After the battle with the orc patrol, the Prevengers took a short rest — Bree divested the three orcs of their daggers while Oohye got them to (insolently) hand over the rest. Maree preached about Lathander while at the same time doing Rae’s hair. Xanth led them to the hilltop where he had spotted cultists conducting their dark rituals. Redspear scouted the hill with his raven familiar who reported on the topography. They decided to explore the cave in the southeast first. Inside, they found a boar penned up and an unconscious Eladrin who Rae recognised as her mother Tristan. Confused, this Tristan proved herself by telling Rae her true name. Weak with hunger, they bundled her with Xanth who brought her to the safety of Falcon’s hunting lodge.
Kavier led the way in his giant wolf spider wild shape in exploring the rest of the caves.
They found a trapdoor — when Kavier poked his spider form out of the exit, he found that it led to the stonehenge on the hill top and watched as the anchorites of Talos ritually gutted a deer on a bloody altar while twig blights danced around them.
Unfortunately his appearance was spotted by the cultists. Combat ensues:
- Kavier and Redspear laid the groundwork to hold off the enemy’s movement. Kavier’s Erupting Earth spell took out a group of twig blights on the right while Redspear’s Web spell restrained the group on the other side.
- Unfortunately, Oohye, Redspear, and Maree strayed too close the the cultists — this allowed them the chance to unleash Lightning Bolt spells in their direction. But they retaliated and in fact Redspear took the chance to use his spider staff. A cultist was quickly cut down but not before yelling: “Our sacrifice is not in vain!”
- The other cultist tried to escape but Rae moved rapidly to stop him with a stun. Oohye, Maree and Kavier also attacked the stunned anchorite from behind. Rae hears his last words spoken falteringly: “Talos… smite… our… foes…”
The spilled blood of the cultists triggered the appearance of Gorthok the Thunder Boar. It landed where Bree, Maree and Redspear were standing. Combat:
- Kavier ran for it, holding a Moonbeam over the creature; while Bree took a Misty Step out. Redspear cast Mirror Image on himself, making it appear that there were four of him. Rae shadow stepped beside Maree.
- Gorthok let out a wave of electricity that caused static to build up in each of them. He then used the energy to pull the creatures towards him.
- Rae took a Fey Step and charmed the boar for a moment. However, the Moonbeam delivered another attack which shook it out of her thrall.
- Oohye found that his weapons either went through the creature of energy or did not cause the damage he expected. Rae also found her fists to be less effective.
- Bree sent a thunder Chromatic Orb in the name of evidence-based magic. It backfired by reinvigorating the boar.
- Redspear summoned numerous minute meteors that orbit around him; Maree also summoned her tiny Spiritual Guardian suns too. Redspear then took the chance to disengage while also hurling two of the tiny meteors towards the almost translucent boar. Flame and lightning pushed back for a moment before the fire won out.
Rae spotted two trapdoors on the hilltop. They took a short rest, returning to the cave they were in, slaughtering the penned boar and having it for a well-deserved dinner. They explored the other two caves and found that it had similar layouts. Kavier spotted a slab loose on the floor and Bree pried it open and found a shiny shield. Redspear found an ornate, gold-stoppered potion of invulnerability in the Talos enthusiast’s room.
Night fell before long…