Session 49 - Old White Death (2026-04-26)

Summary

The reckoning with Old White Death came at last. Deep in the frozen heart of Oyaviggaton, Deez Nuts crossed blades with the ancient white dragon Arauthator. They did not stand alone: the frost giant Hrimthur, thawed from the dragon's own gallery of frozen victims, fought at their side, while the turned trolls Ralph, Gunner, and Blade held off a pack of scrags in the dark tunnels nearby. With Shade and Gootcha's player both away, Key's player ran both Keyleth and Gootcha through the battle.

Arauthator proved to be no mere brute. He wove frost-sorcery through the fight — freezing spheres, walls of ice, killing fogs, and bolts of chill — summoned an ice elemental to grind the party down, drank draughts of invisibility and healing from his own hoard, and bent the very lair against the company with blinding sleet, dense cold fog, and falling icicles. The party fought brilliantly all the same. Gootcha's hex and a timely wall of fire stripped the wyrm of every one of its legendary defiances, and they battered Old White Death below half his strength. But his breath and spells ground them down one by one. Keyleth fell first and did not rise — three death saves lost, beyond the reach of healing. Then Alexios, Karma, Xanphina, and Gootcha followed her into the dark. A total party kill.

Yet death was not the end. The company woke in a demiplane of the Hells, a river of blood and skulls beneath them, standing before Lady Calera — who let her mortal illusion fall away. The bagpipe-pact had come due, and she would not suffer them to escape their bargain by dying. With the blessing of the Raven Queen — Gootcha's own patron, who likewise needs them among the living — Calera offered to return them to the exact instant of the battle, the wounded dragon none the wiser. The price: each of them must surrender a piece of their very soul — an attribute, a feat, or a proficiency. Above them, on a throne over the river of blood, the archdevil Dispater watched, radiating power that dwarfed anything the company had ever faced.

They will return to Arauthator's lair as if no time had passed — the dragon still bloodied and unaware — but each reforged a little closer to what they envision themselves to be. The terms of the renewed infernal bargain remain to be settled next session.

Notable Events

The party engaged Arauthator in open battle inside Oyaviggaton, picking up mid-combat from the previous session
Hrimthur, a frost giant thawed from Arauthator's gallery of frozen victims, fought alongside the party (granting temporary hit points with a War Cry)
Turned trolls Ralph, Gunner, and Blade fought a pack of scrags in the tunnels; Ralph alone came out on top
Revealed: Arauthator is a spellcasting dragon — far beyond a normal wyrm's abilities
Gootcha's Hex (disadvantage on Dexterity saves) plus a Wall of Fire forced the dragon to burn all of its Legendary Resistances
The party drove Arauthator below half his hit points ("bloodied")
Arauthator repeatedly turned invisible with potions, healed from his hoard, and used lair actions (sleet, fog, falling ice, walls of ice)
Keyleth was slain and failed three death saves — dead beyond ordinary healing
Alexios, Karma, Xanphina, and Gootcha were all subsequently killed: a total party kill
The dead party awoke in a demiplane of the Hells before Lady Calera, who revealed her infernal nature
Lady Calera and the Raven Queen offered resurrection back into the battle in exchange for each character surrendering an attribute point, feat, or proficiency
The archdevil Dispater was glimpsed on a throne above a river of blood
DM revelation: this encounter was designed before the Calera pact specifically to force a TPK and a return to the Hells

XP Awards

Total XP earned: Not recorded
Current level: 9

Notable Characters

Alexios (Richard) - Used a scroll of Wall of Fire to ring the invisible dragon in flame and burn a Legendary Resistance; struck the dragon with an opportunity attack via Relentless Avenger; died in the fight
Zan (Amber) - Front-line fighter; used Javelin of Lightning, Returning Trident, and Flail of Restraining; grappled the dragon early; shielded allies with Spirit Shield and Ancestral Protectors (reducing breath-weapon damage); kept the party alive with healing potions; died last
Karma (Shanna) - Cast Wall of Fire (forcing the dragon's first Legendary Resistance), Moonbeam, and Fairy Fire; cast Revivify on Alexios; wild-shaped into a "war ostrich"; died in the fight
Key (Patty) - Longbow, Hunter's Mark, pixies, Zephyr Strike, and Healing Spirit; first of the party to die, and the only one to fail all three death saves
Gooch (Patty, covering for absent player) - Hex (burning the dragon's defenses), Shadowfell Crossbow with Sneak Attack, Hellish Rebuke, and Blessing of the Raven Queen; revived once mid-fight before dying again
Hrimthur - Frost giant ally, thawed from the dragon's ice; fought with a greatbow and a War Cry; eventually downed
Lady Calera - Revealed her infernal nature in the Hells; intervened to resurrect the party and enforce the bagpipe-pact
Dispater - Archdevil glimpsed on a throne in the hellish demiplane
Shade (Sarah) - Absent this session; her turns were skipped
Arauthator - "Old White Death," the ancient white dragon; the session's antagonist

Locations

Oyaviggaton - Arauthator's iceberg lair; the multi-tiered ice cavern of the battle, with ledges, an open central pit, the dragon's treasure hoard, and a frozen gallery of victims
A demiplane of the Hells - Where the slain party awoke before Lady Calera and Dispater: a throne above a river of blood choked with skulls

Factions

Deez Nuts - The party, wiped out and then offered an infernal resurrection
The Hells / infernal powers - Lady Calera, Dispater, and the pact tied to the Bagpipes of Zariel's Lament

Items

Ring of Warmth / Ring of Resistance to Cold and Boots of the Winterlands - Halved the dragon's cold damage; vital to surviving the fight
Scroll of Wall of Fire - Used by Alexios to burn a Legendary Resistance
Javelin of Lightning, Returning Trident, Flail of Restraining - Zan's arsenal
Shadowfell Crossbow - Gootcha's weapon (jammed at one point)
Fairy Firebomb (consumed), Elemental Gem, Scroll of Haste (unused) - Party inventory
Multiple Potions of Healing (Greater, Superior, Supreme) spent keeping the party upright
The dragon drank its own Potions of Invisibility and Healing from its hoard

Combat Encounters

Arauthator, "Old White Death" - The main event. Notable capabilities revealed:

 ** Cold breath - a cone, Constitution save DC 22, dealing up to ~70 cold damage; recharges on a 5-6
 ** Frightful Presence - DC 15 Wisdom save or frightened, out to 120 feet
 ** Spellcasting - Wall of Ice, Freezing Sphere, Freezing Burst, Chill Touch, Ray of Frost, Shield; drank potions for invisibility and healing
 ** Legendary Resistances - five, all spent; the party exploited Hex (disadvantage on Dex saves) to drain them
 ** Legendary actions - five per round in his lair (casting a spell costs two)
 ** Strong saves Strength, Constitution, Wisdom; weakest Intelligence, then Dexterity
 ** Summoned an Ice Elemental (20-ft cold aura, burrow, slam, ranged icicles)
 ** Lair actions (initiative 20): walls of ice, blinding sleet, dense cold fog (3d6 on ending a turn within), falling icicles, restraining ice, freezing burst

Ralph, Gunner, Blade vs. the Scrags - An off-screen troll brawl in the tunnels; Ralph prevailed

Creatures Mentioned

Arauthator - Ancient white dragon, the antagonist
Ice Elemental - Summoned by the dragon
Scrags - Aquatic trolls, fought by the party's turned troll allies
Hrimthur - Frost giant ally
Dispater - Archdevil of the Hells

Notable Moments

Gootcha (via Hex on Dexterity saves) and a Wall of Fire methodically stripping the dragon of every Legendary Resistance
Karma wild-shaping into a "war ostrich" and "hopdee-hopty" leaping up the ice ledges
Keyleth scaling the ice with three clutch DC-15 Athletics checks to reach high ground
Alexios ringing the invisible dragon in fire with a Wall of Fire scroll
The party's repeated, affectionate cursing of "this dragon" all session
The whole party falling — Keyleth dead-dead — and waking instead in the Hells
Lady Calera: "I don't think that it's reasonable for you to get out of our deal by dying."
The reveal that Dispater himself loomed over the bargain
DM: the encounter was built before the Calera pact specifically to engineer this TPK and hellish bargain

Quotes

Keyleth's player (Patty): "On behalf of the village he enslaved for generations, fuck him." (on why she hated Arauthator)
Lady Calera (DM): "I don't think that it's reasonable for you to get out of our deal by dying."
Alexios (Richard): "Fucking bagpipes."
Wes (DM): "I have had this encounter set up since before you met Lady Calera... trying to get a TPK so that I can get you to need to go to hell and make another deal, and it has been hard to kill all of you."

Session End

The session ended on the cliffhanger of the infernal bargain. The party — slain to the last — stands in a demiplane of the Hells before Lady Calera and the archdevil Dispater, offered resurrection back to the exact moment of the battle with Arauthator in exchange for surrendering a piece of each of their souls. Next session resolves the terms of the bargain and returns the (reforged) party to the fight, with the wounded dragon none the wiser. Players were invited to revise their characters — to become "closer to what they envision themselves to be" — within the bounds of established story.

DM Notes

Shade (Sarah) and Gootcha's usual player (Ashley) were absent; Keyleth's player ran both Keyleth and Gootcha, and Shade sat out
The TPK was intentional but not forced — the DM had designed the encounter before the Calera pact to drive the party into a second infernal bargain, and noted it had been "hard to kill all of you"
The resurrection doubles as a sanctioned respec opportunity, themed as the soul being reshaped

Session 49 - Old White Death (2026-04-26)

Contents