Tl;dr: A group of adventurers manage find and almost kill Gal’gathod, a balor that is trying to destroy various monoliths around the island as they are inhibiting some if its abilities.
Future Adventure Notes:
•A balor named Gal’gathod is the smoke entity that has been going around trying to disturb monoliths. It is the herald of arrival of the followers of Hydri. It escaped with innate non-magical teleportation.
•Gal’gathod has an unknown connection to The Leonid.
•Balors have a fiery aura, a fiery whip and a lightning sword. Gal’gathod is also a powerful spellcaster and was capable of landing with such fiery force that exploded outward, knocking things prone.
•Ruined Oak offers a cabal boon now to adventure groups that start there.
Session Title: Chapter 30: A Hunt In The Tempest Plains
Session DM: Waylander
Session Date: 3 Feb 2022 @ 22:30 UTC
Session Risk: 7
Characters:
•”Scout” and “Trailblazer” Bardy (Bard 15/Cleric 1) with Sisyphus the Pegasus (played by Tootired78)
•Gau (Druid 12) (played by Konopa)
•”Chronicler” Griters (Wizard 11) (played by Wade)
•Jyn (Cleric 10) (played by Kiwi)
•Katla (Fighter 12) (played by Arden)
•Nog (Fighter 13) (played by Trulhammaren)
•”Leader” Twee (Cleric 1/Fighter 2/Ranger 9) (played by RCB)
A few drinks in, recounting my recent adventure
~Bardy
Twee had gathered our group in an attempt to find and kill a smoke monster that resembles a balor, which had been trying to corrupt ancient monoliths around the island. We assembled in Ruined Oak (the new cabal there offers many benefits to adventurer groups starting these, spellcasters especially) and moved east along the road until night.
Our only encounter of note was a wolf that came by. Twee talked to it for a bit, (if he mentioned to me what they talked about I have forgotten already.) During the night it some tracks were noticed, possibly goblins, but heavier than typical. Other than that it was a relatively peaceful night.
Setting out in the morning, we noticed signs of a fight and a trail of blood leading off the road that led to a fallen humanoid. It was the corpse of a dwarf, with a massive bite wound from groin to collar bone. The tracks of a massive dinosaur were around, but they disappeared and reappeared unnaturally throughout the area. Scattered about the corpse were various items one might expect a traveler to have plus a curious puzzle box.
Twee thought the body might be that of the missing JubJub messenger Rolgram. Examining the box, we determined it had a minor magical trap to destroy it and its contents should they be tampered with. After we dispelled the trap, Katla discerned a five-step solution to the puzzle. Within the box was a piece of parchment which read the following :
“Dear Gimlet,
I hope these words find you well.
Politics in Grackisturgh remain a delicate business and Bhasuth Longgrip, who was tasked with investigating into some of the older parts of our city, has been found dead in his room a fortnight ago. On his desk was a note that explained that he felt to be a great disappointment to his city. Everything seems to indicate suicide but I don’t believe it. I’ll let you know when I find out more about this.
Additionally Gwanrin Drathguln received a vision a few days ago during her prayers. She saw an evil presence moving through large plains in the direction of a hill near a forest. Gwanrin was quite alarmed as she told me this. I send word to our scouts to look out for something like that, but all they could find were tracks of a large dinosaur creature in the east near the roads in the plains. I have to add that this is a very unusual sighting for this season of such a creature.
Would you mind asking the authorities in Ruined Oak for me if they intend to build some outposts on the road between their city and Grackisturgh?
There is not a lot to report besides that. Your family is well and sends their regards as well.
Therryl”
Nog wrapped up the dwarf’s corpse, then we continued moving along the road, at one point seeing a chimera flying ahead of us to the north. It angled to approach but seemed to reconsider and flew away. After that we passed by an unnatural stone aurochs that Jyn declared to be roughly one hundred twenty years old, and shaped with magic. We pushed on to reach the dwarven outpost.
We asked the dwarf guards there if they had anything to report to us, then informed them of what we saw enroute. They found the dinosaur reports particularly troubling. Twee asked if they had seen Rolgram recently, to which they responded he had been through three days earlier, and then left with intent to head to Ruined Oak.
This was when we showed them the body that we had brought with us, and they confirmed it was, indeed Rolgram. They thanked us for returning his body, and allowed us to stay at the outpost free of charge. (The Jubjub dwarves mention that they too have difficulty acquired diamonds of sufficient quality to raise their fallen.)
Fresh in the morning, Gau opened a tree portal that took us over to the Bloodeye hobgoblin tribe. Twee spoke with the hobgoblins, who mentioned nothing noteworthy happened recently, but for a single human robed figure to the north, possibly a cultist, walking around. We set out north from there, along the road.
As we progressed, off to the side of a road, was a tent, a halfling female preparing lunch and dead robed figure with bite wounds. We briefly greeted the halfling and asked her permission to examine the body and tent, she assented. The robed man was dead from wolf bites several days ago. Within the tent, partially burned was the following note.
“Larry known more than he willing to say. I am sure that he holds some key to the mystery of the plain in that damned library.”
We then focused our attention on the halfling. She introduced herself as Merla and said she had found the body and tent it these conditions, and was helping herself to the food when were arrived. She offered us some. (I do not think she was lying during any of this, but I was lacking in testing her information it would seem)
She claimed she lived northeast of where we found her, (which was curious at the time as its rather dangerous over there) and had been at the JubJub fort, buying spell components (when asked later she said ruby dust.) We asked her if she was aware of a monolith northeast of here, she thought there might be one on a singular hill.
We did end up sharing her lunch, during which she said in response to our query that she had seem some unusual dinosaur tracks west of here yesterday, similarly starting and stopping oddly, as if teleporting around. (I do not know if that was a lie or not.) She was invited to travel along with the group as we were all going the same direction.
We spent the rest of the day travelling northeast, nothing notable occuring until the end of the day. We were nearing the aforementioned hill, but felt it too far for this day, and were about to set up our camp when we noticed movement up ahead. The fiery smoke cloud of ill repute was before us. It was examining a large stone next to it until Katla started talking towards it.
It spoke in mixture of Primordial and Infernal. They talked about what it was doing, which was looking for special stones, but the one beside it was not special. As to why look for the special stones, it is trying to destroy them as they are tampering with magic, blocking powerful creatures such as it, and it does not like that.
Katla asked it to name itself, and it declared its name to be “Gal’gathod“, then ominously, “it was only the beginning, the herald of the arrival of the followers of Hydri”, (an unknown entity to me, later it said Hydri was not yet here, but soon), who shall conquer and free the island.“
Gal’gathod said it had summoned more balor (previously) for reinforcements and remembers some of us (not me, this being my first encounter it) for stopping its work. It reiterated that it was trying to destroy the monoliths, the work of the “rulers of the island”, which was hindering its efforts to bring in more of his kind here.
Gal’gathod spoke about how creatures like him after getting powerful, rising among the ranks and then the island’s rulers declared that they must be imprisoned or follow their rules. Gal’gathod had previous destroyed a village with no care, regarding all others as lesser creatures.
Gal’gathod requested our assistance in destroying the stones, (which we outright refused, the rulers of this island are not kind to those who break the rules.) Griters suggested we ask if it knows or knew The Leonid to which curiously it lied that it did not. (The Leonid entity was the one who caused the Fountain of Aging to be made, I believe.)
Griters also noted through our telepathic bond that this creature intelligence and ability to communicate was well beyond a smoke elemental. During all this Merla was paying attention, but more to us than the Gal’gathod. (that she could understand it at all was very curious.)
Katla announced our refusal to help it, and it pronounced us as having made our choice. Katla then tried to attack it but the moment her axe hit it, Gal’gathod vanished, an illusion of magic. As night was fast approaching, unwilling to risk exhaustion, we decided to set camp. While Griters prepared his tiny hut ritual, Merla was behaving oddly.
She expressed sympathy for Gal’gathod, and said she had spoken to it before. (this was the last straw of her innocent halfling guise.) Twee immediately tried to cast a spell to detect outsiders, which she counterspelled. Detecting magic upon her, I dispelled it, revealing a succubus. She screamed “curse you and your people!” before plane shifting into the ethereal plane and running away to the northeast.
We expected trouble in the night but have no choice but to try to sleep. During the night, a wind and a snowstorm started, each getting stronger over the hours, unnaturally. Eventually they were strong enough to begin obscuring vision further away. During the third watch heavy footsteps were heard (and felt.) A massive spinosaurus charged the tiny hut, along with two chasme and several shadow demons.
When the spinosaurus died, its form shifted into that of a massive balor, Gal’gathod i presumed). This balor form was radiating a powerful fire aura and wielding a massive fiery whip in one hand and a lightning sword in the other. The chasme’s droning sound was capable of knocking people (and pegasus) unconscious.
Gal’gathod dispelled the tiny hut, forcing us to engage. Running in to aid Gal’gathod was Merla the Succubus, both of whom were capable of powerful magic and counterspelling. At one point Gal’gathod leapt into the air then dove into the ground with fiery explosive force blasted out, damaging and knocking prone those near.
The fight was ferocious, Katla and her axe becoming the focus of Gal’gathod’s ire, Katla nearly falling before Gal’gathod fled. It teleported away, and was far enough that a locate creature spell could not detect it. We found a note written in infernal, showing a meeting point with another creature at the hill to the east. We finished the rest of our night safely.
In the morning we went east, and found a stone monolith near a cave. Inside the cave, dead less than a half day was the pale body of a bheur hag, a fresh fiery sword cut along the back of her body. (This hag was likely that which summoned the wind and snow last night.) Near the hag was a magic summoning circle. Evidence around the room suggested that Gal’gathod had been here, using it as a base.
We then examined the monolith, seeing three words, each writ in a different language were upon it. In celestial was “forfend”, in primordial “safeguard” and in infernal “maintain”. Griters attempted to use magic to identify more of the monoliths magic, but the monolith prevent his magic from working, and forcefully expelled him away.
Having no leads on Gal’gathod’s current location, we decided the best course of action would be to return to town. Using magic we teleported and tree strode back to the Bloodeye hobgoblins, and then the Jubjub outpost along the road. We informed each faction of what the dinosaur was, and suggested they avoid it if possible.
Sleeping at the dwarf outpost that night, the next morning we tree strode once more, camping where we camped before. Next day we got to Ruined Oak to safely end the adventure.