The Madness of Men in a World of Monsters (D&D 5e IC)

[Amnestic]

Vargath Hubrecht Half-Orc Rune Knight Fighter AC: 19 HP: 41/49 PP: 13 PIv: 12 PIs: 10 Conditions: Infected (Lycanthropy), -1 INT, Longstrider Concentrating: -- Vargath barely slows his pace as the apples call to him, overpowering the wolven tendencies in his heart and mouth that rejected such 'nourishment' out of hand. His hand reaches up and he grabs one from a tree branch with little difficulty. He would consume it later, he decided, when a full belly would not be a problem. Eating in the heat of a battle - or a chase - was a fast trip towards stomach cramps. Cramps would be the least of his problems though when the orc warrior finds the floor fall out under him. He sees the spikes coming moments before he rolls into them, but it's his years of training and armour that lets him avoid the worst rather than any active attempts to dodge. He slams down with a crash, sending splinters flying as his bulk breaks through them. The momentum carries him into a roll, slamming through some more as he desperately uses his arms to cover his unguarded head. It's not enough to block it all, but it's something at least. When he finally comes to a stop he takes a moment to recollect himself. Breathe in, breath out. Why hadn't the plant-monsters fallen in? Not enough weight? Had they known about the trap? Questions for later, but the brief mental break is enough to let him get his air back. He leaps to his feet, splintered wooden stakes falling aside as he does so. "I can still fight," is his answer to Mal. Short, direct, but it's all that needs to be said. It's the only thing that matters. Already he's scanning the pit they fell in for the best route to climb out. Maus and the caravan driver can't wait for wounds to be tended to at length if they've any hope of rescue.

Spoiler

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20 taken post-HAM. Second Wind for +12hp. 41/49 remaining.

[purepolarpanzer]

In the Orchard at the Top of Mount Beldrin

As those who fell deal with the fallout of the pit trap, Mal feels the juice from the apple run down his chin. He finds it tastes delightful, but there is an odd texture to the bite which causes him to look at the inside of the fruit with curiosity. To his horror, he finds himself looking at a small heart that seems to have grown in the center of the fruit, which he has taken a sizeable bite from. The heart pumps valiantly on, spurting dark blood over the apple and his fingers, but the beating stops suddenly. Unable to control himself, Mal finds himself swallowing again, a grim reminder that the flesh that slid down into his stomach moments ago was not wholly fruit. He finds his mind assaulted by the terror and sublime psychological damage of the meal he's just eaten, and his sanity comes under assault.

Spoiler: OOC

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I need Mal to make a DC 16 Sanity Save using his choice of mental stat.

[Theophilus]

Mal Levistus Tiefling Bard 5 AC: 14 HP: 41/41 THP: 2/10 PP: 11 PIv: 13 PIs: 11 Spell Slots: 1st - 2/4 2nd - 1/3 3rd - 2/2 Fey Touched: 1st - 0/1 2nd - 1/1 Masquerade Tattoo: 1st - 1/1 Levistus Legacy: Armor of Agathys - 0/1 Darkness - 1/1 Bardic Inspiration: 2/4 Healer's Kit: 20/20 Mal Conditions: Armor of Agathys: 10 cold damage if struck in melee. Mal Concentrating: Enhance Ability Esai Ancient Companion: Warrior Companion HP: 0/30 Companion AC: 16 Companion PP: 18 PIv: 12 PIs: 12 Spirit flees, Statue stays Maledictus gapes and stares into the spewing organ within the husk of an apple. His jaw muscles works desperately to close, but the rictus of horror grips him. I have consumed living flesh. I have consumed living flesh. This demonic atrocity drizzled down his chin and throat, pooling on his boot and in his belly. He instinctively dropped the apple-heart as he violently bent over. His guts purged out into the void, spilling into the pit. Three times he heaved, gourd, then gore, then bile. By the Nine, I have consumed living flesh! I have consumed living flesh! Esai's broken vessel caught most of the vomit, along with the bloody rind. Mal dropped to his knees, quivering with horror as a frostburn filled his veins. His advisor lay ruined, profaned with filth and ichor. His stomach lurched and blazed with agony at the morbid fruit. His mind raced with livid hatred. His face became frighteningly placid as his eyes brimmed with a chill. Mal chugged water and spat it onto the ground. He dabbed his mouth with a fine square of cloth. Then he pronounced, "The apple was a heart, a living heart. What abyssal wretch husbanded this wood! It shall burn. It must burn." He rose, ready to do just as he had spoken. Soon after peals of thunder rumbled in the near distance...

Spoiler: OOC

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Mal's Horror save: 23. Still mortified to have consumed a heart.

Armor of Agathys in effect: 2 THP to Mal. 10 cold damage to a foe if Mal is struck in melee.

Mal begins to cast thunderclap (somatic only spell that causes tremendous amounts of racket out to 100ft): DC 15 Con save to the nearby demonic trees and their bloody fruit within 5ft for (2d6)[6] thunder damage. They may not count as targets, but he'd try this before escalating.

If a creature flees their reach, Mal will react to make an OA.

Spoiler: Mal's Notes

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Spoiler: Cast and Crew

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Set: outcast exiled princeling of Abydos. Two princess sisters (Sisi and Sythpen Al-Sayyid). Romantic connection for Moira?
Selissa: Blighted or reconstructed wood elf? Purported Scout.
Vargath: Afflicted Lycanthrope seeking to suspend his curse. A Bloodwolf?
Mandaras: Rival to Dr. Fixer.
Dr. Fixer: Moira's lieutenant and cultivates relations with the locals of Vale.
Elder Maus: Seeks to kill Moira. Hired mercenaries who betrayed him.
--Healed to his full 9ft height.
--Disbelieves Moira's insights; seeks to end her directly or indirectly.
--Seeks us to verify the truths of Moira's claims--or stop her by any means necessary.
Maulei: Successor to Elder Maus as elder of Dam'ess.
Uluthando Mikoso "Ulu:" Paladin? of Order. From beyond the Vale. Reacts by gripping her dagger and declaring Tieflings are treated differently...Lawful (N/E?) Order? Calls Mal 'Mdala Ohlonishwayo.' Professes to serve no god, but spirits whose reach may be weaker in the Vale than elsewhere.

Spoiler: Dream of Leng

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Spoiler: In Full

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Mal has had this dream before. He finds himself in the legendary Library of Leng, an ancient home of virtually all worldly and mystical knowledge that burned when the city it was located in was razed nearly nine hundred years ago, half the world away. Still, in his dreams it still existed, and these dreams always played out the same. Hours of dutiful research, referencing and cross referencing sources from multiple tomes, carefully reconstructing ancient languages, until EUREKA! Some devastating and profound arcane truth became evident to him, and the sense of accomplisment and relief normally carried with him for several hours after waking up, even if he could never actually remember anything he learned. But this time is different. Mal is well versed enough in the arcane and divine arts to know that sometimes dreams carry real meaning. And as he stares down at what he has been working on, he instinctively knows this bears some significance. Where normally he would have arcane formulas and theorems, he sees only "The One Who Stalks Behind" scrawled over and over again in his own hand, though the words are manic and look like they were written in distress. He searches the paper for any further omen, and down at the bottom of the page, in the smallest script he could possibly manage, it says Behind you!. Just as he is about to turn, a claw as strong as iron grips the side of his head, snaps his neck to the side, and ends all feeling in the bard's body. But he can still hear the deep throated growls, along with the wet noises of whatever killed him beginning to eat him alive. But he never gets to see it before the dream ends.

The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. RIGHT BEHIND YOU! The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind.

Spoiler: Bence's Secrets

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Spoiler: Bence's Journal

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...is a backwards plane, so far removed from the Prime Material that it has not seen an angel or the work of a god in a millennia. I hear that far to the west they do not even worship the gods. Proper savages, but I must remain vigilant, as their knowledge of the ways of this world is far more educated than most. But it is ripe for my conquest. While my Master was tasked with corrupting Avendor, my home plane, a bastion of good and law, my chore is simply to tip the rat into the bucket of the Abyss as it prowls the rim looking for cheese. This plane is already so flooded with the energies of the Abyss that demons spontaneously emerge, monsters manifest in the dark, and their weak leaders bargain with forces they would be wiser to repulse. It will be child's play to nudge it the last few inches into anarchy and destruction, mostly due to the efforts of Pale Night herself. For thousands of years she has been grasping and clawing at this realm, dragging it further from the light and closer to her realm day by day, inch by inch, soul by soul. While my home plane was beyond my ability to destroy, this place will be my masterpiece. With my death at the hands of the forces of good, a symphony of destruction will play the anthem to my ascension to demonhood. The Pale Mother has promised me that each death will bring me closer to my true form, and each rebirth will increase my power, just as our pact promised. I can't wait to die. When will the heroes arrive? I've been planting and tending the seed of the idea in the old giant's mind for weeks now. When will it bear fruit? When can my dark rise to power begin? (The rest is a combination of burned and Abyssal that becomes impossible to read)

Dam'ess- Mass Quasit Summoning. Magic Mouth to Levy Commands re: Retrieve Mirror of Leng, Scepter of Rulership, And Aniot's Cube. Disperse to Appropriate Parties Per The Plan. Burn The Cabin.

Harumburg- Sending to Lord of Bone re: Portal to the 113th. (Indecipherable Due to Burns) In Accordance with Their Great Alliance.

Falluneer- Sending to Lord of Flesh re: (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Ebon Spear.

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)light: Sending to Lord of Blood re: Assassination of (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Yukkot, Recovery of Blood (More Burns).

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)odge- Sending to Cult of Pale (More Burns) re: Initiate Divining Ritual Sacrifices. FIND THE DAMN ZIGGURAT.

Garrunrow- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Kill the Last Bloodwolf. Recover (More Burns) Key.

Mountain of Smoke- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) crypt. Seize the Ebon (More Burns).

Sussoon- Ensure the Prophecy (Indecipherable Due to Burns)... Pay the Bounty Hunters to Find the Abydossian and the Princesses. re: Sacrifices of The Old Blood

(There is more, but seemingly out of paranoia Bence switched to Abyssal. It is impossible to tell how many lines there are, as the last half of the paper is fully burned away)

Spoiler: Arcane Lore concerning Bence's Notes

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The magic of Contingency is a nearly mythical bit of spell work that was said to be lost when the Library of Leng burned down. It allows a caster to prepare spells in advance for a predetermined event, in this case John Bence's own death, and the spells will automatically cast when the event happens. If Bence is capable of such sorcery, he is likely far more powerful than his flashy death at the party's hands would indicate.

The Mirror of Leng is a artifact of the Library of Leng, said to contain a frozen moment of time where the library was at it's height that a person can temporarily step in to, giving access to the greatest magical library this world has ever seen. Supposedly several mirrors were made, though some are confirmed destroyed after their use led to come calamity of forbidden magics long lost to time. The Scepter of Rulership is said to be an even more powerful version of a Rod of Rulership, a magic item that allows for mass mind manipulation of people to believe that the holder of the Scepter is their rightful ruler. The last time the Scepter was confirmed in play it toppled an entire nation.

Though numbering and organizing the layers of the Abyss is a fool's errand, there are some realms that are constant enough to designate. The one hundred and thirteenth layer is Thanatos, layer of Orcus, the Lord of Death. It is a lifeless frozen landscape where life is snuffed out almost as soon as it arrives, either by the untold legions of undead denizens, the magical aura of the layer itself, or, in the worst cases, by Orcus himself, using his fearsome Wand.

Spoiler: John Bence's Wall Art

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There are no invisible objects in the room, but the entire back wall of the cabin is plastered with profane runes and abyssal scribblings. Where there was nothing to the naked eye, there is an extensive patchwork of spell work, seemingly scribed in the rusted red of blood. More disturbing is the fragments of souls that have been bound to the wall. Faces of people rise and seethe from the wood like a strange and rippling tide, mouths open in anguish. There are not many of them left, presumably due to whatever spell was used here absorbing so much energy, but there is a fine layer of ectoplasm that would indicate that once there were dozens of soul fragments powering this spell. The sight turns Mal's stomach, as the chaotic, destructive magic of the Abyss is written as plainly as news script, but as subtly as any devil could manage.

Spoiler: Monsters

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Barlgura: Demon loosed by summoning ritual on the road to Dam'ess. Slain with its summoned partner by team. (Bless helped with accuracy issues due to invisibility. In the future, layer mind sliver to aid with saves.)
Brazen Hart: Spirit of the wild wood around Dam'ess. Seeks to test the party's mettle by forcing an open fight with the Barlgura.
Horror of Yurl: Shapeshifting kind of monster. Severs limbs, creates euphoria, and slays by consuming the liver. The newest variant flies...

Spoiler: Instrument of the Bards

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Mal needs a translator, the spells, and woodcrafter to create a new relic.

Spoiler: Full Description

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Still, tucked among the primers and amateur books he finds a book that deals with the blending of magic and music. Specifically, it holds the instructions and rituals for a new version of the famed artifacts known as the instruments of the bards. Unfortunately, about a third of the book is in a language Mal does not understand or recognize, including most of the rites and rituals to imbue it with magic. Still, with a translator, appropriate magics, some study, and someone skilled in wood craft, he may be able to produce one of these relics for himself.

Report daily updates to Mistress Moira at last light.

[Awful]

Selissa Betula Wood Elf Scout Rogue AC: 16 HP: --/38 -> 17/43 PP: 16 Conditions: Aid Concentrating: -- The trail was clear to see as that of a bear; Selissa led the party through the forests. Despite the dangerous environ and the monsters they were hunting, there was something comforting about being surrounded by trees again. If only they were a little thicker, like the ancient growth she had be raised within; where the great boughs blocked out the sky like towers of bark and leaves. Soon enough, the trees became ordered in rows. Without pausing she snatched a bulbous red apple off a branch and kept going. "This w-," she began before the floor flexed and creaked beneath. She had a split second to curse herself for a fool as it gave way. Even by then she was leaping, and her wooden hand clasped onto a branch, her eyes wide. She began to pull herself up. With a broken-bone snap, the branch gave way. Selissa fell. The impact drove her onto the spikes, and she let out a strangled hiss of pain. Blindly, she summoned the sabre, and hacked at them until she could stagger onto her feet. Blood pooled at her feet as she leaned against the wall for support. Stupid, stupid. Should have noticed the trap. Should have had more spacing. Should have- She said none of this, silently looking up at the walls of the pit.

[Riggdgames]

Set Al-Sayyid Changeling Fighter/Hexblade AC: 17 HP: 33/38 PP: 12 PIv: 13 PIs: 9 Conditions: Mal's Aid (+5 max hp, 8 hrs), Iumenta Pox (-8 max hp) Concentration: Where moments before Set's only concern had been keeping pace with the Mighty, suddenly he's compelled to pause as several of his companions delay the chase to pluck an apple from a nearby tree. At first Set feels out of sorts, but as he snatches an apple for himself, he can't help but feel like a lucky flip of the coin brought them through here. Even on the banks of the Great River back home, the fruits of Abydos never grew so large or so ripe as this. The temptation to taste it is almost overwhelming. Thankfully the sound of Vargath crashing through the rain-soaked forest up ahead paired with Ignacius' warning shakes Set free of the compulsion for a moment, allowing him to drop the apple into a pouch before continuing the chase. As thankful as Set is for the enhanced vision granted by the Shadowkeeper, the ability to hear again is like regaining a lost treasure. Until recently darkness was impenetrable, blinding Set from seeing two feet in front of him. He hadn't realized how similar it would feel to be deafened. Set looks ahead and listens intently as the chase carries forward, and his vigilance is rewarded. An unnatural groan sounds off from just up ahead as wood creaks, then splinters. The structure collapses in front of Set as he manages to jump back, barely avoiding the trap. Evergreen seems to float in the air for a moment, suspended by a branch nearby, but before Set can lunge to her aid the branch snaps and she's gone. Set peers over the edge, wincing at the wreckage below. The Mighty could still fight, at least, and Doctor Madaras appeared to be bandaging himself, but all three of them had fallen on those nasty spikes. While his companions collect themselves in the bottom of the pit, Set's attention is pulled away as Iceblood finally loses his cool. Set stands mute, eyes widening as he watches the apple tumble from Mal's hand, bouncing off the ground, still beating as blood pulses from it into the mud at their feet. Set brings a fist up to his shemagh, fighting down his own nausea at the thought as Iceblood vomits beside him. "The apple was a heart, a living heart. What abyssal wretch husbanded this wood! It shall burn. It must burn." "Mal?" Set reaches out a hand as if to stop Iceblood, but the tiefling's single-minded purpose drives him away. Set rubs his eyes before diverting his attention back to the task at hand as the Mighty, Evergreen, and Thrice-blessed look for a way out of the pit. "Rest a moment," Set calls, fishing through his pack before tossing down one end of a length of rope, looking for a nearby tree to secure the other end to. Spoiler: OOC Show Lower 50 ft hempen rope to the pit crew and try to find something stronger than Set to hold the other end.

[Spore]

Doctor Ignacius Madaras, Medicus Extravagant! Gnome Artificer/Transmuter AC: 18 HP: 21/32 PP: 11 PIv: 17 PIs: 11 Conditions: Aid (8h; 5 mHP), Longstrider (1h) Concentration: - I can arrange the flames if you get me out of here. the fine doctor replied before enchanting his own feet again. He looked at Selissa and signaled her physical touch. He would patch her up if she were to accept it. Spoiler Show Cast Longstrider on self, heal Selissa for Spoiler Show (1d6+9)[13] if she accepts.

[purepolarpanzer]

In the Orchard at the Top of Mount Beldrin

As Set lowers a rope, the party in the pit looks around and takes in their surroundings. The pit is a massive work of construction, a thing of wooden frame and cloth covering that takes up a significantly sized area. There is still part of the structure standing, and it appears as though there is a safe path over the pit that is reinforced with wood. Presumably the turnip monsters you were following took this weaving and wavering path to avoid the fate you all find yourselves suffering now. With Set's assistance and a rope tied to one of the horrible trees, all of you find your way out of the pit readily enough, though many of you will bear the scars of your hasty mistake for the rest of your lives.

Meanwhile, Mal's magical fury pulps a several branches of apples, sending a rain of pulped fruit and flesh falling down in the area of his spell's effect. With a creak of wood a few of the branches follow suit. More alarmingly, the sonic force of the spell echoes through the trees like localized thunder, the raucous din sending birds flapping into the skies from their sleeping perches. There is a moment of silence as the last of you clamber out of the pit, and that silence continues on for an unnatural length. Again, there is an absence of rain sounds, no cries of offended avians, and no sounds of footsteps in the wet, seeping earth around you. A gargling scream sounds in the distance, roughly the sound you'd expect from a creature being disembowled, which is joined by other idiot yells until there is a chorus of agony and rage. And it is coming closer quickly.

Of the female elf, there is no sign. No one saw her fall into the pit, nor jump to the side like Set and Mal.

Spoiler: OOC

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If you have saved against the silence effect already you are safe from it for 24 hours. If not, quiet time again. Set's lowered rope has gotten all of you out on the west side of the pit, which is not far from Mal's destructive episode. You have somewhere between a round and three to make a plan, heal, and prepare before more monsters show up. And I can confirm that if I'm presented the option some of you will be going right back into that pit. What do you do?

[Riggdgames]

Set Al-Sayyid Changeling Fighter/Hexblade AC: 17 HP: 38/38 PP: 12 PIv: 13 PIs: 9 Conditions: Mal's Aid (+5 max hp, 8 hrs), Iumenta Pox (-8 max hp) Concentration: As the last of the three pit dwellers rises from the depths, Set clasps the Mighty's hand and tries to assist pulling him up. Looking back and forth between Mal and the others, Set kicks the still-bleeding apple into the pit. "The apples are corrupt," he explains, nodding towards Mal and pulling his own apple from its pouch, tossing it after the other. Set flinches as another thunderclap echoes behind him, keeping his eyes trained ahead rather than watching Iceblood melt down. Instead he examines the blood dripping from his companions with untrained eyes, wondering just how bad their wounds are. "What do we do?" Set asks into the silence that follows, though it takes him another moment to recognize it for true silence rather than a trick of Mal's thunder-magic. Set's grip on his spear tightens as he tries to listen for anything at all. A sudden scream in the distance makes him jump, his eyes veering towards the yells that are drawing closer. He looks back and forth anxiously between his companions and the oncoming shouts. Set had always been secure in the knowledge that he would never have to lead. A changeling could never ascend to the throne in Abydos even if Sirus hadn't been Set's elder. Sirus was the crown-prince, and then the king, not Set. Never Set. That fact, and the freedom from responsibility that came with it, had always been a comfort while Sirus lived. With Sirus gone, Set had made his own way for a time, but he'd fallen back into the old pattern easily enough. "What do we do?" Set asks again, louder this time as he looks to Vargath. Spoiler: OOC Show Bonus Action: Second Wind to heal for (1d10+2)[10] Conditional move/action in the 1-3 rounds that follow assuming we're all on the same initiative and Vargath goes ahead of Set: If Vargath charges, then Set follows with his own move (plus dash as needed). If Vargath stays put, then Set holds an action (Eldritch Blast the first enemy in sight).

[Theophilus]

Mal Levistus Tiefling Bard 5 AC: 14 HP: 41/41 THP: 2/10 PP: 11 PIv: 13 PIs: 11 Spell Slots: 1st - 2/4 2nd - 1/3 3rd - 2/2 Fey Touched: 1st - 0/1 2nd - 1/1 Masquerade Tattoo: 1st - 1/1 Levistus Legacy: Armor of Agathys - 0/1 Darkness - 1/1 Bardic Inspiration: 2/4 Healer's Kit: 20/20 Mal Conditions: Armor of Agathys: 10 cold damage if struck in melee. Mal Concentrating: -- Esai Ancient Companion: Warrior Companion HP: 0/30 Companion AC: 16 Companion PP: 18 PIv: 12 PIs: 12 Spirit flees, Statue stays As suddenly as the barrage of thunder started, the storm ceased as the silence permeated the atmosphere. The cold scholar clicked his heels and turned abruptly amid his arboreal carnage. Mal maneuvered to the others and assisted with the inspection of the survivors, though his gaze held a fierce permafrost that promised suffering and death. Despite the chill in his voice, the bard spoke with a steady, authoritative voice unaffected by the preternatural quiet, "I have provided kindling to light this arbor of the Abyss. We should set fire along where the foe wails. This should obscure their vision and allow us to guide them into their own Pit. I shall summon spirits to assist our efforts to escort them into cinder and death." Maledictus waited to see the outcome of the Pit's gnawing upon the others. Esai would no longer join him in this fray. If we continue to fall prey to these creatures' schemes, I shall join him. The bard poured oil over the shattered wood to coax a living flame in its dampened bark. Mal drew his pipe and awakened its coal. Turnip-shaped skulls plumed from its bowl. He then held his rapier at the ready, scanning the orchard for his foe. He longed to plunge his blade into their breast, their bodies in their own trap, and their grove into ruin.

Spoiler: OOC

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Armor of Agathys in effect: 2 THP to Mal. 10 cold damage to a foe if Mal is struck in melee.

Heap kindling and pour oil over the kindling to ensure it burns. He will mechanically light it if Ig doesn't arcanely do so.

If a creature flees their reach, Mal will react to make an OA.

Spoiler: Mal's Notes

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Spoiler: Cast and Crew

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Set: outcast exiled princeling of Abydos. Two princess sisters (Sisi and Sythpen Al-Sayyid). Romantic connection for Moira?
Selissa: Blighted or reconstructed wood elf? Purported Scout.
Vargath: Afflicted Lycanthrope seeking to suspend his curse. A Bloodwolf?
Mandaras: Rival to Dr. Fixer.
Dr. Fixer: Moira's lieutenant and cultivates relations with the locals of Vale.
Elder Maus: Seeks to kill Moira. Hired mercenaries who betrayed him.
--Healed to his full 9ft height.
--Disbelieves Moira's insights; seeks to end her directly or indirectly.
--Seeks us to verify the truths of Moira's claims--or stop her by any means necessary.
Maulei: Successor to Elder Maus as elder of Dam'ess.
Uluthando Mikoso "Ulu:" Paladin? of Order. From beyond the Vale. Reacts by gripping her dagger and declaring Tieflings are treated differently...Lawful (N/E?) Order? Calls Mal 'Mdala Ohlonishwayo.' Professes to serve no god, but spirits whose reach may be weaker in the Vale than elsewhere.

Spoiler: Dream of Leng

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Spoiler: In Full

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Mal has had this dream before. He finds himself in the legendary Library of Leng, an ancient home of virtually all worldly and mystical knowledge that burned when the city it was located in was razed nearly nine hundred years ago, half the world away. Still, in his dreams it still existed, and these dreams always played out the same. Hours of dutiful research, referencing and cross referencing sources from multiple tomes, carefully reconstructing ancient languages, until EUREKA! Some devastating and profound arcane truth became evident to him, and the sense of accomplisment and relief normally carried with him for several hours after waking up, even if he could never actually remember anything he learned. But this time is different. Mal is well versed enough in the arcane and divine arts to know that sometimes dreams carry real meaning. And as he stares down at what he has been working on, he instinctively knows this bears some significance. Where normally he would have arcane formulas and theorems, he sees only "The One Who Stalks Behind" scrawled over and over again in his own hand, though the words are manic and look like they were written in distress. He searches the paper for any further omen, and down at the bottom of the page, in the smallest script he could possibly manage, it says Behind you!. Just as he is about to turn, a claw as strong as iron grips the side of his head, snaps his neck to the side, and ends all feeling in the bard's body. But he can still hear the deep throated growls, along with the wet noises of whatever killed him beginning to eat him alive. But he never gets to see it before the dream ends.

The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. RIGHT BEHIND YOU! The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind.

Spoiler: Bence's Secrets

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Spoiler: Bence's Journal

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...is a backwards plane, so far removed from the Prime Material that it has not seen an angel or the work of a god in a millennia. I hear that far to the west they do not even worship the gods. Proper savages, but I must remain vigilant, as their knowledge of the ways of this world is far more educated than most. But it is ripe for my conquest. While my Master was tasked with corrupting Avendor, my home plane, a bastion of good and law, my chore is simply to tip the rat into the bucket of the Abyss as it prowls the rim looking for cheese. This plane is already so flooded with the energies of the Abyss that demons spontaneously emerge, monsters manifest in the dark, and their weak leaders bargain with forces they would be wiser to repulse. It will be child's play to nudge it the last few inches into anarchy and destruction, mostly due to the efforts of Pale Night herself. For thousands of years she has been grasping and clawing at this realm, dragging it further from the light and closer to her realm day by day, inch by inch, soul by soul. While my home plane was beyond my ability to destroy, this place will be my masterpiece. With my death at the hands of the forces of good, a symphony of destruction will play the anthem to my ascension to demonhood. The Pale Mother has promised me that each death will bring me closer to my true form, and each rebirth will increase my power, just as our pact promised. I can't wait to die. When will the heroes arrive? I've been planting and tending the seed of the idea in the old giant's mind for weeks now. When will it bear fruit? When can my dark rise to power begin? (The rest is a combination of burned and Abyssal that becomes impossible to read)

Dam'ess- Mass Quasit Summoning. Magic Mouth to Levy Commands re: Retrieve Mirror of Leng, Scepter of Rulership, And Aniot's Cube. Disperse to Appropriate Parties Per The Plan. Burn The Cabin.

Harumburg- Sending to Lord of Bone re: Portal to the 113th. (Indecipherable Due to Burns) In Accordance with Their Great Alliance.

Falluneer- Sending to Lord of Flesh re: (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Ebon Spear.

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)light: Sending to Lord of Blood re: Assassination of (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Yukkot, Recovery of Blood (More Burns).

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)odge- Sending to Cult of Pale (More Burns) re: Initiate Divining Ritual Sacrifices. FIND THE DAMN ZIGGURAT.

Garrunrow- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Kill the Last Bloodwolf. Recover (More Burns) Key.

Mountain of Smoke- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) crypt. Seize the Ebon (More Burns).

Sussoon- Ensure the Prophecy (Indecipherable Due to Burns)... Pay the Bounty Hunters to Find the Abydossian and the Princesses. re: Sacrifices of The Old Blood

(There is more, but seemingly out of paranoia Bence switched to Abyssal. It is impossible to tell how many lines there are, as the last half of the paper is fully burned away)

Spoiler: Arcane Lore concerning Bence's Notes

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The magic of Contingency is a nearly mythical bit of spell work that was said to be lost when the Library of Leng burned down. It allows a caster to prepare spells in advance for a predetermined event, in this case John Bence's own death, and the spells will automatically cast when the event happens. If Bence is capable of such sorcery, he is likely far more powerful than his flashy death at the party's hands would indicate.

The Mirror of Leng is a artifact of the Library of Leng, said to contain a frozen moment of time where the library was at it's height that a person can temporarily step in to, giving access to the greatest magical library this world has ever seen. Supposedly several mirrors were made, though some are confirmed destroyed after their use led to come calamity of forbidden magics long lost to time. The Scepter of Rulership is said to be an even more powerful version of a Rod of Rulership, a magic item that allows for mass mind manipulation of people to believe that the holder of the Scepter is their rightful ruler. The last time the Scepter was confirmed in play it toppled an entire nation.

Though numbering and organizing the layers of the Abyss is a fool's errand, there are some realms that are constant enough to designate. The one hundred and thirteenth layer is Thanatos, layer of Orcus, the Lord of Death. It is a lifeless frozen landscape where life is snuffed out almost as soon as it arrives, either by the untold legions of undead denizens, the magical aura of the layer itself, or, in the worst cases, by Orcus himself, using his fearsome Wand.

Spoiler: John Bence's Wall Art

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There are no invisible objects in the room, but the entire back wall of the cabin is plastered with profane runes and abyssal scribblings. Where there was nothing to the naked eye, there is an extensive patchwork of spell work, seemingly scribed in the rusted red of blood. More disturbing is the fragments of souls that have been bound to the wall. Faces of people rise and seethe from the wood like a strange and rippling tide, mouths open in anguish. There are not many of them left, presumably due to whatever spell was used here absorbing so much energy, but there is a fine layer of ectoplasm that would indicate that once there were dozens of soul fragments powering this spell. The sight turns Mal's stomach, as the chaotic, destructive magic of the Abyss is written as plainly as news script, but as subtly as any devil could manage.

Spoiler: Monsters

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Barlgura: Demon loosed by summoning ritual on the road to Dam'ess. Slain with its summoned partner by team. (Bless helped with accuracy issues due to invisibility. In the future, layer mind sliver to aid with saves.)
Brazen Hart: Spirit of the wild wood around Dam'ess. Seeks to test the party's mettle by forcing an open fight with the Barlgura.
Horror of Yurl: Shapeshifting kind of monster. Severs limbs, creates euphoria, and slays by consuming the liver. The newest variant flies...

Spoiler: Instrument of the Bards

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Mal needs a translator, the spells, and woodcrafter to create a new relic.

Spoiler: Full Description

Show

Still, tucked among the primers and amateur books he finds a book that deals with the blending of magic and music. Specifically, it holds the instructions and rituals for a new version of the famed artifacts known as the instruments of the bards. Unfortunately, about a third of the book is in a language Mal does not understand or recognize, including most of the rites and rituals to imbue it with magic. Still, with a translator, appropriate magics, some study, and someone skilled in wood craft, he may be able to produce one of these relics for himself.

Report daily updates to Mistress Moira at last light.

[Amnestic]

Vargath Hubrecht Half-Orc Rune Knight Fighter AC: 19 HP: 41/49 PP: 13 PIv: 12 PIs: 10 Conditions: Infected (Lycanthropy), -1 INT, Longstrider Concentrating: -- Vargath doesn't verbally respond to Set's question. His axe would speak loudly enough. Instead he gestures with his weapon, though hooks it to his belt temporarily, pulling a torch from his pack, lighting it and tossing it into the gloom in the vague direction of where they'd been running prior to falling into the pit. One light source deployed he pulls another and ignites another, letting the flames roar to life in the fog. This one he drops at his feet. He could see well enough in darkness, he had no concerns about vision, but if the plants did have some aversion to fire it would help to have some on hand. He avoids giving the flames to too much kindling however. These plant creatures died easily enough. As long as he could see them, he could kill them. His light sources deployed he pulls his axe once more, ready to dive back into the fray. In his pocket the heartapple thrums in his mind. Mal had said it had a heart inside, splurting with fresh blood. Vargath swallows silently. The thought set his stomach afire with desire.

Spoiler

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Light torch, throw torch.
Light torch, drop torch.
Draw axe. Plan is to charge at the first creature he sees.

[Awful]

Selissa Betula Wood Elf Scout Rogue AC: 16 HP: --/38 -> 30/43 PP: 16 Conditions: Aid Concentrating: -- The wood elf had given the gnome a tight nod when he asked for permission, solidly bearing his touch as he bandaged up her skewered flesh. After climbing out, she looked around. "...Where's the woman?" she hissed. The other female elf was nowhere to be seen, vanished as if she were an illusion. With disgust, she retrieved the apple she'd plucked and took bleak satisfaction in hurling it into the same pit she'd toppled into. It splattered onto a spike with a vile squelch, reddish juices leaking from the puncture. Hearing - or, to be specific, not hearing - the unearhtly silence fall again, she readied her bow. The ghostly potential of arrows played at her fingertips. In the direction the horde would be coming in, she planted her hunting trap, the brown-painted metal teeth sharp and vicious. "Will be close," she said, breathed in, and breathed out absence, melding into the foliage around them. She swung herself up into the tainted branches of an apple tree, so she'd be able to see the foe approach without being spotted, with the advantage of the high ground. Spoiler: OOC Show Selissa sets her hunting trap (from her background) in the way. Not sure if there's any actual stats for a beartrap or w/e, tho... Will cast PwT on self and conceal up a tree. Nat 20 for a roll of 40.

[purepolarpanzer]

In the Orchard at the Top of Mount Beldrin

The party's preparations don't take long, but neither do your foes. The gargling, agonized screams come closer rapidly, and around the time Vargath is tossing the second torch into the pit a shambling, mewling hoard of six more of the vegetable abominations comes into view. Two of them move ahead quickly, moving west to avoid the pit and come after you all, while four of them lag behind. The four in the rear appear to be pulling on ropes that go deeper into the fog, straining to pull something behind them with their freakish might. Of the two that move in the vanguard, one of them steps directly on Selissa's trap, which eagerly bites into it's mutant flesh, sending spurts of red blood out at all angles. Try as the creature might, it cannot pull the trap from the tree it is chained to, leaving one of the vegetable creatures straining uselessly in your direction while it's companion rushes forward to meet you in melee in a surely suicidal charge. Perhaps it would not be so eager to get into melee if it saw the four rope pullers all get yanked in one abrupt motion backwards into the fog, followed by a roar that shakes the earth down to the roots of the mountain. Something impacts the earth with the force to send some of you to your knees, including the chained monstrosity. The charging idiot somehow manages to keep on his feet.

Spoiler: OOC

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Two vegetable monsters advance. One gets caught in the trap 60 ft from Vargath, while another dashes to get within 30 feet of Vargath, Set, and Mal. Four of the vegetable monsters fail the opposed strength roll to pull something forward and instead get yanked backwards out of sight, roughly 90 ft away. Then everyone (except Selissa) needs to roll a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw to avoid going prone. She needs to roll a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw to avoid falling out of her tree and taking (1d10)[9] damage. Something large and alarmingly strong is coming your way.

[Amnestic]

Vargath Hubrecht Half-Orc Rune Knight Fighter AC: 19 HP: 41/49 PP: 13 PIv: 12 PIs: 10 Conditions: Infected (Lycanthropy), -1 INT, Longstrider, Uvar Concentrating: -- The thrum in the earth temporarily dislodges Vargath's feet, his boots sliding in the slick mud to knock him to his knees. He springs right back up though, ready to fight. Whatever was on the other side it was large, and hopefully worthy of his attention more than these plant creatures, who had done less harm to him than a hole in the ground. His feet now finding a foothold once more in the mud, he rushes forward to meet the plant on his terms rather than the enemy's. As he moves forward he quietly invokes another giantish rune from his armour. The word gleams a gentle blight light from his chestplate, before a stream of letters springs forth into the air in a single long line. It swirls, wrapping up around Vargath's body in a spiral before forming a small spinning halo of runic words above his head, a symbol of its protection and assistance.

Spoiler: Actions

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Action: Dash.
Move: Stand, run into melee with the closest creature.
Bonus Action: Invoke Uvar.
Pre-emptive reaction: Disadvantage on 1 attack from the plantboy he's now in melee with.

[Spore]

Doctor Ignacius Madaras, Medicus Extravagant! Gnome Artificer/Transmuter AC: 18 HP: 21/32 PP: 11 PIv: 17 PIs: 11 Conditions: Aid (8h; 5 mHP), Longstrider (1h) Concentration: - If we can guide it onto the hill, Vargath could try and shove it into the pit. Ignacius shouts. I will make the area as slippery as possible, hoping the fire doesn't burn it away. Spoiler Show Prepared action to cast Grease on the hillside.

[Theophilus]

Mal Levistus Tiefling Bard 5 AC: 14 HP: 41/41 THP: 2/10 PP: 11 PIv: 13 PIs: 11 Spell Slots: 1st - 2/4 2nd - 1/3 3rd - 2/2 Fey Touched: 1st - 0/1 2nd - 1/1 Masquerade Tattoo: 1st - 1/1 Levistus Legacy: Armor of Agathys - 0/1 Darkness - 0/1 Bardic Inspiration: 1/4 Healer's Kit: 20/20 Mal Conditions: Armor of Agathys: 10 cold damage if struck in melee. Mal Concentrating: -- Esai Ancient Companion: Warrior Companion HP: 0/30 Companion AC: 16 Companion PP: 18 PIv: 12 PIs: 12 Spirit flees, Statue stays The rumbling rolled through his bones like a wave upon the strand. The warrior-poet rode the pulse like a living key, landing gracefully upon his feet. He set his jaw for what may yet appear in the misty abyssal wood. Maledictus invoked his infernal heritage. The darkness ripped a yawning hole in the distance, consuming the pinned plantling and the sky above and around it. The tielfing called to Vargath, "A foe your caliber comes. Dispatch the nuisance 'ere you face his uglier kin!" Maledictus then pivoted away from where he stoked a meager oil-flame. He held his rapier once more at the ready, increasing his distance from the pit and rumbling brute who tossed turnip brigands like ragdolls.

Spoiler: OOC

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14 Dex save on Discord to keep his feet.

Armor of Agathys in effect: 2 THP to Mal. 10 cold damage to a foe if Mal is struck in melee.

Cast Darkness 20ft in the air, centered on a point to swallowed a 40ft diameter high and wide region 60ft away. The intention is to blind the oncoming foes and increase their chances of tumbling to their demise.

BA Bardic inspiration Vargath. 1d8 to further one save, check, or attack!

Move back 30ft to increase distance between him and pummeling.

If a creature flees their reach, Mal will react to make an OA.

Spoiler: Mal's Notes

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Spoiler: Cast and Crew

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Set: outcast exiled princeling of Abydos. Two princess sisters (Sisi and Sythpen Al-Sayyid). Romantic connection for Moira?
Selissa: Blighted or reconstructed wood elf? Purported Scout.
Vargath: Afflicted Lycanthrope seeking to suspend his curse. A Bloodwolf?
Mandaras: Rival to Dr. Fixer.
Dr. Fixer: Moira's lieutenant and cultivates relations with the locals of Vale.
Elder Maus: Seeks to kill Moira. Hired mercenaries who betrayed him.
--Healed to his full 9ft height.
--Disbelieves Moira's insights; seeks to end her directly or indirectly.
--Seeks us to verify the truths of Moira's claims--or stop her by any means necessary.
Maulei: Successor to Elder Maus as elder of Dam'ess.
Uluthando Mikoso "Ulu:" Paladin? of Order. From beyond the Vale. Reacts by gripping her dagger and declaring Tieflings are treated differently...Lawful (N/E?) Order? Calls Mal 'Mdala Ohlonishwayo.' Professes to serve no god, but spirits whose reach may be weaker in the Vale than elsewhere.

Spoiler: Dream of Leng

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Spoiler: In Full

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Mal has had this dream before. He finds himself in the legendary Library of Leng, an ancient home of virtually all worldly and mystical knowledge that burned when the city it was located in was razed nearly nine hundred years ago, half the world away. Still, in his dreams it still existed, and these dreams always played out the same. Hours of dutiful research, referencing and cross referencing sources from multiple tomes, carefully reconstructing ancient languages, until EUREKA! Some devastating and profound arcane truth became evident to him, and the sense of accomplisment and relief normally carried with him for several hours after waking up, even if he could never actually remember anything he learned. But this time is different. Mal is well versed enough in the arcane and divine arts to know that sometimes dreams carry real meaning. And as he stares down at what he has been working on, he instinctively knows this bears some significance. Where normally he would have arcane formulas and theorems, he sees only "The One Who Stalks Behind" scrawled over and over again in his own hand, though the words are manic and look like they were written in distress. He searches the paper for any further omen, and down at the bottom of the page, in the smallest script he could possibly manage, it says Behind you!. Just as he is about to turn, a claw as strong as iron grips the side of his head, snaps his neck to the side, and ends all feeling in the bard's body. But he can still hear the deep throated growls, along with the wet noises of whatever killed him beginning to eat him alive. But he never gets to see it before the dream ends.

The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. RIGHT BEHIND YOU! The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind.

Spoiler: Bence's Secrets

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Spoiler: Bence's Journal

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...is a backwards plane, so far removed from the Prime Material that it has not seen an angel or the work of a god in a millennia. I hear that far to the west they do not even worship the gods. Proper savages, but I must remain vigilant, as their knowledge of the ways of this world is far more educated than most. But it is ripe for my conquest. While my Master was tasked with corrupting Avendor, my home plane, a bastion of good and law, my chore is simply to tip the rat into the bucket of the Abyss as it prowls the rim looking for cheese. This plane is already so flooded with the energies of the Abyss that demons spontaneously emerge, monsters manifest in the dark, and their weak leaders bargain with forces they would be wiser to repulse. It will be child's play to nudge it the last few inches into anarchy and destruction, mostly due to the efforts of Pale Night herself. For thousands of years she has been grasping and clawing at this realm, dragging it further from the light and closer to her realm day by day, inch by inch, soul by soul. While my home plane was beyond my ability to destroy, this place will be my masterpiece. With my death at the hands of the forces of good, a symphony of destruction will play the anthem to my ascension to demonhood. The Pale Mother has promised me that each death will bring me closer to my true form, and each rebirth will increase my power, just as our pact promised. I can't wait to die. When will the heroes arrive? I've been planting and tending the seed of the idea in the old giant's mind for weeks now. When will it bear fruit? When can my dark rise to power begin? (The rest is a combination of burned and Abyssal that becomes impossible to read)

Dam'ess- Mass Quasit Summoning. Magic Mouth to Levy Commands re: Retrieve Mirror of Leng, Scepter of Rulership, And Aniot's Cube. Disperse to Appropriate Parties Per The Plan. Burn The Cabin.

Harumburg- Sending to Lord of Bone re: Portal to the 113th. (Indecipherable Due to Burns) In Accordance with Their Great Alliance.

Falluneer- Sending to Lord of Flesh re: (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Ebon Spear.

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)light: Sending to Lord of Blood re: Assassination of (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Yukkot, Recovery of Blood (More Burns).

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)odge- Sending to Cult of Pale (More Burns) re: Initiate Divining Ritual Sacrifices. FIND THE DAMN ZIGGURAT.

Garrunrow- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Kill the Last Bloodwolf. Recover (More Burns) Key.

Mountain of Smoke- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) crypt. Seize the Ebon (More Burns).

Sussoon- Ensure the Prophecy (Indecipherable Due to Burns)... Pay the Bounty Hunters to Find the Abydossian and the Princesses. re: Sacrifices of The Old Blood

(There is more, but seemingly out of paranoia Bence switched to Abyssal. It is impossible to tell how many lines there are, as the last half of the paper is fully burned away)

Spoiler: Arcane Lore concerning Bence's Notes

Show

The magic of Contingency is a nearly mythical bit of spell work that was said to be lost when the Library of Leng burned down. It allows a caster to prepare spells in advance for a predetermined event, in this case John Bence's own death, and the spells will automatically cast when the event happens. If Bence is capable of such sorcery, he is likely far more powerful than his flashy death at the party's hands would indicate.

The Mirror of Leng is a artifact of the Library of Leng, said to contain a frozen moment of time where the library was at it's height that a person can temporarily step in to, giving access to the greatest magical library this world has ever seen. Supposedly several mirrors were made, though some are confirmed destroyed after their use led to come calamity of forbidden magics long lost to time. The Scepter of Rulership is said to be an even more powerful version of a Rod of Rulership, a magic item that allows for mass mind manipulation of people to believe that the holder of the Scepter is their rightful ruler. The last time the Scepter was confirmed in play it toppled an entire nation.

Though numbering and organizing the layers of the Abyss is a fool's errand, there are some realms that are constant enough to designate. The one hundred and thirteenth layer is Thanatos, layer of Orcus, the Lord of Death. It is a lifeless frozen landscape where life is snuffed out almost as soon as it arrives, either by the untold legions of undead denizens, the magical aura of the layer itself, or, in the worst cases, by Orcus himself, using his fearsome Wand.

Spoiler: John Bence's Wall Art

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There are no invisible objects in the room, but the entire back wall of the cabin is plastered with profane runes and abyssal scribblings. Where there was nothing to the naked eye, there is an extensive patchwork of spell work, seemingly scribed in the rusted red of blood. More disturbing is the fragments of souls that have been bound to the wall. Faces of people rise and seethe from the wood like a strange and rippling tide, mouths open in anguish. There are not many of them left, presumably due to whatever spell was used here absorbing so much energy, but there is a fine layer of ectoplasm that would indicate that once there were dozens of soul fragments powering this spell. The sight turns Mal's stomach, as the chaotic, destructive magic of the Abyss is written as plainly as news script, but as subtly as any devil could manage.

Spoiler: Monsters

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Barlgura: Demon loosed by summoning ritual on the road to Dam'ess. Slain with its summoned partner by team. (Bless helped with accuracy issues due to invisibility. In the future, layer mind sliver to aid with saves.)
Brazen Hart: Spirit of the wild wood around Dam'ess. Seeks to test the party's mettle by forcing an open fight with the Barlgura.
Horror of Yurl: Shapeshifting kind of monster. Severs limbs, creates euphoria, and slays by consuming the liver. The newest variant flies...

Spoiler: Instrument of the Bards

Show

Mal needs a translator, the spells, and woodcrafter to create a new relic.

Spoiler: Full Description

Show

Still, tucked among the primers and amateur books he finds a book that deals with the blending of magic and music. Specifically, it holds the instructions and rituals for a new version of the famed artifacts known as the instruments of the bards. Unfortunately, about a third of the book is in a language Mal does not understand or recognize, including most of the rites and rituals to imbue it with magic. Still, with a translator, appropriate magics, some study, and someone skilled in wood craft, he may be able to produce one of these relics for himself.

Report daily updates to Mistress Moira at last light.

[Riggdgames]

Set Al-Sayyid Changeling Fighter/Hexblade AC: 17 HP: 38/38 PP: 12 PIv: 13 PIs: 9 Conditions: Mal's Aid (+5 max hp, 8 hrs), Iumenta Pox (-8 max hp) Concentration: The very earth quakes as Set drops to one knee, a roar still reverberating through him as he tries to come to terms with that sound. It was more than just the fact that they'd been subject to fits of silence recently. Whatever lays ahead in the fog must be truly massive. Before Set can voice his misgivings, however, the Mighty is already bounding forward like a wolf on the hunt. It only takes a moment's hesitation for Set to do the same, charging silently forward, eyes narrowing on the monstrous vegetable. One thing at a time. First dispatch this thing, then worry about how big of a wolf pack they'd need to bring down whatever lurks in the fog. Set raises his weapon and reaches out to the creature's shadow at the same time, hissing "<wrack,>" just before bringing his spear to bear. "<Reach.>" The monster's shadow melts out of the ground, swiftly locking it's arms around the creature's throat to slow it's progress even as Set infuses his own shadow and sends it hurtling out of his spear. At the same time, a shadow far larger consumes the fog up ahead as Iceblood's voice bolsters their resolve. Set is too focused on his foe to understand the magnitude of Mal's magics for the moment, but the concentrated gloom ahead tugs with the force of gravity, trying to pull his attention away from the task at hand. Spoiler: OOC Show 9 Dex save in Discord Move: Stand from prone and move 15 ft closer Bonus Action: Cast Hex on Vege-monster Action: Cast Eldritch Blast at Vege-monster, (1d20+7)[25] to hit for (1d10)[8] force plus (1d6)[3] necrotic damage The target of Hex has disadvantage on Strength checks.

[Awful]

Selissa Betula Wood Elf Scout Rogue AC: 16 HP: --/38 -> 30/43 PP: 16 Conditions: Aid Concentrating: -- Selissa managed to keep her position, gripping onto the branches of the tree. She drew back her bowstring and let it fly towards the turnip trapped by her beartrap. The bolt struck clean, sending forth a gout of reddish vegetable blood. That done, Selissa abandoned her position. Silent as a ghost, she dropped down from the branches and darted to the next tree along, out of the path of the incoming giant, trying to avoid any more potential deathpits. If she died from falling in a hole, her spirit would be too embarassed to be reborn as an elf. What monster would emerge from the fog? ...well, whatever it was, Mal's darkness obscured it now. Should she move forward? Try to see if she could rescue the old man and the driver? Too late to communicate any such plan, now the foe was upon them. She hoped the Mayor still lived. Spoiler: OOC Show Hits for 15 damage Moves to the side and hides with 33 stealth roll.

[purepolarpanzer]

In the Orchard at the Top of Mount Beldrin

Ulu, who tumbled headlong into the pit, stands and climbs out with blood and oil running down her armor in streams. She prepares for the coming battle by unleashing a magical chant, running her hands over her wounds, and healing herself. The blood stops flowing, but now the warrior is covered in crimson and black streaks. She gives a uluating cry, she rushes forward with Vargath towards the nearest foe. Where Vargath assumes a more defensive stance, Ulu's grey, glowing longsword carves two red chunks out of the vegetable man, just as Set's sizzling bolt of shadow adds to the damage. Just like the others there is a burst of blood that sprays across both the rune knight and the paladin. Vargath's caution is rewarded as the vegetable abomination reels forward, throwing itself at him while shrieking, either in pain or confusion. The first blow is deflected by a glowing rune that appears in the air between the warrior and the monster, but the second one seems guided by some malign fate. It comes crashing down on the undefended head of the half orc, clubbing him with an audible crack of bone meeting strange, plantlike flesh, and this time it is the rune knight's blood that bursts from his body, though nowhere near as much and nowhere as violently as his foe's.

Selissa, from her perch in the tree, sends a whistling missile straight for the trapped monster. It goes through the mutant like a hot spear through butter, leaving a sizzling hole the size of a fist through and through the creature. As she is moving down and towards the next tree, her target finally manages to rip the spike that was holding down the trap out of the ground. It does not, however, have the presence of mind to remove the trap, which cuts deeper and deeper into it's pale, rigid flesh. The monster rushes forward, meeting Vargath and Ulu in melee and forming a battle line with it's besieged brethren.

Then the titan reveals itself. Normally the words "tree house" bring about images of haphazard constructions of scrap wood nailed into the crown of a tree, a place for children to gather and preform the secret rites of youth away from the prying eyes of adults. When the words "tree house" are used in elvish, something else entirely is brought to mind- a canopy home for an entire family, well made and well taken care of, built around the branches and not into them. When the words are changed to "home tree" in the tongue of the wood elves, again the meaning changes to something entirely new. Home trees are grown, not built, with a druid or shaman singing to the sapling all the way up until it is a massive tree, easily three times the normal size for it's species, with the wood growing into natural cavities and rooms for an elven family to live in. It is a rare blessing for a community to have one, and the art of creating them is thought by many to be lost to the ages. Selissa has never seen one in her lifetime- the last one her family knew of caught a blight and fell two centuries before her birth. It is a noble, harmonious melding of nature and domesticity that is meant to serve an elven magic user and their family for thousands of years. This was once such a mighty and majestic plant, but no longer.

Moving haphazardly through Mal's darkness, a sixty foot tree rumbles forward, roots diving into the dirt and ripping upward again, leaving a trail of furrowed earth behind it. It's canopy spanned half that distance, and hanging from the branches were vegetable monsters still hanging onto their ropes for dear life. If it was simply a tree melded with a home, it would have been awe inspiring. But something darker and more foul had been done to this druidic wonder. First you begin to notice the eyes, dozens of them, perfectly molded into the trunk and branches, ranging in size from a humanoid eye to a dinner plate, all blinking and moving independently of one another. Next you notice the open doorway close to the base which has grown flat, ugly teeth, constantly gnawing and gargling a thick pink fluid out onto the ground that sizzled and smoked. Then you see the apples hanging from the branches, ranging in size from a grape sized fruit to as big as a man, constantly raining down as the unnatural motion of the home tree sends them cascading like grenades toward the ground to splatter in equal parts meat and plant. A low, rumbling cry echoes out of the open mouth, bubbling up through the thick pink fluid like an elephant moaning in pain. The creature goes silent as it's blinking, stupid eyes take in the scene, and over the shouts of the monsters you hear Maus and Kagiso crying out above the din, their voices originating from a window fifty feet up in the walking tree. They are inside the unholy mutant, and they are in pain. The lumbering tree begins moving forward, more quickly than your imaginations can keep up with, charging forward towards Ulu and Vargath with lethal intent in it's plethora of eyes.

That is, until Ignacius' spell resolves itself under the massive root structure that acts like the creature's feet. A thick layer of greasy, fatty substance forms underneath the massive roots, and though some of the probing plant tendrils manage to dig into the earth the majority slip across the ground like a humanoid stepping on a banana peel. The massive walking tree falls forward with a bellow of surprise, struggling to support it's massive weight on only half of it's lower appendages and failing. It heaves forward, losing it's balance, and toppling into the pit. The ground shakes again as it's full weight slams into the spikes, and the low bellow transforms into a strangled shriek of pain as several of it's eyes are impaled by the wooden spikes. It's tumble sends the suspended vegetable monsters high into the air, then swings them back down towards the earth. While three of them manage to hold on, one of them looses their grip and it sent flying directly at Set. The Abydosian exile barely manages to leap out of the way as one of the vegetable mutants crashes into the dirt where he once stood with such force that a wave of blood and dirt is sent skyward from the impact. The abomination is not dead, however, and it begins to stand, menacing the changeling in melee combat and adding a combatant to the fight.

Spoiler: OOC

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Ulu smacks the closest veggie twice for 14 magic slashing damage with her longsword. Set's eldritch blast hits it for 11 damage. Selissa shoots the one that got caught in her trap for 15 piercing, magical damage. Vargath's rune prevents a hit, but then the veggie man manages to crit our resident tank for 26 bludgeoning damage (before heavy armor master). The trapped monster frees itself (somewhat) and moves into melee with Vargath and Ulu, making it a two on two fight. The titanic foe reveals itself to be one part apple tree, one part home, and one part horrid abomination.. Then Dr. M says "nope!", greases the ground, and sends the titan sliding into the pit for a 26 damage. That puts it out of melee range for the moment, meaning you will either have to climb into the pit or wait for it to climb out to use melee, but ranged attacks will work just fine. Maus and Kagiso are inside the monstrosity, so you might want to think twice before starting too big a fire. If you want to attempt to save them, you can dive for a window (or go in the mouth/door when it is upright again) with a DC 18 Athletics or Acrobatics check. Failure will be rewarded with pain in one form or another. Oh, and the veggie man missile was actually an attack (made with disadvantage due to being prone). It has three more humanoid plant rockets on ropes that it can throw on future turns.

This one could be fun and deadly, folks.

[Spore]

Doctor Ignacius Madaras, Medicus Extravagant! Gnome Artificer/Transmuter AC: 18 HP: 21/32 PP: 11 PIv: 17 PIs: 11 Conditions: Aid (8h; 5 mHP), Longstrider (1h) Concentration: Dragon's Breath (3rd level, 1/10 rounds) Do NOT use fire! Use its size to your advantage. Ignacius says as he dodges the acidic puddles and tries to angle his spell. He whispers some arcane words into his bullhorn. A flame appears on its smaller end, which turns into a frigid north wind exiting the other side. Spoiler Show Upcast Dragon's Breath (Cold) with a 3rd level spell. (4d6)[11] cold damage, halved if a DC 14 Dex save is met.

[Theophilus]

Mal Levistus Tiefling Bard 5 AC: 14 HP: 41/41 THP: 2/10 PP: 11 PIv: 13 PIs: 11 Spell Slots: 1st - 1/4 2nd - 1/3 3rd - 2/2 Fey Touched: 1st - 0/1 2nd - 1/1 Masquerade Tattoo: 1st - 1/1 Levistus Legacy: Armor of Agathys - 0/1 Darkness - 0/1 Bardic Inspiration: 0/4 Healer's Kit: 20/20 Mal Conditions: Armor of Agathys: 10 cold damage if struck in melee. Mal Concentrating: Darkness Esai Ancient Companion: Warrior Companion HP: 0/30 Companion AC: 16 Companion PP: 18 PIv: 12 PIs: 12 Spirit flees, Statue stays Maledictus' mind raced at the horrific possibilities of the colossus. He found the revelation of flesh and wood as repugnant as expected, though it bewildered the orderly records in his mind. Seeing the monstrosity flail pitifully as it tumbled into the pit, the scholar sought to goad it back into the grease for another bout of tumbles. He whispered the arcane dissonance that the tree-house of the Abyss could alone hear. The tielfing called to Set, "Press the foe into the Pit to rejoin its kindred!" Maledictus remained wary of ambush even as he lurked in the distance out of reach of root and stem of this foul creation.

Spoiler: OOC

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14 Dex save on Discord to keep his feet.

Armor of Agathys in effect: 2 THP to Mal. 10 cold damage to a foe if Mal is struck in melee.

Maintain Darkness.

Cast Dissonant Whispers on tree house. (3d6)[10] psychic damage and flee away from Mal by burning its reaction to take its full move. Save to take only half damage (Rolled a 16 on discord for its save)

BA Bardic inspiration Set. 1d8 to further one save, check, or attack!

Move back 30ft to increase distance between him and pummeling.

If a creature flees their reach, Mal will react to make an OA.

Spoiler: Mal's Notes

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Spoiler: Cast and Crew

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Set: outcast exiled princeling of Abydos. Two princess sisters (Sisi and Sythpen Al-Sayyid). Romantic connection for Moira?
Selissa: Blighted or reconstructed wood elf? Purported Scout.
Vargath: Afflicted Lycanthrope seeking to suspend his curse. A Bloodwolf?
Mandaras: Rival to Dr. Fixer.
Dr. Fixer: Moira's lieutenant and cultivates relations with the locals of Vale.
Elder Maus: Seeks to kill Moira. Hired mercenaries who betrayed him.
--Healed to his full 9ft height.
--Disbelieves Moira's insights; seeks to end her directly or indirectly.
--Seeks us to verify the truths of Moira's claims--or stop her by any means necessary.
Maulei: Successor to Elder Maus as elder of Dam'ess.
Uluthando Mikoso "Ulu:" Paladin? of Order. From beyond the Vale. Reacts by gripping her dagger and declaring Tieflings are treated differently...Lawful (N/E?) Order? Calls Mal 'Mdala Ohlonishwayo.' Professes to serve no god, but spirits whose reach may be weaker in the Vale than elsewhere.

Spoiler: Dream of Leng

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Spoiler: In Full

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Mal has had this dream before. He finds himself in the legendary Library of Leng, an ancient home of virtually all worldly and mystical knowledge that burned when the city it was located in was razed nearly nine hundred years ago, half the world away. Still, in his dreams it still existed, and these dreams always played out the same. Hours of dutiful research, referencing and cross referencing sources from multiple tomes, carefully reconstructing ancient languages, until EUREKA! Some devastating and profound arcane truth became evident to him, and the sense of accomplisment and relief normally carried with him for several hours after waking up, even if he could never actually remember anything he learned. But this time is different. Mal is well versed enough in the arcane and divine arts to know that sometimes dreams carry real meaning. And as he stares down at what he has been working on, he instinctively knows this bears some significance. Where normally he would have arcane formulas and theorems, he sees only "The One Who Stalks Behind" scrawled over and over again in his own hand, though the words are manic and look like they were written in distress. He searches the paper for any further omen, and down at the bottom of the page, in the smallest script he could possibly manage, it says Behind you!. Just as he is about to turn, a claw as strong as iron grips the side of his head, snaps his neck to the side, and ends all feeling in the bard's body. But he can still hear the deep throated growls, along with the wet noises of whatever killed him beginning to eat him alive. But he never gets to see it before the dream ends.

The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. RIGHT BEHIND YOU! The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind.

Spoiler: Bence's Secrets

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Spoiler: Bence's Journal

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...is a backwards plane, so far removed from the Prime Material that it has not seen an angel or the work of a god in a millennia. I hear that far to the west they do not even worship the gods. Proper savages, but I must remain vigilant, as their knowledge of the ways of this world is far more educated than most. But it is ripe for my conquest. While my Master was tasked with corrupting Avendor, my home plane, a bastion of good and law, my chore is simply to tip the rat into the bucket of the Abyss as it prowls the rim looking for cheese. This plane is already so flooded with the energies of the Abyss that demons spontaneously emerge, monsters manifest in the dark, and their weak leaders bargain with forces they would be wiser to repulse. It will be child's play to nudge it the last few inches into anarchy and destruction, mostly due to the efforts of Pale Night herself. For thousands of years she has been grasping and clawing at this realm, dragging it further from the light and closer to her realm day by day, inch by inch, soul by soul. While my home plane was beyond my ability to destroy, this place will be my masterpiece. With my death at the hands of the forces of good, a symphony of destruction will play the anthem to my ascension to demonhood. The Pale Mother has promised me that each death will bring me closer to my true form, and each rebirth will increase my power, just as our pact promised. I can't wait to die. When will the heroes arrive? I've been planting and tending the seed of the idea in the old giant's mind for weeks now. When will it bear fruit? When can my dark rise to power begin? (The rest is a combination of burned and Abyssal that becomes impossible to read)

Dam'ess- Mass Quasit Summoning. Magic Mouth to Levy Commands re: Retrieve Mirror of Leng, Scepter of Rulership, And Aniot's Cube. Disperse to Appropriate Parties Per The Plan. Burn The Cabin.

Harumburg- Sending to Lord of Bone re: Portal to the 113th. (Indecipherable Due to Burns) In Accordance with Their Great Alliance.

Falluneer- Sending to Lord of Flesh re: (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Ebon Spear.

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)light: Sending to Lord of Blood re: Assassination of (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Yukkot, Recovery of Blood (More Burns).

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)odge- Sending to Cult of Pale (More Burns) re: Initiate Divining Ritual Sacrifices. FIND THE DAMN ZIGGURAT.

Garrunrow- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Kill the Last Bloodwolf. Recover (More Burns) Key.

Mountain of Smoke- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) crypt. Seize the Ebon (More Burns).

Sussoon- Ensure the Prophecy (Indecipherable Due to Burns)... Pay the Bounty Hunters to Find the Abydossian and the Princesses. re: Sacrifices of The Old Blood

(There is more, but seemingly out of paranoia Bence switched to Abyssal. It is impossible to tell how many lines there are, as the last half of the paper is fully burned away)

Spoiler: Arcane Lore concerning Bence's Notes

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The magic of Contingency is a nearly mythical bit of spell work that was said to be lost when the Library of Leng burned down. It allows a caster to prepare spells in advance for a predetermined event, in this case John Bence's own death, and the spells will automatically cast when the event happens. If Bence is capable of such sorcery, he is likely far more powerful than his flashy death at the party's hands would indicate.

The Mirror of Leng is a artifact of the Library of Leng, said to contain a frozen moment of time where the library was at it's height that a person can temporarily step in to, giving access to the greatest magical library this world has ever seen. Supposedly several mirrors were made, though some are confirmed destroyed after their use led to come calamity of forbidden magics long lost to time. The Scepter of Rulership is said to be an even more powerful version of a Rod of Rulership, a magic item that allows for mass mind manipulation of people to believe that the holder of the Scepter is their rightful ruler. The last time the Scepter was confirmed in play it toppled an entire nation.

Though numbering and organizing the layers of the Abyss is a fool's errand, there are some realms that are constant enough to designate. The one hundred and thirteenth layer is Thanatos, layer of Orcus, the Lord of Death. It is a lifeless frozen landscape where life is snuffed out almost as soon as it arrives, either by the untold legions of undead denizens, the magical aura of the layer itself, or, in the worst cases, by Orcus himself, using his fearsome Wand.

Spoiler: John Bence's Wall Art

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There are no invisible objects in the room, but the entire back wall of the cabin is plastered with profane runes and abyssal scribblings. Where there was nothing to the naked eye, there is an extensive patchwork of spell work, seemingly scribed in the rusted red of blood. More disturbing is the fragments of souls that have been bound to the wall. Faces of people rise and seethe from the wood like a strange and rippling tide, mouths open in anguish. There are not many of them left, presumably due to whatever spell was used here absorbing so much energy, but there is a fine layer of ectoplasm that would indicate that once there were dozens of soul fragments powering this spell. The sight turns Mal's stomach, as the chaotic, destructive magic of the Abyss is written as plainly as news script, but as subtly as any devil could manage.

Spoiler: Monsters

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Barlgura: Demon loosed by summoning ritual on the road to Dam'ess. Slain with its summoned partner by team. (Bless helped with accuracy issues due to invisibility. In the future, layer mind sliver to aid with saves.)
Brazen Hart: Spirit of the wild wood around Dam'ess. Seeks to test the party's mettle by forcing an open fight with the Barlgura.
Horror of Yurl: Shapeshifting kind of monster. Severs limbs, creates euphoria, and slays by consuming the liver. The newest variant flies...

Spoiler: Instrument of the Bards

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Mal needs a translator, the spells, and woodcrafter to create a new relic.

Spoiler: Full Description

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Still, tucked among the primers and amateur books he finds a book that deals with the blending of magic and music. Specifically, it holds the instructions and rituals for a new version of the famed artifacts known as the instruments of the bards. Unfortunately, about a third of the book is in a language Mal does not understand or recognize, including most of the rites and rituals to imbue it with magic. Still, with a translator, appropriate magics, some study, and someone skilled in wood craft, he may be able to produce one of these relics for himself.

Report daily updates to Mistress Moira at last light.

[Amnestic]

Vargath Hubrecht Half-Orc Rune Knight Fighter AC: 19 HP: 18/49 PP: 13 PIv: 12 PIs: 10 Conditions: Infected (Lycanthropy), -1 INT, Longstrider, Uvar, Giant's Might (1 min) Concentrating: -- The force of the blow knocks Vargath back off his feet into the mud, but the stun lasts only for a moment as he rolls with the fall, spinning over back onto his feet. His legs tense as the momentum puts pressure on them in the mud, but only for a moment before they carry him forwards once more. His blood thrums in his ears, but all the pain does is urge him to fight harder, faster, more brutal. He lets the rune magic flow through him once more and grows in size to better dwarf the plant creature, delivering an enormous upward swing first with his momentum, followed by a crushing vertical chop straight back down upon it. The tree house would have to wait for now. If he went in search of the biggest prey the less hardy of the group would be vulnerable, even if he would love nothing more than to slice through the great monster.

Spoiler: Actions

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Move: None.
Bonus Action: Giant's Might, grow Large.
Action: Attack (1d20+7)[8] Damage:(1d8+6)[13]+(1d6)[3]
Extra Attack: (1d20+7)[19] Damage:(1d8+6)[10]+(1d6)[1]
Pre-emptive reaction: Disadvantage on 1 attack from the plantboy he's now in melee with.

[Riggdgames]

Set Al-Sayyid Changeling Fighter/Hexblade AC: 17 HP: 38/38 PP: 12 PIv: 13 PIs: 9 Conditions: Mal's Inspiration (1d8), Mal's Aid (+5 max hp, 8 hrs), Iumenta Pox (-8 max hp) Concentration: Hex (Vargath's foe, 1 hr) A crash in the distance pulls Set's attention away from his target as a titan bursts from Darkness. Even as it stumbles on Thrice-Blessed's well-placed trap, Set's mind blanks for a moment as he comes to terms with the towering monstrosity, its eyes roaming over the field in all directions at once. Set gives vent to a brief exclamation of panic, thoughts of escape swirling as he confronts the idea of trying to take down a tree with his spear. What could he do? Even the hatchet on his belt seemed a pitiful weapon, ill-suited to the task. The sight of Maus and Kagiso trapped in its upper reaches does little to comfort him. They had to get them out of there, but how? It seemed impossible. Thankfully, there is nothing quite like combat to quiet the mind. A branch sweeps in an arc as the titan falls, launching a vegetable monster directly at Set. He leaps back, feeling the rush of wind as it impacts the ground in front of him sending mud and blood splattering in all directions. Crouched as he recovers his balance, Set rises in time with the vegetable monster, no longer able to rush to the Mighty's side or heed the titan that fell nearby. For now, it was just Set and this creature locked in combat. "Press the foe into the pit to rejoin its kindred!" Like so many practice duels in the sandpits at home, even a few shouted instructions could sway a fight that appeared to be one on one. Set circles the monster in characteristic silence, putting the creature between him and the pit as Iceblood's words sink in. A false step around the pit would mean death for Set or the monster. From this angle, he might be able to press him back to the edge and beyond, or at the very least Set might be able to shield himself from the next vegetable volley. Without a word, Set lunges forward and presses the attack. Spoiler: OOC Show Move: Circle around monster in melee Action: 2H spear attack for (1d20+7)[26] to hit for (1d8+4)[12] piercing damage Bonus Action: Polearm Master bonus attack for (1d20+7)[16] to hit for (1d4+4)[6] bludgeoning damage The target of Hex (Vargath's first opponent) has disadvantage on Strength checks.

[Awful]

Selissa Betula Wood Elf Scout Rogue AC: 16 HP: --/38 -> 30/43 PP: 16 Conditions: Aid Concentrating: -- A home tree. An old and sacred union of nature and a home; the epitome of the forest elf mindset. Corrupted into some kind of hideous monster. It was disgusting. Selissa bared her teeth in anger. Maus and the other human were inside it, and no doubt suffering. How to get them out? How to destroy such an enormous abomination? One couldn't cut down a tree with arrows, but they and axes had always been enemies; Selissa made a frustrated noise. She'd just have to do what she could. She surveyed the battlefield. Vargath had taken a mighty blow, and he seemed otherwise the strongest fighter. Decision made, she made her shot and did her best to disappear again into the foliage. Spoiler: OOC Show Hits for 14 damage Hides with 21 stealth roll.

[purepolarpanzer]

In the Orchard at the Top of Mount Beldrin

Dr. Madaras' frozen breath frosts and coats the fallen tree, crystalizing and even shattering some of it's mass in the frigid spell as the monster fails to evade the spell at all. Maledictus' spell is less effective, as the alien mind that his whisper's assault seems much more formidable than the vegetable humanoids. Set's expert spear assault on the abomination that became a projectile is effective, but perhaps not as effective as it would have been against a flesh and blood opponent, with both of his attacks sending sprays of blood into the air. Unseen amongst the trees, Selissa fires a smoking arrow through the shoulder of the vegetable monster menacing Vargath, causing the creature to reel out of the way of the half-orc's swing. That only enrages the rune knight, whose second strike bites deep and splashes red as it buries deep into rigid, pale flesh. Ulu's longsword seems to grow brighter and brighter as her chanting grows louder, seemingly becoming a blade of pure grey light. She swings it with a cry that pierces through the yowling of the monsters, and like that cry the blade cuts through vegetable flesh like it was barely there. A cut to the left, a swipe to the right, and the monster Vargath and Selissa struck falls with one leg severed and it's torso bisected, quickly transforming into turnips and bloody organ meat. She turns to face the one still bearing a bear trap on it's leg, righteous fury playing across her features.

Set's maneuvering proves fruitful, as the humanoid plant between him and the pit lashes out twice, both times hitting nothing but air, but with such force that Set can hear the clumsy blows moving through the air to either side of his head. Seeing it's nearest ally cut in twain, the monster bearing a bear trap continues to ignore the steel biting into it's leg and lashes out at Ulu. She manages to deflect the first lunging swing, but the second catches her off guard and hits her in the arm. She stumbles under the weight of the blow, but is not sent careening towards the pit, as the monster intended. However, both Vargath and Ulu were not fully prepared for what came next.

The abominable tree lurches upward, and the wooden spikes underneath it snap and clatter into pieces underneath it's mass. Alarmingly, the pierced wounds, both in the creature's eyes and in it's wooden, bleeding flesh, begin to knit closed. It surveys the fight for a moment before it begins to retch. More and more of the obscene sizzling pink foam churns out of the creature's mouth before ejecting in a solid stream at the paladin and the rune knight.

Spoiler: Please Roll as DC 16 Dexterity Saving Throw, Ulu and Vargath

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Spoiler: If You Succeed

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You take 8 Acid damage and suffer no other ill effects.

Spoiler: If You Fail

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You take 16 Acid Damage as the pink foam coats your body. You take an additional 4 Acid Damage at the end of your next turn unless you take an action to wipe it off your body.

Ulu fails to dodge out of the way of the line attack, and quickly finds herself completely coated in the vividly colored foamy slime. She shrieks in pain and begins rubbing at her own eyes to get the burning substance out of her vision. While she struggles, the perverted home tree surges up out of the pit, but as it moves to shove Ulu out of it's path she begins swinging her sword wildly, and after she scores the wood in three different places the massive monstrosity settles so half it's bulk is still in the pit and half is adjacent to Ulu and within branch's reach of Vargath and Set.

Spoiler: OOC

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Ulu takes a smacking from the bear trapped Veggie, but the one menacing Set hits nothing but air. After using it's "breath" weapon, the home tree attempts to shove through/past Ulu, but fails the Strength Athletics check to do so, leaving it partially still in the pit. I need everyone to roll a DC 14 Madness Save because of the disgusting nature of your massive foe's acid attack. You all are up.

[Amnestic]

Vargath Hubrecht Half-Orc Rune Knight Fighter AC: 19 HP: 2/49 PP: 13 PIv: 12 PIs: 10 Conditions: Infected (Lycanthropy), -1 INT, Longstrider, Uvar, Giant's Might (1 min) Concentrating: -- It is no great surprise that Vargath isn't able to avoid the majority of the noxious acidic slime - pink though it may be - that's spurted in his direction. He's a very large target, after all. This knowledge brings him no solace as the stinging acid bites away at him though, and it's all he can do to move away to find a moment to breathe and recuperate as his large (thankfully gloved) hands push at the toxic goo to remove it as quickly as possible. He keeps half an eye on the rest of the fight, but for the moment he needs to focus on keeping himself up.

Spoiler: Actions

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Move: Further away from the house, perhaps taking cover behind a tree if possible, even if only partially.
Bonus Action: None.
Action: Scrape the pink slime off.
Pre-emptive reaction: Disadvantage on 1 attack from the tree he's now in melee with.

[Riggdgames]

Set Al-Sayyid Changeling Fighter/Hexblade AC: 17 HP: 38/38 PP: 12 PIv: 13 PIs: 9 Conditions: Mal's Inspiration (1d8), Mal's Aid (+5 max hp, 8 hrs), Iumenta Pox (-8 max hp) Concentration: Hex (Tree, 1 hr) It was like plunging a spear into sand. Set could feel the tip find purchase, feel the spear vibrating as he smashed the butt into the monster's bulk, but it felt like fighting the desert itself. Injured as the creature appeared to be, Set could no more imagine it crumbling to his blows than he could imagine the Mighty falling in battle. Gritting his teeth, Set prepares to launch another assault anyway, desperately trying to figure out what more he can do when he feels another monster collapse nearby, it's shadow splitting into pieces. At the same time the tree spews pink filth all over Vargath and Ulu, drowning them in death. Set feels a tug on his sanity as the smell of sizzling flesh washes over him, but there's no time. He dodges a blow from the vegetable monster as their real foe threatens to climb from the pit, held back only by Ulu's wild swings. Everything has a shadow, big or small. He'd never tried binding a shadow so large, much less with a monster in his face, but thankfully there wasn't time to worry about what was possible. Instead Set jabs and swings with his spear to create space while reaching out with his awareness. It felt like trying to swing a sledgehammer for the first time with just a pinky to hold it, but he could feel the darkness bending to his will. Set's reach extends, grasping for more until finally the monster's shadow jolts, then slackens. Set feels a sudden rush of power as he pulls shadow-branches from the earth, folding a few up into the air and encircling the monstrous tree. Set gives up on any pretense of holding the vege-monster nearest him at bay, plunging forward into a sprint as he tries to duck under its swing. Set was fighting the desert out here. Rich or poor, prince or pauper, every boy in Abydos learned sooner or later that you don't fight the desert no matter how many times it tries to kill you. At most, you survive it. As ink-black branches wrap like vines around the tree's trunk, Set leaps towards the doorway, swinging off a nearby branch and launching himself inside. Spoiler: OOC Show Bonus Action: Hex the tree Move: Move towards the tree accepting attacks of opportunity, Acrobatics 21 to jump in the doorway Action: Dash deeper into the tree to try to get to Maus and Kagiso The tree has disadvantage on Strength checks.

[purepolarpanzer]

In the Orchard at the Top of Mount Beldrin

Set's shadow magic restrained the massive mutant home tree, the force of his hex wrapping the colossus in a bear hug and pulling it back, threatening to tip it back into the pit. Then the Abydossian leaps into the monster's toothy maw with stunning agility. The teeth snap shut behind Set, and for those outside it appears as though their spear wielding companion has been swallowed whole.

Inside, Set finds himself in a living room. It would be fascinating- furniture grown from the very wood of the tree, including a couch and bookshelves. There are broken shards of vase scattered across the floor alongside simple books of leather and wood bind. However, in the center of the room is what is unmistakably a throat, and the floor, walls, and ceiling are all etched by thick black vines that seem to have bored through the wood in places. It seems Set has chosen the perfect time to invade the home, as there is minimal pink slime on the floor and walls, and no more bubbling up out of the throat of the tree. More is coming, however, and it won't be safe on the ground floor for long. Spotting a spiral staircase across the room, Set's sprint continues upward, towards the last known position of his captured allies.

He barely makes it up to the second floor before the tree's movement nearly sends him crashing into a wall that suddenly leaps to meet him. Here he finds a communal sleeping area. This area is thankfully clear of pink slime, though the black vines boring through the wood around you are thicker and more ever present. It's here that Set finds the bodies. Wrapped in a shroud of black vines are the desiccated corpses of mummified elves, with the wicked looking root piercing into their flesh. Set can see one wearing the same dress as the elvish woman they saved, and another body is wearing the same clothes as the male elf Selissa killed. Besides these two there is another wearing male fashioned clothes of noble construction and three children, all looking as though they were bound in black vines that bored into their bodies and sucked out all their bodily fluids. Even as Set is rattled like a dice in a cup, they stare through the vines in their eye sockets as though they will be trapped until the end of time. There is a cry from another stairwell at the far side of the room, and Set can once again hear Maus' pained cries from up above, followed by a curse in Kagiso's native language.

Spoiler: OOC

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The inside of the walking tree counts as difficult terrain. It will take another action of moving and dashing to make it to the top floor, so we'll describe that next round should Set choose to climb up again.

[Spore]

Doctor Ignacius Madaras, Medicus Extravagant! Gnome Artificer/Transmuter AC: 18 HP: 21/32 PP: 11 PIv: 17 PIs: 11 Conditions: Aid (8h; 5 mHP), Longstrider (1h) Concentration: Dragon's Breath (3rd level, 2/10 rounds) Rather than continuing fire, Ignacius approached his friendly neighborhood half-orc and doused him in a caustic liquid. Where it did touch the acid, it neutralized it with a protesting sizzle, where it touched the skin however, it became dry and cracked a bit. I trust in Madame Ulu to provide you some lotions for your skin care tonight. he ribs the crippled warrior of law. Spoiler Show Heal via Kit: (1d6+9)[10]

[Theophilus]

Mal Levistus Tiefling Bard 5 AC: 14 HP: 41/41 THP: 2/10 PP: 11 PIv: 13 PIs: 11 Spell Slots: 1st - 1/4 2nd - 1/3 3rd - 2/2 Fey Touched: 1st - 0/1 2nd - 1/1 Masquerade Tattoo: 1st - 1/1 Levistus Legacy: Armor of Agathys - 0/1 Darkness - 0/1 Bardic Inspiration: 0/4 Healer's Kit: 20/20 Mal Conditions: Armor of Agathys: 10 cold damage if struck in melee. Mal Concentrating: Darkness Esai Ancient Companion: Warrior Companion HP: 0/30 Companion AC: 16 Companion PP: 18 PIv: 12 PIs: 12 Spirit flees, Statue stays Maledictus' witnessed the powerful Ulu and mighty Vargath waivered under the assault of fetid bile. Set dove into the house moments later, a spark of shadow that soared into the gullet. The bard frowned slightly. Either the scion of Abydos sought death or saw the opportunity to free the others. We could use the reinforcements. Seeing the good doctor tend the burns on the others, Maledictus invoked in the tongue of dragons. The air around the tree compressed in a tense silence before erupting with sound that ripped at the fibers, vines, and turnipkin dangling from its exterior in a spherical pulse. As suddenly as the pulse occurred, it ended and the cries of the trapped and burned returned. Maledictus advanced toward the tree slowly. He circled away from Vargath and from Ulu. Spread out when fighting dragons and the like. These foes prefer to douse massed troops, but cannot war in all directions, Esai had once instructed. The bard held his rapier at the ready, seeking some advantage over this fell monstrosity that ground the statue under its girth.

Spoiler: OOC

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Armor of Agathys in effect: 2 THP to Mal. 10 cold damage to a foe if Mal is struck in melee.

Maintain Darkness.

Cast Shatter. DC 14 Con save versus (3d8)[10] thunder damage. Save for half. Centered on a point to injure the tree and its fruit cannon fodder.

Move toward the tree 30ft, angled away from the others to spread out its targets (should put him 60ft-ish away).

If a creature flees Mal's reach, Mal will react to make an OA.

Spoiler: Mal's Notes

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Spoiler: Cast and Crew

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Set: outcast exiled princeling of Abydos. Two princess sisters (Sisi and Sythpen Al-Sayyid). Romantic connection for Moira?
Selissa: Blighted or reconstructed wood elf? Purported Scout.
Vargath: Afflicted Lycanthrope seeking to suspend his curse. A Bloodwolf?
Mandaras: Rival to Dr. Fixer.
Dr. Fixer: Moira's lieutenant and cultivates relations with the locals of Vale.
Elder Maus: Seeks to kill Moira. Hired mercenaries who betrayed him.
--Healed to his full 9ft height.
--Disbelieves Moira's insights; seeks to end her directly or indirectly.
--Seeks us to verify the truths of Moira's claims--or stop her by any means necessary.
Maulei: Successor to Elder Maus as elder of Dam'ess.
Uluthando Mikoso "Ulu:" Paladin? of Order. From beyond the Vale. Reacts by gripping her dagger and declaring Tieflings are treated differently...Lawful (N/E?) Order? Calls Mal 'Mdala Ohlonishwayo.' Professes to serve no god, but spirits whose reach may be weaker in the Vale than elsewhere.

Spoiler: Dream of Leng

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Spoiler: In Full

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Mal has had this dream before. He finds himself in the legendary Library of Leng, an ancient home of virtually all worldly and mystical knowledge that burned when the city it was located in was razed nearly nine hundred years ago, half the world away. Still, in his dreams it still existed, and these dreams always played out the same. Hours of dutiful research, referencing and cross referencing sources from multiple tomes, carefully reconstructing ancient languages, until EUREKA! Some devastating and profound arcane truth became evident to him, and the sense of accomplisment and relief normally carried with him for several hours after waking up, even if he could never actually remember anything he learned. But this time is different. Mal is well versed enough in the arcane and divine arts to know that sometimes dreams carry real meaning. And as he stares down at what he has been working on, he instinctively knows this bears some significance. Where normally he would have arcane formulas and theorems, he sees only "The One Who Stalks Behind" scrawled over and over again in his own hand, though the words are manic and look like they were written in distress. He searches the paper for any further omen, and down at the bottom of the page, in the smallest script he could possibly manage, it says Behind you!. Just as he is about to turn, a claw as strong as iron grips the side of his head, snaps his neck to the side, and ends all feeling in the bard's body. But he can still hear the deep throated growls, along with the wet noises of whatever killed him beginning to eat him alive. But he never gets to see it before the dream ends.

The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. RIGHT BEHIND YOU! The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind. The One Who Stalks Behind.

Spoiler: Bence's Secrets

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Spoiler: Bence's Journal

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...is a backwards plane, so far removed from the Prime Material that it has not seen an angel or the work of a god in a millennia. I hear that far to the west they do not even worship the gods. Proper savages, but I must remain vigilant, as their knowledge of the ways of this world is far more educated than most. But it is ripe for my conquest. While my Master was tasked with corrupting Avendor, my home plane, a bastion of good and law, my chore is simply to tip the rat into the bucket of the Abyss as it prowls the rim looking for cheese. This plane is already so flooded with the energies of the Abyss that demons spontaneously emerge, monsters manifest in the dark, and their weak leaders bargain with forces they would be wiser to repulse. It will be child's play to nudge it the last few inches into anarchy and destruction, mostly due to the efforts of Pale Night herself. For thousands of years she has been grasping and clawing at this realm, dragging it further from the light and closer to her realm day by day, inch by inch, soul by soul. While my home plane was beyond my ability to destroy, this place will be my masterpiece. With my death at the hands of the forces of good, a symphony of destruction will play the anthem to my ascension to demonhood. The Pale Mother has promised me that each death will bring me closer to my true form, and each rebirth will increase my power, just as our pact promised. I can't wait to die. When will the heroes arrive? I've been planting and tending the seed of the idea in the old giant's mind for weeks now. When will it bear fruit? When can my dark rise to power begin? (The rest is a combination of burned and Abyssal that becomes impossible to read)

Dam'ess- Mass Quasit Summoning. Magic Mouth to Levy Commands re: Retrieve Mirror of Leng, Scepter of Rulership, And Aniot's Cube. Disperse to Appropriate Parties Per The Plan. Burn The Cabin.

Harumburg- Sending to Lord of Bone re: Portal to the 113th. (Indecipherable Due to Burns) In Accordance with Their Great Alliance.

Falluneer- Sending to Lord of Flesh re: (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Ebon Spear.

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)light: Sending to Lord of Blood re: Assassination of (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Yukkot, Recovery of Blood (More Burns).

(Indecipherable Due to Burns)odge- Sending to Cult of Pale (More Burns) re: Initiate Divining Ritual Sacrifices. FIND THE DAMN ZIGGURAT.

Garrunrow- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) Kill the Last Bloodwolf. Recover (More Burns) Key.

Mountain of Smoke- (Indecipherable Due to Burns) crypt. Seize the Ebon (More Burns).

Sussoon- Ensure the Prophecy (Indecipherable Due to Burns)... Pay the Bounty Hunters to Find the Abydossian and the Princesses. re: Sacrifices of The Old Blood

(There is more, but seemingly out of paranoia Bence switched to Abyssal. It is impossible to tell how many lines there are, as the last half of the paper is fully burned away)

Spoiler: Arcane Lore concerning Bence's Notes

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The magic of Contingency is a nearly mythical bit of spell work that was said to be lost when the Library of Leng burned down. It allows a caster to prepare spells in advance for a predetermined event, in this case John Bence's own death, and the spells will automatically cast when the event happens. If Bence is capable of such sorcery, he is likely far more powerful than his flashy death at the party's hands would indicate.

The Mirror of Leng is a artifact of the Library of Leng, said to contain a frozen moment of time where the library was at it's height that a person can temporarily step in to, giving access to the greatest magical library this world has ever seen. Supposedly several mirrors were made, though some are confirmed destroyed after their use led to come calamity of forbidden magics long lost to time. The Scepter of Rulership is said to be an even more powerful version of a Rod of Rulership, a magic item that allows for mass mind manipulation of people to believe that the holder of the Scepter is their rightful ruler. The last time the Scepter was confirmed in play it toppled an entire nation.

Though numbering and organizing the layers of the Abyss is a fool's errand, there are some realms that are constant enough to designate. The one hundred and thirteenth layer is Thanatos, layer of Orcus, the Lord of Death. It is a lifeless frozen landscape where life is snuffed out almost as soon as it arrives, either by the untold legions of undead denizens, the magical aura of the layer itself, or, in the worst cases, by Orcus himself, using his fearsome Wand.

Spoiler: John Bence's Wall Art

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There are no invisible objects in the room, but the entire back wall of the cabin is plastered with profane runes and abyssal scribblings. Where there was nothing to the naked eye, there is an extensive patchwork of spell work, seemingly scribed in the rusted red of blood. More disturbing is the fragments of souls that have been bound to the wall. Faces of people rise and seethe from the wood like a strange and rippling tide, mouths open in anguish. There are not many of them left, presumably due to whatever spell was used here absorbing so much energy, but there is a fine layer of ectoplasm that would indicate that once there were dozens of soul fragments powering this spell. The sight turns Mal's stomach, as the chaotic, destructive magic of the Abyss is written as plainly as news script, but as subtly as any devil could manage.

Spoiler: Monsters

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Barlgura: Demon loosed by summoning ritual on the road to Dam'ess. Slain with its summoned partner by team. (Bless helped with accuracy issues due to invisibility. In the future, layer mind sliver to aid with saves.)
Brazen Hart: Spirit of the wild wood around Dam'ess. Seeks to test the party's mettle by forcing an open fight with the Barlgura.
Horror of Yurl: Shapeshifting kind of monster. Severs limbs, creates euphoria, and slays by consuming the liver. The newest variant flies...

Spoiler: Instrument of the Bards

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Mal needs a translator, the spells, and woodcrafter to create a new relic.

Spoiler: Full Description

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Still, tucked among the primers and amateur books he finds a book that deals with the blending of magic and music. Specifically, it holds the instructions and rituals for a new version of the famed artifacts known as the instruments of the bards. Unfortunately, about a third of the book is in a language Mal does not understand or recognize, including most of the rites and rituals to imbue it with magic. Still, with a translator, appropriate magics, some study, and someone skilled in wood craft, he may be able to produce one of these relics for himself.

Report daily updates to Mistress Moira at last light.

[Awful]

Selissa Betula Wood Elf Scout Rogue AC: 16 HP: --/38 -> 30/43 PP: 16 Conditions: Aid Concentrating: -- Selissa was too angry at the desecration of this ancient work to be more than disgusted at the acid the thing was vomiting out. Her eyes widened as Set dived into the mouth-door of the abomination. Was he dead? He was a damned fool for doing so, no doubt, but had it chewed him up? She couldn't yet tell, so again to focused on what she could: she aimed and fired at the nearest turnip monster still standing before melting back into the foliage. Spoiler: OOC Show Hits for 16 damage Hides with at least 21, average of 30, i forgot to roll Stealth.