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Previously on War for the Lost Plane

Starring:
Kaelan, level 18 tiefling Monster Slayer Ranger/Fiend Warlock
Scarlet, level 18 human Oath of Devotion Paladin
Gillian, level 18 triton Champion Fighter, College of Lore Bard
Kethra, level 18 half-elf Assassin Rogue
TIM, level 18 warforged War Domain Cleric

I watch as Kethra creeps along the narrow walkway, illuminated by the flow of lava on either side. The plan is solid: she’ll sneak into the room beyond and lure the demon guards toward the south, while we charge forward and surprise them.

TIM grunts as he continues keeping the curtain of lava parted with his magic. Before the rest of us step through onto the walkway, I see Kethra suddenly stop, raise her bow, and fire. A body hits the floor in the room beyond, followed quickly by cries of alarm. 

Styx rushes past her, trying to distract the demons, but they ignore him. A pair of heavily armed and armored demons fly toward us with military-precision and a single-minded purpose, landing beside the rogue and cutting her down with a flurry of sword attacks.

I cry out and raise my crossbows as Scarlet rushes forward, realizing we’re caught on the tiny walkway, surrounded by lava.

Staring down a curtain of lava while within TIM’s Anti-magic Field spell left us with few options, yet leave it to Kethra to come up with a clever solution. Being painful aware of the lava-rolling trap in the previous room, she laid down all the metal clappers she had stolen from the Bellboy creatures in our very first dungeon crawl in the Verdant Spire.

The metal clappers were organized within a rope circle, and when the lava-trap rolled over, they melted them into a decent-size metal shield. Kethra cooled the piping hot metal with some wine she had in her inventory (also from the Verdant Spire, I think), and Scarlet hefted the shield and used it to block the lava flow.

The shield wasn’t perfect, and the walkway was still only five feet wide, forcing everyone passing through to make a Dexterity check, many of us getting scalded by drops of lava. But the plan worked, and we made it through – into a room with three more exits, each with a lava-fall doorway!

Kaelan continued to use the fire-immune demon Styx to scout each room. To the west were caged were-bears, the north held a pile of corpses that seemed to move and shift, and the right led to a larger room with a north and south exit, with the north end guarded by four demons in full plate armor. They could see right through the invisible Styx, and demanded he join the fight outside. He mock saluted and flew back to us.

While we decided on a path, Styx explored a nearly hidden side path, accessible only by flying over a river of lava. The path led to a tiny, empty room with more bubbling lava pools. A secret door? A hidden switch? Kaelan commanded the imp to land in the middle, knowing his immunity should protect him from any traps.

The room did hold a trap, and nothing else. When Styx landed the lava pools boiled over, creating another wave of lava that surged down the river toward the rest of the party. Crap! TIM quickly dropped the Anti-Magic field and cast Create Water, while Gillian used Wall of Water to dissipate the worst of the lava.

My bad, everyone!

Feeling guilty, Kaelan sent Styx in to talk to the were-bears at TIM’s behest. The leader revealed they had been captured while trying to flee Marin’s Grove, and experimented on by the demons. One of theirs had already been taken, while another had reverted to a feral beast state after prolonged torture.

TIM used Control Water to part the lava curtain, Kethra picked the locks, and Scarlet healed and calmed the enraged bear. The werebears were grateful for the rescue, and quickly pledged to help us exact revenge on their captors.

TIM maintained concentration on Control Water to part the eastern path of lava, and we began filing through, all of us plus four werebears. Kethra wanted to draw the demon guards toward the south, allowing us to cross the precarious walkway and fight them in the larger room.

d&d

It was a good plan, but Kethra seemingly abandoned it when she realized the rare opportunity for a surprise attack. Standing at the front of the walkway, she aimed her sights at the erinyes and fired, triggering her auto-crit assassinate and deaths trike abilities, dealing over 160 damage and killing the demon outright. Nice!

Unfortunately that one attack counted as our surprise round, and the erinyes rolled relatively well for initiative. Before the rest of us could cross the narrow walkway, two of them surged forward, and cut down Kethra with a brutal flurry of sword strikes.

Scarlet charged forward, but was entangled in a whip as they sliced into her. She barely stood her ground as she tanked three back-to-back-to-back critical hit!

The third erinyes stayed back and fired her bow with special blue-glowing arrows. One of the arrows hit a werebear, teleporting it above the lava, where it dropped down and quickly melted.

TIM was forced to keep the lavafall curtain open as we fought on the walkway, but Gillian scored some powerful strikes with her phase axe, while Kaelan fired again and again with his crossbow.

The two sword-swinging erinyes finally went down as we charged across the walkway, Kaelan moving to Kethra while Scarlet ran up to the third erinyes. However, her attack resulted in a critical fumble that gave the demon a free hit, and the attack took Scarlet down. Two downed PCs in one fight!

Another werebear was killed by the teleporting-arrow. Gillian ran up and healed  Scarlet and Kethra with Mass Healing Word, putting them back on their feet, and Scarlet got her revenge on the final demon. It was one of the most harrowing battles we’ve had yet in this campaign, and this dungeon still wasn’t over.

MVPC – Scarlet

Post-session live discussion:

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