Mattsters of the Mattiverse Session 17

...last episode

• wights, air elementals, and doors OH MY

The second set of doors

• As soon as the curse is lifted, there is howling! awoooo
  • Gokar starts to sprint away as fast as possible. He is panicked, and remains so just long enough for the entire fight to be over
• Russ spends his time getting bitten and tripped, and buffing (with the most useless blur ever), then finally just full-attacks the dogs from the ground
• Edi keeps Russ standing and gets some damage in with the spiritual weapon, and then a fire bolt. Apt does some significant arrowing.
• A few rounds of Russ's hp yoyoing over most of its range, and the fight ends with the dogs' deaths.
• Gokar gets back just in time for the last dog to disappear into inky blackness.
• The party is a bit wiped by this and the last session, so they take a rest

BEHIND the door

• They buff up, pop an abeyance on the still-cursed Apt, and finally, open the last room of the tomb. It is a crude place of worship, replete with crumbling pews
• Inside is a statue. Its head is a human head with goat horns, shaped out of a single, massive piece of dragon's breath opal.
• Red light flickers around this statue. Nothing else is visible.
• Apt steps in to get a better look... and the brothers appear!
  • They are mummies! They are monks! They are monk mummies!
• Russ is paralyzed. Then *stuff happens* and they win the fight.
• The last turtle fetish is in here, as expected. They grab it, then grab the opal, expecting the entire tomb to fall around them (it doesn't).
• The group heads back to the Wydmoor Swamp Temple, and gets back without incident

Forward plans for the Geese

• Astlen's upbeat about the whole "us finding the totems" thing
  • She doesn't make good on all of the Crone's promise. We get her to give us a receipt
• Exposition ensues
  • They are secure enough in the swamp temple
    • They are very good buddies with the neighboring Lizardfolk ("They consider the people of Wydmoor to be part of their tribe", which Russ figures is almost certainly not true, but if they figure allying with the Geese is in their bests interests for now, it's probably good enough)
    • Sena is a very capable scout
    • Now, with the dragon turtles, they should be able to project power outward a bit
    • There are roles for us in that, roles that could pay off big dividends for us, if we can afford to think longer-term
  • Their bigger objective is to take back Wydmoor City, as has been said
  • It is controlled by a few different groups
    • The most dangerous is the Wyvern Tribe, a Hobgoblin group that has taken up residence in the Bog Wraiths' former castle. They are well-organized, well-supplied, in a defensible position, with air superiority.
      • There is a deep enmity between the Wydmoor survivors and the Wyvern Tribe. Permanent, or even temporary, alliance is tremendously unlikely.
      • They also have an artifact that can be used to control the weather. Its exact parameters of operation are unknown.
    • Most of the city itself is in the domain of scattered wererat remnants of the Thieves' Guild.
      • Their organization seems to mostly be made up of a few natural wererats holding sway over a larger number of half-bestial, afflicted thralls.
    • The sewers are likely infested with feral Otyughs.
    • The Cathedral is largely intact. Its windows have been blacked out, and nobody knows what goes on inside. The wererats avoid it.
    • The Iros Mines, while not really a part of the Wydmoor objective, are held by Odessan troops. Disrupting their operations is also something we could do, if we were so inclined. Holding it is not realistic.
    • Onrarch Landing is abandoned but presumed intact. Yalmrinth was razed after the Silverwalker's poisoned the town's abandoned food stores.
  • The long term objective is to take back the Castle and use that as a base of operations to draw people to Wydmoor and to reclaim the city with their numbers.
  • To retake the Castle, they have hit upon the idea of using a former network of three permanent teleport circles ("Not-Gates") that used to be used within Wydmoor. The circles have been deactivated since one was used to destroy the Magius Tower in a great explosion, but they have reason to believe that the other two can be reactivated and that the hobgoblins would have no reason to expect that to happen.
  • The circle to activate is beneath the Cathedral, making it the first objective.
• That discussion concludes. Russ declares he will accompany the Geese to deliver the turtle fetishes to the An'ssel'rr, to meet with his cousins.
• Jakos is available to sell or buy martial things.
• Edi gets busy being helpful. A revival is such a great idea!
• The day concludes with a remove curse for Apt, and with Russ and Gokar planning out their semi-permanent alchemy lab, before Russ sets off with the delivery party.
• The next morning, after Russ is gone, three new people appear with suspiciously little fanfare. They are an Affable Soldier, a Brusque Bookkeeper, and a Wary Half-Orc lady.
  • Apt engages in conversation with them. He completely fails to ask their names. He's pretty sure he got his name... it was one of those really common ones. If you hadn't asked him, it'd be right there!
    • [OOC:] When he is about to attempt, he unknowingly fails a Will save, which prevents him from having ever thought about asking. Neither he nor anyone else in the party is aware of this happening
  • When asked why no one seems to know them, they hint that their (fancier) badges identify them as VIP Geese and people know better than pry.
  • They are an "away team", jetting around from place to place to kind of glue things together. Success securing the Temple has renewed the Geese's interest in Wydmoor, and he hits more of their operation will begin to concentrate here now.
  • They know the Crone well, and have gone on many adventures together.
  • They are able to get access to some outside things, and can take orders for easy-to-find scrolls and such. (1-3rd level arcane) They can also offload things that Jakos cannot (like gems or artwork, such as the giant opal).
• The session ends here.

Awards

• 2 Belts of the Golden Gar (count as blade belts, but the blades are made of gold. Pretty, but not very useful)
• 2 rings of protection +1
• 2 prisoners' rings
• 1 very large, scary goat-head demon opal thing
• 1050 xp (everyone but Gokar--he got 50): outsider doggies
• 2500 xp (everyone): returning with the fetishes