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"So, what does a Nat 1 do for me?"

Session # I-don't-keep-track || March 17, 2025

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PCs (level 9):

• E.M.E.T., Warforged Bard (College of Creation)
• Fen Brambledew, Halfling Rogue (Swashbuckler)
• Jimothy, Human (11) Druid #/Warlock# (Circle of ?/Hexblade)
• Imp Familiar
• Khîthwaïre (Khithi) Martadil, Drow Wizard (School of Divination)
• Archimedes, Tiny Owl familiar
• Neros Psariath, Triton Sorcerer (Storm Sorcery)
• PCs absent:
• Kysyaries (Ky) Adious, Half-elf Rogue (Arcane Trickster)
• Olearius, Human Druid (Circle of Spores)

Current Location & Quest:

• The Underdark beneath Hatzehr
• Pursuing the Red-Cloaked Druids to the ?? Volcano to obtain the Fire Amulet

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Previously...

The party, after doing their okay-est at navigating their boat through the rapids, came upon a small city which was on fire. In a shocking turn of events, we didn’t start the fire and Neros saved the day with Control Water. He’s as shocked as we are.

With all the fires out there is no light. Who needs lights when you have Superior Darkvision? (most of the party does, that's who).

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And so we begin our adventure:

The party is currently split up into two. Fen, Neros, E.M.E.T., Jimothy, and the T-posers were helping Gorrel (sp? Tortle) repair the boat which took a beating when Neros used the river water to put out the fires. Khithi has gone across the river with Brezza to track down the Mayor and City Council. We aren’t sure if any of the council members are alive, but we need to find someone who is in charge of things around here.

 "Why is an imp here?" "To help."

The crew with Gorrel catches up a bit with Jimothy. He was in the hold of the boat while we put out the fire, probably plotting something that will come back to haunt us later (aka his player was absent). Having had his orphanage burned down, Jimothy is a bit troubled. I had to take my dog to the bathroom so I missed the conversation . Eventually, Jimothy and his Imp familiar join the crew helping Gorrel with the repairs.

 We're a colorful group

Meanwhile, Khithi and Brezza (Drow) head over to City Hall. Khithi had wanted to seek out the temple (in the Underdark they’re normal folks who still believe in gods you Overworld heathens), which she spots in this same part of the city, but she follows Brezza to find the City Council.

Brezza tells Khithi that the only one who saw what happened when the fires began was Ranadan (Drow), everyone else was too near to survive. Brezza doesn’t know if the council members or the mayor were among the dead. This seems more likely as we come upon City Hall. Most of the building was made of stone which withstood the fire, but the subsequent flooding (thanks a lot, Neros) added to the damage.

No one is in the main chamber. Papers and items abandoned on the tables indicate the council had been in the room, but departed in a rush. Brezza suggests checking upstairs and there she and Khithi find the city council and speak with one of the members, Phakos (Drow, a portly fellow).

Khithi introduces herself to Phakos: “Hello, my name is Khîthwairë Martadil, a Divination wizard hailing from *tbd cool name for the city the Underdark beneath Mahaneh*. I was sailing down the river with my companions and we came upon your city on fire and with the help of a Triton in the group, managed to put it out. We learned that this is the work of red-cloaked druids—we are here in the Underdark in pursuit of them. Perhaps we can help each other out.”

Phakos is confused by the presence of a Triton, but nonetheless is happy to speak with Khithi. In this conversation we learn that:

• The Mayor was supposed to appear before the council to account for his strange change in behavior toward the city when the fires started
• About a month before, the Mayor had stopped spending his time amongst the citizens and instead would wait at the road for any outsiders (Phakos’ words)
• Turns out, he means literally anyone who is not from the city. Other Underdark denizens, overlanders, etc.
• The Mayor had been entertaining these red-cloaked druids

Phakos suggests going to the Mayor’s home to investigate and look for him. Khithi agrees but first casts Sending to Fen and asks her to join, discreetly. Khithi sends Archimedes (her owl familiar) to Fen and has him guide Fen to where she waits with Brezza and Phakos.

 Candy is always the answer

Archimedes arrives and perches on Fen’s shoulder. Jimothy notices and asks Fen what she is doing and if he can come. She tells him she needs to go on an errand to get some things and if she needs help, she’ll let him know. He asks how, she says “you’ll know” and gives him some of her remaining 1lbs of candy. Fen leaves with Archimedes, trusting Jimothy at his word. Our young Druid-Warlock sends his Imp, invisible, to follow her.

While Fen is away, and Olearius is T-posing in the background, some minor chaos transpires. E.M.E.T. decides to throw Jimothy into the rapidly flowing river. Jimothy is whisked away. E.M.E.T. jumps in after him. Neros, seeing other people in the water, naturally jumps in after them.

 Team Find the Mayor

Fen, sporting her Very Stylish™️ Darkvision Goggles, arrives across the river without issue and Team Find the Mayor sets off. Phakos asks after the Underdark where Khithi is from and how she ended up with this eclectic crew. She tells him that her and her fellow divination wizards sensed something was wrong in the world. When they told the leaders of their city, their concerns were dismissed since the problems on the horizon were Overworld problems, not Underdark problems. Khithi and her teacher disagreed. Overworld problems will become Underdark problems, so she set off to join her old friend Olearius and stop these eco-terrorist druids. How things are back at home, she doesn’t entirely know.

Phakos reveals that things from further down in the Underdark have been seen higher than they should be—almost like they were fleeing from something. Khithi remembers the incident a few weeks prior in the Etzim Forest when the party came across two Giant Spiders and a Phase Spider in the middle of the day. She gets a bad feeling about this.

 Olearius, you had one job.

As Fen and Khithi walk to the Mayor’s house they spot three familiar figures whisk by in the river.

But don’t worry, things are going great for Team Swimming.

“So, what does a Nat 1 do for me?”

Well, maybe not.

However, with the some creative uses of Fly, Water Breathing (?), Rope Trick, Dimension Door, and some very bad Strength checks, Team Swimming is no longer swimming.

 Everything goes swimmingly and there are no problems at all

Team Find the Mayor finds the Mayor’s house. It looks…not great. Brezza goes off to get more help and Khithi has Archimedes fly in to check to see if it’s walk around in. Archimedes can’t tell. Why would he walk when he can fly? Fen also attempts to check out the safety, but apparently didn’t pass her OSHA certification test last year.

So, very carefully, Phakos leads Khithi and Fen inside to search for the Mayor. The initially go into the Mayor’s office and immediately start poking around. Fen finds a chest and inside of it a notebook. “Hey, Khithi, you’re really good at reading ,” she says and tosses it over. With Phakos glowering over their shoulders, unhappy with their snooping, Khithi quickly skims through the book. It’s a log of the Mayor’s day-to-day goings on, but the last entry is from one month ago. It says he joined a group of people in the city to investigate the threat level of some creatures which had come up from below.

Khithi turns to Phakos and asks about this trip. He says everyone came back and can’t remember who else went. While Khithi argues with Phakos, and eventually promises that she won’t keep poking around, Fen hears something down the hall.

To prove to Phakos that she is willing to help, Khithi sets off toward where Fen said the sound was coming from. Fen swaps her Drinking Hand out for her Fighting Hand ("did she just change hands?" "get with the program, Phakos"). Khithi takes a cue from Fen and casts Mage Armor on herself.

They arrive at the door and Khithi listens, hearing the sound of something moving. Warning everyone to be careful, she pushes open the door. Fortunately, it is not locked. Unfortunately, the building is unstable and opening the door shifted the rubble. Fen and Phakos are fine, but Khithi manages to take some damage and is pinned to the wall by a fallen beam. Fen looks around the room and notices a Drow hand sticking out of the rubble and a disturbing sight--a brain with feet.

And so our session ends, with a walking brain heading toward Fen and a trapped Khithi, Olearius T-posing, Ky probably in a tree, E.M.E.T. and Jimothy downstream, and Neros napping in his Rope Trick Reverse Aquarium. We’ll be fine. Probably.