Session 69: Fairies and Firefights (December 4, 2024)
Last session, our heroes began their attempt to break into the Old Palace and steal the Root Stone, an ancient item the spirits of Dalin claimed Kogar’s forces had taken from the Northrun.
They headed to the Indecent Prince, an old tavern whose basement contained an entrance to a secret tunnel that the employees seemed unaware of. After lying to enough people and squeezing out enough fake tears from Elias and John Wick, they managed to get the basement to themselves and enter into the dark passage.
At the end of the tunnel they encountered a riddle door. Heph and Maho had the correct initial reaction to break it down rather than bother with its riddles. On the other side was a cellar storage area and above it a patch of green seemingly some distance away from the palace. Maho sensed something odd about the place, and after some investigation on the part of Karrl Elias found a little burrow under a large tree. There lived a duck named Gerald, who explained the whole area was an illusion intended to deter intruders attempting to reach the palace itself. Now that they found him, though, he would show them the way if they could show him the seal in the king’s bed chamber. Maho summoned the spirit of a slain Order of Steel soldier (John Wick’s best friend), had him show them the emblem, and they continued on into the palace.
Now in a non-illusory cellar, the party encountered a ghostly young servant girl named Elenor whose unfinished business was that she had never gotten to see a gladiatorial show before someone pile drove her so good she forgot who did it. Heph and Elias put on their ACE costumes and gave a spirited performance, after which Maho called the match for Elias and presented him with a belt. Elenor having been released to pass beyond the Shroud, Heph blasted open the door to the cellar before Delilas could stop him.
The party stood at the end of a hallway, hearing metal footsteps approaching from the door at the far end.
- Hearing metal footsteps, the group opens the door to a side room and tries to
sneak in, but everyone makes way too much noise and we don’t seem to be very
hidden
- We move to the back door in the room, and Guard 1 opens the door
- Delilas runs over to the door and grapples Guard 1, pulling him
into the room and closing the door behind him
- Maho picks up a cup and throws it at Guard 1, knocking him prone, then slashes at him and deals some damage
- Elias uses Mage Hand to try to cover the guard’s mouth, grabbing a napkin and shoving it in his mouth, fully gagging him so he can’t speak, then hides behind a table
- The guard is confused why he can’t speak, and attempts to stab at Delilas, landing one shot on her
- Heph launches some lightning at the guard dealing a bunch of damage, and opens the door in the back of the room and takes a peek down the hallway
- Delilas stabs down at Guard 1 that she is grappling, landing a
solid blow and knocking him unconscious
- Elias asks Maho to kill the guard, to capture his soul in the sword
- Heph lets the group know the back door heads down another hallway
- Elias touches the gold pyramid, calls Heph over to take a look, and Heph can’t tell if it’s much more than a gold pyramid
- Elias licks it, and it is now wet, Delilas giving him a weird look as she cleans her rapier
- Elias wants to take the pyramid, Heph convinces him he won’t really be able to hide is, so he puts it in the corner with the guard under the rug to try to hide it so he can pick it up later
- Heph collects the plate armor from the guard, and Delilas takes the guard’s cape in case it comes in handy later, and Elias strips off most of the rest of the clothes he is wearing
- The group decides to head through the back door, and Elias peers
through the keyhole of the door at the end of the hallway
- The room is dark, but opening the door a tiny bit and peeking through a mirror, Elias seems the room is safe and opens the door, and we head into what looks like a kitchen
- Maho looks around a finds a chef’s hat, which she puts on one of her horns
- Elias looks for one of his own, and finds one, and goes to put it over Maho’s other horn, and a rat falls out of the hat and runs off
- It runs under the door, the crack being bit enough to fit a rat Elias tries to peek under that door, but isn’t able to see much
- Heph starts poking through the shelves, and manages to find a small lacquered wooden box, and there are four ceramic pots arranged inside, with a single paintbrush laid across
- Elias hides under the table and uses Mage Hand to open the door, while Heph, Maho and Delilas hide in the corner of the room, out of sight of the doorway
- Opening the door, Elias sees what appears to be a ballroom, with
tables around a central dancing area
- There is an easel set up next to a table and a coat check across the room
- There is a guard outside the palace doing his rounds
- Elias steps back, motions to everyone to stay put, and then uses invisibility on himself to further explore the room
- He walks across the room to check out the coat check, and notices another guard patrolling outside the other window
- Heading through the coat check he heads down a hallway and ends up in a little game room that seems to be set up for workers to take a break
- One tables has Fairies and Firefights set up, and the other has a chess board, which Elias moves one piece on
- Heading back to the main ballroom, he notices the guard outside the southern window has noticed the open door to the kitchen, and is looking curiously
- Elias walks over to the inside of the window where the guard is, and uses Minor Illusion to make a sound saying “hello over there” from behind where the guard is standing
- The guard hears the voice but realizes it isn’t real, and says to himself that something isn’t right here and starts to head off, Elias using Mage Hand to pickpocket him (nat 20) through the window, and manages to take out 10gp, and some pieces of paper, a note from his kid and a page of diagrams
- The diagrams seem to be a top-down view of the palace with guard routes drawn on, and it shows the entry to the palace, and it shows the path to the royal residence
- Elias drops the bag of coins and the child’s note on the ground, the guard notices them and tries to grab them, but Elias grabs them with his Mage Hand again and takes them away from the guy, putting the coins and note on the roof of the coat check, then quietly jogs back to the kitchen
- The guard attempts to climb the wall to retrieve his coins and the note, briefly distracting him from his duties
- Elias joins back up with the group and informs them of what he
found
- Elias gets an idea to have someone pretend to be Guard 1 and signal to the other guard that everything is good and close the door, and Delilas is the only one who is approximately the right size
- She disguises herself and heads over to the door, seeming to transform almost completely into the guard, and walks over to the door to close it
- Elias sneaks through the door ahead of her, and Delilas gives a thumbs up to the guard outside then closes the door
- Elias sees the guard continue his patrol, and lets Delilas know he bought it, and compliments Delilas on her acting ability
- Elias tells Delilas he is going to continue and scout ahead, and instructs Delilas to have the group hide
- The group grabs the guard and pyramid and heads to the coat room to hide out
- Elias carefully opens the door on the east side of the ballroom,
and sneaks into a room in the palace that seems to be a main entryway
- He sneaks his way up the stairs to the doorway that was labeled on the guard’s diagram to lead to the royal residence
- Peeking through the keyhole he can’t make out much, so he waits for a bit for an opportune moment to go through the door, but finds it to be locked
- Back in the coat room, Maho pokes around a bit and finds some
fairly nice coats
- Taking a look inside the pots Heph found, there is a different color of paint in each one, and notices that they are definitely magical, and he starts identifying one of them
- Back in the main entryway, Elias attempts to pick the lock leading
to the royal residence
- He doesn’t quite get the door open, and it makes an audible clicking sound, attracting the attention of Guard 6
- Elias uses his Mage Hand to knock on the door from the opposite side, trying to convince the guard to come to the door to come to the door and open it to see who is knocking
- With a natural 20 deception roll the guard is completely convinced, and with a natural 20 stealth roll he perfectly combat rolls through the door, and Guard 6 closes the door, thinking the haunting is expanding further
- Elias heads up the stairs at the end of the hallway
- Back in the coat room, Heph finishes identifying the lacquered box, and finds it to be a box of Marvelous Pigments
- Elias realizes he can’t actually cast spells and has no idea how he was doing that while invisible, and heads back down the stairs and calls up asking for Florence, and one of them responds that Florence is in the ballroom
- Elias asks who is up there, and they respond Guy and Tim, and Elias asks them to come down the stairs for a minute, but is thoroughly unconvincing, and they think he is the ghost
- He asks for ideas, Heph suggests making a noise down the hallway, and Elias throws down a card from his deck of illusions, summoning a giant red dragon
- The guards all seem to freak a bit out seeing the dragon appear through the walls, but Tim and Guy know it’s an illusion and are unfazed
- Back in the coat room, the guards near the ballroom seem to have run off to
deal with the dragon
- Heph runs out to look at the painting, and it’s a partially completed amateur version of the ballroom, maybe painted by Florence
- Heph heads to one of the tables, and balanced precariously on Maho’s shoulders, draws a trapdoor on the ceiling and pushes it open, and climbs up into a lounge
- Heph ties off a rope and drops it down for everyone else to climb up
- The guards charge into the hallway, and Elias runs up the stairs,
trying to sneak between Tim and Guy to get some view into the room
- Peering through the crack he glimpses a small bit of the room beyond, which he can identify as the King’s room
- Elias Misty Steps into the King’s room, and tries to open the sliding door, finding it locked he hears a voice from the other side asking what is going on
- Elias says “My King, there’s a dragon, can’t you hear it?”
- The King knows it’s an illusory dragon, and Elias tells him they need to evacuate, and he seems very confused by why one would do this
- Elias picks the lock as easily as if he had a key, and finds himself in a nicely appointed bathroom, and he sees some feet under some drawn curtains
- Back in the lounge, Maho and Delilas climb up the
rope, and Maho grabs a couple of bottles of wine
- Coming out the door, the group follows a hallway over the top of where the ballroom was, and ends at a window
- There are multiple rooms off the hallway, various rooms you’d find in a palace but nothing special
- Maho helps hold Heph up to make another trapdoor in the ceiling above the wine table, and pushing it open, Heph emerges onto a flat section the roof, and heads over to the tower, and begins drawing a trap door on the outside wall
- Elias walks over to the curtain and pulls it back, and the king is
sitting on a latrine, not using it, just seeming to hide
- He notes Elias isn’t Order of Steel, and Elias asks him about the root stone
- He says he doesn’t have it and he doesn’t know who Elias is, and asks if Elias is there to kill him, and Elias says probably not, and asks him if he is aligned with Kogar
- He refuses to answer questions, and is resistant to leaving the palace
- Elias hears footsteps enter the King’s chambers and locks the door, then resorts to threatening the King by pulling out Jarles
- The King cowers back into the corner, but as Elias asks about the root stone, his eyes keep flicking back to the wall leading to his bedroom
- The footsteps approach the door and ask what’s going on in there, and Elias points his sword at the King to encourage him to not give Elias away, and the King is silent
- Elias whispers to tell them he is going number 2, which he awkwardly relays back to Tim, who was asking what was going on in there
- One of the guards tells the King to stand back, and prepares to break down the door
- Back outside, Heph, wobbling on Maho’s shoulders, manages to keep his balance with Delilas and Maho’s help, and finishes the trapdoor in the wall and opens it
- Elias grapples the king and uses him as a shield, threatening to
kill him if the guards don’t back off, and the guards pause momentarily
- Heph runs over to the bed, and grabs the bad vibes chest off the top of the bed, and his hands adhere to the chest, there was a ring-shaped slot in the front, but as Heph touches it it opens and a purple tongue comes out and reveals the chest is a mimic
- Heph manages to wrench his hands off the mimic, spotting a rough uneven oblong stone inside the mimic, and backs away from it, the mimic biting him as he backs away
- Delilas leaps over the piano, engaging with Guard 4 and yelling for them to get away, and lands a critical hit on the guard
- Maho also leaps over the piano, turns large, closes the door to the room, and shoves the piano in front of the door to barricade it
- With a surge of energy, Maho moves forward and lands a katana strike on Guard 4
- The guards turn around, and Guard 4 swings at Delilas, dealing some damage
- Guard 8 (Tim) swings at Delilas, hitting her twice
- Guard 7 swings at Delilas, hitting her once
- Guard 9 (Guy) swings at Maho, but misses both swings
- The mimic chases after Heph and lashes out with its tongue, but
misses
- Elias places the king back on the toilet and releases him, saying he has to go help his sister, and seeing Delilas looking really rough he pulls out his bow and shoots a Cupid’s Little Prick at Guard 4, but misses the shot, and he runs back to where the king is and hides behind the curtain with him
- The king seems very confused what is happening, and Elias tries to convince him he is there to help the king and get rid of Kogar, and the king explains he thought the rebellion is dead, and after a brief exchange the king tells Elias to get out there and do something about it if he really wants to help
- Heph backs away from the mimic, which misses an attack, launches a Fire Bolt and drops out of the trapdoor onto the roof, trying to draw the mimic away from the room
- Delilas Fey Steps into the bathroom looking for Elias, and tells Elias there is a trapdoor in the main room they can escape through, and gets ready to help Elias with whatever he is planning
- Maho moves in to engage all the guards, and attacks Guard 4 twice, dealing a good chunk of damage and leaving him very close to death
- More guards show up on the stairs and attempt to force their way through the barricaded door, and they push the piano just enough to get through
- Guard 8 (Tim) tries to hit Maho, which Maho redirects to Guard 4, and Guard 8 ends up critically hitting Guard 4 and killing him
- Guard 7 swings twice at Maho, landing one hit and dealing a small amount of damage due to Maho’s resistances
- Guard 9 (Guy) swings at Maho, landing a critical hit, and dealing a small chunk of damage
- The King seems committed to getting out of there now
- The mimic follows Heph out the trapdoor and dashes towards him
- Elias steps out of the bathroom and swings at Guard 8 (Tim) with Jarles but misses, then tries again with New Jarles and hits him, dealing a good chunk of damage, then he grabs the king’s arm and drags him through the guards, Guard 7 landing a critical hit on him as he runs by, and Guard 8 (Tim) manages to grab the King as he runs past
- Heph fires lightning at the mimic as he continues to retreat and lead the mimic back the way the group came
- Delilas runs out of the bathroom, landing a nice hit on Guard 8 (Tim) and dealing a bunch of damage, then moves out of range
- Maho grapples Guard 8 (Tim), and drags him towards the door, breaking his grapple on the king, and tries to headbutt him, but misses
- More guards come up the stairs, but there is a bottleneck at the door
- Guard 5 swings at Maho, dealing a bit of damage
- Guard 6 swings at Maho but misses
- Guard 2 and 3 use their leadership abilities on Guard 7 and Guard 9 (Guy)
- Guard 8 attempts to break out of the grapple but isn’t able to
- Guard 7 and Guard 9 (Guy) move to Elias, Guard 9 (Guy) landing two hits and dealing a chunk of damage, Guard 7 landing two hits and knocking Elias out
- The king sighs, unimpressed by the rescue attempt, and Delilas points him towards the hole, and he Fey Steps to the hole and drops down onto the roof, taking a very small amount of damage from falling
- The mimic chases Heph but can’t quite catch up, taking more fall
damage on the way
- Elias succeeds on one death save
- Heph launches another round of lightning at the mimic, nearly finishing it off
- Delilas looks at Maho and asks if she can get out, and with Maho saying she can, she grabs Elias and dashes out the trapdoor, taking a tiny bit of damage as she drops down onto the roof
- Maho disengages, runs to the trapdoor, dismisses her giant’s might, and slips through the trapdoor and drops down to the roof
- King Aeveron asks where to go, and Maho points him towards the trapdoors, explaining we know about the secret tunnels and have a path to them
- The mimic chases after Heph, and Heph blasts it and
kills it, and a rough hewn natural looking rock made of dark stone rolls out
of it
- Looking at it, Heph feels a sense of power, dread, and ancient force in it, and believes he is looking at the Root Stone