Experimental Convalescence - December 1, 2023

 - You're doing a good job and your hair looks nice dino

- Tiff rushes over to the Hospital Wing and discovers that she now knows the spell Detect Poison and Disease through Aunt Thessalie

- Her observations show her that it is a magical disease which neither Cure Wounds nor Lesser Restoration will touch

- The scaly rash absorbs water and gets visibly worse when the water, so Thessalie sends a nurse (or someone) to get a few chemicals she knows to be desiccants and runs tests on the rashes on the outside of the three patients throats to see if anything will dry out the rash and kill it while also discussing with Osiris and the nurse if Water Breathing and a lungful of water would get around the rash while still allowing them to absorb water and not die of thirst

- Osiris goes down to the Rites wing to autopsy a person who has died of this disease to see how far down the rash goes

 

- Rusty goes to the library of history to show some of the Dwarven artifacts they found

- He meets Adalbert Gamwich and Glorina there

- He sells them all the paperwork, the tapestry, and the small weapons they found in the treasury for 1500GP, which would apparently come from Lord McNabb

- He also offers to translate the one manuscript in Dwarven they have as well the things he's brought them separately.

- He tells them that the manuscript they have is a cookbook for soups and stews, and almost all the recipes have options for when serving non-dwarves (so as not to accidentally poison humans and others less resistant to poison)

- Glorina tries to throw in a clause that Rusty will donate his body to the museum as a dwarven artifact if he dies

- He name drops Tiff as well

- The money will be delivered to the Curlywit Boarding House

 

- Rusty comes back to the hospital and finds Tiff first. She explains what she's discovered about the disease, and he asks if being in a desert environment would help, and she says maybe. She's named the disease Dragonscale Rash

- The two of them go to the teleportation circle with Rusty showing Theophania the "address" to one of the circles he saw in the desert and she figures out where to put all the sigils and activates the portal.

- Rusty goes through because he knows how to activate the device on the other side

 

- Osiris finds that the cadaver just basically has a calcified throat that is so tight they can't breathe or swallow anymore, but doesn't continue into the lungs.

- She then messages Tiff and discovers that she has sent Rusty through the Teleportation Circle. She is EXASPERATED beyond all imagining because they just got Rusty BACK from the desert.  

 

- Rusty appears in the room he recognizes and he sees Breaker and Striker waiting on him there, and they don't have much to report except that his other friends went back home

- He teaches Striker and Breaker how to run the machine so they can send people back to Mistverge, and then he goes back to the Temple.

- He then helps her come up with intravenous fluid injection to prevent dehydration in the patients who can't expose the rash to water

- They end up setting up a small ward for the Dragonscale Rash patients with all their attempts at a remedy and a couple of nurses guarded by Striker and Breaker 

- LONG REST

- 3,000 XP ea for 106,000 XP total ea.

No entry! Bad dragon! - November 10, 2023

 - Ninja embroidery (appliqué?)

- Group therapy session in a major way

- Theophania and Osiris with some help from Rusty gather about three soul-containing crystals to bring back for experimenting on how to release the souls without destroying them 

- Tiff sprays the room with a concoction from her alchemists supplies to hide their scent to help hide who was here

- Osiris draws some glyphs of protection (religious, not arcane) then uses a second spell slot to cast Stone Shape to close the opening completely

- Rusty carves in common over the bakery door, "No entry! Bad dragon!"

- They take their crystal, which is about the last thing Tiff can fit in the bag of holding and head back up and out of the tunnel where they stop to camp in a Leomund's Tiny Hut, so Tiff does another Sending to Great Aunt Thessalie, "Auntie, I'm scared. There's just us against Agonir and millions of trapped souls. What if we fail? What happens to the people of Mistverge? Miss you."

- Tiff basically falls asleep almost immediately and has a dream where Thessalie comforts her and tells her that she can only do her best, but that Tess believes that Tiff can do great things and then they have tea and Tiff finally gets to tell all her adventures to the one person who she's wanted to know about them in all the world

 

- Once they get back to Mistverge, Tiff entrusts Osiris with the bag of holding after taking out a present for her niece that she made ages ago when she was making magic items and heads to her parents house

- Lyrielle and Raiàn go to their rooms at the Cutlywit boarding house to rest (and probably also avoid roleplay)

- There are fewer people on the streets than even the cold, damp weather would call for

 

- Osiris takes the bag of holding with the soul crystals and goes straight to Birel to get help with them

- Before she can even it out to show him, he asks if it has something to do with the disease, and she has a wait, what moment

- The disease causes people to get a rash, and then it's like their bodies can't take in water so they die of thirst no matter how much water they drink, and several people have died while the group has been out

- They do not yet know how it spreads, though if it's through air, water, or contact

- There are currently two people in the hospital wing who have the disease

- Osiris goes to investigate one of the bodies of people who have passed from the disease and sees the scaly, greenish rash on her neck and the same pattern inside her throat as well

- She takes a sample of the rash for Tiff

- Osiris then finally gets to show Birel and the other two high-priests the soul crystals

 

- Lyrielle and Raiàn return to the boarding house and Jinora is there with Callie and Magnus.

- The story of Lyrielle getting eaten by a giant bug is told. Jinora is impressed that she survived and really wished she knew the Sending spell.

- Raiàn gets a Message from the temple about the disease and not to drink the water

- Callie explains that it's really just in the slums by the river just south of the docks on both the east and west banks, but no halflings have been affected yet (where the fog is...)

- Tiff's healing bonk of a hammer is explained.

- Tiff gives the belated birthday present for Vera (now aged four) to her brother Eldie explaining about how she knows Vera can't have a pet because of Eldon's severe allergies no matter how much she wants a rabbits, and how the pot is enchanted to cause a carefully tended plant in it to become Awakened and behave a bit like a pet

- Eldon didn't even realize Tiff was gone for the week, so he doesn't really believe her when she tries to warn him about the dragon and he takes some convincing, but he finally acknowledges the problem and agrees to get the word out through the Mistverge halfling Hive in case there's a need to evacuate. He gives her an apology chocolate, and she takes off on her broom to go help Osiris figure out how to cure the new disease in town (message through the earring), release the souls from the crystals, kill Agonir, and save Mistverge. No big.

 

- 3,000 XP ea for 103,000 total XP ea.

Exploding Bugs and Minds (Well, One Mind) - November 3, 2023

 CENTIPEDE BATTLE

- Lyrielle drinks an Elixir of Resistance (from Tiff) and moves a little closer to the nearest centipede

- Raiàn casts Fireball and discovers the centipede are immune 

- The Centipede (C1) nearest Lyrielle moves up to bite her, but she dodges with her DMS

- Osiris casts Aid (level 4) on Lyrielle, Thoephania, and Raiàn then steps back

- C2 waits to see what's going to happen

- Rusty goes into a Rage, ("You can't flank the butt.") moves to flank C1 with Lyrielle and misses with his first swing then strikes with his second (10 slashing dmg) and Rusty takes 6 (3) fire dmg

- Tiff casts Haste on Rusty 

- Lyrielle smacks C1 with her staff for 9 bludgeoning dmg, and she takes 8 fire dmg then she punches it for 6 bludgeoning dmg and she takes 9 fire dmg from its carapace. It cries out and there is an answering rumble from a deep in a blobb mass of webby stuff

- Raiàn casts Cone of Cold on both centipedes and Rusty, but the centipedes are also immune to cold, so only Rusty take dmg (6)

- C1 turns and misses Rusty 

- Osiris steps forward next to Tiff again casts Bless on everyone except herself wonders out loud if there is any kind of elemental damage they aren't immune to, then steps back into the hall again

- Mama rushes out of the nest of webbing and bites Lyrielle for 48 piercing dmg and 10 fire dmg and she is grappled in its mandibles (She is Restrained)

- C2 moves to flank Rusty and bites him for 22 (11) piercing and 6 (3) fire dmg 

- Rusty slices into C1 for 16 slashing and he takes 9 (4) fire dmg then he slices into it again for 18 slashing dmg and he takes 9 (4) splash back fire dmg then again for 25 slashing dmg and the splash back is 10 (5) fire dmg

- Tiff activates her Rope of climbing while running forward 10', then sends it forward with the Healing Bonk hammer then reels out the rope while moving back to where she was before. At this point Tiff has analyzed the creatures biology quickly and yells that she thinks anything except fire and cold will work on them

- Lyrielle struggles in the jaw of Mama

- Raiàn casts Chain Lightning for 52 lightning dmg on the babies, but Mama only takes 26 

- C1 explodes (no fire dmg luckily)

- Osiris moves up to Lyrielle and casts Cure Wounds (lvl 3) on her for 21 HP then she steps back one more time 

- Mama chomps down on Lyrielle for 31 piercing dmg and 6 fire dmg and she is swallowed then she moves over to Osiris

- C2 bites Rusty for 28 (14) piercing and 14 (7) fire dmg 

- Rusty moves to flank Mama getting bitten again by C2 for 21 (10) piercing and 12 (6) fire dmg then slices into Mama for 18 slashing and 7 (3) fire dmg splash back and again for 21 slashing with 11 (5) fire dmg splash and lastly for 16 slashing dmg with 13 (6) fire dmg splash

- Tiff sends the Rope 10' closer to Rusty, then casts Melf's Acid Arrow on Mama for 21 acid dmg

 

- Lyrielle uses Wholeness of Body to regain 33 HP while inside Mama's belly

- Raiàn casts Chromatic Orb (lvl 5) on Mama for 58 lightning dmg 

- Osiris moves around Mama and casts Heal on Rusty for 78 HP then moves back so that she and Rusty are still flanking

- Mama takes 15 acid dmg from the lingering Acid Arrow then Lyrielle takes 17 digestion acid dmg then misses biting Osiris

- C2 moves to flank Rusty with its Mama and then bites Rusty for 32 (16) piercing and 15 (7) fire dmg

- Rusty misses Mama with his great axe then slices into her for 11 slashing dmg with 13 (6) fire splash then again for 10 slashing dmg with 16 (8) fire splash and Mama is split open DEAD!

- Tiff moves around Raiàn sends the Rope of Climbing so that the Healing Bonk is adjacent to Rusty and then casts Melf's Acid Arrow on C2 for 13 acid dmg

- Lyrielle wiggles out of Mama's dead body, stands up and shakes the stomach acid off, then move adjacent to C2 to help Rusty hitting C2 for 8 bludgeoning and then again for 13 bludgeoning dmg taking 5 fire dmg in the process, then she Disengages and moves back 5'

- Raiàn casts Magic Missile on C2 for a total of 9 force dmg and it's dead too! (Go Chain Lightning!)

- Everyone takes a deep breath, and the undamaged Osiris pokes her head into the webby nest where Mama was hiding and she finds a carved alabaster mask

- The mask is a full face mask with a pointy chin and sort of little horns at the top that look slightly demonic, but she gets the idea that it might be orcish in origin.

- She also find some random bits of dwarven detritus

- While they are sitting around looking at what Osiris dragged out, Rusty wonders out loud what happened to the dwarves, and Tiff says, "Oh Lellzutho destroyed the dwarven civilization before he possessed my grandpa and destroyed Hedrimond." 

- Rusty's mind is blown, and a short rest is spent providing more details, but that big one is that now he knows what happened to him and his creatures.  

- 2,500 XP ea for 100,000 XP total ea (LEVEL 12!)

It Belongs in a Museum (Raiders of the Lost Civ) - September 15, 2023

 - Plain black hoodie / Cat dice

- They settle into the Hut for a short rest.

- Theophania gives Rusty another Healing Bonk

- Lyrielle notices that one of the green soul crystals has grown on this side of the wall outside of the more natural cavern. She skulks quietly out of the Hut and gets a slightly closer look and it looks like it has an almost liquidy, swirling core

- These crystals are storing souls, but they can also called on to serve in whatever capacity the possessor wants.

- Osiris talks to it, but it doesn't respond at all.

- Theophania casts Sending to the soul inside the crystal, "Hello, who were you? Do you remember how you were put in there? We'd like to get you out so you can move on." But the crystal just bounces the spell back to her and she hears her own words echo inside her mind.

- Once Rusty comes back to proper consciousness, Osiris drops the Hut and casts Death Ward on Lyrielle who then slinks just into the opening between the room and the cavern, and she sees three ghosts floating around, existing or patrolling, it's unclear. She can see even more ghosts 500'-600' away. They all look humanoid. No more troll ghosts at this time.

- Osiris takes some of the ruined furniture and other debris from the room and blocks as much of the hole into the cavern as she can.

- Right before they leave, Osiris casts Spirit Shroud to see if she can draw the soul from the crystal, but it draws other souls down instead, but when she dismisses the spell after the spirits she brought here get sucked through the barrier she created 

- They begin exploring the Dwarven ruins heading towards the "center of town"

- They found an open square with a bunch of building that were cut into the rock in a sort of a semi-circle that Rusty believe may have been a government center

- They make their way into the building and Rusty hunts out the armory from what would have been the guard house. There are a few serviceable weapons that haven't rotted, but nothing enchanted. Tiff stuffs a few artifacts into the Bag of Holding for her cousin Sallie's husband Andak's nephew who works at one of the libraries in town and is super interested in history. (Adalbert Gamwich)

- They bed down in a guard barracks and Osiris casts another bubble.

- While they are napping, Osiris feels a vibration in the ground and hears some chittering.

- She nudges Lyrielle who leaves the protective Hut with Osiris granting her 300' of dark vision before she goes and she slinks out the door into the hallway (Luckily she's still Death Warded.)

- Out of seemingly nowhere, a giant centipede-bug-thing rushes past her and almost crushes her against the wall, but doesn't mess with her, then she waits for it to get a bit of a distance away, and then she darts back to the safety of the Hut

- Before she goes to sleep, Tiff sends to Aunt Thessalie, "We've found Agonir's hoard of souls. Any advice on how to release them? Still miss you everyday, and we could really use your help."

- She gets a feeling of calm, and then hears in an almost familiar voice, "Maybe kill him?"

- Tiff becomes Walmart bike (Huffy). 

- A long rest is had.

- Osiris immediately uses Divine Intervention to ask Mishakal to retrieve the souls from Agonir's hoard, but it doesn't work. She can try again tomorrow.

- Once everyone else is awake, they go investigate where the centipede went. Lyrielle leads the way

- They find a lockbox with 500 GP 

- Osiris find a tapestry that Rusty says he bets is the city's crest (Bag of Holding

- Theophania collects random paperwork from the various offices

- They keep going through the building following Lyrielle who is following the tracks

- They get close enough to hear the chittering again, and Lyrielle sneaks close enough to tell that there are two of them in the conference room type space (based on Rusty's instincts).

- There is much discussion about what to do with the centipedes, and Rusty pulls a Leroy Jenkins with less screaming

- 3,000 XP ea. for 97,500 XP total ea.

He Gets Knocked Down, But He Won't Go Down Again - September 1, 2023

 - Complimentary dino

- GHOST TROLL BATTLE

- Lyrielle calmly drinks the Elixir of Resilience that Theophania handed her and then moves to the side where she isn't in a direct path of the opening in the back wall of the building.

- The Ghost Troll approaches Osiris on the broom, bites her for 11 psychic damage and she shrugs off the mental fog and then dodges two claw attacks.

- Four Humanoid Ghosts also show up

- Raiàn steps up to the hole and casts Chain Lightning on the GT for 37 (18) lightning dmg and HG1 and HG4 also get zapped (they are also resistant to lightning)

- HG1 moves to flank Osiris with the GT and claws her for 18 necrotic damage 

- Osiris uses Misty Step to get out of her precarious position and to a central position between all the ghosts and Turns Undead (HG1 is the only one who gets Turned), then she uses the Broom of Flying she borrowed from Theophania to fly back through the small opening in the wall to her friends

- HG2 moves laterally sort of toward the opening in the wall

- Theophania steps over to Osiris and gives her a gentle Healing Bonk for 18 HP restored and then has her Rope of Climbing knot itself to the hammer 

- Rusty Rages, moves just to the other side of the opening, and slices into HG1 for 15 slashing dmg

- HG4 moves closer to the action

- Lyrielle pops through the opening and punches HG1 for 27 bludgeoning dmg and HG1 is stunned and then she punches it again for 7 bludgeoning dmg

- The water in the pool Lyrielle and Rusty as adjacent to swirls and surges and pulls Rusty into the center of the pool and pulls him under (prone)

- The GT bites Rusty at his feet for 18 psychic dmg and Rusty is stunned then the GT claws Rusty for 41 psychic dmg and then again for 18 psychic dmg

- Raiàn moves back to the opening and throws a Fireball (5th level) into the middle of the ghost pack for (55 fire dmg, except they also obviously resist that, and HG3 is barely affected)

- HG1 did stuff, but I missed it because I was peeing

- Osiris casts Bless on everyone 

- HG2 moves adjacent to Rusty and claws him for 12 (6) necrotic dmg and his HP max is reduced by the 6 until he finishes a Long Rest

- Tiff moves into the hole adjacent to the water where Rusty disappeared and send the Rope of Climbing with the hammer to Rusty which she then activates it's Cure Wounds ability to give him 17 HP.

- Rusty shakes off the Stunned

- HG4 moves adjacent to Rusty and claws him for 17 (8) necrotic dmg and his max HP is also reduced by 8 (again)

- Lyrielle punches HG1 for 10 bludgeoning dmg but it isn't Stunned again, and then she punches it again for 9 bludgeoning dmg 

- One of the green crystals on the wall starts flashing and Tiff hears a loud wailing in her head, but she manages to shrug that off

- GT misses biting Rusty, then claws him for 15 psychic dmg and then claws him again for 13 psychic dmg

- Raiàn moves into the cave and blasts everything including Rusty (though Rusty is protected by the water a bit) with Cone of Cold for 44 (22) cold dmg (HG2 only takes 11 because they are resistant to this too) HG1 poofs out of existence!

- Osiris flies over Theophania then drops the broom in front of Tiff then runs into the water, feels around for Rusty until she finds him, pumps a Heal spell into him for 78 HP then she dashes back next to the entrance

- HG2 claws Rusty for 23 (11) necrotic dmg and his HP max is reduced by 11 (STOP ROLLING SINGLE DIGITS, DAN)

- Tiff tells her Rope to spend its movement wrapping around Rusty and then tells the Hammer to heal him, which it does for 10 HP, and then she backs through the opening again, feeding the Rope length out 

- Rusty stands up yells in a weird distorted computerized voice (because Robot took a shit ton of psychic damage), "I don't drown!" then misses the GT with his hammer (again, Stunned and a shit ton of psychic dmg), then he slices into GT for  27 magical slashing dmg and GT is looking really rough

- HG4 moves to flank Rusty with GT and claws him for 19 (9) necrotic dmg

 

- Lyrielle darts into the room to flank HG4 with Rusty punches it for 8 bludgeoning and then again for 10 bludgeoning and then she kicks it for 12 bludgeoning dmg 

- Raiàn is pulled into the water and knocked prone, and Lyrielle is knocked prone where she stands

- GT bites Rusty for 37 psychic dmg then it claws Rusty for 19 psychic dmg and then again for 17 psychic dmg and Rusty is grievously injured. (Thank you, Relentless Rage)

- Raiàn stand up, casts Mind Sliver on the GT for 9 psychic dmg, then she Misty Steps through the doorway next to Tiff

- Osiris moves next to Rusty taking 25 necrotic dmg from HG3 in the process then casts Death Ward on Rusty and continues moving past HG4.

- HG2 misses Rusty

- Tiff commands the Rope to pull Rusty back towards the hole 10' then she tells the Hammer to heal him for 18 HP, then she scoops up her broom that Osiris dropped earlier

- HG3 moves to flank Rusty and misses

- Rusty moves to flank HG4 with Osiris and takes 15 (7) necrotic dmg then slicing into HG4 for 8 slashing dmg and then again for 15 slashing dmg

- HG4 misses Rusty

- Lyrielle stands up and punches HG4 for 12 bludgeoning dmg and it poofs out of existence so she moves to HG3 and punches it for 8 bludgeoning dmg and HG3 is Stunned until the end of her next turn

- One of the green crystals flashes and Rusty takes 6 psychic dmg 

- GT steps forward misses biting Rusty then claws Rusty for 16 dmg, but the Death Ward keeps him at 1 HP, then it claws him again for 14 psychic dmg, but his Relentless Rage keeps him at 1 HP

- Raiàn casts Mind Sliver on GT for 12 psychic dmg and it poofs out of existence

- Osiris casts Sacred Flame on HG2 but it dodges then moves and interposes herself between Rusty and HG2

- HG2 misses Osiris

- Tiff pulls Rusty 5' towards the entrance with the Rope and then uses the Hammer to heal him for 17 HP.

- HG3 is Stunned

- Rusty slices into HG3 for 12 magical slashing dmg and then again for 18 slashing dmg

- Lyrielle punches HG3 for 8 bludgeoning dmg then again for 9 bludgeoning then again for 11 bludgeoning 

- The water laps around Rusty and Lyrielle's feet

- Raiàn casts Mind Sliver, but it doesn't affect its mind

- Osiris casts Sacred Flame on HG2 for 22 radiant dmg

- HG2 claws Osiris for 27 necrotic dmg and he HP max is reduced by 27 and she loses her Concentration on Bless 

- Tiff shoots HG3 for 3 magical piercing dmg

- HG3 slashes Lyrielle for 4 necrotic dmg

- Rusty moves to flank HG3 then slices into it for 15 slashing dmg then moves to HG2 and slices into it for 16 slashing dmg

- Lyrielle darts around and flanks HG2 with Osiris for punching it for12 bludgeoning dmg then punches it again for 12 bludgeoning dmg and then again for 13 bludgeoning dmg 

- Rusty ignores a flashy green crystal

- Raiàn casts Magic Missile (4th level) on HG2 for 16 force dmg 

- Osiris casts Sacred Flame on HG2 but it dodges then she Misty Steps back through the entry

- HG2 claws Lyrielle for 18 necrotic dmg and her HP max is reduced by 18

- Tiff casts Melf's Acid Arrow on HG2 (20 (10) acid dmg) and it is perma-dead!'

END OF BATTLE

 

- Rusty starts swinging on the rope around him that was pulling him around, so Tiff curls it back up

- Rusty then tries to break a green crystal off the wall, but he shatters it and takes 3 psychic dmg

- Osiris analyzes what happens and realizes that the soul that was in that crystal is no longer trapped, but it is also destroyed and cannot move on to the afterlife. There is a howl from deeper in the cave

- When Rusty goes to try to go for another one of those crystals, Osiris casts Sleep on him to prevent him from doing any more destruction, but it doesn't work because Robot

- Osiris tells Rusty to stop or it will not go well for him

- It takes time to convince him to come back through the hole in the wall

- As Osiris is leading Rusty through the wall, she sees some movement at the edge of her dark vision

- Rusty immediately slumps over against a wall

- Osiris immediately casts Leomund's Tiny Hut and starts watching through the hole she also whisper explains that destroying the crystals destroys

- 4,500 XP ea. for 94,500 XP total ea.

We're gonna need a bigger proton pack - August 11, 2023

 - Long May He Reign

- Osiris is thinking again about Thessalie and she is pretty sure she has ascended to some celestial power.

- The orb takes the party out of the city through the Arena Gate, people notice them along the way

- There are a ton of people. There's clearly something going on at the Dragonfire Arena. The orb is going through people and Theophania climbs Rusty and then gets on her broom so that they don't loose it.

- The orb continues almost due north into the countryside.

- It follows the road for a while then veers off into the wild.

- After several hours of hiking (or broom riding), at about an hour until sunset Osiris asks the orb if they can pause to find a proper place to camp. 

- They find a little clearing and make enough space for Osiris to cast Leomund's Tiny Hut

- While they are resting, Rusty Communes with Nature and finds out that there are in fact powerful undead creatures within 3 miles of their current location. There are thousands of the spirits deep beneath the earth. 

- THOUSANDS??!?!?!

- Tiff's first night camping! She spends half an hour at least starting up at animals sounds.

- P. S. Tiff snores. They're adorable little snores, but she does snore. Osiris tries to cover her face with a bandana to get her to stop (because Osiris trances and doesn't really know how snoring works), and is confounded when it does nothing.

- The sunrise is beautiful.

- After they finally get Tiff woken up, the orb continues to lead them northeast. 

- In the early afternoon, they come to a spot where there's a small cliff, like a hill that sheared off. It's maybe only 20 feet high and there's a small hollow there in the side of the hill. It is 15' deep.

- Tiff reports in again and then uses her enchanted goggles to cast Detect Magic (ritual) and does in fact see that the back wall of the hollow is illusory. 

- Lyrielle (the sneaky one) climbs down the Rope of Climbing and pops her head through the illusion and then throws a pebble. The pebble travels a few tens of feet then stops. She sneaks a few hundred feet down the downward sloping tunnel and neither sees nor hears anything interesting, so she comes back and climbs the rope again.

- Before they go in, Tiff uses two of her Sendings stored in the Sending Stick to report to Captain Swinson the location of the lair entrance and that they are going in to scout a bit, and Swinson Sends back, "Thanks. Be careful. Don't die."

- The tunnel heads back towards Mistverge, but angles down into the earth

- After several hours of walking, Tiff estimates that they are nearly a mile underground, and they come to what looks like a city street. It is two hours until sunset.

- Rusty recognizes the construction as being Dwarven. 

- The tunnel through the earth is significantly new "construction" as compared to the Dwarven construction here under the surface.

- The Dwarven city is abandoned. 

- The dust / dirt / gravel / debris on the ground is obviously disturbed, and Raiàn finds a claw mark, but it also looks like other things have been this way as well.

- Osiris goes into a building with no door (or one that's mostly ajar) and looks around. It appears to have been some kind of shop. Maybe a bakery? No one has been here in like 400 years. She also finds a ledger book that is extremely brittle, so Osiris calls to Tiff who Mends it, and it becomes less brittle. It is then tucked into her Bag of Holding.

- Osiris and Raiàn hear an inhuman screeching noise coming from down the street. It was a one and done noise.

- In another building just up the street, they find that one of the walls has collapsed and the black tendrils are growing through the wall.

- Down a couple of more buildings, Osiris sees there are tendrils spilling out of another building and starting to cover the ground in the street. There's no where to stand in that building without touching the tendrils, and there is an opening, but not one that's so big that an ancient dragon could fit through it. There's a green glow way at the back of the tunnel / opening.

- Osiris borrows Tiff's Broom, casts Protection from Poison on herself, and carefully enters the opening towards the green glow.

- On the other side of the wall through the building, Osiris finds a more natural looking cavern with stalactites and rock columns. The ground looks like a pool of dark water of unknown depth. The walls and ceilings are covered in a maze of the black tendrils all over everything. And there are little green crystals growing over everything lightly illuminating the room with a green glow.

- Osiris hears the screech again and suddenly she sees a large ghostly creature (undead troll, thanks Natural 20 Nature roll for a 20 total) almost right in front of her and she books back on the broom through the hole.

 

-2,000 XP ea for 90,000 XP total ea.

Meetings, Missives, and Meatcakes (on bread) - August 4, 2023

 - Dice kitten

- The group and Jinora head back upstairs for the meeting with the three heads of the temple, Lord McNabb, and Captain Swinson.

- Theophania presents the facts about the black dragon and opens discussion on how to handle the situation

- Evacuating the city is decided would be the death of the city

- Negotiate with the dragon to leave or stop poisoning the groundwater at least

- Osiris and the priests of Mishakal are offended by the idea of letting the dragon collect souls

- Much discussion is had and Osiris thinks she could maybe summon a celestial in the aid of Mishakal to help find the surface entrance to Agonir's lair

- Jinora also mentions that she thinks she heard that he might have a certain kind of very pure crystal that is the focus of Agonir's soul collecting ability / enchantment

- Rusty starts negotiating a "save the city" fee since "the first time we did it, it was free"

- Theophania's mental gears are turning about how to destroy such a crystal / device, but instead she has an epiphany about how to infuse magical energy into things for herself.

- Lord McNabb gives several ideas about feeding prisoners to the dragon or sacrificing them all at once to try to overload the crystal so that souls can no longer be collected.

- After the meeting, Tiff immediate runs off to her room to work on her new idea

- After the meeting, Osiris drifts to the library to research celestials she might call upon to help find the entrance to Agonir's lair

- She finds specifics on Sariel (healing domain), Menath (knowledge domain), Arithol (protection from undead), and Vayros (life domain)

- She then goes to the big map of the region around the city and calls on Mishakal to indicate on the map where a surface entrance to Agonir's lair is, but there is no answer 

- Before she goes to sleep Tiff Sends to Great-Aunt Thessalie, "Gerrard sent a younger dragon named Jinora to help us with the black dragon. He's named Agonir and he hoards souls. It's real bad."

- She gets back a feeling of concern and then what feels like a short hug.

- LONG REST

- First thing in the morning, Osiris Sends to Thessalie, "Sorry to bother you. Big dragon problems. Also congrats. What do you know about Vayros? Going to try to contact them. Miss you."

- She gets back a feeling of energy making her feel alert and empowered and then a sense of calm and understanding, which Osiris intuits to be a description of Vayros.

- Osiris then gets the components she needs to cast her new spells and then meets Tiff in her room 

- The first new spell she casts is Legend Lore on Agonir (Tiff takes notes)

    - Osiris goes into a sort of trance like state and speaks, "A most dangerous dragon who blights the land, dooms the living, and steals the dead. He leaves nothing but desolation in his wake. Vicious spirits guard his crystal lair while he draws sustenance from the fallen." 

- For the next spell, she and Tiff go to Rowan's office and return the ivory for the first spell then they go with Rowan, Birel, and Marta to the sanctuary to cast Planar Ally asking for Vayros

- The water in the holy font starts to glow until it becomes a pillar of light and then it sort of condenses into an eye made of glowing light

- The glowing eye agrees to locate the surface entrance to Agonir's lair for them in return for Osiris's promise to end this creature and its ability to impede the journey of souls to the afterlife 

- After this massive spell casting morning, they cross the road to talk to Captain Swinson to confirm that they do not needs guards to scout the countryside and find certain death at this time, much to her pleasure

- They then take Jinora to the Beard and Barrel for "meat-cake on bread" sandwiches 

- As they are sitting at the table a golden glowing orb floats through the window and floats in front of Osiris, it bobs a bit and then starts leading her toward the door. They drop money on the table and dart after it, agreeing to meet Jinora back at the Temple later.

- 3,000 XP ea for 88,000 XP total ea.