Thug Muggers in the Sewers 2/26/23
Table Talk:
I decided this week that Rae’s new Staff of Consciousness needs an AC for when it is doing anything on its own. Since it is a staff and is made to hit and be hit, I gave it an AC of 21 to show that it can get escapes and what not, but it will take a lot for it to actually take any lasting damage.
Brooke and i actually started playing a little bit before everyone else on the drive over. See, while unconscious, the visage of a horrifying demon came to Ari and offered her a devil's bargain. Since this is a separate thing, i did a voice narration for it.
This session had a LOT of rolls, saves and checks. But, i tried to keep the numbers a little lighter and merge that aspect of the gameplay more into the narrative of the summary to keep things from getting too crunchy. So just know that wherever you see someone baiting Guadacubé that’s a Charisma roll. Controlling the chain, or turning the cranks, are Strength rolls, etc. We’ll go back to having more in the summaries if people want, but this time, every other paragraph would have just been numbers and results.
“He raised his hand, and the drab on the table mimicked the motion. He danced his hand around and the brown piece of iron bobbed in the air. He looked from me to the coin. “The law of sympathy is one of the most basic parts of magic. It states that the more similar two objects are, the greater the sympathetic link. The greater the link, the more easily they influence each other.””
-Ben –Patrick Rothfuss, “The Name of the Wind: Chapter Eleven”
🎲🗡️🔔✨🌿
Chapter 13: A Gelatinous Puzzle
🎲🗡️🔔✨🌿 Chapter 13: A Gelatinous Puzzle
The sun is shining and the rains have stopped. It’s midday on the 4th of Kython. Some children are splashing in puddles, to the grief of their parents, traders in small shops are taking down awnings to let the sun shine on their wares, Somewhere high overhead a group of Aarakocra have finally set off in flight after being delayed for a day. A young goblin is outside the city walls, frantically looking around the base of the stones for flowers that only bloom after rain, it’s very important to here, she wants to propose to her troll lover and has been waiting all winter, but their desert tribe has a tradition and a proposal can only be made with flowers that bloom after rains. Somewhere in a dark room in a pocket dimension that only he has the keys to, Devin is sorting through racks of goods, getting a bag ready for the afternoon. It’s a beautiful day.
Down below, in the sewers beneath the grand theatre, things are not going well. Rae is tugging at a hungry Baby Gelatinous Cube, trying to stop it from dissolving her best friend, and their teammate. Sorin is bracing a tin shield also trying to protect Ari and Cypress, while wondering if Ghost Ari might have more affection for him. Cypress is in a holy trance unconscious, but alive, standing at the foot of Yondalla’s great tree and enjoying the sunlight of the gods.
Ari, well, Ari is mumbling in her unconscious doze, and if we listen hard, we can hear one phrase clearly (Yes or no), and then she shivers as the demon she was talking to fades away, deep in the roaring 5th hell, beneath a cavern roof of dripping red iron, it smiles with teeth of rock and lets out a thundering laugh.
Before anyone can move, the Stirge flaps out of the top of the Cube, its flight is sloppy and jittery from the holes in its wings, but it flies right for the closest target. What is Akris’s AC? It attempts to suck on Akris but gets only spectral air and Akris fades.
Ari staggers to her feet in time to see the Stirge hit Akris and watch the snake disappear. She fumbles with her bow and leans on the wall, still back to reality. She draws back the arrow blinking, then lets it fly… or rather lets it fall to the ground, since she didn’t get it fully notched. She shakes herself and focuses on waking up.
“Master Witchhazel,” A shimmering voice floats above Cypress’s soul in the void, “I grant you this favor, as your task is not yet done, see my glory and awaken. Rise in my name and fight on, but know that should you fall again, I cannot save you once more.” Cypress you have an option, if you want, to take another Death saving throw. If you pass you are at 1 hp and conscious, but if you fail you are unstable again and inching towards death.
“I see your grace.” Cypress rolls.
Rae pulls on the chain, stopping the Cube as it tries to slide towards Cypress’s unconscious body.
Sorin’s shoulders are heaving up and down. His breath quickens as he lifts an unsteady hand. Blue sparks drip off his fingers like liquid metal as he speaks the Firebolt incantation. He rolls a critical hit. The magical flaming quarrel that shoots from his hand is gray, a blue hot iron bolt streaked with a raging white fire that rips into the Stirge as it tries to fly away and hide.
The ethereal iron bolt rips through the Stirge, and evaporates in the bloody steam. The Stirge’s arms flap twice around the empty hole where its body used to be, and then go still. The leftover chunks fall into the Cube below with a sizzle and puff of acidic steam, the leftovers quenching themselves on its gooey outer wall.
Ari sees Cypress’s eyes fluttering awake. She sets her tin crate lid down atop the drain here in the intersection and goes over to him. She smiles as he comes to and helps him up. “Did you see your god?” She asks in a friendly manner as she helps them up. “I don’t know what I saw, but I hope your visions were better than mine.”
The thug muggers take advantage of the corner intersection here to rearrange, with Sorin stepping to the side so he can get back behind with Rae.
Cyprus picks up the dead Stirge by Ari’s feet and starts waving it around to attack the Cube.
Guadacubé Is still a little shaken up. It was a tasty dinner, and there was even a warm dessert that was so hot it burnt the roof of his…him, but it’s been a lot of commotion, and now he just wants to sit in a cold dark room, and digest for a while. He goes to goop down the dark hallway ahead, but feels a pressure on him and relents, moving sideways down the adjacent hall and hoping nothing too exciting happens for a little while.
Rae manages to tug the Cube onto the right path. With Cypress and Ari baiting in front, and Sorin back guarding the rear, we head south to the next turn. There are no problems getting the Cube to change directions at the turn this time. Whether it’s Rae’s searing, Ari’s Thaumaturgy, or Cypress’s Stirge puppetry, it seems like the thing is cooperating…for now.
After some hurried plans shouted over the top of the Cube, Ari and Cypress split off to go work the cranks, and Sorin uses Spider Climb to walk up the wall and around to the front of the line, picking up Cypress’s dead Stirge and flapping it. It seems to work, as he turns the Cube around the corner.
Rae and Sorin hear a bunch of grunting sounds through their Sending stone earrings, and a “There I think I felt it start to give, let's take a second and go again.” On the second attempt, the crank gives way and starts to spin. In the distance, we hear an iron grate sliding into the ceiling.
“Yeah, Rae, use those muscles!” Sorin says from the ceiling, waving his dead red bat-thing like a pompom to cheer on the Monk as she swings the chain around to keep the Cube heading straight. “Oh I will, Sorin.” She whispers under her breath, probably imagining the chain around his throat as she tugs on it.
At the second intersection of the overflow area, Sorin looks down the corridor and waves at Ari and Cypress. He doesn’t think about it though and he waves with the hand holding the Stirge.
Guadacubé senses its dripping prey turn down the other hallway and he moves to chase it.
Rae is caught off guard as the Cube suddenly shifts all its weight to the wrong side. It sclurches down the wrong hallway and starts pulling her behind it.
“Dammit Sorin!”
Remembering his lion tamer technique, Cypress runs over and Thorn Whip’s at the cobbles in front of the Cube to send it back the right way.
Guadacubé feels a snapping popping crack nearby, the sort of thing that always used to scare Cubert, and usually left him with something crunchy to eat. Guadacubé lurches forward, but the snapping popping prey isn’t there.
Rae heaves on the chain, Ari Thaumaturgy’s a sound of scurrying rats, and Sorin tears a hunk of Stirge meat to throw on the ground. Together, they all get the Cube pointed back the right way, and headed down the hallway to the now-open grate.
Once inside the little room next to the Church of Shadows Crypt Drainage Room, the Cube lurches up and catches a bit of Sorin’s dangling hand as they walk. Sorin groans, but keeps his temper and keeps waving the Stirge around.
Rae steps into the little room and tries to tuck herself into a corner. She touches her Sending Stone, “Okay, we’re past the first gate now, you can go head and close it.
The Cube moves idly around his new little room. It slorps away from Rae into another corner. In their Sending Stones, Sorin and Rae hear more grunting and then panting. Sorin giggles to himself, but the grate stays up in the ceiling.
“Do you got it, or do you need help?” Rae asks.
Guadacubé is bored. The dark is nice but the echoing vibrations are annoying. He picks out the source of the noise and gets ready to lurch.
Rae has seen the Cube’s inner light move like that before. She gets ready to dodge.
As the Cube lunges forward, the grate finally comes crashing down.
Rae jumps out of the way of the Cube, but gets distracted by the iron bars coming down. Her foot feels the wet tugging as it tries to suck her in (6 damage).
“Took a couple tries, but we got it.” Says a crackling voice in the Sending Stones.
“Okay. Great.” Rae says sharply as she pulls her foot out of the cube. “Now the other please. As quick as possible please.”
Sorin is dancing on the ceiling, frantically trying to get the Cube to go after the dead Stirge again, but it’s bouncing side to side playing with its new elf-toy.
Back on the overflow halls, Cypress and Ari start heading for the next crank, not knowing they are being watched from above. The first Spider drops on Ari’s neck and bites her for 2 damage, it’s itchy hairy legs clawing around in the open pustulous skin of where the Stirge bit her for 2 damage. The second Spider lands on Cypress and bites them for 1 damage.
Cypress’s world goes stretched like a hallway in a horror movie when the camera changes its distance focus, then it goes fuzzy, and then black as he slumps to the floor.
“No, no, no, no, no!” Ari’s hands frantically pull the Spider off Cypress’s chest, “Nuh uh, any more and he might really die!” She balls up her fist and then throws the Spider at the wall. The Spider’s body makes a crunchy splat noise against the wall where the Spider’s soul continues through the wall and on to another world.
“Uh,” Rae says, jumping off the wall to Dodge around the Cube, “we could use the grate open… anytime now..”
Sorin is swinging the dead Stirge around wildly overhead, but the Cube keeps lurching after Rae, making her jump off walls and corners to keep out of its way.
Cypress makes another Death Saving Throw.
The Spider on Ari tries to bite at her again, but it has to jump out of the way of her slashing dagger. Neither land any blows as the Spider scurries around and Ari slashes at where it just was.
“Um… Ari? Cypress?” Rae says into her ear piece as she dodges under a corner of the weird roof to avoid the Baby Gelatinous Cube.
Sorin decides that he won’t need the whole Stirge much longer, since we’re right at the last door. He rips one wing off it with a wet sucking sound, dangles it just barely touching the slimy edge of the Cube, and then throws it into the corner.
Guadacubé reverses and goes after this new, easier meal.
“Yeah, just a second,” Ari says as he Spider bites her leg just below her leather poleyn.
On a third successful roll, Cypress’s eyes creak open just in time to see Ari’s hand slap a Spider into a dripping green puddle that drips down her shin. He looks up at her, “You got Spider goop in your new boots.”
“I know,” She says, giving them a hand up, “I’ll have to clean them out later.” Then, to her ear piece she says, “Alright Rae, I’m heading over to the next crank now.”
‘Now!?’ Rae thinks, Re-coiling the chain around her forearm, ‘what was she doing when i was getting lurched at!?’
On the ceiling, Sorin drips a steady stream of recycled-Ari-blood from the Stirge’s digestive sack onto the floor, making a path towards the next grate. The Cube inches forward, sucking it up like a dungeon vacuum cleaner.
This time, before blindly rushing in, Ari checks the hallway first. When she sees it’s clear, she runs down it to the crank. With a mighty heave-ho she pulls handle after handle down, and the chain winds up on the reel.
Rae lets off slack in the chain as the grate lifts up its grooves into the ceiling.
As soon as there is enough room, Sorin tosses the rest of the Stirge into the room. “Alright,” he says with a relieved sigh, “the Cube is in the room.”
“Wait,” Cypress’s crackly voice says, “Did we check that Belgruuse isn’t in there?
Sorin and Rae look at each other.
“I need to go in and unhook the chain anyway,” Rae sighs as she walks through the grate.
“I’ll be here by the crank,” Ari reassures, “just say the word, and it’s closed.
Rae unhooks the chain from around the swollen Baby cube and looks around at the freshly mortared walls. She sticks a finger in her ear like a secret agent. “Belgruuse isn’t in here, and it looks like the wall is repaired.” She walks around the Cube picking up an armful of chain, and then turns to leave.
Everyone hears a panicked voice in their Sending Stones.
“Close it, close it, close it, close it, close it.”
“But?”
“It’s going back out, close it!”
Ari spins the wheel in the wall until the chain spool next to her is unwound. “Rae, did you make it out?”
“No, I'm gonna have to go out the other way, I’m walking over there now.”
“Hey, uh, guys?” Sorin asks, “I’m stuck in this little room and both the grates here are closed…” he sounds a little worried, “can someone open the first grate so I can get out?”
The Sending Stones are loud with a thoughtful silence.
“Guys?” His voice is panicky and claustrophobic.
“Fine,” sighs Cypress, breaking the silence, “I’ll let you out, wizard boy.” they go up to the first crank and look at it. They grip the hands and pull. The world goes fuzzy and vinnetted at the edges. Cypress lets go and steadies himself on the wall. “Just a second,” He takes a drink from his water skin and tries again. He's slow and careful this time, breathing in between each handle as he pulls them. This is the result of Cypress rolling a nat’ 1 and going unconscious again, but having the ‘lucky’ trait as a halfling and getting to re-roll.
Sorin walks down the wall, and onto the floor, watching the grate’s slowly jerky progress into the ceiling.
Rae walks past the large stone sign and into the south hallway. Keeping an eye out for anything bitey, she turns to the next corridor back to her friends and stops. “Guys, there’s two more Stirge down here.”
She attempts to duck back around the corner before she’s noticed, but a moment later, everyone hears, “Ow, son of a-”
Ari sets off in an all out dash. She kicks off walls to turn the corners faster and runs past Cypress and Sorin, rushing to help her friend. Almost like she feels guilty about something. Huh, weird.
Cypress decides that in his current 0 Hp state, running towards danger is a very bad idea. He kneels down on the floor, and prays. Several times in the prayer he repeats phrases like ‘thank you’ and ‘the sacred blessing of life’. After a moment of blissful reflection, he stands up 10 Hp stronger, and wipes the sweat from his brow.
Sorin rushes after Ari, moving just behind her into the hall with the new Stirge. She has to stop for a breather, but he only had half as far to run, and still has the stamina to cast a quick spell. “I got this,” he whispers.
“Do you, though?” All his teammates say in unison.
He lifts his hand, pointing right at the Stirge in the middle of the hall and casts FireBolt.
At the last second, the Stirge flies up, and out of the path of the spell. The Firebolt continues in its straight line, right towards Rae standing at the other end of the hall.
Rae’s eyes go wide as the Firebolt gets closer and closer to her face. She pushes Ki into her hand and, like lighting, she brings it up to meet the fiery arrow. She ducks to one side as she pushes the Ki out of her palm, striking the spell off course, and over her head. “Really Sorin!?”
“Sorry.”
Rae whips out her dagger and slices the Stirge in front of her. For a brief heartbeat, she watches a tiny waterfall of her own blood cascade out onto the floor, before the wings stop beating and cursed thing splashes in the puddle on the floor.
Cypress joins everyone, walking up behind Ari. As Ari gets ready to rush off, he grabs her arm. “Wait.” He closes his eyes and pictures the face he saw when he was inching his way towards death, the kind face that gave him another chance. With a holy word “ℜ𝔢𝔰𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢” he moves the light from her face over to Ari’s body. A small glimmer shinies on her for a second before fading into her skin.
“Thanks.” Ari nods and then charges. She runs into the hall, and like a Iaijutsu samurai, draws her rapier out of its sheath and across the back of the Stirge before pirouetting and sheathing the blade on the other side of its falling body.
Phew. That was a lot. But we’re out of initiative and Guadacubé and Cubert are in their new homes, so we can take a well earned moment… To go report back to Pulgrok and then head to the Church of shadows. Come on folks, There Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked!
Sorin, Rae and Ari, all get ready to head back up the hallway, when they are stopped by a fierce looking Cypress with an outstretched hand. He examines each one of them closely, making them bend down so he can get a good look at cuts, scrapes and open leaking wounds. After a minute he pinches Rae's cheeks and makes her stick out her tongue. He grabs in and pulls it out further, ignoring her gargled protests as he pears down her throat. “Hmmph, thought so.” Without letting go, he pulls a tiny tightly balled up bundle of leaves from his belt pouch, and places it on the very back of Rae’s tongue, then pushes her tongue back inside her mouth and covers her lips and nose. “Swallow,” he says as her eyes water. “Alright, let’s go.” Cypress turns and walks off with the others in tow (Ari and Sorin giggling and pointing at Rae behind his back).
Rae coughs a bit from the spices, but as she walks, she does half to admit she does feel several Hp better. (about a ‘Cure Wound’s worth).
As we walk back north, Ari falls to the back of the line with Rae. She tears up as she tells her of the horrifying vision she saw as she lay there dying, and the impossible choice she had to make. She chokes up and apologizes to her best friend, secretly terrified of what might happen.
Rae thinks for a moment, then puts a hand on her shoulder. “I understand, and for what it’s worth, I think you did the right thing. I’d gladly give up some of my strength to keep you from dying, Zavari.”
My eyes aren’t watering, your eyes are watering.
We detour from the main path, to go back to the first crank and close the final grate. Like Vulkoft, The Sewer Ranger always says, “Leave the hallways just as you found them, kids!”
“We got it,” Ari and Rae say in unison. They walk up to the crank and sing the ‘best friends forever song’. They forget to pull the crank.
Cypress sighs and walks underneath them doing patty-cake. He tries his hardest, but gives up, “Come on, a little help here?” He asks up at them.
Sorin walks in between Ari and Rae, “I got this,” he says, rolling up his sleeves (they fall right back down).
“Do you, though?” All his teammates say in unison.
Sorin grunts, and spins the crank almost effortlessly.
Everyone stares.
And that’s where we end things. All in all a good day, and-
“Wait, no i’m not ending this with Sorin getting a good strength rool, when we get to a rest, I am arm wrestling-”
-And that’s where we end things. All in all a good day. We’re on our way back to Pulgrok for a very good payout and a heap of experience.
“Tell her to call me. I’m full of free advice, but she gets what she pays for.”
-Sargent Jim Chee —Anne Hillerman, “Sacred Bridge: 10”
Table talk:
We looked up The Monk bonus actions in the Player’s Handbook. So as a reminder, after any unarmed attack, or attack with a Monk weapon, like her staff, Rae gets a bonus attack that she hasn’t been using. “You gain the following benefits while you are unarmed or wielding only monk weapons and you aren’t wearing armor or wielding a shield: . . . When you use the Attack action with an unarmed strike or a monk weapon on your turn, you can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action. For example, if you take the Attack action and attack with a quarterstaff, you can also make an unarmed strike as a bonus action, assuming you haven't already taken a bonus action this turn.”
Next week will be a bit more backstory scenes, but these are probably the last ones, so get ready!
And lastly, I wasn’t going to let Ari completely die like that, not without a lot of discussion about it at least. I actually had a couple back up plans including the devil's bargain, just in case.
