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Session 58, Caleldor is Calamari

Paldegora

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Session 58 – 2025-08-09

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**Summary**

The party faced a massive, rune-etched iron door with a chalice-snake medallion radiating evil. Eryn picked the lock (50% skill) after failing once. Cal, Eryn, and X’or (rolls: 3 vs. 19, 10 with exceptional strength, 4) forced it open slightly, then fully with Symon’s knock spell after Angelique suggested a blood offering.

Ambushed by temple guards in darkness, they fought back. Cal fell to -3 HP from a critical hit but was revived by Angelique’s salve and potion (23 HP). Cassandra moved up to fill the opening. They finished off the guards. With X’or’s potion of speed still active, they descended a dimly lit, evil-filled hallway, hearing a disorienting giggle. They could not determine the from where the voice came; they chose a southern staircase around an octagon.

A voice taunted: “Fools who stumble into the Nythera's embrace, your steps echo in a tomb of your own making. Sahn's shadow will swallow you whole.” After a short distance, the voice continued, "Every whisper in this temple is mine to command. Your secrets, your fears, they all belong to Nythera now.". They reached a lit octagon chamber with runes, smoking braziers, a chalice-snake altar, skeletal statues, and Emma caged. Eryn failed to pick the cage lock; a gagged Emma frantically nodding toward the alter. Eryn checked the altar; while Cal’s inspected a statue, two of the statues animated and attacked. They were zombie golems. Angelique failed to turn them. 

The voice returned, "Oh, Blazecaller, how Nythera weeps for your fallen kin. Once they wielded invocations of wrath, now you're but a relic and you're pitiful.". Angelique disagreed. Symon, polymorphed into a buffalo, and entered. The voice returned, "Oh Symon, you pitiful thing. Given such great power, and you're such a coward not to take it and use it. Your blood is dirty as all your kin is now. I don't think that you have what it takes to find greatness again!". Symon snorted. 

A golem’s stench penalized Eryn and Cassandra (-2 attacks). A Bozak’s magic missile hit Angelique (9 damage). The voice returned again, "Angelique, last ember of a dying flame, your ancestors were the Blazecaller, wreathed in red dragon fire. Now look at you, a flickering spark in a world grown cold. Blazecallers once burned empires at their emperors whim, but you, pathetic shadow, unworthy of the name. Your blood will serve Sahn's awakening, nothing more!".

Angelique cast mirror image; Bozak’s stinking cloud incapacitated Symon (5 rounds); Angelique escaped. X’or and Cassandra finished off one golem as X'or dropped to 1 HP and drank a potion. Cal, Eryn, and Cassandra fought the other golem, killing hit. Nyra Vexis emerged, paralyzing Eryn with hold person. Angelique used a wand of fear on the Bozak which was successful; They engaged Nyra. She was struck many times before her flame strike killed Cal (-19 HP). After that, she was felled.

They looted Nyra (dagger, bracers, mace, 100 gold, potion, ring, chain mail, snake-chalice symbol). Angelique destroyed the altar; Cassandra found keys, freeing Emma, who lamented Cal. They placed Cal’s body in a bag of holding for resurrection. Returning to Fritz, Symon (gorilla form) found guards abusing goblins. They were moving powder barrels. There were also two rooms full of powder barrels. Symon polymorphed one guard into a goldfish (died), lured goblins to allies. Another guard pushed a goblin into a pit, charged; X’or, along with Symon’s burning hands (17 damage) and the rest of the party killed him.

Goblins revealed a ship loading explosives in a hidden harbor. Fritz warned it must not sail. Invisible Eryn scouted: pirates, draconians, enslaved goblins, and whipped prisoners. To stop House Umbridge’s plan, they debated fireballing the ship but feared harming innocents. Alternatives included luring enemies to the pit, collapsing the tunnel, or risky plans like Symon or Eryn detonating the ship at sea. With Grimms safe, the group faced urgent choices to prevent the ship’s departure or fight reinforcements.

That is where the session ended.

Please start the recorder!


Exp: 8965 + 897 = 9862 


**Detail**

The party stood before a massive, iron-bound double door, its surface etched with ancient runes. At its center, a medallion depicted a chalice entwined with a snake, its fangs bared, dripping with what looked like blood or wine. An aura of malevolence radiated from the door, setting everyone on edge. Eryn, sensing the urgency to rescue a captive sister, assessed the situation. Cal, unsure if his haste spell was still active, prepared to act.

The group decided to charge the door, determined to save the sister. Eryn, with a pick locks skill of 50%, tried to unlock it. Her first attempt failed, the intricate mechanism resisting her efforts. She tried again, this time feeling the tumblers shift, and with a click, the lock gave way. Together, Cal, Eryn, and X’or heaved against the door, their combined strength—Cal rolling a 3 against his 19, Eryn a 10 with her exceptional strength, and X’or a 4—finally forcing it open slightly before it slammed shut again. Undeterred, they pushed harder, and with a creak, the doors parted just enough to reveal darkness beyond.

Angelique, sensing immense evil from the snake-and-chalice symbol, suggested it might require a blood offering to open fully. Symon, skeptical but willing, cast a knock spell, and the doors swung open. The party rushed in, only to be met by darkness and the sudden attack of temple guards. X’or took a hit, but the group fought back. Cal landed two attacks, dealing 26 points of damage to one guard. Eryn struck for 13 points, while Angelique’s bow hit for 5. Cassandra fired her bow, missing once but landing 4 points of damage. Symon, lacking weapons, cheered the group on. 

As the fight continued, a guard fell, but Cal took a critical hit, dropping to negative 3 hit points. Angelique used a healing salve to restore him to life and then quickly poured a healing potion down his throat, restoring 23 points and bringing him back. The battle raged on, with more guards emerging. Cassandra had stepped up to cover to opening in the door left by Cal's collapse. The party pushed forward, X’or dealing 22 points of damage, Cassandra landing multiple hits, and Eryn cutting down enemies with precision. As the last guard fell, silence descended. There was little time to loose they wanted to proceed while X'or still enjoyed the benefit of the potion of speed.

Descending deeper into the temple, the party entered a dimly lit hallway, the air thick with evil. A woman’s giggle echoed from all directions, disorienting them. Eryn, using her darkvision, peered down a staircase but couldn’t pinpoint the source. The path went north and south. The north went up stairs while the south went down stairs. Eryn chose to go deeper and they moved south. Angelique moved up close behind her hoping her amulet would warn them of traps. They proceeded around, what turned out to be, an octagon.

A chilling voice filled the air, taunting: “Fools who stumble into the Nythera's embrace, your steps echo in a tomb of your own making. Sahn's shadow will swallow you whole.” The voice continued, "Every whisper in this temple is mine to command. Your secrets, your fears, they all belong to Nythera now.". Unsettled, the group pressed on, choosing to descend staircases only to eventually ascend staircases to end up at a chamber near the beginning of their journey around the octagon. There they found a lit chamber.

In the octagon shaped chamber, braziers smoked faintly, and runes covered the floor. An altar at the south end held a chalice-and-snake figurine. There were statues of skeletal figures around the room. A cage on the western wall held a bound woman—Emma Grimm. Eryn moved to the cage, trying to pick the lock, but failed initially her first couple of attempts. Emma, gagged and frantic, shook her head, warning her against it. Eryn, heeding her caution and moved to investigate the altar instead. Meanwhile Cal was examining one of the statues closest to the entrance when suddenly it and one other across the room animated, and combat erupted.

Angelique entered the room to attempt to turn the two zombie golems. That's when she heard the voice of the woman again. It said, "Oh, Blazecaller, how Nythera weeps for your fallen kin. Once they wielded invocations of wrath, now you're but a relic and you're pitiful.". Angelique disagreed. Her attempt to turn the zombie golems failed. 

Symon, transformed into a buffalo via polymorph self spell, and moved into the room preparing to charge into the fray. When he entered the room, he heard the woman's voice again. She said, "Oh Symon, you pitiful thing. Given such great power, and you're such a coward not to take it and use it. Your blood is dirty as all your kin is now. I don't think that you have what it takes to find greatness again!". Symon snorted.

A zombie golem attacked, its stench nauseating Eryn and Cassandra, imposing a -2 penalty on their attack rolls. The Bozak that had fled the previous battle suddenly appeared casting a magic missile at Angelique causing 9 points of damage. The voice rang out again saying, "Angelique, last ember of a dying flame, your ancestors were the Blazecaller, wreathed in red dragon fire. Now look at you, a flickering spark in a world grown cold. Blazecallers once burned empires at their emperors whim, but you, pathetic shadow, unworthy of the name. Your blood will serve Sahn's awakening, nothing more!". 

After that, Angelique cast mirror image, creating four duplicates. The bozak cast a spell at the bull, creating a stinking cloud around him, also engulfing Angelique. Symon failed his save and was incapacitated. Angelique succeeded with her save moving out of the cloud. Symon was incapacitated for 5 rounds. X'or was beaten down to one point. Eryn took a big hit. X'or dropped the Zombie that he and Cassandra were fighting. Eryn returned the hit on her Zombie while Cassandra joined the fight on that one. X'or drank a healing potion. 

Nyra Vexis, the source of the voice, emerged from the wall just south of the cage. She said, "Play time is over, time to die!". The bozak fired another magic missile at Angelique which struck one of her images. The party Nyra cast a hold person spell paralyzing Eryn effectively ending her fight. The party fought on. Cal moved away from the zombie, avoiding an attack of opportunity. He then targeted Nyra but missed. Angelique had planned to use wand of fear against Nyra but Cal's presence made her rethink that so she targeted the bozak instead. It succeeded! Cassandra finished off the second golem. She moved over to engage Nyra. X'or moved down there and attacked her as well, hitting her. 

Cal struck at Nyra but missed. She cast a spell touching Cassandra dealing 11 points of damage. Xor missed his attack. Cassandra struck back. Angelique fired a bow shot but missed. Cassandra hit on her second attack as well. Nyra cast a flame strike that engulfed Cal and X’or, dealing 34 points of damage (halved to 17 for those who saved). Cal fell dead. He dropped to -19 hit points. Cassandra got in the final hit that took down Nyra. 

Angelique removed items from Cal that might be useful. Searching Nyra's body, they found a dagger, bracers, a mace, 100 gold pieces, a potion, a ring, chain mail armor, a holy symbol with the snake-and-chalice. Angelique faced a magical struggle with the alter while attempting to destroy it. Their energies pushed back and forth against each other until finally, Angelique succeeded and the alter lay in ruins. Cassandra found keys in the altar’s drawer, freeing Emma, who thanked them tearfully, lamenting Cal’s death.

Symon finally recovered from the stinking cloud. Cassandra looked for the keys that Eryn carried and tried them on the cage door. None of them worked. Angelique reached in and removed the gag from Emma's mouth so she could finally talk. While pointing out her regret at the loss of their comrade, Emma thanked them for saving her. She asked after Fritz and Angelique told her that he was okay. Angelique asked if Emma knew where they kept the keys to the cage. Emma told her that they were kept in the alter. Angelique found the drawer in what was left of the alter and tried it. She was successfully freed. The group, battered and mourning Cal, discussed resurrection. With no immediate means to revive him, they placed Cal’s body in a bag of holding hoping to be able to resurrect him later.

On there way back to Fritz, they heard a commotion beyond a closed door down an eastern hallway. Symon, now in gorilla form via polymorph self, investigated. He heard human voices, goblin squeals, and a whip’s crack. He opened a door finding a room full of barrels of the powder that Fritz was making. There was a door on the opposite side of the room that was slightly ajar where the sounds emanated from. Symon returned to his natural form. He stepped through the door into a hallway, spotting a guard abusing a goblin near a cart of black powder. He also noticed another room to his north with more barrels of Fritz's special powder.

Symon cast polymorph other, turning the guard into a goldfish. The guard did not survive the transformation and lay dead on the ground. Symon, seeing the confused look on the goblin faces, simply told them that he'd brought them a fish to eat. He added, "I have some friends for you to meet! Come this way!". The other guard, enraged, pushed a goblin into a bottomless pit as he charged Symon, who withdrew to the room with the rest of his comrades calling out, "Set up an ambush!". When the guard entered the room, he was met by X'or who attacked him. Symon cast a burning hands spell causing 17 points of damage.

Angelique, Eryn, and Cassandra joined the fray. Between them all, they quickly killed the guard. The goblins, terrified, revealed more guards and sailors loading black powder onto a ship in a hidden harbor. Fritz Grimm, now freed, explained that the ship was nearly loaded with explosive powder and the weapons. It would be very bad if it sailed. Eryn, using a ring of invisibility, scouted the harbor, confirming the presence of pirates, sailors, draconians, and enslaved goblins loading the ship. She also saw human prisoners being whipped, complicating their plan to fireball the ship.

The party debated destroying the ship to halt House Umbridge’s operation, as per Benjamin Blackmoor’s mission. Fearing collateral damage to innocents, they considered luring the enemies into the pit or collapsing the tunnel with the black powder carts. They even considered, Symon getting on the boat invisibly, then when the ship was far enough away from shore, casting a fireball to destroy it. That seemed way too suicidal. 

Eryn, still invisible, considered something similar but by her going and rigging a fire in the hull designed to reach the barrels and detonate the ship after she slipped overboard and swam away. Again, that could go very badly. 

With Fritz and Emma safe, the group was considering it's options, aware that the ship could sail at any time, or worse yet, reinforcements could arrive and they could be in a big fight very shortly. The mission to rescue the Grimms was complete, but the threat of House Umbridge’s explosive cargo loomed large, demanding a final, decisive action.

That is where the session ended.

Please start the recorder!


Exp: 8965 + 897 = 9862