Session 23: The Sacrifice

The Kraken’s Tooth — Abyssal Trench

TONE: The climax of the Neverland arc. Earned, devastating, and
permanent.

The Approach

A circle of coral spires lit from within with violet light. The
Veil-Renderer cultists patrolling outside (DC 16 Stealth to sneak past,
and all party members must succeed). Inside the circle: the Kraken’s
Tooth, massive and half-sunken into the seabed, glowing glyphs carved
into the coral surrounding it. The Prophet of the Void stands before it,
drawing symbols in the water with his staff.

The Ritual — Round by Round

The party must choose when to engage. Every round they wait, the
ritual progresses.

Round	What Happens
1	Prophet draws glyphs in the water. Tooth pulses brighter. Party can act.
2	Wave of psychic energy bursts from the Tooth (1d6 damage to all within circle). Tooth cracks open.
3 (if party waits)	A cultist steps forward and enters the Tooth. Two rounds later, ejected, terribly mangled, dead. 1d6 psychic damage, 10ft radius.
5 (if party waits)	Second sacrifice attempt. 2d6 damage, 20ft radius.
7 (if party waits)	Third attempt. 3d6 damage, 30ft radius. Tooth is now fully open.

Combat: The Veil-Renderers

COMBAT: 6 Abyssal Cultists (Cult Fanatic stats, MM p.345, with swim
speed 30): HP 33, AC 13, Multiattack (Sacred Flame 2d8 radiant + Dagger
+4 1d4+2). Tactics: two flank to prevent retreat, two focus on the
party’s caster/healer, two guard the Prophet. They do not value their
own lives.

COMBAT: Prophet of the Void: HP 97, AC 15 (mage armor), Spellcasting
(save DC 14): Counterspell, Fireball, Hold Person, Suggestion, Misty
Step. Melee: Staff +4 1d6+2. Legendary Resistance 2/day. His tactics:
Counterspell the party’s best spells, use Suggestion to turn one party
member against the others, retreat to the Tooth if reduced below 30 HP.
He whispers to his own shadow. He is absolutely certain he is right.

The Tooth is Open

Once open, the Tooth cannot close until a sacrifice is made and
accepted. The Party faces a decision point that cannot be solved by
combat alone.

The Tooth is open. Light pours from it — not warm light, not cold
light, but something in between that makes you feel seen. The Prophet is
gone. The cultists are gone, dissolved in the light. There is only the
Tooth, and the question it is asking, and you.

DM NOTE: Give every PC the chance to step forward. The Tooth wants
genuine emotion — not ambition, not power-seeking, not calculation. Run
each attempt as a DC 17 Charisma save (or Insight, Performance, or
Religion based on how the character approaches it). Let each player
state what their character declares as their sacrifice and what they’re
asking for. This is the session’s beating heart — take your time.

Rejected Declarations
(Examples)

• ‘Through me, find vengeance!’ — Rejected. The light
  dims.

• ‘Through me, find power!’ — Rejected. A tremor. Something
  unimpressed.

• ‘Through me, find devotion!’ — Rejected. This one hurts the
  person who tried.

The Character Who Steps
Forward

At some point, someone steps forward. This is the session’s beating
heart — the Tooth is open, the cultists are gone, and the question is
hanging in the air. Give every character the chance to try. The Tooth
wants genuine emotion — not ambition, not power-seeking, not
calculation. Run each attempt as a DC 17 Charisma save (or Insight,
Performance, or Religion based on how the character approaches it). Let
each player state what their character declares as their sacrifice and
what they are asking for.

DM NOTE: In the original campaign, it was the rogue — neutral evil,
self-described as materialistic and unsentimental — who stepped forward
and asked for the safety of her friends at the cost of her own life. The
Tooth accepted. The session ends with her gone and a pearl left behind.
If your group produces a different outcome — a different character, a
different sacrifice — honor it. The Tooth will know if it’s real.

Rejected Declarations
(Examples)

• ‘Through me, find vengeance!’ — Rejected. The light
  dims.

• ‘Through me, find power!’ — Rejected. A tremor. Something
  unimpressed.

• ‘Through me, find devotion!’ — Rejected. This one hurts the
  person who tried.

The Accepted Sacrifice

A character steps forward and says two things. ‘For what do you
ask?’ — [their answer]. ‘What will you sacrifice?’ — [their answer]. If
the Tooth accepts, they vanish in a flash of white light. The Tooth
closes. The glow fades to a soft pulse, then stillness. The Tooth is
dormant. A pearl remains — glowing softly, warm to the touch,
dreaming.

DM NOTE: This death should not be reversed, negotiated around, or
undone without destroying the sacrifice’s meaning. The character chose
this. Whatever they asked for and gave their life for — that gift is the
most powerful thing in the world right now. The remaining party doesn’t
know it yet. Let the weight land. The session ends at the Lost Boys’
camp, with mourning.

Aftermath Loot

Item	Value / Notes
Dancing Rapier	2,000 gp — attacks independently on command
Dancing Scimitar	2,000 gp
728 gp	From the Prophet and cultists
Potion of Greater Healing	Standard
Potion of Animal Friendship	Standard
4 pearls	100 gp each
The Sacrifice Pearl	Glows softly. Sentient. Dreaming. Named for whoever made the sacrifice. Keep it safe — it matters more than anyone knows yet.

Back in Pegport

Pegport is celebrating the end of the Veil-Renderer threat — there is
music and food and general relief in the harbor. The party does not
participate. Give them a scene of quiet in the middle of the noise:
finding each other, not speaking much, sitting with what happened.

Mayor Bart arrives in the morning with a message from Belleville:
travelers and traders are being frightened off by something in the
surrounding jungle. Will they help? Three days’ travel. The mayor
promises hospitality and payment.

DM NOTE: The party agreeing to help is an act of choosing to
continue. Let the players make that choice consciously, even if it’s a
foregone conclusion mechanically.

The Journey: Three Days

Use the travel encounter tables from the campaign notes. Two or three
encounters across three days — vary the tone deliberately. After the
weight of Sessions 22–23, the party needs a mix of action and breathing
room.

Day 1: Pegport, Pirate
Shore, Smee Jungle

Navigator Roll	Result
5	Clear way forward
10	Occasionally obscured — minor delays
15	Dense foliage or difficult terrain — slow progress
20	Impassable terrain — must detour, adds half a day
25	Lost
Scout Roll	Result
5	All clear
10	Particularly beautiful scenery (a cliff with a waterfall; a natural arch over the beach)
15	Poisonous plants / will-o’-wisps at dusk — DC 13 Arcana to identify before contact
20	Sirens on rocks; wyvern nest on a sea stack
25	Thunderstorm and flash flood — full skill challenge to survive

Day 2:
Bluebeard Coast, Fire Mountain, Crocodile Creek

• Scout 15: A doomsday preacher on the road — ragged, sincere,
  wrong about everything but also weirdly accurate about one detail (your
  choice which)

• Scout 20: A mob chasing a witch who has done nothing wrong (she
  enchanted someone’s bread to taste better; the bread was very good; this
  is apparently a crime here)

• Scout 25: A small volcano venting — the road runs within 200
  feet; clouds of sulfurous gas, DC 13 Con or poisoned until the area is
  cleared

• Watcher 20: Crocodiles in the creek — passive or aggressive based
  on whether the party gives them space

• Watcher 25: A shambling mound in the bog east of the road — not
  interested in the party unless they camp too close to its
  territory

Day 3: Through the
Glades to Belleville

The Glades approach Belleville like an argument — stagnant water
the color of old tea, rotting boardwalks that groan underfoot, mist
sitting thick enough to navigate by feel. Something moves in the water
beside the path, and the path is not wide. Then the mist breaks, the
canopy opens, and Belleville is above you: a city built into and among
the trees, all stilts and rope bridges and greenish filtered light, the
sounds of birds and the distant splash of water.

Pegport

Capital of Neverland — Harbor of Last Resort — City of Ropes and
Opinions

“Pegport has no laws, strictly speaking. It has
very strong social conventions, an excellent bakery, and a mayor who has
been threatening to write the laws down for eleven years. Nobody is
holding their breath.”

Population · Districts · Civic Life · Shops & Services · Notable
NPCs