Session 37, 2/4/2023
There were two planning periods this session where everyone sat and talked about strategy and next steps. I’m going to consolidate them into one section for clarity.

With the player for Teador, wielder of the Ssword of Sseth back, and having Teleported near yuan-ti territory, the group heads north after some discussion about revealing the sword or not (random encounter: big beehive in tree, only a threat if you mess with it). The closest village is actually one of the first yuan-ti settlements they visited, the one where a scarred wizard first challenged them with “Are you worthy?” and set them on the path to finding Ssword in the first place nearly 2 years ago IRL.

Once there, they reveal the existence and nature of Ssword to the leader (Ila, a snake-form yuan-ti). I have Ssword drop the “I am the Ssword of Sseth, a fragment of what was once a god and may be again” line. Not being a fan of narrating NPC to NPC conversations at the table, it’s pretty short. Ila calls together the entire population of the settlement after the discussions are all over with, and Ssword talks to them about his history and what he could be. The Ssword of Sseth asks them to get out their old books and records of prayers and rituals, and to believe. Not all believe him, and there is arguing and talking, and a near fistfight (Ratel wanted to put 4cp on “the smaller one” in the fight), but that there would be evidence in the morning of those who believed the strongest.

The party is not left alone that evening – lots of people want to see them and talk and ask questions, including Priya, the scarred enchanter. She is sure to come over and ask questions, and promises to help when they need it.

The next morning once everyone’s awake, one of the yuan-ti runs out in front of the village, slices her arm open, and then heals it. This is the first clerical magic they’ve had since Sseth was killed. Following this a LOT of Sendings and messages start going out to all the other yuan-ti villages and outposts.

For now, the Ssword of Sseth can only grant clerical powers in a 1 mile radius (range based on what I’ve read of the Time of Troubles in the 2nd edition transition). Also, he hits his final power-up and can cast Harm on-hit and Heal once per day each.

The team then heads out to begin executing the plans they made slightly earlier in the session. Here’s my summation, which may not be as accurate as what they wrote down and kept for themselves.
1. Get the giants on-side to participate.
1a. Provide them with evidence that demands action regarding Huitzopochtli being present in person on the Material Plane, as they’ve stayed cautiously neutral and the yuan-ti haven’t gotten them on-side in 300 years.
1b. Acquire this evidence by raiding an Aarakocra temple to steal documentation regarding their plans and purpose.
1c. Deliver the evidence so the giants will help with military action.
2. Either go destroy the last outlying temple altar, or proceed directly to Huitzopochtli’s high temple and lay waste to it.
3. Influence the long-term outcome through their discussions with Sseth and plans with the yuan-ti and giants.

To that end, they are teleporting to a giant city near the city belonging to Quetzalcoatl, the god of invention. The first teleport rolls for a similar location… “Oops, wrong city”… then they try again and get where they planned. From there, they head north (random encounter: bull elk, pretty, but not the time to hunt) for a day. Approaching the hexes around the city, they determine that they are not stealthy, and spot a number of Quetzals circling the area looking for anything. They do not think they can get past the eagle-eyed giant intelligent magic birds, so they re-route to another hex to approach the city…and run into the same thing.

After some discussion, the silver raven figurine is sent to retrieve a small object from some kind of sheltered location a mile or so away from Quetzalcoatl’s city. They then use that to teleport without error to that location. The party will wait there. At dusk, Ratel the stealthy fast monk will don his Boots of Elvenkind and the Nightcloak (we had to look it up, it was from September 2021!), which allows him to cast Invisibility at will. He will infiltrate the city and look for any written documents that could be useful.

He doesn’t read the Aarakocra language, but he asked the yuan-ti for some cheat sheets of symbols and words to look for, and with a Headband of Intellect he should be able to pick them out.
We’ll run that over Discord before the next session, and the plan is to get the documents, exfiltrate quietly, and then go talk to the giants before going on offense.

Every Aarakocra city is different…this one has a lot of logging operations around it, and is the main manufacturing assembly line for the air-skiffs.

Since the party got the yuan-ti 100% in their corner and and restored Ssword to full power, that’s a major accomplishment, so everyone levels up to 20.

From here out we are entering Epic Boon territory.

DM Notes: Level 20, hurrah! I am definitely glad I let them get the Helm of Teleportation. It might have been good for them to get it earlier, but once you have fast travel, exploration also takes a back seat, and they would have missed a few things. It’s not like they are ever going to see all the content anyway, though.

I didn’t do a statblock for Priya, but she’s around a level 14 enchanter. Easy to throw in if they ask for her specifically.

I am overall pleased with how the Ssword of Sseth subplot has been playing out. The final encounter is pretty tough but I have a feeling they are going to slaughter the opposition despite it being so hard.