Session 48 - Inside Oyaviggaton (2026.04.12)

From Deez Nuts' Sword Coast Campaign
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Session 48 - Inside Oyaviggaton

Summary

Following their rest on the ice hunter village plateau, Deez Nuts enters the lair of Arauthator through a secret passage revealed by Bone Carver. Before descending, the party works through its guilt over having killed the enslaved ice fishers on the way north — Xanphina especially — steadying themselves with a group hug and a motivational speech from Alexios (granting temporary hit points, a ritual he repeats through the session). Bone Carver and the ice hunters provide a hand-drawn map, crampons, and warnings of kobolds, toads, trolls, and treacherous ice.

Rather than carve through the lair by force, the party chooses diplomacy. They first find and cure a diseased ice hunter, Mend Nets (Alexios's Lay on Hands), sending him home — a small redemption. Descending the spiral stair past murals of draconic propaganda and giants frozen in defeat, they win over the lair's oppressed inhabitants one community at a time: the giant ice toads led by the scholar Marfulb, then the ice trolls led by Ralph (with Gunner and Blade). Both peoples serve Arauthator only out of fear and want him truly dead; they become guides and, in the trolls' case, allies recruited for the coming assault in exchange for magic weapons.

The party reaches Maccath the Crimson in her tented study, who delivers the session's great lore dump on the Draakhorn and on Arauthator himself, and gifts the party cold-warding gear and dragon-slaying arrows. In her scriptorium the Eye of Gilbraxis "demands" a black necromancer's spellbook; Shade bonds it into the book, creating the Improved Eye of Gilbraxis. The party then revives a Frost Giant frozen among Arauthator's trophies — Hrimthur — using "circle magic" to thaw him and Revivify to restore him; he pledges his axe to the cause.

Finally, with troll allies, a frost giant, and full cold resistance, the party descends into Arauthator's lair. Shade attempts a parley; the dragon reveals he wants a tiefling wizard to ride his mad mate (see Arauthator's Mate) and offers Shade the role. She refuses — "I'm just gonna start blastin'" — and the battle is joined. The session ends only a round or two in, mid-combat, with the slaying of Old White Death deferred to the next session.

Notable Events

  • Bone Carver led the party through her hut into Arauthator's caverns; provided a map and crampons
  • The party cured the diseased ice hunter Mend Nets (Alexios's Lay on Hands) and sent him home
  • Befriended the giant ice toads led by the scholar Marfulb, gaining guides through the upper tunnels
  • Befriended the ice trolls led by Ralph; recruited Ralph, Gunner, and Blade for the assault by trading away magic weapons (Corpseslayer Mace, Dagger of Venom, Glimmering Moonbow)
  • Found Maccath the Crimson and received her Draakhorn research, a Ring of Cold Resistance, and two Arrows of Slaying (Dragon)
  • Shade bonded the Eye of Gilbraxis into a necromancer's spellbook, creating the Improved Eye of Gilbraxis (no attunement slot; 5 charges of necromancy spells)
  • Revived the frost giant Hrimthur from Arauthator's trophy ice via "circle magic" + Revivify; he joined the assault
  • Maccath revealed Arauthator's Mate — a mad ancient white dragon with a dead tiefling rider — and that this is why Arauthator hunts tiefling wizards
  • Key asked Maccath about the "Prophecy of the Thorn-Born Star" ("five heads rising from the shadow's root"); Maccath agreed to research it
  • Redistributed cold-warding gear so all six party members have cold resistance
  • Cleared multiple kobold swarms throughout the tunnels
  • Descended into Arauthator's lair; Shade parleyed, refused the "rider" offer, and the battle with Old White Death began — the session ended mid-combat
  • Confirmed the Draakhorn is at the Well of Dragons, sounded continuously by the Cult of the Dragon

XP Awards

  • Total XP earned: Not recorded
  • Current level: 9

Notable Characters

  • Alexios (Richard) - Cured Mend Nets with Lay on Hands, gave morale speeches (temp HP), front-line; used Jaunty Boots to fly Xanphina to the dragon
  • Zan (Amber) - Wrestled with guilt over the killed fishers; in the lair, raged and grappled/restrained Arauthator with Garmok's Flail
  • Karma (Shanna) - Led most NPC negotiations (toads, trolls, Maccath); cast Revivify to restore Hrimthur; cast Wall of Fire on the dragon
  • Shade (Sarah) - Bonded the Eye into the necromancer's spellbook; parleyed with Arauthator and refused his offer, starting the fight; planning a Bard→"dark wizard" respec
  • Gooch (Ashley) - Explored and fought through the tunnels (joined under Patty's account)
  • Key (Patty) - Scouted and sniped; raised the Thorn-Born Star prophecy; landed a crit on the dragon with Worm Reaver
  • Bone Carver - Ice hunter shaman who led the party into the lair and provided the map and crampons
  • Maccath the Crimson - Tiefling wizard of the Arcane Brotherhood, held ~3 years; delivered Draakhorn lore and gifts; revealed Arauthator's plan for his mate
  • Marfulb - Giant ice toad scholar; allied guide through the tunnels
  • Ralph - Ice troll leader; recruited with Gunner and Blade for the assault
  • Hrimthur - Frost giant revived from Arauthator's trophy ice; pledged his axe
  • Arauthator's Mate - The dragon's mad consort, with a dead tiefling rider (revealed, not yet seen)
  • Arauthator - Ancient white dragon "Old White Death"; parleyed, then attacked
  • Barking Seal, Orca Heart - Ice hunter leaders (mentioned)

Locations

  • Oyaviggaton - Arauthator's massive iceberg lair in the Sea of Moving Ice
  • Bone Carver's Hut - Conceals the secret entrance to the caverns
  • Arauthator's Caverns - Circular tunnel system: ice walls with frozen corpses, 20-ft ceilings, slippery sloped floors
  • Ice Toads' Room - Marfulb's scriptorium-like workspace
  • Ice Trolls' Room - Ralph's domain
  • Frozen-Trophy ("Statues") Room - Giants frozen in clear ice as Arauthator's conquests; where Hrimthur was revived
  • Maccath's Study & the Scriptorium - Her tented prison-laboratory and the salvaged-spellbook archive (much laced with diabolical lore)
  • Arauthator's Lair (below) - Large cavern of ice pillars, ledges (four height levels), traps, and water pools; the dragon's hoard frozen into the ice
  • Well of Dragons - (Mentioned) Cult stronghold where the Draakhorn is kept

Factions

Items

  • Ring of Cold Resistance - From Maccath; no attunement required
  • Arrows of Slaying (Dragon) (2) - On hit, the dragon makes a CON save or takes 6d10 (half on success)
  • Improved Eye of Gilbraxis - The Eye bonded into a necromancer's spellbook; no attunement slot, gains 5 charges of necromancy spells
  • Frostbrand Scimitar and Acheron Blade Scimitar - Identified in party inventory
  • Magic weapons traded to recruit trolls - Corpseslayer Mace, Dagger of Venom, Glimmering Moonbow (given permanently to Ralph, Gunner, and Blade)
  • Cold-warding gear redistributed (rings of warmth, ring of cold resistance, a Protection from Energy scroll) so all six have cold resistance
  • Scriptorium scrolls offered by Maccath: Gaseous Form, Protection from Energy, Water Breathing, Evard's Black Tentacles, Fire Shield, Wall of Fire, Hold Monster, Chain Lightning, Disintegrate

Creatures

  • Kobolds - Fanatically loyal to Arauthator (worship him as a god); weak, breed prolifically; fought as swarms
  • Ice Toads - Intelligent, cold-aura'd; not loyal to Arauthator; allied via Marfulb
  • Ice Trolls - Cold-attuned, terribly strong; two subtypes present; allied via Ralph
  • Scrags - Aquatic troll-kin loyal to Arauthator ("true believers"); three in the lair
  • Frost Giant - Immune to cold; one (Hrimthur) revived as an ally
  • Arauthator - Ancient white dragon: cold breath (CON save), Frightful Presence (Fear), rend/claw, conjures an ice elemental, terrain/illusion spells, legendary resistances and actions, lair effects

Maccath's Draakhorn Lore

  • Arauthator possessed the Draakhorn for years; the Cult of the Dragon negotiated it away ~6 months ago and now sounds it at the Well of Dragons
  • Its call reaches all dragons within roughly 2,000 miles; it was originally built to signal danger to chromatic dragons, and is now being misused to summon
  • It is over-broad enough to be reaching metallic dragons too (the party's copper-dragon report)
  • The horn is not a ritual component itself — it gathers powerful dragons to guard the horn and the Tiamat-summoning site

Session End

The party has descended into Arauthator's lair with troll allies and the frost giant Hrimthur, and the fight with Old White Death has just begun — Shade having refused the dragon's offer to make her his mate's rider. The session ends mid-combat (round one or two), with the dragon about to summon an ice elemental and Gootcha yet to act. The slaying of Arauthator is deferred to Session 49. (Out of game, the DM offered players an optional mechanical respec; Shade's player intends to shift from Bard toward a "dark wizard.")

Retrieved from "https://wiki.deeznuts.wiki/index.php?title=Session_48_-_Inside_Oyaviggaton_(2026.04.12)&oldid=1421"