A Grand Return - March 17, 2023

 - Rusty and Renalla go to investigate the office of the person who would have run the teleportation machine looking for maps and / or operation manuals, but they find nothing survived the ravages of time

- The new friends (Striker and Breaker) say they are members of the Steel Guard, which no one else besides Rusty has never heard of

- Striker and Breaker are considering allying themselves with the dragonkin since Sunny can vouch for them to her dad.

- Osiris Sends to Rusty, "Hey, Rusty, haven't heard from you in a while. You still doing okay? Tiff's working in her lab a lot. Do you have a way to get back yet?"

- He returns, "Defeated Hell-Bugs. They were using old Dwarven teleporter. Need help configuring. Can't understand it. Found more robots. They are friendly. Machine uses Dwarven code names."

- Rusty waits one minute and then almost dies of shock when he doesn't get an immediate Sending from Theophania

- Osiris cannot find anything in the library of the Temple of Mishakal.

- Lephith goes to see if they can clear the tunnel collapse at the main entry to this waystation

- Rusty spends time reading the control panels and is pretty sure he knows how to operate the teleporter, but he doesn't know how to point it to anywhere in particular.

- Renalla summons her dragon spirit and they start sending it through the pre-set locations, and they only find two that function

- The first one the draconic spirit says there are stone ruins and a pretty sunset, and since its after sunset here that means that gate must be several hundred miles west of here

- There were no panels and buttons and stuff on that side in the ruins

- They send the draconic spirit through to the second pre-set

- The second is another room like this one, but less wrecked. 

- Sine several hours have passed and Osiris Sends again, "Went to the library and I didn't see anything on any Dwarven technology. I don't know how to help you and Tiff's a bit preoccupied. Everytime I go in there I get a tool chucked at my head. Call you tomorrow."

- He responds, "Machine works. Have found other dwarven transport stations. One ruined, one pristine. Ask Birel - need runic address for Temple's Teleportation Circle. Works like wizard spell?"

- Osiris spends some time studying the Teleporation Circle in the Temple to try to figure out how to communicate that information to Rusty.

- Next she Sends the name of the six runes in the correct sequence for Mistverge and then asks that he bring the runes for where he is for future reference when he comes home.

- Kip knows all the symbols.

- Renalla writes down the runes for the pristine location for Rusty as well.

- Osiris hears Rusty talking to the others and it cuts off about when he says something to Kip about knowing the runes.

- Renalla gives Rusty her Luck Stone and a revivify diamond to remember her by

- Striker and Breaker decide to stay here, but they all make note of the three good Teleportation Circles.

- Rusty steps through the portal and Osiris is there.

- Once everyone is together again and Theophania has given everyone their Earrings of Message so they can all talk together no matter where they are in the city and then Rusty tells in great detail the story of where he's been.

- Osiris tells the story of how she's been trying to get rid of the fog that's still lingering over the river over the week and how the fog is a magical effect with no school and she couldn't find anything in the library

TWO MONTHS DOWN TIME

- Osiris builds a butterfly garden near the river on the Temple grounds, spends some time out in the forest practicing her survival and archery skills since she is now on the Temple / city Problem Solvers Squad

- She also tries a Divine Intervention on the fog, and that doesn't work either

- She also collects information from Rusty about the dwarves and the other automatons and starts putting notes together in a neat and orderly way

- Theophania builds things with Tina

- Raiàn spends some time cultivating her relationship with the aristocratic ladies of the Winfair Hillock and she also invents a spell to summon a dragonic spirits like the one Rusty told her the dead lady in the desert could summon

- Lyrielle leave the city and explores around the region the city is in

- Rusty practices his Spiritual Communion and asks about the river fog, but he has to travel out into the woods to do it (with Lyrielle and Osiris)

- He learns that the fog is an unnatural taint that comes from beneath the ground and it can be dealt with by removing or destroy the cause 

- Rusty also manages to get Tiff's attention and they start carefully documenting and gently disassembling his parts to check for the damage that Striker and Breaker mentioned.

- MAGIC ITEMS!!

Dragonscale Belt (Lyrielle)
(Wondrous Item, Uncommon, requires Attunement by a Monk)

Matte black dragon scales carved into circles and connected by thin, dark metal links and a simple chain on the end for sizing with the simple clasp on the other end.

While wearing it, you gain a +1 bonus to the saving throw DCs of your ki features. In addition, you can use an action to regain ki points equal to a roll of your Martial Arts die. You can’t use this action again until the next dawn.

Scaled Necklace (Raiàn)
(Wondrous Item, Uncommon)

Five dragon scales carved into circles, polished bright and set with flecks of obsidian that form arcane runes. Three large scales form a chain with two smaller ones suspended from the center, largest scale.

You have advantage on saving throws you make to avoid being charmed or frightened or to end those conditions on you.

Dragon’s Wrath Axe (Rusty)
(Weapon, Uncommon)

The axe is made from a Damascus steel made of a very silvery alloy and a very dark alloy (ground black dragon scales IN the steel). The wooden haft is also covered with softened and re-hardened black dragon scales.  Where the head and the haft join is also covered with black dragon scales that are inset flush with the metal and part of the pattern of scales covering the haft on the other side.

Whenever you roll a 20 on your attack roll with this weapon, each creature of your choice within 5 feet of the target takes 5 damage of the type dealt by the dragon’s breath weapon. (Black Dragon = Acid)

Dragonscale Holy Symbol (Osiris)

(Wondrous Item, Uncommon, requires attunement by a cleric)

Layers of black dragon scales laminated together with the symbol of Mishakal (infinity symbol) inlaid in lapis lazuli and hung from a silver chain.

You have advantage on initiative rolls. While you are holding the focus, it can function as a spellcasting focus for all your spells.

Broom of Flying (Theophania)

(Wondrous Item, Uncommon)

This wooden broom, which weighs 3 pounds, functions like a mundane broom until you stand astride it and speak its command word. It then hovers beneath you and can be ridden in the air. 

The broom has a flying speed of 50 feet. It can carry up to 400 pounds, but its flying speed becomes 30 feet while carrying over 200 pounds. The broom stops hovering when you land.

You can send the broom to travel alone to a destination within 1 mile of you if you speak the command word, name the location, and are familiar with that place. The broom comes back to you when you speak another command word, provided that the broom is still within 1 mile of you.

Earring of Message (1 each)

(Wondrous Item, Common, CotN)

The blue crystal of this earring is wrapped with delicate copper wire.

The earring has 5 charges. While wearing it, you can use an action to expend 1 charge and cast the Message spell with a 1 mile distance only to other earrings attuned to this one. The earring regains 1d4 + 1 expended charges daily at dawn.

Rock 'Em, Slice 'Em Robots - February 24, 2023

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE!

BATTLE IN THE CONTROL ROOM

- Sunny runs in, breaths cold at the Big Red Guy for 1 cold dmg and then runs back out of the room

- Big Green Guy steps up to Renalla and slices her with an axe for 15 slashing dmg then again for 16 slashing dmg

- Rusty flies into a Rage seeing Renalla get sliced up and runs up to BGG and misses then hits with his greataxe for 17 (8) slashing dmg

- BRG moves up to Rusty uses his giant muscular arm and swings it missing Rusty then punches him with the little arm and he gets zapped with electricity for 28 (14) lightning dmg

- Lephith runs up to BRG, summons her Shadow, and then hits BRG four times for 48 total points of slashing / radiant dmg (Action Surge)

- Bug1 moves a bit to the left and misses Rusty with a thrown trident and then summons another trident from ?? and hits Rusty for 9 (4) piercing dmg

- Kip casts Healing Word on Renalla for 12 HP then she casts Bless 

- B2 starts pushing things on the control panel

- Renalla summons a crystalline dragon 

- Crystal Dragon claws BGG for 10 piercing dmg then claws again for 15 piercing dmg

- B3 moves to flank the dragon with BGG and stabs with a trident CD for 5 piercing dmg then misses with its claws

- There is a clattering sound from behind them in the hallway and the statues from the hallways come running in and Statue1 gets punched by Sunny for 6 bludgeoning dmg

- B4 moves adjacent to the dragon and stabs it with a trident for 11 piercing dmg and misses with its claws

- Sunny moves up to S1 and punches it three times

- BGG teleports adjacent to Lephith and slices into her for 16 slashing dmg

- Rusty slashes BRG for 12 (6) slashing them misses

- BRG punches Rusty with his giant arm for 19 (9) bludgeoning dmg and Rusty is Stunned then electroshocks Rusty for 26 (13) lightning dmg

- Lephith strikes BRG three times for a total of 39 dmg (Unleash Incarnation)

- B1 throws a trident for 6 (3) piercing dmg and then summons another new trident and hits again for 7 (3) piercing dmg

- Kip moves into a good line of sight, shoots a Chaos Bolt (level 1) at BRG for 41 psychic dmg then she ducks back behind the door

- B2 moves to the "left" and then misses the CD with thrown tridents twice 

- Renalla Readies Dispel Magic grabs the dragon who carries her next to the portal and she releases her spell and the Portal goes DOWN, no immediate reaction from the bugs

- CD breaths radiance (B1 fails, B2 passes, B3 fails, B4 fails) for 5 (or 2) radiant dmg 

- B3 throws a trident at Rusty for 8 (4) piercing dmg then again for 9 (4) piercing dmg

- S1 runs up to B3 and then swings his big sword hitting B1, B3, and B4 for 20 dmg

- B4 throws a trident at Rusty for 8 (4) piercing dmg and misses with the second 

- S2 runs up to B4 and misses and then slices into B4 for 12 slashing dmg

- Sunny runs up to BRG and punches it for 9 bludgeoning dmg and it DIES then she moves to flank BGG with Lephith and then punches it twice times for a total of 16 bludgeoning dmg

- BGG teleports behind Sunny and 

- Lephith moves to BGG hits it twice for a total of 30 slashing dmg then sends the Shadow to flank with the CD

- B1 slashes the dragon for 9 slashing dmg

- Kip casts Healing Word on Rusty for 7 HP and then casts Chaos Bolt on B4 for 13 psychic dmg

- B2 moves between the Statues

- Renalla casts Wither and Bloom so that BGG takes 5 necrotic dmg and Sunny gains the use of 4 Hit Dice

- CD slashes B1 then moves to protect Renalla

- S1 attacks B1 for some stuff

- B-something-or-other hits S1

- S2 does the 10' swirl attack and slices B4 in half

- Sunny punches BGG three times

- BGG slices Sunny for 9 slashing dmg and 

- Rusty moves to BGG and and slices into it for 26 slashing dmg and BGG DIES! Then he moves to flank B1 with the Shadow and slices into it for 27 slashing

- Lephith teleport trades places with the Shadow kills B3 and then moves to flank B3 with S1 and slices into it for 13 dmg total

- Kip casts Chaos Bolt on B2 for 19 psychic dmg 

- B2 misses

- Renalla does not recognize the symbols on the control panel in front of her so she moves to the other one

- CD misses

- B3 misses

- S1 misses

- S2 misses

- Sunny moves to flank B2 with S1 and she kills it then she then she moves over and punches B3 to death as well. 

END OF BATTLE

- Rusty confers with the Statues in Dwarven and they call him Captain, and tell him this is Transport Station Muhlehorn

- Kip joins Renalla at the Control Panels and Lephith picks her up so she can see the the panels. No one recognizes the language or symbols.

- Rusty continues talking with the "Statues" about the distance past

No Subtlety Whatsoever - February 10, 2023

 - Renalla transforms back into herself from the Giant Elk form

- Lephith with her sword glowing starts tromping down the spiraling ramp into the tunnel with everyone else following

- The tunnel only goes for a couple of hundred feet before there is an open doorway where the door itself is mostly missing and was probably once concealed or secreted.

- Past the door looks like a derelict tavern. It is covered in refuse, cobwebs, broken furniture, etc. It has probably not been in use in decades minimum, possibly centuries.

- This looks like one of the areas where the creatures traffic through to come out 

- Directly across the room is another doorway.

- Through the next doorway is a hallway that curves around to both the right and left. Circle?

- The hallways is also full of refuse and dust and cobwebs

- To the right there are two doors on the right and one door on the left.

- Renalla knocks on the door to the left. (DM confounded by this idea. What would the things inside do if something knocked?!)

- The door opens and there is a bug creature there. Renalla asks, "How's it goin'?" in Infernal.

- After it responds by asking who she is, she responds with "You're worse nightmare" and immediately casts Frostbite on it for 5 cold dmg

CORRIDOR BATTLE

- Kip casts Bless on everyone

- Green Bug misses clawing Renalla then hits for 10 slashing dmg

- Sunny moves past Renalla and flank Green with her then punches it three times (10 bludgeoning dmg, 9 bludgeoning dmg, 5 bludgeoning dmg)

- Blue Bug runs up to Sunny misses and then claws her them for 12 slashing dmg

- Renalla casts Thorn Whip on Green for 5 piercing dmg

- Red Bug runs up to Sunny to flank with Green and then stabs them with a trident for 6 piercing dmg and then claws them for 11 slashing dmg

- Lephith moves into the doorway next to Renalla and slices into Green twice (8 slashing and 3 radiant, then 10 slashing and 8 radiant dmg)

- Rusty also moves into the room and then misses and then chops down Green Bug

- Kip moves forward a little bit to see the melee and then casts Sacred Flame on Blue Bug but it dodges

- Sunny punches Blue Bug three times (14 bludgeoning dmg, 5 bludgeoning dmg, 5 bludgeoning dmg)

- Blue Bug stabs Sunny for 9 piercing dmg and then claws them for 9 slashing dmg

- Renalla moves around Lephith deeper into the room and casts Tidal Wave on the two bugs (Blue takes 27 bludgeoning and is knocked Prine but Red only takes half)

- Red Bug stabs Sunny for 12 piercing and then claws them for 7 slashing dmg

- Lephith moves to flank Blue with Rusty and the Shadow moves to flank with Sunny creating a bug sandwich 12 slashing and 7 radiant dmg killing it! They then move the Shadow back 10' and move to flank with Sunny themselves and slices Red for 10 slashing and four radiant dmg.

- Rusty moves to flank with the Shadow and then misses Red then chops into it for 34 (17) slashing dmg and then chops into it again for 25 (12) slashing dmg and it's dead too.

END OF BATTLE

- This room looks like an armory with several hundred weapons. There are axes and tridents and swords. The weapons don't look special, but they do look ready to go.

- Renalla finds herself a nice quarterstaff.

- The walls above the stacks of weapons have some animal head trophies and the trophy heads look buggy.

- Rusty asks if this is a lost stronghold of Sunny's people, but none of the "locals" know anything about this place

- Lephith notes that the weapons do not look like dragonborn craft and Renalla notes that there are two styles of weaponsmithing, one that's newer and one that's older and those look more decrepit. The new ones definitely look like the ones the bugs have been using. She then finds another axe in the older style and it looks similar to the one that Rusty has that is suspected of being Dwarven.

- The go back into the hallway and they open one of the two doors that were on the right. Inside this room there is an altar that looks as aged as the old things across the hall and no living things. The altar has the symbol of a hammer (Reorx) on it. 

- Rusty kind of remembers that Reorx was important to the Dwarves, but that's about it.

- Lephith goes back into the hallway and opens the other door on the right.

- The last room in this part of the hall looks like a barracks. The bugs have also not bothered with this room. The remains of the beds don't look like they've been used in centuries.

- Renalla goes back to the armory and uses Create Bonfire for about 10 minutes on some of the weapons to try to destroy or damage them.

- Lephith then goes back to the left curve of the hallways and the roof slopes up and this area looks like an entry hall.

- There are two decorative(?) suits of armor on either side of the corridor where there used to be doors.

- Rusty pauses long enough to look at the suits of armor and they look a lot like him and have swords like he used to have.

- He puts a hand on one of their shoulders and says, "Status report." Nothing happens

- There is another door across from the collapsed main entry way, so Lephith opens that.

- Behind this door is a very large room. The ceiling is tall and then slopes up and is open at the top like a chimney of sorts. There is a spinning contraption under the hole. It looks like one of the gates from Stargate. There are some kind of control panels(?) around the outside of the room.

- This room has a bunch of the creatures and the big guy from before too. He yells out in Infernal, "Ah! I knew they'd come!" Lephith roars back since she has no idea what was said.

- There another buggy guy who looks in charge and quite a few of the trident guys as well.

- Renalla dashes into the room trying to get within 30' of the portal, but the sentry jumps in front of her.

Everybody Touched the Butts - February 3, 2023

 BATTLE BY THE HOLE

- Kip moves to the middle of her friends and casts Bless on everyone

- Butt-Faced Bear2 (BFB2) opens up its faces and shoots out a long tongue covered in barbs and wraps around Kip and pulls it to its face (19 piercing dmg) then it chews on her (22 piercing dmg) then drags her off to the east

- Lephith Dashes up to the BFB2 and smashes it three times once with her Shadow

- BFB1 grapples Lephith with its tongue (12 piercing dmg) and then pulls her to its face and bites her (30 piercing dmg)

- Rusty runs up to BFB2

- BFB3 moves west and then attempts to tongue Sunny, but they do some DMS and do not get hit

- Sunny moves around to the back of BFB3 and punches it three times (15 bludgeoning dmg, 6 bludgeoning dmg, 5 bludgeoning)

- Out of the hole comes a Large, green, bipedal, wingèd creature who says in Infernal, "We will exterminate this refuse." It then teleports over to the giant vulture who is Renalla and swipes her with its claws for 11 slashing dmg

-  Renalla takes 7 additional slashing dmg from the wound from the Large Aberration (LA) then she talons LA for 8 slashing dmg and then bites it for 7 slashing dmg

 

- Kip struggles but cannot free themself from the tongue then they Quicken Spell cast Cure Wounds on themself for 29 HP

- BFB2 bites Kip for 22 piercing dmg then misses with its claws then pulls her south taking hits from the Lephith's Shadow (9 slashing and 6 radiant dmg) and from Rusty (11 slashing dmg) as it does

- Lephith hits the BFB1 holding her for some slashing and radiant dmg then misses then moves her Shadow next to BFB2 and hits it for some slashing and radiant dmg and her sword flashes and gives her 7 HP back

- BFB1 bites Lephith for 29 piercing dmg then misses with its claw attack

- Rusty Rages moves to flank BFB2 with Kip then misses his first attack then slashes into it with his battleaxe for (26 (13) slashing dmg)

- BFB3 misses biting Sunny then misses with its claws

- Sunny punches BFB3 four times (8 bludgeoning, 7 bludgeoning, 9 bludgeoning and 6 bludgeoning dmg)

- LA hit the Renalla-vulture and she is no longer a vulture then claws her again 

- Renalla takes 14 slashing dmg from bleeding and then she casts Wither and Bloom and the LA does NOT LIKE the necrotic dmg and then she heals 11 HP and the bleeding stops then she moves to flank BFB3 with Sunny but she gets claws again for 16 slashing dmg and she becomes a giant Elk as a reaction

 

- Kip struggles some more and still can't get out so she Quicken Spells a Catapult on a nearby rock and obliterates its head and she is now standing freely in a coiled up tongue

- Lephith smacks BFB1 twice for some slashing and radiant dmg after moving her Shadow to flank and then attempts to teleport and trade places with the Shadow but the creature somehow prevents it

- BFB1 attempts to bite Lephith, but the Shadow throws itself in front of them (somehow) and then poofs out of existence then it claws Lephith 

- Rusty moves to flank BFB1 with Lephith (magically not dead!) then it chops it for 25 (12) slashing dmg then again for 39 (19) slashing dmg then again for 28 (14) slashing dmg

- BFB3 bites Sunny for 31 piercing dmg then claws them for 15 slashing dmg

- Sunny punches BFB3 four times (8 bludgeoning, 5 bludgeoning, 5 bludgeoning, 6 bludgeoning)

- LA stretches his wings out and he phases and becomes blurry (Mirror Image)

- Renalla stomps BFB3 for 7 bludgeoning dmg 

- Kip moves 25' towards BFB1 then Distance Spell casts Cure Wounds on Lephith and then she screams the cutest little dragonic cry 

- Lephith slashes BFB1 to death then moves towards BFB3

- Rusty moves towards BFB1 and then throws a javelin and pierces it for 10 dmg

- BFB1 misses biting Sunny then misses clawing Sunny

- Sunny punches BFB1 four time (10 bludgeoning, 9 bludgeoning, 5 bludgeoning, 6 bludgeoning) and it is dead!

- LA walks a bit then teleports next to KIP (NOT AGAIN!) then battleaxes her for 22 slashing dmg then turns and runs and jumps into the hole 

END OF BATTLE

 

- Renalla the elk, Rusty, and Lephith move to the edge of the hole and look down into a tunnel that leads down and away

- They all decide to take a short rest before jumping into the tunnel.

I Like Big Buttes #WhyDoesThatAnusHaveSoManyTeeth - January 27, 2023

 - As they are camping again for the evening, Rusty receives from Theophania, "Sorry, had to tweak Sender Stick. Tina closed portal. Lady Blackmore gone, hopefully. Should be able to keep in touch now. Any news? Miss you!"

 - He turns to Sunny and says thereby Sending back, "Sunny, you're Raiàn's cousin? Yes, I thought we had talked about this. Killing bugs with Raiàn's cousin. Glad to hear things are okay for now..." Will be making my way back soon <-- Doesn't get Sent.

- Osiris Sends, "Rusty, when someone Sends to you, the first 25 words you say after it gets returned, so maybe be concise and don't talk to others." 

- He returns to Osiris, "Well, how am I supposed to ask them if they're their cousin without Sending that back? Anyway, killing bugs. Will head back soon."

- Theophania Sends, "Raiàn says her granddad rules the place, so he can pay someone to send you back. Seems unlikely to me, but that's what they said."

- Rusty responds, "Well, I'm sure convincing them to be grateful for getting rid of the bugs will be easier than hiking back. Wait, Sunny your granddad's the..."

- Discussion is had about Sunny being the "spare" to the crown and whether or not the family could get Rusty back to Mistverge faster than the six months it would take him to walk back.

- A long rest is had, but during second watch, Lephith sees a bluish beam of light come down from the sky off over there and then after a minute it disappears. Then another one appears as well.

- It's mostly the direction they've been heading, but it's slightly farther north than they've been walking.

- Lephith pokes Renalla who pokes Rusty

- Rusty casts Commune with Nature (ritual!) and he sees a spirit of a minotaur approaches him, so he asks

       - When I was returned to this plane I was sent to this desert specifically. Is this where I am from?

              - Many of your kind once roamed these lands.

       - What where those beams of light that we just saw (pointing in that direction)?

              - Creatures arrive from the Infernal plane.

       - How do we stop that?

              - Shrug

       - How far away are they?

              - Four hours walk will take you near

- Rusty comes to to see Lephith about to bonk him in the head with a shovel.

- The next morning, information is shared and they head towards the origin of the big flashy lights.

-  After four hours of walking, they see rising in front of them a mesa (bigger than a butte but smaller than a plateau) that's maybe 50-60' tall. No visible cave entrances or burned ground from the light.

- Rusty thinks he sees some movement on the top

- They continue to the base of the mesa, they hear chittering and when they look up they see a group of the bug things fly away from the tops of the mesa.

- Renalla shouts at them in Infernal, but they don't notice her.

- Renalla then turns into a Giant Vulture (skeleton) and does a quick fly over and sees some kind of hole or pit or sinkhole thing in the center of the mesa and around the perimeter of the hole are quadrupedal bug(?) creatures around the perimeter roaming around.

- She scouts a place to land people where they can hide while she is one-by-one transporting people up the side of the mesa, and then she does this thing.

- There's a quick game of giant skele-vulture charades to explain what she saw.

- They start heading towards the big hole, and while they are deciding whether or not to bother being stealthy, they see one of the four-legged things, about the size of a black bear with reddish skin covered in armor plates and where its face would be looks like a lamprey's mouth (like an anus but with teeth all the way around). It's not-face seems to be looking directly at the group.

- Renalla lands and then walks behind some scrubby bushes then gestures to all the others to do the same. Sunny does so.

- Lephith slides Kip off their shoulder and puts them behind them where they immediately peek around their massive trunk of a thigh.

- Rusty starts walking towards it, and it lets out a sort of hoot or howl thing and other creatures start heading this direction.

Infernal Ambush - January 20, 2023

 - Near the end of first watch (Renalla staring at Rusty and asking him random questions here and there and Rusty staring at Renalla with Sunny actually doing a good job keeping watch), Sunny hears a soft bang like something fell over near the edge of camp where most people had stacked their gear.

- Sunny quietly tiptoes over to where she heard the noise and one of the bags in the stack has an animal's back half sticking out of it as the animal is scrounging around in their supplies

- They dart in grab the creature and the bag goes flying and it's a scrawny-looking cat thing (dwarf tabaxi, Kip-sized) which then says "Hey, lemmee go! Lemmee go! Reowr!" Sunny starts petting it, but it doesn't stop trying to scrabble its way out of their arms 

- Renalla comes over and starts trying to talk to the cat and turns into a cat type skeleton and they have a conversation about how this creature is a scavenger who sells stuff with Sunny scritching it the entire time

- He shows the party his bag full of trash and then says the bug things took his friend Rico.

- He tells them Rico was taken slightly north of west.

- His name is Maxidor.

- Renalla buys a feather (hawk?) off of him which she sticks in her floaty hair.

- Renalla points him in the direction of the caravan they didn't manage to save so he can get some food from it

- Rusty hears in his head in Theophania's voice, "Testing? Rusty can you hear me? You’re possibly in the desert west of the Hopeless Highlands. Raiàn’s people are there. Long journey home on foot."

- He responds, "Am in desert. May recognize mountains. Weird spooky bugs. Have found trustyworthy-ish companions. Some dragonborns. Will ask about Raiàn. Still good so far?"

- First thing in the morning, Rusty answers Renalla's questions rapid fire with no regard to the questions, "Define awake? Sure, if it makes you happy. Yeah. In the morning. I get that a lot."

- Renalla is somewhat confused by this. "What do you mean, if it makes me happy?" Explanations are provided.

- Rusty then immediately asks Renalla about the "whole skeleton thing" and the answer is that she died. She does not know anything about the undead invasion in Mistverge.

- Rusty brings up Raiàn over breakfast. Sunny explains about her cousin.

- They head off into the desert and find a rocky curvy path to follow.

- After about a half a day of walking they find the remains of another caravan. It looks like the stuff was just ripped apart and spread around on the ground. There are cracked open barrels and smashed crates all around.

- Renalla sniffs one of the barrels and determines that it used to hold a really nice wine.

- The remains of the cargo seems like it was maybe slightly nicer than the things the caravan whose attack they witnessed.

- As they are investigating a chittering sound starts in the rocks around them and everyone pulls weapons and then half the people realize that it's words in Infernal, "Yesss, new meat." Then four bug creatures descend upon the group.

RUINED CARAVAN BATTLE

- Sunny speaks to the bugs in Infernal saying that they don't want to have to kill them, but the bug things ignore her. She then moves a little to the west and then breaths lightning on one Trident Bug (TB1) and one Claw Bug (CB1) for 11 (5) lightning dmg and then she throws a dagger at TB1 for 10 (5) piercing dmg. Then she moves forward to TB1 and punches it for 8 bludgeoning dmg then again for 5 bludgeoning dmg.

- TB1 pokes Sunny with its trident for 7 piercing dmg then misses with its claws

- Renalla Druidshapes into a skeletal scorpion (yesm we know they have exoskeletons instead of bones, but deal with it), skitters over to TB2 and CB2, her claws miss TB2 and then she claws and grapples CB2 and stabs it with her stinger

- CB1 skitters on its tripod legs starts running towards the southeast a bit then runs through the middle of Rusty, Lephith, and Kip, but Lephith and Kip dodge the whirling dervish arms. Rusty takes all 15 dmg

- Lephith runs over to help Kip flanking the CB1 with them then summons her corporeal shadow next to Kip then slices into CB1 for 8 slashing and 1 radiant dmg then again for another 8 and 6 radiant slashing dmg

- TB2 misses Renalla scorpion with the trident and then claws her for 14 slashing dmg

- Rusty Rages, runs over to flank TB1 with Sunny and then he misses twice

- CB2 claws Renalla scorpion for 16 slashing dmg and then again for 14 slashing dmg

- Kip casts Sacred Flame on CB1 for 13 radiant dmg

- Sunny punches TB1 four times for a total of XX bludgeoning dmg and then it is Stunned

- TB1 is Stunned and tells Sunny, "F-F-Fuck yyyou."

- Renalla rotates around CB2 moving away from TB2 who tridents her for 7 piercing dmg then she claws CB2 for 10 slashing and 1 cold dmg and its movement is 0 and has DisAdv on Str and Dex checks then misses with her stinger

- CB1 teleports away to the northeast

- Lephith sends her Shadows after TB2 runs towards it herself then Dashes to it and slices into it for 10 slashing and 4 radiant dmg then again for 11 slashing and 4 radiant dmg

- TB2 tridents Lephith for 12 piercing then claws them for 9 slashing dmg

- Rusty slices into TB1 for 32 (16) slashing dmg then again for so much TB1 is cleaved in half then he runs over to CB1 and misses it

- CB2 misses scorpion-Renalla then claws her for 13 slashing dmg and she is just Renalla again. 

- Kip casts Catapult (2nd level) hitting TB2 for 27 bludgeoning dmg

- Sunny runs over to flank CB1 and then punches it 

- Renalla casts Tidal Wave on CB2 and TB2 for some damage and TB2 is knocked prone

- CB1 misses Rusty then claws him for 8 (4) slashing dmg

- Lephith slices the head off of TB2 and then moves to flank CB2 with Renalla and slices into it for 7 radiant dmg and her sword heals her for 9 dmg

- Rusty slices into CB1 for 10 (5) slashing dmg and then again for 23 (12) slashing dmg and then again for 15 (7) slashing dmg

- CB2 teleports out of flanking to the southwest

- Kip casts Chaos bolt CB1 for 8 psychic dmg then they move a little closer to Renalla and Lephith

- Sunny punches CB1 for 6 bludgeoning dmg and again for 6 bludgeoning dmg and then again for 6 bludgeoning dmg and then again for DEATH!

- Renalla runs towards CB2 and then uses Frostbite on it which misses then she casts Grasping Vine and it is pulled 20' towards Lephith

- Lephith and her shadow runs over to CB2 and tackles it then asks Renalla if she wants Lephith to "make it talk"

- Rusty runs and Dashes towards CB2 and his Rage fades

- CB2 teleports to the northwest (Lephith, "Tiamat's Rainbow Tits!")

- Kip Catapults again for 20 bludgeoning dmg 

- Sunny punches CB2 twice and then says she will kill it if he doesn't answer their questions and it just says "We will kill all of you" so she punches it twice more and says something about how it has to die then and it just responds "We are strong and all will fall."

- Renalla asks it, "Why do you want to kill us all?" Then she moves towards CB2 and then casts Thorn Whip for 10 piercing dmg and is pulled 10' towards her.

- Lephith moves herself and her shadow towards CB2 then Dashes around to its back and they shout to Rusty, "Metal Man, kill it!"

- Rusty moves in to flank with Lephith then misses ("I'm disappointed in you, Metal Man.) and then he slices into it for 6 (3) slashing dmg

- CB2 screams "Your flesh will build out empire!" then it whirling dervish attacks Lephith, Rusty, and Renalla and they all take 25 slashing dmg but Lephith manages to swing at it for 11 slashing and 5 radiant dmg and she kills it!

END OF BATTLE

- While poking around in the cart remains, Renalla finds a pouch containing 50 GP which proves the bug things didn't give a shit about money, but it does seem like most of the other raw materials have been taken.

- Sunny figures that this ambush was opportunist and not about them specifically.

- Renalla figures that the wreckage happened about a week ago while she's passing 10 GP to each of her companions.

- The group has a brief rest before following the trail farther for a few more hours

Why is that Metal Talking #KipUp - January 6, 2023

 HAPPY NEW YEAR!

- The Trevek mission party has been traveling north for about three days from Runespoke in the direction of Pradak

- Rusty finds himself in a deep valley between a bunch of sand dunes. It is midafternoon and it's very warm out. He is not grappled and no in the Shadow Realm.

- Rusty climbs to the top of the nearest sand dune and he sees off to the east there may be something moving

- To the south he can see the barest glimpse of some mountains, but they are hazy and indistinct

- Rusty begin moving towards the east and the movement that he can see

- He walks for several hours

- The Trevek mission party can also see something moving to the north of them traveling towards them. It seems to be large enough to be a group traveling either by foot or with wagons

- Rusty comes up over a rise and he can see a caravan but also another group of travelers moving towards the caravan. He also hears a loud buzzing sound coming from behind him.

- Rusty turns around and sees large insect looking creatures. They are black, have two legs, four arms, and are universally carrying trident spears

- The insects basically buzz him and fly straight towards the caravan.

- Rusty runs after the bugs.

- The insect creatures land around the caravan and immediately begin attacking and grabbing valuables

- A noxious green cloud immediately envelops the area around the caravan

 

BATTLE TO PROTECT THE CARAVAN

- Renalla lowers her hood and you see a blue tiefling with horns that curl backwards. She shouts "Hey, cut it out!" The bugs pay no heed, so she whistles and over the sand dune the spirit of a red dragon flies in out of nowhere over to her side and then she moves off to the left

- The Red Spirit Dragon (RSD) he does a fly-over breathing fire on two of the Insect Creatures (IC5 and IC2) 11 fire dmg to IC5 and 5 to IC2

- IC1 flies over to Renalla and pokes her with the trident but misses then claws her for 8 slashing dmg'

- Lephith runs straight up to the closest bug (IC5) straight into the noxious cloud taking 11 poison dmg then her Shadow keeps going and coalesces into another being behind it flanking it with her and she attacks it for 6 slashing and 5 radiant dmg and then slices it again for 6 slashing and 1 radiant dmg then the Shadow attacks for 12 slashing and 6 radiant dmg and then she slices it again for 10 slashing and 5 radiant dmg and then one last time for 7 slashing and 3 radiant dmg (61 dmg!)

- IC2 moves to flank Renalla and stabs her for 5 piercing dmg with its trident and then claws her for 10 slashing dmg

- Kip casts Chaos Bolt (Level 3) at IC5, but it misses 

- IC3 moves up to Sunny stabs Sunny with a trident for 12 piercing dmg then claws her for 9 slashing dmg

- Sunny runs over to flank IC2 with Renalla, but IC3 stabs her for 13 piercing dmg as she leaves, then she breathes a line of lightning through IC2, Renalla, IC1, and IC5 for 3 lightning dmg then she stabs IC2 for 5 piercing dmg then she punches it for 6 bludgeoning dmg then she punches it again for 8 bludgeoning dmg (ICs resist lightning)

- IC4 flies up 20' and misses the RSD with the trident then misses with its claws also

- Rusty moves up to IC2, Rages, and misses with his first attack then slices into IC2 with his great axe for 11 slashing dmg

- IC5 teleports 40' SW out of being flanked and chitters angrily

 

- Renalla casts Frostbite on IC1 for 7 cold dmg (resisted) and it has DisAdv on the next weapon Attack roll it makes

- RSD misses IC4 with its claws twice

- IC1 misses Renalla with its trident then claws her for 9 slashing dmg

- Lephith moves to protect Kip and moves her Shadows with her then she slices into IC3 for 20 total dmg then gets a really good hit for 31 total dmg then she slices into it with her non-magical off-hand longsword for 3 slashing dmg

- IC2 teleports 40' to the NW out of flank and chitters angrily

- Kip casts Chaos Bolt (2nd level) on IC3 for 5 cold dmg

- IC3 teleports 40' to the SW out of being flanked and chitters angrily

- Sunny moves and Step of the Wind bonus actions over to IC5 breaths acid on it and IC3 for nothing (immune) and then she misses punching it just barely

- IC4 moves away from RSD taking 14 piercing dmg from a bite attack as it does so then casts Darkness in a 15' radius from it's new location near Rusty and Renalla

- Rusty runs out of the Darkness and then uses the rest of his movement to move to IC2 and swings his axe into it for 35 (17) slashing dmg then misses on his second attack then swings again hitting it for 30 (15) slashing dmg

- IC5 stabs Sunny for 5 piercing dmg and then misses with its claws

- Renalla casts Dispel Magic on the Darkness and it dissipates the Darkness and then whistles for her RSD

- RSD moves to flank IC1 with Renalla and then claws it for 14 slashing dmg two times! then is shouts at the bugs in Draconic "Get out!"

- IC1 teleports 40' SW away from being flanked and chitters angrily

- Lephith moves to flank IC3 with her Shadow who moves with her then attacks it for 14 total dmg then she misses but it dodges straight into the sword of her shadow who lops off the two left arms and black ichor squirts out for a second before it all poofs into non-existence like it never happened

- IC2 stabs Rusty for 7 piercing dmg and then claws him for 7 slashing dmg

- Kip moves slightly west and then casts Chaos Bolt at IC4 for 30 thunder dmg

- Sunny misses a punch, misses a second punch, then she gets it for 7 bludgeoning and it dissipates into nothing

- IC4 moves closer to Renalla and misses with the trident then claws her for 7 slashing dmg

- Rusty slices into IC2 for 12 slashing dmg and then again for 10 slashing dmg and it dissipates into nothing

- Renalla side steps along IC4 and casts Tidal Wave at it, but it withstands the force of it, but takes 8 bludgeoning dmg

- RSD runs around IC4 feinting and then striking well for 15 piercing dmg and then clawing again for 11 piercing dmg throwing it into the air where it dissipates into non-existent smoke

- IC1 moves up to Kip and stabs them for 12 piercing then misses her with its claws

- Lephith moves towards IC1 then Dashes up to IC1 and then re-summons her Shadow also next to IC1 flanking with Kip

- Kip casts Chaos Bolt at IC1 for 14 psychic dmg

- Sunny moves to flank IC1 with Lephith punches IC1 for 9 bludgeoning dmg, then punches it but good for 9 bludgeoning, then punches it again for 6 bludgeoning, and then punches it one last time for 5 bludgeoning and it splats into nothingness 

END OF BATTLE

- The poisonous cloud around the caravan dissipates, but everyone in it and all the pack animals are dead 

- The RSD fucks off

- Lephith picks Kip up and put them on their shoulder saying "Kip up" as they do so. 

- Rusty comes over and much conversation is had 

- The caravan is hauling mostly food and other trade goods like textiles

- Lephith puts Kip on the driver seat of the first caravan, takes away the dead people, and unhooks the horses and tries to pull the cart, which she can but it's hard and slow

- Kip takes the reins (still attached to the horses) and goes a little crazy, it does nothing.

- Rusty tells his story

- They gather some supplies from the caravan then head west (where the bugs came from) for a little while then make camp for the night