Session 56: The Witchfire, the Menagerie, and Fleeing the Grave Knight

S56 Recap: The Witchfire, the Menagerie, and Fleeing the Grave Knight

TL;DR

The party (level 8) ambushed and killed a 9th-level witchfire by shutting it down with silence so it couldn't cast, then explored a horror-show menagerie of monsters frozen in glowing pillars — learning the witchfire was a hag Belcorra had burned alive. In an adjacent scrying room they grabbed some talismans and a mystery gem (and Venris caught a faceful of Belcorra's hateful gaze). Climbing out, they ran straight into a grave knight of Nimbaloth — far above their level, the "fear of fears," that can see through invisibility. Wisely, they fled: Venris opened doors and tripped the knight prone while the party teleport-circled their way up and out of the Gauntlight. Back in Otari, Doriana (freed of the Denizen of Leng) was healed, the family rewarded each PC with a 7th-level item, and Wrin warned them: never fight the grave knight, or die horribly.

Previously on

The party had pushed deep into the vaults, holding back near a creepy trophy room full of suspended bat-like monsters, and debated doubling back. A "fiery green thing" — recalled as a witch-type spellcaster — waited just outside, with the awakened-portal teleportation circles their only known way back up.

What happened

Witchfire fight. The party opened with haste on Venris and a silence spell, then rushed the glowing witchfire in the dark. Its attacks set them ablaze with sickly green flame (fire + void damage, will saves; Venris got his reactions locked by an emotion effect). The silence was the MVP — when the witchfire flew up to escape it and cast, it provoked attacks of opportunity and got chunked down by Venris's silver ghost-touch blade (precision/sneak crits) and Cid's aura and strikes. It tried to unleash a 6th-level Phantasmal Calamity (11d6) but was interrupted mid-cast and destroyed, burning to ash. The GM grumbled that a 9th-level creature went down before landing a second spell — "because we're playing intelligently."
The menagerie. The room held 15 transparent pillars, each freezing a monster in time under a shaft of light: a gug, a drider, a dryad, a gibbering mouther, a goguk, and a terrifying gug-tech/gogiteu among others. One charred, empty pillar gave Venris a vision of Belcorra burning a hag alive with the same green flame — the witchfire was that hag, broken free of her prison. A hidden ladder inside one pillar connects to the old will-o-wisp crawlspace, and a north wall is a one-way mirror for watching the east room. The witchfire is bound here by rage and agony and could re-form in a couple days.
The scrying room. An altar held a long-disused swamp-water scrying bowl (still magical). Loot beside it: a Gallows Tooth talisman (off-guard), a small unidentified transparent gem, and a Grim Trophy (seven ears, a lesser demoralize talisman). Searching it triggered Belcorra's hateful visage from the bowl — 28 mental damage and stupefied for a minute on Venris.
The grave knight. Climbing back up, the lights snapped on and a giga-armored figure loomed from the floor above: "Finally, there you are." Recall knowledge tagged it a grave knight of Nimbaloth — cursed undead, the "fear of fears," well above their level, and the same thing that had trashed a room and gone after the book earlier in the campaign. The party immediately chose flight over fight.
The flight. A long fighting retreat. The knight smashed doors with its great sword and grabbed Veve by the hair through her shared invisibility (it sees invisible creatures). Venris shone — fumbling through a confusing keyring to unlock doors, lobbing keys to Cid, and range-tripping the knight prone with a bola to buy time. It blasted cold (Venris crit-dodged; Cid took 25). The party reached a teleportation circle and hopped up the levels — to the giant-purple-worm floor, then the ruins — and got outside the Gauntlight as the knight screamed "Your flesh shall be fed to the hound."
Back in town. They reached the Menhem manor in Otari (~1 PM). Doriana — freed of the Denizen of Leng that had possessed her — was fully healed and is revealed (by Wrin Sivinxi) to be a powerful psychic. A Ruby the family watched had turned into a Wand of Locate, gifted to the party. Menhem offered each PC a 7th-level-or-below item from Absalom in thanks. The party told Wrin about the grave knight; she froze and begged them never to engage it. They sold junk talismans and a +1 striking weapon, finally flush with cash, and planned to rest, shop tomorrow, and research the knight at the library.

NPC and location notes

Belcorra is confirmed as the architect behind the menagerie and the witchfire (she burned the hag alive and imprisoned her); her hateful visage lurks in the scrying bowl.
The grave knight of Nimbaloth is the session's looming threat: cursed undead, sees through invisibility, far above the party's level, actively hunting them. (Its armor curses anyone who wears it into a new grave knight.)
Doriana (Menhem's daughter), freed of the Denizen of Leng, is healed and a budding powerful psychic.
Wrin Sivinxi is in Otari with the family; she identified Doriana's gift and gravely warned the party off the grave knight.
Menhem (the grateful family patriarch) is rewarding each PC a 7th-level item.

Loot and mechanics

Gallows Tooth talisman, Grim Trophy talisman, and a small unidentified transparent gem recovered (talismans later sold as junk).
Wand of Locate (transformed Ruby), gifted by the Menhem family.
One 7th-level-or-below item per PC promised from Absalom (to be chosen off-session; takes ~a week in-game to fulfill).
Cash from selling a +1 striking weapon and the talismans — party is finally "no longer poor" (party funds ~691 GP).
The witchfire (9th-level) is defeated but may re-form in a couple days; it's bound here by rage/agony.

Decisions made

Open with silence + haste and rush the witchfire — a plan that hard-countered its spellcasting.
Do NOT fight the grave knight; flee via the teleportation circles instead.
Keep the Wand of Locate rather than sell it (useful, though it can't track the grave knight without 5th-level casting).
Return to town, rest, shop the next day, and research grave knights before doing anything else.

Open questions / reminders for next session

The grave knight of Nimbaloth is hunting the party and will be a recurring "tyrant" threat — they need levels/prep before they can face it.
The witchfire may return in a couple days; it remains bound to the menagerie by rage and agony.
The small transparent gem is still unidentified (Carman the blacksmith couldn't ID it; faint wind seen within it).
Each PC still needs to choose their 7th-level reward item from Absalom (off-session).
The party never circled back to consult the NPC Otari about an earlier question; flagged to start with next morning.
The two locked double-doors with the "weird keys" upstairs remain unexplored.
Whether the grave knight can inflict the "empty death" is unknown and unrelated to its being a death knight.

Scene timeline (8)

00:01:17	Pregame, recap, and combat prep for the witchfire Mic check and a brief recap: the party is deep in the vault (level 8), having held back near a creepy trophy room and discussed doubling back. They prep to fight a 'fiery green thing' just outside the room that they recall is a witch-type spellcaster ('witch fire'). The party plans an opening combo: cast haste on Venris and a silence spell to shut down the caster, then rush in. Recall-knowledge checks mostly fail; they confirm it is a witchfire but learn no weaknesses or resistances. They pre-roll initiative. [S56 · 00:06:30 · turn 0040 · scene 001]
00:10:52	The witchfire fight Hasted and shrouded by silence, Venris sprints through the darkness toward the glowing witchfire and engages. The creature's witch fire attacks set party members alight with sickly green flame and inflict fire/void damage plus will saves (Venris is hit with an emotion-type effect that locks his reactions). The silence proves decisive: when the witchfire tries to flee above the silence to cast, it provokes attacks of opportunity, and the party severely wounds it with Venris's silver ghost-touch striking blade (precision/sneak damage, crits) and Cid's aura/strikes. It tries to cast a 6th-level Phantasmal Calamity (11d6) but is cut down mid-cast. The GM notes it was a 9th-level creature the party (level 8) dropped before it landed more than one spell. [S56 · 00:21:03 · turn 0159 · scene 002]
01:01:11	The menagerie of frozen monsters and the hag's vision The party explores the chamber: a 30-foot room with 15 transparent pillars, each holding a monster frozen in time under shafts of light — a gug, a drider, a dryad, a gibbering mouther, a goguk, and more, including a fearsome gogiteu/gug-tech. One southern pillar is empty and charred; when Venris looks inside he gets a flash-vision of Belcorra burning a hag alive with the same sickly green flame — revealing the witchfire was the hag, imprisoned and burned by Belcorra, that later broke free. A hidden ladder/crawlspace inside one pillar connects to the room where the will-o-wisp ghost-head was. They learn the witchfire could return in a couple of days (it is bound here by rage and agony, possibly not even truly a ghost). A north 'one-way mirror' wall lets watchers observe the east room. [S56 · 01:16:17 · turn 0648 · scene 003]
01:46:21	The scrying room: talismans, a gem, and Belcorra's gaze The party slips into an adjacent room with a crude altar holding a swamp-water scrying bowl (long disused, but radiating magic). Beside it they find a Gallows Tooth talisman (makes a creature off-guard), a small unidentified transparent gem, and a Grim Trophy (seven ears on a nail — a lesser intimidation talisman to demoralize). While searching, Venris fails a save and Belcorra's hateful visage stares back from the scrying bowl, dealing 28 mental damage and leaving him stupefied for a minute. They debate options (keep exploring, revisit the NPC Otari, or return to town) and decide to sneak back upstairs, wary of a Barbazu (bearded devil) heard ordering 'brothlets' nearby and of being watched through the one-way mirror. [S56 · 01:52:51 · turn 0989 · scene 004]
02:08:57	The grave knight appears: 'There you are' As the party climbs back up and the lights come on, a heavy clatter of steel announces an ominous dark figure in giga-armor on the floor above — 'Finally, there you are.' Recall knowledge identifies it as a grave knight (of Nimbaloth), a cursed undead far above the party's level and the 'fear of fears.' It taunts them ('It's about fucking time I get rid of you pests'). The party — having seen this thing before (it trashed a room, stepped through corpses, went after the book) — immediately decides to flee rather than fight. Veve casts shared invisibility, but the grave knight can see through invisibility and locks onto them. [S56 · 02:26:43 · turn 1172 · scene 005]
02:38:40	The desperate flight from the grave knight A long fighting retreat. The grave knight smashes through doors with its great sword and slams Veve, grabbing her by the hair (14 bludgeoning + cold, life flashing before her eyes) despite her invisibility. Venris turns into the party's hero of the hour — opening locked doors with a confusing ring of keys (a notes-vs-roleplay struggle at the table), lobbing the keyring to Cid, then range-tripping the grave knight prone with a bola to buy time. The knight blasts cold air (Venris crit-evades; Cid takes 25 cold). The party reaches a teleportation-circle room, activates it, and escapes floor by floor — first to the giant-purple-worm level, then up through the ruins — kicking past little mitfits and finally getting outside the Gauntlight/Dauntlight as the knight laughs and screams 'Your flesh shall be fed to the hound.' [S56 · 03:11:51 · turn 1591 · scene 006]
03:39:43	Back in town: Doriana healed, rewards, and a grave warning The party teleports out and reaches the Menhem family manor in Otari around 1 PM. Doriana (Menhem's daughter), now free of the Denizen of Leng that possessed her, is fully healed and rushes to hug Veve; Wrin Sivinxi is there and reveals Doriana is a powerful psychic with a bright future. A Ruby the family was watching has turned into a Wand of Locate, gifted to the party. A grateful Menhem offers each PC (Master Abbas, Miss Veve, Sir Cid, young Venus) an item of 7th level or below from Absalom. The party recounts the grave knight; Wrin freezes and urges them never to engage it — they will die a horrible, agonizing death. The party sells junk talismans (Grim Trophy, Gallows Tooth, Emerald Grasshopper) and a +1 striking weapon for cash, finally no longer poor. [S56 · 03:44:14 · turn 1889 · scene 007]
04:05:18	Grave-knight lore and session wind-down The party plans to spend a full day shopping (item rewards take in-game time to fulfill) and rest before adventuring again; the GM tracks the in-game date (the 23rd). Religion checks reveal grave knights are cursed undead — anyone who dons a grave knight's armor becomes a grave knight themselves — but whether this one can inflict the 'empty death' is unrelated to its being a death knight. It is a grave knight of Nimbaloth, adorned with the Empty Death's symbols. The party agrees the knight is hunting them and will become a recurring 'tyrant' threat; they resolve to research it at the library and gauntlight, meet up next morning, and wait for an absent player (Vol). [S56 · 04:09:28 · turn 2123 · scene 008]

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