DND Blog

A place to keep DND session recaps, from various campaigns.

The Hundred and Seventh Session

September 14, 2024, Campaign: As the ground quakes, evil wakes

We find the Platinum Scale of Bahamut.

Table of Contents

  1. Last session
  2. What now?
  3. In the Downscales
  4. Inside the Fifth House
  5. The Bronze and the hunt for the Shield: Shield Found
  6. That night: Sergith's Return
  7. Breaking and Entering
    1. The First Sigil
    2. The Second Sigil
    3. The Third Sigil
    4. Ryltar's travails
    5. The Fourth Sigil
  8. Inside the Third House Vault
  9. Next Session

Last session

Over the last few sessions: Vurguron has returned to his home to discover his House has been usurped by Sergith. His parents have been exiled; he was asked to give up the Scale of Bahamut. He did that, and returned the Orb of Dragonkind, and won an ally from the Orb's house. We have gained the loyalty of the Fifteenth, Seventh, Fifth, and other houses.

The town's guards are trying to arrest the rest of the Party, though Vurguron is immune from arrest.

Vurguron has challenged Sergith in the Prima Dominous for control of the Third House. And now he exits the Open Session to the crowds parting around him.

2 days to the Prima Dominous: noon on the Solstice.

What now?

Ryltar says:

  1. Save Vurguron's family
  2. Find the shield
  3. Find the items in the Thieves' Guild ledger.

We know that the Scale and Orb were both shipped out by the same alias, Bercea.

An elite guard of the First House trails Vurguron, 10 feet back. We notice; Vurguron notices. All the First House members wear a white cloth covering their entire body. Their hands and faces are covered in armor, gauntlets and a mask. The guard carries a spear.

Vurguron walks towards where his parents are probably staying. He ducks into an alley and tries to be stealthy; with a 15 he is in a back alley under a bridge, heading towards an river, and the guard is still following, but respectfully and quietly. Percival and Vurguron land; Jerry thumps down from under the bridge. We acknowledge the guard's presence. Jerry asks if the guard wants to be included in Pass Without Trace or other spells. Vurguron knows that the guards have a code of secrecy, where actions done in front of the guards will only be shared with the First House.

Vurguron catches everyone up.

Ryltar offers to take Ryltar's parents to a place of safety; Jerry offers Lanthet.

From morbid curiosity, Ryltar casts Detect Magic and looks at the guard. Nothing.

We decide to hold off on Jerry's Locate Creature until we're close to where Vurguron's parents are staying.

Ryltar and Percival take the form of birds.

Jerry rolls under a cart and clings on as it drives out of the city. She succeeds in stealthing it out until it comes time to get off of the cart, at which point she minorly scares the next horse in the wagon train. But with a 20 Animal Handling, she slinks off without any real notice.

Vurguron and the First Knight walk up to the gate, and the gate guards try to stop him, until the First Knight steps up. The other guards slink back, and Vurguron walks to the Downscales.

In the Downscales

Nothing is amiss in this area; nothing is amiss coming up to the door of Vurguron's parents' accommodations. Vurguron had told them to lay low; he hasn't given them a codeword to identify himself.

But no one is home. The room hasn't been tossed; it's basically normal. Nothing in the area.

Jerry casts Locate Creature; the ping is off towards the river docks. So we go off thataways.

We follow the directions of Locate Creature.

The ping comes from a cargo barge. With a 25 Jerry stealthily moves around and notices that it's coming from the ship's crew's quarters.

The birds see that the cargo is mostly stamped with Third House logos. There aren't any guards, but there's laborers loading crates.

Bird!Ryltar pops down into an alley and untransforms; he casts Message to ask Vurguron's dad "Are you okay in there? Are you safe?" Reply: "We are safe." It's Vurguron's father and he seems fine. High insight roll says that they are trying to remain hidden.

Ryltar offers them safe passage to Lanthet; Vurguron's parents agree but want to stay and see to to honor of his house, to see the family rise. If he is successful, they want to return.

We're okay leaving them on the boat for now.

Ryltar asks where the Platinum Scale would be; the parents say in the family vault probably. We discuss whether we want to do that.

As we're discussing, a representative of the Third House comes down to discus something with the captain of the ship. We keep an eye on it; the representative walks away and the captain boards the ship. He gives some orders; he goes into his quarters. Ryltar checks in; the parents say "Do not draw attention."

The barge takes an hour to begin pushing away.

We contemplate the Thieves' ledger. Whoever shipped the Shield to the The Thieves also gave them wyvern poison; maybe it's either the Beastmasters or the Guards. We find also the name of the ship used: The Sailing Wings. This ship is not currently in the harbor.

We discuss whether to get the Second House or Fifth House to cast Locate Object for us. We settle on the Fifth House.

We decide that getting into the city is a matter for Dimension Door. Percival, Ryltar, and Jerry come in that way; Vurguron and First Knight walk in.

Percival casts Enhance Ability, so that we can move stealthily once inside the City. Percival and Jerry move stealthily; Ryltar does not. "Stop!" shout a guard. Jerry casts Pass Without Trace, and Ryltar casts Dimension Door to move him and Jerry into the High Spires. Percival follows with the same spell, but doesn't make it to the High Spires. Percival hears an alert from the wyvern-riders as they begin to fan out in an active search. He Dimension Doors a second time, to get into the High Spires.

We continue towards the Fifth House. The House has its normal Fifth House guards, but it also has a contingent of Third House guards around it.

Vurguron picks up another normal guard, following the First House guard. He can't meet up with us.

Jerry, Percival, and Ryltar sneak in the back door with Stealth scores in the 30s. Vurguron walks in the front door with his First House guard; the Twentieth House guard tail decides to stay outside.

Inside the Fifth House

The Toastmaster greets us with open arm, and says he believes Vurguron that he once had the shield, but the rest of it doesn't make sense. The Toastmaster is muddled by the mess of lies.

Vurguron asks for someone to help us locate the object magically. The Toastmaster says that he's upset that the Third House guards are hassling his guests.

The Toastmaster wonders about timing. If Vurguron shows up with the Shield, in his glory, then it's a spectacle, but it's vain. If he then slides the shield over to Sergith, then it calls Sergith's bluff: he cares more about political power than tradition.

The Toastmaster likes this idea, but it does depend on where the shield actually is. He's reluctant. The Open Session was so very draining, and they frown on open bottles.

Ryltar offers him some fine wine, and Jerry mentions her family's vineyard. They spend a couple of very expensive Teleports and a couple of kisses to take a barrel (274 lbs) and some bottles of wine from Jerry's familial warehouse, and the Toastmaster is impressed. He calls for his daughter, and she summons a bronze Dragonborn.

Jerry, Percival, and Vurguron get disguised as Fifth House servants, with writs of passage, and are sent with the Bronze to snoop out the Third House.

The Bronze and the hunt for the Shield: Shield Found

"I found something", she says. The shield is in the house.

We spend some time discussing whether to break in; whether to bring the First House guard with us.

That night: Sergith's Return

A carriage arrives with Sergith returning. He enters the house, accompanied by a First Knight.

We get a full night's rest.

The shipment of the shield was paid for in gold, about 20,000 gold for the smuggling and delivery.

Breaking and Entering

Sergith leaves in the morning, with a folder of papers and some aides, and his First Knight. Percival sees that none of them had extradimensional spaces with them

We try to Dimension Door in, and it doesn't happen. Hm.

So we decide to suggest our way into the house. Vurguron walks up, with a Greater Invisibility Percival, who is going to cast Mass Suggestion.

He doesn't get to the door. The guards ask what he's doing. He says he's here to pray; Percival casts Mass Suggestion that the guards take the day off. "Sounds good," they say, and fuck off.

We go through the front door. There are 7 servants; they're suspicious. Another Mass Suggestion to take the day off.

Below the salt cellar, below the stores, below the wine cellar, there's a stair down to a landing, with a door. Ryltar looks at the door with Detect Magic and sees an abjuration ward bulging past the door.

Vurguron knows that the first door opens into an area with one effect, then there is another door with another effect, then it is the vault. Within Vurguron's time, there were no guards posted within.

Jerry casts Pass Without Trace; Percival casts Silence on the hall upstairs.

Vurguron enters the ward; nothing happens.

The door is locked. With a 22 and a crowbar he opens the door.

There are two guards inside.

  1. Round 1
    1. Percival Polymorphs the left guard into a turtle.
    2. Vurguron Dash and grapples the guard. The right guard is standing just in front of a fog cloud. He grapples the guy.
    3. Jerry walks into the room, pulls out 10 feet of chain, and ties up the left guard.

The room is under a Silence, apparently. The guards are incapacitated.

The fog is magical, abjuration.

Using See Invisibility, Ryltar checks out the room. Nothing to see.

Jerry's shovel-and-rope probe reveals there's about 10 feet left in the room.

The First Knight is just chilling.

Percival drops Silence, cast Wind Wall and tries to move the fog. No dice.

Jerry sticks her head in; no poison, just blindness.

Jerry and Vurguron, with crowbars, blind, against a DC 40 door, pop it open with a 46.

Jerry waves the shovel around. Nothing happens. Sticks her hand through the door. Nothing happens. Sticks her head through the door with a reaction to pull herself back.

She sees a hallway into a vault door.

We all go through. There's a significant magical effect on the floor, from four sigils in a line, forming abjuration spells on the floor.

The First Sigil

Before Jerry gets to the next wall, she passes over the first sigil, and becomes incapacitated with pain. Her body drops to the floor. Everyone in the hallway becomes incapacitated with pain, including the two guards, and First Knight.

A minute passes, and that effect ends.

Ryltar grabs the turtled guard and points at the wards. Vurguron doesn't agree.

The Second Sigil

Ryltar marks the edge of the next glyph with chalk; everyone retreats to the stairs while Jerry pours a vial of acid on the floor next to the glyph and she is unable to blow it in. Second vial, no effect.

So we discuss the effects.

Ryltar decides to trip the next one.

Everyone except the First Knight becomes Stunned.

For a minute.

The Third Sigil

Ryltar says, "Everyone out of the cellar," and runs the third glyph. With a 6 Int he becomes insane. He gibbers madly and stumbles.

After one minute, Jerry goes back down to check.

Ryltar's travails

Needs to make 10 rolls d4, not towards the glyph. Running, he ends up at the base of the ladder, bouncing off the walls. With two rolls left, he runs towards the glyph, up to it, then against the wall, then against the opposite wall.

He is no longer insane.

Jerry comes down and offers him a healing potion.

The Fourth Sigil

Everyone is above the wine cellar.

Jerry takes 48 necrotic.

But she's still alive.

Everyone comes back down, and Ryltar doesn't see any more wards with Detect Magic.

Door is magical.

Vurguron touches the door and … it opens.

Jerry gestures at the First Knight: Do you see this?

Vurguron pulls the door open.

Inside the Third House Vault

The vault is full of gold, platinum, shelves of ritual items, reliquaries, the entire history of Draconic history, of the religion. Stuff that doesn't just belong to Vurguron's house. A hoard that rivals Kerjes' hoard. There's more rooms behind that.

We can hear in there; everyone agrees that we can't touch anything, but Ryltar follows up by saying that everything has a ward on it.

We spread out, and Percival with a 25 matches the DC to find the shield, which is placed behind a reliquary, with the inside of the scale facing out, placed as if it were decoration.

It has a thin Alarm spell on it, so we can't pull it out.

Ryltar burns a seventh-level Teleport to move the shield to the ground in front of Vurguron.The Alarm is still intact.

We Pass Without Trace on our way out, closing the doors. Vurguron scores lowest with 16 but no one can arrest him anyways; we leave out the back door.

We find a place for the Magnificent Mansion and chill there for the rest of the day.

Next Session

Fight time.