![[Publish/Assets/Session Headers/2026-09-03 — Five Jeremys Down & the Curse in the Flesh.png]] # 2026-09-03 — Five Jeremys Down & the Curse in the Flesh > [!quote] Session Hook > The hezrou ambush ended in a snapped neck, a fireball and a toll of bells for Osiris. Then the War-Slough took its price out of the party's flesh, and [[The Party|Tahara Rahma]] worked out what that price really was. --- ## Overview The party finished the fight that interrupted their long rest. Every hezrou that came out of the ichor at dawn was dead within three rounds, along with the one they summoned. [[The Party|Ara-Ara Avannatto]]'s Spirit Guardians ground the summoner to dust. [[The Party|Celeste Valentin]] snapped one's neck. [[The Party|Unit-NULL]]'s cursed claw tore another apart. [[The Party|Dr. Herbert Who]] finished a third with Magic Missile. Tahara rang the bells of Osiris for the last. Nobody fell. The warps were worse than the wounds. Three members of the party changed shape. Celeste's bones turned brittle, Herbert sprouted a second pair of wings, and [[The Party|Casanova Frankenstein]]'s arms stretched into long tentacles. While the others studied the changes, Tahara recognised them for what they are: **curses**, fed by the Slough's intense corrupt energy. **Remove Curse** can lift them, but only before the party leaves the War-Slough. After that, or if they linger too long, the changes become permanent. The party chose to push on for Oruo's phylactery and deal with the curses at the next long rest. They stepped up to the rim of the Demon Nest's entrance. --- ## Key Events ### 1. Spirit Guardians Picking up mid-round, Ara-Ara raised **Spirit Guardians** and made herself the anchor of the camp. Dr. Herbert Who opened with **Blight** on the nearest hezrou. It half-dodged and still took *"a pretty good amount of damage."* The stench caught up with everyone at once: a Constitution save or be poisoned, with twenty-four hours of immunity for anyone who passed. Nobody failed. Casanova was unbothered: *"I've drunk acid before. I'm good."* Herbert's whip-tail, grown in the Canyon Trove, was ruled magical enough to hurt a demon. Casanova disengaged from the melee and backed toward his friends. Unit-NULL called him over: > [!important] Unit-NULL > **"Find me, Casanova. I will protect you."** ### 2. The Sunbeam Moves Tahara swept his **Sunbeam** through three more hezrou. Two failed, took 29 radiant, and went blind. The third squinted through it. Lilly was absent this week, and her usual war cry went up anyway: **"For Herfordorf!"** She put Longinus into a hezrou twice, for 11 and then 17, but the demon kept its feet against both topple attempts. ### 3. A Hezrou Summons The demons tried to call reinforcements. One of the four succeeded, and a fresh hezrou tore its way into the fight. Tahara: *"It parthenogenesized."* A second hezrou went at Ara-Ara, and Ara-Ara's guardians bit into everything nearby. Celeste punched the northernmost demon, grappled it and dragged it ten feet toward the party. Then she worked it over with shin kicks and elbows. Unit-NULL took advantage of a blinded hezrou: an extra attack, a **Divine Smite**, and a hit hard enough to wake the cursed claw, which ripped into the demon for 26 more. Ara-Ara swung **Bob** with advantage and missed. > [!important] The DM > **"You miss, and Bob sounds very disappointed."** *"I'm so sorry, Bob. I'm so sorry."* ### 4. Fireball, Dribbled Herbert lined up a spot where the blast would catch four hezrou and none of his friends. > [!important] Dr. Herbert Who > **He starts casting a fireball by putting his hands between his legs and dribbling it back and forth until a small flame appears, then shoots it over his head.** Two hezrou failed the save and took 36 fire; the other two took half. Casanova added a **Melf's Acid Arrow**, and Tahara's Sunbeam burned the two in front of him for 15 each. Tahara wasn't pleased with the roll: *"If it was nice damage, you guys wouldn't have to try to cheer me up."* Lilly kept her seat in Celeste's saddle despite an unlucky roll that nearly toppled her. ### 5. Dust The summoner hezrou started its turn inside Ara-Ara's guardians and never finished it. > [!important] The DM > **"…spinning around the hezrou and just go into it. He just burns and decays and down into dust, and his summon over here goes *bloop*."** The summoned demon vanished with its master. ### 6. The Geriatric Brigade The surviving hezrou struggled. One swung at Herbert, came up short, and spent its bonus action putting its jaw back into place. Its claw still landed for 15, and **Unit-NULL took the hit instead**. Herbert: *"There goes my hero."* The one Celeste had grappled flailed at her like a toddler held at arm's length, dropped something, picked it up again, and missed twice. > [!important] Tahara Rahma > **"We're dealing with the geriatric brigade of hezrou, and their goddamn dentures keep falling out."** The two hezrou on Tahara did better. A bite and a claw cost him 25 hit points and his **Sunbeam**. ### 7. Round Three - **Celeste** finished her grapple. > [!important] Celeste Valentin > **"She punches him in his head, and it turns really far, and you hear a snap, and the light leaves his eyes."** The DM: *"Hezrou necks not very flexible, as everybody knows."* She dropped the body and charged the next. - **Unit-NULL** hit again, and the claw did the rest: *"Ripped and tore until it was done."* She walked through what was left. - **Ara-Ara** connected with Bob this time, for 15. - **Herbert** dropped another with **Magic Missile**: the demon *"starts seeing a laser pointer… starts staring at it, and it goes up his chest and goes through him."* - **Casanova** set the last one screaming with a Fire Bolt, *"just turning in circles… E.T. phone home."* Tahara ended it. > [!important] Tahara Rahma > **"The bells of the monastery of Osiris ring with the knowledge that all life is temporary."** **Toll the Dead.** The hezrou failed its save. *"He stares off into the distance as if seeing his slimy toad home on the horizon. The light just gently fades from his eyes as he reaches for the image, and then he just collapses face first onto the ground."* ### 8. The Flesh Changes The party had finished the long rest, even if they woke to an ambush, and the War-Slough collected. Everyone made a Wisdom save against the Slough's warping. Three of them failed: | Character | New warp | |---|---| | [[The Party\|Celeste Valentin]] | **Brittle bones.** She is now vulnerable to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing. *"You immediately feel your bones creak."* This is on top of last time's lengthened leg | | [[The Party\|Dr. Herbert Who]] | **A second pair of wings**, grown from his ears. Five more feet of flight | | [[The Party\|Casanova Frankenstein]] | **Tentacle arms** with normal fingers at the ends, longer than he is tall. He could walk on them and stand as tall as everyone else. Casanova thinks he can *"cook more efficiently now"* | ### 9. Good News, Bad News The clerics and paladins spent the rest of the morning studying the warps. Tahara rolled high: > [!important] The DM > **"As you're zapping things with sunbeams and thinking about how you can't hear them, you realize that a spell that would dispel a curse would probably fix a flesh warping issue."** > [!important] Tahara Rahma > **"Good news, bad news, guys. I've identified the magic that's being used to kind of warp our flesh here… they're curses. A highly intensified curse energy in the War-Slough. But the problem is, if we take too long, or if we leave, they become permanent."** Between them, the clerics and paladins can manage about a dozen castings of **Remove Curse** once they have rested and prepared it. The catch is that warping comes with time spent here, and resting is exactly when it strikes. Tahara laid out the plan: > [!important] Tahara Rahma > **"First things first, we still need to get our brother's phylactery, and then maybe we can find ourselves a cave. The longer we stay here, the more this saps our energy. If we stick around to try to remove all of the curses, there's nothing to say we don't end up so exhausted that we can't escape."** Even at their worst, the vials of **condensed order** from Rex should get them out of the Slough if they reach its edge. Not everyone wants a cure. Herbert may keep his tail. Casanova is keeping his arms, since they help with his cooking. Tahara wants his ears back. Celeste needs her bones fixed first: *"The brittle one is the only one that has to go. I can handle being ten feet slower, but vulnerability…"* She plans to switch from grappling to hit-and-run until then. Tahara offered her some comfort: *"I am specifically equipped to deal with healing people who are downed."* ### 10. The Rim With the camp cleared, the party stepped up to the entrance of the nest. The half-grown demons in its walls, fed by green tubes that rise from the ichor, had not stirred during the fight. > [!quote] W3-A > **"Moist ichor covers the floors and walls. There's a pounding noise in the distance, as if a large machine is rumbling away, performing some unfathomable work. The tunnel seems to undulate to the rhythm of the noise, and in places you think you see terrible faces etched into the stone — almost like there's more demons coming out of the stone."** Everyone re-rolled initiative for what's below, and the table called it there. --- ## Notable NPCs | NPC | Type | Notes | |-----|------|-------| | **Hezrou ×5 (+1 summoned)** | Toad demons | All dead. The summoner turned to dust in Ara-Ara's Spirit Guardians and its summon vanished with it. The others went to Celeste (neck snap), Unit-NULL (claw), Herbert (Magic Missile) and Tahara (Toll the Dead) | | **Bob** | Sentient blood mace | Missed once and sounded *"very disappointed."* Connected for 15 in the final round | | **The wall-demons of W3-A** | Unknown | Still dormant, still fed by green tubes, and unmoved by the whole fight | --- ## Locations - **The campsite outside the Demon Nest (W3)** — where the ambush was fought and finished. - **The entrance of the nest (W3-A)** — ichor-slick, pounding and undulating. The party is standing at its rim. --- ## Decisions & Consequences | Decision | Consequence | |----------|-------------| | Ara-Ara anchored the fight with Spirit Guardians | It killed the summoner hezrou outright and banished its summon | | Celeste grappled a hezrou instead of trading blows | Pinned, flailing, and eventually dead with a snapped neck | | Herbert placed his Fireball to spare the party | Four hezrou hit, two badly burned, no friendly fire | | The clerics and paladins studied the warps | They learned the warps are curses: removable, but permanent if they leave or linger | | The party pressed on for the phylactery before curing anything | The curses and the exhaustion clock keep running | --- ## Open Threads > [!warning] Unresolved > - [ ] **Remove Curse** — about twelve castings available after a long rest and preparation. Who gets cured, and when? > - [ ] **The permanence clock** — leave the Slough or linger too long and the warps become permanent > - [ ] **Celeste's brittle bones** — vulnerable to all weapon damage until cured > - [ ] **Oruo's phylactery** — at the bottom of the ichor lake, through the nest > - [ ] **The pounding machine and the wall-demons** — still unexplained > - [ ] **The horn** — still undelivered to Rex > - [ ] **Damon Charles** — still missing since the Styx --- ## Combat Summary ``` Encounter: Five hezrou — the campsite outside W3-A (continued from 2026-08-19) Status: RESOLVED — all hezrou dead; no PC dropped Stench: DC 14 Con or poisoned until start of next turn; pass = 24-hr immunity Round 1 (cont.) Ara-Ara SPIRIT GUARDIANS Herbert Blight (saved, half); tail whip (magical) Casanova Disengage — "I will protect you" (Unit-NULL) Round 2 Tahara Sunbeam — 29 radiant, 2 more hezrou BLINDED Lilly (NPC) Longinus 11 + 17; topple saved twice HEZROU SUMMON — 1 of 4 succeeds, a new hezrou arrives; multiattack on Ara-Ara — all miss Celeste Punch + GRAPPLE, drag 10 ft; kicks and elbows (20) Unit-NULL Smite + Claw vs a blinded hezrou — 26 extra Ara-Ara Bob — miss ("very disappointed") Herbert FIREBALL — two fail (36), two save (18) Casanova Melf's Acid Arrow Tahara Sunbeam — 15 each (both saved) SPIRIT GDNS Summoner reduced to DUST ☠ — its summon vanishes HEZROU Claw on Herbert (15) → Unit-NULL takes it; grappled one whiffs twice on Celeste; two maul Tahara for 25 — Sunbeam LOST Round 3 Celeste Two punches — NECK SNAPPED ☠ Unit-NULL Claw — "ripped and tore until it was done" ☠ Ara-Ara Bob — 15 Herbert Magic Missile ☠ Casanova Fire Bolt — 13 Tahara TOLL THE DEAD — "all life is temporary" ☠ Post-fight flesh warps (DC 15 Wis; 3 failed): Celeste brittle bones — vulnerable to bludgeoning/piercing/slashing Herbert ear-wings (+5 ft fly) Casanova tentacle arms with fingers Warps = curses. Remove Curse fixes them; permanent if the party leaves the War-Slough or lingers too long. ``` --- ## Loot & Acquisitions | Item | Who | Notes | |------|-----|-------| | — | — | Nothing gained. The Slough took rather than gave | > For a full loot breakdown see [[Session Loot]]. --- ## Party This Session | Character | Highlights | |-----------|------------| | [[The Party\|Tahara Rahma]] | Two more Sunbeams, 25 damage and a lost concentration, then the killing blow: *"all life is temporary."* Identified the warps as curses and set the plan | | [[The Party\|Ara-Ara Avannatto]] | Her Spirit Guardians killed the summoner and dispersed its summon. Apologised to Bob for missing, then made it up to him for 15 | | [[The Party\|Celeste Valentin]] | Grappled a hezrou, dragged it into the party and snapped its neck. Came out of the rest with brittle bones and a new fighting style to match | | [[The Party\|Unit-NULL]] | Smite plus claw on a blinded hezrou, took a hit meant for Herbert, and tore another demon apart for a kill | | [[The Party\|Dr. Herbert Who]] | Blight, a dribbled Fireball that spared the party, and a Magic Missile kill. Gained a second pair of wings | | [[The Party\|Casanova Frankenstein]] | Shrugged off the stench, disengaged to safety, and landed Melf's Acid Arrow and a Fire Bolt that set the last hezrou screaming. Came out of the rest with tentacle arms, which he's keeping | | [[The Party\|Lilly Pallywally]] | Played as an NPC this week. Two Longinus hits, a war cry, and she stayed in the saddle | *[[The Party|Damon Charles]] did not appear this session.* --- ## Table Notes - Played a day later than usual. Games are on **Thursdays** from here on. - Lilly's player was absent, and Lilly was run as an NPC. - The table stopped before exploring the nest, with fresh initiative rolled for what's below. --- *Session recorded on Plaud · File ID: `6c34679591a53cc8d89862d760c2c103` · Duration ~1h 16m*