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Rise In Peace

Last week, the party returned to Orsus to tell Jed that the dragon was holding the town's food hostage until Jed went to talk with him in his cave. They found him giving instructions to another group of adventurers about things they could do to help the town. Jed informed the party that going to speak with the dragon was impossible, and the town's food was irrevocably lost. The party generally agreed that talking with the dragon was ill-advised1, but expressed concern that the dragon might be dangerous to the town if left alone. Jed replied that this was equally impossible, and stalked off.

Unconvinced that the dragon was not a threat, the party pondered Jed's words before being interrupted by Kelsinelenelvial Gil'Rahvadry, who was also worried about the dragon. Unfortunately, he expressed this by demanding that they join him in assaulting the dragon in its cave. Lorelai responded by attacking him with magic. Outraged, Kelsinelenelvial Gil'Rahvadry drew a weapon and started to attack, and Lorelai responded by starting to cast a damaging spell - but before the fight could escalate further, Jed shot Lorelai and yelled at the two to stop. He chewed out Lorelai for starting the fight, and Lorelai angrily left the town.

The party was unsure how to react to this. Mac left town to talk to Pabst, who had been meditating outside of town during the whole incident. Elodie stayed in the same place for a while and simply watched the town before being approached by Jimmers, who had seen the whole thing and was concerned about whether Elodie was okay2. The two went back to Clockwork's temple to talk.

Outside town, Mac and Pabst were unsure what to do. They wandered back to town and met Elodie and Jimmers at the temple. Partially reunited, the party asked Jimmers if she needed anything, and she said she could use some golem parts which could be found at an abandoned mine well outside of town. The mine had been abandoned after a mysterious encounter with dark forces there, and was now inhabited by a necromancer. United by their mutual affection for Jimmers, the party decided to go to the mine and retrieve materials for her. After one last futile search for Lorelai in town, they set off.

The journey took a day and a half. When the party arrived, they found the mine sealed from the outside.They opened the locks and immediately found themselves attacked by skeletons! They dispatched the skeletons with ease - thanks in part to the timely return of Lorelai, who had changed his mind and rejoined the party. Amanita also rejoined the group from his meditations, ready to fight. Now properly reunited, the party began exploring the inside of the mine.

The party followed a tunnel which led to a large wooden door. When they opened it, they found a room with large mining that had been smashed - and more skeletons! Unlike the first skeletons the party encountered, these carried weapons and armor. Undaunted, the party leapt into battle.

Mac took the point position, and was quickly swarmed by the skeletons, who proved themselves quite capable in combat. Though he gave as good as he got, he soon became seriously injured and retreated. However, one persistent skeleton followed him, and Mac decided to dispatch the skeleton himself rather than fully retreat. In that moment, his fate was sealed. The two warriors swung their mighty blades past each other, and both their blows struck true3. Though the skeleton crumbled into dust from the power of Mac's blow, his body refused to rejoice as it fell away from his severed head. His defiant last words, whispered from a mouth without breath, were: "Nice shot. Bet you can't do that again..."

The party was horrified, and furiously destroyed the remaining skeleton warriors. After the battle, Amanita promised to take care of the body. But they could not grieve for long. They continued into the next room and found a group of gaunt, mostly naked4 humanoid creatures hauling a mine cart. Upon seeing the party, the creatures split into two groups - one group charged the party, and the other group moved the minecart to safety.

The party entered into battle, and found the creatures to be surprisingly strong. They had a strange ability to strike from beyond the reach of their weapons, and the party was forced to give ground. Elodie became a dynamo of destruction, channeling electric energy to deal huge amounts of damage to the creatures. However, in doing so, she drew their attention. Without Mac drawing attention and holding the front line, Elodie found herself unexpectedly surrounded. Before the party could come to her aid, the creatures united to deal a brutal series of blows that left her on the verge of death5. The party jumped to her aid and halted the bleeding long enough to defeat the other creatures. When the fight was over, though, the party realized how gruesome Elodie's injuries were. They gathered around her and worked together to tend to her wounds, but it was to no avail. Elodie died as the party tried desparately to save her.

Join us this week to try to stay alive!

  1. The term "suicidal" was used more than once.
  2. The rest of the party quietly inhabited the Ethereal Plane.
  3. By which I mean that the skeleton rolled three consecutive 20s.
  4. Thank goodness for loincloths.
  5. There were a lot of 20s to go around that night.

Stupid Awards

Amanita Mac Pabst Lorelai Elodie Everyone
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