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• Arhian Vos – Human Monk
  • Pet: Pabu (Young Red Panda)
• Hartmut Helmsworth – Elf Monk
  • Pet: Kalistia (Young Blink Dog)
• Sindri Waggletop – (Forest) Gnome Wizard – Not Present This Session
• Rettniss Kulvith – Water Genasi Druid
  • Pet (?): Vindri (Sindri Voodoo Doll)
• Avacyn “Jolyne” Uloth the Merciless – Half-Orc Paladin
• Twilight Skybane – Tiefling Bard – Not Present This Session
  • Pet: Gem (Sailor Parrot With A Mouth)
  • Pet: C.C. (Copy Cat, Mimic Bag Of Holding)

• As the party takes a rest for the evening and awakens the following morning, Sindri awakens – casting the spell that turns his Spellbook into a magical Squirrel to practice with it again – however, he’s stunned when it suddenly seems to shimmer and blink away – then… darkness consumes Sindri
• Rettniss is awakened by the sensation of something moving in her backpack and as she opens it up to look – she’s started to see the voodoo doll she’d made of Sindri is actually moving – and suddenly Sindri’s voice appears in Rettniss’ head shout, “Get me out of here.”
• Rettniss – shocked – tries to telepathically communicate with the voodoo doll, “Is that you Sindri?”
• The doll responds telepathically, “No. It’s his essence.”
• “What the hell does that mean?” Rettniss thinks.
• “I absorbed some of Sindri’s magical essence to come alive!” the doll telepathically responds
  • DM Note: Because Sindri and Twilight missed this session, I needed a reason to write them out and decided I’d use the Voodoo Doll as a method of doing just that. I looked at Sindri’s character sheet and he has 5 Cantrips. So I had the Druid roll a d5 through Beyond20 – and it landed on a 1 – which is the Fire Bolt spell. So the Voodoo Doll gained the power to cast Fire Bolt.

• The sound of Twilight’s steel tea cup hitting the floor altered Rettniss who turned and saw that Sindri appeared to be catatonic. Despite their best efforts to awaken him, there was nothing that could be done. That’s when Rettniss heard in her head, “I don’t have all of his power yet – but if you allow me to, I can.” Rettniss falls back and shakes her head telepathically telling the Voodoo Doll that’s not OK.
• Twilight offers to watch over Sindri and urges the others to go on to see if they can find or rescue Bram Kessler, the monk whom they’d been sent after to find
• As Arhian, Hartmut and Avacyn gather around, Rettniss smiles, “So. Funny story, guys. The Voodoo Doll that I made – come to think of it, you probably don’t know this – but I made a Voodoo Doll of Sindri (See Session 27) to mess with Sindri – but … it’s alive… I guess. It sort of zapped his essence, and it’s alive. And plus side – it seems like a buddy – and it can cast Fire Bolt.”
• Twilight points to Sindri – whose face is flushed of any color and has a sightless gaze, unblinking
• “Well, aside from that,” Rettniss explains
• “Well, we don’t have time to stop and figure this out,” Twilight sighs. “You three – keep going and see if you can find Bram.”
• Avacyn takes the map and begins following it, with Arhian and Hartmut, both looking over their shoulder nervously at Rettniss who seems to be engaged in some form of silent communication with her voodoo doll; both Hartmut and Arhian try to think back and see if they know anything about voodoo dolls, but can’t recall anything…

• Rettniss speaks with it telepathically and it says, “I am so happy to go with you. Let’s burn this world down. I love fire. I know that much from Sindri’s memories.”
• Rettniss is shocked, “Wait – not only did you absorb his magical essence, you absorbed his memories too?” She asks telepathically
• “Well, you sort of helped with that,” the voodoo doll, whom Rettniss has named Vindri, responds telepathically. “By using Sindri’s hair as a part of this – when the magic bound to me – I could feel it woven into the fabric – pardon to pun – of my being. Granted, I have yarn for a brain… so things are not very clear… really, it’s a bit of a mess… like a fire raging out of control… a storm without control.”
• The party reaches the edge of the tree line – and resting up against the mountain, they can spot a small camp. They can see the wooden fence around it and hear the sounds of pounding metal as weapons and armor are being forged; there was no sign, thankfully, of the white dragon they’d seen patrolling the area

• As they stare at the fort about 60′ away from the edge of the tree line, Avacyn turns to the voodoo doll and asks, “Hey, you OK?”
• Rettniss hears the voodoo doll’s voice, as Sindri still, ask, “Hey – is that person your friend?”
• “Yes,” Rettniss explains telepathically. “She’s a companion of mine. And she likes to curb stomp things.”
• “Got it, got it, got it,” the Sindri voodoo doll responds mentally, “Just trying to keep things straight. Seems Sindri has encountered orcs before and she looks like one. So I just wanted to make sure. It’s all jumbled up right now but I am sure it will be all right and I won’t burn the wrong people.”
• “That would be ideal,” Rettniss mutters mentally, then turns to Avacyn. “Good news, Avacyn. Vindri is good – and promises to try and not burn us with fire bolts. Side note, Vindri, as I am calling him – only speaks telepathically – and only to me. Probably to everyone’s benefit.”
• Arhian shakes her head, “So you made a voodoo doll… and only you can hear it’s voice? Is anyone else worried about this?”
• Rettniss smirks, “Sounds like you’re a little peanut butter and jealous. If you put in the work you get the results.”
• When Avacyn peers at what appears to be the entrance to the encampment – she spots two white drakes, laying at the front gate

• Avacyn points out the drakes to the rest of the party
• Though sixty feet away, the guard drakes are none the less powerful looking due to their size, being that of a war horse, with the long tail behind it

• Avacyn shakes her head and whispers, “I’d rather not fight those.” Arhian looks around, and sitting on the mountain side, the rest of the encampment seems to be sitting about 40′ up on the walls
• Hartmut looked up at the sun to see if they would be casting shadows near the camp that he could shadow step to
  • DM Note – I let fate decide. I told Hartmut to roll a d4 – 1, shadow was north, 2, shadow was east, 3 shadow was south, 4 shadow was west.

• With the shadow being closest to the camp, Hartmut realized that if he shadow stepped there might be a chance that someone in the encampment could spot him
• Hartmut suggests he could teleport to the eastern side of the entrance where the drakes are, since the gates are casting a shadow, and punch the drakes… but then he realizes he’d be alone up there while the rest of the party came charging – and it could alert everyone – especially since Avacyn running in metal armor is going to make a lot of noise
• Arhian explains the best idea would be to stealth forward, using the sparse trees and rocks as cover; and the party agrees

• However, the clanking sound of Avacyn’s sword clanging against her armor as she moes draws the attention of a patrolling orb creature with four eye stalks

• The creature calls out to Avacyn who stops in her tracks
• The Spectator shouts, “What are you doing? Why are you outside of the camp?”
• When Avacyn doesn’t answer, it shouts louder, “What are you doing?”
• Avacyn finally shouts back, “What are you doing?”
• The Spectator shouts, “I am patrolling the gate. Once again, what are you doing outside of the fence?”
• Avacyn shrugs and shouts, “Visiting…?”
• The Spectator, visibly growing more frustrated shouts, “What are you visiting? What are you doing?”
• Rettniss hisses, “What are you doing?” to Avacyn
• Avacyn mutters to the side, “I am trying to distract it.”
• Avacyn then turns her attention back to the Spectator, “Aren’t you lonely in this place? Want to come over here and hang out?”
• The Spectator shouts, “Get back inside! You should be forging weapons!”
• Avacyn rebuttals, “I don’t know how to forge weapons. Wait. Do you know someone who looks like me that forges weapons?”
• “You all look the same to me,” the Spectator shouts.
• Avacyn cups her hands and yells back, “If you hung out with me, you’d see we’re not all the same, you know?”
• “Get inside before I alert the others of your disobedience!” the Spectator shouts
• Avacyn looks at her companions and shrugs and begins making her way towards the gate; the Spectator moves towards the entrance of the gate. As Avacyn gets there, the two drakes suddenly perk up. There’s an odd moment of silence, before the Spectator growls, “Well, speak the password so the drakes do not attack you…”
• Avacyn looks between the guard drakes and the Spectator and asks, “What will the drakes do again, if I get the password wrong?”
• “Well,” the Spectator replies, blatantly, “they will rend your flesh apart. It’s what they’re trained to do.”
• Avacyn looks at the Spectator, “Can you give me a hint about the password? I went out of the fence line to sneak a drink – and now I am a little drunk. It’s pretty stressful working here. You work here. I mean, you know what I mean.”
• The Spectator, fed up with dealing with Avacyn growls, “Stay here.” And departs deeper into the encampment where Avacyn sees it speaks to a hobgoblin adorned in heavy armor who looks at the gate entrance – then summons guards to come with him.
  • DM Note – I let Avacyn roll to see how many guards came with him with a dice roll by Avacyn – turn out to be 10 guards!
• Avacyn realizes she’s now in deeper trouble as the hobgoblin captain arrives he barks at the Spectator, “That’s a blasted half-orc. Take her to the slave mines where she can mine for metals.” Recalling how her father once ran things – Avacyn makes a break for it. She makes a jump from the side of the ledge – but one of the Drakes is quick enough to attack – and does so – biting into the back of Avacyn’s leg

• Avacyn begins running into the field, running around to try and take cover. She looks over her should to see if she’s being chased – and is surprised she isn’t – that’s when a rain of arrows comes down at her

• Four of the ten fired longbow shots from the hobgoblin guards hit Avacyn as she flees 60 feet back into the woods – however, two of those hits were critical strikes – on top of the one white guard drake that bit her!

• The others who had stealthed closer to the camp now hear the captain barking orders that there may be more orcs afoot and that they need to be on high alert, since one of their half-breeds was spotted. The entire encampment now goes on high alert, with guards posted along the fence line.
• Rettniss hears Vindri’s voice in her head say, “Should I have burned her as she ran by? That would have made a great distraction.”
• Rettniss shakes her head, and telepathically communicates, “No. No burning Avacyn. Remember, she’s our friend. However, do you have any of Sindri’s illusion magic?”
• Rettniss hear’s Vindri’s voice, “Not yet. But I can keep syphoning Sindri’s magic. And I can get more and more powerful. It won’t go well for him – but you and I – we will be best friends.”
• “Well,” Arhian mutters to herself, “this complicates things.”
• Rettniss hears a small, familiar voice his, “What was your plan with that?”
• Rettniss looks and sees Daggerpoint and Locke come out of one of the nearby bushes

• Daggerpoint sighs, “What was with that plan? I am not sure I see the logic in any of it.”
• Rettniss gestures to Daggerpoint and Locke to the others, who see the sprite and pseudo dragon. She looks back to the Sprite, “No time for any of that. What are you doing here?” Rettniss chuckles, realizing that question seems to be coming up a lot today
• “Well,” Daggerpoint explains, “what I was doing before you alerted the entire camp that there’s someone outside its walls was… there are reports of a sighting of a green dragon that departed from one of the caves near Thoridin, which in case you didn’t know, is a major Dwarven Kingdom. This green dragon, according to reports, is named Kala’Shin and is reportedly one of the daughters of the ancient, and most vile of all dragons, Emereth.“
• Arhian and especially Rettniss, have heard of Emereth
• They both know Emereth as an ancient – said to be one of the oldest dragons alive – who refuses to “bend the knee” to the dragon goddess, Tyhamat, believing that it is she who should be respected and worshipped by the masses. Emereth’s hatred for all things beautiful – especially elves – is legendary – as she is primarily known for ravishing the homes of Elves for the sake of sheer enjoyment, destruction and death of the Elves. One of the most violent acts was an attack on Greywood, located on the continent of Tawaim – where Emereth was said to have killed over 2,000 elves in total – destroying High Elves and Wood Elves alike. It is there, she destroyed the home of the High Elves, pulling down their structures and constructing a nest, where one of her litter had been born.
• Daggerpoint continues to explain that, “Kala’Shin hasn’t been spotted here – so I don’t know where she’s gone – that could be troublesome. However, I have seen a White Dragon near this encampment named Frostscale. Would explain the white guard drakes too.”
• Arhian looks at Daggerpoint and whispers, “Have you ever seen this white dragon turn itself invisible?”
• “If it was invisible,” Daggerpoint counters, “I wouldn’t be able to see it.”
• Arhian clarifies, “Have you ever seen it visible – then cast an invisibility spell?”
• Daggerpoint shrugs, “Well, I’ve not been here that long. I’ve been staying invisible, since that’s something I can do. And I know Dragons can cast spells, but I don’t know if Frostscale ever has.”
• Rettniss hears Vindri whisper in his head, “Hey! Is that little one a friend of yours? Still trying to sort through all the memories – do you realize how much Sindri reads? He needs another hobby. He should be burning libraries down! Speaking of burning – so – go on – is that little one a friend? Or should I burn him?”
• Rettniss thinks, “He’s also a friend.”
• Vindri responds telepathically, “You have too many friends.”
• Arhian asks if Daggerpoint is aware of any other entrances to the encampment; to which Daggerpoint explains while searching, he did find a cave that had several hobgoblins, some human casting a dark ritual and a human tied up to a wooden post
• Hartmut asks about how many were inside the cave; Daggerpoint explains there were eight hobgoblins, one human – casting a very dark feeling spell – and there was another human, looked really bad off – tied to a wooden post. “My guess,” he adds, “they’re doing some kind of dark ritual sacrifice. Definitely feels like necromancy.”
• “Is it up in the encampment?” Arhian asks
• “No,” Daggerpoint explains. And the small sprite flutters up and points off to the side of the encampment – a cave opening that’s barely visible
• “We could stealth over there,” Arhian whispers
• “We need to tell Avacyn what’s going on,” Rettniss adds
• Hartmut nods, “I will go tell her.” Using his shadow teleport ability, he teleports into the tree line that he saw Avacyn dive into. He explains that they met up with Daggerpoint and Locke from before; and Daggerpoint has mentioned a cave with some hobgoblins and what is probably a necromancer – and a human prisoner, which might be Bram Kessler, whom they’d come here looking for. Hartmut recommends removing Avacyn’s armor and to pack it up tightly – and try to stealth across the field. Hartmut then makes his way back ahead of Avacyn as she undresses into her leathers.
• Unfortunately, Avacyn isn’t one for being quiet; even when she used one of the charges from the recently acquired Amulet of Inspiration from Lady Valen Tyne.
  • DM Note – For Valentine’s Day, in all of my games, I posted the following –

Your sleep, as you rest for the night, drifts into seeing a beautiful blond woman, who seems to be in grief. She cuts her hair off and suddenly puts on armor. The image blurs and you suddenly see Knights backed against a corner – but the woman, she removes her helmet and the men seem genuinely astonished. She rushes forward and it becomes clear – who she is fighting are Necromancers, as there are undead all around. With no weapons, she grabs each one with their hands – and as she does so they fall to their knees – grief stricken by their crimes of necromancy, and how they’ve lost their way. Their hearts now full of the feeling of pure love. She gets her sword, which had been lost, and raises it – the hilt shows two hearts – and the blade gleams radiant light shining upon the land, driving back the darkness and shadows.
You each each hear the woman’s voice who says, “Each of you has given so much. Allow me to bestow a gift for all whom you inspire.”
The following morning, you awaken wearing a heart pendant (requires being logged into my campaign to see it) with two golden hands holding it.

Happy Valentine’s Day event.

• Avacyn draws the attention of two hobgoblins who continue to fire at her, striking her several times, before losing sight of her again
• Avacyn eventually manages to stealth to the mouth of the cave, where she meets the other who stare at Avacyn, who has several arrows in her
• Without waiting for the others to help her, she quickly yanks out the arrows and dons her armor, surprisingly doing so quietly and not alerting the hobgoblins and human not far down inside the cave
• The party edges closer. Arhian tells Daggerpoint to go invisible and untie the human tied to the wooden post, who looks to be severely beaten up; by the dress attire definitely shows he’s a monk – and undoubtedly Bram Kessler, whom they are here to find
• Rettniss explains that she will drop Faerie Fire on the group of hobgoblins and necromancer
• Hartmut explains that he will drop Darkness
• However – Rettniss forces them all to pause a moment as the Necromancer’s voice echoes off the walls and she hears an all too familiar name…
• “…as you can see,” the Necromancer is heard saying, “I have successfully captured the essence of the spirit of the recently slain hobgoblin into the vessel.”

• “And now, thanks to the knowledge I gained from the Water Genasi, Karliah, she has given me knowledge on how to soul transfer… so I can successfully soul transfer the slain hobgoblin and move it inside that captured monk we caught sniffing around the camp,” and the necromancer gestures to the tied up human.
• Rettniss looks to the others, “We have to take that necromancer alive. That name he mentioned… listen, I just need him alive.”
• With that said, combat begins – Faerie Fire lands on most of the enemies below – while others are consumed in the Darkness spell – Avacyn, Arhian, and Hartmut make their way down and engage in combat

• Once the leader of the hobgoblins is free of the darkness, things begin to get dangerous
• During one of the rounds, he casts Lightning which strikes both Arhian and Avacyn; Arhian takes the full damage, while Avacyn takes half

• In the following round, he follows it up with Fireball using his Army Arcana trait that ensures that he wraps it around so none of his companions are in the blast
• This one wraps around Hartmut, Avacyn and Arhian – with only Arhian taking full damage, the other two taking half damage

• With his primary spell slots burned, he turned to using a natural ability within him to wreak damage on Arhian

• The Iron Shadow Hobgoblins also prove to be dangerous as well

• This keeps Rettniss constantly attempting to heal her companions, away from combat; while the Sindri Voodoo Doll casts Fire Bolt every chance it got – usually hitting the enemy, sometimes hitting companions
  • DM Note – Because I was having the Voodoo Doll essentially be insane, if it was Fire Bolting an enemy that had an ally next to it; I had Rettniss roll a d6 – every time it landed on an odd number it “accidentally” targeted the companion instead – once Rettniss realized this, she began having it Fire Bolting enemies that had no companions next to it
• Arhian and Avacyn, throughout the battle, get very bloody; but Daggerpoint is finally able to untie the human prisoner which is indeed Bram Kessler – who helps in the combat, despite his own grievous wounds
• Rettniss upcasts Healing Spirit placing a large, magical bear in the center of the cave, that allows magical healing properties to heal her companions; this draws the attention of the Hobgoblin Devastator – who then targets Rettniss – and strikes her for heavy damage, forcing Rettniss to get closer to the battle as well, to gain the healing properties of her own magical bear
• The Necromancer is rendered unconscious, thanks to the party using non lethal damage, just as Avacyn slays the last standing Hobgoblin – an Iron Shadow. She cleaves the hobgoblin’s head – then spins around – hitting the head with the flat of her axe with so much force, that the head splatters, splashing blood on her – then proceeds to fly at massive speed, slamming against the wall, crushing the skull into nothing – splashing blood and brain matter everywhere

• The Necromancer whom Rettniss stirs away angrily growls at the human
• The Necromancer looks at Rettniss and laughs, “Ah, you must be one of Karliah’s daughters or granddaughters … you look so much like her… and magic… I sense it in you… she will be pleased when you catch up to her… you’ve grown… and that’s exactly what she wants from you…”

TO BE CONTINUED.