At the Shrine of Othrys – Tipping the Scales of Fate a Bit Too Far (D&D 5E Campaign Report)

This report follows the ongoing adventures of Human rogue Teris (Paul Knorr), Myrmidon fighter Myrmex (Andrew Knorr), planetouched priestess Angelia (Carter Valentine), and Cynocephalian sorcerer Lyco (Oliver Knorr) as they continue to explore an ancient shrine at the base of ominous Mount Othrys. In this session, the party finally unlocks the doors to the inner sanctum of the shrine, discovers an elaborate summoning circle, makes short work of an alchemical horror … and attracts the attentions of a goddess.

***

Upon opening the stone double doors leading southward into a section of the elemental sanctuary of Mount Othrys that had previously been inaccessible to them, the party could see a square entryway some 15 feet wide and equally deep and, beyond it, a broad stairway leading upward. A thick coat of undisturbed dust lay over everything.

Elaborate decorative patterns in the floor consisting of marble tiles interspersed with metal inlays led canny Teris to assume traps of some sort might be concealed within it. Subsequent thorough investigation of the area with the assistance of Angelia revealed that any number of mechanical traps were indeed present, to include ones with bear-trap-like metal jaws, but that they did not appear to be active (possibly having become degraded over the course of years).

Moving cautiously across the chamber and its array of inert traps and then ascending the stairway, the party found themselves at the northern entrance to a strange, round room that had passageways leading out of it to the east, west, and south. Set into the floor at the center of the 25-foot diameter room was a large and elaborate magic circle, about 15 feet across and consisting of three metal rings set within one another and interspersed with numerous arcane sigils.

Drawing upon their knowledge of arcana and religion, respectively, Lyco and Angelia conducted a thorough inspection of the device, while Teris searched the room for anything that might be hidden within it and Myrmex kept watch (activities that allowed them to see that stairways also led down from each of the other three passageways out of the room). Based on their collaboration, the two spellcasters determined that the device was a summoning circle of sorts and that the three metal rings of decreasing size, the smaller ones set within the larger, could be rotated to achieve different effects. They also deduced that symbols signifying various elements and their admixture with each other and negative and positive energy meant this device was likely the thing that had been used to conjure the Mephits they had encountered. They were furthermore fairly certain that this circle was configured not to summon creatures into it, as it did not have a space into which something could be conjured, but rather into areas lying beyond this chamber (e.g., such as those places where they had encountered Mephits).

Having accomplished all they could in the summoning chamber, the party headed eastward and descended into a large, cool, square chamber about 20 feet on each side. Curiously, it had on its northern wall, set into an indentation, a pair of stone double-doors similar to those that guarded the approaches to the inner sanctum, complete with a cross-shaped keyhole that looked as if it would accommodate the flanged iron key. Angelia approached the doors in hopes of opening them as the rest of the party readied themselves for whatever might lie beyond (with Teris hiding near the stairway both as a rearguard and so that anything behind the portals might not see him).

Angelia was pleased to feel the key respond as it had when she used it previously and, as the doors swung open, the party could see a room similar in size to the one they were in. At its center was an elaborate marble sarcophagus and, as the portals opened, so too did the two halves of its lid, and as they fell into place on either side of the stone box a nightmarish creature rose up within it. This figure had the appearance of a skeletal man, its mottled gray skin pulled tight across it bones, and was clad in the ancient and tattered robes of a wizard who in life was skilled in the arts of alchemy. Upon its breast it wore a bronze chestplate etched with arcane symbols and set with an octet of diverse gems, from its belt hung an ancient dagger imbued with potent enchantments, and in the talons of its wizened hand it clutched an orb that almost pulsed with arcane power.

As this “Proto-Lich” regarded the adventurers before it and took them for devouts of its own cause, it said in a hollow and gravelly voice, “Kneel, dogs! Service properly rendered is no excuse for impertinence”! (In the course of this exclamation the undead monster briefly made eye contact with dog-headed Lyco and wondered if its choice of phrase had been especially appropriate or if it had lost some of its desired impact as a result of its audience. Lyco, momentarily meeting its gaze, gave that weird worried dog look where they look at something from the corners of their eyes and raise their eyebrows up and down.)

In response to this command there was no hesitation or disagreement among the members of the party and they immediately attacked in a way that was so swift, brutal, and overwhelming that their foe did not even have time to contemplate how little chance it had. Their success was such that, indeed, it even attracted the attention of the gods themselves (as we shall see presently).

Angelia led the attack by invoking the boon she had received from Lord Apollo in the “Radiance Chapel,” engulfing the necromantic horror with scorching rays of solar fire, somehow inflicting far more damage than the spell should have been capable of. Even as she did so, Lyco launched arcane bolts of fire at the monster, Myrmex charged forward and laid into it with his enchanted hammer, and Teris shot arrows at it from the shadows. By some almost inconceivable anomaly, every attack made by the party in that quick and savage battle — other than those by Teris, for whatever reasons — were critical hits, and in about 12 seconds flat what had initially appeared to be a fearsome “boss monster” was nothing but a pile of crushed, smoldering, and disarticulated bones. So preternaturally rapid and powerful had been the coordinated assault that the beleaguered foe had not even managed to successfully muster a single attack or defense against those trespassing in its lair.

***

Meanwhile, as the inordinately victorious companions began to search the crypt of the defeated Proto-Lich, Tyche, goddess of luck, seated in a beautifully-appointed salon on Mount Olympus, had reached the end of a prolonged and frustrating chess tournament with Athena, goddess of wisdom and warfare. Lady Tyche’s assertions that “it’s better to be lucky than good” notwithstanding, she had lost every single game to her opponent, a master tactician who left nothing to chance, and was consequently in an exceptionally foul mood. Her annoyance was only enhanced by the realization that, while she was distracted, the laws of probability that fell within her purview had been sorely violated over a period of several days by a band of scavengers in the vicinity of Mount Othrys. So, collecting up her backgammon set, she hustled off to investigate the situation ...

Upon reaching the grim mountain — past and future redoubt of the vile Titans — Tyche used her divine powers to review the recent activities of an improbable band of companions consisting of a priestess descended from the Olympian gods, a Myrmidon soldier, a dog-headed sorcerer, and an Athenian footpad. From what she could tell, some sort of meta-influence from another world had allowed all members of the party — except, ironically, for roguish Teris — to pervert the laws of probability. In all of their most recent important battles, in fact — including one with Dagonite cultists, a unit of evil Myrmidons, and finally the undead alchemist — the three vagabonds in question had all consistently moved more quickly than panthers and struck as truly and powerfully as demigods.

Lady Tyche served greater powers as well and, drawing upon the control over reality that they lent her, she took measures to ensure that the laws of reality would no longer be hijacked by this party of adventurers. She then moved ethereally amongst the party as they looted the sepulcher, waving her hand over the chestplate and dispelling the magical properties of the eight stones, and causing the orb and dagger to crumble into fragments and actually be forgotten by the companions. Then, in a final remolding of reality, she ensured that the party would be fated to meet the Proto-Lich again, albeit in a different place, time, and guise, so that they would not be deprived of their destiny.

Suffice it to say that, like most of the other Olympians, Lady Tyche wanted this party of companions to succeed in their actions against the Titanic cultists, and she wanted fortune to favor their boldness. She could not countenance the perversion of the laws of chance that had allowed such inordinate and undeserved triumphs, however, and resolved to ensure that probability would function normally forthwith ...

***

Following this session the two adults associated with this game did an after-action review of the party’s successes in its most recent encounters and determined that the laws of probability had indeed been systematically and progressively violated by some of its members in any number of ways. After some discussion, they cheerfully agreed that, moving ahead, players would henceforth be required to roll their dice in the publicly-visible Roll20 app rather than with the nuanced and secretive methods they had been increasingly applying to their physical dice.