#im not mad it all went wasted though. i think it's an extremely interesting direction they took

[palidoozy-art]

Session Summary

it was our 69th session, nice. Though technically this summarizes the 67th and 68th session as well, just because that’s pretty much the entirety of the Twilight Lord’s excavation arc.

Note: post is extremely long but I at least throw pictures and the battlemaps I made/used in at places.

The party attempted to descend into the Twilight Lord’s lair, only to discover the only way to access was through traveling in a river of corpses. Having seen Goran disappear into it earlier, they took the plunge, fighting off two giant bone worms while within. Though disgusted at, y’know -- being pinned to corpses with bone shards, they successfully killed them and traveled through the grotesque pile.

Thankfully, the party had a friend on the other side! Goran helped pull them out of the pile. Though he said nothing, seemed he was thankful for the food they gave him earlier. As the party moved forward, he decided to lurk behind him and follow them the whole way. The party kept feeding him, after all!

The group fought the Collector first, the creature responsible for crafting all of the cadaver collectors the party has been running into throughout the entire campaign. After killing him, it was then that they realized he wasn’t undead or a construct -- he was a giant, a living creature, and the last of his kind. Here, Kelogul got a legendary weapon -- taking the creature’s former weapon, a giant fucking log (that deals strength mod * d8 damage).

(note: battle map made with assets from Inkarnate)

They headed in further, saw some spooky ominous shit in the ruins, and found what had happened to all the corpses the collectors were collecting. They were reanimated and... digging. They weren’t sure to what end. An ominous mural showed a giant “worm-like creature” destroying a world. Ellerian successfully managed to intuit that the creature was none other than an astral dreadnought. They fed Goran every opportunity (Kelogul kept giving him rum. Rahadin started making fun of Kelogul, telling him the real reason for giving Goran rum was to see how much the elf would drink before puking).

They came into a room with a bunch of faceless steel mannequins, and discovered the crown of the queen that had gone missing, as well as a few, uh. Suspicious bloodstains. Players connected the dots here. Into the next room, they encountered a room full of urns, as well as an ornate one set up in the middle with a bunch of cards. When Ellerian approached to try to draw one, it sprung to life and attacked as the Prophet.

(battle map made with assets from Inkarnate)

It was a pretty cool fight which I had to buy an actual tarot deck for (the fight mechanics involve its powers being increased depending on the draw), but it was fun, and it terrified the piss out of my players because the thing dealt 383 damage in one round. Mercifully, Ellerian was polymorphed into a dragon at the time. Kelogul missed a whole bunch, blink never worked for Ellerian (an ongoing trend in our campaign), and Yoli got the killshot with a bunch of scorching rays.

They took a rest in the tomb. Goran picked up the cards dropped by the being and taught the party a method of seeing the future -- not with magic, but with the mundane. The end result was the party learning a new skill, Prognostication (they can divine objects and try to see their future or their past as an epic skill). He also gave the deck of cards to Yoli, which wound up being yet another legendary item (5 charges, can use a bonus action to spend as many charges as you want. Each charge either deals 35 damage or heals 35 hp).

(Note: this has also resulted in me having to learn how the fuck tarot cards work, because Yoli now uses prognostication constantly with the deck lol).

They finally pressed on deeper, finding evidence of the Twilight Lord along the way. Blood trails, old ruins. They found a huge old tablet that was purposely damaged and destroyed, and managed to conclude that it was some kind of giant spell scroll. They couldn’t make sense of what it was. Pressing in deeper, they found another one... but this one was blank. Suggesting it had been used. Evidence of the corpses showed that they were former heroes and adventurers who had tried to stop something awful, and failed. The party came to the conclusion it was the Eclipse. Yoli found the corpse of the legendary lizardfolk hero, Ixtzal, and packed the body away to return to her people. The party continued to feed Goran. Kelogul gave him two bottles of rum to double-fist at one point.

(Side lore note: The Eclipse was considered a huge event in the world, where the sun went out for an entire year about 176 years ago and chaos ensued. It set the world back tremendously and is the reason a lot of the nations operate the way they do. I’m not really doing a good job encapsulating how big the Eclipse was in term of campaign events here, but the party finally got closure on it and it was exciting).

Finally, they reached the bottom, heading into a long, stretching hallway leading forward. The party tried to feed Goran... but he refused to eat, instead taking the rations and walking forward. He placed them by a painting of the Three Kings -- one in front of each of the other ones -- before disappearing into the darkness, and it was then that the party connected the dots and realized “aw, shit, this guy’s the final boss huh.”

They finally confronted him in front of one of the giant wall spell tablets, and it was then that the “final battle” started. “Goran” wound up actually being Serafim -- the Lord of Twilight Woods and the last king of the dusk elves. I started initiative and told them that they could either talk to him through RP, use a skill, attack him, or pass their turn. They spent every round trying to talk to him, lol. Nobody attacked and nobody passed. Some generalized notes:

- Yoli was the MVP of the “fight”, being the only one to talk him down successfully without provoking his self hatred every single turn.

- Rahadin existed pretty much just to piss him off throughout the “fight”. He quickly realized that the party was much better at solving... disputes than him and shut the fuck up.

- Kelogul was I think the one that inadvertently convinced him to kill himself every single turn, lmao. His last turn was even spent offering one last bottle of rum out to him so he could drink before he went.

- Ellerian pissed him off before he adapted and learned what worked and what didn’t.

It took 5 rounds, and each round I had a description of how the guy was doing so they could get a gauge on their actions. I went into it not knowing what the fuck they would do, and assuming that the default plan (guy uses the giant spell behind him, then boss battle starts) would go through. I had a final boss fight written and planned. Even had his true form token!

(battle map quickly drawn by me)

They actually almost ended the fight with him simply killing himself, but Yoli swooped in on literally the last round before he took action to crawl up to him, give him a hug, and offer him three of her “best rations.”

So that was how the fight ended. He dropped the staff and the party was able to speak to him further afterwards, asking him his motivations. When he revealed to them that the spell behind him was simply an extremely powerful wish, Ellerian lost his shit. He gifted Ellerian his spellbook with his notes (a legendary item that not only teaches Ellerian Wish and a number of other cool spells, but is also gonna operate basically identical to the Tome of Stilled Tongue. We use gritty realism, so the player is EXTREMELY excited about it, lol).

The group of them realized that since they pretty much had access to a free wish spell, they could make one right there... and with it, instead of empowering themselves, or reviving their dead friends...

... they chose to break the curse of hunger on the Lord of Twilight Woods.

It was definitely an ‘anime is real and friendship is magic’ ending lol, but all my players are extremely excited. They want to try to go find the goddess that trapped him in the woods (the Queen of Air and Darkness -- the three kings made a bargain with her to escape their former master) next. Unsure if this will be the lead in for the epic campaign or what. Next few sessions will probably be wrap-up and figuring out what they want to do.

Oh also because they released two of the kings (their spirits moved on when they wished to break the curse), said Queen of Air and Darkness is EXTREMELY pissed at them. It will be my in-game way of awarding them their first epic “boon” -- immortality! While technically a boon the entire last half of the campaign has been pretty much about how immortality sucks, lmao.

So we’ll see what happens. I’m gonna leave it up to my players if they want to time skip jump into the epic campaign or play their children for a bit of an intermission. :D

[bisexualsforprompto]

Teen Titans AU Part 12

This chapter is longer since I’ve taken longer to update! Today we’ll meet a certain redeemed blonde Bee miraculous holder. Maybe she’ll have a love interest 😉.

Gabriel Agreste had been working with Slade for a while. He knew who the traitor of the Titans was and he knew all the information given. He also knew that Marinette Dupain-Cheng was Ladybug, it was too risky to tell his son though. They needed Ladybug removed and if he knew his so-called ‘princess’ was Ladybug he might refuse to fight her or hesitate. In the end, Gabriel always knew what was best for his son and his grand plan. He chuckled to himself as he walked the streets of Jump City, until he finally made it to his destination. He was in need of a certain Italian girl’s assistance.

“Ah!!!! Guys they’re online! They’re online!” Jon screamed at the top of his lungs. “Coming!!!” Garfield yelled as he shoved a pancake into his mouth. The team assembled in the common room as Jon hit the accepted the video call. There on the screen was a smiling Marinette with hair in twin braids and a scowling Damian who seemed to be...holding Marinette’s hand?! Raven gave a sly smile as Gar grumbled and discretely passed her twenty dollars. “So when did that happen?” Raven asked in a monotone with a hint of a smirk on her face. Marinette blushed, “I-I guess technically yesterday.” Damian glared at Raven, but he had a nagging feeling once again, guilt. It was awful, he felt...bad for Jon, especially after telling him he didn’t want to date Marinette. He felt almost like he had lied to Marinette, what if she wanted to be with Jon but thought that he didn’t like her so Damian was her only option?! “Oh.” Jon coughed. “Anyway,” Marinette said oblivious to the situation, “We wanted to catch up with everyone. Maybe individually if that’s alright with you guys?” The team took the bait, “Of course! I need some Mari time!” Gar exclaimed doing some jazz hands, “And Damian time too of course.” Marinette giggled but then realized, Gar could be the mole. She sighed and knew when she found out who the traitor was, it would hurt like hell. Jamie shoved the computer away from the rest of the team. “Me first, I have something I want to run through you guys.” Marinette nodded kindly and Damian’s face held the same amount of brooding on it as before. Before the others could protest Jamie took the computer to his room.

“Sorry, this is really important and I think you’ll want to know.” He took a deep breath, “So I asked my scarab if searching for miraculouses could be done since you mentioned you’re missing some. You won’t believe where it found a bunch.” Damian raised an eyebrow, “Spit it out Reyes.” Jamie rolled his eyes, “Ok ok. A storage unit in slightly south of here. An hour out from Gotham and an hour out from Jump City. The scarab said that both the horse miraculous and butterfly are active. I didn’t know if that meant anything to you.” Marinette nodded though she was internally freaking out, she really hoped Gabriel hadn’t gotten out of prison. “Thanks Jamie. I’ll have to get them as soon as possible. This is extremely important. In the wrong hands the miracle box is the most dangerous weapon ever. Although if only two miraculouses are active that means Hawkmoth has only one other co-conspirator, I’m guessing Slade.” Marinette’s mind went at 100 miles a minute, she’d need to find the box as soon as possible.

Jamie nodded and smiled, he went back to the room to give the computer to someone else. Damian muted it, “You know we were supposed to stick to the plan.” Marinette nodded and squeezed her boyfriend’s hand, “I know Dami but it can’t be him if his scarab can track miraculouses. Chat Noir would already have mine.” Damian scowled and unmuted the computer.

Everyone else passed by easily, Damian and Marinette gave each of them a different location where they were ‘hiding’ the Ladybug miraculous. The plan was off without a hitch, all they had to do was wait, well wait and Damian had to talk to Jon. Marinette had gone downstairs to clear her head, she still couldn’t believe someone who she’d been living with betrayed her and the team. Jon got on the computer, he didn’t look too mad so Damian was slightly relieved. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Jon depanned. “I-I it just happened. I’m sorry, I really wanted to tell you.” Jon nodded and then sighed, “It’ll take awhile but I’ll get over Marinette. If anybody I’m glad she’s dating you. Besides,” he said cracking a smile, “I won the bet.” Damian stared at him confused. Jon laughed, “We’ve had this bet ever since I got to the tower. Betting on if you’d ever date anybody. Most people said no, but Raven and I said yes and we both are twenty bucks richer.” Damian scowled, “You bet on me?!” Jon cracked up and nodded. “Anyway, why did you talk to everybody individually. It was super weird.” Damian crossed his arms, “The Titans have a mole.”

Jon’s eyes widened, “W-what?! Since when? Who?! Are you sure?!” Damian rolled his eyes, “I don’t know when or who but I am sure. That’s what we’ve been trying to find out. Don’t make me regret telling you and don’t tip off the rest of the team!” Jon nodded still in a stupor. Marinette hopped back upstairs and into the room, she sat down next to her boyfriend and waved, “Hey Jon!” Jon smiled, “Hey Marinette, how's it going?” “Pretty good. Sorry I’ll have to cut this short, I realized it’s almost time for lunch. What do you want Damian?” Damian shook his head, “You know Alfred can go out for that.” Marinette shrugged, “I need to stretch my legs.” Damian nodded, he was slightly concerned, but he knew she needed this because she had been so stressed since the mole debacle. “I don’t want you running off alone in Gotham. I’m coming with you.” Marinette giggled, “Okay, I’d be fine if you didn’t come though.” Damian patted her on the shoulder, “I know Angel, but you can’t help me being paranoid.” Jon smiled, he had to admit they were a cute couple, “I’ll let you guys go then. Bye!” Marinette waved and Jon hung up. “Ready?” Marinette asked standing up. “Sure. Where’d you want to go?” Marinette tapped her chin, “Since you’re coming maybe we could go somewhere, you know for our first real date.” Damian blushed, “Any places in mind?” “Well you know the area better than me, but how about Gotham Diner? It’s near the fashion district.” Damian chuckled, “Sounds perfect Angel.”

Marinette grabbed her bags, they ended up going into stores before they ate and of course Marinette bought new fabrics. Damian insisted on paying but Marinette refused, he pouted and said he’d pay for lunch. Marinette giggled and agreed. As Marinette walked down the street, sunshine radiating off of her, Damian followed smiling a little to himself. Gothamites gawked as they saw the Ice Prince with his girlfriend, they were surprised he could smile, that he had a girlfriend and that he was back in Gotham. Some people snuck pictures. As Marinette walked, with Damian in tow a blonde girl with her hair cut in a short bob squealed and ran up to her. Damian was shocked and they Marinette and the blonde started talking excitedly in France, he almost didn’t catch it.

“Dupain-Cheng!” Squealed the blonde. “Chlo?” Marientte turned to see her ex-bully turned best friend. She thrust her into a hug and squeezed her. “Look Dupain-Cheng Im glad to see you too, but I do like breathing,” Chloe strained. Marinette released her, “Sorry it’s just that I haven’t seen you in so long. Wait, what are you doing in Gotham?” Chloé narrowed her eyes, “Could ask you the same question DC and who’s this?” She asked motioning to Damian. “That’s Damian,” Marinette exclaimed, “my boyfriend.” Although Marinette turned pink and rushed her statement a little Chloé screamed, “FIRST YOU’RE IN GOTHAM WITHOUT TELLING ME AND NOW YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND! THAT’S IT WE’RE CATCHING UP NOW!” Chloé grabbed Marinette by the arm and stormed off. Damian stood there in a stupor, his girlfriend was just sister-snatched before his eyes. Chloé whipped her head back, “You coming or not?!” Damian didn’t say anything, he knew from his family that you do not mess with strong willed women like Chloé, he followed obediently like a dog.

Chloé led them to a small café where she sat down at the closet empty table. She sat down and wasted no time, “Why are you in Gotham Dupain-Cheng?!” Marinette giggled, she’d always enjoyed Chloé’s...directness. “Damian took me here to meet his family?” Chloé narrowed her eyes, “You!” She pointed at Damian, “How long have you been dating Maribug?” Damian’s eyes widened, “What’d you call her?” Chloé hissed in Marinette’s face, “He doesn’t know?” Marinette sighed, “He does, and we’ve been dating since yesterday but we’ve known each other for months. Anyway, Damian this is Chloé otherwise known as Queen Bee, and Chloé this is Damian, he does have a name.” Chloé rolled her eyes, “Whatever. You do realize it’s stupid to go with some random guy to a different city right?!” Marinette nodded, “Damian’s not-“ “Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. Stop going off with random dudes Maribug! And don’t tell them you’re identity!” Chloé flicked her in the head. “Um Chloé, I distinctly remember you telling everyone you’re Queen Bee.” Chloé rolled her eyes once again, “That’s different Dupain-Cheng, you know I can’t hide this fabulosity.” Chloé flipped her hair as Marientte giggled, “But you still shouldn’t tell random people that you’re Ladybug!” Damian decided to step in, “I’m not a random person.” “Excuse me?!” Chloé said, turning shooting daggers with her eyes. “I said I’m not a random person.” Damian repeated plainly. Marinette shrank down in her seat as Damian and Chloé continued their intense staring contest. “He’s a keeper Maribug.” Damian shook Chloé’s outstretched hand. “Chloé Bourgeois, daughter of Paris’s mayor and fashion designer Audrey Bourgeois.” Damian nodded, “Damian...Wayne.” Chloé sprung up from her chair, “You bagged a Wayne?! Yes Maribug, way to use what I taught you! He’s definitely a keeper!” Marinette started cracking up until Chloé saw a shadowy figure in the distance. “Don’t look now but I think a certain alley cat followed us. Why is he here anyway?!” Chloé scowled. “I recently joined a team, ever since then he’s been getting intel from one of them about my whereabouts.” Marinette sighed. “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! RIDICULOUS, UTTERLY RIDICULOUS! GET ME MY MIRACULOUS I’M GOING TO KILL THIS TEAMMATE AND THIS STUPID CAT!” Damian cracked a smile, finally something he could agree on. “Chloé, no killing. But I might be able to get your miraculous back. Once we deal with a certain black cat we can find the miracle box, Damian pull up the location Jamie said the box was.” Damian obliged and pulled up a map. “Got it, but what will we do about that idiot?” Damian asked while motioning to Chat. Chloé smirked deviously. “I’ve got a couple ideas.”

Taglist (you already know how this goes):

@Zebrabaker

@2sunchild2

@northernbluetongue

@violatiger8

@mochinek0

@beaversuenightly

@poshplumcot

@queen-of-the-trash-planet-tm

@heaven428

@worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry

@indecisive-mess-named-me

@captainmac6

@mandy984

@emjrabbitwolf

@synnesstra

@mjisntme

@i-have-no-cool-username-to-use

@shamefullove

@yokizu