Dragons & Vampires campaign

We carry on our game of D&D in the tavern, Rupen DMing for Jhin, Lucia, Merla and Markus, Medusa and Illusius. We kill the 12 foot goblin Robert before wrapping up, with Medusa still showing an understandable but slightly concerning affinity for turning people to stone. Jhin tries ale and likes it, downing three pints in a few minutes. Rupen decides we all probably need some food, and orders chicken for the whole table. Eventually, we wind down and head back to Altarian’s, with Merla and Markus taking a midnight stroll. Markus tells her about Lord Valgore turning up in the Dark Domain and asking the Vampire King for Markus’ services, and they eventually return as well.

Altarian and Lysandra wake up first, waking each of us individually for breakfast. Lysandra is pleased to find Merla and Markus have shared a bed last night, although Markus is sleeping so heavily he can’t be woken for breakfast. Merla leaves him a note and we all head to Altarian’s parents to find another amazing spread before us - this is a special occasion for them. As we eat, we catch each other up and discuss how we’re spending the day. Rupen tells us he hasn’t showered in days, revealing a cat-like distaste for water, and Altarian recommends a hot spring close by. Jhin and Lucia tell the group about the Wish spell, with Rupen particularly vocal about using it to solve all our problems and Merla agreeing with Lucia that we should offer it back and if we are keeping it, use it with caution. We realise that Cassian isn’t there and quiz Lysandra and Altarian, mostly joking when we suggest that maybe they murdered them. They’re sketchy but grudgingly reveal that after an argument, Cassian left, saying he wouldn’t return. Lysandra assures us that there’s no hard feelings and we haven’t made another enemy - probably.

After breakfast, we split briefly, with Merla heading for Lord Valgore, Rupen going to the hot springs and Jhin and Lucia going back to the shopkeeper. Merla makes a quick detour to check on Markus - he’s still sleeping, so she leaves him some breakfast and a new note before going to see Lord Valgore. She tells Lord Valgore about Athena’s price for restoring the halflings, stressing that she told Athena it was Lord Valgore’s decision alone and that there were no time stipulations set. He wants to help the fey halfling but is very uncomfortable about being required to support Athena’s position, and wants to discuss with Ainwya before making a decision. Rupen arrives at the hot spring and overcomes his misgivings by making a giant tea bag, turning the entire hot spring into a tea-bath before soaking in it. Lucia and Jhin get no answer at the shop and enter to find a letter from the shopkeeper who tells them he knew they’d come back and entrusted the wish spell to them, and that he felt his age calling to him. They head into the back and find he’s died peacefully in his sleep. Jhin prays and is granted a vision of the old man with his youth restored, embracing his wife joyfully in the afterlife.

We meet back up, collecting Markus en route, and consider leaving the gryphons in the feywild or turning them loose, but decide to bring them back to the Dark Domain. When we collect them, we find Seth - Cassian’s gryphon - has gone. We go to say goodbye to Medusa and lllusius. We find Medusa at her new house, who directs us to find Illusius with the Feymother in the main hall. The feymother has asked him to tend to the library, which he’s very excited about. He’s also found that he’s able to do minor magic in the feywild and drops some knowledge into Rupen’s head, allowing him to wildshape into a displacer beast.

We say goodbye to Ainwya, Altarian slightly awkward as he refers to her as his sister, all still very new to him. We go to find Lord Valgore at the great waterfall, which resonates with teleportation magic. We talk to him briefly and thank him for his help, then bid him farewell as we leave. We walk through the waterfall that flows upward, completely submerged but somehow finding ourselves completely dry. We emerge on the other side in a clear open space under a deep red sky, with Lysandra breathing a deep sigh of homecoming. We can see the castle of the Dark Domain about an hour’s walk away.

The moment we leave the protection of the feywild, Salabana appears. He grabs Altarian by the throat and starts yelling ‘How many times?!’ at him dementedly while slamming him brutally on the ground. We try desperately to help - Jhin and Lysandra attack him, Rupen tries to use Freedom of Movement, Lucia casts Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere, and Merla tries to polymorph him, but all our spells are beaten off by his Legendary Resistances.

Lysandra hears a thunderclap from the castle a split second before the Vampire King arrives, attacking Salabana with a vicious kick to the face. Cinder Basilisk falls from the sky and starts attacking too, and some of the gods arrive and join the fray. Salabana begins attacking them, using monk-like moves. He’s scarily powerful, outclassing and seriously hurting most of the Six and the gods. He crushes Cinder Basilisk’s foot, and sends the Vampire King flying with a stabbing hand through his ribs. A foul black aura suddenly pulses from Salabana that paralyses everyone (including the gods) but Merla and blinds Lucia. He still has Altarian by the throat, who’s thrashing and fighting him. Salabana is screaming at Altarian, telling him that they’ve fought each other 83 times and Altarian has failed him every time - how many lovers, how many friends has he killed?

In another flash of light, Athena arrives. Jhin finds himself freed of paralysis in the presence of his new patron. She tells Salabana to stop, and Salabana finally drops Altarian to the floor. He turns his attention to Athena and grabs his mother’s face. We see in her face, despite all her power and confidence, that she is truly frightened of her deranged son, and her desire to have a relationship with Altarian seems to be a bid to have Altarian shield her from Salabana. Jhin uses their connection to reach out and ask Athena to return his ki, and he will strike Salabana with all his force. She says nothing but he feels his ki flood back. He sprints to Salabana and unarmed strikes him with a devastating blow, unleashing all his ki in an attack that deals 54 billion damage (54,875,873,536). Once again, Jhin’s lifeblood gushes from him and he collapses at 0HP.

Salabana should be a paste but is somehow still standing, coughing up blood and looking hurt but alive at 1HP. He looks at Altarian and says that that could have killed him but that he’s fated to die only when he and Altarian face each other. He tells Altarian that he’s got one year to face him, or he will murder the vampire princess in front of him, then destroy the rest of the cosmos. With that, he departs. Merla and Rupen start healing people up, especially Jhin, whose hand is deformed where he struck Salabana. Lysandra retrieves her father from where he’s been flung and heals him a little. We begin debating - Vera Tempest suggests that perhaps it would have been better to leave Altarian in the Abyss, since Salabana is an uncontrollable beast. Rupen protests and starts talking about using the Wish spell to end Salabana before Lucia hushes him, since Athena is still there. Session 25 - the savagery of Salabana

We carry on our game of D&D in the tavern, Rupen DMing for Jhin, Lucia, Merla and Markus, Medusa and Illusius. We kill the 12 foot goblin Robert before wrapping up, with Medusa still showing an understandable but slightly concerning affinity for turning people to stone. Jhin tries ale and likes it, downing three pints in a few minutes. Rupen decides we all probably need some food, and orders chicken for the whole table. Eventually, we wind down and head back to Altarian’s, with Merla and Markus taking a midnight stroll. Markus tells her about Lord Valgore turning up in the Dark Domain and asking the Vampire King for Markus’ services, and they eventually return as well.

Altarian and Lysandra wake up first, waking each of us individually for breakfast. Lysandra is pleased to find Merla and Markus have shared a bed last night, although Markus is sleeping so heavily he can’t be woken for breakfast. Merla leaves him a note and we all head to Altarian’s parents to find another amazing spread before us - this is a special occasion for them. As we eat, we catch each other up and discuss how we’re spending the day. Rupen tells us he hasn’t showered in days, revealing a cat-like distaste for water, and Altarian recommends a hot spring close by. Jhin and Lucia tell the group about the Wish spell, with Rupen particularly vocal about using it to solve all our problems and Merla agreeing with Lucia that we should offer it back and if we are keeping it, use it with caution. We realise that Cassian isn’t there and quiz Lysandra and Altarian, mostly joking when we suggest that maybe they murdered them. They’re sketchy but grudgingly reveal that after an argument, Cassian left, saying he wouldn’t return. Lysandra assures us that there’s no hard feelings and we haven’t made another enemy - probably.

After breakfast, we split briefly, with Merla heading for Lord Valgore, Rupen going to the hot springs and Jhin and Lucia going back to the shopkeeper. Merla makes a quick detour to check on Markus - he’s still sleeping, so she leaves him some breakfast and a new note before going to see Lord Valgore. She tells Lord Valgore about Athena’s price for restoring the halflings, stressing that she told Athena it was Lord Valgore’s decision alone and that there were no time stipulations set. He wants to help the fey halfling but is very uncomfortable about being required to support Athena’s position, and wants to discuss with Ainwya before making a decision. Rupen arrives at the hot spring and overcomes his misgivings by making a giant tea bag, turning the entire hot spring into a tea-bath before soaking in it. Lucia and Jhin get no answer at the shop and enter to find a letter from the shopkeeper who tells them he knew they’d come back and entrusted the wish spell to them, and that he felt his age calling to him. They head into the back and find he’s died peacefully in his sleep. Jhin prays and is granted a vision of the old man with his youth restored, embracing his wife joyfully in the afterlife.

We meet back up, collecting Markus en route, and consider leaving the gryphons in the feywild or turning them loose, but decide to bring them back to the Dark Domain. When we collect them, we find Seth - Cassian’s gryphon - has gone. We go to say goodbye to Medusa and lllusius. We find Medusa at her new house, who directs us to find Illusius with the Feymother in the main hall. The feymother has asked him to tend to the library, which he’s very excited about. He’s also found that he’s able to do minor magic in the feywild and drops some knowledge into Rupen’s head, allowing him to wildshape into a displacer beast.

We say goodbye to Ainwya, Altarian slightly awkward as he refers to her as his sister, all still very new to him. We go to find Lord Valgore at the great waterfall, which resonates with teleportation magic. We talk to him briefly and thank him for his help, then bid him farewell as we leave. We walk through the waterfall that flows upward, completely submerged but somehow finding ourselves completely dry. We emerge on the other side in a clear open space under a deep red sky, with Lysandra breathing a deep sigh of homecoming. We can see the castle of the Dark Domain about an hour’s walk away.

The moment we leave the protection of the feywild, Salabana appears. He grabs Altarian by the throat and starts yelling ‘How many times?!’ at him dementedly while slamming him brutally on the ground. We try desperately to help - Jhin and Lysandra attack him, Rupen tries to use Freedom of Movement, Lucia casts Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere, and Merla tries to polymorph him, but all our spells are beaten off by his Legendary Resistances.

Lysandra hears a thunderclap from the castle a split second before the Vampire King arrives, attacking Salabana with a vicious kick to the face. Cinder Basilisk falls from the sky and starts attacking too, and some of the gods arrive and join the fray. Salabana begins attacking them, using monk-like moves. He’s scarily powerful, outclassing and seriously hurting most of the Six and the gods. He crushes Cinder Basilisk’s foot, and sends the Vampire King flying with a stabbing hand through his ribs. A foul black aura suddenly pulses from Salabana that paralyses everyone (including the gods) but Merla and blinds Lucia. He still has Altarian by the throat, who’s thrashing and fighting him. Salabana is screaming at Altarian, telling him that they’ve fought each other 83 times and Altarian has failed him every time - how many lovers, how many friends has he killed?

In another flash of light, Athena arrives. Jhin finds himself freed of paralysis in the presence of his new patron. She tells Salabana to stop, and Salabana finally drops Altarian to the floor. He turns his attention to Athena and grabs his mother’s face. We see in her face, despite all her power and confidence, that she is truly frightened of her deranged son, and her desire to have a relationship with Altarian seems to be a bid to have Altarian shield her from Salabana. Jhin uses their connection to reach out and ask Athena to return his ki, and he will strike Salabana with all his force. She says nothing but he feels his ki flood back. He sprints to Salabana and unarmed strikes him with a devastating blow, unleashing all his ki in an attack that deals 54 billion damage (54,875,873,536). Once again, Jhin’s lifeblood gushes from him and he collapses at 0HP.

Salabana should be a paste but is somehow still standing, coughing up blood and looking hurt but alive at 1HP. He looks at Altarian and says that that could have killed him but that he’s fated to die only when he and Altarian face each other. He tells Altarian that he’s got one year to face him, or he will murder the vampire princess in front of him, then destroy the rest of the cosmos. With that, he departs. Merla and Rupen start healing people up, especially Jhin, whose hand is deformed where he struck Salabana. Lysandra retrieves her father from where he’s been flung and heals him a little. We begin debating - Vera Tempest suggests that perhaps it would have been better to leave Altarian in the Abyss, since Salabana is an uncontrollable beast. Rupen protests and starts talking about using the Wish spell to end Salabana before Lucia hushes him, since Athena is still there.