Wyrmwick Log: Session 14

Hey everybody, I’m going to just go ahead and link all of these videos here for you to use as a soundtrack for this recap. If you haven’t picked up the hint by now, this was a sad session. There were several major deaths and a lot of painful moments to accompany them. And yet, there were some very uplifting moments to counteract them, and of course it wouldn’t be Wyrmwick without a few mind-numbingly derp moments to go along with it. Gentlemen, I suggest you get ready to hold back the man tears, because we’re diving right into the recap!

With the Toothpick Brigade’s victory of the tower of Redwulf, they moved on to what would be the final tower in the Demon Baron’s territory sans his own fortress. Along the way they passed by a sign that led to “Boatmurdered” or “Boat Murdered”. I’m hoping for the former as geez… the latter is just an awful name for a city. This dwarven settlement was interesting, but not necessarily worth exploring at the moment, so our heroes pressed onwards and found the last remaining tower. This tower was still incomplete, but as we peered in on a ritual we knew we had to act now or risk an even greater threat.

Though we did vanquish the forces in quick fashion (Dahl even got to chuck one of his swords like a javelin and kill one!), the ritual was completed and from the ritual raised an enormous fiend who we had to put down—lest we face extermination so close to our goal. We survived this brutal encounter and proceeded to damage the teleportation circle that would allow the Demon Baron’s forces to continue building this structure. Victorious, we went to bed only to be awakened by a familiar mage. Ghadi, from Vante’s Tower.

Ghadi asked what we were doing at the tower stating that we was there to finish building it. We got the jump on him and interrogated him to find out what we could. He told us what little he knew about Caitlin, and then proceeded to demand we let him go. Dhother however was not going to allow this fiend to walk away knowing that all of the towers are his doing. Dhother was ready to execute the guy, but Ghadi was far too powerful for that. He started to tear us apart with his magic, and our party had yet to get a full night’s sleep so our powers were limited. By the time Ghadi finally fell our party was nearly wiped, and to our utter horror a bolt of lightning recharged the life of the fallen mage. Dhother was adamant about killing the mage, but when it suddenly seemed that things weren’t going our way we attempted to retreat. However Ghadi would see to it that we were punished for our aggression.

Dahl was hit with a spell that sent him flying back into the tower, and trapped him there. When the party members attempted to enter they found the floor trapped, and Dahl was sealed off from them. It seemed they would have to leave him behind, but before he died Dahl gave two last requests to the party. The first was to bring Caitlin back home, and the second was to build a memorial to his fallen wife and daughter; a task he never finished in life. Following that he passed out, and the magic trap enveloped the tower remnants in flames. When they finally died down all that remained of the former pirate was a pile of ashes and a lingering feeling of guilt in the heart of Dhother as he knew his brash decision to kill Ghadi was ultimately what cost his friend's life. The death of Dahl hit the party hard, but they were adamant in finishing the task he asked of them and proceeded back to Boatmurdered to try to find the proper equipment necessary to traverse the harsh obsidian roads to the Demon Baron’s tower.

In the tower Caitlin’s luck had finally run dry and the High Priest had begun to torture his prisoner. She was subjected electrocution, stabbing, and even forced vomiting (don’t ask) for weeks as the party slowly made their way to the tower, and she even received the horrible news about Dahl. That night she prayed to Bahamut in order to confirm the truth, and indeed it was correct: Dahl was dead, but he was happily reunited with his family in the Astral Stream. However Bahamut then gave her the somber news that this wasn’t the death he alluded to previously, but rather that Alpert’s life was rapidly coming to an end. Stricken with grief Caitlin spent the night wildly lashing in her cell, unable to cope with these tragic revelations.

The party entered Boatmurdered to find the Dwarven settlement to in truth be a dreary fortress constantly underseige by elephants (don’t ask why), and the party had to venture through the maddened slums of the city to find the proper boots that would allow the adventures to traverse over the superheated rock that surrounded the Demon Baron’s tower. In addition they found a young Dwarven girl known as Harley who was orphaned after the Dwarves accidentally dug into Hell and well… released all Hell on the city. Her parents committed suicide, but the young girl remained blissfully unaware to this fact knowing that they had only “gone swimming” in molten lava. Feeling guilt over Dahl’s death, Dhother took to caring for the girl, and the party took her with them when they left Boatmurderd (still an awful name for a city).

Before making their final advance on the tower the party wanted to drop Harley off on the Mighty Gauntlet, but when they arrived they found their ship nowhere to be seen, and instead only the living headache known as Bomar the Baker was there. Bomar explained how he wanted to surprise us with bread, but he instead ended up burning our ship. Dhother did not take this well. Curse our good-alignment because I seriously want to choke the living crap out of that baker. HOW DID HE EVEN GET HERE!? I DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW HE KEEPS GETTING TO THESE PLACES!

Now without a boat the party made (in my opinion) the absolutely horrific decision to bring Harley with them towards the Demon Baron’s towers. As the party approached, the Demon Baron came to Caitlin and escorted her out of her cell and into a new one in a more accessible area with her armor and equipment waiting for her. He warned her that the High Priest would be busy working on a ritual, and before leaving he handed her a letter and he instructed her not to read it until after she was gone. The party arrived shortly thereafter, and freed Caitlin for a touching reunion (y’know up until Caitlin realized they brought a little girl with them). Still, after three long months the party was reunited, and without a moment’s delay they evacuated the tower and headed to Redwulf.

The night Caitlin and Dhother spent the night together sharing their experiences of the past three months. Before the night ended the two shared their first kiss, and finally Wyrmwick has its own official couple! After this touching moment the party took a new ship to Wyrmwick to see on the condition of the dying councilman. Caitlin arrived to find her surrogate father on his last breaths, but he held on long enough to see his adopted daughter one last time. He told how he always saw her as family to him, handed her his last will, and then passed on. Following his death Caitlin finally cried; the first time it had happened in over 15 years.

The next morning Caitlin woke up with a heavy heart before she opened the last will Alpert gave her. Caitlin inherited his estate and 1,000 gold, and the rest of his fortune was to be donated to charity. Following that she opened the letter from the Demon Baron, or rather Daevick Tarkimos, and it started “If you’re reading this, then this means I’m dead.” The letter continued to wish her luck on her quest, but all it did was leave a broken heart even more shattered, and further fueled Caitlin’s desire to see that High Priest and Tiamat suffer for their crimes.

The session ended after Caitlin & Dhother convinced the church of Bahamut to take care of Harley, Bomar showed up again (HOW DOES HE KEEP GETTING TO THESE PLACES!?), and the party was rewarded with 25,000 gold for taking down the towers. The armies of Tiamat are crippled, but the finishing blow still needs to be applied. Next session the party shall travel north to Fort Alewyn to find a way to Bahamut’s realm where Caitlin will undergo the ritual to become the firstborn of Bahamut.

So what did you all think of this session? There were plenty of tragic moments to go around, but a few memorable scenes to balance it all out. Which death hit you the hardest? What did you think of the character development (Dhother, Caitlin, Deavick, etc.)? How about the romance between Caitlin and Dhother? What do you think should be done about Ghadi? We’re slowly approaching the endgame of this arc everybody, so get ready for the inevitable epic showdown between the forces of good and evil for the future of the continent!

Images credited to Kluu and DarkVolt!

Until next time, Namaste!