Battle of Blood and Bone

"**Battle of Blood and Bone**" is a standalone *Dungeons & Dragons* story played by Archaeowolf, NimueOfAvalon, FloodedBasement, JmmyHrrngton98, and Capwithoutacountry on 23 June 2022.

The game was DMed by TanisJr93, and is retroactively considered a prequel to the *Birds of a Feather* storyline.

## Party

* **Aiofe** (@NimueOfAvalon) – Elven Phantom Rogue
* **Shamash** (@JmmyHrrngton98) – Dragonborn Barbarian
* **White Claw** (@FloodedBasement86) – Half-Orc Druid
* **Aboukir** (@Archaeowolf) - Woolly Mammoth Loxodon Psi Warrior Fighter
* **Leander** (@Capwithoutacountry) – Human Battle Smith Artificer

## Prologue

While passing through the town of Everborough, Leander Brightwise agrees to a tavern pit-fighting match against a local Tiefling opponent, and the two trade blows until Leander incapacitates his adversary with the electrical blast of his *Shocking Grasp*. A house Cleric heals them both, and Leander collects ten gold pieces and a drink for his victory; while he sits at the bar nursing a bruise from a mace to the head, he is approached by town guardsman Sergeant Haskill, who commends Leander's combat and offers to pay him to check in on a nearby town from which there has been no communication in nearly a month. Leander answers that he'll decide when his headache wears off.

## Summary

Having been contracted to lead a party to the town of Torris, Leander Brightwise assembles a team consisting of Elven Rogue Aiofe, Dragonborn Barbarian Shamash Brosafar, Half-Orc Druid White Claw, and Woolly Mammoth Luxodon Aboukir, who agree to accept the job in exchange for 250 gold each. They learn that the last communication from the town was a merchant who passed through town nearly a month ago; the team picks up provisions from the town guard before setting out for Torris, encountering a group of seven bandits blocking off the road and demanding payment for passage.

After a bit of banter, the party engages the bandits, suffering damage from a boulder before dispatching four of the criminals and scaring off the rest. In the aftermath of the fight, White Claw discovers a man near death in the tall grass off the road, and the party learns that he is the merchant who had last passed through Torris; before he dies, the man admits that he sold an item to a child in the town, but that he didn't know what it did. The party searches the bodies of the dead bandits and the cart they used to block the road before continuing on and making camp for the night. Aiofe takes first watch and Leander takes second watch, and the rest of the night passes uneventfully.

Arriving in Torris, the party finds a town that appears entirely devoid of life until Aiofe detects what sounds faintly like a child crying in a building near the edge of town. Most of the party ventures inside while Aiofe cautiously remains outside the door; in the building, the party finds a young boy standing in what appears to be a summoning circle holding a black mask that seems to contain a shifting mass of blood. After attempting to communicate with the boy, Aboukir bludgeons the floor on which he stands, knocking him unconscious and causing the mask to hover in the room; the blood drains from the mask, forming itself into a Blood Elemental, which seals the door to trap the party inside and Aiofe outside, where a massive Gauth appears around the building.

As the party engages the Elemental, the boy transmutates into the form of a Bone Devil, and Aiofe stealthily strikes at the Gauth outside; White Claw wildshapes into the form of a hulking Dreadwolf to attack the Elemental as Leander's Steel Defender distracts it, and Leander ineptly fires his Infused crossbow at the creature, inadvertently shooting White Claw instead; Aboukir delivers a single devastating blow to the Bone Devil, and as it attempts to retaliate, he rips its tail and spinal column out.

White Claw succeeds in destroying the Elemental, which cackles as the Druid fully devours its bloody form. With the Bone Devil and the Elemental defeated, Leander attacks the Gauth before leaping through a window and clinging to one of the creature's thrashing tentacles in order to distract it from attacking Aiofe; as he attempts to line up a shot on the Gauth's eye, Shamash smashes the black mask, breaking the summoning ritual and sending the Gauth back to the Shadowfell. As the creature descends back into the Abyss, Leander narrowly avoids being dragged down with it, and the party suffers a burst of psychic damage from the monster's Death Throes.

Having vanquished the fiends and aberrations from the town of Torris, the party returns to collect its compensation from Sergeant Haskill, and Shamash relays the tale of their adventure as only Shamash can.

## Combats

### On the Road to Torris

Fighting a party of seven bandits on the road to Torris, damage was inflicted thusly:

Bandit #5, Bandit #6, and Bandit #7 fled following the deaths of their accomplices.

### Battle of Blood and Bone

Fighting a Blood Elemental, a Bone Devil, and a Gauth, damage was inflicted thusly:

The Gauth was drawn back into the Shadowfell after the Black Mask was destroyed by Shamash.

Ten points of the damage that White Claw suffered was inflicted by Leander with a crossbow misfire.

### Total Damage

Overall, damage was inflicted and suffered thusly:

 Shamash
 Leander
 Aiofe
 White Claw