Abomination Vaults – Session 42: Mortal Kombat!

Test Your Might

Oathday, 24th of Neth, 4722 AR

All our times have come
Here but now they’re gone
Seasons don’t fear the reaper
Nor do the wind, the sun, or the rain
We can be like they are

Come on, baby (don’t fear the reaper)
Baby, take my hand (don’t fear the reaper)
We’ll be able to fly (don’t fear the reaper)
Baby, I’m your man

Don’t Fear the Reaper, Blue Öyster Cult (1976)

Let’s just say the party had a rough day. I think one of my players developed an actual rage towards one of the critters they faced this week. I believe the quote, spoken with an immense amount of impressive emotion, was something like, “I came this far! I’m not going to die to a damn bird!”

You see, the party inadvertently triggered two encounters at the same time. One of the encounters was rated as Deadly and the other as Severe. Combined, it was an Extreme encounter. The encounter enjoyed its fair share of crits and fumbles, a lot of smart tactical play, maybe some not-so-smart play, and some heroic moments. We tested the mettle of the party like never before.

• ShaiLu identified the bird as a cathooj, a nasty bird of prey who could confuse with its warbling song, could redirect attacks, and was a deadly combatant altogether.
• The group never identified the two fish but they were only slightly less deadly. They could hit like a truck, could swim and walk on land (slowly), and had a knack for grabbing and swallowing targets whole. Only ShaiLu and Konnor managed to escape not being swallowed at one point or another during the battle. Well, technically Briza wasn’t swallowed either, but she spent most of the battle lying on the deck of the summoned swan vessel dying.
• This will not be a blow-by-blow account of the encounter. It was an epic, 9-round battle, that drove the party to their limits. There is no way I could capture it in its entirety. This will cover the highlights.
• Trulk intimidated one of the fish and made a break for the surface of the water with the ochre fulcrum lens in hand. He had no desire to try to fight the twin fish alone, 20 feet under the surface. And I think the player hoped he could escape them by climbing up on the island. The group quickly learned the fish could walk [slowly] on the land as they followed the PCs inland.
• The cauthooj’s name evolved throughout the battle from cauthooj, to the stork, to emu, to ostrich, to turkey, and finally to “dinner” because the group planned to skin it, cook it, and serve it up during their victory meal. Honestly, there were some expletives thrown in there too, but I won’t repeat those. They hated that bird! There were also a couple of “Cthulhu” jokes thrown in for good measure.
• The vicious bird tried multiple times to confuse the party with its warbling song. Fortunately, Konnor had become quite adept at using his Counterperformance for threats like this. Twice he saved the entire group from an immense amount of pain and trouble and frustrated the bird to no end. It did get some small amount of revenge though as it redirected one of Jorne’s attacks to hit Konnor. It was a critical hit and dropped the bard to single-digit hit points.
• Rasp, Konnor, and ShaiLu all dropped major healing all across the board. By the end of the battle, PCs were tossing healing potions to each other trying to keep everyone in the fight.

• The island was big enough for most of the group to fight the cauthooj there. However, Briza and others did try to use the boat for additional area to maneuver about in although this left them vulnerable to the massive fish which had very long reaches (10’ and 15’ depending on the method of attack). The fish could also perform reactive strikes which made it very difficult to move about, cast spells, or any number of other actions in such tight quarters.
• Rasp was beaten badly and then swallowed whole by one of the fish. Then the damned thing swam away! It had its lunch. It didn’t need to stick around for the rest of the battle. Konnor leaped into action and piloted the boat in pursuit (with Briza onboard). He ran the fish down, nearly to the shore of the lake, until he got close enough to rip stalactites from the ceiling of the cave. He threw them telekinetically at the fish and managed to cut the beast open enough for Rasp to tumble out and into the water.
• The fish smashed Briza as she tried to reposition herself on the boat to fire her crossbow. She went down and spent the rest of the battle in a dying state.
• Konnor maneuvered the boat to a nearby Rock so Rasp could climb onto the ship but the gnome cleric had other ideas. He pulled the elemental gem he had found earlier in the adventurer and summoned a fire elemental on the ship but next to the fish. Don’t worry, the ship was fine. The elemental didn’t burn anything. It did draw the attention of the fish for a short while. During the exchange
• Konnor moved the boat and repositioned it to give Rasp another chance to jump on board. This time, Rasp joined Konnor on the boat and they began a cat-and-mouse chase across the lake. The fish hounded them with a fury. Its meal had been taken from it! The elemental was destroyed defending the PCs.
• Meanwhile, the rest of the group continued to fight the cathooj and the other fish. They quickly realized how to avoid the bird’s ability to redirect attacks and maneuvered themselves constantly to avoid it. Jorne, Trulk, and Hound danced around the beasts while trying not to leave themselves vulnerable while keeping ShaiLu safe. The island was too small and they all took vicious wounds.

• The cathooj grew frustrated and threw itself in a rage at Trulk. It attacked over and over and over. The barbarian had never taken so much damage before, not since the early days of the delve.
• A moment of panic! Hound went down. He was healed but then he went down again and was swallowed by the fish still on the island. ShaiLu struck at the creature like Konnor had done against the other, but she could not free her companion. Jorne switched from helping Trulk with the cathooj to attacking the fish to free Hound. He managed to cut a hole in its side big enough for the wolfhound to tumble free. Hound was healed once again.
• ShaiLu went down! Medic! Some quick healing and she got back to her feet.
• Suddenly, the fish that had swallowed Hound turned on Jorne and grappled him. It then swallowed him whole like a ramen noodle! The rogue was in trouble! This time Hound came to his rescue and freed Jorne from the belly of the beast.
• At this point, the dice went a tiny bit cold for the party. The players remarked they were all pretty low on hit points, growing low on resources, and none of the beasts had been slain yet. Time to retreat? Hell no!
• The front-line warriors threw everything they had at the cathooj and finally managed to drop the bird!

• By now, Konnor and Rasp had returned to the island on the boat and the group focused on the fish that had swallowed Jorne and Hound. Before it could go down, the damn thing managed to swallow up Trulk! By now, the group knew what to do and they freed their friend, and the fish was defeated.
• Healing potions became a priority. A lot of spell slots were empty by now.
• The group surrounded the remaining fish which had followed the boat back to the island. Tired as they were, the group had enough left in the tank to finish off the last damn fish.
• It was time to rest. ShaiLu rushed to Briza and used a small healing spell to bring her back to consciousness. Until that moment, they didn’t know if the hollowed one lived or not. Briza thanked them for saving her. She had thought she was lost when the fish struck her down.
• Jorne and Rasp delivered some minor healing while Trulk and Konnor searched the island. Konnor hoped to find the remains of Quara Orshendiel’s father and sister but they were not there. However, their search did uncover a pair of cauthooj eggs. Konnor had some ideas about how to use those eggs in meal preparation. The group decided to return to the shore before they continued with healing.
• After a quick trip to the shore, they unloaded at the boathouse where they found the Child of Belcorra that had been locked inside. Unfortunately, they were beset by a patrol from the urdefhan camp. Four warriors and a pair of ceustodaemons assaulted them.
• To his credit, Konnor tried to avoid a fight. He recalled Murschen, the urdefhan they had rescued from the Caligni cultists. Murschen said he owed the PCs a boon and Khurfel would repay that boon if they needed it. The urdefhan in the scouting party laughed!
• While everything Konnor said was true as he had been told, one of the warriors responded that Murschen was a fool. They had orders from Belcorra to kill the New Roseguard and, above all, “It was a good day to die!” I awarded the player a hero point for remembering the boon and for trying to use it. It was a good idea and it’s not his fault, Murschen was a bit of a blowhard.
• Unfortunately for the scouting party, the PCs were not in the mood for a protracted engagement and threw everything they had left at the urdefhan and daemons. The scouting party did not last two rounds of battle.
• Briza noted this area of the hunting grounds was a busy one. The group decided to retreat to Yldaris before they continued their rest.
• Upon returning to Yldaris, the group informed Quarra they had retrieved the ochre fulcrum lens. Konnor added his condolences and said they could not find her family’s remains. The hollow one chieftain thanked them for trying and welcomed them to rest. The group was still heavily wounded and worn down.

END OF SESSION