Session 34 — The Descent

The party begins at the lookout over the volcano interior. 10 levels down to the Star Forge. This session covers levels 10 through ~6 of the descent. The focus: escalating horror, the first real fights with possessed giants, and Lux’s slow realisation that he’s in terrible danger.

VECNA’S GRIP — The Lux Mechanic

The Rule

Lux is in a Fire Giant’s body via Magic Jar. The corrupted slaad tadpoles that possess the other fire giants can affect him too — not through a tadpole (yet), but through Vecna’s ambient psychic influence bleeding through the tether network. The deeper they descend, the stronger the pull.

At specific trigger points during the session, Lux must make a Charisma saving throw. The DC escalates each time.

Important: Wizards are NOT proficient in Charisma saves. Lux’s modifier is likely +0 to +2 (even with magic items). Check his actual sheet.

The Escalation Table

# Trigger DC Expected Pass Rate (at +2) 1 First possessed giant dies nearby — psychic backlash through the tether network 12 55% 2 Portal Recall activates — a giant vanishes 30 feet from Lux 14 45% 3 Vecna speaks to Lux directly through the tether 16 35% 4 Second portal opens — this one is closer, 15 feet from Lux 18 25% 5 The Aura of Unreality (if they reach the Abomination) — deep Far Realm saturation 20 15%

DM: Adjust starting DC based on Lux’s actual Charisma save modifier. The first check should feel “probably fine.” The last should feel impossible.

On a Success

Lux resists. He feels the pull — his body jerking toward the portal, his hand twitching, his vision flickering red for a moment — but he holds. Describe the strain. He felt it. It’s getting stronger.

On a Failure

Vecna’s Grip takes hold. Lux’s Fire Giant body is compelled (as per the Compulsion spell mechanic — established RAW precedent):

The body must use its full movement on its next turn to move toward the nearest portal or, if no portal is open, toward the strongest concentration of Far Realm energy (downward, toward Allabar’s influence).
Lux is aware this is happening. He can see, hear, and scream — but he can’t stop his legs.
He can still use his action and bonus action — he just can’t control his movement. He can cast spells, call for help, etc.
This is not instant death. It’s a warning shot.

On a Failure by 5 or More

Everything above, plus:

The body also uses its action to attack the nearest ally. Vecna isn’t just pulling — he’s fighting through the body.
The attack uses the Fire Giant’s Greatsword: +11 to hit, 6d6+7 slashing. Against his own party.
Lux can choose to abandon the body (return to his jar) as a reaction to failing by 5+. This is his escape hatch. But it means giving up the Fire Giant permanently.

Counterplay (For the Rules Lawyers)

The party can intervene:

Grapple: A creature can use its action to grapple Lux’s giant body (Athletics check vs DC 18 — he’s a Huge giant with +11 Athletics). Successful grapple prevents the compelled movement.
Restrain: If restrained (net, Entangle, etc.), the compelled movement fails but Lux still feels the pull.
Dispel Magic: Cast on Lux (DC 16, as Magic Jar is 6th level) ends the compulsion effect but also risks ending Magic Jar itself. Risky play.
Calm Emotions: Suppresses the compulsion for the spell’s duration.
Greater Restoration: Ends the compulsion cleanly with no risk to Magic Jar.
Kaial’s Aura: If within Kaial’s Paladin aura, Lux adds Kaial’s Charisma modifier to the save. Kaial literally keeping Lux anchored. Great character moment.

The Escape Valve

At any point, Lux can voluntarily end Magic Jar and return to his container as an action. No check required. The Fire Giant body drops, unconscious but alive — and now a potential vessel for Vecna’s tadpoles.

The question isn’t IF Lux leaves the body. It’s WHEN. And what happens to the body after.

ENCOUNTER SEQUENCE

Scene 1: The Lookout (Roleplay)

No combat. The session opens with the party at the lookout, staring down into the volcano.

Read-aloud setup:

The heat hits you in waves. Below, the volcano interior spirals down — paths and platforms carved into the rock by giant hands, switchbacking down through levels of stone and shadow. The orange glow of the Star Forge pulses from far below, painting everything in shifting amber light. You can hear the forge — a deep, rhythmic roar, like the mountain’s heartbeat. Somewhere down there, chains rattle. The dragon groans.

Decisions to make:

How do they descend? Stealthy (Stealth checks at disadvantage — the heat shimmers reveal movement) or aggressive?
Formation? Who leads? Where is Lux in the marching order?
Does Wawwen guide them? He knows some paths but is terrified.
Does anyone scout ahead (Lyra? Arawn’s ranger skills?)

DM Note: Let them plan. They’re strategists — give them the respect of a real planning moment. But set a time pressure: the far Realm corruption is spreading. They can hear wet sounds from above — the flesh walls from the throne room are growing downward. Delay too long and the corruption reaches the forge.

Scene 2: Level 9 — The First Wrongness (Exploration + Tension)

No combat yet. The first signs of possession.

As they descend to level 9, they find:

A dead fire giant slumped against the wall. Its eyes are gone — sockets empty, with faint red residue. Something wriggled out.
Scorch marks on the walls — this giant fought something before it died.
On the ground near the body: a single corrupted slaad tadpole, dead. Dried out. If anyone in the party examines it and has proficiency in Arcana or Medicine (DC 14), they recognise it as a slaad tadpole — and realise they have one in a jar.

The connection: “Wait. We found these at the Hill Giant Stronghold. These are the same things.”

Wawwen (if present): He hisses and backs away. “Those things. They come from the red sky. You don’t touch those. You don’t let them near your eyes.”

Scene 3: Level 8 — First Contact (Combat Encounter 1)

2 Possessed Fire Giants — Medium difficulty. A teaching encounter.

The party rounds a switchback and finds two giants standing in the middle of the path. They’re not patrolling. They’re not doing anything. Just standing. Facing each other. Perfectly still. Their eyes are open.

Then they both turn their heads — simultaneously, at the exact same speed — to look at the party.

Objectives:

Introduce the possessed giant stat block in a manageable fight
Let the party learn the mechanics: Unnatural Movement, Psychic Lash, Vecna’s Whisper
TRIGGER 1: When the first giant dies, the psychic backlash pulses through the tether network.

As the giant falls, something ripples — not visible, but felt. Like a bass note through your chest. Every possessed creature in this volcano just learned you’re here.

Lux — Vecna’s Grip Check #1: DC 12. The tether network reacted to the death. Lux’s giant body twitches. His hand reaches — briefly, involuntarily — toward the fallen giant. He pulls it back. But he felt it. Something in the network noticed him.

Scene 4: Level 7 — The Portal (Combat Encounter 2)

3 Possessed Fire Giants + 2 Intellect Devourers — Hard difficulty.

This is the encounter where Portal Recall happens for the first time.

The path opens into a wider chamber — a former barracks or armoury for the fire giants. Three possessed giants are here. Two intellect devourers skitter along the ceiling.

Battle flow:

Standard combat for rounds 1-2. The party is learning the rhythm.
Round 3: One of the giants takes heavy damage and Portal Recall triggers. A 10-foot shimmering red tear opens behind it. The copper smell. The void-wind.

The air splits. A tear in space — 10 feet across, bleeding red light and a smell like copper and nothing. Through it, you can see… not a place. A colour. A pressure. The giant steps backward into it and is gone. The tear holds open, pulsing, for six agonising seconds. Then it seals.

The party just watched an enemy escape to another plane mid-fight. This has never happened to them before.

Lux — Vecna’s Grip Check #2: DC 14. The portal was 30 feet from him. When it opened, his body lurched. One step. Involuntary. Toward the tear. Before it closed.

After combat:

The remaining giants fight to the death (they don’t all have Portal Recall)
The intellect devourers try to flee into corpses if losing
If the party examines a dead giant’s eyes — they find the tadpole behind the socket. Wriggling. Still alive. Someone has to kill it or contain it.

Scene 5: Level 7-6 — The Descent Continues (Exploration)

No combat. Catch their breath. But the tension doesn’t stop.

Environmental details as they descend:

The walls are getting hotter. Unarmoured characters feel it.
They can see the ley line chains for the first time — ethereal shimmering lines running through the rock, descending toward the forge, rising upward and out through the peak toward the Red Moon
The chains are beautiful. Ancient. Clearly magical. A DC 15 Arcana check reveals they’re binding magic of divine origin — these chains were woven by gods.
Lava flows cross some paths — Dex saves (DC 12) to navigate, or find alternate routes
Distant sounds from below: the forge roar, the dragon, and something else — chanting? Whispering?

Vecna speaks. Not through a giant. Directly. In their minds.

A voice. Not heard — known. As if the words were already in your memory, planted there before you were born. Cold. Patient. Vast.

“You brought it back.”

A pause.

“The forge is warm. The smith awaits. Everything is as it should be.”

That’s all. Nothing more. No threat. No demand. Just absolute certainty that events are unfolding exactly as Vecna planned.

Lux — Vecna’s Grip Check #3: DC 16. Vecna’s voice resonated through the tether network. Lux didn’t just hear it — he felt it in the giant’s bones. In the marrow. The body remembers who it used to serve.

Scene 6: Level 6 — The Ambush (Combat Encounter 3)

3 Possessed Fire Giants + Environmental Hazards — Hard-Deadly.

This is where the volcano itself becomes a weapon.

The party enters a section where the path narrows between the volcano wall and a lava channel. The ground is uneven — volcanic rock with sulphur vents.

Setup:

2 giants block the path ahead
1 giant emerges from a side passage behind the party — they’re flanked
Sulphur vents erupt every other round (initiative count 20): 15-foot cone, DC 14 Con save or poisoned for 1 round
A section of the path is unstable — if a Huge creature (like a giant or Lux) steps on it, DC 15 Dex save or it collapses, dropping the creature 30 feet onto a lower ledge (3d6 damage)

Portal Recall #2: One of the giants triggers Portal Recall. This time the portal opens 15 feet from Lux. Close enough that the void-wind pulls at his hair. Close enough to step into.

Lux — Vecna’s Grip Check #4: DC 18. This one is bad. His body takes two involuntary steps. His hand drops his weapon. His eyes flash red for a heartbeat. The party can see it happen.

If he fails: his body walks its full movement toward the portal. If no one grapples him (DC 18 Athletics), he reaches the portal’s edge. He does NOT go through automatically — the portal closes at end of the giant’s next turn. But the party just saw their wizard’s body marching toward oblivion.

If he fails by 5+: the body also swings the greatsword at whoever is closest. Lux is screaming inside.

After combat: If Lux hasn’t bailed from the body, the party should be having a very serious conversation. Kaial should be positioned next to Lux (Paladin aura on saves). The Rod should maybe not be on Lux’s person anymore.

Scene 7: The Harbinger (Forge Level — Visible From Above)

No combat. This is a reveal — the second gut-punch after the Grand Portal.

Moments after the Grand Portal opens, a SECOND portal tears open. Not above — below. At the forge level. Visible from the party’s position.

This portal is different. Not the shimmering red of Far Realm tears. Black flame rimmed in burning orange. An infernal gate. From Avernus.

A figure steps through. Human. Female. Armoured. She carries herself like royalty.

Princess Reeny. Vecna’s harbinger.

Behind her: a Pit Fiend. Twelve feet tall. Wings of dark fire. A mace that trails flame. It unfurls to full height and takes position on the descent path — between the party and the Star Forge.

The Recognition:

Lyra knows instantly. She saw Reeny on Avernus during the Fugue Plane. She knows what happened.
Alora also saw the Fugue Plane scene. She knows too.
The rest of the party: Last saw Reeny getting drunk with them in Highpoint. “Wait… is that…?”
Reeny looks up. She sees them. If Lyra is visible, there’s a beat — a moment of something human. Then it’s gone. She turns to face the forge. Not here for a reunion.

DM Note — Play this moment for the table:

Don’t narrate what Lyra and Alora know. Say “Lyra, Alora — you recognise her.” Let the players fill in the horror.
The rest of the party has to be TOLD who she is. “That’s Reeny. That’s QUEEN REENY.” Let that come from the players.
Give the table silence after the reveal. Don’t rush.

Pit Fiend Reference (CR 20):

AC 19, HP 300, Fly 60 ft
Fear Aura: 20 ft, DC 21 Wis save
Multiattack: 4 attacks (bite +14/claw +14/mace +14/tail +14)
Mace: 2d6+8 bludgeoning + 6d6 fire. Bite poison: DC 21 Con, 21 damage/turn
Innate Spellcasting: Fireball at will, Hold Monster 3/day, Wall of Fire 3/day
Magic Resistance, Truesight 120 ft
Not a fight this session. Session 35.

Scene 8: End of Session — The View Below (Cliffhanger)

No combat. The session ends with the full picture.

The party reaches level 6. The Star Forge is visible in detail. And now they can see everything.

The heat is almost unbearable. Below you, the Star Forge. Not a blacksmith’s anvil — a machine. A massive apparatus of black iron and ancient stone sprawling across an island in the lava lake. Giant-scale gears locked in place. Chains thick as tree trunks hanging from wheels the size of houses. Mechanical hammer arms on pivots, motionless, waiting. Lava channels cut through the stone floor like veins, glowing dull orange. The whole thing is silent. Dormant. A war engine with no one at the controls.

And above the central anvil — a shaft. A column of open air rising straight up through the volcano, through the caldera mouth, to the sky. To the Red Moon. You can see it through the shaft. Watching.

Durrak Stoneforge. Not a distant shape anymore. A person. Grey skin stretched over hard muscle. Gaunt. Burned hands. Standing on an elevated platform overlooking the machine. Not working. Refusing.

The ancient white dragon. Grey scales. Fleshy tethers ripping into its skin, anchored to the carved faces of fire giant kings on the lowest wall — stone faces the size of buildings, gazing down over the forge they built. The dragon carries a cauldron of lava. It sees you. It doesn’t react.

Between you and the forge: four more levels. Possessed giants on every path. Intellect devourers on the walls. Something on level 3 that is too big and too wrong to be a giant anymore.

And at the forge itself: her. Reeny. Walking toward Durrak with the certainty of someone carrying out divine orders. The Pit Fiend at her back, wings spread, blocking the final descent.

Above you: the Grand Portal. Allabar. The chains. The eye.

Below you: the machine. The smith. The dragon. Your friend who isn’t your friend anymore. And the devil guarding the gate.

Behind you: nothing. Rubble and flesh and falling sky.

There is only forward. There is only down.

End session.

If Lux is still in the giant body: Vecna’s Grip Check #5 does NOT happen yet. Save it for session 35. But Lux’s player should go home thinking about it.

Four cliffhangers for the players to take home:

Will Lux lose control of the giant body?
How do they get past the Pit Fiend?
What do they do about Reeny?
That machine — do they use it? And what happens when you point a forge at the Red Moon and pull the trigger?

SESSION 34 SUMMARY

Element Details Combats 3 (Medium → Hard → Hard-Deadly) Vecna’s Grip Checks Up to 4 (DC 12 → 14 → 16 → 18) Portal Recall Uses 2 (one at distance, one close to Lux) Key Reveals Tadpoles behind giant eyes, ley line chains visible, Vecna speaks, Reeny arrives with Pit Fiend Lux Pressure Escalating. By end of session, the party knows the danger. Reeny Reveal Visible at forge level. Not a combat — a cliffhanger. Star Forge Reveal The forge is a machine, not an anvil. Shaft points at Allabar. Players should be asking questions. Cliffhanger Durrak, dragon, the machine, Reeny + Pit Fiend, Grand Portal, no retreat

DM CHECKLIST

Check Lux’s actual Charisma save modifier and adjust DCs if needed
Prep Vecna’s voice — what does he say during Grip Check #3?
Prep Wawwen dialogue for the tadpole discovery scene
Know the party’s grapple modifiers (for counterplay on Grip failures)
Does Kaial stay near Lux? (Paladin aura is the lifeline)
Where is the Rod? Who’s carrying it? This matters if Lux gets pulled.
Prep descriptions for the possessed giants — make them WRONG, not just tough
Have the post-session conversation topics ready: does Lux stay in the body?
Reeny: Know what she looks like now. Armoured. Vecna’s colours. Not the girl they drank with.
Pit Fiend stat block: CR 20, AC 19, 300 HP. Ready for session 35, not this session.
Lyra’s reaction: Be ready for the player to freak out. Give her space to react.

Session 34 — The Descent (Encounter Sequence)