Session 22: Burp the Wurm

Date: Jul 22nd, 2025

Summary

The party had just finished looting the dead queen and moved to the fountain room to take a short rest. As they recovered, they began hearing ominous screeching sounds from outside - female voices screaming bloody murder that they suspected were the handmaidens discovering their queen's death. Tark sneaked to the door to investigate and confirmed the sounds were indeed the mourning handmaidens wailing in grief. During their rest, both Yazzy and Xakarium made the mistake of drinking from the fountain water, failing their constitution saves and gaining levels of contamination from the tainted liquid. After their short rest, the party prepared to leave for Shepherd's Gate, with Oiroa wisely placing the queen's necklace in their bag of holding to avoid displaying evidence of their deed. However, as they attempted to exit through the bronze doors, a massive purple wurm emerged from underground, causing the ground to rumble and forcing the party into combat. The creature was enormous and mutated, possessing multiple tails and devastating attacks that immediately posed a serious threat to the group. Combat began with Syndle attacking the wurm while wild magic created a field of flowers around him and boosted the party's armor class. Yazzy quickly cast Enemies Abound on the creature, successfully confusing the massive wurm due to its extremely low intelligence. The spell proved highly effective, causing the wurm to randomly target different creatures rather than focusing on the party. Oiroa supported the group by casting Bless to provide combat bonuses, while the wurm used one of its tails to slam the bronze doors shut, accidentally trapping Ned on the other side. The battle intensified when the confused purple wurm emerged underneath two red cap enemies - Larry and the surviving Daryl - and devoured them whole. From inside the creature's stomach, the red caps fought back valiantly with their sickles and boots, dealing internal damage to the wurm. Meanwhile, the handmaidens joined the combat by casting Entangle spells that created magical vines and roots, successfully restraining most of the party members except Syndle and Tark. Oiroa turned the tide by casting Slow on both the purple wurm and the handmaidens, significantly reducing their combat effectiveness by halving their speed and limiting their actions. Syndle used his Draconic Cry ability multiple times throughout the battle, granting advantage on attack rolls to all party members against their enemies. The combination of these tactical spells gave the party a significant advantage despite being partially restrained and separated by the bronze doors. The purple wurm continued its rampage by attacking the handmaidens at their altar with its tail, killing one with poisoned barbs while another emerged from a tree to continue casting spells. One handmaiden attempted to use Fey Charm on Tark but failed to take effect. From behind the doors, Ned contributed by casting firebolt at the handmaidens, while Xakarium unleashed lightning breath in a cone formation, damaging multiple enemies simultaneously. As the battle progressed, the purple wurm targeted Yazzy with its tail attack, dealing both piercing damage from the spikes and poison damage from the barbs. However, Yazzy's natural resistance helped mitigate some of the toxic effects. The red caps inside the wurm continued their internal assault until they were finally dissolved by the creature's digestive acids, though their efforts had significantly weakened the massive beast. The final phase of combat saw two handmaidens flee via tree stride magic while one remained to continue the fight. Tark and Syndle delivered devastating attacks to the bloodied purple wurm, with Syndle's critical hits and Tark's precise strikes wearing down the creature's massive hit point total. Yazzy maintained concentration on the Enemies Abound spell throughout the battle, keeping the wurm confused and preventing it from focusing its attacks effectively. The battle concluded when Tark delivered the killing blow with a powerful sneak attack, causing the purple Wurm'smassive head to crash to the ground. As the creature died, one boot with half a leg attached rolled out from its mouth, a grim reminder of the red caps it had devoured. The party quickly dealt with the remaining handmaiden before turning their attention to potential loot from their fallen foe. After the combat, Yazzy and Oiroa discussed extracting valuable poison from the Wurm'stail, though they ultimately decided against spending an hour on the dangerous procedure. Xakarium used mage hand to safely search inside the Wurm'sacidic stomach, successfully retrieving a second boot to match the one that had rolled out naturally. Ironically, both boots turned out to be left feet, making them a mismatched pair despite the effort to recover them. The party then prepared to depart for Shepherd's Gate, with Syndle using his bolstering magic ability to restore spell slots to his companions. He successfully granted third-level spell slots to Ned, Yazzy, and Oiroa, helping the group recover their magical resources after the intense battle. As they traveled through the contaminated haze toward their destination, several party members failed their constitution saves and gained additional levels of contamination from the toxic environment. The session concluded with the party making progress toward Shepherd's Gate but encountering another random threat along the way. Their victory over the purple wurm had been hard-fought, requiring tactical spell usage, teamwork, and significant magical resources. The battle demonstrated the increasing dangers they faced in the contaminated lands, while also showing how their growing power and coordination allowed them to overcome seemingly impossible odds against massive creatures like the mutated purple wurm.

Scenes

Aftermath and Preparation

The party finishes looting the dead queen and takes a short rest in the fountain room while hearing ominous sounds from outside.

Purple Wurm Encounter Begins

A massive purple wurm emerges as the party attempts to leave, leading to a dangerous combat.

Purple Wurm Battle Intensifies

The party continues their fierce battle against the massive purple wurm while separated by bronze doors.

Purple Wurm Battle Conclusion

The final moments of the purple wurm battle as the party delivers killing blows.

Looting and Departure

After defeating the purple wurm, the party attempts to loot valuable materials and prepares to leave the area.

Npcs

Handmaidens

Dryad-like servants of the dead queen who were heard screaming bloody murder from outside the fountain room. Their wailing and crying voices suggested they had discovered their queen's death and were mourning her loss. During combat, they cast entangle spells to restrain the party and one attempted to use Fey Charm. Some were killed during the battle while others fled via tree stride magic.

Purple Wurm

A massive mutated underground creature with multiple tails and devastating attacks. Confused by Yazzy's Enemies Abound spell, it randomly attacked different targets including devouring red cap enemies before being slain by the party. Had extremely low intelligence making it vulnerable to mental effects, but possessed strong physical attacks and poisonous tail spikes with acidic stomach that dissolved victims.

Red Caps

Three small enemies including Larry and two individuals named Daryl who were devoured by the purple wurm during combat. They fought back from inside the creature using sickles and boots, dealing internal damage before being digested by the Wurm'sacid.

Larry

One of the red cap enemies who was devoured by the purple wurm along with two companions named Daryl. Fought the wurm from inside using sickles before being digested.

Daryl

Two red cap enemies who were devoured by the purple wurm along with Larry. They fought back from inside the wurm using sickles and boots before being killed by the digestive acid.

Locations

Queen's Grotto

The underground grotto area where the party fought the purple wurm, featuring bronze doors that separate different sections and an altar area where handmaidens were mourning. The location is filled with thick, disgusting haze and serves as the main battleground for the encounter.

Fountain Room

A room with a fountain containing clear, drinkable water where the party took their short rest after defeating the queen. The room has bronze doors leading outside and connects to the queen's chambers via the delirium river. The room's shadows and fountain create the shape of a one-eyed goblin when viewed from certain angles.

Shepherd's Gate

The party's destination as they travel through the contaminated haze, requiring them to make constitution saves due to the dangerous environment.

Queen's Chambers

The location where the party had just finished looting the dead queen before moving to the fountain room. Connected to other areas via a delirium river passage.

Spells

Entangle

Restraining spell cast by the handmaidens that created magical vines and roots to restrain party members, limiting their movement during combat. Successfully restrained most of the party except Syndle and Tark.

Lightning Bolt

Cast by Xakarium dealing significant electrical damage to the purple wurm, contributing to the creature's eventual defeat.

Draconic Cry

Barbarian ability used multiple times by Syndle to grant advantage on attack rolls to all party members against enemies. Proved crucial in the party's ability to hit and damage the heavily armored purple wurm.

Bless

Cast by Oiroa to provide combat bonuses to party members, though it was later replaced by the Slow spell due to concentration requirements.

Lightning Breath

Dragonborn racial ability used by Xakarium in a cone formation, dealing lightning damage to multiple targets including the wurm and handmaidens.

Poison Spray

Cantrip spell cast by Yazzy against the purple wurm, requiring a constitution saving throw. The Wurm'sstrong constitution allowed it to resist the poisonous effects.

Mage Hand

Used by Xakarium to safely search inside the purple Wurm'sacidic stomach for recoverable items. The spell allowed him to retrieve boots without risking direct contact with the dangerous digestive acids.

Bolstering Magic

Used by Xakarium after combat to restore spell slots to party members. Successfully granted third-level spell slots to Ned, Yazzy, and Oiroa, helping the party recover magical resources.

Fey Charm

Attempted by a handmaiden on Tark but failed to take effect. The spell was cast as the handmaiden approached with a shillelagh weapon, representing a tactical attempt to neutralize a key fighter.

Enemies Abound

Cast by Yazzy on the purple wurm, this enchantment spell confused the massive creature and caused it to randomly target different creatures including its own allies. The spell was highly effective due to the Wurm'sextremely low intelligence, requiring intelligence saves each time it took damage.

Toll the Dead

Necrotic cantrip cast by Ned from the other side of the bronze doors, though the purple wurm successfully saved against its effects.

Slow

Third-level spell cast by Oiroa targeting the purple wurm and handmaidens, reducing their speed, limiting actions, and imposing penalties to armor class and dexterity saving throws. Significantly hindered the enemies and helped the party gain tactical advantage.

Firebolt

Cantrip spell cast by Ned targeting a handmaiden, dealing fire damage and forcing a concentration save to maintain her entangle spell.

Items

Queen's Necklace

A valuable necklace taken from the dead queen that the party decided to hide in their bag of holding to avoid displaying evidence of their deed to the world. Represents proof of the queen's death and potential political consequences.

Red Cap Boots

Two left boots recovered from inside the purple Wurm'sacidic stomach after it devoured the red cap creatures. One boot with half a leg attached rolled out naturally when the wurm died, while another was retrieved using mage hand to search through the acidic remains. Both being left boots makes them a mismatched pair.

Sickles

Weapons used by the red cap soldiers to attack the purple wurm from inside its stomach. The weapons proved effective at dealing internal damage to the massive creature before the wielders were digested.

Foldable Boat

A collapsible boat mentioned by the party as something they had collected, useful for water travel.

Foldable Goat

A magical item owned by one of the party members that can transform into a statue sculpture and fit in a pocket, described as having superpowers.