Dragonlance Session 8 : Between Rock and Earth
Happy New Year everyone!
Sorry for the delay, holiday season and whatnot.
We last found our party in the Elven capital of Qualinost where they were tasked with rescuing the captured people of Krynn from Pax Tharkas. During their time in Qualinost, our favorite problematic Dragonborn met the Elven princess, Laurana, who seemed to take an immediate interest in our angsty boy.
Unfortunately, she was kidnapped that same evening, putting a pin in our blossoming interactions.
The party started this week with leaving Qualinost to journey to Pax Tharkas, with Gilthanis as their guide. Before leaving, Lady Liadrin was given the title Captain (Lady) Liadrin, The Unbroken Jewel of Qualinost. She is to be the last warrior given rank in Qualinost during the Age of Despair as the elves readied to abandon their homeland to find sanctuary in the western lands.
Heading south towards Pax Tharkas, and the secret Elven entrance Sla-Mori, the team came across a bloodied battleground strewn with the corpses of men and Hobgoblins. While investigating the clearing, one of the bloodied men rose to his feet, warning the party of the ambush surrounding them. After defeating the ambush, the party spoke with the man, Eben, and agreed to take him with them on the mission.
Before reaching their destination the party witnessed thousands of Draconian soldiers exiting Pax Tharkas, headed towards the Elven homeland. This sight spurred the heroes towards their destination which they reached by the evening.
Having entered the hidden passages of Sla-Mori the party was IMMEDIATELY SLOWED by the DM's attempt at a puzzle dungeon. Yes, friends, we had it all. Back-tracking a hundy, no attempts at investigation roles, 0% questions directed at their guide; just a complete and utter disregard for their situation that bordered on absolute arrogance.
The party did recover an ancient weapon, Wyrmslayer, which was used by the first Speaker of the Sun of Qualinesti thousands of years ago. Neltharion was gifted the Greatsword after Aello begrudgingly admitted that she could not use it--but it looked dope and she wanted to keep it anyways. Having found the sword, the party returned back the way they came and took another route, where they found the ghost of a man long since trapped in Sla-Mori.
They asked this ghost NOTHING, just promised they'd get him out of Sla-Mori if he helped guide them. The ghost...who has been trapped in the tunnels for over 500 years. Guiding them, evidently. Not the living elf, this random ass ghost they found.
No matter, Gorm the dwarf just promptly heaved all those bones into his pack and continued forward. Surely no consequences there!
The ghost had offered them some tips in a highly manic voice. Those tips were as follows:
"Fools take the RIGHT way, continue through darkness, find the lowering stone. Touch not the tombs of the dead. Speak, “Friend to elf, dwarf and man.” and the doors will open. I’ll see you in time."
Again, nothing haunting or sinister there.
The team was very hung up on "the RIGHT WAY" so they opted to return back the way they came--completely passing the entrance where they could have taken the ghost so that he might escape, just fuck that, he's not going out the way they came in apparently--and continue exploring the room where they found the sword again. This time they found that the room was larger than they previously thought, and OH LOOK AT THAT:
A giant slug was stuck in it. Just a massive 1 1/2 story, 45 ft long slug.
So naturally, they decided to kill that thing. But they didn't just...attack it with swords and bows and whatever else they had. No no.
These absolute psychopaths proceed to torment this thing by casting both Phantasmal Killer and Phantasmal Force on this thing and forcing it to view the Tiefling Bard as an almost 7ft tall salt shaker, while the Dwarf made it believe that a 10ft bucket of salt was just perpetually hanging directly over its head.
When they asked me to make Wisdom and Intelligence saving throws for this thing I screamed, "MY DUDES, IT'S A SLUG." As it failed both of those miserably. They killed it within 2 rounds, as it could not move at all due to the phantom salt plaguing it.
To kill it, Neltharion and Rodriggo were right up on it and Neltharion stated that he, "Slid on his knees alongside the beast cutting it from end to end so that all of the entrails and nastiness purposefully lands on Rodriggo." It's...a love-hate thing they've got going.
We left our heroes being judged very harshly by Eben for the chaos and villainy of what they'd just done to this poor creature (who had obviously been just stuck in this room peacefully growing in size over the centuries, living its best life) which then caused an existential crisis over whether or not they were supposed to be friends with it (they weren't, but I enjoyed the sorrow and anxiety the thought provoked).
We will be picking up in the tunnels of Sla-Mori; Neltharion has a new weapon, Gorm is carrying a whole ass ghosts worth of bones, the party has a new ally (Eben) and Rodriggo is covered in slug goop.
Which is exactly where I love to leave things.
