The Beginning of the End: A Pawn's Dilemma (Inactive)

Game Master caster4life

Seeing that there was no danger after all, Wrinil reappears with the rope right in front of the second mate. "I'm just about done, sir."

With SAM:

The sailor backs up when S.A.M. responds assertively. "Whoa whoa! I guess you do have a personality. Ok ok. Well let me tell you about Waterdeep then. It's a pretty nice place. Probably the most important city in the North. Has a beautiful deep water harbor, hence the name. Just lovely. It's ruled by some faceless lords and they take turns with one of them being the open lord. The open lord has a champion who's in charge of law enforcement."

With Wrinil:

The mate exclaims in surprise as Wrinil appears. "Where'd you come from! What are you doing? You better not be playing about with magic on my ship! Finish up and stow it!" He stalks off in a huff.

Horat listens to Olivia's reply intently, then replies.

"Peaceful sounds wonderful. That said, yes, it was nice having a brother. We were not so far apart in age, less than two years, and were close growing up. He was swifter than I."

Horat smiles sadly at the recollection.

"Tiernan sounds like he was not well-suited to apprentices. Perhaps he should have split duties with another. Though that would have required him to break his hermitage."

"Well, I don't know that he was ill-suited for apprentices so much as for children." Olivia paused, thoughtful. "Though if that were the case, I wonder why my parents would have sent me to study with him in the first place."

She was silent a moment longer before tentatively asking, "Why do you think that devil took on the appearances it did? Was it just to try to rattle us? Surely it can't- it can't have been implying it had the souls of those it was pretending to be...could it?" She looked around, clearly hoping to be dissuaded of the idea.

"That makes sense. Perhaps they did not realise that a man wise in magical arts may not be apt at guardianship."

"As for souls, I do not know. I doubt the devil did anything more than pick up a few images from our own thoughts and use them against us. If it could truly wield souls, it would have been a far deadlier opponent."

S. A. M. is intrigued by the description of Waterdeep.
"A champion, you say? Sounds like a warrior who'd have some work for us!"
He turns to Olivia and Horat and attempts to enter into the conversation.
"Say, what're you all mixed up in anyway? Those were some powerful demonic forces we fought."

"We all received visions, an angelic figure speaking to us about demonic threats. We have been fighting demonic threats based on its pronouncements since, and have recently retrieved an amulet that is meant to protect a figure of importance in Waterdeep. We return with it."

Wrinil looks around to no one in particular with a hurt expression. He dejectedly finishes coiling the rope and struggles to drag it across the ship to its storage home.

"They actually sent me to him for his knowledge of plants and mundane healing. My magical abilities developed later. I'm...not sure they ever actually knew that I gained such abilities, but as I'm sure you'll agree, they've been a great boon in addition to my more medicinal healing."

Olivia remained silent as Horat bluntly put forth what they were up to. She would not have been so quick to trust a stranger. But he was the senior authority here. It was him and Halgrinn who had been given this task. She and the others had almost been afterthoughts: convenient allies found along the way. If he thought it best to trust this strange beast with their secrets, who was she to argue?

"Ah, I see. Your knowledge of healing is indeed considerable and useful."

To help with plot catch-up/reminders, the amulet is to protect the Champion of the Open Lord of Waterdeep. Basically, he's the chief of police of the guard. And he happens to be a lodestone of the material plane so demons are trying to get him, along with other lodestones, so they can make the material plane part of the Abyss. Hint: You don't want that.

You have long conversations about your respective pasts and plans as you sail up the Sword Coast, past cliffs, islands, harbors, and mountains. Eventually, you can see the towers of Waterdeep barely piercing the horizon.

Prompt to finish your conversations and decide your next course of action.

With the journey now nearly over, Horat says to S.A.M.:

"S.A.M., will you assist us in securing the person of the Champion? There will almost certainly be fearsome resistance from demons and their cultists before we reach him."

S. A. M. turns to Olivia:
"Indeed your healing magic has already revived me once; no one doubts your skill."
Looking out at the waves, S. A. M. responds to Horat.
"For most of my life, I have been a killing machine. Until very recently, I never gave my actions a second thought. To be frank, it's odd now to be asked what I want to do. I fear no evil, but I don't really know how to work with partners. However, I do not think we met by accident; my god may have led me to this noble calling. Now that our paths have crossed, we should walk together a ways."
He then eyes Olivia.
"I sense that you may not trust me. I don't blame you. However, I don't want you to think I'll beg you to. If it weren't for you, those demons may have taken my life, but if it weren't for my intervention, Horat likely would have been crushed by those same blows that threatened it. As I see it, we're ... how does one say... square.
Finally, S. A. M. agrees. First looking to Horat, then Olivia, then, scratching his metallic skull to little Wrinil. Placing his hand on his sacred necklace, a skeletal fist dangling from a metal chain, he says: "I will join you in this quest as long as Kelemvor leads me to."

"I agree that your assistance was timely and likely saved my life and the others. Also that we saved you from the demon's clutches. 'Square' sounds apt. I welcome your aid, S.A.M."

Olivia remained quiet, simply shrugging at the creature's accusation. Horat had been at these things longer, so he probably had a better idea of how to handle things.

Meanwhile, unheard by anyone, Liv seethed. What a *moron*. Does he simply believe I would have allowed Horat to die had he not been there? I had things *well* in hand. It's not *my* fault if Horat's skull is too thick to realize that charging in isn't always the best course of action. If he hadn't, I could have simply flown well out of reach, zapping those demons from a safe distance. *sigh* At least gaining another meatshield isn't too bad. And our life is a *lot* more interesting now that dear, sweet Olivia has been recruited to this little mission Horat's. Sure beats hanging out with the woods.

"Well then, it's settled!," S. A. M. replies, offering his hand, robotic palm up, to each member in turn. "We'd best find find this champion and give him the trinket you all are guarding!"

Having agreed to work together, you eagerly look forward to the docking in Waterdeep. Wrinil, however, is uncharacteristically quiet, even more so than usual. He breaks his silence as you make port. "I wish you all the best. But this is too dangerous and terrifying for me. I'm a simple librarian and wish to return to my life as such."

Wrinil let me know in PM that he's bowing out of the game so make your farewells.

After saying goodbye to Wrinil, you press on to meet with Alain Turick, Champion of the Open Lord.

As a recap, the shared vision told you that Turick is a lodestone and how to find the amulet in Chult that would protect him from the demonic forces. Halgrin told him this in private (spoilered so I don't remember whether or not you know this) that this was your mission.

You show up at the city watch, led by Halgrin, a watch captain. After a little waiting, you are led to meet the champion. "Well? What news from Chult?"

Horat salutes Alain.

"Well met, Champion. We had to escape from pirates but at least the Chultan authorities are now aware of their deeds. We delved into an ancient jungle temple, where devilish foes had secreted the amulet. We secured the amulet but were assailed by demons in the streets of the port. S.A.M. here assisted in the ensuing battle."

Horat takes the amulet off his person and holds it in his right hand, his left still holding his halberd steady.

Enizver looked taken aback when Winril suddenly announced he was leaving. "I'm sorry to hear that," he said and waved. "You really helped us out. Have fun in the library."

~~~~~~~~

Meeting the champion for the first time, Enizver nodded and waved. "Hello! I'm Enizver. I really hope this amulet helps you, it was a pain to get hold of."

Olivia couldn't say she was surprised by Winril's decision. He clearly didn't have the same motivation the rest of them had had to be doing this dangerous work. In fact, now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure what his motivation had been in the first place. She wished him health and good fortune as they parted ways.

*****

Olivia nodded along to Horat's words but all the while her gaze was sweeping the area, looking for another demon ambush. She wouldn't be able to rest until the amulet was safely in the champion's hands.

As she looked around, her body froze suddenly as she stared intently at the champion. If *I* were a demon and wanted that amulet...

"Wait, Horat." She squirmed slightly as she got the group's attention. "Uhhh...Sir Champion, is there any way we could verify that this is truly you? We have already seen devils take on forms not their own, and it would be a shame to come this far only to give the item to the wrong person."

Insight to try to figure out if he's really the champion or a demon in disguise: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7 And...I know nothing.

The champion raises an eyebrow. "It seems you have been through difficult times. I am unsure how I can reassure you but would be willing to do so, m'lady." He inclines his head respectfully. "Captain Halgrin and Mr. Horat can no doubt confirm my appearance is correct. I would be happy to demonstrate one of my rumored fighting styles if a volunteer would step forward. Or perhaps you can ask something that only I would know?"

That might require Horat looking back at how he and/or Halgrin have interacted with the champion in the past.

"Or I suppose we could make some Holy Water tea," Enizver suggested thoughftully. "I would not think that anything from the darker parts of the planes would especially enjoy that."

Earlier

"Wrinril, I bid you farewell. May you find peace in your studies."

******************************

Now

Horat looks at the Champion.

"What was the first thing that you said to myself? And whom accompanied me? I also think you should answer while said holy water tea is prepared."

Insight on Alain: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

The champion chuckles and shakes his head at your vigilance. "Excellent. Let the tea be made. Do you have the holy water? Who will make the tea?" He turns to Horat and rubs his chin thoughtfully. "As I recall, you volunteered your services to help fight the demonic threat. In turn, I expressed some skepticism, saying it is unusual for the watch to employ and thus endanger civilians."

Does anyone have tea, a tea kit, or holy water?

"I do not have those supplies on me, but I could go out and buy some if needed." Olivia then lowered her voice to address her companions. "Though I will also point out that holy water is unlikely to do much if he is simply a cultist in disguise instead of an actual demon or devil."

"True, but a cultist can be found by more conventional means. They wouldn't be able to rip the answers to Horat's questions from his mind, for example." Enizver considered for a few moments. "Or at least not most mortals. I suppose a suitably high powered spell caster could do something of the kind, but it tends to be noticeable."

Oh my. I love the paranoia but make sure we keep moving forward. XD Does someone have holy water or tea stuff on them? If not, is someone going to go buy them? If not, what are you doing now?

"Unfortunately, I believe we lack the necessary component. Could we obtain some here? I would be willing to defray any cost."

One of you can go purchase some holy water at normal price. You'll have to step out for ~30 minutes.

Olivia goes out to buy the requisite ingredients and then returns to the group.

Olivia purchases some holy water and tea (25 gp for the holy water and the tea leaves and pot are trivial in comparison but now you have them) and comes back. While she is gone, Alain Turick waves for you to follow him "I must do some work in my office but you are welcome to follow me." He then reads and signs some parchments for about half an hour while he waits for Olivia to return. When she gets back, someone starts making the tea, which he then happily drinks. "There? May we proceed with business now?"

"I am satisfied that you are in fact indeed Alain Turick."

Horat draws out the amulet once again.

"Have you found out anything else about the cult since our departure? Or how this amulet is involved?"

Alain Turick shrugs slightly. "An attempt was made to kidnap me. Cultists made it into my quarters and cast a spell. I barely was able to resist and dispatched them speedily. As for this amulet, you know more about it than I do."

You all see a vision of a tremendously beautiful lady of light in your minds and here her speak "I can tell you of the amulet. It will protect him from demonic forces, preventing them from capturing this lodestone of your world."

Horat looks around.

"Did you see her? Hear her?"

Olivia was right in the middle of wondering if they should be worried about the champion being mind-controlled when the vision came. It was a different figure from before. She couldn't help but wonder what exactly was triggering these seemingly shared visions. And if the form in them changed, was that a sign that the source wasn't to be trusted?

She shook her head almost violently before quickly slapping her face a few times to clear her thoughts. What's gotten into you? You're seeing enemies poised to attack in every shadow. Did that temple and subsequent demon attack really shake you that badly?

"Yes, I did." She responded slowly. "I guess that means we should put the amulet on him? Though I really wish they'd give a bit more details about how this is all supposed to work..."

S. A. M., out of respect for the proceedings, has held his tongue, but this vision stirred him.

"Oh dear. We either have witnessed a supernatural vision, or have been tricked into thinking we've seen one."

You hear a hydraulic hissing sound as S.A.M. lowers himself into a posture of kneeling. As he descends, you hear him say confidently:

"Never fear, comrades. I unfortunately have a lot of experience in dealing with supernatural entities. My gut tells me we are being deceived by this attractive humanoid vision, but just to check, I must pray for an answer."

S.A.M., now kneeling fully, grasps his holy symbol and rocks back and forth on his knees, his free arm gesturing rhythmically as he quietly chants the trisyllable "Ke-Lem-Vor" and begs for insight: "Give us humble mortals your eternal truth... beset by unseen foes and uncertain of the truth, we seek your guiding wisdom!"

Insight check on the vision: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9

While chanting, S. A. M. casts Detect Evil and Good to perceive unseen evils or magically consecrated or desecrated objects.

Enizver watched the vision for a moment, and then S.A.M's attempts to divine the nature of the visitation. He was curious to see what the results were. "We were pretty sure that this lady is, at the least, a divine messenger of some kind and perhaps more. Um. You might want to brace yourself with that spell, if we're right." He wasn't sure what casting Detect Good and Evil in the presence of a God might do, but he suspected it was the magical equivalent of staring into the sun from two feet away.

"The figure has led us to destroy demons before. It seems bizarre that they would lead us astray on this matter. I think, Alain, that you should wear the amulet, or at least keep it close to hand."

Good idea, S.A.M. Take inspiration. Unfortunately, the spell is very specific in what it does. It doesn't detect whether or not one of the listed creatures (celestial, fiend, etc) is communicating with you.

S.A.M. determines that there is no abberration, celestial, elemental, fey, fiend, or undead within 30 ft of you.

With no new information in hand, Alain Turick accepts the amulet and pockets it.

But then the doors to the guardhouse burst open and horrid-looking creatures burst in. The smaller ones look like some sort of deranged, skeletal elves with twisted tails while the largest looks rather toad-like. He bellows in a dark tongue

The guards rush forward to defend their commander!

Everyone but Olivia leaps into action!

Everyone but Olivia won init. GO! Obviously, there are a lot of obstacles in this building if you look at the map.

It said a lot about the last couple of weeks that, in addition to leaping so high into the air that for a moment he was head height with some of the shorter people in the office Enizver also whipped out his Thunder Cannon and took aim and fired at the one that shouted. It seemed to be more instinct than skill.

To Hit: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18
Damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (1, 2) + 4 = 7
Thunder Monger: 1d6 ⇒ 2
Insightful Fighting: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
Sneak Attack: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 6) = 11

Horat calls out loudly in common:

"They seek to take him! You can set the webs alight!"

As Horat jogs towards the stronger enemy flank, he makes a motion. With a flick of his wrist, a glob of spider web flies towards the abyssal creatures - and expands into a mess of sticky threads!

Moved Horat 30ft closer, within 10ft of a babau. Web which cover all four demons if I'm not mistaken. Should be plenty of walls and obstacles to anchor it too! Dexterity Save DC 13

Then, his halberd strikes out at the demon within his reach!

Action Surge: Booming Blade on nearest Babau.

Silvered Halberd with Booming Blade vs Babau: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Precision Attack, S Dice 3/4: 1d8 ⇒ 4

Silvered Slashing Damage: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

Thunder Damage if Babau willingly moves before Horat's next turn: 1d8 ⇒ 8

Arcana on any insights on these demons: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

Religion on any other insights on these demons: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

S.A.M. still to go!

S. A. M. arises from his kneeling position, startled by the ambush. In common, he announces while running into the fray: "I have successfully determined that there is no sacred or desecrated object or place, nor an aberration, celestial, elemental, fey, fiend, or undead within 30 feet!"

Rushing to Horat's side, S. A. M. draws his shield and points with his main hand at the hideous leader of these evil creatures:

"Curse you, wicked being!"

Bonus action: Hexblade's Curse on the big bad toad, who looks to be within 30 ft of S. A. M.

He then retracts his mechanical arm into a flexing position as a bonfire bursts out in the heart of the webbing:

Action:Spell

Bonfire Cantrip. DC14 DEX save or 1d8 fire damage, plus whatever effect the fire has on the webs.

Horat, web is a 20 ft square in 5e so you can just barely, with great strategic placement, get three of the demons. I'll place it for you this time but feel free to place your own spell effects on the map next time. Also, poor Horat with those attack rolls... And yeah it's religion to ID these guys, not arcana. Bummer. One last note, your action economy is already awesome but you could have actually made a bonus action attack with the halberd end, right? I'm pretty sure you didn't spend your bonus action.

S.A.M. you can put a little picture of a bonfire on the map too so I can make sure I know where you're targeting that spell.

Enizver lands a solid shot that seems to hurt the largest demon, though not as much as he'd like.

What's the damage type on your gun again? Piercing? I know that some of it is thunder damage and was accounting for that separately. As we all know, when fighting demons, damage types matter a lot.

The nearest lesser demon avoids the web while the large one and another small one are restrained by the sticky strands! Thanks to being restrained by the web, the large demon is damaged by the bonfire and also when it burns away that square of web.

The web spell isn't clear about whether or not the fire spreads so for sanity's sake and to keep you from burning down the guardhouse, let's say that it doesn't.

The lesser demon not stuck in the web steps forward and claws at Horat twice but just can't connect at all, thanks in part to the robotic intervention! Horat tries to strike back at the demon but can't land a blow. The demons stuck in the web escape from its sticky grasp and rush forward while another rushes at Sam and strikes at him but can't quite make it past his metal shield! The large demon moves forward and then more guards rush into the room. But a puff of fragrant, sickly sweet something exudes from the demon and most of the guards fall over and sit on the ground, smiling confusedly. Alain Turick, however, moves forward and strikes twice, hard, at one of the demons, landing two mighty blows.

All PCs, GO!

Thanks for reminding me about the halberd end! I'll also aim to put down templates myself in future. I should have been clearer that the total with the precision attack die was 16 to hit, if that makes a difference.

Superiority Dice: 2/4 after riposte

Last turn's halberd end attack vs babau: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
Damage: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

*******************************************************

Horat is nonplussed by the pair of demons assailing him. He continues to swing his halberd, this time with green fire bursting from its blade.

Green Flame Blade, Halberd End as bonus action

Green Flame Blade with Silvered Halberd vs original target babau: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

If that hits, that's 3 fire damage to the second babau near Horat

Damage, Silvered Slashing: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Halberd End vs original target babau: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

Damage, Silvered Bludgeoning: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Oh yeah! 16 hits by the skin of your teeth!