Sanity Damage - D&D Actual Play

After Zachariah brutally demolishes the mind flayer overseeing the Fungal Crags, the party mops up the remaining enemies and sets about finding a way to eliminate the pollution pouring forth from the Fungal Crags and feeding the dangerous clouds over the city.

The party presses into the Fungal Crags, using stealth and caution to maneuver around some of the more obvious threats. After scouting ahead, Abraham formulates a plan of attack, and the party moves to execute.

Arriving at the Fungal Crags, the party quickly realizes that the atmosphere itself is hostile around this corrupted complex. The walls, once stone, now pulsate like flesh, and oozing plant matter chokes the region. Even so, the party presses inward, set on stopping this pollution.

Having settled on a tentative course of action, the party plans to retake the Fungal Crags, which seems to be the source of the magical pollution covering the city. On the way, they are intercepted by minions of the mind flayers, who are out for blood now that the party has killed one of their own.

The party quickly realizes that while the Lion’s Den is safe from the ilithids, it is still far from safe. After the mind flayers took over the city, a fledgling resistance broke out, but tensions run hot between Isak and Sapphire, the leaders of the two most prominent gangs that compose the resistance. To make matters worse, the Taiyangese maintain their naval blockade, wealthy Cliffsbayans have declared themselves the emperors of new city-states, and the indigenous folk of Penjarhao besiege the city from land. It seems no matter what the party does, there will inevitably be bloodshed. And lots of it.

In the heat of battle, Zachariah, Abraham, Torr, Penelope, and Arf help one another kill an ilithid and its thralls. A second ilithid barely escapes with its life. Isak of the Lion’s Den, along with his companion Nelton the mapmaker, offer the Lion’s Den as a safe haven for the party.

Zachariah uses his teleportation circle coordinates to return to Kraz’s lair. He sets back out towards Cliffsbay, which he can see is covered with some sort of foul haze. Along the way, he makes two new friends: an occult experimenter named Abraham and Torr, a hobgoblin who seems to hear multiple voices in his head. When the three enter the city, things are clearly amiss, and it is not long before a fight breaks out. A few brave denizens of Cliffsbay leap to help the party, including some old friends and new allies, Penelope and Arf.

Join Nathan, Alex, and Ellen in an exciting recap of our story up to now!

Zachariah sails the stormy seas with some folk from Jack’s past. When he reaches Ricksport, surprising developments lead Zachariah to recommit to an old promise. A mysterious benefactor assists him in implementing his decision.

In the first half of a 2-part interlude, we back up in time to when Jack and Zachariah disagreed on their next course of action. We follow Zachariah and his undead entourage as he journeys south through gnoll-infested woods in a grim effort to reach Ricksport in time to save Hudson.