Mattsters of the Mattiverse Session 14

...last episode

• We traveled from Dell to the Wydmoor environs, over land, barge, and barque, taking us a little under a month.
• Searching the swamps East of Wydmoor, a green hag and her orc raiding party tried to ambush us. We fought it off and were just about to interrogate her.

Finding the Azure Geese

• A bit of light questioning with a stellar intimidate roll, and we get some pretty good intel on the swamp.
  • The Wydmoor survivors and the An'ssel'rr are North
  • Orc raiding parties are to the South
  • Wererats more-or-less rule Wydmoor proper (with other nasties)
  • The rest of the swamp is, of course, filled with dangerous things that want to eat us
• As a reward, we let her live, but not without first nabbing her secret stash of electrum, which Mad Gokar is able to sniff out.
  • Apt brands her with a cantrip. It says "Apt", and will for five days or so.
• Armed with more info, we set off North.
  • The difficult terrain is slow going, but we meet with no incident, until...
  • Early in the morning, while trudging along, we are told to halt.
  • Russ imagines it's a trap again. He ends up being wrong, this time, but since he doesn't try to kill anything, it's all good.
• There's a short standoff while the voice shouts at the party, but eventually the voice's owner shows herself.
  • Her name is Sena. A Halfling, she is accompanied by several very large, very well-kept dogs.
  • We convince her that we're here to do a job for the Geese, and she leads the way.

The Swamp Temple

• Following Sena takes us to the Azure Geese holdout, chatting all the way. Edi is quite animated, spending the time swapping stories, out of which we get some area history
  • In Alexandrian times, it was a place of commerce
  • Marwynn Teldendillion leveraged the powers of the Obelisk to curse the area
  • The temple itself is of the old Demi-Pantheon. It is remarkably intact, made of granite, and built with techniques no longer generally known
  • It is the size of a large cathedral, perhaps twice as big as the comparable equivalent in Wydmoor proper (roughly the size of the US Capitol, in real-world terms)
  • They participate in some industry, but are mostly holed up like rats
  • There have been several battles over the long period since Wydmoor was abandoned. Many of their best have all died
    • Germain, Egg, Haggr and Riala are all names that are mentioned. They mean little to the party (but quite a bit to some of the players)

• We get our first sight of the temple, and its common area (a large marble dais with regularly spaced columns, but no roof)
  • There is a marketplace of recent construction, with a prominent forge that is currently unoccupied (we later learn that it is Udern Garrolea's
  • She gives us some names. Lady Astlen Mead is her boss, Bernis runs the distilleries, Edar runs a clinic, Jako supervises trade and supply, Sena manages animal husbandry and scouting operators, and Honel is chief of security.
  • Contrasted to the rest of the building, the main entryway is of recent construction, a solidly made hardwood door bound with iron.
• She takes us to meet her boss

• • On the way, we get a glimpse of the glassteel dome on the inside, in which is encased a dead willow tree with an empty noose, in a small field locked in endless winter
  • The meeting room itself is a large, circular area with granite benches, facing the center.
  • Lady Mead and Honel stand there, expecting us. She speaks as a woman who is used to being followed.
  • Edi and Apt show her her due deference as an aristocrat, which pleases her. Russ and Gokar give zero shits, which does not.
  • There's a bit of a dance while we convince Mead to trust us, and a brief report of our trip here, including the green hag that told us how to get here. She hopes that we killed the hag. Apt changes the subject (and gets some token xp for doing so).
• That out of the way, we get down to business
  • Our first job will be to secure the An'ssel'rr hold on the swamp.
    • It used to be unquestioned, but the Silverwalkers had a pet elf that spread discord and triggered a civil war
    • As part of this, the Silverwalkers woke up the dragon turtles that once guarded this place. It caused some chaos, but the Geese and their allies gathered enough strength to put them back to sleep
    • They now think they know how to put the turtle guardians to their purpose
    • There are two fetishes to collect, which the Geese do not have the strength to gather while tending to what they need to tend. Both are in the South
      • One is sealed in a tomb, guarded by two brothers, cursed by Marrwyn (not Marwynn that one, or that one, the other one)
      • The other was sealed in a sister temple (currently lair to rust monsters and hydras), but a coven of hags extracted it for their own purposes. They occupy a cave that is only a day's travel from the tomb.
  • The party agrees. Mad Gokar asks about resupply, and Mead directs us to Jako.
    • He will pay 85% of market for any magic item, and 60% for masterwork weapons. He will not buy gems or similar items.
• The party settles down for the night. Russ and Gokar spend the time setting up a lab, Edi holds a revival, and Apt gladhandles

The First Fetish

• The party sets out at first light. It is a six-day journey to the Hags' redoubt.
• Three days in, while crossing a waterway, they nearly step on a scrag troll as big as an elephant (scrag troll with advanced template)
  • The battle is bloody. Edi and Gokar both go down (Gokar gets within two hp of death, and gets an achievement for it).
  • Apt shows off his new Bane ability and is VIP for the battle, while Russ just tries not to die long enough so he can be there to bomb the corpse when the troll goes down.
  • The party heals up and rests there. They find a stash of coins, and Russ spends the evening giddy at the bounty of flesh before them. He flays off and preserves as much of the troll hide as he can manage in the time they have (enough for a single Medium suit of armor), and eats troll steaks for dinner (joined only by Gokar).
• Back to decent shape, they continue, and reach the hags' redoubt without incident
  • It is an upraised cavern, its entrance 35' aboveground. Russ prepares a monkey fish extract and climbs up with the party's rope, and is able to get everyone up.
• They start exploring the cramped space. A short way into the cave, they are attacked by giant crabs (but, Medium-sized)!
  • They have some traits not normally associated with crabs (camouflage and spell resistance), which it turns out is caused by a Fey nature they have somehow acquired.
  • The party deals with it and hurries through the caverns while their buffs are still active
• Next up, two swarms of crabs!
  • These crabs are also Fey, but this time have energy resistance fire 10/cold 10, which prevents Gokar from doing any damage at all, and greatly hinders Russ.
  • Some uses of the metamagic rod and a few lucky bombs finally remove the obstacle, but also alert the cave's other inhabitants to our presence.
• Almost immediately, we meet the coven. Gokar is in the front, and suffers their attacks first
  • Sea hags try to get him with an enchantment. They end up succeeding, but not in the worst part of it.
  • Debuffs cause a bit of havoc with the party. Russ interposes himself in the front and soaks hits. The last hag (a green hag calling herself The Winter Witch) shows herself and harasses with witch spells.
  • Gokar gets into the fray and the sea hags fall from damage from him and Apt. In the meantime, though, the Winter Witch manages to poison both the main damage dealers and deal significant strength damage. Gokar is able to mitigate some of this and remove his fatigue to go back into rage.
  • Russ spends his time trying to manage the tactical situation, but he's not able to do much damage in close range. Gokar starts running out of steam again, and the last few rounds are a brutal slog, with the Green Hag mostly dodging attacks and trying to maneuver herself to the exit.
  • She attempts to save herself by offering up the cave. Apt responds by asking for the fetish. She throws it at him as a distraction and tries to rip him to shreds to get him out of the way.
  • One round later, she is dead, after Gokar and Russ finally connect a few hits in succession.
  • The party goes into cleanup mode, and fortifies itself in the cavern to rest up.

Awards

• 25 xp to Apt for redirecting conversation with bluff
• 25 xp to Gokar for reminding about resupply
• 400 xp for reaching Wydmoor
• 1600 xp for the bull scrag troll
• 100 xp to Gokar for the Brinksmanship achievement
• 10 xp for Apt for the Cleanup on Aisle 3 achievement
• 1200 xp for the fey rock crabs
• 15 xp to Russ for keeping the GM sharp
• 600 xp for the fey crab swarms
• 10 xp to Gokar for typing "crab" very quickly
• 600 xp for the sea hag oracle sisters
• 800 xp for the winter witch
• The roaming green hag's secret stash
• A few thousand gold and silver from the troll's stash
• A mess of potions from the coven
  • 1x goat's hoof charm
  • 2x hide from animals
  • 1x protection from good
  • 1x each Bull's Strength, Bear's Endurance, Fox's Cunning, Owl's Wisdom, Eagle's Splendor, Cat's Grace
  • 2x lesser restore
  • 3x cure mod
  • 1x cure serious
  • 1x remove curse
  • 1x remove blindness
  • 1x invis
  • 1x fly
  • 2x spider climb

The hags engaging in their favorite activity