Session 16: Brainstorm
General Summary
The party intends to climb up front half of Thywicket, to sneak into the city without cutting their way in. There was some mention of using the spiracles to sneak from inside the worm, similar to sneaking up throught the sewers.
Going across the Back: if the party climbs up to use the walkways, they will quickly notice that there are now patrols of night watchmen, and clockwork watchmen. There are 6 clockworks and 2 mind-controlled guards. If they are spotted, the clockworks blow a whistle, alerting d6 extra clockworks.
DCs for sneaking past the guards: Approaching Thywicket- 8 Climbing up- 10 Under the Walkways- 13 Across the walkways- 15-20, depending on how concentrated guards are The mind-controlled watchmen are somewhat expecting the party to return. The guards will attempt to knock PCs unconscious, so that they can either have their intellect devoured, or be given to Gephemassk to implant. If PCs are knocked unconscious or netted, the clockworks try to drag them to the brig under/behind the temple.
Entering the Spiracles: if the party enters the spiracles, have them enter one of the main chambers, any is fine. When they get to the stomach chamber, they may notice immediately that several of the ganglia look sick. If they search the area, a DC 12 Investigation check will reveal the body of the owner of The Fine Swine dumped in the stomach bile. As a Kalashtar, she was resistant to psychic damage, so her encounter with Gephemassk became physical, and the signs of fresh wounds are obvious.
Gephemassk is in the last chamber, breaking through the cage of thorns that sprouted around the final ganglion.
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The party chose to travel up the cocooned side, then walk to the temple atop the cocoon. They dirtied Claudia, then threw her at the cocoon, and she was able to determine that he had recently left. As Claudia was dirtied, the guards thought the clunk of Claudia hitting the cocoon was a moth smacking into it, and thus ignored. They snuck past the watchmen, toward the bruised spiracle they previously entered. They were noticed by one of the intellect-devoured watchmen, but they lured him in the wrong direction with a well-placed illusory noise.
Inside Thywicket, they quickly found that three of the smaller ganglia were in the process of being transformed by illithid larvae. Visayan attempted to dig one of the larvae out, but it was too firmly attached for him to remove it without harming the nervous tissue. They found the body of the shop owner, and determined that she had been killed recently, so they steeled themselves and prepared to attack. In the final chamber, they found Gephemassk, with two mutated human thralls trying to break through the cage of brambles that formed from the token that Khashayar had placed there. Gephemassk summoned his last 3 intellect devourers, and the battle began. Several of the party were stunned, but Kestrel was able to prevent intellect devourers from getting close enough to brain swap. Steps paralyzed Gephemassk with a stunning strike, allowing for an ungodly number of crits to bring him down. He attempted to flee by turning invisible, but was counterspelled, while Kestrel moved in close to give everyone else pack tactics. As a last resort, Gephemassk relayed a psychic blast through the ganglia undergoing ceremorphosis, causing the city to thrash in pain. Khashayar performed the finishig blow, spearing him with the Amber Skiffhook, paired with the psychic energy of his whispers. As Gephemassk died, some of the same brambles grew from the wound.
The party fled, and most escaped the writhing of the caterpillar unscathed. Visayan was too slow to dodge the stomach teeth, as his arm was caught between the gnashing guts. With his quick reactions, Kestrel was able to reduce the damage Visayan took from 10d10 to 8d10, leaving Visayan with 2 HP: just enough to finish his escape.
Visayan snuck out the bottle of mindflayer
Outside the city, the party fled across the plains, Visayan taking Kestrel with Dimension Door, to the edge of the Coral Forest, with Steps and Khashayar fleeing the throes of the insect on foot. In the distance, half a mile away and also along the edge of the forest, Kestrel's eagle eyes allowed him to make eye contact with an old elf (Sibriil), tucking a large bundle under his arm. Sibriil was able to meet Kestrel's gaze, smirk, and disappear into the forest.
DCs for sneaking past the guards: Approaching Thywicket- 8 Climbing up- 10 Under the Walkways- 13 Across the walkways- 15-20, depending on how concentrated guards are The mind-controlled watchmen are somewhat expecting the party to return. The guards will attempt to knock PCs unconscious, so that they can either have their intellect devoured, or be given to Gephemassk to implant. If PCs are knocked unconscious or netted, the clockworks try to drag them to the brig under/behind the temple.
Entering the Spiracles: if the party enters the spiracles, have them enter one of the main chambers, any is fine. When they get to the stomach chamber, they may notice immediately that several of the ganglia look sick. If they search the area, a DC 12 Investigation check will reveal the body of the owner of The Fine Swine dumped in the stomach bile. As a Kalashtar, she was resistant to psychic damage, so her encounter with Gephemassk became physical, and the signs of fresh wounds are obvious.
Gephemassk is in the last chamber, breaking through the cage of thorns that sprouted around the final ganglion.
_________________________________________________________
The party chose to travel up the cocooned side, then walk to the temple atop the cocoon. They dirtied Claudia, then threw her at the cocoon, and she was able to determine that he had recently left. As Claudia was dirtied, the guards thought the clunk of Claudia hitting the cocoon was a moth smacking into it, and thus ignored. They snuck past the watchmen, toward the bruised spiracle they previously entered. They were noticed by one of the intellect-devoured watchmen, but they lured him in the wrong direction with a well-placed illusory noise.
Inside Thywicket, they quickly found that three of the smaller ganglia were in the process of being transformed by illithid larvae. Visayan attempted to dig one of the larvae out, but it was too firmly attached for him to remove it without harming the nervous tissue. They found the body of the shop owner, and determined that she had been killed recently, so they steeled themselves and prepared to attack. In the final chamber, they found Gephemassk, with two mutated human thralls trying to break through the cage of brambles that formed from the token that Khashayar had placed there. Gephemassk summoned his last 3 intellect devourers, and the battle began. Several of the party were stunned, but Kestrel was able to prevent intellect devourers from getting close enough to brain swap. Steps paralyzed Gephemassk with a stunning strike, allowing for an ungodly number of crits to bring him down. He attempted to flee by turning invisible, but was counterspelled, while Kestrel moved in close to give everyone else pack tactics. As a last resort, Gephemassk relayed a psychic blast through the ganglia undergoing ceremorphosis, causing the city to thrash in pain. Khashayar performed the finishig blow, spearing him with the Amber Skiffhook, paired with the psychic energy of his whispers. As Gephemassk died, some of the same brambles grew from the wound.
The party fled, and most escaped the writhing of the caterpillar unscathed. Visayan was too slow to dodge the stomach teeth, as his arm was caught between the gnashing guts. With his quick reactions, Kestrel was able to reduce the damage Visayan took from 10d10 to 8d10, leaving Visayan with 2 HP: just enough to finish his escape.
Visayan snuck out the bottle of mindflayer
Outside the city, the party fled across the plains, Visayan taking Kestrel with Dimension Door, to the edge of the Coral Forest, with Steps and Khashayar fleeing the throes of the insect on foot. In the distance, half a mile away and also along the edge of the forest, Kestrel's eagle eyes allowed him to make eye contact with an old elf (Sibriil), tucking a large bundle under his arm. Sibriil was able to meet Kestrel's gaze, smirk, and disappear into the forest.
Report Date
21 Dec 2025
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