Recap - 2025-10-09

The Fiend’s Offer

The Wasting Plains stretched out under a colorless sky when the adventurers found themselves face-to-face with a towering Yagnoloth known as Scribbler.

Without ceremony, Scribbler restored Josiah to life, the act performed as casually as stamping a form.

“One resurrection prepaid,” he rumbled, “by your employers. The gnome, and the elf.”

He offered them each a deal in turn. Chibro listened but the rest mostly resisted. Angelus was briefly lured in by the idea of some fun times, but decided the cost (“your bravery or your charm) too steep and turned away.

Gobbie, especially, met his gaze with holy defiance. Scribbler offered the group healing potions, to be deducted from their eventual payment; even that, Gobbie declined. Then, ledger closed and deals sealed, the fiend turned and strode away, back toward the distant silhouette of the Tower of Khin-Oin, the skeletal tower of the yugoloths rising from the horizon.

Through the Brambles

Beyond the plains lay the Field of Nettles, a shifting mass of thorns and black vines.

Chibro discovered that the nettles grew back almost instantly if cut with a normal blade. The group then investigated the thorns and discovered that the radiance of Gobbie’s holy symbol and the necrotic energy of Tag’s dagger caused the nettles to recoil.

Tag led the charge into the thorns, cutting away at them and they recoiled away from his blade, meaning one cut drove back square feet of thorns.
The party then moved into the thorns, but the thorns quickly grew back beneath them.

Within the choking maze, they found remnants of past warriors:

• A fiendish shortsword that turned out to be alive. It reacted in pain and fear when Kor used it to slash at the thorns. Angelus caught it, calmed it, and Kor claimed it as his own.
• A Mace of Smiting, which the party entrusted to Gobbie.
• A Wand of Bees, gleefully adopted by Angelus, who immediately used it to send scouting swarms ahead.

The bees proved invaluable, revealing movement and lurking dangers deeper in the brambles.

The Dead in the Thorns

Combat broke out among the vines.

• Kor and Chibro held the line as Tag’s necrotic strikes flared through the dark.
• Josiah fell under a Wraith’s touch, his life nearly drained away, but was revived by Chibro’s potion.
• Angelus unleashed a burst of radiant power that obliterated a wraith outright, his holy light burning away the corruption clinging to the ground.

When the last echoes faded, they found a burnt satchel containing 100 blackened infernal coins; warped currency from some forgotten mercenary’s pay.

The Ferries

Breaking through the final wall of nettles, the group reached the River Styx.

You stumble out of the Field of Nettles and find yourself at the very edge of the River Styx. Below you, a pier extends out from the rock about ten feet into the river, with three boats tied to it. Three figures sit or recline on the pier. You can see two of the figures are obscenely thin and tall, flesh tight on their bones, skeletal faces buried deep in their hoods. One peers up at you as you approach, then wordlessly gestures to one of the boats. The second appears to be playing some sort of card game, lifting and placing cards on the wooden slats of the pier, then clicking its teeth softly.

The third figure looks similar to Angelus, as it too is a fallen aasimar. She has long grey hair that is tied into a ponytail that drops to her hips, and you notice that there are nettles from the field behind you woven into it. She wears a long red cloak that brushes the ground, and has thick leather gloves that go up past her elbows. She steps forward and kicks the first figure, the one who gestured to its boat, in the back, then stomps on its hand, grinding it into the pier. The skeletal figure doesn’t react, but stares up at her with clear disdain.

She waves a finger in its face, saying, “Tsk tsk, Kainon, remember, you lost the next fare to me in that game of dice, remember?” She glances over at the creature playing cards, and says, “You too, Valxibis. Keep that bony trap shut. These idiots are mine, got it?”

The figure raises a card as if in acknowledgement, and continues with its game. The aasimar stomps forward, pier creaking under its boots, and sticks out a hand. “Dreri Wristbreaker, at your service! Best mortal pilot on the River Styx. Guarantee I can take you anywhere you want to go, and you’ll likely end up there in one piece, but that’s up to you. Headed to Gehenna?”

Angelus was instantly smitten. His companions saw the look and, with great amusement, chose to wingman him. Dreri, for her part, seemed only faintly amused by his flustered attempts at charm.

When a Vlazok, a bone-plated monstrosity, erupted from the nettles behind them, the group fought in a way that (attempted) to make Angelus look like the hero of the party. Josiah tried to cover up his mind spike attack (and failed). Kor tried to act scared, failed, and attacked the creature. Tag even got in on it, intentionally firing wide to make Angelus look even more impressive. The group easily dispatched the lone Vlazok.

When the battle ended, Dreri offered Angelus her hand, and a handshake so fierce it drove him to one knee. Then she looked around at the rest of the group, a faint grin on her face, and said, “I’m guessing you all are here for a ride up the river?”

Session Rewards & Discoveries

• Josiah resurrected (prepaid by employers).
• Chibro made a secret pact with Scribbler.
• Gobbie received the Mace of Smiting.
• Kor gained a living Battleloth shortsword.
• Angelus claimed the Wand of Bees.
• Party recovered 100 gp in infernal coins.
• Chibro found 50 GP worth of recoverable armor.

Song of the Session

Ticket Home by The Bones of J.R. Jones

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