The party spent a few days of downtime in Otari (curing Venris, gathering rumors, and earning a little coin), then returned to the Gauntlight Keep library via the hidden cave. They hunted down the three werewolf-bounty-hunters they'd previously sent off, now turned into ghouls, then ambushed and killed a vampiric ghoul-witch who was building a 80-90% complete flesh "Frankenstein" abomination of a blonde woman (possibly Belcorra). Abbas destroyed both the abomination and a 230 gp necromantic staff on principle, to Venris's lasting grief. They then turned on the morlock who only "rewarded" them with the hollow title of "missionaries of the ghost queen," killing him and his attendant — only to be ambushed by an acid slug as time ran out. The session ended mid-fight on a cliffhanger.
Last session in the Gauntlight library the party looted rare gears, an eyepiece/monocle, scrolls and books; Venris was bitten and began turning into a ghoul before being cured back in town (Veve spent most of her gold on potions). They tricked the "fang breaker" bounty hunters and sent them through a large door carved with Nimbaloth's image. They saw a ghost by a lake and noticed a strange hallway.
| 00:00:01 | Recap and XP reconciliation The table recaps the prior session in the Gauntlight Keep library: looting rare gears, a monocle/eyepiece, scrolls and books; Venris getting bitten and starting to turn into a ghoul before being cured back in town; tricking the bounty-hunter 'fang breakers' from the market; a ghost by a lake; and the big carved Nimbaloth door behind which they sent the bounty hunters. The GM reconciles outstanding XP (avoiding the bounty hunters, surviving ghoul fever, the librarian/exorcism room) bringing the party to 843 XP, likely a level-up next session. [S14 · 00:00:37 · turn 0009 · scene 001] |
| 00:07:24 | Downtime in Otari: Calino, the werewolf bounty, and town rumors While Venris recovers (about five days of downtime), the party gathers information in Otari. Abbas speaks with the bounty-poster Calino (the man who hired the 'fang breaker' bounty hunters), who reveals his wife was murdered ~30 years ago by a serial killer he believes was a werewolf named John Long, last hiding among the druids at the Stone Ring Pond before being chased to the sea. Calino offers to double the bounty and pay high prices for wolf/werewolf pelts. The party also learns of caves/tunnels beneath Otari (from when goblins/'pubs' inhabited the town), cobalt deposits, missing townsfolk, fires at the farms and the Flume, a collapsed building, and a separate adventuring group that found a network of caves with a (now-dead) young green dragon below the fishery. [S14 · 00:12:55 · turn 0116 · scene 002] |
| 00:35:34 | Earn income: Veve's patrol and party planning Veve takes up a contracted guard patrol under head guard Lars 'this long saddle', earning income with Intimidation ('bad cop') for 5 silver/day, plus a pair of aviator-style sunglasses. The party debates next moves: return directly to Gauntlight Keep versus pursuing the werewolf bounty, the cave system below town, or the Flume/giant's wheel to the east. They discuss theories about the Gauntlight's blue light (teleportation/sacrifice) and the moving green light that seems to be guiding them. They decide to head back to the Keep to keep exploring, leaving in the morning. [S14 · 00:36:46 · turn 0311 · scene 003] |
| 00:53:14 | Return to Gauntlight via the cave; the friendly turning ghoul The party travels through the fog back to the Gauntlight Keep via the hidden cave entrance (the quickest route to the library and one the rival bounty hunters likely don't know). They pass the half-turned 'friendly ghoul' guarding the latch door, who is still cured/not fully turned and re-closes the stone door behind them. They move through familiar rooms in marching order (Venris scouting/avoiding the light, Abbas carrying the magic light source), retrieve Veve's ankle-snare trap, confirm the mist stalker and other corpses are undisturbed, and decide to first check on the bounty hunters they had sent off to their likely deaths. [S14 · 00:54:10 · turn 0446 · scene 004] |
| 01:08:55 | Coin flip and combat: the three ghoul-turned bounty hunters A coin flip decides the party heads toward the room where they sent the bounty hunters rather than the unexplored door. Listening through the door, Venris hears munching; inside, three of the four werewolf-hunter 'bros' have turned into ghouls and are eating corpses of their own dead. The party ambushes them: Venris sneaks in via a stealth roll, Veve buffs with Courageous Anthem and lingering composition, Abbas crit-crushes one with Vitality Lash (head explodes), and Cid trips and finishes the rest. After the brief, lopsided fight, they loot leather armor and ~49 arrows, earn hero points, and the party heals up over ten minutes. They hear a woman's voice and slow voices through the far door. [S14 · 01:10:03 · turn 0590 · scene 005] |
| 02:09:13 | Investigating doors; the flesh-statue room is found The party listens at and checks several doors. Veve loudly opens one revealing stairs leading down. Through the far heavy doors, Abbas peeks into a vast room of smashed empty book display cases dominated by a towering Frankenstein-like figure of a woman built from stitched-together flesh and tattered sheets (estimated 80-90% complete, blonde hair, possibly an image of Belcorra). A green-robed spellcaster ('sorceress') works on it while the surviving ghoul-hunter leader (later named Jasper) brings her flesh from other ghouls. The party plans an ambush: Venris goes invisible to flank the caster while the others handle the brute; Abbas casts Forbidden Ward and Veve preps buffs. [S14 · 02:26:18 · turn 1315 · scene 006] |
| 02:43:11 | Mid-session break and Path of Exile chatter An extended out-of-character break. The table discusses Path of Exile 2 builds and class balance (spellcasters plateauing around level 15-20, melee/monk scaling, blood mage being weak, Stormweaver/Chronomancer). Two players step away briefly; hero points are jokingly docked for taking longer than five minutes and for 'having kids'. [S14 · 02:51:50 · turn 1465 · scene 007] |
| 03:18:43 | Boss fight: the canker witch and Jasper The ambush kicks off. Veve bursts the doors and sings as a diversion; invisible Venris sprints across the room and lands a big sneak attack on the green-robed witch ('the canker will consume you'), who is revealed as a ghoul/vampiric spellcaster (Vampiric Feast, mental/will spells). She nearly drains Venris, repeatedly re-infecting him with a not-quite-ghoul-fever necromantic curse that halves his healing. The hunter leader Jasper hunts and bites the cleric Abbas hard (forced hero point on a fortitude save), but Cid trips and decapitates Jasper. The party grinds down the witch (Abbas Vitality Lash/Divine Lance, Veve arrows and thrown glass shards) until a thrown glass shard scalps her and she falls. Abbas then immediately destroys the flesh abomination statue with Vitality Lash/Divine Lance before it can be completed. [S14 · 03:08:38 · turn 1592 · scene 008] |
| 04:05:09 | The destroyed staff: loot lost to Abbas's faith The witch dropped a powerful necromantic staff (later valued at 230 gold, the rarest item found so far). Abbas (cleric of Pharasma) insists it must be destroyed; Venris wants to sell it. A coin flip lands tails (Venris's loss), Abbas Divine Lances the staff to dust, and over ten minutes disintegrates it along with corpses, doors, and the witch's golem remains. The party recovers consolation loot: a silver salve, a composite short bow, ~5 silver arrows, leather armor, and four everlight crystals (15 gp each, total 60). Veve keeps the head of the witch to present to the morlock as proof of the bounty. [S14 · 04:04:59 · turn 2190 · scene 009] |
| 04:33:37 | Betraying the morlock: the missionary 'reward' The party returns to the morlock leader to claim the werewolf-quest reward, presenting the witch's head via Veve (named 'Hansen' in-fiction by the GM). The morlock instead grants them the empty title of 'missionaries of the ghost queen' and tells them to leave and spread her dominion. Disgusted at the lack of a physical reward, the party rolls initiative and attacks: Abbas opens with Divine Lance, Cid (delaying with a 35 initiative and six actions) dominates, Venris regains his good mood once Veve casts Runic Weapon on his dagger. They cut down the morlock leader (who calls himself Ralphus) and his ghoul attendant (Hansen). [S14 · 04:38:30 · turn 2498 · scene 010] |
| 05:11:00 | The acid slug ambush; cliffhanger pause As the morlock fight ends, a slimy slithering creature (a mindless acid slug, acid-immune, immune to mental effects) ambushes from behind with a fear moan and acid attacks, splashing Veve and Cid. The party begins fighting it (Cid trips and snagging-strikes it, Abbas Divine Lances a tentacle, Veve repositions to buff) but real-life time runs out. Cid's player has a scheduling commitment, so the GM pauses mid-encounter, taking screenshots to resume next session. [S14 · 05:11:13 · turn 2830 · scene 011] |