Twelfth Session
| Campaign | The Primordial Campaign |
|---|---|
| Game Date | Tuesday, April 21, 2021 |
| Start Date | Mamir 26, 261 IM |
| Start Location | A young black dragon's den near Kara, Aydahar Confederation |
| Ending Date | Mamir 26, 261 IM |
| Ending Location | Kara Chantry of Jormungandr, Kara, Aydahar Confederation |
| Absentees | David McIntyre/Rayjok |
| Prev Session | Eleventh Session |
| Next Session | Thirteenth Session |
The Twelfth Session began with our heroes in the lair of a black dragon. The morning began with the general feeling that the party had overstayed its welcome in the dragon's lair and they moved on into the forest toward Kara to fetch some breakfast. Before leaving the cave, everyone felt the earth shake and heard a giant "WUMMMMMM" noise that was accompanies by a shockwave that blew leaves and blossoms from trees everywhere.
The party left the cave to investigate. Mounting their riding lizards the rode a short distance toward Kara when they noted that there must have been some sort of blast that blew the blossoms and leaves in a direction away from the city. While breakfasting, Panamon Cree's imp noted a couple of figures walking nearby in the forest with a very suspicious gate.
Dead Reckoning[edit]
Panamon Cree and Matteo Alleman headed into the forest to investigate the two figures, who upon closer inspection appeared to be ugly looking Aydahar. After being addressed, the pair turned and began to shamble toward Panamon and Matteo, the former blasting them apart with Eldritch warlockery. The pair seemed to be fairly well dressed for Aydahar and their corpses exhibiting many days of decay. Panamon's burns were not their evident cause of death.
The Walls of Kara[edit]
Emboldened by their Aydahar guides, our heroes rode their lizard mounts through a shanty town and up to the city gates. Suspicious of the humans, the female Aydahar, Didara Samat explained to the city militia that the were traders. The guards inspected the 4 chests of papers purloined from the previous adventure and determined them to be taxable goods, levying a 40 gp tax, which the party reluctantly paid.
Entering the city, they discovered Kara to be a very vibrant and active city. Much of the city's construction was unlike the stone edifices to which they were familiar, but rather constructed from trees and giant bones (presumably dragon). The party made their way toward the city's citadel, Kara Citadel, where they hoped later to find more evidence of the "WUMMMMMM" disturbance.
The Thirsty Human[edit]
The party alighted at a tavern very near the citadel, which in the Adahari language was called The Thirsty Human. A stable had quickly came out to assist the party in taking care of their mounts while a concierge addressed their needs, speaking mainly to Didara and Obsidian. Greef Roake expressed a desire to have a private dining area so as not to be disturbed by other guests. The over-eager concierge was only too eager to see to everyone's needs and directed the party to a private dining room, while their sleeping rooms were to be prepared.
The party was treated to a round of Dirty Scarabs, a beverage which when spoken in common Otani sounds distinctly like gin and tonics. Alas, Matteo Alleman was not able to force the concoction into his throat, the rest of the party drank with great relish. A round of the house delicacy was ordered, Hurcules Beetle on the Shell which appeared to be a giant beetle, gutted, the innards cooked and prepared and then stuffed back into the beetle.
While the non-Aydahar members of the party ate reluctantly, the Aydahar members ate as though they had never tasted anything quite so delicious in their entire lives. During the meal, the party experienced another "WUMMMMMM", this time considerably louder and more menacing than the one they heard earlier.
Out on the Town[edit]
After getting settled in their rooms, a disguised Panamon Cree and a less disguised Obsidian Black headed out to investigate the Kara Citadel to look for signs of the noise. The Thirsty Human's concierge explained that there had been a similar blast this morning, but that this whole "WUMMMMMM" was new to him (and the city). He confided in the party that he would check around with the other concierge staff around the city for rumours. Meanwhile the Aydahar cohort in the party took great delight in the apparent luxury of the party's accommodations.
Meanwhile Obsidian and Panamon headed toward the citadel along with Didara. Along the way they noticed what could only have been disruptions in the daily lives of the Kara residents. City militia were directing civilians to their homes and a general feeling of alarm was in the air. An alarm calling the guards to man their posts at the city walls was mixed into the tumult. Their investigation eventually pointed them away from the citadel and toward the center of the city.
In the center of town, the trio found the Kara Chantry of Jormungandr, a temple apparently constructed from the skeleton of a very ancient black dragon. Didara explained that this was her usual place of worship and invited the others in for a tour. The interior looked very much like the interior of a dragon, with a large circular sculpture of Jormungandr overhead. In the center was a large circle, upon which stood an altar.
The party interrogated the other parishioners to learn that there had been more undead activity in the city. Further investigation revealed that the Chantry seemed to be the epicenter of the "WUMMMMMM". The party decided to go back to The Thirsty Human to fetch the rest of the party, particularly Greef Roake, the party expert on holy affairs.
For Whom the Bell Tolls[edit]
The bell signals coming from the walls were a call to all able citizens to come and defend the city. Upon arrival the whole party was hearing them. The concierge explained that foreigners might not be required to heed the call. The party decided rather to return to the temple to investigate further.
Along the way, the party noted shambling figures in the streets, all apparently shambling in the direction of the temple. The party decided to enter the temple in the hopes of barricading themselves inside, when...
Flight of the Living Dead[edit]
Inside the Chantry lurked a dozen zombified Aydahar and what appeared to be an undead black dragon or dracolich.
DM Note: I've looked over this encounter and it could have easily been a TPK, had not certain very lucky luckiness prevailed. The way-too-tough dracolich rolled a critical fail on its Turn Undead savings throw. Phew!
Greef Roake, party cleric decided that the evil undead was no match for believers of the true faith so he called upon the gods, and their holy might to remind the Dracolich of the awesome power held by the clerics of Woden. Too frightened to face Greef's wrath and terrified of the awesome power of Woden, the Dracolich turned its cowardly tail and flew for the sky.
The party quickly dispatched the lesser zombies, thanks in part to Panamon Cree's extra zappy spellcasting abilities which were inexplicably more powerful than usual. Abyl of the Fists of Woden also put in an impressive performance.
Scratching Beneath the Surface[edit]
With the last of the undead put to rest, the party began to examine the alter. When FINALLY a Detect Magic spell was cast, it revealed a magical console on the alter that caused the floor of the alter to raise up revealing a basement. In that basement was another Aydahar of a silvery complexion, he warned the party not to enter the basement, pointing some sort of strange magical wand at them.
After some positioning the party surrounded the spellcaster and killed him... again thanks to Panamon Cree's extra zappy spells. In this ongoing experiment, the spellcaster had two undead chained to magic circles, a Meme of Aspan lodged into a magic circle between them and huge amounts of magical/electrical energy flowing between the 3 circles.
As the party examined and experimented with disarming the setup, the room started to inexplicably move around, giving the party momentary feelings of weightlessness and at other times extra gravity. The second to last attempt to disarm the experiment caused another "WUMMMMM" event, this time at point blank range, causing considerable damage to the party and killing the entire Aydahar contingent. RIP Didara... if you're not a zombie.
The party was able to close and secure the box and make a cursory examination of the papers in the room, revealing that they had secured the Meme on the topic "On the Ascent to Heaven".
