What to Do Next - That IS the Question

Last Wednesday's session was quite the session, it changed the make-up of the party, a few questionable choices were made and a lot of laughing was done by the players, but probably not the PCs. We accomplished more than I thought we would, but the true test will come next week to see if the party survives and what it looks like after the session. Please remember that these are the thoughts of my character, not necessarily how I see things. 

• DM - Sebastian

• Harold - Theren

• Alex - Bluebelle

• Wes - Varrin

• Stanley - Rikerr/Verdehile

• Holden - Donkey

• Glenn - Barren - Absent

While I have a quick moment, hopefully I’ll have time to jot down what has happened since we left Una's Private Sanctum spell.

We finished up our rest and were enjoying our "last" meal, when Una told us it was time for us to get going. I had to get used to Bluebelle's new form - a reborn Avariel Elf and since she lost everything, I offered to give her back the Staff of Power she had traded with me - she accepted. She is going to focus more on the arcane side, after that last experience, and plans to stay out of melee range when she can. Personally, I'm more comfortable being a martial front liner, so that works out well for both of us. At some point she or the party will come across something that I want/need and she will support me getting it.

Rikerr was still new to me and the party, but I quickly learned to distance myself from him. He continued to do exactly what Oona requested that he not do, praying to multiple Gods in her sanctum. Basically invited strange Gods into her domain and that isn't something you do, especially when someone has helped us as she has. With powerful individuals like Oona, treading lightly is a useful skill. I know the Archfey are not ones to anger and that they will toy with people that ask for or do stupid stuff.

Then Rikerr started to talk a bunch of stuff to Una after she asked him once more to stop. He said something about Blood Bags, I saw her smirk and she went and got something to give to him. I'm not sure what all that was about, after that I purposely ignored Rikerr when he was talking to Oona about wanting to become a Dhampir and go to the Temple of Kanchelsis. This will not end well for him I have a feeling.

As for Kanchelsis' Temple I have no desire to go back there, and won't make the mistake that I made last time when I chose to become a Dhampir. Something I thought was the Raven Queen's plan for me and incurred her wrath when she learned I had let Kanchelsis trick me. The Gods are real in this realm and they jealously guard their domains and do hold their worshippers accountable for their actions and inactions.

What to do Next

There was discussion about where to go next or should we go back to where we had killed the Black Knight and talk with the Mist Dragon, Kanchelsis’ Temple or someplace else. Oona offered to send us where we wanted and even suggested we go to where Natasha's purple tower was in Undale, so that Bluebelle could speak with her and learn more about this Witching Hour. After a lively discussion we decided to go back out where we defeated the Black Knight to speak with the Mist Dragon. We said our thank you's and bid Oona goodbye. At the last moment she gave Varrin a plant that she "asked" him to plant in an interesting place.

As much as I enjoyed the rest, I was happy to be away from her control. Oona has too many plans within plans and schemes within schemes for me to ever be comfortable around her. Varrin is beholden to her and counts her as his Patron, but I'll stick with the Raven Queen as mine. Though I'm not sure what Bluebelle now owes her, I’m sure it will be a lot.

When we get back we notice that no time has passed from when we defeated the Black Knight and can see the Mist Dragon where he had been waiting. Bluebelle asked that we all join hands, so that she can allow us to speak to one another telepathically. Which was nice when it came to needing to talk quietly within the party.

We walk towards the Mist Dragon who thanks us for getting rid of the Black Knight and that he has to finish killing the ghouls before he releases the mists from the forest. He warns us that the monsters have moved and that the Chimera has come out of the dungeon visibly weakened and it is still over by the dungeon door.

He then asked how we look so refreshed and was told that an Archfey helped us, by someone in the party, I don't remember who. Donkey asks if there is a reward for killing the Black Knight and was told no, that ridding the land of evil was reward enough. The Dragon sniffed Varrin and recoiled from him, visibly shaken and stalked off without another word to us. When he smelled Una on Varrin, everything changed in his attitude towards us. He just wanted us to leave at that point.

If a large Mist dragon reacts in that manner just by smelling Una's scent, that only reinforced my feeling that she is not someone to cross, take lightly, or make deals with, unless it is a matter of life or death.

The Second Chimera

We decided to go after the Chimera, by the dungeon we had passed earlier. Even though the dragon said he would take care of it, we felt a responsibility to kill this evil creation of the Horned King. Plus the party had decided to let Rikerr fulfill his dream of becoming a Dhampir and this was also the direction back to Kanchelsis' Temple - a place I would prefer to avoid.

Rikerr flew up to scout ahead to see where the Chimera was and then Bluebelle remembered that she could now fly as well and went to catch up to him. They saw a silhouette of something up ahead running through the woods. It turns out that it was the Chimera and as the Mist Dragon had said, it had been badly damaged by something in the dungeon and just barely escaped. We all rushed forward to deal with it. When I got in range I let loose an Eldritch Blast and a piece of its body fell off when I hit it with two out of my three blasts. I could see an amulet hanging off its neck. 

As the others rushed in to attack, I watched it dig into its skull and pull out pieces of brain. Then it began to sob, turned to look at us, and the sobbing turned quickly into ghastly wails.

It was a good thing that Bluebelle was there, she saved Donkey's life when he started to falter against the Banshee-like wail. The rest of the party only took half damage from the spell. Although I didn't save either, I had enough life energy and survived the full brunt of the creature's attack. Bluebelle attacked the creature with psychic damage, Varrin attacked with his Eldritch Blast and then I used my HexBlade's Curse, attacked multiple times and finished the thing off with a critical hit from my Sun Blade.

After ensuring it was safe and no other creatures were in the area to attack us, we searched the body and found an amulet. Donkey grabs at the amulet, but I use my mage hand to put it high enough in the air that he couldn't touch it. Which aggravates him, but this thing of touching stuff before we find out what it does, is something that we need to do better with. Cursed items do seem to be abundant in this area. Donkey didn't learn too well after his experience with the Demon Armor it seemed.

Varrin searched with Detect Magic and found that there was magic radiating inside the Chimera's body. When Donkey cuts it open we see a black orb and before he could touch it, Bluebelle whisks it away out of reach with her mage hand. Again Donkey is aggravated, but doesn't complain too much.

Varrin cast Speak with the Dead. Where it immediately says "They are coming! The children are coming." without prompting.

• We asked how to kill Moonscar? "She is still mortal - for now."

• Where is she now? "She is leaving or already gone."

• What are her weaknesses? "A blade that was held by and sealed away with the King into the waters."

• Several of us interpreted that to be a legendary weapon known throughout time as Excalibur – but to find it is a different problem.

• What is the black orb? "The Black orb will send anyone who touches it away."

Varrin then casts Identify on both the Amulet and the black orb:

• The Amulet is an Amulet of the Planes, which Rikerr already has, so we are familiar with the powers it possesses. There was a bit of conversation about who should get it and it was finally decided that Varrin should put it in his bag of holding in case we needed to use it later.

• Then suddenly something happens to the bag and it disappears and just as suddenly reappears. A couple of the others see a finger come out of the bag and waggle at Varrin, who quickly closes it. Varrin then created a little bit of flame on his finger tip and opened the bag up again and I could hear phht as something blew the flame out and I heard a silent chuckle from inside the bag. Varrin said something about it might be Una's daughter delivering a message to him from Una and there was no threat.

• Varrin turned his attention back to the Identify spell on the black orb and told us that if anyone touched it, they would be teleported to the Horned King's moon-prison. Definitely not a place I'd want to go to.

The Abomination

Rikerr was telling that he could teleport himself back from wherever the Orb would send him, with his Amulet of the Planes. He suddenly flew over and touched black orb before anyone could stop him. He disappeared, but the Orb remained where it was being held by Bluebelle’s mage hand. I don't know what possessed him to touch the black orb, but it was a poor choice on his part and would get worse for us in a moment.

Suddenly we all get a vision of him on a hellish moonscape and being transformed into a hideous monster, an abomination.

Then that same abomination appears before us looking at us as if we are food. NOT GOOD! It was not Rikerr any longer and it was definitely going to attack us. Bluebelle uses her mage hand to move the black orb to touch the creature, instead of disappearing, it only grows to a larger size and absorbs the black orb. EVEN WORSE!

Varrin and Donkey both attacked it and did considerable damage. I drew my 9 Lives Stealer longsword that I save for special attacks. I hit with my first attack knocking it unconscious. I wasn’t going to let it get back up, whatever Rikerr had become it would attempt to kill us if it could. Knowing that the abomination came from the Horned King's moon, I attacked again and made a critical hit. That hit used a charge from my sword and sucked the soul out from the abomination that Rikerr had become. Killing it forever.

We looked at each other for a moment, collected our thoughts and looked at the monster - if this was the Horned King's plan for all on Crannog, there was no doubt that we needed to ensure that he was stopped. It had all of Rikerr's equipment and the black orb was inside of him. We took the equipment and Bluebelle took the black orb out of the monster and destroyed the body, so that it couldn't be desecrated further by Horned King cultists. This time Donkey made no move to touch the orb. I asked for the Cloak of Displacement and put it in my bag of holding. Bluebelle kept the rest of Rikerr's stuff as party treasure.

Looking back I felt bad about having to kill one of our party members, but the abomination that he had become was going to attack and kill us if we had attempted to do anything else. Still it is a bitter pill to swallow, killing someone that you once knew is a difficult thing. I thought those days were over when I left Shadowfell.

Una's Daughter

Then a woman dressed all in black appeared and gave Varrin an envelope telling him he should read it privately. It was from Oona. She tells us that we did a good job killing the Chimera and then taking care of the abomination from the Horned King's moon. She assured us it was no longer our comrade. She offers to heal us of our wounds.

• In order to do so it looked like she passionately kissed Varrin and while doing so looked like a Wendigo for a moment.

• Then she banters with both Varrin and Donkey. Donkey goes ahead and agrees to be healed and she plays around and draws him on a bit before actually healing him. After that it was Bluebelle, who cast a fog cloud spell as she was being healed - no need for voyeurism.

• I didn't say anything and didn't feel comfortable with the offer, what I needed to do and what would be asked in return by her, for doing me the favor of being healed. I would prefer to take a chance on the amount of life I had left than to be beholden to the Fey anymore than I have to be. There is always a cost when dealing with the Fey nobility, they don't give anything away for free.

After Oona's daughter disappears, Donkey makes a disparaging comment about her. Suddenly she reappears and angrily approaches him. She gets up in his face and after castigating him, casts a spell at Donkey. At that point Bluebelle intervenes. Her intervention allowed Donkey to not take the spell effects and probably still be with us.

Bluebelle defended her Knight, but not his actions or the disparaging words that he uttered. She declared that he must do better to remain her Knight as she needs him in order to survive the Witching Hour. Una's daughter was still angry and tells everyone that her Mother will hear of this slight. As she passed by me a shovel appeared in her hand and she thrust it into my hands, whispering "You may need this for him!" and stomped off before disappearing. I just put it in my bag of holding, hoping she is wrong. If Fey gives you something you discard it at your own peril.

Verdehile the Necromancer

Once things calm down a bit, we notice another figure coming out of the mists. We prepared for combat, not knowing who or what was approaching at that point. It turned out to be a Tabaxi Necromancer named Verdehile, one who claimed he had been stalking our party for a while - his words not mine. After watching us in action he had decided that he wanted to join us.

This admission of watching us and not helping during our battles didn't go over well at all with any of us. Even though he claimed to primarily use his necromancy spells for healing (something we sorely need in the party), I wasn't convinced and from the comments I was hearing neither were my comrades. I don’t trust necromancers unless they are followers of the Raven Queen herself and even then I am quite wary of them. From the gist of his many comments, I don't believe that Verdehile views the Raven Queen as his deity. I could be wrong, but I don't believe that I am.

Working with intelligent and powerful undead to accomplish the Raven Queen's goals is one thing. Working with a powerful Necromancer that I believe Verdehile to be is a different situation. Since he was allowed to remain with the party, his presence will cause problems for me. Those who do not let the dead go to my Queen’s realm and instead keep them for their own purposes are considered her enemies. Especially, if they worship gods who are antithetical to her goals. If voluntarily associate with him or he heals me using his necromantic magic the Raven Queen will take me to the realm of the dead or worse. She would be even angrier than when I allowed Kanchelsis to trick me.

After listening to the party talk more with Verdehile, I became even more concerned about how he is going to fit in with our party as it is presently constructed. I think we all are wondering how we are going to handle dealing with this new party member, who expects us to trust him just because he shows up and wants to join us. He has done nothing to earn our trust and with my concerns I don't know what I'm going to do. So, for now I'll bide my time and see how things work themselves out.

Though I cannot be around him for a prolonged period and difficult decisions must be made. I know that I will have to make one in regards to the Necromancer Verdehile. It will most likely mean my departure from the party and attempt to find a different one to advance the Raven Queen's goals on Crannog. I just hope when the time comes, that I'm able to do so without disrupting the party too much. I'm beginning to develop strong bonds with the other party members. Yes, even Donkey despite that he tempts Fate all too often, he has proven to be a loyal companion and fierce in battle.

The Thunder Wand

As we get to the entrance of the dungeon we notice a body - probably killed by the Chimera and check it over for whatever is left there with it and find a small wooden odd looking wand shaped thing that Donkey was examining and when he pulled on one of the levers a couple of times and  it made loud booms and did something to a tree about 30 yards away.

We called it a loud noise maker or thunder wand. He pulls the lever again and something hits Varrin in the side and he takes damage. He magically pulls out a round lead ball that looks like a sling bullet, but hits a lot harder. Verdehile then suddenly takes the thunder wand away from Donkey, which causes hollering from Donkey and Bluebelle about him doing that without asking anyone. Donkey smacked Verdehile in the head and I thought that both Donkey and Bluebelle were going to attack him there and then which would have taken care of my problem and the misgivings I have about letting a Necromancer join the party. 

Varrin talked them down, but they were rightfully pissed that he dared to take the wand away from Donkey, even if Donkey had caused it to damage Varrin. He hasn't earned that level of trust from any of us. Verdehile didn’t make himself popular with the party members that’s for sure.

After the excitement we looked the body over closer and found (Varrin cast Identify):

• Sage's Signet Ring of the Hart

• Red Fury Ring - Varrin took

• Leather Armor +3 - Which I claimed for myself

• Bracers of Archery - Bluebelle put in her bag of holding for the party

• 2 - Revivify Scrolls - Bluebelle and I took

• Planar Ally Scroll - Bluebelle took

• There was also a bag of those round lead things and a horn filled with some kind of black powder, which I put in my bag of holding for the party

Donkey was really being Donkey, when we moved the body off to the side we saw a bunch of crushed flasks and bottles and he bent down and licked up the liquid on the ground. Nothing happened, but we all felt a sudden feeling of foreboding that this wasn't the end of what was going to happen as a result of him doing that.

The Dungeon

We go into the dungeon and the portal slams behind us. It is one of those intelligent dungeons that we've heard stories about and it gives us hints and tells us of a great treasure at the end - if we live to complete it. I don't like this dungeon already, it just feels like a death trap and we have more important things to do than to run through a dungeon. Even the fully formed Chimera barely made it out of here alive.

We saw two hallways, one going to the right and we chose to go left. I cast Armor of Agathys because I'm sure it will be needed sooner than later. Verdehile changes his appearance to look like a 3 foot high Minotaur, a move I saw as geared towards provoking Donkey. I really think that Verdehile is treading on thin ground if he continues to bait Donkey, I know that I wouldn't want to have that Minotaur coming after me in a rage. That will be Verdehile's problem, not mine and might be a resolution to my own issues with him.

There are lots of strange noises and we see a crab-like thing scuttling away from us. Verdehile and I use our ability to walk on the walls to avoid the floor while the others were flying and Bluebelle used Levitate on Donkey and pushed him in front of her - we don't have a thief to take care of traps and stuff. 

We entered a very large room and Bluebelle uses her mage hand to drop a gp into the water 30 feet away from us and a massive jaw erupts from the water up into the air catching the coin. It looked like a huge eel. We can see an exit off to the right. We move on without attempting to disturb the eel thing any further and make it without any further issues.

We hear chains rattling off in the distance and are now in an area where we have to go single file down the tunnel. Varrin casts Speak With Animals on the crab that scuttled ahead of us and we find out a few things and that there is a merchant further down the single path.

I gotta stop here, we've gotta get going again. I'll finish this up later. Though I have to talk with Verdehile to find out who his deity is. Then if it is not the Raven Queen to tell him not to heal or attempt to cast any spells on me or to associate with me. I can’t afford to displease the Raven Queen once more. This time I am sure that will not be as generous with her punishment.