Editing Bedlam in the Badlands/Player Recaps

{{Worldbuilders}}
Players document their characters' experiences in the Badlands here.

<small>Please remember to link significant people and places to their associated wiki pages when appropriate. (The visual editor tries to do this automatically.)</small>

See [[Bedlam in the Badlands/The Story So Far|The Story So Far]] for the DMs' session overviews.

=== Session 1: Kickoff Megagame - New Place, New Identity, and New Dream with an old scar of redemption  ===
'''DM: Mercedes''' 

'''PCs: [[Himo Nilo]],[[Raazdrog]], [[Stix]], [[Delaia]], [[Demir]], [[Caesana]], [[Jynx]], [[Leonard]]'''

'''NPCs:[[Bedlam in the Badlands/NPCs|Raegina]],Baftzmyr, Kicyr, Cilvdywutc'''

'''Significant events:''' [[Himo Nilo]] has just arrived at the junkyard. It has been months of traveling alone with the hope of improving himself. Sweat constantly drips off his forehead as he is not used to this area. He received a letter from his contact arboretum asking for new hires and who goes by the name, "The Chairman." He left for the Arboretum, has been on the road since, and doesn't know anything. After all, he was given only a description of [[Bedlam in the Badlands/NPCs#Raegina|Raegina]], her cohorts, and had no tools. He scraped the money he could and went over to the junkyard putting everything he could on the line just for the security of a little bit of breathing room. He watched Grind,Smash, & Cleave with great intent because he has never seen functioning robots, but sharpened himself when he realized he was fighting them. Attacking the robots, he realized they explode on death. He let instinctual training kick in and just kept throwing his dagger at Grind, Smash then Cleave. Adrenaline still rushing, he learned how to scrap creatures, but not that he was good at it. At least now he could possibly gather parts he needed to jerryrig what he wants. When he got the chance to improve Grind, he attempted two things to make it better. The first is he tried to increase the accuracy of the attacks, but as he worked on it, he got really nervous and fumbled with arm, almost removing it entirely. He barely improved it and attempted to improve the armor but proved impossible since he had no effect means of attaching parts wile casting mending. [[Stix]]  meanwhile, made the saw light ablaze whenever it swung to attack, and [[Raazdrog]] managed to add a ranged weapon to it. He did have two really great ideas that both of them liked. The first is he renamed Grind to Sparkburn. The second is he built off of Raazdrog's idea to give a voice. Raazdrog gave it "I am fire. I am death." to repeat while fighting enemies. Himo added to that by having it also repeat "Feel the Spark. Feel the Burn!" When [[Bedlam in the Badlands/NPCs#Raegina|Raegina]] offered a wager for the best bot created, she gave everyone 10 additional GP and Himo bet seven of that ten on Sparkburn, and the other three went to Cleave. Sparkburn ended coming out on top and he made 31 GP out of that and Raazdrog's got 35 GP. Raazdrog's managed to convince Himo to give Stix 10 GP from both of us since they helped improve Sparkburn, to which Himo agreed and almost seemed relieved that Raazdrog's prompted him to do it. When the horn was blasted, Himo immediately got on the war rig and started repairing Sparkburn. When they got to an entrance of the Arboretum the war rig was flipped onto its side by an Oliphaunt. He managed to catch himself landing and immediately tried to help others up but it wasn't enough with his one hand. While fighting, Himo climbed on the war rig while it was on its side to get a clear vantage point, and saw the scale of this invastion for the first time. He focused hard on the Capra hard and got off the war rig when he was told by [[Bedlam in the Badlands/NPCs#Raegina|Raegina]] to get off. After cleaning up the Pustuloids, Capra Demons and Lesser Rage demons, a massive wave of wild magic energy was released. When the fight had ended, all spellcasters were spent including Leonard who saw the Rig get rammed into its side and decided to help out. [[Delaia]] and [[Raazdrog]]'s defender were severly injured, and realization dawned on Himo when he knew that the conservatory was desroyed.  A few more demons were picked off while they were trying to flee, and while people were talking about uniting, Himo only thought of one thing. Using the very tool that turned his life into a living nightmare; Explosives'''.'''

===Session 1: Kickoff Megagame - Trading Route Troubles + Aggression From Above: Koro's Account===
'''DM:''' Amanda

'''PCs:''' [[Pryderi]], [[Silgr Þyrikk]], [[Chanterelle Viscaryn]], [[Davin Dunefoot]], [[Rhogar Dreel]], [[Rimsa Pavdad]], [[Koro]], [[Demir Malchan]], [[Lincoln "Toots" Whiterock]], [[Pearl Dust]], [[Larry]]

'''NPCs:''' Lord Pavan, Swordmaster Krispin, Tradesman Kareek, Stanley the monitor lizard

'''Significant events:''' Jeez...this place is insane. I guess the multiple sulfurous explosions originating from Hell Circles should've maybe tipped me off to that, but I figured I could avoid all that craziness if I just did what I've ''been'' doing this whole time! Simple job got served up on a silver platter from Duke Solon: escort duty of some goods and traders heading into Fed territory, easy peasy; been doing that type of thing for a while before coming to the Arboretum and never ran into any trouble that couldn't have been solved by standing around and looking tough. I assumed it would be more of the same this time around, just with more company than usual, and certainly better than getting served up as a punching bag against the Scrappers' war machines. It was a fairly sized convoy: couple camel-drawn carts and some horses to carry the lord Pavan and his bodyguard Krispin, the trade envoys at the head of the small group. There was one cart that seemed more important than the others though. Drawn by a large monitor lizard named Stanley, the mystery cargo remained covered by thick tarps at all times, and the driver, Kareek, was not forthcoming about its contents either, despite Pryderi's inquiry. With the last thing that, at the time I thought, would make the job somewhat interesting firmly drowned in secrecy, I decided to settle in for the long haul...but that's when it all went to hell.

Davin, a bow wielding halfling draped in the garb of one experienced in desert living, extended his senses into the distance searching for threats...and pinpointed a group of shadowy figures ahead of us. He was able to ascertain that the figures were no ordinary desert travelers, nor normal animals native to the dunes, and so we decided on a defensive approach. Unloading the carts of the wooden barrels and boxes, we fashioned a rough defensive perimeter of carts and containers, keeping what traders and animals we could within the circle. They were upon us not long after we finished setting up...these...''things'', they looked like dogs but ones that had been...'''melted'''. They flung themselves at us, tearing apart the animals first, but swiftly moving on to the traders if they had an opening. It seemed like they barely felt the impact of our attacks, I'm not convinced they could even feel pain. I was struggling to even hit them with my sword...probably because it was too...uh, short! Yeah, it wasn't a longer blade like the ones I was used to wielding, just the one I was able to steal from back east...yeah that's probably it, probably should've gotten around to replacing it sooner. I saw Pavan's bodyguard, Krispin, struggling to hit with his sword as well. His blade wasn't curved like the ones I preferred, but the length was right, I wondered if there was a way I could get it from him...but that would have to come after the battle. There was a larger hound leading the pack, cloaked in shadow and radiating heat, and it spewed a great beam of lava across Rhogar's body and many of the containers behind him; seemed like it nearly killed him on the spot. Oh, also forgot to mention that Stanley and the cart he was hitched to took off into the desert as soon as the hounds appeared, some help he was! A couple of the other animals got spooked too, but some members from our little troupe were able to round some of them up in the middle of the battle so we wouldn't be stranded if we survived. It was anything but easy, but eventually we were finally able to take out all the hounds. The traders had taken some casualties despite our efforts, but we didn't even have a second to catch our breaths before a flare shot over the horizon from the direction we had come from: [[the Arboretum]] was under attack. Pavan told us to forget the goods and to immediately hop on a cart and head back to assist. We did as we were told and were swiftly pulled back towards where we came. (Was able to convince Krispin to trade swords though with Pryderi's assistance, score! Not actually sure if the sword I gave him will serve him well, but I'm certainly happy to be rid of it. Only wish the old man could've been here so I could look him in the eye as I discarded it, good riddance).

Arriving at the Arboretum we saw a nightmare: demons flooding every inch of the place, inside and out. Everywhere you looked you could see a battle; metal hitting metal, claws rending flesh, it was chaos all over...except for one place. Above the very top of the massive tree was seemingly a dark cloud that upon closer inspection, was revealed to actually be a swarm of countless flying demons, seemingly targeting the defenses mounted atop the Arboretum. Pavan urged us to be the ones to rush to meet the swarm and keep them from assisting their grounded allies. My mind immediately told me it was impossible, but for some reason my feet followed after the group. Our druid, Rimsa, ran off to join another part of the battle, and a tiefling named Demir joined up with us during our ascent. At the top, we split up to try and cover more ground, and at the start it seemed like it was going to be alright. A large, feathered demon seemed to be leading its brethren up there, but Silgr was able to send it careening down the side of the tree by somehow freezing it in midair with a flash of one of his runes. He and Rhogar were able to get Pavan and Krispin to one of the ballistae while Chanterelle, Pryderi, Demir, Davin, and I were able to start carving a path towards the double shot ballista...but our success didn't last. The smaller demons would come in waves; they could swoop and slash at us and be repositioned in the air before we could get a swing on them. I found myself wishing for a bow in my hands again, but it seemed even our allies with ranged abilities were being torn up. Even worse, the feathered demon had seemingly broken free of Silgr's rune before it hit the ground and was rapidly ascending back up the side of the tree. One by one we began to get knocked unconscious, I myself would've likely fallen from the tree after a particular claw strike hit me hard if it wasn't for Chanterelle and Pryderi...it wasn't looking good. Additionally, a loud boom rang out from below us, and a violent quake shook the tree. Soon after, the cloud of demons above us began to dissipate, seemingly having completed the objective they came for (which I later learned was the destruction of the Arboretum's magical forge), but it seemed like the ones engaging us were still keen on wiping us out. I'll admit, I wasn't sure how we were going to make it out of there, but then, from the southernmost side of the tree, two literal bears that had scaled the entire height of the Arbotetum, one bearing a lizardfolk in wizard robes on its back, crested the top of the battlements and began laying into the demons. After realizing the new arrivals were on our side, our group was also able to rally and wipe out the demons before they could destroy the two remaining ballistae. The feathered demon appeared briefly, but it too followed its departing brethren away from the Arboretum.

The rest of the day was a blur. I remember bits and pieces of a big speech about the three factions banding together to restore the Arboretum and defend its denizens from the demonic forces that had made themselves known, but my body's aches seemed to distract my mind from fully comprehending it. And while this was a victory, I was left to wonder just what on [[Quelmar]] I had gotten myself into...

=== Session 3: WereVultures by Night (As Told by Stix)  ===
'''DM: Chris''' 

'''PCs: Davin Dewfoot ,[[Raazdrog]], [[Stix]], [[Delaia]], Steady Wind,  [[Leonard]]'''

'''NPCs: Suki, Brandran, Hektor'''

I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to write here. I was told to keep a log of the missions we’re sent on, so that’s what this is, I guess. I (Hi, I’m Stix) was summoned along with Delaiah (I really can’t seem to escape her), Davin, Dee, and two other familiar faces, Raazdrog and Leonard. We were taken before Suki, who said she’s the de facto healer for the Arboretum, and also claims she runs the Casino in the Federation? I heard of people ~~and she who mustn’t be named~~ talking about this ‘Casino’ concept and gambling. Suki said she’d teach me, so I guess I’m going to learn how to gamble at some point. She also gave us our mission- to escort an escaped Shend prisoner named Brandran to the Federation HQ and deliver him to Hektor himself. I brought up the fact that it might be unsafe and the whole madness thing might be an act and he might be a double agent. The rest of the party was mostly concerned about getting paid and what to name our horse companions (A and B, Incase whoever is reading this is wondering.) We were told it would be a 7 day trek if we paced ourselves accordingly. And the first 3 days went fine. On night 3, as I kept watch, I noticed some vultures circling our camp. In the morning they were still there, so I pointed them out to the crew. Delaiah actually said something smart, and pointed out that it might signal to other caravans that we were also out in the deserts. Davin managed to shoot them both out of the sky, and we continued on our way. And everything was fine. Until the evening. In the middle of the night, we were attacked by several more vultures, two large kinda vultures, and four foul smelling sand worms. Thanks to Delaiah knowing some weird hell’s language, we were able to figure out that they were after Brandran. I immediately shoved him in my locket to keep him safe, which was both a great and terrible idea. It kept him safe for several rounds of combat, but caused most of the adversaries to target me, and, being just a doll, it didn’t take much to get me out of the fight. From what I was told, the two larger vultures turned out to be were shapeshifter vultures, and Brandran is one of them as well. From what my party members could surmise, they wanted to take him back to the Shend? Maybe? At some point, I was woken up, and we finished off everything that was left. However, the were vultures kept healing themselves no matter what we tried. In the end, we tied all three of them up, and brought them to Hektor for questioning. He thanked us, and arranged for a safe caravan back to the Arboretum. 

===Session 5: Bombs (and how not to make them) 101: Koro's Account===
'''DM:''' Mercedes

'''PCs:''' [[Syl]], [[Ollie Ollivine]], [[Glorivesh]], [[Koro]], [[Mizuka]], [[Avel]]

'''NPCs:''' [[Bedlam in the Badlands/NPCs|Raegina]], Baftzmyr, Kicyr, Cilvdywutc

...I really should listen to my gut when it gives me a bad feeling about something. I mean, I guess I was for a while; I knew doing jobs for the Scrappers was a death wish more often than not, but after that fight on top of the Arboretum, after needing to be saved from certain death by others because I couldn't keep up with those demons...somehow all the "training" I suffered through wasn't enough. I thought I needed to be challenged more, I know I have what it takes I-I'm probably just rusty after all this time...yeah, that's probably it. For some reason I thought the best way to shake the rust off was to take a job for the Scrappers. Apparently their home base, the Junkyard, was infested with pests, seemingly some demons that retreated from the battle at the Arboretum. I figured this would be a great way to get my groove back: fighting some lower strength demons who can't just fly away after they get their cheap shots (still need to find a longbow somewhere), sounded like a cakewalk...and that, of course, is where I was mistaken.

Not only did we have to walk hours through the desert on foot just to get to the Junkyard, exhausting half of us before any fighting even began, but after arriving we were "recruited" by a woman named Cilvdy to make some...questionably designed explosives that would apparently draw the demons out of their hiding places within the piles of junk. Oh, I guess I should also mention who else was on this job. Syl was the only one I was previously acquainted with; they were apparently cleared for this mission by their boss, so we didn't have to worry about any demotions...hopefully. There was an elf named Ollie who had a giant frog companion, a scarred and tattooed elf named Avel, a vulpine performer named Mizuka, and a sorcerer named Gloria who's human...I think. Cilvdy set us up in a crude assembly line and we got to work, seemingly not really having a choice. Even though I was exhausted from travel, I was able to pick up the presence of someone watching us from afar; Raegina was here, and she was observing our group's progress. The only other people present for the show that was about to commence were Baftzmyr; a masked figure with an ornate headdress, and Kicyr; a half elf with a boisterous personality, both of whom seemed to be slightly antagonistic towards Cilvdy, though it seemed that she herself was none the wiser to this.

There really isn't any other way to say this: we couldn't stop blowing ourselves up. Or more specifically, we couldn't stop blowing up whoever was unfortunate enough to be at the end of the assembly line. I was at the first step, folding the origami that would act as the casing for the explosive, so I was out of harm's way, and I was perfectly fine to stay there until we were done, as some of our group sustained some substantial damage from these misfires. I was convinced that more harm would be done to us doing this process than during the actual combat with the demon pests, but as is seemingly becoming more and more common these days, I was incorrect.

After equipping us with the bombs that we were able to successfully construct, we were finally allowed to head out into the Junkyard to clear out the demons. As we were fanning out trying to find suitable locations to throw our bombs, I climbed to the top of a junk pile to try and get a better look at the surroundings, and that's when this demon...chicken...''thing'' jumped out at me. It didn't have a head, but instead it's neck just ended in this huge mouth, I'm not even sure it had eyes so I don't even know how it could see me...it was disgusting. I scarcely had a chance to draw my blade to retaliate before the chaos erupted. I heard explosions as the rest of the group began throwing their bombs, drawing out more of these poultry-like creatures, but also these huge writing leeches that accompanied them. I saw one take a chunk out of Syl's hood and just, ''dig'' into them. From my high vantage point, I could see this same thing happening to many other people in the group as well. Even when the leeches were killed the wounds they left would just ''gush'' blood uncontrollably, it was a scene out of a nightmare. Just like at the Arboretum, I had no focus when faced with these monsters; there was no calm threat assessment or confident show of force, panicked instinct took over. I remember rushing to Syl and trying to carve a path through the demons to give them some breathing room. I remember sprinting over towards Avel and Gloria and all I could see was red, just...blood everywhere. I remember slashing away at a group of three leeches that were latched onto Ollie and her frog, as well as Mizuka, our only healer. I think that was when it went quiet, and my senses returned to me. I heard no more otherworldly screeches or growls, only the soft hum of Mizuka's harmonica as she used her healing magic to stop the wounds of those who were still bleeding, it was over.

The happy-go-lucky CIlvdy came to congratulate us and showed us how to harvest materials from the creatures' corpses. I couldn't really focus on that though, my eyes were drawn once again to Raegina, who seemingly hadn't taken her eyes off us the entire time. Kicyr was with her this time though, and the cambion handed her lieutenant a bag of gold, still never taking her eyes off of us. I guess our performance was acceptable to her, but somehow the passing thought of a scenario where she wasn't filled me with more dread than any of the bloody scenes I witnessed today...

==== Gloria's account ====
I took the job with the scrappers for a few reasons: first, it was the first thing that popped up after the attack on the arboretum that I could help out with between putting my own accomodations back together and helping with the conservatory. Second, it gave me a way to get back in touch with Baftzmyr and Kicyr to see if I could figure out if there was room for friendship or anything else there, or if I'd poisoned the well a bit. Third, it gave me a chance to contextualize several of the people I've been meeting around the place, like Gobbo Greenskin. I needed a sense of where they're coming from to really be able to know if there's something I can do to help, or something I can tailor my performances to. And finally, I wanted to get my hands a little dirty and deal with some of the demons that started all this chaos. Good news: mission accomplished on all counts. Bad news: I'm apparently not very good at building bombs, and pretty fragile when it comes to fighting demon leeches. But that's getting ahead of myself.

First off, we had to walk out there. It takes a few hours by foot, and the sun is punishing. Skin feeling cold and clammy to the touch of most people doesn't mean I don't sweat or overheat, but I managed it better than several of the others. Probably might help if someone sold parasols or other desert gear. Worth checking into later, if these sort of excursions become a regular thing. From that point we met with the lady lieutenants of the scrap heap: Baftzymyr, Kicyr, and Cildywutc just "Cilvdy" seems to be her preference. The first two ''definitely'' sort of hate me still for the time being, and the latter was most interested in getting us to build paper bombs filled with black powder. 

The goal was to fold the bombs, fill them, and then dip the finished product in hot wax with a fuse that could be easily lit and thrown to flush out the demons that were hiding around the various scrap piles. Cilvdy walked us through the steps and we each took a station. I ''thought'' that with my musician's steady hands, I'd be a good fit for the final step, and because a lot of the others were exhausted, it seemed dangerous to put them there. Turns out, I'm at least as prone to explode as anyone else. After barely managing to avoid maiming my hand by bodily throwing myself into the explosion of one bomb, we switched things up. Syl and Koro insisted on switching places with me, and I had absolutely no objections at that point. And now I have a distinct fear of losing digits when handling explosives, so I'm going to try to never have to do that again if I can help it. Mizuka and Avel were both a really big help during the bomb-making too. It's interesting how their magic differs from my own, and it might be worth looking into studying the approach at some point in the future after I figure things out with V. 

After we got the bombs together, we took a bit of time to recuperate. I'm pretty sure I'm the one who needed that the most, but I wasn't the only one to suffer an accidental explosion, so maybe we all needed it. Anyway, we went out to the junkyard and spread out to deal with the pesky demons (demon pests?). As were were just getting set up to start lighting bombs, Koro got attacked by a couple of the beasts that were hiding on the scrap he climbed on top of. Very quickly from there, all the hells (or I guess the Abyss) broke loose. There were maybe two dozen of these monsters: nasty demon leeches that could stick to you and keep you bleeding without magical healing to staunch the wounds, and these hideous... meat chickens. Which, yes, chickens are meat animals already, but believe me, these things were just ''awful'' looking. No feathers, just like fleshy monstrosities. I do not recommend trying to eat one. 

Things got a little hectic in the fight. Cilvdy got attacked by a couple, and I helped her out. Syl seemed to be holding their own despite practically being surrounded. Ollie picked a few off with her bow and with the help of her giant frog. (Which, let's be real: has to require some ''crazy'' upkeep out in the badlands! Lots of water!) Koro went wild, taking out at least a half dozen of the creatures himself. (Not sure if I was feeling a little scared of him, or just impressed. He was a little monstrous himself, but nothing that was worrying.) Avel stayed pretty safe, from what I recall, and he held his own, but I lost track of him when I nearly passed out from blood loss. I... had a harder time than I expected. A handful of the creatures got close, and I couldn't manage a clean shot with my spells or to get away from them without getting hit. I'm very fortunate that Mizuki was there. She's a bit of a lifesaver, for real. She used some sound spell to cause an explosion at one point, and it left my ears ringing, but she was even closer. Still, she managed to offer some healing words and keep me from ending up as the incubator for nasty demon eggs. Which, yeah, it would've been ''nice'' to know that these demon chickens apparently lay eggs in people they knock down. Could've been vital information that the resident demon-parts expert Baftzymyr could have ''shared'', but I guess we didn't get to know that. I'm not sure if it's because she was still mad at me that she left us all in the dark or if she just wouldn't have told us either way. But she wanted to harvest the eggs, and maybe they're easier to get out of a person than they are out of the dead monsters. I ''hope'' they're easy to get out of a person, but I'm a little afraid to ask on the chance it's not the answer I want to hear. Note: stay far away from demon chickens if you're close to keeling over.

We wrapped things up with Baftzmyr showing half of the group how to harvest the eggs, and Cilvdy showing the other half, including myself, how to slice up the demon leeches into something that they find useful. We got paid, and we did an okay job of it all, although the eggs were too difficult for anyone but Baftzmyr to get them out completely intact. Still, Cilvdy was happy with how we did, and on top of the payment she gave us a discount coupon for her explosives stand. (One that I'm probably going to try to trade away, because of the above fear of blowing my hands up.) As everyone else started walking back to the arboretum, I was able to talk Cilvdy into giving me a ride on her horse. That let me get in a private conversation to learn a bit more about everything going on there, and get a sense of the feelings minefield. (Not spilling any of their secrets in this public report, no. If you want to try to talk me into revealing them, you can meet me in person, but be warned, I am sworn to secrecy by the unbreakable girl code!)

=== Session 6: The Tower That Wasn't (9/21/25) ===
'''DM:''' Cat

'''PCs:''' [[Mezzi]] (they/them), [[Diana Belkacem|Diana]] (she/her), [[Davin Dunefoot|Davin]] (he/him), [[Dallas]] (she/her), [[Himo Nilo|Himo]] (he/him), [[Polvo]] (she/her)

'''NPCs:''' [[Bedlam in the Badlands/NPCs#Sir Anthony|Sir Anthony]], [[Bedlam in the Badlands/NPCs#Jerbo|Jerbo]], [[Bedlam in the Badlands/NPCs#Dapple|Dapple]], The Osteomancer

Himo has walked nearby the chapel as the service was ending Himo met an arcanist who goes by the name Jerbo. After some conversation, Himo learned that kobolds had attacked the Arboretum with the help of a demon. Confused, he pushed for more details, but didn't get much out of it but agreed to help if he got a few more people involved. When he got over there, he was surprised to see entirely new faces.There was the usual faces like mezzi, which surprised me, but also a mouse like person he hasn't seen before. After some quick introductions, The group learned they were going to find someone who goes by The Osteomancer who might know something about what happened, and it's a 2 day travel over. Himo and the rest of group went to Dapple's Stable to rent a few horses. He paid the deposit and they set of to the north east to this Osteomancer.

Along the way The group met a lone dog that seemed to have been abandoned what seemed to be a short time. We continued on our journey until we reached a trapped door. opening the trapdoor, a ladder heads down a worked tunnel and Himo voted to go in front. When they entered, they met the Osteomancer, A loxodon living alone in what appears to be a simple home. A deal was struck to help them out if they helped us with the why the kobolds attacked. The Osteomancer, was dealing with something made of absence, that erased identities the longer someone was there. To protect us from this, The Osteomancer led us to a somewhat large humanoid skull engraved with a lot of divination runes on it. There each of us shared our memories, to remember who we were. The group learned of his escape from High Lunas when he first picked an Arcane Lock. Other information we learned was it could only be seen with reflections, and we were given a scroll with an egg to crush it when we started using the scroll.

When we got to the structure, It was like walking into an insane asylum. A pitch black outside, to bright white inside and it made seeing outside really hard. What was up, down, left, right, front,back when everything around is the same? Himo found himself close to a center of complete silence, crushed the egg and began reading the scroll. Suddenly white lights appeared as well as a ghost of some kind but not like your standard ghost. It was trying to make me dissapear while the lights whittled down my teammates. I placed my cannon down to give me a "wall" against the lights which worked out well. Mezzi started making the lights inactive which was good because Davin and Polvo, were both being injured a great deal. I completed the scroll with every creature there incapacitated and we left. The tower collapses and we return to the Osteomancer

In payment, the Osteomancer explained that in dragon-worshipping Swikedom, "the divine Blood Law relegates kobolds to the Thrall caste, below all save Warmbloods like us," but that kobolds who revere Kurtulmak above Tiamat may try to escape their thralldom, denying that the Blood Law is divinely ordained. "One such group," she revealed, "led by Snizz the Fortunate, used the demons as a way out of bondage, but their freedom -- such as it was -- ended when your comrades cut them down."

We learned that kobolds with make deals with anything to get out of the blood law. A group led by Snizz the Fortunate, made a pact with demons, that ended when they were cut down. The Osteomancer Finished off by saying "The Beast of Cinderspire will roam free."

=== Session 7: Tracking Demons 102 (As Told by Stix) ===
'''DM:''' Mercedes

'''PCs:'''  Stix, Steady Wind, Himo Nilo,

Koro, Raazdrog, Ozmir Nightshade

'''NPCs:'''  Baftzmyr

So. Here we are again, I guess. After my last adventure in the desert with crawling creatures under the sand, I suppose I wanted more? I guess this is what I’ve been told desire is? I don’t think this is desire though. I figured I take less resources than the others who need to y’know….eat and drink. So, I heard about a new mission headed up by Baftzmyr and showed up to the Junkyard. I was slightly surprised to see Himo and Raazdrog there, though I guess I shouldn’t be since both of them, but especially Himo, are obsessed with that boy we enhanced and named Sparkburn. I wasn’t surprised to see Dee there, he seemed to do pretty alright in our last mission out into the sands. There were two new faces as well- Ozmir, who I haven’t seen around the Arboretum at all, and Koro, who I was …happy? Pleased? To finally converse with. We’ve been always just missing each other, but I’ve heard other people talk about him. I was very surprised to not see Delaiah there, but it was a welcome change. She’s nice, but she’s nosy, and talks a lot. So, anyways. The six of us get to the Junkyard, where Baft was waiting for us. She explained that there is a very large demon creature that’s stuck in the sand someplace west of us. Unlike Suki, she did offer to accompany us into the desert, and gave me the old buddy Sparkburn to ride for the journey as well. We were only out for a couple of hours before she spotted some rippling in the sand. Turns out that it was another kind of dretch, which were the sand swimmer creatures we fought with the WereVultures. However, these ones looked different and were mutated in some way. I realised this pretty quickly when Sparkburn punched one, and the fire damage I enhanced him with healed the dretch instead. Koro rushed up and dispatched it pretty easily, and Raazdrog and I noticed the rest of the dretches running away to the east. We followed them to find a rather large crater in the ground. Baft then offered the group a large oragami pig bomb? I volunteered to run to the edge, drop the bomb in, and run away. The plan went off without a hitch, and I dove into my locket for safety as a wall of force and sand hit everyone. In the middle of the crater was a large demonic creature that we later learned was the Baron of Filth. What a dumb name. Anyhow, I was straining to listen through my locket to figure out what’s going on when Raazdrog tapped and called into it, telling me to come out. A group of us then rushed up to peer over the edge of the crater to get a better look when the fighting really began. It used the lantern on his chest to shoot coils of magic and energy at us that ranged in flavor and consequences. I think I got hit with a lightning coil at some point during the fight and I know Koro said he felt pretty heavy. And, to top it all off, the ‘Baron’  summoned more of those mutated Dretch things to just cause more complications to the whole ordeal. And, if that wasn’t enough, anytime the Baron struggled or tried to free himself, the sands shifted, causing a sandslide down the crater to the large monster. Most of the fight was attempting to hurt the Baron while picking off the dretch and avoiding falling in. Some of the group decided to willingly slide down into the pit and face him head on. Unfortunately, this caused Koro and Dee to both get knocked unconscious and Himo to get buried in the sand. We are in Raegina’s debt that Baft accompanied us, if she wasn’t there, I really don’t think we could’ve gotten Koro and Dee back up. Though, Raazdrog did do some pretty decent healing as well. We did manage to hit the Baron enough to down him, however, I guess it caused the lantern contraption in his chest to overload, causing a massive fireball explosion. Once we all recovered, we helped to heal and stabilize each other, and make sure we were all mostly back on our feet. We took some time to scrap the Baron for some components before making our way back to the Junkyard and Arboretum, a job completed and mostly unscathed. 

==== Koro's Account: ====
You know, there's an old Snobbish saying about being fooled twice and the shame being on the one who was fooled...or something like that; not sure why that's popping in my head just now. Anyways, I took another job for the Scrappers. A large demon was spotted out in the dunes near the Scrapyard, seemingly being stuck in the sand somehow. After my last job with the Scrappers, I was...concerned about the approach they were going to take with dispatching such a thing, and for some reason I could feel in my gut that this wasn't something I'd feel comfortable sitting out on. So, perhaps against my better judgement, I joined the group bound for the Scrapyard, all unfamiliar faces to me except for Stix, a sentient...doll of some kind? I'd only seen them in passing before in the Arboretum, but this time they were accompanied by a large scrap construct they called 'Sparkburn'. Steady Wind was an armored tabaxi that seemed to possess similar abilities to Rhogar and Silgr, Ozmir was a lightly armored tiefling who created psychic blades, and Himo and Raazdrog seemed like inventor types like Gobbo. 

To my surprise we were accompanied on this mission by Baftzmyr, Raegina's masked lieutenant. Apparently this demon was formidable enough to actually warrant personal involvement from Scrapper high command. As would be expected though, they still ordered us to do the tracking; are they testing us or something? First with the bomb making and now with the tracking, it feels like they're trying to "train" us in a weird way...not entirely sure how to feel about that. On our way to the demon's location, we came across a strange pig creature that could dig through the sand with ease. We chased it for a bit before it decided to stand its ground and fight, bursting out from the sand. It was a relatively easy kill, but looking towards the direction it was heading, we could see many more moving mounds of sand heading out to the demon's location as well; were these its minions or something? Cautiously we followed their trails, eventually reaching a large patch of undulating and shifting sand, Baftzmyr indicating that the demon was located just below it. Baftzmyr produced a large bomb housed inside of an origami pig, clearly another Cilvdy original, and Stix put it in place over the buried beast. As we hastily took cover by digging a shallow trench in the sand, the bomb exploded, filling the air with sand as a deep crater was left in its wake. At the bottom was this enormous gray skinned demon; bipedal seemingly, but perhaps not used to traveling the shifting sands with its immense weight, causing it to get stuck. Its mouth was peeled wide, the edges stretched thin and pinned to its huge arms, its bottom lip stretching down past its chest. In the center of this horrific creature was something not biological though: a lantern-like object was snugly tucked in the center, glowing a bright orange.

We didn't have much time to take in this fresh horror though, as more of those pig minions began to swarm us, trying to defend their master. Their stench was unbearable when so many were in one place, and Steady Wind found out the hard way that it seemingly carried a poison in its wake as well. We tried to clear out the pig creatures first, but the large demon began shooting out tendrils at us that could reach our position, so we knew we couldn't ignore it. Raazdrog conjured a field of light that surrounded the creature and made it easier to hit, even in its constant struggle from within the sand pit. Himo, Stix, and Ozmir were occupied with the minor demons at the edge of the pit, but Steady Wind had been captured by a tendril and drawn close to the large demon, being knocked out shortly after. I saw that his body would be pulled beneath the sand if nothing was done, so I headed into the pit myself to try and get the beast's attention. I was able to levitate Steady Wind's body out of the demon's range in hopes that Baftzmyr could help him, and I took up a defensive position to try and dodge the demon's attacks. It didn't do much good though, despite my efforts the thing was able to knock me out in two hits, I couldn't even dodge one attack. The next thing I knew I was healed by Himo and more of the group had been drawn into the depths of the pit. Not long after though, Raazdrog was able to plunge his trident into the demon's head, seemingly killing it, but the lantern in the beast's center began to glow brighter and brighter. Before I could even shout out to the remaining group that was nearby, the device exploded, sending me to unconsciousness once again. I was lucky the group still had healing abilities left though, it was barely enough to get me and Steady Wind back from death's door with Baftzmyr's help. 

Verbally saying that I owe my life, even partially, to one from Raegina's inner circle feels a little dangerous in itself though, so I may keep that thought just to myself...
===Session 12: The Doll, The Vulpine, and the Corpse Girl: Koro's Account===
'''DM:''' Mercedes

'''PCs:''' [[Gobbo Greenskin]], [[Demir Malchan]], [[Koro]], [[Diana Belkacem]], [[Steady (Dee) Wind]], [[Razzadrog Eyepoker]]

'''NPCs:''' Cilvdywutc, Jitcwal, [[Stix]], Sandra Sanderson

Cilvdy, Jitcwal, and Stix got kidnapped. We didn't know much at the time, but apparently some lizardfolk and Yuan-ti tricked some of our allies into a trap job that ended with those three getting snatched and ferried away to some unknown place. Tensions were high immediately, and admittedly, I was also driven to a bit of a panic. I don't know why exactly, but the news hit me pretty hard, harder than I would've thought it would. All that I could think about for days after was what could be happening to them, what their captors might be doing to them every second we weren't getting them out of there; it was maddening honestly. I was restless and agitated, I needed to get out of the Arboretum and actually do something that would help us find them. Luckily, Syl had the same idea, and together we decided to head out to the site of the kidnapping to try and track down the culprits.

It took some doing, and for Syl's sake I won't go too much into the details (and maybe my sake a little bit too...don't tell Lenore), but long story short: we found a smuggler's den inhabited by one of the Sandra's gang members who was there at the time of the kidnapping, but had been injured in the process. We interrogated her for information, eventually finding out that Sandra was a powerful bard who led the Shabby Scales, a mercenary group for hire. They were hired by someone else to capture Baftzmyr in order to lure in Raegina, but they ended up getting Cilvdy, Stix, and Jitcwal instead. Apparently, they had made off with the prisoners to a rendezvous point further east of the den, but the lookout wasn't told the exact location. Inside the den was also what looked like a miniature version of the lantern-like object fused into the Baron of Filth's chest, apparently the down payment given to the Shabby Scales by their client for this job. I decided to bring it along since we planned on letting the injured scout live, and as soon as I touched it, I felt searing energy rush up my arm and a soothing voice speaking in my head in a language I couldn't understand. It didn't feel like anything else happened though, so I didn't tell Syl about it as we exited the den. I wasn't aware of it at the time, but the lantern was apparently magically influencing me to keep it close and safe, for reasons I'm honestly lucky I never had to fully find out. 

It was dark when we left the den, so we had to head back to the Arboretum. We still didn't have enough to pinpoint where our friends actually were, and it felt like our scouting effort may have been wasted, but upon returning to base, we got the final pieces we needed. Himo, having apparently used some kind of contact he had to gather additional information, found the exact rendezvous location: Triton's Terrace, a watering hole at the base of the eastern mountains. He also learned that the client who hired the Scales was a literal demon, and one that was looking for revenge for the killing of the Baron of Filth. Wasting little time, I took off to prepare and gather a team to head to the location to extract our kidnapped friends.

Everyone was familiar to me on this mission except for one: Diana Belkacem, a human woman who seemingly had a similar skill set to Gobbo and Razz, running with a construct companion that fought by their side. Using horses lent to us by the Scrappers we made a direct path towards Triton's Terrace, and it didn't take long for shit to hit the fan. With the numbers we were bringing, stealth was more of a pipe dream than an actual option, so the guard out front of the cave entrance nestled in the oasis noticed us immediately and a battle commenced. Backup quickly joined him and an all-out brawl unfurled on the oasis shore, construct pieces and blood scattering about. This bruiser-like guard was an absolute tank, Razz threw a Faerie Fire spell on him to make him easier to hit, but he was still soaking up all of our strikes like they tickled. Even worse, he literally ate '''''TWO OF HIS FELLOW GANG MEMBERS WHOLE''''' in order to heal himself mid fight; a battle of attrition would be putting it mildly. And as if we hadn't had enough, Sandra herself showed up to the fight too, accompanied by this mysterious old elven woman none of us had seen before. Sandra and I exchanged some blows atop the cave entrance, and Razz came over to make it a two on one fight. She attempted one last dive for the lantern on my belt before she teleported away, along with the mysterious elf. It was around this time that the effects of the lantern began to show themselves, as when I took aim at some of the demons fighting alongside the Shabby Scales, the soothing voice it emitted in my head would build to a scream, disrupting my aim and making it nearly impossible to hit them. Luckily, the team was still able to manage...barely...but when the dust settled, we were the ones still alive. 

Once we picked everyone up who had gotten knocked out, I used my sword to cut the belt that was holding the lantern off my body, letting it clatter to the sand. Now that I was fully aware of what it was doing to me, I explained the danger of it to the team. We entertained the idea of destroying it there and then, but it was right next to the entrance of the cave, and we didn't want to trap ourselves if it ended up exploding like before when we still had to get our friends out of there. In the end, we left Diana's construct outside the cave to guard it as we went inside. Gobbo and I could hear Cilvdy's voice from inside, and our haste to finally get to her caused us to run into a few traps, but eventually we finally found them, trapped within an anti-magic cage. Touching the cage seemed to give off a powerful shock, one that knocked Gobbo clean out. The other artificers were able to drain the cage's charge and lockpick the door to finally free the three captives. As we exited the cave, Razz and Dee found contracts detailing bounties on the killers of the Baron of Filth, and the location where the Baroness of Filth wished to lure Raegina to with the capture of Baftzmyr. We took the bounty money that was stashed in the cave for ourselves, but after emerging, we found that the lantern had been teleported somewhere else, and I can only imagine it's now in the hands of Sandra again. Honestly, I didn't mind too much though, with Cilvdy and the rest safe and sound (minus and arm and a leg, seriously may never get used to that), I found myself thinking that it was a more than worthy trade.
===Session 16: The Buried Ruin: Koro's Account===
'''DM:''' Chris

'''PCs:''' [[Koro]], [[Steady (Dee) Wind]], [[The Scarlet Shadow]], [[Mezzi]], [[Polvo]], [[Demir Malchan]]

'''NPCs:''' ???

This is a retroactive entry, guess I forgot to write down the events of my last mission before leaving the Arboretum...the memory's a little fuzzy now, but I'll try to write down what I can recall now that I'm returning in earnest, I know some of the people I worked with on this one have since passed...so maybe it can help preserve their memory at least a little bit. 

I remember we were hired by a treasure hunter, can't remember their name, but they wanted assistance in locating a rumored library hidden somewhere beneath the sands of the Badlands. The only familiar faces to me on the team were Dee and Demir, the other two seemed pleasant enough though. Dee and I had bounties on our heads put on us by the Shabby Scales for our killing of the Baron of Filth, so Mezzi helped disguise us while we were in town waiting for the hunter. I remember we set off into the desert for a few days on foot, eventually finding some ruins where we uncovered a strange device that pointed a green beam of light into the distance. The hunter believed it was connected to the legendary library, so we took it with us. It was around this time that we also ran into another group of people seemingly on the same hunt we were. They were suspicious, but they seemed strong, and we didn't want to risk injury before we even found the library, so we came to an agreement to travel together. 

The device finally pointed its light straight down, and thus began several days of digging. both groups set up camp and worked to dig our way down to where the light was pointing. We attempted to listen in on any conversations the other group was having in their tent as night fell, but we discovered that the tent was magically protected, a grim omen as to what was to come. We eventually hit the top of the buried structure, revealing that the rumors were indeed true. After setting up ropes we rappelled down onto a raised walkway within the large antechamber on the inside, and we could see movement down below: little fox-like creatures? Things were living down here! Before we could do anything, a huge, winged creature, seemingly the library's guardian, appeared before us. After explaining our intent, the guardian allowed us entry, but forbade us from taking anything from within the library.

This last part is the haziest. I remember that the other group disappeared somewhere inside the library, and that they had betrayed us and the library's guardian to steal a particular artifact from deep within the structure. They were able to use teleportation magic to make off with the object before we could stop them. I remember feeling the same way then that I did when the demonic lantern got taken from us; that something very bad was on the horizon. It wasn't long after that when I left the Arboretum...and now Dee and Mezzi are gone. I don't know if anything would have been different if I had stayed instead of running, honestly probably not...but I'm going to see this through now with those who remain...come what may.

=== Session 33: Ghosts of Blazeforge <small>(3/28/26)</small> ===
'''DM:''' Cat

'''PCs:''' [[Stix]], [[Lenore]], [[Blondie]], [[The Scarlet Shadow]], [[Zasheir]]

'''NPCs:''' Eddarux, Brekka Stoneseam, the Osteomancer (mentioned), Durgerd [[Swikedom Kingdom#House Tazrikarn – The Veiled Pyre|Tazrikarn]], angry dwaven ancestors

==== Zasheir: ====
I had been recruited by someone named 'Mr.Tall' even though I'm taller this guy buy a good foot or so. Whatever his tales were truthful enough and he was coming with us along with Lenore, Stix, and Blondie. I have only interacted with Lenore, but Stix is... interesting. Stix is a corn husk doll that just... woke up one day. I don't wanna reveal my cards too much, so I don't question it any further. It's a two week journey over. After about an hour of travel, Mr. Tall changes to a high elf who introduces himself as The Scarlet Shadow. I'm not too pleased, but he at least briefs us on what's happening. There's a diamond press that has been rumored to be near some dwarvish ruins. Now that is something interesting because that could easily crash any economy if they became common. It takes us a month to get there and when we get to the supposed location, there is a monument dedicated to the Holy War. it's about a dragonborn who left the side of the dragons to help out these dwarves. The Scarlet Shadow also said he found the entrance to this place. As we are about to start digging, a kobold and a dwarf were heading our direction. Eddarux, Brekka Stoneseam, they introduced themselves and they explained they had been sent by the Osteomancer. I have never heard of such an individual, but the name indicates they are a diviner, so there's probably some truth behind their statements. After digging up a bit of the doors, We find something written in Dwarvish:<blockquote>"By the authority of the Blazeforge ancestors and the eternal law of blood and stone, let no foot fall here that does not carry the right of inheritance. These halls belong to the heirs of Karag Blazeforge until the mountains themselves have fallen."</blockquote>Well the mountains have fallen, so I don't think they really own it anymore. Also this is buried so deep, no one's probably alive. After excavating the doors to open we head inside. There was a trap waiting for us, but we avoid it easily and into a room. It's one of those places where it's pierced by the road, and inside there was some warhammers, a breastplate and a lantern in the middle with a painting on the wall. I don the breastplate, because it's a useful piece of armor, but it's also something I'm not gonna pass. I remember those days in the street where I had fight for scrap.We leave everything behind, and continue on. There was another trap waiting for us that split with me and The Scarlet Shadow from the others. We also see a bunch of orcs and dragonborn with one being a Gem. The rest were Copper, and they were coming towards us. I was gonna gather their demeanor, but Stix just fireballed the entire group, killing half of the army. At the same time, lots of ghosts appeared and they seemed to be out for blood. I tried reasoning with them, but to no avail, more dragonborn had also come in and they ran to the other side of the room. This led to the ghosts to attacking us and after a bit, we called it quits and left. On the way back we got stuff from there and I picked up the lantern. A surge of draining life force swept into me and the soul is almost leaving my body. I hold firm however, and just barely survive. We get out of there with everyone alive and head back. On the bright side, I have a cool lantern and new armor for future missions. Not sure how much I will like having this since it's a fiendish, but beggars can't be choosers

=== Session idk anymore - Megagame 2, the Bedlam of the Scrappers ([[Ichake Asaku|Ichake's]] account) ===
If I'm being honest...I don't know how I ended up on the War Rig. [[Rhogar Dreel|Rhogar]] was going on the War Rig, and I thought it would be good to stick with him after what he's been through, but...the War Rig isn't really my style. Everyone said it would be "funny," and I didn't really know why? This entire situation just seems really tense. At least I could get used to the ritualism surrounding the War Rig, though. It reminded me of a prayer. We had black paint pressed into our bodies representing the souls we had left behind. I just...put it around my eyes. It felt right. I've met a thousand people. They've all opened my eyes. At least my job on the War Rig was easy...I just had to take Bafztmyr's commands and feed them to [[Delaiah|Deliah]] and Raegina. We all worked well as a team, we were able to stop the Shabby Scales in less than a minute. They even had a moon sickle that I was able to pocket. I don't know, I was just...really out of my element today. After we took down the Shabby Scales, we just spent some time demon hunting. It was all so different, but...I liked being well-rounded. We also picked up a guy named Dallas out in the sands. Things were starting to cool down after a while, until Bafztmyr started having fainting spells and passing out. I tried to catch her, but we both fell off the War Rig. That might have cemented the last time I'll ever ride the War Rig, I'm not sure. I want to help out Raegina with her venture to Acqua Junction, but the War Rig is just tough for me. It turns out that Zariel is having some...issues with a crab demoness down in the town of Acqua Junction. Apparently, they lost the fight, which is...concerning. Plus...I've always wanted to see Acqua Junction. I heard it got razed...I have a lot to think about in that regard. And a lot to do while I'm here. And a lot of places to see.

And no, I won't talk about Kicyr's death. Not yet. She has not passed into the Kami yet.

=== Session MEGAGAME 2 Online: ===
'''DM''': Chris

'''PCs:'''  [[Zasheir]], [[Syl Vipershade]], [[The Scarlet Shadow|"The Scarlet Shadow"]], [[Suyuka|Yuki]], (late arrival) [[Skelly]]

'''NPCs:''' Sir Anthony, Ter, Skark

Yuki was just here to get a paycheck and fulfill her duty to her sister. Sir Anthony said something about saving some druids from demons, which seems right up Yuki's alley. "Remove all demon's and allies by any means necessary" he says, like she wasn't going to do that to begin with. Pulling up to the Grove and see some vulture-ish looking dudes who get taken down easily (just got cursed in the process no biggie). The group heads over to the room where they could hear a ruckus. Yuki knocks on the door, and a vulture guy opens the door. The group gangs up on him and releases the jackel druid prisoners from their captivity inside. They find the bodies of almost every other druid in a pile and the druids break down. One of the druids leads the group to the center of the grove in hopes that the Archdruid is still alive and fighting. She has been turned to stone, but isn't broken, and has a Minotaur harassing her. (I will finish this at some point)

===Session ???: The Qonsortium (and the Eversmoking Battle): Koro's Account===
'''DM:''' Mercedes

'''PCs:''' [[Koro]], [[Skelly]], [[Suyuka]], [[Stix]], [[Wynnipher Winchester]], [[Glorivesh]]

'''NPCs:''' Raegina, Bafztmyr, Lady Dekopa

On my way back to the Arboretum, I saw something big kicking up clouds of dust coming in my direction. As it got closer, I realized it was the Scrappers' war rig: restored to working order. Last I saw, the thing was still completely immobilized from its damage during the attack on the Arboretum, guess that shows just how long I've been gone...anyway, it didn't look like they were going to stop for me, but I saw Stix waving me aboard from the deck. I summoned a burst of wind to propel me on top of the rig and saw Stix for the first time in many months. It was good to see them, and their excitement to see me only made the guilt in my chest ping harder, but such sentiments could be explained later: I wanted to be of use, and it seemed like this was an opportunity to be so. The only other familiar face to me in this group was Gloria, whom I regarded as she and the others explained the Acqua Junction situation to me as the rig traveled on.

Suddenly, Bafztmyr seemed to clutch her head in pain and suggest we stop the rig. Another member of the group, Wynnipher, also seemed to react to something, but Raegina seemed intent on continuing forward. The ground opened up before us in a massive sinkhole under the war rig's weight, and a couple of us were sent tumbling overboard and into the chasm. I was able to summon the winds once again to slow my fall as the others were able to catch themselves, but down I yet traveled before splashing into a subterranean pool of water. After surfacing, I saw I wasn't alone. An aquatic humanoid girl was standing on the surface of water, and talked to me with the casual curiosity of a child. She introduced herself as Szelda, and asked if I was from the 'sunny' place. She said that she had been traveling with her people below the earth for some time now, but that she had gotten separated from them in these caves. Stix and another Arboretum member, Skelly, joined me in the caves shortly after, saying that another sinkhole opened up that Wynnipher had fallen into. I suggested to Szelda that we traverse the caves together while searching for our respective groups, and she agreed.

It wasn't long before we found the other half of our party, who themselves had found a child seemingly of the same people as Szelda. The two embraced when they saw each other, and two small crustacean creatures appeared and approached them, the two seemingly recognizing them. Gloria telepathically shared information that Suyuka had just gained through her Divine Sense: the crabs were demons. Stix had also mentioned that the last time Bafztmyr had a headache like that, it meant there was a lot of demon activity nearby. The two children beckoned us to follow them as they found the correct path back to their Lady, saying that they want to introduce us. We hesitated, and telepathically pondered over what we should do here. The children did not register as demonic, but we were certain that they were about to lead us right to a whole bunch of them, maybe they were under the influence of some demonic power? We ultimately decided to follow for now, keeping at the ready to attack at any moment. We were led to a massive chamber with a pool of water at its center, surrounded by demons of course, and more of those crab creatures that the children explained to be 'messengers'. One of the demons spoke to the children in Abyssal, which apparently Wynnipher could understand. Through Gloria's telepathy, she informed us all that the demon had asked if we were offerings, or new recruits for their army. Things were looking like they were going to take a turn for the worst, and Gloria told us to go loud on her signal. Out of the pool of water, a massive crab arose that seemed to be some kind of living palanquin, resting atop it was a woman covered in barnacles with slick blue hair and deathly pale skin. She too spoke in Abyssal, and Gloria gave us the signal to attack.

Many of us sent projectiles at the demons near us, but Gloria conjured electricity from her hands and attacked Szelda, killing her instantly. None of us could even react to this decision before Lady Dekopa appeared right in front of us, telling us that she would slay us all for our horrific crime. The demons descended on us in a swarm, their lady firing off volleys of magical beams that were tearing our bodies to shreds. Gloria was targeted first, being brought within an inch of her life in an instant. Suyuka healed her, but we were being surrounded. The team needed some breathing room, and I thought that I could maybe stun the Lady with a flurry of attacks, but I could barely scratch her. Using a wicked blade, she struck me into unconsciousness in an instant, and I thought I had just thrown my life away in a foolish gambit. But then, I awoke to Stix pouring my own healing potion into my mouth, but I couldn't see the Lady anymore. In fact, I couldn't see ''anything'' anymore, the whole space around us had been filled with smoke. Apparently Wynnipher had opened an Eversmoking Bottle to obscure us from sight: it was time to run. I grabbed Stix and ran back to the group, but our exit was being blocked by demons. I was able to blindly take one out, providing a brief opening for people to squeeze through, but we were now in a blind chase for our lives. 

The demons were nipping at our heels the whole way. Several of us were knocked unconscious as we retreated, different party members fumbling in the thick smoke to administer healing potions and spells to those who needed them, desperately dragging unconscious and prone allies to even get a few feet closer to freedom. We knew the Lady was waiting for us just outside of the smoke's area, and we were running out of resources fast. But as some party members broke through the smoke, they witnessed Raegina locked in battle with Lady Dekopa mere feet away from the sinkhole Wynnipher had fallen into originally, Bafztmyr standing by guarding a rope that extended up to the surface. One by one, as fast as we could, we made a break for the exit, dropping the bodies of our near dead party members we no longer had the ability to heal at the feet of Bafztmyr, begging her for help. I harried the group of demons surging through the tunnel behind us as much as I could using Cilvdy's frog bombs, there were still people at the Arboretum I wanted to see again, so I eventually used all my strength to make my final sprint as well. I reached the rope and looked back, holding my breath as I waited for Wynnipher to emerge, which she eventually did, having closed the Eversmoking Bottle and barely keeping on her feet from her injuries. Lady Dekopa cried out that Zariel was unable to compete with her people's patron, and that we will all see their wrath soon enough, before disappearing through a magical door.

Back on the war rig, Raegina paid us some gold for the information we unintentionally gathered for her and prepared teleportation circles to send the injured back to the Arboretum, an offer which I gladly accepted.
===Session ???: The Hermit: Koro's Account===
'''DM:''' Cat

'''PCs:''' [[Koro]], [[Patches Vanderburg]]

'''NPCs:''' Koschei, Mae Tadaka, Chrissy, Anthony

This one was weird: small team, important names, bigger plan. I thought this was going to be relatively straightforward based on what I heard when I signed up for this mission: there's an amulet formerly belonging to this demon from the BR era named Toi'Viral. Apparently, they were actually some kind of hero back then, and this amulet can be used to make contact with them. From what I know, this info came from some demonic criminal some of the others did business with named Vice, and they apparently left them some info pointing us towards someone name Chrissy in the Arrafell Artisan's Guild. The amulet allegedly acts as a beacon for demons due to its abyssal energy signature, so we needed to find a way to muffle that before we went and found it. So that's the job: go to the guild, get their help with creating the suppressor thingy, find the amulet; but it ended up being much more complicated than that.

For starters, there were only three of us: Patches, Anthony, and myself. I was surprised that the leader of the alliance of factions was getting boots on the ground with us, but I wasn't going to look that gift horse in the mouth given our small roster. Patches was a new face to me...and an odd one at that. He was like Cilvdy: composed of a patchwork of body parts all with differing origins. He was heavily armored like Anthony, maul at his side, but he also was keen on carrying around this creepy looking doll that he...talked to sometimes. I don't know, I've seen weirder honestly, and he seemed nice enough if a little spacey. So it was up to the three of us to get the job done, and so we were teleported to Arrafell by the Shepherds (second teleport since the war rig circles and I'm not sure I'll ever get used to it). We got ushered to meet Chrissy and used the password to begin negotiations. The guild was not able to create this suppression device we needed, but they had info on someone who might: a hermit living out in the wastes about a day's travel away from Arrafell. In exchange for this information and an object that was instructed to be given to us by someone, we were asked to hand over the created device to Chrissy after we had used it for our purposes. Patches blurted out that he sensed that Chrissy was a fey, which she did not deny. The deal seemed favorable though, ownership of the suppressor would transfer to her after we deliver it to her or after a year and a day had passed. Seeing little other option, the three of us agreed to the deal, swearing the oath by eating these strange berries. After doing so, Chrissy gave us some kind of replica infernal puzzle box and sent us on our way. 

While Anthony acquired some horses for us, Patches and I tried to open the box. I was never a puzzle guy, but Patches managed to figure out the first step and pulled a central part from the box free. I was able to figure out the second by rotating small circles with animal faces on them to the right orientations, and the box opened. Inside were two pieces of paper and an orb made of reflective glass. The smaller of the pieces of paper explained that the orb was a chronosphere that, upon saying the command phrase "Dardin Sucks", would display an image that could prove to the hermit that the amulet existed. The small scrap told us that we had to convince the hermit to help us, not mention the writer's involvement, and to burn the note after we read it. It was signed with the name "Ototo", though this clearly read like it was coming from Vice. Whatever, not relevant to the job at hand. The note also explained that the other piece of paper in the box was a journal entry written by a soldier who met the hermit "on the last day of her life". I tried my best to write down what it said as closely as I could here, just in case:

<blockquote style="max-width: 65ch;">
done, but I can't stop thinking -- what if we'd been just a little faster?

But before we found Feng and everything went sideways, we met Mae Tadaka in her lab. We couldn't even question her at first -- she just wouldn't stop staring at Koschei. I guess she recognized him from when she was a kid and thought she owed him her life. Then she tried to warn us off the mission, saying we didn't understand how Feng was, that he'd torture us mercilessly, and that her project wasn't a weapon at all.

If we'd stood down, maybe I wouldn't have been the only one to make it back -- but of course that was out of the question, obviously. Still, Oriella assures me Tadaka spoke the truth: Project Dominion would not win the war for Troverth -- it would end the very capacity for violence, for everyone. (She said she told Feng it would only affect his enemies).

We asked her what about the goddamned demons? And she said Troverth wouldn't risk summoning them anymore after that. And that demons rarely reach Quelmar on their own. And that Troverth had some crazy prophecy about the gods putting an archdevil in charge of protecting people...terrible pitch really, but Mae Tadaka honestly did believe in peace.

We were in no position to be taking prisoners inside the enemy's stronghold, so Lee did what had to be done. Oriella says Tadaka was Troverth's highest-ranking demon binder -- she did experiments trying to give people demonic abilities. It's hard to square that depravity with the woman I met. 

Then we had to fast talk more guards, but finding the prince was less of an
</blockquote>

There was also a note in the margins of this entry fragment:<div style="width: 75 ch"><blockquote>Troverth's finest demon binder modified herself with her own techniques, enough that the Abyss claimed her when she died -- but she survived.
</blockquote>

The names didn't mean much to me, but from what I cared to remember of the old man's incessant war ramblings, this sounded like Realm War era. Given how prominent she was in the entry, I was led to believe that Vice was telling us that Mae Tadaka was this hermit; a demon binder would make sense to be someone who could develop the suppressor we needed, but how was she still alive after being claimed by the Abyss? We assumed we would find our answer at the location we were given by Chrissy, so we mounted up and galloped into the wastes. 

We encountered a group of hobgoblins on horseback pulling a group of captured vulpine behind them in a cart. Patches said it was not his concern, but Anthony and I made the assumption that this was likely a Shend transport, and we didn't want to leave those prisoners to a fate as slaves if we could help it, and so we laid an ambush. It was a close call, but we were able to dispatch the slavers (I even managed to end two of them with the Hellfire Shortbow Voscaera gave me, which I believe means the souls of those hobgoblins got sent to power Raegina's war rig? Good. A fitting fate if I do say so myself). We freed the vulpine and looted the equipment from the slavers, leaving their mounts to the prisoners to help them make their way to Arrafell. After that, we continued towards the hermit's location, eventually finding a crevasse in the ground

We found mortal-made structures in the crevasse, and found ourselves navigating a paranoid recluse's dream. Inclined hallways slick with oil and rusty spikes, long winding pathways, dead ends, pits; the place was designed to confuse. However, we persevered, and eventually came across an ancient underground horticulture chamber, a petrified willow tree growing out from the wall at a diagonal, empty growing pots with oxidized bronze scaffolding snaking around them everywhere we looked. But there were signs of recent habitation, and as we called out, the voice of Mae Tadaka spoke back. We explained ourselves, activating the chronosphere with the command phrase to reveal an image of some kind of collector's gallery, filled with valuable artifacts; one of them being the amulet. We explained our need for a device to suppress the energy signature emanating from that amulet. Tadaka dropped her invisibility and approached, and asked us what assurances we could give her that we would be responsible with such a device if she made it. We mentioned the fey deal, and said that we got Chrissy to agree to still taking the object that ''used'' to hold the demon-suppressing magic if said magic happened to be consumable in nature. So, if she simply didn't make it a permanent enchantment, but rather one that would be used up after we were done with it, she wouldn't need to worry about it falling into the wrong hands. This got her to agree to help us.

She said she needed two things before she could make this device though: alchemically refined cold iron and power from a real demon to enchant the object; and for both of these issues, she had a plan. She said she knew of a demon that she believed would willingly lend her their power, and also had the capability to break into a vault she knows of in Balabag that contains all the cold iron she would need: a demon by the name of Koschei. We assisted her in setting up a ritual to summon this demon from the Abyss (Patches had to teach Anthony and I some Abyssal to help with the chanting, creepy stuff), and it was successful, but Koschei seemed in distress. Turns out, some sort of orange ooze was attached to him, suffocating him, and it came through the portal with him. He managed to get it off as he arrived, but he was confused, and Mae had passed out from the strain of the ritual before she could explain the situation to him. Before ''we'' could try to explain as well, the ooze attacked us, engulfing Anthony and emitting an aura that muddled the minds of those around it. It took some doing, but we managed to wear it down and kill it (after having to pull both Anthony and Patches out of it so they didn't take half of the damage Koschei and I would throw at it, though Patches was kinda handling it pretty well and smiting the thing from within). Mae awoke and we told her that we would send friends of ours her way to assist in her plan to raid the Balabag vault, and Patches and I left to sell the Shend equipment off and head back to the Arboretum.
[[Category:Bedlam in the Badlands]]