Session 13 (12/04/2021)

## Day Nine, Morning

**Before** continuing down the steps, Swage tells the group that he wants to make something that may come in handy in case they need to make an entrance. Using his Artisan’s Blessing in the middle of the town square, he creates a portable battering ram using the metal plate taken from the town hall in Seidan. It looks like any portable ram, except for the fact that it has a glowing dragon’s head at one end. He tells the group that its name is Molotok, which is giant for ‘gavel’. Townsfolk gather at the spectacle of channeled divinity and offer an assortment of coins in appreciation.

The party descends the stairs that Holly had discovered hidden under a statue. At the bottom of the stairs, a large cave opens that is lit by a few large braziers held by two statues. A stone bridge extends over a chasm with water running far below.

Pele casts her dancing lights and commands them to light up the darker areas across the chasm. Still anxious to find his maul and spoiling for a fight, Kaz starts heading towards the bridge.

“Wait!” Dove says, grabbing at Kaz’s clothes, “Let me check for traps first.”

Realizing that he may have ended up falling off the bridge if he had been hit by a trap, Kaz stops and gives Dove time to examine the bridge. After some time, she deems the bridge safe to cross. As soon as she tells him this, Kaz bolts across the bridge with Pele following behind.

As they approach the end of the bridge, a couple of people step out of the shadows. Four of them normal sized crocodilians and the fifth is a much larger crocodilian.

“So, you’ve all come back. How wonderful!” the larger crocodilian says.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Underground Lizard, sir…who are you?” Pele says.

“Underground?” The crocodilian repeats.

“Well, we’re underground, and you kind of look like a lizard.” Pele answers.

“I am not a…I am Al Igor.” He states.

“Al Igor? How do you spell that?” Pele says.

“A-L I-G-O-R, Al Igor.” He says irritably.

“Well, this is Pele,” She says, pointing at herself. She continues, “This is Dove, Kaz…”

“Yes, Kaz, we know of Kaz.” Al interrupts.

Dove thumbs through her Demonomicon but finds nothing. “They aren’t in the book.” She whispers.

Turning all his attention to the Goliath, Al says, “Kaz…”

“Kaz, you’re famous!” Pele says.

“I told your friend and you to not come back here…” Al continues

Before he can get any more words out though, Kaz interrupts and says, “You are one ugly son of a bitch!”

Kaz then reaches for the bear whistle around his neck and blows it, summoning Tooth and Nail to the fight, before flying into a rage.

Al makes the first move and works his way towards the party, stopping short and waiting for someone to approach him. Kaz meets his challenge head-on and takes a hit for his trouble, causing him to go into a frenzied rage. In return, Kaz swings at Al with his maul but misses.

Swage raises a hand towards Al and casts Heat Metal. Al’s armor beings to glow red hot and burns him. Dove casts Sapping Sting on Al, but he resists the spell and shakes off any effects.

A crocodilian turns to face Tooth and swings at it with his greatsword. The sword slashes the bear, but the bear resists the poison that covers its blade. Another crocodilian slashes at Tooth, the first attack misses, but the second bites into the bear's side, poisoning it. Nail is hit by two sword attacks and finds herself poisoned as well.

Esha uses her power of Wild Shape to shift into the form of an ape. She covers a nearby rock in poop and attempts to throw it at Al, but misses.

One of the crocodilians breaks away from fighting the bears and begins to move towards Kaz. Seeing an opportunity to attack, the bear swipes at him with his claws and slashes him across his side. The crocodilian reaches Kaz and slashes him from the side with its sword, scoring a hit. Kaz resists its poison, however.

From somewhere further into the cave, a lone man hearing sounds of the battle slowly makes his way closer. Catching sight of the party fighting the crocodilians, he makes a quick decision to aid them in combat. He moves into position and casts Toll the Dead on the nearest crocodilian, he resists the spell, however.

Pele casts Faerie Fire on an area behind Al where Tooth and two of the crocodilians are. One of the crocodilians resists the spell, but Tooth and the other crocodilian do not. Both are bathed in pink fire and become easier to hit. She then begins to beat on her drum and sing “stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive”, imbuing Kaz with her Bardic Inspiration.

Al moves to the side and swings his sword at Swage, missing. He takes two more swings at Kaz and hits him both times, Kaz brushes off most of the damage due to his rage, however.

Tooth tries to bite the crocodilian nearest him, but it dodges out of the way. It's not so lucky when he attacks with his claws however and is hit. Nail fares the same against the other crocodilian and scores a hit with her claws as well.

Kaz takes a swing at Al, but he’s able to deflect the attack. Kaz’s second swing makes contact and deals a big blow to him. Swage heats Al’s armor again, turning his plate armor into a furnace.

He points a finger at Al and says “Grovel!” casting his spell Command.

Al shrugs it off laughing and says, “I like you!”

Swage smirks, eyeing Al’s smoldering scales. “Feeling hot?”

Dove takes a step back, draws back an arrow, and lets it loose at Al. She hits him and then marks him with her Hunter’s Mark.

The two crocodilians that were fighting Tooth and Nail are both able to defeat their respective bear, sending them back to their home plane. They then begin to make their way towards the party.

Esha turns back into her normal shape and draws her sword. She shouts “Erinaceus!” and wills the sword to use its newly discovered Charm ability. Dove, Swage, and one of the crocodilians fall under its spell and they all begin attacking Al. She then turns her attention back to the crocodilian she charmed and tries to hit him with an Eldritch Blast, but misses.

The charmed crocodilian moves away from Kaz, and to the other side of Al. Not knowing he’s being controlled, Kaz uses that opportunity to swing at him and catches him in the back with his maul.

The controlled crocodilian then makes an attack of his own against Al and hits with both slashes. Al is also unable to resist the poison on the blade and takes extra damage.

Coming out from behind one of the statues, the stranger casts a Fire Bolt at the creature, but it’s able to dodge out of the way.

Pele summons forth some of her magical ability and casts Tasha’s Mind Whip on Al, he is hit by the spell and finds himself suffering under the spell’s effects. Pele then uses her Quicken Spell ability and mocks him viciously by saying “Have you lived here your whole life? Because it sure looks like it.”

Feeling angered at Pele’s insult, Al swings three times at Kaz and only misses once, the other two cutting deep into Kaz. Bellowing in pain and rage, Kaz takes two vicious swings at Al and hits him with both.

Swage continues to heat Al’s armor, burning him further. Glancing around at the other reptilians, he takes a long drag on his cigar and says, “Time to tip the scales!” and casts Bless on Kaz, Pele, and Dove.

Dove, using her Sharpshooter ability, shoots an arrow directly into Al’s knee, incapacitating the giant crocodilian.

Seeing his boss taken out, the smaller crocodilian lashes out at Kaz in desperation and hits him. The second crocodilian tries to hit Esha but misses the druid entirely. A third crocodilian also misses his attacks against Swage.

Esha spits in the crocodilian’s face and casts Green Flame Blade on Erinaceus. She slashes at the crocodilian and scores a hit. After the flame strikes one crocodilian, it jumps and damages the other nearest one. She then casts Hex on the crocodilian she just attacked.

The controlled crocodilian swings at his downed boss, but misses.

The mysterious mage again attempts to cast Toll the Dead and hits the crocodilian nearest Esha. After his attack, he sees a maul lying on the ground and attempts to pick it up. He starts to pick up the maul but is only able to hold it a bit before it falls back to the ground, almost dragging him with it.

Pele says to the stranger, “Hey mister, I would just leave that there.”

She then turns her attention back to the battle and casts Fire Bolt on a crocodilian killing it by searing a hole through its back and out the front.

Kaz, still enraged that Al had stolen his maul, he raises his hammer high into the air. He brings it crashing down right into Al’s face and smashes it completely. Blood, brain, and bone fly out in different directions, showering the nearby party members in gore.

Kaz then looks at the spot where Al’s head had once been and says, “Don’t touch my maul.”

He then turns to the three remaining crocodilians and says, “Run!”

They choose not to heed the warning, however. Kaz simply shakes his head, drinks a health potion, and readies for his next attack.

Swage moves forward slightly to give himself better positioning, giving a crocodilian a chance to attack. The reptile scores a small hit on him. He then pulls out his holy symbol and screams “Agony!”, casting Word of Radiance and lining one of the crocodilians in front of him in radiant flames. He then looks at Kaz and seeing how hurt he is, casts Shield of Faith on his friend.

Dove marks one of the smaller crocodiles with her Hunter’s Mark and looses an arrow, but misses.

The smaller reptile takes a swing at Kaz and hits and poisons him. Pele takes two swings, but it’s able to dodge both attacks.

Esha casts Healing Spirit on Kaz, and it takes the form of a tiny orange leaf monkey. It leaps from her shoulder onto Kaz’ and begins to heal him. She then Eldritch Blasts the crocodilian that attacked Kaz and hits it.

Swage deflects two swings from a crocodilian with his shield.

The stranger casts Fire Bolt at the one near Kaz, but it flies wide.

Pele casts Mind Spike at one of the smaller reptiles and hits him. She then uses Quicken Spell to cast Chromatic Orb at the same one but misses.

Kaz moves between two of the crocodilians, and swings twice, missing both times.

Swage’s eyes flare with the fire of Gond’s forge, and he raises his mace high into the air, bringing it down on the head of the nearest enemy. The blow caves in the creature’s skull and it falls to the ground dead.

Dove takes another shot at her targeted crocodilian and hits it non-lethally, she then takes a step back and prepares for another shot.

One of the crocodilians attack Esha twice, she takes both hits but resists the poison.

Esha urges Erinaceus to ignite into flame and then casts Green Flame Blade on it as well. The fires swirl together, and she slashes the nearest crocodilian. The wound that extends diagonally begins to burn and the two halves of the reptile fall apart.

The mysterious mage again casts Toll the Dead, and the final crocodilian expires, bleeding from the ears.

The party looks around the cavern, confused as to the cause of the last enemy’s death. They spot a young human near one of the statues, leaning against the handle of Kaz’ vicious maul. The flames from Pele’s faerie fire still crawling across the weapon and bathing the man in soft, pink light. He waves friendly at the group.

Dove waves a paw back at him and says, “You might want to put it down!”

“And step like 20 feet away…” Pele adds.

Swage warns, “He’s still raging…”

Kaz begins stalking towards his prized weapon, his huge form casting a shadow over the relatively small human. The stranger drops the handle and backs up a few steps.

“Thanks for keeping an eye on it,” Kaz says as he bends to pick up the maul.

“You’re welcome.” The stranger salutes the group and says, “Hadwin Doyle. I’m recently graduated from the academy in Nethis, and I’ve heard of some various rare and magical objects down in these caves. I was looking for them when I happened upon your group in trouble.”

Pele raises an eyebrow. “Have you found any?”

“Yeah, did you find anything cool?” Dove asks excitedly.

Hadwin looks around nervously, “…This maul!”

“So, nothing else yet,” says Pele.

“Not yet, no.” answers the young wizard.

“Oh, well I’m Pele.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Dove. Thanks for helping us out!”

“You’re very welcome.”

“Swage. I’m interested to find some magic objects too. You know how to detect magic?”

“Yes, I do! I can identify them as well.”

Swage nods in respect at the newcomer.

Pele summons her dancing lights. “Swage, I know you need to go to church, but… I mean, magical items…” she raises her eyebrows at the firbolg.

Dove shoulders her bow and looks skeptically at Hadwin. “How did you get down here?”

“Through one of the entrances outside the cave, here.”

Kaz now has a maul resting over each massive shoulder. “Was it from inside the town?” Esha’s orange leaf monkey continues to clamber over his body as the healing spirit slowly dissipates.

“Yes,” Hadwin says matter-of-factly. He turns to the fallen enemies and starts to search their pockets for money.

Her curiosity piqued; Dove uses her keen senses to search for any items of interest. She finds a small cage, nine healing potions, a black bear claw, a bottle containing seeds, and a container of leaves. Satisfied, she nimbly pounces to the top of the nearest statue and begins to get a view of the entire cavern. She can see three small boats in the water, far below.

Pele walks up to the statues with the flaming braziers and begins to look them over. She can see that the tunnel continues further and feels compelled to delve deeper. Hadwin’s pockets jingle as he steps up next to Pele, getting a closer look at the statues. He recalls a recent lesson in religion and tells Pele that they appear to signify a fire god, meant to be way-markers on a path to ascension for His followers. Pele uses her innate connection to fire to snuff out the flames of the braziers on the statues. Immediately, the flames roar back to life. Seeing Pele slump her shoulders, Dove whips her tail around to make a mustache on the statue, eliciting a sharp laugh from the Genasi.

Swage begins to pull all the metallic armor from the crocodilians, adding them to his growing stash of materials. He examines Al’s partially melted full plate armor and estimates the necessary repair to be worth the effort. Esha also finds a lance, a shield, and three slings. Finding them too cumbersome, she gives them to Swage to carry. He gives slings to Dove and Hadwin, keeping one for himself.

Everyone tries to remember how they knew Al and the other crocodilians, but the memories are vague and clouded. Kaz drags the crocodilians by the tails to the cliff and tosses them into the darkness below. Good riddance.

Esha stands at the edge of the precipice, knees bent. She looks down at the water 120 feet below and contemplates the wild shapes that might let her survive the jump.

Hadwin and Dove give Esha the side-eye, look at each other, and shrug. They start to descend the stairs. Hadwin searches the first boat and finds a pair of slippers and a spell scroll. Dove finds an interesting, folded box and a set of hide armor in the second boat.

Esha wild shapes into a constrictor snake and slithers down the stairs and into the third boat. She finds an alchemy jug, a small jar of ointment, a portion of force resistance, and a potion of thunder resistance. She somehow manages to constrict all the items in her coils and slithers back to the top.

Hadwin and Dove return with all their found items. Swage is sitting on the ground, eyes closed, preparing his identify ritual. Hadwin joins him, preparing a similar spell, and the rest of the group divvies up the magic items between the two. Arcane and divine magics intertwine as they begin to discern the magical properties.

The scroll contains the Phantasmal Killer spell. The slippers are imbued with a spider-climbing property. The origami box is a Folding Boat, which can expand into a 10 foot or 25-foot boat by speaking a command word. The hide armor turns out to be a set of Mariner’s Armor. The lance is exquisitely sharp. The Shield of Gleaming will never get dirty.

Swage and Hadwin finish identifying the objects and nod knowingly at each other. The group begins glancing around the cavern, weighing their next steps. Pele remains by the blazing braziers, repeatedly and determinedly attempting to snuff out the undying flames.