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• Adrian Silverstrength (Human Paladin)
• Morsus Firebeard (Hill Dwarf Cleric)
• Sephrenia (High Elf Cleric)
• Ragnaroc (Aasimar Warlock) 
• Don Kannin (Half-Elf Ranger)
• Korra (Air Genasi Rogue)

Connected Adventures: Adventure 14, Adventure 15, Adventure 16, Adventure 17, Adventure 18, Adventure 19, Adventure 20, Adventure 21, Adventure 22, Adventure 23, Adventure 24, Adventure 25, Adventure 26, Adventure 27, Adventure 28 , Adventure 29, Adventure 30, Adventure 31, Adventure 32, Adventure 33, Adventure 34, Adventure 35, Adventure 36, Adventure 37, Adventure 38, Adventure 39 and Adventure 40.

• The Dwarven King (Thariak Froststorm) of Thoridun tells the party that they have rounded up the other Drow in the Dwarven City and imprisoned them – and noted that scouts have verified the party’s story – a Drow army is marching towards them
• Rex Flamebeard begins forging magical weapons; but he’s concerned about the timing with the Drow/Drider army approaching
• Adrian speaks to the Dwarven merchants; explaining how they’d fought Drow, rescued Dwarves, brought evidence, recovered the lost crown, cured the water, and rescued the king – and the merchants, appreciative of such tasks – offer their wares at half price
  • Korra purchases two healing potions, and she gets two daggers for free (as a means of thanks, and because daggers cost so little normally)
  • Adrian purchases an additional 6 healing potions
  • Morsus purchases Half-Plate for himself, at a very nice discount due to him being a dwarf (they forgive him for being a Hill Dwarf)
• Adrian asks about brothels – not so much to partake, but to donate for his goddess
  • The King explains that it was the Drow Ambassador who convinced him to close them down (and this was due to the Drow seeking to ensure that the Dwarves to not continue to grow their population)
• The party joins the army of dwarves down in the battlefield and across the way sees a massive army of female Driders, and hundreds of Drow marching on them

• The Dwarf War Commander, Arrik Boulderclash, explains that there’s enough Dwarves in his army to engage with the Drow and Driers – Arrik will be calling on the party to actually assist throughout the battle to do special missions
• He looks at Adrian (who rolled a custom roll of 5) and says, “We’re getting reports that the Drow and Driders are attacking our catapults! Without the catapults, we won’t be able to make far hitting strikes – and that allows the Drow and Driders to get dangerously close! I will need you – and whoever you want to take – to go help defeat the Drow and Driders attacking those catapults!”
  • DM Note – I wanted to portray a massive battle without doing a ton of combat and initative and taking forever to get through actual combat – so I created events that would corrospond to the war – and the way it worked:
    • Based off what the party has done – the Dwarves have an established “Morale” point value – gaining them the allies (Bullywugs, Mycanoids, Lizard People and Azer was 100 points each – the Dwarves started with a base Morale of 50). Restoring the lost crown gained them another 50. Getting the hammer to Rex (late) cost them 50 points – starting the morale at 450.
    • Events would happen for the party to interact with – for example the catapults being attacked – it becomes someone from the party going vs my dice as the enemies (rolling a D20).
    • Each party member that agrees to go to the current event allows them to roll a D20 against my roll – which may be just a D20 or require specific Skill Checks, such as Survival. If no one goes, I roll 2 D20 (as the enemy) and pick someone to roll a D20 to represent the Dwarves handling it themselves. So for example if Adrian decides to go help with the Catapults, he will roll a D20 representing the Dwarves and himself against my roll. If Adrian and Sephrenia go, Adrian would roll two D20 (one for the Dwarves), one for himself, and then Sephrenia rolls a D20 for her help – all to roll higher than me (as the bad guys). Each victory increases morale, each loss damages it.
    • Each event can take up to 1d6 days. So for example, if Adrian goes to help with the catapult – he rolls a D6 – and gets a 6 – it assumes he’s out there fighting and helping for 6 days and can’t help with any other events during that time. Each event is always at least 1 day. Each person who attends however, can decrease the day – but never lower than 1. So for example, if Adrian and Sephrenia agree to go – and Adrian rolls a 6 on a D6 – it’d be 6 days. Sephrenia going reduces it down to 5 days however.
    • Each day I roll a D20 to see if the Drow get a larger foot hold – the roll of a 01 to 09 means no events, 10 to 14 means a single event, the roll of a 15 or higher triggers two events for the day.
    • The Dwarves Morale must end at above 100 in order to win the War
• Adrian volunteers to go and help out with the catapults and Korra goes with him; originally it would have been 3 days, but Korra’s presence reduces it down to 2 days
  • The dice results – Adrian’s 18 surpasses the Drider/Drow roll of 17
• Korra rolls for Don (who is doing Daddy Duty at the moment in relief) – Dwarf War Commander, Arrik Boulderclash tells Don, Sephrenia, Morsus and Ragnaroc that there’s reports of some fires that have started, caused by the Drow that need to be put out and to drive back the Drow and Driders causing it! Ragnaroc and Sephrenia volunteer to go help put the fires out. It was originally 3 days, reduced down to 2 days.
  • The dice results – Ragnaroc rolls a 5, Drow/Drider roll a 9, but Sephrenia brings home the victory with a 16!
• Rolling the event table – I rolled a Natural 20 – which triggers two events have happened!
• Dwarf War Commander, Arrik Boulderclash tells Morsus, “Things are grim, lad! I got some reports that a large band of my soldiers were captured and turned into slaves! But not only that, the Drow and Driders have also spread more fires over to this side of the camp!” Morsus decides to help with the fires and rolls a 2 for the amount of days it will take.
  • Morsus rolls an 11, however I roll for the Driders/Drow – a 14! The Driders take the victory and the fire rages on!
• Don (who is still AFK) is slated to help free the slaves, Korra rolls for him and rolls a 1 (which just means he’s there for 1 day)
  • Korra rolls for Don’s dice (since he’s AFK) and rolls a Natural 20 – this creates a heroic event in which he (through Korra’s roll) – now has “Advantage” – so now, during one event someone will not have to go – but the Dwarves will still roll 2 D20’s against mine roll as the Drow/Driders
• The following two days, no events happen
  • Don returns from successfully freeing the slaves, and sees Morsus has returned also covered in ash
  • Eventually, Adrian and Sephrenia return from their event having successfully saved the catapults (Morsus chooses not to talk about his event)
• Dwarf War Commander, Arrik Boulderclash tells those have returned – that the Dwarves have managed to breech some of the Drow/Drider defenses – and they can deliver a critical blow to the Drow/Drider forces
  • Adrian and Sephrenia decides to go to this event – and Sephrenia rolls a 3, so it reduces down to 2 days
  • Dice Rolls – Adrian rolls a 16, Sephrenia rolls a 3, the Drow/Driders roll a Natural 20 – destroying the Dwarven Morale (which Don had earned for them)
• Another day passes, and no event happens; everyone is able to eventually report back to the main camp
• Adrian rolls the next the Event Roll, and rolls and Arrik Boulderclash informs the party that a number of their soldiers have been gravely wounded (fits with the Natural 20 the Drow/Drider got from the previous event, ironically) – and that they’ve been cut off by the Drow and Driders who have a raging fire (at which point he glances at Morsus, for having failed that – that was just story flavor – the event was wounded soldiers in need of medical supplies), so someone needs to fetch and find medical supplies
  • Adrian, Morsus and Ragnaroc all volunteer to fetch the medicals
  • Adrian rolls the amount of days, which was a 4 = but reduced down to 1 day
  • Despite extremely low rolls (including a Critical Fail – I had a rule for this, but this portion of the event is almost over), but the heroes still pulls off a win
• Three more days pass, with no event
• On the tenth week – the ground begins to shake (similar to Jurassic Park) and an enormous statue appears behind all the Drow and Driders engaged in the war

• The party notices it appears to be a giant, living statue of a Drider… made of Adamantine… and when her booming voice speaks – she speaks through Morsus – that she is the symbol of her goddess, reborn into the world and she will reign death
• The rule for the War I implemented is anyone ending their turn in the area of the Driders is going to make Dexterity Saving Throws to essentially “avoid” actual combat with the Driders to try and reach the Priestess – any failed Dexterity Saves will result in halting you there and taking some damage from a Drider. Then on their next turn, they can resume moving through and doing a Dexterity Save for each square they stop in to avoid combat – the party knows they need to stop the Priestess from reaching the Dwarven Kingdom
• The Dwarves, aligned thanks to the heroes, with the Lizard People, the Myconoids, the Bullywugs and the Azer, fight the primary battle against the Drow/Driders

• Korra moves ahead and gets near the Drow battle
• The Priestess roars and a demon appears at her side
• Sephrenia spots a cave to the north of them – and points it out – she asks Arrik Boulderclash – and he says it exits to the northeast slightly. He does say it would take longer to move through that direction, but it would allow them to avoid the combat in the battlefield
• Sephrenia calls to Korra – who then returns and heads for the cave

• The entire party decides to take the cave, and dashes through the caverns as quickly as they can as the Priestess slowly marches towards the Dwarven Keep
• As the party emerges out from the northern cave, Korra manages to hit the Drow Priestess’ massive body
• The party decides they need to somehow make her move to the Northwestern corner (opposite of her corner)
  • War Rule for this session – Successful hits can lead to obtaining the Priestess’ “Attention” with successful Intimidation DC checks that are rolled after any successful hit
• Sephrenia hits her with Guiding Bolt, but her Intimidation Check does not pull the Priestess’ attention
• Ragnaroc fires Eldritch Blast – the first hit strikes her adamantine hide and does no damage, but the second bolt hits the same spot doing damage; and Ragnaroc gets her attention with the Intimidation Check
• Morsus begins casting Faerie Fire – and feels her presence coursing through his mind – but he saves from her Influence (Natural 20 on Charisma Save from her forcing him to cast it on his companions), however she uses her Legendary Save to shake off the effect
• Don looks at the Starbow and whispers, “My wrath, my fury” and makes the Priestess his sworn enemy – the energy arrow hits, but reflects off the adamantine surface; but the second shot hits
• Adrian doesn’t want to get close, so he spends his action putting away his sword and shield and drawing his crossbow
• Korra fires her crossbow at the large moving statue and lands a hit
• The Priestess draws a Longbow and fires at Morsus since he had gained her attention from the failed Faerie Fire effect – which manages to hit Morsus for minor damage, but the bolt injects poison which Morsus is able to avoid thanks to the advantage against poison
• Sephrenia fires a Ray of Frost at the demon at the Priestess’ feet and hits for some minor damage
• Ragnaroc fires his Eldritch Blast but the thundering step of her giant legs – and it reflects off of her hide, bouncing back, hitting Adrian for minor damage (Critical Fail on the hit), but his second shot does manage to hit the intended target
  • Ragnaroc has now gained her attention (Intimidation 24)
• Morsus burns another Faerie Fire as she uses another Legendary Save to avoid; but the demon at her feet also fails and there’s nothing that can be done to avoid
• Don fires one shot and hits her with some solid damage, then uses Hunters Mark and fires his next shot and lands another hit, doing more damage
• Since the demon has Faerie Fire on it, Adrian fires at it and somehow still manages to miss
• Korra fires a crossbow and hits the demon
• Sephrenia sees a vision – where she stands at a beautiful paradise – and suddenly everything is swept into a whirlwind that slowly reveals itself to be webs – and as it settles, everything seems to be caught in this massive tunneled web – and a large Drider like female bursts from the funnel of the whirlwind and screams, “I am free!” Sephrenia quickly realizes what she’s seeing is what – according to legends and her teachings – is Aftgard – the afterlife where the gods of good reign and where the souls of light go in the afterlife.
• Sephrenia buckles down to her knees (Critical Fail on a Wisdom Save) losing her turn this round
• Ragnaroc fires two bolts of Eldritch Blast, the first hitting but doing no damage, but the follow up bolt hits for damage
• Morsus has the same vision as Sephrenia – but doesn’t suffer as badly as she does (only losing his Bonus Action this round) where he witnesses a Spider-Goddess slaying gods with her longbow
• Morsus uses Scorching Ray focusing all three beams towards the roaring demon, one of the rays hit – but the other two rays miss the demon as he haunches down and begins bolting toward the party

• Don fires two shots; one manages to hit the demon but the other misses
• Adrian spends his action drawing Demonbane and rides Ms. Claws towards the demon; and after a moment, Adrian witnesses what appears to be the demise of a number of gods in Aftgard
• Korra fires her bow at the glowing demon, and manages to hit – and gets Stealth damage because she attacked from Stealth and also because Adrian was now next to the demon
• The demon bites into Adrian, his sharp teeth breaking through the armor and delivering a massive blow to Adrian
• Sephrenia casts Guiding Bolt hitting the demon for some damage; which also lights him up for advantage on the next attack – except, he was still glowing from the Faerie Fire on him from Morsus
• Ragnaroc steps back and casts Shatter on both the demon and the Priestess – the Priestess makes her save and the demon rolls a Natural 20 on their saves; allowing them to both avoid the full damage of the spell
• Morsus launches another set of Scorching Ray at the demon; all three beams striking the demon this time; officially bloodying the demon
• Don uses a bonus action to cast Hail of Thorns focusing on the demon, since he’s still glowing from the Faerie Fire, and the demon next to the Priestess will force them to both make a Dexterity save; which they’re both able to avoid, taking only half the damage
• Don fires another shot, and hits the demon hard
• Adrian uses a bonus action for Shield of Faith on himself
• Adrian then grips Demonbane tightly and swings hard – Natural 20 – and because of the damage from the blade, the critical, and the extra damage from the target being a demon – Adrian delivers a killing blow to the demon, as he expends Divine Smite for good measure
• Korra fires at the Priestess but misses
• The Priestess laughs and drops Faerie Fire on the party forcing them to now make Dexterity Savings Throws – only Adrian glows purple – however Morsus can’t see purple and cheers, “We all passed!”
• She then tries to strike at Adrian twice – and despite Adrian glowing – she misses twice
• Sephrenia casts Bless on everyone but herself by using a Level 3 slot
• Ragnaroc casts Eldritch Blasts twice – striking her both times
• Morsus once again casts Faerie Fire – and she fails, but uses her last Legendary Save to avoid it’s effects
• Don fires one shot and misses, but corrects his aim and fires the second shot normally and hits
• Adrian quaffs a potion as a Bonus Action, to get some health back and for his action enables Channel Divinity to his weapon
• Korra fires with her crossbow but the bolt is unable to penetrate the Priestess’ adamantine hide
• The Priestess firmly plants her legs on the ground and lowers her body as her whole body begins to vibrate wildly
• Sephrenia casts Guiding Bolt but it’s unable to penetrate the adamantine hide
• Ragnaroc fires two Eldritch Blasts, both of which hit, added with some Hex damage
• Morsus flies his bat to the Priestess – and casts Bestow Curse on her – and fails her Wisdom save
• Don fires at the Priestess twice – the first one misses, and the second lands a Critical Hit (Natural 20!)
• Still mounted on Ms. Claws, Adrian rides up to the Priestess and uses Demonbane to try and hit her – and lands a hit – expending a second level divine smite, inflicting more damage; and his second attack he follows up with, also hits for more damage
• Korra fires her crossbow and hits and then quickly moves back into Stealth
• Krill’ith, the Priestess is able to surpass the Bestow Curse save this round
• She discards her longbow – and uses the Trident for her three attacks – hitting Adrian once – and knocks Adrian prone with the trident – which now gives her advantage to hit with each of her legs (8 attacks!) – but Adrian redirects the damage to his mount – which kills Ms. Claws, and topples Adrian to the ground (to use half his movement to stand back up on his turn)
• Sephrenia fires Guiding Bolt and hits
• Ragnaroc fires two Eldritch Blasts and both of them, surprisingly, miss
• Morsus casts Fireball behind her – far enough that Adrian wouldn’t be caught in the flames; she however quickly moves out of the way, and only takes half the damage
• Don fires twice, both of which do not penetrate the Priestess’ hide
• Adrian uses his bonus action to quaff another potion, however it doesn’t give him much in the way of health (health potion broke during the fall so not as much liquid?) 🙂
• Adrian swings with Demonbane and hits once, and uses Divine Smite and does some heavy damage, but his second swing hits – landing another hit, where he launches another Divine Smite – and sees the Priestess’ body lock up – and he realizes as she begins to topple that he needs to quickly get out of the way – and does so – just so as she comes crashing down, barely missing him!
• The party also won with the Event points (The Heroes were 25 points over the success line!) meaning they won both

This officially ends this long epic journey of the Shadow Vale. But for the heroes, the adventure continues.