Session 34 - The Pub That Crawls: Drink Until It Stops Spinning

Roster

Atudark,Cyinth Agora,Lyra Everlight,Redrnic Udertaken,Suraax Smith

Session Overview

Session Status: Occurred

In Game Date: 15th Tarsakh 1509

Group Cup Points

NPC's

Boyan,Ricard Ruanad,Senestrine Darou

Summary

The final stage of the crawl reveals itself as something far stranger than a tavern — a living, extraplanar pub that tests not just wit and endurance, but morality. After forcing the pub to reveal its entrance through ritual drinking, the party enters a shifting interior governed by obscure rules. As they navigate its final trial, Academy forces arrive, seeking to seize control of the pub’s power. What follows is confrontation, betrayal, and irreversible choices. By the end, the crawl is complete — but the consequences fracture the party in ways that cannot easily be undone.

The Living Pub

• The party catches up to the crawling pub as it halts before them, as if waiting.
• There is no visible entrance.
• Red suggests using the Decanter of Endless Spirits.
• Cyinth orders T.1.T.4.N to charge the pub:
  • The structure reacts, rising up on its legs.
• Most of the party attacks:
  • Suraax is kicked in the face.
  • Red and Atudark last slightly longer.
  • Lyra watches — amused.
• Red begins drinking from the decanter.
  • The pub starts spinning faster.
• One by one, the party drinks.
• As intoxication takes hold:
  • Suraax perceives Red as a demonic figure claiming to be her conscience.
  • A confused and emotional exchange follows, touching on guilt and faith.
• Once all have drunk:
  • The pub stops spinning.
  • A door manifests.

Inside the Pub

• Inside, they meet a domovoy named Boyan.
• He explains the final condition:
  • To proceed, they must take one last drink “under the table.”
• Initial attempts fail:
  • Suraax tries to physically get under the table.
• Cyinth senses danger and urges the group to leave.
• She instead tests the rule herself:
  • Drinking beneath the table triggers the pub’s defence.
• The walls begin closing in, threatening to crush them.
• Panic spreads:
  • Cyinth attempts to break the walls with magic — unsuccessfully.
  • Suraax believes they are about to die and breaks down.
• Suraax spills a drink onto the floor:
  • The walls stop.
• Understanding the rule, Cyinth invites the others to complete the trial properly.
• Once all have done so, four doors appear.

The Four Doors

Each door leads to a different space within the pub:

Red’s Door – The Museum

• A vast hall of strange exhibits:
  • Religious artefacts, taxidermy, and unknown relics.
  • skeletal beast beside a mechanical war machine.
• Items of note:
  • A large firearm.
  • A flameless lantern.
  • A black top hat labelled “Phil’s Top Hat.”
• Red takes the hat.

Lyra’s Door – The Game Room

• A chessboard filled with detailed figurines:
  • Representations of the party.
  • Additional figures resembling the five pub founders:
    • Bree Peregrine
    • Giovanni Uncuf
    • Alise Thallas
    • Eb Zenithon
    • Orestes Alaris
• The significance remains unclear.

Suraax’s Door – The Library

• A quiet library containing Seven Wonders of the Wizarding World.
• When opened, a smooth voice begins reading aloud.
• Suraax searches for answers — and for comfort.

Academy Intervention

• Back in the main space, Deputy Head Ricard Ruanad arrives with Professor Senestrine Darou.
• Ruanad openly discusses plans to monetise the pub’s extraplanar properties.
• The party reacts quickly:
  • Using the pub’s rules, they trigger the crushing walls again.
• Cyinth attempts to threaten Ruanad
  • He dismisses her.
• Professor Darou begins to realise she has been manipulated.
  • She distances herself from Ruanad’s intentions.

The Breaking Point

• The situation escalates rapidly:
  • Suraax knocks Ruanad unconscious.
  • Cyinth halts the walls by spilling a drink.
• In a decisive and irreversible act:
  • Cyinth kills Ruanad, attempting to stage it as an owlbear attack.
• The act immediately fractures the group.

Truth Revealed

• Boyan projects Ruanad’s memories:
  • His manipulation of Professor Darou.
  • His intent to exploit the pub.
  • His role in shutting down The Lucid Dreamer.
• The truth explains his actions — but does not justify what has just happened.

Fracture Within the Party

• The group turns on Cyinth:
  • Suraax and Red are particularly angered.
• Cyinth attempts to defend her actions.
• Suraax, overwhelmed, leaves the pub.
• T.1.T.4.N is sent after her:
  • He finds her, calms her, and brings her back.
• Arguments continue as the party struggles to process what has happened.
• Trust within the group is significantly damaged.

The Final Act

• With the trial complete and tensions still high, The Pub That Crawls lurches back into motion.
• Carrying the party within, it strides across the land before finally arriving at Neverwood Academy.
• The pub comes to a halt at the Detention Bog, depositing the group where their journey first began to spiral.
• In the uneasy silence that follows:
  • The weight of what has happened settles over the party.
  • Arguments remain unresolved, and trust is badly shaken.
• Only once they have returned to the Academy grounds:
  • Suraax, unable to reconcile Cyinth’s actions, takes Ruanad’s body.
  • She delivers it to a campus guide at the Academy.
  • She apologises profusely through tears.
• The crawl is complete — but its consequences have only just begun.

Ongoing Threads

• Ruanad’s Death – The killing of a Vice Dean will have major consequences.
• Professor Senestrine Darou – Now aware of the truth, her next move is uncertain.
• Cyinth’s Actions – The party is fractured; trust has been deeply shaken.
• The Living Pub – A powerful, rule-bound extraplanar entity with unknown limits.
• Boyan – An observer and arbiter who enforces rules, not morality.
• Phil’s Top Hat – A mysterious artefact taken from the museum.
• The Crawl’s Legacy – The party may be among the few to complete it — but at a heavy cost.