Skyfell - Rise of the Glutton : Session 35

Introduction

A little while back I started a once-per-month Dungeons and Dragons campaign in my Skyfell setting that I call The Rise of the Glutton. I wanted to provide my players with a log of their adventures and then realized that such a log might make for fun blog posts. See Rise of the Glutton in my Session Index for a complete listing.

The cast is:

Tabbi (played by Jeff) - male tabaxi, Sorcerer monk (Divine Soul)
Drekzhar (played by Dan) - male minotaur, Bardic rogue (College of Swords, Swashbuckler)
Tauffae Twofeather Topshelf (played by Rodney) - male orc, Fighter (Champion)
Meribore Softwalker (played by Laura) - female fitbolg, Druid (Circle of the Moon)
Onyx (played by Leslie) - female tabaxi, Rogue (Swashbuckler)

Session 35 - Little Roots Burrow : The Venom

Preparation 

Session 35 came just one week after session 34. That clearly left no time to write up the summary. And, once again, given the amount of work I've been doing both in my personal and work life I really didn't have the energy to blast out the session 34 summary while putting together the final details for session 35.

Most importantly, Leslie would be joining and so I needed to spend my extra time getting her character finalized. I know that we had spent a lot of time getting her ready the previous week, but we still had a couple of open questions to cover and some table rules to work out.

A benefit of these session summaries I hadn't considered when I started them is that new players can, if they want to, read through them to get a sense of what has been going on. Of course, I don't expect new players to read them. I guide new players to the "geography" posts as they provide good orientation materials to get to know the setting and story flavor. Leslie had blasted through all the summaries as part of her own preparation. That's an amazing feat in its own right.

As far as any other preparation, there really wasn't any. I knew exactly where the game was going. My biggest homework was to study the stat blocks for crew of The Venom and work out exactly where each of them would be as the ship emerged from the cave so that we could jump right into the action.

Pre-game

We met a half hour earlier than usual so that we could introduce everyone (both players and characters), chat about expectations, and just basically get settled in. It's been a while since I've played host to a new player so I probably wasn't as attentive as I could have been. Being new to a group is rough, especially if everyone is already clicking and getting along well. It's super important to help new players feel comfortable. But, throughout the session, it seemed like everyone eased into a groove and things went along swimmingly. 

Role-players: Assemble

I have chatted with Leslie a few times since the session to get her own read on the game. We're all looking forward to getting together for the next sessions.

In-game

The incident with grandmother Strict-rules left Tauffae in a foul mood. Her belittling of Strict-path reminded him too much of the abuse he'd gotten by his own father. He spent a little time asking other gnomes how they felt about her, wondering whether she was liked or disliked among the burrow. The responses were lukewarm at best and Tauffae decided that the burrow would be better off without her.

While the good people of Little Roots burrow worked to bring Strict-path back into the fold, the party retired to the runabout to rest and plan. It was during this respite that a tabaxi riding an ostrich flew in from the north, circled their position, and then landed atop the burrow at a safe (and non-threatening) distance. She hailed the group in general and called out to Tabbi specifically. Intrigued, Tabbi greeted this new comer who introduced herself as Onyx. She explained that she had heard of an evil that was spreading among the southern islands of Piruna Fields and had come to investigate. Though they had never met in person, the two tabaxi had become aware of each other during their last few tabaxi moots (see the tabaxi notes sprinkled throughout my Piruna Fields geography post). 

Our heroes confirmed the rumors and explained that they were even now preparing to attack The Necromancer and her ship that very mid-gloom. Onyx offered to help and the party accepted. 

Meribore and Drekzhar also approached Far-seeker to see if he knew of any gnomes who would be willing to help in the coming battle. He and two others (Open-skies and Quick-foot) agreed to help out wherever they could.

Far-seeker Agrees to Help
Source: HeroForge design by me

With a general plan all set, our heroes settled in to rest until Mid-gloom, alternating the watch. During Tauffae's watch, he quietly wandered off to the grandmother Strict-path's farmhouse. His plan was simple enough: find the old crone asleep in her bed and smother her with her own pillow. Everyone would be better off without her. When he reached the farmhouse, though, he realized two things. First, it was gnome-sized and not orc-sized so he would have a difficult time getting into the structure let alone sneaking around it. Second, he remembered that the buildings atop a burrow were usually gathering places and places to rest during the day's work. Gnomes actually slept in chambers within the burrow itself where they would be safe from intruders intent on doing harm--intruders like Tauffae. Disappointed that he could not gift the burrow with the woman's extinction, he returned to the runabout to finish out his watch.

As mid-gloom approached, the party awoke, prepared, and headed for the cave where they expected The Venom would emerge. Meribore positioned herself above the mouth of the cave with her gnome allies. Drekzhar and Fizzlestick were in the runabout and positioned directly in front of the mouth. They were flanked by Tabbi and Onyx riding their ostriches. The Howling Wind II was positioned well below the cave entrance with the Tauffae and the rest of the crew (Eldith at the helm, Spring-eye in engineering, and Huru and Gubrash on the ballista).

Dense, threatening storm clouds smothered the island at mid-gloom. A dread filled the air, not for the coming fight but for all the dark things that haunt one's deepest fears of the nightmares that bring death and of the torturous emptiness that follows one into eternity. Those feelings were manifest, intruding into Skyfell from some far away place. From the Shadowfell.

Shortly, a series of purplish flashes lit up the interior of the cave. Moments later, thick fog began boiling out of its mouth. Within that mass, the party could make out the shimmering surface of The Venom.

Rodney Exploring His Feelings
About The Venom and Her Crew

Before The Venom could fully emerge from the cave, Meribore cast control winds in the hopes of pushing the ship into the ceiling. Her gnome campanions peppered the top deck with arrows. Meanwhile, Drekzhar cast major image to conjure an illusion of a flaming runabout that he set on a collision course with The Venom. Tabbi and Onyx urged on their mounts to engage the enemy ship while Tauffae ordered The Howling Wing II to remain at a safe distance until they were ready to open fire.

The ambush worked perfectly. The crew of The Venom clearly were not expecting any of this. Still, the pilot managed to avoid crashing the ship as it completed its exit. Once completely free from the confines of the cavern, it dove down and away from the "flaming runabout." The maneuver saved the ship from what would have been a collision (if the "flaming runabout" had been real). It also freed it from the fog that had so cleverly hidden the ship from plain sight over the past few days. The move also brought the ship into range of the Howling Wind II's lightning ballista. Tauffae ordered his gunners to open fire while directing Eldith to bring the ship closer.

With the fog gone, and from her vantage point above the cave mouth, Meribore could clearly see The Venom. 

Four giant, spiders skittered along the ship's hull, taking up defensive positions on either side. They seemed to be waiting for an opportunity to attack something.

Spiders on the Hull
Source: Monster Manual, 5e

Upon its top deck were two ballista and a group of heavy crossbowers. Those fighters were strange, hairy humanoids with long limbs and thick bodies. Based on the stories that both Drekzhar and Tauffae had recounted about traveling the Open Skies, she guessed these to be Reavers. They cackled back and forth at each other in a language Meribore didn't know as they scrambled into positions.

A Member of the Deck Crew
Source: Monster Manual, 5e

Another entity stalked the deck like a hungry tyrannosaur. It shouted out orders with vicious precision. Even as the chaos unfolded, it maintained its cool and commanded the Reavers with unwavering will. Meribore guessed that this must be The Venom's boatswain.

The Undead Boatswain
Source: Monsters of the Multiverse

These top-deck crews focused their fire on the "flaming runabout" hell-bent on ramming them. 

From below The Venom, Tauffae immediately recognized the ship as being a carrack (see my Airships and Air Travel post). In the belly was the frame of a turret housing a ballista. He could also see its crew, strapped into safety harnesses. They were Reavers. His heart sank as all the stories he'd heard about these evil pirates filled his mind. Pushing these aside, however, he ordered his gunners to target the ballista and opened fire.

The belly gunners returned fire.

Meribore wild shaped into a quetzalcoatlus and flew off after The Venom, leaving behind the gnome rangers who had done their best but were essentially out of the fight. 

The two ships began jockeying for the best firing position against each other. The Venom worked with the added challenge of having to evade the "flaming runabout" that refused to relent.

The Ships Re-position

Tauffae and his gunners pummeled The Venom's belly turret, laying down explosions of lightning damage with each hit. Eventually, the turret scaffolding shattered, sending the ballista and its gunners into a long freefall to the gravity well at the bottom of Little Roots island. Seeing the opening, Tabbi swooped in and landed a fireball in the hole left by the missing turret. The strike rocked The Venom as more Reavers tumbled out of the opening, their burning bodies joining their crewmates in their descent toward the gravity well. 

Smoke streamed from the opening.

The Venom suddenly sped up as its cargo door opened. From her position as a quetzalcoatlus, Meribore could see a figure wrapped in armor and wearing a mask position itself at the mouth of the cargo bay. A blast of purple shot from a wand to explode in a crackling field of light a few hundred feet dead ahead (just within the transition field between the gravity well of the island and the zero-gravity of the Open Skies). A vertical tear split open the sky itself, revealing beyond a gloomy, darkened environment much like the one our heroes had encountered in the Shadowfell. The magic to do this must have been very powerful because the wand shattered and its wielder collapsed, unconscious. Immediately, though, another figure similarly armored collected the spellcaster and pulled it back into the hull.

By now, The Venom and the Howling Wind II were positioned so that both were able to attack each other with their top deck weaponry. The undead boatswain barked orders as it flung blasts of necrotic magic at first the "flaming runabout" and then at any target that it could find. A combined effort by our heroes (including a brutal use of Onyx's wand of magic missiles), though, destroyed the creature before it could cause much havoc beyond a momentary manifestation of the Hunger of Hadar that sent Tauffae and the other orcs scrambling away from the lightning ballista for fear of being pulled down into the terrifying abyss that suddenly engulfed it.

The Two Ships Engage

The Venom lurched toward the portal. It rolled ninety degrees so that it could slide through the vertical opening without ripping off its wings. The sudden movement sent most of the top deck crew overboard, though, including two of the spiders that had been skittering around the hull waiting for their own opportunity to attack.

Tabbi dropped another fireball on The Venom's stern, setting alight the railing and portions of its deck.

Drekzhar, seeing that The Venom was going to escape, dropped the "flaming runabout" illusion and ordered Fizzlestick to pull up alongside the ship so that he could board her. Fizzlestick protested, arguing the sure insanity of the order, but eventually he relented as it was clear his captain had made up his mind and would not be turned away from that decision. The runabout positioned itself near the enemy ship. Drekzhar leaped and caught the railing on The Venom. As he pulled himself aboard and found his footing, the remaining spiders skittered toward him.

Meribore, also seeing that the ship would escape, dropped her quetzalcoatlus form so that she could dispel the portal using dispel magic. As she gathered the weave around her to stich together the spell, she could hear ravens lending their voice to her efforts. With the final word, a stream of magical energy reached out to the portal and snapped it shut just as the front of The Venom crossed its horizon. The cockpit was sheared off and disappeared into whatever was on the other side of the portal, leaving a gaping hole in the ship's bow.

The Portal is Dispelled

Meribore was now in freefall toward the gravity well of Little Roots.

Tauffae ordered the Howling Wind II to catch up with The Venom. He was bent on destroying the enemy one way or another.

The high speed chase between the two ships left both Onyx and Tabbi to regroup and catch up.

The Venom, without a means of control and burning from two fireball strikes, continued to race forward through the uneven effects of the island's gravity horizon.

End session 35.

Experience earned:

Note: While this is the experience that was earned for this session, I did not award it at the end of this session. We all felt like it would make more sense to distribute the awards at a more logical pause.

Drekzhar - 2080 (66,812 total)
Meribore - 2314 (66,729 total)
Onyx - 2080 (66,417 total)
Tabbi - 2251 (66,588 total)
Tauffae - 2260 (67,096 total)

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