Fri Feb 17 16:42:54 EST 2023 Ed DMing 5e. Me, Steven, Sebastian, Anthony, and Scott playing. Last time: after many months of wandering, we arrived at Oothereon's kingdom. He needs our help with some troublesome dragons allied with Oothereon's rebellious nephew and the mercenary company, The Ragged Ascots. Nephew's name: Anax Agoras Our goals are to kill or capture Anaxagoras. Oothereon shows us paintings of Anaxagoras. Does Anax Agoras have any unique belongings? **He has Oothereons ancestral bronze short short, spear, and shield.** (Oothereon shows us statues of the items.) Does he have any supernatural powers? No, Oothereon doesn't think so. Five questions to Contact Other Plane: 1. On which island is the dragon's lair? 2. On which island is Anaxagoras? 3. How many members belong to The Ragged Ascots? 4. Can Oothereon trust Cleitos the admiral? 5. Can Oothereon trust Phamphalos the master of coin? (We ask Oothereon to pick the two advisors he needs to know if he can trust.) Zoozkeki makes his INT save, and asks the questions. 1. On which island is the dragon's lair? Nisi [island 13] 2. On which island is Anaxagoras? Crater [island 14] 3. How many members belong to The Ragged Ascots? 5,000 4. Can Oothereon trust Cleitos the admiral? No 5. Can Oothereon trust Phamphalos the master of coin? No We tell Oothereon. Meanwhile, Cleitos (!) the admiral has been assembling mirmadons to accompany us on our expedition. We choose from the apes in the barracks that Cleitos didn't select, and fit out three ships. The Black Tower (10) is of ill repute. Apes don't go there. Sorcery and treachery. On Pelican Island (6) a tunnel leads to an unexplored underground complex. On Club Foot (7) you can buy provisions. Crater Island is inhabited by men who live in a city. It's reputed to descend long leagues below the surface, perhaps leading to devils. Big Orange Key is just orange groves. Far Island is an island of men with a town (though not as large as Crater Island). Our ship names: Grampus, Idolon, Polemicist's Grief. Grampus: Xenon and Martin, along with a mix of Clitos's apes and scruffy apes. Idolon: Zoozeki and Loktar, along with the shaggiest, scruffiest of the apemen rejects; ape captain X? Polemicist's Grief: Smudge and Kristabell, along with a crew full of apes recommended by Clitos We sail toward Pelican Island. We seek smoke rising from Le Petit Chou and several beached longships. Smudge looks through his spyglass. Men not apes. A funeral. Zoozeki casts _clairaudience_ to listen in. "My father's ashes" "celebrate with annual games" "Anchises" has apparently died. From the Aeneid, father of Aeneas. Some of the apes have heard of Anchises. They say he'd a famous king from far north, beyond the Here Be Dragons sea. We decide to hang around (without crashing the funeral) and see if we might claim them as Oothereon's allies. Oh, they're having games, a boat race. We approach outside the course of the race, flying flags of peace. We greet Aeneas, and it goes well. Their city was sacked by their enemies, and they were forced to flee. Anchises died of old age while they were fleeing toward Oothereon for refuge. We participate mock battle, and divide up between: Anastus (Kristabell, Xenon, and Martin go with Anatus) Sir Gastus (Zoozeki goes with Gastus, along with Loktar and Smudge) Zoozeki polymorphs himself into a giant elephant (stats of a young silver dragon). Zoozeki knocks people down with his elephant feet and picks them up kicking and flailing with with his trunk. Big psychological impact. Smudge teleports behind Kristabell and backstabs her with the blunt sword for 23 damage. Loktar barbarian rages and charges. Loktar lets out a war cry (and Zoozeki trumpets in response). He dents the helmet of a dude in the shield wall. Sebastian casts _infestation_ on Smudge. Mites, flees, and other parasites momentarily appear all over Smudge, dealing 9 damage. Martin (Scott) _commands_ Zoozeki, Smudge, and Loktar to "flee". Zoozeki saves. Smudge and Loktar flee. Kristabell takes an attack of opportunity (actually three attacks plus two more from _haste_) against Smudge for relatively little damage because of Smudged damage reducing abilities. All but two of Anastus's warriors run. Sir Gastus wins! Aeneas says: the gods have spoken. Sir Guestus has won, and he shall be the first among my warriors. We'll said to the city of the ape men and offer them our service. Zoozeki gives elephant rides to a bunch of children. The games are a success. As a result of winning, we get advantage on any three rolls next session. Zoozkeki give Aeneus a letter of introduction to Oothereon.