Session 22

March 1, 2023

The new 5th head started using 4 dead necks and heads as whips or tentacles to attack and defend itself. Although it had been trapped by the webbing that caught the other 4 heads, a quick outward slash freed the false hydra while also heavily damaging Joanna and Ulfberht. Once freed, the false hydra quickly fled back underground. As it did so, the hole it went down partially collapsed inward, causing the pillar in that corner of the pavilion to crumble as well. It was evident that the building couldn’t withstand more attacks like that one.

Seeing the problem at hand, Joanna attempted to prop up the falling pillar while the rest of the party moved outside the pavilion. Unfortunately, the pillar only toppled farther, narrowly missing an ederly lady who was passing by. Thelmivor and Warford were able to track down which of the remaining pillars the false hydra was burrowing toward, and Rydel prepared to call lightning on the metal frame of the pavilion. When Berelth tried to blindly strike at the false hydra with his psyblade, Thelmivor used Mold Earth to open a gap above it to give him a line of sight. Doing so caused the nearby pillar to slip into the newly-opened bore… straight on top of the false hydra. The pillar skewered the false hydra’s body, immobilizing it and providing a perfect delivery system for Rydel to Call Lightning to the hydra, killing it - and Annalise Annais - for good.

As the ashes of the false hydra’s charred body blew away, the party licked their wounds and checked in on a few tasks. Rydel sent a message to be received by the king, warning them of the third-in-line’s disastrous allegiance with the Smoke Knights, before returning to the manor and resting. Thelmivor re-summoned his raven familiar (which had gone down during the fight with the hydra), Warford went to retrieve his Steel Defender (who had been playfully buried in the sand by some elf children), Joanna checked in on the old lady she had almost crushed (whose name is Edna), and Ulfberht left to train Krig (who had quickly grown to full size). Berelth decided to tell the clergy at the local temple what he had learned from plundering the hydra’s mind, hoping that it could give clues about the goddess’s condition.

While scattered, the party were attacked once again:

• Berelth was ambushed by four hooded cultists who were preparing spells
• Two ogres attacked Joanna outside Edna’s house - and were subsequently subdued by the old lady in her Giant form
• Thelmivor had joined up with Warford and the pair were attacked by 4 bandits. They took down one, captured another, and let the other two flee.
• Rydel woke up hooded, gagged, and bound in a strange location.