Shattered Star: Visions and Vestibules

Game Date: 1/9/2016
Location: The Game Keep
Campaign: Shattered Star, Session 43
System: D&D 5e
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Bjertha Brawlbaker (Matt) - Dwarf Fighter
Fellany Mertien (Cliff) - Human Fighter
Gustav Greycastle (Graham) - Human Necromancer
Maruca (Daniel) - Elf Ranger/Cleric/Rogue
Slancio Brioso (Thomas) - Human Bard

The Session:
Last week we fought the ghostly curator of the dungeon's museum.  Today we took a short rest and continued exploring the next hallway.  The next significant room was a large cathedral.  On the North and South sides of the room were several alcoves, holding statues of faceless winged women.  In the middle of the room there were four large vats full of green liquid.  Each vat contained a different creature - a young adult Silver Dragon, a Roper, a Badger, and an eviscerated Phase Spider.

We walked past the vats, and found the opposite doors to be trapped.  Gustav tried to dissipate the magical trap, but ended up setting it off instead.  There was a sonic boom which damaged the party and broke all the glass vats.  Some of the creatures began to stir.  Meruca and Slancio attempted to use diplomacy on the Dragon, while Gustav attacked the badger.  The Dragon acted erratically, and attacked us.

Most of the party engaged the Dragon, while Gustav's zombie horde kept the Roper busy.  The Dragon hit Bjertha with a psychic attack which stunned her, with after effects that resonated deep within her character sheet.  Once we defeated all our opponents, their bodies dissolved into ooze.

We went back to the museum and took a long rest.  Gustav climbed back up the tower and camped up there, while the rest of us slept at the tower's base.  Gustav had a pleasant night, but the rest of us had bad dreams.  Most of us had identical dreams involving being chased by spiders across a tundra.  We woke exhausted.

We went back through the cathedral and tried the doors again.  The next room contained a large pool of water, from which two Water Elementals attacked the party.  They did a lot of damage to Meruca and temporarily killed our largest zombie, but in the end we prevailed.  We went up some stairs and found a room with two water globes on the walls.  As Meruca stepped too close to one of the globes, she had a harrowing experience.

From Meruca's point of view, she suddenly found herself underwater, facing a giant sea monster.  At first she tried swimming away from it, but it was much faster than her.  She fought it for a few rounds, taking a lot of damage, until suddenly the vision ended.  While the event lasted several rounds, for the rest of us it was instantaneous.  All we saw was Meruca stumble a bit as the vision faded, down a lot of hit points but not visibly damaged.

The room also contained a Helmet of Water Breathing, and a horn adorned with a Pearl of Power.  Meruca discovered she'd caught a disease from her fight - her skin became translucent, and she had trouble breathing oxygen.  Slancio cured her with a Lesser Restoration spell, and we went back down the stairs to try the next door.  Through a small vestibule, we reached a room with an altar.  Slancio entered first, and had a vision of his own.

A pair of Gargoyles came to life and attacked Slancio.  The doors shut behind him, and one of the Gargoyles grabbed him and carried him miles up into the air.  He finally defeated the Gargoyle and the vision ended.  The rest of the party saw none of this; the doors never actually shut, and we just saw Slancio throw himself onto the ground.  We helped him to his feet and went through some doors on the left.

In another vestibule, we saw a skeleton holding a satchel.  Gustav grabbed the bag, and a figure coalesced in front of us.  It was the ghostly Curator we fought last session.  He angrily shouted, "You will not defile my body!" and attacked us, ignoring our attempts at diplomacy.  He got the ball rolling by casting Prismatic Spray, hitting three of us with different effects.  Then he used Chain Lightning, which did a good amount of damage to four party members.

On the plus side, Bjertha's Undead Bane Longsword was quite effective on him, and we managed to take him before too long.  After the fight, we looted the body.  The satchel was a Handy Haversack, and we also found a Cloak of Protection and a Helm of Intellect.  We healed up a little and ended the session.