Session 55: The Denizen, the Hands, and the Magic-Eating Wisp

S55 Recap: The Denizen, the Hands, and the Magic-Eating Wisp

TL;DR

The party finished off Doriana, the denizen of Leng who had been making severed-hand monsters and was himself afflicted by the outcast's curse. Venris opened him up with an Organ Sight crit, revealing his disgusting purple-and-black guts before the body crumbled to dust. They looted a Ling Ruby, a magical black-and-red diamond/V-shaped fragment (clearly part of a larger set), two dream Message scrolls, and old Inner Sea / Otari maps, then torched his creepy teenage-girl shrine and his wall of victim-hand trophies. A short corridor fight with the fleeing, pus-bursting hands followed. Then came a brutal, hours-long boss fight against a unique will-o-wisp — a magic-immune "special ghost" priest of Pharasma that turned invisible and cast heightened Darkness to drain the party's spellcasting at the source. After a long light-vs-darkness counteract slog (and a real out-of-character rules argument), Venris cut it down as it tried to flee. Scouting peepholes ahead revealed Dreshkins drilling, a muscly chakram creature in a cell, and the green witch's fire. The party is now deciding whether to push deeper or retreat to camp.

Note for next time

The player who runs Cidolfus ("Cid") was absent and out of contact, so the other three controlled Cid together in combat this session — no active roleplay for him. This is a table situation, not in-fiction.

What happened

Resuming last session's cliffhanger, the surrendering Doriana was secretly reaching for something behind his back. The party called the bluff. Cid reactive-struck with the Rosargentus sword for a 38-damage crit, triggering its critical specialization (humiliated, can only attack). Enraged, Doriana hit Cid with Phantom Pain (failed will save, mental + persistent damage), and a Nat-20 climb popped open a hidden door to a new hallway.
Venris finished Doriana with a huge Organ Sight critical (46 precision on top of the strike), though the GM ruled the creature had both precision resistance and critical-hit resistance, heavily mitigating it. Venris slashed his torso in half — sinewy, mismatched purple-and-black organs — and the body crumbled to dust, leaving robes and gear. His "hands" fled.
Loot from the body/room: a +1 striking Kukri, a Ling Ruby (logged as a marketplace item), and a magical black-and-red metal fragment shaped like a diamond/V with embossed designs — visibly part of a larger multi-piece object (room for left and right diamonds). Also two 3rd-rank dream Message scrolls, a very old Inner Sea map, and a newer scrap-assembled map of Otari and its surroundings.
A side room held a wall of 12+ severed hands from different creatures, nailed up as trophies of previous victims — including the hand of a skull-creature the party had rescued earlier. Recall knowledge (denizens of Leng) tied them to the dimension of dreams: they're voodoo-like manifestations that would progressively come to resemble their victim. Notes confirmed Larianna's affliction was the outcast's curse, which makes the bearer act like an unwanted child. An adjacent shrine room had a filthy silk pillow, unlit rare-wax candles, and charcoal drawings of the same teenage girl. Venris burned the drawings and gathered hands.
In a cramped corridor the fleeing hands tried to ambush the party. They're weak, but burst with pus on death — reflex saves, sickened condition from pus in the mouth. Destroyed hands reverted to assorted random-creature and partial-human forms.
The next chamber: a black-walled room with an open trapdoor/crawlspace and a floating woman's head in white light, humming. The light snapped off and combat began. Venris recall-knowledged it as a will-o-wisp — but one radiating a deathly white light and immune to magic, so something more.
The wisp fight was a long grind. It turned invisible and cast heightened (4th-rank) Darkness that blinded the party AND interrupted/drained their spellcasting at the source. The party had to counteract the Darkness with a 4th-rank Light spell just to target it, while it re-cast Darkness, fired deathly-white-light AoEs (24+ damage, sickened) and cold rays, and eventually cast Sanctuary on itself. Tools that mattered: Venris's See the Unseen + dark vision, Veve's Oracle future-vision (DC 5 to target hidden), and Cid's Battle Cry rally so the party could break Sanctuary. Venris landed the killing blow as the wisp fled; it faded into mist, leaving only a skull.
Patched up, the party noted the black-walled room "simulates the void of oblivion granted to those consumed by the empty death." Venris found head-level peepholes in the walls. Looking through, Abbas saw a large muscly chakram-wielding creature (shaped like the Mulvental met with the basilisk) in an open prison cell, Dreshkins (flesh-warlocks fused with mechanical pieces) drilling deeper, blue electricity, and — down the chute — the green witch-fire warden's eerie green flame.

Decisions made

Called Doriana's surrender a bluff and killed him outright.
Let the fleeing "hands" go initially rather than chasing them (fought them later when ambushed).
Burned the victim-hand trophies and the teenage-girl shrine drawings.
Spent time identifying loot in the safe room rather than pushing on immediately.
Engaged the magic-immune wisp as a "bonus" fight rather than bypassing it.
Tentatively decided to consider handling the green witch on the way out, then retreat to camp/Otari to regroup before going deeper.

Open questions / reminders for next session

The black-and-red fragment is magical and clearly part of a larger multi-piece object — find the other pieces and figure out what it assembles into.
A door near the wisp room was never checked (the GM flagged it). Don't forget it.
The rooms ahead hold Dreshkins (mechanical flesh-warlocks) drilling, a muscly chakram creature in a prison cell, and the green witch-fire warden — all still to be dealt with, and any could catch the party on a retreat.
The "empty death" / void-of-oblivion theme keeps recurring (the wisp's room, the whispering reed they're still carrying) — an ongoing thread.
Decide: push deeper now, or pull back to camp to refresh spells first? The locate-Doriana urgency that drove them down here is gone.

Scene timeline (10)

00:00:00	Pregame: a missing player and how to run Cid Off-topic table setup (PC hardware troubleshooting) followed by a real-world table discussion: the player who runs Cidolfus ('Cid') is absent and out of contact for two weeks, which the table finds worrying. They weigh options for a three-player party (find a sub, bring in a new PC, or collectively control Cid) and decide that for today the remaining three will run Cid together in combat, accepting that no one will actively roleplay him. This is private table chatter, not in-fiction content. [S55 · 00:01:26 · turn 0011 · scene 001]
00:08:01	Recap of the cliffhanger: the surrendering denizen The party resumes mid-combat from last session's cliffhanger. The enemy ('Doriana', a denizen of Leng) had been pleading to surrender and let his hostage go, but was secretly reaching behind his back. The party decides he's bluffing. Cid takes the reactive strike with the Rosargentus sword (crit, 38 damage), triggering its critical specialization that humiliates the target. The enemy, enraged and bleeding severely, casts on Cid and forces a will save; Cid fails (Phantom Pain, mental damage + persistent). A Nat 20 climb action by the enemy opens a hidden door, revealing a hallway. Initiative order is Cid, then Abbas, then Venris. [S55 · 00:02:00 · turn 0015 · scene 002]
00:18:14	Killing the denizen of Leng (organ sight crit) Venris finishes the denizen. He had pre-cast Organ Sight (a 3rd-rank spell granting bonus precision damage) and lands a critical hit: 2 weapon dice plus 46 precision (organ sight) plus sneak attack. The GM rules the creature has both precision resistance and critical-hit resistance (because it is a ghost-like being), so the damage is heavily mitigated but still leaves it 'mortally wounded.' After a couple more strikes, Venris slashes its torso in half, revealing disgusting sinewy purple-and-black mismatched organs. The body crumbles to dust, leaving robes and equipment. The denizen's 'hands' (severed-hand creatures) flee; the party lets them go and searches the room. [S55 · 00:20:28 · turn 0185 · scene 003]
00:34:36	Looting the body: ruby, fragment, scrolls, maps Searching the denizen's body and room, the party recovers: a +1 striking Kukri (pocketed, Venris already has one), a Ling Ruby (a real-money/marketplace item to be logged), and a magical decorative fragment of black-and-red metal in a diamond/V shape with embossed designs — clearly part of a larger multi-piece object. They also find two dream Message scrolls (3rd rank). On the floor are a very old map of the Inner Sea and a newer map of Otari and its surroundings assembled from scraps. The party jokes about the enemy's mangled name ('Jeffy/Jafucky'). They take time to identify items in this safe room. [S55 · 00:35:08 · turn 0313 · scene 004]
00:50:14	The trophy room and the outcast's curse Exploring side rooms, the party finds a wall of more than a dozen severed hands from different creatures nailed up as trophies (previous victims), including the hand of a skull-creature they had rescued earlier. A recall-knowledge check (denizens of Leng and their magic) reveals the hands are manifestations tied to the dimension of dreams: voodoo-like representations whose appearance would progressively come to resemble the victim (e.g., Doriana/Larianna). Investigating notes confirms the affliction on Larianna was the 'outcast's curse,' which makes the bearer act like (and be treated as) an unwanted child. A second room is a creepy shrine: a filthy silk pillow, unlit rare-wax candles, a wooden box, and charcoal wall-drawings of the same teenage girl. Venris burns the drawings and gathered hands. [S55 · 00:51:16 · turn 0420 · scene 005]
01:08:38	Ambush in the corridor: the severed hands Pushing down a hallway, the party spots a severed hand waiting to ambush around a corner. They fight several of the fleeing hand-creatures in the cramped corridor (debate over the oracle's Oracular Warning premonition and whether it should pre-trigger). The hands are weak — Cid and the party cut them down — but they burst with pus on death, forcing reflex saves and inflicting the sickened condition (pus in the mouth). Abbas retches/heals between rooms. The hands revert to assorted random-creature and partial-human forms when destroyed. A dog-vet break is taken mid-fight. [S55 · 01:20:38 · turn 0626 · scene 006]
01:47:29	The floating head and the deathly white light Behind the next door the party hears a woman humming. The black-walled chamber holds an open trapdoor to a crawlspace and a floating woman's head bathed in white light at its center. The light snaps off and initiative is rolled. Venris (a ghost/haunt specialist) recall-knowledges the creature as a will-o-wisp — the same kind of thing that had been confusing/flickering at them before — but this one radiates a deathly white light and is confirmed immune to magic, suggesting it is something more. [S55 · 01:55:01 · turn 0911 · scene 007]
02:02:17	Fighting the magic-eating wisp in the dark A long, grinding fight against the unique will-o-wisp (a 'special ghost' / undead-flavored air elemental, a priest of Pharasma). It turns invisible and casts heightened (4th-rank) Darkness that not only blinds the party but interrupts and drains their spellcasting at the source. The combat becomes a light-vs-darkness counteract puzzle: Veve/Venris must counteract the Darkness with a 4th-rank Light spell to even target it, while it re-casts Darkness and blasts deathly-white-light AoEs (24+ damage, sickened) and cold rays. Venris uses See the Unseen and dark vision; Veve's Oracle visions (DC 5 to target hidden) help the others. A substantial out-of-character dispute between Speaker B (Venris's player) and the GM over concealed-vs-hidden movement in darkness stalls the fight for several minutes before play resumes. Eventually Light is counteracted in, the wisp casts Sanctuary on itself, and the party breaks through with Battle Cry rally tactics. Venris lands the killing blow as the wisp tries to flee, and it fades into mist leaving only a skull. [S55 · 03:15:35 · turn 1293 · scene 008]
03:55:02	Scouting ahead through the peepholes After the kill, the party patches up (refocus/healing) and notes the black-walled room is described as simulating the void of oblivion granted to those consumed by the empty death. Venris spots head-level peephole indents in the walls. Looking through, Abbas sees: a large muscly creature wielding a chakram in an open prison cell (shaped like the Mulvental they met with the basilisk), Dreshkins — flesh-warlocks fused with mechanical pieces — drilling deeper in, flashes of blue electricity, and (down the crawlspace chute) the eerie green flame of the witch-fire warden / green witch from earlier. The party maps out the network of separate hallway rooms ahead. [S55 · 04:48:06 · turn 2078 · scene 009]
04:50:34	Push on or pull back? Planning the retreat The party debates next steps. They came down here urgently chasing Doriana (their Locate spell had only a 10-minute window), and that goal is now done — Doriana is dead, the hands and the bonus ghost handled. They weigh pushing deeper (Dreshkins, the chakram creature, more rooms) against overextending on spells and getting caught between the green witch and the drilling enemies on a bad retreat ('old JRPG' soft-lock fear). The GM reminds them of an unchecked door nearby. Tentative plan: maybe deal with the green witch on the way out, then head back to camp/Otari to regroup before pushing further. [S55 · 05:05:37 · turn 2228 · scene 010]

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