¶ Session 035 - Bort's Blessing
¶ The Belly of the Great Beast
Our story opens in the chaotic thick of battle, deep underground, where a monstrous, fifteen-foot-tall cavern worm thrashed in the dark. Nitro, possessed by the wild fury of her rage, had vaulted directly onto the beast's neck. With one hand gripping a hunk of its slimy flesh and the other swinging her greataxe, she held on for dear life as the worm tried to shake her loose. Meanwhile, poor Clutch had been swallowed whole! But no beast's gullet can hold a Tengu for long; wriggling fiercely, Clutch forced the worm to cough him up, popping out onto the cavern floor covered in slime.
Free from his fleshy prison, Clutch flew atop the creature and unleashed a flurry of blows, striking a critical hit that left the beast reeling and slowed. Yet, it was Otto who delivered the final, magnificent blow. Devising a brilliant stratagem, the investigator half-closed his eyes and hurled his returning hammer straight into the creature's eye. The weapon punched clean through, slaying the worm instantly. As the colossal carcass collapsed, Nitro and Clutch rode it down to the ground like a triumphant steed, shouting, "Hell yeah, brother!".
¶ Viscera, Vomit, and Valuables
But the victory was a messy one. As the beast died, it violently erupted, spraying the heroes with a twenty-foot radius of foul, undead viscera and void energy. Worse still, a swarm of tiny, grotesque baby worms burst from the carcass. Unfazed, Nitro drew her enchanted spiked chain—the "Chain of Command"—and lashed out, commanding the squirming horrors to "get out of here!". Terrified by the barbarian's critical strike and commanding voice, the swarm rapidly burrowed ninety feet into the earth, fleeing the cavern entirely.
Amidst the ruined guts of the great worm, the party spotted a partially digested humanoid body spilling out onto the floor. Ever resourceful, they looted the tragic soul, recovering a brass hourglass and an angular token with a phrase written on it.
¶ Grave Robbing for the Greater Good
Venturing deeper into the catacombs, the trio descended into a chilling room illuminated by unnatural green lanterns and filled to the brim with coffins. Some of the tombs bore darkly humorous epitaphs, such as Archivist Vaelen Thorne, whose "ink in his lungs was thicker than the blood in his heart," and the unfortunate Barry M. Deep.
Never a group to leave a stone unturned—or a coffin closed—they popped the lid off a heavy stone sarcophagus. A bloated zombie lunged out, managing to sink its teeth into Nitro! But Otto quickly smashed it with a critical hammer strike , and Clutch followed up by flipping over the coffin to deliver a devastating flurry of kicks, exploding the undead creature's head. Their grave-robbing efforts were handsomely rewarded with a Battle Medic's Baton and a Bracelet of Dashing.
They played a violent game of whack-a-mole with the next two coffins. The second held a ghoul gnawing on a bone, which they dispatched in seconds, claiming a petrified glass rose and a magical ring called "Bord's Blessing," capable of granting its wearer a new language every day. The third held yet another zombie, which Clutch effortlessly tripped and stomped back into the dust. From this conquest, Nitro claimed a very cool helmet, already planning how to bedazzle it with rhinestones.
¶ The Ghost of Squire Kaelen and the Skeleton Skirmish
The catacombs grew stranger still. The party pushed through a heavy door into a field of bones, centered around a grand tombstone that read: "I kept the gate against the sea. The sea simply walked through me". A ghostly apparition materialized, beckoned to them, and vanished into the shadows. Using his keen investigator's mind, Otto recalled that this tomb belonged to Squire Kaelen of the Shield, an early squire to the founders of Absalom and the Church of Aroden. Inside, they found a skeleton resting with pristine gloves that miraculously repelled blood.
But their luck had finally run out. As they opened another nearby tomb, it triggered a massive ambush! Three more skeletons slid out from the darkness behind the stone pillars. One skeleton, wielding a priest's censer, cast a booming sonic spell that blasted the party and left Otto temporarily deafened. The same skeletal caster then shot an arc of freezing cold at Nitro, grabbing her with void energy and sapping her ability to heal. Another skeleton managed to trip the fierce Orc, sending her crashing to the ground.
The battle was sheer chaos! Otto quickly donned his Obsidian Goggles to pierce the darkness , threw his hammer to shatter a skeleton's sternum , and rushed to pull Nitro back to her feet. In the swirling melee, Clutch swung wildly and critically failed, accidentally punching Otto right in the face! Mortified but determined, the Tengu monk made up for his blunder. He lunged at the spellcasting skeleton, grabbed it by its shawl, and executed a masterful Whirling Throw, launching the undead menace thirty feet through the air! The skeleton smashed into a stone tomb, its bones exploding into a powdery mist, ending the skirmish once and for all.
Catching their breath, the heroes searched the remains, pocketing a magical incense censer, a carnival ticket, and a recipe for vitalizing coffee. But their path forward would not be easy; the next stairwell leading deeper into the dark was completely flooded with murky water.