Daemons over Ashfall

Timeframe

OOC: Sunday, June 18, 2023 @10 AM (EST)

IC: 31st of Pharast, 69 IA

Ran By: [GM] Vladimir

Notable NPCs

Table Mimic (Quest Giver)

Description

@⚔️ Levels 2-5

Several people have recently disappeared near Ashfall after heading to the nearby woods to pick exotic fruits, and you've been hired to find them. Or what's left of them, it has been a few days.

Levels: 2-5

Signup Duration/Start Time: Sunday, June 18, 2023 10:00 AM in your timezone (2 pm UTC), signups until 15 minutes before that

Number of Players: 4-6

Worst Case Scenario: You die. Your soul gets eaten. It gets rated as bland instead of tasty.

Signup in ⁠🎲session-sign-ups-extra with this format:

Name / Level / Mythic / Class (Archetype) [Gestalt Class (Archetype)] / Role / Alignment / Mythic Flaws / What's your favorite and least favorite types of Outsiders?

Participants

OOC: [Moth Mod] Hawk; INFO: Axel Erachin / 4 / No mythic yet / Wizard (Spheres, Spirit Binder, Lorekeeper) [Armorist (Spirit Blade) + Alchemist (Champions, Hemetic Philosopher) / Tactical support, buffs, knowledge, ranged dps / LN / None yet / Proteans, eww chaos

OOC: Arcanyum740; INFO: Malcom Rondir / 2 / No Mythic yet / Paladin [Fighter] / Frontliner / Lawful Good / None / Guy's old; like in his 40's

OOC: SlothyCeddy INFO: Bibliolalia/ 2/N/A/ Artificer [Wizard (Clocksmith) 1; Lore Oracle (Dual Cursed) 1]/Support/ NE/ N/A/ Devils, Daemons, and Demons are all up her alley with Demons and Daemons tied for first. Fuck Archons all my homies hate em.

OOC: anathesturdy INFO: Yitera/ 3 / none yet / Fighter [Barbarian (Invulnerable Rager/Dreadnought)] / Get hit, hit stuff. Fairly simple./ CN / none / What's your favorite and least favorite types of Outsiders? I like me some azatas, but demons are a guilty pleasure. Angels too.

Summary

The party arrived at the job site in Ashfall, a small village on Etera. There was word of villagers going missing during their fruit picking jobs in the nearby forest. The party itself consisted of Axel Erachin and his two mechanical companions, one of them called "Echo." Apparently the android was his little sister, though in a very real sense. Malcom Rondir, a retired Paladin of Iomedae. He had decided to come out of retirement and though middle-aged was capable. Bibliolalia the self-proclaimed Nascent Demon lord alongside her own clockwork sister. Her construct was not her sister in the literal sense however. Finally the Strix fighter Yitera, sporting a massive set of wings and an equally large basrard sword.

As the Table Mimic explained to us the mission, much to the shock of Axel, Bibliolalia was the subject of flirting on the man's part. Asked her name after being called beautiful, she stated her full title as a demon lord, putting the entire party on edge. Reactions ranged from the table simply raising an eyebrow (perhaps the most shocking of them), to his Sister suggesting they slay her, to Axel himself being impressed and fascinated by her boldness. Nevertheless he was blown off and the party, having wasted enough time, set out to find the missing gatherers.

Walking along the trails (or in Bibliolalia's case flying via a folding chair and her clockwork sister carrying it, much to the jealousy of Echo) the party stumbled upon a pack of wolves. Upon further inspection they were noted to not be wary of the party, but rather some seemingly unseen foe nearby. While Malcom was unable to pinpoint the creature with his divine sense, Axel was able to shapeshift into a bestial spirit. In this form, he was able to communicate with the wolves and learned that a "Flying scary thing! So many teeth! Sucked something, brother died!" How Axel accomplished this remained a mystery to the party, however at a jest by Bibliolalia stating he was "Embracing his inner wolf..." Yitera commented on her lust for werewolves, earning a disgusted look from Malcom.

After being lead to the dead wolf in question, Bibliolalia examined it with her healing skills. Confirming that while dead, it had no injuries and seemed very healthy. Furthermore, using her knowledge of the planes she concluded that it's soul had been snatched from it, not departing to the afterlife. Quickly deducing it was likely the work of a daemon, Bibliolalia would shortly be proved correct. After Axel gave the wolves his condolences, one agreed to lead the party to where it came from. The party was led to a hill with a door built into the side of it. The door was made of heavy dark stone, as is the door-frame which merged with the side of the hill. Axel, after drinking an unidentified liquid, was able to inspect the door. Gleaming that it appeared to be made of black granite, some wear was visible on its surface from being exposed to the elements for a long time. After Bibliolalia cast a profane blessing upon the group, Malcom opened the door with ease, far easier than something that heavy should. The hinges also showed no signs of wear despite the massive stone slab.

Behind the door lied a staircase that descended into darkness. A light spell later, alongside Axel transforming into a firearm called "X-Laser", the party entered the lair. After a bit more flirting via telepathy from Axel regarding pulling his trigger being shot down by Bibliolalia, the party began to explore the underground space. At the behest of Bibliolalia, the group began clearing high-to-low. There were multiple doors to this place. Behind the first, a lone Cacodaemon that was easily killed by the party. Bibliolalia took a moment to harvest it for parts, finding the dead wolf's soul within. Seen by her companions pocketing the soul, they demanded she hand it over. Ignoring their requests, she eventually talked them into petitioning them after they left the dangerous place, using the fact that people were actively missing as leverage to put it off. Despite narrowly avoiding execution, Bibliolalia did decide to rub it in, stating "Good to listen to your betters. This isn't a democracy after all," earning her annoyed looks and a comment from Malcom. "It isn't but don't think you're my better, I slayed thousands of yur kind and would not mind another one"

Through two of the doors were skeletons easily neutralized as they lay behind rotting bars, unable to escape. While Malcom and Yitera decided in the first room running within range of their weapons was a good idea, they refrained the second time around after suffering not-insignificant damage. While the Axel-Echo combo excelled at dealing ranged damage, Bibliolalia's Little Sister was able to contribute in a small way with jets of steam. Beyond one of the doors connected to an isolated study came the group's first real challenge. Two burning skeletons and two Cacodaemons. While Axel, Echo, Malcom, Yitera and Little Sister took care of them (Bibliolalia contributed little outside of buff spells considering her horrible aim), a third one emerged from a side door, taking Axel and Echo by surprise.

While the fight was ended quickly thanks to their combined efforts (despite the Cacodaemons efforts to confused the fighter and paladin), Both Bibliolalia who fell to one of the burning skeleton's explosive death, and Malcom who fell to a different explosion, had to be resuscitated via potions. After Little Sister fed one to Bibliolalia, Bibliolalia then turned and gave her only remaining one to Malcom who had been teleported near her unconscious body by Axel. Close to death, the potion barely prevented him from bleeding out. Despite this, while not needed to to having her own spells, Bibliolalia did not receive healing from Axel on account of her not handing over the soul. All the enemies save for one Cacodaemon that managed to escape were slain. Malcom lamented his age being why he went down, though he pushed on nevertheless. After this encounter, Bibliolalia would be propositioned by a Daemon to assist them "When the time was right" While she didn't have qualms about the idea itself, she deduced that she was no match for Echo and Axel, deciding to instead inform the party of what she was told. While this did little to inspire their confidence, Axel seemed slightly less on edge.

After it was all said and done, the party retrieved a magical amulet alongside many pearls locked within a pristine mahogany desk. Despite being non-magical it survived the explosions without incident. Malcom easily busted the lock as no one else could break or pick it, restoring faith in himself. The amulet however was magical. After being identified by Bibliolalia, it turned out to be an item that allowed one to speak and understand Aquan, but only Aquan while it was worn. With the items in hand, alongside some choice books on undead, elementals, and evil outsiders, the party cleared the rest of the rooms on the upper level. One such room contained a well. Upon finding it, Bibliolalia suggested they investigate further, however, her suggestion was blown off as they cleared the rest of the upper level. With nothing left to explore, the group journeyed to the final, massive door. Requiring some sort of orb to enter, the party had not yet found the item in question. After trying a variety of objects including the amulet, a pearl, and even a dead Cacodaemon, it was concluded that checking the well was the correct option.

A smug Bibliolalia and gang returned to the well room, finding a water elemental within. It spoke about how it was paid in pearls to guard the sphere and that the wizard hadn't visited in a very long time. After giving it some of the pearls and giving the party the sphere, it packed it's bags to relocate to a nearby river after we cleared out the lair. Behind the grand door laid the final challenge: four burning skeletons, two Cacodaemons, and a Nixudaemon. The battle was a grueling one. Beginning with a blessing before opening the door, Malcom and Yitera were quickly overwhelmed by the auras of the burning skeletons. Little sister excelled at facing them, as with the fast healing from Bibliolalia coupled with it's innate fire resistance and the haste effect fire brought to the construct, it was able to fight toe-to-toe with them. Before long however, it became clear that, while incredibly capable, Axel and Echo needed backup. In a swift maneuver they had teleported into the room past the burning skeleton choke-point and blaster all three daemons twice, killing the two Cacodaemons with ease. Out of nowhere, the Nixudaemon lashed out with it's tentacles, grappling Echo and Axel. While Axel was able to go inside his sister, the daemon combined with the gun destroyed Echo quickly.

Then, the next part came in a flash. Almost as if all at once, Yitera lobbed her basrard sword over the daemons and into the skeletons and directly into the Nixudaemon, dealing a mighty blow. Followed up by a charge from Little sister empowered by the fire from the skeletons, it lurched forth and did as much damage as it physically could. The daemon's resistances were strong, however, and it would take more than that to kill it, even after all the damage Axel and Echo did. Just as the party believed all may be lost Malcom, who just a moment ago had to make a slight retreat to not die, charged past all four burning skeletons who were now out of position due to his retreat. He dodged every attack thrown at him and shouted a war cry "FOR IOMEDAE!" as he smited the Nixudaemon, slaying it instantly. While there were two more Cacodaemons who flanked and attacked Bibliolalia, she dodged their attacks, resisted their babbling, and ultimately convinced them to simply leave with their lives. One she convinced using the soul of the wolf, and the other after the Nixudaemon fell. The battle was over, and though the villagers lie dead in the chamber, the party was able to recover their souls, preventing them from being damned to Abaddon. With the wolf's soul already gone, the party returned to Ashfall, a job well done.

Rewards

The party found four +1 Flask Shards, and got one each (Priceless). These can be used to upgrade various items. The village additionally rewarded them with some very large exotic fruits picked from the now-safe-again forest. Each of them got: 3 Bananas the size of an arm, 5 each oranges apples and mangoes the size of a head, 15 each strawberries blueberries cherries grapes the size of a fist. They heal you when eaten, see here for more details. Malcom also got:

• A copy of The Maleficarum Daemonica (Evil Outsiders) (Given to Bibliolalia upon request)
• A copy of The Elementary Almanac (Elementals)
• Both are Masterwork Tools (+2 circumstance) to identify associated creatures (via Knowledge Planes)
• Amulet of Water Speech, while worn, you understand Aquan and everything you say becomes Aquan. This lets you communicate with the friendly Water Elemental you helped relocate to a nearby river should you decide to visit it.Axel also got:

• A copy of The Encyclopedia Exanimate (Undead), works as Masterwork Tools (+2 circumstance) to identify associated creatures (via Knowledge Religion)