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• Arhian Vos – Human Monk
• Hartmut Helmsworth – Elf Monk
• Sindri Waggletop – (Forest) Gnome Wizard
• Rettniss Kulvith – Water Genasi Druid
• Avacyn “Jolyne” Uloth the Merciless – Half-Orc Paladin
• Twilight Skybane – Tiefling Bard

• Tanar looks at the party, his eyes resting on Sindi, and asks if he can talk to Sindri away from the goblins
• Sindri does an Insight roll (Critical Fail!) and agrees to go and speak with Tanar – but well within sight of the rest of the party in the event Tanar tries to do something
• Arhian ensures to keep a thorough watch on the exchange to also ensure that Tanar doesn’t attempt something on Sindri
• Tanar confesses to killing the goblin, and explains he lied because the other goblins would kill him
• He goes on to confess that when he had gone to use the restroom, Shalice (the goblin) suddenly appeared – and looked feral – snarling something in goblin then lunging at him
• Tanar explains that he was only defending himself and never meant to kill the goblin; he’d only sought to scare him away
• He also adds that he believes the goblins may be leading them to a trap and that they’re undoubtedly worried that everyone was after their treasure which the Kuo-Toas now possess
• Sindri doesn’t buy into the trap idea, because the goblins need them to defeat the Blue Holder
• When Sindri asks why tell only him and not the rest of his companions, Tanar explains that he can tell Sindri is a wizard, and clearly the wisest of the bunch
• Sindri and Tanar return to the others, where Tanar explains the same story to the others, just out of earshot of the goblins
• Arhian tries to recall what she remembers about Kuo-Toa and see if they’re able to mind control, and Sindri reminds her that technically almost anything is possible with the Kuo-Toa, due to their ability to simply “believe hard enough and it becomes reality” – so there could be a strain of truth to Tanar’s story that perhaps a Kuo-Toa seized the mind of Shalice the Goblin and forced it to attack Tanar
• Sindri speaks to his companions away from Tanar, that Tanar had mentioned that the goblins were fearful that everyone was after the treasure – but only the Goblin Chief Bizcan was old enough to remember that the fighting originated over the treasure; and that years and years of fighting, the goblins these days have forgotten the treasure and know the Kuo-Toa as an enemy to kill, but the reason for their hatred, lost to this generation of goblins
  • DM Note: The fact that Tanar “knew” this will become evident later…
• Twilight ponders the idea to the party that if the Kuo-Toa possess mind control, Tanar had mentioned he’d been a slave to the Kuo-Toa and that he may be the one being mind controlled
• Tanar begs the party to not tell the goblins what happened, because they will kill him
• The party assures Tanar, that if they believe Tanar is telling the truth after the goblins question him, they will not let them kill him
• Twilight (speaking in goblin so that Tanar can’t understand) explains to Unk’toon that Tanar had killed Shalice – but Tanar claims that it was in self defense and that Shalice seemed feral
• When Twilight adds that Tanar claims the goblin may have been under the influence of the Kuo-Toa if they have mind control, Unk’toon immediately responds that they need to kill Tanar as a dishonorable murderer and that the goblins have never experienced any issues with “mind control”
• Twilight in goblin explains, “Before we kill him we want to know the truth. He keeps changing his story.”
• Unk’toon replies (in goblin), “If we cut off his fingers one by one, the truth will be revealed.”
• Twilight continues the conversation in goblin saying, “We don’t believe killing Tanar is the right thing just yet – we need to find out what he’s hiding. Would you allow us some time to figure out the truth?”
• Unk’toon agrees (successful Persuasion check) because they have agreed to help the goblins against the Kuo-Toa and because Twilight honors the goblins by speaking in their tongue – but that in the end, if it’s true – they want Tanar slain
• The party determines that perhaps examining Shalice’s body may be the best route of finding out what may have happened
• Rettniss reclaims his sword he’d let Tanar use and the party ties Tanar’s hands together
• Rettniss offers to keep watch on Tanar while the others go investigate the body
• Tanar leads them to the scene near the edge of the lake, where Shalice’s body is lying face down. A wound in the center of his back shows the fatal blow.
• Arhian (high roll on Investigation) takes a closer look and notices that the wound in the back doesn’t bare much blood, and rolling Shalice over reveals that his throat had been slit first, since that’s the location of the majority of blood loss
• It appears the wound through the chest was secondary
• Watching the party turn Shalice’s body over, Tanar learns that the truth will soon be revealed and snaps out of his bonds and begins making a run for it
• Rettniss hits Tanar with a spell (Frostbite), and slows him down
• Arhian is able to rush over (Natural 20 on Initiative!) and catches up and lands a powerful succession of furry of blows, knocking Tanar down
• Rettniss jumps on Tanar to try and restraining him and before long (as the others arrive) they see… – Rettniss is fighting Rettniss – each of them claiming the other is the false one!
• Hartmut asks both Rettniss’ – “What happened when we crossed the bridge?”
• One of them answers, “As we were crossing, I was attacked from a beast from above. You all helped me.”
• The other answers – staring at the copy – and added, “I would like to say, not only was I attacked, but I was enveloped in darkness, while a beast tried to feed on my brain and left me in a place of great despair!”
• Avacyn makes a successful Insight check noting the more emotional one is more aligned with the Rettniss he’s known from the ship they were on
• Sindri casts Detect Magic but senses no magic around him
  • DM Note: A Doppleganger’s ability to Shape Shift is a Natural one, not a magical one, which is why Sindri did not detect any Magic.
• Arhian then asks, “Is Gem a Good Bird?”
• One of the Rettniss answers, “Yes. It helped us find the bard, because it was singing and we were able to find her among the goblins.”
• The other Rettniss looked at Arhian with a look of disdain and replied, “No. Gem is the bane of my existence.”
• This reveals to everyone that the emotionless Rettniss is indeed the false one and the party attacks that one
• Avacyn strikes a hard blow with her axe, while Hartmut lands a critical hit with a flurry of blows upon the Fake Rettniss
• Arhian joins in the attack on Fake Rettniss and lands some hits as well
• Hartmut is able to land the killing blow (Natural 20) – holding his fingers out and plunging into Fake Rettniss’ throat and yanking out his bloody hand
• The creature loses Rettniss’ form and reveals it’s true self

• With the Doppelganger revealed and defeated, the party reaches Level 2
• The party decides to take a short rest so that Twilight can play the Song of Rest and they can expend hit dice to recover some health
• Arhian hears the familiar sound of the Rust Monster – and spots it entering the cave, about 60′ away from them

• Arhian carefully watches the Rust Monster near where they had originally stopped near the lake, sniffing around for traces of metal
• Unk’toon urges the party to keep moving and keep their distance from the Rust Monster
• The party continues, heading into a cave where the humidity between the water from the lake, and the small patches of holes illuminated by the orange glow of lava far below, create a section of the cave that’s rich with moisture – and teeming with fungus of various size, colors and variations
• Unk’toon turns to the party and says, “Be very careful in here” and begins moving through the cavern very slowly
• Rettniss tells the party to hold up for a second and scans the cavern – and notices that he recognizes most of the unusual plant life – but then he spots what the goblins are clearly warning them about – Shriekers

• Rettniss warns the party that brushing into a Shrieker or bringing a light source within 30′ of it will trigger the Shrieker to… well, Shriek – which would bode poorly if they’re trying to approach the Kuo-Toa, and if the Kuo-Toa are anywhere within 300 feet – they will be able to hear the “alarm” raised by the Shrieker
• Sindri and Arhian and Hartmut and Rettniss team up to assist those without dark vision as Sindri snuffs the magical light cantrip
• Despite the warning, Avacyn accidentally brushes against one of the Shriekers while looking down at the smaller mushrooms – triggering a shrieker
• Almost immediately somewhere far behind them – something begins moving through the brush – also setting off shriekers as it rushes towards the sound of the initial shrieker alarm
• Meanwhile from in front of them, a volley of spears are thrown at them
  
  

• A spear strikes Twilight, gravely wounding her
• A second spear flies at Sindri, who manages to cast Shield which prevents the spear from striking him
  • DM Note – This was a mistake I made – since it was a surprise round, Reactions would not have been possible! Ah well. Next time Sindri, next time… lol
• Arhian moves quickly through the fungus – no longer concerned about the Shriekers since the one Avacyn brushed against is emitting an alarm anyway
• However, due to Sindri being on her shoulder, her balance is thrown and she accidentally strikes himself with her quarterstaff (Critical Fail on To Hit!)
• She also surprisingly finds that when she misses with her fist to punch – the Kuo-Toa raises a shield and manages to hit her fist – catching it in some unusual type of sticky liquid on the shield
• Hartmut rushes up and attacks the same Kuo-Toa, managing to hit it with an unarmed strike, but then also notices that two of the Kuo-Toa are fleeing
• Twilight casts Cure Wounds on herself to stop the intense bleeding she got from being struck by a spear
• Avacyn rushes up, but she’s unable to hit anything with a mighty swing of her axe
• Sindri casts light on Arhian’s staff to give light to those without dark vision which triggers more Shriekers to begin emitting their sound
• Sindri looks around to see if the Kuo-Toa are running away from something specific and manages to see the antenna of the Rust Monster coming through the shrubbery some distance behind them, drawn by the sound of the Shrieker (assuming the metal it’s been trying to track may have triggered the Shriekers)
• With the other Kuo-Toa fleeing, Rettniss focuses on the one fighting Arhian and Hartmut and casts Frostbite on the Kuo-Toa and hits it for some minor damage, but also causing it to strike at Disadvantage
• Arhian is able to pull her first free of the Kuo-Toa’s sticky shield
• Arhian is able to land one strike, but her follow up strike misses and the Kuo-Toa once again raises their shield and catches her fist in the sticky goop
• Hartmut manages to hit once with his sword, then focusing his energy – puts his fingers in the “Viper Position” and shoves it through the Kuo-Toa’s throat (Natural 20!) killing it
• Arhian thanks him as she pulls her fist free of the shield
• Unk’toon seeing the Rust Monster being them, sniffing around and trigger more Shriekers urges the party forward – and eventually the party makes their way out of the fungus cave and Unk’toon points to a relatively small hole in the cavern wall and says, “Look.”
• Sindri and Rettness edge forward and peek into the hole and see the two Kuo-Toa who had fled speaking to what appears to be a priest Kuo-Toa with an unusual looking staff…

• Unk’toon points to the creature floating behind the priest… and reveals the Blue Holder

• Standing on the “pedastal” – Sindri and Rettniss also see all of the treasure the Kuo-Toa had taken from the Beholder’s ship that the goblins had been fighting for

• Sindri also notices with a successful Insight check that the priest is holding his staff – and it appears to have a “home made” Blue Holder icon on the tip of it
• The party makes a plan to create an illusion through Sindri’s magic of a goblin to distract the Kuo-Toa and allow the others to jump down and try to reach the Kuo-Toa Priest and pry the staff from his hands, since they believe that appears to be the “arcane focus”
• The Kuo-Toa well aware of their approach do not fall for the illusion, so Sindri tries a fire bolt and misses and strikes the treasure instead, alerting the Kuo-Toa to where they are
• Hartmut jumps down and rushes forward, engaging with one of the Kuo-Toa since he can’t get to the priest without provoking opportunity of attack against himself

• Unk’toon leaps down and rushes the Kuo-Toa, and misses with his first swing, and uses his multi-attack to swing again – Critical Fail hitting Hartmut instead for 2 damage
• Arhian is able to leap down next and cover the distance, hitting one of the Kuo-Toa with her quarter staff than an unarmed strike sending the dizzy Kuo-Toa right into a fatal blow to the Kuo-Toa’s temple!
• The Blue Holder hits Hartmut with some necrotic damage from one of its eye stalks then floats over to Arhian and tries to bite her but misses
• Avacyn leaps down and eyes the Kuo-Toa priest, however miscalculates her throw and instead strikes Hartmut (Critical Fail to Hit!) for some significant damage
• One of the Kuo-Toa manages a Critical Hit against Arhian, causing her to bleed out excessively; the other seeing the blood on her lunges forward and bites her, doing more damage
• The two goblins in the hole, with Sindri, fire their arrows at the Kuo-Toa, seeing their allies in great danger – they focus on the Kuo-Toa who are attacking rather than the Kuo-Toa Priest – both shots manage to hit the same Kuo-Toa, who finds two arrows sticking out of his body which is now gushing blood
• Twilight sends Gem down in hopes of during the distraction of battle that Gem could get the staff from the Priest – and Gem manages to lock her claws onto it and surprise the Priest and begin yanking it out of his hands
• Twilight then leaps down and casts Faerie Fire on the Priest and the two Kuo-Toa who had not yet been hit – and all three fail to get out of the range of the spell that rains purple sparkles that now stick to their skin, illuminating them (making them easier targets to hit)
• The Kuo-Toa Priest manages to yank his staff back into his possession and out of Gem’s claws
• He then casts Faerie Fire and manages to land it on Arhian, Hartmut and Avacyn
• Rettniss leaps down and casts Healing Word on Arhian, restoring some health to her
• Then Rettniss casts Thorn Whip on the glowing Kuo-Toa Priests and ensnares him and pulls him ten feet closer – (just because I liked the visual flavor of this – not sure if this is the rules, but I am more about the visual and enjoyment of my players!) – Arhian, Hartmut and Avacyn were granted attacks of opportunity as the Kuo-Toa Priest was pulled past them
• All three manage to strike the Priest landing devistating blows, killing him by the time Rettniss has pulled him the full ten feet – which also ends the Faerie Fire effect on Arhian, Hartmut and Avacyn!
• The Blue Holder staff falls on the ground, in a pool of the Kuo-Toa Priest’s blood
• Sindri notices that all of the eyes of the Blue Holder have changed from being an assortment of various colors – to all of the eyes have turned red and he realizes that the Kuo-Toa Priest was keeping it in check. He warns the party that the Blue Holder is about to begin going crazy and that someone needs to grab the staff to see if it can be controlled
• He then launches a Fire Bolt at the Blue Holder and hits it
• Hartmut quaffs a healing potion, restoring some health and then does an attack hitting one of the Kuo-Toa (Note: I have Quaffing Potions as a Bonus Action rather than a full Action, because while it does give players potentially health – I’d rather they get to do more than just drink a potion and I figure reaching into your sash or belt to grab a potion to quickly quaff shouldn’t take an entire action – I want to empower my players to have fun!)
• Unk’toon strikes and kills one of the Kuo-Toa with his two strikes
• Arhian follows the same path as Hartmut and quickly quaffs a healing potion and hits the last standing Kuo-Toa who barely continues to cling to life
• The Blue Holder points its red eye stalks towards Rettniss and tries to Shrink him but Rettniss is able to avoid the spell’s effects
• It also attempts to bit Arhian, but only manages to bite it’s own tongue (Critical Fail To Hit!)
• Avacyn slides over and grabs the Priests Blue Holder staff – and immediately feels an evil presence wash over him and attempt to overtake him – but he shakes it off easily (Natural 20 on a Wisdom Savings Throw!)
• The two goblin archers fire shots at the glowing Kuo-Toa, finally putting it down – leaving only one enemy left… The Blue Holder
• Twilight successfully lands the Bane spell on the Blue Holder
• Rettniss tries to capitalize on the Blue Holder being the single target and casts Frostbite but the arcane aberration is able to save against it (Natural 20 on the Save!)
• Hartmut races up to the Blue Holder swinging his sword and slides in Kuo-Toa blood and flings his sword, striking Avacyn with a small nick to the flesh (Critical Fail on Hit)
• But he manages to land several Fury of Blows on the Blue Holder
• Unk’toon swings next, missing once, hitting the next time
• Arhian misses with her quarter staff but does also manage to hit with her Fury of Blows, leaving the Blue Holder dazed between all the hits its taken
• The Blue Holder attempts to zap Twilight but she’s able to shake off the effects and avoid its magics
• Avacyn throws the Blue Holder staff down, breaking it and shattering the Blue Holder ceramic ornament at the top; she looks up and sees no change in the Blue Holder so she strikes at it with her blade, hitting it and expending a Divine Smite in her attack which deals considerable amount of damage!
• Twilight draws one of her daggers and throws it at the Blue Holder and manages to hit the floating sphere
• Rettniss throws an Ice Knife which thanks to the Bane – the Blue Holder fails the save – delivering incredible damage – which kills it
• Everyone is able to dive for cover and avoid the Blue Holder’s explosion as the magic it took to create it rips through the cave; everyone only took half damage that was down on the floor
• The Blue Holder’s explosion has scattered the treasure around, the party notices as they stand and brush themselves off and look around the cavern…

TO BE CONTINUED!

DM Notes about the Doppelganger: The main purpose of the Doppelganger was to have the party interact with an NPC and with one another to see how they should proceed (for some interesting & hopefully fun interaction). Other notes – When Tanar mentions early on that the goblins are setting the players up for a trap – because they’re worried that they’re after the treasure – this was the Doppelganger using it’s ability to read surface thoughts (so it knew the party was aware of the treasure – it too is aware of the treasure because it was on the Beholder’s ship). It does this trick again, while in the form of Rettniss to answer questions that were being asked. While it can read surface thoughts, it can not read the emotion behind those thoughts. The Doppelganger had been employed by the Beholder (As’zar’vari’tium) as a spy – and survived the shipwreck when their ship ran around but was captured and enslaved by the Kuo-Toa. The goblins were aware of the Doppelganger (and he was on the ship to be a spy on the new continent to begin gathering information about artifacts for As’zar’vari’tium) – but the goblins assumed he’d perished when the ship ran aground. Though the goblins were aware of who and what he was on the ship – there was obvious distrust between the goblins and him (and really him and anyone).

The Doppelganger’s main goal was to try and reduce the party members down to nothing so the goblins would be forced to retreat where the Doppelganger would have taken on the form of a goblin (perhaps eventually go after Bizkan, their chief) and live the life of safety away from the Kuo-Toa in hopes the ship from the Beholder would one day arrive, even though it’d been years since their ship crashed here – or frame the party for the goblin murder (he was going to return the blade to Rettniss and then point out the blood on the blade (which is why he’d left a trace of blood on it) – but he was spotted before he could return the blade).

Shalice being a rather observant goblin while out scouting the path had seen Tanar attempting to sneak up behind him and had grown suspicious of “Tanar” and had indeed gone to confront him – and was murdered for it.

The Doppelganger had recently escaped captivity from the Kuo-Toa using his abilities to shape shift to eventually murder and escape. When he heard the party coming down the cavern, he took the form of one of the new prisoners he’d seen being recently brought in (Tanar), assuming whoever it was coming down the cave that he heard, would have been from whatever ship “Tanar” was from.

A fun idea to further complicate the murder mystery that I toyed with – but thought it might go on too long – was that the Doppelganger would have taken on the form of another goblin to get close to Shalice (thus not raise the goblin’s suspicion) before slaying him – so that the footprints around Shalice’s body would not have matched Tanar’s throwing suspicion off of him or perhaps further complicating the story he was weaving (maybe that would have gave it away sooner that he wasn’t who he claimed to be).