Episode 400 - Power Word Chill

Wow. 400 fricken episodes. Momma mia. Well, this one is a doozy and a half! Our heroes face off against a powerful new foe and come face to face with some not so new faces. Wow!

## **Story**

### Long Story

After all this time, it's come down to this. The final piece of The Orb is right there. The Tower of Grey stand in the massive throne room of Zuggtmoy, the Queen of Rot. She's holding captive Queen Aludra Wyrmsbane, Jaela, and Lady Adira Harper. They are encased in the walls, made up of a crystalline, gel-like substance. Being trapped by the Orb piece is Orcus, the Demon God of the Abyss. At the sight of seeing Aludra captured, Bucky runs in and throws a handaxe at her, to break her free of the entrapment. It's unsuccessful, but it wake Jaela and Aludra. It also prompts a mighty battle.

There are three small gnomes out on the field. They all look exactly the same. And Toby deduces that these must be Celtra Wimblepuck, or at least, simulacra of her. And he's right. Rowan and Lahni begin to put the beat down on Zuggtmoy, as Toby and Skud focus on the Gnomes. Toby and the Celtras exchange a few *Counterspells*, and Skud sends out his *Spiritual Weapon* to duplicate the three. Lahni is frozen in place by one of them, so she hops on out to the Astral Plane. And then, Toby is attacked. Not by Zuggtmoy, or by the three Celtras. But by Eckhart Dayhammer. And Aludra focuses on the battle, to see that Toby is locked in battle. Not with Eckhart Dayhammer, but Trant Thumble!!!

As if that weren't bad enough, the Celtras cast *Power Word Kill* on Rowan Grey.

And she dies.

Another one casts *Disintegration* on Skud, and he goes down for the count. Toby stops time, but doesn't do much there. He summons a dragon that doesn't do anything, and he is able to *Dispel* one of the Celtras. Adira is finally able to free herself enough to teleport herself, Aludra, Jaela, Bucky, and Daisy away.

Lahni is gone, Rowan is dead, Skud is down for the count, and Eckhart Dayhammer is actually Trant Thumble. This may just be Toby's darkest moment yet. With no other options, he reaches out to Vecna, and agrees to their deal. He casts a spell to kill Skud, and then, he turns the spell on himself. He knows that if he dies, he will be brought back to the clone that is cursed with the Eye of Vecna. He may or may not run around grabbing all of the party's effects. It's unclear. Either way, Toby and Skud are dead.

Lahni returns to the Slime Pits to find all her friends dead, and the battle basically over. She's the only one left. She runs over to the artifact and places the Orb on it, in an attempt to release Orcus. This, finally, after all this time, completes the Orb, and it is now, the Cube. The hope is that Orcus will fight Zuggtmoy.

But, instead, Orcus dies...

### Short

It's the big battle! Things don't go well. Three simulacra of Celtra Wimblepuck make things miserable for the party, as does the fact that Eckhart Dayhammer reveals himself to secretly be Trant Thumble! Rowan is killed, and Lahni shifts to the Astral Plane as Jaela, Aludra, Bucky, and Daisy are teleported somewhere else by Adira. Finally, Toby makes a deal with Vecna, and kills Skud and then himself. He might have grabbed everyone's items, we're not sure yet. Then, Lahni returns to the battlefield and completes the Orb, in an attempt to free Orcus. Instead of freeing Orcus, this kills Orcus!

## **Trivia**

* There's a discussion on if Toby would recognize Trant Thumble. Michael clarifies later that he wouldn't because Trant was a relatively minor lord from Caer, which was destroyed in the Demon Apocalypse, this would have, historically, overshadowed the local rulers of the town
* Trant Thumble has Winged Boots, allowing him to fly/hover

## **In This Episode...**

### **Cast and Player Characters**

* Michael DiMauro - *Dungeon Master*
* Tim Lanning - Toby Treacletart
* Jennifer Cheek - Rowan Grey
* Mike Bachmann - Skud Derringer
* Nika Howard - Lahnik "Lahni" Caplain

### **Non-Player Characters**

* Eckhart Dayhammer
* Zuggtmoy, The Queen of Rot
* Bucky
* Queen Aludra Wyrmsbane
* Jaela
* Lady Adira Harper
* Orcus
* 3 simulacra of Celtra Wimblepuck *(or maybe one of them was her, idk)*
* Vecna

### **Pets/Familiars**

* Hoby
* Daisy

### **Locations**

* The Abyss
	+ The Slime Pits
		- The Morel Mansion

### **Quest Log Updates**

* [On-Hold] - Stop Tiamat!
* [Active] - Destroy The Orb!
	+ [Complete?] - ~~Rescue Aludra, Jaela, and Adira / Collect the final piece~~
		- [Failed] - ~~Defeat Zuggtmoy, The Queen of Rot~~
	+ [Complete]~~[Toby] - Deal (or no deal) with Vecna~~
* [Side-line][Boris] - Restore the used Planar Crystals that power The *BTS*
* [On-Hold] - Return to Catherine Beanlord's graveyard in The Elemental Plane of Earth get the body of Tuck Frump
* [Welp...]~~[Jaeludra] - Investigate the Great Colosseum in Caer~~

### **Quotes**

* **"I can't wait to tell her to eat my ass."** ~ *Rowan, to Zuggtmoy*

* **"Sorry, I'm Celtra Etcetera!"** ~ *Celtra Etcetera!*

* **"Aw, if I had known it was gonna be this long to get to my turn, I would have rolled better!"** ~ *Mike Bachmann*

* **"She. Is. Fucking. Dead. She's dead as fuck."** ~ *Jennifer Cheek, on Rowan Grey*

* **"I don't think we have to do math. If you want to die..."** ~ *Michael DiMauro*

## **Rolls**

* **Recap**
	+ Tim - 11
	+ Jennifer - 5
	+ **Nika - 18**
	+ Bachmann - 14

*Combat Begins vs Zuggtmoy*

* '**Initiative**
	+ Rowan - 23
	+ Gnome 1
	+ Lahni - 18
	+ Toby - 17
	+ Eckhart Dayhammer
	+ Gnome 2
	+ Zuggtmoy
	+ Gnome 3
	+ Skud - 11
	+ Bucky - 5

* Everyone rolls *Perception*
	+ **Toby** - 15
		- Doesn't notice anything
	+ **Lahni** - 22
		- Sees the 3 small Gnomes
	+ **Rowan** - Nat20
		- Sees the 3 small Gnomes
	+ **Skud** - Nat1
		- Sees nothing

*Round One*

* **Rowan**
	+ Makes Zuggtmoy her Sworn Enemy
	+ Casts *Hail of Thorns* at 4th level
	+ Ranged Attack (Oathbow) vs Zuggtmoy (with advantage) - 27
		- Hit - 26 Piercing damage, also requires a DEX saving throw for Zuggtmoy and everyone within 5 ft
			* 16 - Fail
				+ 14 Piercing damage
			* One of the gnomes - Fail
				+ 14 Piercing damage
	+ Ranged Attack (Oathbow) vs Zuggtmoy - 27
		- Hit - 34 Piercing damage

* **Celtra 1**
	+ Casts *Maze* on Rowan
		- Toby casts *Counterspell* at 3rd level - 17, the spell is countered

* **Lahni**
	+ Turns invisible
	+ Monk Punch {x4} vs Zuggtmoy (with advantage?) - Nat1, 17, 24, 25
		- Miss, Miss, Hit, Hit - 19 Bludgeoning damage

* **Toby**
	+ Casts *Dispel Magic* against Celtra 1
		- Celtra 1 casts *Counterspell*
			* Toby casts *Counterspell*
				+ Celtra 2 casts *Counterspell*
	+ Sends Hoby forward using *Stealth* - 16
	+ Toby runs out the front door to hide, but is interrupted by Trant Thumble!

* **Trant Thumble**
	+ Swears a Vow of Enmity against Rowan
	+ Melee Attack (Greatsword) {x2} vs Rowan - 30, 37
		- Hit, Hit - 40 + 20damage

* **Celtra 2**
	+ Casts *Forcecage* on Lahni
		- No roll, she is frozen in an invisible blockage

* **Zuggtmoy**
	+ Moves forward

* **Celtra 3**
	+ Casts *Power Word Kill* on Rowan
		- She has fewer than 100 HP, so - *Kills her!*

* **Bucky**
	+ Attacks Zuggtmoy 3 times
		- Hit, Hit, Hit

* **Skud**
	+ Casts *Enervation* on Celtra 3
		- Fails - 14 damage, Skud heals for 7
	+ Casts *Spiritual Weapon* (BattleBot) to make a tinier version of the 3 wizards to attack Celtra 3 - 23
		- Hit - 12 damage

*Round Two*

* **Rowan**
	+ is dead

* **Celtra 1**
	+ Casts *Disintegrate* on Skud, requiring a DEX Saving Throw
		- 16 - Fails
			* 65 damage

* **Lahni**
	+ Uses her *Bag of Beans* to thrown a random bean on the ground - 77
		- A weird fruit tree appears, with "various treats and exactly one poison" growing out of it. But it can't leave Lahni's square.

* **Toby**
	+ Rolls *Arcana* to see if he could *Dispel the Magic* encasing Aludra, Jaela, and Adira - 27
		- It's some sort of physical thing that may be alive
	+ Casts *Time Stop* for - 4 turns

* **Trant Thumble**
	+ time is stopped

* **Celtra 2**
	+ time is stopped

* **Zuggtmoy**
	+ time is stopped

* **Celtra 3**
	+ time is stopped

* **Skud**
	+ time is stopped

* **Bucky**
	+ time is stopped

*Round Three*

* **Rowan**
	+ time is stopped

* **Celtra 1**
	+ time is stopped

* **Lahni**
	+ time is stopped

* **Toby**
	+ Casts *Illusory Dragon*, made out of Green Dragon Scales

* **Trant Thumble**
	+ time is stopped

* **Celtra 2**
	+ time is stopped

* **Zuggtmoy**
	+ time is stopped

* **Celtra 3**
	+ time is stopped

* **Skud**
	+ time is stopped

* **Bucky**
	+ time is stopped

*Round Four*

* **Rowan**
	+ time is stopped

* **Celtra 1**
	+ time is stopped

* **Lahni**
	+ time is stopped

* **Toby**
	+ Drinks a health potion

* **Trant Thumble**
	+ time is stopped

* **Celtra 2**
	+ time is stopped

* **Zuggtmoy**
	+ time is stopped

* **Celtra 3**
	+ time is stopped

* **Skud**
	+ time is stopped

* **Bucky**
	+ time is stopped

*Round Five*

* **Rowan**
	+ time is stopped

* **Celtra 1**
	+ time is stopped

* **Lahni**
	+ time is stopped

* **Toby**
	+ Chills

* **Trant Thumble**
	+ time is stopped

* **Celtra 2**
	+ time is stopped

* **Zuggtmoy**
	+ time is stopped

* **Celtra 3**
	+ time is stopped

* **Skud**
	+ time is stopped

* **Bucky**
	+ time is stopped

*Round Six*

* **Rowan**
	+ time is stopped

* **Celtra 1**
	+ time is stopped

* **Lahni**
	+ time is stopped

* **Toby**
	+ Casts *Dispel Magic* on Celtra 2 - *Vanishes it!*

* **Trant Thumble**
	+ Melee Attack vs Skud - 31
		- Hit - 18 + 21 damage - *Downs him!*
	+ Moves toward Bucky

* **Zuggtmoy**
	+ Melee Attack (Pseudopod) {x4} vs Bucky
		- Hit, Hit, Hit, Miss - a ton of damage - *Downs him!*

* **Celtra 3**
	+ ~~Drops Lahni's *Forcecage*~~
	+ ~~Casts *Magic Missile* on Lahni~~

* **Skud**
	+ is down

* **Bucky**
	+ is down

*Round Seven*

* **Rowan**
	+ is down

* **Lahni**
	+ Travels to the Astral Plane, still *Forcecaged*

* '**Adira**
	+ Teleports herself, Jaela, and Aludra away (and apparently Bucky and Daisy)

* **Toby**
	+ Casts *a spell* on Skud - *Kills him!*
	+ Casts *Finger of Death* on himself - *Kills himself!*

*Combat Ends, I think*

* **Lahni**
	+ Rolls *Perception* to see if she can find The *BTS* in the Astral Plane - 26
		- She can't, I think
	+ She teleports back to the Slime Pits