📘 Session 6 – “Break the Chains” WIP

[Verse 1]
Silver sigils shining, dwarven prayer in rhyme,
Moon-Dancer blessings guard our minds in time.
Rigg kicks doors flying—“Leeroy!  Jenkins!” 
High Jinks stalks the shadow, claws and emerald moan.
Soup-pot steam and torch-smoke swirl around the hall;
Four blank-eyed captives crumble to a silent fall.

[Chorus]
Raise your wrench, let the eldritch spark—
Break the chains, light a torch in the dark!
From steel and spell to the psyonic scream,
Heroes carve freedom through an Underdark dream.

[Verse 2]
Green-rug chamber cracking—Mind-Flayer’s hungry flare,
Valen’s crimson Firebolt sparks the violet air.
Dino’s gear-forged hound, jaws of whirring grace,
Leydrick’s holy fire scorches tentacled face.
One flayer flees in twilight, portal starts to hum,
Tentacle left twitching—its war is just begun.

[Bridge] (half-tempo, chant-style)
Whispered Deep-Speech, diary lost and found,
Crystal blades that sigh without a sound.
Sixty coins for Jinks, note it, bard,
Two-point fire wound—Valen’s victory scarred.

[Verse 3]
White-fur Quaggoth battering cages iron-bound,
Tabaxi blasts it backward; villagers gather round.
Dino bends the lock while Rigg slings the stone,
Twenty-five freed voices swell into a tone.
Dust begins a fall—portal flashes true,
“Cowards!” hollers Rigg as the cavern shakes anew.

[Final Chorus]
Swing the wrench, let your song ignite—
Break the chains, carry hope through the night!
Quaggoth claw or psychic blade,
None withstand the oath we made.
Crumbling rock and portal glare,
Step by step, we’ll meet them there!

(lute flourish, tankards clash, crowd joins on repeat of final two lines)

🪐 Campaign Arc

Campaign: Spelljammer – Homebrew Hybrid
Session Title: Break the Chains
Dungeon Master: James/Jamie (Sicareus)
Setting: Mind-Flayer prison, Underdark beneath the Sword Mountains

🧭 Overview

Guided by their Moon-Dancer Drow allies, the party infiltrated a duergar-built prison now run by Illithids. After subduing a hall of enthralled guards, ambushing two Mind-Flayers (one escaped via teleport), and slaying rampaging Quaggoths, they freed roughly twenty-five Rassalantar villagers. Key loot includes a lock-box of coin, a Deep-Speech Illithid diary, and crystal psionic weapons humming with latent power.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Party Members

📍 Key Locations

• Gate-Hall: Fortified entrance where a Quaggoth fought three duergar guards.
• Mess-Hall: Hex-shaped canteen filled with enthralled human guards; site of silent subdual.
• Mind-Flayer Refectory: Dining chamber with eldritch aquarium; one Flayer slain, one teleported away.
• Cell-Block (Rescue Site): Diamond room of cages; Quaggoth #2 downed; villagers liberated.

📑 Session Highlights

🥷 Mess-Hall Silent Takedown

• Situation: Four foam-lipped human guards eating gruel at a hex-shaped canteen table.
• Execution: Party fanned out, each target grappled or clubbed in sync; no alarms raised.
• Loot: Mess-hall master key, 4 usable spears, 1 half-full flask of duergar grog (claimed by Rigg).
• Fun fact: Rigg & Dino removed the guards’ boots “so they can’t chase us later.”

🧠 Mind-Flayer Refectory Ambush

• Door-kick call-out: Rigg shouted a hushed “Leeeroy Jenkins!” before charging.
• Round 1: High Jinks & Valen loosed Eldritch Blast + Firebolt as Leydrick’s Sacred Flame flared; one Flayer Mind-Blasted back (20 ψ, halved by Drow wards).
• Round 2: Dino’s wrench-assisted crit and Jinks’ follow-up dropped Flayer #1; Flayer #2 teleported away in a violet ripple, leaving a single tentacle on the floor.
• Pick-ups: Illithid corpse, two Deep-Speech tomes, alchemy vials (abjuration aura).

🚪 Gate-Hall Chaos & First Quaggoth

• Surprise melee: A lone Quaggoth was tearing into three guards. Unsure of allegiances, the party leapt in anyway.
• Key moves: Rigg used Bag o’ Nutz with a Cunning-Strike Trip, knocking the beast prone; Leydrick’s Sacred Flame scorched it; Dino’s Steel Defender finished the job.

🔓 Cell-Block Rescue & Second Quaggoth

• Discovery: Diamond-shaped cage room with ~25 villagers, Quaggoth pounding bars.
• Alpha strike: Jinks’ twin Eldritch Blasts (19 force), Rigg’s sling stone, and Steel Defender’s bite dropped the beast in two rounds.
• Aftermath: High Jinks calmed civilians; Leydrick treated minor wounds; keys opened every cage.
• Quote: Villager: “Are the cat-eyes here to save us?” Jinks (tail flick): “Meow-gically, yes.”

🔍 Cleanup & Preparations

• Inventory sweep: 300 gp lock-box, crystal psionic weapon set, Illithid diary secured.
• Strategic choice pending: Escorted freed villagers back to Drow enclave.
• Reminder flags: High Jinks +60 gp next session; translate diary; identify abjuration vials.

🔍 Ongoing Threads & Plot Hooks

• Translate Illithid Diary: Could reveal tactical maps or Spelljammer intel.
• Psionic Weapons: Need source of “mind-energy” to activate—or a buyer.
• High Jinks’ 60 gp Reminder: Add coins at start of next session.

🚨 Cliff-hanger – Portal & Collapsing Cavern

• Drow escort: After a short rest, the scouts led the party to a broad, well-lit cavern where a glowing portal pulsed at the far wall; two Mind-Flayers stood chanting beside it.
• Recognition: One Illithid matched the robes/face-tentacles of the Flayer that escaped the refectory fight.
• Escape: As the heroes watched, the first Mind-Flayer stepped through the portal and vanished; the cavern immediately began to tremble.
• Instability: Rock-dust rained down as the ceiling buckled—“You suspect there is very limited time,” warned the DM.
• Reaction: Rigg shouted “Cowards!” and charged toward the portal; the rest of the party dashed after him while debris cracked overhead, ending the session on a dramatic cliff-hanger.