Session 60 - Persuading The Fey

Thu 3rd Feb 2022 20:00 - 23:30

In-game timeline: Hammer 05 - Hammer 10 DR1490

Our "Heroes" ready themselves for battle with a clockwork creature and his pet. With Devon out of action, it looked like a tough battle. But it proved to be easier than expected.

Drogan used his usual tactic and raced towards the assailant. Unfortunately, he became trapped in the greasy oil that had been spread over the floor at the top of the stairs by the clockwork beast. The dog and the creature both attacked the barbarian, allowing Dwarrow and Alwaith to use their talents to damage the creatures with little risk of damage themselves. Despite the beasts being hard to take down, our three "heroes" manage it, somewhat helped by Alwaith's surprising Eldritch Smite ability that he used on a critical hit, and again on a normal hit, causing substantial damage, and following up with his Armour of Agathys which did cold damage (which, unbeknownst to the group, the large clockwork monster was vulnerable to), which ensured Alwaith could really "own" that kill! The clockwork dog, Tock, meanwhile, fell quite quickly to Drogan's rage, and Dwarrow's spiritual weapon.

As Dwarrow gathered the Chintz crystals from the bodies of the two clockwork devices, Drogan spotted the large cog forming the central part of Tock's mechanism which looked like a good fit for the missing cog in the clockwork of the floor below. He dragged Tock's body down the stairs.

Alwaith, meanwhile wants to find Azkael, and heads up the ladder to the beams above, hoping to reach Azkael's quarters which are reputably higher up in the tower. When he reaches about halfway up the ladder, his body is suddenly frozen in time, and he can no longer move, or even sense the passing of time.

This goes unnoticed by Dwarrow and Drogan, who are talking to Jeep about whether he and his other clockwork helpers can extract the cog from Tock's body and replace it in the mechanism below to restart the clock. Jeep explains that it is do-able, though it may take an hour or so. He does point out Alwaith's predicament to the rest of the group, though. They don't seem too upset to have an hour without Alwaith, and there is almost a sigh of disappointment from Drogan and Dwarrow when Jeep finally manages to get the cog extracted and replaced, and the entire clock tower once again starts to tick! Both Devon and Alwaith return to normality, and the group explain to Devon what has happened in the last couple of hours!

They head upwards, seeking the gnome, Azkael, and find him in the top level, asleep. After waking him and explaining the bad news that he has been stuck in time for the last 300 years, they ask about the siren's bones that he has. Drogan is very polite towards the "dwarf-friend" Azkael, whilst Alwaith is his usual curt and somewhat impolite self. Azkael is a little confused , understandably, but does, after talking to Jeep, slowly realise that he has been saved from a long period stuck in time. He happily gifts the group the (very valuable) siren's bones, which Alwaith grabs, almost too quickly! After the friendly reception given by Drogan, and hearing that Devon has a familiar, Nige, he also gifts them a foldable, brass brazier - a clever mechanical contraption that Devon receives with glee!

After saying their goodbyes, rather quickly, as they don't want to be in the tower when it returns to the nine planes of hell, the party head back towards Mistloch Town, collecting the large salt-boned Aboleth bones on the way. The journey is uneventful, but does take another three days to get there.

They make their way back across The Mistloch and on to The Haunt, taking Angelica's bones to the standing stones in the centre. As Glisten appears, Alwaith buries the bones, and is able to communicate to the spirit of Angelica, who is very grateful that she can now progress to The Raven Queen as she originally was supposed to. 

Glisten, meanwhile, is pleased for Angelica, but a little sad, as it now means that Kai is able to leave this place, although neither of them actually wants to leave, as it has been their home for almost 300 years. The party are somewhat surprised to realise that burying the bones is unlikely to change the turbulent waters around The Mistloch, as that seems to be Kai's doing, and the bones had no effect on his recent bad moods.

However, Alwaith (finally?) turns on the charm and manages to persuade Kai and Glisten to leave the area, now that they are able. They are incredibly sad to do so, but agree to go, and will pack up and leave by the following day. Our "Heroes" hope that this will, finally, solve the Mistloch problem.

As a parting gesture, before heading back to Settlestone, they do pay another visit to Winir at the Mistloch Mine. There, little has changed. Dwarrow is keen to kill them, or move them on, but the group agree to wait and see if Kai's leaving will solve the problem. After a brief conversation where they ask if the Giants brought anything with them when they came here - they didn't - and briefly checking out Winir's "jewellery" (a few dirty rings and a string and tooth necklace), they say goodbye to the giants very shortly after arriving.

And so we leave our "Heroes" once again back in Settlestone, hoping to receive good news from Mistloch the next day, and wondering what their next steps will be…