Last session, we switched gears and are on a much different mission than we had been. New place, new problem—but connected to events at the beginning of the campaign.

In these Campaign Diary posts, I talk about the campaign I play in and what happened last session!

What’s SBotLL again?

SBotLL is the campaign I play in! It’s been running for over three years now. There are two parties: one on the surface and the other in the Underdark. I play on the surface squad as the elf bard Finnith, with my two friends playing the dragonborn rogue Nala and the tiefling ranger Allora.

Recap

Last session, the party returned from a debatably, partially successful mission for the Moon’s Eye*. Finnith returned from being kidnapped, and with him was Antonio, the elf who saved him, a former Coven of Eternal Light** member. The Moon’s Eye detained Antonio for questioning.

After this, Allora, Finnith, and Nala received a summons from Vindus*** to return to his realm. They do so, and he tells them of a dire situation in Grunfeld Vale, a druid grove to the west. The vale is overtaken with unnatural and deadly fungus.

The party agrees to investigate the problem, so Vindus transports them to a nearby town. They gather supplies and set out towards the vale.

During this session…

After a few days of travel, the party arrives in Grunfeld Vale. The reports are true: the entire valley is dominated by all manner of fungus. A huge mushroom, 200 feet tall, towers in the center.

The party meets a green dragonborn named Mijira Mystan. Nala recognizes her ring, which signifies that Mijira is the leader of her clan. Nala herself received the ring of the black dragonborn clan at the beginning of the campaign, as her father entrusted her to be a worthy heir. Shortly thereafter, Nala’s family was kidnapped and embroiled in a clan power struggle.

Mijira warns the party away from the vale. She tells them that to the unprepared, venturing into Grunfeld Vale could easily lead to death. The party explains that they were sent by Vindus to help out and investigate. Nala reveals her own ring to Mijira, and the party convinces her to let them help.

Mijira keeps hinting at something that she expects Nala to pick up on, but Nala doesn’t seem to have the information Mijira thinks she does. Mijira pulls Nala aside and asks her if she knows why Grunfeld Vale is overrun, but Nala doesn’t give her the expected answer. She tells Mijira of the circumstances surrounding her receiving the ring.

Mijira then begins to explain—tl;dr, each dragonborn clan made a pact with one of the demon lords a thousand years ago to gain power against each other, but after a peace was reached, they made a treaty to conceal this fact. The treaty also stated that the clans would only use the power of the demon lords if every clan consented to it. The clan rings are a symbol of that pact. The clan leader holds the ring, the advisor holds a vial of the demon blood, and the upper echelon members hold knowledge of the rituals required to call upon the demon lord’s power.

A week ago, someone stole the Mystan clan’s vial of Zuggtmoy’s blood. A few days ago, Grunfeld Vale became overtaken with dangerous fungi. Someone is trying to bring Zuggtmoy into the Prime Material plane. Mijira can seal Zuggtmoy away and destroy the summoning circle. But, doing that would call the attention of Zuggtmoy’s demon minions, so Mijira needs people to hold the demons at bay while she disrupts the ritual.

Nala calls Allora and Finnith back and explains that Mijira can stop what’s happening to the vale as long as the party can hold off some monsters. The party agrees to help (sensing that Nala isn’t telling the whole story), and they set off into Grunfeld Vale.

They reach the giant mushroom, solve a riddle, and successfully enter the tower. They may or may not have had to drink hallucinogenic nectar to do so.

Once the party enters the mushroom tower, Mijira prepares to step inside the summoning circle and begin the sealing ritual. The party positions themselves around the circle. Once Mirjia begins, three groups of six monsters (bridesmaids and chamberlains of Zuggtmoy, along with awakened zurkhwoods) appear and attack.

It is a harrowing and stressful combat, but the party manages to repel the demons, and Mijira completes the sealing. Finnith is knocked unconscious but is stabilized.

Mijira recognizes that this was a difficult task for the party. She wants to thank them and give them a place to tend to their wounds, so she casually makes a door in a nearby mushroom (as the tower collapses around the party), and the party steps through.

They find themselves emerging from a tree in a courtyard—in a much different climate. Dry heat and a bright sun greet the party as they step through. Nala recognizes this as part of the dragonborn lands, far to the west of where the party was.

And that’s where we stopped!

Building tension

I really enjoyed the way tension built over the session, and how the information revealed in this session started a ball rolling that we, uh, didn’t know existed?

The looming mushroom tower served as a signifier for the state of the vale, the center of the problem, and the party’s destination. We had to start making Constitution saving throws as we ventured inside the valley, and that only ramped up in frequency as we entered combat.

We didn’t have a lot of combat throughout, but we were anticipating a big fight at the end, so that payed off in a big way when a horde of Zuggtmoy’s demons appeared.

As well, we (the players, if not all the characters) learned more about the dragonborn situation. For a while, the tension behind the Nala’s-family-is-captured situation was not knowing if they were alive. Finnith’s dream spell dispelled that fear since they were able to contact and speak with them directly.

Now, though, we know that not only is the leadership of Nala’s clan in jeopardy, but also the power of a demon lord is in the mix.

I really enjoyed this session! I always like learning more about the campaign world, especially now as our characters are mid-level and invested in the world. It might be a while before we have another session, but I’m excited!

*The Moon’s Eye: A secretive organization that opposes the Coven of Eternal Light and the Sidus Council. They’re allies of the party and are currently coordinating with them to fight the Coven. **The Coven of Eternal Light: An enemy organization of elves who claim to stand against the darkness. They believe that creature like tieflings are dangerous and have taken steps to make life difficult for them. They’ve taken over the capital city Alame’a and are spreading throughout the elven lands. ***Vindus: A deity the party encountered early on in the campaign. The party played a part in reawakening him, and they promised to help him: Allora to bring balance, Nala to be his scion, and Finnith to defend his precepts. He grants the party additional power, and he is associated with the wind.