Session 21 (June 18, 2023)
Last session, our heroes began their journey towards the Haden Desert, with the eventual goal of catching Sentin Thornwillow in Bad Zamdorf.
Aside from some trouble Heph experienced riding his giant warhorse, the first day of travel passed uneventfully. On the second day, Heph managed to completely solve the puzzle box, turning it into a rough clay cylinder covered in patterns of minute ridges. The party then covered the ridges in ink and rolled the cylinder on parchment, revealing a map with an X marked on an island in a stream.
Rormir had a conversation with the horses in their native language: interpretive dance. They stated one of the main dangers on this road are magpies, large black-and-white birds which steal shiny objects from travelers. They planned to warn Rormir of danger by bucking off Heph. While setting up camp, Elias found Ana and her pigeon Salty hiding under a tarp, apparently following the party. Ana seemed interested in seeing this whole thing with the masks through, and Elias convinced her to join the group.
On the third day of travel Heph’s horse bucked him and the party was beset by magpies. They managed to fend the birds off and followed them to their nest, a cave in some nearby hills. Upon some brief exploring, Rormir entered a chamber filled with humanoid skeletons and three large, angry-looking birds.
- We roll initiative
- Rormir starts off by taking a shot, and decimates a
magpie
- Heph joins him and disintegrates another one with a Fire Bolt
- The remaining one attacks Rormir
- Elias continues deeper into the cave, throwing caution to the wind
- Another magpie comes flying around the corner towards Elias after he fails a stealth check
- Rormir runs away from the magpie and picks up some gold
- There are skeletons in one of the chambers
- They don’t appear to be armed, possibly individuals who tried to take shelter in the cave
- Rormir kills the final magpie in the first room
- A third magpie comes around the corner towards Elias
- Elias pulls out his heavy crossbow and shoots one
- He tells Heph there are birds, ducks behind a corner and walks further into the cave
- A magpie comes around the corner, can’t see Elias who had hidden, and heads towards Heph instead
- A second magpie heads towards Heph
- Heph Thunderwaves the two magpies, pushing one of them back
- The third one appears and rushes up to Heph
- Elias heads deeper into the cave, peering carefully around the next corner and the one after that
- He doesn’t hear any more birds, but he hears rushing water
- One of the magpies tries to attack Heph, but can’t get through his armor
- Rormir rounds the corner, and takes out one of the magpies
- Heph takes out one more, leaving only one remaining
- Meanwhile, Elias heads deeper into the cave
- Rormir uses Animal Friendship on the remaining
magpie and asks it about the treasure using Speak with Animals
- The magpie starts leading the party towards the side room
- This room appears to be a nest of some sort, full of small magpie chicks
- The magpie picks out some gold and flies it over to the party
- Rormir tries to convince the magpie to stop seeking out shiny objects in the interest of keeping his chicks safe
- The chicks’ names are Chickidoo, Louie, Hughie, and Dewey
- Rormir can’t convince him to stop getting shiny stuff, being against his nature, so he tries to advise him how to do it safely
- The magpie seems to understand, and Rormir gives him back one gold coin
- He tells the party about a Queen at the end of the cave
- Elias rounds a corner of the cave, and sees a chasm, about 20 feet
wide, blocking his path
- There is a flowing river at the bottom of the chasm
- The chasm is about 100 feet deep
- On the far side of the chasm, there are random pieces of gold scattered around, and various rocks and stalagmites around
- Elias uses his Rope of Climbing to create a pathway across the chasm
- He takes his rope back, and continues into the cave
- He hears more magpies, one which seems to be much larger than the others
- Elias peeks around the next corner
- He hears the level of activity pick up, and it seems the magpies have detected his presence
- He sees a large cavern at the end of the cave, with tons of gold
- He also sees a massive magpie, the Flock Queen
- He sees a variety of metal tools, as well as an amulet made from some sort of silk-like substance attached to the leg of the Flock Queen
- He decides taking this on alone is a bad idea, and starts to head back
- One of the magpies begins to chase him
- Heph and Rormir have been discussing a plan as they
head deeper into the cave
- Heph and Rormir plan to use Karrl to distract magpies, and to work together to make Elias learn to be a team player
- They go around the corner and see what Karrl saw, Elias running frantically towards the chasm
- Rormir makes Elias promise to share the gold and be a team player before they help, and he agrees
- He’s probably lying, but Rormir and Heph completely believe him
- Karrl grabs one end of Elias’s Rope of Climbing and flies it back over the chasm
- Elias ties off the other end and hides in a corner
- A magpie comes blasting down the cave, passes right by
Elias without seeing him, and heads towards Heph and
Rormir
- Rormir hits it with an arrow and knocks it out in one shot
- The Flock Queen comes out into the cavern, doesn’t see Elias, and flies directly up to Heph, Rormir, and Karrl
- Heph backs off and blasts the Queen with a Fire Bolt
- Another magpie appears and heads right up to Rormir
- Karrl drops the rope, and flies off, dropping a few rock-nuggets which Heph had enchanted to be shiny around on the far side to try to distract the magpies
- The nuggets don’t seem to distract the magpies already in the room
- The next magpie comes around the corner, and is distracted by the shiny stone by the edge of the chasm
- The next two magpies fly right up to Rormir
- Elias takes a non-lethal shot at the Queen and drops it unconscious
- Rormir attempts to untie the amulet from the Queen, but can’t manage it
- He tries to distract the magpies again and drops a gold in the river
- Heph blasts another one unconscious with a blast of lightning
- Karrl flies ahead to scout out the cavern at the end of the cave
- One of the magpies comes after Heph, and another one hits Rormir
- Elias sees Karrl go ahead, and continues with what was totally his original plan to return to the battle and help his friends
- He takes a shot with his crossbow and misses
- Rormir knocks out the magpie flying down into the chasm after the coin, and it starts to plummet unconscious to the river
- Heph launches some lightning, but misses
- Karrl checks out the cave, and then heads back to the combat
- One of the magpies flies over to the Queen, and pecks at the amulet, trying to steal it off its leg
- A wall of wind pops up around the birds, dealing damage to both Heph and Rormir
- Elias unties the amulet from the Queen using Mage Hand, which is now holding the amulet
- Rormir steps into the wind and knocks out the magpie that activated the Wind Wall
- Heph hits the remaining magpie with a blast of lightning, but it is still up
- Karrl flies down into the chasm and saves the magpie that was plummeting
- The remaining magpie flees combat and heads out of the cave
