So, in the middle of the night, the ghost of Belcora appeared upstairs “to punish us for our meddling in her tower affairs.”  We got out of bed in initiative order.  TerStegan was still in town, earning some silvers at the tavern.  Briscoe was on the roof and it took him a few rounds to hear the ensuing fight.  Oakwood went first, opening his door on round two.  That got him a DC 35 Will save which he critically failed.  That’s Frightened 2 but at least it faded one a round.  BTO pointed out that we had Consecrated the cabin against such ghost events.  Brian acknowledged and dismissed.  The next round she cast another AOE spell that gave everyone Stupefied 2.  That also faded after her next round but in the meantime, it gave more minuses to our overmatched Will saves.  Clarisa’s Force Barrage was countered and she took her own damage.  Then she cast something that did spirit damage for 36.  That was double for critical failers Xeelie and Clarisa, dropping Clarisa and stunning Xeelie for a minute.  With a DC that high, all you could hope for was not to crit fail.  I don’t think anyone made a save the whole fight.  I think Xeelie managed a single blow in all that with the flanking.

Briscoe arrived and did DV on Xeelie, hopefully stealthfully.  Oakwood managed to hit but 6 of his 12 damage bounced.  Clarisa made a death save.  Belcora then cast Slither, getting everyone.  It was only 16 damage but double for Clarisa and Brisco.  And persistent poison of 1d6 or 2d6.  Plus grabbed or restrained.  Restrained Briscoe couldn’t take an attack action nor a manipulate action.  So, he tried to Escape and had no chance to best a DC 35 with a skill.  The other option was to do at least 12 to the snakes with a fist strike.  Oakwood used his new Blood Draining Roots.  Brian allowed the snakes to be targeted by the AOE.  It would have been quite the visual.  Verdant roots versus black snakes.  But DG could only roll above 12 once on 3d6, freeing Briscoe.  The rest bounced.  She actually missed her save but the damage bounced off her since she resisted pretty much all damage for 10.  However, the 13 on Briscoe’s snakes did give 6 points of healing to us including the unconscious Clarisa.  The poison damage bounced so Oakwood’s Aeon Stone ended the persistent damage on him.  Xeelie failed to save against the stun.  Clarisa failed to Escape and went out again from the 2d6 poison. 

Belcora then crit Oakwood for 56.  Then spotted the stealthy Briscoe with ease and hit him with a gaze.  That was a crit fail but he used a hero point to just fail.  That did 29 plus Stupefy 1 for a full minute.  (A save each round.  Good luck.)  Briscoe beat the Stupefy flat check and cast a 3 action heal.  She saved for half of 19.  Oakwood turned back on his elemental powers and Thermal Nimbus.  And then sustained the roots and freed himself and Clarisa.  And healed all for 7.  Clarisa was still prone but now not restrained so she cast Laughing Fit.  She used Spell Riposte again and bounced it back at Clarisa.  She failed her save for Slowed 1 and no reactions.  And stood up.  And took 6 poison but saved.  Belcora then crit Oakwood again and took him down.  (That’s Dying 2.)  She hit Xeelie for 31 but didn’t drop her.  And then missed.  Briscoe discussed doing DRs all around but Brian decided to put us out of our misery.  It was all a dream.  We woke up in our beds.

It gave us a taste of what it will be like to fight her.  What did we learn? She has 7^th level spells at a DC of 35.  At least 13^th level.  I don’t see our saves getting up there in two levels.  She had that counter spell reaction but only against targeted spells? We did not trigger a movement reaction so we don’t know about that.  That she had 10 points of damage resistance against everything and double that against non-magical attacks.  We only scratched her with two hits so we have no idea of her hit points.  It’s all about the crits.  Grabbed is better than restrained.  Damaged is better than stunned.  Etc.  Of course, this was a ghost of Belcora so the “real” Belcora may be different. 

We then spent a week of game time so that Xeelie could do all her magical crafting.  Resilient armor for all.  From there, Dave started trying to figure out what to take at 8^th as did Dan.  The chronicler’s back was killing him so he went to bed.  They stopped after leveling up.

After some discussion, we started at the devil’s door as planned.  We debated again about whether to spell up.  The loose decision was to cast spells that last hours or 10 minutes but not ones that last 10 rounds because we weren’t sure what was immediately behind the door.  Plus, we correctly surmised that the devil would want to talk.  Brisco, Xeelie and TerStegan (via scroll) cast Tailwind.  TerStegan also used Otari’s ring to get Unfettered Movement.  Xeelie was declared to have Briscoe’s key and made an Arcana roll before messing with the door.  Unfortunately, she had a critical failure and thought this was the wrong door.  TerStegan told her to ignore that and get back to work.  Once the key was placed in its recess, the whole wall slid away. 

To each side were 2 Levaloch guards.  We could hear the main devil to the north but she was going to allow the guards to “do their job” i.e. soften us up.  Xeelie did her recall knowledge and learned they had the usual devil package of immunities and resistances.  She then tried to close the door so we could be better prepared for battle.  But it had retracted.  So, she threw her knife, hitting one for 19 holy damage.  The first guard threw a net at Xeelie but missed.  It then switched to trident and threw it at Xeelie.  That crit for 16. Urevian, the devil, complained about the fight taking too long but didn’t stop it.  The 2^nd guard did the same and hit with a net.  That caused Clumsy 1 and -10 to speed.  And then threw a net at Oakwood for the same.  TerStegan entered his stance, moved up and attacked.  He crit for 58 plus frightened 1.  Clarisa cast a Briny Bolt for 26 plus 1 round of blindness.  Oakwood stepped up 5 feet, turned on his Nimbus and missed with reach.

Xeelie switched targets, hit for 16 and then missed.  She’d have a -10 MAP to escape the net so she left it and stepped.  The first guard drew his trident, giving an AOO to TerStegan who hit for 19.  That put him near death but now he got his turn.  But he missed the flat check from the blindness and then missed again.  The second guard threw a net at TerStegan and critted.  That added immobilized.  And then created a trident.  TerStegan’s key ignores movement penalties but not the immobilize state.  He hit and killed it.  That dusted Xeelie’s net.  He then escaped from the net but took 5 points for his troubles.  And moved around the 2^nd in hopes of future flanking.  Clarisa used Sure Strike and cast another Briny Bolt for 22.  Oakwood stepped 5 to get flanking, missed and hit for 14 of cold damage.  TerStegan could see that Imp Czek in a cage to the south.  Xeelie hit.  It missed its attacks due to the blindness.  TerStegan hit. Clarisa missed with a lower-level Briny Bolt.  Oakwood missed, missed and barely hit for 7 cold.  It was still up.  Late arriving Briscoe missed and missed again.  Xeelie missed and missed again.  For her 3^rd action, she did her thing on the big devil.  Unfortunately, the guard was still up.  It crit Oakwood for 62.  And then hit TerStegan for 19 and another 21.  All our misses weren’t so funny anymore.  TerStegan finally finished it off.  Combat was ended and talking was started.                  

The devil had wanted posters for all three Rajani.  She said she needed a Rajani soul to leave the dungeon and was willing to take her army of status creatures with her.  Oakwood did Dash of Herbs on the wounded while we talked.  Briscoe wanted to do Treat Wounds but that took 10 minutes.  So, we talked.  Since it was a deal with Belcora that was trapping the devil, we offered to kill her instead but the devil wouldn’t go for it.  Rose Guard member Val Rajani had some sort of interaction with devils and they put a hit on her and all her descendants.  She needed Xeelie’s signature on a contract.  Eventually 10 minutes had passed so Briscoe healed Oakwood for 34 and TerStegan for 28.  Xeelie continued to play for time, trying to get information about her family history. Finally, Oakwood had had enough and suggested we “do the things we had talked about before we opened the door”.  I.e. spell up.  TerStegan started to cast Bless and that started initiative.

It turns out, he went first and got to cast it.  And then entered his stance.  And then she went.  She stepped back 5 feet and cast Lighting Bolt.  It got TerStegan, Briscoe, Clarisa and the Imp minion in the cage to the south.  A whopping DC33 and 43 points. Briscoe and TerStegan took double as did the Imp.  Briscoe was dropped and the Imp was vaporized.  Oakwood did BFM on Briscoe and then on TerStegan.  Xeelie put Life Boost on Briscoe and moved up.  Clarisa did a 3 action Force Barrage since she didn’t have to move.  That did 39 points. 

TerStegan wanted to get past her for flanking but didn’t think a Shove would work.  He stepped up so that he might get AOO if she cast again.  He hit her despite her 32 AC.  That did 32 but 10 bounced.  Briscoe stood, used DV to BFM on TerStegan.  That did 23.  And then did DR on himself.  But he moved before that to get out of the line of fire.  He crit failed the Medicine roll and used Hobbit Luck.  That gave him 36.  The Devil took a step back and cast a Fireball.  Xeelie still got an AOO and hit but didn’t crit to interrupt it.  That did 22.  The DC on the Fireball was so high, we were just hoping to not crit fail.  Xeelie used a hero point to avoid that.  Briscoe rolled a 20 for a crit success and took none.  Unfortunately, Oakwood hadn’t had the actions to get his Thermal Nimbus up for some fire resistance.  It was heightened to level 5 and did 41.  Clarisa went out.  Her Eat Fire wouldn’t have helped.  Oakwood turned on his Nimbus, used Sure Strike and missed anyway.  Xeelie used Acrobatics to maneuver around the desks in the room instead of having to go through her.  After much discussion on the DCs needed, she rolled an 18 on the die and got behind her.  And then used her Healing Gloves on herself for 15 points.  And then missed.

TerStegan hit with the flanking for 19.  And then hit again for another 13.  Briscoe healed from the Life Boost and somehow was back to unharmed.  He did DR on the unconscious Clarisa for 36.  He then moved next to TerStegan and gave him 28 with his bonus BFM.  Medic is so good, he had an action to spare to try to Demoralize her.  That didn’t work.  Clarisa didn’t even bother standing and fired more missiles from the ground.  That did 38.  The Devil missed TerStegan with a 2 on the die.  And crit with the next one for 68.  That knocked him out.  And then rolled a 20 and took out Xeelie for 49.  Oakwood did Dash of Herbs on TerStegan for 10 and then missed terribly.  Briscoe cast a Heal on TerStegan for 30, moved to Xeelie and did DV BFM for 35.  TerStegan grabbed his axe, stood up and rolled a 20.  That did 54 and took her out.  Her head rolled free.  A 3 round fight where 4 of the 5 of us went unconscious.  She disappeared in a poof of smoke along with all her books and papers.   

Oakwood did a round of Herbs while we searched and found nothing for our troubles.  We heard a distant rumbling.  We took 10 to refocus and then did Herbs again.  There was no obvious way down from here but Oakwood remembered the “rising” room in the training area.  TerStegan peeked in the prison room on the way and the intact cells were still intact.  The barrier in the training room was gone but there was no “elevator.”  Just a shaft.  But there was a button.  Xeelie pushed it and we heard the same rumbling noise.  The platform came up.  We found a note in the chains from the Drier.  She said that the devil had freed some of the status monsters and bid them to kill us or at least bring Xeelie to her.  Evidently once we fled, the Drier had given up and went home. 

We debated and decided to go home and get a long rest before going to the next level.  And level up to 8^th.  Brian would allow us to do so and get a long rest but something would happen prior to any down time activities.  Like making resilient armor.  It was decided that the armor would go to TerStegan since he had the lowest saves and took the most damage.  He generously agreed to pay the 25 gold for the formula so Xeelie could make resilient armor for the rest of us.  But that’ll take some time, I assume. 

We got off to a late start because real life got in the way.  But the GM’s work emergency got resolved and he managed to pull the available players back together.  The first order of business was removing the curse of TerStegan’s new “lucky ring”.  It took a bit to convince Shimota to actually cast the spell.  That worked and TerStegan was eager to destroy it.  That would take some research.  Oakwood decided to bury it in the backyard in the meantime so that TerStegan (or Xeelie) would not be tempted by it.  TerStegan then went to the library to eat (I mean read) some books on the subject.  Vandy was proud to tell him his donation was putting shoes on orphans.  A decent roll basically told him that if the ring was utterly destroyed, i.e. melted, it would be neutralized.  It would take an intense fire, such as a pool of lava.  We were unsure if there was any lava left after dropping a lake on it.  We put that on our list of things to do.  Meanwhile, Oakwood went to Wren to ask the same questions.  She didn’t know how to do it but warned that if it wasn’t done properly, those things had a way of returning to the previously cursed.  We spent another night in town so that Briscoe could recover his 4^th level spell slot.  TerStegan and Oakwood earned a few silvers “making a living” and we were off.

We went back to where we left off.  No signs of the War Wraith.  Unfortunately, the bodies were also gone.  We probably looked for a means of how they were immune to the trap but since we didn’t say it last time, it didn’t happen.  The best we could recollect was that they were all shiny.  We had nothing on that front but Prestidigitation.  We spent some time discussing options but none were promising.  Eventually, Briscoe used a TK Hand to open the far door, cast Helpful Steps to create a horizontal ladder to avoid the floor and with a rope around him, dashed into the room.  He got 5 feet, missed the save and was paralyzed.  We went into initiative order.  He went first.  He was given the option of trying to fight off the paralysis, an option TerStegan did not get, took a bunch of mental damage but could move.  After some arguing, he decided to press forward and made it into the room.  He searched for a lever or button to turn it off but a proper search took 10 minutes.  The rest just had to wait, hard to do once initiative was rolled. 

He found no button.  In a small room he did find the War Wraith.  It moved toward him and he fled.  The trap room did not trigger this time.  We rerolled initiative and waited for the War Wraith to appear in a doorway or out of a wall.  There were lots of readied actions and reset values but nothing happened.  After 3 rounds, TerStegan charged through the trap room and nothing happened.  He found the War Wraith in the same corner that Briscoe found it.  He was suspicious but rolled a 1 on his disbelieve roll.  That cost us 30 minutes of farting around.  Eventually we proved it wasn’t real.  We searched around and got some silvers.  A rune was found in the corner that was causing the image.  An attempt was made to excavate it but that was a tough roll that was missed.  It was damaged but we took it so that it could be researched later.  (For some reason, TerStegan and Clarisa thought it would be fun to have in our cabin.  The mirror worked out so well after all.)  Figuring it must be guarding something, the corner was searched and a secret door was found.  That led to another small room in which was a floating misty head.

That monster could become invisible and that was a pain.  The rules, targeting on the map in Foundry, flat checks and the rest.  Unfortunately, Xeelie’s lantern was not in attendance.  TerStegan swung at the right square but missed.  It cast 3 spell-like abilities in one round.  A massive Fort save that everyone at least saved for half.  With some help.  It then siphoned off some of Clarisa’s magic so that each time she tried to cast, she had to make a flat check or lose it.  It did the same to Briscoe but he saved so the check was easier and the effect only lasted a round.  But that didn’t matter much because when Oakwood hit it with some fire, it all bounced.  It was another god damn Wisp.  So once again, it was all up to TerStegan and with its AC and flat checks, it wasn’t easy.  After 3 rounds, we were battered and impeded and it was untouched.  However, TerStegan managed to hit it and Briscoe managed a lucky shot with his trident.  And then blinded TerStegan crit it with a Reactive Strike on a 20 when it tried to cast, did 50+ and it was done. 

The next room had a creepy altar with a basin of swampy water.  Ghost expert Clarisa was sent in to investigate and missed a DC33 Will save.  33! She used a hero point and barely saved.  And took half of 9d6 in mental damage.  It was Belcora and she was impatient for Clarisa to get down to her.  The basin was flipped with a TK Hand and holy water was used to increase the dampness.  On it were 3 high level talismans. People were hesitant to try to identify them after the cursed ring.  Oakwood went first, then TerStegan.  The last one took multiple tries.  They were 7^th, 8^th and 10^th level and worth quite a lot.  Perhaps too much for a single use? It’ll be debated.  The first allowed Intimidation on two targets on a single roll.  The last caused the target to be flat footed for a single attack.  The second was also TerStegany but I can’t recall.  There was also a trap door that went down 10 feet.  From there it went 20-30 feet below the stasis chamber room, right under the Ling Spider webs.  We could not accurately estimate if the exiting trap door would come up in a chamber or between.  I’m betting in so that something could pretend to be captured but was really free.  The War Wraith?

We stopped there.  Even though we hadn’t used much, I think we agreed to go home for one last long rest so that we’d have every ability charged before facing the boss devil on the other side of the door.  Hopefully we’ll be a full strength.  8^th level is likely on the other side for those that survive.

We entered the cell to find the fugitive Tiefling hanging upside down in shackles.  She was dehydrated and starved but not damaged per se.  There was much discussion with her and about her, with Xeelie and Briscoe adopting their usual good cop/bad cop roles.  To summarize.  She had mundane gear which was returned.  She had made a deal with the boss devil of this level, to deliver Carmine Rajoni to him.  She had the impression that some greater devil wanted him.  When she was unable to deliver, she was seized.  She seemed eager to have us help her do it or cash in on the offer ourselves.  We did not want to help a devil in any way.  She also postulated that maybe any Rajoni blood would do and supposedly Carmine had a daughter in town.  (Amicia.)  Xeelie attempted to deflect that by claiming that daughter was only a step daughter.  No mention of that fact that Xeelie was also a Rajoni.  Eventually we let her go and tried to discourage her from going back into Otari.  The bounty hunters were still there and getting Carmine out of jail and down here was going to be ever tougher.  Only time will tell if we should have murder-hoboed her.

The other cell was empty.  The other door led to a 10x10 room and then double doors beyond.  Based on our maps we (correctly) surmised the trap room laid beyond.  We didn’t want to go to the statis room nor fight the boss so we decided to give it a shot.  A rope was tied to TerStegan and he entered the hexagonal room with the glowing light.  He had to make a stiff Will save and missed.  He was paralyzed.  Oakwood wanted to pull him back but initiative was rolled because monsters were on the way.  Two of those spidery abominations and two big brutes.  TerStegan was eventually pulled in but not before he took 40 points of mental damage and a couple of hits.  Somehow Briscoe managed to pull one brute into the room and close the door.  But they just opened it.  It was probably supposed to be a medium challenge but with TerStegan out for most of it and rolling poorly, it was almost the end of us.

The spider things stayed in the trap room and shot cloud after cloud of needle darts.  The damage and Reflex save wasn’t too bad but it added up, especially for those that missed the saves.  The fact that they were hitting their brutes as well didn’t seem to bother anyone.  And we couldn’t reach them in there although we couldn’t get past the brutes regardless.  The brutes were tough but as usual, it was their crits that were devastating.  TerStegan was quickly dropped and dropped twice more before it was done.  Briscoe also went down a couple of times as did Clarisa.  Once people went down, others spent their actions aiding them.  That was particularly important under the constant needle fire.  Clarisa managed a staff Fireball and a Clarisa Fireball and Xeelie used a scroll Fireball which did a lot.  It was nice to see foes that weren’t immune to fire and didn’t have reactive strikes for a change.  You know, our level.  Oakwood finally took out a brute but unfortunately the other brute used its reaction to keep him up.  Fortunately, it was his turn next and the Nimbus took him out for real but unfortunately it exploded for lots and knocked people out.  It became very dicey as people’s wound and dying numbers were adding up.  Somehow Xeelie and Oakwood managed to keep them from dying while finishing the monsters off.  That was likely the closest to a TPK we’ve had in a long while.  A poor night for TerStegan is a poor night for us all.

We decided to take 10 minutes to Treat Wounds and do Dash of Herbs.  We were in decent shape but we had used up a lot of healing.  Especially the BFM and DV which needed time to reset.  We were debating whether we should spend another 10 minutes, flee or press on when a Warrior Wraith appeared.  It was drawn to death and seemed intent on generating some more out of us.  Briscoe pulled out a sunlight bomb he’d had for years only to discover bombs were a martial weapon.  He was untrained and missed poorly despite the great impact it could have had.  Flee or fight? It hit TerStegan with a big will save that blinded him and cursed him.  And then moved into a wall.  With no targets, people started moving towards the stairs.  When it reappeared, TerStegan started fleeing and that convinced the rest to go as well.  We made it back to the cabin.  Briscoe still had a Remove Curse memorized from the last time and fixed him.  He also noted another curse (that lucky ring) and intended to do a follow up remove curse the next day.  Those that were Drained needed a day’s rest anyway.  Xeelie was eager to go scroll shopping and the chronicler went to bed.  I assume we’ll heal up and go back in. 

Unfortunately, we are no wiser as to how the paralysis trap worked.  Evidently, we needed a master in Thievery to even try to disarm it and we had none.  Maybe the brute bodies have a clue as to why they were immune to the effects.  Not that we can expect much treasure from a guard room but so far, we had earned none.  Assuming that leads nowhere, we’re back to the stasis room or the big door at the end of the level.  Assuming we live through that, we’ll probably earn 8^th level after that.

Once everyone got online, we started at the top of round 4.  The crab thing continued to climb back into the fight.  It rolled poorly and only gained 15 feet however, it was still closer than we had expected.  The hope was to finish off the toad before it got there.  However, it dropped TerStegan in one round and then dropped Oakwood in the next round after he tried to help.  Fortunately, Briscoe healed TerStegan between the two and TerStegan went from out to the highest hit points.  It seemed to crit more than we hit and that persistent acid damage is particularly dangerous to the dying.  The crab came up right next to Clarisa who had fired a full round of Force Barrage rather than move the previous round.  But now, she had nothing she could do without taking a Reactive Strike.  She elected to Step off the edge, cast Gentle Landing half way down once she was beyond its reach and cast Fly once she safely reached the bottom.  A most impressive exit.  Around then, the toad went down. 

We then turned on the crab.  It did less damage but had reach and reactive strike and free grabs.  It successfully hit and grabbed TerStegan, knocking him out again.  And then paralyze him with some goo.  Again, Briscoe was able to heal him.  There was debate on what his Free Action spell from Otari’s key would get him.  A guaranteed escape but not immunity from being grabbed was the ruling.  And then Oakwood finally hit it and took it out.  Brian rolled randomly and it fell off the edge, taking TerStegan with it.  More debate.  Brian ruled that the key did protect him from the paralysis so he was able to grab an edge and not fall.  He then used his new Spider Slippers to climb down as Clarisa was flying up.  Everyone wanted to get a short rest but TerStegan was supercharged with a bunch of effects that would be expiring soon.  So, he wanted to keep fighting while they were still up.

At the bottom, he saw the Mouther but not the spider.  The Mouther did not seem to be moving or gibbering.  Oakwood did a bit of healing on himself and then used Cat Fall to get to the bottom too.  He wasn’t in any shape to start a new fight but didn’t want TerStegan to be alone.  Clarisa hoovered down there too but the other two stayed at the top as they didn’t have anything to avoid taking the stairs again.  TerStegan checked out the Mouther and it was dead.  Poisoned by the spider? He also noted that many of the stasis chambers were busted but couldn’t see them all.  Was it four or maybe more? Dare we hope they were killing each other? And the south end was full of webs.  Was that the spider we saw or the super spider Xeelie’s research said would kill us all? Finally, some of his stuff expired and he agreed to come back up.  We decided to go home since many daily powers had been used up.  Now that most of us had casting archetypes with once a day spells, long rests are much more popular.

We needed a long rest but TerStegan was eager to go to town.  After some debate, Briscoe did a group treat wounds first.  TerStegan took the girls with him and went to visit Vandy at the temple/library.  There he made a grand show of donating 25 gp of his hard-earned cash to her.  It had something to do with that new ring of his.  Was he motivated or compelled? The girls made jokes but offered no help.  We got that long rest and debated what to do next.  We could fight more of the prisoner monsters but the possibility of an unbeatable foe made that less desirable.  Plus facing that undead hag again which had likely reset by now.  There was the big door that we thought we could now open with the completed pentagram key.  But that was likely the boss battle of the level or the gateway to the next level.  We wanted to finish off this level first.  There was the secret door that might lead around to behind the trapped room we avoided several sessions ago.  But to get there, we’d have to go into the stasis cell room.  We could get into the observation room and see what was loose in there and maybe be safe if it was too much.

However, Brian pointed out that there were stairs on the previous level that might lead to an area on this level we hadn’t been too yet.  (It’s hard to navigate the maps when you can only see bits of them at a time.)  We went that way and found a wide hallway with 3 cell doors down it.  There were empty shackles on the wall.  Once TerStegan took a step in, two invisible Wisps “appeared.”  Luckily, in Xeelie’s lantern light, they were only hidden.  It was the usual problem.  They were immune to magic, hidden or invisible, high AC, etc.  TerStegan and Xeelie did all the damage.  Oakwood put up Trees to protect them.  Briscoe and Clarisa tried to use Needle Darts but once they finally hit, they did nothing.  Once again, Dave argued that the attacking needles were not magic, just propelled by magical means.  No different than a magic crossbow.  And once again, they were denied by the system.  The Wisps were taken out without much fuss however, other than excluding 3 of us.  That lantern made a big difference.  At that point, it was past midnight and we stopped.  TerStegan took a peek into one of the cells and saw that wanted Tiefling, hanging upside-down in chains.  So, we’ll have to figure that out next time.

We started back to the club house in need of a long rest for the casters.  The GM had asked for our intentions via email so he would prepare but he got very little response. Once again, Paul asked about finding a buyer (trading partner) that would be willing to exchange one of the flaming runes we found, for a shock rune he wanted.  (Fire seemed less ideal given all these devils.)  The GM had him make a tough Society roll which he missed.  However, that was for finding someone that had a shock rune.  The answer to the “exchange” question was a solid no.  The price between selling the fire rune for half and splitting it 5 ways and then buying a shock rune and just using the fire rune was too great.  We decided to go back to the room with the monsters in statis.  According to the “friendly” imp, they were being stored so that they could be unleashed on the town of Otari as some future date.  So, we felt we had to destroy them.  Ideally one at a time.  The Imp also said there was a haunt or something in that room to deal with. 

One of the statis chambers was not like the others.  The stone glass was covered in soot and there didn’t seem to be anything in there.  We could see some bracers and a pouch.  (We’ve been enticed into danger before.)  And then a flaming creature appeared.  It’s a familiar problem.  Is it a haunt to be negotiated with or a monster to be fought or a monster to be fled from? It was pretty aggressive and we didn’t really have a chance to negotiate with it.  The first two players sort of delayed, waiting to see what it would do.  Xeelie thought it was once a hag? When it went, it unleashed a 5^th level Cry of Despair spell with a very high Will save.  Most failed and were slowed 1 for 10 rounds.  Briscoe saved and got a save each round to see if he was slowed that round. 5^th level spells? So, are we supposed to run?

Oakwood left the room, hoping more distance or no line of sight would stop the despair.  He had little chance against that Will save.  That did not help.  Again, no one could decide to fight or flee so people fled slowly.  We hoped it could not leave the room and that might give us an advantage? After a couple rounds, we all got out and the door shut.  However, it summoned a Will O Wisp which opened the door and attacked.  We committed to attack mode at that point.  Unfortunately, Wisps are immune to most magic so Oakwood and Clarisa were pretty much out of luck against it.  He cast some Protector Trees and she shot around it at the original ghost.  Between the opening and closing of doors, the slowed and their massive ACs, it was slow going.  When the Wisp was taken out, everyone moved in against the haunt.  When it hit with a strike, that character had a permanent (curse) weakness to fire.  It also got a reaction strike when hit.  Its chances of critting was higher than our chances to hit it.  A crit and a hit took TerStegan out in pretty much one round.  Once it again, it was a foe that was way beyond us that we won out against thanks to numbers and healing.

Xeelie made some more rolls and determined that it was a hag that was killed and turned into an undead to fulfill some purpose.  And until its reason for being there was gone, it would return in a day or two.  So, it was all for naught.  Paul correlated its name of “Warden” with the cells and correctly concluded that until all the prisoners were gone, the warden would stay.  As for the curse, the Druid had access to a 4^th level spell to fix that but he’d have to get a long rest to memorize it.  I think 2-3 of us were cursed.  We certainly didn’t want to start fighting these monsters with them so afflicted.  So, we decided to head back home after one fight.  Resources like battle medicine and magic missile were also expended.  But first, TerStegan bashed into the empty cell.  It had an 18 hardness and he was the only one that could best it with any regularity.  Once in, the items were examined.  The bracers were of Force.  Basically, explorer’s clothes that you needed an +5 Dex to equal the armor base we all had.  It also had a shove effect but not worth losing AC.  It would have worked for a 10^th level Monk great.  We’ll sell those.  The other was a type II pouch of holding.  Briscoe took that and handed down his type I to Oakwood so that he could haul more treasure when needed.

We went back home, took a couple of days rest to clear the curses and went back again.  They talked to the Imp some more and got a better idea what each of these monsters were.  The plan was to free them one at a time and kill as many as we can in a day.  And refight the haunt as needed.  Hopefully we can fight it smarter next time now that we knew what it could do.  And maybe we can negotiate with it? Assuming it wants to leave, if we show we’re killing her charges, maybe she’d stop hassling us? Not sure how many game sessions that’ll take or if we’ll earn anything for it.  Maybe we’ll get practice fighting things we’ll see further down.  If they’re all 2-3 levels above us, it’s going to take a while.

Brian proposed 3 days of idle time in town after which our rewarded magic items for saving the mayor’s daughter would arrive from Absolum.  However, there were two problems with that.  Dave and Dan hadn’t decided on their items yet and it’s impossible for characters to be idle.  Dan decided fairly quickly on a 3^rd level wand of Force Barrage.  Paul took Slippers of Spider Climb.  BTO took Boots of Bounding and DG took a 3^rd level wand of Heroism.  Dave decided not to decide otherwise we never would have played.  TerStegan tacked on a request for an Essence Charm of performance and made his Society roll to have it found.  Xeelie wanted something as well but didn’t make the roll.  TerStegan also asked someone to ask around about the bounty hunter in town looking for a devil worshiper.  They had heard of the wanted, a known confidence woman who had been imprisoned and escaped several times.  But of the hunter, the guards in Absolum had never heard of.  We’ll have to confront him at some point.  (Maybe she conned him and he’s pretending to have authority?) 

As far as downtime.  Xeelie retrained a feat and researched a couple of the monsters in the prison room in the dungeon.  And bought and sold some magic gear at her mom’s shop.  She did learn that one of them was well beyond our capabilities.  So, we decided not to start releasing them and truing to destroy them.  Finally, a clear sign on what to do.  TerStegan earned a couple silvers in the bars but just missed critting for gold.  Briscoe put up “wild life restoration area” signs in various parts of the forest to annoy the lumberjacks.  Oakwood spent time reconnecting with his family.  Based on the letters Brian wrote for the rescue storyline, they missed him.  Clarisa did nothing.

We decided to go back to the secret door found at the end of last time in hopes it would access the area behind the trapped room they avoided.  However, as we walked through our “secret” entrance on level 4, we came across a symbol painted/etched on the floor just before the portcullis.  A society roll said it was a Kobald clan symbol but not magical.  We could also see that stuff had been moved around in a defensive manner.  A small voice demanded 1 gold per person to pass.  Long story short, we advanced, they fought and were totally outclassed.  We took a bit of damage but all it really did is use up time.  We earned some coins and a magic ring.  TerStegan made an Occult roll and said it was a luck ring.  If you were generous, you were lucky.  Brian insisted he wanted to keep it so we assume it was cursed in some manner.  We pressed on after 20 minutes of healing and refocusing.

We headed down our favorite spiral staircase and could hear the murmurings of a Gibbering Mouther.  Did it escape from the prison or was it another one? That confusion power has caused us all kinds of trouble in the past.  In addition, we could smell something really bad.  We correctly concluded there was more than one thing down there although we couldn’t see anything.  A mass break out? We cast some preliminary spells and bravely came down.  We faced a Mouther (which turned out to be the least of our challenges), a large crab thing, a large toad thing and a Drydier (large spider thing).  And we were back to our old friend.  To flee or fight? What are we supposed to do? We decided to flee or more accurately retreat and hope to leave some of them behind so that we could fight less of them.  That rarely works because someone will miss a save or get grabbed or left behind or something.  But we had little choice and after we saw the damage these things could do, it was the right choice.

Briscoe went first and cast his Mushroom Patch in hopes of slowing some of them down.  However, he didn’t flee and that put him a round behind for the whole fight.  We moved up as we could.  It was hard to visualize the 3-D map.  Everyone saved against the Confusion which was only a 19 Will.  And against the smell which was a tougher Fort.  Making those early saves really made it all possible.  It was a fight of making the saves that tried to stop us, taking big damage when they caught us and doing almost nothing to them.  The slow Mouther was left behind.  The spider hit Oakwood and Briscoe with a web but they managed to make the Dex save to escape.  It was impeded by the mushroom patch and broke off its pursuit as well.  The crab was large and had reach and a free grapple.  It grabbed several of us and did a lot of damage.  It managed to reach higher up than we thought possible.  It grabbed TerStegan and jumped up and got Briscoe as well.  We thought he was done for. 

But using halfling luck and hero points, he managed to escape and climb up a turn of the stairs.  That put them next to the giant toad which was jumping up levels much like Oakwood was with his Burning Jet.  Then Xeelie leaned over and used her Friend Fetch and pulled them both up a level.  (We weren’t sure if it was intended to pull across the ground or could be used to lift but since it said TK, Brian ruled it did work.)  That finally got everyone out of reach of the giant crab at least.  The toad then leapt to the landing we were targeting as our turn and fight spot and the combat could finally start.  We started injured or bloodied and it uninjured.  But it was outnumbered.  Several hit it.  Clarissa managed to hit it and the giant crab down below.  Brian said that turned it from wander away mode to attack mode but hopefully its size will slow it down.  The plan is to finish off the toad before it gets up and then finish the crab.  Assuming no one gets pushed off the edge.  And then rest up (short or long) and go back down to finish off the other two.  Assuming there are more freed monsters down there.  So, the plan is working.  We just ran out of time for this session.

The characters in attendance decided to forgo a long rest so that Briscoe could cure two of the witchfire curses and press on into town.  They went to the Dawnflower Library via the graveyard to avoid getting entangled in town.  The librarians were reluctant to let Xeelie and Briscoe in because they looked to be on fire.  The fact that they demonstrated they weren’t flammable didn’t help but Oakwood talked to Vandy she let them in.  Oakwood’s mom was worried but glad to see him.  Doriana was in surprisingly good spirits.  The Motley Man was promising to take her on some adventures and the price of a shriveled hand seemed reasonable to her.  We talked and made some rolls.  Her dreams were being invaded and her life force being drained.  She had a ruby of unknown origins that seemed to be aiding the connection.  When shown a sketch of the guy with a giant undead hand we saw in the dungeon last time, it was a match.  Xeelie felt that if we observed her sleeping, we might learn more.  Oakwood elected to stay with his family while Briscoe, Xeelie and late arriving Clarissa went into town.

Xeelie wanted to check on Amicia first.  The shop was closed and the house locked up.  There were blacksmith’s goods all over the lawn.  Evidently Carmine’s arrest had turned the whole town against his family and they were returning the things he had made for them.  She picked the lock and they started putting the stuff inside.  A guard came by and the GM wanted to hassle them more but Xeelie rolled a 20 on Society and he just threw up his hands and left.  They searched the house and found no one.  And the forge next door was cold.  The next stop was Xeelie’s mom’s shop.  She had no help on both plotlines but she did have a scroll of Reverse Curse.  It was pricey at 4^th level but I think Xeelie bought it.  Wrin asked her to mind the store for an hour or two so she stayed and did some shopping for potions and scrolls. 

The other two pressed on the jail to talk to Carmine.  That conversation was inefficient since Dan and Dave hadn’t really been paying attention(Dan: Neither of us really cared).  Basically, more information of Carmine’s involvement with the Kartos Consortium had come to light including their plans to bankrupt the whole town and take it over.  People were mad and evidently him coming clean and helping at the end wasn’t enough.  He was awaiting trial.  The traveling judge and his lawyer from Absolum were on their way.  He didn’t know anything about Amica, having not seen her since his arrest two days ago.  He assumed she was manning the shop.  When told she wasn’t, he was concerned.  About the shop, not her.  He asked if they checked her room upstairs.  Evidently, according to the GM, they didn’t go upstairs.  Said vs heard vs implied etc.  So, they went back.

They found her crying in her room.  Neither was eager to talk to her.  Briscoe was particularly harsh but evidently, they had never gotten along.  Too bad Xeelie or TerStegan were not there.  Basically, she was upset because the whole town hated her and her father.  Understandable.  Briscoe demanded to know what she was doing about it but the 16-year-old girl felt powerless.  True.  When told that Doriana, her best friend, was sick she agreed to go visit her.  But she was really trying to get Briscoe to go away.  Once Briscoe went out the front door, she slammed it and locked it.  He was mean.  Then she and Clarissa slipped out the back and headed to the Memhenes estate.  Briscoe gave up, stopped at Wren’s to tell Xeelie what they had learned and then returned to the cabin to get that long rest.  When the girls got to the estate and Dan realized that Doriana was at the library, Amica ditched Clarissa as well.  They both gave up and went home.

Meanwhile, Oakwood’s father came to visit at the library so he asked him some more questions about Carmine.  The real question is how much he knew and how much he was duped by the Consortium. There seemed to be a preset bias against him due to his Rogue past and the long-standing rivalry between the two men.  But they needed a trial to sort it out.  The players thought he was duped and might try to help him.  Eventually, Xeelie showed up and night fell.  They got some Occult rolls which Oakwood made with a hero point.  They thought that killing the monster in the dungeon would break the connection.  As Paul predicted last week.  That killing the hand would not hurt her.  That time was pressing because eventually she’d go into the dream plane and never return.  They took the ruby and went back to the cabin in the early morning.

The next morning, Briscoe removed the curse on Xeelie.  Since TerStegan didn’t exist, he was going to use his 2^nd slot on himself but I think Paul showed up before he did. So, he cast it on TerStegan? We got back to the prison room and spelled up.  Bless for TerStegan.  Blur for Oakwood and Xeelie.  Etc.  We rolled initiative and a 3^rd monster showed up.  But not the hag haunt.  Plus, the Motley Man and the Hand we had expected.  The Minion cast the first of many Will saving throws.  The Hand was taken out very quickly.  The caster was most feared but the Hand was in the way.  The Motley Man cast a bizarre spell which dominated the fight.  He placed 4 10x10 squares on the map but they couldn’t be adjacent.  Inside was difficult terrain.  However, when you tried to exit a square, you randomly appeared at a different square.  With the tight quarters, it had a big impact.  He was very tough with high AC and spell DCs. I can’t recall it, blow for blow.

Oakwood critically failed a Confusion save, making him a danger to all for 10 rounds and no saves.  However, TerStegan used Snap Out of It to get him a save.  He still missed it and used a just earned hero point to make it.  He returned the favor and used Dash of Herbs on TerStegan to give him an extra save on the Sickened.  Clarissa just stood there and pumped Force Bolts into the caster, avoiding the movement issues and its AC.  As usual, she did most of the damage.  Xeelie managed to navigate into melee with the caster.  As a reward, she was crit with its first and third attack, taking almost 100 points and going out.  That was a problem because that spell would make it very hard to get to her.  Plus, she was still 2d6 bleeding.  Briscoe managed to get to her but it took 3 full actions and his free movement from Doctor’s Visit to do it.  However, she had about a dozen conditions on her including prone, clumsy, sickened, etc.

Oakwood managed to hit it once only to find it immune to cold.  Xeelie had been so busy dying, she hadn’t done much Lore stuff.  He then critically failed a Fear save and was forced to flee.  Briscoe was in a tight spot when the minion walked through the walls and got in there too.  Xeelie was afraid to stand up.  Both of these things had reaction attacks.  Somehow the caster rolled a 1, the only roll that could miss her in her current state, and she survived another round. TerStegan was forced to bounce from square to square and lost rounds of actions trying to get into the fight.  Eventually it was worn down and near death.  It managed to drop TerStegan before Xeelie dropped it with a hero point.  (If it wasn’t for that +10 on hero points, we’d never live.)  When it dropped, its minion dropped as well. 

The “Denizen of Leng” was sent back to its home dimension.  His Fragment of Urevian’s Pendant dropped to the floor.  Briscoe completed his pendant and now feels a slight pull towards Urevian’s location (Hint: We saw a massive door previously with a large Pendant inscribed on it).  They found Scroll of Dream Message (x2 30GP Each) and Box of Candles (50GP).  There was also a room that was apparently used to contact Doriana with a bunch of mummified hands. TerStehgen found a secret door leading south-ish that might get around a trap from a couple sessions ago.  I assume he grabbed the maps of Otari off the wall like he said he would.  They returned to town and found that Doriana’s hand was back to normal and she seemed to be much better / recovering from the ordeal.  Oseph Menhemes rewarded the party by allowing each person to select 1 7th level or less item (pick normal stuff you would use, not the ridiculously priced vehicles, siege engines, etc.) typically in the 360GP or less value.  Common stuff is fine, but run anything not common past the GM for approval (mostly to filter out stuff that is not area appropriate).  It will take about a week for the items to be procured and brought back from Absalom.

TerStegan used his Sudden Charge to get through the second archway and around behind the Demonologist.  He hit despite his AC of 25.  Pretty good AC for a caster.  That did 26.  In response, he cast Blood Vengeance.  TerStegan missed that Will save (by 9) and took persistent bleed damage.  4d6 because it was a heightened spell.  He only took 8 that first round but he didn’t save.  The Demonologist took a step to avoid a reactive strike and then cast Fireball on the rest of us.  Oakwood critically failed and then used a hero point to make it.  (Fearing a heightened Fireball.)  Xeelie made it but Briscoe and Clarisa missed.  25 points but they used their Eat Fire reaction so 10 less.  Too bad Oakwood’s Thermal Nimbus wasn’t up yet. Briscoe charged forward and cast Powerful Inhalation.  That did 28 which the Antipaladin took half.  The Demonolgist missed the save, took it all and couldn’t speak above a whisper for one round.  The Antipaladin used her reaction to shield some of the damage.  Clarisa had focus points at least so moved up and cast Flurry of Claws.  She crit the Antipaladin for 23 but miss the other.  The Antipaladin stepped up to Briscoe and touch him with the anti healing hands.  He saved for half so 13.  And then raised her shield.  Xeelie cast Conductive Weapon on her weapon and did her Lore thing on the Antipaladin.  No damage modifiers.  And a shield expert which was already obvious.  Oakwood turned on his Thermal Nimbus, moved up and missed the Antipaladin.  In his defense, she had an AC of 29 with her shield raised. 

TerStegan moved, turned on his aura and missed the Antipaladin.  And then took 10 bleed.  The Demonologist couldn’t step into difficult terrain so he moved and took a TerStegan reaction.  That missed with a 1 but then heroically crit for 49.  He then cast Wall of Fire on top of Briscoe and the Antipaladin, splitting the group.  Briscoe took 19 less 10 for another Eat Fire.  Briscoe stepped out of the Wall, cast a Shock Wave (cone) that got both of them.  They both saved but were still off guard for a round.  Clarisa used Sure Strike on the concealed Antipaladin and did a Flurry of Claws on both.  She took 21 after the shield.  The Demonologist was hit due to Briscoe’s spell and she made the flat check.  That did 35 and he was “near death”.  The Antipaladin took a bit of fire from Oakwood and a bit more from the Wall.  She made her flat check and crit TerStegan for 39 points.  He missed his Fort save and was knocked prone from the hammer crit.  So then she hit him again for (max) 24.  And then raised her shield.  Xeelie moved and stepped and attacked the Antipaladin.  She hit for 18 but some of it bounced.  With the shield block, she got a free disarm attempt.  That succeeded but not a critical success.  Her grip was weakened on her rapier but she didn’t drop it.  Oakwood ran through the Wall and took 15.  As a reaction, the Demonolgost hit him with a reactive spell and crit.  That did 4d6+4 acid persistent.  He missed and then hit and killed him.  And then took 14 acid and didn’t save.

TerStegan stood up, made the flat check, but then rolled a 1.  And then missed.  And then took 14 bleed and dropped.  Briscoe ran through the Wall, taking 9 points after Eating Fire.  And then took the bleed off TerStegan’s body.  Clarisa did her TK attack on the Antipaladin and missed.  She then moved near TerStegan but had no actions left to aid him.  The Antipaladin took 24 more fire damage and decided to get out of the Wall.  She critically Shoved TerStegan’s body 10 feet out of the way and then followed behind it.  Xeelie, once she switched implements, took a reactive strike and hit for 14.  She was disappointed in that damage but it was enough to killed her.  She then moved and cast Fast Healing on TerStegan.  And then the GM ended the encounter. They had some stuff.  The long spear was +1.  And an Elixir of Cheetah’s speed.  TerStegan took the half plate and dropped the breastplate since it was worth more.  We spent more time arguing about what we could carry.  We decided to spend another half hour healing up and refocusing.  Just in case there was an undead army waiting for us at the exit.  We made it home without another encounter and took a long rest.

And then undid all the work we did to split all the treasure up.  Put it back on the party sheet, pulled off anything anyone wanted and then sold the rest for cash.  159+ gold each.  And after a long rest, went back into the dungeon.  At this point, the primary chronicler’s back seized up and he had to drop.

The GM decided we needed to be punished for attempting to carry out so much loot such that we were encumbered.  (We did linger quite a while in a mostly unexplored level full of fiends.)  So, he created an Underground Temple map in the middle of our usual exit tunnel to the Smuggler’s Hideout.  And created a “random” encounter.  According to the email Brian forgot to send, we heard a noise behind us.  We hustled forward but the monsters were catching up.  Rather than prepare or turn or lay in wait, evidently, he decided we would be overtaken more of less unaware.  Two cat-like creatures and two fiends in hot in pursuit in response to our attack and theft of the amulet fragments.  Our choice was, do we run for the exit or turn and fight? That depends on who wins initiative, of course. 

TerStegan won and prepared to attack.  He used his Helm to get 3 interact actions for one action.  He cut loose the breastplate for two actions and one of the glaives for one.  Now he was no longer encumbered.  Then he regripped his axe and entered his stance.  Next, a goat-like fiend moved up and did a Frothing spew.  20-foot line at Oakwood and Briscoe.  Both saved for half.  10 points and they didn’t fall prone.  The other one moved up and did a Fume instead.  Black smoke concealing everyone within.  (They were immune from the effects, of course.)  Oakwood saved but the rest failed for Sickened 1.  Briscoe cast Rousing Splash on Oakwood and ran through the archway and out of the smoke area.  Aren’t we fleeing, he asked.  Clarisa ran out as well and cast Laughing Fit.  Wait, reverse that.  She cast first.  She missed the flat check and used a hero point.  The fiend missed that save.  And then she ran.  And then retroactive play.  That smoke attack had no range so none of us were in it.  Only them.  An unseen Hellcat stealthfully moved and Growled.  That burst got Briscoe and Oakwood but TerStegan used his Counter Performance since it was an auditory attack.  He rolled poorly and used a hero point for a critical success.  That made them immune for 24 hours.  The next Hellcat, which we could sort of see, moved up and attacked TerStegan while still hidden.  The bite hit for 18 and it was no longer hidden.  The claws both missed.  Oakwood took an action to place the keg of flammable chemicals on the ground and roll it away.  That wasn’t as far as he’d hoped so he had to step south one square and then turned on his Thermal Nimbus.  He was also now no longer encumbered.

TerStegan hit for 23 and 8, losing 5 damage on each.  And cast Shield, still standing on the flaming glaive he dropped last round.  A fiend moved behind Oakwood and TerStegan.  It couldn’t do its Fume because of the Slow from the Laughing Fit so it attacked TerStegan.  But it took a crit reaction for the move from TerStegan for 50 first.  And its boiling blood splashed us.  But it was minimal fire damage and bounced off the resistance from the Thermal Nimbus.  After all that, it missed even with flanking.  The next fiend moved up and Spewed on them.  Oakwood missed the save and took 18 and TerStegan took 5.  The nimbus helped mitigate the damage but Oakwood was knocked prone.  Briscoe ran back in and missed a fiend.  But he at least gave TerStegan flanking.  Clarisa shot a fiend with a Briny Bolt for 26 and sustained the Laughing Fit.  That guy bled but we all saved so it bounced.  The hidden Hellcat got all the way around and pounced on Clarisa in the other room.  That crit but only rolled 28 on 4d12+16.  The other Hellcat missed TerStegan, even with flanking.  It growled.  Oakwood and Briscoe were immune but Clarisa only succeeded for Frighten 1.  Oakwood stood up and no one hit him for it.  And cast a Timber Sentinel in the middle of us. 

TerStegan missed by one but Oakwood did his reactive guidance focus ability.  That hit for 22 and we all took the splash.  Oakwood and the tree took 1.  TerStegan then missed again but then hit for 19.  That dropped it and its blood bounced.  The last fiend crit Oakwood for 46 but between the Nimbus and the tree, he took none of it.  And it rolled a second 20 with its second attack.  That did 34 points.  Briscoe turned and fired a Tempest Surge on the Hellcat on Clarisa.  It saved for half so 12.  He then moved and did BFM on Oakwood for a net 23.  Clarisa sustained the Laughing Fit and cast the same on the other Hellcat which failed its save as well.  It then bit her for 29 and then re-hid.  The next Hellcat bit Oakwood for 16 and clawed him for 12.  He, in turn, missed it twice and raised his shield. 

TerStegan missed twice and cast Shield.  The fiend did its Fume to cause more confusion.  Briscoe wasn’t in the smoke, made his flat check to target and did a Tempest Surge on the fiend.  That did 20 and made it Clumsy 2 for a round.  He then ran over to Clarisa and did BFM for 32 hit points.  Clarisa sustained both spells and fled into the room with the rest of us.  Her Hellcat attacked Briscoe and missed. And then crit with a claw for 47.  The other Hellcat missed the save from the smoke for Sickened 1.  It made its flat check however and hit TerStegan for 19.  And missed with 2 claws.  Oakwood saved against the smoke, cast Sure Strike to ignore the conceal and crit the fiend.  That did a disappointing 20 cold.  The blood splash bounced.

TerStegan missed the save against the smoke to be Sickened 1.  He stepped out of the smoke, retched against the Sickened, and hit the Hellcat for 26.  The fiend used his Spew on Oakwood and TerStegan.  The first saved and the second crit failed and then heroically saved.  They took 28/2-7=7.  Briscoe had a target rich environment of blooded characters to heal.  Unfortunately, Oakwood was still in the smoke but Briscoe made the flat check to get to him and used his bonus BFM.  That did 24.  He then did a powerful heal spell on himself for 47.  Clarisa didn’t sustain on the Hellcat, did sustain on the fiend and cast on the other Hellcat.  That failed for Slowed 1.  The unslowed Hellcat went hidden, moved and attacked Clarisa with a +2.  It barely hit and did 26.  And hit with a claw for another 18.  The Slowed Hellcat crit Oakwood for 54.  But it missed its conceal flat check so that didn’t count.  It clawed him for 16 but the shield took 8 of hit.  Oakwood breathed another round.  He made his Fort save, put up another Tree and raised his shield.  He was contributing more with the Nimbus resistances than he could with damage. 

TerStegan hit the Hellcat once and finally moved it to blooded.  The fiend hit Oakwood for 8 and his shield blocked it all.  Briscoe healed everybody for 21, including them.  (4 vs 3 is a win?) Clarisa was running out of spells since we hadn’t had a chance to rest.  And she only had 1 action since she was sustaining two spells.  (Should she have been casting damaging cantrips instead? Hard to know.  What she didn’t have was any Magic Missiles and that damage was missed.)  She cast Shield.  The Hellcat missed Clarisa with a bite and then hit with a claw.  It missed a crit by 1.  That did 21 and she chose to keep the shield’s AC and take it.  And missed.  The other Hellcat crit Oakwood by a lot but missed the flat check again.  The claw hit TerStegan for 17 but the Tree took all of it.  Oakwood cast Dash on Herbs on Clarisa but rolled a minimum 6.  And then attacked the fiend and did 15, making the flat check.

TerStegan decided to flank the fiend and try to get something off the map.  (The Hellcats had a hell of a lot of hit points.)  He made his Fort save from the smoke.  He hit and made the flat check.  He did 25.  And then missed.  The fiend attacked the still flanked Oakwood, ignoring the smoke.  That did 19, less 5 fire and 14 to the tree.  And then missed.  Briscoe cast another Tempest Surge on the fiend but missed the flat check.  His Halfling Luck didn’t apply so he used a hero point.  That did 15 doubled for 30 because it crit missed its save.  And Clumsy 2.  And then he hit with his trident for 8.  Clarisa stepped 5 feet to get next to the battered tree and sustained the two spells.  One Hellcat waited for its friend to move up to get flanking for both.  It bit Clarisa for 17.  The Tree gave its remaining but she still dropped to 0.  The other one crit Briscoe for 48.  And hit with a claw for 21.  And missed.  He went from unharmed to near death.  Oakwood crit the fiend and dropped it after making the flat check with a 5.  And put up another tree next to Briscoe, figuring that was more hit points than he could possibly heal. 

TerStegan moved to flank a Hellcat.  He hit once for 25.  Briscoe did BFM on himself for 22 and then cast his last heal on Clarisa for 36.  Clarisa stood up and cast her Silver Needle Darts and missed.  She used a hero point and barely hit.  That did 20 points, none were resisted.  She stopped sustaining to do so.  One Hellcat fled towards the dungeon depths now that its master was dead.  The other made a 31 acro to get past us but TerStegan gave it a parting 9 points.  Oakwood missed his save, finally moved out of the smoke, retched to clear to sickened and raised his shield in case they came back.  TerStegan was dying to give chase but picked up the magic glaive he had dropped at the beginning.  He pretended it was the smoke that stopped him from charging after them and rolled a 1 on his Performance so nobody bought it.  We spent 20 minutes healing up and refocusing.  And then packed back up and headed for home.

And then Brian rolled a random encounter.  A demonologist and an anti-paladin came walking down our secret cave.  (For a hidden cave that no one had used for 500 years, there sure was a lot of traffic in it.)  They claimed ownership of our hard-earned flaming glaives.  And they wanted all the rest of our stuff too.  So, it was to be a fight.  We rolled initiative and agreed to go one round.  And then the GM restarted Foundry to try to fix some stuff and that didn’t fix it.  We took it as a sign to just stop.  Maybe Xeelie will show up to help next time.