DnD Monday #67(317) Played 2019 12 02 - ... (Tarsakh 3rd, 1490)

INTRODUCTION

When last we left team Food for Wyrms,

the party had decided to separate, with

GILIMBA, JEDEVES and ANDREA

headed to CANDLEKEEP to update ZUUR and get advice

and BALGRI, E'SSL, GRUMBLEBELLY, MOSS and SHAMIRA remaining behind to see what's up

with the approaching party that SEEMS to have a REVIVITOR ORB.

What could go wrong?

SCENE 01 - CANDLEKEEP - Introductions

In which the party arrives and meets the AVOWED (Goodsir, Goodlady)

• GILIMBA, JEDEVES & ANDREA arrive in CANDLEKEEP in an outdoor courtyard. 
• The weather is blustery (though not cold) and no one seems to be present to meet you.
• JED tells you that 
• ... there's a CANDLEKEEP INN if we want to get a room to stay in 
• ... there are NECESSITARIUMS - towers for private study, available to rent
• GILIMBA looking around nervously for someone she recognizes - wants to find her father, but not sure how to go about it. 
• ANDREA - rather excited to be here, after having heard a lot about it over the years
• Looks for the nearest person to ask where the residents of LONGSADDLE are staying
• A pair of monks appear walking down a path nearby (JED tells you they are THE AVOWED)
• ANDREA asks the AVOWED about the whereabouts of the CANDLEKEEP party
• One seems like she's trying to remember something between appointments, but the other turns to speak with you.
• "Goodlady, how can I be of service to you today?"
• JEDEVES steps behind ANDREA to become a bit less visible / obvious (in public, going to be working to not be noticed)
• The AVOWED - "I'm going to take you to someone who knows where they are. I'll escort you to the head of security. 
• Motions for you to follow
• Approach the outer most wall of the library and an apparent guard post. 

SCENE 02 - LONGSADDLE - Frienemies?

In which the party must decide how to deal with the approaching party and ...

• Whatever obscures visibility to LONGSADDLE has re-sealed itself and the village is no longer visible. 
• On a ridge 5 miles distant, SHAMIRA says the REVIVITOR seemed to be reacting to the presence of whoever is advancing ... at least that's how it SEEMS. 
• The orb has never reacted to anything like this before. 
• SHAMIRA had shouted out last time "That's them!" as the distant party approached. 
• SHAMIRA - "They know where we are, their orb is probably doing the exact same thing ours is, and the odds are they are at least alive, they are not undead. Hiding isn't really an option. We can stay put or go to meet them."
• E'SSL - "Do we expect them to be hostile?"
• MOSS - "Where we are now, we have nowhere to fall back, with this barrier behind us? Advancing is probably a good idea."
• SHAMIRA - "Weapons at the ready, but not drawn."
• MOSS - "Should we bring any of the armor with us?"
• E'SSL - "We could leave them here, appearing to be an accompanying army"
• SHAMIRA - "Or bring us part of the way with us"
• It starts to mist and get a little foggy in the area ... 
• James begins drawing a proposed plan on the board at this point.

SCENE 03 - CANDLEKEEP - Up The Stairs

In which the party are lead to the Neccessarium where Zuur and his council meet. 

• Arriving at a Guard Post, the AVOWED bows and then mutters something to the attending GUARD about LONGSADDLE and REFUGEES. 
• The GUARD motions the AVOWED away. 
• The GUARD leans out ... "What's yer bizness?"
• ANDREA - "We need to speak to ZUUR from LONGSADDLE. We've been investigating the undead invasions and we have information that we'd like to communicate to him and the other wizards from LONGSADDLE, and we brought his daughter back."
• The GUARD is clearly taken aback by the gravity of what you've just said (he's used to more requests like "I've come to find an old dusty book, and I'm lost" ... your request is MUCH more significant than he's used to dealing with on a regular basis. 
• Flips through a book on his side of the window, looking for something
• "ZUUR, ZUUR, ZUUR ... One of you GILIMBA?"
• GILIMBA is standing still, gazing around in awe, not responding to questions."
• JED steps out: "Guard, please get someone for us to speak with, it's not your position or mine, we are here to deliver"
• The GUARD will look at JED - "I recognize her, hauling stuff form place to place"
• They'd know if JED said "I was told to bring something or someone here or there, they'd believe that."
• The GUARD turns and yells "SKORB!  SKORB! (someone's name who's out of view)
• Rustling sounds come from behind. 
• The GUARD thrusts a key at SKORB and barks "Tower Six!"
• SKORB heads into one of the main entances into the LIBRARY
• JED leans in through the guard post window to whisper to the GUARD "Thank you very much, I can slip you a flagon of ale after your shift" (bit of a bribe ;) )
• SKORB moves into the LIBRARY, assuming that you know where you're going so they aren't paying much attention as you follow behind
• Enter a LONG tall corridor, lined with shelves filled with tomes and documents.
• NOTE - JED and those knowledgeable of CANDLEKEEP's protocols would realize that you weren't required to donate a valuable tome to gain admittance. This is VERY strange. 
• Various studious types study as you pass. 
• You begin making your way up a spiral stairwell, with straight stairwells branching off from the main spiral stairs.  

SCENE 04 - LONGSADDLE - Spiders!

In which the party notices ... O my ...

• Set up 7 companies of ANIMATED ARMOR (with planks) with 5 and 5 flanking the party
• As they make their way forward, your party can see that the distant party has clumped together
• The fog is thickening a bit
• Visibility is rapidly deteriorating
• The distant party moves back of the crest of the hill (out of line of sight), but not moving very quickly
• PERCEPTION check (16, 16, 17)
• In the fading light and rising fog, you strain to make out what's going on
• Keenly tuned to your environment as things unfold, you hear a clanking, clambering sound off to the NORTH. Not unlike the sound of approaching armor. 
• MOSS: "If we shift around to funnel whatever is approaching into the barrier, that would be to our advantage". 
• It's getting really hard to see as the light continues to fade and the fog continues to thicken. 
• The sound from the NORTH is slowly getting stronger. 

SCENE 05 - CANDLEKEEP - Reunion

In which father and daughter are reunited ... 

• After climbing the large spiral stairs (one of the biggest spiral stair cases you've ever seen) for some distance and then branching off along one of the straight stairwells, you're led to a cylindrical room that, the doorway to which is marked with an embossed and beautifully painted sign "NECESSARIUM 6, LEVEL 8". 
• SKORB turns back toward the party to make sure you're there. Reaches up and uses the knocker on the door. A brass port plate slides open and another guard peeks through. Whispers are exchanged. Then "GILIMBA!!!" from within. 
• An eyeball pokes up against the brass port "GILIMBA! MY DEAR, IT IS YOU!! COME IN!!"
• ZUUR runs into the closed door, then realizes that it's closed, has the guards open it and welcomes you in. 
• Within, after multiple locks are unlocked, you're allowed in
• LARGE cylindrical room with domed ceiling, walls lined with shelves filled with books
• Lit with a number of lanterns
• Circular table in the middle of the room, surrounded by a collection of wizened wizards
• ZUUR busts out of the room to meet GILIMBA
• JED steps back behind ANDREA to make sure she's not noticed. She recognizes some of the faces around the table. Usually only allowed into such rooms through servant's passages. 
• ANDREA enters the room, but is patient for the reunion to take place. 
• Then clears her throat 
• ZUUR notices and turns to great the others
• GILIMBA whispers to ZUUR 
• ZUUR - "O, by all means, do come in, come in, we are anxious to hear any information you have to share, and we ... o, wait, are you hungry? Are you hungry? You should eat before you tell ... are you thirsty?"
• One of the council looks at JED "Well, are you going to get the food?"
• ZUUR looks to the council member and then to JED, shakes his head "Ignore that" (to JED)
• Mutters something in a foreign tongue to bring the council member up to speed, letting them know that JED is not a servant here. 
• Servants come in with meat, cheese, veg, fruit, beverages, 
• ZUUR explains to the council about where your party has been and that you'll be updating the council on what you've learned. 

SCENE 06 - LONGSADDLE - Move, Counter move

Remember that shield-dome-zapped-me-through-the-air thing?

• PERCEPTION checks (20, 20, 8)
• NOTE - 2-3 hours from the battle with the DRACOLICH
• BALGRI and GRUMBLEBELLY - (6+15) - look off to the north, the sound is starting to feel threatening. 
• INSIGHT (20 rollers only) - 18, 13
• Impression that you've heard this sound before. 
• 18 = See an image of a large metallic spider. (SHAMIRA)
• 13 = Seems familiear (E'SSL)
• SHAMIRA - "I'm pretty sure this is the sound of those metal spiders approaching"
• BALGRI - "Something to fight?!"
• E'SSL - "Depending on their numbers, we could be over-matched"
• SHAMIRA - "They ARE constructs, not undead"
• James begins re-drawing the ANIMATED ARMOR formation in response to the advance of the big metal spiders. 
• "The thought is, funnel the spiders as they appraoch, using a couple of companies of ARMOR to box it in (using the planks to help with the funneling), using a flanking maneuver to push them into the barrier"

SCENE 07 - CANDLEKEEP - Powerpoints

In which the party begins sharing their findings ... 

• ANDREA beings filling the council in on what's happened since they last visited LONGSADDLE
• Only a couple of the members of the group who were last there have survived or remained human
• Other reliable folk have joined the group
• Relays everything that's happened of consequence since they left, and ... 
• Learned about the REVIVITOR stone, and as we approached LONGSADDLE, ours began to apparently respond to the approach of a 2nd REVIVITOR
• ESPECIALLY ... 
• We don't know the armies of undead are headed 
• Trying to figure out where they are going to go next and what to do about that seems like a key thing to do
• In trying to figure out why these strange "grab you and teleport you away" bubbles and "blue and magenta gate curtains" were happening, it seems that trying to magically attack multiple cities at the same time was literally tearing the universe apart, and since they began scaling back their attacks to what appears to be one city at a time, the strange bubbles and curtains stopped appearing, or so it seems. 
• Long term consequences of these attacks are not yet entirely clear
• What can we do to stop / repair the damage that's been done.
• BACK-NOTES (RECAP of what the party has been up to)
• The party was originally hired by a small town on the edge of the LURKWOOD to figure out why monsters from within the forest suddenly began attacking out toward the perimeter of the forest - something they didn't used to do. 
• In the process of working to figure that out, the party determined that some very strange things were going on in and around the LURKWOOD (which was chasing the monsters out from their normal hunting grounds
• Roaming spheres of glistening energy that could scoop you up, make you disappear, then re-deposit you some time and space distant from where they grabbed you
• Gleaming, huge curtains of magenta or blue energy that seemed to teleport you either to a far away world (magenta) or somewhere else on the same world (blue)
• Earthquakes
• Exploring further North to MIRABAR, the party learned about 
• Undead armies swelling up under cities and taking them over
• All inhabitants being converted to Undead
• Army marching off toward LUSKAN
• The party made its way to WATERDEEP, only to see that it was under attack by a huge army of UNDEAD ... decided NOT to get mixed up in that. 
• But after MANY grand adventures, you've learned that someone is unleashing massive armies of undead from beneath TORIL's cities 
• Some of the mages around the council react particularly strongly to the awareness that you have one of the REVIVITOR ORBS.
• One runs to the stacks that line the perimeter of the room, searches for a particular book
• Mages begin chatting amongst themselves in a language none of you recognize.
• ON THE TABLE in the center of the room, you notice a number of charts and maps, each with some weighted markers scattered about them
• PERCEPTION / INVESTIGATION (13, 13)
• Map of FAERUN, map of TORIL - Red, green and yellow markers on the map
• Waterdeep = RED, Miribar = RED, Luskan = RED, Athkatla = Amber
• Other cities marked in different colors - a couple dozen places marked on these maps
• The mages talk excitedly amonst themselves and they lose track of the party for a while

SCENE 08 - LONGSADDLE - Retrievers!

Are the enemies of my enemies ... my allies?  

• MOSS reforms the ANIMATED AMOUR to set up their flanking maneuver
• PERCEPTION check (16, 19, 28)
• 16 = 3-4 metal spiders approaching a few hundred yards out
• 19 = definitely 4 (2 and 2) square formation, moving pretty quickly (40')
• 28 = another formation of 4 has split off and seems to be headed toward the 2nd group that headed off over the hill, moving faster (60-80')
• E'SSL - "The other party is also being attacked, perhaps they are allies?"
• SHAMIRA remembers about these spiders ... RETRIEVERS.
• Paralyzing Beam - paralyzes you - these bugs can plane shift if you are paralyzed, they can take you with them (range 60')
• Force Beam -  (range 60') -