sign of the fleeing Duergar. The party gather to discuss their next actions…