Sons of Palumbton - Season 3: sessions 23-27
Return to Sons of Palumbton
Session 23: Knot a Funny Gathering (7/8/785 to 9/8/785)
In the quiet town of North Palumbton, Koth and Malek are slowly building their town and protecting it and others. With the return of Korda and Acyll, they now consider other activities that the two of them alone would have difficulty accomplishing.
One day, they are alerted to the presence of a creature on the outskirts of town. They go to investigate and find a bugbear hiding. He says that his name is Knot, and Koth vaguely remembers him from years ago. Knot tells them he is on a mission to find Rhyssh, to which they sadly respond that Rhyssh is dead, likely killed by the huntsman Scain. They invite Knot to stay a while and he agrees, although he is so large they have trouble finding a place for him.
A day later, Anders, a barbarian that arrived more than a year ago to study with Malek, alerts them that another man is approaching. He is running along the coast from the east. This time, five go to investigate the man. They confront him and he says that his name is Lyl. After a minute, they have him come in the town to rest and meet to talk with him later. Lyl tells them he is a storyteller of the barbarians and that he has left them after they abandoned Dedestroyt in favor of Loomashyn. He heard of Koth's victory against the raiding barbarians not too long ago. He had heard of Koth's heroics and was impressed. Although he does not want to betray his people, they must be shown that this new path is wrong.
Session 24: Knot Avoiding Any Fight (9/8/785 to 20/8/785)
Arapnianian sets off to collect information from the Guardians about Loomashyn. Kayla heads out to the other towns to collect volunteers. They begin to move the townsfolk to safety outside of the town towards the mountain. Koth and Acyll direct the construction of defenses.
Knot, while scouting for spies, finds one. A human watching from the mountain side. He approaches the man, and after an exchange of words, Knot retreats and then turns to charge. The man hurts Knot, but in one mighty leaping swing, Knot kills the man. As Knot is returning to the town the next day, he almost falls into a hydra's pit. A fire breathing hydra that he escapes. Reaching the town, he tells the others what he found and leads them there. Koth remains in the town. They track it down, lead by Knot. Malek summons an elemental to smash the hydra. Knot fires arrows at it. Acyll charges, but is caught in its jaws, yet still manages to kill one head. Korda sneaks up and drops down, breaking the beasts spine and killing it. They spend time dragging the useful parts back to town.
Malek and Korda go to investigate the town two days by sea away at which Lyl says the barbarians will stop before attacking. They discover little information. Several days later, Arapnianian arrives with information about Loomashyn and his clerics. Later that day, Kayla arrives with men from the five other towns to help fight the barbarians.
The group waits for word the the barbarians have arrived up the coast, when they hear of their arrival, they set out to catch them several miles from the town. Koth, Lyl, Korda, Knot, Malek, and Acyll go atop magic mounts. When they see the ships, Malek sets forth with him plan. He summons creatures which will try to sink the ships and also will chew up anyone who is removed from a ship by Malek and gravity field. Before he sets the plan in motion, Acyll sees a lump in the plains not far from them. He goes to investigate and finds a Bulette. The creature is calm until Knot sees it and charges it. Knot gets mauled for his action. Acyll attacks, hurting it. Korda comes flying in and knocks the creature to its back. That allows Knot to finish it off. Malek is then free to orchestrate his plan. It works well, sinking two ships, killing nearly 80 barbarians, and forcing them to abandon one ship. None of the ships crewed by the faithful of Loomashyn are damaged.
The group takes control of the remaining seaworthy ship and rows and sails it to North Palumbton. Once there, they find the Ward has arrived to help.
Session 25: Knot Your Typical Way to Defeat a Rager (20/8/785 to 26/8/785)
For a day, the group discusses the next step. They finally agree to try and put on a display of dominance to scare the barbarians. They will raise the two sunken ships, have them dragged on land within sight of the barbarian village and burned. While Malek summons creatures to do this over five days, Knot travels with the leader of the men from Ettinwatch, named Tay, to that town. He looks to have a suit of armor or two made from the hydra hide.
By the time Knot returns, the ships are almost in position. He travels out there with Koth and Korda. Acyll remains in North Palumbton with Lyl to protect the town. The townsfolk have returned after staying on the mountain for safety for a week.
After night falls, they drag the ships from the sea with the help of two large earth elementals. They light the ships ablaze. Koth shouts out over the mile with the help of a blessing. He calls out the leader of the barbarians, who comes out with hundreds of curious and scared barbarians. They move to within half a mile. Neal shouts his defiance. The earth elementals are dismissed by magic and then a massive ooze appears between the group and Neal. Korda and Knot sneak towards the mob. Malek begins to summon elementals, elephants, and later archons. Koth begins to bless himself and move towards Neal.
The ooze is forced to fight Malek's summons. Undead come out of the sea and Malek sends the archons to them. As the sides near each other, Knot is able to find the smell of the Bloated, who the group believed must be near. He flushes the Wug out into the open. For his trouble, Knot is attacked and turned into an ooze. Korda charges the mob alone. Koth charges the bloated. Malek is dazed and his archons dismissed by the Bloated.
The forces all clash. Korda holds off the mob. Koth smashes the Bloated. Neal reaches Koth and attacks. Malek summons more archons and unleashes lightning on their foes. As Koth forces the Bloated to slime away, Neal attacks Koth. The undead and the mob reach the melee and everyone is engaged. Korda kicks Neal viciously with a flying attack and the barbarian begins to rage furiously, feeling no pain. The massive ooze swallows up Korda. Koth is forced to withdraw and he is surrounded by archons to protect him. Knot, now an ooze, latches on to Neal, preventing him from charging Koth. Korda pounds his way from the inside out of the ooze, forcing it to pop and destroying it. Malek then reverses the gravity of the entire area, preventing everyone from acting as they float helplessly. After a minute, but not before a strange green flame engulfs his hand, Neal stops raging and dies.
Session 26: Knot Another Day as an Ooze (26/8/785 to 5/9/785)
The barbarian mobs flees. The undead ooze puppets retreat to the sea, or are destroyed. Five of the barbarian remain and ask to speak with Koth. The leader of the men speaks with Koth and tells him he needs to defeat Neal, who will return again with the help of the Bloated. The group plans to stop Neal from returning, but have no spells or blessing that can do that. The decide to return to North Palumbton, and Skaarl, the leader of the five and a follower of Tyrogatore, goes with them. It takes several days, as Ooze Knot slows them down. As they travel home, the body of Neal begins to dissolve into an ooze. Koth tries to break the enchantment on Knot, but can't.
Once back in town, they tell Acyll what happened and begin to plan. They talk to Ward, Anders, Lyl, and Kayla about people in the land that can help. There are no clerics of Dedestroyt that can help with the dead Neal. Malek teleports Knot to the Temple of the Plains, in hopes that a cleric there can break the enchantment. Once there, Knot falls under the sway of the Bloated and attacks Evan. Malek is forced to trap the ooze Knot until the clerics find and drive off the Bloated. Despite there being 40 clerics there, none are able to do it. Henry finally suggests calling upon an ally from Arbuckle. She arrives late that day. A Trueheart by the name of Lauren, she speaks and tells tails as she tries to break the enchantment. After two hours, Knot is returned to his natural form. They return to North Palumbton.
Back at town, they continue the planning. The ask Anders about the Bloated's locations, and he confirms that he is in the barbarian town of Ongong. Lyl tells them of the town and of Herngor, the leader of the barbarians here. Skaarl demands that Koth go and defeat Neal in front of Herngor, using no tricks, honorably. As the others debate, Skaarl gets frustrated and leaves. The group finally decides to travel to Ongond and confront Neal and the Bloated. They travel by Phantom Steed and it takes only just over a day. In the morning, they locate the Bloated in the town, thanks to Anders. Acyll, Malek, Anders, and Knot get closer while invisible and using Knots to track the scent to the exact house. Koth, Lyl, and Korda wait outside for a signal. Acyll throws the door open and announces his presence. The Bloated sits in a pond, confused, a glowing oozing eye hanging above him in the room. Malek summons an elemental, which cannot enter. Knot tries to push down a wall. Malek dispels the protection in the house and the elemental collapses it. The Bloated is gone.
Seeing the house collapse, The other walk into town. Lyl announces their presence and challenges Neal to face Koth.
Session 27:
Knot a Battle for the Light Hearted (5/9/785)
Koth, Lyl, and Korda walk through the town as the folk gather and watch. In the town square, Lyl calls out challenges to Neal. Acyll joins them and Malek flies overhead. Knot waits in hiding. THe group heads south towards the Pit, the shrine of Dedestroyt. Once there, they take up positions in front of the pit. Malek spies a group gathering on the other side of the town and watches. He sees Neal and a horse of hundreds of barbarians. He follows them. Once they start to run towards the others, he flies to warn them and prepare.
Koth moves himself and the others to the far side of the pit. There they prepare and wait. The cleric of Dedestroyt is in the pit and calls out a blessing and offer of help. When Neal, who is blessed with many things by Loomashyn, rushes out of the town with his men, Malek summons a great illusion of Dedestroyt and tries to frighten them. As well, he tries to dispel Neal. Knot launches arrows at the barbarians. When the horse gets close, Acyll charges in a lays waste to an area of men. Korda and Knot wait for the rush and begin to pummel and cut down barbarians. Neal and Koth lock into a fight to the death.
Koth soon begins to lose the fight and steps out, walking on air over the pit. Neal moves towards Acyll. Malek waits no more and begins to summon. Great glowing bears, scaled elephants, and elementals. A long armed dinosaur grabs up Neal. When Neal escapes, an elemental knocks him into the pit, but not far. The horse tries to drag down Knot and Korda, but they fight valiantly and fend them off. Lyl fights them as well, looking for men he knows are vile. Koth leaps into the pit and knocks Neal down farther. Neal calls upon Loomashyn to heal him. The elemental knocks Neal down farther. The cleric of Dedestroyt begins to pray. Koth attacks again delivering a horrible blow to Neal, but still Neal stands. Raging and furious, Neal attacks Koth, nearly killing him. The elementals knock him down farther. Lyl shouts a spell at Neal, knocking him yet farther down. At the bottom, an elf with a great sword appear through a gate. It is Vistani Fell, he has been called by the cleric to claim the thrice raised cultist Neal. Knocked down one more time, Neal and Vistani and face to face. The epic fight between two unkillable beings begins. But the stalker is too much and in the end a simple touch of death kills Neal once and for all.
Malek quickly gathers the others and teleports back to North Liberties.
