Session 83: Durixaviinox’s Rest Part 2 Report

General Summary

Session 83 – Wednesday June 12, 2024: Durixaviinox’s Rest

4.5-hour Boss battle session 5:30 PM to 10:30 PM.

The Stone Bearers. Party of 5:

It is the 18th 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

Ajani joins in

Cassidy sneezed and Ajani appeared in the middle of the battlefield between 2 of the giants and let out a little shriek of horror. Invisible, Cassidy slashed into one of the Giants with her radiant whip, obliterating its back leg and it fell down dead. Gazlowe landed a critical blow and the Giant pushed Gazlowe into the ice spikes. Gazlowe ran back at the Giant and punched it again. Juan followed up with his sword and cut off the pinky toe of the Giant, hitting a critical vein and killed the Giant. Isabella slid across the floor and struck the last wraith twice causing it to explode with psychic energy hurting Isabella and Cassidy.   The party greeted Ajani warmly and regrouped. Juan picked up the pinky toe and Cassidy collected some toenails for creating a potion later. Seften listened intently and heard the sound of a stream in the distance towards the west. Ajani put on his cold weather clothing and the party took a short rest before proceeding westward.

Memory Hall

After the rest the party moved out of the room of ice spikes and into a much larger chamber. The ceiling was beyond their dark vision range as was the depth of the room. The ice and snow were heavy on the floor and the walls were thick translucent ice. Behind the ice in the walls the party could see frozen corpses along with rusted and worthless objects. However, they seemed to be displayed in some sort of curated grotesque way.   Seften walked a way into the room and felt the power of a magical spell flood down onto him. He immediately knew he triggered some sort of trap as he suffered cold damage but was able to overcome the worse effects. The party warned him about magical glyphs that could be in the walls or floor. Seften started shotting firebolts at the floor in front of him, melting the snow and looking for signs of additional glyphs. One of the firebolts hit a nearly invisible but strong thread strung across the floor from north to south. Spears shot down from the ceiling hitting Cassidy, Ajani and Isabella. Seften apologized to Ajani, removed the spear from his shoulder and cast cure wounds on him.   Seften wanted to have someone look at the ceiling. Cassidy had Seften give Ajani his googles of night that extended Ajani’s range of dark vision. Ajani was able to see the ceiling was filled with 2-inch holes from where the spears must have come. Seeing so many holes, he knew there were more spears to come. Ajani examined the walls looking at the dead corpses and display of rusted armor and weapons. He noticed that one of the dead bodies on the far east wall moved his eyes and followed the party. He let out a little gasp and pointed.

Galithor

Cassidy and Seften examined the body in the ice. Cassidy saw that this was a person who has transformed into a wraith of some sort. Seften saw the look in the creature’s eyes of fear and sadness and felt that the creature means them no harm. Seften took out his pickaxe and chopped away at the ice freeing the Wraith.   The Wraith introduced himself, speaking in old Common, as Galithor. He told them that he’s been trapped for so long he has no recollection of how he came here in the first place. For as long as he can remember all he has seen are a few adventures enter the room and get killed by the traps. He pointed out where the traps are and told the party that nobody has ever made it past the pillars at the far end, when they get that far they are blown back and are killed by the spears or magic ice traps like the one that first hit Seften.   Cassidy went into a small trance to try to recall information about this place. She saw visions of a people from a city of Vexinoth who worshiped and were led by a powerful white dragon. The people were once great but somehow Vexinoth lost power and the city was destroyed. The worshipers were entombed in ice.

Clearing a path

Ajani cleared the snow away from the spot where Seften was hit with magical cold. He saw a glyph carved into the stone and studied it but didn’t quitte understand it. Seften examined it and knew it could be recharged somehow but didn’t really know how. He also learned that the trap would activate by anything that passed over it, trapping it and suffering damage.   Ajani moved forward casting a spell to clear the snow away. He re-tripped the spear trigger. This time Gazlowe, Juan, and Isabella were hit. Ajani cast shield to avoid the spear and deflected it into Seften. Gazlowe joined Ajani and helped him clear a path straight towards the western end of the room and Cassidy followed close behind. They found no more traps and stopped just before they passed between the pillars. The others waited outside the room just in case more traps were triggered.   Gazlowe and Cassidy examined the dragon carvings on the pillars and working together they realized that they are cleverly disguised glyphs that will trigger a trap if anyone other than a dragon passes between the pillars. Gazlowe asked Ajani if he could dispel it, but Ajani said, “My wand broke.” Gazlowe cast Dispel magic on the runes and the magic faded. With the glyph disabled and a clear path in the snow, the Stone Bearers moved into the next room.

A Portal.

The party entered another large area with a 70-foot-high ceiling. There was a10-foot-diameter circle of blue energy humming on the north wall. It was emitting a thin but steady stream of water sending ripples across a lake dominating the eastern part of the room. Ajani examined the portal and identified it as a one-way portal from the plane of water. He warned the group that things could pass from that plane to this plane easily. Gazlowe saw it was a magical and was concerned this could be another trap.   Seften carefully paned the room looking for anything unusual and noticed that there were two blocks of ice moving oddly to the shore. They sprouted arms and climbed up towards the party. Seften said, “We mean you no harm.” Gazlowe saw they were ice elementals and said in Aquan, “We mean you no harm.” The elementals replied, “You are trespassers, we mean you harm. Let us call our friends.” Gazlowe shouted, “Destroy the portal” as the creatures approached with mal intent.   Isabella charged forth with her axe and attacked. Gazlowe’s magic alarm went off and he cast Dispel Magic on the portal disabling it. One of the Ice Elementals took on a sheen and hit Isabella twice, making her regret not raging. She saw her reflection with horrible frostbite and became frightened. Ajani hit one of the Cruxes of Frost with a chromatic orb. Seften tried to command them, but they didn’t succumb. The 2nd Crux of Frost landed a critical blow on Isabella, and she was looking bad.   Juan moved forward and attacked one of the Frost Elementals, however the elemental’s reflection caused Juan to hit himself! However, Juan’s presence removed Isabella’s fear. Cassidy whipped one of the creatures. Galithor struck one of the creatures. Gazlowe struck one of the creatures with his thunderous fists and the reflective sheen was shattered. Isabella was struck again. Seften finished of one of the creatures with a Toll of the Dead.   Juan hit the remaining creature and again the creature reflected the damage back to Juan. Cassidy landed another critical blow, Galithor hit it, Isabella recklessly hit the creature leaving it bloodied. Gazlowe punched the creature breaking its reflective sheen and Scuttley finished it off.

A freezing lake.

The Stone Bearers looked at the partially frozen lake at the eastern end of the room. Some took a short rest. Cassidy jumped into the lake and discovered that it was bone-chilling cold. She swam down a short distance but returned quickly when the cold water started hurting her. Isabella saw there was floating ice around the edge. She jumped onto the first one and slid off into the water. The cold water hurt, and she quickly climbed out and walked around to the far eastern end. She peered into the clear water and saw there was a tunnel about 20-feet down in the water that went through the eastern wall.   The party began considering ways to move through the tunnel. Swimming in the water was out of the question. Someone said a submarine would be cool. Gazlowe happened to have two boats that could take the whole party, but didn’t want to use both. One long boat would be enough for Seften to fabricate into a small submarine for 4 people. Cassidy had the Helm of Fire teleportation. This would allow her and one other person to transport through the flame, if someone could light a torch when they reach their destination.   Cassidy and Isabella, still in wet clothes, were unbearably cold. They needed to dry their clothes to continue. After the clothes were dried, Isabella stayed behind with Cassidy. Gazlowe cast Heat Metal on his armor to avoid cold damage to himself as he swam in the frigid lake. The others including Galithor got into the submarine. Gazlowe pushed the submarine down into the water through the tunnel. Quickly after they entered the tunnel, he looked up and saw an opening in the ice above.

Throne room.

Gazlowe maneuvered the submarine up into a 30-foot-wide opening in another large dark room. The ceilings were higher than he could see as was the far walls. He cracked open the submarine and told Ajani to light the torch so Cassidy and Isabella could join them. Galithor, Ajani, Seften and Juan climbed out of the sub and Ajani lit the torch and Ajani cast sending to inform Cassidy. From over their head, in the darkness, they heard a dark voice declare, “I don’t like fire.”   The dragon exhaled a cone of paralyzing cold upon the party. Cassidy tried to teleport but the torch in Ajani’s hand was extinguished before she could make it there. Everyone dove for cover from the cold breath and were only partially hurt. Galithor however got hit full blast. The dragon called out to his protecting spirits who then shot arrows of force at Ajani, Galithor, Seften, and Gazlowe. Ajani lit the torch and handed it to Galithor, and they both ran to the west. Galithor slipped on the ice as he was running and didn’t get as far as he hoped.

We’re so screwed!

The dragon said, “You cannot have my treasure.” As he regained his ice breath. He released it on Juan, Seften and Gazlowe. The Dragon then sneered, “I don’t like Paladins” as he then encased Juan in ice. “Were so screwed” said Seften.   Exasperated, Cassidy finally detected the flame and teleported herself and Isabella to where Galithor was. Isabella heard the dragon and said, “Let’s get back in the boat!” She pulled out her crossbow and saw just the head of the dragon on the ceiling illuminated by Gazlowe’s light. The crossbow bolt missed.   Juan broke free of the ice. The Dragon said, “Breaking free I see. Perhaps a raging blizzard will keep you in place.” Gazlowe said, “Not cool!” as ice, snow, and rocks were blown about the place. Ajani got hit had and fell down unconscious. Juan got hit hard, fell prone and was blown against the wall. Galithor was knocked prone and blown across the room to an area of thin ice. The ice broke open and Galithor fell in. Cassidy, Isabella, Seften and Gazlowe were hurt but didn’t fall prone.   Seften cast heal on himself and tried to run to Ajani but slipped and fell prone. Gazlowe broke a splash potion of healing on himself and then tried to teleport the Dragon to the floor. The Dragon however resisted Gazlowe’s spell. Gasping, Gazlowe ran away. The Dragon roared to cause fear on everyone. Only Isabella, Cassidy and Galithor were frightened. Galithor saw his friend Ajani on the ground, ran to him, and stabilized him.   The Dragon again said, “I don’t like Paladins.” He flew down at Juan and hit him once, knocking him unconscious. Out of spite he made a 2nd attack trying to kill Juan. The dragon looked around and said, “Who else is wearing armor?” He spotted Gazlowe and flew to him, biting him as he reached him, leaving him bloodied.   Cassidy called out to Isabella, “Wish for everyone to be healed!” Cassidy dashed, slipped once, but got up and ran some more. Isabella said, “I Wish the dragon would die at the end of this sentence.” The Dragon had a sudden heart attack and fell to the ice. Gazlowe pulled out his spear and the Dragon landed on it, piercing his heart. Gazlowe crawled out from beneath the dragon and said, “Isabella! You might be the smartest person I’ve ever met!” The Stone bearers all cheered for Isabella.

Harvesting

Seften ran towards Juan and cast mass cure wounds saving Juan’s life. With everyone stable, the party, led by Cassidy, started cutting up and harvesting the dragon’s now lifeless body. Cassidy relayed the list of body parts that would be useful to harvest or valuable to sell. Gazlowe ordered teams to attack the ice walls with pickaxes and began extracting the treasure. Cassidy and Isabella began to again feel the cold from their damp clothes. In a rare moment of sympathy explained only by the boundless Dragon treasure, Gazlowe pulled out a 24’ wooden ladder for Isabella and Cassidy to burn so they could stay warm and dry their clothes. See Treasure below.

Rewards Granted

Treasure From the undead Giants:

• 1 Undead Giant pinky toe
• 4 Undead Giant zombie toenails (can be crafted into potion Giant Zombie Strength [STR 20])
• 1 frozen, rotten trout
• 2 Cast iron Cauldrons
• 1 wagon wheel

From Harvesting the Dragon

• 35 days’ worth of dragon stake rations
• 2 White Dragon Wings (44gp each.) Acts as a blanket and allows one to rest comfortably warm even in environments up to 49 below 0 (See item: White Dragon Hide Blanket) This wing can be mastercrafted (leatherworker’s tools) into a cloak that requires attunement and grants its wearer resistance to cold damage (See item: White Dragon Wing Cloak).
• 1 White Dragon Tail (96gp.) Acts as a magical whip +1 (See item: White Dragon Tail Whip.) Can be mastercrafted (alchemist’s supplies) into a Potion of Cold Immunity (grants immunity to cold damage for 1 hour).
• 7 White Dragon Claws (27gp each.) Acts as a magical dagger that requires attunement and deals an additional 4 (1d8) cold damage on a hit (See item: White Dragon Claw Dagger.) Six of these can be mastercrafted (smith’s tools) into a magical sword that when attuned deals an additional 7 (2d6) cold damage on a hit. The cold damage from the sword ignores cold resistance, but not immunity. Alternatively, 6 of them along with 6 White Dragon fangs can be mastercrafted (smith's tools) into a Dragon Slayer sword that does 3d6 dmg to any dragon creature when hit.
• 9 White Dragon Fangs (27gp each.) Acts as a magical Shortsword (See item: White Dragon Fang Shorttsword) that when attuned deals an additional 4 (1d8) cold damage on a hit. If planted into fertile soil, after 1d10 days the tooth will grow into an armed humanoid warrior. The Warrior has the statistics of a Guard (MM pg. 347) except that its type is construct and it has immunity to cold damage. The warrior will attack the first thing it sees, fighting until dead.
• 5 Strips of White Dragon Hide (50gp ea.) Acts as a blanket and allows one to rest comfortably warm even in environments up to 49 below 0 (See item: White Dragon Hide Blanket.) Each can be mastercrafted (leatherworker’s tools) into the equivalent of one of the following: Studded Leather Armor +1, Scale Mail +1, or Splint armor +1. Additionally, the armor requires attunement, and grants the attuned creature the ability to move through difficult terrain composed of ice and snow without expending extra movement and it also grants the attuned a burrow speed of 30 feet in snow and in ice. (Item not yet created in DDB.)
• 1 Ancient White Dragon Heart (342gp.) If a humanoid creature’s heart is removed or damaged in some way, the dragon’s heart can be placed in the wound. This saves the creature’s life, and confers the following benefits: The creature’s Strength, Constitution, and Charisma increase by 2, to a maximum of 22. The creature gains one use of the Legendary Resistance trait (once per day, if the creature fails a saving throw, it may choose to succeed instead). The creature gains immunity to cold damage, a flying speed equal to their walking speed, and darkvision out to 120 feet. Additionally, the creature’s alignment becomes Chaotic Evil if it wasn’t already, and they become an NPC under the DM’s control.
• 1 Ancient White Dragon Ice Gland (2,550 gp). Difficult to handle: DC25 to obtain and will deal 1d8 cold dmg per each point by which the DC failed (max of 16d8) during retrieval. Once removed it deals 9 (2d8) cold damage per round to any creature in contact with it. Can be mastercrafted (alchemist’s supplies) into a White Dragon’s Bane Poison (if ingested, a creature must make a DC 22 Constitution saving throw, taking 72 (16d8) cold damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success). Alternatively, it can be carefully crafted (alchemist's supplies) into a cold damage Bomb whose damage ignores cold resistance. When complete, the Gland has an AC of 10 and 6 HP. When it bursts, each creature within a 30' radius must make a DC 22 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 42 (12d6) cold damage and (unless it is immune to cold damage) is restrained for 1 round. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage and isn’t restrained.
• 15 White Dragon Scales (167gp each.) No immediate use. 21 of these can be mastercrafted (smith’s tools) into a shield that requires attunement and will grant resistance to cold damage, plus a +2 to any Saving Throw to avoid any effect that deals cold damage.
• 1 Ancient White Dragon Frond (235gp.) Acts as a magical hand axe +3. Can be mastercrafted (smith’s tools) into a magical glaive +3 whose attuned wielder can cast Sleet Storm (save DC 17) as an action, up to 1d4+1 times (Item: Ancient White Dragon Glaive)
• 1 flask of White dragon blood.

Treasure from the Dragon Hoard

• Necklace of Fireballs with 9 beads
• Bead of force
• Bracers of Retaliation
• Automated Abacus
• Bookworm's Best Friend
• Copy of Crog’s Guide to Disarming Magic Traps
• Spell Scroll - 3rd level: Revivify
• Spell Scroll - 4th level: Find Greater Steed
• Spell scroll - 6th level: Scatter
• Spell scroll - 7th level: Reverse Gravity
• Spell scroll - 7th level: Fire Storm
• Spell scroll - 8th Level: Antimagic field
• Potion of clairvoyance
• Potion of giant strength (cloud)
• Potion of flying
• Potion of Healing - Supreme
• 2 Potions of Healing – Splash regular
• Potion of Healing – Splash Superior
• Potion of Healing – Splash Bestest Supremior
• 50 blue zircons (worth 10 gp each)
• 10 pearls (worth 100 gp each)
• 2 gold chalices (worth 500 gp each)
• 1 diamond (worth 1,000 gp)
• Dragon statue carved from ice that never melts, dusted with diamond dust (worth 1,000 gp)
• 1 ruby (worth 1,000 gp)
• 1 sapphire (worth 1,000 gp)
• 45,021 sp
• 15,243 gp
• 1,386 pp