#Ryker having a whole separate stealth mission was a whole'nother level

[thederailersdnd]

Session 20: Oh no…

When last we left our heroes, they had tucked in for a long rest after a brief interruption by their old pal Skulldrinker possessing Arurora. Shaken, everyone does their best to get some rest. During the 4th watch, Havayla sees a shadowed figure approach out of the darkness. It’s Ryker, covered in sewer gunk, returned from a stealth mission no-one noticed him leave for. As the rest of the team is awoken by a now hotboxed tiny hut, Ryker dumps down an armful of effigies and papers. Yevin uses prestidigitation to remove the muck and stench while Ryker explains what he had been up too…

Stirred into action by the possession of Aurora, Ryker snuck away from the group and traversed through the sewer to a central, well, shit hole in the castle. From there, he found his way to Skulldrinker’s main office via a stone bridge guarded by earth elementals. Some clever climbing got him around and into the door, but he tripped an alarm. In a rush, he grabbed whatever he could, scribbled down an inscription, and set fire to as much of the space as he could, before escaping back through the communal bathroom and into the sewer. And now we need to leave, fast.

Luckily, Wander and Havayla had already set up word of recall, so in a moment, everyone, including Dorza, returned to Mountainroot. They examined the effigies more closely; there was one for each member of the Derailers, all the village elders, and one that Arunak, Yevin, Nahtan, and Wander recognized as the King of Riverband. Moss inspects and destroyed them all, at the teams request. Ryker gives a few more details: there was a teleportation circle and a chest with a dragon’s head that had an inscription. He shows his scrawled approximation of the inscription and Arunak is able to decipher the infernal phrase “…avarice queen of dragonkind…” He remembers lore of a 5 headed dragon of the Abyss. Yevin brings up a name that filled him with unknown dread: “Tiamat”. Wander takes some time to ask Knowledge a few questions and learns that they have slowed Skulldrinker down, but did not take away his power over people, he will simply rebuild. Unsure of how long that would slow Skulldrinker down, the Derailers requested that Moss once again transform them. As there was some disagreement about the type of bird, Wander mentioned something about maybe pigeons being more inconspicuous. The words were barely out of here mouth when they were all transformed into various varieties of Columbidae.

The pigeonified crew departed and made good time with a fairly uneventful flight. Until a storm hit. Buffeted by the wind, Arunak, Zezu, Wander, Donkey, Nahtan, and Aurora, all took enough damage to break them out of their bird form mid-air. Seeing his teammates in trouble, pige-Ryker beelined to the closest member, Zezu, intending to smash himself against him with enough force to knock him out of bird form as well. It didn’t work, but in his flailing, Zezu did manage to kick Ryker, popping him back, who in turn used his air-genasi abilities to slow their decent. Wander, being the closest to the ground, was the first to hit, and helped heal and gather her de-pigeoned fellows.

Bird slapping followed to snap everyone else out of their forms. Wander sends a message to Moss to assure him that they’re still alive while Ryker gets busy building a shelter, suggesting they all call an early night due to the weather. In a bit of payback for wandering off into danger, Havayla waits until he’s assembling the final touches to cast Leomund's tiny hut (using the verbal and somatic components of “Do the hut thing *doot do doot do doot do do doot do*”). Meanwhile, Yevin uses control weather to clear up the storm, so everyone decides continue their trek towards Hearthollow for another couple hours. As they walk, Wander asks Dorza and Havayla some question about their god. She tells them what she saw in her vision and what Knowledge said about Moonbow breaking apart. While they discussed and fell behind, Yevin, leading the group forward, suddenly has a magic fit; glowing, incorporeal dragon wings sprout from his back, he flies around erratically, breathing fire about the forest, before crashing to the ground in a trance. The rain begins again, as his hold on control weather fades. Ryker and Nahtan rush forward, checking their companion and the area. Ryker shouts for the clerics as Yevin comes-to, unable to explain what happened to cause his magical outburst. Does this have something to do with his dreams? Has he remembered more about his past that he hasn’t shared?

The crew continues forward as the rain fades to a cloudy drizzle. The quiet march is interrupted by a flash of talons and large wings as a wyvern dives down through the trees. Followed by another. And another! This one decidedly eggnant. Surrounded, the Derailers jump into action. Attacks by Nahtan, Arunak, Ryker, and Zezu are made with great success. And then a roar breaks through the trees as a claw swipes towards Arunak; an Alpha wyvern has joined his mates in their hunt for dinner. Dorza flies up to meet the Alpha in the air as Havayla summons her spiritual weapon. Nahtan and Arunak finish off the eggnant Wyvern. Ryker, Zezu, and Yevin down their target. Wander suggests to the wyvern she is facing that it should “go HOME!” which it promptly does. As air and magic combat occur above melee range with the Alpha, Nahtan attempts to throw Arunak into the fray, and lands him about 20 feet short. After a devastating strike by Dorza, aided by her connection to the goddess Sehanine, Havayla strikes the killing blow. The forest quiet again, the team begins looting their kills and sets up for the night with jerky set to cure.

During the night, as everyone but Aurora and Nahtan’s wolf (which your humble scribe has mentally named “Moon Moon”), they are given an answer to the question “how long will it take Skulldrinker to come after them again?” It’s about 24 hours, as Aurora is possessed once again. The clerics scramble as Havayla is unable to leave the hut without dispelling it. Wander quickly casts non-detection on herself as she prepares to step out and dispel the curse, when Nahtan bursts from the dome casting it himself (this is new) and shoving off Skulldrinker’s attempt at possessing his mind in the process. Once again mindful of the danger they’re all in, the Derailers do their best to rest.

Morning comes and travel towards Hearthollow continues. Cresting over a hill, the city appears, an urban sprawl surrounded by farmland. They walk past farms staffed mainly by elves, observe other travelers on the road of varying races. Wander uses her Firbolg magic to appear small and human as they come to the city gate manned by faceless metal guardian. Beyond the gate is a city of stone, metal, and steam. Carriages move about with no horses, steam escapes through vents and pipes, all the while there is a constant thrum of machinery. Ryker asks a passerby why there are no airships above the city and is told that they’re all at the dock, where they always are. Here and there the faceless automatons stand guard. The team makes it to Zezu’s mom’s School the “Kendo School of the Sword” just as Wander’s disguise self drops and she is tackled in a blur of white and grey fir. They’ve finally found Daisy and Stump.

Zezu’s mom greets them and shuts down the school for the day, shooing students out the door. Zezu introduces the group to his mother, Treesa, a human fighter, vouches for everyone, and leaves to his room. Havayla and Aurora stay outside; Havayla is reticent to leave her unicorn’s side and is mulling over some things. Wander explains to Daisy and Stump what happened to their home and their people. Stunned at the news, Daisy wants to take some time to decide what to do next, but is still thrilled to be around her best friend again. They haven’t seen Kane for a while. He found them when they were staying at an inn, asked them questions about their people, firbolg abilities, what they knew of the onak disappearance. They stayed tight-lipped and he didn’t press too much, but they haven’t been able to leave, the automaton guards won’t let them. Additionally, no one in the city seems to know anything about the invading orcs. The team discusses what to do next. There isn’t room in the Kendo school for the Derailers, but there is an inn down the street called The Fiddler’s Bar. Nahtan goes there to purchase rooms while Wander seeks out the magic shop they saw on their way in called Genie’s Lamp, looking for something to shield them all from Skulldrinker.

Shopping Break! Wander is able to exchange a ruby for a box full of Amulets of Proof against Detection and Location as well as trade and purchase 2 mind shielding rings and some spell components. Everyone else takes time perusing the store or visiting the nearby blacksmith. Ryker takes a walk to the docks while Havayla, Aurora, and Dorza meander the city streets. As they come around a corner there is a figure walking the opposite way. A man, or mostly a man, with automaton parts. His face completely hidden from view by a slitted helmet, at least one arm and leg fully mechanized with whirring gears and spouts of steam. He is trailed by a robotic wyvern, clicking and rotating gatling barrels sprout from the sides of its face and metal teeth drip with oil. This must be Kane. He glances at the unicorn, elf, and disguised “human” priestess, but walks on. And that is where we ended the session.

Will the Derailers be able to breathe easier now that they’re un-scryable? How closely is Kane really working with Skulldrinker or does he have his own agenda? What is happening to Yevin? Why is the city ignoring the Preymonger invasion? We’ll find out next time…