Session Seven – Season Finale
The heroes brush the bonedust from their shoulders and delve deeper into the ancient temple. They enter a small chamber devoid of ornamentation, save for a stone font in the centre of the room. Detailed depictions of various weapons have been carved into the edge of the bowl, which is filled with a clear, blue liquid. Of course, Aeneas immediately scoops up some of the unknown substance in his cupped palms and gulps it down. It tastes just like the mead grandma used to brew! Aeneas encourages the others to sample this divine ambrosia. Cole Hart dips his finger into the font then warily licks the wet digit. Urgh, it tastes like manticore’s piss! The rest of the party are so busy defusing the resultant quarrel that nobody notices Glim noticing a hidden switch on the font’s base or is able to discourage him from pressing it. Immediately, the room is plunged into darkness. A glowing timer appears above the font, counting down from twenty to zero.
20. 19. 18. 17.
The heroes panic.
16. 15. 14. 13.
Sabbath and Rishekk drink the rest of the blue liquid, thinking that might achieve something.
(It achieves nothing.)
12. 11. 10.
Aeneas charges headlong into a wall.
9. 8. 7.
Glim hammers the secret switch, trying to stop the countdown.
6. 5. 4.
Cole Hart lies down on the floor and resigns himself to death.
3. 2. 1.
Suddenly, the lights come back on. The heroes look around, but nothing in the room has changed. They scratch their heads and carry on.
The party reach an intersection, with stairs leading up and down. Glim descends and finds a room filled with treasure. He rushes forward greedily. Fortunately, Rishekk had the foresight to knot a rope around the rogue’s belt and reels Glim in before he triggers another trap.
The party ascend into a cavernous space. Jagged stalactites hang from the ceiling and Cole Hart immediately begins fretting about darkmantles. He is so busy looking up that he doesn’t spot the skeletons crawling out of the ground until they start attacking him with advantage! Sabbath Black has just long enough to regret being so frugal with his hit die during the last short rest before he goes down beneath a flurry of bony claws. Aeneas clobbers a skeleton hard enough to knock its skull off its spine. The other skeletons glare at him reproachfully.
The party make short work of the skeletons and carry on. They find themselves in a long, meandering tunnel. After several hours, Cole Hart draws a card from the deck of many things, just to break the monotony. He draws Balance and his alignment immediately shifts to lawful evil and a villainous black moustache sprouts from his face. He twirls it mischievously.
Soon after, the heroes reach what Sabbath identifies as a boss room. A wizened old man sits reading a book, which he closes with a sigh as the party approach. He patiently explains that he is the guardian of the crystal and if the heroes do not turn around right now, he will mess them up. The heroes are undaunted, this won’t be the first pensioner they’ve butchered on their quest for personal glory. The old man shrugs sadly and transforms into a huge red dragon.
The heroes panic.
Cole Hart and Glim back up far enough not to be caught in any 30 foot cones and commence a barrage of ranged attacks. Aeneas rages and hurls himself into savage melee with the lizard. Rishekk slaps the dragon hard enough to knock it prone and Aeneas slashes at its vulnerable underbelly. Ultimately, it’s Glim who delivers the killing blow; he fires an arrow at the weak spot that Aeneas’ axe has carved into the dragon’s hide and pierces its ancient heart. The dragon fades from existence as it dies and a secret panel pops open revealing a fragment of black crystal. Having recently converted to evil, Cole Hart grabs the shard. It is his now. His precioussssss.
As soon as Cole grabs the crystal, the dungeon begins to collapse. The heroes sprint for the exit and make it out moments before the entrance sinks into the ground. The party celebrate the success of their mission by drawing ALL of the remaining cards from the deck of many things. Cole Hart draws three cards. The first card grants him the deed to a castle (one careful owner). The second card decks him out in 50,000gp worth of bling. The third card sucks his soul out of his body leaves him a drooling vegetable. His so-called ‘friends’ carefully prise the deed from his hand, divvy up his gold then roll his body into a shallow grave.
“If anyone asks, the dragon got him.” Glim said. The rest of the party nod.
Aeneas draws a handful of cards. All his magic items disappear, then reappear, he loses a level, gets it back, gains three wishes and the service of a fourth level fighter then loses 4 points of intelligence. Never the sharpest axe in the armoury, now the barbarian struggles to remember which end of his weapon is for twatting people with.
Sabbath Black draws a single card and is drawn into an extradimensional prison from which there is no escape.
“If anyone asks, the dragon got him.” Glim said. The rest of the party nod.
The surviving members of the Fallen Tree gang return to the Imperial City. Leonine Rann welcomes them back and asks to study the crystal.
“Bwahahahaha! Fools!” the scholar crows, disappearing (with the crystal) in a puff of acrid smoke.
It’s not long before the screaming starts, as the sun is blotted out, casting the Imperial City into unnatural twilight.
“Ero’ Annellin is returned!” booms a deafening voice that can be heard across the land.
Moments later, a squad of armed guards appear with a summons from the King. Somehow, His Royal Highness knows exactly what role the heroes played in triggering the eclipse (yet did nothing to prevent it). Now, the Fallen Tree gang must travel the world in search of allies to fight alongside them in the inevitable battle against the evil wizard they inadvertently restored to power.