And, in which we got totally played. And also gods.
Bit of a doozy, this week. In fact, since I started playing D&D, I’ve never had a session that felt quite as D&D. If that makes sense.
We began by finishing off the combat that was cut off last week, which went pretty well. We killed off the birds without too much issue, considering the state we collectively were in, but over the next couple of days we lost a couple more people (including Wedge) to overnight disappearances. Over this time, we were becoming more suspicious of Orpheus, to the point where, during my watch, I decided to enlist the help of one of our crew to question him. Sneaking over to where he slept, I put my blade to his neck and we questioned him. Not liking his answers, I cut his throat.
And that’s how we found out that Orpheus was actually a rakshasa.
So, after my blade did absolutely nothing and Orpheus revealed his true form (after also revealing he was the creepy dude we first met in by the river) we eventually made a deal with him to stop killing our men in return for being beholden to him and following his orders once we get home. Basically, we are now totally screwed, but we really had no alternatives besides die straight away. That’s a problem for when we get back, anyway. Or, rather, if.
The silver lining of the deal was that the rakshasa transported us straight to the gates of Pluton, bypassing several days of travel and the almost guaranteed loss of Biggs and nearly everyone else in our crew. We still lost our last ‘nameless’ crewman (crewcat? – he was a tabaxi), as six levels of exhaustion are no joke and we just couldn’t quite get to safety in time. But one was better than four, so…
After we passed through into Pluton, we flagged down an angel and explained that we required an audience with Hades himself. The angel flew off and we took a long rest, during which I spotted intriguing movement in a field of large flowers. Investigating, I ended up meeting the god Orion. Literally, a god, which was pretty mind-blowing – it was the first time I’d met a god in D&D – but it quickly became old hat, after we met about four more by the end of the session. After speaking to Orion for a few moments, he invited me to hunt with him. My natural 20 to bring down a boar impressed him enough to give me a coin, the purpose of which I am not yet aware.
After the long rest ended, we were brought in to speak to Hades. He agreed to help us get to Mount Olympus, on the proviso that we help him first. He gave us three tasks, which we agreed to. All three were in the local vicinity, so we decided to take the rest of the day and begin them in the morning.
Following our meeting with Hades, we met Persephone (whom Cassius instantly fell in love with), were shown to our rooms, Leonardo accidentally gave his War Pick of Vengeance to Nyx as an offering, Cassius met Hecate (who carried a suspicious pair of torches which brought us all terrible flashbacks), I tried to make friends with Cerberus (which, I think, kind of worked), we ate the most delicious dinner any of us had ever eaten, and then Cassius boned Persephone while the rest of us slept. As far as complications go, that has the potential to be a big one. Sleeping with a god’s wife under his own roof, not exactly a wise move, but definitely the most Bard thing I’ve ever seen. Plus, while a complication, turns out it probably isn’t the only one.
The next morning, the three of us – not accompanied by our remaining crew, this time – trudged to a hill of bones, climbed it, stole an obsidian nightmare skull, were chased and subsequently fought off a bunch of angry nightmares, and then returned the skull to Hades. First task, done. There was a fireball trap which I willingly set off, Cassius made great use of a couple of Hypnotic Patterns, and we ended up hiding to lose our pursuers, but that was the gist of it. Upon returning, we decided to spend another night at Hades’ before embarking on the final two tasks.
That afternoon, Leonardo wandered off and ran into Orpheus – the real one, this time. He was suitably sorrowful, playing sad songs for a group of the dead. Cassius ran into Persephone again and put his composing of a song about her beauty aside to disappear into a room with her for a while. And then, there was me…
I decided to wander off to see if I could find something good to steal. Well, not steal, precisely, but acquire. By whatever means necessary. I am a rogue, so I decided to act like one. Eventually I found a garden full of black plants and containing a fountain surrounded by statues. Looking into the water, I spotted a golden sword, which absolutely did not match with the surrounding decor. Removing it to fix this aesthetic travesty was the only reasonable thing to do, I figured. I was doing the owner of this place a favour.
I tested the water first, and immediately had to make a Charisma saving throw, which I passed. Figuring I would be all right after that, I reached in further, going for the sword. But I had to make another save. Which I failed. And suddenly, everything turned black.
And that’s where we finished.
So that’s a cliffhanger that will be tormenting me until we play next week. I know I’m not dead, nor about to explicitly die – I don’t believe my DM would kill me off at that start of a session. At least, not without me being prepared for it, and ready with a new character. But what exactly is happening, and what kind of consequences are going to come out of it – for both me personally and the party in general – is anyone’s guess.
For the answers to those question and more, like, you know, will we escape Hades, what will come of the deal with the rakshasa, and are we ever going to complete Ghosts of Saltmarsh, tune in next week.