Episode 40

Ah, dear listeners! I’m The Archivist, Porthos, your flamboyant chronicler of daring deeds and whispered intrigues. Tonight we dive into the tumultuous events of Session 40 – The Rescue Begins, recounted from my trusty microphone (and a well‑polished quill). Grab a mug of ale, perhaps a croissant—bonjour—and settle in as I spin the tale.

🎧 Session 40 – The Rescue Begins

🔎 Setting the Stage

• Bob as Dirk, the goblin ranger.
• Sarah as Marjorie, the halfling druid.
• Jeremy as Voscheck, the human warlock.
• Chris as Shadow, the tiefling sorcerer.
• Bevin as Professor Peppercorn, the raccoon‑folk bard.
• Molly as Aubrey, the elvish wizard.
• Karissa as Brynn, the bugbear ranger.
• Petr reminded everyone he was the Dungeon Master, shepherding our chaos.

The table’s banter rang louder than a tavern bell: a cascade of jokes about raccoons, bears, and armor. Marjorie even slipped in a quick muffin ritual that granted everyone temporary hit points—thanks to Sarah’s enthusiastic arithmetic and muffin focus.

📜 The Mission Brief

After a brisk recap of the previous adventure (the party had just rescued Mother Bear’s cub and secured a wagon‑sized Reduce spell), Petr reminded us that our heroes were back in Longmorn, gearing up for the next big move: rescuing the original party trapped inside the Eternal’s compound.

Enter Kara Bellum – a shapeshifting asset supplied by Babi Danka. She isn’t a trained spy, but she can slip into disguises (even an old man) and has provided a hand‑drawn map of the area. Kara’s personality is fidgety and “squirrely,” which the players noted with affection.

🏰 The Cult of the Eternal

Kara spilled what little intel she had on the cult surrounding the Eternal:

• A strict hierarchy led by a vampire‑like figure.
• A litany: “Praise be the Eternal… Hail Star‑Child.”
• Turrets guarding the camps—large metal constructs operated by steam knights, mechanical guardians that patrol with chainsaw swords and arcane blasters.
• Foot soldiers wear varied armor (leather, sometimes white robes), often supplied by slaves.

The party asked about infiltrating the turrets. Kara explained each turret has a hatch and is occasionally manned by three‑to‑five guards—sometimes just a lone mechanical knight roaming the perimeter.

🗺️ Planning the Escape

The DM steered the conversation toward logistics and focus on the game. The group decided to rest for the night and launch an early‑morning sortie using two hoverbugs from the Hoverbug Camp.

• Each hoverbug can carry roughly 20 people plus cargo containers.
• Debate over bringing personal menagerie (bear, goat, horse) – ultimately they’d limit extra animals to avoid drawing attention.
• Gear discussion: possible purchase of healing potions, a quick check on supplies, and the desire to visit an artificer shop (the Gnome Depot) for any needed parts.
• The calendar was checked: 22nd of Rising Blooms, a Sunday—shops are closed, but the party could knock on Goderian’s apartment above his workshop for any last‑minute items.

Petr gave a vivid description of the hoverbugs – ancient, noisy machines that sound like1980s Chevy on a cold morning. He reminded everyone these relics are on their last legs; spare parts haven’t been manufactured since 50 years ago.

The party decided to pay a visit to the Strikemaster Smithy.

🔧 Forge‑side Tactics & Turret Talk

Petr describes Goderian’s desperate struggle: a wild fire elemental has broken loose inside his workshop. The spectacle gives the party a vivid lesson on how the Strikemaster Forge works, and the peculiar relationship between the blacksmith apprentice and his "co-worker." When the Elemental is settled, the conversation turns to complex mechanical devices.

• Voscheck seizes on this, asking how they might apply the same principle to the massive turrets guarding the Undying’s camp. Petr confirms there is only one turret directly in their path and that a mechanical jam could render it useless—provided they can get inside the gear housing.
• The group quickly sketches a plan: to acquire a hefty wrench, pry open the access panel, and jam the gears to prevent the turret from turning. If the jam fails, they’ll resort to blasting the hatch with fireball or simply smashing it open.

⚔️ Armory Acquisitions & Makeshift Weapons

The party heads deeper into Goderian’s shop, where a wall of tools and weapons beckons.

• Brynn asks about armor; Petr lists an inventory that includes studded leather, chain shirts, scale mail, a selection of swords (shortsword, longsword, rapier) and even a Smith’s Giant Hammer (2d6 bludgeoning, double damage to objects/structures) priced at 50 gp. Voscheck volunteers the gold; the hammer will become their go‑to “door‑breaker.”
• A massive 80 mm wrench is also on hand—described as a club +2 that can be used both as an improvised weapon and, crucially, to jam the turret’s gear box.
• Brynn confirms she already owns the Gloves of Sure Grip and Boots of Steady Tread, ensuring she won’t be knocked off balance when climbing onto a turret or prying open panels.
• The blacksmith mentions he can forge a +1 rapier on commission, but it won’t be ready overnight—so the party settles for the hammer and the wrench for now.

🏰 A Quick Detour to Morncastle (Potions & Supplies)

With gear in hand, the adventurers slip through a damp sandstone tunnel that snakes from the lower midway down toward Morncastle, home of the town’s militia, the Mornshields.

• The passage smells faintly of bleach—youths have been using it as a latrine—but the party presses on, emerging onto stone stairs that lead up to a crumbling sea‑facing tower.
• At the top they encounter a mysterious woman in a torn black dress, Mera, clutching a parasol. She is shadowed by a floating child‑like entity, Lumis one of the newsies. After a brief perception roll (Sarah’s 17) they recognize her as not a threat. The macabre Mera and spectral child seem to go together...
• Petr guides the negotiation with the castle guard; Sarah rolls an 8 on Persuasion, beating the DM’s DC of 6, and secures a pouch containing three potions (ash‑milk). The party now has a small reserve for the upcoming infiltration.

🏚️ Midnight Side‑quests

Back at the Rusty Cog, the night’s opening chatter begins with a flurry of banter at the fire. The table splits into personal errands:

• Brynn wants to check in with Babi Danka (the tavern owner) for advice on calming her friends’ nerves before a rescue.
• Voscheck mentions a “midnight thing” he must attend to, while others volunteer to handle the rest of the night’s business.
• Aubrey returns to the rented flat for quiet time and study.
• Shadow plans to spend the night aboard the Wayward Heart
• Professor Peppercorn announces an impromptu art project—a small portrait of Marianne, Professor Peppercorn’s trusty goat that pulls his wagon, which he plans to hand over as a token of goodwill. It's unclear why this was done and to whom the portrait was given. Professor Peppercorn later plans to track Voschek.

📖 Aubrey’s Spellbook & Shadowspawn

Molly (as Aubrey) returns to the cramped flat she now shares with Voscheck above Whimsical Whiffs and Wicks of Wonder reading past notes in the margins of her spell‑book. The tome is half journal, half arcane reference—she even quotes a line from an old note written during her time in Barovia: “Is it ever going to be enough?” While leafing through, she casts Summon Shadowspawn, conjuring a delicate silhouette of a woman playing a lyre. The figure is silent, sitting in the chair across from her.

Voscheck, still in the room, asked her who the figure was. She replied it was her sister, still "back home". They conversed briefly about Aubrey's travels, where she expressed that every place she's been so far has been worse than home. Voscheck mentioned that they don't know the range of the teleportation mirrors, suggesting those could be a path home for her. He let her know he was heading out for a bit, going to try something alone. He hinted at the possibility of not returning, and for her to help keep the party safe if he did not. Aubrey sent Escher to follow him as he left.

🌙 Voscheck’s Night‑time Invisibility Run

Voscheck slips out under cover of darkness. After a quick discussion about perception and stealth, he turns invissible, and secures advantage— Dodging a nosey Aubery's raven Escher, he sneaks through Artisan’s Row, then heads down throught the Midway passage to Morncastle beach.

• The DM narrates his careful navigation past a few late‑night townsfolk, a flickering lantern, and the occasional clatter of a stray cart. He reaches Morncastle Beach and decides to wade into the shallow surf to test a ritual involving drawing his own blood into the water...

🦅 Raven & Peppercorn’s Side Quest

Professor Peppercorn is still hunting for Voschek. He offers a hot dog to the raven, hoping it will lead him in the right direction. Ultimately Voscheck slips away into the night.

🌊 The Ocean & the Abyss

Voscheck plunges waist‑deep; the water is unexpectedly warm. Petr asks for a Constitution saving throw—the first roll of 19 succeeds, turning the cold shock into a pleasant soak. A second save (9) fails, and the scene shifts: Voscheck feels the sand give way as an unseen force drags him deeper.

• The DM describes a “walk” instruction; Voscheck follows it, feeling his feet sink into a soft abyss that seems to whisper “walk.”
• A third Constitution save (9) again fails, and Voscheck is pulled farther down, the pressure building as if an invisible weight presses on him.
• After several tense moments, The sea feels warm—not from sunlight but from the water itself—an unnatural comfort after the harrowing plunge.

🔮 Vision of a Ship & Cryptic Words

Voscheck’s mind is flooded with a vision: atop a distant mountaintop sits a Mississippi‑style Sidewheel riverboat, partly embedded into the mountain on a sheer cliff. The scene is accompanied by three echoing words:

Seek – Free me The words are vague, but the imagery feels like a guiding clue—perhaps a lost vessel that can be reclaimed, a hint to the location of the entity now channeling arcane power to Voscheck.

🛳️ The Wayward Heart Is Finally Home

Petr (playing the enigmatic NPC Kale) steers the conversation toward the newly rebuilt merchant vessel the Wayward Heart, where Shaddow has made her way and is settling in for the night.

After weeks in dry dock, the caravel now sits at a deep‑water pier next to a modest corsair ship. Kale gives a quick rundown of his own past as a smuggler who once skimmed the shallow inlets of the Bay of Neman for profit and warns Shadow that towns along the bay love to eat up any newly‑launched craft.

🌑 A Rescue From The Shadows

Brynn pays a visit to Babi Danka at the Rusty Cog, and asks her about the upcoming rescue... how best to help the prisoners during the escape. Babi shares a whispered story about her and a "colleagues" own prison escape deep beneath the earth from an Underdark city. She describes the drow prisoners who fled an underground prison, a group of beaten and malnourished prisoners grasping to the last threads of hope. The tale is delivered in parable form—no explicit instructions, just the vivid description of the plight of prisoners to regain their freedom. Brynn comes away knowing a bit more of what to expect when they find the prisoners, and a little more about how Babi ended up on the surface.

Babi warns that the Eternal’s cult likely already has eyes on Longmorn and that any spark could ignite a larger conflict. He urges the party to keep their ears open and tread lightly.

🐉 The Hoverbug Camp – An Empty Landing

Dirk and Brynn make their way to the Hoverbug Camp, expecting to meet up with their aerialist allies. Instead they find the two hoverbugs gone, already departed to the Tower of Malignius where they will rendezvous with the party. Luca, the some-time pilot, is there tending a paddock of four enormous, docile dragon‑flies (the same insects that once ferried adventurers from the wreck of the Wayward Heart). Luca is busy caring for the beasts, offering no immediate help.

🎭 A Deceptive Impersonation

Dirk tries to bluff his way into Luca’s confidence by claiming to be his own brother—“magical twin” or “apparition.” After a series of dice rolls (a natural 1 on perception, a 16 for deception, and a 7 charisma), Dirk manages to convince Luca he is indeed his brother, Gurk. The DM describes Luca as emotionally vulnerable after a long absence.

The ruse succeeds: Luca invites him to spend the night with her in the Slants, a gritty shantytown district known for its payday‑loan shops and rough taverns (the Skeevie Beaver). A brief scene of brawling pub patrons is described before the two slip upstairs to a rundown, moth‑eaten room above a shuttered payday loan shop.

🌙 Fade To Black – Ending On A Cliffhanger

Afterward, the two settle into the shabby “goblin bed” above the payday‑loan shop, Dirk maintaining his ruse as they embrace and we fade to black....

🛏️ The DM grants a long rest. The party awakens eight hours later, Voscheck on a quiet Morncastle beach outside the protective bubble over Longhorn, damp but fully reseted and unharmed.

🪄 Warlock Patron Change & Respec Talk

Voscheck reveals his warlock patron has shifted. Petr offers the option to respec: change class features, adjust subclass abilities, but keep core stats and spells. Jeremy decides to keep Voschecks current build, merely swapping the source of his eldritch power.

🍞 Muffins, Breakfast & Closing The Night

The party reconvenes the following morning at the Rusty Cog after a good night's rest.

Petr thanks everyone for playing, notes the time (around 11 p.m.), and ends the session with a warm good‑night.

And that, dear listeners, concludes our chronicle of Session 40. Until next time, keep your dice rolling and your spirits high— à bientôt!