The Copper Piece Gang

D&D Session Summary

This session started in a strange, painful green-lit chamber reached through another portal on the way toward the seventh layer of hell. The room itself was harmful just to stand in, and the party quickly realized it was inflicting lingering effects that would matter later. Cal scouted ahead and found corridors watched by large silent birds, along with deadfall traps that had been triggered but not fully sprung. Following the stronger wind through the complex led the group into a room full of boxes, a table, a book, cards, and signs that the place had once been heavily used before being abandoned suddenly.

That room turned out to be a counterfeiting workshop. The party found a fine chest on the table, opened its intricate lock, and discovered valuable jewels plus an ornate dagger inside. Notes in the room explained that this was tied to a lost jewel box belonging to an ancient royal family, and that many of the boxes scattered around the room were failed attempts to copy the original chest, dagger, and gems. The group also recovered the original-looking box, the valuables, a book written in ancient common with ritual and historical notes, and a set of counterfeiting tools that Nucky claimed.

Moving deeper, the party entered an ancient worship space filled with circling ravens and a vortex at the center. This moment centered on Cal, whose connection to the Raven Queen suddenly became the focus. Time seemed to stop for him while the ravens swirled around him, and he appeared to receive some kind of private message or command. He then told the others he had to leave, specifically acknowledged the shard carrier, and jumped into the vortex alone. After that, the vortex reversed direction, and the rest of the party investigated the room briefly before following him through.

The next area was a dark, cathedral-like chamber with skull-lined walls, a strange fire brazier, faint fog, and statue-like wraith figures. The place had a death-cult feel, and the brazier bore the phrase: “Ever burning. Forever dying. To continue living.” The party treated it like a puzzle. Instead of doing something truly catastrophic like jumping in themselves, they tested it with an apple. The apple was destroyed, became ash, and essentially completed the ritual, which caused the statues to animate into hostile wraiths with the same unnatural fire burning in their eyes.

The resulting combat was weird and dangerous. One wraith used a rapier-like weapon, another empowered itself by entering the fire and gained fiery eye-beam attacks, and a beast-like four-legged one used teleporting movement and a whipping assault that left Krovuur feeling slowed or hindered. Zarnak took repeated pressure, Nucky provided healing, and the party gradually fought the wraiths down. A key detail was that when each enemy was defeated, it reverted back into a statue, reinforcing the cursed ritual nature of the room rather than it being a normal monster fight.

After the fight, the party got loot and a chance to regroup. Krovuur took a pair of upgraded boots, and the group short-rested instead of rushing ahead this time. The earlier harmful effects from the green room were still hanging over some characters, and the group noted they would need a long rest later to try to shake those consequences. Two blue portals then appeared, leaving the party with another navigation choice. Arcane and religious probing showed that although the portals looked the same physically, they had different magical signatures, and the group ultimately chose the one with the green arcane feel because it aligned with the path toward hell.

That choice dropped the party straight into the seventh layer of hell. The environment was immediately brutal: searing heat, ash-filled air, drying eyes, and the feeling that they were being cooked alive inside their armor. A giant devil stood below, apparently in conversation with an invisible being. Some party members noticed that he was not ranting to himself, but clearly interacting with something unseen. Rather than opening with a fight, Zarnak and Rae tried to act like they belonged there, while others tossed out nervous jokes and casual lines to test the situation. The devil noticed them immediately, narrowed his eyes, and began assessing them. That was the setup point where the session transitioned into the confrontation that would later lead into the hell politics and Vladyn material from the following session.

Quick Recap

• The party traveled through another portal and entered a painful green chamber with traps, birds, and lingering harmful effects.
• They discovered a counterfeiting operation built around a royal jewel box, recovered the valuables, and took the counterfeiting tools.
• Cal encountered a raven-filled vortex tied to the Raven Queen and left the group by jumping into it alone.
• The rest of the party followed into a cathedral-like death-cult chamber with a brazier puzzle.
• Testing the brazier with an apple triggered a fight against fire-eyed wraiths created by the ritual.
• The party won the fight, collected loot including upgraded boots, and took a short rest.
• Two blue portals appeared, and the party chose the one with the hell-aligned magical signature.
• That portal brought them into the seventh layer of hell, where they encountered a giant devil speaking to an invisible entity.
• The group tried to play it cool instead of attacking immediately, setting up the infernal confrontation that followed.