Fight in the Pools

**“Fight in the Pools''** is the third session of the Delirium game.  At the foot of Lachan’s territory, Barcelona and Melanine are joined by an unexpected third party, who has their own beef with the hag who rules from on high...

# Synopsis

## Day 5

Waking up after slaying horrifying simulacra of Melanine’s former companions, the dynamic duo began preparing for the assault on Lachan’s territory, when they were interrupted in their preparations by an odd fellow by the name of Springle.  A member of the Hob (with a sprinkle of draconic ancestry somewhere in his family tree) Springle explained that he had been fully content living in his little cottage in the boonies of Belazon’s territory, yet Lachan’s corrupting influence was making it difficult to enjoy his pastoral lifestyle.  What was also making it hard was all of the dead bodies from the previous residents of the Pools that Lachan sent floating lazily down the creek.  Springle offered to combine his arcane might to Melanine’s strength and Barcelona’s divine fury, wanting to put Lachan down so that he could go back to reading.

Needing the help, Barcelona and Melanine accepted him into their little coterie, and began climbing the series of cliff faces, waterfalls, and muddy trails that terminated at the top of this mountain.  As they began to brave the sheer rock faces, they were hounded and taunted by the illusory image of a Satyr named Scabol; a servant of Lachan, he repeatedly dismissed any threat the three of them possessed, popping in periodically as the trio continued to climb.

The three of them eventually found the abandoned campsite of the former settlers in the area: the tents were water damaged and sunk into the silt of the nearby river.  After fending off some vicious large bugs, Scabol returned, mocked them briefly, and then disappeared again.

It was after this that the three of them realized they were walking in complete loops, despite the fact they were following the river consistently.  Even as the sun began to set, the shadows remained in the place they were when the day began, giving the woods around them a fairly unpleasant disorienting effect.  Abandoning the stream, the three entered deep into the woods, where they found an archway of bent trees with a rich, impenetrable darkness hanging like a heavy black curtain sitting.  The three made camp, deciding to brave it the next day.

## Day 6

The three, fully rested, cautiously passed through the archway, finding themselves back on track and facing the top of the mountain properly now.  As they began to approach the final rock face before they faced off with Lachan, they noticed the other settlers of this area… now bound by Lachan’s will.

Noticing the enemies were all undead, Barcelona took point as she summoned the inherent life giving energies of Cornaith, managing to compel the husks of the former settlers to flee (on the meta level, the Dungeon Master rolled *four consecutive natural ones **(a one in 160,000 chance)*** leading to an emotional breakdown).  With that obstacle removed, the three of them managed to scale the last rain slick rock face with little issue, finding their way to the center of an absolutely gargantuan pool.

On the other side of this pool were two figures: the satyr that had been hounding them, Scabol, and Lachan herself.  Even by hag standards, Lachan was a horrible thing to look at: experimentation with her fragment of Merroweigh’s staff had led her gray skin to balloon into horrible leaking growths on her back, twisting her spine out of alignment.  Lachan asked the three why they had come this far, offering them one last chance to flee.  She even went as far to tell Melanine that, once she had experimented enough with the staff, she could break the geas that binds him.  The three of them universally refused, and the fight began in earnest.

As the fight raged on Lachan, riddled with arrows and burns from holy light, brought her massive and powerful arms around Springle, whom she crushed into unconsciousness.  Melanine put Scabol down with an arrow through the eye (which is developing into a macabre trademark of his), as Lachan fell as well.

As Barcelona retrieved the staff fragment from Lachan’s corpse, she was struck by a brief but total vision of the past: Merroweigh, filled with sorrow but understanding, pooling his essence into his staff and then breaking off the first piece.  Their two bodies were permitted to float on down the river, as they tipped over the edge into the pools below.

After reaching the bottom of Lachan’s territory, Springle thanked his two brief companions and began to return to his farm and cottage.  As a thank you, however, Barcelona followed (bringing Melanine with her), and performed a lengthy act of magic that not only vitalized his farm, but made the carrots grow *ridiculously large*, ensuring that Springle was going to be taken care of for a good long while.  As the moon was beginning to journey back down below the horizon, Melanine and Barcelona bid goodbye to their brief ally.

# Dramatis Personae

* **Barcelona: Elf acolyte of Cornaith, the Autumnal Warden**
* Lachan: Hag who got her hands on a piece of Merroweigh’s staff
* **Melanine: Centaur expatriate from the Avonstead Woods, unwilling agent of Belazon**
* Scabol: Satyr servant of Lachan
* **Springle: Hob (specifically a bog-goblin) of draconic descent, farmer, general recluse**

# Game Data

* Day played: 3/30/2021
* Time played: 2:45