Session 22: Banquet of Bones, a Forgotten Servant, and the Leech in the Dark

S22 — Banquet of Bones, a Forgotten Servant, and the Leech in the Dark

Draft recap — review_status: draft. Speaker/character attributions are inferred and may be imperfect.

TL;DR

The party finished the banquet-hall skeleton fight, looted a Bracelet of Dashing and a snake-arrow, fought and banished a chair-throwing poltergeist (then laid the forgotten servant's spirit to rest), grabbed three valuable Chateau Lafite 1787 bottles, and finally ambushed a humanoid swarm of eye-leeches that serves a "queen" and already knew the party's plans. The session ends on a cliffhanger: the leech-creature dropped a magical darkness no one can see through.

Previously On

Last session the party convinced Regani to turn himself in. They passed the werewolf room peacefully, explored crypts where the dead rose, avoided a terrifying ghostly magic wall, and found a poisoned kitchen and banquet hall full of skeletons. They learned each destroyed skeleton releases a spirit that tries to possess another body, and found the Skeletrax's nest. (00:01:29)

What Happened

Finishing the banquet skeletons (combat). The party destroyed the last animated skeletons and the wisps they release on death, confirming each kill so the spirits couldn't jump bodies. The skeletons drained life with a cone/aura effect (fortitude saves). Venris flanked for sneak attacks; Cid tanked and crit behind his shield; Veve memorably wasted a hero point trying to throw rotted chicken bones. (00:05:10–00:32:49)
Looting the hall. Recovered: assorted cutlery, ~24 GP in coins (split Cid/Venris), a jangling silver bracelet, and a green-scaled arrow with a fanged iron head. Venris identified the bracelet as a Bracelet of Dashing (Jangling No More) — +1 acrobatics and a +10 ft speed status bonus for one minute on activation — and kept it. The arrow likely turns a struck target into a binding snake; valuable, average price. The Everlight Crystal in the chandelier could NOT be pried loose. (00:32:49–00:59:53)
Exploring the side rooms. A scullery (washing tub with a skeleton foot), a rune-and-metal-disc chamber Abbas wrongly hoped was a portal, a refuse room with a person-sized sloping chute and bins of bones/broken tools, a stairwell going up, and a wine cellar. (00:59:53–01:11:28)
The poltergeist (combat). An invisible telekinetic force shoved Venris toward the chute; he barely clung on. Abbas, a Priest of Pharasma, identified it as a poltergeist tied to a corpse in the refuse room. It materialized, frightened the party, and hurled chairs and dishes. Venris's sneak attacks were blunted by its immunity to precision damage, but the party destroyed it. (01:11:28–02:02:05)
Laying the servant to rest (roleplay). The corpse was a lowly servant who fell, dented his skull, died, and was forgotten. Abbas performed last rites and the spirit passed on. A sad rotting letter was recovered. (02:02:05–02:09:14)
Wine cellar and last rooms. Three well-stored Chateau Lafite 1787 bottles (valuable) — Cid pocketed them, half-jokingly telling Venris they were "regular wine." Another store room held two poisoned kitchen-crew skeletons, nothing of value. Players and GM debated map layout and the unreached Nimbaloth altar; GM warned against metagaming. (02:20:42–02:37:45)
The leech-creature (combat, cliffhanger). Through the final door, Venris found a humanoid-shaped creature made of countless eye-leeches, reading about images that resembled "the Gauntlight" and other major plot material. His stealth ambush (Sonic Blow, two hero points spent) completely missed as the leeches scattered and reformed. It spoke Sackroth (understood by Abbas): "You fucking fools finally made it here." It paralyzed Venris with a fireball-like spell, revealed it serves a queen whose plans are coming to fruition soon, and on its final turn cast a 20-ft magical darkness even darkvision (mostly) can't pierce. The session ended in the dark, mid-fight. (02:37:45–03:38:02)

Key Decisions

Venris kept the Bracelet of Dashing rather than giving it to the slowest party member.
The party abandoned the Everlight Crystal in the chandelier.
Abbas laid both the poltergeist and the forgotten servant to rest.
Cid took the three Chateau Lafite 1787 bottles ("regular wine").
Venris spent both hero points to ambush the leech-creature — and missed.
The party chose to end the session mid-combat in the magical darkness.

Loot & Mechanics

Bracelet of Dashing (Jangling No More) — +1 acrobatics, +10 ft speed status bonus (1 min) on activation — Venris.
Green-scaled snake-arrow with fanged iron head — likely transforms/binds a struck target into a snake; valuable, average price (~10–20).
~24 GP in coins split (Cid/Venris), plus a few GP of cutlery.
Three Chateau Lafite 1787 wine bottles — Cid.
Everlight Crystal could NOT be extracted from the chandelier.
Hero points awarded for obliterating the ghost; Venris spent two on the failed leech ambush.
Rules discussion: GM tentatively agrees Ghost Touch should bypass ghost precision immunity; ghosts may be treated as resistant (not immune) to damage.

Open Questions

What is the leech-creature, who is the "queen," and what are her plans?
How does the party survive/escape the magical darkness it cast at session end?
What lies at the bottom of the refuse chute?
Where is the unreached Nimbaloth altar room?
What exactly does the green-scaled snake-arrow do?
Will the Ghost Touch / precision homebrew ruling be finalized?
Why is a new character being made next week?

Next-Session Reminders

Combat is in progress against the leech-creature, inside a 20-ft magical darkness — resolve the dark first.
Venris has no hero points; Cid's player should bring a rough draft of the new character sheet.
The leech-creature is immune to precision damage and reforms when attacked — bring AoE / non-precision options.
The party is carrying three valuable wine bottles and a snake-arrow to potentially appraise/sell in town.

Scene timeline (11)

00:00:02	Recap of prior sessions Players recap recent events: last session they convinced Regani to turn himself in; they passed the werewolf room with a social encounter and no fight; explored crypts where monsters rose from tombs; encountered a terrifying ghostly magic wall they avoided; found a secret door to a kitchen showing traces of poison; opened into a banquet hall full of skeletons; learned that destroyed skeletons release a spirit that tries to possess another body (must confirm the kill); and found the Skeletrax's nest. Session 22 picks up mid-combat against the banquet skeletons. [S22 · 00:01:29 · turn 0017 · scene 001]
00:05:10	Banquet hall: finishing the skeleton fight The party finishes the combat against animated banquet skeletons and the spirit/wisps they release. The skeletons' attacks include a cone/life-drain effect (fortitude saves) that drains HP. Venris flanks and lands big sneak-attack hits; Cid (martial with shield) tanks and crits; Veve takes reflex saves and tries a comedic chicken-bone throw (wasting a hero point on rotted chicken bones). Each downed skeleton must be confirmed or the wisp escapes to possess another body. The party obliterates the last wisps; combat ends with the group victorious. [S22 · 00:12:21 · turn 0123 · scene 002]
00:32:49	Looting the banquet hall and the Everlight Crystal Post-combat, the party searches the banquet hall and skeleton corpses. They recover assorted cutlery (a few GP), roughly 24 GP in coins split between Cid and Venris, a jangling silver bracelet, and an arrow with green scales and a fanged iron head. Venris heals via Treat Wounds while searching. He identifies the bracelet as a Bracelet of Dashing (Jangling No More) granting +1 acrobatics and a +10 ft speed status bonus on activation, and keeps it. The arrow is identified as likely transforming a struck target into a snake to bind it; valuable, average price (~10-20). The party repeatedly fails to pry the Everlight Crystal out of the chandelier and gives up. [S22 · 00:42:23 · turn 0442 · scene 003]
00:59:53	Exploring side rooms off the banquet hall The party opens the surrounding doors one by one. They find a dishwashing room/scullery (a large washing tub with a skeleton foot), a chamber with twisting runes and polished metal discs that Abbas hoped (wrongly) was a portal, a room with a sloping refuse chute large enough for a person plus storage bins of old bones and broken tools (including a human skull among the trash), a room with stairs going up, and a wine cellar. Venris investigates the chute, intending to roll a stone down it to gauge depth. [S22 · 01:00:44 · turn 0635 · scene 004]
01:11:28	The poltergeist: Venris flung toward the chute An invisible force grabs Venris and shoves him toward the refuse chute; he barely clings on (acrobatics) and ends prone in the chute, then climbs out. The party realizes an invisible spirit is using telekinesis (movement resembling Veve's psychic projectiles). Abbas, a Priest of Pharasma, recall-knowledges it as a poltergeist tied to an old corpse in the refuse room. It materializes when challenged, frightens the party, and hurls chairs and dishes (telekinetic storm). Venris's sneak attacks are blunted because the ghost is immune to precision damage. After a drawn-out fight the party kills/banishes the poltergeist, but its spirit is still not at rest. [S22 · 01:12:02 · turn 0757 · scene 005]
02:02:05	Laying the servant's spirit to rest and looting the chute room The party investigates the long-dead corpse in the refuse room: a lowly servant who fell, dented his skull on debris, died, and was forgotten (dried blood pool nearby). Abbas performs last rites, empathizing with the forgotten servant, and the spirit passes on. Venris searches the body and the chute; the GM shows a Discord image of what lies down the chute. [S22 · 00:26:54 · turn 0284 · scene 006]
02:09:14	Break and table chatter Roughly ten-minute table break with off-topic chatter about monitors and sunlight; play resumes confirming the exorcism is complete. [S22 · 02:09:07 · turn 1324 · scene 007]
02:20:42	Wine cellar and finishing room searches After the servant's letter is found (a sad note about keeping a hated job to feed his family), the party finishes searching. In the wine cellar they find three Chateau Lafite 1787 bottles, well-stored and valuable; Cid takes them, telling Venris they are 'regular wine' (a half-joking deception). Another store room holds two more slumped skeletons (kitchen crew, poisoned). The players and GM discuss map layout and the unfound location of the Nimbaloth altar; the GM warns them they are metagaming too much. Cid continues Treat Wounds across the searches. [S22 · 02:21:12 · turn 1349 · scene 008]
02:37:45	Ambushing the leech-creature (Sackroth speaker) Venris sneaks through the last door and finds a humanoid-shaped creature made of countless eye-leeches, reading at a table about images that look like 'the Gauntlight' and other major plot material. He attempts a stealth ambush (Sonic Blow, spending two hero points), but all attacks miss as the creature's leeches scatter and reform, negating precision and his strikes. The creature speaks Sackroth (which Abbas understands): 'You fucking fools finally made it here.' It casts a fireball-like spell that paralyzes Venris for one round. The creature is clearly higher level than the party. [S22 · 02:52:38 · turn 1648 · scene 009]
03:09:10	Leech-creature fight and the cliffhanger darkness The party fights the leech-creature. Veve uses Distracting Performance to make Venris hidden; Venris lands flanking sneak attacks but its precision immunity and self-protective leech-scattering blunt the damage. The creature vomits swarms of leeches (basic reflex, blood-draining) and resists. It reveals it serves a queen: 'It's too bad you're all gonna die before my queen's plans come to fruition.' On its final turn it casts a magical darkness spell (20-ft burst) that even normal darkvision cannot pierce. The session ends on this cliffhanger in the dark. [S22 · 03:15:14 · turn 1873 · scene 010]
03:38:02	Wrap-up: precision rules and new character Post-session discussion. The GM and players talk about a new character to be made next week (Cid's player to draft a sheet and review it in session). They debate precision-damage immunity in Pathfinder 2e, given how many Abomination Vaults enemies (ghosts, oozes, swarms) are immune; the GM tentatively agrees to homebrew that Ghost Touch should let the rogue deal precision damage to ghosts, and discusses treating ghost resistance rather than immunity to damage. [S22 · 03:38:06 · turn 2106 · scene 011]

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