Plane of Elemental Power

After going back to Gloomhaven to level up (Weaver to Level 6), and also purchase of a Warhammer for Brutus, the party decided to head back into the rift to see what waits for them in the Plane of Elemental Power.

Wandering in the city, they were stopped by a filthy Vermling who wanted to sell the adventurers a strange piece of metal with weird writings on it. The party agreed to pay and after wiping the grime off the metal, they figured out that it is some sort of Curious Gear. It can disarm traps and also added to the Global Achievement of Ancient Technology. Hmm... maybe they will find other pieces of this Ancient Technology later on.

Back on the road to the Ruinous Crypt to enter the rift, the party encountered a wagon with men in chains walking behind it. Apparently, guards are transporting some dangerous criminals. However, one of the prisoners slips out of his manacles and ran. The party went into action, chasing down the man and eventually capturing him. 1 Reputation point gained, not too bad.  

Entering the Rift, the party came face-to-face with Demons, plenty of them.

After taking out the demons in the first room, the second room contained more demons, including a Sun Demon.

The difficulty in dealing with the Flame and Sun Demons is that they can fly. While the demons moved towards the party, Brutus used his Doomed Compass to force one of the Flame Demons into a Damage Trap. This was a brilliant move as it not only killed the demon, but also cleared the trap blocking the entrance to the next area.

Weaver’s Cold Fire again came in handy, helping to take out the enemies. Due to the Fire elemental demons in this scenario, the activation of the Fire Element didn’t always work out, as the enemies were able to consume the element and  use their abilities against the party.

The final room contained more demons. Also, a river of lava separated the party and the treasure chest in the corner of the area.

Fighting in this area involved the party carefully positioning themselves so that they can attack and yet hopefully stay out of the enemies’ range. Weaver’s new Summon Burning Avatar was extremely useful in this room, taking out at least 2 enemies with its ranged attacks.

The Sun Demon is a tough opponent. Brutus had to use a combo of Trample (which led to a Stun attack modifier) and the Push effect from Warding Strength. So the Sun Demon was first Stunned and the suffered damage when pushed into the flowing lava.

In the next round, Brutus followed up with a 8 Move (augmented by his Striding Boots) with Balanced Measure, causing a massive hit to the Sun Demon.

Meanwhile, the Shields of the Flame Demon made it hard to kill them, despite their low HP. But the heroes eventually prevailed. With only one Flame Demon remaining, they decided to delay the killing blow, allowing Tinder enough time to retrieve the item in the Treasure chest (which turned out to be a design of the Scroll of Power). The final blow came from the Burning Avatar, who drew a Critical Hit, finishing off the last enemy.

As the final enemy dissipated, the party came in sight of a monstrous creature with horns, trident and four hooved legs. This has to be some master demon. Impressed by the party, it wanted them to help retrieve an artifact in the Temple of Elements along the Serpent’s Kiss River. That or die.

It seems heading to the forgotten temple is a good idea...