Session 101 - Derrick Enlarges A Plank

 

1st June 2025

In-game timeline: Start of session: 1490DR Mirtul 16. End of session: 1490DR Mirtul 17

Our "Heroes" are faced with a choice. Try to beat Neverember to Yegmir's Arm, or try to find the child Pristis, who may somehow be able to activate the Arm if they ever get it. They suspect Neverember is keen to do both things too, and may have already beaten them to either, or both, objectives.

In the end they settle for heading for the Arm, but arrange for another dragonborn to see if they can find Pristis and his parents in the Hullack Forest. Iwee ensures she meets the person going there, so she can use Sending to communicate with them at a later date. The Nakshatra choose a female - Yakaryn - for the task. Iwee also decides to use codewords, rather than plain language, to communicate - "Sintara" would indicate that Pristis is not safe, "Nakshatra" would indicate that he is safe and well. Confused, Yakaryn sets off with two others.

Our "Heroes" head for the location shown on the map by the solitary moon beam at the Glade of the Moon. It is quite close by, but is in dense wood, located near to a known but difficult to penetrate gorge at the base of the mountains. It takes them a day to reach close to the top of the gorge.

Making extensive use of Pacino, they scout the area, and find a camp at the bottom of the gorge. After carefully descending into the gorge, Jaxii and Iwee survey the camp from a distance, using stealth and invisibility. They confirm that the camp is Neverember's, and both he and Castellan are there, along with a large number of both Embers Watch guards, and some ominous-looking fiends. Storming the camp looks like a dangerous option. I'm surprised they didn't immediately take that option, based on past experience.

But they did not. They instead surveyed the surrounding area, and found the entrance to a cave - a little way from the camp, in the direction that Neverember and his captains seemed to have been discussing and planning around. They decide to head into the cave system hopefully before Neverember makes his move.

Jaxii spots a smaller opening a little way away, higher up in the hillside, and they choose this entrance, hoping that it is less obvious, and perhaps less guarded, than the larger entrance.

With Pacino once again used as a forward scout, they enter the caves. They are dark, though there is dim and patchy illumination from some bioluminescent funghi around the caves.

The first cave seems to be the location of a recent battle. Some of Neverember's troops have been killed - hacked apart and scratched, though there are also a couple of strange, gaunt, creatures that our "Heroes" have not encountered or seen before. There is also an ominous pile of dust next to a pair of scimitars. With previous talk of a beholder, there is some concern that perhaps the beholder is still here. And dangerous.

Beyond the initial caves, with no living creatures in sight, they find a pool of green liquid in the floor, with the corridor seemingly entering an underground, stone complex. A precarious and somewhat slippery plank of wood stretches invitingly across the pool.

Derrick has a good idea. The others are shocked. Once they get over their shock, they all agree with Derrick's plan, and he Enlarges the plank to make it longer and wider, making it much safer to cross over and allowing them all to cross the pool without incident. As the plank returns to its original size, Karoshi pulls it over to their side to hamper anyone who may be following later.

The corridor continues into the complex, which becomes more and more obvious is some form of temple, or home, or "lair" of a beholder-like creature. The large, stone statue of a beholder being the first thing to give this away, and the very lifelike statues of humanoids in different poses being another… warning?

They press on. The darkness proves annoying for Jaxii and Derrick who do not have natural darkvision, and they are forced to carry a torch, lighting their way but also announcing their presence. Jaxii hears some scuffling further in the complex - the place is definitely occupied!

Derrick, having used up his one good idea for the day, decides to further announce their presence by throwing a lighted torch further forward, in the direction of the scuffling noises. A spine-chilling screech echoes from that direction…