Check In Question: If you could invent something what would it be?
- Victor: Draggy would invent a robot. I would invent a big giant robot.
- Miranda: Lysithea would invent something that would allow her to read and learn through osmosis. I would invent something that would allow me to take pictures with my eyeballs so that I would never miss a moment by stopping to take pictures.
- Kevin: Cheap, easy, beyond meat so that we can get past killing animals. Gobbles would invent Hydra-Meat Burger tacos.
- Cordelia: I would invent a red button that if you press it you go inside the TV. Surina would invent something to prevent sandstorms.
- Liz: I would invent a Mary Poppins type robot. Octavia would invent a bow that also has a bunch of accessories attached to them, like a Swiss-army-bow.
- Justice: I would invent a time turner to get more time in a day to do the fun things after work. Dr. Valarie Felicity Hawtri would invent some mechanisms to keep things from exploding all the time.
When we last left the party, they had just been teleported into the middle of an incoming battle. They defeated a raiding party with 2 large, clockwork, mechanical dragons commanded by Kobolds, 2 Giffs, and a mage in the back. Due to some quick thinking and cooperation, the party was able to acquire one of the machines while destroying the other, leaving them with a vehicle.
The party begins to search the remains of the exploded warmachine for any parts that still function in hopes of fixing and maintaining their new “truckasaurus”.
Gobbles: We need to put a sign on it. “Not Bad Guys”. Maybe that will help make it look less bad-guyish.
Lysithea: Yeah, maybe we should decorate it a bit, but we have to paint the side to say “Surina and the Crystal Gems”.
(Investigation Gobbles 6, Lysithea 13, Surina 16, Draggy 18) Surina finds quite a few parts, having been the one that destroyed the machine with her sword, but she has no idea what they are. Draggy finds a lot of pieces and sets them up so that Professor can make repairs and paint the outside of the machine. Even though the machine still functions it did take damage in the battle and needs some fixing. They also decide that driving up to the town in a Kobold decorated warmachine would not be the wisest idea. Professor and K’un-Lun opt to stay behind to make repairs, while the rest of the party heads towards Pupbaatt.
Heading towards Pubpaatt the grasslands begin to clear and turn into fields of crops, especially cotton. Beautiful, rainbow colored cotton. Each field is of a different color. Pupbaatt’s main export is cotton and fabric, and they have some of the finest weavers on the continent.
Passing by the different farms the party notices that they are starting to get strange looks from the farmers (Insight Lysithea 26, Gobbles adjusted 20, Surina 11, Draggy 18). Most of the looks are directed at Surina and Draggy. A buggy pulled by a mule approaches the party. It’s being driving by a tall, lanky Tabaxi.
Farmer: Ho there!
Lysithea: Hello?
Farmer: Hello. What brings y’all over here?
Lysithea: Travel.
Farmer: Yes, but you’re coming from the north I see.
Lysithea: Kind of. We just dropped in.
Farmer: Did you have any trouble?
Draggy: We didn’t.
Lysithea: Well, yeah, no, there was a big old thing of Kobolds and Giffs headed this way with warmachines.
Farmer: Y’all experienced one? You stopped them?
Lysithea: Yeah. They were in the way.
The farmer looks a bit confused.
Farmer: Was it a small party?
Lysithea: Define small.
Farmer: Usually their parties are just a Giff and some Kobolds, but lately they’ve been bringing *looks at Surina and Draggy* some dragon-like creatures and warmachines.
Lysithea: Yeah, they had 2 warmachines, couple Giffs, lots of Kobolds. A mage?
Farmer: Well, hop on and I’ll take you to the city. That’s one of the bigger parties. Are y’all alive?
Draggy: Yes.
Lysithea: *checks her pulse* We’re alive.
Farmer: Did y’all suffer any casualties?
Lysithea: No, but some of our people are hanging back and fixing up one of the warmachines to… make a car… whatever that is… To un-war it.
Farmer: Well… hop on.
Lysithea: Thank you, it’s much appreciated. You don’t have to look sideways at our Dragonborn. This is Surina of the Crystal Gems.
Farmer: I’ve never heard of the Crystal Gems.
Lysithea: I’m sure you’ve heard of Josie and the Tabaxi…
Farmer: Oh, yes, yes. They’re from here.
Draggy: I’m a powerful Dragonborn.
Farmer: Well, we all have our faults.
Lysithea: What was your name, sir?
Farmer: My name is McGill.
Lysithea: Is that your first name or your last name?
McGill: It’s my last name. People just call me McGill.
Gobbles: I’m Gobbles the Goblin. Hi. I’m not a Kobold.
McGill: You’re small like one.
Gobbles: So are Dwarves.
McGill: They’re not to be trusted, either, sometimes.
Gobbles: I don’t have a beard so I’m much more trustworthy.
McGill: You have green skin, though.
Gobbles: Well you have fur. You could have green skin, too.
McGill: I could, but I don’t.
Gobbles: I’m going to take your word for that.
Lysithea to Gobbles: This guy is prejudiced. Is the whole town like this, or just this guy?
Gobbles to Lysithea: I can understand not trusting someone based on their facial hair, but skin color doesn’t make any sense.
Lysithea to Gobbles: Especially since we destroyed one of the war parties coming their way.
As they travel other farmers wave to McGill, but continue to give strange looks at the party, especially Draggy and Surina. They can see lots of broken down machines and mechanisms outside the city wall. There’s at least one broken warmachine, and lots of tractors.
Lysithea: I know that the Kobolds in the mountain will sometimes come down and attack, but it seems that they have really been attacking lately. Has something changed?
McGill: It seems they have been getting funding from somebody. I’m not exactly sure. I’m just a simple farmer.
Lysithea: I know, but sometimes the simple farmers know more than the people in charge.
McGill: Well, all I can tell you is that they’ve been attacking more ferociously and more frequently. They’ve been bringing Giff…
Lysithea: Any idea what they’re after?
McGill: Oh, probably our textiles.
(Insight Gobbles 25, Lysithea adjusted 20, Draggy 14, Surina 12) Everyone can tell that McGill is not telling the truth. He is not a great liar.
Gobbles: Are you sure your skin’s not green under that fur? Cause I don’t think you’re being really honest with us.
McGill: No, it’s not.
Lysithea: I know you may be uneasy around Dragonborn if they’ve been attacking, but…
McGill: *stumbles over his words* It’s not just… I mean… They’ve been wanting out… We are one of the premier places that deal with textiles.
Lysithea: But… how much use do they need with textiles?
McGill: Are you wearing clothes?
Lysithea: Yes.
Gobbles: I’m wearing armor.
McGill: And I see your cloak is magical.
Lysithea: Yes…
McGill: Well you can thank us.
Lysithea: I found this on a dead guy.
McGill: Well, he could have thanked us if he was still alive. We make normal and magical clothing here.
Lysithea: Right, I just don’t understand what Kobolds would want with clothing, especially since they live so close to the volcano.
McGill: Maybe they want to move and need clothing?
Lysithea: Look, we get it. You don’t want to talk. We’ll figure it out eventually.
McGill: Curious as a cat. That’s what we usually say around here. That’s actually our town motto.
Lysithea begins to rub her temples, thinking to herself, “Oh my gosh, it’s the whole continent…”
Pulling up to the city, it is surrounded by high walls made of wood. (Perception Gobbles 29) It seems like a bad idea to have wooden walls when being constantly attacked with fire, but the walls are deceiving. They are not just unprotected wooden walls, they are fully fortified walls meant to keep intruders out. McGill tops in front of a large gate, where Tabaxi wearing different rainbow-colored tunics over their armor are keeping guard.
McGill: This is as far as I can take you all.
Lysithea: Thank you. That was very much appreciated.
McGill: Thank you for killing the Kobolds. Yah!
He pulls the reins and begins heading back to his farm. The party approaches the guards with the knowledge that they look roughed up, having not had a chance to recover from the battle yet.
Guard: Meow, halt! What business do you have in Pupbaatt?
Lysithea: Well, we just destroyed a war party that was coming this way. We would love to find a place to eat and rest for a little bit.
Guard: You don’t have passage though, right?
(History Lysithea 14) The town has been more cautious lately. Most people don’t live in the actual city right now due to the constant attacks. There’s housing, but most of the residents are farmers living inside the city.
Guard: Well, we’ll let you pass for… 10 gold will give you a day pass.
Lysithea: A day pass?
Guard: You can stay in. It’s just to let you go in.
Lysithea: It’s been a while since I’ve been home up north, but it seems the attacks have grown significantly recently. What are they after?
Guard: Our textiles.
Lysithea: Do you know this as a fact or is it an assumption?
Guard: It is a fact.
Lysithea: Right. Great. Here’s 10 gold.
Guard: Okay, that will get you in. *looks at the others*
Surina and Draggy also hand over 10 gold each. They turn to look at Gobbles.
Gobbles: Can I pay you in song?
Guard: What song would you pay us with?
Gobbles: What song would you like to hear?
Guard: I like the sound of 10 gold hitting my hand.
Gobbles takes out 10 gold, slaps it into the guard’s hand, then takes the gold back since he just wanted the sound (persuasion adjusted 20).
Draggy: Gobbles…!
Gobbles: Request fulfilled!
Guard: I should have seen that coming… but we got 30 gold out of it so okay.
The guards open the gate. Gobbles struts though triumphantly. Walking in the party sees a filled out town with housing and shops. In the center of the town is a large temple. It looks familiar, like a temple one would see in the Rooja desert. It is not a temple of Bahamut, but the structure is very similar. It is a temple to the goddess Bastet (religion Gobbles 17, Lysithea 15, Surina 21, Draggy 14). Bastet is a feline-headed goddess of trickery. Tricksters and warriors celebrate Bastet. She normally carries with her medical supplies as Bastet also protects against disease and evil spirits.
Lysithea: Well, we know there is something evil in this city. The map lit up. The temple would be a good place to start but first I would love to rest.
They see a collection of troops centered around their left, an inn called The Purrrfect Spot to the right, and a large arena to the side of the temple. They decide to go check out the inn first so that they can get some rest to recover from the battle. Lysithea already has a headache from all the cat-puns she is going to encounter in this town.
Entering the inn there is a giant Josie and the Tabaxi poster on the wall, autographed by all of the band members.
Lysithea: I wonder if they know that they’re in jail… and that we’re the ones that sent them there… We may want to keep that on the downlow.
Innkeeper: Wellllcome.
They are greeted by a gristly, gray-furred Tabaxi. She speaks in a slow, low, almost snake-like voice.
Innkeeper: Welcome to The Purrrfect Spot. Out of towners, I see. Can I interest you in some rooms?
Lysithea: Yes please.
Innkeeper: How many nights can I put you down to stay?
Lysithea: That’s a good question.
Draggy: One.
Lysithea: Yeah, just one for now.
Innkeeper: And how many rooms?
Draggy: One.
Lysithea: Two. Well, three if the others are joining.
Innkeeper: Three? That will be 2 gold.
Surina pulls out 2 gold and pays the innkeeper.
Innkeeper: Very good. Can I interest you in anything else? Food? Drink?
Lysithea: Does that come complimentary or is that extra?
Innkeeper: That is extra.
Lysithea: Rooms for now is fine.
Innkeeper: Excellent.
The innkeeper leads the party to their rooms on the second floor. They notice very quickly that the inn is void of other guests. Each room is nicely furnished, the bedding is made of the highest quality in different rainbow colors. They all gather in one room and pull out the map to see if the blinking light will give them any indication where in the town Rhu’s item may be, but the map is of no use.
Surina: I think we should start in the temple.
Lysithea: I think that is an excellent place to start. So that is where we will start first thing in the morning after we find food that’s not here because that was kind of creepy the way the innkeeper was talking.
Gobbles: I’m worried that with the other rooms empty there might be some mass kidnappings tonight.
Lysithea: Or they might try to steal all of our stuff.
The party goes to their respective rooms and has a wonderful night’s rest in the comfy, cozy beds.
In the morning the sun peeks through the windows, shining in just the right spots to wake the party but not blind them. Gobbles puts on his Josie and the Tabaxi shirt in anticipation. Ready for the day, the party gathers downstairs. They are greeted by the hostess.
Hostess: Can I interest you in some breakfast?
Lysithea: No thank you. We are going to go explore the town.
Hostess: Don’t let curiosity kill the cat.
Lysithea: Is that a threat?
Hostess: No, it is our town saying.
Gobbles: You have a couple of town sayings apparently.
Hostess: As curious as cats. And don’t let your curiosity kill you. Get it?
Lysithea: ‘Kay… thank you…
Draggy: I want to eat breakfast.
Hostess: It will be one gold for breakfast.
Draggy throws a gold at the hostess, who then goes to the kitchen and brings back a huge tray of food. The food is mostly poultry, with a little bit of fish. They note that there is no drink served with it. Draggy gulps down the food in one bite. With Draggy satisfied, the party heads out, led by Surina.
There’s a heavy military presence inside the city. The arena is quite big and can be seen from anywhere within the city walls. To the right there is a large building that says “Cat Scratch Hospital”. Walking towards the temple Gobbles begins to sniff the air, the smell of Hydra-meat catching his nostrils. There is a Hydra-Meat franchise in the city.
Lysithea: Do we want to go get breakfast, Gobbles? Do they serve breakfast burgers?
Gobbles: After the temple. We’ll probably work up an appetite.
Outside of the temple are black, stone statues of Bastet. The head itself is made out of black onyx stone, the body made of marble. Besides the arena, the temple is the largest building in the city. The front room of the temple is filled with pews, with some farmers getting their early morning prayers in. There is an offering basket filled with crops, food, and a little bit of coin. The altar has a large statue of Bastet holding many of the different objects associated with her: a collar, a syringe, a solar disc, but nothing that would potentially be one of Rhu’s items. Gobbles casts Detect Magic to see if anything pings in the temple, but he only senses divine magic. To show respect to the temple, Gobbles places a gold coin in the offering box. There are several hallways and other areas roped off, with guards standing watch.
A calico Tabaxi wearing multicolored robes walks up to the party.
Priest: Welcome. Welcome to the temple of Bastet in Pupbaatt. You all are travelers, I see. How may we help you?
Lysithea: We were coming to see the temple.
Priest: Welcome, then. See it you may.
Lysithea: Do you ever do guided tours?
Priest: Of the… temple?
Lysithea: Yes.
Priest: N..n..no?
Lysithea: Have you ever considered it?
Priest: Well… we possibly could, if the Goddess and others *looks at offering basket* would have time.
Lysithea puts 5 gold into the offering basket. Surina puts 100 gold into the offering basket, getting shocked eyes from all of the party members.
Priest: Well then! What would you like to see?
Lysithea: Anything and everything! We’re very curious.
The priest takes the party on a very exclusive tour of the temple. He shows them the priest and priestess rooms, where the priests congregate and bless things.
Priest: You know this whole temple was moved from the Rooja Desert to here.
Lysithea: I noticed that the structure was very similar. Our friends here are from Dalvok and they have a temple that is similar.
Priest: Yes! We relocated many, many years ago from the Rooja Desert. A great event happened that caused us to leave the area, and we came here.
He points out some paintings of the congregation leaving the desert in search of lusher lands.
Lysithea: What was the event?
Priest: We don’t talk about that.
Lysithea: If you don’t talk about it how can you learn about it?
Priest: We don’t speak it outloud. It was a terrible event.
Lysithea: Do you have any artifacts of the event that would explain it without having to say it outloud?
Priest: No. I will tell you, because you all are very odd, er, gracious. It was the creation of the Lylomi Chasm.
Lysithea: I have been fascinated with that event.
Priest: Well, it caused us to leave. The Dragonborn at the time were very nice and willing and helped us move. According to legend *points to paintings of dragons helping move pieces of the temple* Dragons themselves helped us move.
The temple feels very warm and safe as they walk through. It is very well kept and maintained. Draggy is zooming through all the rooms, hoping something of Rhu’s will turn up, but finds nothing. Lysithea takes notes on every room, legend, and artifact they see. The priest takes them to a room filled with artifacts from the past several thousand years, but none of them ping as one of Rhu’s items. Several items catch the eye of Gobbles and Surina, though, as they are artifacts of Bahamut, including a golden bird cage with 7 gold birds inside. Upon getting to the second floor of the treasury there is a bridge that connects the temple to the arena.
Lysithea: What? Why?!
Priest: It is our private viewing box.
Octavia: Wow.
Priest: See, the arena serves a great purpose as ceremonies for Bastet. We celebrate her might in this arena. It also serves other functions, too, but…
Lysithea: We’ll have to check it out while we’re here.
Priest: We can definitely arrange an exhibition match.
Lysithea: That would be fun.
Priest: We haven’t seen any fighters from outside for a while.
Lysithea: Wait, what?
Priest: You mean to participate, yes?
Octavia: Woahwoahwoahwoahwoah…
Lysithea: Um…
Gobbles: Surina, do we want to represent Bahamut?
Surina begins to jump up and down excitedly, nodding her head. Lysithea and Octavia see the excitement in Surina, Draggy, and Gobbles’s eyes and concede.
Lysithea: I guess so? What would that entail?
Priest: Fighting something. You would have to talk to the organizers there. I can get you in touch with them.
Lysithea: Sure… since Surina and Draggy seem so enthusiastic.
Priest: Definitely!
The party does notice that the priest had eyed the Bahamut gear that Gobbles and Surina wear, but instead of reacting suspiciously like the farmer did, the priest seems approving. The fact that Surina is a golden Dragonborn, like some in the paintings, also affects the priest’s perception of the party. He is far more knowledgeable and understanding than the rest of the city. They finish their extremely thorough tour of the temple and graciously thank the priest for his time and knowledge.
Priest: Well, if you ever need anything else may the blessing of Bastet be upon you. And you can come back anytime.
Lysithea: Before we part, what can you tell us about the city?
Priest: I can tell you lots! We have the finest doctor for miles. She’s actually a foreigner like you all. She came to us and has been very helpful.
Lysithea: Where did she come from?
Priest: I don’t know. I didn’t ask. The High Priestess was friends with her and let her set up. But she’s been of great service to our entire town. We have a museum devoted to textiles.
Gobbles: The world’s largest ball of yarn!
Priest: Gomax-ee’s set up one of their franchises here.
Lysithea: We actually had the pleasure of meeting Gomax. Does anyone need to go shopping?
Octavia: I do love their wall of monster jerky…
Priest: We have The Spotted Cat, a pub. There’s The Cat Cafe. There’s another restaurant called Purrrfectly Brewed, which is related to the inn.
Lysithea feels her headache getting worse from all the cat puns and themes.
Priest: And if you ever get into any legal trouble this law office came from Ryphyet…
Lysithea: Oh no… Which law firm?
Priest: Timbleton, Rockford, and Golag.
Lysithea: Great… Okay, so it’s even more important that we don’t get in trouble with the law here because if we do they will send us to that law office and those people from Ryphyet will try to get us to sign that paperwork (see Session 26).
Gobbles: I still want to be an esquire.
Priest: They’re new as well. We felt that after they got Josie and the Tabaxi out of that issue… (see Battle of the Bands, Sessions 21-26)
Lysithea: Oh, they got out?
Priest: They offered to manage their parole up here.
Lysithea: Are Josie and the Tabaxi here?
Priest: No, but they have to check in every few months. *sees Gobbles’s shirt* I’m a big fan, too.
Gobbles: It’s signed by all of them.
Priest: I have a signed pamphlet as well.
Lysithea is thinking to herself how glad she is they do not know who Surina and the Crystal Gems are.
Priest: But the one area I will say to stay away from is the cave.
Lysithea: There’s a cave in the town?
Priest: There is. It goes deep down. It is where we get our water from.
Lysithea: Has there been trouble getting water recently?
Priest: There’s always trouble getting water.
Lysithea: More so than usual?
Priest: Not more so, no. The underground water system irrigates the fields.
Lysithea: Besides the increase of attacks on the town, has there been anything odd happening lately?
Priest: No, just the increase in attacks.
Lysithea: And do you also believe the attacks are for the textiles?
Priest: Well… Of course it’s about the textiles.
Surina: Can you be honest please? (Persuasion Nat20+7)
Priest: Okay, okay. The attacks have been getting more frequent ever since the doctor brought an item up from the caves.
Gobbles: Ruh-roh.
Lysithea: What item?
Priest: I didn’t see it.
Lysithea: What can you tell us about this doctor? She will probably be our next stop.
Priest: Well… she came from another town. She’s an Elf. She was good friends with the High Priestess. And she’s been helping a lot of us. People were getting sick a lot. It was from the drinking water, she says.
Lysithea: How soon after she came here did she find that item?
Priest: It was just recently.
Gobbles: You keep saying she was friends with the High Priestess…
Priest: She still is. They were friends outside the city, supposedly. You can find her at the medical center. But I didn’t tell you anything about that.
Lysithea: Tell us anything about what?
Priest: That’s right. The attacks are happening because of the textiles.
Lysithea: You guys have got to find something better to say, because that is not believable.
Priest: We make the finest clothing in all the land…
Lysithea: That may be true, but the reasoning is not good.
Gobbles: Yeah, come up with something better.
Lysithea: I mean, they’re destroying the fields to get to the city.
Priest: They’re not, though, partially…
Gobbles: Yeah, but if they were going after the textiles they would just get the fields, not go through them.
Lysithea: Look, we’re here to potentially take care of a problem that might be happening here. Being an outsider, you gotta find a better lie.
Priest: Okay.
Lysithea: Well, thank you.
Priest: Thank you for your generosity.
Lysithea: Extreme generosity *eyes Surina*. Gobbles, did you want to get food on our way to see the doctor?
Gobbles: Sure!
Lysithea: Let’s go get some Hydra-Meat…
Gobbles leads the way to the Hydra-Meat franchise, almost skipping in his step. A lot of the items have been marked as “Sold Out”.
Lysithea: What do you have in stock?
Worker: Hydra-Meat burger…
Gobbles: One Hydra-Meat burger please.
Worker: Double Hydra-Meat burger.
Gobbles: I will have THAT!
Worker: What do you want on it?
Gobbles: I want it with everything!
Worker: Is that all?
Lysithea: I’m curious to try a Hydra-Meat burger.
Surina: One plain double!
Octavia: I’ll have the double.
Worker: Coming up. That’ll be one silver.
Gobbles pays the worker, then tips an extra silver. They hand Gobbles a little stand with a number on it. They sit down at a booth and put the stand on it. The worker eventually comes over with their food. Lysithea eyes the burger cautiously, then takes the tiniest bit of food possible, pulling a sliver of meat out with her teeth. It’s greasy in a way that is both delicious and makes you feel your arteries instantly clog. Lysithea pours a ton of hot sauce on her burger before eating the rest. Octavia’s eyes water a little from the grease, but she enjoys the meal. The rest of the party happily munch away.
Gobbles: It’s the best food.
Lysithea: It is food. Well, I can cross that off my bucket list. It’s a good thing we’re about to go see a doctor.
Leaving Hydra-Meat Burger to head towards the medical center, Gobbles and the Dragonborn walk away merrily, with Lysithea and Octavia dragging behind just a little.
Sitting behind the reception desk at the medical center is a Maine Coon Tabaxi.
Receptionist: Welcome to the Cat Scratch Hospital. How may I help?
Gobbles: Hey there. We are here to see the doctor.
Receptionist: Do you have an appointment?
Gobbles: We are making an appointment as we speak.
Octavia: How do we make an appointment?
Receptionist: Well, you aren’t townsfolk… We have an appointment…
The receptionist begins to flip through some papers (perception Gobbles adjusted 20, Lysithea 10, Octavia Nat20, Surina adjusted 20). Octavia can clearly see the papers are blank.
Receptionist: I think we can schedule you in, she’s very busy, for next week?
Octavia: Next week is just not good for us.
Receptionist: This week isn’t good for us.
Octavia leans into the group and tells the party that all of the papers are blank.
Lysithea: How busy can the doctor be if there’s nobody here?
Receptionist: Extremely.
Lysithea: With?
Receptionist: Other research. Other things. The doctor is extremely talented.
Lysithea: Yes, we’ve heard. Which is why we need to see the doctor.
Receptionist: Well unless you have a pressing issue…
Lysithea: Yup!
Receptionist: … that is sanctioned, such as injuries from the arena, the doctor just isn’t seeing anybody.
Lysithea: We’d like to schedule an appointment for later because we’re going to be playing in the arena.
Receptionist: Excellent. Then she’ll be on site.
Lysithea: Great. Where’s her office?
Receptionist: Upstairs.
Gobbles: Well, I just head up and leave a note on her desk.
Receptionist: No, no, no, you cannot do that.
Gobbles: It’s no trouble. You’re welcome.
Receptionist: I will take the note for you.
Gobbles: I guess it is a little far. We’ll just talk to her after.
The party turns around to leave. As they walk out Lysithea states quite loudly, “This town is really bad at lying.”
Lysithea: I guess we need to go schedule an exhibition match.
Gobbles: Yup. Gotta make sure we take at least 1 hit. Or stub our toe on the way out if we come out unscathed.
Lysithea: I’m pretty squishy. I’m sure I’ll be hit by something.
From behind the hospital the party hears a loud “Psssst!”
Lysithea: I really hope that that’s a cat and not Slogoth.
They head towards the alley behind the hospital to inspect where the sound came from. They come face to face with an orange Tabaxi wearing a bowler hat, and a fancy, patched up blazer.
Tabaxi: You’ve been asking some questions and dropping some big gold around town.
Lysithea: Yeah, a lot of people here seem to be lying and greedy.
Tabaxi: Well, the boss would want to see you.
Lysithea: The who?
Tabaxi: The boss.
Lysithea: Whose boss?
Tabaxi: The boss?
Gobbles: Tony Danza?
Tabaxi: You see, I’m just the messenger here.
Gobbles: What’s that saying? Always shoot the messenger?
Tabaxi: I’m just sharing the message. He’s at The Purrrfectly Brewed.
Surina: Meow.
Gobbles: And what is your boss’s name?
Tabaxi: He goes by Boss.
Lysithea: Wait, who is he the boss of?
Tabaxi: Things and stuff.
Lysithea: Mafia. Got it. And why would we voluntarily go when we have our own business to attend to?
Tabaxi: Well, he’s been eyeing you, so to speak. And he would like to meet with you.
Lysithea: Okay, so he can come find us. We’re going to go schedule an exhibition match.
Tabaxi: But I did come find you.
Lysithea: Oh, you’re the boss.
Tabaxi: No, no. The boss sent me to come find you. Why is this so difficult?
Gobbles: We can send you to go find him and tell him to come see us.
Tabaxi: I don’t need to find him if I know where he is…
Lysithea: See, we have pressing matters to attend to. So unless we have a good reason to go see him, not just because he’s been “eyeing” us, we need to take care of our business.
Tabaxi: You’ve been dropping around a lot of money! And he just wants to talk with you.
Lysithea: He wants money.
Tabaxi: We all want money.
Gobbles: He could drop us a lot of money and then maybe we would want to talk to him.
Tabaxi: *sighs* Okay, do what you want, then. I delivered the message.
Gobbles: We could just tell him you didn’t.
The Tabaxi frustratedly slinks off into the shadows and disappears. (Gobbles dexterity 17) Gobbles tries to cast Hunter’s Mark on the Tabaxi as he disappears, but he’s not quite fast enough.
Lysithea: Well, we’re being spied on, that’s fantastic. By the mafia. There’s a cat mafia, apparently.
Gobbles: There always is.
Lysithea: Surina, should we go talk to this boss guy, which I really don’t want to do because he’s been spying on us, or should we go schedule an exhibition match?
Surina: Exhibition match.
Lysithea: Okay, let’s go do what we came here to do. Which is to get hurt so we can go see a doctor who found an item in a well and this town is full of liars. Let’s go.
The arena is called Maximillian’s Paw. (Arcana Lysithea 14, Gobbles 14, Surina 11, Octavia 3) The arena is named for the spell Maximillian’s Earthen Grasp, which causes a cat’s paw to rise from the earth. The arena is being run by Sphynx Tabaxi. One of them sees the party approaching and walks up to greet them.
Sphynx: Welcome! There is no fight happening right now, but if you come back I’m sure they’ll be one eventually.
Lysithea: Oh, no, we’re here to be in one. Apparently.
Gobbles: Yes, we were promised an exhibition match. And by promised I mean someone mentioned that it might be a thing.
Sphynx: We can definitely arrange one of those! Definitely, definitely! So, how many are fighting?
Lysithea: Four and a half?
Sphynx: And what is your fighting level, so to speak? Would you say you’re beginners, or, you know, the intermediate heavy weights?
Lysithea: You’re going to have to give us something to compare to.
Gobbles: We could just go stupid and say we want to fight your most powerful champions and just die.
Lysithea: No, we don’t want to die. We just want to get hurt a little so we can see the doctor.
Gobbles: I can help us out. Ahem… They’re cats, how strong can they be? What’s the worse that could happen?
Lysithea: I don’t think we’re fighting cats. I think we’re going to be fighting beasts.
Octavia: Like Lysithea said, could you maybe give us a comparison?
Sphynx: Usually for exhibitions it’s just for ceremonies and stuff. It’s easy…
Lysithea: Define easy. Skeletons?
Sphynx: Sometimes it’s team against team, sometimes it’s team against creator. We used to have this inventor. He would make clockwork inventions for us.
Lysithea: Was he a gnome? (see See Catch Up Post)
Sphynx: If it’s too easy no one is going to cheer. If it’s too hard everyone will cheer no matter what.
Gobbles: I’ve always wanted to fight something as powerful as a hydra. Do you have anything along that scale?
Lysithea: Gobbles! On a scale of 1-20 we’re a 9.
Gobbles: We could take a hydra, potentially.
Sphynx: How long do you need to prepare?
Gobbles: Do we get to know what we’re fighting ahead of time?
Sphynx: No! That would ruin the fun.
Lysithea: Oh, well then we’re ready to go right now.
Sphynx: Now? Could you maybe give us a day to get people in? It’s no fun if there’s no crowds.
Gobbles: You can do some advertisements. I’m going to need at least 13 oranges for my armor. Thank you. *walks off*
Sphynx: Oranges? Well, we’ll see you tomorrow.
Lysithea: What time should we arrive?
Sphynx: Around noon.
Gobbles immediately takes off his Josie and the Tabaxi shirt so that it doesn’t accidentally get shredded in combat.
Gobbles: So, what do we want to do with the rest of our day?
Lysithea: Maybe we should go threaten that mob boss because I don’t like him spying on us.
Gobbles: We could bet on ourselves! Or we could bet against ourselves and take a fall. What could go wrong? I wouldn’t do that. That’s very dishonorable… Or, this guy tells us to do that and we don’t and he loses a bunch of money and we have to kill him in self defense.
Lysithea: I would just like to tell him to stop following us. But we need supplies. How about we take Octavia to Gomax-ee’s since she didn’t get to experience the last one.
Octavia: Shopping!
This Gomax-ee’s franchise isn’t as big as the one in Naima, but it still has the waterslide.
Octavia: What’s with the water slide?
Lysithea: Gomax uses it to go from floor to floor.
Gobbles takes some time to window shop, since he spent all of his money on his armor the last time they were at Gomax-ee’s. Octavia inquires about the different types of arrows they have, and is shown quite the variety. A worker brings out a display with silver arrowheads for dealing with lycanthropes, hammerhead arrows which deal bludgeoning damage…
Gobbles: Do you have one that instead becomes a hammerhead shark in midair? Nevermind, I don’t think I could afford that.
Worker: No, but Gomax-ee’s is always experimenting. So if you wanted to imbue one with Conjure Animal, maybe?
Gobbles: If Gomax-ee’s is experimenting I would have a whole slew of potions I would want. Potion of Eagle Eye. Not the normal kind. This is where your eyes become eagles and screech at those nearby. Potion of Endure Elements. You take half damage from Honda Elements.
Worker: What’s a Honda Element?
Gobbles: They’re a rare creature. Ugly. The most horrid thing you could ever experience.
Worker: Okay, back to actually selling things.
The worker turns away from Gobbles and back to Octavia. He shows her the corkscrew arrows which shoot better under water, rope arrows, lightning arrows, mind piercers, fire arrows, and Mage Fire arrows.
Lysithea: What’s the difference?
Worker: Don’t be confused with fire arrows. One sets things on fire. The other looks like it’s on fire, but it doesn’t catch everything on fire.
Lysithea: What’s the fun in that?
Worker: *holds up fire arrows* I was told to keep these away from everything that’s combustible, and these *holds up Mage Fire arrows* I don’t have to.
Octavia: It only sets the target on fire… I like that. How much?
Worker: 20 gold for 5.
Octavia ends up buying 5 of the Mage Fire arrows, 20 hammerhead arrows, and 5 mind piercers for a total of 71 gold. She looks at her full quiver and giggles with excitement. Gobbles asks the worker if they have a Breathing Bubble in stock, and they have exactly 1, which Gobbles immediately buys. Lysithea buys some food for Jeffrey. The worker, seeing the party spend money, begins to show the party a series of wondrous items, including a ship in a bottle and The Butter of Disbelief (never spoils, never runs out, and can cast Grease). The party makes a mental note of the items, but don’t buy anything, then leave the store. They decide they need to go threaten a certain mob boss.
They entered The Purrrfectly Brewed, which is a coffee pub. It’s dimly lit, with smooth jazz playing inside. Sitting at the back table is a party of a Tabaxi, Lizardfolk, and a mole creature, centered around a very large, gray Tabaxi in a purple suit, with a terrible comb-over. He twirls his thin, black mustache as he speaks. The party sits down at a table and orders coffee. A Lizardfolk server brings the coffee to the table.
Server: That will be 5 gold.
Lysithea: That’s some expensive coffee!
Server: Well, there’s four of you…
Lysithea: This had better be the best coffee I’ve ever had in my life.
Server: Of course it will be.
Octavia: Now, now Lysithea…
Lysithea: I get that this town is struggling because of the attacks and everything, but the inflation is insane. Coffee is, like, a silver.
Lysithea: *pays* If this coffee isn’t as good as you say I’m going to ask for a refund.
Server: We don’t do refunds.
Lysithea: Oh great… I have fire. This town is robbing us blind.
The coffee is decent. Far better than the coffee Lysithea would drink when she would stay up late studying. The pub clearly saw the party coming and jacked up the price.
Lysithea: Decent. Still overpriced.
While the party sips on their coffee they can see the Tabaxi at the other table eyeing them. Eventually an orange Tabaxi walks over to the party.
Orange: The boss will want to see you.
Lysithea: Great. He can come on over.
Orange: No, you go see him.
Lysithea: Why? I just paid for a really expensive cup of coffee. I would like to sit here and drink it.
Orange: Okay. Drink it and then come over.
Lysithea: Why?
Lysithea is trying to be as annoying as possible.
Lysithea: I don’t appreciate being spied on, so…
The Tabaxi walks off with a slight headache.
Lysithea: Let’s just sit and relax and drink our coffee as slowly as possible. And if it gets cold I’ll warm it up for everyone with fire.
The party discusses how long they want to do this for, trying to be as annoyingly slow as possible. Gobbles casually casts Detect Magic as a ritual while they sit, just to be safe. The fat cat has a few magic items on him, but nothing pings as too threatening. He has a ring, a weapon Gobbles can’t see, and a cloak. As they sit, they discuss what they might possibly fight in the arena the next day.
Gobbles: So, what do you think we’re going to fight in the arena? I told them something along the line of a Hydra. What do you think they’re going to get us?
Lysithea: Probably not a Hydra. I don’t know how common those are in these parts. What is common? Maybe they’ve got a bunch of Kobold prisoners they’re going to release on us. Or maybe just their army?
Gobbles: It could be a team of cat gladiators.
Lysithea: Displacer beasts.
Gobbles: Catiators.
Lysithea: Surina, what do you think we’re going to fight?
Surina: I dunno, trolls?
Lysithea: I mean, we’ve fought an undead phoenix and an evil chaos god. It would be really convenient if it was just Rhu. We could take care of him now. As long as it’s not the plants. Those were annoying.
Gobbles: Do we want someone to sneak in tonight to see if we can see what we’re fighting so we can prepare?
Lysithea: Given how unprepared we’ve been for everything that we’ve fought I think we’ll be okay.
Surina: Better not be like this guy *draws a zombie clot on her napkin*.
Lysithea: Oh, it better not be a zombie clot! That was the most disgusting thing ever…
Surina begins to draw a series of monsters on napkins, saying “Maybe it’s this guy, or this guy, or this guy! I think it’s one of these.” They continue to shoot the breeze for at least another 30 minutes.
Gobbles: Do we want to go have a sit down with this guy and see what he wants?
Lysithea: Not particularly. I’m insulted by the way we’ve been treated by him. Do they know who this is? *points to Surina*
Gobbles: Don’t worry, I’ll even out the insults. I’ve already got a game plan for that.
Lysithea: Alright…
Gobbles: I’m going to be respectfully rude.
Lysithea: Oh, this I gotta see.
Gobbles, Surina, and Octavia get up and walk over to the other table. Gobbles goes under their table and pops up next to the fat cat, sitting uncomfortably close to him against his weapon so that he cannot draw it. Lysithea, in all her stubbornness, grabs her table and scooches her chair over to the other table, dragging the table with her.
Lysithea: Thank you for joining us at our table.
The fat cat looks confused only for a second before regaining his composition.
Fat Cat: While inconvenient, welcome new friends. Welcome to my dining establishment.
Gobbles: Hello there.
Lysithea: Your coffee is overpriced.
Fat Cat: We serve to those who can afford it.
Lysithea: How do you know we can afford it?
Fat Cat: Because you dropped all that gold on your rooms. And you paid the guards.
Gobbles: Maybe we’re fiscally irresponsible and have nothing left.
Lysithea: Why are you spying on us?
Fat Cat: Because this is my town.
Lysithea: Really.
Fat Cat: Yes.
Lysithea: Says?
Fat Cat: Says me and all my associates. And all the guards in my payroll.
Gobbles: So, what do you wish to discuss with us?
Fat Cat: I was wondering why you are here and what business you have. And what I can do to help you.
Lysithea: Ah, you can stop spying on us. That will help us a lot.
Fat Cat: Well, this is my town.
Lysithea: That doesn’t give you the right to spy on the people that come in and out of your town.
Fat Cat: Well, I want to know why you’re in my town so I can safely protect my town.
Octavia: You should have just asked!
Lysithea: We are here to fight an exhibition match.
Fat Cat: Excellent! An exhibition match? That will do wonders for town morale!
Lysithea: Great. Are we done? Are you going to stop spying on us now?
Gobbles pulls out the Pishka Mercenary “company pass” (See Session 33-34), and the Red Mist “season pass” (see Session 34-35), and a couple of other things including dragon scales and lays them on the table nonchalantly.
Gobbles: We’ve had dealings with people similar to you, so I just want to make sure we’re on the same page as us not getting hassled cause when we get hassled we hassle back.
Fat Cat: Hassled? No. I would never hassle distinguished guests.
Lysithea: But you’ve been SPYING on us!
Fat Cat: I’ve explained. You all slept in my establishment. I wanted to make sure you were safe.
Lysithea: You could have just talked to us.
Gobbles: We are safe. We would appreciate not having anyone follow us around again. I know that cat *points to orange Tabaxi* and the lizard-man who served us, they did mention that you’re not really a likable person. At least they think so, but we’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.
Fat Cat: Well they’re idiots.
Gobbles: We can all play nice as long as none of your people bother us while we’re here.
Fat Cat: Don’t worry about that.
Lysithea is enjoying watching Gobbles try to threaten the mob boss. (Insight Lysithea 25, Gobbles 24) He took notice of all of the things Gobbles laid out and can clearly see who he is dealing with.
Fat Cat: So, exhibition match. Is anyone being your manager?
Lysithea: We self manage.
Fat Cat: You self manage? Okay. See, I run a betting thing for the arena, and I would like to manage your bets. You’ll get a cut.
Gobbles: If we’re betting I would imagine so.
Fat Cat: Of all the winnings, too.
Lysithea: No thank you. We manage ourselves.
Fat Cat: Okay, you don’t seem to understand. I am going to get money, and I’ll give you some of that money for winning.
Lysithea: No, I read you loud and clear. We want nothing to do with you. Thank you.
Fat Cat: Okay… uh… good luck tomorrow.
Lysithea: If you had just come and introduced yourself instead of spying on us this would have been a completely different conversation.
Fat Cat: Who told you I was spying on you?
Lysithea: Your associate.
Fat Cat: What associate?
Lysithea: The one that was spying on us.
Fat Cat: Give me a name.
Lysithea: He didn’t give us a name.
Gobbles: Sir VestCat. I don’t know his name.
Fat Cat: Then how do you know it was me?
Lysithea: Your messenger.
Fat Cat: What did he say to you?
Lysithea: Really? You don’t know what your own messages were? (insight Lysithea adjusted 20, Gobbles adjusted 20)
He’s not lying. He doesn’t know anything about the messenger.
Lysithea: You didn’t send a messenger after us?
Fat Cat: No.
Gobbles: *describes the messenger* Isn’t he one of yours? Don’t you have the lock on this town? I assume you know all the players.
Fat Cat: No.
(Insight Gobbles 17, Lysithea 16) He’s lying about this.
Gobbles: Why does everyone in this town blatantly try to lie?
Lysithea: This town is full of the worst liars!
Gobbles: Can you please just level with us here?
Fat Cat: Okay, his name is Capper.
Lysithea: And you didn’t send him to come tell us that you wanted to see us because we were dropping big money?
Gobbles: That’s what he told us. That he was delivering a message from you to come see you.
Lysithea: Because we were dropping big money and that you were spying on us.
Fat Cat: Well you were dropping big money! But I didn’t tell him…
Gobbles: Is this guy at odds with you?
Fat Cat: He comes and goes, appears and disappears whenever he wants.
Gobbles: Well, we kind of told him and we are telling you that if we catch anyone spying on us we may have to assume the worst and self-defense them. And no hard feelings if that happens.
Fat Cat: Well, my guys are terrible at spying. But, like I said, I’m running betting. If you want in I’ll split the cut.
Lysithea: We don’t want in on betting. We’re here to fight an exhibition match.
Fat Cat: Okay.
Lysithea: Your coffee is too expensive.
Fat Cat: You can get a free refill.
Lysithea: Then I am going to get 5 gold worth of refills.
Octavia is giggling behind Lysithea’s back at the spectacle. Lysithea begins to consume cup after cup of coffee until she gets her money’s worth. Leaving the pub she is very wired and jittery. They spend the rest of the evening running around town, asking the locals questions about the arena and matches. They don’t really get any new information, with most of the locals skeptical of the party.
That night the party returns to the inn. They are only charged 1 gold this time. Walking up to their rooms they hear a “psssst” from down the hallway. Lysithea rolls her eyes.
Lysithea: I think I would rather that be Slogoth at this point.
Gobbles: I would like to give you a nickname. Put an “R” in your name.
Capper: I’ve heard that one before. I heard you met Fat Cat.
Gobbles: Yeah, and I heard that you lied to us. Liar.
Lysithea: This town is full of them.
Capper: Well, yes. I’m here to offer you some information.
Lysithea: About what?
Capper: About what you’ll be fighting tomorrow.
Gobbles: Okay. What incorrect information will you be giving us?
Lysithea: I was looking forward to the surprise.
Capper: Fine, you don’t need to take it and you don’t need to pay me for it.
Gobbles: Oh, we won’t pay you for it regardless.
Lysithea: Definitely not.
Capper: Fine. It was good information, too.
Capper seems kind of disappointed.
Capper: So you won’t buy it?
Lysithea: No! People here just want our money. We don’t know if your information is good anyway.
Capper: My information is the best!
Gobbles: You can offer us an apology for spying on us, but we’re not paying you.
Capper: But I spy on everything and everyone.
Gobbles: Okay… that doesn’t make it okay.
Capper: And it’s not really spying if you’re just being so outward with everything.
Lysithea: Are you spying on the doctor?
Capper: Well, yes. I definitely spy on her.
Octavia: What have you noticed about the doctor? They say she’s always busy.
Capper: She is. And I can give you that information for a cost.
Octavia throws her hands up and walks away.
Gobbles: How about instead of paying you we give you a tip. Bet on us, we’re going to win that fight tomorrow.
Capper: Oh, I already planned on betting on you. My money is all on you.
Lysithea: And that’s the information we need right there.
Gobbles: If that’s the case then we presumably don’t need that information you have if you’re so confident.
Capper: Fair point… but don’t take it as confidence.
Gobbles: We will assume that you make bad investments. Understood.
Capper: Yeah… okay… fine…
Capper just walks out. With all of the information he has, he just walks out. This time Gobbles is ready and casts Hunter’s Mark on him before he disappears.
Gobbles: Hey, Octavia, can you Pass Without Trace me please?
Octavia: Okay… you are Pass Without Traced.
Gobbles goes into super-stealth mode and begins to track Capper (perception 29, stealth 25). Capper climbs out of a hallway window and Gobbles almost loses sight, but quickly catches up to him. Gobbles instinctively casts Dispel Magic on Capper, getting rid of the Tabaxi’s own Pass Without Trace, making him easier to track. Capper climbs up onto the roof (athletics Gobbles 14), but Gobbles is hot on his trail. Capper is moving faster than Gobbles as he jumps roof to roof, but Gobbles eats one of his chocolate espresso beans from the Mystery Fair to boost his own movement. (Perception 28) Capper takes a very roundabout way, leaping all around the town, trying to lose any potential followers. He eventually slides through an open window on the second floor of the hospital, then closes the window behind him. Gobbles approaches the window and attempts to peer inside, but he cannot see anything. Gobbles doesn’t want to push his luck, so he does not attempt to open the window. He positions himself on an adjacent rooftop to wait for Capper to exit, coming up with conspiracy theories about how Capper is actually the doctor in disguise to pass the time. Eventually Capper comes out of another window of the hospital and disappears into a little hovel that is his home. Gobbles approaches the window of the hospital Capper exited from and casts Detect Magic, looking for traps. The windows all have magic around them. Gobbles once again casts Dispel Magic (Nat20) and successfully disarms the magic around the window. Gobbles slowly creaks open the window, checking for wires or anything that may set off an alarm, then climbs inside. There are several boxed kennels inside, ranging in size from very small to huge. He finds on a pillow near the kennels half of an amulet. The very out of place amulet is clearly one of Rhu’s items. Gobbles, in his paranoia, begins a quick survey to see if Capper planted any of the party’s items in an attempt to frame, when he suddenly hears approaching footsteps. (Dexterity 19) Like green lightning, Gobbles grabs the pendant and stuffs it into one of his empty tankards he uses for “jelly”, and leaps out the window. He holds the tankard out like nuclear material, and carefully makes his way back to the party at the inn.
Gobbles: Found something!
Lysithea: WHERE?!?
Gobbles lays the amulet out in front of Lysithea. There are inscriptions, but they cannot fully read them as this is only half of a whole. There is also half of a beast of some kind, but without the other half the party cannot make out what it is.
Lysithea: Should I stab it now? (Intelligence 17)
Gobbles: I don’t see why not.
Lysithea thinks for a minute, wondering if stabbing the half without the other would cause repercussions, but ultimately decides that this is a Rhu artifact and needs to be destroyed. She pulls out the dagger and stabs the amulet. Whatever magic was in it gets absorbed by the dagger, but the rest of the magic is still somewhere in the Moford Mountains.
Lysithea: At least this half is nonfunctional. We need to find the rest of it. I guess we still have to fight an exhibition match tomorrow.
Surina: YAY!
Gobbles: So I found that in the doctor’s office after tailing that cat-guy. And I know where he lives now, too.
Lysithea: Wow, Gobbles, you had a night! Or an hour…
Gobbles: Also, those espresso beans are delicious. That’s all the completely useful information I’ve gathered.
Gobbles jitters and vibrates until the espresso bean wears off and he falls asleep. Lysithea crashes after her gallons of caffeine she consumed dies down. The party gets a restful night’s sleep.
All of the farmers have come into town for the exhibition match. It was heavily publicized that outsiders will be fighting an exhibition match, so everyone and anyone in the area has come to watch. Gobbles spent most of his morning helping spread the word, singing through the streets. Entering the arena, the crowd is loud and excited. Lysithea casts her Mage Armor in anticipation.
Announcement: IN HONOR OF BASTET, TODAY WILL WE SEE AN EXHIBITION MATCH FEATURING SURINA AND THE CRYSTAL GEMS…
Golag can be heard cheering for the Crystal Gems from the stands.
Gobbles: I’M GONNA JOIN YOUR LAW FIRM!
Fat Cat has his own private box.
Announcement: … AGAINST SOME NEW CREATURES THAT WERE JUST DISCOVERED BY OUR GOOD DOCTOR.
Gobbles: Oh no, we’re going to fight some hojo monstrosities…
Surina: I was right!!!
Rising up from a platform underneath the arena are these bizarre looking creatures. One of them is a large, bipedal creature with a hunched back, disproportionately long arms, and looks like a gnoll fused with a watermelon (Aeorian Reverser); one is a red and blue panther-like creature the size of a horse with an eyeball coming out of the end of its tail (Aeorian Absorber); the last creature stands about 11 feet tall, with a snake-like head atop its brownish, leathery body, long arms with giant claws, and mouths all over its body (Aeorian Nullifier).
Octavia: I want that to burn in everlasting hell. Hell fire, hell fire!
Lysithea: I have fire!
Octavia: So do I now! But I must use it wisely.
The party quickly tries to size up the beasts, having never seen creatures like this before. (Arcana Lysithea Nat20) These are unnatural monstrosities, magical pulsing from them. Looking at them, they appear to be made from other creatures.
(Initiative Lysithea 19, Octavia 10, Gobbles 19, Surina 4)
Announcement: LET THE EXHIBITION MATCH… BEGIN!!!
Begin Exhibition Match
Lysithea walks forward and immediately unleashes her Cone of Cold; however, the mouthed creature begins to grind its teeth and a force of energy expels from it in an attempt to nullify the spell. Lysithea quickly reacts with Counterspell. The blast of cold fizzles for just a second, then comes out at full power, with purple and black snow erupting from Lysithea. The three creatures had just enough time to prepare for the blast, and take only 24 damage.
Lysithea: Good, I wanted to use fire anyway.
Lysithea then summons her Hound of Ill Omen and sics it on the mouthed creature. The hound walks out of the shadows and tries to bite the creature (attack 10), but it moves out of the way. Gobbles casts Hex on the mouthed creature, giving it disadvantage on Intelligence. He then pops two confetti Eldritch Blasts at the creature (attack 9, 16), but both attacks just miss their target.
Gobbles: Ruh-roh.
The Absorber throws out a bolt of psychic energy towards Lysithea, but she withstands the attack. Gobbles (strength saving throw adjusted 20) takes 10 slashing and 4 force damage as a bolt of psychic energy hits him, but he does not get pushed back. Gobbles retaliates with Hellish Rebuke, hitting for 22 damage, but the creature leaps out of the way of the confetti fire and takes only 11 damage. The creature absorbs some of the attack into the eyeball on its tail and fires it back at Gobbles as a laser (Gobbles dexterity save 10), dealing 5 damage.
Gobbles: We’re using their reactions! That was our goal, I guess… We are going to get crunched by these things…
Lysithea: We are, aren’t we…
The Reverser begins to walk, then trot, then run until it’s standing right in front of Lysithea, who screams at its presence. Octavia sics Onza on the Reverser, who bites at its feet (attack 15) for 8 damage. Octavia casts Hunter’s Mark on the Reverse, then unleashes 2 arrows at it (attack 22, 19). Both arrows pierce its back for 12 and 9 damage. The Nullifier moves towards Gobbles, dragging its claws on the ground. The Hound tries to bite it as it moves (attack 11) but misses. The mouths of the Nullifier begin to make horrific sounds as it casts Antimagic Field. There is a gasp of horror from the party, especially the spell casters. Surina rushes to Lysithea’s aid, Misty Stepping right next to her…
Surina: GOODBYE FOREVER!
… activates her Flametongue sword, and strikes the Reverser (attack 21). She strikes its side for 7 slashing and 4 fire damage, then swings again (attack 19), hitting for an additional 7 slashing and 11 fire damage. The Hound is compelled to chase its target, but as soon as it enters the Antimagic Field he disappears. A frustrated Lysithea casts Ray of Sickness on the Absorber (attack Nat 20), hitting for 19 poison damage, poisoning the creature. Gobbles hears the mouths gnashing incoherently (wisdom saving throw 14), causing Gobbles to become frightened of the Nullifier. The terrified Gobbles runs as fast as he can away from the sounds of the mouths, running up to the Reverser instead. He casts Hunter’s Mark on the creature, then smashes his warhammer down on its foot (attack adjusted 20) unleashing almost everything he has in the attack. He deals 5 bludgeoning, 4 sneak attack, 19 radiant from Divine Smite, 6 fire from Green Flame Blade, and 9 Fury of the Small damage. The Absorber throws a Mind Bolt at Lysithea, dealing 24 psychic damage. Lysithea reacts with Hellish Rebuke, but the absorber takes only 2 damage from it as it absorbs the attack. It then turns towards Gobbles and throws two Mind Bolts at him, but Gobbles reacts with Shield to protect himself. The Reverser takes a bite out of Lysithea…
Lysithea: Oh good, I’m going to need to see a doctor.
… dealing 8 piercing and 8 force damage. He then punches at Gobbles, but his fist bangs off of Gobbles’s shield. He shakes out his bruised knuckles, then turns to try to punch Surina, but his fist bangs off of her shield, too.
Lysithea: Octavia, KILL IT!
Octavia commands Onza to attack the Reverser. She leaps at the Reverser (attack 22) and bites her fangs down into its throat for 8 damage. With a might riiiiip Onza pulls out the Reverser’s throat, and it falls down dead. Onza turns to look at her Elf with a very proud look. Octavia turns her attention to the Nullifier, who fills her with disgust and rage, and unleashes her arrows into its leather hide (attack 28, 18) for a total of 12 damage. With the second arrow the Nullifier loses concentration and the Antimagic Field dissipates. The Hound of Ill Omen pops back into existence, right behind the Nullifier.
Octavia: I saved the puppy! I’m glad!
The Nullifier turns and skulks towards Lysithea…
Lysithea: Oh my god!!!
… with the Hound once again trying to bite at its ankles. The mouths gnash and make unworldly sounds (Lysithea wisdom saving throw 25), but Lysithea is unfazed. Its main mouth bites at Lysithea for 19 piercing and 8 force damage. It then swings its oversized claws at her, but the attacks reflect off of her mage armor. Lysithea is mad at the Nullifier, and the Nullifier is made at Lysithea. Surina moves herself to a good vantage point and lunges her sword into the Nullifier (attack 21) for 8 slashing and 6 fire damage. She pulls her sword out of its hide and lunges again (attack 10), but the Nullifier moves out of the way. The Hound continues to stalk its prey. It remains unable to do any damage, but it is providing flanking for the party members.
Lysithea: FIREBALL!
Lysithea casts Fireball at 4th level, hitting both the Nullifier and the Absorber. The Nullifier tries to react with Counterspell, but fails. The Absorber (Justice/DM) has a horrified look on its face as it realizes it cannot absorb the attack because it wasted its absorption on Hellish Rebuke. Both creatures take the full force of the attack as they get blasted with 41 purple fire damage.
Lysithea: DIE IN FIRE!
Gobbles moseys over to the Nullifier and casts Hexblade’s Curse, then crunches into him with his warhammer (attack 24) for 10 bludgeoning, 6 sneak attack, 8 Divine Smite Damage, 4 Hexblade’s Curse damage, and 4 fire damage. Gobbles also attempts to do 4 necrotic damage from Hex, but it has no effect. The Nullifier is looking really rough, but it’s still standing. The Absorber throws a Mind Bolt at Lysithea, but the angry and hurt Lysithea brushes off the attack. It then turns to attack Gobbles. Gobbles reacts with Shield to deflect the first attack, but the second attack pierces through all of his defenses, dealing 10 slashing and 5 force damage to Gobbles. Onza rushes the Absorber (attack 22) and bites down on its tail for 5 piercing damage. With the Antimagic Field gone, Octavia casts Hunter’s Mark on the Nullifier, then releases 2 arrows into its side (attack 22, 22). The first arrow goes straight through its shoulder for 17 damage, and the second lands itself in its side for 12 more damage. The Nullifier tries to bite Lysithea, but it bites down on its tongue instead, causing the horrible gnashing to stop. It tries to swipe at Gobbles, but Gobbles’s Shield protects him. It thrashes wildly in frustration and tries to hit Surina, but just scratches against her armor instead.
Lysithea: KILL IT!
Surina lifts her sword high above her head then sends it slicing down into the Nullifier (attack 21) for 8 slashing and 7 fire.
Surina: Bye bye!
Her sword slices cleanly through the Nullifier, and it falls over dead. The cheers from the crowd are almost deafening! The Hound disappears since its target has been obliterated. Surina immediately turns and runs towards the Absorber, the only creature left standing, and plunges her sword into it (attack 25) for 6 slashing and 5 fire damage. Lysithea’s anger is the only thing keeping her standing at this point. She unleashes a whip of psychic energy at the Absorber, dealing 15 psychic damage. The Absorber takes the full effect of Tasha’s Mind Whip, meaning it cannot react and absorb the spell. Gobbles transfers its Hunter’s Mark to the Absorber, then smashes his warhammer down on its head (attack 24). He casts Divine Smite as he hits, but the radiant damage has no effect. He deals 6 bludgeoning damage, and casts Inspiring Smite and grants Lysithea 10 temporary hit points.
Lysithea: Thank you Gobbles!
The Absorber sends a Mind Bolt at Lysithea, who takes 21 damage. Lysithea begins to fall over (charisma saving throw 23) but her Strength of the Grave takes effect and she rises immediately back up. Almost simultaneously the Absorber attacks Gobbles for 18 piercing and 12 force damage. Lysithea and Gobbles both react with Hellish Rebuke. The Absorber takes 24 damage from Lysithea, and 6 from Gobbles, and goes down in a massive flame of purple and confetti.
Lysithea: Ow…
The crowd goes wild! End Session.
Check Out
Spotlight on Another Player:
- Miranda: Kevin for Gobbles trailing the cat and finding the half amulet.
- Liz: Miranda for that wonderful back and forth and her suspicion of Fat Cat.
- Kevin: Miranda for all of the back and forth with Fat Cat and the immediate walking up and Cone of Colding.
- Cordelia: Dad for making a hard fight.
- Justice: Cordelia for being super generous with her 100 gold.
Challenge or Something Learned:
- Miranda: The anti-magic field.
- Liz: I learned that there are different types of arrows I can buy.
- Kevin: Challenge is that anti-magic field. That shook me.
- Cordelia: Focusing because I wanted to draw.
- Justice: Planning a plot point that people can just skip right over…
Hope or Prediction for Next Session:
- Miranda: I want to interrogate the doctor.
- Liz: I’m curious about the doctor, but I’m also curious about what they’re going to say now that we’ve won the exhibition.
- Kevin: Whatever we do with the doctor.
- Cordelia: I want another hard fight like this.
- Justice: I hope to keep balancing fights as you go.
Analysis: I am so proud of both of my children this session! Although it doesn’t show much in the transcript, Victor participated a lot in the exploration of Pupbaatt. He was roleplaying quite a bit, but in ways that may have been problematic. For example, when the hostess at the end told us how much a room would be, he said Draggy would punch her. We had to take a moment to explain to him why that wasn’t a good idea, and discussed other ways we can deal with people we don’t like. He stopped playing about halfway through the session, but we were happy with how long he participated. Cordelia was very patient this session. As soon as she knew there was going to be an exhibition match that is all she wanted to do. She didn’t roleplay too much because she wanted to fight; however, she also didn’t do anything to take away from exploration because she still wanted to know what the town was like. She didn’t fidget too much, didn’t complain, just waited patiently until it was time to smash things. When Surina was drawing on a napkin Cordelia was actually drawing in one of her art books. It was a good session for both of them.