Session 4 Recap

Hardholme Game 4, 3/11/2018

In attendance: Chris (as Chris lol), Lauren (Aurelae), Caspar (Aequitas), Elaine (Fallynde), Luther (Buckler), Megan (Maeve), Tim (Fitz), and Scott (Mithril). [Special guest appearance by Steve (Kamara).]

Fitz donates his Bag of Holding to the group, creating an official Group Bag of Holding. Items forthcoming.

## Expedition into Steepridge

* The group wants to have a show of solidarity to support Maeve in her noble efforts to reach out to the orphans and people of Steepridge.
	+ \*We Are the World plays in the background as they walk into Steepridge\*
	+ Maeve leads the way, and the others follow.
* Their goal is to reach out to the people there, and also to be very visible, clearly showing the 71st’s stance on the blatant classism of Hardholme.
	+ Fallynde plays with the orphan children and feeds them food
	+ Kamara steps back and observes things and silently supports his friends
	+ Fitz begins making a census of the residents and families of Steepridge
	+ Aequitus clumsily hands out food and tries to guard the group (but rolls a 1 lol)
	+ Aurelae gathers a group of orphans around and tells them great stories of a far away land named Davros.
		- Once she is done, she asks specific questions about the story she just told, and rewards the children who answer correctly with 1g piece.
		- “Knowledge is power.” – **Aurelae, Year 71**
	+ There is one orphan that stands out. He is Dragonborn. Aequitus recognizes him from an earlier encounter. He is smart, observant, and could prove useful later. His name is Lex.
* From her vantage point above the streets of Steepridge (leaping from building to building, playing with the Tabaxi orphan children), Aurianya notices a hooded Dragonborn following them. They are hanging in the shadows, intensely and intently watching the group.
	+ Aurianya attempts to subtly inform other members of the group about this guy, but he notices and starts running. She pursues.
	+ Fallynde yells, “Hey! That way!” and alerts, in the most succinct way possible, the others to the escaping hooded figure.
	+ Several of the group aid Aurianya in her pursuit of the hooded figure:
		- Aequitus watches her back; Fitz guides her around obstacles; and Mithril watches the pursued in case he slips away
	+ They successfully catch him, pin him, and rip his hood off – IT’S JONDRY.
		- Jondry fire breath attacks Mithril in the face. (Ouch)
		- Aequitus says, “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t burn you right now!”
			* Jondry, “Well, I’m a red dragon…”
				+ At this, Aurianya knocks Jondry unconscious.
		- Aequitus checks Jondry’s left hand and shoulder for stab wounds – nothing.
		- Aurianya ties Jondry up and they drag him into an alley.
		- Fitz runs back and gets the others.
			* Maeve heals Mithril.
		- Maeve and Fallynde have the idea to bring Jondry to the Temple of the Silver Flame (ToSF).
			* The group “walks” him back there, passing him off to nosy onlookers as a member of the 71st who just had a little too much to drink.
			* Once at the ToSF they remove Jondry’s weapons (a short and long sword) and gold (97g).
			* Someone points out that rope might not hold a red dragonborn, so they find some chains instead to secure him.
			* Reznor, Uthar, and Buckler are at the temple.

## Expedition Back to the Temple on the Mount

* The group begins prepping for their journey back to the North Temple on the Mount.
	+ -18g each for 3 weeks of rations (thanks again for the great deal Fallynde!)
* Before they set out, Fallynde gives Buckler a very special gift – an incredibly ornate, hand crafted 10” hunting knife. It’s to congratulate him on his promotion to Keeper of the Silver Flame. \*They are both super adorable during the exchange, blushing and whatnot.\*

### Day 1:

* They set out, walking north along the river, blue orb key in hand, to the Temple on the Mount. The sky is overcast (so, the norm for Hardholme).

### Days 2 & 3:

* Similar to Day 1, pretty uneventful. Fitz spots some Wngas during the night, but they elude him once again. (One day Fitz, one day.)

### Day 4:

* The enter Batdusa territory. Aequitus really wants to collect a Batdusa head to add to his collection for the town council. He spots four Batdusas that are a fair distance away from the hive, chowing down on a dead Strider, and he convinces the group to attack them. They’ve never fought the Batdusas before, so this is new territory.
	+ The fight begins, and they are dealing some good damage…and no dead Batdusa yet. One finally drops when Aequitus hits it with some necrotic damage. They seem to be partially immune to fire damage.
	+ Fitz dashes forward to grab the fallen Batdusa.
	+ Mullet Batdusa starts to fly back towards the hive…
		- Aurelae runs after Mullet and nails him before he can get to the hive to call more Batdusas.
		- Aequitus slams another Batdusa for 30 damage, and Aurianya ferociously and gracefully leaps through the air to stab the other.
	+ Fitz is almost to the fallen Batdusa, when one of the other Batdusas suddenly turns and sweeps down to him and bites down HARD. Fitz is now poisoned.
		- Mithril says some healing words to Fitz, “Feel my healing bulge!”
		- Fitz is scared and climbs INTO the dead Strider to hide (BUT is he afraid of the Batdusa, or Mithril’s sensual healing???)
	+ Buckler, Fallynde, and Aequitus take out the remaining two Batdusas.
* The battle is over, but Aequitus is…trying to say…something…why is he hissing like a snake? #wildmagic
	+ Aurelae has pen and paper, so thankfully he can at least communicate through writing. Peculiar…
	+ The healers heal the wounded. The group learns something beautiful about Maeve’s healing. When she lays hands on someone to heal a wound, the scar tissue will faintly glow forever afterwards with part of her inner light. #luminouspincushion
	+ There is 170g total collected from the Batdusas.
	+ Fallynde and Aurelae team up to hunt some Dinnerbird a.k.a. Tastybird a.k.a. Angrybird. The group eats well that evening.
	+ Wngas taunt those on watch once again, and once again evade capture.

### Day 5:

* When he wakes up, Aequitus has his voice again! Huzzah!
	+ He explains to the group that his subconscious knows more magic than his conscious mind is aware of, and sometimes this manifests in very random ways.
* The wind picks up, and they continue northward.
* A peaceful herd of Holmasarus roam in the hills.

### Day 8:

* The reach the mountain! They climb up, just like before.
* No Kuhl Aide Goblins are there…alive, anyway. But the rotting corpses of the ones the group killed on their last visit are still there, smelling up the place.
	+ Thankfully Aequitus saves everyone’s sense of smell with prestidigitation; they remove the bodies.
* They make camp inside the temple (just like last time).

### Day 9:

* They make their way to the dungeon with the large round door with the blue orb pillar.
* Aurelae notices a recessed panel in the south wall. She pushes it. It is a secret room.
	+ There are 5 very old skeletons inside, covered in cobwebs.
		- And…loot!
* Next they finally unlock the blue orb door. Inside is a hallway with three more doors.
* Through the door to the south is a small room with a large, rusted, iron keg inside. There is clearly some liquid inside. Most of the group becomes fascinated with discovering what kind of liquid it is, and if they can drink it.
	+ Mithril hits it with his hammer. Aequitus tries alternately freezing and heating the spigot. Finally, Buckler hits it and it opens. Some brownish liquid comes out…and Fallynde tastes it. (Eeeewwwww) It tastes…remarkably fresh, actually.
		- They notice a set of pipes going down from the keg and underground.
* Next, they go through the door to the west. There are bright green painted runes carved into the walls on the left-hand side. There is a very large metallic cage in the corner…it is empty and the door is open… There is a single bedroll on the ground, with signs of a recent campfire next to it. There is a can of green paint and a paintbrush on a bench near the wall…all signs point to someone having been here very recently.
* Aequitus can read some of the runes. Something about worship…and Shag…no…Shar… Shar’Gorath? Well that can’t be good.
	+ Aurelae copies the runes down in her book.
	+ Mithril develops narcolepsy and goes to nap back at the main entrance of the temple (Scott had to leave at this point).
* The group goes down the northeast hallway, and the door at the end is jammed. Many attempt to unjam the door, but only Buckler’s axe succeeds!
	+ Aaaaaaand the room is literally filled with shit. Lots and lots of shit.
		- Fitz literally dives into the shit and digs through it. He finds bones that seem to be Kuhl Aide Goblin sized. (Aequitus, thankfully, insists on prestidigitatiously cleaning him off.)
* They go through the door to the north, through the room of shit. It is a very large room, and on the opposite side Aurelae notices some VERY large, humanoid tracks in the dust that covers the floor there.
	+ As a group they decide to check out the rooms they missed behind them before moving forward.
* Back in the cage room, they investigate the door to the south. They find four Kuhl Aide Goblins (KAGs), alive, chained to the wall there. The KAGs instantly begin yelling, and cursing, and spitting at the group.
	+ Aequitus blasts one of the KAGs, tries to bad cop him into spilling information. No luck.
	+ Maeve heals the KAG that Aequitus hurt, and tries simply asking why they are here. “Shar’Gorath. Captive. He is hungry.”
* They go to the west room now. It has a markedly different tone than all of the other rooms. Everything is ornate, tall marble pillars line the walls, wolf-dragon statues are spaced through the center of the room, there is another wolf-dragon carving. These wolf-dragon statues look aggressive and are very detailed. At the end of the room, there is another red square pillar.
* They head back to the room with the giant footprints. Moving forward they come across two trap doors jammed open with KAG bones.
* There is a humongous fountain with an incredible statue of the (you guessed it) wolf-dragon flying through the air to dip down and is drinking from the fountain.
	+ Also drinking from the fountain is a giant, 15-ft-tall KAG, massive club in hand. He is covered in boils, and has a dead, shriveled, conjoined twin on his shoulder.
	+ They enter the room and somehow remain unnoticed.
* The majority of the group (Fitz and Aequitus dissenting), want to approach the giant, club-wielding, boil covered KAG and talk to him… They form a line, link arms, and walk forward, with Aequitus translating for Maeve.
	+ “Hail Shar’Gorath, we come to speak with you.”
	+ Shar’Gorath: “You come to be eaten by me!!!”
		- Initiative lol
		- Shar’Gorath looks way too excited to be in battle with seven people.
	+ Shar’Gorath pummels Fitz and Aequitus.
	+ Buckler and Fallynde do not hesitate to hit him hard.
	+ Aurelae climbs to the ceiling with her spider slippers and shoots at Shar’Gorath.
	+ Shar’Gorath then PICKS MAEVE UP AND THROWS HER AT AURELAE and they both fall prone to the hard stone floor.
	+ Aurianya performs a sneak attack extraordinaire!
	+ Shar’Gorath’s attacks are many and brutal. The group is not looking good, and Shar’Gorath is not looking tired.
	+ Aurianya is knocked unconscious, and is near to death.
	+ A flurry of attacks from the 71st, but Shar’Gorath is still standing, somehow.
	+ Maeve gathers her strength, and radiance descends upon Shar’Gorath, bright white light boils up from deep within him and pours out from every hole. He falls to the ground, slain by Maeve the Radiant of the 71st!
* They heal the wounded, loot the corpse, and make their way out of the blue orb wing in the North Temple on the Mount.