Session 78 - Invisible Creatures Are Hard To See

Wed 29th Nov 2023

In-game timeline: UNKNOWN (9th day in the Shadowfell)

Our "Heroes" return to Evernight after a busy evening in a Vampire mansion, playing games, pretending to be other people, rescuing dragons etc - a usual Friday night for this crowd.

The city of Evernight is in turmoil. The Battle of Evernight is reaching a peak and there are lots of small-scale skirmishes going on, some of which seem to be becoming more full-scale battles, as well as looting and opportunistic fights in every corner of the city.

Arriving back in the warehouse that is home to the Portal Guild, it is a busy place. People are coming and going, and some rooms are hosting injured fighters - Solveig lends a hand with some healing. The party report back on their activities - some of which were known, as Agratheron did arrive there some hours ago, though he has since headed off to help with the recruitment and fighting efforts, so he is not around at present.

The party have a rest for the remainder of the night and into the following morning - despite the fighting going on around the city, they rest well as they are very tired. Solveig and Sanada lose some exhaustion, though Sanada still wakes up somewhat exhausted. She also manages to fall foul of the Despair of the Shadowfell once more, and seems even more Despondent than she was before.

After some discussion with the group, and with Earthil, the party eventually decide to get some horses and make their way quickly to the Vale of Shade before the enemy have a chance to move the Vessels, as any movement and transportation across the portals are almost certain to be under very heavy guard. Solveig seems keen to travel by water, offering to become a large crocodile and to carry the other three on his back whilst traversing the perilous waters of the Shadowfell. The others tell him to stop being so stupid and prepare for an overland travel.

They make their way to the edge of the city, carefully, and get some horses and continue on away from the chaos of the city battles towards the Vale of Shade.

They have discovered that the Vale of Shade is found within the Sorrow Plains - a desolate place that is avoided by most people in the Shadowfell. No one 'civilised' lives there, but it is home to various shadow and sorrowful creatures that the party will need to look out for.

After about a day's travel, the group reach what is obviously the edge of the Sorrow Plains. Rather than push on into that desolate place overnight (though there is not much more light during the day than there is at night), the group decide to camp here for the night and head into the Sorrow Plains the following morning. They believe it will be a further 12 hours or so before they reach the Vale of Shade.

Faith pitches his Tiny Hut and they retire into there for the night. It is not a restful night, however, given their surroundings, and Sanada is unable to throw her exhaustion even after a night's rest. What is worse, the Despair of the Shadowfell continues to affect the monk, even after she receives Inspiration from Alwaith, and she becomes somewhat Mistrustful in addition to the existing effects she is suffering from.

The following morning the horses that they had to leave outside seem rather skittish. Solveig heads over to try to calm them and at that point the invisible creatures that had been gathering outside the tent overnight attack!

Alwaith has met one of these creatures - Skulks - before, though that one was contained within a cage and was alone. These are more numerous, and in their own environment. They do significant harm to the party before the party is able to regroup and work out what is going on.

The party are glad they were able to heal up after their long rest, as these creatures are quite vicious with their long claws, and successful attacks from the invisible monsters seem to add a level of dread in the form of necrotic damage. After a round or two of confusion, our "heroes" get their act together. Faith rises above the group and uses his spiritual guardians to good effect. Solveig, isolated and battered, makes use of his invisibility to get away from his attackers and invokes his totem to aid his healing of the others. Alwaith protects himself, and ensures damage to attackers, using his Armor of Agathys and Sanada focuses on using her reaction to attack back on anyone hitting her. 

Eventually the party manage to take down all the invisible creatures - or at least all those that seem to be attacking them. It was a tough fight and needed more tactics than the group are used to using, but they did manage to survive without any of the party falling unconscious. Faith uses his "until now forgotten" ability to see invisibility to check their surroundings and sees no other invisible creatures in the immediate vicinity, though he does spot 10 dead creatures - humanoids with long arms and terrifying claws that seem to have translucent bodies, even in death.

The party ready themselves for the trek into the Sorrow Plains…