Shattered Star: Mananana(nggal)! Do dooooo do do do...

Game Date: 5/30/2015
Location: The Game Keep
Campaign: Shattered Star, Session 27
System: D&D 5e
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Bjertha Brawlbaker (Matt) - Dwarf Fighter
Carlie Nackle (Chere) - Gnome Wizard
Fellany Mertien (Cliff) - Human Fighter
Maruca (Daniel) - Human Ranger /Cleric/Rogue
Slancio Brioso (Thomas) - Human Bard
Tai Lindro (Angela) - Human Monk/Warlock

Full party today.  Left to right: Bjertha, Tai, Carlie, Fellany, Slancio, Maruca

The Session:
When we left off last week, a friendly brain was about to teleport us into a pocket dimension, which is not a sentence I've had to type very often.  We arrived in the Dark Forest, standing by a trail that led to the Black Keep.  The keep was a fine example of bizarrchitecture, with many wings that had been added with no structural support, stubbornly refusing to obey the laws of gravity.

Immediately after our arrival, we were attacked by two swarms of rot grubs.  These could not be harmed by our physical weapons, so we moved away from them.   Meruca got hit and several grubs burrowed into her skin.  The swarms moved slowly, so we kept our distance while Carlie used Burning Hands and Slancio viciously mocked them.  Bjertha burned Meruca's grubs with a torch, and eventually Carlie used Shocking Grasp to painfully cure Meruca.

Meanwhile, a trio of flying Wyverns joined the fight.  They had poisonous bites, which one immediately used on Slancio.  Tai teleported onto the back of one Wyvern, grappling and stabbing it with glee.  Then Tai stunned her mount, causing it to crash to the ground.  Fellany finished off Tai's mount while Bjertha killed another Wyvern.

All the while we were still playing keep away with the grub swarms.  Carlie hit them with spell after spell, until they finally dissipated.  The final Wyvern perched on top of the keep, and Tai tried her mounting trick again.  This time she rode the Wyvern into an area behind one of the keep's walls, out of our view.  When the Wyvern finally resurfaced and attacked the main party, Slancio finished it off.

Tai's adventure behind the wall allowed her to find a side door, which we used to enter the keep.  We entered a great hall, with sculptures of a headless knight and suits of armor in the corners.  Tai went back outside to get something when the doors slammed shut, separating her from the party.  A green mist fumed out from the suits of armor, coalescing into two large foggy shapes.  Then a head with bat wings flew into the room.  We faced a pair of Hungry Fogs, and a Manananggal.

Slancio cast Knock at the front door, alerting Tai so she could join the fight.  First we ganged up on the Manananananawhatever, until Tai killed it.  This left us with just the fogs.  They only had +2 to their attack rolls, so it looked like an easy fight...  until Fellany failed a fear save, fleeing until she opened the next door, triggering the next encounter early.  This side room held a porcupine-person called a Pukwudgie, and four Wights. 

This is where things got difficult.  The Wights were hard enough as it was, but they could heal themselves by entering the fogs, making for a deadly combination.  Carlie, Fellany, and Bjertha all went down at least once this fight, nearly staying down for good.  Tai killed one fog, then used her great speed to rescue Carlie from the thick of things.  Meruca, Slancio, Carlie, and Tai went out the front door and attacked from a distance, but the Wraiths followed them out the door and off the battlemat.

Once the fogs were gone we did a little healing and started to make some progress.  Bjertha, Slancio, Meruca, and Tai each killed one Wraith, and Meruca finished off the porcupine guy.  We ended the session there, licking our wounds and taking stock of our immediate surroundings.  We would really like at least a short rest, but in this hostile dimension it might not be in the cards.