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The Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Session

October 25, 2025, Campaign: As the ground quakes, evil wakes

We fight Belladonna. We don't win. And around us, everything gets worse.

Table of Contents

  1. Last session
  2. Lake Renewal
  3. Against Shadowsworn Belladonna.
  4. Next steps:
  5. Quadroads
  6. Just before that
  7. What day is it?
  8. What do we do tomorrow?
  9. Next steps

Last session

We went to the bottom of the lake, seeking information about Belladonna, and found some Fey. There, we learned about her past, and that the 6 stars, the Fey Seeds, are in fact gifts from the Fey Wilds. We helped a Fey Realm, trapped here by Belladonna, return to the Fey Wilds. We come back, and land at Lake Renewal.

Lake Renewal

The tree that replaced the pyramid. The Hallow spell is fading. Belladonna stands in the middle of the

Belladonna says: "Attachment. Why do we hold these things? To lend ourselves to another? So that we can break and burn along with them?"

Salris is pale.

"I suspect this is by your hand. Something of my attachment. Curious," she says, and leans back her head, back and back. The shadows writhe around her. "There was once a time, with my other selves, that you would have joined us in what we are aimed to do. We evne sent one of our trused devotees to collect you. laughs. I was not as optimistic as the others. Nor am I Forgiving."

Embersia doesn't remember anything that happened during the lake. She's lost that entire block of memory. Perils of visiting the Feywild.

Against Shadowsworn Belladonna.

  1. Round 1
    1. Percival opens with Polymorph and the spell doesn't take hold.
    2. Belladonna replies with two shadowbolts to blind Percival and Salris, but misses Salris.
    3. Jerry sets herself on fire with Ashardalon's Stride at 5th level, dealing 3d6 fire damage, and sets Belladonna on fire. Tries to punch her, and fails.
    4. Ryltar summons his dog.
    5. Embersia attacks with the Sacred Flame cantrip, and casts Shield of Faith on Jerry for +2.
    6. The dog bites Belladonna, and connects. 6 damage, but resists the dog's grapple.
    7. Belladonna uses two legendary actions to cast Void Nova: 23 necrotic damage. Jerry no-sells this with her Boon of the Divine.
    8. Belladonna attacks Jerry with her black obsidian blade, connecting. Jerry takes 15 slashing, 13 necrotic. Then Belladonna casts Reave Soul. On her Con save, Jerry rolls a natural 1. The blade tries to take something from Jerry, and succeeds. It pulls something from her, 46 necrotic. Then Belladonna Disengages and runs away.
    9. Salris does some Hexblade stuff to Belladonna and lands double-digit damage.
    10. Belladonna casts Shadowbind, and everyone makes strength saves against their shadows grappling them.
  2. Round 2
    1. Percival, blinded, inspires Jerry.
    2. Jerry attacks Belladonna.
    3. Belladonna attacks with Void Thingy and Percival Cutting Words that.
    4. The dog bites Belladonna, for 7 damage.
    5. Ryltar casts Psychic Lance, for 17. He Shadow Steps and escapes his grappling shadow.
    6. Embersia casts Fortify to give Jerry 120 temporary HP.
    7. Belladonna stabs Salris with the Reave Soul, drawing out some red matter as well as soul.
    8. Belladonna tries to escape with Disengage but Salris' Sentinel prevents that from happening. His sword attack deals a little damage.
    9. Belladonna's turn now. She makes two attacks, misses, and then Misty Steps out of the way. Void Nova for 30.
  3. Round 3
    1. Percival does Protection from Good and Evil on Embersia. A strange look comes across his face: he's received a Message.
    2. Jerry Hunter's Mark again and stabulates for 33, moving to the near side of the boss.
    3. Belladonna does Cloak and Dagger stuff. She tries to blind Jerry, and fails against Bardic Inspiration bringing Jerry's 12 Dex save to 24. Some stabbing happens to Salris.
    4. Ryltar does some blinding damage.
    5. Embersia heals up Salris.
    6. Belladonna collapses into her own shadow — >40 Stealth — and attacks Percival for a lot, then Reaves Soul. His reaction catches the blade in his bracer, and the bracer's green energy sinks into that blade. The Armor of the Ancients shatters. "Hello, sister," says Belladonnna, with a green glow in her eyes and on her blade. "Reunited at last."
    7. Salris pumps a bunch of modifiers, then 62 damage on the first hit,
    8. Belladonna does Void Nova for 26. 17+64+4 — she's healing every time she does this.
  4. ROund 3
    1. Percival responds to the Message he received.
    2. Jerry doesn't. She flanks Belladonna and stabs some more.
    3. Ryltar doesn't. He attacks with Mental Prison. It's not very effective.
    4. Embersia casts Holy Aura giving us all a bunch of resistances on attacks and saves.
    5. Belladonna uses Reave Soul on Salris, whose natural 20 only allows him 27 damage.
    6. Belladonna attacks Embersia, with disadvantage, and deals reduced damage.
    7. Salris says, "Bugfood."
    8. Another Void Nova, for 33. The dog dies. 4. Round 4.
    9. Jerry attacks for 38.
    10. The Dog reappears and does some damage.
    11. Ryltar does some damage with Psychic Lance.
    12. Embersia heals herself, Jerry, and Percival.
    13. Belladonna drops into shadow; Jerry reacts but is Parried. From shadow, Belladonna stabs him, and then Reaves Soul. Salris is stabbed through the hand, and the Burning Blood bead shatters. 34 HP disappears, and Salris goes down. Belladonna seethes with red light. "So close."
    14. Salris is down.
    15. Belladonna does Cloak and Dagger again, blinding Jerry and failing; stabbing Sarlis for two death saves.
    16. A combination of voices hits all our heads, the Ascendants: "Knights of the Summer Court! The Quadroads is under attack. Protect our city and its people from this uprising!"
    17. Percival Holds Monster but she's immune to Paralyzed.
    18. Void Nova for 30 necrotic.
  5. Round
    1. Jerry attacks with the Moon Scythe for 19, then pulls out the Unlucky Pillow and misses.
    2. The dog steps onto Salris' corpse to bite, and misses.
    3. Ryltar casts Psychic Lance for 37 and succeeds.
    4. Embersia uses her Stormrider Boots to move up to Belladonna, who doesn't get hit by the lightning. Then Fireball for 5.
    5. Belladonna. "Well. I bid you adieu." She Disengages and merges into the shadows of the ground.
    1. Percival does Revivify on Salris.
    2. Jerry tries to track Belladonna but doesn't work. Healing potion fo r8.
    3. Ryltar distantly casts Psychic Lance in reaction to her departure, for 27. The bolt of magic fires off to the east. A long ways.

Not a fiend, undead, monstrosity, aberration, plant.

Embersia casts Revivify, calling on Bahamut to bring Salris back. The light of the spell fights against the darkness of the Void Nova and pushes it out of him, and Salris breathes again. But he's still unconscious.

"You coming with me to check that psychic lance landed?" asks Ryltar. We, and Salris, say yes.

Next steps:

  1. Check out where that spell went.
  2. Maybe go to Quadroads.

In the moment before the fight, it was almost like Belladonna was in a state of reverence. Where someone was casting magic to send a Message was having the same posture. She has Delayed Mass Sending.

But Hunter's Mark has died, so she did die. The dagger is missing. It's not showing up with magical signt.

We message the head deans of Sky Diamond, and they don't respond.

We spend a little time digging around.

We decide to go to Quadroads, because if these messages are true, then we will know that it's true. And if it's not true, then we will have resources to check on the other locations.

Quadroads

Into the basement of the Temple of Ioun.

It's dim light; we walk up the stairs, which are covered in loose pages. Books flung about, smouldering. Ryltar rushes up the stairs.

Distant screaming from the outside. Scorchmarks in the temple, on the floors and walls. Acolytes are fighting fires. Ryltar grabs one. "Are enemies in the building?"

"Not yet!" A stained-glass window above shatters.

"Where is anybody of importance?"

"We don't know."

Jerry Locate Creatures Moon, and we rush to her, in the hallway of classrooms on the second floor. Ryltar enters. She stabs him for 6 as a reaction; he hugs her and says ow. We ask where anyone is; she pantomimes that she hasn't her notebook. We give her them.

The Ascendants were called. The doors and windows were barred.

"Same as before. Worse." writes Moon. People being attacked all over the countryside.

So Ryltar promises to do what we always do. And she writes "Hope." on the paper and hands it back to him. "We will make it safe here again," he says. She pulls the dagger out of him.

We leave Salris with Moon and the Younglings.

The main door is barred; from outside come protective magics.

We look out the windows and see chaos. Screams, yells, fighting in the streets. it is just morning.

There's a mob. Ryltar turns one into a icicle. Jerry pops Web. Ryltar tries to intimidate and fails; Jerry asks politely while leaning on her scythe why. "Belladonna. Belladonna." So Percival does Fireball.

Ryltar is out of move until the next attack.

Just before that

Embersia got a message: "Rally the Knights, by order of Vurguron. South Haven is under siege."

What day is it?

Two days until we need to get to Setton.

What do we do tomorrow?

So: Lanthet to evacuate Jerry's family, then to Sky Diamond to unlock the Deans, then West Haven. Setton, South Haven, Maymoor, …

Next steps