we're playing so much dragonbane lately! which is good, because we're like, barely into the first real dungeon of the campaign, and we're already on session 8. whew! here's how it went ...
GM Elle: All right. The party is in the stairwell ... except maybe for Filvius, if he hasn't given up his search of the altar yet.
Claire: Considering I'd be alone here with the possibility of those 5 cultists coming back, I guess I'd regretfully head to the stairway too.
GM Elle: Since the group agreed to proceed cautiously, you should be able to catch up without trouble, then.
MSG: "The group" meaning the mallard.
Sasha: Hey, don't push me or I'll go back into charge mode.
GM Elle: Moving slowly, it takes you two rounds to descend to the bottom of the stairs. There, you see an open doorway into a vast, vaulted hall. The door frame shows signs of having been viciously and recently savaged by something with powerful claws. From the darkness beyond come the sounds of something large growling and padding about -- and the occasional sound of a heavy impact, as though whatever it is is throwing itself against different parts of the structure in rage.
MSG: Okay, so here's my suggestion if we're really going to go in and fight whatever that is. Dolora will blow her horn to give everyone a Boon until her next turn. Then when we draw initiative, she'll wait as long as she can by trading her initiative card with whoever has the last one. Then depending on how things go for the round, I'll either move in and club the thing, or blow my horn again.
Akane: Zedeja approves this plan. She has Stone Skin and Powerful Fists, so you may trade with her if it's necessary.
GM Elle: Ready to draw initiative cards, then?
MSG: After I blow my horn, sure. And I didn't even need that part of my plan, because I got the 10.
Claire: I'm on 3, which I'll probably be trading with someone else, because I sure don't want to go early.
Ariel: 6.
Sasha: 4.
Hettie: 7.
Akane: 9.
GM Elle: The creature gets 1, 2, 2.5, 5, and 8
MSG: Seriously?
Claire: How many turns does it get?
Ariel: What's turn 2.5?
Sasha: I'm hoping it only gets half a turn then.
Hettie: So much for this being a long campaign.
Akane: Be more brave, you cowards!
GM Elle: Yeah, it has a Ferocity of 5, so I had to roll a die for one of its turns, because there are only 10 initiative cards. From between the two columns closest to you, you see this rush snarling from the darkness.
Claire: Technically I don't see it yet, right? I'm at the back, and we're in a spiral staircase.
GM Elle: Right. Probably only the front three can see it: Sir Q, Dolora, and Dilfriida. And in the instant after you see it, its tail lashes forward to fire a deadly looking spine straight at Sir Q. You could parry it with your shield if you want.
Sasha: I'll take a gamble it doesn't get past my armor.
GM Elle: Luck is with you. Four points of damage.
Sasha: ptink!
GM Elle: For its second turn, it fires a deadly rain of spikes from its tail. The three of you in line of sight can dodge, but not parry.
MSG: I'm using my new Heroic Ability to dodge without losing my turn. I succeed with a 3.
Sasha: Still betting on my armor.
Hettie: I'm dodging. I get a Boon from the bard's music, right? 5 and 7.
GM Elle: Sash, looks like your luck is holding. Only 1 point of damage on the roll. It glares at you warily, and since you're still within the stairwell, it waits to see what you're going to do, trading turns with Quackers.
Sasha: I think you know what I'm doing ... charge! The bard's music has my blood going, and the Boon takes care of my Exhausted Bane, so I hit it with a 12. Is it going to dodge?
GM Elle: Yes, using its 8 initiative card. But it rolls a 16, so you get to damage it anyway.
Sasha: Yes! 13 points!
Claire: I'm on turn 3, but I think I'll trade it to ... Akane.
Akane: Excellence! With her Powerful Fists, Zedeja rushes up and brawls the creature! No, the rolls are poor. 17 and 18.
GM Elle: The creature's turn, then. It now does a crushing charge on Sir Q for 3d6 ... 12 points, and you're knocked down.
Sasha: Still in pretty good shape thanks to my armor.
GM Elle: We'll see about that. On turn 5, the creature does a claw attack on you for 2d8 plus d6 because you're prone.
MSG: Ouch.
GM Elle: oof. 18 points.
Sasha: Minus 8 for my armor ... that's still a big ouch.
GM Elle: Aers?
Ariel: I guess I'll move up to the doorway, put my lamp down, and shoot it with my bow. Only I'm not very good, so even with the Boon, I miss.
GM Elle: Last turn for the creature. Crushing charge again ... this time on Zedeja. 12 points of damage and you're knocked prone.
Akane: It's good I have Skin of Stone.
GM Elle: Claire, your turn.
Claire: I guess I'll move out here and try to heal Sir Quackenscrump. I have that boon, so I'm going to risk using up 6 WP for maximum power level. Whew! I make it. That's 16 points back, Sash.
Sasha: Awesome! Full power!
GM Elle: MSG? You're up last.
MSG: Well, we've barely done any damage to it, and if I blow my horn again, I won't have much WP left for dodging ... so I guess I'll move up and take a whack at it with my club. An 8 is a hit, doing 13 points.
GM Elle: New initiative.
MSG: 8.
Claire: 7.
Ariel: 2.
Sasha: 3.
Hettie: I'm first for once.
Akane: 5 for Zedeja.
GM Elle: Hettie? You're up.
Hettie: All right, I'll move to here, spend some willpower points, and Backstab. That's a hit ... but only 9 points.
Akane: 9 is superior to 0.
GM Elle: Ariel?
Ariel: I'm going to swap cards with MSG!
MSG: Okay, I'll take another crack at it with my club. 14 hits. Will it dodge?
GM Elle: It's got cards out the ass, so yes.
MSG: Damn.
GM Elle: Sweeping attack! The creature lashes its tail in a wide arc doing 2d6 to Dolora and Dilfriida and knocking you down.
MSG: I'll spend the points to try a dodge. Made it.
GM Elle: 9 points, Hettie.
Hettie: Urk.
GM Elle: Your turn, Sash.
Sasha: Quackers gets to his feet and slashes with his broadsword. Hit, even with my Bane.
GM Elle: It dodges.
Sasha: This thing is really pissing me off.
GM Elle: For turn number 4, it's going to Tail Strike you, Sash. 9 points means some damage gets through, which injects you with a paralyzing poison.
Sasha: 9 on my save.
GM Elle: 10 for the poison, so you get the partial effect. But since you're already exhausted, there's no real effect.
Akane: Turn 5 is Zedeja! She rises and strikes! The roll ... 6!
GM Elle: You look old and weak, so the creature dismisses your unarmed attack instead of dodging.
Akane: For this arrogant choice, it receives 21 points of damage.
GM Elle: Wow. It was not expecting that. And it dies.
MSG: Nice rolling!
Ariel: Definitely!
Akane: I also was expecting a lower number. However, I'm more pleased than the creature to be surprised.
MSG: I'm going to try a Beast Lore roll now to see if I can figure out what this thing was. Nope.
Claire: I'll try too ... and I make it with a 5.
GM Elle: It's a Manticore. You pretty much saw all the attacks it can make other than a formidable bite that it's rumored to have. But this one seems larger than you envisioned from the descriptions you've heard.
Claire: I'll pass that along to everyone. "And by the way, if we meet another one, you don't want it to bite you."
Ariel: I didn't want this one to bite me!
Hettie: I was not especially keen on any of the things it did to any of us.
GM Elle: Well, looking around the room now that it's dead, you find a half-open iron door to the west, a low iron gate to the south that looks rusted shut, and a large iron gate to the northwest that has a relief carving of a flame in its center, painted or stained in purple.
MSG: Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm feeling like we might want to go back to that herb garden and see if the herb guy will let us take a rest there.
Claire: I already used up my Stretch Rest, though.
Sasha: Quackers too. And he really doesn't need one at the moment anyway.
Hettie: Dilfriida is wounded enough she votes for that.
Akane: Zedeja is insistent. A rest is required!
MSG: I guess we should head back up, then. I did my Stretch Rest for the day too, now that I think about it. Filvius and Sir Quackenscrump, should the three of us go finish hiding our wagon? I just realized we never did that after Filvius's first attempt failed.
Ariel: Oh, crud! Those cultists ran out of the temple ... what if they saw our stuff and went and looted it?
Sasha: Are you kidding me? The three people who stayed outside didn't already take care of that while we were checking out the garden?
Akane: Our bard said she was going to, after her rest ... but then, a spider.
MSG: Okay, I'm hurrying back to the stairs.
Claire: Me too.
Ariel: The sloth in me doesn't want to hurry, but the merchant in me doesn't want all our tradable goods to get ripped off.
Akane: Beware, though! In the hallway to the vestibule, a trapdoor lurks!
GM Elle: Since a round is only ten seconds, it's only been a minute or two since the cultists ran off, so they may not have that much of a lead on you.
MSG: Especially if they grabbed the cart and are pulling it.
Claire: Right, it will slow them down a lot if they're pulling it by hand instead of -- wait a minute. Did anybody do anything with our donkey?
Ariel: Um ...
Sasha: Last I saw, we left it with the bard, the mage, and the wolfkin.
MSG: Oops. I don't think we even thought about it when we heard the fighting in the courtyard.
Ariel: Well Zedeja was ordering us around and she didn't say we should bring it!
Akane: Oh, suddenly it's no longer, "Why always does Zedeja say do this and do that?" Instead, "Why doesn't Zedeja tell us to bring a donkey?"
GM Elle: Okay, so everyone tell me what you're doing.
MSG: Heading for the front door. When I get to that hall where Zedeja saw the trapdoor, I'll slow down and look carefully for it. I guess since I don't have a light, I'll be sticking close enough to someone who does that I'm able to see.
Claire: Same for Filvius.
Ariel: Fidu has his own light and he's fast, so I'm going to go pretty quick. But I'm paying attention to what Zedeja said too, and remembering where it was that I saw that cult guy fall.
Sasha: I'll stick with Dilfriida and her lamp, assuming she's heading out too.
Hettie: I am indeed.
Akane: Zedeja dislikes following this halfling, so she will try to stay closer to the wolfkin. Near the trapdoor, she will point to it exactly.
GM Elle: Okay, it's about two rounds back up the stairs and then another round to the hallway where the cultist fell. Fidu moves four meters a round faster than the humans, and Filvius moves two meters a round faster. So by the time Fidu reaches the hallway, he's 10 or 12 meters ahead of the main group and about 6 ahead of Filvius. Since an oil lamp has a 10 meter radius, the illumination from your two light sources will overlap except when you're going round and round on the spiral staircase.
Ariel: Can I see where the trapdoor is?
GM Elle: Yes -- it appears to be slightly ajar, actually, so it's pretty obvious if you know to look at the floor.
Ariel: I'll point it out to everybody anyhow, then peek out into the vestibule through the open door. It's still open, right?
GM Elle: Yes. All you see there is the sunlight streaming in through the northwest archway to the courtyard and the open front gates.
MSG: When I get to the trapdoor, I'm going to pause a second and carefully push down on it with my greatclub to see if it opens up. I'm curious what's down there.
GM Elle: All right, then. Ariel, as you're looking out into the vestibule, Filvius catches up to you and you both hear a grating sound from behind you. Akane, Het, and Sasha, you see Dolora stop and press her greatclub to the floor, causing the trapdoor to drop open. It's hinged on the side nearest the altar room. There seems to be a counterweight of some kind, though, and it starts closing again before you get much more than a glimpse of darkness below.
MSG: No cries for help from the guy who fell in, I take it?
GM Elle: None.
Ariel: If the vestibule is empty and I don't see any of our team falling in the trapdoor, I'm going to the front gate to peek out. Any sign of the black-robed dudes?
GM Elle: No, but your field of view is somewhat restricted if you don't put your head all the way out.
Ariel: I guess I'll risk it! I lean all the way out and look around in every direction I can before anybody shoots at me or conks me on the head.
GM Elle: All you see is your donkey, peacefully grazing on the grass near the steps.
Ariel: Whew, that's a relief!
Sasha: Unless he was replaced by a monster donkey.
Ariel: What about the cart?
GM Elle: You don't see it, but remember, even though Filvius did a bad job covering it with the vines, from this angle the rockfall from the wall is blocking your view of it.
MSG: I guess it will take some puzzling to figure out this trapdoor mechanism, so I'll go ahead and go out front too. Can I make a Bushcraft roll to track those cultists?
GM Elle: Sure.
MSG: I succeed with a four.
GM Elle: You do see a flurry of what look like recent prints disturbing the ground in the direction that leads back to the road.
MSG: Well, hopefully that's the last we see of them.
Ariel: If I head that direction, can I see the cart?
GM Elle: Yes, still where you left it with a bunch of ineffectual vines hanging across it.
MSG: I'll go over and see if I can do any better.
Claire: If we're all in the clear out here, I want to go back in and keep looking at that altar. Anyone want to come?
Sasha: Sure. Might be more monsters lurking in there. Or a monster hiding inside the altar.
Hettie: Dilfriida offers you the lamp she found. "You'll need a light."
Ariel: Oh, I've got a lamp, and if there's treasure under that altar or something, I want to be there. So Fidu will go in too.
Akane: Zedeja requires directions on finding the herbal garden!
Claire: Filvius tells her to just follow Dilfriida. She knows where it is.
Akane: It's a scowl at you for that.
MSG: I tell Zedeja I saw the spot where they climbed through the vine curtain, if she wants to come with me while I conceal our cart.
Akane: Climbing is undesirable to old, frail Zedeja. But more undesirable is following a burglesome halfling. I will go.
GM Elle: Are you really about to split the party three ways?
MSG: Looks like it, unless Difriida wants to come with us instead of going in through the courtyard.
Hettie: I'll risk another giant spider over listening to Zedeja.
GM Elle: Okay, then. Dilfriida, you cross the courtyard without event.
Hettie: I'm going to pick a couple of those giant blueberries along the way to ask the elven gardener about.
Akane: Already, behaviour Zedeja would scold you for. It's good we divided ourselves.
GM Elle: MSG and Akane, you get to the cart without issue. Make your Bushcraft roll to hide it, MSG. Akane, you can make an Acrobatics roll with a Boon to climb up and through the vines, unless you want to wait for Dolora.
MSG: I roll a 4 on my Bushcraft.
Akane: 5 and 17 on my Booned Acrobatics, so: success.
GM Elle: You find the climbing pretty easy, even for someone of your age. Filvius, Quackenscrump, and Fidu, what are you doing in the altar room?
Claire: I want to examine that altar for absolutely any information I might be able to get out of it. Carvings or runes or designs ... anything.
Ariel: I'm just here because they need a light. I'll probably just sit on the edge of the dais and kibblax.
Sasha: Quackers is keeping an eye out for monsters, obviously.
GM Elle: Go ahead and roll your Spot Hidden, Claire.
Claire: Hm. Well, it's actually really bad. I blow it with an 11. Either of you guys want to try?
Ariel: I dunno, that sounds like work. Can I get half your cut of the next treasure we find?
Claire: How about a quarter, and only if we actually learn anything from you looking.
Ariel: Well ... okay, I guess. I roll a 9 and my skill is 11.
GM Elle: As you're examining the sun carved on one side, you see that it looks like it's actually a separate material -- a different kind of stone than the main block. It almost looks like it's a large button that could be pushed in.
Ariel: I tell Filvius.
Claire: Heck, then, I push it to find out what happens.
GM Elle: It makes a clicking sound, but that's all.
Claire: What about the suns on the other sides? Are they buttons too? I'll try pushing each one.
GM Elle: They all make a clicking sound when you push them in, then pop back out. You don't notice any other effect.
Claire: I try different patterns. Like, go clockwise around the altar pushing each one, then counter clockwise, then push every other one.
GM Elle: None of that seems to do anything.
Claire: Dang. Okay, they're suns, right? I'll push the one on the east side, then the one on the west side, then east, then west ... and there are four suns in all, so I'll do that four times.
GM Elle: Interesting idea, but no.
Ariel: I'm getting tired just watching you.
Hettie: Has Dilfriida made it into the herb garden yet?
GM Elle: Sure. Hafarmal is still there. He looks up from his gardening and asks where your companions are. "I notice you look wounded. Is everything all right?"
Hettie: I tell him they should be along soon. They're just making sure the cultists kept running after we chased them away.
GM Elle: He looks pleasantly surprised and says that was very quick. He also offers to heal your wounds for you.
Hettie: Dilfriida says, "Wow, terrific, thanks!"
GM Elle: He heals you for 7 points.
Hettie: Exceptional. If I go through with that Stretch Rest, I'll be back to full health.
Akane: By now, has Zedeja arrived?
GM Elle: Not quite. You had farther to walk and then also had to do some climbing.
MSG: If I'm done with hiding the cart, I'll climb too. Easy success with a 5 and a 6.
Claire: Meanwhile, this altar is giving me a headache.
Ariel: Hey! What if it's like those aspirin bottles with the caps you have to push in on both sides to get open? Not that Fidu has ever seen an aspirin bottle, but he's pretty smart, and if he doesn't make any suggestions we may not ever get out of here.
Sasha: That's a pretty good suggestion though.
Ariel: Thanks!
Claire: Can I reach two of them at once if I lean across it? I'll try east and west first.
GM Elle: It's awkward, but you can reach. Doesn't seem to do anything, though.
Claire: Argh. North and south, then.
GM Elle: Nope.
Claire: You two come help me. I obviously can't push all four at once, but maybe that's the trick.
Ariel: If I have to. I guess I get up and walk over there.
Sasha: Sure, Quackers is game.
GM Elle: Eureka! When you do that, the altar makes a grinding sound, and the top of it splits along four lines and slides open and down to reveal a compartment within.
Akane: What game is Eeka?
GM Elle: What?
Akane: It's punning. Sasha says she is game, then you say she is Eeka, so Eeka must be a game, right? Sorry, English is my extra language, still practicing the punning.
MSG: Actually that was pretty good. I think we just weren't being quick enough.
Ariel: I'm still not being quick enough I guess, because I don't get it yet. Or maybe I wasn't listening as close as I should have. The altar opened up and there's a game in it?
Sasha: Weren't you paying attention at all?
Ariel: Some! But mostly I was roleplaying my character and he's kinda just hanging out.
Claire: Meanwhile, Filvius is very curious to see what's inside this compartment.
Akane: Apologies for inserting chaos ...
GM Elle: Never apologize for being funny, Akane -- even if not everyone gets it. Claire, resting at the bottom of the compartment is a frightful-looking mask of yellowed bone.
Claire: Creepy. Okay, I'm going to pick it up and use my Sense Magic trick on it.
Ariel: Are you sure that's a good idea?
Claire: Is that an Ariel question or a Fidu question.
Ariel: Ariel. Fidu's already put a lot into this whole altar deal. He's just going to kick back and see what happens.
Claire: Okay, well, I don't think it's a great idea, but Filvius is jonesing for knowlege.
GM Elle: You sense that there's definitely magic on it. It seems to have a Protector spell that's been made permanent. You also sense that there may be some drawback to its power.
MSG: Wait, didn't you even have to roll to see if that succeeded?
Claire: It's a magic trick, not a spell.
Akane: Magic trickery is always a success.
Ariel: Hey, where's my always-a-success power!
Sasha: I could use some of that action too.
GM Elle: Well, when you get a new Heroic Ability, pick Magic Talent and somebody can train you in a school of magic. Then you can learn tricks and spells with advancement marks and training.
Ariel: Oh. That sounds like way too much work.
Sasha: Yeah, that's going to cut way down on my monster-killing time.
Claire: Anyway, I put the mask on.
Ariel: That's an even worse idea! Didn't you just hear it's got some kind of drawback?
Claire: In case you haven't noticed, Filvius is leaning pretty hard into the whole FA/FO thing. So what's it do to me?
GM Elle: You don't notice any immediate effect.
Claire: Hmm. I take it back off.
GM Elle: Make a WIL roll.
MSG: Here we go.
Claire: 15. That's a failure -- oh, and I'm still Scared, so I have a Bane. This second roll better not be a Demon ... whew, 3.
GM Elle: The mask refuses to come off.
MSG: Looking at that thing's going to take some getting used to.
Claire: So like, do you mean ever?
GM Elle: You can try again any time you want.
Claire: I try again.
GM Elle: It doesn't come off.
Claire: No roll this time?
GM Elle: No ... although you do know that some magical effects last a stretch and others last a shift or more.
Claire: Great. Guess I'll try after another stretch. Maybe the Protector spell will be worth it. It looks pretty good in the rulebook. Do I know the power level?
GM Elle: Magic items that duplicate spells generally draw WP from the user when activated, so if you activate it, you'll know the power level based on how much WP it takes.
Claire: Well, the book says it lasts a whole shift, so I'll try activating it now.
GM Elle: It takes 4 WP.
Claire: I've only got 3 left right now.
GM Elle: Then it doesn't activate.
Claire: Do I lose my WP from trying?
GM Elle: I'm going to say no.
Claire: Whew.
Sasha: Quackenscrump sees you tugging at the mask and asks what kind of bone-headed stunt you're pulling now.
Claire: I hear what you did there. Filvius says there's apparently some kind of curse on the mask and he can't take it off. But it'll be great for staying safe from magic attacks once I get some of my mental energy back.
Ariel: Oh, wow, don't remind me about needing to get energy back.
Sasha: So are we going to go back to the herb garden now, or what?
Claire: Sure, we can head that direction.
Ariel: I guess if we have to. The grass and plants will probably be more cozy and restful than this gloomy altar room, now that I think about it.
GM Elle: All right. The three of you head for the garden. MSG, Akane, your characters both arrive in the herb garden while all of that is going on. Hafarmal greets you and says he hears you've succeeded in chasing away the cultists.
MSG: Dolora says it was probably more the manticore that chased them away, and then we killed the manticore.
Akane: No, why reveal this? Now he thinks we did nothing to our goal of de-culting his temple, and also we removed the thing that de-culted it! An herbalist of intelligence will conclude, "Possibly the cultists are now free to return!"
Hettie: I assume you're not saying all of that out loud, are you?
Akane: No. But displeasure is written in large letters upon the face of Zedeja. She tells the herbalist to direct her to the most comfortable place to rest in this garden.
GM Elle: He points you toward a soft-looking sward of grass. He also notices your injuries and asks if you'd like to be healed.
Akane: If the rest is not sufficient, Zedeja will consult him, she says.
GM Elle: Okay, whoever is doing their Stretch Rest, then, go ahead and roll to recover HP and WP.
Akane: Such poor rolling of dice! When the rest is over, Akane asks for healing.
GM Elle: Hafarmal heals you for six points.
MSG: If he's just giving out the healing, I'm down a couple of points. I'll also be picking his brain for knowledge while Dilfriida and the Mind over there are resting.
GM Elle: He actually blows his healing roll and apologizes. But he does show you about the garden and names all the plants for you, describing their different herbal properties.
MSG: I suppose that's something.
Ariel: Hey, I just had a thought, and on the way back to the garden, I want to use my Treasure Hunter ability to sense which direction it is to the greatest treasure!
GM Elle: Where exactly are you going to do this? It needs to be some sort of a crossroads.
Ariel: So, I'm thinking if I stand right next to that trapdoor, and somebody with treasure fell in there at some point, it will point me down. Or if there's no treasure under there, it might point me back into the altar room toward the stairway if there's treasure on the bottom level somewhere, or back out the front door if the place is a bust as far as treasure goes.
Sasha: Damn, way to go Aers. That's a pretty smart tactic.
Hettie: Nicely finessed.
GM Elle: Okay, let me re-read that ability and have a look at the scenario for a second ... hmm. Mm-hmm ... so you seem to feel an almost equal instinctive pull to the northeast and the northwest.
Ariel: Oh, great, what does that mean??? Are there two exactly equal treasures?
Sasha: I haven't read that ability ... could it be there's one that's bigger but farther and one that's smaller but nearer or easier to get to?
GM Elle: It's ambiguously worded ... "At a crossroads of some kind, you can activate this ability to learn the direction of the greatest treasures."
MSG: "Treasures" with an "s" meaning plural?
Claire: Weird that it's "direction" singular but "treasures" plural.
Hettie: Isn't this game translated from Swedish, though? I'm not sure we can put too much stock in the precision of their plurals.
GM Elle: I'm just sticking with what I said. Your sense is that going either northeast or northwest could get you to the greatest treasures."
Ariel: Dang, though, what if there's just one treasure down under this trapdoor, but it's a honking huge one? Only because it's a treasure and not treasureS, my ability doesn't work on it! Meanwhile northeast and northwest there's two treasures, but they're poopy.
GM Elle: Honestly, honey, as long as you're not trying to abuse the ability, I promise I won't give you results that are going to deliberately lead you the wrong way.
Ariel: Okay. Seems like we may still want to check the trapdoor, though.
Sasha: My higher priority is getting the rest of our group and checking the place for any more monsters there might be.
GM Elle: If you don't make any further stops, you arrive back at the garden shortly after Dilfriida and Zedeja have finished their rest.
Hettie: Ah, I remembered something. I wanted to ask Hafarmal about these eyeball-sized blueberries. If he's available, I do so ... I suppose once he's finished giving Dolora her tour of the garden.
MSG: You may have a wait ahead of you, then. I'm going to be asking a lot of questions, to soak up all the knowledge I can about these plants and how otherworldly energy can cause transformations like this in living things.
Claire: Don't worry, Het. I'm pretty sure Dolora will be distracted soon by me showing up with this scary bone mask on. She'll definitely want to try to get some knowledge scoop once she sees it.
Hettie: Dilfriida isn't one to politely wait her turn, though. I imagine as soon as she's feeling rested up, she'll wander over and butt in the moment a long enough breath is taken by whoever's talking ... probably to ask something like, "Hey, mister herbs. Have you seen these giant blueberries? What's the deal with these? Can you eat them?"
MSG: I'm not keen on getting interrupted -- but Dolora also wouldn't particularly differentiate between knowledge about the herbs in the garden and knowledge about the blueberries from the courtyard. It's all part of the same phenomenon, right?
GM Elle: That's exactly what Hafarmal says. "Those blueberries contain enough nourishment to sustain a person an entire day -- just one berry. But I'd caution you to be careful in eating them, as they have an intoxicating effect as well, and you'll be hazy-headed and a bit clumsy for hours afterward.
MSG: Better to eat at the end of the day than for breakfast, then.
Hettie: So it sounds. I'll put some in with my rations
GM Elle: All right, so at some point Hafarmal will want to get back to his work, and if there's any attempt to dissuade him from that, he'll note that he can't brew any antidotes if you won't give him time to tend to his business. What's the group going to do next?
Ariel: I tell everybody the biggest treasure is either northeast or northwest from the hallway with the trapdoor. I think we should go find it!
Sasha: There were at least three ways out of that manticore room, so I say let's head back down there and check some of them out.
Akane: Zedeja insists on this, in fact. No further discussion needed!
GM Elle: Anyone take issue with that?
MSG: Nope.
Claire: Also nope.
Ariel: It was basically my idea, so I'm all for it.
Sasha: Quackers is in.
Hettie: Dilfriida is always interested in treasure, so she can overlook Zedeja's bossiness for now.
Akane: Slowly, this halfling learns wisdom!
GM Elle: All right then, back downstairs you head.
okay, so this was a longish session, and i'm breaking it up here so the post isn't endless. see you next time!
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