DND Blog

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

The Hundred-And-Eighteenth Session

March 1, 2025, Campaign: As the ground quakes, evil wakes

Jerry gains new tools; Jarasoom steals from Jerry to benefit Embersia. We find the journal of Orrel, describing where the last battle against Belladonna. The Drow appear at the Library.

Table of Contents

  1. Last session
  2. Ryltar
  3. Embersia
  4. Jerry
  5. Embersia
  6. Ryltar
  7. Percival
  8. For Belladonna's Death
  9. Belladonna's Death
  10. Next Session

Last session

We slept, and ate.

Jerry went looking for lost knowledge and had to be saved by Rajahtesh. Ryltar teleported into the head of a god and turned down the initiation rites of Ioun. Percival squared up with a brass dragon.

Jerry and Percival take short rests.

Ryltar

He goes to the History shelves and asks for "Dirius".

There are many books matching his query. Dirius was someone of academic renown, with many reports written by and about her. Oldest three books are:

  1. Dirius' research paper about the power that remains when someone has passed on. Once the soul has left, what happens to magic?
  2. Dirius' research notes.

Embersia

She goes to the History section to ask for "Items of Power". The entire floor lights up. Jarasoom, walking past, sees this and laughs. "There are many items of history which are of so much interest. Why do you search for such trivial things?"

"Well, Vurguron sent me on an expedition to search for items, but he wasn't very specific on what he wa slooking for. I expect he would be looking for one which wold benefit the items of South Haven the most."

Jarasoom looks around and sees that only they and Rajahtesh are in the atrium. He guides Emberssia into the shelves. "I may have something that could aid you in your travels, bit your compatriots may not seem to understand. The burden that is placed on youur shoulders is …."

Embersia follows.

Rajahtesh produces an object about TKTK big, and says, "I've always enjoyed the advancement of the draconic lines." He places the object in her hands. It's small and smooth within the cloth wrapping. "This will help you restory yor house, even south haven perhaps, even thogh it may not seem that way to others."

It's slightly oblong.

Embersia takes it, tempted by the Shiny Thing, and unwraps it. It's a shiny pendant, oblong, like a stone cat with jade eyes, with runic carvings. It clearly holds some sort of power within it.

Jarasoom warns: "The others may not see your point of view."

She takes it anyways, and goes to ask Ryltar and Percival what it might be. She wraps it back up.

Jerry

She wakes up, back in the bedroom, and rolls 12 Perception. But something feels off. She goes out into the lobby, and looks for Rajahtesh. He's up on his perch, and he immediately notices her. She waves, and calls up, "Something's weird. Would you like to discuss it over some tea?"

He makes his way down. The tea tray shows up. She pours for Rajahtesh, because that was the polite thing to do, and asks, "What exactly happened when I went down that hallway?"

"You were tempted. You delved into knowledge that is dangerous to those who cannot understand."

"But if it's dangerous like that, how does one get to the point where one can understand." He stares at her.

"Do you know who could?"

"If you have to ask, then you shall never understand. If you understand, you need never ask."

"How would you deal with a creature which seeks ot topple the gods?"

It's beyond Rajahtesh's scope. "Whatever trifles you must endure, that is for you to bear." His charge is the Library.

"How would you defend the library against something which is as strong as the Gods?"

"The same asI will defend this. Fully and completely, without hesitation."

"What if your full and complete defense is not enough?"

"Then I shall die doing what I was tasked."

"And this is a bit of a tangent, but: who tasked you?"

Rajahtesh looks up, to the three figures that hold the ceiling of this central sanctum. Jerry hmms, then asks, "Have you heard from them, recently?"

"The words created me, and that is all I had to hear."

17 Nature reveals that Sphinxes are created directly by Gods to protect knowledge and holy sites. Once given a task, they will do it until their end. In a way, they're like the Guardian of Faith spell: tied to one location, not leaving it.

"Do you know of others of your type?"

"I know there are others."

"If I wanted to look for your borhters and sisters, should I look for them in the history section, or the religion section of this library?"

"My purpose is not to guide your searching, bt to protect it. And what you hav edone in these halls, to delve deep enought to rouse those who would attack it."

"Those creatures aren't just in the deep taboo topics; they're moving fowards.

"Shold you encounter those corrupted by ill intent, dispatch them. And I shall do the same."

"What is the best way to dispatch them?"

Rajahtesh looks at her Moon Scythe, and at her shadow, which shows a sword stuck through her body.

"I fight to keep this sanctum safe, until my last breath. What could we say about you?" Jerry starts thinking, hard. "Come," says Rajahtesh, standing. He leads her to the terrarium, and he enters. There's a meadow with a small pond within, a fountain casting water over rocks. A tranquil site. Jerry sees no gargoyles or statues, so she relaxes a little.

The sphinx goes over to the water's edge and sits down.

Jerry does the same.

She tosses a copper piece to Rajahtesh and says, "Penny for your thoughts?"

"Why?"

"Because I'm curious what your mindsed it like—"

"Endure, protect."

"…. You are just one sphinx. This library has many edges; how do you defend when you are just one sphinx?"

"I am not its only protector."

They had a discussion of why people do stuff; Rajahtesh asks why she doesn't defend the Library. "Because the Library is part of the world, and I wish to defend the whole world."

"Why do you not lead it?"

"The deans of Sky Diamond Academy, mostly. We're just a sort of itinerant task-solving team, really. We find stuff out."

"My place is here. What place do you find yourself? Where do you wish to be?"

Because she wants to be at home with her wife and daughters, but she cannot be home and happy if they are not safe, and they are not safe until Belladonna is defeated.

Rajahtesh sits up. "Will you wield that blade the same as you will wield the knowledge to defeat this scourge?"

"I will wield it to the best of my ability, and if I cannot wield it, i will pass it on to one who can."

"Do you doubt your strength?"

She stands up, and compares her height to his shoulder, where her height comes up to his shoulder, and she wraps her arms around his forepaw, and lifts: 28 Athletics. There is great resistance, but she does lift it, just a little.

He looks at her. She says, "if you weighted twice as much, I would not be able to lift, and I have fought things bigger than you. I know my strength is not enough. — and yet I fight anyways."

Rajahtesh grins widely, and stands, and says, "You may find strength at the bottom of the pool," and walks away.

Jerry looks, and sees nothing, so she wades in and is swiftly deep enough to be treading water. Ashardalon's Stride for extra move, then she swims down. Total 20 Athletics: she swims down, though the water resists it. She swims to the bottom, to where there's mud and very dim light. 17 Perception: there's one portion that looks like rock. It's a stone 3' round, without markings. 23 Medicine: it looks like an oversized heart made out of stone, slightly deformed, and where the veins run in, there's valves. She pushes on the heart, and it thrums, slowly. A pulse. She can't lift it; it's embedded in the bottom of this pond. It feels like it pulses under her touch. She stays there for a little bit, as it thrums. She tries to figure out where to go from here.

Rajahtesh's voice echoes: "You'll find strength down there."

2+10=12 Strength: something gives? No, she's sinking into the mud. There's a cracking sound. Strength 20 she grabs it and with her last breath casts Water Walk is pulled to the surface at 60fps; the rock breaks and she rockets to the surface.

As she comes to the surface, rocks fall from her arms and when she gets to the surface, she's 10' from the edge, walking on water, and so she walks to the edge and sits. In her arms, there are two stone gauntlets, covered in intricate runes on the wrists and knuckles, which are really heavy gauntlets.

Jerry takes a moment to put the gloves on, and attune to them.

Titan Stone Knuckles: Carved from the heartstone of a Stone Primordial. Your attacks deal double damage to objects and structures. Your strength score is now 22.

Embersia

She goes looking for more information about the cat pendant; it turns out to be a Stone of Luck, indeed from Jerry's own bag.

She goes looking for more.

Ryltar

Looks up the Thieves' Guild chest. He finds a book which describes the person who first found it, but delves deeper, and starts to hear chittering. He can see excellently well in the dark, but he doesn't see anything, and so he leaves.

Then he goes looking for records of chests which can be opened with keys of specific fonts. He goes quite deep, and eventually finds the chittering, and something chanting in Undercommon: "Where is it where is it where is it"

He gets closer, 21 Stealth, and finds a Nothic and two others. He Shadow Steps beyond them, and continues down the hallway. But the books thin, and it is too far away, so he turns back, to maybe come back with assistance.

He comes back to the hub.

Percival

Is experimenting with the teas.

For Belladonna's Death

In history, we look for her imprisonment, and find nothing.

So we decide to take a long rest, and then delve more deeply. We ask Jarasoom and Rajahtesh if they want to come with; Jarasoom is working on other research and Rajahtesh's duties keep him here.

With Pass Without Trace, we advance. We see 4 Nothics.

  1. Round 1
    1. Ryltar casts Sunburst in the middle of the Nothics, Three die; one survives.
    2. The Nothic hits Jerry with an eye goop attack for 20 necrotic.
    3. Percival hits the Nothic with Vicious Mockery for 12, killing it.

So we keep going. We cast a new Pass without Trace, and continue onwards.

We see some Allips hovering at the top of the corridor. We sneak closer. They're babbling.

  1. Sneak attack!
    1. Embersia casts Turn Undead and affects all but one.
    2. We start damaging that one, with a Guiding Bolt and Ray of Frost and Hunter's Mark and stabbing.
    3. The other Allips flee away from us, towards the light we seek, at 80 fee per round.
    4. Percival tries Tasha's Hideous Laughter and fails.
  2. Round 2
    1. We start picking off the closest fleeing Allip.
    2. Jerry kills it, then attacks the next one.
    3. The Allip yells, stunning Percival and Jerry with psychic damage.
    4. We do some more damaging.
  3. Round 3
    1. Ryltar attacks some.
    2. Jerry is stunned.
    3. The Allip moves away.
    4. Percival is stunned.
    5. Embersia is 80 feet away from the Allip; she moves up and casts Guiding Bolt for 20 radiant.
  4. Round 4.
    1. Ryltar backs away from the Allip
    2. Jerry kills the Allip with a Lightning Arrow.

We re-cast Pass Without Trace and continue advancing stealthily. At the 40 minute mark, we're still walking, and the light is still in front of us. The density of books is severely diminished. The air is stale.

At the 50-minute mark, we find the book. Ryltar grabs it: it is the one book. There are no more.

We turn around, and are back

Belladonna's Death

It is Orelle's journal. It is readable to all of us; it's in Common.

Lake Renewal, next to Bearhold, is where that happened.

As we say that, a voice comes across the Library: "I've killed my brother to get into the Academy." Light swirls around behind us, and in the doorway, one of the Quadroads students steps forth.

Next Session

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