3.1b A Most Unexpected Reunion

SESSION DATE: March 23, 2024
PRESENT: Rory, Jafar, Renaldine, Varkos

Deep Dive

![[Rory - 3.1b A Most Unexpected Reunion.wav]]

Adventure Photos

Adventure Song & Lyrics

![[A Mournful Tone In Caverns Cold.mp4]]
![[Our Bond Remade.mp4]]

World Anvil Journal

sooo... i herd thomewon tawkin abowt a artefakt at a doorfin valt makin animelth and thtuff go cwazy tho im wike well ill chek it owt and thee wath goin on with that. well it turnth owt that jafaw and varkith herd the thame thing tho i gwoopd up with them agin and thith time we not gonna git got by thom gobwinth we gonna taik cawe of it fow weel thith tiem. AND THIN WE FOWND WONDALINE WIKE WAT ITH SHE DOIN HEWE FIRTHT I THAW MATILDA AND NOW I THEE WONDALINE WAT ITH GOIN ON? at fiwtht she dint theem to wegconiz.... wecgonzie... no me but i toad her abowt how i new her and wan awound with her in the old pwathe we caim fwom and i wath wike didint u die in the wava win you jumpt in to dethtwoy the curthd wing ow thomethin and thuddenwy she wath wike howd u no that and i thaid thee i new u wath wondaline! and thin im wike do you poop and she cwearwy dint wike me athkin her that tho i new for shure she wemembewed me. but she thaid she cudnt wemembew a wot abowt wat happind to her but i wath able to make her wemembew. i thaid ith tho gud theein u agin but she thtill didnt wook wike she wath totawwy on bord with it tho i jutht wet it go for now.

n e way we maid ow way to witethpawwow and fownd the guy we wath pothed to tawk to tho we tawkd to him and he wath wike u guyth gotta git to the mineth and figgur owt wat happind to the miner ekthpwowewth cuz i havint herd fwom them for a while but he didnt wanna go up thewe himthelf cuz he hath to thtay hewe and dwink ow thomethin. i noticed he wath wering a gowd pindint with a helmit and akth on it. i didnt athk abowt it cuz i didnt think to do it at the time. he dwawd uth a map and showd uth how to git there tho off we wint to the gowdpeek mowntinth mineth.

aftew a few dayth we finawwy fownd the wite awea. varkith and jafaw thint theiw hokth up to thee if thewe wath n e thing danjrith ahed and they caim bak and towd them abowt thom wuffth and im wike ya we can take them owt eethy and tho we did. thay wath big wuffs but we got em no pwobwem. wookth wike thay jutht got dun eetin cuz they weft a wot of ded animleth tho maybe we awe on the wite twack now. wondaline notithd that ith not jutht the wuffs that wookd beatin cuz it wookth wike a buncha the animelth hew hav bite mawkth and cwaw mawkth on them por thingth. we gotta git thith thing befow it can dethtwoy evwything awownd hewe.

we keep goin and evintuawwy we find a cave with a camp in it. thith mutht be the mineth. but befow we go in we thee thome weiwd wookin dogth with mowe than won hed iv never theen a dog wike that. well ith time to put them down i guetth tho off we go fiting them. they wath pwetty eethy two cuz it dint take a wong time to fite them but they did bite me a buncha timeth tho now we gonna wetht fow a wong time thinth we got a camp wite hewe tho we mite ath well uthe it. oh i fowgot to menshin the doorf bodieth awound hewe it wookth wike they got got by the wuffs so now we gotta move them away fwom the tenth tho we can uthe them. jafaw thaid he can thet up an awawm thpel tho if n e thing caim at uth at nite he wud wake up and thin wake uth up to fite if we had too. wukiwy we didnt haf to cuz nuthin caim.

we waked up and made shur to wook thwu evwything hewe to thee if we can find any woot and we did. the doorfth had thome munny and won of the cwateth had a buncha gowd bawth. thay had that thame pitcher of the helmit and akth that the doorf at the witethpawwow wath werin. tho we definitwy fownd tha wite pwathe. we gather it up and take it with uth into the cave. wondaline towd uth that wile we wath wethtin she cud here the song with a mewody. i thaid i cudnt hewe it tho i akthed her if she cud thing the thong fow uth but she didnt wanna thing it but thin i herd thomethin and wookd awownd. jafaw and varkith hewd it two and win we wookd bak at wondaline she wath wike wat r u all wookin at and im wike WONDALINE FAWTED I NEW IT I TOWD U and thin im wike how wong hav u bin howdin that in cuth it thtinkth wike cwazy. gud fow u wondaline mabee we can git u thome food to see if u can poop now!

n e way we twy to be thooper quite walkin thwu the cave cuz who nothe wath awownd the cownew. well the firtht thing we come up to ith a big hole in tha gwownd and the onwy way acwoth it ith a cupple bordth that go over it. jafaw can make it eethy cuz he can fwy but the wetht of uth cant tho we gotta be caweful. win jafaw ith on the othew thie im wike wat if we take won of thethe bordth and move it over to the othew won to make it a bit eethier to git acwoth and jafaw ith wike ya thath a gud idea and im wike man thomethimeth i impweth mythelf i wat hapy i caim up with that idea. jafaw helpd me moov it over and he tied it up to the other uthin hith wope and thin we all got acwotth nuthin to it.

up ahed wondaline wint firtht cuz she can thee and hewe beter than uth. thin they towd me to take it up the wear thinthe wondaline was up fwont and they thtawted waffin and im wike wath tho funy and jafaw thaid oh nuthin wowy ur jutht awethome and im wike aww thankth bud. i thtill dont no wat wath tho funy but watevr. ill jutht keep taking it up the wear and theein if n e thing cometh fwom our behind.

jutht thin wondaline thtepd on thomethin and made the pwathe come awive tho ith time to fite agin. thith time we tuk down thom onkegth and thewe wath a big dead withard wookin thing in the midel of the woom. thome mowe onkegth joind in but we tuk em all owt. we thaw thewe wath a bunch mowe doorfth in the hall ahed but they dint hav all their body parth they wath kinda thpewd all ovew the pwathe it wookd kinda nathty.

we wint into the nekth woom and now we cud all hewe the thong wondaline herd. it thowndid wike it wath comin fwom the wittle thtachue in the midel of the woom with a bwack pull awownd it. thewe wath a cuple other thatchueth here and wike eweventy chethtth and a ded doorf guy reeching fow a akth. wat the hek happind hewe? but thin ath i got cwother to the midel thtachue a gowd wobthew with tentacleth comin owt ith mowth came up fwom the bwack thtuff and gwabbd me with ith cwawth. varkith wondaline and jafaw wath wike oh no they got him but im wike ya ith got me wite were i want to be and jutht thtawted thwingin my thord. the othewth did a gwate job helpin to cuz we got him after a wittle bit. we did gud. appawentwy that thingth cald a chool ow thomethin iv never theen won befowe it akshuwy wookd kinda cool cuz it wath all gowd and thtuff.

jafaw thaid he thinkth ath wong ath that thtachue ith up itll keep thinging and making the animelth awownd hewe mad and cwazy tho we betr brake it and i wath wike thay weth and thtawted powndin on it awong with the otherth and we finawwy got it brokn. ath thoon ath it bwoke the bwack thtuff in the pull thtoppd wippewing and the thong thtoppd. it wath quite agin.

jafaw and wondaline thtaid in the woom to chek all the chethth and thtuff wile varkith and me wint owt into the hallway i towd him iv bin thwu enuff to no we shud thtep bak. ith a gud thing we did cuz aftew a cupple chethth one of them ekthpwodid into a big ol cwoud of thtuff that made jafaw and wondaline choke a bit but varkith and me wer gud owt here in the hallway. evintuawwy thay get thim all opin and we thpwit up evwything we fownd and wint bak to uwuthiwiuuwuiu.

awong the way i got to thinkin abowt wethr we shud take thith thtuff bak to the doorf guy in witethpawwow but i gueth the othewth dint wanna do that.

by the way dwaugnir if u can here me hear pweathe wet my pawenth no that im thtwill thinkin abowt them and i wanna git bak to them ath thoon ath pothibel. oh and thank u for wetting me thee wondaline agin it wath tho nithe to thee her after she thacwifithed herthelf to dethtwow that curthe. i thtill think abowt that thometimeth and how i wish i cudve thtoppd her and did thomethin myself. she wath vewy bwave. and now i git to tawk to her agin evin if she thtill doethnt wike me vewy much. i wondew if matilda nose sheth hear.

i wondew who elth i mite find.

Private Notes

• Miners digging on Goldpeak Mountain recently broke into an ancient dwarven vault lost for centuries. A strange dark-elven artifact within the vault once again calls out to terrible monsters in and around the mountain—and has begun to unleash those monsters against the village of Whitesparrow. The adventurers must make their way to the mountain and into the vault to discover what is causing monsters to rise, and to end the call of the artifact.
• We make our way to Whitesparrow to gather some information about this mining expedition and the goings on there. We meet a dwarf named Thomas Windcastle who is the blacksheep of his family who shares none of his brother Grinwald's adventurous nature. Now he spends much of his time drinking at the Evershady Tavern but started working with the explorers a couple weeks ago but quit after something unnerved him at the site. He hasn't heard from them in a few days and is starting to get worried, but he himself doesn't want to go up there. After buying him some drinks, he draws us a map which we follow to make our way to the base camp of the expedition.
• We find ourselves a day's march away from the mining area itself.
• Jafar summons an Unseen Servant and has it follow closely behind us with a healing potion to give to Renaldine if she were to go down.
• We're able to scrounge up enough food to cover for our rations for the trip here. Nice!
• Rory suggests that Varkos and Jafar send Swoop and Iago, their birds, up ahead to see what's what.
• Seems like there's a pack of wolves ahead that have committed a massacre. We may have to fight our way through.
• Rory realizes this is the first time he has seen Renaldine in this world. That's the second person he's recognized here. How in the world did SHE get here? First Mazira, and now Renaldine? Rory mentions how she didn't poop in the previous world, and she visibly recognizes that. She remembers Rory, but has little memory of much else. Interesting.
• Jafar tells Iago to warn us as we approach the wolf pack.
• We attempt to move stealthily toward them now that Iago has warned us we're approaching them. Varkos steps on a stick or some crispy leaves or something as his stealth rolls were terrible.
• Jafar moves up toward the wolves and attempts to distract them with an illusion as the rest of us stay behind a bit until given a signal.
• Jafar gives the signal to move up, and as Rory does, he locks eyes with one of the wolves who can plainly see him. INITIATIVE!!!
  • Jafar casts a spell that gives Rory an extra d4 of Fire damage per attack, AND casts Emboldening Bond on Renaldine and Rory, giving us each a d4 to add to an attack, ability check or save as long as we are within 30 feet of each other. Double nice!
  • Rory gets the final blow on one of the wolves, followed quickly after by Renaldine on the other. Combat over.
• Varkos takes some time to skin the wolves for their hides.
• While he was skinning the wolves, Jafar scouts the area for some loot and tries to follow the path of the wolves' bloodshed.
• Jafar once again sends Iago up to look ahead. We follow his lead.
• Renaldine notices that it's not just the wolves inflicting damage. Most creatures in the area have bite and claw marks from numerous different species, as if it were a brawl of multiple types of animals attacking each other. Apparently that's not normal here.
• Jafar and Renaldine are able to determine that some of the injuries aren't natural. Some appear monstrous in nature.
• We make our way forward a bit only to be notified by Iago of a clearing ahead of us.
• We keep going and find ourselves at the mouth of a cave. Among some tree trunks and bushes freshly felled, we find a camp area in the cave mouth with some mining equipment strewn about the area. Additionally, we see some two-headed dog creatures standing over some dead dwarven bodies.
• As we make our way toward the creatures, Jafar casts his Emboldening Bond on himself and Varkos to use this time. He also casts Bless on us all except Renaldine.
• Jafar finishes casting a Firebolt and we all launch a surprise attack on the nearest two-headed dog. INITIATIVE!!!
  • At the end of the round, we see more two-headed dogs running toward us. Welp, time to tank 'em.
  • Swoop gets a killing blow. Woo!
  • Rory gets the killing blow on the final Death Dog. Combat over.
• Varkos notices that the Death Dogs were acting more violently than their monstrous nature would suggest, and that the carnage the area is certainly from the Death Dogs. There are signs that these creatures and been in and out of the mines more than once.
• Renaldine finds 42s 92c on the bodies of the dwarves. These coins are marked with a helmet and battleaxe insignia.
• Jafar inspects the definitely not conspicuous crates near the camp. He finds some assorted rations, ropes, etc. One of the crates is locked. Jafar doesn't detect any magical effects on it, but it IS trapped. Rory steps back in case he trips it during his disarming attempt. Luckily he does not, and is able to disarm it successfully. It was a poison dart trap. He then attempts to unlock the chest, and does so deftly. Inside are 22 gold bars worth 10g each. Each bar is marked with the same helmet and battleaxe insignia as the coins Renaldine found just a moment ago on the dwarven bodies.
• Rory recognizes the insignias match that of a pendant that Thomas Windcastle had been wearing when we talked to him before coming here.
• We decide to take a long rest here so that we're not going into the mine completely spent. Who knows what's in there. We've heard of an artifact of some kind causing these creatures to go nuts, so Jafar casts Alarm in the narrow passage ahead while we rest just outside in the camp.
• TNGBU.
• As we wake up, Renaldine shares with us that she could hear a bit of a sing-song in the wind, as if there was a beat and melody to it. Interesting.
• For the first time ever, Renaldine farts! I KNEW IT!
• We decide to stealthily make our way through the dark mining cave. Rory takes the lead. Ahead are a couple of narrow planks crossing a deep chasm.
• Jafar flies over before we attempt to cross. He sees a few more animal corpses across the way. He flies back to tell us that before flying back again. Jafar and Rory decide to move the second plank to be adjacent to the other for an easier time crossing. Jafar ties his rope around the pair of boards to keep them from parting with our weight as we cross. Renaldine goes first and BARELY makes it. The other two of us make it without issue.
• Jafar tells us he has found a side passage. Varkos checks which path has been more traversed than the others. He determines the middle path with the corpses would be the one.
• Varkos checks for traps. He doesn't find any, but he is suddenly conscious of all the debris. He tells us to take care where we step so as not to roll an ankle or cause any sounds. Noted.
• Renaldine takes the front given she's the most perceptive. As we move forward, she hears the chattering of chitinous rattling coming from up ahead.
• Renaldine steps such that she makes just enough noise to alert the denizens of the room ahead. She sees the body of a basilisk and some ankhegs feasting on a large green lizard thing that looks suspiciously like a hammerhead shark for some reason. INITIATIVE!!!
  • At the end of the first round, we hear more chittering sounds coming from the east and west. More Ankhegs show up and join the fight.
  • Jafar gets the killing blow on the final Ankheg. Combat over.
• We see several more mutilated and dismembered bodies to our north.
• Rory checks out the statues in the room. They appear to just be statues instead of petrified people.
• We quickly explore the east and west tunnels where the ankhegs came from but find that they're collapse and find nothing but mining implements. Nothing of use to us.
• We continue north past the bodies. Renaldine finds that the area is trapped. Renaldine also notices that the wounds on the bodies are charred, as if made by something hot or flaming.
• Working together, Jafar and Rnaldine are able to find the triggering mechanism. They attempt to disarm it. Jafar is able to disarm it successfully. Renaldine notices that a background hum that she didn't quite notice before dissipates after disarming it. It was a slashing and lightning trap.
• As we move forward, Jafar detects a couple magical items on the bodies, but we'll come back for them later.
• We move forward a bit more and Renaldine's shield lights up indicating trouble close by.
• Centered in the room is an obsidian statue of a woman with her hand held up. The statue is surrounded by a pool of black ichor rippling with mesmerizing patterns. There are two statues, one on each side of the room, along with six chests. A dismembered dwarven body lays lifelessly near a chest, reaching for his axe.
• As Rory steps into the room, a large golden alien lobster creature called a Chuul rises out of the pool. INITIATIVE!!!
  • The chuul reaches out at Rory and grapples him.
  • Rory gets the killing blow on the chuul. Combat over.
• Jafar inspects the central statue. He determines that as long as the statue sings, the more powerful the creatures come to its call. Rory tries to bash the statue. Before he can do so, he is nearly overcome by its song, but barely shakes it off. Rory continues swinging, along with the rest of the group. Finally, the statue crumbles into the pool. The song is silenced, the pool stops rippling, and the threat is ended.
• We thoroughly, but carefully, check the room for loot. We find:
  • 23p
  • 243g
  • 452s
  • 2342c
  • Gemstones totaling 100g
  • Various gems/gold/coins worth 1425g
  • Sunrise (+1 Warhammer, can choose to have the attack do +2d6 Radiant damage, once per day)
• One of the chests must have been trapped but failed to be found as the room suddenly fills with a Cloudkill. Varkos and Rory are in the hallway and are thus unaffected. Jafar and Renaldine get caught in it though.
• On the bodies in the hallway:
  • 24p 92g 162s
  • Blade Catcher (+1 Shield)
  • Ironhewer (+1 Battleaxe, advantage on strength checks to smash inanimate objects)
• We make our way back to Urithiru unscathed, using three rations thanks to the great Survival rolls and found rations along the way.

That's it for this session!