Session 6

YFPB’s enthusiasm for victory dwindled quickly amidst the humid, echoing caves. Everyone was tired, beaten, and some were even lightly infested with spores. Yet Lorien attempted to save the mood with a hearty beer, to which Harlan joined happily. After draining their cups in a single draught, they clasped hands in a loud, echoed dap. Not wanting to be left out, Irene drank her remaining ale as well.  Glowkindle and Silf appeared from their hiding place, and everyone had a strange vision of attacking Silf with every attack variant they had. Interestingly, after the strange vision, their powers felt more alive (with color, visuals, and sound). Irene also felt a sense of permanence, that who she was was who she was meant to be (mostly in appearance).

Glowkindle was worried about VIreya’s infection, and helped to pull out some of the shrooms growing out of the seeds implanted in her arm. He promised that he would treat her infection at his forge  once they reclaim it. At that moment, the group heard the sound of a pickaxe working at the other side of the rock pile blocking their path. After a short time, a grizzled miner dug enough of the rocks away to create a pathway. He didn’t look great, but he noticed immediately that the group looked much worse. He offered his small bunk room to them while explaining that he was the last of a small mining expedition sent to find Essence Crystals, the same crystals that the group had taken off the Depthdweller’s body.

The miner told the team that his partners had been infected by the same spores that were affecting Vireya, which is why they’d originally caused the rockslide. When Harlan mentioned that their primary goal was to get out of the mines but that their path had been blocked by a massive boulder, the miner suggested that there was an opportunity in their cooperation. The miner’s group had several pieces of dynamite on them when they were lost in the darkness, but the creatures they turned into were far too strong for him. If YFPB killed the creatures and reclaimed the dynamite, they could all leave the mines together.

In the miner’s makeshift shanty, the group took a short rest as they raided nearby crates for loot. The miner offered them some of his rations, so the group was able to take a meal without diminishing their own stores. The miner also offered the girls some Goblin Gas, which Vireya claimed as fast as she could and ran outside of the shanty. Telepathically she beckoned Irene, and the two huffed the gas out of sight of the others. The batch might have been bad, or more likely the two girls were exhausted and weak from their fights and night, but in any case they both reacted badly to the drug: Vireya became untrusting and paranoid of everyone around her, and Irene became insatiably greedy for money and gemstones. Upon returning to the shanty, the girls immediately confronted the miner, asking him for a pre-reward for their troubles and questioning his honesty.

The miner, recognizing clear symptoms of Goblin Gas toxicity, told Harlan to Lorien to make sure the girls sleep off the drugs before heading out. The group, barely conscious as it was, didn’t take much more convincing to sleep on the cots around the room. Upon waking, Lorien found that Glowkindle and Silf had made their way into the shanty and were asking about the creatures remaining in the tunnels. Vireya and Irene were better (mostly). Irene was still feeling greedy, but she had it more under control, and Vireya was nearly sober, which left her with an annoying buzzing in her head. As the group made their way out of the shanty and into the dark and narrow tunnels, Vireya noticed an un-activated bear trap lying against the stone walls. Irene, in her mood, claimed the trap and tucked it away.

Soon after, the group heard scuffling and moaning as a bipedal creature with a pickaxe was smashing his tool against a piece of stone. Irene attempted to get closer, but stumbled over some metal and stone, alerting both the Corrupted Miner and his friends. Vireya and Lorien had been preparing attacks, and shot them as the battle started, but did minimal damage. In general, the fight was a disaster. After several missed attacks by both YFPB and the group of Miners, Harlan stepped in to give Irene the chance to escape. Though he deflected several more attacks, one Miner managed to get past his mace and bite a bloody chunk of flesh out of his shoulder. From there, the group focused on picking the creatures off one by one and avoided any more wounds.

After the battle, Irene spotted some glowing crystals farther into the tunnels and, running past the outcropping with the dynamite, began cooing over the gemstones. As the rest of the team caught up, Irene encouraged them to use some of the discarded pickaxes to collect the crystals. Lorien, with his dexterous hands, managed to cleave off a perfect sample of the Essence Crystals, and pocketed one. Irene in her haste, by contrast, hit the crystal with so much force that it exploded in  her face, sending shrapnel everywhere. Vireya and Irene then pressured Harlan into trying it himself, but he too failed (though less dramatically).

On the way back to the miner, the group found two sticks of dynamite, as well as some discarded Glittershine, a drug Vireya was happy to pocket but hesitant to use immediately. Upon returning to the miner, the entire group headed back into the spore cave to blow up the large boulder. Down this newly opened tunnel, Lorien discovered a strange, creepy charm hanging on the post next to the ladder up. As the team gathered around, they felt that the charm was unlucky, and at first tried to pawn it off on the miner. After the miner expressed hesitation, Vireya ended up taking the charm to complement her earrings.

Before the group ascended to the Arcane Forge, Irene cornered the miner and demanded payment for the job. He had indeed promised her gold, but had only done so to assuage her rage when she was in the throes of a Gas high. Nevertheless, Lorien assisted Irene in this shakedown, pointing his rifle at the miner until he turned out his pockets. The poor man had only two gold, and after informing the group that he intended to inform the police of this robbery, Irene and Lorien decided that they were going to kill him. Seeing his horror, Lorien felt pangs of regret, and cooled Irene down before turning her away. In apology, he gifted one of his daggers to the miner, which was worth more gold than he had lost in the exchange.

As the group climbed the ladder up the Arcane Forge, Glowkindle explained that Noke had taken his Wand of True Polymorph, a capable and dangerous tool. He also revealed that the true reason Divine Weapon: Dispositor was so vital to the plan was because soul-bonding to the weapon unravels a piece of the soul. Because Polymorph transforms the mortal body around the soul, a disconnected soul is immune to its effects. YFPB (and Glowkindle) exited through a trapdoor in the floor of Glowkindle’s study, which while undamaged was incredibly messy. They heard the sounds of music and industry beyond, so they wasted no time pushing into the main atrium.

In the center of the massive, circular room was a glowing anvil emitting bright blue waves of energy. As the group entered and were enveloped by the waves, they were infused with incredible amounts of arcane potential. Their bodies jittered as if they had drunk four cups of coffee on an empty stomach. They realized they were able to cast as many leveled spells as they wanted without draining their own Essence. Across the pool of energy was an Orc guardian speaking with a robed academic reading from a tome. They quickly realized that this was the same Orc that had attacked the Dogwater Inn, which meant that the Orc he was deferring to must be Noke. As they confronted the guard, he was confused, as it was not he (Duff) who had attacked the inn but his brother (Guff), who entered upon being called.

The stranger was indeed Noke, who in surprisingly diplomatic language greeted them and asked them about their business. Before they could answer, Glowkindle charged Noke and attempted to steal his wand back. Noke started arguing with Glowkindle, telling him that he would change him back if he stopped acting like a megalomaniac. The group was now torn. Glowkindle was somewhat of a snark condescender, sure, but he was lying? They weren’t sure until Harlan noticed a cage against the back wall. Inside the cage was a beloved figure: the Ratling Monk. This cleared Harlan’s conscience, but the others continued to interrogate Noke as he fought off Glowkindle. His answers were mostly satisfactory, but eventually grew so frustrated with Glowkindle that he attacked the sheep and attempted to Polymorph Lorien.

The first thing Lorien noticed was that the wand had been significantly altered. It was cracked, sparking, and banded with metal in places. The second thing he noticed was that Noke had failed to maintain control of the wand, and it discharged a fireball at his feet. Yelping, he raised his gun, and combat began. Noke turned the wand on himself, and successfully managed to transform himself into a massive, hulking beast of a man ready to fight. YFPB was at a disadvantage. They were primed to fight Noke, two Orc guards, a wolf, two apes, and a large grizzly bear. But they pressed on, inflamed by their magical supplement and the desire to rescue their monk. It was at this point that Irene realized that Silf had not joined them up the ladder. Where had he gone?

The fight was brutal. Irene immediately hit a perfect snipe from across the room to free the monk, who beat down the wolf by himself. Harlan in all his glory fought off both Duff and Guff simultaneously, hitting no attacks but allowing no attacks to hit him or his teammates. Vireya and Irene began a close battle against the apes, while Lorien stared down the bear. Noke chased Glowkindle out of the atrium, and then all hell broke loose. Guff managed to slice through Harlan’s armor, cutting a deep wound into his chest. An ape, after getting its fingers cut off by Vireya in a previous counterattack, grabbed and threw her across the room into some smithing equipment. Lorien missed two shots on the bear and was nearly battered unconscious in a single turn.

But the tide turned. Irene turned an attempted grapple into an arm bar, throwing her ape against a toolbench and stabbing it through the eye. Lorien disengaged, choosing to damage the bear psychically instead of physically, and scored a searing blow while moving to hide behind Vireya. Harlan scored a counter of his own, blasting Guff away with a divinely-ordained bone smasher. As the beasts began to fall, each YFPBer was able to assist the others, and soon they were alone with Noke, who had returned after failing to catch Glowkindle. The final confrontation was here.

The team combo-ed Noke with several Hexes, Dissonant Whispers, Divine Smites, and Rattling Death Barrages, and the transformed Orc could barely withstand the onslaught. He managed only one massive blow, punching Irene so hard in the gut that she was knocked out immediately and thrown across the room against the wall. Lorien dropped everything to heal her while Vireya charged a special attack to avenge her friend. Her blast hit true, dealing the highest possible damage it could. Noke was liquified instantly, spraying a layer of blood over everyone and everything in the atrium.

For their victory, they managed to reclaim the Wand of Polymorph, and Glowkindle begged them to use it. Harlan was uncertain, because it was clear that the wand was dangerous to use because of its modification. After Glowkindle professed that he would rather die than remain a sheep, Irene took the wand and used it. Luckily, she maintained a hold of the magic in the wand and reversed Glowkindle’s sheepification. The new Glowkindle, or realistically the original Glowkindle, shocked the group: he was extremely attractive. Before even waiting for a reward, Lorien attempted to seduce the elf. Before responding, the academic gave the group a Blood Amulet as a reward, a piece of jewelry that would keep its wearer conscious at the cost of health from allies.

As they discussed who should get the amulet, they were stopped by the presence of Justicar Wargreaves, who burst into the atrium with great excitement. It was time, he said, to assault Buzzblade’s camp and capture Alkamer.