Session 16 - Spores, Mirrors, and the Bone Wagon

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🪐 Campaign Arc

Campaign: DnD Campain - SpellJammer
Session Title: Spores, Mirrors, and the Bone Wagon
Dungeon Master: James / Jamie / Sicareus
Setting: Underdark (post-portal travel)
Session Date: 18/01/2026
Next Session: 24/01/2026

🧭 Overview

The party stepped through the portal and immediately found themselves in a sickly-sweet, yellow miasma thick with spores. The air didn’t just choke the lungs — it warped perception. Familiar shapes appeared where they had no right to be, including a vision of the tavern from the campaign’s beginning, sitting in the haze like a memory made physical. A distant blue light and moving figures drew attention, but every instinct in the fog felt unreliable.

Pushing onward, the group reached an illusory wall and passed through into what looked like farmland and a small village. The “villagers” gathered and repeatedly insisted the party should stay. Dino probed them with Detect Thoughts and met a chorus of voices repeating the same message. After testing the situation with spells and physical interaction — and getting no comforting answers — the party chose to back away and keep moving rather than gamble on the “welcome.”

When the spores finally thinned, the Underdark immediately reminded them why caution exists: Dino kicked what looked like a harmless rock, and it screamed. The noise drew four Hook Horrors, and the party cut them down with coordinated force — fireball, sacred flame, eldritch blasts, wrench work, and Rook’s rapier. Moments later, a new threat announced itself with sound before sight: a deep buzzing in the darkness. The group sprinted until it faded behind them… straight into the path of something worse — a chained carriage dragged by two massive skeletal beasts, surrounded by shadow-like guards, with a lone figure seated inside. Valen launched his last Fireball. It was counterspelled into nothing. Dino, committed to the worst-good idea, cast Heroism and jumped onto the carriage as the session ended.

🧑‍🚀 Party Members

Character	Player	Class/Subclass	Race	Notable Actions
Garrick “Rigg” Dalhart	Ben / Elemunk	Rogue (Swashbuckler)	Human	Kept scouting through the hallucination zone; fought Hook Horrors with the “Big Ol’ Wrench,” movement tricks, and poison; dimmed his hooded lantern to sneak closer to the carriage and count threats.
Leydrick Gefinhal	Jared / Galindis	Cleric (Life Domain)	Dwarf	Anchored the Hook Horror fight with repeated Sacred Flame; attempted protective magic for Dino (Protection from Evil and Good was discussed, Shield of Faith was active).
High Jinks	Kate / Keitachan	Warlock (Great Old One)	Tabaxi	Blasted Hook Horrors with Eldritch Blast; repositioned familiar (imp) for stings/poison attempts; joined the group’s stealthy approach toward distant lights.
Dino Roar (Dynoth Rokos)	Robb / Baconbuff	Artificer (Battle Smith) / Fighter	Githyanki	Used Detect Thoughts on the “stay” villagers (received a unified chorus); triggered the Hook Horror fight by kicking the “rock;” pushed to engage the carriage threat; cast Heroism and jumped onto the carriage at the cliffhanger.
Valen Pyre	Justin / Slitzer	Wizard (Evoker)	Human	Tried Gust of Wind earlier to disperse spores (didn’t resolve the zone); considered Identify during the strange village; used Fireball to end the Hook Horror fight; fired his final Fireball at the carriage — counterspelled.
Rook Varrek (NPC ally)	—	—	—	Stayed with the party; fought Hook Horrors with an ice-encrusted rapier; was consulted about the carriage but had no clear answer.

📍 Key Locations

Portal exit region (Underdark): thick yellow spore-miasma; sickly-sweet air; perception distortion.
Hallucinated landmark: the tavern from the earliest session appearing in the haze.
Blue-light distance markers: bright lights and figures moving at an angle ahead (party chose cautious movement).
Illusory wall & farmland: the party passed through a wall into farmland-like terrain and a village scene.
“Stay” village: humanoid/farmer-like figures repeating “stay,” with a many-voiced mental presence.
Hook Horror ambush zone: scream-triggered fight after a “rock” was kicked (it was not a rock).
Buzzing-dark tunnel stretch: loud buzzing approached; party sprinted until it fell away.
Carriage roadway: chained carriage/wagon wheels and footfalls; two massive skeletal pullers; shadowy guards; one seated figure inside.

✨ Session Highlights

Entered a spore-saturated Underdark pocket where perception fractured: hallucinations, déjà vu, and distant “mirror” movement.
Spotted an impossible landmark: the party’s original tavern, sitting in the haze like a trap made of nostalgia.
Moved toward (but did not directly engage with) distant blue-lit activity and figures.
Passed through an illusory wall into farmland and a village where the locals repeatedly insisted the party should stay.
Dino used Detect Thoughts on the “villagers” and received a chorus of voices all repeating the same directive.
After testing the scene with magic and contact — and finding no reassuring explanation — the party withdrew and continued.
Dino kicked a “rock” that screamed, drawing four Hook Horrors.
The party won the Hook Horror fight decisively: Fireball, Sacred Flame, Eldritch Blast, poison, familiar stings, and melee work.
Immediately afterward, a loud buzzing approached through the darkness; the party ran until it was gone.
They then heard wagon wheels and chains before they could see anything: a carriage pulled by two massive skeletal creatures, surrounded by ~six shadow-like guards, with one lone figure seated inside.
Rigg dimmed his lantern and snuck close enough to confirm the count and the seated figure.
The party used a “magic marble” (existing tool) and confirmed heavy magic around the carriage/occupants.
Valen fired his last Fireball into the carriage… and it was counterspelled. Dino cast Heroism and jumped onto the carriage. End scene.

🎬 Key Scenes

The Tavern That Shouldn’t Be There
Rigg & Valen
In the yellow haze, a familiar tavern surfaced — the same outline the party remembered from the beginning of everything. Rigg kept moving like stopping would make it real. Valen stared at it like a wizard stares at a lie: not with fear, but with the quiet rage of someone being insulted.
“Stay.”
Dino & Leydrick
The farmer-like figures gathered, and the same word came from too many mouths. Dino pushed his mind outward and got it back in return — not a conversation, not a thought, just a chorus chanting the same instruction. Leydrick responded the cleric way: keep the group together, keep the faith up, and don’t let the Underdark get its hands inside anyone’s skull.
Kick Rock, Find Out
Dino & High Jinks
Dino’s boot met “rock.” The cavern answered with a shriek. High Jinks didn’t debate what kind of fungus makes that noise — eldritch power snapped into place as the sound rolled outward, because down here, the only thing louder than a scream is what it attracts.
The Fireball That Died Mid-Flight
Valen & Dino
Valen committed the last Fireball like it was a solution. A dry breath answered from within the carriage — and the magic fizzled as if reality itself had been told “no.” Dino, fully aware this was probably stupid, cast Heroism and leapt onto the carriage anyway… because apparently self-preservation is optional when you’ve got a plan.

🧩 Ongoing Threads & Plot Hooks

Myconid / spore influence: the party was warned the area felt “too close” to myconid territory/kingdoms; the spores clearly have perception-warping effects.
Reality distortion zone: hallucinated tavern, illusory wall, and “stay” village suggest either powerful spore-magic or something using spores as a delivery system.
The “Stay” chorus: Dino’s Detect Thoughts returned a unified multi-voice directive; the figures may have been a shared-mind puppet group rather than independent people.
The buzzing presence: something large/fast moved in the dark (audible buzzing) and forced a retreat; it did not pursue to contact.
The Bone Carriage: two massive skeletal pullers, ~six shadow-like guards, and one seated figure inside. Heavy magic confirmed.
Counterspell confirmed: whoever is inside the carriage can shut down big magic instantly — and did so without hesitation.
Dino on the carriage: the party starts next session with Dino committed forward and the group potentially exposed.

💰 Loot & Discoveries

Item	Finder	Description / Status
“Magic marble” (existing tool)	Party	Used near the carriage; confirmed a strong concentration of magic around it. (No new loot recovered this session.)
Hook Horror remains	—	No notable loot found on the corpses.

Flavor note: The Underdark doesn’t do “quiet” — it just switches from hallucinations to hooks to counterspells without changing tone.

🧨 Cliffhanger

The party confronts a chained carriage dragged by two massive skeletal beasts, escorted by ~six shadow-like guards, with a lone figure seated inside.
Valen’s final Fireball is counterspelled — hard confirmation that the carriage has serious arcane defense.
Dino casts Heroism and jumps onto the carriage, committing the party to an engagement whether they wanted one or not.
Next session: 24/01/2026 — opening moment begins with Dino on top of the carriage and everyone else deciding how to not die about it.