Session 3
A few hours of travel on horseback later, the party notices that the closer they get to the ruins of Eshkrisher, they notice a lot more insects and realise they are being watched. Dolly tries to determine who is watching them, and asks Held what makes the insects so powrerful in ancient times. Held says that they insects were telepathic and telekinetic, and the princesses were so powerful they could control multiple people at once. He believes there may be a queen in the area.
Whiskeythimble spies a scholar's pack and what seems like a wizard's staff lying seemingly abandoned up ahead. Investigating, Held sees that the staff seems to be a prized item, and a spellbook in the bag. He suspects someone flew or teleported in and was attacked and captured. Held closes his eyes, and asks if the party can hear the buzzing.
At that point, the bugs engage.
Kira slices the first blattoid with her glaive, dealing 14Sla dmg.
Youruna casts Sorcerors Burst dealing 1Fire dmg.
Whiskeythimble sneaks a shot from his bow, dealing 10dmg to the first blattoid, skewering it through it's eye and killing it.
The second blattoid flies into Youruna, dealing 4Blu dmg.
The third flies toward Dolly, missing him.
The fourth flies to Kira, missing her too.
Dolly swings at the blattoid in front of him, missing. Using his action surge, he swings his greatsword again, dealing 12dmg and sending it reeling.
Hardy moves to throw his daggers at the third blattoid, but misses. He casts Bardic Inspiration on Kira.
Kira manages to kill the third blattoid thanks to the bardic inspiration.
Youruna steps around the tree and uses Burning Hands on the second and fourth Blattoids, hitting them both and frying them both.
Yourunawitha Despair grabs a leg and bites into the cooked flesh.
As the party takes stock, they see Held clutching the box and muttering to himself to keep it safe. Lydia and Marjorie are looking on, Lydia with her shortsword in front of her and holding the correct position while Marjorie cowers behind her.
Whiskeythimble realises that the insects came from the West, in the direction of Eshkrisher. Uncertain about whether to rescue the wizard, the captain sees a pin on the ground, a symbol of a Crane in flight. Left with no choice but to rescue their comrade, they enter the city.
A heaviness descends on the party. Looking up, Kira spies a Mantid Humanoid, a Thrikeen, in a cage above them. In her head, she hears it's plea: 'Free me, please'.
Inspecting it, Whiskeythimble recognises it as a Thrikeen, who sided with humanity against the Blattoids.
The Thrikeen introduces himself as Wilson, and says he can help them find Arnold the missing wizard. Using her mage hand, Youruna lowers the cage to the ground. Whiskeythimble picks the lock, freeing Wilson. Wilson thanks them, and says he can help them navigate the city and find his friend, Arnold.
The party takes a short rest while Hardy Da plays a Song of Rest. Lydia confides in Kira, saying her father intends her to marry a princeling from the southern islands. She wasn't excited at first, but is now - as a princess of Albany, a Tudor, her family tried to take Ireland but failed. Marrying into that family, she'll have created a stronger claim to that country. Her and Kira practice, and Wilson thanks Youruna for rescuing him. Commenting on her ability, he says that opinions are varied on curses, and shouldn't be the defining part of her character. He thanks everyone in the party again. He says that the queen is trying to read his mind, but is failing at this distance.
Venturing deeper into the city, the party finds the floor becoming squishy. Whiskeythimble manages to keep following Arnold's tracks, tracing them into a strange blobby sphincter. Inside, the party sees the hive, covered in hundreds of bugs of all sorts. Most are small, but on a dais stands a larger, slightly green insect, speaking verbally and not telepathically.
'Hear me, hear me', she says. 'Here they come with the box, we must take it from them. I have almost reached maturity and will replenish our numbers, and end humanity. We must take that box.' Pointing at a humanoid form hanging upside down from the ceiling, she says: 'I'll put myself in his mind with the box, and through him we'll take over the world. When I become a true queen, we will rule this world!'
Hardy casts Faerie Fire on the queen and her six attendants, lighting up the queen. He casts Bardic Inspiration on Dolly, and moves to some cover.
Kira ducks towards some cover, closing the gap on the group.
Youruna casts Sorcerous Burst, hitting her for 2 Lightning dmg.
Whiskeythimble sneakily fires his bow at one of the guards, hitting it in the eye and dealing 11dmg. He ducks out of sight, hiding again.
Dolly runs next to Youruna, and fires his longbow, missing the queen.
The insects see the party, and react, the smaller ones running away and the queen and guard start screeching, telepathically.
Hardy throws his dagger at the queen, dealing 4 dmg, and casts Bardic Inspiration for Kira.
She throws her knife at the queen, missing. She retreats behind cover.
Youruna casts Sorcerous Burst, missing.
Whiskeythimble fires his bow at the same guard again, hitting him for 11dmg and slicing through it's heart, killing it.
The first guard flies to Youruna and Dolly, hitting Dolly for 7Blu dmg.
The second flies towards Kira, and misses.
The third flies onto Hardy's cover, swings at him but misses.
The fourth and fifth fly forward, into the missle of the room.
The queen looks at Youruna, and Youruna feels the queen reaching into her mind, dealing 7dmg to Youruna and Dolly.
Dolly swings at the guard in front of him, but misses.
Hardy casts Thunderclap, dealing 2dmg to the third guard, and casts Bardic Inspiration on Youruna.
Kira swings at the second guard, dealing 5dmg and killing it.
Youruna steps around ehr cover, flanking the first guard, and swings at it, hitting it and dealing 3dmg and freezing it with Booming Blade.
Whiskeythimble fires his bow at the third guard, missing.
The first guard swings at Dolly, missing.
The third guard swings at Hardy, dealing, 7dmg.
The fourth guard flies to Kira, missing her.
The fifth guard does the same.
The queen hits Youruna with another mental blast, dealing 6dmg.
Another 4dmg hits Hardy.
Dolly swings at the first guard, slicing it's legs off and letting it bleed out. He finds some more cover.
Hardy uses Thunderclap, dealing 4 dmg to the third guard, collapsing the wall on top of it and kiling it.
Kira hits the fourth guard, slicing it open. Using her action, she swings at the fifth guard, slicing it open but leaving it standing.
Youruna casts Sorcerous Blast on the queen, dealing 2 Ice dmg.
Whiskeythimble hits the fifth, last guard, with an arrow, dealing 12 dmg and killing it before hiding again.
'Not my subjects!' cries the queen, seeming to vibrate in place. She flies towards Dolly, knocking him and Kira for 2dmg each.
Dolly runs up behind her, swinging his greatsword and dealing 14dmg. Using an action surge, he swings again, hitting again and dealing 12 dmg. The queen steps back, bloodied.
Hardy runs to slightly closer cover by the queen, and takes Dodge.
Kira steps up to the queen, swinging for 9Dmg.
'I just wanted to rule the world' cries the queen as Kira steps back.
Youruna uses Quicken to cast Burning Hands on the queen, dealing 11Dmg. She then casts Sorcerous Burst on the queen, hitting her and dealing 7dmg.
Whiskeythimble steps once more out of the shadows, firing his bow twice but missing both times.
Pulling herself up, the queen starts running towards a glowing circle that Kira recognises as a teleportation pad.
Dolly fires his long bow, hitting the queen for 7dmg.
Hardy steps up to the queen, casting Thunderclap, dealing 3dmg to the queen and destroying the teleportation circle.
Kira runs up to the queen, landing on her and slicing down, killing her.
The party hears the queen's dying thoughts, repeating: 'They have it, they have it'. The party feels that message spreading to all of the smaller escaping insects, and out into the world.
Wilson finished rescuing Arnold, and offers the party healing. Everybody heals 12HP. He bemoans the loss of his staff and book. Looking for Held, Lydia, and Marjorie, Kira and Youruna find them knocked out, next to the captain with a sword through his throat. Held is caught in the action of taking the hand of Vecna. Running across the room, Hardy grabs the hand, throwing it across the room.
Held slaps Hardy, and puts the eye of Vecna into his empty socket. His head rolls back, as he says 'Master! Never have I felt such power!'
Whiskeythimble shoots him, knocking him out. Arnold stumbles into the room, saying that his sister had portents about this, and that he would need to act. He asks Kira to stab the eye, though she misses. Youruna reaches for the eye to pluck it out, succeeding, and only just manages to protect her mind against being controlled by the eye. Dolly finds the hand, and Youruna uses Mage Hand to put it in the box and close it.
Arnold sits in front of the box, casting a ritual that encases the box in mist. 'I don't know what this is, he says, 'but that thing is in a small pocket dimension, and could get out. We must get Thane'.
The party goes to level 3.