4/3 - defeat Wendigo in Vekker cabin; freeing the Vekker ghosts. Ghost of Silas Vekker reveals the way to reach Xin-Shalast.
6/3 - reach the Icemists, meet Svevenka. Rest and fast for two weeks in Svevenka's bubble
20/3 - Night of the full moon. The spectral image of the River Avah appears. Party follows it towards Xin-Shalast...
then take an animal form.
that's fire damage.
Simon N. (GM):Karivek’s ghost suddenly
relaxes and sighs. His teeth return to normal and his
feet grow back before he fades away into nothingness.
Drakhaien:(afk too, have to check on mom and finish the important packing)
Quillax:Q looks over. "Seems like he's finally at peace. That's something at least."
Simon N. (GM):Silas turns to face you, his expression now at peace
but not without an element of sadness. He nods to Quillax.
“You have saved my brother. You have saved me.
I should reward you by simply taking the path to
Xin-Shalast with me into the beyond, yet I sense
that you still harbor a desire to see those golden
Simon N. (GM):ruins. Very well. Look to the pages of my ledger
for the way, and may Torag watch over you in the
darkness to come…”
Quillax:"Thank you. May your rest be peaceful."
Simon N. (GM):As he finishes speaking, Silas fades away as well. As
he does, several parchment pages appear and f loat lazily
to the ground. The missing five pages from
Silas’s ledger...
Malassandra:M gives the blessings of Lissala
Quillax:Q quickly gathers them up and puts them into Claw's bag of holding
Simon N. (GM):OK you have about 20 seconds :)
Quillax:Knowing there is going to be a fight in a moment, she wants those safe :)
ready with the sun sword and having cast Holy Weapon.
Claw:Claw braces ready to swing the moment he sees it fade back into view
Quillax:Q heads back outside, behind it and takes on fire elemental form.
Malassandra:(+20 is max to hit?)
Simon N. (GM):OK staying in init order... the Wendigo reappears, Claw you can make a Readied atack
Quillax:Oh, fire elemental myrmidon instead :)
Because swords on fire seem more fitting :D
Drakhaien:Drakh casts another haste and hides before it returns
Claw:
rolling 1d20+20
=
39
Simon N. (GM):Drak hides behind an upturned table. Claw wacks it.
Claw:close, i alsmot blew us up again!
and thats the fire
The Wendigo attacks Claw (assuming Mal not adjacent)
Malassandra:she was waiting foe it with the sun sword so I guess she would be?
Simon N. (GM):OK Mal you can have a readied attack too then
Malassandra:
rolling 2d20
=
21
Simon N. (GM):It bites gores and claws Mal.
33+34+15+21= 103 dmg & DC 22 CON save
:(
Immune to possession if that's what the hunger is?
Simon N. (GM):fail; Mal is STARVING
Claw:OOC I SWEAR TO GOD MAL IS YOU BIT ME I WILL FEED YOU YOUR OWN ENTRAILS
Simon N. (GM):no, but she can't be healed and takes 21 Necrotic at start of turn (save at end of turn)
Malassandra:okay, got ti.
Simon N. (GM):#7 Quillax your go
Quillax:Q-EFM has 3 attacks. I'll roll them in pairs for the adv
Drakhaien:(Tell me if I get into the battle)
Quillax:
rolling 2d20
=
23
Simon N. (GM):Drak is after Mal
AC 21
Quillax:+7 to hit so a fail there.
One hit
And a 21 :)
Quillax:OK, so two hits with fire swords
2d6+8
Quillax:
rolling 2d10
=
9
that's pretty crap. A total of 19
Simon N. (GM):Wendigo legendary action swipe at Mal
#5 Mal your go
Malassandra:45/184 (21 necrotic ton come)
Quillax:Right. New plan needed
Simon N. (GM):take 21 necrotic
Malassandra:Mal lashes out with her sword. Both at +20
Simon N. (GM):You still heal 20
but can't be healed
Simon N. (GM):so 24/184 yup
Simon N. (GM):sorry I forgot the no healing
Malassandra:
rolling 2d20
=
19
Claw:I suggest disengaging next turn
Simon N. (GM):You do double dmg as it's Radiant vulnerable Mal
Malassandra:she burns two level 1 slots to smite.
end turn
Drakhaien:(this gets doubled then?)
Malassandra:(that's what the DM said)
Simon N. (GM):126 dmg inc the x2
It had 116 left and is destroyed!!
Malassandra:Mal fallsto stuffing her face with sandwiches
Simon N. (GM):Mal make your DC 22 con save
Malassandra:
rolling 1d20+17
=
36
(you could still have died of hunger!)
Malassandra:That was a bit close for comfort :D
Drakhaien:OK? I guess no need to hold person M :)
Quillax:Q retakes human form.
"Right, everyone in one piece? Mal, you good?"
Simon N. (GM):You hear the Vekkers' voices as whispers on the wind. "Thank you...." and then they are gone.
Malassandra:"I will be. Thanks."
Simon N. (GM):OK you get an Epic Boon! Take +2 attribute or a Feat
Quillax:"OK, we'll take a short breather here for you to gather your strength and have a look at those pages"
must we choose it now?
Simon N. (GM):You may defer it
Simon N. (GM):GM: OK you Short Rest. The snow has eased off and the temperature comfortably just 10 below freezing.
Drakhaien:I'll make it simple this time: drakh improves his DEX to 20 with +2 to attribute score
Claw:"ah, nice and warm out there now"
Drakhaien:Also, he can summon a hut still, if it is cold
Simon N. (GM):The first step, according to the
Vekkers’ directions, is to continue traveling
up the Kazaron River until you reach the
second tributary. The ledger identifies this river as the
legendary River Avah, yet it also says the winding route
between the Kodar Mountains is not one for the faint
Simon N. (GM):of heart. There are no banks to walk along and the river
itself often rises in cataracts of up to 300 feet in height
as it climbs ever higher into the mountains. The waters
of the River Avah are freezing cold, yet they themselves
never freeze. As you follow the river upstream, the
air will grow thin and the sky a deep blue. you will climb thousands of feet to
Simon N. (GM):a height of just over 15,000 feet above sea levelEventually, the PCs reach the River Avah’s source—
a frozen swampland shrouded in glittering clouds of
ice crystals known as the Fen of the Icemists. Yet even
then they find no indication of the ruined spires of
Xin-Shalast. Here, the ledger tells the PCs they must
fast and wait for a night with a full moon, whereupon
Simon N. (GM):the remainder of the route is made clear to them,
for here is the edge of Leng’s otherworldly inf luence
upon Golarion.
Malassandra:"We have our path."
(From Quillax): #### BOON OF ENERGY INVESTMENT
Quillax:You attune to the elemental energies of the universe. When casting a spell that deals fire, thunder, lightning or cold damage you can change its damage type to another of those types. In addition when taking this boon you gain immunity to one of those types. Your body takes on properties that correspond thematically to that element, altering your appearance. Additionally any energy around you seems more volatile, fires crackles louder and brighter, wind blows more fiercely, etc.
BOON OF ENERGY INVESTMENT
Simon N. (GM):GM: I did say a Feat or stat bump Keelia, but I will allow that for a single type of energy
but Resistance not Immunity
Claw:the cap for CON is 26 or 28?
Simon N. (GM):stat cap is 30-28-26-24-22-20
so if STR 30 then could have CON 28
Quillax:I'll save that one for when we get our next Epic boon then :)
Simon N. (GM):Pretty sure that's not actually a DMG Epic Boon :D
Malassandra:Defensive duelist for M. Dhe needs something to help that 20AC
Drakhaien:(At such high ability scores you guys have, it is often a lot more flavorful or useful to jsut take some interesting feat, a few still offer the chance to increase the score by 1)
Drakhaien:(I'll just stay the skinny elfling here :P )
hm
Jorian Drake:(Quillax is a human, and already has Prodigy feat, right?)
Simon N. (GM):Googling shows it to be 'unofficial fan content'
Quillax:Ah, I googled 5e epic boons and it came up. Ah well, it would have been super cool. Ice cold fire or searing hot thunder :D
Malassandra:(Defensive duelist works with sun sword, Simon?)
Claw:I'm now at 365 hp, and i've i've not even tanken the toughness feat :
Quillax:@Jorian, yes she already has prodigy.
Simon N. (GM):I don't have PHB in Woking Chris so don't know, what does DD do?
Quillax:You can add you proficiency bonus to your AC if you are wielding a finesse weapon.
Simon N. (GM):instead of to attack roll right?
Malassandra:(adds prof bonus to Ac once per round to a finnesse wepon. Sun sword 'can count' as etc)
(as well as attack rols)
Jorian Drake:I thnk as reaction or so, a sec
Quillax:I need to think about it for Q
Jorian Drake:this is the feat Simon:
Malassandra:uses reaction
Simon N. (GM):Defensive Duelist
Prerequisite: Dexterity 13 or higher
When you are wielding a finesse weapon with which you are proficient and another creature hits you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to add your proficiency bonus to your AC for that attack, potentially causing the attack to miss you.
Jorian Drake:If no better ideas, we can always use some more Luck. Lucky is always a good feat choice if you don't have it yet.
Simon N. (GM):So would give Mal AC 27 to avoid 1 hit per round at cost of her reaction
Malassandra:that's grand. Thanks for the clarification.
Jorian Drake:Yeah, the only weakness to this is that at this high level a lot of enemies might attack someone in one turn or a single enemy with multiattack
Malassandra:Well nothing is perfect I guess?
But it sure will help :)
Jorian Drake:hm, I remembered 'Human Determination' but that is an UA feat, so it's off the list
Simon N. (GM):GM: You can rest overnight in the remains of the cabin, with Drak's Tiny Hut keeping you comfy. The next morning is very cold but clear and sunny.
Malassandra:Mal stamps her little feet to keep warm.
Sometimes it's easy to forget what a tiny thing she is.
Epecially when stood next to Claw!
Jorian Drake brews tea while in the comfy hut
Drakhaien:forgot to swap back toDrakh
Malassandra:"Would you like me to fly overhead and keep watch? It's a fine morning doe a ride"
Claw:Claw is outside breathing in the warm air (by his comparison)
"feel free, just don't go too far!"
Malassandra:She gives him a look
Simon N. (GM):GM: Is anyone walking/hiking?
Malassandra:laughs then whistles for Thunder.
Simon N. (GM):Thunder appears!
:)
Malassandra:Not sure how many times M is old enough to be Claws grandmother but lots :D
Malassandra:She swoops up into the icy blue
Quillax:Q takes Air elemental form and hovers around Claw's shoulders
Simon N. (GM):GM: Claw can easily bounce up the mountains (Athletics 30), Q & M can fly. What about Drak?
Simon N. (GM):remind me what the boots do
Drakhaien:Drakhaien will summon then his shadow steed with rainbow mane/tail.
The boots just make the winter/cold not be suffered
Malassandra:My little shadow steed?
Simon N. (GM):OK Drak rides his shadow steed, can it fly?
Drakhaien:I doN't think it can fly, a sec
For the Duration, you or a creature you choose can ride the steed. The creature uses the Statistics for a Riding Horse, except it has a speed of 100 feet and can Travel 10 miles in an hour, or 13 miles at a fast pace. When the spell ends, the steed gradually fades, giving the rider 1 minute to dismount.
no flying but it's Flash the Horse
Simon N. (GM):There are a lot of cliffs so it's not going far.
Q & Mal can carry D if they swap out frequently
Drakhaien:Well, it is not dark anymore so I can't fly
Drakhaien:oh wait yes i can
Simon N. (GM):You can still make a pace of around Speed 40 which is Claw's pace
Drakhaien:Drakh can turn int oa bat, he needs to do that in shadows or darkness but the form remains in sunlight too
So he'll play batman again
bat form has 30ft fly speed though
Claw:Just land on my should then
Drakh will take the bat taxi
Simon N. (GM):GM: OK, for two days you trek/fly up into the rugged and cold mountains. Breathtaking peaks rise against the dark blue sky.
Evening on the second day, as the sun is lowering over the western mountains you reach the area spoken of in Silas' journal.
Malassandra:Is there somewhere safe to land?
Claw:On Claws shoulders :P
Simon N. (GM):the Fen of the Icemists. Once a lake,
this region was clogged with silt by several volcanic
eruptions at the time of Thassilon’s fall, creating this
treacherous and unique high-altitude fen. The waters
of the Icemists are in a constant state of freezing and
thawing, with the mix of high altitude and latent
Simon N. (GM):volcanism creating a mist-shrouded frozen region of
water and swaths of icy mud. No plants exist in the
Icemists apart from the ever-present stalks of strange
pale fungi and clots of f loating lichens that cover and
hide deep tarns of freezing water—the entire region
has about it a chilling aura of frozen menace.
Simon N. (GM):The Fen of the Icemists is riddled with hummocks
of solid ground and protruding rocks.
Malassandra:I'm sure he could carry a flying horse but M would rather send Thunder back to safety for now.
Simon N. (GM):GM: You can land safely on the edge of the fens.
Drakhaien:batelf uses bat senses to try find a path by sonic echoes
Malassandra:"What does the journel say, Lady Quillax?"
Simon N. (GM):GM: According to the journal the phantom River Avah can be seen here by those wracked with hunger on the night of a full moon. Unfortunately the next full moon is 2 weeks away.
Drakhaien:(Drakhaien will not speak, he's now wearing that glitched mask)
Quillax:Q relates the Journal's notes to the others.
Simon N. (GM):Which is at least plenty of time to starve :)
Quillax:Is that lichen a single mass? Can it be treated as a tree?
Malassandra:"So we just wait? And starve?"
Simon N. (GM):The lichen is not a tree :)
Quillax:Pish tosh, you are with a bloody druid. If worse come to worse, I'll goodberry us up.
Simon N. (GM):GM: If you can cast True Seeing that'd probably work too :D
Claw:"There has to be another way, they probably just HAPPENED to be starving, probably a conscience"
Malassandra:"But we must be starving to traverse into the hidden realm"
Drakhaien:will we fight the litches?
Quillax:"or you need to hallucinate." Q will go investigate the plant life.
Claw:"Can't one of you caster types see through sutff? you banished that nasty Wendigo somewhere"
Quillax:Also, does anyone have true seeing? I've jut got night vision on.
Claw:"maybe it's related?"
Malassandra:not here on my list, let me check if it's a paladin spell
Quillax:Detect magic might not go amiss either
Drakhaien starts to swing on the left arm of Claw in batform, upside down
Simon N. (GM):Quillax investigates the lichens - they seem sulphurous. She notices an otter watching her from a nearby tarn, a curious expression in its face.
Malassandra:Nope, she has detect magic memorised though
Quillax:Q takes otter form and slides down into the tarn to introduce herself
Malassandra:guessing locate object wouldn't work?
Claw:Claw will sit down and (cast) Commune with his Spirit animal
level 10 ability
ritual
it may know what we need to do
Simon N. (GM):The otter inclines its head and speaks in Otterish. "You are Quillax! You saved my sister Myriana! Put her spirit to rest!"
Malassandra:(remember the old, one eyed bear Simon?)
Simon N. (GM):ooc finishing in 15 min
Otter: "I'm Svevenka!"
Quillax:ok, my messages seem to be going into the void...
Quillax:Ah, it's working!
"I was my honour to assist your sister and a pleasure to meet you Svevenka."
Simon N. (GM):"Thank you to you and the big one (Claw)! But it is dangerous here!" she sounds worried.
Quillax:"We are here because of the danger," Q soothes.
"Or very likely. What can you tell me about it?"
Simon N. (GM):"Monsters have been gathering in the old city! Giants! Lamias! Yetis!"
"Some force has taken over the Skulks that live in the old city - the Spared are not so bad, but you should avoid the vampiric minions of the Hidden Beast!"
The otter cleans her whiskers.
Quillax:"Dangerous times indeed." She makes a mental note of the words.
Drakhaien:Batelf enjoys the batswing
Quillax:"We're hoping to stop the danger, perhaps this Hidden Beast. We're looking for a magic river. Do you know of it?"
Simon N. (GM):She transforms into appearing as a
beautiful elven woman with long dark hair, pale purple
skin, and exaggerated ears and limbs.
Claw looks up from communing with his Spirit Bear to see a naked elf waving at him from a pond.
Quillax:Q rolls over in Otter form and scrambles up the side of the bank to the snow before retaking human form.
She faces Svevenka to continue their conversation
Svevenka nods. "The River Avah!" she gestures vaguely north. "Can you not see it?"
Malassandra:new one on me
Claw:"Thank you, but I have a wife"
Claw turns back to commune
Quillax:"My eye are not as good as your in my forms," Q explains bashfully.
Drakhaien:(She's hiding her tits. An otter disappointment)
Quillax:"I do not have the True Sight."
Claw:"did you say Giants earlier? looks like i'll need to have some words with my unruly cousins..."
Simon N. (GM):Svevanka nods. "It is easy to lose the way. You may have to wait until you are very hungry, like those dwarves long ago."
Quillax:Q considers, "Would you be able to help us get there? Without being hungry?"
"Or get closer, at least? I would not wish to put you in danger."
Simon N. (GM):She nods to Claw. "Yes, There are groups of them all over the mountains these days."
Svevanka looks thoughtful. "I can lead you... because you saved my sister. But I am afraid of the giants."
Malassandra:(A long rest to recover spells an abilities may not be such a bad thing?)
Quillax:(long rest takes a month?)
Claw:Claw shoulders Gorvak
Quillax:"We will not let the Giants hurt you. Claw will tell them off or we will put them down."
Claw:"they won't be a problem, through either words or violence the will be brought to heal
Quillax:(if Simon says long rest = 1 week, let's do it. 1 month means we miss full moon)
Drakhaien:Drakh-bat tries not to be splattered by Claw shouldering
Quillax:(once we find the entrance, we can always mark it and return for a long rest if we need)
Drakhaien:(I wasted 2 Haste spells but still have few slots left so for one I say we should find the entrance at least)
Simon N. (GM):Svevanka nods. "I can make a safe place here for you to rest where they will not find you. Then you should seek the Spared in the city, they will be friendly if you tell them I sent you. There is an occluding field around Mhar Massif ’s peak. I suspect that the denizens of Xin-Shalast created the field to protect it and that they must have some magical method of protecting themselves from the field, but these are merely guesses on my part."
Svevanka offers you to join her in her pool, where she creates a large bubble of fresh air you can breathe. If Drak uses Tiny Hut in there you can rest comfortably for a couple weeks (long rest)?
Quillax:(I'm good for spell slots but I think I might need a re-jig which we can only do on a long rest)
Jorian Drake:I'm ok with long rest and stop if the others are too. I'll update my char sheet, about time, also have to decide what exactly was done with the loot from the 'clockwork castle'
Simon N. (GM):GM: Two weeks later, after a week of rest and a week of fasting, with hunger gnawing at your guts you emerge from the bubble on the night of the full moon. Those of you with Passive Per 15 what appears to be a ghostly afterimage of
the River Avah, flowing through the Icefens & continuing up into the mountains to its original source from before geologic activity in the region altered it.
GM: Everyone make a DC 10 CON save or be at 1 exhaustion level from hunger
Quillax:
rolling d20+15
=
27
Jorian Drake:batelf happily rides on the top of Claw's head
Claw:
rolling 1d20+17
=
30
Simon N. (GM):Drak roll CON save
Jorian Drake:M affects it?
Simon N. (GM):(yes) GM: You begin heading up the magic river.
Jorian Drake:
rolling d20+10
=
25
Simon N. (GM):Claw you make your way on foot through the treacherous Icefens - roll a DC 18 Survival check
Claw:
rolling 1d20+9
=
18
Simon N. (GM):Drak is on Claw's shoulder, Mal flies pegasus & Q in air form?
Simon N. (GM):Claw manages to navigate safely for 2 miles through the treacherous bog until reaching dry rocky mountainside again, his favourite. :)
Simon N. (GM):And up into the mountains you go... stopping there tonight
Quillax:Great game, thanks!
Malassandra:Thanks for the game Simon, guys.
Claw:Awesome, thanks Simon
Jorian Drake:Before you leave Simon, I wish to know when our session time slots are meant to be permanently. At which hour on Saturdays? It was my fault to not get back in time this day, but I'll have another game from next week and I wish to adjust my timing so they won't overlap.
Simon N. (GM):4pm Saturday
4/3 - defeat Wendigo in Vekker cabin; freeing the Vekker ghosts. Ghost of Silas Vekker reveals the way to reach Xin-Shalast.
