Eclipsing the Night 2
| Eclipsing the Night 2 | |
|---|---|
| Date | 10/19/23 |
| Storyteller | Zoro |
| Tier | Master, Medium |
| Player Characters | Aleth, Hiromi, Clam, Illiam Elro, Zeal, Miles Ender |
| Rewards | 275 xp, 738 gold, 7 silver, 5 copper, Spy staff (greater), limestone shield, flaming star (greater), heartstone, black onyx gems x 2, sack of holding rocks x 2, rock x 8, Scroll of create undead ritual (level 3, skeletal giant), +1 striking greatclub x 2, +1 striking gaff x 2, +1 striking scythe x 2 |
| Result | Success |
| Author | Zeal |
| Downtime | 4 |
Log
We only had a couple of hours to work due to the positioning of the cave. It was partially submerged, so the only way we could get in or out was during low tide. It was a crafty place for the Night Hag to hide, and we may never have found it if not for the efforts of a previous investigative team. Still, this was the location of the hag that had been terrorizing Onadbyr for a few months, so we didn't intend to leave before the job was done.
Despite being underwater, the area was lit by lanterns. Magical lanterns, it seemed. We had a split path ahead of us and elected to head left first. We found a large, fish-eyed green-skin creature carving boulders from the wall. As Clam, Miles and I moved to engage it in the corner it had dug for itself, another emerged from an illusory wall and charged at Hiromi and the others that were some distance from us. I told Clam and Miles to go handle that one while I dealt with this one, and after swiftly cutting it down I joined the others to bring it down as well. They carried magic gaffs and some throwing rocks, the former of which was unexpected, but it would be easy money if we took them back with us. We then headed back to the other path, ignoring what looked to be a graveyard for the moment and heading through a more narrow path that led us to a river. Before we could investigate the river, Clam spotted a stone giant hiding nearby and charged it. After fighting two stone giants and a will-o-wisp, we look across the river and saw an abnormal spot of darkness. A candle of darkness apparently, leading beyond to a path we elected not to explore yet. We returned to the graveyard area, minus Clam and Miles who decided to swim through the river to get to the back end of it.
I walked forward and drew the attention of a horde of trained skeletal soldiers, which the four of us fought for a time until three wisps and a much larger spellcaster of an undead emerged. It tried to confuse me and feeblemind Hiromi, both of which failed. We killed it quickly, then had an extended squabble with the formation of undead and will-o-wisps, the latter of which seemed to have a particular dislike for me.
Meanwhile, Clam's foot had caught something in the river. Several heads emerged, forcing Clam and Miles to face off against a hydra. They collected somewhere around 14 or 15 heads from it before Clam's usage of a fire retaliation potion allowed them to put it down for good. After they displayed their kill we looked across the river, spotting an iron gate with moon symbols on it. Upon approach Hiromi identified the trick, using a moonlight lantern on her person to open the door. Clam spotted the night hag slipping away in the distance as we entered the core of their lair, 20 minutes left to finish the job and escape. Aleth attempts to barricade the door while we search for the night hag, but after some taunting she and her "sisters" attack.
Unlike the night hag herself, who I cornered and slew quickly through the use of fear tactics, her much larger scythe-wielding sisters were a legitimate threat. Between their negative energy spells and devastating blows, by time I joined the fight multiple people were severely injured. Aleth had been ambushed outside and forced away, Miles was injured, both Illiam and Clam were unconscious, and Hiromi was being pressured by a second sister of the two that had joined the fight. I rushed to the center of the conflict to assist, helping Hiromi in getting a near-dead Illiam away from the fight while Illiam's lifeboost got Clam up, or awake, rather. They elected to stay on the ground with the scythe sister, clamping onto her neck and wrestling the life from her body. From there Miles and I surrounded the remaining sister and began laying into her, only momentarily impeded by her striking her sister's corpse and making it explode.
Once we finished off the third and final hag, we had to move quickly. Hiromi and I got rid of the bodies by her gentle reposing them and my burning them while the rest looted the place to the best of their ability. We also burned a spell scroll depicting a ritual for summoning giant undead creatures, not wanting something like that to continue existing.