Session 093: The Orb is Down Report

The Wild Cards get betrayed as the tiefling takes the orb.

General Summary

10/25/2025

Wild Cards

Redfall 26, 2023 KC, evening

Volcanic Dragon Lair, Island south of Outding Refuge it seems. Recap

After defeating the black pudding they took a short rest before planning to assault the dragon.

Summary

The party stood at the threshold of the black dragon's lair, their quest to slay the beast drawing them deeper into the winding tunnels. The cats of Ultharr had promised them power if they succeeded, and the stakes were high—Vecna's haunting presence loomed over them, and time itself had become unstable since the God of Time was kidnapped. As they approached the final corner, a vile voice echoed through the chamber, taunting a captive about torture and prophecies. The captive, their voice strained and familiar, spoke of a witch named Tarista who had twisted their knowledge, leading to their capture and the death of their familiar. The dragon's cruel laughter was followed by a scream that sent chills through the party. Before entering the lair, the party prepared for battle. Sas transformed into a giant eagle, her form shifting to provide both mobility and protection. Shadow drank a potion that granted her the ability to fly, while Barlo infused himself with the power to breathe lightning. Shadow turned invisible and crept forward to scout the entrance, her keen senses picking up the sounds of scuttling and the dim greenish glow of acidic fog. An arrow suddenly struck her from the mist, revealing the presence of hidden archers. She called out a warning to her companions, describing the dragon's location approximately one hundred feet to the northwest, clinging to a tall black obelisk. As the party entered the chamber, the dragon's terrifying presence washed over them. Most of the group felt an overwhelming fear grip their hearts, freezing them in place and preventing them from advancing. The dragon's vile voice welcomed them, and the sound of leathery wings filled the air as it took flight. Hidden archers fired from the mist, their arrows striking Artie and Calliope, though Shadow and Barlo remained unscathed. Calliope, despite her fear, played a lively tune on her pan flute, granting Barlo the ability to fly. The Gnome Wizard, Barnaby, cast a spell of haste upon Sas, doubling her speed and enhancing her defenses, while the Aarakocra Paladin, Vorn, blessed her with a protective shield. Shadow soared higher into the fog-filled chamber, her vision cutting through the mist to reveal the dragon clinging to the obelisk. She fired a poison arrow that struck true, and strange reddish-black and gold energy emanated from the wound, shooting back towards a location in the northwest. Her second arrow also hit, and again, colored light wisps flowed from the dragon towards an unseen crystal. Barlo flew up to the obelisk and grappled onto the dragon's back, his claws digging into its scales as he slashed and breathed fire down its neck. The dragon retaliated, striking Barlo with its claws and attempting to dislodge him, but Barlo held on with fierce determination. Sas and Bastion, now free from their fear, flew towards the ship's mast where a glowing orb sat encased in a metallic mechanism adorned with red, green, and purple crystals. Sas attacked the mechanism with her talons, but it proved to be well-protected. Bastion struck with his rapier, dealing damage and causing small crystal shards to break off. Calliope attempted to weaken the dragon with a spell of dissonant whispers, but the dragon resisted the full effect. Shadow continued her assault, firing arrows at both the orb and the dragon, while her summoned air elemental positioned itself near the orb, ready to strike. The dragon unleashed its acid breath, a devastating torrent that struck Sas and Bastion on the ship's mast. The force of the attack caused Sas to revert from her eagle form, and both she and Bastion plummeted from the mast, crashing onto the ship's deck below. Sas reached out to grab Bastion as they fell, attempting to cushion his impact. The hidden archers continued their relentless assault, firing arrows from the mist at the party members. Despite the chaos, the Aarakocra Paladin bravely moved forward and healed Calliope with a touch of divine energy, while the Gnome Wizard sent magical missiles streaking towards the dragon. As the battle raged on, the Tiefling Rogue, who had been working on the orb mechanism, successfully unlocked it with his thieves' tools. He took the orb and placed it in his bag, looking at his companions with a sorrowful expression. He apologized, saying "sorry, guys," before pulling out a scroll and attempting to teleport away. Bastion, recognizing the betrayal, attempted to counter the spell, but the magic was too powerful for him to stop. However, the rogue's own attempt to cast the spell also failed, leaving him stranded on the mast with the stolen orb. With the orb no longer protecting the dragon, the party's attacks became more effective. Sas cast a powerful healing spell on Bastion, restoring his strength, and then summoned a skeletal hand that crushed into the dragon, dealing significant damage. Bastion fired scorching rays at the orb mechanism, causing more crystals to break off. Calliope attempted to trap the dragon in an illusion, but the dragon's wisdom allowed it to resist. Shadow, still invisible, flew towards the orb and fired arrows, while Barlo continued his relentless assault from the ground, slashing and breathing fire at the dragon. The dragon, now vulnerable without the orb's protection, fought more fiercely. It attacked the Aarakocra Paladin with its claws, dealing devastating damage. The Gnome Wizard, Charlie Sprocket, bravely rushed forward, shouting his name as he launched firebolts at the dragon. The party observed that the orb still possessed some healing properties, as yellow and white light flowed from it towards the dragon, mending some of the wounds they had inflicted. The battle continued with renewed intensity, the party determined to defeat the dragon and reclaim the stolen orb from the treacherous rogue.

Scenes

Approach to the Dragon's Lair

The party navigates dark tunnels leading to the black dragon's lair, preparing for the confrontation while overhearing a chilling conversation between the dragon and a captive.

The party, having explored vast tunnels, approaches the black dragon's lair, noticing a greenish glow from around the corner.
They overhear a vile voice, presumably the black dragon, torturing someone and demanding information.
A familiar but distant voice, belonging to a captive, speaks of prophecies from Tarista, a witch, and being captured after their familiar was killed.
The dragon expresses enjoyment of torture, followed by a loud scream from the captive.

Pre-Combat Preparations

Before entering the dragon's lair, the party strategizes and prepares for battle, with Sas transforming into a giant eagle and other members consuming potions and casting protective spells.

Sas transforms into a giant eagle, intending to fly directly to the orb and provide a damage buffer.
Shadow drinks a potion of fly, gaining the ability to soar through the air.
Barlo casts Dragon's Breath on himself, choosing lightning as his breath weapon.
Shadow uses Nature's Veil to become invisible and attempts to scout the entrance to the lair.
Shadow performs a perception check, discerning the dragon's location clinging to an obelisk approximately 100 feet up.
The Gnome Wizard casts Haste on Sas, doubling her speed, increasing her Armor Class, and granting an additional action.
The Aarakocra Paladin casts Shield of Faith on Sas, granting her a bonus to her Armor Class.

Lair Entry and Dragon's Frightful Presence

Shadow enters the dragon's lair, encountering a fog-filled chamber and immediately coming under arrow fire. The dragon reveals itself and unleashes a terrifying roar that frightens most of the party.

Shadow, invisible, moves into the lair, finding her vision limited by an acidic fog that bites at her skin, though a pin she wears offers some protection.
She perceives noises from the north corner and scuttling sounds, indicating hidden threats.
An arrow strikes Shadow from the mist, dealing damage and revealing the presence of archers.
The party rolls for initiative as combat begins.
Calliope enters the room and warns her allies about the dragon's location and the arrow attack Shadow sustained.
Barlo rages and uses Call of the Hunt to buff Bastion, Sas, and the Tiefling with additional damage.
The dragon's vile voice welcomes the visitors, and Shadow hears the leathery flap of its wings as it takes flight.
The dragon unleashes its frightful presence, causing most of the party, including Sas, Bastion, Calliope, Artie, and the Tiefling to become frightened, preventing them from willingly moving closer.
Hidden archers fire arrows from the mist, striking Artie and Calliope, while Shadow and Barlo's positioning protects them.
Calliope prepares to cast Vicious Mockery, holding her action until she sees a target.
Sas and Bastion remain in the hallway, unable to move forward due to fear.

Initial Assault on the Dragon

The party begins their assault on the black dragon, with Shadow and Barlo engaging it directly while Sas and Bastion fly towards the protective orb.

Calliope, still frightened, drops her held Vicious Mockery and uses her pan flute to cast Fly on Barlo.
Calliope successfully overcomes her fear at the end of her turn.
Shadow flies higher to gain a better view of the dragon clinging to the obelisk.
Shadow fires a poison arrow at the dragon, using a clockwork amulet to ensure the hit, dealing piercing and poison damage.
Reddish, black, and gold energy emanates from the dragon's wound and traces back towards a location in the northwest.
Shadow's second arrow strikes the dragon, and again, colored light wisps shoot towards and are absorbed by a crystal.
Shadow's Air Elemental flies towards the obelisk.
Barlo flies up to the obelisk and grapples onto the dragon's back, attacking it with his claws and breathing fire down its back.
The dragon attempts to swat Barlo with its tail, but Barlo skillfully evades the attack.
The dragon crawls down the obelisk and attacks Barlo with its claws, striking him twice and dealing slashing damage.
The dragon senses the presence of the other NPCs, noting that Ursa sent them.
Archers hidden in the mist fire arrows at the party, but Shadow and Barlo are unaffected.
The Aarakocra Paladin moves forward and heals Calliope with Lay on Hands, restoring hit points.
The Tiefling Rogue drinks a potion and becomes invisible.
Sas and Bastion overcome their fear and fly towards the ship's mast where the orb is located.
Barnaby, the Gnome Wizard, casts Magic Missile from the hallway, striking the dragon and causing energy signals to return to the orb.

Assault on the Orb Mechanism

Sas and Bastion focus their efforts on disabling the protective orb mechanism while the party continues to engage the dragon.

Sas, in giant eagle form, observes a metallic mechanism holding a glowing orb on the ship's mast, made of metal similar to that found on a floating island, adorned with red, green, and purple crystals.
Sas attacks the orb's mechanism with her talons, but it proves to be well-protected.
Bastion strikes the orb mechanism with his rapier and True Strike, dealing piercing, thunder, and radiant damage, causing crystals to break off.
Calliope casts Dissonant Whispers at the dragon, causing purple energy to appear around its ears and then mix with the crystal, dealing some damage.
Shadow flies closer to the orb, shooting an arrow at it, causing shards of crystal to break off.
Shadow's second shot hits the dragon, and more colored light wisps shoot towards and are absorbed by the crystal.
Barlo continues to attack the dragon from its back, slashing at it with his claws and breathing fire down its neck.
Barlo attempts to infect the dragon with Infectious Fury, but the dragon resists the effect.
The dragon attacks the Aarakocra Paladin with its claws, dealing significant damage.
The dragon attempts to dislodge Barlo with a claw attack, causing him to lose his grip and fall from the obelisk.
Barlo uses his reaction to grab onto the obelisk, slowing his fall and taking reduced damage.

Dragon's Breath Attack and Fall from the Mast

The dragon unleashes its acid breath, striking Sas and Bastion and causing them to fall from the ship's mast.

The dragon unleashes its acid breath attack, striking Sas and Bastion who are on the ship's mast, dealing significant damage.
Hidden archers fire arrows from the mist, striking Sas and Bastion.
Sas's Eagle form drops due to the damage, causing her and Bastion to fall from the ship's mast onto the deck.
Sas reaches around to grab Bastion as they fall, attempting to cushion his fall.
Both Sas and Bastion take fall damage upon impact with the ship's deck.
The Aarakocra Paladin attempts to strike the dragon with his greatsword but misses both attacks.

Rogue's Betrayal and Orb Theft

The halfling rogue betrays the party by stealing the protective orb and attempting to teleport away, but his escape is thwarted.

The Tiefling Rogue uses thieves' tools to unlock the mechanism holding the orb on the ship's mast.
The rogue takes the orb and places it in his bag, looking at his compatriots with a sense of sorrow.
The rogue apologizes to his companions, saying 'sorry, guys,' before attempting to escape.
The rogue attempts to cast a teleportation spell from a scroll.
Bastion attempts to counterspell the rogue's teleportation, but the spell is too high level for him to automatically counter.
Bastion fails his ability check to successfully counterspell the rogue's teleportation.
The rogue's own attempt to cast the spell from the scroll also fails, as he is unable to cast a spell of that high level.
The rogue remains on the mast with the orb, his escape attempt unsuccessful.

Continued Combat Without the Orb's Protection

With the orb no longer protecting the dragon, the party continues their assault, dealing more effective damage.

Sas casts Heal on Bastion, restoring a significant amount of his hit points.
Sas casts Chill Touch on the dragon, dealing significant necrotic damage.
Sas observes that no light wisps emerge from the dragon after the Chill Touch attack, indicating the orb's protective magic is no longer active.
Bastion casts Scorching Ray at the orb mechanism, hitting multiple times and dealing fire damage, causing more crystals to break off.
Barnaby, the Gnome Wizard, casts a fireball at the dragon, but it misses its mark.
The party observes a yellow and white light emanating from the orb area, flowing towards the dragon and mending some of the damage they had inflicted, revealing the orb still has some healing properties.
Calliope attempts to cast Phantasmal Killer on the dragon, but the dragon resists the magical illusion.
Shadow, using her invisibility, flies towards the orb and fires an arrow, causing piercing and force damage, breaking off small crystal shards.
Shadow then targets the dragon with another arrow, and upon impact, sees colored light wisps shoot from the dragon towards the crystal area.
Shadow's Air Elemental positions itself near the orb, holding its action to attack if the dragon comes within range.
Barlo continues his relentless assault with his claws, causing damage.
Barlo breathes fire down the dragon's back, inflicting fire damage.
The dragon attacks the Aarakocra Paladin with its claws, inflicting slashing and acid damage.
The Aarakocra Paladin attempts to strike the dragon with his greatsword, but misses.
The Gnome Wizard, Charlie Sprocket, bravely rushes forward and casts Rocket Sprocket at the dragon, hitting it with firebolts and dealing damage.
The session concludes at the top of the round, with the gnome's attack being the last action.

Session Conclusion

The part is still fighting the black dragon. Experience & Leveling

t Milestone Experience: 2,000 | Total: 152,650 (Next Goal: 165,000) t Current Location The Party was left at the main room of the Swampy Black Dragon Lair as they defeated the orb, but still had the dragon to contend with.

Rewards Granted

Experience



t Experience: 5,000 | Total: 157,650 (Next Goal: 165,000) t

Missions/Quests Completed

Character(s) interacted with

Characters

Creatures

Created Content

2023

10 (Redfall)

26, 2023 KC

The Wild Cards return to Thornwinds to handle some things, get some news, and go to face an evil black dragon.

— Timeline of The Mighty Menagerie

Locations

Items of Note

Factions

Wild Cards

Misc

Related Reports

Show spoiler

Npcs

Irgish the Illustrious (Black Dragon)

An adult black dragon with a vile, grabbly, and dangerous voice. He is cunning, wise, and powerful, capable of acid breath attacks and devastating physical strikes. He possesses a frightful presence that paralyzes foes with fear. Initially protected by a magical orb that absorbs damage and heals him, he becomes more vulnerable and fights more fiercely once the orb is removed. He reveals a past agreement with Ursa that he intended to betray, and expresses that he never liked the deal with her. He is found torturing a captive in his lair.

Captive

A tortured individual being held by the dragon, who speaks of prophecies from Tarista, a witch. They mention that Tarista's guards captured them, the dragon killed their familiar, and they have been tortured since. They claim to no longer remember what the dragon wants from them, indicating a past connection to magical knowledge or prophecies.

Aarakocra Paladin (Vorn)

One of three adventurers sent by Ursa/Phyreth. He is visibly terrified of the dragon, even more so than the party, but bravely enters the lair to support them. He casts Shield of Faith on Sas and uses Lay on Hands to heal Calliope. He wields a greatsword and attempts to engage the dragon in melee combat, though he struggles to land hits. Despite his fear, he pushes forward to aid the party.

Gnome Wizard (Barnaby/Charlie Sprocket)

One of three adventurers sent by Ursa/Phyreth. He is initially frightened by the dragon's presence but eventually gains courage. He casts supportive spells like Haste on Sas and offensive spells like Magic Missile and Rocket Sprocket at the dragon. He bravely rushes forward, yelling 'Rocket Sprocket' as he attacks, showing courage despite the danger.

Tiefling Rogue (Halfling Rogue)

One of three adventurers sent by Ursa/Phyreth. He is skilled with thieves' tools and successfully disarms the orb from its mechanism on the ship's mast. He drinks a potion to become invisible and later betrays the party and his companions by stealing the orb. He expresses sorrow, saying 'sorry, guys,' before attempting to teleport away using a scroll. His escape attempt fails when he is unable to successfully cast the spell from the scroll, leaving him stranded on the mast with the stolen orb.

Archers

Unseen combatants hidden within the dragon's lair, firing arrows from the mist. They act as a lair feature rather than individual enemies, striking at party members who enter the room. Their loyalty appears to be to the dragon.

Ursa/Phyreth

A doppelganger who has taken the place of the party's old friend Ursa and is running the magic academy at Oakhaven Refuge. She sent the three adventurers to the dragon's lair, possibly with a hidden agenda. The dragon reveals he had an agreement with her that he intended to betray, and he didn't expect her to betray him first.

Locations

Tunnels

Vast, dark passages leading to the dragon's lair, where the party made progress and encountered new allies. The air is thick with acidic fog as they approach the lair.

Black Dragon's Lair

A very large chamber filled with acidic fog and a dim greenish glow. It contains a ship with an orb on its mast, a tall black obelisk, and acidic water. Hidden archers are positioned throughout the mist-shrouded room, firing at intruders.

Ship

Located within the dragon's lair, it holds the protective orb on one of its masts. The orb is encased in a metallic mechanism similar to the floating island's metal, adorned with red, green, and purple crystals. The mast is approximately 60 feet high.

Obelisk

A very tall, black obelisk located within the dragon's lair, rising from a raised platform above acidic water. The dragon uses it as a perch and vantage point, clinging to it at approximately 100-110 feet up.

Spells

Wild Shape (Giant Eagle)

Sas transforms into a giant eagle, gaining flight and a damage buffer. As a giant eagle, she has keen sight, granting advantage on wisdom perception checks that rely on sight, and a flight speed of 80 feet.

Dragon's Breath

Barlo casts this spell on himself, choosing lightning as the element for his breath weapon. He later uses it against the dragon, though he switches to using a Fire Breath potion instead.

Nature's Veil

Shadow uses this ranger ability to become invisible for a single turn, allowing her to scout ahead into the dragon's lair with enhanced stealth and gaining advantage on stealth checks.

Call of the Hunt

Barlo uses this barbarian ability to grant Bastion, Sas, and the Tiefling an additional damage die on one of their damage rolls per turn, while also gaining temporary hit points himself.

Shield of Faith

The Aarakocra Paladin casts this spell on Sas, granting her a plus two bonus to her Armor Class for ten minutes or until the paladin's concentration is broken, enhancing her defenses.

Haste

The Gnome Wizard casts this spell on Sas, doubling her speed, granting an additional plus two bonus to her Armor Class, advantage on Dexterity saving throws, and an additional action on her turns that can be used for specific actions like attacking with one weapon, dashing, disengaging, hiding, or using an object.

Vicious Mockery

Calliope prepares to cast this bard cantrip, intending to use it on the first enemy she sees, but holds her action due to lack of visibility and ultimately drops it without casting.

Fly

Calliope casts this spell on Barlo using her pan flute, granting him the ability to fly for the duration, allowing him to reach the dragon and engage in aerial combat.

Magic Missile

Barnaby, the Gnome Wizard, casts this spell, sending three darts of magical force towards the dragon. The energy from these hits is observed to flow back to the orb, being absorbed by it.

Dissonant Whispers

Calliope casts this bard spell at the dragon, causing it psychic damage. Purple energy appears around the dragon's ears before mixing with the orb's energy. The dragon resists the full effect, taking half damage and not being forced to move away.

Chill Touch

Sas casts this warlock cantrip, summoning a skeletal hand to deal necrotic damage. She uses it to attack both the orb mechanism and the dragon. When cast on the dragon after the orb is removed, it deals significant damage and prevents the energy transfer to the orb, confirming the orb's protective influence is gone.

True Strike

Bastion uses this cantrip to gain advantage on an attack roll against the orb mechanism, dealing radiant and thunder damage with his rapier.

Scorching Ray

Bastion casts this spell at level six or seven at the orb mechanism, sending multiple rays of fire that strike and damage it, causing crystals to break off.

Phantasmal Killer

Calliope attempts to cast this spell on the dragon, aiming to inflict fear and psychic damage, but the dragon succeeds on its wisdom saving throw and resists the magical illusion.

Rocket Sprocket

The Gnome Wizard, Charlie Sprocket, casts this unique spell, launching firebolts at the dragon and dealing fire damage.

Heal

Sas casts this powerful sixth-level healing spell on Bastion, restoring seventy hit points to him after he takes significant damage.

Counterspell

Bastion attempts to cast this spell at level five to interrupt the Tiefling Rogue's teleportation scroll. However, the scroll's spell is higher than fifth level, so Bastion must make an ability check using his spellcasting modifier against a difficulty of ten plus the spell's level. He fails the check, and the counterspell fizzles out, though the rogue's own casting also fails.

Lay on Hands

The Aarakocra Paladin uses this ability to heal Calliope, restoring twenty-nine hit points to her.

Infectious Fury

Barlo attempts to use this barbarian ability on the dragon, forcing it to make a wisdom saving throw. The dragon succeeds on the save, resisting the effect.

Frightful Presence

A terrifying aura emanating from the Black Dragon that causes fear in creatures within one hundred twenty feet who are aware of it. Affected creatures must succeed on a wisdom saving throw or become frightened, unable to willingly move closer to the dragon. The effect can be resisted at the end of each turn.

Invisibility

A spell that Calliope considers casting on herself and Shadow but realizes it is a concentration spell and would break upon attacking. The Tiefling Rogue later uses a potion or ability to become invisible.

Fireball

A powerful explosive spell cast by Barnaby at the dragon, but it misses its target.

Hypnotic Pattern

Calliope considers casting this spell to incapacitate the dragon, but decides against it due to the dragon's position, high wisdom, and the fact that the dragon successfully resists it when she does cast it.

Misty Step

A teleportation spell that Barlo considers using to move across the acidic water, but decides against it due to the dragon's position.

Hex

A warlock spell that Sas considers casting on the dragon to curse it, but she changes her mind.

Ray of Frost

A warlock cantrip that Sas considers casting on the dragon, but she changes her mind.

Items

Black Pudding

A deadly creature encountered in the portal room. It seemed to have mixed with a magic chrome entity, which was then absorbed into Barlo's skin, connecting it to past Fae Wild experiments involving doppelganger chrome creatures.

Myconid

A small fungal creature that had been with Sas in her spores. It found the dragon's lair to be a perfect home for its next colony.

A pin worn by Shadow that protects her from the acidic fog in the dragon's lair and allows her to see more clearly in the limited visibility.

Orb

A glowing orb located on top of a ship's mast in the dragon's lair, encased in a metallic mechanism. It protects the dragon by absorbing damage dealt to it, manifesting as colored light wisps (red, black, gold, yellow, white, purple) that transfer from the dragon's wounds to the crystal. It also provides healing to the dragon. The mechanism is made of metal similar to that found on the floating island and is adorned with red, green, and purple crystals. It was successfully unlocked and stolen by the Tiefling Rogue.

Potion of Fly

A magical potion that grants the drinker the ability to fly, providing the full effects of the fly spell without requiring concentration. Shadow consumed one to gain flight.

Potion of Giant Strength

A magical potion that temporarily increases the drinker's strength. Barlo consumed one, though it only provided a minor boost to his already high strength.

Fire Breath Potion

A magical potion consumed by Barlo that allows him to breathe fire, dealing fire damage to enemies.

Clockwork Amulet

An amulet held by Shadow that allows her to forgo a die roll and automatically get a 10 on the dice for an attack, ensuring a hit.

Pan Flute

Calliope's musical instrument, which she uses to cast spells. She played a lively tune to cast Fly on Barlo.

Scroll (Teleportation)

A magical scroll used by the Tiefling Rogue to attempt a teleportation spell after stealing the orb. The scroll contains a high-level spell (7th level). Bastion attempted to counterspell it, but the spell was too powerful for him to automatically counter. The rogue's own attempt to cast the spell from the scroll also failed, as he was unable to successfully cast a spell of that high level.

Thieves' Tools

Tools used by the Tiefling Rogue to expertly unlock the mechanism holding the orb on the ship's mast.

Glamour Weave Cloak

An uncommon magical cloak worn by Calliope that allows her to use a bonus action to create a moving illusory pattern, enabling her to blend in with her surroundings and camouflage herself.

Poisoned Arrow

An arrow used by Shadow that deals piercing and significant poison damage. When it strikes the dragon, strange reddish-black and gold energy emanates from the wound and shoots back towards the orb.