Recap - 2025-08-14

Party traveled from the serpent goddess’s temple toward Hopeless.
On the way, Angelus found a trapped serpent chest, failed to open it, tried to trick Tag into triggering it, but accidentally told him the right command. Tag claimed the Obsidian Serpent Staff.
At Hopeless’s gates, Beholder guard Fizz warned them to keep colors, emotions, and magic suppressed. Josiah’s duster hid Angelus’s bright clothes; Tabby disguised himself as rags on the crates.
On the descent into the city, the party passed a porch with looping ghostly illusions. Seamus (the chained mage) revealed he’s a prisoner of Thingol and urged them to find Roric at the Castle of Bones.
Thingol publicly executed a dragonborn whose song failed to impress her. She invited the group to lunch later to discuss “an opportunity.”
At the Castle of Bones tavern, skeletal waiters served gray bread and bland gruel.
Angelus spotted Derrick, a man with rare color in his cheeks, and used Hold Person.
Derrick disclosed an underground Sensate speakeasy run by Roric (a former Sensate leader executed by Thingol and raised as a wight).
Angelus found the secret button and let the party in via a hidden button.
In the speakeasy: better food, muted celebration, and gambling. Angelus won at cards but play was cut short to avoid drawing Beholder attention.
Roric explained Hopeless’s nature as a gate town to the Gray Waste: the plane’s hopelessness seeps in. Thingol enforces despair; Roric and the Sensates quietly nurture hope. He suggested helping free Seamus, who’s bound by a dangerous necrotic trap.
Outside, ashes from the executed dragonborn blew into the portal, spawning a tar-black fiend that instantly killed a passerby.
Battle highlights:
- Tag went down multiple times but was revived by Josiah’s Hankin Word and Angelus.
- Cath knocked the fiend prone; Gobbie, Angelus, and Josiah’s construct dealt heavy hits.
- Chibro landed the killing blow from hiding with a sneak attack.
Locals barely reacted, shuffling away.
Thingol thanked them for “cleaning up” and reiterated her goal: maintaining the precise balance of hopelessness so Hopeless doesn’t slide fully into Hades or another plane.
Invited them to lunch to discuss further “help.”
Party accepted, planning to visit an outfitter before meeting her.

Song(s) of the Session

No One Knows by Shawn James
Rule #27 - Drunk on Pride by Fish in a Birdcage

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