H&Y Infinite Open Table Session 21 (Grunch Rising)
Characters:
Wicknod (Scott)
Silvio (Reeves) + Eclair
Regular Phil (Duress)
Xavos (Laggs)\
Summer 71, 6023
Going to the hole in the Puddlegrass, Silvio is still on the hunt for Vikram to free Flamagio and a vault to seal for Domotor. The party gets to the hole to the Underworld in the ruins of the Purple Heron goblin camp, they discover that all the purple crystals that once lined the tunnel and giant snake skeleton have been removed.
The party starts climbing down the hole, only to find a tunnel hulk at the bottom eating a dead giant snake. Thinking quickly, Phil casts Encase in Amber on Xavos and drops the demonic-swordsman-sized block of amber on the giant bug's head. This enrages the bug, who begins climbing the wall to get at the remains of the party. Phil thinks even quicker and casts Icicle Spears to try and stop the hulk's advance. Wicknod takes this opportunity to leap from the ladder above to attempt a plunging attack, missing entirely and crashing through the ice spears to the ground below, taking massive falling damage. Silvio blasts the hulk with his Lightning Bolt spell using Flamagio's Hawthorne Staff of Blasting, finishing it off.
The party harvests the dead hulk and the remains of the snake, getting many slots of snakeskin, the hulk's claws + mandibles + chitin. A troll appears during the harvest but the PCs bribe him with a side of snake meat to not bother them anymore. He accepts, informing the party that his name is Grunch. Grunch leaves once he is paid off. The party climbs back up to the surface and camps there to wait for the Encase in Amber spell to wear off at the next sunrise.
Summer 72, 6023
Party heads back down, following the path that Grunch was on the previous day. They find an altar with a decapitated troll skull on it and are quite surprised when the altar speaks, introducing itself as an avatar of Tomiris (god of trolls) and demanding meat. The PCs discuss terms with the immobilized head for some time, eventually learning that Tomiris is willing to turn some or all of them into swine or trolls, their pick. They decline the offer, trading the rest of the giant snake carcass for knowledge of any nearby secret doors. Tomiris relents and shows them the secret door hidden behind his altar, allowing the PCs to travel through.
On the other end, they find a room with a hidden cache and a bunch of treasure buried inside. They loot the room and continue onwards, finding a room full of sticky spider web. Xavos begins cutting the webs, attracting the attention of the web's owner, a massive phase spider.
Phil thinks quickly and makes use of their ancestral knowledge of Facts of Dubious Value, remembering that Phase Spiders Can't Hurt Holy Men. Wicknod speaks quickly and manages to convince the phase spider that he's part of "the Church of Tommy" (misremembering the name "Tomiris" from a few rooms back) and explains a pyramid scheme to the spider in high concept. The spider, being dumb as a post and twice as naive, thinks that a pyramid scheme where she gets lots of friends and a fun corporate hierarchy where she can be her own boss and make her own hours is a great idea, immediately asking to join. Wicknod charges her a silver ingot as joining fee and promises to come back in a while to check on her progress.
["Facts of Dubious Value" is the name of a class feature from a GLOG class I wrote a while ago. I'm trying out this thing where PCs that retire grant the player that controlled them a class feature that they can apply to their new characters. FoDV essentially allows for the character to learn a hitherto unknown truth of the setting in dire situations, with the rule being retroactively applied to the rest of the setting. This is, so far, the first and only time this ability has been used.]
The party continues north back through the secret room and the altar to Tomiris, finding a hunting party of trolls at the top of a steep slope. They ask about Grunch but get nothing but insults and hostility back, so they quickly leave so as to not press their luck. They continue north, finding a pool surrounded by purple glowing crystals, the same ones that used to grow in the tunnel in the Puddlegrass. Phil dives into the pool and searches the bottom of it, finding a pair of magic gloves, a vest that lets you drink fluids without holding them, and a bottle of "wine."
The PCs continues exploring the environs, finding another troll dressed in a bloody apron. The troll explains that Grunch is still out hunting, and that he's been depressed since he broke up with his girlfriend. The party expresses their desire to speak more with Grunch and backtracks.
The party comes to a door covered in magic runes. Phil tries to disarm the runes on the front and triggers them instead, getting transmogrified into a chicken. Silvio and Xavos act quickly and push open the door while the runes are disabled. They find a wizard's skeleton beyond, complete with staff and Tome of Warding. They quickly loot the skeleton and skedaddle, grabbing Phil-the-Chicken on the way.
Returning to Circlebrook, the PCs visit the Council of Currents and pay to have Phil decursed, transforming her back to her normal orc form. Phil immediately sets to work, getting workshop space from her uncle Rolof and starting creation on a magic pair of gloves to allow for digging through solid stone similar to the tunnel hulk.