DND Blog

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

The Hundred and Thirty-Seventh Session

March 28, 2026, Campaign: As the ground quakes, evil wakes

We start the auction, and reach the intermission. We slaughter a bunch of people. Then we get stuck in a puzzle for an hour, trying to find the painting of A.R.N.

Table of Contents

  1. Last session
  2. Planning
  3. Wandering around town
  4. Inside the hotel
  5. The Auctions
    1. Item One
    2. Item Two
    3. Item Three
    4. Item Four
    5. Intermission
  6. Going big
    1. The next room: C3
  7. Next session

Last session

After receiving a Quest from A.R.N. to destroy an artifact of his youth — a self-portrait which magically contains a copy of his self from when he painted it — we prepare ourselves by heading to West Haven and making amends with the Magister Andraste Netyoine, who had been upset that we hadn't immediately come to aid his town. We slaughter more were-rats. Then it's back to Setton, and A.R.N., to begin the Quest.

Planning

Ryltar, Seamus, Jerry and Embersia will do the heisting.

Percival will do the bidding.

Wandering around town

Seamus has been here before, but no useful knowledge.

It's the Summer Solstice. We discover an oosah vendor. It's …. fine. Ground hotdogs in a loaf shape.

We find a magic shoppe: it's closed for the holiday.

We return to the Roslin Isles.

Inside the hotel

It's the solstice, so there's a big celebratory dinner. We hang out and involve ourselves in the festivities.

As the evening goes on, Jerry notices that the staff members of the hotelare subtly sweeping up, and some are leaving. There are gradually more guards, too.

We are still bothered by the feeling that we're being watched.

The population of the hotel lobby decreases, and eventually the owner leaves, too. So we do what everyone else has done, and walk back to our room.

Soon, a group of six guards, turbaned and wearing sheets, come to our room, giving us the potions and masks. They lead us into the main room of the hotel, where the central stone dais has been hoisted up to the ceiling. This reveals a three-flight circular stair leading down to the portal, which is just a shimmering pink-white portal in an archway.

The Auctions

We are led down a staircase, then down a hallway to a small private room. Through a second door in the room we exit into the bidding hall: there are barely a dozen chairs here, on either side of a long T-shaped catwalk.

Item One

A spear, pre-Divergence, carved from the bone of an ancient gold dragon, carved in Orcish

Bidding starts at 90,000 gp; it's bid up to 116 kgp before Percival bids it up, and he's swiftly outbid. A bidder in a red mask takes a specific interest in it, eventually buying it at 120 kgp.

Items are brought in from the left side and walked out to the right.

Item Two

A Nightfall Pearl: able to create a mile-radius area of nighttime, at the very whim, at any time of day, expending once per day, lasting 24 hours.

Price starting at 20 kgp.

Bids are less interested. It eventually gets bid up to 43 kgp.

Item Three

Ring of Spell-Turning: Return dangerous spells to those who would wish you harm.

Starting at 50 kgp, it is bid up quickly, hitting 80 kgp.

Ryltar casts Detect Magic:

The incense being bandied about in a censer is not the same as in South Haven. Jerry recognizes it as Essence of Ether: make a con save or be poisoned for 8 hours, be unconscious while poisoned in this way.

Item Four

Rod of Resurrection: Given to an ally or trusted servant, one may be able to stave off death, even if your enemies are successful.

Starts at 80 kgp; Percival bids 82 kgp; Embersia forgets that she isn't bidding and makes as if to bid - but then the guards and auctioneer look at her. They're all on guard, specifically for us.

110 kgp from Percival.

125 kgp from the white mask in a red hood.

126 kgp from Percival

127.5 kgp, again from the white mask and red hood.

130 kgp from Percival.

135 kgp.

Percival makes an insight check, to see if that person has a dead family member. He realizes that this person has a personal investment in the bidding. This bidder is his family's personal contact at the auctionhouse.

So he uses Minor Illusion to momentarily make his Ring of Mind Shielding appear in his hand.

Intermission

Seamus wants to go hard.

Jerry knows that A.R.N. wants us to go unnoticed. But Jerry also knows that A.R.N. hired us because we're the experts, and he doesn't know how hard it is to do this.

So we decide to go hard, and we decide to do it now, before the intermission is over.

We break open the bag.

Seamus punches himself and brings forth a black liquid, a sort of armor from two spells. (Freedom of Movement, Armor of Agathys)

Going big

  1. Round 1
    1. Jerry breaks open the door.
    2. Percival leads with a Fireball against the curtain that items had been coming through, incidentally searing one of the auctionhouse guards.
    3. Ryltar Ray of Frosts the other guard in the room.
    4. Embersia hits them with Faerie Fire.
  2. Round 1
    1. The two guards, with 6 attacks, make 0 damage against Jerry
    2. Seamus Eldritch Blasts them
    3. Jerry does some attacking to the two guards, forcing both to Uncanny Dodge against her critical hits.
    4. Ryltar does some blasting, killing the one guard that wasn't Fairy Fired.
    5. Embersia uses Words of Radiance

And soon both guards are dead.

We take another round to check the offstage areas: there's a portal that items came from, and a portal that they went to. We decide to try the "from" portal, line up, and here we are.

There are two auctioneers and a bunch of guards. We slaughter them all. This room has 5 alcoves and three portals. The room is roughly shaped like a T with five extra crossbars, with portals at each end of the T, and alcoves on each crossbar. During this combat, many humorous things happen, none of which were written down, because we weren't here.

So now we start investigating this room for traps. Ryltar checks the Staff of Power for traps, and doesn't see any with a natural 24. He grabs the staff, and succeeds.

Then he grabs the Pearl of Night. Embersia grabs the Rod of Resurrection.

The next room: C3

Jerry tries to enter the next portal, and bounces, taking damage.

After an hour of pressing different combinations, we determine that the symbols on the portals are two-character letter-number items, and Jerry walks through the portal with Lightning Arrow prepped for anyone who looks like they're affiliated with the thing. Then Ryltar follows, Seamus , Percival, Embersia.

Next session

Jerry walks into room C3.

Rooms that we know of:

Loot we've received:

Other stuff: