Act Three, Chapter 6: "Not Today." (2022/05/21)

Despite the dire straits, Null manages to deposit an unconscious Kel safely within range of Cade’s unicorn spirit and revive him with a goodberry. On Kel’s turn he casts Storm Sphere, wounding several enemies. Silas manages to shrug off his crown of madness after only hitting Cade once. Remembering his experiences in elemental puzzle-solving, Cade attempts to throw alchemist’s frost on the red layer of the dome (which will do cold damage every round). On a whim, Null decides to try dropping an enemy onto the prismatic dome – it’s immediately clear that this baddie was not designated entry as he vaporizes 2 layers in. She wonders if this will work the same for other enemies?

Cade is pushed by a cultist warrior into the prismatic dome and falls unconscious, which causes Silas to return to his usual elf form as he precariously tries to keep his balance on the ledge of the jetty. Berrik is then grappled by a cultist warrior. He tries to resist with a Shocking Grasp, but soon finds himself forced over the ledge of the jetty and into the lava below. He takes a shit ton of damage as he is immolated but survives the fiery impact! Leaping into action, a hasted Lotty calls upon her hidden lassoing talents and manages to pull Berrik of the lava and back onto the platform– saving him from certain death. Kel rushes forward and revives Cade.

Silas “surpasses his mortal limits” to successfully propel himself over the ledge to safety. An enemy priest hits some of the party with a Fear spell – things are getting dicey. Null “walks off” a fear effect and gives vertical cultist bowling another try – this one makes it through all the layers of the prismatic dome and dies on impact with the head necromancer (who unfortunately succeeds on their concentration check). One of the priests soon retaliates by dispelling Null’s flight. Berrik is knocked unconscious. Null, now grounded, rushes forward and revives Berrik with another goodberry, pulling him back towards the party. Silas cleans house, leaving a trail of corpses in his wake. Seeing that the red layer is almost depleted Null decides to ready an attack on the head necromancer for the moment the red layer comes down, hiding behind the big rock and hoping for success against this buckwild magic shit.

Cade’s alchemist’s frost finally breaks through the red layer with (presumably) just seconds left in the necromancer’s ritual. Null unleashes her attack, doing significant damage with sneak attack but not breaking the necromancer’s concentration. Cade, thinking again about elemental problem solving, uses Gust to dissolve the second orange wall. Lotty whips out her crossbow to join the barrage - shooting the head necromancer and managing to break their concentration! The ritual is stalled. Silas approaches and tries to throw a dagger at the necromancer, but to little avail. Null drops a dagger for Silas and shoots the necromancer again, bringing them down but activating their Death Ward. With nothing left to lose, the necromancer leaves the prismatic fortress and casts Circle of Death before returning to the dome. Berrik and Silas are knocked unconscious, but everyone else is still standing. Cade attempts to Thorn Whip the necromancer, but the spell doesn’t pass through the layers of the dome. He does, however, revive Silas with a Healing Word and drops another dagger for him to use on his turn. He won’t get the chance to do so, however, because Lotty then shoots the necromancer through the throat and ends their whole little morbid career. The party looks up in time to see the summoning portal close, trapping an angelic being on the other side. The creature was the same one they had a seen a statue of earlier in the complex: an angelic, feminine figure in gold and black armour wielding a scythe.


The party recuperates and does some investigating. Lotty brings up Berrik. Silas takes the necromancer’s head. Cade determines that the giant rock looming over them is magical (a dimensional seal that blocks conjuration magic within a 2 mile radius) and that the necromancer’s robes are magical (Robes of the Reaper – very slick and powerful, perfect for Berrik). Kel reads the necromancer’s book and learns that they were attempting to resurrect a champion of Daes. Null picks up her and Cade’s daggers. Lotty understandably hates this place and wants to destroy it before the party leaves. She picks the wrong structural brick to mess with, however, and collapses the whole jetty with everyone on it. Most race to safety but Cade and Lotty barely make it to the threshold alive and Cade goes unconscious. Lotty immediately revives him and the party retreats back to the collapsed part of the tunnels. After some hemming and hawing, the Ashen Company decides to long rest there within Berrik’s (Leomund’s) Tiny Hut. Remembering all the skellies they left behind, Lotty sends a message to Remmi to warn him about the situation they found in Beinya in case they don’t make it back. However, once Cade starts clearing the rubble it becomes clear that the skellies are no longer animated. We also find some gold on our way out!

The Ashen Company returns to Sierrona exhausted and traumatized, despite their victory. This was too close. They turn in the quest to the Reapers and hunker down for a week of downtime to clear their heads, decompress and prepare themselves for whatever comes next.