Session 10 - Snakes On A Plain

Catching Up and Lashing Out

  The group reconvene as Deltair returns from his errands to Sweetfields, to find the group recovering from their previous exploits. Marty immediately disappears into her room with Karthus’ magic tome, and the rest take a moment to recouperate and catch Del up on the goings-on during his absence.   After that refreshing interlude, the group approach Marty to see if she’s learned anything from the book, only to find that she’s very emphatically closed herself off. With time pressing on, the hotheaded decision is made to force their way into her room and demand answers from her. A very tense contratemps arises, with issues of trust coming to the forefront. While feelings are hurt, the group bundles into the cart and heads to Portal 8 and Alt Ascir. Under Fen’s guidance the group head out on the smaller road towards Feymoor, his local knowledge providing a safe route and a good camping space.  

#NotADruid

  The group hole up for the night. Tris brings Peiskos and Bryn aside to speak to them about the revelation of Maks’ true face. Bryn tries to gently ease her fears and Peiskos agrees, both of them assuring her that the dicussion will come up in due time, but that Maks meant no harm by hiding.   Bryn and Maks playing some music and Tatil telling a tale, with Peiskos providing flame-based images to illustrate the story. Despite the tensions in the group it’s a jovial moment. Nira takes it upon herself to keep a close eye on Marty to stop her from running away after the conflict back at the brownstone. During the first watch she and Fen talk to Marty about what happened, with both parties apologizing for their parts and the escalation. The next watch is Niranen and Tatil, with the pair of them staying alert and watchful. Niranen notices that Maks is only pretending to sleep and offers her some passing, quiet reassurance, while Tatil also notices but stays in alert in the trees. The third watch is Bryn and Del, with the two of them staying buisnesslike as they keep an eye out while preparing to decamp. As they do, Peiskos is out hunting as a spider and sees a group of fleeing villagers. As he does, the rest of the group see a woman run into camp with a large chunk lost from her shoulder. While Niranen rushes in first to assist the woman, Peiskos leads the other refugees to the group’s camp.   Fen talks with two of them, Cartas and Dul, who update him on the situation in Feymoor. The druidic Circle of Decay are taking advantage of the undead incursion, draining them of their life forces for… some as yet unknown purpose. Only the defenders of Feymoor are left in place, all the villagers are either captured or drained or fled. As Niranen and Fen remain behind to tend to the refugees, the rest of the group heads off to assist as best as they can – Peiskos and Tatil travel ahead to scout out the terrain, finding a draining in progress. Three villagers are being actively drained by one Decay Druid while others are locked into magical circles to await their fate.  

Marty Learns The Power Of Hugging

  As the group spread out into the trees and across the valley they begin to move forward. Ahead of them are an array of skeletons and two large bone skeletons. Tatil rushes ahead and destroys a skeleton in the foliage, only to have two more come whirling at her from the foliage. Marty creates a movable wall of dirt as cover, then calls to Del to move up as Tris and Maks move into position, Tris being joined by several Mirror Images of herself. Peiskos drops his spidery form and creates a thorny layer of spines near the bone spiders. Surrounded by two of the undead creatures, one of the bone snakes tries to use magic to hold Tatil in place, but with a flash of inspiration of a focus of will, Tatil is able to break through the spell.   As Bryn, then Deltair get closer to the magic circles, they’re used as batteries to fuel magical bolts of force firing at them. Unfortunately one of the villagers collapses from the spell’s effect, but Marty infuses herself with False Life and hugs the villager within the circle to deliver the wrong charge of magic to the circle and short it out. Del charges over the circle, with Maks backing him up by shredding a skeleton as they flank before Cliff jumps Del perfectly over the magic circle to bash a skeleton into the area of thorns Peiskos had previously created. As the freed villager flees, Tatil unloads on the skeletons surrounding her, pummelling them with vigorous blows and sword slashes, sending clouds of shattered bone into the air, downing one of her assailants with a series of acrobatic attacks.   Two more skeletons attack Del, but he fends them off with ease and wheels about on Cliff, keeping them away with Cliff’s flank and his shield. One of the bone skeletons wheels around and moves towards Del, blasting he and Bryn with a black necrotic lightning bolt. While Del manages to avoid the worst, it blasts Bryn full force, forcing him to a knee with a gasp, before Peiskos utters his healing word, “Lethe!” He then turns and uses his Thorn Whip to pull another villager free of a circle.. unfortunately knocking him out at the time with an errant crit. The second Bone Snake tries to force Tatil to flee, but as a cat Tatil entirely ignored them. Bryn, meanwhile, moved forward and slunk behind another tree, before causing a huge shattering noise in the vicinity of the bone snake and Decay Druid. Sadly it was less effecatious than he hoped.   Del entered into melee with the skeletons crowding him, throwing a skeleton back into the mass of thorns, which entangle with him and tear him apart. Marty moves up and casts Hold Person on the Decay Druid, freeing the encircled villagers… though not the ones being actively drained. As the freed villagers pick their way painfully through the thorns to escape, Tatil continues to fight with the skeleton, trading blows and definitely coming off the better. Del is also hit by a skeleton, making him wince. Tris closes with one of the bone snakes, her fingernails elongating into claws that drip acid, and she rakes them along it’s body, causing it to writhe in anger. One of the bone skeletons attacks Peiskos, sinking it’s fangs into the demonic bear’s form. Peiskos responds, snapping at it with foaming jaws and mauling it with his great paws. The second bone snake manages to land a hit on Tris despite her Mirror Images, but she brushes it off for the time being.     Out of a blue sky Gwyl streaks down on the held cultist, sinking his claws into his cheeks while Bryn channels a blast of electricity into him, killing him. The snakes thrash in anger… or maybe pain..? Before Del charges into one of the snakes from the left, skewering it with his lance as he charges through, Cliff pulverizing it’s bones before he smashes his shield into the second snake, knocking it into the tree and tangling it up. Marty attempts to Toll it, though it resists, and Maks charges in with rapier and dagger, carving through the bones with jarring slashes that leave it reeling.   Next up was Tatil, cracking her knuckles before unleashing on the squirming bone snake, shattering it’s skull with three final, punishing, bone-pulverizing blows.   The group take some time to heal up the unconscious villagers, taking them back to the camp as Tris dances with her mirror images and Bryn rewards a triumphant Gwyl with strips of mango.