Habololy Forum

RECAP:
The group left the Kobald encampment and decided to travel northeast toward where they believed Melg should be. While walking, Yoshi cast a Divination spell to ask The Oldest Orc how to escape this place and received the answer "We must sacrifice one of our group to get out." Needless to say, this didn't sit well with everyone, but we carried on. Along the way, we were approached by a group of Samurai horse lords. Osrick said these riders have been chasing him for the last two months and he attacked them on sight as they rode closer to our position. He launched two devastating fireballs at a group of about 15 dealing massive damage, but only four perished in the blast zone. The other 11 and another group of about 15 survived unscathed and circled the group with sword and spear pointed in our direction.

Akrah pinged the group as they got closer and noticed roughly half of them were evil. They greeted us in pseudo-Horarian, but the language was lost on most of the group. Fortunately, many of us speak Horarian and were able to issue a greeting. Unfortunately, one of the samurai dismounted when he saw Oz and attacked him believing him to be an Oni. Oz was on the brink of death after a series of successful strikes after the assailant got the jump on us. The rest of the group sprung into action at this time and defended our position. Jessie activated his shield, Taye hid and used his mind powers, Terlus and Gareth tackled Osrick to prevent him from killing the samurai, Akrah was grappled by several samurai, and the rest prepared spells or hid behind the shield. 

It quickly became apparent that the vast majority of samurai held their position while only one lone warrior attempted to murder Oz and two or three restrained Akrah. Yoshi bravely placed himself in harm's way to heal Oz and eventually the rest of the group stepped in to kill the attacking samurai. Gareth landed a grievous blow that skewered our assailant through the neck to finish him off. Osrick teleported away from being held and hid.

At that time, another warrior in a purple helmet dismounted and commanded the rest of the samurai not to attack further. He approached Oz and asked to speak. Oz had Tongues active, so he was able to communicate clearly with the leader. He mentioned that he was the protector of a nearby village and that they would not harm us if we came with them. He mentioned that spellcasters were useful and in high demand and assured us that Osrick would not be harmed if he agreed to come with us to his village. Ultimately, we all agreed and rode off with them. As a token of martial tradition, the belongings of the dead samurai were given to Gareth for being the one to slay him. It was the purple warrior, Ada, who offered this since he represented the clan.

On our way to the town, the evil samurai rode off and away from the group while the non-evil ones stayed and spoke to us. Gareth asked them about their history, their deities, traditions, etc. He was told they know of dead gods like Forsha and some of the Celestial Bureaucracy, but not any from our pantheon except Dedestoyt. Gareth was also told that everything belonging to the one he killed was now his as tradition dictated, including the samurai's widow and the house they live in.

The most important thing we were told is that, within the confines of the town's prison basement, resides a "witch" that the samurai keep locked up. This witch is apparently very powerful, knows of the Oni, is knowledgeable about other worlds and different planes, and would be interested to speak with us. Ada identified her as Ver'on I'ka. Once we arrived at the village, adorned in traditional Horarian design and architecture but with a unique style different from Habololy, we were escorted to the prison. Ada said we would be safest there and offered to stay in the prison with us overnight as a gesture of good faith. We agreed and decided to call it a night when Ada discovered a lone prisoner in one of the cells. It was some sort of Goblin-esque creature, but unknown to us. Ada killed it to prevent it from hearing what we had to say and to free up an additional cell for our party.

In the morning, Ada met with his village elders and they all agreed we should meet Ver'on I'ka. Upon entering her chambers, we were struck by how incredibly beautiful she was. She was more than pleased to meet us and seductively approached the group to get a closer look at us. The conversation immediately began with her essentially stating that she was aware we weren't native to this plane and that she could help us get out but an "offering to her" would need to be made. We all looked at each other with the grim realization that this must be the "sacrifice" The Oldest Orc was referring to. We left off with the group pondering their options while Ver'on I'ka smiled at all of us.   
     

Gareth detected this large area where the Kobolds are and then a number of towns to the east.  Which are you referring to?

I remember you describing a large city or metropolis setting off in the distance in fake Yellowia after Gareth cast his spell, but maybe I'm mistaken.

It was one of the emporer's aides, an orc.

Taye, could you try reaching out to the Cleric of the Oldest Orc who we got the blood sample?

Osrick mentioned getting all his memories back, thus restoring his former power and abilities.  All the Clerics seem to be able to receive blessings from their Deities, so that's encouraging.  We also suspect that magic is fully functional based on Jessie's experiment.  We've determined that we're surrounded by a magical forcefield of some kind that spreads out for miles.  The moon is present, so if we're traveling through time, it's not more than 600-650 years ago.  If in the future, we're in some sort of Planet of the Apes type scenario.  Not much we can do about that.  The only indication that we're not too far removed from our current timeline is that Taye was able to communicate mentally with known allies.  Again, this could be the result of magical tampering or telepathic trickery, but we have no concrete proof.  All signs appear to point to still being on Habololy, although that could also be a magical ruse, but we have no proof otherwise.  We ended the session after getting a full night's rest and fully healed, so at least there's that. 

For starters, do any of us suddenly have memories rush back into our minds that we may have previously been unaware of?  In particular, does Yoshi have any more prophecies that manifest in his mind? 

Is there any sign of Vecchi?  If not, can Taye try to reach out to him telepathically?  We were hoping for the best with Vecchi, but never truly determined if Yoshi's prophecy was meant to be a blessing or an omen.  If he's behind any of this, we're in trouble.

Do any of us suddenly gain power or abilities like Osrick or are we all essentially the same?

Do the multiple uses of the new time cantrip or Gareth's casting of Lay of the Land provide any insights into the passage of time or reveal any unaccounted for gaps in time?  Also, where is the officially approved version of the cantrip posted so I can add it to my D&D app on my phone?

I believe someone recalled the name of an ancient civilization similar to what the Amatom Gnomes used to identify themselves.  What do we know about the history of those people and the land itself during that time period?  Now that our minds are theoretically clearer, we may be able to recall more details. 

Lastly, is there anything growing in this land that appears fertile?  We encountered a forest, but are the trees wilted and dying like the grouping we camped in?  Are there any nuts, fruits, or grains that can be picked and harvested?  If not, I'll continue to focus on the Creation domain so I can feed and hydrate us all.   

Is the soil itself salty or was the salt only concentrated among the salt zombies we encountered?

RECAP

The group, exhausted and beaten down, managed to rest through the night and late into the following morning at the farmhouse.  We were given breakfast, prayed for a strategic spell list among Clerics, reached out to Vechi telepathically to set a rendezvous point, then made our way toward a logging town about 6 hours away that was only a few hours out from the Great Wall of Melg.  In order to speed up our trip, we bought a horse from Lohren and Oz cast Make Whole on Jessie's wagon to repair it.  In preparation, Taye also sent a mental message to one of the Emperor's aides letting him know where we were heading and he said he'd send Orcs to meet us and guide us into the Empire safely.

We eventually met up with Vechi on the way and managed to make it to the town, but not before noticing a wolf-dog following us and unnatural clouds rolling in from behind us that eventually overtook us as we reached the front entrance.  We were met with mild hesitation due to our strange appearances, but ultimately let in and allowed to stay at a lodge in town along with our animal companions who rested outside the lodge.  We thanked our hosts and proceeded to set up watch for the night.  Oz and Akrah took first watch.  It wasn't long into our watch before the entire lodge was suddenly filled with cold and a sense of dread.  Akrah, in her usual "subtle" manner, began screaming and making lots of noise to wake the group.  Once awoken, we were faced with a group of shadows that attacked us on sight.  Immediately, Oz was struck with negative energy and nearly paralyzed by strength loss.  Akrah went on the offensive, but was met with difficulty trying to connect with the shadows.  Another wave of dread struck us all and Oz was laid out due to strength loss.  At that point, the rest of the group joined the fight.  Gareth tumbled into battle with short sword and flaming log from the fireplace in hand, Taye hid and prepared what mental defenses he could, and the rest readied spells and weapons.  Vechi made his way over to Oz and restored just enough strength for Oz to stand back up.  This gave Oz the opportunity to turn undead, successfully causing four of six shadows to flee.  Yoshi then cast daylight allowing the group to clearly see the shadows and eliminating their cover of night.  With visibility restored, the group started landing blows and Taye released a psychic blast that mentally notified the entire town of the assault.  We eventually defeated the final two shadows and later met with the town Cleric, a worshipper of Arsur'Anyodel, who confirmed no others were injured in the attack.  Oz prayed for Lesser Restoration spells and proceeded to restore strength to all who lost it.  We finished resting and set out the next morning for Melg after eating breakfast.  We again met with the Cleric before leaving and said our goodbyes. 

On our journey to Melg, we noticed more unnatural clouds forming so we travelled with haste to our destination.  We came across a temple town just outside the wall, but decided to keep travelling after we were told the inhabitants might not be too welcoming of our menagerie.  We walked a little further and eventually reached the wall.  We decided to travel along it until we reached a proper entrance and finally met an open door leading to a waypoint where we could go to several destinations within the Empire.  We headed toward Melg and pressed on.  Of particular note, it was around this time that we all noticed our waterskins containing the Cleric's blood were popped and all the blood was lost.  Only Akrah retained a complete blood sample, so she tucked it away safely and continued travelling.  Since there's still dried blood on the busted pouches, we all kept them on the off chance the Orcs can still use that in their research.

After getting within two or three hours from our destination, we stopped because the wolf-dog and Flow both sensed something out of place and reacted defensively.  After a moment, a stone giant emerged from the ground in a hidden position.  We tried negotiating with it and apologized for disrupting its sleep.  It demanded 500 gold, so we tried to go the diplomatic route and show it our pass from the Emperor.  As we approached within 40 ft., it unleashed an assault by throwing a spear.  As we all scurried to defend ourselves, several more giants burst out of their hiding places.  We retreated back to the wagon and tried to make an escape, but the horse was hit by a boulder and exploded in a gory mess.  Using the wagon for cover allowed us to block a couple more boulder shots, but it was eventually destroyed in the battle.  Oz healed those who were injured and Yoshi cast an Obscuring Mist to cover our escape.  Vechi found an escape route that would get us moving faster toward Melg, so we followed it.  We put a little distance between us and the giants and eventually reached a narrow passageway that we could get through, but the giants wouldn't be able to fit.  We made our way into this area, but as we escaped into the distance, darkness spread across the passageway.  Taye was trailing behind and saw us disappear.  As we entered darkness, we stopped for the night.   

Akrah pokes her bearly healed 1255 bolt wounds.. " I .. thought I would have done a better job tending to these "

For what it's worth, Oz didn't forget how to "Heal" so he had everyone under his care overnight. Question for DM; does the 150% healing ability of the Healing Domain count towards HP total overnight? For example, a 6th level character recovers 6 normally, 12 under care, but would they get 18 from Oz (150%)?

Yoshi chooses his words carefully so everyone hopefully remembers the theme of the message: “The journey back to Melg will be perilous. The gopher will return.”

DM, please redact as necessary.

DM, do we remember seeing the gopher before the attack? OOC: I know we all saw it check us out and retreat into a hole, but do our characters remember seeing that exchange?

Note that Oz is missing 1 3rd, 1 1st, and 3 2nd level spells.

NP, I just convert what I have left to healing spells and do what I can for those in need. Fortunately, I never actually cast anything since I was grappled the entire time, although Oz swears he cast one 1st, three 2nd, and one 3rd but doesn't remember doing so.