Session 50 - Reforged in Hell, the Voyage Home (2026-06-14)

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Session 50 - Reforged in Hell, the Voyage Home (2026-06-14)

Summary

The infernal bargain came due. In the demiplane of the Hells where their souls had been gathered after the total party kill, Lady Calera — letting her erinyes nature (Zarchelia) show fully — sealed a new contract with each of Deez Nuts: a Compact of Restoration and Continuance. By its terms each was returned to life at the very instant of their death, restored to three-quarters strength with one fresh charge of every power, in exchange for deepening their existing pact and owing the Proprietor a single covert "Operation" on the Material Plane within a year of her summons — with the promise of a second resurrection should they discharge it. As the price of being reforged, each character chose a fiendish pact feat: a new gift of infernal power bought with a permanent sliver of the self, a lasting reduction to one of their faculties — and beyond that, every member was given the Tempered Soul feat. Calera could retrieve every soul but one — Alexios, who bellowed "smite me!" each time she reached for him and so slipped from her grasp. In his place she bound a nearby substitute: Baelgrum, a dwarf farmer of Goldenfields who had spent three years hunting the Cult of the Dragon in vengeance for his murdered brother.

Returned to the exact instant of the battle at three-quarters health, the company found Arauthator still bloodied and unaware that time had ever stopped. Time froze the moment after Keyleth's first arrow, letting every reforged hero strike at once, each blow imbued with the raw emotion of what they had endured. The combined onslaught — a trident, a guiding bolt, a blight, a chromatic orb, an arrow, all under Gootcha's silence — landed for some eighty-nine points of damage and killed Old White Death where he stood, before the wyrm could draw another breath. After generations of tyranny, the ancient white dragon fell in a single silent heartbeat.

The party spent a full day harvesting the dragon and excavating his hoard from the ice: thousands of coins, gems and art objects, and a trove of magic. Xanphina ate the dragon's heart and was permanently strengthened by it. Maccath the Crimson descended to confirm the kill and prepared to return to the Arcane Brotherhood at Luskan, warning that Tiamat is stirring back toward the world; the ice toad scholar Marfulb entrusted her life's research to the party to be published through the Brotherhood. Up on the surface the ice hunter clan thanked their liberators — until Baelgrum let slip that the party had earlier slaughtered the clan's missing kin. The grateful welcome curdled into fury; Bone Carver drew his weapons and had to be restrained by his own people, who ordered the company off the iceberg.

The long way home was a gauntlet. Aboard Captain LaRustah's longship the party fought across the Sea of Moving Ice — now far more dangerous with Arauthator's deterring presence gone — through an ice spider's web-ambush, a glacier swarming with giant crabs (slain and turned into a morale-restoring crab boil), a six-headed hydra that boarded the ship, and at last a dragon turtle that hunted them through the floes and was beached and killed on the ice. They rescued, pressed into service, and (in Shade's case) experimented upon a pair of shipwrecked pirates, and made peace with a family of giant octopuses and a pod of killer whales along the way. With fair winds finally at their backs, the survivors sailed unharried back toward Luskan.

Detailed Chronology

Reforged in the Hells

The party's souls came to themselves not in death but in a demiplane between Hell and the Material Plane — a throne raised over a river of blood choked with skulls — where bodies conform to the shape of the self. There stood Lady Calera, the Waterdeep noblewoman who had once gifted Shade her bagpipes, who let her mortal illusion fall away entirely to reveal her true form: the erinyes Zarchelia, the very fiend the party had unwittingly seen summoned long ago by the death cult in the Hills of Lost Souls. Having a vested interest in the company surviving to render the service they owed her, she had snatched each soul before it could pass fully into death. She would not, she said, suffer them to escape their deal by dying.

What she offered, under warrant of the archdevil Dispater, was the Compact of Restoration and Continuance — set down as a formal infernal contract. Each signer would be returned to life at the precise instant of their death, restored to three-quarters strength with a single fresh charge of every power, in exchange for deepening the Original Pact and owing the Proprietor one covert "Operation" upon the Material Plane within a year of her summons; discharge that service, and a second resurrection was guaranteed. As the price of reforging, each hero took up a fiendish pact feat — a gift of infernal power bought with a permanent sliver of the self — and every one of them received the Tempered Soul feat besides.

One soul she could not reclaim. Each time Calera reached for Alexios, the paladin roared "smite me!" and repelled her, until his soul slipped free of her grasp altogether and was gone to his ancestors. Rather than return the company a member short, she bound a similar nearby soul in his place: Baelgrum, a dwarf cult-hunter of Goldenfields who had spent three years avenging a brother burned alive by a dragon, until the Cult ambushed and killed him. He arrived among them mid-battle with an easy grin — "Dragon fight! I think I like you people already." With a snap of Calera's fingers, the reforged company was returned to the exact instant of their deaths, and she parted from Keyleth with a wink and an invitation to "call on me anytime you please."

The Death of Old White Death

Snapped back into Arauthator's lair, the party found the dragon still bloodied and wholly unaware that time had ever stopped. As Keyleth loosed the first arrow, the moment froze, and every reforged hero struck at once — a returning trident, a guiding bolt, a blight, a fourth-level chromatic orb, and an arrow, all falling under the cover of Gootcha's Silence so that not a sound escaped. The simultaneous volley landed for roughly eighty-nine points of damage and killed Old White Death where he stood, before the ancient wyrm could draw another breath. After generations of tyranny over the ice hunters and a battle that had cost the party their very lives, the dragon fell in one silent heartbeat — and the turned troll Ralph, who had survived the fight, could scarcely believe they had pulled it off.

The Hoard, the Heart, and the Dead

Over the following day the company carved Arauthator's frozen hoard out of the ice — thousands of coins, gems and art objects, and a clutch of potent magic — and harvested the dragon's corpse for crafting: its hide, scales, claws, teeth, horns, bones, and breath gland. By common consent Xanphina ate the dragon's still-warm heart, and was permanently strengthened by it. Baelgrum revived the slain frost giant Hrimthur, who had fought and fallen beside them. Maccath the Crimson and the ice toad scholar Marfulb descended to confirm the kill; Maccath prepared to return to the Arcane Brotherhood at Luskan — warning that Tiamat is moving to return to the world — and Marfulb entrusted the party with her life's research to be published through the Brotherhood.

The Ice Hunters' Wrath

On the surface, the freed ice hunter clan greeted their liberators with gratitude — until Baelgrum, choosing to give the clan the truth and their closure, confessed (laying the blame on the party's lost compatriot Alexios) that the company had earlier killed the clan's missing brethren on the way north. The welcome turned to fury in an instant. Bone Carver drew his weapons in a rage and had to be restrained by Orca Heart, Barking Seal, and his own people, who ordered the party off the iceberg. The ice hunters, free of the dragon at last, would leave Oyaviggaton to seek their dead and rejoin their clan on the eastern mainland — now blood enemies of Deez Nuts.

The Voyage Home: a Restless Sea

The company summoned Captain LaRustah's longship by sending stone, took a long rest aboard, and set out for Luskan — but the Sea of Moving Ice had become a far deadlier place. With Arauthator's presence no longer cowing the region's monsters, the crossing became a running gauntlet. Shade, newly remade as a wizard, summoned her octopus familiar "Big Puss" and Gootcha's raven "Beek-a-boo" to scout the waters ahead, and Baelgrum settled in to study a Tome of Leadership and Influence during the long days of travel.

The Ice Spider's Web

An ice spider queen ambushed the longship, shooting webbing to haul Captain LaRustah and others off their feet — until the party learned the webs burned readily, and Keyleth's hellfire pixies set them alight, killing the queen and collapsing her snare. The party harvested the spider's venom from the carcass.

The Crab Boil

Spotting a glacier swarming with giant crabs sunning themselves, the party put in and staged a hunt, chumming the water with the spider queen's corpse and butchering the crabs as they came. The fragile-shelled crustaceans went down easily, and the resulting crab boil served as a short rest that lifted the crew's flagging morale. Baelgrum's rendition of "Diggy Diggy Hole," alas, did nothing to help.

Octopuses and Killer Whales

Not every creature of the deep was an enemy. Through "Big Puss," Shade made peaceful contact with a clan of friendly giant octopuses, sealing the goodwill with a crab peace-offering. Later a pod of killer whales drew alongside and bumped the hull before moving on without malice — and Karma, watching them pass, added the killer whale to her repertoire of wild shapes.

The Hydra

A six-headed hydra climbed aboard the ship and laid into the crew, killing the sailor May before she could be revived by Baelgrum. The party learned the hard way that its severed heads simply regrew — until they began cauterizing each stump with fire (again Keyleth's pixie hellfire), and so finally put the beast down and harvested it.

The Shipwrecked Pirates

Amid a field of debris from a pirate-on-pirate battle, the party found two near-dead survivors: a peg-legged "Captain Redbeard" and a one-eyed companion, both claiming to be honest traders and both plainly lying. Revived with potions and lashed to the oars as indentured rowers, they became the party's unwilling crew — and, in Redbeard's case, Shade's test subject: she drained him to death with Vampiric Touch to heal herself, then Reincarnated him as a two-legged halfling. Captain LaRustah watched the whole grim business and only shrugged: "Honestly, that's what I would have done, too."

The Dragon Turtle and Fair Winds

The voyage's last and greatest threat was a dragon turtle that surfaced and hunted the longship through the floes, resistant to fire and breathing scalding cones of steam. The party trapped it against the ice with Karma's Wall of Ice, Baelgrum's Spirit Guardians, and Keyleth's Erupting Earth, grinding it down until Gootcha's sneak attack finished it. With the leviathan dead and harvested, the wind at last turned to their backs, and the rest of the journey to Luskan passed unharried.

XP Awards

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

Notable Characters

  • Zan (Amber) — Threw the Returning Trident in the killing volley; ate Arauthator's heart for a permanent +1 Constitution; wields the Bracers of the Bound Devil; also rewarded The Diligent Folio for her player's organizing of the contract review
  • Key (Patty) — Loosed the first arrow that triggered the time-stop; reforged as an Infernal-Pact Swarmkeeper with hellfire pixies; wields the Hellhound Whistle; granted a bonus feat, Infernal Pact (Swarmkeeper), for being the most engaged player
  • Karma (Shanna) — Cast Blight in the killing volley; learned the Killer Whale wild shape; wields the Antler Crown of the Hunted
  • Shade (Sarah) — Substantially rebuilt as a wizard (scribed an entire spellbook from party funds); finished the dragon with a 4th-level Chromatic Orb; killed and Reincarnated the pirate "Redbeard"; wields The Bound Grimoire; her Bagpipes of Zariel's Lament were reskinned as the Tome of Zariel's Lament for the wizard rebuild
  • Gooch (Ashley) — Silenced the killing blow so the dragon died without a sound; sneak-attack killed the dragon turtle with the Shadowfell crossbow; wields The Patron's Signet
  • Baelgrum (Richard) — New character; a dwarf cult-hunter from Goldenfields bound in Alexios's place; cast Guiding Bolt in the killing volley; took up The Apostate's Rosary, the pact item once borne by Alexios
  • Lady Calera / Zarchelia — Sealed the Compact in her erinyes form; reforged the party and substituted Baelgrum for Alexios
  • Alexios — His soul could not be retrieved; effectively departed from the party
  • Maccath the Crimson — Confirmed Arauthator's death; returning to the Arcane Brotherhood; warned of Tiamat's return
  • Marfulb — Ice toad scholar; entrusted her life's research to the party
  • Hrimthur — Frost giant ally; survived the rematch
  • Arauthator — "Old White Death," slain at last

Locations

  • Oyaviggaton — Arauthator's iceberg lair; the dragon now dead, his hoard looted and the ice hunters departing
  • Sea of Moving Ice — The voyage home; markedly more dangerous now that Arauthator no longer cows the region's monsters
  • A demiplane of the Hells — Where the Compact was sealed before Lady Calera, beneath the Iron Towers of Dis
  • Luskan — The party's destination, seat of the Arcane Brotherhood
  • Goldenfields — Baelgrum's home; a granary-village struck by a dragon attack that killed his brother

Factions

Items

  • Pact Items — the party's six pact items, from the original Zarchelia bargain at the Hill of Lost Souls, were reaffirmed and deepened under the Compact: the Bracers of the Bound Devil (Xanphina), The Apostate's Rosary (Baelgrum, inherited from Alexios), the Antler Crown of the Hunted (Karma), the Hellhound Whistle (Keyleth), The Patron's Signet (Gootcha), and The Bound Grimoire (Shade)
  • Extra rewards (Session 50): Xanphina received The Diligent Folio (for her player organizing the company's contract review); Shade's homebrew Bagpipes of Zariel's Lament were reskinned as the Tome of Zariel's Lament now that she is a wizard
  • Arauthator's hoard (excavated over a full day): roughly 3,400 pp, 27,000 gp, 17,000 sp, 3,300 cp; gems (moonstone, onyx, jade, amber, aquamarine, opals, star rubies, blue quartz) and art objects (a golden locket, a framed mirror, a black velvet mask, a carved bone statuette, a star chart, an epic poem praising Arauthator)
  • Hoard magic items: Potion of Speed, Potion of Storm Giant Strength, Potion of Supreme Healing, Cloak of Displacement, Rod of Absorption, Cloak of Invisibility, a Talisman of Ultimate Evil, and a proficiency-boosting stone (exact item uncertain)
  • Dragon's heart — eaten by Xanphina for a permanent +1 Constitution
  • Crafting materials harvested from Arauthator, the ice spider queen, the hydra, and the dragon turtle (banked for future crafting; see Dragon Harvest & Crafting)
  • Still held: 2× Arrow of Dragon Slaying (from Maccath), 2× Soul Token (Raven Queen resource)

Combat Encounters

  • Arauthator, "Old White Death" — Killed instantly on the resumed round by a coordinated, time-frozen volley (~89 damage) while still bloodied from the previous session
  • Ice Spider Queen (see Giant Spider) — Ambushed the longship with webs from above; webs are flammable (fire destroys them and burns the webbed); killing the queen collapsed the webs; venom harvested
  • Giant Crabs — A glacier swarming with them; low durability, fragile shells, amphibious, blindsight; killed en masse and eaten (a crab boil restored crew morale)
  • Hydra (six-headed) — Boarded the ship and killed a sailor; severed heads regrow unless cauterized with fire; killed with fire and a chromatic orb
  • Dragon Turtle — Pursued the ship through the ice; fire-resistant with a steam breath; beached on a glacier and slain (an Arrow of Dragon Slaying and a Shadowfell-crossbow sneak attack finished it)

Creatures Mentioned

  • Arauthator — Ancient white dragon, slain
  • Giant Spider — An ice-spider queen that fights from webbed heights
  • Giant Crab — Amphibious, blindsighted crustaceans
  • Hydra — Six-headed; regenerates severed heads unless burned
  • Dragon Turtle — Fire-resistant sea leviathan with a steam breath
  • Killer Whale — Friendly pod; a new wild-shape option for Karma
  • Giant Octopus — Friendly when fed

Notable Moments

  • The reforged party killing Arauthator in a single silent, time-frozen volley — the months-long hunt for Old White Death ended in one heartbeat
  • Alexios roaring "smite me!" hard enough to repel an erinyes, slipping his soul free of the bargain
  • Baelgrum's blunt arrival mid-battle: "Dragon fight! I think I like you people already."
  • Xanphina devouring the dragon's still-warm heart
  • The ice hunters' gratitude turning to fury when Baelgrum admitted the party had killed their missing kin
  • Shade reincarnating the murdered pirate "Redbeard" into a halfling — "I can dance again!"
  • Karma learning to wild-shape into a killer whale alongside the friendly pod
  • Carl the bosun's running gag of missing every shot with an enchanted bow and hurling it to the deck in disgust

Quotes

  • Lady Calera (DM), to Keyleth: "Honey, it has been an absolute pleasure negotiating with you. Feel free to call on me anytime you please." (with a wink)
  • Baelgrum (Richard): "The name's Baelgrum, a farmer from Goldenfields." / "Dragon fight! I think I like you people already."
  • Shade (Sarah): "I have 66 hit points! Who is she?" (on her rebuilt character)
  • Keyleth (Patty): "We've been to hell, alright? We're changed, we're harder now."
  • Shade (Sarah), on the pirate: "You can't practice on pirates, who can you practice on?"
  • Reincarnated Redbeard (DM): "I can dance again! Well... this could be worse."

Session End

With Old White Death slain, his hoard divided, and the Sea of Moving Ice crossed, the reforged party sailed the last leagues toward Luskan on fair winds, Maccath the Crimson and her warning of Tiamat's return in tow. Two captive pirates remained bound to the oars, the freshly harvested remains of a dragon, hydra, spider, and dragon turtle filled the hold for future crafting, and Alexios's absence left a question hanging over the company. Each member now carries a deepened infernal pact and a debt of service owed to Zarchelia. The next session is scheduled for 2026-06-28.

DM Notes

  • The Session 50 bargain is recorded as A Compact of restoration and continuance, sealed by Zarchelia under warrant of Dispater. It deepens the original Pact with Lady Calera and obliges each signer to one covert Material-Plane "Operation" within a year of being summoned, against a guaranteed second resurrection
  • As the cost of reforging, each character selected one fiendish pact feat — a power bought with a permanent ability-score reduction. The individual choices were finalized on D&D Beyond between sessions and are not all enumerated in the transcript
  • In addition, every character received the Tempered Soul feat; its full workings are to be developed in a later session with more context
  • Out-of-character rewards for engagement in the contract-review process: Keyleth earned a bonus feat, Infernal Pact (Swarmkeeper) (most engaged player), and Xanphina a bonus item, The Diligent Folio (her player organized the company's review of the Compact)
  • Shade's homebrew Bagpipes of Zariel's Lament were reskinned as the Tome of Zariel's Lament to fit her rebuild from bard to wizard
  • The six Pact Items were carried over from the original Zarchelia pact; Baelgrum inherited the slot (and The Apostate's Rosary) formerly held by Alexios
  • Other mechanics introduced this session:
    • A Monster Harvester feat and a tool-based harvesting system (alchemist's, smith's, leatherworking, etc.; advantage when also proficient in the linked skill) — see Dragon Harvest & Crafting
    • Eating an elder-or-older dragon's heart grants a permanent +1 (and +1 maximum) to an ability score, once per heart
    • A ship morale track (−10 to +10) adjusted by encounter outcomes and a daily Performance check
  • Richard's character changed from Alexios (Human Paladin) to Baelgrum (dwarf cult-hunter) as a result of the bargain; Baelgrum's patron deity is not yet set and will be settled in a future session
  • Marfulb (an ice toad scholar) handed over a life's work to be published via the Arcane Brotherhood; details from the transcript are sparse and worth confirming
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