The session started with the party still locked in combat with the Aeorian Reverser (from “Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount”) in the Silver Chain (thieves guild) lair.
The party knew they were in serious trouble when the beast was able to reverse a vampiric touch spell from Aswan, which knocked Aswan into unconsciousness.
Things were looking bleak, as the beast could drop a party member with its three melee attacks. Suddenly, Belladonna transformed herself into a horrifying vision of death, rotted and crawling with maggots, exuding the stench of the grave. She raised her small arms, her small wings flirting violently, and hissed at the Aeorian Reverser, who, despite having magic resistance (which gave him “advantage” on the save), FAILED his save and was stunned for one round.
Zithgar and Karwl leaped on this opportunity and sent blow after blow on the stunned creature. Nix launched fireballs and fire bolts at it, and Zephry healed Aswan, and he regained consciousness. used her magic fife. The creature was still alive when the stun broke, and he continued to come after Zithgar. Finally, the party was able to kill the beast. The party thanked Belladonna, for it she had not stunned it, they might not have survived.
The party took a short rest and debated pushing on to find the secret tunnels into the Necropolis or whether they should return to the Bast temple for a long rest. They decided to explore a bit more before they went back to the temple.
Making their way back towards the stairs that lead up to the warehouse, Zithgar triggered another rock trap, and Karwl heard a door close in the distance to the east. The party entered a large area with 20-foot wells sunk into the cellar floor. One was filled with water. From another one, they heard a female voice, “help me.”
Belladonna and Zithgar rushed to the empty well and saw a nearly-dead catfolk female. They called out to her, asking her name. Weakly, she said, “I am the Priestess Claire.”
The party worked to pull her up from the pit. Ever the opportunist, during the rescue, Zithgar asked her to put in a good word with Priestess Bathael.
Claire looked puzzled and asked who the party was. After a few minutes, the party remembered (see session recap 18) that Priestess Bathael had given them a signet ring and instructions for what to say when they found Claire. The party showed the ring and said, “Bathael told us to tell you that we are on ‘our side.”
Upon hearing that, Claire looked relieved and then broke down and explained that she was horrified at what she had done. She explained that she had been looking for the source of the undead’s revolt. She had found the Silver Chain location and found what she thought were loyalists to the Lost Pharaoh, Ha’Koot I. They convinced her to reveal the location of the first marker, which she admitted that she did, but once they had that information, they attacked her and threw her into the well. She explained that they served someone called the Black Bull.
The party tried to recall what they had heard of the Black Bull. Most of the party was not familiar (although they have now heard that name twice), but Aswan remembered a bit more and shared with the party that the Black Bull was a regional warlord that had a fortress out in the desert somewhere.
Claire thought they had not killed her because she expected them to continue to torture her for information on the lost tomb.
Just at that moment, a door to the north opened, and Hakaan-al-Khereen Zmirr Nill Mo Chatoor (its french) and more thieves entered the room. With them were his two kobold servants and a huge bloated ghoul that looked a lot like Hakaan. “What are you doing with my prisoner!?” yelled Hakaan.
The thieves rushed in and formed a defensive line, and Hakaan cast a stinking cloud in the middle of the party.
A number of the party members failed their saves and had to spend the action retching. The party moved out of the cloud (except Nix, who doesn’t need to breathe), and the fight was one!
The bloated ghoul was nasty and proved to be the biggest challenge, he almost inflicted a nasty disease on Nix and did end up knocking Nix and Zithgar unconscious.
During the fight, Hakaan screamed, “I know you have the grimalkin idol and eye! Give them to me!”
As the party fought on, and it looked like the party would win, Hakaan and one of his kobold henchmen fled into another room. Karwl gave chase while the party cut down the bloated ghoul. But as Karwl entered the next room, she saw that they were gone, which she concluded meant they had exited through a secret door.
The party, now severely depleted, took Claire, exited the lair, and headed back to the Bast temple.
The party leveled (now level 6), and the session ended.