Session 57, Finding Fritz in an Armory of Evil
Paldegora
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Session 57 – 2025-07-19
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Summary
No summary needed as the detail is short.
Detail
The party had just defeated more than a few undead and a mechanical zombie, a horrifying creature unlike anything they’d encountered before. With the battle behind them, they assessed their condition. Eryn was down to nine hit points, a precarious state, while Cassandra was down 15. Cal, meanwhile, had leveled up to seventh level.
Angelique gave Eryn a full potion of extra healing bringing her back up to 35 hit points. Though still short on spells, they pressed on, determined to find Fritz and the guards, who were last seen heading east from the main room. Eryn searched a small side room, an alcove, and some stairs that went nowhere for secret doors but found none. Angelique pondered whether she’d ever heard of the god Lirien but recalled no such deity, though she remembered the campaign’s early days when only three gods were mentioned. The group speculated about a dissertation that might clarify the gods’ alignments, but for now, they focused on the task at hand.
It was the year of the Black Dragon, following the year of the Red Dragon. The party recalled a failed gambit by Aphobis to sway the Grand Council, though the details were murky. They knew of a warrant issued against them for heinous crimes. They were accused of murder, fraud, and conspiracy to overthrow the government of Paladegora. The Grand Council’s vote had been close—eight yays, five nays, two abstentions, and four absent, including a representative from Cold Spire.
Determined to move forward, the party approached a gated double door with iron bars. Beyond it, a passage descended, echoing with strange sounds—clanging and hissing, though their source was unclear. Eryn, with a 75% chance to detect traps, checked the door and found it locked. Using a set of keys, she quietly unlocked it and crept down the passage, staying alert for traps. Symon offered to make her invisible to ease her snooping around. She accepted. She found no traps as she reached a landing with two passages branching off. Peering around a corner, she spotted a Kapak listening intently. Eryn, still invisible, moved silently with an 85% chance of success, avoiding detection. The rest of the party followed to a point and waited to hear back from her.
Suddenly, a pit trap sprang open beneath Eryn, dealing six points of damage plus two from spikes. As she cried out, Kapaks charged around the corner. Eryn, with a strength of 18/00, rolled a 16 to free herself and a 75% climb walls check to escape the pit. A Kapak, confused by her invisibility, swung wildly, missing . Cal attacked a Kapak, dealing 24 damage with two hits, killing it instantly, though acid splashed back, dealing four damage over three rounds. Cassandra charged another Kapak, attempting to knock it into a pit with a strength check, rolling nine under her 10. She pushed it to the edge but it managed to stay up. On her second attempt, with a strength check of 10 out of 17, she succeeded, sending the Kapak into the pit, where it took much damage but survived.
A Bozak appeared, casting a stinking cloud spell, enveloping the party in a 20-by-20-foot noxious vapor. Eryn made her saving throw, but Cassandra and X’or failed, leaving them nauseated and unable to act for two rounds. Angelique cast a magic missile, dealing 10 damage to the Bozak, then moved out of the cloud. Eryn, using her boots of striding and springing, jumped a corner and drank a healing potion to stop her bleeding. The Bozak continued attacking, missing most strikes, while Cassandra, still nauseated, vomited helplessly. Symon cast a gust of wind, dispersing the stinking cloud.
The battle intensified as more Kapaks, Baaz, and Bozaks joined. Eryn, still invisible, found another trap the hard way. She climbed out and made her way to behind a Bozak Draconian and backstabbed him for 20 damage with a critical hit. X’or had made his way to the Bozaks and landed a natural 20, dealing 12 damage, narrowly avoiding a petrification effect with a dexterity check. Cassandra, freed from the cloud, landed critical hits, dealing 10 and 14 damage, while Angelique fired arrows at the Bozak's. They quickly took out the Bozaks when a new Draconian form appeared. A couple of Sivaks joined the fight. They were quite formidable. Despite setbacks, they whittled down their enemies, with X’or delivering 16 damage to a Kapak and Symon’s magic missiles dealing 14 to a Sivak.
Cal had fallen but Cassandra managed to pull him to safety and get a potion into him. She then turned her attention to throwing and then push a Kapak into a pit as Angelique continually firing on it. This kept her from having to deal with the additional acid damage that usually accompanied a Kapak's death. The party finally killed the last of the Bozak's, Kapak's, and Sivak's.
With the enemies defeated, the party searched the bodies, finding 70 gold pieces, 15 copper pieces, and barbed swords on the Sivak's. The Kapaks, dissolved into acid, yielded nothing magical. As the Sivak's died, they took on the appearance of the person that killed them. After a little time, they turned to dust. Health-wise, Angelique was down to 17 hit points, X’or to 26, and the group was out of spells. They moved cautiously, sticking to the walls to avoid traps, as Angelique's amulet, meant to glow near cultist traps, remained dormant.
Peering around a corner, Cal spotted a large room filled with a red glow and the clamor of a forge. Draconians, humans, and goblins labored under harsh conditions, forging molten metal into strange devices and round metal balls marked with sulfur and saltpeter. A large human directed the operation, while barrels and crates lined the south wall. In the distance, a chained figure—possibly Fritz—worked at a table. Eryn motioned the group back, relaying the scene. Symon suggested disguising himself as Shirva to infiltrate the room, while Eryn planned to use her ring of invisibility to get into the room and behind the commander. Cal, Xor, and Eryn would all drink their potions of speed and attack.
The party prepared their ambush. Eryn activated her ring, drank her potion of speed, and crept into position behind Commander Grok. After 20 seconds, the others charged in, while Eryn delivered the backstab with a natural 20 for 25 damage, followed by X’or’s 14 damage and Cal’s dual-sword attack. Cassandra joined the fray as the Draconians in the room moved to attack the invaders. Commander Grok went down on the next round. Bozak's cast spells but so did Symon and Angelique. The party’s relentless assault brought them down. One Bozak managed to escape out of the back door.
As the battle ended, Fritz pleaded with them to save his sister, who was being held by Nyra Vexis in a temple to the south. Cal charged on while they were still under the influence of the potions of speed. The others followed. They reached a large double door adorned with runes, likely leading to the temple. The group, battered but determined, readied themselves for the next challenge, wary of a Bozak that had vanished during the fight, possibly lurking beyond the ominous door.
This is where the session ended.
Please start the recorder!
Exp: 3246 + 325 = 3571