Mattsters of the Mattiverse Session 12

...last episode

• We were fighting the Gnolls Eshekla and Durza. Durza had fallen, when Arekla came from hiding, and used her haunting song to captivate Apt and Mad Gokar

The fight continues!

• Edi and Russ were on either side of Eshekla. Russ enlarged himself to keep Edi from being a tempting target, which worked
• Edi's flaming hands and Russ's claws finally finish the job, and the druid goes down.
• Arekla flits from tree to tree, keeping up her song. She dives in to take a few swings at Gokar and take a chunk out of him, but manages to get clipped on the wing in the process
• With Edi's help, Apt shrugs off the song. Gokar has no such luck, and spends all his time either standing stock still from curse, or running to Arekla.
• Apt splits off from the party to take some stealthy pot shots. His ear-piercing scream is very effective, but little else penetrates her defenses at a distance
• Arekla positions herself in the middle of the entanglement, attempting to get Gokar to immobilize himself. It works, and he is trapped at the edge
• The fight turns into a long stalemate, while Arekla expends all her abilities buffing herself. Russ takes advantage of the action economy to do the same for himself.
• Many rounds pass while the party ineffectually attacks from a distance and waits for Arekla to engage.
• With astounding timing, Russ manages to reposition Gokar out of the entanglement just before Gokar shrugs off the harpy song and Arekla swoops in to try to pick off Apt, leaving herself just in range of Gokar's charge. Gokar succeeds his curse roll in the same round, and his charge spells the beginning of the end.
• Surrounded by the party's bruisers, Arekla falls to their blows. Her body dissolves into nothing, leaving behind a single, magical pearl.
  • This turns out to be a 2nd-level pearl of power, specified for spontaneous casters
• The party divides between tracking down her nest and comforting Laggo, who has lost his only friend.
  • Nolly is in the nest, battered but alive. But more importantly, she has phat lootz!
    • Goggles of minute seeing
    • A masterwork greatsword
    • A masterwork composite longbow (+4) (needs restringing for 50gp)
    • A thick silver necklace with carved jade faces (700gp)
    • A fiery corundrum (1200)
    • A small black pearl (200)
    • 2 onyxes (60gp each)
    • A hematite (16 gp)
    • A potion of blur
  • Eshekla also had a masterwork morningstar. Durza, having lost their bow in the last battle, had nothing worth noting.
  • Edi and Russ start a train of thought with Laggo that Apt is able to pick up, convincing Laggo to leave the region and find his own path
• The party heads back to town. Nolly is received with much tearful happiness, and the group is welcomed as heroes
• Savil presents the party with a small token of appreciation
  • 100 gp (we end up spending some chunk of this on a party for the town)
  • four potions of cure light wounds
• The party spends one last night in Dockalong, celebrating

Dell

• The party is able to hitch a ride with boat Halflings down the river
• Potions are brewed!
  • blur and jump
• They arrive in Dell without any incident
• The Crone and her entourage await them in the main room of their lodging when they are about to leave for the day
• The party reports their progress and gives over the fire opal. While they are giving their report, the normally mute butler-type breaks his silence, evidently overcome with curiosity on some points of the story (particularly, the Accuser demon)
  • They offer a silver horn as trade for the demon's infernal parade armor. The party has no trouble accepting.
• The Crone makes good on payment, and discusses the next task.
  • The party is to make a long, overland trip to Wydmoor. There is a small band of refugees there that has been out of contact, and she needs them to be checked-up on.
    • Give them whatever immediate aid they need and eliminate any pressing threats to their survival
  • While she's explaining this, she speaks in Ssel'it directly to Russ. His tension at the jig being up is palpable, and he spends the rest of the discussion trying to end it as quickly as possible
    • It turns out that the refugees are being supported by a group of Lizardfolk allies, and she naturally thinks Russ would be an asset in dealing with them.
• More intelligence:

• • While the razing of the city was destructive, the interior is structurally intact, making it a good location to fortify.
  • Lycanthropes (specifically, ratlings) have been reported, so the party should prepare for that.
  • There's conflict with a local hobgoblin group as well
  • The Odessans have left Wydmoor, so they will not specifically be a part of the conflict (Ubrekti soldiers guard the border, but do not venture into the province)
  • The Crone will send someone to make contact with us to give further instruction
  • There is also a burnt out castle nearby that is nevertheless intact, that is probably worth investigating
• Apt and Gokar ask the important questions to define the terms of the agreement (what is success, and how the party will get paid). The Crone is not able to give exact details on remuneration, but does promise at least double the payment for the previous task.
• She has also included 1000gp pre-payment for incidentals or severance, as the party wishes
• She gives every indication that she is pleased with their work so far
• In final, she gives the party insignia that will identify them as friends of the organization she represents. The insignia is a silver pin shaped with a blue V, vertex pointed rightward.
• The conversation ends, and the party gets to work

Spending Spree!

• The party takes advantage of Dell's position as a center of commerce to spend some of the cash burning a hole in their pockets. They offload all their spare gear and commission and shore up some gaps in their defenses:
  • Rod of elemental metamagic (acid) for Edi
  • Mithral shirt for Apt
  • Cloaks of resistance for everyone!
  • +1s to Russ and Gokar's armors
  • Alchemist formulae out the wazoo
  • A ghost hunter's kit
  • Cold iron and alchemical silver morningstars as backups for Russ and Apt, silver arrows for Apt
• They also cook up some antiplague
• They start putting out feelers to see what their options are for transport, and prepare to leave in a couple of days' time