Spelljammer Recap 8 Sunday February 23, 2025 @ 12:00-6:00 P.M.
<<WARNING SPOILERS FOR THE LIGHT OF XARYXIS! >>
CHAPTER 7: TRUST ISSUES
Suddenly two Bulettes erupted from the ground, leaving it broken and unstable. They swallowed two of the dead Aartuks. The Bulettes seemed to tense while sniffing at the air realizing living prey were around.
The party prepared to face a new enemy as the terrain around them crumbled and burned…
Warwyck swung his longsword twice at the new threat and struck once. Grimzod Gargenhale flew down from the ship. WuKong punched at the Bulette next to him three times and struck twice. One of the dead Aartuks desiccated instantly. P40-X cast Hunter’s Mark on a Bulette. Then she fired her pistol twice at the Bulette and hit it once with her faeries. Nebun cast Spike Growth on the area surrounding the Bulettes.
The Bulettes attacked twice and missed both WuKong and Warwyck.
Tamayo cast Ice Storm which hurt the Bulettes and put out some of the forest fire.
Warwyck retreated from a Bulette. Grimzod shot his heavy crossbow at a Bulette. The crossbow bolt pierced the armor and dug into its flesh. WuKong fell down after losing his balance while missing two punches with a wild swing and then he got up and retreated. One of the dead Aartuks turned to gray ash. P40-X fired her pistol twice at the Bulette and hit it once with her faeries. Nebun tried to use Sacred Flame but missed.
Both of the Bulettes leapt up, taking damage from the thorns of the Spike Growth. One Bulette tried to belly flop onto WuKong but WuKong nimbly dodged out of the way. The other Bulette leapt on top of Warwyck and P40-X and crushed them both. P40-X lost concentration on Hunter’s Mark.
Tamayo cast Sword Burst but the swords bounced off the Bulette’s armor.
Warwyck was completely pinned to the ground by the Bulette. Grimzod used his necrotic touch on a Bulette, draining it of all life. WuKong punched the Bulette that tried to belly slam him thrice, hitting twice. The last dead Aartuk quickly changed from brown and green wooden flesh to desiccated gray ash. P40-X got up from underneath the dead Bulette and cast Hunter’s Mark on the remaining Bulette. She drew her rapier and attacked twice, hitting once with her fairies. Nebun dropped concentration on Spike Growth and touched the last Bulette with an Inflict Wounds spell dealing good necrotic damage.
The last Bulette attacked WuKong twice but missed.
Tamayo cast Sword Burst and the swords dug into the last Bulette’s flesh and it dropped.
The party used dirt to bury the forest fire after it had spread somewhat.
P40-X harvested meat from the Bulettes. She found a Bag of Holding with money and broken glass inside the Bulette’s guts from one of their victims, possibly the eaten Aartuk. In the wreckage of the battlefield there were burnt scroll cases and broken glass vials. Nebun looked at the glass remains and figured out that it was once a crystal ball. Nebun collected an Aartuk sample.
Warwyck Blastimoff thanked the party for the save. He wondered how they had found him. P40-X told him about her being a soul vessel that had captured Commodore Krux and that she could hear his voice. She told him about the lost message stone he used to send messages to him and Mr. Flinch to prove it. Warwyck didn’t know whether to be happy or sad about it. His friend was dead but also not dead? Warwyck told the party about his failure to negotiate with the Aartuk. He said the only one with enough prestige in the sector to form a coalition was probably Vocath, a Mercane arms merchant. He lived on a space station in orbit of a green gas moon that he had renamed Vocath after himself. The moon was three days travel away. So, the party took a long rest as Captain Elaina Sartell, Topolah with the Wildspace Orrery, and Flapjack the Flumph with the Spelljamming Helm, plotted their course through the dangerous gray crystalloid asteroid fields of Doomspace to arrive there.
Nebun tried to make a poison using the Aartuk sample but failed.
P40-X talked to Commodore Krux in her head. Commodore Krux told her about his ship, the Second Wind, a living ship with a Treant on deck named Starbough, and his second in command, Mr. Flinch, a Hadozee master tailor and seamster, who could repair any sail. He also told her his ship was currently piloted by Fel Ardra, a Tiefling sorceress. Fel Ardra was using his ship to look for adventure and treasure near the Rock of Bral before his untimely demise. P40-X tried to give some of the money from the Bag of Holding to Flapjack the Flumph. The Flumph glowed yellow and telepathically told her that Captain Elaina Sartell handled money while waving his tentacles around. So, she found Captain Elaina Sartell and gave her some money to put into the ship funds.
WuKong mediated on the deck. Grimzod Gargenhale gave Nebun a chest of 1,700 gold pieces, the remains of the treasury of the Last Breath, to use to purchase anything they might need from the war merchant Vocath.
CHAPTER
8: ARENA OF BLOOD
The party arrived at Vocath’s starbase orbiting Vocath’s
moon. They landed at Dock 7 with Princess Xedalli and Warwyck Blastimoff. They
told the guards that they wanted to meet with Vocath. Nebun noticed they had
glowing tattoos on the backs of their right hands. The guards quickly relayed
that message to Vocath and told them to take a tour of the facility while they
waited. So, they circled the facility and looked at all the various docked
ships and factions along the promenade.
When they returned, they were admitted and escorted to Vocath’s throne and treasure room by his personal bodyguards, Y’thraka, a Githyanki, and Sergeant Burt Fluke, a Giff. They discussed their plan to build an alliance to take on the Xaryxian Empire. Vocath said that some of the factions might be impressed if they performed well in his arena. Princess Xedalli refused to participate but Vocath graciously allowed her to watch from his viewing balcony. After they agreed to three fights in a row with no rest, he allowed them to trade with him for weapons and armors. P40-X bought two force grenade clusters for 200 gold, a +1 rapier for 500 gold, and a +1 pistol for 500 gold. Nebun bought a +1 mace for 500 gold. Tamayo and WuKong bought a +1 Cloak of Protection for 500 gold each. P40-X knew how to use the force grenades because Commodore Krux told her how. She passed one of the clusters to Warwyck who as a Giff also knew how to use them. Vocath allowed them to short rest to attune to the Cloaks of Protection. Vocath then teleported the party and Warwyck Blastimoff into the arena.
The arena was covered in a spherical wall of force which protected the crowd from area of effects and allowed combatants to wield any of their powers without fear of hurting bystanders. The floor of the pit was covered with sand, rocks, boulders, and even weapons like knives, spears, swords, and axes in poor but usable condition. A scintillation of light occurred from a mirror just underneath Vocath’s balcony and two giants appeared. The crowd roared, “Gnasher! Thrasher!”
Gnasher moved first. He grabbed a couple of boulders and chucked them at WuKong but they missed.
Warwyck fired his musket twice at Gnasher but missed. WuKong summoned his astral arms and punched at Gnasher twice, hitting him in the feet while aiming for his ankles. P40-X ran under Thrasher’s feet and stabbed at them with her razor-sharp metal fairies and new rapier.
Thrasher picked up a rock but dropped it on his own foot and P40-X.
Nebun cast Spiritual Guardian and excluded his allies from the effect. Tamayo cast a Witch Bolt on Gnasher.
Gnasher tried to grab WuKong with all four arms but WuKong jumped backwards out of the way.
Warwyck fired his musket twice at Gnasher but missed. WuKong attacked Gnasher four times but only managed two hits. P40-X struck Thrasher twice with her rapier and once with her faeries in the foot that got smashed by the rock.
Thrasher took damage from within the field of the Spiritual Guardians and attacked with Nebun with one pair of arms and P40-X with the other pair. Thrasher hit Nebun and P40-X once each.
Nebun cast Sacred Flames at Gnasher but missed. He moved so his Spiritual Guardians would hit both of the giants. Tamayo concentrated to deal damage to Gnasher with her Witch Bolt.
Gnasher took damage from the Spiritual Guardians. Gnasher punched WuKong four times with his fists, hitting twice. WuKong used his reaction to use Hadozee Resilience to reduce the damage of one of the hits. Gnasher moved away from WuKong to try and get out of the Spiritual Guardians area but he couldn’t use an opportunity attack since WuKong had just used his reaction.
Warwyck fired his musket twice at Gnasher but missed. WuKong got a critical on his punch and ripped out Gnasher’s Achilles tendon. Gnasher fell over and then WuKong kicked him in the ribs on the ground. Gnasher spat out blood and then went still.
P40-X stabbed Thrasher twice with her rapier and once with her faeries.
Thrasher tried to move but immediately dropped to the ground from the Spiritual Guardians.
Tamayo and Nebun performed for the crowd.
With the first round completed, the giants disappeared. Then a huge armored giant, a large brown Scavver, and a gray Scavver appeared. The crowd roared, “Brutus the Beastmaster!”
WuKong went first, hitting the gray Scavver twice but then falling over with an off-balance third attack. Tamayo went next and cast Lightning Bolt through all three enemies, frying the gray Scavver that stopped floating and dropped out of the air onto the ground. Nebun cast Inflict Wounds on the brown Scavver and it fell to the ground dead. P40-X refused to gut the Scavvers and instead cast Hunter’s Mark on the giant. She lunged at the giant, delivering a critical hit to the nose. Her follow up attack was blocked by a nearly invisible shield.
Brutus took damage from the Spiritual Guardians. Brutus spewed acid breath at P40-X and Nebun. Nebun used his Dampen Elements reaction to give P40-X resistance to acid damage. P40-X lost concentration on the Hunter’s Mark. Brutus then tried to run away from Nebun and P40-X, triggering an attack of opportunity from P40-X that she missed. Nebun couldn’t use an opportunity attack because he had used his reaction.
Warwyck tossed a force grenade at Brutus that did minimal damage. It seemed like a barrier went up that shaped the blast away from Brutus.
WuKong got up and threw two darts at Brutus. One hit and found a small chink in the armor to hurt the giant. Tamayo cast lightning bolt through a gap in between Warwyck and WuKong that seemed to dissipate somewhat before it reached Brutus. Nebun cast Cure Wounds on P40-X. P40-X shot Brutus twice with her pistol.
Brutus took damage from Spiritual Guardian. Brutus swung his great club twice hitting Warwyck and WuKong. WuKong used his Hadozee Resilience to soften the blow. Brutus moved away from Nebun’s Spiritual Guardian range.
Warwyck tossed a force grenade at Brutus and killed it when Brutus failed to block it. WuKong gutted the gray Scavver for food. Tamayo performed for the crowd. Nebun botched skinning the brown Scavver for less food. P40-X cast Cure Wounds on herself.
Vocath shouted, “Well done. Now prepare yourselves for the Terror of Doomspace, Queen Gorma!” Brutus and the remains of the Scavvers disappeared. A friendly space guppy appeared. Nebun cast Speak with Animals and learned that its name was Bubbles. P40-X used Animal Handling to further soothe and befriend the beast. WuKong and Tamayo performed for the crowd.
Vocath dismayed said, “Forgive me, let me try that again.” Vocath summoned a Giant Megapede that swallowed up Bubbles with one gulp. The crowd screamed out, “Gorma! Gorma! Gorma!”
WuKong punched at Queen Gorma four times, hitting three times. One was a critical hit that crushed one of her many legs. Nebun cast Inflict Wounds on Queen Gorma for good damage. Tamayo cast Lightning Bolt that Queen Gorma partially dodged. P40-X with oil welling in her eyes screamed about Queen Gorma killing her friend. She cast Hunter’s Mark on Queen Gorma. She shot at Queen Gorma with her pistol and dealt a critical hit to her belly while using her faeries to try and slash open her abdomen to save Bubbles. Warwyck tossed a Force Grenade at Queen Gorma that did minimal damage.
Queen Gorma took damage from the Spiritual Guardian. Queen Gorma drained the life of everyone nearby. This caused Nebun to lose concentration on the Spiritual Guardian spell and P40-X to lose concentration on Hunter’s Mark yet again.
WuKong unleashed another combo on Queen Gorma, hitting twice. Nebun picked up a rock and placed a lightning sigil on it. Nebun cast Glyph of Warding on the rock. He dropped it next to Queen Gorma and then walked away. Tamayo cast Fireball at Queen Gorma exploding it near the force wall so that it only hit the Megapede. P40-X ran up and kicked the lightning sigil into Queen Gorma’s body and it fried everyone nearby except Nebun. She then hit Queen Gorma in the belly with her rapier and faeries. Warwyck tossed his last force grenade at Queen Gorma for great damage.
Queen Gorma bit P40-X and she fell unconscious. Queen Gorma then used a psychic bomb on Tamayo that she countered with a Hellish Rebuke that burned Queen Gorma to death.
Just then Prince Xeleth crashed through the glass dome surrounding Starbase Vocath on the back of a young solar dragon. Prince Xeleth boomed out, “I am Prince Xeleth of the Xaryxian Empire. I have come to save my sister. Surrender to her to me, or die.”
[End of session and Chapter 8. Characters have leveled up to Level 8!]
