Session 17: New Hands, the Black Mask's Renegotiation, and the Rimeclaw

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Session 17
Session 17: New Hands, the Black Mask's Renegotiation, and the Rimeclaw
Session
In-fiction date28 to 30 March 843 A.I.
Recorded2026-05-16
Party presentTerry, Hugo, Caelumn, Mike, Steven
LocationsSapphire Sea, Skiff, Aurelian-sunk ship wreckage, Cold-water reef line

Session 17 opened with two new players joining the table, Brian (playing Mike, a Vedalken caster built around the Mizzium Apparatus) and Ash (playing Steven, a halfling Fiend warlock with Pact of the Blade), and a framing retcon of the s16 ending: Vasquez and Althea split off at the sewer mid-point and were captured by Aurelians; the party fled and left them behind, and the Hat of Disguise was destroyed [1]. The party then sailed south on the open water, found Mike and Steven clinging to the wreckage of an Aurelian-sunk ship, and brought them aboard. Hugo rigged a breath-hold bet with Mike to recruit him into the Black Mask’s pact; Hugo is Voidforged and doesn’t need to breathe [4], but Mike refused to sign the contract on lawyerly grounds [49][50]. The Black Mask appeared to Hugo only, in frozen time, in a new third visual form (a female gnome on a chair on the water, fishing) and renegotiated the pact. Black Mask claimed she could help with Hugo’s mind-control problem in exchange for a second attack-dog, and spoke dismissively about the Ascendancy; the exact reason Black Mask is willing to act against them remains unclear [42][47]. Mike’s verbal compromise, answering Hugo’s request for “one wish” [152]: “That I can commit to eventually doing, should I live long enough” [7]. The party helped Nessa and her two children Pim and Leo, adrift in a damaged fishing boat (her husband was taken three nights earlier “into the road offices”, on a charge the officers called unauthorised studies, [23]), mended their sail, and sailed on. Mike’s Detect Magic ritual on Hugo’s blood revealed “flashes of iron restraints, dark glass and a chamber with no clean air. You see a body surviving things that it shouldn’t survive” [61]. The session ended mid-combat against three new creature types (a Brinemaw Wyrm, a Reef Stalker, and at least two Rimeclaw Skulkers) plus a pack of Water wolves; Caelumn obliterated one wolf with a 52-damage double-nat-20 Chromatic Orb bounce kill [13], and the Brinemaw Wyrm remained trapped in Mike’s Phantasmal Force lava-cube as initiative wrapped [26].

Session 17: New Hands, the Black Mask’s Renegotiation, and the Rimeclaw

Metadata

  • In-game date: roughly 2.5 days after the sewer outflow departure at the end of session 16. Session covers a few hours on the skiff (Mike + Steven rescue), one long rest, a second day on the open sea (Nessa encounter, Hugo blood-vision), and into a third partial day before the cold-water reef line where combat begins.
  • Locations visited: the Sapphire Sea open water, the skiff, the Aurelian-sunk shipwreck where Mike and Steven were found [2], Nessa’s fishing boat, a cold-water frost-zone reef line.
  • Major NPCs present: The Black Mask (frozen-time audience, new third visual form), Nessa + Pim + Leo (helped; did not board).
  • Factions involved: Aurelian forces (sank Mike and Steven’s ship, abducted Nessa’s husband, captured Vasquez and Althea in the retcon), The Black Mask (renegotiated pact), Project Veilbreak (Hugo’s blood-vision lore), The Ascendancy (named as Black Mask’s post-quest target).
  • Sessions referenced (callbacks): s16 (retcon of the sewer-exit sequence; Hat of Disguise destroyed); s4 (Hugo’s original Black Mask pact, the Project Veilbreak recording, the egg-quest-immunity clause); s7 (the Titan environment that matches Hugo’s blood-vision imagery); s12 (Hugo’s renegotiation that introduced the substitution clause).

Recap heard at start of session

With Toby not yet at the table, the DM asked for a recap, and Terry’s player Chris gave one prepared for the new players [14]: the campaign in outline (Sevryn’s egg, the first hoard, Hugo’s devil pact, the fungal city, the party’s losses), then session 16 in detail, from the sewer under Eldwythe and the Hat of Disguise to the flame skulls, the skiff and the vote to sail for Aurelia [15]. Dylan added why the Aurelians are hunting the party [16]. The DM accepted it [17], took up Chris’s idea that Vasquez and Althea had stayed split off as the retcon [18][19], and confirmed it earned Terry inspiration [20].

Executive Summary

Two new players joined the table, Brian (Mike) and Ash (Steven), and a framing retcon resolved Vasquez and Althea’s departures in-fiction: both were captured by Aurelians at the s16 sewer exit, and the Hat of Disguise was destroyed [1][21]. The party rescued the new PCs from an Aurelian-sunk shipwreck, then Hugo immediately rigged a breath-hold bet to recruit Mike into the Black Mask’s pact (Hugo is Voidforged and doesn’t need to breathe). Mike refused to sign on three lawyerly grounds; the Black Mask appeared to Hugo alone in a new visual form (a gnome on a fishing chair) and renegotiated the pact. Black Mask claimed she could help with Hugo’s mind-control problem in exchange for a second attack-dog, and spoke dismissively about the Ascendancy. The exact reason Black Mask is willing to act against them remains unclear. Mike’s verbal compromise was a single owed wish, to be granted eventually should he live long enough; Hugo asked in return that Mike sign if he ever lay dying [22]. The party then helped the fishing-boat family Nessa, Pim, and Leo; Nessa’s husband had been taken three nights earlier “into the road offices”, on a charge the officers called unauthorised studies [23]. Mike’s Detect Magic ritual on Hugo’s blood produced concrete imagery of Hugo’s Project Veilbreak origin (iron restraints, dark glass, no clean air) and a half-second compliance whisper still active in his head. The session ended mid-combat at a cold reef line, with the Brinemaw Wyrm trapped in Mike’s illusory lava and a Reef Stalker, Rimeclaw Skulkers and a pack of water wolves still in the fight [24][25][26].

Narrative

The session opened with introductions. Brian joined playing Mike, a Vedalken caster built around the Mizzium Apparatus, a magical item that lets him cast any spell on his list by passing an Arcana check, with a backfire risk on a fail [27]. Ash joined playing Steven, his first warlock: a halfling of three foot nine with an olive complexion, a sharp vest and a con man’s patter [28][29][30][31], a Fiend warlock with Pact of the Blade [32][33]. Terry greeted the newcomers with “we never make comments about US politics in this group, ever” [34]. Terry’s recap (above) brought Brian and Ash up to the s16 cliffhanger.

Before the in-fiction scene resumed, Nick laid out the framing retcon: Vasquez and Althea had split off from the group and never came back, and the party, forced to choose between fleeing the Aurelians and leaving them behind, chose to leave them [19]. The two PCs were captured [21], and Vasquez’s Hat of Disguise had exploded and was gone [35]. Terry briefly objected at the table: “I object to that retcon. I want a different retcon. I want one where he keeps the fucking hat” [36], but the change stood. The retcon serves the real-world meta of Polar and Maliwana leaving the table between sessions; see the Polar and Maliwana player articles for the meta.

Three or four hours out from the Eldwythe sewer outflow, with the shoreline receding to mist, the party heard wood knocking against the side of the skiff: “a broken plank drifts past, painted white beneath the salt, and its edge is burned black. A strip of wet sailcloth trails behind it marked with a half-scorched golden sunburst” (DM, [2]). Ahead lay the wreckage of a full Aurelian ship: splintered boards, cracked mast, rope floating loose. Two figures clung to the largest piece: Steven (arms hooked around the wood) and Mike (half across it, barely moving). The party brought them aboard.

Once Mike had recovered, Hugo noticed an opportunity. The Black Mask’s renegotiated terms from session 12 allowed Hugo to substitute another willing soul to lift his own mind-control; if he could trick a party member into signing his contract, his leash would come off. He proposed a wager: “if I can hold my breath longer than you, would you be willing to sign a contract with me?” (Hugo, [37]), and Mike agreed verbally without realising Hugo doesn’t breathe at all [38]. The DM made this explicit out-of-character to Ash so the new player understood the trick: “Hugo is playing something called a Voidforged that don’t need to breathe” (Nick, [4]). This is the first time “Voidforged” is named as Hugo’s race. The visual reveal followed soon after, when Mike looked Hugo over and saw “slight glowing veins underneath his skin… his eyes seem to be glowing ever so faintly” (DM, [5]).

Hugo won the contest [39]. Time stopped. The Black Mask appeared, in a new third visual form: a small female gnome in a black mask seated on a chair on the water, fishing, visible to Hugo only (DM, [40]). She opened with “Rookie mistake. Always have them sign the thing before the bet” [40] and then announced a unilateral revision to her own contract: rather than having Hugo replaced by his substitute, she would now keep both (“what is better than one attack dog? two attack dogs”, [41]). In plain terms: “I remove the mind control that the Ascendancy has placed on you and on the one you called Rafe. And in exchange, you will become my attack dog instead of theirs” [42]. The one Hugo “called Rafe” is The Wraith [43]; this is the first confirmation that lifting Hugo’s leash necessarily lifts the Wraith’s too. Hugo immediately raised the egg-quest immunity clause from his original pact: “your commands, your rules, you cannot affect the current quest that we are on. So that would only take into effect after we complete this whole egg stabilization” [44]. The Mask accepted, agreed to a verbal “pinky promise” without signature, then made a faction-canon declaration: “Honestly, I’m kind of rooting for you guys. I don’t want the world to end… you have a bright future as a devil” [45]. Hugo restated the Ascendancy-destruction clause from his s4 pact for the record [46] and got a dismissive reply from the Mask: “Fine I’ll crush your little Ascendancy and probably send my little attack dog after he’s done fetching that egg” [47]. The exact reason Black Mask is willing to act against the Ascendancy remains unclear.

Time resumed. Mike applied lawyer-brain to the contract in three refusals: a name was already on it, so Hugo had “bet with something you don’t have” and the wager was void [48][49]; no court would think “a reasonable person would consider signing” it [50]; and a man who does not breathe had no breath to hold [51]. Hugo’s fallback was a verbal IOU rather than a signed pact: sign at the moment of death, where death is unavoidable and not inflicted by Hugo’s own hand [52]. Mike accepted that framing only as a single owed favour: “Ah. That I can commit to eventually doing, should I live long enough” [7]. He later clarified at the table that “wish” meant a 9th-level spell slot, in keeping with his lawyerly precision [53]. This is the first failed substitute-recruitment attempt under the Mask’s renegotiated terms; the Mask’s quest-immunity and Ascendancy-destruction commitments stand, the substitution itself is still open. The contract’s clauses are summarised at Hugo and Mike’s contract attempt.

At dusk the skiff came on a small fishing boat drifting with a torn sail, a woman standing with one hand raised and two children under a wet blanket beside her [54]. When Mike began conjuring unseen servants to row, the woman was visibly disturbed, and the party warned him off casting where anyone could see [55]. The mother introduced herself as Nessa, with her children Pim (quiet, watchful) and Leo [56]. The party did not bring them aboard. Mike mended the family’s damaged sail with Mending, passing it off as “a cleric spell” and lighting his own armour with Light to sell it [57][58][59]; Pim shyly gave Mike a small grey pebble with a face, “Captain Stone”, before they parted ways: “See, here’s this Captain Stone. He’s brave” [60]. Nessa’s reason for being at sea was the campaign-canonical worldbuilding piece of this scene: her husband had been “taken three nights ago into the road offices” after Aurelians searched the home and found “old tide charts weather notes and a few pages copied from his father’s journal”; “the officers called it unauthorized studies what does that even mean” (Nessa, [23]). This is the first on-screen confirmation of the Aurelian “road offices” as a small-town arrest infrastructure, and of unauthorised studies as the charge category. It sits alongside the Dawn Mercy Clinic / Mira Hale conspiracy as a second on-screen Aurelian abduction pattern. Nessa sailed on towards Gloamhearth with two rations and a mended sail; the party continued south.

With Nessa gone and Mike now trusted enough to read the room, Hugo asked for a magical assessment. Mike cast Detect Magic as a ritual and probed Hugo’s biology directly. Hugo volunteered first: “I am the result of some form of experiment. And that I’m one of a few survivors” [9]. Then the ritual went further: “you see flashes of iron restraints, dark glass and a chamber with no clean air. You see a body surviving things that it shouldn’t survive… His blood is acting like a living conduit. It stores stress, poison, pain, violence” (DM, [61]). The chamber imagery anchors what previously was only soft hint: the Project Veilbreak recording’s mention of “biology rewritten at a cellular level” [62], the Black Mask’s s4 audience in a black void, and the Titan’s recognition of Hugo in s7 all converge on the same physical place. The ritual ended with a quieter sting: a voice “almost dies before forming the words, but you swear you hear the word, comply” (DM, [63]). Mike’s reaction was protective but unsentimental: “I’m not sure you’re prepared to know the truth about yourself” [64], and later, the keystone inter-PC characterisation line of the session: “You are an abomination” (Mike, [11]). Mike has not told the rest of the party what he saw.

On the second day the sea turned cold, plates of frost drifted past, and at a reef line something huge passed under the skiff and the water erupted [65]. Mike’s History check named the beast on the deck a Reef Stalker [66]; with it came at least two Rimeclaw Skulkers spitting icicles, the serpentine Brinemaw Wyrm Hugo called “the big serpent, dragon thing”, and a pack of Water wolves [67]. The Wyrm’s line of frost caught three of the party for half of 32 cold and one of its own wolves for the full 32 [68]. Mike answered with Phantasmal Force, run at its 2024 strength of 2d8 psychic: a cube of illusory lava around the Wyrm, his “big, big, big, big, big, big, big man” [69], which failed its Intelligence save and later its check to see through the illusion, and stayed trapped [70][71]. When a water wolf’s natural 20 came at Mike, Terry’s Silvery Barbs forced a reroll, the reroll still came up 20, and Mike’s Shield turned it [72]. Steven’s first strike with his summoned blade was a natural 20 [73], Hugo killed a wounded wolf [74], and Caelumn’s 2nd-level Chromatic Orb bounced on matching dice and then rolled a natural 20 to obliterate another wolf for 52 damage (“Holy shit. Double nat 20”, [75]). The session stopped at the end of the second round, after Steven’s Eldritch Blast at the Wyrm went wide (“the boat rocks while I’m channeling this and it just fucking… It goes wide”, [76][26]); combat resumes in session 18.

Dialogue Highlights

  1. Terry, welcoming the newcomers: “Welcome, and I warn you, we never make comments about US politics in this group, ever.” [34]
  2. Nick (DM), the floating shipwreck: “A broken plank drifts past, painted white beneath the salt, and its edge is burned black. A strip of wet sailcloth trails behind it marked with a half-scorched golden sunburst.” [2]
  3. Hugo, proposing the rigged bet to Mike: “If I can hold my breath longer than you, would you be willing to sign a contract with me?” [37]
  4. Nick (DM), first naming of Hugo’s race: “Hugo is playing something called a Voidforged that don’t need to breathe.” [4]
  5. Nick (DM), the in-fiction visual reveal: “You see that there are slight glowing veins underneath his skin… his eyes seem to be glowing ever so faintly.” [5]
  6. Black Mask, opening line of the frozen-time audience: “Rookie mistake. Always have them sign the thing before the bet.” [40]
  7. Black Mask, renegotiated terms: “I remove the mind control that the Ascendancy has placed on you and on the one you called Rafe. And in exchange, you will become my attack dog instead of theirs.” [42]
  8. Black Mask, speaking dismissively about the Ascendancy: “Fine I’ll crush your little Ascendancy and probably send my little attack dog after he’s done fetching that egg.” [47]
  9. Mike, lawyerly refusal: “You bet with something you don’t have I declare this contract null and void.” [49]
  10. Mike, verbal compromise: “Ah. That I can commit to eventually doing, should I live long enough.” [7]
  11. Nessa, on her husband: “my husband was taken three nights ago into the road offices… the officers called it unauthorized studies what does that even mean.” [23]
  12. Hugo, voluntary disclosure to Mike: “I am the result of some form of experiment. And that I’m one of a few survivors.” [9]
  13. Nick (DM), the blood-vision: “you see flashes of iron restraints, dark glass and a chamber with no clean air. You see a body surviving things that it shouldn’t survive… His blood is acting like a living conduit. It stores stress, poison, pain, violence.” [61]
  14. Mike, the verdict: “You are an abomination.” [11]
  15. Nick (DM), session-ending: “and with the end of that round of combat we’re gonna end today’s session” [77]

NPCs

  1. Nessa (named, in-fiction): fishing-boat mother, two children. Husband taken three nights prior “into the road offices”, on a charge the officers called unauthorised studies [23]. Sailing towards Gloamhearth on the party’s directions [78][79]. Status: alive, off-screen. New this session: yes.
  2. Pim (named, in-fiction): Nessa’s quiet, watchful young daughter. Gave Mike a pebble with a face, “Captain Stone” [60]. New this session: yes. Status: alive, off-screen.
  3. Leo (named, in-fiction): Nessa’s younger child, half asleep and sunken, as if he had not eaten [56]. New this session: yes. Status: alive, off-screen.
  4. Nessa’s unnamed husband (taken pre-session): taken “into the road offices” on a charge of unauthorised studies [23]. Possessions confiscated: old tide charts, weather notes, copied pages from his father’s journal. Status: captured.
  5. The Black Mask (returning): appeared in a new third visual form: a small female gnome in a black mask seated on a chair on the water, fishing, visible to Hugo only in frozen time [40]. Renegotiated the pact terms [80]. Faction: independent devil; informal anti-Ascendancy ally for the duration of the egg quest. Status: alive / extraplanar.
  6. The Wraith: referenced but not on-screen, as “the one you called Rafe” in the Black Mask’s offer [42]; the mind control on her would lift alongside Hugo’s under the renegotiated terms.
  7. Brinemaw Wyrm (new monster type, in-fiction): the largest of the reef-line creatures; serpentine, finned, with a line of frost breath; the large creature Mike trapped in Phantasmal Force [81][82]. Status: alive, trapped, combat ongoing.
  8. Reef Stalker (new monster type, in-fiction): large monstrosity with “really powerful claws and bite attacks” per Mike’s History 16 [66]. Status: alive, combat ongoing (no on-screen kill).
  9. Rimeclaw Skulker (new monster type, in-fiction): at least two; smaller, water-borne, ranged icicle-spit [83]. Status: alive, combat ongoing (no on-screen kill).
  10. Water wolves (new monster type, in-fiction): a pack, on the skiff and in the water; purplish blood [84][85]; at least two dead at session end, one to Hugo and one to Caelumn’s Chromatic Orb [86][87]. Status: combat ongoing.

Locations

  1. Skiff: the s16-exit small boat continues to serve as the party’s mobile setting. Rocked notably during combat [76].
  2. Sapphire Sea open water: the named coastal corridor between the Eldwythe outflow and the White Lantern Shrine. DM confirmed Velkris controls the only sea-to-ocean exit [88]. Patrolled by Aurelian vessels: Steven spotted a coastal patrol boat’s lights on his watch, too far off to matter [89]. Cold-water frost-zone in the southern stretch with Rimeclaw / water-wolf fauna [65].
  3. Aurelian-sunk shipwreck (unnamed, first appears [2]): where Mike and Steven were found. Golden-sunburst-on-white sailcloth half-scorched. In-fiction evidence of Aurelian naval reach.
  4. Nessa’s fishing boat (unnamed, first appears [54]): a small vessel with a torn sail, mended by Mike; Nessa had been making for Eldwythe and sailed on towards Gloamhearth instead [90][79].
  5. Cold-water reef line (unnamed, first appears around [91]): the encounter site for the Rimeclaw Skulker and water wolves. Frost-zone in an otherwise temperate sea stretch.
  6. White Lantern Shrine: destination; on the second morning the DM put it two days off [92]. Per [93] the Shrine is on Aurelia’s north entrance (the side facing the party’s approach from the north).
  7. Aurelia: destination, about three days’ travel south of Eldwythe [18][94]; the Shrine is the gateway approach.
  8. Locations referenced only: Arcanthys, Umbrafall, Velkris and Khaldun, in Terry’s bleak list of places Nessa might go [95]; Mirestrand, on the route the party gave her [78]; Eldwythe (departure point, [2]).

Items & Loot

  1. Mizzium Apparatus: Mike’s signature item, a magical apparatus that lets him cast any spell on his list via an Arcana check, with a backfire on a fail [96]. Demonstrated this session: cantrips and rituals, plus Detect Thoughts on Hugo with no backfire [97].
  2. Pact of the Blade dagger (Steven): Steven’s Fiend-warlock Pact of the Blade weapon. Summoned as a bonus action; smells of expensive tobacco smoke when manifested [98]. Drew first water-wolf blood on a nat-20 critical [99].
  3. Soul-bond contract (Hugo’s, for Mike): see Hugo and Mike’s contract attempt for its clauses. Unsigned. Replaced by Mike’s verbal commitment to grant one wish eventually, should he live long enough [100].
  4. Captain Stone: Pim’s pebble gift to Mike [60]. Confirmed non-magical via Mike’s Detect Magic [101]. Mike kept it [102].
  5. Hugo’s Biogloom vial count corrected: 7 normal + 7 rare [103]. Previous wiki estimate of “~7 total” was wrong.
  6. Hat of Disguise: destroyed in the s16 retcon [35]. Status flipped from active to destroyed.

Combat Encounters

  • The cold-water reef-line encounter ([12], ongoing into s18):
    • Trigger: cold-water frost-zone reef line on day 2 of the sail; the skiff rises beneath the party’s feet as the water erupts [104].
    • Enemies (three new creature types + a wolf pack):
      • 1+ Brinemaw Wyrm: the largest, serpentine, a line of frost breath, “big serpent, dragon thing” / “giant worm” [81]; the creature trapped in Mike’s Phantasmal Force.
      • 1+ Reef Stalker: large monstrosity with “really powerful claws and bite attacks” (Mike’s History 16, [66]).
      • 2+ Rimeclaw Skulkers: smaller, ranged; poke heads above the water and fire icicle-spit; first one fired at Steven (miss, 9 flat-roll against prone, [105]), “the one right next to it” fired at Mike (20 hit, Mike Shields, [106]).
      • A pack of Water wolves, on the skiff and in the water, with purplish blood [84][85].
    • Party state at start: full HP after the long rest for all five PCs; Mike’s first combat with the party [107][108].
    • Notable rolls: Steven nat-20 dagger crit on a water wolf for 9 [109]; Caelumn 52-damage double-nat-20 Chromatic Orb bounce kill on a water wolf [110]; high-roll cascade on Mike: water wolf nat-20 bite [111] → Terry’s Silvery Barbs forced reroll → reroll a 20 to hit (not a nat 20) → Mike’s reaction Shield blocked it [112]; the Brinemaw Wyrm’s line of frost hit three of the party for half of 32 and one of its own water wolves for the full 32 cold [68]; Hugo’s 18-damage kill on a wounded wolf in Round 2 [74].
    • Mike’s signature: Phantasmal Force (2024 PHB, 2d8 psychic/turn), illusory lava-cube around the Brinemaw Wyrm; the Wyrm failed its Intelligence save (10) and then its check to see through the illusion (12), and is still trapped at session end [113][71].
    • Resources spent: Caelumn: two second-level Chromatic Orbs (Round 1 wounding + Round 2 double-nat-20 kill, [114][75]); Hugo: Rage + a wolf kill [115][86]; Mike: Phantasmal Force (Concentration, ongoing) + Booming Blade with Shillelagh (4 force on a small creature beside him, [116]) + Shield twice [117][118]; Terry: Bladesong, Absorb Elements against the frost, Silvery Barbs on the wolf’s nat-20 bite [119][120][121]; Steven: Pact of the Blade dagger crit + Eldritch Blast (missed at session end, [76]).
    • No PC downs, no death saves this session.
    • Status at session end: ongoing into s18. Brinemaw Wyrm alive but trapped in the lava-cube illusion; Reef Stalker and Rimeclaw Skulker(s) unresolved (no on-screen kills); at least two water wolves dead with surviving wolves still on or near the boat; Hugo hovering on Winged Boots; Steven at boat’s edge.

Clues & Foreshadowing

  1. Voidforged is the canonical race name for Project Veilbreak survivors. Confirmed by the DM out-of-character [4] and visually anchored in the in-fiction reveal [5]. Resolves multiple sessions of “Hugo is something we don’t have a name for”.
  2. Hugo’s blood is “a living conduit. It stores stress, poison, pain, violence” [61]. The Detect Magic vision shows iron restraints, dark glass, and a chamber with no clean air, concrete imagery matching the Project Veilbreak recording’s “biology rewritten at a cellular level” [62] and the s7 Titan environment. DM-confirmed link between the three [122].
  3. The “comply” whisper at the end of the ritual [63] suggests Hugo’s conditioning or leash may still be active or leaving magical residue. Exact status unknown. The renegotiated Black Mask pact frames the leash as something the Mask can address but only after a successful substitute sign.
  4. Water wolves’ purplish-blue blood [85] bears a player-table-noted visual resemblance to Hugo’s luminous-blue Voidforged blood [123]. Not DM-confirmed as canon; possibly coincidence, possibly shared origin, possibly Aurelian research subject. Flagged in Water wolves as open.
  5. Aurelian road offices and unauthorised studies (Nessa, [23]). Small-town arrest infrastructure; charge category for civilians whose possessions include unusual reading material. Parallels the Dawn Mercy Clinic / Mira Hale urban-abduction pattern but in a rural register. New thread in Open Threads.
  6. Velkris controls the only sea-to-ocean exit from the Sapphire Sea (DM, [88]). Explains Velkris’s wealth and the Council of Factors’ grip on trade. Relevant if the party ever tries to leave the inland continent by sea.
  7. The Black Mask’s stance on the Ascendancy [47]: Black Mask claimed she could help with Hugo’s mind-control problem and spoke dismissively about the Ascendancy. The exact reason Black Mask is willing to act against them remains unclear. New thread.
  8. Steven’s prior pact patron is unnamed: the last time he signed a contract, he says, he got nightmares [124][125]. Backstory hook open.

Open Mysteries & Unanswered Questions

  1. Did the Hat of Disguise destruction matter? The hat was Vasquez’s tiefling-disguise solution for Aurelian gates. Without it, the party will need another approach. Players invested: Hugo, Terry.
  2. What will Mike do with what he knows? Mike has Hugo’s Voidforged-origin imagery and the “comply” whisper detail. He has not told the rest of the party ([11]: “You are an abomination” was said in-fiction to Hugo only). When and how he relays this to Caelumn / Terry / Steven is open.
  3. Is the water-wolves’ blood colour meaningful? Player speculation only at the table; DM has not confirmed [126].
  4. What is “the Vedalken”? Brian’s race choice. Origin and cultural background still open.
  5. Will Hugo try another substitute-recruitment attempt? The clause is still open. Hugo can try again with another party member or with Mike again later.
  6. Who or what is killing the egg quest’s wider opposition? The Black Mask’s anti-Ascendancy stance is unilateral and a recent development.

Note: Vasquez and Althea were captured by Aurelians per the s17 retcon [19][21], but per Chris’s post-session clarification this is not an active rescue thread: the two characters are departed offscreen rather than captured-and-rescuable. See Vasquez, Althea, and the Party Roster for the departed framing.

Quests

  1. [Status: active] The Egg Quest: still active. The Egg was stolen by Aurelian forces in s15. Its exact current location is unknown. Black Mask has indicated she is willing to act against the Ascendancy after the quest concludes [47], though her exact motive remains unclear.
  2. [Status: active] Phil’s Contact at White Lantern Shrine: the party is sailing to meet the contact at the Shrine, two days off on the second morning [127].
  3. [Status: active] NEW: Investigate the Aurelian “road offices” abductions [23]. Parallel to the Mira Hale / Dawn Mercy Clinic thread.
  4. [Status: active] Aurelian Persecution: party still wanted; Aurelians remain hostile. They sank the ship Mike and Steven fled on, and a coastal patrol boat was seen at night [128][89].
  5. [Status: active] Hugo’s Devil Pact: renegotiated terms in effect after s17. First substitute-recruitment attempt FAILED with Mike (the substitution clause remains open). Verbal IOU from Mike to Hugo: one wish, eventually [100].
  6. [Status: deferred] Risa’s Sister Conspiracy: not raised this session; the party is still sailing for Aurelia, where they may investigate [129].
  7. [Status: closed] Vasquez and Althea’s capture [19][21] was initially treated as a rescue thread; per Chris’s post-session clarification it is not the campaign’s direction. The two PCs are departed offscreen, not pending recovery.

Faction & Relationship Changes

  • The Black Mask: appeared in a new third visual form (female gnome on fishing chair on the water). Renegotiated her own pact unilaterally: substitute becomes a second attack-dog alongside Hugo rather than replacing him; quest-immunity clause carries forward. Black Mask claimed she could help with Hugo’s mind-control problem and spoke dismissively about the Ascendancy; the exact reason Black Mask is willing to act against them remains unclear.
  • The Wraith: “the one you called Rafe” in the Black Mask’s offer [42]. Mind-control on her will lift alongside Hugo’s. She does not know this.
  • Aurelian forces: new field intelligence: the road offices (small-town arrest infrastructure) and unauthorised studies (charge category) per Nessa’s testimony [23]. These cases appear to be part of a broader pattern of Aurelian abductions or disappearances, but the exact structure remains unknown. Sank Mike and Steven’s ship. Captured Vasquez and Althea in the s16 retcon.
  • Project Veilbreak: Hugo’s blood-vision [61] provides concrete imagery anchoring the recording’s previously-abstract “biology rewritten at a cellular level”. The vision matches the s7 Titan environment per DM confirmation.
  • The Ascendancy: connected to Hugo/Corvin and Project Veilbreak. It has shown the ability to act beyond one city, including reaching people from Aurelia. Its exact base and full relationship to Aurelia remain unknown to the party. Still Hugo-only knowledge per existing canon; Mike knows Hugo is a project survivor [9] but does not know the project’s name.
  • Hugo / Mike personal: Mike owes Hugo a verbal IOU of one wish, eventually [100]. Mike knows Hugo’s nature is dangerous and has not told the rest of the party.

Table Rulings

  • Phantasmal Force (2024 PHB) does 2d8 psychic per turn, not 1d6 [130]. 2024 wording confirmed.
  • Ranged-spell-attack 5-ft disadvantage rule, table variant: disadvantage only applies when the target you’re aiming at is within 5 ft, not when any enemy is within 5 ft of you [131]. A standing table house rule.
  • A handshake does not bind a devil contract: outside a devil contract “the handshake is a handshake”, but only a signature binds (“once he signs it, deal’s a deal”), and a devil’s paperwork has to be checked and notarised [132]. The Mask’s own terms with Hugo rest on a verbal agreement and a “pinky promise” [45].
  • Druidic magic permitted by Aurelia: first time the DM has explicitly carved druid magic out of the Aurelian arcane-magic ban [133]. Affects future PC builds.
  • Crit damage convention reaffirmed: double-the-dice, not max-plus-roll [134].
  • Hover via wing-boots: Hugo hovers on his boots to move around his allies on the crowded skiff [135]. Accepted at the table.
  • Mizzium Apparatus: cast any spell on the list via an Arcana check; on a fail it backfires into a random spell, with the DM’s ruling on targeting when the new spell does not fit [136]. Mechanic accepted at the table; Mike rolled clean this session [137].

Callbacks

  • Hugo’s original Black Mask pact (s4): the egg-quest immunity clause and the Ascendancy clause carry through the s17 renegotiation [44][46]. The substitution clause first introduced in s12 is exercised (and refused) this session [138][49].
  • The Project Veilbreak recording [139]: “biology rewritten at a cellular level” gets concrete imagery in Hugo’s blood-vision [61].
  • The Wraith’s “leash weakening” warning [140]: the “comply” whisper in Hugo’s mind at session end [63] suggests Hugo’s conditioning or leash may still be active or leaving magical residue. Exact status unknown.
  • Maelis Dirn’s recognition [141] and the Titan’s recognition [142]: both refer to the same physical environment Hugo’s blood-vision now shows.
  • The s15 Aurelian chain-master / Egg theft: the Black Mask’s “after he’s done fetching that egg” [47] confirms the Mask considers Hugo the agent of egg-recovery.
  • The s16 cliffhanger: this session’s opening rewrites the cliffhanger via retcon [18][19].

Retcons applied this session

  • Vasquez and Althea captured by Aurelians at the end of session 16 [19]. They split off, the party fled, the two were taken. Replaces the previous “they were absent” framing.
  • Hat of Disguise destroyed: the DM ruled it had exploded and was gone [35]. The item’s status: field flips from active to destroyed; the chain of custody (Vasquez attuned in s16) ends.

Meta notes

  • New players: Brian (playing Mike) and Ash (playing Steven) joined the table this session, replacing Polar (Vasquez’s player) and Maliwana (Althea’s player). The departures are explained in Polar’s and Maliwana’s player handle articles with reference to Nick’s Discord statement; not surfaced in any in-fiction article.
  • Late arrival: Toby joined partway through; until then the DM played Caelumn as asleep with a glazed stare, and he woke when Toby arrived [143][144][145].
  • Next session: moved to the 24th (Sunday) because Nick can’t do the 30th [146].

Next Steps

  • Finish the reef-line fight: the Brinemaw Wyrm is still trapped in Mike’s lava illusion, with the Reef Stalker, the Rimeclaw Skulkers and the surviving water wolves still in play [147][26].
  • Sail on south to the White Lantern Shrine on Aurelia’s north approach to meet Phil’s contact [127].
  • Get the Egg back from the Aurelians in Aurelia [148][149].
  • Hugo still needs a willing second signer for the Black Mask, and Mike owes him one wish [45][100].
  • Keep arcane magic out of sight of anyone who might report it [150][151].
Entities in this session

People (20)

Locations (10)

Things (18)

References

  1. ^ Session 17, line 130-136: s16 retcon (Vasquez and Althea captured by Aurelians; Hat of Disguise destroyed in the escape).
  2. ^ Session 17, line 140: Skiff approaches the Aurelian-sunk shipwreck; broken plank with half-scorched golden sunburst.
  3. ^ Session 17, line 580-757: Hugo's breath-hold bet with Mike, frozen-time Black Mask audience, the pact renegotiation.
  4. ^ Session 17, line 622: First on-transcript naming of "Voidforged" (DM out-of-character to Ash).
  5. ^ Session 17, line 666: First in-fiction visual reveal of Voidforged biology (glowing veins, faint glowing eyes).
  6. ^ Session 17, line 697-717: Black Mask renegotiates the pact terms; Hugo wins the Ascendancy-destruction clause carry-over.
  7. ^ Session 17, line 757: Mike's verbal commitment to grant Hugo one wish, eventually, should he live long enough.
  8. ^ Session 17, line 920-973: Nessa and her two children (Pim, Leo); husband taken to the Aurelian road offices for unauthorised studies.
  9. ^ Session 17, line 1431: Hugo voluntarily reveals to Mike that he is "the result of some form of experiment" and "one of a few survivors".
  10. ^ Session 17, line 1466-1497: Mike's Detect Magic ritual on Hugo's blood; the iron-restraints / dark-glass / no-clean-air vision; "comply" whisper.
  11. ^ Session 17, line 1518: Mike's reaction: "You are an abomination" (per DM clarification 2026-05-17: early distrust, not permanent hatred; possible distrust, future sessions will show whether the tension grows or fades)..
  12. ^ Session 17, line 1568-1987: The cold-water reef-line encounter (Brinemaw Wyrm + Reef Stalker + Rimeclaw Skulkers + water wolves); cut off mid-Round 3 at session end.
  13. ^ Session 17, line 1937-1944: Caelumn's 52-damage double-nat-20 Chromatic Orb bounce kill.
  14. ^ Session 17, line 64-65: Inline citation.
  15. ^ Session 17, line 73-105: Inline citation.
  16. ^ Session 17, line 81: Inline citation.
  17. ^ Session 17, line 106: Inline citation.
  18. ^ Session 17, line 103: Inline citation.
  19. ^ Session 17, line 130: Inline citation.
  20. ^ Session 17, line 1631-1633: Inline citation.
  21. ^ Session 17, line 785: Inline citation.
  22. ^ Session 17, line 756-758: Inline citation.
  23. ^ Session 17, line 973: Inline citation.
  24. ^ Session 17, line 1599-1610: Inline citation.
  25. ^ Session 17, line 1697: Inline citation.
  26. ^ Session 17, line 1987: Inline citation.
  27. ^ Session 17, line 37-48: Inline citation.
  28. ^ Session 17, line 28: Inline citation.
  29. ^ Session 17, line 141-143: Inline citation.
  30. ^ Session 17, line 425: Inline citation.
  31. ^ Session 17, line 1099: Inline citation.
  32. ^ Session 18, line 82: Inline citation.
  33. ^ Session 18, line 1421-1422: Inline citation.
  34. ^ Session 17, line 29: Inline citation.
  35. ^ Session 17, line 134-136: Inline citation.
  36. ^ Session 17, line 137: Inline citation.
  37. ^ Session 17, line 580: Inline citation.
  38. ^ Session 17, line 581: Inline citation.
  39. ^ Session 17, line 645: Inline citation.
  40. ^ Session 17, line 697: Inline citation.
  41. ^ Session 17, line 709: Inline citation.
  42. ^ Session 17, line 711: Inline citation.
  43. ^ Session 19, line 441: Inline citation.
  44. ^ Session 17, line 712: Inline citation.
  45. ^ Session 17, line 713: Inline citation.
  46. ^ Session 17, line 716: Inline citation.
  47. ^ Session 17, line 717: Inline citation.
  48. ^ Session 17, line 732: Inline citation.
  49. ^ Session 17, line 738: Inline citation.
  50. ^ Session 17, line 744: Inline citation.
  51. ^ Session 17, line 805: Inline citation.
  52. ^ Session 17, line 747: Inline citation.
  53. ^ Session 17, line 811: Inline citation.
  54. ^ Session 17, line 818: Inline citation.
  55. ^ Session 17, line 842-853: Inline citation.
  56. ^ Session 17, line 920: Inline citation.
  57. ^ Session 17, line 910: Inline citation.
  58. ^ Session 17, line 912: Inline citation.
  59. ^ Session 17, line 918: Inline citation.
  60. ^ Session 17, line 927: Inline citation.
  61. ^ Session 17, line 1483: Inline citation.
  62. ^ Session 4, line 1322: Inline citation.
  63. ^ Session 17, line 1485: Inline citation.
  64. ^ Session 17, line 1484: Inline citation.
  65. ^ Session 17, line 1568-1570: Inline citation.
  66. ^ Session 17, line 1599: Inline citation.
  67. ^ Session 17, line 1591-1617: Inline citation.
  68. ^ Session 17, line 1619-1638: Inline citation.
  69. ^ Session 17, line 1658: Inline citation.
  70. ^ Session 17, line 1691-1711: Inline citation.
  71. ^ Session 17, line 1876-1880: Inline citation.
  72. ^ Session 17, line 1786-1816: Inline citation.
  73. ^ Session 17, line 1826-1850: Inline citation.
  74. ^ Session 17, line 1869-1873: Inline citation.
  75. ^ Session 17, line 1930-1950: Inline citation.
  76. ^ Session 17, line 1978: Inline citation.
  77. ^ Session 17, line 1987-1991: Inline citation.
  78. ^ Session 17, line 1004-1005: Inline citation.
  79. ^ Session 17, line 1112: Inline citation.
  80. ^ Session 17, line 709-717: Inline citation.
  81. ^ Session 17, line 1616-1619: Inline citation.
  82. ^ Session 17, line 1691-1697: Inline citation.
  83. ^ Session 17, line 1604-1610: Inline citation.
  84. ^ Session 17, line 1591-1595: Inline citation.
  85. ^ Session 17, line 1850: Inline citation.
  86. ^ Session 17, line 1873: Inline citation.
  87. ^ Session 17, line 1950: Inline citation.
  88. ^ Session 17, line 1251-1258: Inline citation.
  89. ^ Session 17, line 1176-1187: Inline citation.
  90. ^ Session 17, line 978: Inline citation.
  91. ^ Session 17, line 1568: Inline citation.
  92. ^ Session 17, line 1556-1558: Inline citation.
  93. ^ Session 17, line 1544: Inline citation.
  94. ^ Session 17, line 318: Inline citation.
  95. ^ Session 17, line 980-982: Inline citation.
  96. ^ Session 17, line 45-48: Inline citation.
  97. ^ Session 17, line 1325-1341: Inline citation.
  98. ^ Session 17, line 1826: Inline citation.
  99. ^ Session 17, line 1840: Inline citation.
  100. ^ Session 17, line 756-757: Inline citation.
  101. ^ Session 17, line 932-938: Inline citation.
  102. ^ Session 17, line 1057: Inline citation.
  103. ^ Session 17, line 1497-1498: Inline citation.
  104. ^ Session 17, line 1568-1577: Inline citation.
  105. ^ Session 17, line 1604-1607: Inline citation.
  106. ^ Session 17, line 1610: Inline citation.
  107. ^ Session 17, line 804: Inline citation.
  108. ^ Session 17, line 1522: Inline citation.
  109. ^ Session 17, line 1840-1850: Inline citation.
  110. ^ Session 17, line 1937-1950: Inline citation.
  111. ^ Session 17, line 1786: Inline citation.
  112. ^ Session 17, line 1810-1816: Inline citation.
  113. ^ Session 17, line 1697-1711: Inline citation.
  114. ^ Session 17, line 1724-1741: Inline citation.
  115. ^ Session 17, line 1616: Inline citation.
  116. ^ Session 17, line 1908-1917: Inline citation.
  117. ^ Session 17, line 1609: Inline citation.
  118. ^ Session 17, line 1815: Inline citation.
  119. ^ Session 17, line 1645: Inline citation.
  120. ^ Session 17, line 1763: Inline citation.
  121. ^ Session 17, line 1802: Inline citation.
  122. ^ Session 17, line 1494-1496: Inline citation.
  123. ^ Session 17, line 1478: Inline citation.
  124. ^ Session 17, line 567: Inline citation.
  125. ^ Session 17, line 1159: Inline citation.
  126. ^ Session 17, line 1850-1857: Inline citation.
  127. ^ Session 17, line 1543-1558: Inline citation.
  128. ^ Session 17, line 200: Inline citation.
  129. ^ Session 17, line 1113-1117: Inline citation.
  130. ^ Session 17, line 1701-1706: Inline citation.
  131. ^ Session 17, line 1893-1900: Inline citation.
  132. ^ Session 17, line 701-703: Inline citation.
  133. ^ Session 17, line 94: Inline citation.
  134. ^ Session 17, line 1847-1849: Inline citation.
  135. ^ Session 17, line 1870-1875: Inline citation.
  136. ^ Session 17, line 45-55: Inline citation.
  137. ^ Session 17, line 1336-1348: Inline citation.
  138. ^ Session 17, line 709-711: Inline citation.
  139. ^ Session 4, line 1312-1322: Inline citation.
  140. ^ Session 7, line 999-1014: Inline citation.
  141. ^ Session 6, line 2538: Inline citation.
  142. ^ Session 7, line 612-615: Inline citation.
  143. ^ Session 17, line 64: Inline citation.
  144. ^ Session 17, line 466: Inline citation.
  145. ^ Session 17, line 765-770: Inline citation.
  146. ^ Session 17, line 2009: Inline citation.
  147. ^ Session 17, line 1941: Inline citation.
  148. ^ Session 17, line 339: Inline citation.
  149. ^ Session 17, line 346-348: Inline citation.
  150. ^ Session 17, line 850-853: Inline citation.
  151. ^ Session 17, line 1146: Inline citation.
  152. ^ Session 17, line 756: Inline citation.