Live streamed and uploaded every week on YouTube. Join us live on Fridays at 7:30 pm Pacific/10:30 pm Eastern!
Original character art by Jimmy McClure.
Music by Kevin MacLeod.
Chat with us in the Official Discord Server.
Support the channel via Patreon!
Previously on Call from the Deep
Starring:
Gotwald Ironhorn, level 8 minotaur Rune Knight Fighter
Mac, level 8 tortle Drakewarden Ranger/Rogue
Savra Akkedis, level 8 lizardfolk School of Necromancy Wizard
Torrel, level 8 kenku Fathomless Warlock Pact of the Amulet/Fighter
In the nearly-sunken Kraken Society temple, the party faces off with the mastermind behind the murders in the Styes: a mind flayer named Druskis.
Druskis has brought a spawn of the great kraken Slarkrethel, and used the murders to feed and bind it to his colony. Somehow these illithid were able to take control of the kraken, and the Kraken Society, and form a powerful alliance of marine creatures.
But the party has begun to disrupt those plans, and now finally come face-to-face with one of their biggest enemies yet.
Picking up directly after last session, Savra (and Mac’s drake Cheese) has fallen into a cavern of water with a pair of chuul, and Gotwald has been enthralled by Druskis.
Mac quickly climbs across the pit and rolls a nat 20 on Insight to figure out what’s going on with Gotwald, but when he shoots at the mind flayer, Gotwald invokes his storm rune to cause the attack to miss!
Gotwald’s instructions from the mind flayer are to protect it at all costs.
The mind controlled minotaur then proceeds to grab and pummel poor Mac.
Savra uses a shield spell to protect against the chuul pincers, then teleports out of there with a thunder step. She launches a shatter spell at both Gotwald, Mac, and the nearby enthralled assassin, but Gotwald is unable to break out of the mind control.
When she attacks his master, Gotwald drops the nearly unconscious Mac and goes after her!
Meanwhile Torrel, still outside the entire temple, has to dash, opting to jump into the watery, chuul-full cavern and leap back out.
He has to use his talisman rebuke to knock a grasping chuul away, but makes it to the inner temple.
The poor chuul spend several rounds trying to grab at the PCs near the edge of the pit with their long reach, but succeed only in grabbing and defeating Cheese.
Mac strikes Druskis with several arrows, but is knocked unconscious from a wave of psychic energy. I gave the named CR 10 mind flayer Lair Actions that includes a temporary crown of madness, an AOE psychic attack, and an ally buff.
A blast from Torrel finally interrupts Druskis’ hold on Gotwald, and the minotaur angrily unsheathes his anchor axe and crunches into the mind flayer.
The badly wounded mind flayer unleashes his mind blast attack. Savra and Torrel make the save, but Gotwald is stunned, and the thrall assassin rolls a crit on his attack, dealing 30+ damage with sneak attack and downing the big minotaur!
Two-players down, ruh-roh!
Savra casts whither and bloom to get Gotwald back up, discovering a killer combo: Whither and bloom lets players roll hit die to heal, and Gotwald’s periapt of wound closure doubles the healing from hit dice! Suddenly the minotaur fighter goes from 0 to 32 hit points, wow!
Gotwald swings his axe, but Druskis uses his psychic deflection to cause the blow to hit Savra, downing the wounded wizard. Two players still down, as poor Mac is rolling death saves.
Thankfully Gotwald’s second swing downs the mind flayer, crunching into its head. With its dying telepathy, it warns that its death will free the kraken spawn, and it will wreck terrible havoc upon the city.
On cue, the party hears shrieks and screams bubbling from the nearby hallway that descends into water.
One of the chuul has climbed up out of the pit, forcing Gotwald to meet it head on, while Torrel revives Savra with a healer’s kit, and Savra revives Mac with a potion.
They take out the chuul, while the second chuul climbs up and kills the stunned thrall (momentarily incapacitated after Druskis’ death). Poor guy, just another victim.
The party divides their time between quickly looting the room, and dealing with the second chuul.
Then the juvenile kraken emerges in all its terrible, tentacled horror, sporting arcane sigils and surgical scars. It’s distressed and enraged, and looking to take it out on the party! It launches a lightning bolt at Torrel, and the extremely wounded, barely revived party realizes they need to GTFO.
Savra helps stall by casting Nathair’s mischief, which blinds the kraken, preceding a tense scene where she stands perfectly still while it searches out with a tentacle.
She moves the spell and incapacities it, giving the party time to destroy the second chuul and rush back out of the temple.
The skum that Torrel banished earlier has reappeared, but like the chuul my attack rolls render it hilariously incompetent, and the party swiftly destroys it.
Leaving a tortured juvenile kraken alive is a tad dangerous, but the party doesn’t have much choice if they want to survive. They rush out of the temple area as the hear the shrieks and tremors behind them.
They return to Dr. Refrum, explaining the mind controlled killers, but perhaps leaving out the bit about the kraken!
The aboleth Kzixxaro speaks to Torrel in his head, congratulating the party on defeating Druskis and dealing a huge blow to the Colony of Zellix’phor. They need to find where the colony is located, with their next lead being the location of the Colony’s biggest ally: Sea King Tentrix.
MVPC – Gotwald
Live post-session discussion:
Live streamed and uploaded every week on YouTube. Join us live on Fridays at 7:30 pm Pacific/10:30 pm Eastern!
Support my channel via Patreon!
RogueWatson 