Session 81 Report: Shadowkeep Part 2

General Summary

Session 81 – Wednesday May 15, 2024: Shadowkeep Conclusion

4-hour Boss battle / exploration session 5:30 PM to 10:00 PM.

The Stone Bearers. Party of 6:

It is the 17th day of the month of Hammer (Deepwinter) in the 51st year of the Age of Enialis (Mid Jan.)

• Ajani– High Elf, L13 Wizard – Nathan Gioconda
• Cassidy – Human, L13Blood hunter – Ryan Armstrong (Remote)
• Gazlowe – Goblin, L14 Artificer – Josh Pozsonyi
• Isabella – Forest Gnome, L13 Barbarian – Jackie Armstrong
• Juan Peyote – Gnome L13 Paladin – Will Johnson
• Seften Mitcaver – Human, L13 Cleric – Jacob Munson (Remote)

The War Room

After accepting the challenge to fight, Cassidy started by shooting her crossbow at the Vampire. Gazlowe ran up the platform and tried to hit the vampire but missed. The Vampire rose into the air, slashed Gazlowe and bit into his neck leaving him badly hurt. Ajani ran to knock over a coffin but found the coffin didn’t budge and he bruised his shoulder. Ajani then banished the Vampire Spawn. One of the coffin doors opened and a Koptourok came out and charged bird. Juan redirected the attack and the Koptourok grappled Juan leaving him bloodied.   Seften moved away from the Koptourok who was taking his breath away and cast Spirit Guardians. Bird pecked the Vampire and Juan healed himself. Cassidy whipped the vampire twice leaving it bloodied. Gazlowe landed his punches. The Vampire turned to mist and tried to pass by Gazlowe and Cassidy hurting them slightly. It engulfed Seften hurting him badly but also the vampire was hurt by Seften’s spirit guardians. As the Vampire reformed on the other side of the room, Ajani killed it with a thunderous chromatic orb.   The Koptourok continued to hit Juan. Seften cast toll the dead and hurt the Koptourok. Juan struck the Koptourok and smote it, leaving it bloodied. The creature let out a piercing shriek leaving Gazlowe deafened for a round. Cassidy whipped the Koptourok around the neck and killed it. Ajani pulled everyone close and then dropped concentration on the banished Vampire Spawn. The party all pummeled the creature. Cassidy finished it off with her whips.

Resting

Seften took some holy water and opened the casket near the door in which Cassidy saw the Vampire spirit go into. Seften cast “Ceremony” on the unholy corpse within, permanently killing the vampire. The others all took a short rest. Gazlowe gave Cassidy some crossbow bolts. Seften healed himself and the others. During the rest, they heard movement in another coffin on the southern wall. The party blocked the coffin with the table and left the room (leaving whoever may have been in it to die.) The party found a secret passage that simply led back to the mausoleum. The party went out the back door and into the front door yet again.

The Occult Sanctum.

They opened the door to the last room. In the room were 4 black-robed figures chanting in unison around a burning pentagram with a candle as its center. In nearby pews were 10 happy little specters watching the ceremony. One of the hooded figures was a vampire that seemed to be praying as the nearby organ played dark music. The vampire thanked the devil to which he was praying for the Stone bearers as he named each of them. He said, “May their sacrifice not be in vain.”   Cassidy and Ajani studied the runes and the prayer and realized they were summoning a devil. One of the hooded wights walked over to a spirit sitting in the pews and killed it leaving 9 remaining. The little spirits cheered. Gazlowe walked towards the pentagram wanting to destroy it and the vampire interceded. It went to attack but Cassidy cursed him saving Gazlowe from any harm. Gazlowe cast fire shield on himself. Seften cast wall of fire. It took out a couple more of the little spirits but cut them off from the vampire.   Cassidy realized there are 3 ways to stop the summoning of the devil: 1) Save the spirits being sacrificed. 2) Kill the Vampire. 3) Dispel summoning circle. She shared this information with Ajani who had fortunately prepared Dispel Magic. Cassidy then attacked the vampire with her whips. Bird and Juan killed one of the wights and then Juan hurt the vampire with his sword. One of the wights focused on Seften to get him to drop the wall of fire but Seften took the damage and held his concentration.   Ajani used his wand of dispel magic at maximum output and dispelled the summoning circle. The dispel was successful and the wand disintegrated in his hands. The Vampire glared angrily at Ajani and told the remaining wights, “Kill the wizard!” The vampire went to attack Ajani but Cassidy cursed him and Ajani deflected the first claw with his shield. The Vampire however sunk his other claw into Ajani. Cassidy’s curse made the vampire’s eyes bleed, and it couldn’t sink its teeth into Ajani. Gazlowe said, “Not our wizard!” as he charged and punched the vampire twice.   Seften dropped his concentration on the wall of fire and used his channel divinity to turn undead. One of the last 2 remaining spirits to be sacrificed were destroyed, and one of the wights became frightened. The Vampire was unaffected. Cassidy moved and was struck by the vampire. She then whipped the wight, leaving it bloody. Bird and Juan focused on the wight leaving it badly bloody. The wight focused on Ajani. Ajani, restrained by the Vampire tried to stab the vampire but couldn’t hit. Ajani then used his telekinetic shove to break the grapple.   The Vampire tried to charm Gazlowe to have him kill Ajani, but Gazlowe resisted. The vampire tried to kill Ajani but Gazlowe’s previous attack made it difficult and the vampire only landed one blow. Gazlowe then punched the vampire hard with his gauntlets, killing it. Cassidy saw the vampire spirit float out the door towards the war room.

Rhodar

A trap door opened in the center of the summoning circle and a young handsome vampire floated out of the tunnel below clapping slowly. He looked at the party and said, I guess I need to do this myself. Three spears circled his body as he floated over the trap door, and he summoned a shadowy sword to his hand. Rhodar beguiled Cassidy and had her whip Ajani. Then Rhodar summoned a massive swarm of bats that effectively blinded the group. Cassidy shook off the charm and with blindsight was able to land one whip attack on Rhodar. Seften cast Spirit guardians.   Blinded, Gazlowe found Rhodar and punched him. Bird and Juan hit the Wight that was running in fear. Rhodar then splattered blood around the room to help him target individuals. The wight hit Ajani leaving him 1 point from death. Ajani disengaged and moved away from the wight feeling the wall. He then took a splash potion of better healing. Rhodar hit Seften with one of his spears. Then he hit Cassidy with a spear and pinned her to the floor.   The bats disappeared and Rhodar then filled the room with a cloud of blood. Cassidy broke free from the restraint of the spear and struck Rhodar with a whip. Seften channeled divinity again and frightened the Wight. Gazlowe fed Juan a rock which cast Haste on him. He then used Scuttley to kill one of the wights. Rhodar turned into a large dragon of fire and engulfed Juan, Bird and Gazlowe after which he returned to vampire form. Isabella downed a potion of speed and shot Rhodar with an arrow.   The wraith went towards Ajani and tried to kiss him but couldn’t quite get to Ajani’s face. Bird and Juan focused on the Vampire. Ajani shoved the wraith, shot a thunderous orb at the vampire bloodying him and ran to the north end of the room. He saw a creepy crying face in the organ and became frightened. The Vampire tried to beguile Isabella, but Gazlowe aided her and helped her avoid the effect. Rhodar attacked Cassidy and each time her brand caused him psychic pain. He hit Ajani with a spear and pinned him to the floor. Rhodar then tried to charm the group, but only charmed Seften and Juan.

Ajani goes down!

Cassidy splashed a healing potion on herself and then started whipping Rhodar. Casidy sneezed causing Seften to leave. Rhodar said, “Enough” and used a legendary feature to cause his shadow blade to make several attacks. Cassidy and Ajani were both hit. It should have knocked Ajani unconscious, but Seften had cast Death Ward on Ajani and Ajani was still alive with 1 point of life. Rhodar screamed and attacked again, but Ajani’s shield prevented the hit. Rhodar screamed in frustration.   Gazlowe hit Rhodar twice. Isabella hit Rhodar twice with her great axe leaving Rhodar near death. The wraith then kissed Ajani, removing what little life he had remaining. Ajani fell unconscious and the Wraith continued to try to consume his soul.   Bird landed the killing peck on Rhodar! Juan then charged the Wraith and bloodied it. Cassidy got up and threw a splash potion of healing on Ajani. She then killed the wraith with her whip. The last remaining spirit cheered gleefully.

Finishing off Rhodar

Cassidy saw the spirit of Rhodar drift into the pit from which he rose. Looking into the pit they saw a ladder that led to an underground passage. The party climbed down into a dark path that led to a room that was shrouded in magical darkness. Gazlowe dispelled the magical darkness. They saw a corpse of a faceless angel resting in the middle of the room. Gazlowe examined the corps and found hinges on its side. Opening it, they found a shriveled up grey skeletal body wearing the robe that Rhodar was wearing.   Ajani and Gazlowe removed the cloak. They found a key. Gazlowe recognized that it goes to the vault. They didn’t have the cleric with them, so they looked at Juan. Juan browsed through his prayer book, “Well, we don’t want to use Revivify… hmm… Probably not Command… Hey, I don’t know this one… Oh, I do have Ceremony…” They gave Juan the holy water and he read the funeral rights as he splashed the holy water all over the vampire’s corpse.   As Juan completed the ceremony, the body dissolved. The red glow in the castle faded. The Organ stopped playing. The voice in Gazlowe’s head screamed in pain and told him, “Sign the other contract and I can be back!” Even the little happy spirt looked up and said, “light” as it faded away. The Devil’s influence was broken and Rhodar was destroyed. Isabella said, “Let’s go get a drink.” As they walked down the mountain, somone said, “What about that person we were supposed to rescue?”