RECAP: 5th Avengers, 12-13-20
By Tucker
We appear on a well-worn dirt road–behind us, an out of focus landscape, and before us, an estate. The skies have some sort of field in them–some of us would know that we are in what is called a pocket plane. We hear blaring music ahead. Guard towers ahead appear unmanned, but we are certain that we are being tracked. As we approach, we see three vivid white wolves. Jarry can tell the wolves are approaching us with intention. A yelp is heard as an acid arrow buries into one of their coats. Lauris lines up a shot with his shortbow and misses badly. The wolves bite Caela, Lauris and Geth. Caela knows them to be winter wolves, and they should not be here! They are arctic creatures, and this is not the right climate at all for them. They are immune to cold and are susceptible to heat damage. Caela tells the group to kill it with fire and misses with her mace, then retreats. Balyx closes and uses his fire breath weapon on the wolves, to poor effect. Geth casts Flame Blade and slashes at the wolf that hit him. Lauris misses badly with Booming Blade. Jarry casts Invisibility and fades from view. Lauris gets bit badly by a wolf, and the others miss. Caela takes aim at the wolf that bit Lauris, striking it squarely with an arrow. Balyx strikes a wolf with his longsword, and Geth shouts “BE WELL!” to Lauris, healing his wounds, and strikes the wolf ahead of him again with a little more enthusiasm than necessary. Lauris hits a wolf with Sneak Attack and his Booming Blade, then disengages to move closer to Geth. Jarry casts a strategic fireball so as not to light afire Lauris and Geth, but does engulf the wolves who take damage. Geth, manly, takes a savage bite from a winter wolf with gritty determination. Caela downs a wolf with two shots from her longbow, and Balyx skewers another with his longsword, and Geth polishes off the third with a mighty blow from his flaming sword.
The door to the estate is secure, nondescript but made of sturdy wood. The towers appear unmanned. Geth pushes open the door, which has neither locks nor trapped.
We enter a courtyard, with a fountain in the middle, with flames erupting from a hand sculpture in the center. There are tables distributed around the room. We are the first to arrive at the holiday party. There is an ice sculpture of a bear, and a lifelike representation of a noble. The bear statue does not appear to move at all. Balyx casts Detect Magic. The ice sculptures are magical. The noble sculpture appears to be looking at Geth as he looks at him. Lauris conjures a Silent Image of a 15-foot Santa, drinking from the spout and urinating back into the fountain. Chain Piss Santa remains for 15 minutes. Geth greets the noble ice sculpture, which does not greet him back. Jarry does a shot off the ice sculpture and investigates it. Jarry samples the food but finds that it is not to his liking–Balyx, upon examining the food, finds that it might not be poisoned, just—evil. Jarry moves toward a staircase. Lauris moves his santa up the stairs, and approaches behind it. As he approaches the stairs, he gets the sense there is something he needs to investigate, and instead strikes the ice sculpture with his rapier. As he does, we all notice that there is a magical reverberation between the sculptures, which all fade away.
Balyx is the first to recognize that the ice sculptures have melted away into demonic creatures that now surround us. He heads in to fight the large one. Jarry hits one with an acid arrow. Geth casts Flame Blade and is delighted to find that it hews one of the small creatures in two with a single hit, exclaiming that the fiery sword is his new favorite. One of the smaller demons deals a blow to Balyx, who maintains his concentration on Hunter’s Mark. Caela strikes one of the smaller ones with a mace, then connects again on the return swing. The large creature blasts Balyx with a cone of cold, leaving him chilled but not too badly damaged. Lauris eviscerates one of the smaller fiends with a little misdirection from Caela, and Balyx goes in on the larger one, smashing its face with divine wrath. Jarry hits a demon with Magic Missle, while Geth misses with his flame sword and curses it. Balyx takes a hit from the smaller demon. Caela pegs the demon next to Geth with an arrow, then misses the one by Balyx. Lauris sticks the smaller demon with a hit from his shortbow, then Balyx finishes it off with two blows from his longsword.
The light from the torch is now blue. A quietness falls over the courtyard. Strange things remain above the stairs. Without consulting anyone, Geth moves up the stairs to the west, triggering a trap and taking damage from a blade.
There is a humanoid female next to a campfire in the room. She has vivid red hair and says nothing, and is wearing full plate armor. Geth shouts “Hey. What are you doing here.”
“Waiting for guests to arrive.” she replies.
Lauris heads up the stairs and disarms the trap. Caela follows. There is much snide talk of Lauris’s skill, as he commands the Santa illusion to head ahead of him.
In the room, there is no roof. There are some supply barrels, and there is an ice sculpture in the form of a hero, a male, standing in a heroic posture. It is comfortably warm and the ice sculpture shows no signs of melting. Geth asks what she will do when the guests arrive, and she replies that she is there to serve. He asks who the ice sculpture is, and she says it is a great adventurer and mentor of hers.
Geth asks what is in the chest next to her. She says “Things to be coveted.” Geth investigates the statue, while Lauris casts an illusion on it that makes it look like it is aflame. Balyx strikes her and the Red Knight, distracted by her searing plate armor, whiffs her attacks on him. Jarry hits the knight with a magic missile, and Lauris loots the chest, finding a belt, an ugly necklace, a scepter, a folder, and a stick. Caela hits the Red Knight with an arrow. Geth finishes her off with Heat Metal. She is carrying plate armor, adventuring gear, an ornate longsword and a cloak, which Geth loots.
