CoD 1: Session 13: Cultists Showdown

 Pre-scene Notes

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Scene setup/conflict: 

No altered/interrupted scene

Scene:

Having finally fixed the water wheel and ushered in the clean water to the cave’s river system, the party used the Western-most passage to avoid both patrolling cultists and spiders, getting to the ceremony's defensive moat. Much to their relief, the first cultist’s information held true and testing the water with a 10 foot pole, the corrosiveness of the liquid was gone. 

The party was unable to see round the corner to the ceremony, and jumping in may be risky even with the element of surprise. 

I don’t use fog of war on Roll20 playing solo. Instead, imposing a blocker like this, just saying they can’t see whatever is on the other side is best I can do. The focus is more on what creative ways I can get out of the restriction. I may do a dungeon crawl in the future where whatever is generated in a dungeon is random only when you enter a room, but not at this point.

“I’ve got a plan,” Filli took out his tinker’s tools and the cultist token given to him by Baldie. “With some Magical Tinkering, I can make this token emit the sound of horrible screaming. If a cultist or two comes out, that should at least thin their numbers if we lure and ambush them in the river. We can then interrogate them of the situation in the room. 

“We don’t have much time, considering we took quite long interrogating the cultist last time, are you sure?” Yankovic asked. 

Zar cracked his knuckles, “Well we’ll make it quicker this time. The screaming just won’t stop.”

I had the Head Cultist roll a Wisdom save against Filli’s tinker tools proficiency. It was 16 vs 11… Welp, nothing goes to plan ala any DND campaign.

Albeit the dungeon passages was filled with awful screaming as if a cultist was being tortured, no cultists from the ceremony were sent to investigate. 

“Guess the ceremony is at a stage where it is too important to be interrupted, we don’t have any more time” Yankovic patted the dejected Filli on the shoulder, but pulled out a flask of oil from his backpack. “We can only go at it full on.”

In a zealous plan typical of the battle cleric, the party took the last three flasks of oil from Filli and rushed into the ceremony cavern. Without warning, all threw the oil in surprise at the cultists. Considering they did not know the terrain, all three flasks broke on the cave floor at the bottom of a ten-foot pit, making the ceremony circle slippery, but Filli’s fingers were already sparking with flames. 

There were five cultists around a raised platform in the middle. A pentagram glowing red was in the middle of the ceremony, with a pile of dead bodies, some human soldiers, some spiders, emanating an awful rotting smell across the cavern. The party can physically see the space above the ceremony circle distorting as if something was about to rip it apart. A slight ripple and tear were already visible in the air. A figure in much more elaborate robes were standing in the raised platform on the other side of the ceremony cavern, fifteen feet above the others. He was observing the sinister splinter in space, but when the party appeared, he lifted his head. Although he was humanoid in figure, his face was that of a bony spider with eight red glaring eyes. With a point of his bony finger, the cult’s final showdown with the party begun.

The battle begun with the party ten feet above the cultists, although the Head Cultist was five feet above the party on the other side of the room. Yankovic with a zealous battle cry jumped off the ledge at a cultist directly below them. The cultist tried to dodge out of the way but not only did he break most of Yankovic’s fall, he also slipped on a puddle of oil on the cave floor and fell prone (Cultist rolled a Nat1). Yankovic was easily able to follow up with two quick swings of his hammer to eliminate one target. 

With another strategy, Filli fell prone and had partial cover as he shot a Fire Bolt over the ledge at one of the puddles of oil. It ignited to block the passageway for some backline cultists reaching Yankovic.

Zar tried to imitate Yankovic’s feat, but true to being the unluckiest half-orc in all the lands, the other cultist dodged with surprising dexterity (Nat20) and Zar instead fell into the fire that Filli had just ignited. With a roar, Zar charged out of the fire like a demon from hell, grappled the said cultist and hurled him into the fire, switching places. 

The Head Cultist let out an inhuman screech at the chaos and held out his spell focus at Zar. Zar’s mind were filled with images of numerous spiders, crawling over him and bounding him in thicker and thicker silk. As the spider legs crawled over his face, into his mouth, up this nose, a familiar voice broke through the spiders’ screeching.

“Take my strength… I will save you…” The rusty sword on his waist glowed green and he was back in the physical world, clear of any spiders and webbing, regaining full control of his body.

On the other hand, on his platform, the Head Cultist screamed in pain, clutching his head. “W-what is this! Who is this! Wait till my master hears about this! ”

The cultist who was thrown into fire by Zar fumbled out and clashed into another cultist on the other side of the flames. The other side of the ceremony circle were covered in slick oil as well, and the cultists tried the clearest target above. All of them shot Ray of Frosts at Filli, who ducked and the spells sailed past his head.

Yankovic held his shield above his head and yelled, “Xanthia! Bless my allies and I to slay our enemies! Empower your servant to put them to eternal slumber!” 

The party felt a rush of holy energy around them, with a swirl of red aura encircling Yankovic as he readied for another onslaught as flames licked up just ten feet away from another Fire Bolt Filli aptly sent to torch up another spool of oil, fully locking the cultists to one side of the ceremony circle. 

Zar took cover behind the circle and his finger glowed green as he pointed at the cultist that had ran away from him. The cultist could only feel darkness surrounding him before Zar sent a green beam from his index finger through the flames at him. The beam swerved and hit the wall harmless. Zar cursed and ducked as another ice beam was flung his way.

Seeing Yankovic, the Head Cultist also summoned blessings from his master from another realm. Three red and white beams shot out from the  small tear in the air above the spell circle, shrouding the Head Cultist and two others in dark blessing.

A cultist was able to burst threw the flames at south and came at Yankovic with a flurry of his dagger. One strike caught Yankovic on the shoulder, and without flinching he retaliated with a strike of the warhammer of his own, shattering the cultist’s shoulder in return. Filli sent a Fire Bolt right into the cultist’s chest to finish him off, the impact pushing him into the flames, fanning it to greater heights.

The initial flames on the north however died down as the last of the oil was burnt out. Zar charged over the charred ground at the cultist he had put a hex on and smashed his longsword into his face, downing the cultist in a scream. Zar turned his head to the other cultist, his eyes glowed green and it was the other cultist’s turn to feel the surrounding darkness like his now dead companion. Both remaining cultists rushed Zar, who parried the best he could but still sustained a few slashes.

Yankovic looked up at the Head Cultist and started chanting to the holy symbol in his hand. A ball of radiant energy glowed and he shot a Guiding Bolt of light up at the platform. The Head Cultist screamed in agony as the radiant energy ravished through his darkened soul, almost fatally crippling him. He kneed to the ground, and in desperation attempted to spider climb off his platform, landing behind his cultist subjects, and spelled out a cone of Burning Hands behind his subjects. The cone of flames licked the heels of Zar and Yankovic, who were only unable to dodge the spell in the confines of the narrow ceremony circle, sustaining heavy damage. Yankovic in the process got knocked out of his zealous state as the party felt Xanthia’s blessing dimmed. 

One of the cultists fell to his leader’s spell as collateral, and the remaining one was grievously injured. However, in a final fanatic scream, he rushed Zar with his dagger just as he was getting up from the fire spell, and stabbed through his abdomen. Wheezing, Zar stayed standing with his Orcish Endurance, but he knew it would not be for long.

“As long as it was enough to finish him!” Zar screamed, drawing strength from his amulet simultaneously to heal himself and from the rusty sword to put a Hexblade’s Curse on the Head Cultist. 

On top of the ledge, Filli’s vision seemed to have gone slow motion. Seeing Xanthia’s glow from Yankovic’s Guiding Bolt and Zar’s Hexblade’s Curse manifest in swirling aura as if they were in their own battles around the Head Cultist, Filli drew a complicated arcane symbol in front of his Imbued armour and pushed it out with both hands towards the remaining enemy. In a burst of flames, the Head Cultist withered and instead of a corpse, the dark blessing he had previously summoned on himself revealed itself to be a curse, consuming his body and soul until nothing but a pile of black crumbling dust fell onto the cave floor.    

Now the source of the summoning magic was gone, the rift on top of the centre spell circle quickly closed and a scream of anguish could be heard from the other side. The party did not know which entity was being summoned or understood his language, but hoped it did not remember their smell in foiling its plans. 

Not really sure what treasure I should give the party for this dungeon, I once again asked Mythic whether Baldie’s ring was here. It was an Exceptional Yes. So I guess I can say although the ring itself was mundane, the party bringing it back to Baldie means Baldie, as an old adventurer, will be able to gift them something of more value. As a GM, that would give you a bit more time to think of a reward.  

The party searched the battlefield and although the cultists had nothing of value, they were able to find a ring matching Baldie’s description. Filli was overjoyed that they were at least able to find Baldie’s wedding ring at the end. 

Zar dragged his bruised and bloodied body back up to the ledge, although the Head Cultist’s death seemed to have fed the Hexblade’s Curse and given him a bit more vitality for the way home. The question was, how did they leave this plane now that they mission was clearly done?

Yankovic, who healed himself with the last of his magic and was his usual joyous self again, pointed at the passage they had taken to the ceremony cavern. It was now covered with a heavy fog, and as were the other passage on the other side of the cavern. It seemed like the Cave of Dreams knew somehow and it was their time to leave this plane. 

Satisfied with a job well done, Filli and his allies stepped into the fog and back to Cavesmuth.

Scene close-out:

• Chaos factor up to 6. 
• ! party thread: Stopped ceremony and found Baldie’s ring, to return to Baldie.

Post-scene Notes

Thanks again for reading.