{"id":5824,"date":"2022-02-16T06:52:44","date_gmt":"2022-02-16T06:52:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/?page_id=5824"},"modified":"2022-02-17T04:38:20","modified_gmt":"2022-02-17T04:38:20","slug":"adventure-notes-the-discovery-17","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/adventure-notes\/the-discovery\/the-discovery-11-20\/adventure-notes-the-discovery-17","title":{"rendered":"Adventure Notes \u2013 The Discovery 17"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Want to help? Consider becoming a&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/kneurth\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Patreon.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/characters\/the-discovery-characters\/arhian-vos-origin\" target=\"_blank\">Arhian Vos \u2013 Human Monk<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/characters\/the-discovery-characters\/hartmut-helmsworth\" target=\"_blank\">Hartmut Helmsworth \u2013 Elf Monk<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/characters\/the-discovery-characters\/sindri-waggletop-origin\" target=\"_blank\">Sindri Waggletop \u2013 (Forest) Gnome&nbsp;Wizard<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/characters\/the-discovery-characters\/rettniss-kulvith-origin\" target=\"_blank\">Rettniss Kulvith&nbsp;\u2013 Water Genasi Druid<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/characters\/the-discovery-characters\/avacyn-jolyne-uloth-the-merciless-origin\" target=\"_blank\">Avacyn \u201cJolyne\u201d Uloth the Merciless \u2013 Half-Orc Paladin<\/a><\/li><li><em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/characters\/the-discovery-characters\/twilight-origin\" target=\"_blank\">Twilight Skybane \u2013 Tiefling Bard<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 Not Present This Session<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>When the party awakens, they see that Nikalos has left (<em>Nikalos offered to watch over them <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/adventure-notes\/the-discovery\/the-discovery-11-20\/adventure-notes-the-discovery-16\" target=\"_blank\">last session<\/a>)<\/em><\/li><li>The party is not surprised &#8211; but beginning to get worried &#8211; that Twilight hasn&#8217;t returned yet. She&#8217;d gone ahead to locate the hobgoblins that the party had been pursuing (beginning in <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/adventure-notes\/the-discovery\/the-discovery-11-20\/adventure-notes-the-discovery-14\" target=\"_blank\">Session 14<\/a>,<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/adventure-notes\/the-discovery\/the-discovery-11-20\/adventure-notes-the-discovery-15\" target=\"_blank\"> through 15<\/a>, and <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/adventure-notes\/the-discovery\/the-discovery-11-20\/adventure-notes-the-discovery-16\" target=\"_blank\">also 16<\/a> and into this session!)<\/li><li>Sindri tugs on Avacyn&#8217;s leg and asks for her to lift him on her shoulder, since the depth of the swamp water was nearly equal to Sindri&#8217;s height<\/li><li>Avacyn growls, &#8220;We are not going to make this a habit,&#8221; as she picks up Sindri and places Sindri on the shoulder and marches at the front of the party<\/li><li>Despite the rest, after marching through the swamp after some time, Arhian gains a level of exhaustion as the swamp seems to try and hold and pull the party into the sands<\/li><li>Eventually Sindri, Hartmut and Arhian hear something whispering, &#8220;So many spirits&#8230; so many spirits&#8230;&#8221;<\/li><li>Without Twilight, Hartmut offers to stealth ahead and check what&#8217;s going on &#8211;<\/li><li>And he sees a creature like no other he&#8217;s seen before<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/image-3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/image-3.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5828\" width=\"485\" height=\"599\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Hartmut sees this creature throwing bones on a dry mound, whispering, &#8220;Yes! Yes! The spirits call me. Some others are coming! Help me they will!&#8221;<\/li><li>Hartmut tries to identify the creature &#8211; but after a moment, he&#8217;s certain that he&#8217;s never seen it before &#8211; and is pretty sure it&#8217;s a goblin with wings<\/li><li>He stealths back to the party and describes what he&#8217;s seen<\/li><li>Sindri, still on Avacyn&#8217;s shoulder, shakes his head, &#8220;I&#8217;ve seen a lot of goblins &#8211; but I&#8217;ve never heard of any goblins with wings!&#8221; (<em>Nature Check &#8211; Critical Fail)<\/em><\/li><li>Arhian recalls that Kobolds have worn mechanical wings, especially those who worshiped dragons<\/li><li>Hartmut thinks about it and explains that he&#8217;s unusually tall for a goblin or a kobold<\/li><li>Sindri confirms that there&#8217;s only one; it should be fine<\/li><li>Hartmut mutters, &#8220;Last time we fought something with wings, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/adventure-notes\/the-discovery\/the-discovery-11-20\/adventure-notes-the-discovery-15\" target=\"_blank\">it didn&#8217;t go well<\/a>.&#8221;<\/li><li>Rettniss shakes her head, &#8220;Let&#8217;s go talk to this thing &#8211; it&#8217;s not like we&#8217;re known for making the right choice, anyway.&#8221;<\/li><li>The party stealths towards the creature, and as they peer through the shrubbery, Sindri sees the creature &#8211; and has no idea what it is (<em>Critical Fail on Arcana now<\/em>) and believes it just might be a goblin with wings!<\/li><li>The creature thrusts his face through the brush, &#8220;Oh! Adventurers! Here to help me you are! Here for the spirits, yes? Yes!&#8221;<\/li><li>Arhian doesn&#8217;t recall anything about the &#8220;deer birds&#8221; &#8211; but he&#8217;d read up about Berbalangs &#8211; and knew that these creatures were often used by Demon Lords as messengers or gatherers of secrets &#8211; usually prying information from the dead<\/li><li>&#8220;That makes much more sense than a goblin,&#8221; Sindri nods<ul><li>&#8220;Here to help free the spirits, yes?&#8221; the berbalang asks<\/li><li>&#8220;What spirits?&#8221; Sindri asks<\/li><li>&#8220;The bound spirits! Cursed hobglins! Bound them, they did! Screaming, won&#8217;t talk!&#8221; the odd creature responded<\/li><li>&#8220;What spirits do you speak of?&#8221; Sindri asked<\/li><li>&#8220;Spirits of the monks, guardians of the temple,&#8221; the barbalang shrugged, as if it was obvious<\/li><li>&#8220;Oh, Hell,&#8221; Rettniss mutters, &#8220;now we&#8217;re in it.&#8221;<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Hartmut questions the berbalang about the hobgoblins; who says there was five of them; two of which were stronger in magic<\/li><li>Arhian asks if he knows where the hobgoblins are<\/li><li>The berbalang nods, and points &#8211; &#8220;Entered the temple they have! Bound the spirits before entering! Guard against all.&#8221;<\/li><li>Sindri asks, &#8220;How do we free the spirits?&#8221;<\/li><li>The berbalang explains, &#8220;Inside the temple &#8211; a magic chamber with a table &#8211; sacrifice a magic item &#8211; the burst of magic will shatter the spell from within it, will!&#8221; it explains as it excitedly wrings its hands<\/li><li>The party looks around &#8211; and wonders who has a spare magic item that can be sacrificed when the time comes<\/li><li>Arhian and Hartmut know that they must free the spirits<ul><li>From what they know, the Monks have sent powerful items that should not be in the hands of mortals into other dimensions &#8211; guarded by Spirit Monks at the temple &#8211; to prevent anyone from gaining access to them. Items can be taken here to also unlock the true potential of a magic item, in the safety of a dimension &#8211; among spirits, rather than on the mortal plane, should things go wrong<\/li><li>However, the Binding of the Spirits as the Hobgoblins have done is indication that they&#8217;ve gotten a hold of some ancient, powerful magic already<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Sindri asks, whispering, &#8220;What do we do with the berbalang?&#8221;<\/li><li>When Sindri sees the berbalang trying to listen, he uses <em>Minor Illusion<\/em> to create a static sound in its ear<\/li><li>It begins itching at its ear, muttering, &#8220;Spirits making weird sounds now&#8230;&#8221;<\/li><li>Arhian says, &#8220;We may be able to use this creature to aid us &#8211; help us speak to spirits.&#8221;<\/li><li>Hartmut looks at Arhian, startled, &#8220;Are we sure we want something in the thrall of a demon lord with us?&#8221;<\/li><li>Arhian nods, &#8220;We could use him with the spirits &#8211; and against the hobgoblins.&#8221;<\/li><li>The party agrees<\/li><li>Sindri dispels the Minor Illusion<\/li><li>And Arhian asks, &#8220;Do you have a name, berbalang?&#8221;<\/li><li>He nods and as he wrings his hangs, &#8220;My name is <strong>Burlap.<\/strong>&#8220;<ul><li><em>DM Note &#8211; Originally the player controlling Twilight was going to make this session &#8211; and I&#8217;d thrown in Burlap because she, as a person, would have recognized the name from another game I run which she is a part of &#8211; Burlap appears in <strong>Servants of the Wizard<\/strong> <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/adventure-notes\/servants-of-the-wizard\/servants-of-the-wizard-1-10\/servants-of-the-wizard-03\" target=\"_blank\">Session 3<\/a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/adventure-notes\/servants-of-the-wizard\/servants-of-the-wizard-1-10\/servants-of-the-wizard-04\" target=\"_blank\">Session 4<\/a> and <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/adventure-notes\/servants-of-the-wizard\/servants-of-the-wizard-1-10\/servants-of-the-wizard-05\" target=\"_blank\">Session 5<\/a>.<\/em> <em>Ironically, one of the characters there also believed Burlap to be a goblin with wings, which is where the reference came from&#8230;<\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Arhian asks, &#8220;Will you help us?&#8221;<\/li><li>Burlap nods, &#8220;I help. Yes. But I not fight. Not made for fighting. But I fly. Tell you if things come. Speak with spirits, yes?&#8221;<\/li><li>Arhian nods, &#8220;Yes.&#8221;<\/li><li>Sindri asks, &#8220;Quick question &#8211; who do you work for?&#8221;<\/li><li>Burlap smiles. &#8220;Big secret. Can&#8217;t say.&#8221; And with that, he takes to the skies.<\/li><li>As the party continues to march forward, the berbalang comes spiraling down and lands on the branch and says, &#8220;Creatures. Small. They&#8217;ve seen you.&#8221;<\/li><li>&#8220;That&#8217;s all you know?&#8221; Sindri asks<\/li><li>&#8220;Well, I sense evil,&#8221; Burlap says. Then after a moment laughs, &#8220;Oh, maybe that&#8217;s me?&#8221;<\/li><li>Hartmut shakes his head and sighs, &#8220;Who knew you were such a jokester?&#8221;<\/li><li>Burlap laughs, eerily then says, &#8220;Well, creatures ahead &#8211; they small. Small. No problem for all of you. Especially with that one,&#8221; as he jabs his jaunty finger towards Avacyn.<\/li><li>The party proceeds with caution and takes to the air<ul><li><em>The party rolls Perception with Advantage because of being warned by <strong>Burlap<\/strong><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>The party manages to spot several, small, humanoid creatures, hidden in the swamp, clearly in positions of ambush &#8211; so, at least, for an admittedly evil creature, <strong>Burlap<\/strong> was at least honest<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/image-4.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/image-4.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5845\" width=\"411\" height=\"528\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Sindri, since he was one of the three who could spot them (Sindri, Avacyn, and Hartmut) is able to recognize them as vile fey creatures known as Meazel &#8211; who use stealth and shadow teleporting to attacking their victims &#8211; and any whom they teleport with &#8211; are infected with a disease that draws the undead to them<\/li><li>Arhian places her hand on Sindri&#8217;s shoulder and says, &#8220;I know we&#8217;ve talked about not burning down trees, being a Forest Gnome and all&#8230; but&#8230; this might be the best idea.&#8221;<\/li><li>Knowing that Meazels flee from light, Sindri uses <em>Fire Bolt<\/em> to keep the creatures at bay, and they&#8217;re able to avoid combat with them &#8211; but shining light in their direction<\/li><li>Sindri then casts <em>Light<\/em> on Arhian&#8217;s quarterstaff<ul><li><em>Fun Note &#8211; during this, the joke came up that Arhian&#8217;s staff name would be &#8220;Vaccine&#8221; since it was keeping the meazels away&#8230;<\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>After a short while, Burlap descends onto a branch again and says, &#8220;Something like spirits ahead. My eyes see &#8211; yours may not.&#8221;<\/li><li>Sindri asks, &#8220;What do you mean?&#8221;<\/li><li>Burlap shrugs, &#8220;Five &#8211; me see &#8211; you no see &#8211; walk in pattern &#8211; look lost. Not evil.&#8221; He observes the party to see if he can judge them &#8211; and asks, &#8220;None of you know what a Skulk is.&#8221;<\/li><li>Sindri shakes his head, &#8220;I know what a Skulk is. They&#8217;re travelers, who die during travels, who are like ghosts. And they are visible &#8211; if we have a mirror &#8211; or a candle made from corpse fat.&#8221; Sindri digs in his pouch to see if he has a candle, but Hartmut pulls out a mirror and hands it to Sindri.<\/li><li>Sindri positions himself so he&#8217;s sitting backwards on Avacyn&#8217;s shoulder so that he can see them in the mirror<\/li><li>The party tries to stealth around where the Skulks were, however &#8211; Hartmut slips into the murky swamp water <em>(Critical Fail on Stealth)<\/em><\/li><li>Sindri turns the mirror &#8211; and sees that the four skulks seem to be moving in a specific pattern<\/li><li>Sindri is curious about the pattern that they&#8217;re walking in &#8211; but it&#8217;s difficult to keep track using the mirror<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/image-7.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/image-7.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5852\" width=\"524\" height=\"677\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Hearing Sindri and Rettniss &#8211; the Skulks turn and point to the party, uttering words, though no sound leaves their lips<\/li><li>Hartmut is unnerved<\/li><li>Sindri keeps reading their lips and finally says, &#8220;They&#8217;re repeating the words&#8230; <em>free the spirits&#8230; free the spirits&#8230; free the spirits&#8230;&#8221;<\/em> <ul><li><em>DM Note &#8211; This was a fun use of the <strong>Observant<\/strong> feat<\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Sindri tells the party that they should press on, after observing that the pattern that the Skulks are walking is in the &#8220;eternity&#8221; symbol<\/li><li>The party discovers &#8211; after nearly eleven hours &#8211; Burlap finally flies down and asks what the party is doing &#8211; that they&#8217;ve been walking in circle for an hour not eleven hours &#8211; and points out that the party is walking in a pattern &#8211; and he draws it on the ground &#8211; drawing a symbol eight<\/li><li>&#8220;We&#8217;re stuck in the same pattern,&#8221; Sindri growls. &#8220;We&#8217;re stuck in a curse of binding &#8211; there&#8217;s something that when we reach &#8211; it teleports us back and forces us to walk the same steps again. Burlap, you&#8217;ve been watching us &#8211; there&#8217;s an item that&#8217;s on the path &#8211; just before we repeat. Do you know where it&#8217;s at?&#8221;<\/li><li>Burlap flies up &#8211; looks and flies back down &#8211; and stops at a large tree with vines.<\/li><li>The party moves towards the tree and looks around the tree but doesn&#8217;t see anything<\/li><li>The entire time Burlap shakes his head and taunts the party member about how he&#8217;s so much smarter he is than the rest of the party and finally reveals the marking is behind the vines<\/li><li>Arhian takes one of her darts &#8211; and scratches the symbol out &#8211; and it&#8217;s clear the Hobgoblins had done this &#8211; and this now frees the Skulks are free of their pattern as well; three of which look like they were merchants in a previous life, while one of them looks like it might have been a monk<\/li><li>After speaking with the Skulk, Sindri using his Observant feat to &#8220;hear&#8221; what&#8217;s being said &#8211; they manage to recruit the Skulk that appeared to be a Monk previously<\/li><li>The party eventually reaches the temple &#8211; and there, hands bound together &#8211; monk spirits seem entwined with one another, standing, backs arched forward, heads tilted back, mouths agape as if screaming &#8211; just as Burlap had said<\/li><li>The party throws a rock through the spirits and sees the algae on it disappear as it passes through the spirits; they then toss a stick through, which crumples; and they determine passing through the spirits will age them greatly &#8211; so they need another way<\/li><li>Burlap flies and lands on the other side, staring at the party and grinning &#8211; all too happy to approve he&#8217;s superior to the party<\/li><li>They find a large boulder and all successfully climb it and jump over, with Avacyn going last as she throws Sindri over the spirit wall<\/li><li>The Monk Skulk appears and mouths that there are hobgoblins hidden in the doorway in the hallway inside the main hall<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dndspeak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Temple-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"494\" height=\"330\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The party moves forward and pounds through the two hobgoblins who could not take advantage of their ambush due to the Monk Skulk&#8217;s warning<\/li><li>Party makes their way to the main chamber where they fight the two Hobgoblin Mages who are casting a spell on two pair of cestus gloves<\/li><li>After defeating the pair of Hobgoblin mages, Arhian dons the <em>Cestus of Seikaku-sa<\/em> while Hartmut takes the <em>Cestus of Kyoaku-sei<\/em><\/li><li>To free the bound spirit monks, the party decides to sacrifice Rettniss&#8217; extra magical Quarterstaff (+1) &#8211; and as she lays the quarterstaff down &#8211; runes appear on each side of the table<\/li><li>Arhian walks to one side where the runes are &#8211; and suddenly her body floats up, her eyes turn blank, her back arched and arms extended &#8211; appearing to mimic the chained spirits<\/li><li>Sindri looks in the mirror and looks at the Monk Skulk who is nodding and pointing to Hartmut<\/li><li>Hartmut approaches the other side, and the same thing<\/li><li>For Arhian and Hartmut, they see a world in space, with stars streaking by, planets created, and planets destroyed, all passing through their eyes<\/li><li>All the runes light up &#8211; Rettniss quickly dives against the pillar and shouts, &#8220;Duck!&#8221;<\/li><li>And a massive wave of force slams everyone else who is thrown against the wall for ten points of damage<\/li><li>And Arhian and Hartmut drift to the ground &#8211; and both feel a sense of calm &#8211; and the spirit monks suddenly appear, doing what they&#8217;d always do<ul><li>And the party stops here for now!<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Want to help? Consider becoming a&nbsp;Patreon. Arhian Vos \u2013 Human Monk Hartmut Helmsworth \u2013 Elf Monk Sindri Waggletop \u2013 (Forest) Gnome&nbsp;Wizard Rettniss Kulvith&nbsp;\u2013 Water Genasi Druid Avacyn \u201cJolyne\u201d Uloth the Merciless \u2013 Half-Orc Paladin Twilight Skybane \u2013 Tiefling Bard&nbsp;\u2013 Not &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/adventure-notes\/the-discovery\/the-discovery-11-20\/adventure-notes-the-discovery-17\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3349,"menu_order":17,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5824","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5824"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5860,"href":"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5824\/revisions\/5860"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tawmis.com\/kneurth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}