Session 8 Recap

“It’s always cooler in your head.”
Hardholme Session 8 Recap for April 7, 2018 by Elaine

Characters Present: Buckler, Carric, Fallynde, Fitz, Maeve, Rael & Special Guest Liblub

Liblub says it’s safer to avoid the Red Hyla by following th e river north towards the Temple, then heading west.

Group purchases 4 weeks of Rations each and takes the Group Bag of Holding.

Everyone paid 24g each for rations.

Liblub is allowed to pick two shortswords from the SF Temple’s Armory for the journey.

== PRE-ADVENTURE BUSINESS ==

Buckler:
 * The day before leaving, Buckler finds Reznor & Uthar in the SFT and asks to speak with Reznor privately.
 * He asks Reznor to be his second in command and take charge when Buckler is out of town. Reznor tearfully accepts.
 * He’ll be an advisor to Buckler and a supervisor to operations.
 * Buckler also asks him to bring Uthar into some of the supervisory tasks, too, under a sort of probationary period.
 * Keep. Uthar. Occupied.

Carric:  Fallynde:
 * Has goodbye sex with Prentiss.
 * Mithril & Graeme aren’t that cool right now, since Mithril opened his own business.
 * Fallynde and Graeme continue the conversation about her “hey I know who probably tried to explode us” comment before the last journey:
 * Dar has been ordering LOTS of swords from Graeme.
 * Graeme doesn’t know why.
 * He DOES know that Vera is completely unaware of whatever Dar is up to.
 * He and Vera used to be much closer, but they’ve drifted apart a bit.
 * Dar is ABSOLUTELY NOT representing the Pioneer’s Guild with his current actions.
 * If we want a formal investigation to take place regarding the explosion, we should talk to Jackson Bowers.
 * Graeme himself has no reason to believe the orphans are being drugged, but admits that he and Vera are pretty hands-off with the mines these days.
 * DAR HAS BEEN OVERSEEING THE MINES.

High Priestess Maeve:
 * Goes into the SF Temple to ask Reznor to please check in on the shrine while she’s away. He graciously accepts.
 * She takes Buckler to Holden’s Healing Hands to introduce them.
 * They discuss private information.

Rael:
 * Gets the party together so we can conference call Rosa on the communication stones.
 * Fallynde Asks: What did the Prime ACTUALLY DO to get all this hate?
 * Rosa says that she thinks she was taken for a ride regarding the Prime. When they arrived, they’d had to take the same road through Steepridge that made us so uneasy, and it felt like Silas, upon greeting, was asking them to ignore all of those injustices and she didn’t appreciate that. She spoke for her party, declined the invitation, and joined the Children of the New World and got on the Town Council for a year (so CotNW would be represented).
 * WORST YEAR EVER. She hated it. She says she blamed The Prime Collective unjustly and thinks the Pioneer’s Guild is doing much worse: SPECIFICALLY Dar. She doesn’t know why he’s being a shit.
 * Rael asked for Clarification on Silas apparently asking them to ignore the injustices:
 * [Group and DM recapped the official first meeting with Silas]
 * It was determined that he didn’t REALLY say to ignore it all, but it was a slippery slope, to be sure. Even we were uncertain about it when we got here. We just weren’t as extreme.
 * Maeve is game for an alliance.
 * Rosa thinks Dar killed Millicent.
 * Rael asks about her working with Jondry
 * Jondry came back a few years ago without revealing his identity and wanted to make amends. It was rough when they found out who he was. When he Arrived, apparently The Prime Collective had much harsher opinions of the orphans, and he legitimately thought killing them would be considered a good deed. Super-misguided, but he genuinely wanted to try to make up for his wrongs.
 * When Dar started helping them, things went downhill.
 * Fitz asks how he can get into the Gem Mines.
 * Rosa thinks there’s another entrance to the mines in the Pioneer’s Guild.
 * Fitz asks, “Why do you think Millicent is dead?”
 * Rosa responds, “Why would he keep her alive?”
 * Turns out, Millicent designed the explosives that were planted at the Landing Site. She didn’t know what they were for… and when they told her, she was horrified. She officially became a liability.
 * Fitz hopes she’s just being forced to work on the Defenders instead of being dead. ;_;

THE JOURNEY TO MATMAR

 * We cloak Liblub up and ship out.
 * We take the now familiar path to the Northern Temple.

Day 1, 2, and 3

 * Are uneventful.


 * After a day’s travel, Carric plans a bean: ANOTHER PYRAMID is now a day’s walk from Hardholme. (60x60x60, Sandstone. On the River, 1 day north.) Aaaand they move on.

Day 4

 * takes us into Dinnerbird territory!
 * We encounter a flock of 6 Dinnerbirds and THEY ATTACK US.
 * Each Dinnerbird gets 2 hits each
 * Buckler takes 7 hits and is knocked to -3HP!
 * Fallynde takes 2 hits and is at 30HP.
 * Fallynde rages and does 13dmg to one (activates Frenzy). She yells to someone to PLEASE HEAL BUCK.
 * Carric uses Vicious Mockery on the injured Dinnerbird and it straight up dies… That’s pretty vicious!
 * Liblub gets 2 attacks and does 9dmg.
 * Fitz uses his Thundercannon for 12dmg. 2nd Dinnerbird dies.
 * Maeve heals Buckler’s 7 wounds that now faintly glow. He’s now at 7HP.
 * Rael uses Bane 3 Dinnerbirds and they all fail their saves. WOO
 * Fallynde orders Buckler to fall back as the Dinnerbirds attack again.
 * Fallynde takes 0 hits
 * Buckler takes 1 hit for 4dmg
 * Liblub takes 3 hits for 16dmg
 * Rael & Carric give Fallynde & Buckler Bardic Inspiration.
 * Carric uses Vicious Mockery again for 5dmg
 * Buckler and Fallynde debut battle combo: WRECKING FLAME!
 * (For visual demonstration, see Chrono Trigger’s X-Strike Tech.)X-strike.png
 * (F)19dmg + (B)16dmg = DEAD DINNERBIRD
 * Fallynde gets a second attack from Frenzy and does 7dmg to another Dinnerbird.
 * 3 Dinnerbirds left.
 * Liblub falls down and takes damage and drops his weapon. This is his first real fight in 25+ years, after all. (crit fail)
 * Fitz does 9dmg, 4th Dinnerbird dies.
 * Maeve does some magic stuff for 14dmg and the next attack will have advantage against that Dinnerbird.
 * Rael uses Vicious Mockery for 6dmg, 5th Dinnerbird Dies.
 * These things have THE WORST self-esteem!
 * Our bards have THE MOST VICIOUS Mockery!
 * The last Dinnerbird decides he still hates Buckler and does 9dmg, putting Buckler at -6HP.
 * Fallynde does 10dmg
 * Carric stabs with Rapier for 7dmg. Last Dinnerbird dies.
 * After everyone is healed up and taken care of, the Party sets to preparing all this meat that tried to murder them. They roast 1 and Rael is able to use Prestidigitation to turn the other 5 carcasses into 100 pounds of Dinnerbird Jerky, that is now stored in the Group Bag of Holding.


 * Night 4 - Wngas get away from Fitz & Rael.

Day 5:

 * Mountains Emerge


 * Liblub says this is where we need to cross the river and head straight west.
 * Party makes a Raft to cross the river. This takes the entire day.

Day 6:

 * It’s Marshy on the other side of the River
 * Liblub’s demeanor changes drastically. He’s nervous.
 * Rael sings a calming song for him. “Man Eater”
 * Liblub is worried that we might be close to Red Hyla territory.
 * He declines Carric’s offer of Menga. “That stuff is bad for you.”
 * Fitz rides on Buckler’s shoulders.

Day 7:

 * We see a massive structure in the marsh, shaped like a very large serpent.
 * It’s made of stone: 15’ high, 30’ wide, over 100' long
 * Liblub looks concerned. This is new.
 * As we walk around the front of it, the head is as big as the body, like a serpent-alligator.
 * Its eyes are closed and its mouth is shut.
 * The party decides to ignore it as best as we can.
 * Fitz gets a good look at it without touching it and discovers that it looks like the mouth can open.
 * It reminds Liblub of something The Masters would have made, but he’s not familiar with it.
 * But he’s also curious… so he approaches and touches it.
 * THE EYES FLY OPEN.
 * It has giant, green gems for eyes.
 * It starts to EFFING MOVE.
 * It glides towards us and the mouth starts to open.
 * Fallynde curses at Liblub in Dwarven.
 * The party RUNS WEST
 * The Serpent SPEEDS UP.
 * Rael uses Bardic Inspiration to help us run SO MUCH FASTER.
 * Party heads toeward the Tree Line to look for a place to hide.
 * Party makes camp IN THE TREES. UP THEM. UP IN THE TREES. LIKE THAT CHICK FROM THE HUNGER GAMES.

Night 7:

 * Camping in the trees, but the snake doesn’t pursue us here.
 * The bioluminescence of the greenery here is startling. There’s a faint light throughout the swamp.
 * Fitz starts thinking of how to build a flashlight with all of these plants
 * He takes samples of moss and such and creates a torch for us
 * Fleshlight jokes abound.

Day 8:

 * This fucking swamp sucks, and it keeps getting suckier.
 * Carric is crying
 * Everyone is miserable
 * Fitz is on Buckler’s shoulders, so he’s mostly okay
 * Rael is obsessively Prestidigitating himself, to no avail
 * Liblub is navigating really well, but he’s nervous.
 * Night 8: No Wngas in the swamp

Day 9:

 * Midday: Something Interesting Happens!
 * From the south emerge a group of about a dozen Red Hyla!
 * They are armed, but do not seem hyper-aggressive.
 * Liblub is hiding in the back.
 * From Fallynde’s little bit of Abyssal studies, she can tell they’re saying “Go Away.”
 * Liblub is whispering translations from his hiding place:
 * They are mad
 * They want us to go back where we came from because this is their territory.
 * They remember “The Last Time.”
 * “You made a deal not to return.”
 * Fitz and Rael use Rael’s "Silent Image" spell to explain that we can’t go back yet because there’s a BIG SNAKE THING back there.
 * The Red talk amongst themselves at the news of the Snake.
 * Liblub is fed up and steps forward to talk to them
 * The situation gets tenser.
 * They are angry about the pact
 * They are curious about the “Leviathan”
 * Group tries to convince them to maybe escort us out of the swamp
 * Liblub tells them about himself: He’s going home and doesn’t know how relations are since he’s been a captive for 25+ years
 * He’s told that Relations are at an ALL TIME LOW. They’ve never been worse.
 * Active war between all 3 Hyla tribes.


 * Killing all of us would look VERY good for them, but they still aren’t being aggressive towards us.
 * Liblub says they’re talking about the Leviathan in the Marsh.
 * No trees are down.
 * We try to persuade them that if we all work to take care of the Leviathan, they could then help us cross the swamp together.
 * They NOPE right out of that suggestion.
 * Stay away from THAT GUY, they advise.
 * As the talks go on, some of the Reds start to argue with each other
 * Some want to kills us, others want to live to make it home tonight.
 * Rael offers to sing a song as a show of peace and respect. (This Too Shall Pass - Danny Schmidt)
 * He uses Enthralling Performance.
 * All 12 are lulled and have a favorable perception of Rael.
 * Liblub thinks they’ll let us through
 * Things look better now
 * One of the arguing Reds who DID NOT want to attack us.
 * He says that he and several other are NOT on board with the current Red Hyla Mission Statement: TAKE LAND BY FORCE.
 * The Blue Hyla want the fighting to stop
 * The Green Hyla just want to be left alone.
 * Some of these Reds are Pro-Unification
 * Liblub is getting along alright with them
 * A few days south of here is the lake the Party who traveled to the Southwestern Temple could see from the Mount there.
 * Built on the edge of that lake is Zatzan, the Red Hyla city.
 * (It is NOT a floating city).
 * Hyla towns are built on the edges of lakes.
 * Matmar is still a week away.
 * They are willing to let us continue
 * The Red Hyla who they didn’t kill “last time” bows in a sign of respect and introduces himself as Dindan.
 * Dindan is Pro-Unification
 * Buckler bows back
 * Fitz tries to Mudwhirl Shake with them, but they look at him like he’s a weirdo.
 * Dindan asks where we came from.
 * He knows we’re from the City by the Hole, so WHERE did we come from BEFORE that?
 * “When one world loves another world…” - Rael
 * “Did you come from the same place as The Masters?”
 * “Do you know where The Masters are?”
 * They all bow at the mention of “The Masters”
 * “When the hole opened, that’s where The Masters used to be.”
 * The Masters disappeared hundreds of years ago, well before we arrived
 * We tell them our people have only known about this world for about 75 years.
 * “If you are from the sky, you must be from there, like them.”
 * We asked which of us The Masters looked like.
 * “They were humanoid like you.” was the best we could get, but the translation was otherwise rough.
 * The location that is now THE HOLE was where The Masters’ City used to be.
 * They don’t exactly know what the other thing The Masters started worshipping was before they disappeared.
 * The Red Hyla depart south.
 * Liblub hopes his people will accept all of us.
 * He had feared the Reds would be expanding their territory.
 * He’s surprised they didn’t fight immediately.
 * We agree to book it out of the swamp with great haste.
 * Mantle of Inspiration and we force exhaustion
 * Everyone takes 1 level of Exhaustion
 * We camp in the trees again for safety on Day 10.
 * Short Rest.
 * We plan to take a long rest with a full camp on the next night.'

Day 10:

 * So, of course, with a level in Exhaustion, we see Thundercats.
 * Everyone panics except for Fallynde and Rael
 * “SEPHRA IS THE EXCEPTION HERE, YOU TWO!”
 * Carric is not okay with this.
 * 3 Thundercats appear, but go last in the initiative order.
 * Fallynde hits lead TC for 7dmg. (Rage and activates Frenzy for next round)
 * Fitz, Carric, and Rael have come up with a BATTLE COMBO, so they hold their actions until Rael’s Turn
 * [For Clarification, these are more like Lightening Cats. Thunder will still hurt them. It’s Electricity they use.]
 * Buckler attacks the “one with the cloudy eye”
 * Activates Divine Smite - 22dmg
 * Liblub says, “Soovas!”
 * The Official Kazzeran’s Vally Name of a Thundercat is Soova!!
 * Attacks leader for 8dmg
 * Maeve misses.
 * The Trio debut [working title] THUNDERCUNT
 * Fitz uses his Thundercannon while Rael & Carric activate Thunderwave.
 * 27dmg to 2 indirect targets
 * 39dmg to direct target: the 3rd one, with the knick in his ear
 * “That means he’s fixed.” -Maeve
 * “Blasting Harmony sounds like a bukakke.” So that’s this Combo’s new name.
 * The Soovas attack Carric, Maeve, and Buckler
 * 0 hits to Buckler
 * 2 hits to Carric. (Buckler tried to impose disadvantage, but it failed)
 * 1 hit to Maeve
 * Here’s where things got weird.
 * Maeve took 20dmg, reduced to 1 HP.
 * Carric took 30dmg, reduced to -12 HP.
 * First hit did torso damage
 * Second hit was “Don’t roll a 1.” “I rolled a 1” “Oh God… he’s.. Uh... he can no longer procreate.”
 * Fallynde hits the Leader (the one currently mutilating Carric’s genitals) for 11dmg
 * Group decides to use Greater Healing Potion on Carric.
 * Buckler Smites Leader (enjoying Carric’s jewels) for 18dmg
 * Liblub attacks Leader (still munching) and it finally DIES.
 * The penis goes flying, apparently, and Fitz tries to catch it, but loses sight of it.
 * If he finds it, then he’sll have touched Carric’s penis, and they’ll have evened everything out from that first day in the baths: #CarricToo
 * Carric is stabilized to 0HP by Fitz with the potion.
 * Maeve casts Cure Wounds on herself
 * New glowing scar on upper bicep
 * Back up to 15HP
 * Rael uses Cure Wounds on Carric
 * Back up to 11HP
 * Rael uses Mantle of Inspiration
 * 5 Temp HP given to Carric (16HP), Maeve (20HP), and Fitz (29HP)
 * Soovas Attack
 * They miss Buckler and Rael
 * Fallynde hits one of them (note specifying which is missing) for 9dmg, but then critical fails on her second hit and is stunned until the next round.
 * Carric uses Dissonant Whispers on Milky Eye
 * Milky Eye takes 9dmg
 * Dissonant Whispers forces it to run 40ft away from Carric
 * This provokes an Attack of Opportunity
 * Carric stabs at ITS crown jewels… and misses
 * Buckler hits it for 9dmg. MILKY EYE is dead now.
 * Buckler hits Knicked Ear (last one) with SMITE for 12dmg
 * Liblub critical misses and is stunned until next round
 * Fitz hits Knick for 13dmg
 * Maeve uses guiding bolt and some divine intervention stuff and hits it for 15dmg, killing ol’ Knick good and dead.
 * The party frantically tries to reattach Carric’s dick (And also heal him, of course)
 * Fitz and Rael remember that the yellow goo from the Temple to the Northeast was probably used to attach limbs to other creatures.
 * So Fitz pours the yellow transformation fluid on Carric’s Dick and then holds it to Carric’s open wound on his crotch.
 * And the whole party waits while The Powers That Be suddenly go CRAZY with typing on the internet.
 * The DM would like to reiterate that the following was all generated completely fairly and randomly with dice rolls corresponding to several randomized charts.
 * NONE OF THIS WAS INTENTIONAL
 * The dick sprouts tiny legs.
 * Carric’s own legs shrink by 12 inches in length.
 * The little legged dick did not reattach.
 * HOLY HELL, WHAT EVEN?
 * IT CAN WALK AROUND?!
 * He CAN feel it if someone touches it.
 * THEY TAKE A FUCKING LONG REST.
 * He CAN feel it if someone touches it.
 * THEY TAKE A FUCKING LONG REST.

''DMs Disclaimer: I have a rule within the game that if you get hit while at negative hit points, there is a possibility that you will suffer some degree of mutilation. There are several tables used in determining what happens, the severity of it, and where. Rolls were utilized in determining the mutilation, where it was, to what severity, and whether it was swallowed or not. ''

Day 11:

 * By the end of Day 11, we see a river that runs into a lake
 * We can see an Active Volcano attached to the Mountains
 * The Smoking Mountains.
 * Liblub says Matmar is directly West across this lake. He suggests we walk around the south side of the lake, but stand back from it. There are lots of beasties in there.

Day 12-16:

 * Going around the lake
 * Lots of dead stuff is at the northern edge of the lake, at the base of the Volcanoes, across the lake fron us.

Day 17:

 * The Party Arrives in Matmar
 * Matmar is loosely palisaded at the edge of the lake.
 * The buildings are Tribal in construction.
 * Some homes extend out onto the lake on stilts
 * DM: “Like Erath.”
 * “It looks like Riften” - DM & Rael
 * Liblub is Nervous.
 * He speaks to the Guard on duty
 * The Gates open.
 * “Hold onto your butts.” - Liblub
 * The party is immediately immersed in Blue Hyla Culture
 * The Blue Hyla all stop and watch as we walk by
 * Liblub is walking with purpose towards the center of town, to see the Chieftain
 * The Chieftain is waiting for us there.
 * We discover she’s a lady when Liblub says under his breath, “Mother.”
 * “HOLY SHIT, HE’S THE FROG PRINCE!” -Everyone
 * He drops to his knees in front of her.
 * She dashes over to him and hugs him
 * They cry and embrace one another and start talking excitedly.
 * A crowd has gathered around us.
 * They cheer for Liblub as he returns to his feet.
 * He introduces us to his mother Habhat.
 * She has accepted him back to Matmar.
 * He was afraid he’d be seen as a traitor or coward after being gone for so long.
 * He was ashamed to come home as anything less than a hero.
 * Liblub says we are guests of Matmar
 * We will have warm places to sleep tonight.
 * He’s going to have a good, well deserved, long overdue visit with his mother, and he’ll come find us later.
 * The party explores Matmar! (Despite the lack of a verbal translator)
 * They find the Smith/Armory. Here they see the red metal that Liblub has told Fallynde about.
 * This metal, Lavos, is from the smoking mountains
 * All of their weapons are crafted from Lavos.
 * Fallynde uses her charades skills as translation for Fitz.
 * Fitz buys 600g worth of unrefined Lavos ore.
 * Maeve buys a dagger for 100g
 * Fallynde says she will think on it and return.
 * They find the Healer’s station.
 * Rael helps communication along with his Silent Image Magic Whiteboard™ thing.
 * Maeve wants to learn about the herbs and such they use as medicine.
 * They find a root that has incredibly familiar sounding properties to one they’re currently investigating in Hardholme.
 * Yep. They found Rie Root!
 * It’s used like morphine for people who need to be eased through periods of great pain.
 * The Blue Hyla warn not to use too much of it.
 * They call it Parpar
 * Maeve does not buy any, but takes note of its appearance
 * Rael & Fitz buy Rie Root for further investigation into its properties.
 * They find a marketplace full of fish. Many are very familiar since Liblub and Fallynde have been supplying the 71st with fish for the past few months.
 * Rael finds an open-air bar
 * He tries a cocktail and is ABSOLUTELY BLOWN AWAY by an ingredient in it.
 * This will absolutely set the drinks at The Tipsy Tabaxi apart from all the rest!
 * It’s a berry called Simsum
 * He spends 50g for 10 pounds of berries and seeds.
 * He hopes to be able to cultivate them in Hardholme.
 * Maeve is interested to see if there’s any sort of specific religion being followed
 * They find Kazzaran Trinkets in the market, but that seems to be the extent of it.
 * The group further explored the market, while the session slowly fades to black.

''DMs Disclaimer: The session was longer than most. The group then briefly met with Habhat, a meeting which will transpire during an upcoming collective downtime for them, much like the Journey from the Temple on the Mount Parts One and Two. I'm sure what transpires will be available in essay form from Fallynde. They will spend the rest of that day before beginning the journey back to Hardholme.''