C1S16: H.S. Uka'toa

  is the sixteenth session of the first campaign.

Synopsis
The party after crossing the Ounterloch River were beset by the fish-like humanoids with warlock powers. The party fought them throughout the swampland, but near the end IM went unconscious slowly drifting down the river. The party healed him before he was swept away.

After surviving the onslaught, one of the fish humanoids was reanimated by a distant entity turning the corpse's eyes a cloudy green. The animated corpse began to walk towards Che first taking in the sight of him and later Badis when she interrupted its movement. Che when face to face with the corpse struck out with a dagger killing the reanimated corpse once again. While burning the bodies, the party contemplated the idea of possession of what just happened.

The party then left to travel across the swampland and, near the evening, found a giant snail shell to sleep in for the night. While asleep, Badis once again received a dream from the strange entity tied to the Cloven Crystal she kept close. Dreaming of her home both serene and in chaos, the entity urged Badis to consume the crystal and receive a mysterious boon. Badis threw away the crystal, which Che on watch brought back to her. The entity stopped her from just throwing it away and told her to give it up or be hunted. Agreeing to give it away, she allowed two similar looking humanoids from before to appear in the forest outside. This was not communicated to Che as he just saw them appear randomly as one of the humanoids was possessed. The eyes this time turned a darker shade of green as the being demanded the orb. Che instead killed both of the intruders.

With the threat dealt with, the party discussed Badis's dreams and what they meant. In their discussion, the group decided to leave the Cloven Crystal with the corpses hoping that would satisfy the entities wants. As the rest of the party went to sleep, Che on his watch was contacted by Ovak. She called to check in. Through discussing the events since their departure from Zadash and the situation regarding the crystal, Ovak decided to commune with her goddess Raei. In her commune, she was told it would not be a good idea to leave the crystal.

Ovak additionally went to the library in Zadash to research this entity. Through scouring books on the Betrayer Gods, she found the name of the being is Uka’toa, a remnant of the betrayer god Zehir, who acts as both protector of its followers and ruthless tyrant to everyone else. The only thing Ovak could see quickly is that the eye, the image on the Cloven Crystal is Uka'toa's symbol. She advised Che that it might not be smart to let them have the crystal if they are potentially evil.

On the 8th of Fessuran, the group made their way closer to the slaver's warehouse owned by the Jagentoths to enact justice and find answers. Around midday the party found a rock gnome body drowned in the pond. Retrieving the body, they found that it had been killed by some sort of clawed beast and had purple and black smoke leaving the body. Recalling their time dealing with a featureless body, the group burned it finding only metal rods left.

At around early evening, the group halted as all the animals in the group began to feel intense anxiety and nervousness. Through experimentation, the party found that it was when they entered into a certain threshold of the swamp. Investigating further, the party found that entering the area left them with goosebumps and a feeling of being watched. Opting to leave the animals in a safe area, the group headed on foot towards their destination. Getting closer to the intended destination, Che was secretly afflicted with renewed confidence and bombastic energy despite underlying anxiety. The group found tracks that lead to the compound they were looking for. Being about 60 feet away, the group saw a two-story compound with four individuals on the balcony moving about. Each individual carried two short swords, several daggers, and a crossbow on their back. Preparing for their assault, the session was called there.

Player Notes
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