Session 8: Bruise the Cellmate, the Succubus, and the Quarry Ghosts

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Session 8
Session 8: Bruise the Cellmate, the Succubus, and the Quarry Ghosts
Session
In-fiction date21 to 22 March 843 A.I.
Recordedunknown
Party present[[Terry]], [[Hugo]], [[Caelumn]], [[Vasquez]], [[Harvo]]
LocationsNightwatch Jail (Umbrafall), Alleyway off the main trade district, [[Glomangol Inn]] (referenced), Forest clearing on the road north, [[Black Vein Quarry]]

Session 8 is the bridge between the Maelis Dirn arc and the Black Vein Quarry. Vasquez wakes in a Nightwatch cell beside the rat-eating Jack, and the table dubs him “Bruise” [275]. Outside, Hugo smells lye in the urn-woman’s supposed ashes of her sister and guesses she was aquamated, not cremated, at the Dawn Mercy Clinic [20][22]; Harvo, the one member the guards never saw, bribes two jail clerks to free Vasquez for 150 gold [276]. Camping on the road north, the party is ambushed by a succubus disguised as an old woman, with four crossbow thieves; she dominates Vasquez, Terry and Harvo in turn before Hugo cuts her down, and her pocket yields a Charlatan’s Die [277][29][30]. Terry at last completes Find Familiar and summons Earthwing, who is shot out of the air at the quarry by an unseen attacker [278][32]. The missing miners turn out to be ghosts; Terry’s Blade Ward draws them, and the session stops after one round for the Christmas and New Year break [33][34][136].

Session 8: Bruise the Cellmate, the Succubus, and the Quarry Ghosts

Metadata

  • In-game date: 843-03-21 → 843-03-22 on the wiki calendar; no date is spoken at the table. The session runs from Vasquez waking in the cell, through the bribe and an eight-hour march north to a night’s camp, to the quarry after the long rest [10][11][12][13].
  • Locations visited: the Nightwatch Jail in Umbrafall; an alleyway off the main trade district; a clearing in the fungal forest on the road north; the Black Vein Quarry. The Dawn Mercy Clinic and the inn where Risa will wait are named but not visited.
  • Major NPCs present: Jack (Vasquez’s cellmate); the urn-woman Risa (not yet named aloud); Jorin and Harak (the jail clerks); the succubus and four crossbow thieves; the quarry ghosts and an unseen sniper; Earthwing (Terry’s new familiar).
  • Factions involved: Nightwatch (a corrupt official guard, bribed); Dawn Mercy Clinic (suspected of a cover-up); Umbrafall Mining Company (the missing miners, through The Broker’s contract); the Shade Mistress (named as the likeliest power behind the Nightwatch).
  • Sessions referenced (callbacks): s7 (the Titan and Maelis Dirn’s death, the Broker’s mining job, the experimental potions, the street fight over the urn and Vasquez’s arrest); s6-s7 (the forged logs for Silent Intake); s3 (Earthwing the Owlin); s2-s4 (Fergus’s meat).

Recap heard at start of session

Hugo’s player Dylan gave the recap, picked by the DM’s roll [14]. Going back to the Titan fight, he covered the Titan turning on Maelis Dirn, the bounty and the talk of future business with the Broker, the forged logs to take to Silent Intake, the rest at the tavern, the experimental potions that left one drinker glowing green and bubbling, and the street fight over the urn that ended with one of the party captured [15]. The DM added that it had ended with someone arrested and with Terry running six rounds each way, and confirmed the urn-woman had followed the party [16][17][18]. Dylan took an inspiration point [10].

Executive Summary

Vasquez spends the night in a Nightwatch cell with the rat-eating Jack and comes out with the prison name “Bruise” [19]. The rest of the party find lye in the urn that was meant to hold Risa’s sister’s ashes; her account of the Dawn Mercy Clinic’s records points to a cover-up, and Hugo suspects aquamation [20][21][22]. Harvo, unseen by the guards, talks two clerks down from a 500-gold official release to a 150-gold bribe [23][24]. On the road to the Black Vein Quarry an old woman at the camp becomes a succubus with four crossbow thieves; she dominates Vasquez, Terry and Harvo in turn, drains Harvo with a kiss, and dies to Hugo’s axes, leaving a Charlatan’s Die [25][26][27][28][29][30]. After the fight Terry finally summons Earthwing and casts Alarm to a Macarena chant [31]. At the quarry an unseen attacker kills the owl, the miners prove to be ghosts, and Terry’s Blade Ward starts a fight that the DM pauses after one round for the Christmas break [32][33][34].

Narrative

The cell. Vasquez woke in a humid, cellar-like Nightwatch cell to a splash of freezing water and a guard’s parting “Teach you to mess with Nightwatch business. Nighty-night elf.” [10]. His cellmate, a spindly human called Jack, warned him off the Nightwatch and offered rats that he said taste like chicken [35]. Asked his name, Vasquez answered “Cruz” and was asked for a Deception check; the DM first took it for “Bruce”, and Terry dubbed him “Bruise”, a prison name that stuck [36].

The lye in the urn. In a rain-soaked alley the others turned to the urn-woman, Risa, who lifted the lid on what she had been told were her sister’s ashes [37]. On a Perception of 22, Hugo found that the white dust “smells unmistakably like lye” [38]. The urn had come from the Dawn Mercy Clinic, which told her that her sister had died and been burned as infected [39], but its own log had someone checking on her twenty minutes after she was burned [21]. Hugo, who had sent the DM a message about it, explained aquamation as “basically a water version of cremation” [40] and guessed “they aquamated her, that’s why it smelled of lye” [22]; the DM did not know the process [41]. Risa added that the clinic had burned the body before she arrived, that “Something’s going on in Umbrafall.” [42], and that her sister had suffered headaches and visions and sworn she lit a candle with her mind [43][44]. Terry wondered whether people were being kidnapped rather than killed [45].

Bail or breakout. Hugo put the choice plainly: pay for Vasquez’s release or break him out [46]. The DM described the Nightwatch as a corrupt but official force on the mafia’s payroll, and Risa named the Shade Mistress as the one who would control them, if anyone did [47][48][49]. Hugo’s idea of posing as an agent of the Thieves Guild [50] met Harvo’s objection: “If the Thieves Guild catches wind of that, us trying to get someone out in their name, we will have an entire illegitimate organization.” [51]. Caelumn, who could afford it, argued that paying was the safest course, and the group settled on Harvo, the one member the guards had never seen [52][53]. Risa promised to wait at the inn the party had just left from three to five every day for two weeks and to find them a reward [54]. Caelumn handed Harvo 130 of his own gold to go with the party’s 93 [55], and Harvo took the job because he did not trust the others to come back without “my head chopped off, or Vasquez’s head chopped off” [56].

The bribe. The jail “squats at the edge of a narrow alley, pressed between leaning buildings like something that crawled there to die” [57]. Inside, Harvo told the two clerks that his “mentors would like to be staying anonymous in this glorious city of Umbrafall” [58] and asked for the elf with the strange weapons, who was logged under an insult [59]. The official price for his release, belongings and a clean record was 500 gold [23]. Harvo offered a quick hundred under the table instead [60], and the clerk turned to his colleague: “Jorin, is he trying to bribe me? I think he is, Harak.” [61]. Jorin and Harak countered at a hundred each, and a Persuasion check settled it at 75 each, with a warning that if Vasquez meddled again “he’ll get the noose” [62]. Harvo fetched the 150 gold, and a clerk brought Vasquez out and dumped his armour and weapons on the floor [63].

Out of the cell. Back in the rain, Vasquez apologised that he “couldn’t stand by and watch that happen” [64]. Harvo pointed out that all of them had paid for it and told him to “stop, count to three, think, and then act” [65]. Vasquez answered that he had held back every emotion all his life, that the fight with the giant had changed him, and that he would repay every coin from his share [66]. The miners were a day and a half away and had last been seen three weeks earlier, so the party voted to do the official job first and ask the Broker about the clinic when they collected their reward [67].

Camp in the clearing. Eight hours out of Umbrafall through the fungal forest, the party stopped in a clearing [68]; the city’s corruption, the DM said, ran a couple of miles beyond Umbrafall [69]. Caelumn found trees leaking black sap and, with Vasquez’s help, canine prints that were “extremely large” [70]. Harvo’s glare stopped Caelumn lighting a fire among the spores [71], and Terry began ritual-casting Alarm round the camp, meaning to cast Find Familiar after it [72][73]. A lost old woman with a torch called out for help getting back to Umbrafall [74], and Vasquez, “the only one that’s willing to probably die for helping someone” [75], went to her; she laid a hand on his shoulder and whispered to him [76].

The succubus. Vasquez came back under her control and swung at Terry, who was still casting Alarm and protested that he had not even started Find Familiar [77]. As initiative began she dropped her disguise [78]. Caelumn’s first-level Magic Missile forced three concentration saves, and when she failed the first Vasquez felt “a fog lift over your head as you see yourself fighting Terry” [79]. She whistled, and crossbow bolts from the brush hit Caelumn for 8 piercing and 9 poison and Hugo for 3 piercing and 7 poison [80]. Terry was next: he failed his save even with Heroic Inspiration, and was told to heal her with spells he did not have [81]. Harvo’s Eldritch Cannon gave him, Terry, Caelumn and Hugo 7 temporary hit points [82], and a raging Hugo hit a thief with a 17 and a natural 20 for 27, taking off his leg and then his head [83]. Caelumn’s twinned third-level Chromatic Orb struck her for 23 even after the controlled Terry forced a reroll with Silvery Barbs, and she failed her concentration on a 2: “Terry you feel your mind becoming your own yet again” [84].

She turned on Harvo next, who failed his Charisma save despite rolling at advantage [85]. The DM ruled that he could not attack her, so he cast Cure Wounds on her and sent his Force Ballista at a thief instead [86]. Caelumn spent his last sorcery point on a second Chromatic Orb, a natural 20 for 48 lightning on a thief that leapt to the succubus for 21 more [87]. A bolt then dropped Vasquez [88]. The succubus held her action until Harvo had healed her again, then gave him a kiss: “you feel your life drain out of your soul as she sucks you or at least tries to suck you dry” [89], for 6 necrotic damage and 6 from his maximum hit points [90]. His bonus-action Force Ballista hit her square in the chest, and the charm ended [91]. Hugo finished her with a reckless double hit of 9 and 11; she tried to shape-shift as she bled out [92]. A thief’s natural 20 against Caelumn, rerolled with Terry’s Silvery Barbs, still hit for 6 slashing and 9 poison and put him down [93]. Harvo’s Battle Medic feat got Vasquez up with 9 hit points, and Hugo killed the last two thieves with an axe each [94][95].

The die. The succubus carried only a six-sided die. Harvo, impatient with the others’ checks, cast Identify: “It seems to be a charlatan’s die. Whenever you roll the six-sided die, you can control which number it rolls.” [96]. He threw it back to Hugo: “It’s just some shit if you want to cheat.” [97]. The four thieves had 8, 10, 5 and 5 gold and each a hand crossbow, a short sword and a set of thieves’ tools; the swords were neither poisoned nor magical, and Hugo kept one [98]. Harvo got Caelumn back on his feet with 3 hit points, and a Medicine check told him that his drained soul needed a good night’s rest [99][100].

Find Familiar, at last. The table had teased Terry about the ritual all evening; Caelumn joked about hitting him “after an hour and nine minutes” [101] so it could never finish, and stared at him to make it “uncomfortable as humanely possible” [102]. While Terry cast, Vasquez scraped at a fire pit by hand until Harvo used Tinker’s magic to make him a spade from a stick and a metal plate; with Hugo’s help he built a good fire [103]. The familiar arrived “remarkably similar to the Owlin that recently joined the party briefly” [104], and Terry named it Earthwing [105]; it had “been in the shell for ages, scratching me” [106]. Terry went straight on to Alarm, chanting something between Latin and the Macarena until he could announce “I’m done. Guys, I’ve cast it.” [107], and the DM gave him an inspiration [108]. The party slept uneasily, with a feeling of having forgotten something, and Harvo woke full of ideas for inventions [109].

The Black Vein Quarry. Dawn came as dark as night [110]. North of the camp the road gave way to black stone, and the Black Vein Quarry, with its broken lift cranes, carts half sunk in ash and unlit lanterns, opened “like a wound in the earth” [111]. Below, “metal strikes stone. Slow. Rhythmic. Wrong.” [112]. Harvo set rules for the mine, the first and third both being to think before acting [113]. Ahead were a figure whose jaw hung loose and whose throat had been torn open long ago, and two others crawling the quarry wall, “searching for something inside the rock” [114]; they saw the party and went on working at the rubble [115].

Earthwing falls. Terry sent the owl in along the cave roof and saw six figures through its eyes [116][117]. As it flew back to report, Terry saw what was coming: “If you fucking blast it out of the sky, you motherfucker.” [118]. An unseen attacker hit it for 6 piercing and 8 necrotic, and the one-hit-point owl died [119]. Hugo asked whether Terry, seeing through the owl, would know what had killed it; not if it struck from stealth, said the DM, and rolled a 20 for its Stealth [120]. Terry concluded “there’s something invisible in there as well” [121]. The DM then went back to the old stealth rules, a roll against passive Perception [122], and the whole party crept in unseen [123].

The quarry ghosts. Hugo found nothing on the ceiling, and the DM confirmed there were no birds or insects anywhere, which Terry took to mean “there is something actually killing all the life on here” [124]. Then Terry cast Blade Ward, with its verbal and somatic components, and “you see these two ghosts turn towards you” [125]. Caelumn’s Fire Bolt missed [126]. One ghost reached Terry and met his Shield [127], and Hugo’s magical weapon hit another for 14, “with full force” [128]. A ghost ran its hand through Caelumn’s chest for 9 necrotic and took 9 from his maximum hit points [129]; Terry’s silvered shortsword cut one down to a floating hand [130]; Harvo’s cannon knocked one towards Vasquez [131]; and a spectre came through the wall at Harvo for 11 necrotic and 11 from his maximum [132]. With Vasquez asking whether to run or fight, the DM reminded the table that the Broker wanted to know why the miners had become ghosts, then ended the session on time [133]. Hugo signed off with “Next time on Dragon Ball Z.” [134]. The ghosts, the DM joked, would drag the fallen off and make it “a jailbreak with the three remaining people” [135], and he wished everyone a happy new year [136].

Dialogue Highlights

  1. Jack, welcoming his new cellmate: “You don’t want to mess with Nightwatch. No, no, no, no, no. That’s, yeah, it’s a bad idea. But I’m sure we’ll be friends. Tell me, do you like chicken?” [137]
  2. Terry, naming the prisoner: “Bruise. You’ve got a prison name now. You’re Bruise.” [138]
  3. Risa, on the clinic’s log: “Because she was burned at 10. But someone visited her or checked up on her at 10.20.” [21]
  4. Hugo, on how a barbarian knows about aquamation: “I spend a lot of time around dead bodies and disposing bodies” [139]
  5. The DM, on the Nightwatch: “they’re getting paid by the mafia. They’re all on the payroll. They still do their duties” [140]
  6. The jail clerk, reading Vasquez’s entry in the log: “It’s written down as bitch-ass elf.” [141]
  7. The jail clerk, to Harvo’s first offer: “You’re not my type. I’m not smelling what you’re selling. Sorry. Gold only.” [142]
  8. Harvo, making the real offer: “You just bring out this elf that you have, and we all go our separate ways, we never cross paths ever again. Just quick and easy business.” [60]
  9. Vasquez, answering Harvo’s lecture: “When I fought that giant in there, down those caverns with the rest of you, I snapped a little bit. I’m not holding back anymore.” [143]
  10. Terry, dominated and ordered to heal the succubus: “I don’t have any healing spells. That’s fucking funny.” [144]
  11. The succubus, in the dominated Harvo’s mind: “please be a dear and heal me with your biggest spell.” [27]
  12. Earthwing, heard from the sky as it flies off: “I am the night.” [145]
  13. Terry, after casting Alarm to a Macarena chant: “It turns out that ritual casting sounds a lot between Latin and the Macarena.” [146]
  14. The DM, on the quarry: “Even the biogloom here pulses slower. Dimmer. As if the quarry itself is holding its breath.” [111]
  15. Harvo, at the quarry’s edge: “Rule number one, think before you act. Second one, stay with the group. Third one, think before you act.” [113]
  16. Harvo, drained by the spectre: “Oh boy I’m going to die today guys” [147]

NPCs

  1. Jack (named, in-fiction): a spindly human in the corner of Vasquez’s cell who warns him off the Nightwatch and eats the rats [35]. He first takes the name Vasquez gives for “Bruce” [148]. Status: alive, in the cell. New this session: yes.
  2. Risa (returning): the urn-woman from session 7, whose name is first spoken in session 10 [149]. Her sister went into the Dawn Mercy Clinic ill and was reported dead and burned; the urn holds lye [20][150]. She will wait at the inn from three to five every day for two weeks [151]. Status: alive. New this session: no.
  3. Jorin and Harak (named, in-fiction): the two clerks at the jail desk; they ask 500 gold officially and take 75 each off the books [23][61][62]. Status: alive. New this session: yes.
  4. The succubus (new monster, in-fiction): disguised as a lost old woman with a torch [74]; casts the 8th-level form of Dominate Person, slashes for psychic damage, drains with a kiss, and shape-changes [152][153][154][155]. She dominated Vasquez, Terry and Harvo in turn [156][157][158]. Killed by Hugo [29]. A different creature from the session 9 succubus. Status: dead. New this session: yes.
  5. The four crossbow thieves (unnamed): her hidden support, with poisoned bolts, short swords and thieves’ tools [159][160]. Hugo killed three and Caelumn one [161][162][163]. Status: dead. New this session: yes.
  6. Earthwing (new familiar): an owl like the Owlin who briefly travelled with the party, summoned from Terry’s shell [164]; shot dead scouting the quarry [32]. Status: dead; can be summoned again. New this session: yes.
  7. The quarry ghosts (new monster type, in-fiction): the dead miners, still working the rock; they ignore the party until a spell is cast, pass through walls, and drain life and maximum hit points with a touch [165][115][33][129]. Status: in combat at session end. New this session: yes.
  8. The unseen sniper (unidentified): killed Earthwing from stealth on a 20 [32][166]. In session 9 the DM put it down to the skeletons or the wight [167]. Status: hidden. New this session: yes.
  9. Shade Mistress (off-screen reference): named as the one who would control the Nightwatch, if anyone does [168].
  10. The Broker (off-screen reference): his contract is to find out why the miners became ghosts [169].

Locations

  1. Nightwatch Jail: a humid, cellar-like jail with corroded bars, black-walled and fungus-veined, two idle guards outside and two clerks at a raised desk inside [10][57][170]. Vasquez’s cell; Harvo’s bribe.
  2. Alleyway off the trade district (unnamed, first appears [171]): where the party regrouped with Risa in the rain and planned the rescue [171][172].
  3. Glomangol Inn (referenced): the inn the party had just left, where Risa will wait [173].
  4. Clearing on the road north (unnamed, first appears [174]): eight hours from Umbrafall in the fungal forest, with black-sapped trees and huge canine prints; site of the succubus ambush [68][70].
  5. Black Vein Quarry: black-stone terraces north of the camp, broken lift cranes, carts sunk in ash, no birds or insects, and the slow sound of tools below [175]. The miners’ ghosts work the walls [165]. The cave roof is where Earthwing died [176].
  6. Dawn Mercy Clinic (named, not visited): where Risa’s sister was said to have died and been burned; Risa had not heard of it before [39][177].

Items & Loot

  1. Charlatan’s Die: found on the succubus; identified by Harvo; the user controls the number it rolls. Harvo threw it back to Hugo, who carries it [178].
  2. Coin: 28 gold from the four thieves, 8, 10, 5 and 5 [179].
  3. Four hand crossbows, four short swords, four sets of thieves’ tools: from the thieves; not poisoned and not magical; to the party inventory, with one short sword to Hugo [180].
  4. Bail money: 150 gold to the clerks, from Caelumn’s 130 and the party fund of 93; Vasquez is to repay it from his share [181][182][183].
  5. Terry’s incense: spent on Find Familiar; the DM reminded him to take it off his sheet [184][185].
  6. Harvo’s spade: made with Tinker’s magic from a stick and a metal plate for Vasquez’s fire pit [186].
  7. Biogloom toxin: the party’s two are in Hugo’s own inventory [187].

Combat Encounters

The succubus and the crossbow thieves [188].

  • Trigger: the “old woman” dominated Vasquez with a touch and a whisper, and he swung at Terry [156].
  • Enemies: one succubus (fiend; 8th-level Dominate Person against Charisma saves, a psychic claw, a draining kiss); four human thieves with poisoned hand crossbows and short swords [152][189][153][154][190][160].
  • Party state at start: mid-camp after eight hours’ march; Terry ritual-casting Alarm; Vasquez on 5 hit points with no Second Wind left [12][191][192].
  • Notable rolls: Hugo’s 17 and natural 20 for 27 [193]; Caelumn’s natural 20 Chromatic Orb for 48 and a 21-point leap [194]; her concentration failures against Magic Missile, the twinned orb (a 2) and Harvo’s ballista [195][26][196]; a thief’s natural 20 on Caelumn, rerolled with Silvery Barbs to a 17 that still hit [197].
  • Damage taken: Caelumn 8 piercing and 9 poison, then 6 slashing and 9 poison; Hugo 3 piercing and 7 poison; Harvo 13 psychic, then 6 necrotic and 6 maximum hit points; Vasquez 4 piercing and 6 poison; Terry 5 piercing and 12 poison [190][198][199][154][200][201].
  • Resources: Caelumn Innate Sorcery, Magic Missile, a twinned third-level Chromatic Orb, his last sorcery point on an upcast orb, Shield twice with his last slot, Fire Bolt [202][203][204][205][206][207]; Terry True Strike, Heroic Inspiration, Silvery Barbs twice (once under her control), Jim’s Magic Missile [208][209][210][211][212]; Harvo his cannon’s Protector and Force Ballista, Cure Wounds twice on the succubus under her control, Battle Medic [82][213][214][215][94]; Hugo Rage and Reckless Attack [216][217].
  • Downs: Vasquez (raised by Battle Medic for 9) and Caelumn (back up with 3 hit points after the fight) [218][219][94][220].
  • Resolution: the succubus and all four thieves dead; the party long-rested in the clearing [155][221][222].

The quarry ghosts ([223]; continues in session 9).

  • Trigger: Terry’s Blade Ward, a spell with verbal and somatic components, turned two ghosts towards the hidden party [125].
  • Enemies: ghosts that pass through walls and drain necrotic damage and maximum hit points with a touch, one called a spectre; the owl had seen six figures [117][224][129][225]. The unseen sniper that killed Earthwing was not seen again [32].
  • Party state at start: fresh from a long rest and hidden, so initiative at advantage for all but Terry [222][226][227].
  • Round one: Caelumn’s Fire Bolt missed on an 11 [126]; Terry’s Shield blocked a 19 [228]; Hugo raged and hit for 14 [229]; a ghost drained Caelumn for 9 and 9 [129]; a ghost missed Hugo [230]; Terry’s silvered shortsword hit with radiant [130]; Harvo’s cannon hit on a 21 [131]; a spectre drained Harvo for 11 and 11 [132].
  • Resolution: paused on Vasquez’s turn in round one, with no one down [133].

Clues & Foreshadowing

  1. The clinic’s story does not hold (Risa’s account): a sister burned at ten but checked on at 10.20, a body she was not allowed to see, and lye where ashes should be [20][21][42]. The aquamation theory is Hugo’s; the DM did not know the process [231]. Answered in session 10 [232]. See Risa’s sister conspiracy.
  2. The sister’s latent magic (Risa’s account): headaches, visions and a candle lit with her mind [43][44]. Terry suspected kidnapping rather than killing [45].
  3. A bought guard (DM-confirmed): the Nightwatch is the city’s official guard gone bad, on the payroll of the city’s criminals [48][49], with the Shade Mistress named by Risa as its likeliest master [168].
  4. Something kills everything in the quarry (DM-confirmed absence; party inference): no birds and no insects [111][233], and Earthwing shot by something Terry never saw [234]. The DM’s later answer: very likely the skeletons or the wight [167].
  5. The miners keep working (DM-described): the dead claw at the rock and ignore the living until a spell is cast [165][115][33].
  6. Harvo jokes about his own death: he will not trust the others with his head, and after the spectre’s drain says he will die today [56][147]. He is beheaded in session 9 [235].

Open Mysteries & Unanswered Questions

  1. What is the Dawn Mercy Clinic doing with its patients, and for whom? [21][42]. Answered in session 10 [232].
  2. What killed Earthwing? It struck from stealth with piercing and necrotic damage [236][166]; the DM later named the skeletons or the wight as most likely [167].
  3. What were the miners after in the rock, and why did they become ghosts? The Broker’s contract asks for the why [165][169].
  4. Was the succubus part of anything larger? She worked the road north with four thieves, and nothing tied her to the clinic or to Maelis [74][237].
  5. Who is the Shade Mistress, and why would she want people dead? [168].

Quests

  1. [Status: closed] Free Vasquez: bought out for 150 gold instead of the official 500 [23][238].
  2. [Status: active] The missing miners (The Broker for the Umbrafall Mining Company): the miners are found as ghosts; the contract needs the reason [67][239]. Continues in session 9.
  3. [Status: active] Risa’s sister: the party agreed to help after the mine; Risa waits at the inn and will find a reward [54][240].
  4. [Status: deferred] Silent Intake: the forged logs to be handed over in Velkris, recapped at the start [241].

Faction & Relationship Changes

  • Nightwatch: two clerks took a 150-gold bribe and warned that Vasquez will hang if caught again [242].
  • Vasquez and the party: he owes the bail and promises to repay it from his share, and says he is done holding back [66].
  • Harvo as the voice of caution: he takes the bribe on because he trusts no one else to keep their heads, and Caelumn and Hugo concede the point [243]; he sets the rules for the mine [113].
  • Risa: now the party’s client, waiting at the inn [54].

Table Rulings

  1. Find Familiar as a ritual: one hour and ten minutes; if the party moves on before the hour is up, the components are lost [244]. The incense is spent when the spell succeeds [185].
  2. Magic Missile and concentration: each dart forces its own concentration save, and one damage die serves for every dart [245][246].
  3. The succubus’s charm: the DM called for Charisma saves and held to it when Terry queried it [189][247][248]. A charmed creature cannot attack its charmer [249], must carry out the order on its turn before anything else [250], and saves again when it takes damage [251].
  4. Upcast Dominate Person: the 8th-level version only lengthens the duration, to eight hours [153][252].
  5. Eldritch Cannon, Protector: a burst of temporary hit points, 1d8 + 3, for chosen creatures within 10 feet of the cannon [253].
  6. Cover, prone and forced movement: half cover is +2 AC [254]; going prone costs no movement [255]; an ally does not give half cover [256]; being pushed does not provoke an opportunity attack [257].
  7. Stealth: the DM went back to the old rules, a Stealth roll against passive Perception rather than hiding on a 15 [122]; a hidden party rolls initiative at advantage [227]; no hiding in plain sight [258].
  8. A familiar’s senses: seeing through Earthwing does not reveal an attacker who strikes from stealth [259].
  9. The Soulbinder’s ring: Caelumn could not take the soul of a downed ally; the target has to be past the point of being downed [260].

Callbacks

  • s7, the Titan and Maelis: Dylan’s recap of the Titan crushing Maelis Dirn and the bounty [261].
  • s7, the Broker’s mining job: taken up now, and its terms recalled in the quarry [262][239].
  • s7, the urn and the arrest: the street fight that put Vasquez in the cell [263][264].
  • s7, the potions: the green glow and the bubbles, recapped [265]; most of the party’s money had gone on potions [266].
  • s6-s7, the forged logs: for Silent Intake [241].
  • s6-s7, the Titan: Vasquez says the fight with the giant is where he snapped [143].
  • s3, Earthwing the Owlin: the new owl looks like the Owlin who briefly joined the party [104][267].
  • s2-s4, Fergus: Terry, over thin rations, remembers Fergus’s meat [268].

Meta notes

  • Last session of the year: the DM had to end it on time, one round into the quarry fight, and wished the table a happy Christmas and new year [34][269].
  • A fifteen-minute break followed the succubus fight [270].
  • Terry’s familiar is named after Chris’s session 3 character, Earthwing the Owlin [271].

Next Steps

  • Survive the quarry ghosts (session 9) and learn why the miners became ghosts, as the Broker’s contract requires [272].
  • Find what shot Earthwing, and summon the familiar again when there is time for the ritual [273][121].
  • Return to Risa at the inn, three to five each day for two weeks, and ask the Broker about the clinic when collecting the reward [151][274].
  • Vasquez to repay the bail from his share [183].
  • Deferred: the forged logs for Silent Intake in Velkris [241].
Entities in this session

People (10)

Locations (7)

Things (4)

References

  1. ^ Session 8, line 73-95: Vasquez wakes in jail; meets Jack; renamed 'Bruise'.
  2. ^ Session 8, line 117-141: Lye smell in the urn; Risa recounts the Dawn Mercy timeline discrepancy.
  3. ^ Session 8, line 471-543: Jail entry; bribery negotiation; 150 gp bail.
  4. ^ Session 8, line 723-732: Forest clearing; canine footprints; setting up camp.
  5. ^ Session 8, line 800-901: Old woman becomes succubus; combat begins.
  6. ^ Session 8, line 1438-1462: Charlatan's Die looted; identified by Harvo.
  7. ^ Session 8, line 1597-1605: Find Familiar completes; Earthwing the owl summoned.
  8. ^ Session 8, line 1681-1697: Black Vein Quarry: ghost miners encountered.
  9. ^ Session 8, line 1759-1798: Earthwing is killed by stealthed sniper; ghost combat begins.
  10. ^ Session 8, line 73: Inline citation.
  11. ^ Session 8, line 576: Inline citation.
  12. ^ Session 8, line 679: Inline citation.
  13. ^ Session 8, line 1640-1644: Inline citation.
  14. ^ Session 8, line 21-22: Inline citation.
  15. ^ Session 8, line 32-67: Inline citation.
  16. ^ Session 8, line 24: Inline citation.
  17. ^ Session 8, line 31: Inline citation.
  18. ^ Session 8, line 68: Inline citation.
  19. ^ Session 8, line 82-95: Inline citation.
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  24. ^ Session 8, line 571-581: Inline citation.
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  29. ^ Session 8, line 1303-1304: Inline citation.
  30. ^ Session 8, line 1459: Inline citation.
  31. ^ Session 8, line 1589-1619: Inline citation.
  32. ^ Session 8, line 1763-1767: Inline citation.
  33. ^ Session 8, line 1884: Inline citation.
  34. ^ Session 8, line 1978: Inline citation.
  35. ^ Session 8, line 79-87: Inline citation.
  36. ^ Session 8, line 89-95: Inline citation.
  37. ^ Session 8, line 98-107: Inline citation.
  38. ^ Session 8, line 117-118: Inline citation.
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