Session 13: The one where Jesus Christ forgives Jude (and then Heph kicks Jude in the nuts) (March 8, 2023)
Last session, our heroes continued braving the Labyrinth of Death! They swam through an underwater tunnel, encountering a gigantic octopus who Rormir charmed and named Karrl. Elias also found 7 gems underneath the massive body of this beast, which he quickly squirreled away in his pockets.
They met a door with the design of a golden sphinx embedded in it. They answered two riddles spoken by the sphinx and the audience became increasingly confused and dissatisfied by the presence of this cerebral puzzle in the Labyrinth of Death. Rormir realized that the door itself was fairly flimsy and decided to try and break it down to the cheers of the crowd.
Eventually they reached the end of the labyrinth around the same time as the Helions, who looked injured but nonetheless all present. After a brief scuffle wherein they knocked two of the Helions out, they agreed to face the final challenge of the labyrinth together.
Upon entering the labyrinth’s center, they encountered a bearded dwarf who Joshy recognized as “Jude”. Jude claimed that the rest of the Apostles were just pretending to be sick, and that Bloody Mary had paid him 3 gold and promised him a favorable career if he killed Joshy. Apparently Joshy’s concern for the health and well-being of other fighters had been bad for business.
Just then the ground began to rumble, and a hole opened up in the sand in front of them. A platform raised, revealing a cage containing a giant, terrifying slug-like creature with tentacles, mandibles, and purple, soulless eyes. It screeched and the cage fell open…
- We roll initiative
- Jude retreats to the rear of the combat area, where Joshy follows
- The Carrion Crawler paralyzes Rormir
- Stone 10ft×10ft platforms periodically shoot out of the ground and recede back down as Lair Actions
- Elias pulls Rormir to safety behind some platforms
- Elias kills the Carrion Crawler with an arrow through its eyes
- Jude knocks out Joshy and threatens to kill him if anyone approaches
- Rormir gets some luck from somewhere in the stadium with his con saves against paralysis, but still doesn’t save
- Heph knocks Jude out with the first charge of his Potion of Fire
Breath
- Joshy, half unconscious, asks they please don’t let Jude die
- With Jude out, Hema asks if the party can save Joshy, and they say
they can
- She then apologizes and says they need to finish the show, and goes on the attack
- Heph knocks out Hema with another blast of Fire Breath
- Rormir saves from paralysis
- Rormir needs to decide between trying to stabilize Jude, who is
at 2 failed death saves, or finishing off Hera
- He moves near Jude, but uses his action to knock Hera out
- Elias fails to stabilize Jude
- Heph, getting creative with Joshy’s request, heals Jude and then blasts him with Fire Breath, using the potion’s final charge
- Jude is not knocked but, but is intimidated and drops his axe in surrender
- A bell rings and The Apostles are announced as the winners
- Their theme song plays
- Heph kicks Jude in the nuts and the crowd goes wild on a nat 20 performance
- On another nat 20 performance 10gp is thrown at Elias’s feet from the crowd
- Rormir is kinda confused, having been paralyzed for most of the fight
- The walls of the labyrinth drop back into the ground, and they can see Bloody
Mary approaching them across the sand, clapping slowly
- In a magically amplified voice, she congratulates the party, holding each of their hands up to applause
- She then in a quieter voice she says she knows they want something from her, and says they should do brunch the next day to discuss
- She looks at Jude, clearly disappointed he didn’t follow through on his end of the bargain, and leads him away
- The party is lead back below ground and given 48gp each
- Elias asks Joshy why he wanted them to save Jude,
since he did betray him
- Joshy replies that despite that he still loves him as a brother
- He probably would prefer not to see him for a while, though