View source for Session 49 - Old White Death (2026-04-26)

== 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, [[Keyleth|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 [[Raven Queen|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 [[Raven Queen|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
* [[Xanphina|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
* [[Keyleth|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
* [[Gootcha|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

[[Category:Sessions]] [[Category:Rise of Tiamat]]