Dungeons & Delvers: Age of Worms, Episode 706

Cast

• Humal (level 12 wrathful cambion wizard)
• Corzale (level 12 dwarf war cleric/druid)
• Sumia (level 12 elf rogue/ranger/wizard)

Session Highlights

The party just makes it to the gate, before being stopped by an aging-yet-still imposing warrior, clad in shining plate armor and a white tabard featuring the symbol of the sun god Pelor. Once he confirms their identity, he requests that they follow him to the arena: the high priest of Dovin's temple of Pelor is very interested in examining the source of the plague.

Given that there's an arcane apparatus containing the still very much active and dangerous "source"—a super dense sphere of life-sapping soul energy—in a bone-filled pit, the last thing the party needed was the head of an undead-eradicating religious organization butting their heads in (and possibly inadvertently causing the aforementioned sphere to start killing people again, or just explode).

Sumia tried making an excuse to leave the group, so that she could dash ahead and coat the apparatus in chameleon oil, but when she got to the arena saw that the high priest was already there, along with a group of templar. She tried sneaking past them, but since there was only one way in and they were right in front of it they spotted her, and then held her up with questions until the rest of the party arrived. After a few more failed attempts to dissuade them from investigating further, down they all went.

As they closed in on the bone pit, Corzale managed to distract them long enough for Humal to put up an illusion without anyone noticing, causing the pit to appear to be filled with merely lots of bones. After some talking the high priest thanked them, and explained that they'd return later to clean up the mess, burying remains, putting spirits to rest, and ensuring there weren't any undead lurking about, so they were now free to leave.

The party tried reasoning that, well, seeing as how they made the mess, they really should be the ones to clean it all up, and the church shouldn't waste their time doing such menial tasks. The high priest countered that they'd already done so much, and that laying the dead to rest was part of the whole sun-god package, but eventually the party talked him into at least let them assist, and more importantly waiting until tomorrow to start.

The plan was to wait until nightfall, come in, and try to teleport the apparatus and sphere to their hideout (and then maybe try bailing on helping clean everything up, because to be fair they were on an apocalyptic timetable). Risky, but certainly no more risky then what the church would probably try doing once they figured out what it was: when it came to necromantic magic at least Humal had a clue as to what the fuck he was doing. Plus Doppelfilge was back on his amorphous feet, able to lend an amorphous hand.

Sumia and Corzale decided to camp out near the pit, make sure none of the clergy or undead came snooping about. Around midnight Gorg returned: he'd found the dead elves, and per their original agreement was there to award her. He gave her the choice between a weapon or shadowy pack-mate, the latter of which could only be called upon a set number of times at night (equal to the number of elves slain).

Sumia opted for the latter, but as soon as Gorg vanished into the shadows both the high priest and paladin appeared from one of the passages, asking if that undead shadow-gnoll thing was a "friend" of hers.

Announcements

You can now get a physical copy of Dungeons & Delvers: Black Book in whatever format you want!

It look a lot longer than expected, but we finally released The Jinni. As with our other monstrous classes, this one is more faithful to the mythology (so don't go in expecting elemental-themed jinn).

After putting it to a vote, the next couple of classes on the docket are the warden (think 4E D&D warden) and apothecary (gotta go see what they're all about).

Dwarven Vault is our sixth 10+ Treasures volume. If you're interested in thirty dwarven magic items (including an eye that lets you shoot lasers) and nearly a dozen new bits of dungeon gear, check it out!

Just released our second adventure for A Sundered World, The Golden Spiral. If a snail-themed dungeon crawl is your oddly-specific thing, check it out!

By fan demand, we've mashed all of our 10+ Treasure volumes into one big magic item book, making it cheaper and more convenient to buy in print (which you can now do).