Check In Question: What was your favorite class in high school?
- Ian: I’m going to say physics. I had an awesome teacher. Professor’s favorite subjects were chemistry, alchemy, and shop.
- Cordelia: My favorite subject is math. Surina’s favorite subject was art.
- Miranda: Mine is a tie between AP Physics and AP Music Theory. Lysithea’s favorite was all of them except PE.
- Shannon: My favorite class was dance class. K’un-Lun’s favorite glass is gym.
- Kevin: Whatever English class I got to read Watership Down in. Gobbles didn’t really go to school, per say. There was a cool squirrel he learned some things from, though. The squirrel’s name was Eric Matthews.
- Justice: Greek III with Prof. Anb Awaa Ruh’s favorite class was Mischief and Mimicry.
When we last left the party they were deep in the tomb of the jackal, trying to prevent his spirit from being unleashed upon the world. K’un-Lun stayed behind on Rouge Hareng’s ship to comfort Schtolteheim, who nearly had a heart attack when Biante appeared. K’un-Lun has spent his time telling Schtolteheim stories of his adventures to calm him down.
K’un-Lun is in the middle of another story when he hears a loud, “CAAAWWW” from outside.
K’un-Lun: What is that? It sounds like some sort of giant bird.
Schlot: That is probably still the Biante. It probably has a message for you, again.
K’un-Lun runs out to find Biante perched on the bow of the ship.
Biante: You are the last piece. You are needed. Your group needs you to stop an evil from before your time from arising.
Although it looks like Biante is talking, K’un-Lun notices that no one else is paying attention to the giant bird-snake.
K’un-Lun: Man, this takes me back to the good old days of randomly seeing things. Take me to them. I know they need me. Please.
Biante: In these dire circumstances I have been given one power to help you.
Biante flaps its six wings and K’un-Lun is swept up into a whirlwind, transporting him to the tomb of the jackal.
Deep in the tomb, Surina, Gobbles, Octavia, Lysithea, and Professor suddenly see a whirlwind appear behind them, and a gate opens.
Lysithea: Oh, now what?
Gobbles: Attack it without looking!
K’un-Lun steps through the gate.
Lysithea: How come everyone else gets here so easily and we had to do all the work?
Gobbles: Yeah, we had to hoof it all the way out.
Lysithea: This is not fair!
Professor: Ah, my man.
K’un-Lun throws up a little, nauseated from his trip in the whirlwind. It doesn’t help that he was transported into a room full of zombie parts, the party having just defeated a zombie clot. Lysithea takes a moment to quickly catch K’un-Lun up to speed (see Sessions 30 and 31). K’un-Lun (history 16) knows that, even during his time, this jackal spirit was responsible for a lot of the monsters he had to fight. In K’un-Lun’s journey, the jackal was the “supplier” of the monsters that K’un-Lun fought to become the hero he is.
K’un-Lun: This guy gave me a job. I know him. I took till now to wake up from a thousand year slumber. He must stay asleep. I’m here to help.
A door stands in front of the party, with food and drink engraved on the door.
Professor: Oooh boy.
Lysithea: Oooh no.
Gobbles: K’un-Lun, feel free to help yourself to as many zombie corpses as you want. You’re welcome.
K’un-Lun: Ew. I am still nauseated.
Professor puts his ear up to the door to listen (perception 19). He hears the clinking of glasses and the sounds of conversation.
Professor: *whispering* Sounds like there’s a party! I want to go.
Lysithea: Just… cautiously.
Professor: I’m not going first.
Professor cracks the door open and sends in his homunculus servant. They hear bar music coming from inside when the door opens.
Professor: Oh my god, I really want to go in there.
Lysithea: This is an ancient temple… I’m confused.
Seeing that nothing happened to the homunculus servant, Gobbles enters the room. The seating looks ancient, but comfortably so. There are many copies of the jackal sitting around drinking and having fun.
Jackals: PERSON! *cheers*
Gobbles: Hi, I’m Gobbles the Goblin. Nice to meet you.
Jackals: GOBBLES! *cheers*
A small table appears, with the bartender jackal wiping it down.
Bartender Jackal: Have a seat.
Gobbles: Hey guys, this seems completely fine.
Surina: I don’t trust this.
Gobbles: What could go wrong?
Surina: Something!
All of the extra jackals begin to fade out as the party gradually enters the room. All that’s left is the jackal tending the bar.
Professor: It is like The Shining!
The jackal looks around at the size of the party and the small tables fade out, and a long, rectangular table appears. The jackal sits down at the head of the table.
Jackal: Ah, sit. Eat.
Food appears on the table. The party does not really recognize any of the cuisine that has appeared, except for K’un-Lun, who recognizes some of the delicacies from his time.
K’un-Lun: This is quiche Lorraine pie. My favorite. Ham and cheese, mmmmm.
Professor: What is this ham you speak of?
Jackal: Partake! Eat, guests.
K’un-Lun: I just threw up. I’m not ready to eat.
Jackal: Take some down time.
Lysithea pokes the chair before sitting on it, making sure it’s not a mimic or a trick. She then stares at the food, wondering what is happening.
Jackal: I always feel that as I have guests in my domain that they may need some time to rest, so I have set this up. I notice that my guests tend to get tired around this point, so I set this up here so that they may rest before they proceed.
Lysithea: Why should we trust any of the food that’s in front of us?
Jackal: Ah, you have learned! Excellent.
Professor: Are these mimics? I don’t get it. Are these grapes going to come to life and eat my grapes?
Lysithea: Well, they might poison you.
Gobbles: Thank you very much!
Gobbles casts Purify Food and Drink and immediately starts gorging himself on the most horrific looking food there is.
Jackal: While you all are eating, may I ask some questions?
Lysithea: I think you’re going to, anyway.
Jackal: Yes. First, what year is it?
Gobbles: I have no idea.
Lysithea: What year do you think it is?
Jackal: It could be any number. I don’t know how long I’ve been asleep here.
Professor: Who keeps track of that kind of thing? I’ve been living in a cave.
Jackal: And I’ve been living in a tomb.
Professor: So you know.
Jackal: I do know. It’s been a while since I’ve been awake to play some tricks, since I’ve had guests.
Lysithea: And yet your influences are still out and about in the world.
Jackal: Are they? That is great to hear. Where?
Professor: Here and there, you know. They come, they go, they die.
Surina: I do not trust this! I do not trust him!
The jackal swells with pride when he hears that his influences still touch the world.
Lysithea: Don’t act so surprised.
Jackal: So, any news on the outside before I get out?
Gobbles: It’s a really dangerous place. You should probably just hole up here for another couple thousand years.
Jackal: That doesn’t sound fun, but I like you. When you say my influences, like what?
Lysithea: Well if you don’t know what your own influences are…
Jackal: I’ve given many, as you can see. Do I still have priests?
Lysithea: I’m not very religious.
Jackal: Neither was I. People worshipped me, though.
Gobbles: How about you list off all of the friends you have out there and we’ll let you know which ones we’ve encountered.
Jackal: Well, let’s see.
He conjures up an image of a giant curved sword, inlaid with a purple gem and his image.
Jackal: There’s this special item. Conjured this for a warrior king. It’s very dangerous.
Lysithea: It looks dangerous.
Jackal: It’s cursed.
Lysithea: *sarcastically* Really?
Jackal: It was.
Lysithea: Naw…
Jackal: Once he had it, he couldn’t let go of it.
He then conjures up the amulets the party encountered with Josie and the Tabaxi, with the jackal’s image on them.
Jackal: How about these gems?
Lysithea: I’m noticing a theme.
Jackal: Is it me?
Lysithea: How’d you guess?
Jackal: I was not, what one would say, subtle about my trickery. Many monsters, many beings, many creatures…
Professor: What is your deal? What’s your play, here? What are you trying to gain?
Jackal: Chaos.
Lysithea: I feel like there’s enough of that.
Professor: Yeah, it happens pretty naturally.
Jackal: It does, it does, it does, but sometimes nature needs a little push.
Professor: So it’s just for giggles, then?
Jackal: More or less. I like to enjoy myself as much as the next person.
The jackal is very full of himself, proud of his trickery and schemes. The party realizes that he is stalling for time so that he can gain more power, but they have also benefited from the short rest.
Jackal: Oh, look at the time.
The jackal fades to sand, and so do the chairs, table and the food. The drink barrels, however, remain. Obviously suspicious, the party decides to inspect the barrels. Gobbles prepares to kick one over when Professor interrupts.
Professor: No, no, no. Let my son do this. Go on, boy.
Professor’s homunculus servant flies over and knocks the lid off of one of the barrels. Inside is a bubbling, black liquid, which is exactly what the party expected. (Initiative Gobbles adjusted 20, K’un-Lun 11, Professor 11, Lysithea Nat 20+2, Surina 17) The barrel erupts open to form a black pudding, and the barrels on the other side of the room burst open to form a golden ochre jelly.
Gobbles: I wonder what this jelly tastes like.
Lysithea: No, Gobbles, no.
Gobbles: It could be delicious!
Professor: Don’t eat the yellow goo!
Begin Oozy Battle
Lysithea shoots Firebolt at the golden jelly (attack 25) for 13 fire damage. Gobbles was standing right next to the barrels when they erupted, so he disengages from the black pudding. He backs up to the next door and double Confetti Eldritch Blasts the golden jelly (Nat 1, 6). Gobbles didn’t realize that one of his hands was aimed at the ground, so when he fired one of the blasts sent him flying off the ground ala Iron Man. The other blast gets absorbed into the jelly and the confetti disintegrates inside it.
Surina: Goodbye forever!
Surina ignites her Flametongue sword, then charges at the golden jelly (attack 21). She plunges her flaming sword into the jelly for 8 slashing and 4 fire damage. After being hit by the sword the golden jelly splits into 2 medium jellies. Surina quickly turns and swings at the new jelly on the left (attack 17), hitting it for 4 slashing and 8 fire damage. The jelly sizzles down, defeated. The remaining jelly attacks Surina back, hitting her for 7 bludgeoning and 3 acid damage. The black pudding hits at the closest thing to it, which is Professor’s homunculus servant; however, the servant is able to dodge the first attack. The pudding strikes at it again for 5 bludgeoning and 15 acid damage. The homunculus servant goes down, dissolving as it falls.
Professor: AHHHH! My son!
K’un-Lun, seeing the acid damage the black pudding can do, decides not to punch it and moves to attack the remaining golden jelly. He pounds his fists into the jelly (attack 10, 10, 8), landing each punch for a total 23 damage. K’un-Lun absorbs the jelly’s life energy as it is reduced to a puddle of goo. Professor is in tears, having watched his “son” disintegrate, so he reaches into his bag. Everyone is expecting him to pull out Bulette Bro, but instead he pulls out what looks like a gun. The miniature cannon is essentially a laser gun, and he fires it at the black pudding (attack Nat 1), but Professor forgot to charge it so it doesn’t fire. Suddenly…
Lysithea: Oh no.
Gobbles: Oooooh, why?!
Surina: Oh no, OH NO!
Professor: Ohhh nooo!
… a gelatinous cube drops down from the ceiling. It tries to engulf K’un-Lun, but he is able to get out of the way. As he dodges he notices that there is a key inside of the cube.
K’un-Lun: Gotta get the key!
Lysithea takes a few steps back, away from the gelatinous cube, and casts Fire Bolt as a Twinned Spell on the black pudding (attack Nat 20, adjusted 20). Her bolts do a total 35 fire damage to the pudding. Seeing that the pudding is still standing, Gobbles pops 2 Confetti Eldritch Blasts at it (attack 10, 13), with both blasts hitting for 13 force damage. Surina moves in and swings her sword at the pudding (attack 22) for 8 slashing and 6 fire damage. As she slashes the pudding with her sword it splits into 2 smaller puddings. Just as before, she turns and slashes at one of the smaller puddings (attack 24) for 9 slashing and 7 fire damage. The pudding melts into a puddle on the floor. The remaining pudding attacks Surina back, but it’s attacks cannot get through her armor. K’un-Lun turns around and punches the gelatinous cube (attack 26, 16, 19) for 24 total damage. Professor moves out from behind Surina and casts Fire Bolt on the remaining pudding (attack adjusted 20). The 18 fire damage burns the pudding to the ground.
Professor: That’s what you get!
He then turns around and shoots his laser gun at the gelatinous cube (attack 12) for 5 damage, pushing it back 5 feet. The gelatinous cube bounces forward. As it is about to land on K’un-Lun (dexterity saving throw 15), he ducks and rolls out of the way. It continues to bounce forward and lands on Professor (dexterity saving throw 4), engulfing him. Professor takes only 6 acid damage as he is resistant to acid, and he cannot breathe or move. The cube then tries to attack Lysithea, but the attack does not penetrate her Mage Armor. Lysithea takes a step back and fires Fire Bolt as a Twinned Spell again (attack 19, 23) for 25 fire damage. Gobbles pops out more confetti (attack 21, adjusted 20) for 12 force damage. Surina was considering pulling Professor out of the cube to save him, but decides it will be easier to slay the cube. She plunges her sword into the cube (attack 23) for 11 slashing and 8 fire damage. The cube gloops to the floor, defeated, releasing Professor in the process.
End Oozy Battle
Professor is standing up, covered in slime ala Ghostbusters.
Professor: I got the key!
Lysithea (investigation 19) inspects the ceiling to make sure there are no more surprises are about to drop in on them. She sees a very nice chandelier on the 20 foot ceiling, and that’s it.
Professor: Shoot it!
Before the remains of the oozes disappear, Gobbles scurries up and eats a bit of the black pudding and the ochre jelly.
Lysithea: Gobbles, no!
The black pudding was a bit tangy with a bitter after taste, and the jelly was habanero pepper hot. Gobbles takes 7 acid damage from his meal.
Gobbles: Mmmm, I need to eat some more of that.
Gobbles grabs 3 tankards and fills them up with black pudding, ochre jelly, and gelatinous cube.
Lysithea: Are you just going to carry these around the dungeon?
Gobbles: Why not?
Professor: Just dump them on people. You know, as a weapon against our enemies!
Gobbles: Or as a snack.
Professor: I suppose… this key opens that door… My skin… is on fire…
Professor casts Prestidigitation on himself to clean up, then uses the key to unlock the next door. Surina leads the party into a twisted hallway, with K’un-Lun bringing up the rear. On the walls are pictures of animals grown to huge, monstrous sizes with the jackal next to each one. There are mice the size of dogs, dogs the size of dire wolves, and dire wolves the size of whales. The hallway leads up to a door with the face of the jackal on it. On top of the door is a script that reads “Password is Monkeys”.
Surina: Monkeys.
Nothing happens.
Lysithea: Is monkeys?
Nothing happens.
K’un-Lun: I think I’ve heard this before.
Gobbles: Mellon!
The eyes of the door are staring back at the party.
Surina: Mimic?
Lysithea tries making a monkey face at the door. To their surprise the door laughs at her silly face.
Door: That’s a funny looking face. You should get that embezzled on a door.
Professor: Holy moly.
Lysithea: I don’t know how to respond. The door just spoke to me after I made a funny face.
Gobbles: Hahaha, what a knob.
The door rolls its eyes. Surina realizes no one has tried to open the door yet and goes to open the door.
Door: Hey there, hey there, Grabby. The rules are on top of me, here. You just can’t go and open doors. What do you think you are?
Professor: Your boss.
Surina: It’s a trap.
Door: It says the password right on top.
Gobbles: By the power of Harambe, open!
Door: Nah, that’s not it.
Professor: Is it monkeys?
Door: Well, that’s what the password says.
Professor: So, it should work, then.
Door: Possibly.
Professor: Right, how’s a door going to stop you? Does it have hands? Open it.
Surina is too worried that the door is a mimic and will not try to open the door. Lysithea (intelligence 18) has realized that the party has said, “monkeys”, but something else hasn’t.
Lysithea: The door. We have to get the door to say “monkeys”.
Surina starts making stabbing motions towards the door, indicating that she wants to stab it. She holds her sword up to the door and starts jabbing it.
Door: Hey now, that’s not a key! That’s a sword!
Professor: Show it the trick where you light it on fire! Say the word, door!
Door: What word?
Professor: Say monkeys.
Door: Why would I say monkeys?
The door swings open. The winding hallway takes a turn, leading to another locked door with wilting and dying plants engraved on it.
Lysithea: This is officially more annoying than Thistle’s dungeon.
Professor (nature adjusted 20), even with his dwarven instinct, realizes the plants really need to be watered.
Lysithea: We don’t have water… we have oozes. Oh, K’un-Lun, get some water in the alchemy jug and poor it on the door!
K’un-Lun: Okay.
K’un-Lun holds up the alchemy jug heroically, exclaims, “Water,” and pours the water on the door. The door opens. The party continues through the twisted hallway and come to a locked door with a riddle inscribed on it. The etching reads “What can you break, even if you never pick it up?”
K’un-Lun: A heart.
Professor: My bones!
Lysithea: Promises.
When Lysithea says “promises” the riddle wipes clean and another one appears. “What can’t talk, but will reply when spoken to?”
Professor: A river.
Lysithea: An echo.
The riddle wipes clean and another appears. “It stalks the countryside with ears that can’t hear.”
Professor: What is corn?
The riddle wipes clean and one more appears. “What is made of bone and hurts quite a lot?”
Gobbles: Skeleton punches.
Professor: Is it bones?
The door then displays the answer – “Your new friend.” A giant skeleton minotaur emerges through the door…
Professor: Close it! Close the door!
… and another one forms behind the party. Lysithea shoots Fire Bolt at the skeleton behind the party (attack 10) but misses her shot. Gobbles moves forward and sets up to flank the skeleton in front. He fires 2 Confetti Eldritch Blasts at it (attack adjusted 20, 8), with one blast hitting for 9 damage.
Surina: Goodbye forever!
Surina runs forward, Flametongue sword ignited, and swings at the skeleton (attack 11); however, her sword goes in-between the bones of the skeleton. She swings again (attack adjusted 20) and hits for 7 slashing and 10 fire damage. The skeleton minotaur swings its greataxe back at Surina, missing the first swing but hitting her on the second for 22 damage. K’un-Lun turns around and charges at the skeleton behind the party. He lands a Stunning Strike (attack 16) on the skeleton, leaving it stunned. K’un-Lun hits the skeleton 2 more times (attack 19, 15) for a total of 22 damage. Professor Fire Bolts the skeleton that K’un-Lun is in melee with (attack 23) for 5 fire damage. He then fires his laser gun (attack Nat 20) for 13 force damage. Lysithea Fire Bolts the same minotaur skeleton (attack 27) for 10 fire damage. Gobbles continues to confetti the minotaur in the front (attack 9, 10), but the blasts have no effect. Surina slashes the skeleton with her sword (attack 25) for 4 slashing and 8 fire damage. She slashes again (attack 25) for an additional 6 slashing and 11 fire damage. Surina then casts Divine Smite, defeating the skeleton with 6 divine damage.
Surina: And don’t come back!
The remaining minotaur is no longer stunned. K’un-Lun begins to wail on it (attack 14, 12, 15) for 23 more damage. K’un-Lun absorbs its life energy as all but 1 bone crumbles to dust.
Lysithea: One bone? Why?
Lysithea figures the bone is for something, so she takes it with her. The next room is filled with dressing cabinets and armoires.
Lysithea: We should open these. I don’t want things to pop out at us. If things are going to attack us I want them to be because we did it, not because of its own initiative…. Surina, open the armoire.
Surina whispers, “Goodbye forever” to her sword to extinguish it. Professor casts Cure Wounds on Surina for 11 health. As a group, the party opens the armoires. There’s nothing but clothes inside. Some are fancy, some are basic, but there are 2 that stand out to the party. The first is a robe sewn together with patches of various items. There are patches that look like daggers, lanterns, mirrors, 10 ft poles, ropes, sacks, an iron door, wooden ladders, potion patches, windows, a rowboat, and a scroll. Gobbles grabs the Robe of Useful items and puts it on with glee. The other garment is a black leather cloak with a cat broach in the middle. (Arcana Lysithea 18, Professor adjusted 20) The broach is of a displacer beast. Professor, knowing that the robe makes one harder to hit, hands it to Lysithea.
Professor: I think you could probably use this.
Lysithea: I think I could probably use it, too.
Professor: Can I have it if you die?
Lysithea feels herself begin to blur as she puts the goth cloak on. They move on to the next door, with a keyhole shaped like a bone. Lysithea inserts the bone from the minotaur skeleton and the door unlocks. In the next room are 2 chests. Lysithea pokes the chests with her staff first to make sure they aren’t mimics, and both chests pop open. The first chest contains a crossbow. Professor feels gusts of wind as he picks up the Crossbow of the Wind. The crossbow will blow back any creature in the arrow’s path. The other chest contains gauntlets with chains.
Lysithea: K’un-Lun I think these are for you.
K’un-Lun places the Dragon Armlets on his wrists, which will allow him to deflect ranged spell attacks.
Gobbles: Do all of these have the jackal symbol on them and now we’re all cursed?
Lysithea: No, I think these were items that belonged to his previous victims.
Jackal: CONGRATULATIONS!
Professor: Oh my god!
Lysithea: Are we back in Thistle’s dungeon?
Thistle: I’m taking notes, new friend. This guy is impressive. Scary, but impressive.
Gobbles: Right, scary impressive.
Jackal: These are gifts from me to you all!
Professor: Thank… you…
There is no way out of the room with the chests. No trap doors, no secret panels, so the party makes their way back to the dining hall. The only thing left in this room is the chandelier. Gobbles tries frantically to jump up to it, but it’s on a 20 foot ceiling and he barely jumps off the ground. Professor shoots at the chandelier and his arrow plinks off of it. Nothing else happens.
Lysithea: Who can run the fastest? Someone go back and get that ladder.
Gobbles runs to get the ladder, since he wants to save his new robe patches for another time. K’un-Lun climbs the ladder up to the chandelier and finds a red button, which he immediately pushes. A secret wall on the other side of the room opens. The party enters a winding corridor full of undead. The party charges in, slaying the undead left and right till they come to the end of the corridor. What awaits them is another chest and a door. In the chest is a bow, known as Whisper. Octavia takes the magic bow, which deals psychic damage if she is hidden. The party does a collective inhale, then opens the door.
Eerie music fills the air as the party enters the room. At the back of the room is a statue of the jackal standing over a sarcophagus, with dark energy pouring from it. Patrin, the emerald Dragonborn, is standing off to the side.
Professor: What do you think you’re doing?
Patrin gives no response. Up until this room the floors have been solid, but in here the ground is nothing but sand. There is a change in the music and more dark energy pours out of the sarcophagus. (Arcana Professor 10, Lysithea 24) This is some high level magic. The walls and Lysithea’s dagger, begin pulsing with energy from the aberrant magic of the shadows. Gobbles begins to lob Eldritch Blasts at the statue, gradually chipping it away till it is no more. Patrin continues to stand motionless and expressionless. Suddenly, the sand drains from the room, taking the party with it, landing them in a giant sand pit. (Dexterity Save Gobbles 13, Lysithea Nat 20, Professor 19, Surina Nat 20, K’un-Lun 21) The party all lands on their feet.
Professor: This is a big room.
The torches on the sandstone walls light as the party lands. Floating down is the sarcophagus, which opens. The scout lays inside, but he is quickly engulfed with sand…
Lysithea: That’s what you get for not listening!
… and out from the sarcophagus steps the jackal with his staff. The gems on his staff, which were dim before, are now shining brightly as magic swirls around the jackal. (Initiative Gobbles 11, K’un-Lun 16, Lysithea 9, Surina 14, Professor 8)
Begin BBEG Fight!
Jackal: *laughs* I have now obtained my form! May the world tremble at my chaos!
The jackal laughs as he casts Magic Missile at Surina for 5 damage, K’un-Lun for 3 damage, and Gobbles for 4 damage. In the center of the giant room a whirlpool of sand begins to pull everything towards it. K’un-Lun starts making his way towards the jackal by walking around the side of the whirlpool. The jackal taps his staff on the ground twice and one of the gems begins to glow an eerie purple (K’un-Lun intelligence saving throw 5). K’un-Lun takes 5 psychic damage as a psychic beam shoots straight into his mind. Surina follows K’un-Lun’s path and throws a javelin at Patrin, who is standing in a readied battle stance with a voided stare (attack 19). Her javelin hits Patrin for 9 damage. She throws another one at Patrin (attack 21) for an additional 6 damage. The jackal taps his staff on the ground again and three Magic Missiles fly out at Surina, hitting her for 14 damage. Gobbles casts Hex on the jackal as a bonus action, then casts Chill Touch (attack 14). A magical, necrotic hand reaches out and tries to grab the jackal, but he moves out of the way. Patrin rages with black tentacles forming around him, then charges forward at K’un-Lun, swinging his battleaxe wildly. K’un-Lun takes 14 damage from the axe and 3 psychic damage from the tentacles. Lysithea casts Fireball centered on the jackal; however, she can see the jackal strain as he spends several sorcery points to counterspell the attack. Lysithea then summons her Hound of Ill Omen and sics it on Patrin. The hound moves to flank Patrin and attempts to bite him, but its teeth cannot penetrate Patrin’s armor. Professor takes out his new magic crossbow and fires it at Patrin (attack adjusted 20) for 5 damage. The whirlwind that fires from the bow pushes Patrin back 15 feet and knocks him prone. Professor then fires his gun at Patrin (attack 14) but misses. The jackal fires Fire Bolt at Professor, who takes 8 fire damage. As he fires the staff fades for a second, but the jackal taps it and a swirl of magic brings it back to life.
The jackal fires Scorching Ray, with one ray missing K’un-Lun, one missing Surina, and one missing Gobbles. The whirlpool in the center of the room erupts, and a swirling sandstorm takes its place. K’un-Lun moves forward and uses Flurry of Blows on a prone Patrin (attack adjusted 20, 26, Nat 20, 21). Patrin takes quite the pummeling, taking a total 34 damage. The jackal creates a wall of sand, stretching the width of the room, protecting himself.
Surina: Goodbye forever!
Surina’s sword ignites as she swings it at Patrin (attack 24), who takes 11 slashing and 9 fire damage. She slashes at him again (attack 24) for 4 more slashing and 8 fire damage. Gobbles attempts Chill Touch on Patrin (attack 13), but his spell has no effect. (Intelligence saving throw 18) The jackal taps his staff on the ground, but Gobbles is able to fend on the Mind Sliver attack. Patrin stands up, taking an attack of opportunity from K’un-Lun (attack 23) for 8 damage, and Surina (attack 22) for 6 slashing and 8 fire damage. Patrin is starting to look bad and uses his Dragon Breath (dexterity saving throw Hound 21, K’un-Lun adjusted 20, Surina 7). He opens his mouth and black, glistening psychic energy blasts out, hitting K’un-Lun and the Hound for 3 psychic damage, and Surina for 6 psychic damage. Patrin then takes a swing at K’un-Lun, but misses. Lysithea reaches into her bag and tosses out Jeffrey, her scorpion, then uses her Staff of Swarming Insects to turn him giant. Jeffrey starts making his way towards the jackal, carefully walking around the storm. The Hound moves to flank Patrin again and tries to bite him, but still cannot penetrate the armor. Professor shoots his laser gun at Patrin (attack 17), hitting for 7 damage and knocking him back 5 feet. Professor then casts Enlarge on the giant Jeffrey, making him twice as large as he was before.
A towering, massive scorpion is the first thing the jackal sees when he lowers the sand wall. The jackal begins to mutter in Deep Speech to cast a spell, faster than Lysithea has ever heard someone cast a spell. He summons an aberration that appears behind Lysithea, and then casts Fire Bolt at Gobbles. Gobbles quickly casts Shield to protect himself from the bolt. The jackal sends another Fire Bolt at Gobbles, but misses his attack. The aberration slams at Lysithea, but her new Cloak of Displacement causes her to phase out and the beast misses. (Dexterity saving throw Gobbles 6, Lysithea Nat 20, Hound 21, Jeffrey 10, Surina 5, Professor 15, K’un-Lun 17) Gobbles, Jeffrey, Surina, and the aberration all get pulled towards the center of the room as the raging sandstorm transforms back into a whirlpool. K’un-Lun is flanking Patrin and decides to take him down before he can do any more damage. He gives him a swift uppercut (attack 23) and takes him down with 8 damage. Patrin is down, but he is not defeated. K’un-Lun hits him again (attack 24) to make sure he stays down. Seeing that his pawn is down, the jackal fires Sacred Flame at K’un-Lun (dexterity save 23) but K’un-Lun is able to dodge the attack. Surina runs with all her might to get out of the sand whirlpool, then throws her javelin at the jackal (attack 25). Her javelin pierces the jackal for 4 damage. The throws another one (attack 17) for 6 more damage. The jackal taps his staff and Poison Spray spews out, but Surina is out of its range.
Gobbles: I am going to mount this noble steed!
Lysithea: You need to give him scritches!
Gobbles: Hey there, Jeffrey.
Gobbles climbs on top of the towering Jeffrey, then casts Chill Touch at the jackal (attack 18). The necrotic hand reaches out and grabs the jackal on the shoulder, dealing 12 damage. Gobbles is the first to hit the jackal with magic and he notices that some of the magic gets through, but some of it collects in his hand. The jackal taps his staff and 2 Eldritch Blasts lash out at Gobbles, with one hitting him for 7 damage. Gobbles reacts with Hellish Rebuke, but the jackal counterspells it. Lysithea moves further away from the aberration and uses her new spell, Tasha’s Mind Whip, against the jackal. The jackal fails his saving throw, takes 7 psychic damage, and can no longer make a reaction. The psychic whip lashes out at the jackal, hitting him with the psychic energy, but some of the magic collects in his hand. The party is starting to realize that their magical attacks are not doing enough. The hound is still hunting its target and bites Patrin (attack 19) and takes Patrin down for good. With its target defeated the hound disappears.
Gobbles: Onward, Jeffrey!
Jeffrey charges out of the whirlpool and darts towards the jackal. Jeffrey tries to claw and sting at the jackal, but he is just slightly out of range. Professor fires his crossbow at the jackal, but his arrow misses. He then shoots Fire Bolt (attack Nat 20) and hits the jackal for 7 fire damage. Once again, some of the magic hits the jackal, but the rest condenses into his hand. Professor then shoots his gun at the jackal (attack 18) for 9 force damage, pushing him back 5 feet. The jackal tries to absorb the force damage, but cannot. This causes the jackal to lose concentration and the aberration disappears. (Arcana Professor Nat 1, Lysithea 10)
Professor: He’s using magic!
The party cannot quite figure out what he’s doing, but they know that not all of the magical attacks are getting through.
Thistle: *whispers* He’s absorbing the magic in his hand for something…
Gobbles: HE’S ABSORBING MAGIC IN HIS HAND!
Jackal: Witness the power of the ancients!
The jackal summons and insect plague. A swarm of locusts surround Jeffrey, Gobbles, Surina, K’un-Lun, and Professor (constitution saving throw Professor 18, K’un-Lun 12, Gobbles 17, Surina 14, Jeffrey 18). Surina and K’un-Lun take 16 damage, and the rest take 8. K’un-Lun runs up to the jackal and (attack 24) lands a Stunning Strike, but the jackal is able to prevent himself from being stunned by using his Legendary Resistance. K’un-Lun punches at the jackal further (attack 24, 23) for a total 21 damage. The jackal is surprised that he was physically hit. As K’un-Lun swings his final punch he feels his fist make contact, but then he feels his hand going through sand. The jackal disappears and reappears on the other side of the room. The whole party turns around, staring at the jackal in disbelief. They will have to make a dash to get to him before he can do too much damage. The whirlpool turns back into the swirling sand tornado. Surina turns around and starts making her way towards the jackal’s new location, running as fast as she can. Lysithea turns around and fires Magic Missile at the jackal for 10 force damage. The jackal taps his staff and a radiant shine leaps from it towards Lysithea (dexterity saving throw), but she is able to dodge the attack. Gobbles holds tight to Jeffrey, who dashes all the way across the room to the jackal. Gobbles, with Hex still in play, activates Fury of the Small and Hex Blade’s Curse, grabs his warhammer and from the snoot of Jeffrey smashes down on the jackal’s head (attack adjusted 20). As the hammer crashes down Gobbles activates Divine Smite, dealing a total of 27 damage.
Gobbles: And I’m spent.
Professor runs up to Surina and casts Cure Wounds on her, healing her for 10 points. He then aims his laser gun at the jackal and fires (attack 21), hitting for 10 damage and pushing the jackal into the wall. The jackal is starting to panic and makes a run for it. Jeffrey sees his target making a break for it and jabs the jackal with his stinger (attack Nat 20). The stinger hits the jackal in the back for 27 piercing damage and injects 52 poison damage.
Gobbles: Well I guess I should just be a scorpion.
Professor: This is amazing.
The jackal takes a deep breath to collect himself and resists the poison, taking only 26 damage from it. Filled with rage, the jackal banishes Jeffrey to another plane. Gobbles falls as Jeffrey disappears out from under him and takes 2 damage as he hits the ground. The party sees the jackal take the energy that he has been saving from magical attacks and wrap it around himself. The jackal, although still bloodied, suddenly looks a bit healthier. The jackal is furious. There is a fiery rage in his eyes as he stares at Lysithea. (Dexterity saving throw Gobbles 14, K’un-Lun 16, Lysithea 11, Surina 15, Professor 12) Professor and Lysithea get sucked to the middle of the room as the sandstorm transforms back into a whirlpool. K’un-Lun uses Step of the Wind and dashes to the jackal. The jackal is shocked as K’un-Lun suddenly appears behind him and hits him on the back of the head (attack 22, 15) for 6 damage. The jackal taps his staff and a magical fist forms in the air and punches K’un-Lun for 7 damage. Surina raises her ignited sword in the air and darts in to flank the jackal. With her mighty sword she slashes at the jackal (attack with advantage 2 Nat 20s) and activates Divine Smite as a 2nd level spell upon hitting. Her attack does 19 slashing, 9 fire, and 36 radiant damage. She swings her sword again (attack 2) but the jackal turns to sand and reappears on the other side of the room.
Surina: No!
The jackal loses its concentration and Jeffrey reappears from banishment.
Lysithea: Jeffrey! Thank goodness!
Gobbles chucks a javelin at the jackal (attack 11) but misses. Lysithea and Professor are still stuck in the sand whirlpool.
Professor: Teleport us out of here, witch.
Lysithea: I can’t… I can’t do that…
Professor: Are you not a witch?
The walls begin to pulse with negative energy. Lysithea, with no grace, crawls her way out of the whirlpool. Jeffrey runs all the way across the room and towers over the jackal. Gobbles feels Thistle’s claws crunching into his head, and then nothing. Thistle is gone.
Gobbles: Ruh-roh. Thistle down!
Professor takes a shot at the jackal with his crossbow (attack 18), hitting him for 5 damage. He fires again (attack 19) for 4 damage. The wind from the second arrow knocks the jackal back up against the wall. Professor then fires his laser gun (attack 19) and hits the jackal for 13 more force damage.
The jackal takes a look at the determined party, his cracking staff, and his bloodied form.
Jackal: This isn’t supposed to happen…
He picks up some sand from the floor and lets it fall through his hand.
Jackal: I didn’t plan to go out like this.
He looks at the scorpion.
Jackal: Good trick.
Lysithea: You wanted chaos.
Jackal: You know, this body… I may have to find another body after this.
The walls begin pulsing even harder with dark energy and the sand from the floor begins to float up. There is a bright flash of light…
A heavenly song begins to play accompanied by a woman’s angelic voice. The most beautiful Fey appears, goddess-like in her appearance. Time stands still.
Fey: What have you gotten yourselves into? This is not good.
Professor: I thought we were doing pretty well, actually.
Fey: No, you are.
Her eyes flash at Jeffrey, who shrinks back down to his normal size.
Fey: You might need him.
Jeffrey scurries across the ground, up Lysithea’s tail and into his little box home.
Fey: Time to port you all out of here.
Lysithea: But we’re almost done!
Fey: No you aren’t.
Professor: He’s right there!
Fey: Do you want to see what happens when he activates everything?
Gobbles: I’m sure it’s going to be fun.
Fey: You would be banished to another plane.
Gobbles: All I’m hearing is we get to adventure on another plane.
Fey: It’s not a good plane.
Lysithea: But we can’t let him escape!
Fey: Thistle came to let me know what’s happening.
Gobbles: Oh, you know Thistle, my patron?
The Fey rolls her eyes at the oblivious Gobbles. A gate opens in front of the party.
Fey: I would step through this now.
Lysithea: Is he going to escape?
Fey: He was going to escape anyway. But we can keep his form like this. The seal on his tomb is broken. If you destroy this physical form his spirit will escape through the sands, allowing him to gain control of a more powerful form.
Lysithea: I think we should listen to the Fey.
Professor: Let’s leave this place.
Lysithea: This is all that scout’s fault.
The party understands that they did all they could and will need to find another way to stop the jackal. With silent nods they turn from the jackal’s bloodied form and step through the gate. They inhale fresh air filled with soothing aromas as they are ported into a cozy bathhouse.
The party levels up to Level 7. End Session.
Check Out
Spotlight on Another Player:
- Miranda: Ian for enlarging my giant scorpion. And Cordelia for rolling double Nat 20s on advantage and critting. That was amazing.
- Shannon: I’m going to say the same thing.
- Kevin: Miranda for summoning all those creatures. You had the doggy that ate Patrin and the special noble steed.
- Ian: Justice for really ramping up the boss level. That was a great encounter.
- Cordelia: Gobbles for riding the giant scorpion.
- Justice: The teamwork of everyone. Shannon’s quick thinking with the Stunning Strike, and how well you all worked together. I’m really happy with how this went.
Challenge or Something Learned:
- Miranda: The jackal teleporting made things a lot more difficult.
- Shannon: I learned that you don’t always have to kill the big boss.
- Kevin: The challenge will be what I’m going to level up to. I learned that trickster gods are tricky.
- Ian: Don’t be afraid to buff other players.
- Cordelia: It was hard getting hit so much.
- Justice: I learned that I need to make the lair action bigger if it’s going to be this big of a field.
Hope or Prediction for Next Session:
- Miranda: I hope that Cordelia roleplays as much as she did today.
- Shannon: My hope is that I’ll actually be able to deflect a missile back at somebody.
- Kevin: That the fallout from this guy getting out is less bad than I think it will be.
- Ian: I hope we get to go to my (Professor’s) house.
- Cordelia: I want to see Professor’s house.
- Justice: That I make another dungeon as fun as this one was. And that people will continue to use the magic items I have given them.
Analysis: This fight was crazy! Gigantic giant scorpion being ridden by a goblin, double crits on advantage rolled by Cordelia, Divine Smites, and one upset BBEG. Unfortunately, he survived, and that is where Cordelia had issues. Before that point Cordelia was on fire. She was roleplaying, leading, and literally bouncing with excitement! But when the BBEG survived she shut down. She felt cheated, especially since he only had 7HP remaining. Today she learned the lesson that sometimes the bad guy gets away. We assured her that, even though he survived, we won that fight and prevented him from becoming even stronger. She felt better knowing that, and knowing that we will get to face him again. Once DM Dad said we leveled up she perked right back to her excited self. The rewards were gained, and the lesson was learned.