%% date:: [[2024-12-15]] %% # [[080_20241215 Death Shepherd Showdown]] ![[080_20241215.svg]] ## Session Summary > [!tldr] [[080_20241215 Death Shepherd Showdown]] > The party discovers that **[[Dreshkan|dreshkans]]** (experimented-upon [[Morlock|morlocks]] with nails protruding from their flesh) are being reanimated by something in this level of [[The Gauntlight]]. The creatures are grotesquely connected to each other by the nails in their flesh, creating a disturbing sight. > > After destroying soul gems and [[Ashnefrotty|Ash]] offering a prayer to [[Aroden|Tyr]] for departing souls, the party investigates sounds from the southwest and finds a chamber with massive manacles (elephant-sized) and a circular pit covered by rusted iron gates. The room contains the aftermath of violence: dead dreshkans and scrap piles. > > The party encounters a **[[Death Shepherd]]**—a featureless undead creature with gauntlet and dagger that controls ghoul-like thralls (three former dwarves and one human) via shadowy chains. The Death Shepherd has just killed two dreshkans, its gauntlet stained with yellow blood. This marks the beginning of a significant battle with this powerful undead commander and its minions. ^summary %% ## Video [Video]() %% --- ## Recap ![[ttrpgs/The Undead Unkillers/079_20241124 Tandem vs Tandem#^summary]] --- ## Log The [[Dreshkan|dreshkans]] are twitching. [[Dreshkan|Dreshkans]] are [[Morlock|morlocks]] that have been experimented on. Like they have nails coming out of their flesh. They're attached to each other by the nails! [[Ashnefrotty|Ash]] and [[Zuhri]] are now immune to *Treat Wounds* for an hour because they both healed for 10 minutes. [[Grumblebum]] realises that there is something in this level, or this part of The Gauntlight, that's reanimating the dreshkans. We hear a scuffle to the southwest-- something like rocks falling. Grumble destroys one dreshkan. We smash the remaining three soul gems and Ash says a prayer: > [!tip] Prayer for departing souls > By [[Aroden|Tyr]]’s hand, may justice weigh your deeds with truth, > May your soul find balance in the scales of the divine, > And may you journey onward under his steadfast gaze. We go to the room in the southwest. THere are oversized manacles, big enough to hold an elephant. The octagonal eastern end has a circular pit covered by a rusted iron gate. - Piles of scrap on the west end. - Corpses of the dreshkans that ran here. - Middle: four figures. Hunched over, no eyes. Sharp teeth. They look like ghouls but there's something different about them. Three of them look like they were dwarves. One of them looks like it used to be human. They have fangs, green drool. They have shadowy collars and a shadowy chain that goes out into the darkness. - One creature with a gauntlet and a dagger in it. No features. It has just killed the two dreshkans and the gauntlet has yellow blood. [[Vayle]] identifies it as a [[Death Shepherd]]. It's an undead creature that has several spawns that work with it. It controls and works with them. - One of the dreshkans isn't actually dead. It's just not moving. ## Battle ![[1734259183263 - Combat]] The party engages in a fierce battle with the Death Shepherd and its ghoul thralls. The Death Shepherd uses its Unholy Command ability to control its minions, while the party faces ghoul fever and paralysis effects. In a dramatic moment, Zuhri uses Kinetic Ram to push the Death Shepherd into a pit where it falls 80 feet onto a Gibbering Mouther, taking 40 damage and dying. However, the Death Shepherd is reborn inside one of its thralls, continuing the fight. The party eventually defeats the creature and its remaining thralls. - A1: Escape - A1: Tandem move - Z2: Tandem Strike %% # Excalidraw Data ## Text Elements ## Drawing ```json {"type":"excalidraw","version":2,"source":"https://github.com/zsviczian/obsidian-excalidraw-plugin/releases/tag/2.0.25","elements":[],"appState":{"theme":"dark","gridSize":null,"viewBackgroundColor":"#ffffff"}} ``` %%