![[Publish/Assets/Session Headers/2026-09-17 — A Salmon, a Grease Fire & Jeremy Split in Two.png]] # 2026-09-17 — A Salmon, a Grease Fire & Jeremy Split in Two > [!quote] Session Hook > The hatchery fight went on in the dark to the beat of the Infernal Machine. A barlgura became a salmon, the floor caught fire, and Jeremy finally burned holy from the inside out. --- ## Overview The party is still on the hatchery floor, surrounded by hezrou and barlgura that spent who knows how long being pumped full of ichor. They are fighting it the way they fight everything: badly outnumbered, loudly, and with a lot of spell slots. The cavern is dark now, the party's darkvision coming from goggles Casanova made. Beneath everything is the nest's slow mechanical heartbeat, *"a nice slow mechanical beat that you guys feel in your bones as you're fighting."* [[The Party|Dr. Herbert Who]] opened by turning a barlgura into a salmon. [[The Party|Casanova Frankenstein]] greased the floor and later set it alight. Two sets of **Spirit Guardians** and Tahara's walking **Antilife Shell** herded the demons into killing zones, while a barlgura kept hitting [[The Party|Tahara Rahma]] with phantasmal visions to try to break his concentration. Tahara never broke. After two rounds of trading blows, [[The Party|Lilly Pallywally]] misty-stepped into position and buried two smite-charged Longinus strikes in **Jeremy**, the first hezrou she had hexed. The second was a critical hit, and it split him cleanly in two. It is the party's first kill in the hatchery. [[The Party|Ara-Ara Avannatto]]'s Mass Cure Wounds put everyone back on their feet, and the DM admitted he *"was a little bit worried at the beginning of this, but I think you guys might have it."* The fight isn't over: *"There's still a lot of hit points left on the board."* --- ## Key Events ### 1. The Lights Go Out Two things were new when the table sat down. The chamber now has **dynamic lighting**, and the old ichor squares on the map have become **pulsing, undulating pools**. Anyone without natural darkvision is seeing sixty feet through **Goggles of Night** made by Casanova, who mentioned he has two spare pairs. The nest also has a soundtrack now. > [!important] The DM > **"It is a nice slow mechanical beat that you guys feel in your bones as you're fighting."** The table's response: *"Hell's got the best acoustics."* ### 2. One Salmon The round opened on Dr. Herbert Who, who arrived fashionably late and got straight to it. > [!important] Dr. Herbert Who > **"I'm gonna polymorph the giant ape in front of me into a fish."** *"A what?"* **"A salmon."** The barlgura failed its Wisdom save and flopped onto the ichor-slick floor as a fish. One of the most dangerous brutes in the room was now doing nothing but gasping. (The DM had no salmon token, so it got a murloc.) ### 3. The Front Line Grinds - **Celeste**, carrying Lilly on her back, punched a barlgura and kicked a hezrou, then galloped fifty feet to bring Lilly into range: *"Lily, we're going for a ride."* Her bones have been fragile since the last session, and she had opinions about being ridden: *"I'm like porcelain."* - **Unit-NULL** clawed away at the hezrou locked in her **Compelled Duel**. The demons answered hard. - **Tahara hit by illusions.** A barlgura pinned against the Antilife Shell cast **Phantasmal Force** on Tahara. He failed, took psychic damage, and held concentration. Tahara stayed its target for the rest of the night. - **A reckless leap.** A second barlgura leapt clean over Unit-NULL to get at Celeste and missed everything. - **Ara-Ara hit.** A third barlgura walked into Ara-Ara's Spirit Guardians and still punched her for 19. - **A crit cancelled.** Tahara spent a use of **Sentinel at Death's Door** to turn a demon's critical hit into a normal one. He is down to two uses. - **A hezrou fumble.** A hezrou swung at Celeste and fumbled so badly it lost its footing and fell **prone**. - **Jeremy on Lilly.** Jeremy got two claws into Lilly before she threw up **Shield**: **"Shield, bitch."** Then: **"Not today, Jeremy."** ### 4. Down the Fire Pole Lilly got off her mount in her own way: > [!important] Lilly Pallywally > **"I put the point of Longinus downward into the ground and slide down it like a fire pole."** Then she swung Longinus in a circle over her head and called up her own **Spirit Guardians**: *"I hate to keep playing the same note, but it's my best move."* With Hexblade's Curse still on Jeremy, her guardians hit him harder than anything else in the room. ### 5. Grease Ara-Ara drew a charge from her **Staff of Healing** to put 15 hit points back into herself. Casanova drank a potion and threw down **Grease** among the demons. The hezrou kept its footing. The barlgura did not, and ended up flat on its back in the slick. ### 6. The Shepherd Tahara was hemmed in by *"lots of Jeremys"* and sticking to non-concentration spells to protect his shell. He hit a hezrou with **Blight** and then used the **Antilife Shell** itself as a weapon, walking it forward to herd demons against the wall and give Ara-Ara cover on every side but one. The DM had a read on the demons: one was *"getting closer down to a normal hezrou that hasn't been juiced up."* The ichor has been making them stronger than they should be. ### 7. Round Two - **Herbert** dropped a **Fireball** on two hezrou (they resist fire, but it still burned). Then he flew in and cracked his tail across one's head *"like one of those dinosaurs do."* - **Celeste** stomped the prone barlgura, backhanded a hezrou, and charged a barlgura that was *"starting to look pretty rough."* She shrugged off the damage to her own fragile hands: *"Broken hands are no problem for Celeste… She just turned them into clubs."* - **Unit-NULL** stepped in and out of the Antilife Shell to fight. When the party asked her about the fish, she offered her own wisdom: *"My mother always told me: never trust a monkey."* ### 8. Back to Monkey The salmon had four hit points. Lilly's Spirit Guardians did nine. > [!important] The DM > **"How many hit points does a fish have, guys? Four. Okay. Well, then he turns back into a [barlgura]."** The barlgura came back confused and furious. It went straight for the owl who had turned it into a fish, and Herbert, who had just landed, took 28 bludgeoning for it. The table chanted "back to fish!" with feeling. The demons ground on: - Another round of Phantasmal Force hit Tahara, who rolled a 2 on the save and held concentration anyway. - Reckless barlgura hammered Celeste and Unit-NULL. - Jeremy tried to shrug off Lilly's guardians. Lilly used **Silvery Barbs** to force a reroll, and the curse's damage bit regardless. - A hezrou clawed Ara-Ara, and **Bob** struck back for 17. - Hezrou bit Unit-NULL for 13 and 17. - Two hezrou fell on Lilly: a 21-point bite, then a **critical** for 14 more. She was just out of reach of Tahara's Sentinel at Death's Door. She held her concentration. ### 9. Jeremy, Halved Lilly was down to 43 hit points and nearly out of first-level spells. She **Misty Stepped** to a spot fifteen feet from every enemy with every ally still inside her aura, and went for the kill. The first Longinus strike hit with a third-level **Divine Smite** on top of Hexblade's Curse, for **37**. The DM: *"He's looking very, very rough."* The second strike was a **critical hit**, and she burned another third-level slot on it: *"I don't use my level three spells for anything else."* > [!important] Lilly Pallywally > **"The radiant energy alone blows back the barlgura's hair and ruffles Herbert's feathers as Longinus just pierces this thing right down the middle… It splits Jeremy into two, and there's not really any gore — just a flash of radiant energy from inside as he splits, and then his two halves drop, cauterized, on the ground."** *"He just burns holy from within."* **Jeremy is dead.** The table's verdict: *"The tables are starting to turn."* ### 10. Mass Cure Wounds Ara-Ara saved her staff's charges and spent a **5th-level slot** so her domain would amplify the spell. **Mass Cure Wounds** washed over six members of the party. Celeste pointed out that **Disciple of Life** stacks on top, and the DM ruled every target got **27 hit points**. ### 11. Light the Grease Casanova asked whether fire would ignite things, aimed a **Fire Bolt** at the prone barlgura's foot, and hit. **The grease went up.** The barlgura lying in it burned, and later had to stand and stagger out of the fire. ### 12. "For Which You Were Made" > [!important] Tahara Rahma > **"I pray to Osiris to bless my accuracy, and I fire off a little radiant bolt from my fingertips that slips right between my two allies, hits this thing dead in the head, and burns out a small little hole right between its eyes, and it teeters backwards, and then falls on its ass—"** > [!important] The DM > **"—right into that pit of ichor right there, just laying there while it's pulsing."** > [!important] Tahara Rahma > **"For which you were made, that shall you return."** The barlgura took 15 radiant from the **Guiding Bolt**, and it is lying in the pulsing ichor. Nobody has declared it dead. ### 13. Frost, Fists and Faith - **Herbert**, now carried by ear-wings of his own (*"Your ear wings keep you ever aloft,"* per the DM), **Misty Stepped** in and hit the central demon with **Frostbite** for cold and disadvantage. - **Celeste**'s hands were *"lucky tonight."* A critical left cross and a sidekick cleared 70 damage across her turn, as the DM counted out loud: *"Thirty, thirty-five, forty… sixty-five, seventy."* She also landed two hits on the barlgura maintaining the Phantasmal Force, and each one forced a concentration save. - **Unit-NULL** cast **Shield of Faith** on herself, and the table cried "Holy Avenger." Then she ripped into a demon for sixteen more. ### 14. Bob Almost Slips The demons' last round was vicious and clumsy. - **Bob fumbles.** When a hezrou clawed Ara-Ara, her reaction swing with **Bob** fumbled. The DM made her roll to see whether she would drop the mace: *"You better hope you roll higher than a fifty."* An **85** gave her **Loss of Confidence**: a Constitution save or lose the use of the weapon. She passed and kept Bob. *"She loves Bob."* - **Tahara hit by illusions again.** The burning barlgura got to its feet, stepped out of the flames, and cast Phantasmal Force on Tahara for the third time. He had learned: 1 psychic damage. The DM: *"You're learning."* - **Unit-NULL.** - Lilly's Silvery Barbs turned a hezrou's hit on Unit-NULL into a miss. - Another hezrou bull-rushed Unit-NULL and swung three times. The DM, generously: *"All of those actually hit, but I'm just yoked."* - The last hezrou fumbled its bite, and its **Unexpected Enemy Movement** result gave Unit-NULL a free Dodge. > [!important] The DM > **"As you guys get further in, it might get a little harder to concentrate. You never can tell."** --- ## Notable NPCs | NPC | Type | Notes | |-----|------|-------| | **Jeremy** | Hezrou | **Dead.** Split in two by Lilly's critical Longinus strike with a Divine Smite. The halves dropped *"cauterized"* on the hatchery floor | | **The salmon** | Barlgura (formerly) | Polymorphed by Herbert into a fish. It turned back when Lilly's Spirit Guardians did more than four damage, then took revenge on Herbert. Still fighting | | **The grease barlgura** | Barlgura | Knocked prone by Casanova's Grease, then set on fire by his Fire Bolt. It hits Tahara with Phantasmal Force every chance it gets | | **The pit barlgura** | Barlgura | Took a Guiding Bolt between the eyes and fell backwards into a pulsing ichor pool. Alive, as far as anyone knows | | **Hezrou of the hatchery** | Toad demons | Several still standing, all battered by Spirit Guardians, Fireball, Blight and Celeste. Juiced by the ichor, and not all of them have worn off | | **Bob** | Sentient blood mace | Hit back at a hezrou for 17, then fumbled and nearly slipped from Ara-Ara's grip. It didn't | --- ## Locations - **The Hatchery floor (W3)** — now in darkness, covered in pulsing ichor pools, with a burning grease patch where Casanova's Fire Bolt landed. - **The ichor pit** — a pulsing pool on the hatchery floor. One barlgura is lying in it now. - **The Ichor Heart** — the name for the nest's slow, mechanical heartbeat that the party feels in their bones. --- ## Decisions & Consequences | Decision | Consequence | |----------|-------------| | Herbert polymorphed a barlgura into a salmon | It was out of the fight for a full round. When it reverted, it went straight for Herbert | | Tahara stuck to non-concentration spells and used the Antilife Shell to herd demons | The shell held through three separate Phantasmal Force attacks and kept Ara-Ara covered | | Lilly spent two 3rd-level slots in one turn on Jeremy | Jeremy died. Lilly is now short on low-level spells | | Ara-Ara cast Mass Cure Wounds from a spell slot instead of her staff | The Life domain bonuses applied: 27 hit points to each of six allies | | Casanova set fire to his own grease | The prone barlgura burned and had to get up and leave | | Ara-Ara kept swinging Bob in reaction | One fumble nearly cost her the mace. She kept it | --- ## Open Threads > [!warning] Unresolved > - [ ] **The hatchery fight** — barlgura and several hezrou are still standing, with *"a lot of hit points left on the board"* > - [ ] **The Phantasmal Force barlgura** — it is still concentrating on tormenting Tahara > - [ ] **The barlgura in the ichor pit** — lying in the ooze, and nobody knows what the ichor is doing to it > - [ ] **"Harder to concentrate"** — the DM's warning about going deeper into the nest > - [ ] **The Ichor Heart** — what is beating down there? > - [ ] **Remove Curse** for the flesh warps — still nobody has it prepared > - [ ] **Oruo's phylactery** — still at the bottom of the ichor lake > - [ ] **The horn** — still undelivered to Rex > - [ ] **Damon Charles** — still missing since the Styx --- ## Combat Summary ``` Encounter: The Hatchery — Demon Nest floor (W3), continued Status: UNRESOLVED — end of round; resumes with LILLY at the top Round A Herbert POLYMORPH — barlgura → salmon (Wis DC 17, failed) Celeste Punch + kick; carried Lilly 50 ft into range Unit-NULL Claws on her Compelled Duel hezrou BARLGURA Phantasmal Force on Tahara (psychic; concentration held) Leap over Unit-NULL at Celeste — all miss Reckless on Ara-Ara — 19 bludgeoning HEZROU Crit → Sentinel at Death's Door (2 uses left) Fumble (d100 76: Unbalanced Blunder) → PRONE Jeremy claws Lilly → SHIELD: "Not today, Jeremy." Unit-NULL hit for 12 Lilly Dismounts down Longinus; SPIRIT GUARDIANS Ara-Ara Staff of Healing (1 charge) — Cure Wounds, 15 Casanova Potion (bonus); GREASE — barlgura prone Tahara Blight 13; walks the Antilife Shell to herd demons Round B Herbert FIREBALL on two hezrou (13 / 7 after resistance); tail whip, 5 Celeste Stomp 9, backhand, charge 12 Unit-NULL In and out of the shell; 16 + 17 SPIRIT GDNS Salmon takes 9 → reverts to barlgura (5 carries over) BARLGURA Phantasmal Force on Tahara again (nat 2, held); ex-salmon hits Herbert for 28 HEZROU Jeremy vs Silvery Barbs — still saves, takes 12 with curse; Bob reaction 17; Unit-NULL bitten 13 + 17; Lilly bitten 21, then CRIT 14 (concentration held) Lilly Misty Step; Longinus + 3rd-lvl Smite + curse = 37; Longinus CRIT + 3rd-lvl Smite → JEREMY SPLIT IN TWO ☠ Ara-Ara MASS CURE WOUNDS (5th) + Disciple of Life — 27 each ×6 Casanova Fire Bolt at the prone barlgura → GREASE ON FIRE (9 fire) Tahara Shell herding; GUIDING BOLT 15 radiant → barlgura falls into the ichor pit Herbert Misty Step; FROSTBITE — 7 cold + disadvantage Celeste Crit left cross + sidekick; charges the concentrating barlgura (8, 10) Unit-NULL Shield of Faith; ripping and tearing, 16 DEMONS Burning barlgura stands, leaves the fire, Phantasmal Force on Tahara (1); reckless barlgura on Lilly (9 + 8); Bob FUMBLE — d100 85, Loss of Confidence, Con save PASSED; Silvery Barbs turns a hit on Unit-NULL into a miss; fumble d100 66 — Unit-NULL gets a free Dodge Kills this session: Jeremy (hezrou) — Lilly Active at the cut: Antilife Shell — Tahara Spirit Guardians — Ara-Ara AND Lilly Shield of Faith — Unit-NULL (ended her Compelled Duel) Phantasmal Force on Tahara — a barlgura concentrating Burning grease patch on the floor ``` --- ## Active Effects & Durations > [!note] Where the clocks stand > The hatchery fight is **one continuous combat** carried across two sessions — roughly **five and a half rounds** so far (three on 9/10, two and a half on 9/17). It picks back up at **[[The Party|Lilly Pallywally]]'s turn**, with [[The Party|Ara-Ara Avannatto]], [[The Party|Casanova Frankenstein]] and [[The Party|Tahara Rahma]] still to act before the demons come round again. > One round = 6 seconds · 1 minute = 10 rounds · 10 minutes = 100 rounds · 1 hour = 600 rounds. | Effect | Holder | Cast | Duration | Rounds left at the restart | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Antilife Shell** | Tahara *(concentration)* | 9/10, round 2 | 1 hour | ~**596** (~59 min) | | **Spirit Guardians** | Ara-Ara *(concentration)* | 9/10, round 2 | 10 min | ~**96** | | **Spirit Guardians** | Lilly *(concentration, Longinus charge)* | 9/17, first round | 10 min | ~**98** | | **Shield of Faith** | Unit-NULL *(concentration)* | 9/17, final round | 10 min | ~**100** | | **Fly** | Casanova *(concentration)* | 9/10, descent | 10 min | ~**95** | | **Wall of Fire** ⚠️ | Herbert *(concentration)* | 9/17, final round | 1 min | **~9** — see note below | | **Phantasmal Force** on Tahara | a barlgura *(concentration)* | 9/17, final round — third casting | 1 min | **10** | | **Grease / the burning patch** | Casanova *(no concentration)* | 9/17, first round | 1 min | **8** | | **Mirthful Leaps** | Ara-Ara *(no concentration)* | 9/10, round 1 | 1 min | **5** | | **Death Ward** | Celeste, Unit-NULL | the long rest | 8 hours | measured in **hours**, not rounds | > [!note] Initiative order, from the Roll20 tracker > **Tahara (19.16) → Herbert (19.11) → Celeste (17.13) → Unit-NULL (17.08) → barlgura (16) → hezrou (7) → Lilly (~6) → Ara-Ara (5.11) → Casanova (3.14)** > Demons run on group initiative, one slot per type. The session stopped **inside the hezrou slot**, so **Lilly, Ara-Ara and Casanova still owe turns in this round** — and then **Tahara opens the next one**. Tahara leads the order, he does not close it. > [!tip] Party HP at the cut (from the tracker) > Casanova **89/91** · Tahara **90/102** · Herbert **67/71** · Unit-NULL **73/142** · Lilly **59/92** · Celeste **51/93** · **Ara-Ara 17/88** > Ara-Ara is the one to watch. She has been the demons' favourite target all fight, she is holding Spirit Guardians, and she has no Death Ward. **Death Ward is on Celeste and Unit-NULL.** > [!warning] Compelled Duel is no longer active > [[The Party|Unit-NULL]] laid **Compelled Duel** on a hezrou in the fight's opening round — concentration, 1 minute. On 9/17 she cast **Shield of Faith** on herself, which is *also* concentration, so **the duel ended there** with roughly four rounds still on its clock. > Shield of Faith is what she is holding now. That hezrou is no longer bound to her: it can move away from her freely and attack whoever it likes, with no disadvantage and no save to break off. > [!warning] ⚠️ Is Herbert's Wall of Fire still up? > The Roll20 chat log shows Herbert casting **Wall of Fire** in the last full round — DC 17 Dex, **22 fire (5d8)**, which is Wall of Fire's damage, not Fireball's 8d6. Wall of Fire is **concentration, up to 1 minute**, so if it was cast it is still burning with roughly nine rounds left and Herbert is holding it. > His token carries **no Concentrating marker**, but Lilly's doesn't either while she holds Spirit Guardians, so the markers aren't proof. Confirm with Tommy at the top of the session. Also worth tracking: - **Hexblade's Curse ended with Jeremy** — it dies with its target, and Lilly will need to re-hex something to get the bonus damage back. - **Lilly's Shield** lapsed at the start of her next turn, the round after she threw it up at Jeremy. - **Feather Fall is not still running.** It ends for a creature the moment it lands, not on its 1-minute duration — so the descent into the maw used it up. - **Mirthful Leaps is the short one nobody is watching.** Tripled jump distance, about five rounds left. Ara-Ara can always re-cast it, and there will be gaps in this place worth jumping. - **The grease fire expires with the spell.** Eight rounds of burning floor, then it is out. --- ## Loot & Acquisitions | Item | Who | Notes | |------|-----|-------| | **Staff of Healing** | [[The Party\|Ara-Ara Avannatto]] | In use this session, with 10 charges (Cure Wounds for 1 per level, Mass Cure Wounds for 5). One charge spent. Healing cast from the staff does not trigger her Life domain bonuses | | **Goggles of Night** | Party (from [[The Party\|Casanova Frankenstein]]) | Casanova's craftwork gives 60 ft of darkvision to anyone who lacks it. He has spares | > For a full loot breakdown see [[Session Loot]]. --- ## Party This Session | Character | Highlights | |-----------|------------| | [[The Party\|Lilly Pallywally]] | Slid down Longinus like a fire pole, raised Spirit Guardians, Shielded away Jeremy's claws — *"Not today, Jeremy"* — and then split him in two with a smite-charged critical hit. The party's first kill in the hatchery | | [[The Party\|Tahara Rahma]] | Held Antilife Shell through **three** Phantasmal Force attacks, used the shell to herd demons, spent a Sentinel at Death's Door on a crit, and dropped a barlgura into the ichor with a Guiding Bolt in Osiris's name: *"For which you were made, that shall you return"* | | [[The Party\|Ara-Ara Avannatto]] | Kept her Spirit Guardians up, healed herself from her Staff of Healing, then spent a 5th-level slot on a Mass Cure Wounds worth 27 to six allies. Bob fumbled once and she still didn't let go | | [[The Party\|Dr. Herbert Who]] | Turned a barlgura into a salmon, Fireballed two hezrou, tail-whipped one, and landed Frostbite. Took 28 from the barlgura he'd embarrassed | | [[The Party\|Casanova Frankenstein]] | Gave the party sight in the dark with his Goggles of Night, knocked a barlgura flat with Grease, then set the grease on fire with a Fire Bolt | | [[The Party\|Celeste Valentin]] | Fought on fragile bones and still hit the hardest of anyone: a critical left cross, a sidekick, and roughly 70 damage in a single turn. Carried Lilly into position before the fight had properly started | | [[The Party\|Unit-NULL]] | Fought in and out of the Antilife Shell, took bite after bite from the hezrou, put up Shield of Faith, and dodged the last blow of the night | *[[The Party|Damon Charles]] did not appear this session.* --- ## Table Notes - The session ended at the end of a full round. **Next session resumes with Lilly** at the top of the order. - See **Active Effects & Durations** above for what is still running and how long it has left. Note that Unit-NULL's **Compelled Duel ended** when she cast Shield of Faith. - The chamber is now on dynamic lighting, with an "Ichor Heart" heartbeat track playing. --- *Session recorded on Plaud · File ID: `5e929af34af2c87638b0532569e609c4` · Duration ~2h 4m of play*