zpires

the Depths

The DEPTHS is the D&D 2014 5e campaign we're running with our partners. The initial few sessions were a homebrew adventure that took place in the catacombs of the CHURCH OF BOCCOB in HOLLYWICK, but the remainder of the campaign will be the 2015 Wizards of the Coast adventure module OUT OF THE ABYSS.

In the Underdark, our adventurers will be tested as the demon lords begin to rise in power and influence after being released from the abyss. SCORPIA is a changeling warlock with a fire genie named Sashanah the Gentle as her patron. ANNABETH BOUDREAUX is an adopted aasimar barbarian who grew up in the fire elemental plane and agreed to serve as scorpia's bodyguard. DELIRIUM DARKFLAME is an infernal tiefling rogue bound to Loviatar, goddess of pain, and was taken in by Annabeth before joining Scorpia's entourage. They'll flee from pursuers, navigate dark caves filled with monsters, and learn to trust in each other's skills and abilities.

Session Reports: Hollywick

Session 1

Date: September 26th, 2024

In-game date: Xotork 1st, year 191 of the Barony of Ode

Summary

Our adventurers, Delirium, Scorpia, and Annabeth, went to the Church of Boccob to investigate the source of their terrible nightmares.

They met the head priest, Servant Germand, who sought their help with stopping these nightmares that have been afflicting people.

After being granted access to the lower levels, they explored the first level underground, which featured many rooms tailored to meet the needs of the daily lives of the priests in the Church.

They descended to the second level below and gained access to a long hallway with a coffin visible at the other end.

Session 2

Date: October 3rd, 2024

In-game date: Xotork 1st, year 191 of the Barony of Ode

Summary

With the help of Nell, our adventurers discovered the secret of the hallway leading to the head priest's tomb. Then, after deciding to avoid the tomb for now, they fought off mummified hands and wizard zombies in the lower levels of the Church of Boccob.

After defeating the zombies, they alerted the priests about the dangers lurking in their church. Annabeth and Delirium went back to Hollywick to recover, while Scorpia opted to stay at the Church for her well-deserved long rest.

Session 3

Date: October 12th, 2024

In-game date: Xotork 2nd, year 191 of the Barony of Ode

Summary

Nightmares, nightmares, nightmares. Delirium, Annabeth, and Scorpia, among others, experienced another night of dread and chaos: dead flesh, twisting vines, blood smeared across stone, and the gibberish rantings of a unicorn.

Reunited after a night of attempted rest, our adventurers crept deeper into the catacombs. They set off traps (which hurt!) and made their way across a spiked pit before encountering a drow mage and two skeletons. Annabeth cleaved right through the mage, and the skeletons stood no chance. They earned their loot: several art objects, gems, and money.

On the way back through the halls to return back upstairs, they encountered a tunnel carved into the side of the pit. Down they went, encountering vines that Scorpia fended off with fiery eldritch blasts until they encountered a humanoid creature made of vines, insistent on their destruction, only to destroy it.

Session 4

Date: October 17th, 2024

In-game date: Xotork 2nd, year 191 of the Barony of Ode

Summary

After burning vines through twisted tunnels, the adventurers found themselves before an evil tree. It grasped and walloped them, sending them back to recover.

They regrouped, and Germand gave Annabeth a flask of holy water. When they returned to defeat the tree blight, Scorpia and Delirium kept their distance while Annabeth surged forward and threw the holy water onto the blight, destroying it. When the evil dissipated, Bellissima the unicorn appeared.

She revealed that drow and mind flayers have been working together. They sowed the evil seed that poisoned her lair. She has promised them a favor as a token of her gratitude.

Session 5

Date: October 24th, 2024

In-game date: Xotork 2nd-3rd, year 191 of the Barony of Ode

Summary

After stopping the nightmares plaguing the town of Hollywick, our adventurers rested and met with various people who offered their aid in the coming times. Scorpia earned Sashanah's Talisman; Eldath came to Annabeth and offered her the power of storms; and Delirium met with Zsofia, a member of the Thieves' Guild who told her to seek out her contacts in the Underdark.

The next day, they visited various shops and sellers and managed their money and inventory in preparation for the Underdark ahead.

Getting to the Underdark

That night after celebrating your success and preparing to find the drow, the drow come to you. The raid is initially silent save for the faint whoosh of wind on grass as they make their way through the nearby forest and toward the town.

Screams come from other rooms but before you can move, half a dozen drow and as many quaggoths are spilling into your room and, without speaking, shooting at you with crossbows. As you try to dodge them and get yourself out of bed, more drow come in, shooting you with more, until there are bolts stuck deep into your muscles, and you can feel the tang of poison start to cloud your vision.

There’s a thump as one of your bodies hits the floor, and the rest follow shortly after.

Your bodies are fitful as the drow carry you on simple litters, small baskets made of woven spidersilk stretched across long poles that allow the band to carry their prizes back to their outpost.

When you wake up, your mouths have been coated in a horrible substance that has dried and hardened, preventing you from moving your jaw or breathing out of your mouth. All of your items have been stripped from you, including the clothes on your back. You have been fitted with metal collars and manacles connected to metal belts, leaving you restrained, and given tattered tunics. The cold, heavy weight of metal is tight around your throat and wrists. Every so often, the litter lightens and the sounds of half-mumbled shouts and torn clothes end with gurgles of blood and snarling quaggoths chewing and spitting out gristle and bone. The stench of death, sweat, and poison lingers. Whenever anyone suspects you’re too awake, they shoot you with another crossbow to lull you back to sleep and rip out the bolt before you awaken.

By the time you arrive at Velkvynvelve, there is only the three of you in the litter. It has been at least two days since you’ve felt sunlight on your skin. You pass the southern watch guard and are taken along the stairs on the cliff face until you are dumped into the slave pen. You can still hear the snarling of quaggoths nearby.

Velkynvelve

You are now in Velkynvelve, a drow outpost. In the muddled time you made your way over to the slave pen, you passed by caves that lead to barracks and a dining hall to the south along the cliff face. You also passed a waterfall pouring into the cave cavern that creates a constant background noise, negating the cave’s tendency to amplify and carry sounds.

The outpost is located high in a cavern, built 100 feet above the rocky floor. There are four “hanging towers”–hollowed out stalactites connected by walkways, stairs, and rope bridges. The towers are concealed by the thick webs of giant spiders stretched below them, so that only the lowermost parts of the stalactites are visible from the cavern floor.

With the small amount of dim light used in the outpost shielded from the cavern floor below, one might walk the entire length of the cleft without becoming aware of the outpost overhead, hidden in the darkness above the range of torches and lanterns.

There is no doubt that giant spiders guard the towers, dropping down on their web strands to prey upon creatures that find their way into the cavern.

Day 1

Once inside the slave pen, you hear a tiny sneeze-like sound.

A new drow approaches and wraps her hands around the bars to drink you in. “Well, well, well… Shoor, you’ve outdone yourself. These three will make for fabulous slaves, worth a pretty penny. Did all go well?”

The woman standing on the other side of the slave pen door is a drow woman with spikey, sleek plated adamantine armor with purple spider silks to form a skirt and cape. At her hip in a holster is a rod with three tentacles that undulate menacingly in the air beside her. She stands tall and proud, long white hair tied up and flowing down her back, and she looks at you ravenously.

It’s the first time you’re able to understand the drow.

A beautiful drow man answers her, twirling a wand casually. He is wearing similar armor, but no fancy silks and his hair is cut short. He was the leader of your captors. “All went well, Mistress Ilvara. Had to feed the quaggoths along the way, but only civilians. Nothing of use on them. These three, however, are proper adventurers. Tons of good stuff in their belongings. I’ve distributed it among the soldiers.”

“Before I had a chance to look myself?” Ilvara snaps. “I decide what is worthy of keeping and what is to be wasted on the soldiers. Show me the spoils.”

Shoor and Ilvara leave you.

Session Reports: Out of the Abyss

Session 6

Date: November 14th, 2024

In-game date: Xotork 6th, year 191 of the Barony of Ode

Summary

Scorpia, Annabeth, and Delirium were captured by Shoor, an elite drow warrior, and taken to Velkynvelve, an outpost in the lower Underdark near the Darklake, run by Mistress Ilvara, a high priestess of Lolth.

They met 10 fellow prisoners from various walks of life. Some of them seemed amenable to helping our adventurers to escape.

Annabeth learned about the southern passage that leads to the duergar Gracklstugh, or City of Blades, and the western passage that leads to the Darklake.

Scorpia peeked into the armory in the watch tower and located their stolen weapons.

Delirium became the object of mockery by the elite drow warrior Tolotel, who relished in ordering her around and reading aloud from her journal.

Session 7

Date: December 8th, 2024

In-game date: Xotork 6th, year 191 of the Barony of Ode

Summary

Annabeth, Delirium, and Scorpia schemed together to try and find a way out of Velkynvelve, but were interrupted when the drow came by with more tasks for them to do.

Jorlan relieved the guards of watching Delirium's group and let them run around in Ilvara's and Shoor's quarters unsupervised. Delirium stole a needle from Ilvara's trapped chest.

After everyone was returned back to the pen, before the adventurers could formulate a plan, Jorlan offered Delirium a chance of escape: he would leave the gate unlocked and slow the changing of the guard. They could all jump down to the webs below and then jump into the pool to escape. Anything to embarrass Shoor and Ilvara.

Seizing their opportunity, the prisoners went to the armory first to acquire their armor, weapons, and most of their common items that weren't distributed amongst the soldiers or stolen by Ilvara. Ront was the lookout for the north watch guards, who ended up seeing what the fuss was all about. They were quickly taken care of, but not before severely injuring Ront and calling more drow to their aid.

Just as the majority of the drow warriors were on their way to stop them all from escaping, Scorpia burned the bridge and severed their ability to capture them or shoot their weapons. Then, out of nowhere came four chasme demons and two vrocks who distracted the drow while everyone managed to follow Jorlan's plan exactly.

Sarith recommended everyone make their way to the Darklake, where they could acquire boats to travel elsewhere after, so they dashed away, making their escape!