dragonbane ... secret of the dragon emperor part 10!

we're back! this most recent session was pretty short ... mostly wrapping up that purple flame temple we've been in for a while. take it away, elle!

GM Elle: Okay, here we are back at the Temple of the Purple Flame. As far as you guys know, there are only three doors in the place that you haven't poked your noses in yet.
MSG: Plus that trapdoor.
Ariel: Which one's closest? I know we just got finished resting, but I don't see why we'd want to waste energy going to the farthest one instead of the closest one. And the trapdoor's all the way up on the first level, so I know it's not the closest.
GM Elle: The closest one is that door to the west of the crossroads area where you found that grimoire and the other treasure. But the low, rusty iron door at the south of the manticore room is literally like, four meters farther away than that one is.
Ariel: Well, number one, four meters extra is four meters extra. And number two, I'm pretty sucky at the metric system still, so I'd just as soon not do the extra work of figuring out exactly how far four extra meters would be.
Hettie: If both you and Fidu are so set against the expenditure of undue energy, why not use that Treasure Hunter ability again and see where it leads you?
Ariel: Ooh! That's a great idea! When I get to the spot where I'd have to turn to head to the west door, I'll spend my willpower points and find out which way to the greatest treasures.
GM Elle: You get a lucky feeling about heading south, toward that rusty iron door.
Ariel: Yes!
Sasha: Let's head that way then, I guess.
GM Elle: When you get there, you see that it's thickly rusted within its frame.
MSG: I'll try my 18 strength on it.
GM Elle: Roll a Strength check with a Bane.
MSG: Wow, that tough, huh? I get a 4 and a 4 ... even one of our feebler characters could get it open with that.
GM Elle: I didn't say success would let you open it. It just lets you roll unarmed damage, which is d6 plus your Strength damage bonus die.
MSG: That's 2d6 for me, then ... I roll 7 points.
GM Elle: It's really stuck. You can barely tell that it shifted at all ... mostly by the fact that there was just a tiny groaning vibration from the hinges.
MSG: Hmm. Dolora thinks about it a second and says, "Wow, that is a monster of a rusty door."
Sasha: You don't really think that's going to work on Quackers, do you? Maybe he's not the smartest duck in the pond, but I think he can tell a door from a monster, and it's not like "monster" is some kind of trigger word for him.
MSG: How about this, then? I'm going to try to use my Performance skill to make a monster-ish sounding growl and throw my voice so it seems to be coming from the door.
Sasha: Now that might work! But you're going to have to roll it.
GM Elle: I'm going to say it's a Performance roll to throw your voice and if you succeed at that, a Bluffing roll to pretend it's a monster making the sound. Both of those will be opposed by Sir Q's Awareness.
MSG: All right ... Performance is a 10. Sash?
Sasha: Still in my great helm, so I have a Bane on Awareness ... oof! Demon!
GM Elle: Welp, maybe MSG doesn't need to make that second roll, then. I'm going to say the Demon means you totally fall for it.
Sasha: Let me at it, then! I'm going to hack right through that rust with my broadsword.
Akane: Seems possibly injurious to a sword ...
GM Elle: Yeah, normally I wouldn't have you roll to hit an inanimate object, but in this case, go ahead and roll. Another Demon will mean you damage your sword.
Sasha: 7 hits. But I only do 11 points.
GM Elle: You gouge away some rust and make a terrible racket, but it's not even close to opening yet.
Sasha: Hit 'er again ... Dragon! With the extra damage die, that's 20 points.
Hettie: Maybe you should use one of those battleaxes we looted after the last fight instead of risking your main weapon.
Sasha: No time! Didn't you hear that monster? 12 is another hit, this time for 11 points.
Akane: Wait! The gamemaster must first declare if the 20 points opened the door!
GM Elle: It didn't. And the 11 doesn't either, but you can tell it's getting pretty loose. The noise is incredible, though, echoing loudly through the whole vaulted hall.
MSG: You're going to wake the manticore up.
Ariel: I know you're joking, but Fidu's still going to look at the manticore just in case.
Sasha: 18 is a miss. Guess my sword glances off the frame or something? Dang, then another 18. But then another Dragon! 14 points!
GM Elle: That busts it open.
Sasha: I yank the door free! What do we see?
GM Elle: Inside is the bottom of a dark pit with raw, roughly-carved stone walls. Scattered across the uneven floor are dozens of skeletons -- some intact, some indistinguishable in the heaps of bones. But you can see that the more intact ones are shifting and moving. From between the loose teeth of their skulls come low, angry hisses and wretched groans. Some turn the black pits of their eye sockets toward you. Everyone make a WIL save to avoid fear.
MSG: Great. Let's see ... okay, a 10 makes it.
Claire: 15 blows it for Filvius.
GM Elle: You're enfeebled by terror and lose 7 willpower points. You also become disheartened if you're not already.
Claire: That cleans me out of WP.
Akane: Zedeja rolls a 3 of fearlessness.
Hettie: 13 for Dilfriida is a failure.
GM Elle: Paralyzed. You can't act on your next turn, and every turn after that you get another WIL roll to break out of it.
Ariel: Whew! 3 for Fidu too.
Sasha: Dragon for Quackers.
GM Elle: Not only are you not stricken with fear, but you don't even see these skeletons as dangerous at all. If anything, they seem miserable and pathetic to you.
Sasha: Well, they're still undead, and that makes them monsters, right? Unless something makes me think different, I think we need to draw initiative so I can get to chopping.
GM Elle: Go for it. Skeletons get a 10.
MSG: 5 for me, but I don't think I'm keen on charging in there.
Ariel: Yeah, I'll be not charging in on 8.
Akane: 6 for Zedeja. 
Claire: If we're doing a combat, I'll draw too ... looks like a 9.
GM Elle: Sash, you get to go first, then.
Sasha: I'm wading in with broadsword swinging! 7 on the first one I get to. 9 points of damage!
GM Elle: You hack loose a limb or shatter some ribs, but the skeleton doesn't seem to even notice much.
MSG: I'm trading this 5 card to Filvius so I can go later in the round and see a little more of what's happening before I commit to an action.
Claire: Thanks! Filvius will use his action to do a round rest and get back ... 5 WP.
Akane: Zedeja trades the 6 to Fidu. Waiting appears sensible.
Ariel: Well I for sure don't want to go next! Can I trade it to somebody else?
GM Elle: Only someone who hasn't already had a turn or waited themselves. That means the skeletons.
Ariel: Um ... then I guess I'll trade with them and be able to dodge if one attacks me.
Sasha: You bunch of chickens.
GM Elle: On their turn the skeletons only whine and grumble and wail. Most of it is just wordless noise of anguish and rage, but you hear some of them saying things despairingly, like, "Destroy this place!" and, "Let us rest ..." and, "Close it! Close the portal!" Zedeja? The 8 card is next.
Akane: I command our duck knight to come out and shut back this door. What can be gained, hacking at bones?
Ariel: Well, there is treasure in there ... I think. That's why we came this direction in the first place.
GM Elle: Fidu can't point that out until his turn, though, which is after Akane finishes hers and Dolora does whatever she intends to do.
MSG: That would be nothing.
Akane: Zedeja's commands are known. It can proceed to the wolfkin's barking about treasure now.
GM Elle: Is Fidu going to go in and look for loot, Aers?
Ariel: Heck, no!
GM Elle: New turn, then.
Sasha: If the bones aren't even getting up to fight back, I don't know if we need to bother with initiative, do we? Sir Quacks will get tired of chopping pointlessly pretty quick.
GM Elle: The skeletons just keep making their mournful and vengeful noises, with the occasional vague plea for you to free them or close off the demon realm.
MSG: I'll ask them how we do that.
GM Elle: They don't seem to be capable of coherent conversation. You get the impression many of them have been here for ages, just suffering the torment of lifeless existence.
MSG: Okay. Well, if another round of chopping by Quackers doesn't make them rise up and attack, I guess I'll try going in and digging around to see if there's anything good in there. Being ready to hightail it back out if need be.
GM Elle: How long are you going to dig around for?
MSG: If I don't get attacked or anything, maybe a stretch?
Ariel: I'll go in and join him after a little bit if he's not getting munched on by skeletons.
Sasha: And if they're in here and nothing's happening in the fighting department, I guess I'll switch to looting too.
GM Elle: MSG, you come across a gemstone. Roll a d6.
MSG: 3.
GM Elle: It's another emerald, worth 10 gold.
MSG: That's something, at least.
GM Elle: And that's pretty much all you find, other than the body of that cultist who fell through the trapdoor. Seems to have broken his neck when he fell. All he's got on him is his hand-axe, a key, and a coil of rope.
Claire: So I guess you're saying this bone pit is right under the trapdoor?
GM Elle: Right. If you look up from in here, you can barely see a thin line of light where the trapdoor is still slightly ajar.
Ariel: Well, I for sure see why the room with the grimoire set off my treasure sense more than this one did. Lame.
Sasha: Yeah, let's get out of here. Somebody grab the key, though. Probably just his housekey or something but you never know.
Hettie: Can we assume that sometime during the stretch, I made my save and broke free of my paralysis?
GM Elle: Yes. So where do you go now?
MSG: Back to that one door at the far west?
Claire: We've been everywhere else, right?
Akane: No debate! That door is our destination. Proceed!
Sasha: Sure, why not? Follow me, everybody.
GM Elle: Just to cut to the chase, you find that the door to the west opens into another spiral staircase going up. At the top, you find a locked door.
MSG: We try the key, obviously. Sash?
Sasha: Hey, I said somebody should grab it. I didn't volunteer to.
Ariel: Noooo! Please tell me we don't have to walk all the way back there! Can we say I took it even though I didn't say so when Quackers said to?
GM Elle: That's fine. You do find that the key opens the door, but the door just leads to that area you already explored on the first level ... the one you entered from the courtyard through the curtain of hanging vines.
MSG: Sounds like we've cleared the whole place out, then.
Claire: Let's go see if Hafarmal has brewed up some antidote for us yet.
Ariel: I think we should go check on our donkey!
Sasha: I'll go with you. If it's still there, we can bring it in to the herb garden with us for peace of mind.
GM Elle: Is everyone else going directly to the garden?
MSG: I am. I want to pick Hafarmal's brain about what those skeletons were saying and about the demon world we went to.
Claire: Ditto for Filvius.
Hettie: I think Dilfriida's still on the discombobulated side from those talking skeletons. The herb garden sounds like it would be a comforting place to calm down.
Akane: Zedeja accompanies the donkey pursuers. They may need guidance.
GM Elle: The garden is much closer, so Filvius, Dolora, and Dilfriida arrive there first. You see Hafarmal at work tending a fire under a metal tripod with a hanging pot. He greets you and asks if the temple is free of those cultists.
MSG: I'll say it is as far as we could tell. But there's a weird demon-world portal in the basement that seems to have an even weirder way of affecting time for anyone who goes through. So who knows? Some of them might be over in the demon world where they could come back at any time.
Sasha: Way to let him know we may not have finished the job we made a deal for, Dolora.
Hettie: I believe you're outside, Sash?
Akane: Yes! Less complaining about unheard discussions, more searching for a donkey!
GM Elle: Hafarmal chuckles a little and says that if they've passed through to the demon world and been there any length of time, it will become less and less likely they'll ever return. He sucks on his pipe and then gestures knowingly around the garden with it. "You can see how even being in the same environs with the portal affects plant life ... and, I suppose, my eyes and who knows what else. Passing though to the demon world would be unwise indeed."
MSG: I'll skip telling him the part where we went through, then, I guess.
Claire: But I definitely let him know about those transformed guys with the axes and the armor fused to their bodies and how they had black eyes like he has.
Hettie: Don't leave out our encounter with the horrifying pit of talking skeletons.
GM Elle: He frowns a bit at both of those revelations.
MSG: I ask if he has any idea how the portal could be closed. It seems to be messing around with a lot of stuff, and those poor skeletons have apparently been suffering for decades or centuries since they were thrown down in that pit.
GM Elle: Go ahead and make a Persuasion roll, MSG.
MSG: Ehh, Persuasion isn't my thing. I roll a 13, which fails.
Claire: Aren't you a bard?
MSG: Yes, but I'm better at Bluffing and Performance than winning hearts and minds.
Hettie: Dilfriida is disinclined to try her hand at convincing him. She doesn't want anything further to do with those skeletons. Also, her Persuasion is only four. So it appears to be up to you, Claire.
Claire: Hah. I'll roll, but not only is my Persuasion just as bad as yours, I have a Bane from being Disheartened. So ... well, I'll be! That's a 2 and a 4. So I make it.
GM Elle: And what exactly are you trying to persuade him of?
Claire: Same as Dolora, how to close the portal, if he knows.
GM Elle: He grumbles a bit and talks about how useful this enchanted herb garden has been to his work, but eventually he admits that the risk of further endangering life here in the Magna Woods seems more important than selfishly hanging onto the garden for himself. He tells you that a simple Dispel being cast upon the purple flame should put it out and close the gate.
Claire: Well, we did just find a grimoire with Dispel in it. But none of us has learned it yet.
GM Elle: Hafarmal invites you to rest and study here in the garden, then. He points at the pot and says he still has some work to do on the antidote he's been brewing for you.
MSG: Sweet.
Claire: Eww ... dang, I just read the bit about learning spells from the rulebook, and it says you have to use an advancement mark in the school for the spell, study for a shift, and make a skill roll to successfully learn it. And then you can't use it in the same play session.
GM Elle: Well, Hafarmal says he knows Dispel, and if the portal is closing, it might as well be his job to close it. He tells you to relax and enjoy the garden. Meanwhile, Fidu, Sir Q, and Zedeja go out the front gate of the temple and see that the donkey is nowhere to be seen.
Akane: Donkey! No hiding from your masters! Come out at once!
GM Elle: That doesn't seem to get a response.
Ariel: Can I look around for donkey tracks?
GM Elle: Yes. That's a Bushcraft roll.
Ariel: Ooh, I get a 12, which is just what I needed!
GM Elle: You spot some tracks leading off into the woods. Do you follow them?
Ariel: I dunno, should we get everyone else?
Sasha: By the time we do, some monster may have eaten our donkey.
Akane: Also, how far can a donkey have gone?
GM Elle: Well, you did rest an entire shift underground.
Akane: Hmm. Do we have enough sun left for a search?
GM Elle: It's late afternoon or early evening. Probably a couple of hours before it gets fully dark.
Sasha: Let's get a move on, then. Lead the way, Fidu.
Ariel: Okay, I guess ...
GM Elle: Not too far into the woods, you come across what looks like a relatively fresh pile of donkey dung.
Ariel: He must be pretty close, then!
Akane: Donkey! It's punishment for you if you don't heed!
GM Elle: Suddenly, you hear an answer to Zedeja's cries.
Ariel: Um ... a donkey-ish answer?
GM Elle: No -- it's a shrill set of voices coming from the trees above you. "Look! Tasties for us!" "And one has shiny pretty metal!" It's a trio of harpies swooping down to attack you. Time for initiative.
Ariel: 9 for Fidu.
Sasha: 3 for Quackers.
Akane: Zedeja is at 8.
GM Elle: The harpies draw 4, 5, and 7. They're circling in a swarm, and because they're staying airborne, you'll need ranged weapons or a long weapon like a big spear to attack them.
Sasha: Well, my longspear is back in the cart, so I guess I'm shooting my bow at them. 3 is a hit.
GM Elle: They'll use their 7 card to try dodging. And they succeed. On 4, They do an Excrement Attack -- they open their mouths and cloacae and unleash a rain of vomit and offal. All three of you gain a condition of your choice. It could be parried with a shield, but Sir Q is the only one with a shield and he already used his turn.
Ariel: Oh gross. It's going to get all in my fur. That'll be so much work to get out! It makes me Disheartened.
Sasha: I'm already Angry and Exhausted. Guess I'll get Disheartened too.
Akane: So unpleasant! Zedeja is Disheartened also.
GM Elle: On 5 they go again, this time trying to do an Eye Gouge on the knight. Only 5 points, though, so it doesn't get through your armor. However, the attack is supposed to blind you for a stretch and make you act as if in total darkness. I'm going to say they got a claw through your visor and scratched your forehead bad enough you're getting blood in your eyes, giving you a Bane on your attacks even if they didn't do enough damage to lower your hit points. Zedeja, your turn.
Akane: It's a roll of 2 with my sling. Their turns are all expended, so they can't dodge, which means 10 points of damage to one!
Ariel: I'm shooting that one if it's still alive!
GM Elle: It is.
Ariel: Boo. 11.
Sasha: New initiative? I draw the 9.
Akane: 2 for Zedeja.
Ariel: I got 5.
GM Elle: Harpies on 3, 7, and 10.
Akane: A stone to the head of the one I struck before! But -- I just remembered, my damaged sling. It's supposed to have a Bane. Rolling to see if the 10 points must be removed ... no, the die relieves me with a 2. Now, this turn's attack: 5 and Dragon. So sad to waste a Dragon on a Baned roll. Do they dodge?
GM Elle: Using their 10 card. It's a success. On 3, they do a Coordinated Attack on Quackenscrump, trying to rend and tear him and drag him into the air to drop him ... but they only get 3 damage, not enough to penetrate his armor.
Ariel: I'm shooting the hurt one again! Boo, another miss. I can't believe how long this fight is lasting! It's exhausting poor old Fidu, so I'm taking the Exhausted condition and pushing my roll. 7 is a hit!
GM Elle: You did all that work, but the harpy is still going to try to dodge. It succeeds with a 4.
Sasha: Okay, here's my blood-in-the-eyes bow attack: 8 and 2!
GM Elle: You didn't say which one you're shooting at.
Sasha: My pals seem to be handling that hurt one. I'll try a fresh one. 12 points!
GM Elle: That kills it.
Ariel: Good call, Sash!
Sasha: Live dangerously, or are you really living at all?
GM Elle: New initiative. The two remaining harpies get 1 and 2.
Ariel: Boo! Why did they get to draw first this time? I got the 6.
Sasha: 10 for me.
Akane: 4. But at least we have dodging for an option.
GM Elle: Death from Above! They're throwing rocks and tree branches and stuff at you. Everyone's going to take d6 damage unless you dodge or parry.
Ariel: Dodging sounds like a lot of work, and d6 doesn't sound so bad.
Sasha: Bring it.
Akane: Zedeja is too Disheartened to dodge.
GM Elle: 3 points on Quackers, so nothing. Ouch, 6 on Fidu.
Ariel: Yipe!
GM Elle: 5 on Zedeja.
Akane: The aged voice of the Mind squeaks with pain.
GM Elle: Eye Gouge on Fidu for their second attack.
Ariel: Oh gosh, I don't want to be blinded too! I try to dodge. Yuck! 17! Now I'm pushing the roll because I'm Scared! Whew! 9 this time.
Akane: The Baneful sling of Zedeja fires at a harpy of injury. 10 and 7, a hit!
GM Elle: It has only 2 hit points left, so your minimum damage kills it.
Sasha: Woohoo, go Zedj! Quackers takes another bloody-eyes shot at the last one. Oof. One roll is a Demon.
GM Elle: You accidentally hit a random player character or friendly NPC. On a 1 or 2, it's Fidu. On a 3 or 4, it's Zedeja --
Ariel: Wait, why are you picking up a d6 then? Nooo, don't give Quackers a chance to shoot our donkey!
GM Elle: Sorry, but 5 or 6 means the donkey has heard Zedeja calling it and wandered close enough it gets hit. Luckily for it, I roll a 4.
Akane: Unlucky for Zedeja though!
GM Elle: Yep, Sash, roll your damage. 
Sasha: Whoof. 13 points.
Akane: My leather armor stops 1. Wait, it also stopped 3 of dropped harpy rocks because leather is superior against bludgeoning! Oh. But the hit points of Zedeja ... only 12. Even just one 13 point arrow kills her.
GM Elle: Well, it doesn't kill her, but she's down and will have to make death rolls on her turn. New initiative.
Sasha: Sorry about that!
Akane: It's okay. Several chances still for Zedeja to live.
Ariel: Gimme those cards! No harpies picking first this time! What?? 7, ugh.
Sasha: 9 for me.
Akane: 10. At least Zedeja is dying very slowly.
GM Elle: The last harpy is on 2. Luckily, harpies are chicken, and it flies away instead of fighting on its own.
Ariel: Okay, I rush over and try to do Healing on Zedeja. My Healing stinks and I get a Bane, but maybe I'll get lucky. Nope.
Sasha: Same for Quackers, I guess, except that I'm Angry so I get an extra Bane. Three fails.
Akane: First death roll for Akane ... 15 is failure.
GM Elle: I'm not going to make you draw initiative every time, just keep going in order.
Ariel: More First Aid! Come on, Zedeja, breathe! No, so close! 5 and 7 ... but the 7 fails.
Sasha: Dragon and two fails for me.
Akane: 17 again fails for Zedeja against death.
Ariel: I'm getting really worried here! Blah! 19 and Dragon ... I'm going to push the roll and say I'm so worried it's making me Sickly. Fooh, two more failures.
Sasha: One success out of three for me.
Akane: 19. Zedeja must push this roll, she is so Scared. Now, success. Only two more and she is safe!
Ariel: First aid, first aid, first aid -- no.
Sasha: A 3, a 2, and a 9. So close.
Akane: Another success at death rolling, no need for a push.
GM Elle: What do you all think? Is this a good place to end the session?
Ariel: NO! THAT IS SO NOT EVEN FUNNY!
Sasha: I thought it was kind of funny.
Akane: Suspenseful!
Ariel: Just for that, look! I roll a 6 and a 5, which means my First Aid works! You get 2 points back, Zedeja.
Sasha: Whew, that was close!
Akane: Almost a first fatality. Zedeja orders you to learn better Healing at the soonest possibility.
Ariel: Well I am Disheartened, and Scared, and Sickly, and Exhausted, but we are finding this darned donkey and getting it back to the temple!
Sasha: Should we maybe do a stretch rest and let Zedeja get at least a few hit points back?
Akane: Zedeja wonders ... how far to the nest of these harpies? Can a survivor harpy get there and return with a larger swarm in 15 minutes?
Sasha: Good point. Probably we don't want to be sitting around here if that happens.
Ariel: So, do I need to make another Bushcraft roll, or what?
GM Elle: If I'd rolled that six, I was going to let the donkey take that arrow hit, so it's close. A few more minutes of following the tracks you were already after will let you find it. We can say you make it back to the temple before dusk fully seeps out of the sky.
MSG: Wow. You look like crap, Zedeja.
Claire: Actually, they literally all look like crap, remember?
Ariel: My fur is all gunked up with harpy poo.
Sasha: And vomit. Don't forget the vomit.
Hettie: There surely must be a well or something of the sort near this temple where we can get water and wash them off. Hafarmal is boiling something in that pot, isn't he?
GM Elle: Yes, he tells you there's a well over on the north side of the temple. He also casts a Treat Wounds spell on Zedeja ... but it only ends up doing 3 points.
MSG: I'm not saying so out loud, but this guy isn't the world's best healer.
Akane: 3 points exceeds 0 points.
GM Elle: That's a healthy way to look at it. Anyway, if you head over to the well, you're able to wash the worst of the crap and puke away ... enough so the stench won't keep everyone awake at least. Then you can all bed down for the night if you want. Hafarmal assures you it's safe.
Sasha: Yeah, and we can definitely trust a monster-eyes elf.
GM Elle: So I'd say this is a good spot to end the session. Everybody gets the participation mark. Sash, Aers, and Akane get the dangerous opponent mark. I don't think you really explored a new location. I do think everybody hit their weakness at least once. And you convinced Hafarmal to close the portal, so that's solving a problem without using violence. Three marks apiece and four for the harpy-puke trio.
Akane: Zedeja will attempt the learning of Dispel from the grimoire for one of her marks. Success! It will be castable next session.
GM Elle: Good job. What about Filvius, Claire?
Claire: Not wasting the advancement mark trying to learn from the grimoire -- my Languages skill stinks. Good game tonight, though, Elle!
Ariel: As always!
Sasha: Nothing like cleaning harpy yark out of the joints of your plate armor, I always say.
Akane: Nearness of death ... very cathartic.
GM Elle: Well, glad everybody enjoyed it. Next session should be good, since you'll be getting into something new now that the Temple of the Purple Flame is a wrap.
Hettie: I genuinely cannot wait.
MSG: Me either!

so where in the misty vale will next time take us? hang in there and we'll all see together! thanks for reading!