Out of the Abyss 2020: Sessions 17-19

Hi all,

I previously posted some warts-and-all email summaries of the ‘Curse of Strahd’ campaign I ran in 2017, and the ‘Tomb of Annihilation’ campaign from 2018-2019. CoS was the first campaign I sent summaries to players by email after each game (I was a bit lazy prior to that). Here’s another campaign – 2020’s ‘Out of the Abyss’. Each session was approximately 4 hours long. Some of the summaries may be amusing, but don’t forget these are unedited emails, so please forgive their somewhat chaotic nature and poor sentence structure/grammar. If you’re a D&D fan you may enjoy them. And maybe even if you aren’t.

Game on!

Steve 🙂

Session 17 – Rolling Stones Gather No Moss

The party entered a cavern filled with stone statues of Drow and weird crystalline formations. Six of the statues animated and the PCs took them out. Then another six animated! As the party valiantly fought on, Peter’s Rogue explored the cavern further, finding a statue of a gnome cradling a crystal as if looking through it. Suspecting foul play, Peter’s Rogue collected some crystals, checked out a cavern further north and realized it held the Menhir that needed to be consecrated with the hallow spell. 

A Medusa came upstairs from a cavern below – Peter’s rogue used a crystal to avoid its gaze, but Belinda’s Bard was petrified (and she STILL feels that pain)! Jeremy’s Monk and Rhyse’s Rogue were almost turned to stone, but were saved as Peter’s Rogue sliced the Medusa’s head off with his sunsword. The party decided discretion was the better part of valor, and after briefly looting Belinda’s statue of its non-petrified magic items, fled south and out of Rockblight to rest and recuperate. Oh, and mourn the loss of their fearless Half-Sireen Bard. “Ummm, what was his name again?” thought Mat’s Cleric…

Next Week: Return to Rockblight! And the debut of Belinda’s new character! And no, you can’t go up a level…       

Session 18 – Rockin’ in Rockblight

Retiring to The Foaming Mug tavern, the party mourned the loss of their bard (“Ummm, what was his name again?” said everyone. Oh, too soon?). Conveniently, they met Belinda’s NEW Bard, a Tabaxi called Serafina Burning Sky with a penchant for handing out chocolate cookies and a silent mascot duck called Montgomery. At the same time, Jeremy’s Monk ‘Da Gronk’ decided to retire, and he introduced a new party member: Gitz’Razza, or Raz, the Bugbear Barbarian, a goblinoid of few words and many actions (as long as they involve hitting something).

Renewed (but forgetting to buy more Potions of Healing – DOH!), the party headed back to Rockblight to deliver the spell gem to the menhir Pete’s Rogue found earlier and consecrate the area. A huge Earth Elemental sprung from the wall and attacked! They defeated three elementals, and after the destruction of each a Galeb Duhr guardian appeared and took its place guarding the menhir. The area was finally consecrated and protected from Ogremoch’s Bane (the thing no one had seen that drove elementals crazy). Belinda’s Bard showed off her fancy spells she’d learned as a College of Lore graduate – eldritch blast and everyone’s fave: fireball! (or furball, because she’s a cat person. See what I did there?). And all I got when I graduated was a piece of paper and this lousy t-shirt… 

Back into the main cavern to investigate the dead medusa’s lair, the party took on more animated Drow statues. Jeremy’s Barbarian won the prize for the most times knocked unconscious, and Matt’s Cleric again proved how useful spiritual guardians could be.

Time for a level up, asked the party? “Not likely,” said the mean DM.

Next Week: More Blingdenstone antics! Wererats! Oozes! Soft Shoe Shuffles! And maybe a bright and shiny new level, if you all behave and play well with each other…     

Session 19 – Ogremoch’s Bane

After a long rest, the party did some shopping in the Trader’s Bazaar and bought a number of Potions of Healing (about time). They visited the Ruby in the Rough and went down into the dank and dark catacombs, where they met up with the ghost of Burrow Warden Jadger. Jadger was in the process of training new wardens to make Blingdenstone a better place. The party accepted his request to take out Vazuk, a spectre causing problems in the residential area, and recover the bones of a dead deep gnome – Udhask from Rockblight.

Off to the residential area and the hovels, where the 10-foot pole was the latest fad (gotta catch ‘em all!) and the party dispatched the spectre. Rhyse’s Rogue got some rotting socks and Belinda’s Bard got some rubies – shiny! Jeremy’s Barbarian got an empty box and brained a nearby deep gnome with it (accidentally? Nah).

Off to Rockblight, where Jeremy’s Barbarian followed a ghost into a hovel and Matt’s Cleric read the stone building, revealing the secret history of Blingdenstone via the very rock itself with his stone cunning ‘third eye’ (which DM Steve amped up a bit). Turns out the bones of the ghost were just what the doctor ordered, so Jeremy’s Barbarian collected them as Rhyse’s Rogue decided to recover the expensive drow dresses they missed last time.

Dashing through the room of statues as they animated, Rhyse’s Rogue got the dresses and the party fought the walking statues. Matt’s Cleric used his stone cunning to realise the statues must be there for a reason, so they systematically destroyed them all (and Belinda’s Bard realised she could fireball her own party – a revelatory moment). Jeremy’s Barbarian went to town and even decided to kill the old statue of Belinda’s previous bard – whatshisname – but stopped, just in time.

When the final animated statue fell, the dust coalesced into a vast, swirling, malevolent cloud – Ogremoch’s Bane! The party didn’t know what to do, until Rhyse’s Rogue pulled out the gemstone he uncovered a few sessions back and ran to the hallowed temple. Unfortunately, he was too short to place the stone in the hole in the menhir, but Matt’s Cleric grabbed it, placed it and Ogremoch’s Bane was no more, banished back to the elemental plane of earth!

And the party advanced to level 7!  

Next Week: Yet more Blingdenstone – where the Wererats and Oozes do play!    

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