Tip of the Diceburg

session-log

17 min read

Session Log

Tags: dnd campaign project

Current location: Outside the Temple of Cayochan, Chultan jungle — party splitting to enter (Bodius, Faf, Bonzo + Moghammer in; Isilrod and Lilith waiting outside)

Completed

✅ Gladiatorial Ring Fight

Party fought for Waddo at the arena. All party members leveled up to 3. Bodius Tea looted Manticore Blood (faintly purple — see Lore: The Purple Substance). Unlocked: Legrand will now help the party invade the Biscar compound.

Active Side Quests

Dinosaur Race Intel Job

Meet sebulba at 10 AM. He provides a mount. Find evidence of relzar-biscar cheating (likely Velmira’s juicing lab) and report back. See: sebulba, relzar-biscar, velmira-biscar

✅ Biscar Compound Raid — Complete

What happened:

  • Bodius Misty Stepped behind Futch at the back door and killed him solo. Looted his club.
  • Isilrod and Bodius entered through the shop backroom while Faf + Bonzo killed a bigfoot monster in the front
  • Found a magical painting — secret elevator down to an underground level
  • Descended into a large room with both Biscar brothers (Relzar + Bast)
  • Held the disguise until a brother demanded they brand Elza Toth (Bast’s girlfriend)
  • Isilrod took the brand and branded Relzar in the crotch — disguises blown, fight on
  • Velmira emerged from a side room — “The Choltan Psychiatrist” — shooting poison darts with the purple juice
  • Velmira zombified Elza Toth during the fight
  • Party killed everyone; Elza pacified but appears to be permanently turned

Post-raid loot:

  • Isilrod: recipe for mind breaker poison antidote + poison, potion of healing, pale purple liquid, black liquid, magic ID candles (3/day), letter from Darius: “Invitation to a Midsommer’s Night Song” (rest blank)
  • Bodius: 2x Biscar’s Bastardly Brew, Book of Grungalung History (now familiar with grungalung/frog people society)
  • Bonzo: bells boots + note — “Waddo’s lap dog Legrand has returned, we need to dispose of him soon, quietly, like the others. Meet me at the bathhouse at midnight.”

Post-raid / bathhouse:

  • Faf named his toad Moghammer
  • Bonzo + Faf dropped Elza at the boat, told Flea to watch her
  • Legrand informed about the note — going to tell Waddo
  • Bonzo & Faf entered the bathhouse naked, threw off proprietor Viggo but got in
  • Tubs (furnace man, literally has a furnace in his belly) is the fire attendant — stoking the steam room with purple heartwood from Lazlo Toth (⚠️ suspicious given the purple substance connection)
  • Cold plunge restored 1 HP each. Faf jumped in the hot tub.
  • Bodius & Isilrod woke up from short rest and are now sprinting to the bathhouse — it’s midnight
  • Bodius & Isilrod arrived, disguised as Darius & Relzar. Played along with Jibari. Fed him the Bastardly Brew — odd roll, obedient. Extracted full intel (see jibari-muchtow)
  • Jibari shook off the magic, grabbed Bodius, broke the illusion — “Now I see you” — then Misty Stepped away
  • Two minotaurs with scimitars walked in — fight on
  • Party killed the minotaurs
  • Viggo offered Bonzo a two-star tattoo as a reward for the final blow
  • Bodius + Isilrod used the cold plunge and each regained 1 HP
  • Faf drank an unidentified potion found in the bathhouse; the magic ID candles only gave one clue: “water”
  • Faf dove into the cold plunge, reached roughly 15 feet down, panicked when his throat seized, then discovered he could breathe underwater
  • At the bottom he found a small chest and a tiny skull
  • Viggo admitted he was scared to intervene because Jibari would have killed him
  • Viggo said Midsommer’s Night Song is considered a fairy tale / myth, supposedly a competition to determine the best bard in Chult
  • Viggo suggested Volothamp Geddarm might know more
  • Volothamp Geddarm: boisterous buffoon, showman, man of words and sound; arrived from Baldur’s Gate about 6 months ago; found at The Thundering Lizard; claims to be self-appointed editor-in-chief of the Xibalban Courier (no fixed office, just vibes around town)
  • Faf retrieved Moghammer from outside where he’d been hiding
  • Party headed back to the ship at about 1 AM
  • Woke on the boat at 7 AM with the dinosaur race still on the schedule; next step is meeting Sebulba and reporting what was learned about the Biscar cheating operation
  • The skull from the plunge pool was identified as a human child skull
  • Party gave Dr. Jack Aubry the mind breaker poison antidote recipe; brewing took about 30 minutes and Isilrod assisted, learning some potion-making from him
  • Party gave the antidote potion to Elza Toth, and it worked; she returned to basically normal
  • Once cured, Elza turned out to be rude and unpleasant; she revealed she was actually dating Relzar, not Bast, and thought Bast was a dweeb
  • Faf tested Moghammer on deck; notable stats/traits observed: Swamp Stride, Darkvision, 40 ft swim speed, AC 11, HP 25, plus multiple attacks
  • Lazlo Toth was in the basement hammering away at the bar, nearly finished with 6 taps using milk maidens as tap handles
  • Lazlo said it was one of the best bars he’d made, built entirely from purple heartwood
  • Party told Lazlo what happened with Elza and handed her back over to him; he took her home, and she was “in big trouble”
  • At the race, all kinds of creatures had gathered to watch
  • Sebulba’s tent was set up like a giant tailgate; he was sprawled out chatting with three finely dressed lizardfolk
  • After hearing about the Biscar situation, Sebulba’s main instruction about Biscar’s Bastardly Brew was simple: don’t sell it to anyone
  • As thanks for handling the Biscars, Sebulba gave the party an Immovable Rod
  • At 10 to 1 odds, Isilrod won the race riding Moghammer, beating much faster dinosaurs
  • The win stunned the crowd; Moghammer became an instant local legend
  • People immediately started making Moghammer merch
  • Party invited everyone back to the boat for an afterparty
  • Sebulba gets 2% of the take
  • Party is charging an entrance fee plus 5 gp for drawings of people riding the toad
  • Molly, owner of The Thundering Lizard, came by to chat
  • Volothamp Geddarm also came by to chat
  • Volo said the only person he’d heard of getting a Midsommer’s Night Song invite was Artus Cimber
  • According to Volo, the old tale says the invitation is written in invisible ink and can only be revealed if you play an average song most excellently
  • Volo had been getting especially dank mead from Velmira Biscar, who was sourcing it from somewhere in the jungle

2026-04-28 Session Start — Jungle Lead and Jibari Raid Clock

New jungle lead:

  • Party met Lilith, a jungle guide looking for her missing crew: Mosquito and Chago.
  • Mosquito is Flea’s dad.
  • Lilith last saw Mosquito and Chago at the Temple of Cayochan.
  • Plan: meet Lilith at first light at the ship and go search for Mosquito and Chago.
  • Lilith says the party will need a canoe.

Legrand’s briefing:

  • Legrand returned to the ship to brief the party.
  • In one month, Waddo plans to raid Jibari Muchtow’s villa, one of the highest-security places in Xibalba.
  • Waddo has heard of Jibari’s betrayal and wants Jibari removed.
  • The coming conflict is framed as princes vs. gladiators.
  • They are waiting one month so Artus Cimber can be found; Artus has a special Ring of Winter that could turn the tide of the raid.
  • Artus has been traveling in the jungle for about 6 months.
  • Legrand is heading out solo to find Artus.

Jungle prep / shopping:

  • Balm Bitdoom’s feather gift to Bonzo was eaten; it lets Bonzo turn into a raven 3 times per day.
  • Isilrod went looking for a canoe and bought 3 healing potions.
  • Faf went to the salty docks of Xibalba looking for a fight and spotted a shadowed tusk + scimitar in an alley: another minotaur with a scimitar. He lost sight of it, but it seemed to be observing the party.
  • Convinced nobody would believe him about the schimitaur, Faf went retail therapy shopping.
  • Faf bought 6 jugs for 15 coin by scaring the merchant down from 40 gp.
  • Faf bought 2 sets of picking tools and a jar of honey for 40 gp.
  • Bodius saw a pygmy ogre who looked a lot like Futch and, after laying on the charisma, bought a lot from Cassidy for 95 gp: Cassidy’s Trademark Any Color of the Rainbow Package (ink/paint in every color), climbing rope, and a bag of marbles.
  • Isilrod played Cassidy a nice song that reminded him of his “basket days”; Cassidy gave Isilrod Volo’s Guide to Everything.
  • Cassidy’s backstory: he was sent down a river in a basket as a baby, Moses-style.

Bathhouse chest / sewer pivot:

  • Bodius picked the small chest Faf found underwater in the bathhouse plunge pool.
  • Inside: a map and a Hat of Water Breathing.
  • The map shows the location of the Bouty, a ship lost after Captain Robin disappeared while searching for Arameg’s lair.
  • Arameg is the giant turtle the party met on the way into Chult.
  • The Hat of Water Breathing lets the wearer breathe underwater. Faf gave it to Bonzo, where it makes him look like a Peaky Blinder.
  • Faf grabbed a dead rat and slammed it shut inside the picked chest.
  • The party realized they need to go down into the sewers to meet Balm Bitdoom’s contacts. They promised to make contact within 7 days in exchange for the gifts he gave them.
  • Faf popped a manhole and hopped in “Tallyho” style. Bodius followed with a classic billow entry using his Hyperspectral Peddler’s Cloak, and the rest of the party followed.

Sewer crawl / Balm Bitdoom cottage:

  • The sewers were dark and grody, but the whole party has darkvision.
  • A zombie attacked in the passage. Bonzo spanked Moghammer, who charged past Bodius and knocked the zombie back.
  • Isilrod ran up and finished the zombie with a swipe of the scimitaur.
  • At the end of the tunnel, the party found a sweet little hobbit-hole door with smooth jazz leaking through it.
  • Inside was a cozy cottage with tomatoes cooking. A bald, long, gangly man with giant goggles, a mustache, and pots hanging all over him was reading in bed. The sewer people look kind of like Kamaji from Spirited Away.
  • He had been waiting and had pasta prepared for the party.
  • The party realized the host was literally Balm Bitdoom, who somehow made it to Xibalba extremely fast.
  • Balm Bitdoom pulled out two pipes and tossed one to Bodius; it floated through the air.
  • Bodius blew a perfect d20 smoke figure: a ring in a ring in a heart hit by an arrow, then transmuting into a phoenix that flew back into the pipe.
  • Balm Bitdoom gifted Bodius a Pipe of Smoke Monsters. While smoking it, Bodius can use an action to exhale smoke taking the form of one creature, such as a dragon; the smoke disappears after a few seconds.
  • Isilrod and Bonzo began an epic duet for Balm Bitdoom. It was legit as fuck.
  • Balm Bitdoom was impressed by the song, but could not accept it as remittance for the party’s debt.
  • As a reward for the fantastic song, Balm Bitdoom gave Isilrod a piece of glowing parchment: an invitation to Midsommer Night’s.
  • Invitation text: “Welcome Brotherbard. Join us in 5 nights time at old Tin Tops Juke Joint and Casino for an evening of Song.”
  • Balm Bitdoom said Old Tin Tops Juke Joint and Casino is somewhere in the jungle.
  • Balm Bitdoom named the actual debt/remittance: retrieve the Kilburg Card Deck from Ras Nsi’s pocket.
  • Terms: if the party provides the deck within 3 months, they can keep Balm Bitdoom’s gifted items, except for 1 item.
  • Threat clause: if the party does not deliver, Balm Bitdoom said he would kill one of them.
  • Despite being charming and hospitable, Balm Bitdoom now reads as deeply suspicious; possibly big-bad-adjacent or an eventual antagonist.
  • Bonzo asked for the agreement in writing, detailing the contract.
  • The party called a whisper conference and discussed the possibility of leveling up, returning in 3 months, and killing Balm Bitdoom instead of handing over the deck. Decision unresolved.
  • The party got the full bargain in writing.
  • Right before disappearing, Balm Bitdoom said: “Don’t forget — the Symposium is always watching!” Then poof, he was gone.

Milk Maiden’s Meadery plan:

  • After much discussion, the party decided to sell milky mead while they are away.
  • Flea will run the taps.
  • Dr. Jack Aubry will be the mead maker.
  • Syndra Sylvane will run the operation.
  • The party expects great profits while away as the crew develops Milk Maiden’s Meadery and the tasting room, aka Syndra’s Slop Shop.
  • Using Cassidy’s Trademark Any Color of the Rainbow Package, the party completed Moghammer’s Hot Wheels flame tattoo.

Session close / jungle departure:

  • At first light, Lilith met the party and broke down the plan.
  • Route: take a canoe down a large creek to get deeper into the jungle.
  • Session ended with the party ready to leave Xibalba and push toward the Temple of Cayochan lead.

Open threads:

  • Lilith is guiding the party by canoe down a large creek deeper into the jungle.
  • Milk Maiden’s Meadery / Syndra’s Slop Shop should generate profits while the party is away; Flea runs taps, Dr. Aubry makes mead, Cyndra manages.
  • Party found Balm Bitdoom himself in a cozy sewer cottage with pasta and smooth jazz, rather than just his contacts.
  • The song did not settle the Balm Bitdoom debt.
  • Balm Bitdoom’s bargain: retrieve the Kilburg Card Deck from Ras Nsi’s pocket within 3 months; reward is keeping the gifted items except for 1 item. Failure means Balm Bitdoom kills one party member.
  • Contract is now in writing.
  • Party privately suspects Balm Bitdoom may be much more dangerous than he appears; possible plan is to level up and kill him in 3 months instead of surrendering the deck.
  • Balm Bitdoom explicitly invoked the Symposium before vanishing: “the Symposium is always watching.” This directly connects him to the Throbbin/algiz-rune mystery.
  • Isilrod has a glowing parchment invitation to Midsommer Night’s at Old Tin Tops Juke Joint and Casino in 5 nights.
  • Map to the Bouty, tied to Captain Robin and Arameg’s lair, is a new water/shipwreck lead.
  • Find Mosquito and Chago near the Temple of Cayochan.
  • Artus Cimber is somewhere in the jungle and has the Ring of Winter.
  • Waddo plans to raid Jibari’s villa in one month.
  • Elza Toth is cured, back to normal, and confirms more Biscar-family relationship drama
  • 🔴 Legrand has a 24-hour death sentence from Jibari — warn him NOW
  • 🔴 Jibari knows Bodius’s face — escaped via Misty Step, knows the Biscar op is blown
  • ❓ Midsommer’s Night Song invitation (found on Darius) — still unexplained; next lead is Volothamp Geddarm
  • ❓ Faf’s water-breathing potion, underwater chest, and tiny skull in the plunge pool
  • Lazlo Toth is cleared — not involved in the Biscar operation
  • Xintarum (rival merchant prince) — potential ally against Jibari?
  • Sebulba’s operation is a Jibari target — may also be a potential ally

2026-06-02 Session 9 — Approach to the Temple of Cayochan

Summary: Chwinga, Glowing Fungi, and the Door That Speaks Spider

  • Canoed down the Shoshone River with Lilith; ~40 miles to the Temple of Cayochan.
  • DM formalized jungle hex-travel rules (river normal/fast, off-river walking, off-river navigation, raven flight).
  • Fast travel chosen; survival roll 10 (fail) → susceptible to ambush, but nothing landed.
  • Sunset camp at a sandy inlet under a 20-ft waterfall. Faf raised a Narwhal-family banner on a manticore spike, manticore-blood purple paint.
  • Isilrod played dulcimer and collected fireflies (roll 19 → 38-firefly jug = super-torch).
  • A Chwinga (Kodama-like forest spirit) blessed Isilrod: +2 to night survival checks, reads stars/constellations clearly.
  • Lilith admitted she had not trusted the party until the Chwinga showed itself.
  • Bonzo found ~1/8 oz of glowing fungi in a cave behind the waterfall. Faf identified effects (Investigation 19). Whole party ate them:
    • Cannot sleep for 3 days
    • First 6 hours: -2 to all rolls
    • Last 6 hours of day 3: +3 to all rolls
  • Party night-floated; -2 made them slow (~0.5 hex in 6 hours). After 4 hours, vines thickened and Lilith called the westward jungle push.
  • Bonzo Raven-scouted, then dropped into the understory: Acrobatics 7, clipped a vine trap, took 2 dmg, fell out of Raven form (any damage breaks the form). Made it ~100 ft into the jungle.
  • Comms solution: Bonzo gave Moghammer one Feather of Sending (15-sec message, 1/day; held to Moghammer’s open mouth it becomes a PA).
  • Faf led the westward hack; party reunited with Bonzo within ~5 minutes, then walked ~1 hour west into a great magical fog (visibility ~1 yard).
  • Bodius Perception 19: fog was cast millennia ago to hide something. Cast Detect Magic, saw blue wisps ~50 yards in, used them as breadcrumbs and broke out of the fog into a clearing at sunrise.
  • Temple of Cayochan antechamber: two flanking giant trees, stone double doors with a crack, two bust-sized dragonfly statues with gargoyle tongues, ~30-yard plant funnel.
  • Bodius cast Comprehend Languages on the door. Touching it lit the inscription blue-magenta, made the door grumble, and the dragonfly statues’ tongues wiggled.
  • Translation: “Speak spider to enter.” Inscription is in Aldani, the lobster folk’s language.
  • Isilrod tried a smoke spider from the Pipe of Smoke Monsters — close, but not enough; the door wants a real spider.
  • Lilith reveal: the temple is cursed/blighted by the Aldani to protect entrants from vainglory. The Aldani are spirit companions of the Chwinga. Chwinga-blessed beings cannot enter — Isilrod is now permanently locked out of this temple.
  • Lilith on the temple: she fears it. Shago and Mosquito told her about a gold idol inside, and she suspects both died chasing it. She will wait outside with Isilrod.
  • Plan: Bodius, Faf, Bonzo (+ Moghammer) enter; Isilrod + Lilith hold the antechamber.
  • Session ended at the temple door, with the party still working out how to actually say “spider” in Aldani.
  • (Log continued below — full session recovered 2026-06-17 from complete transcripts.)
  • Aldani word for spider confirmed: Shagoleth. Smoke spider reanimated and opened the doors once the word was known.
  • Temple interior: stone tunnel, pit trap (20-foot spike pit via pressure plate), Bonzo flew rope across with Raven form.
  • Inner chamber: undead owlbear (man-bear-pig). Party defeated it. Mosquito’s remains found inside — Mosquito is confirmed dead. Letter to Flea found in its stomach. Silver ring with “f” underside recovered.
  • Golden statue — cylindrical, pure gold, 8 spider eyes on face. Non-magical. Bodius swapped it for a kidney using Minor Illusion. Statue pocketed by Bodius.
  • Boulder trap triggered on switch. Party sprinted out. Faf took 25 damage (beard clipped by boulder). All survived.
  • Shago was waiting outside. Had bound and gagged Isilrod and Moghammer. Knife to Moghammer’s throat. Demanded the statue. 7 feet tall, half-undead appearance (twisted violet-black left arm, glowing veins).
  • Faf threw a Nat 20 axe immediately. Bodius Misty-Stepped and Eldritch-blasted from behind. Full combat: Shago used Hypnotic Pattern (DC 14), Misty Step, Unnerving Presence. Most party incapacitated. Bodius delivered kill shot.
  • Lilith revealed Shago was Chwinga-blessed as a boy — couldn’t enter the temple. Used Mosquito, then the party, as proxies. His obsession went beyond the statue’s ~10,000 GP value.
  • Lilith admitted she knew Shago’s plan. Claims she didn’t personally bind anyone. Fate undecided.
  • Party leveled up to Level 4.

Active clocks update (post-session 9):

  • ~3-4 nights remaining: Midsommer at Old Tin Tops.
  • ~1 month: Waddo raid on Jabari’s villa.
  • 3 months: Balm Bitdoom Kilburg Card Deck contract.

Session 9 outcomes:

  • ✅ Temple of Cayochan cleared
  • ✅ Golden statue in Bodius’s pocket (non-magical, ~10,000 GP in Baldur’s Gate)
  • ✅ Silver ring with “f” underside in Bodius’s pocket
  • ✅ Letter to Flea recovered (Mosquito’s last letter)
  • ☠️ Mosquito confirmed dead
  • ☠️ Shago confirmed dead (Bodius kill shot)
  • ⚠️ Lilith in party custody — admitted conspirator, fate TBD
  • ⬆️ Party: Level 4
  • 🗺️ River name corrected: Soshenstar (not Shoshone)
  • 🔤 Aldani word for spider: Shagoleth

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