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SKELETONS OF SCARWALL
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Toilday, Arodus 15th, 4708
A journey through shadow
Kindrasius and Manius had stayed up late into the night and discussed the meaning of Zellara’s poem and her Harrowing. The following morning, Kindrasius discreetly visited Thousand Bones to wish him good-bye and to buy some potions of Lesser Restoration. He then returned to the group’s tent, where they got ready to leave the Kallow Mounds in secrecy using an Elixir of Shadewalking they had found on Cinnabar, a potent potion that would enable them to hasten the journey to Scarwall by traveling through the Shadow Plane. They also brought two horses with them: Manius’s great black warhorse “Cocotte” and Kindrasius’s mount as well. The elixir didn’t have the power to enable them to bring any more targets than that.
The Shadow Plane was a sinister world where everything was black and white, the edges of shapes were blurry and dark things wiggled in the dark. It was like a parody of the world of Golarion. Everything was more menacing, and yet less than its counterpart in the real world. Hipazia explained that distances were lesser in this place, which would enable them to cover the 320-mile journey in a single day instead of over two weeks, as it would have taken them using conventional methods of travel.
Using her great knowledge of geography and of the other planes, the young wizardess led the group reliably in the right direction, also allowing them to avoid any serious danger that would be posed by the Shadow Plane’s denizens. It was evening when the effects of the potion finally wore off, not long after the group reached its destination: Scarwall!
The fortress was a sinister place that was obviously haunted and forsaken. It stood on a small island in the center of a dark lake. A single bridge led to the entrance of Scarwall; the citadel seemed in surprisingly good condition given its centuries-long abandonment, but the barbican that guarded the closer side of the bridge, close to which the adventurers now stood, was almost completely in ruins. The surroundings of the castle were dismal and seemed to be devoid of most life forms except carrion birds and withered dead trees.
The group was tired from its journey through the shadow world, so they located a cave hidden from sight from Scarwall, and spent the night there, keeping double watches all the while. During the third watch, Hipazia sensed that someone was scrying on Manius. Using her tremendous mastery of divination magic, she was able to reverse the scrying and catch a glimpse of its originator: it was, of course, Shadowcount Sial. The white-haired priest’s eyes widened briefly in surprise, and then he aborted the connection with a scowl. He now knew that the Harrowed Company had no intention of cooperating with him.
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Wealday, Arodus 16th, 4708
The barbican
The following day, the adventurers prepared themselves to brave the dangers of Scarwall. They were all quite nervous, especially Trinia. Zeeva summoned a great Heroes’ Feast, and thankfully, this divine banquet steeled the heroes’ nerves against the threats that awaited them. The group decided that they would begin their exploration by the barbican, the only structure on their side of the lake. They mused that perhaps some orcs laired there, and that they could get more up-to-date information regarding Scarwall than the legends that Trinia had told them.
Indeed, they were right: a small group of orcs guarded the barbican. Ironically, Kaeso had been musing that very morning that he had never fought an orc before. The western part of the barbican had fallen completely in ruins, but the eastern gatehouse still stood, and the orcs had built a wooden annex to it. As the group approached, the orc sentinels standing atop the battlements growled some war-cries and began shooting arrows at them.
Kaeso rushed the wall and tried to climb up, but alas, the crumbling bricks kept giving way under his limbs, and he was unable to make the ascension. Meanwhile, Kindrasius affected some of the orc archers with a Confusion spell, but it only caused one of them to babble incoherently. The Shoanti than began shooting arrows, proving his superiority in ranged combat compared to the orcs. He severely wounded one and killed another. With a roar, the chief of the tribe, a hulking brute with a face smeared with white ashes, jumped down from the ramparts and attacked Kaeso. The nimble rogue dodged the attack and drank a potion to become invisible. Roaring furiously, the chief brandished his ice-covered greatsword in the air before rushing Kindrasius. The dragon-blooded archer severely wounded the brute with several arrows before being slashed by the magical ice sword. Kindrasius retreated before the raging orc, and shot several more arrows at him, thankfully killing him before suffering more attacks.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group approached from another angle. Hipazia blasted the archers on the ramparts with a Fireball while Trinia sang to bolster her allies. Manius rushed past the gatehouse and found an entrance at the back, in the wooden section. He had dodged the arrows of two orcs shooting from murder holes along the way. The interior of the wooden section was dark and smelled truly foul. Lighting a torch, Manius quickly explored the orc hovel before being attacked by the two guardians of the gatehouse: two more brutish orcs that brandished sharp two-handed axes. A brief and violent battle followed: Manius sustained a few nasty wounds, but killed both orcs. Those creatures were tough and did not die easily: clearly, they weren’t regular run-of-the-mill orcs.
Manius cursed when darkness once again formed around him: his second victim had fallen on the torch he had discarded on the floor to wield his two-handed flail. Fumbling in the dark, he lit a second torch just before realizing he could’ve used the magic of his Red Mantis helmet to see in the dark in the first place.
During this time, outside, Zeeva had cast an Air Walk spell and ascended to the top section of the battlements, where she fought one of the orcs. She suffered several wounds, but was able to skewer the fiend to death with her longspear.
Hipazia had used her own magic to transport herself, Kaeso, Trinia and Kindrasius to another section of the ramparts. After passing through a room decorated with a huge stuffed snake, the group found the last two orcs, who were about to go down to the ground floor via a ladder. The conclusion of the battle took place there. Kindrasius got badly wounded by an axe, but both orcs were slain rather quickly.
The group took the time to search the place and found several magical items on the orcs. They found no secret doors, despite using magic to bolster their search. Zeeva used her powers to try and question the soul of the orc leader, but alas, he resisted the attempt.
Realizing they were now laden with a great burden of armor and weapons from recently defeated enemies, the group decided to go sell some of their precious spoils of war in Janderhoff. Hipazia teleported to the dwarven city along with Kindrasius, Trinia and Zeeva. In the mean time, Kaeso and Manius stayed behind in the cavern with the two horses.
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The group ended up staying one week in Janderhoff, selling their new-found treasures and getting their equipment improved by dwarven smiths, mages and priests. The group’s most expensive purchase was a Portable Hole, for which everyone chipped in. During the week, Hipazia sensed that she or some of her companions were being scryed on several times. One time, she was able to catch a glimpse of the originator: it was, thankfully, only Bishop Keppira D’Bear of the church of Pharasma. Twice, she was able to dispel the sensor, but the fourth time, the observer was able to scry on Kindrasius despite Hipazia’s best efforts.
During the week, Manius received a Sending from Laori, who asked him where he was and told him the Bone Tower was cold and lonely without him. Manius just responded with a sexy message of his own, but didn’t reveal anything. Hipazia was also contacted by Shadowcount Sial, but the tone of their communication was much more serious: the priest asked Hipazia what the group was up to, and she responded that while their goals seemed aligned at the moment, she feared that they would inevitably come to clash in the future.
Zeeva questioned the severed head of an orc they had taken from the Scarwall barbican. She learned that the orcs placed there were “holy guardians” who prevented anyone from entering or leaving the haunted keep. They served until death. The orc said that, beside the unquiet spirits of the dead, a dragon “the size of a Bulette” lived in the castle, as well as “many flying demons”.
Oathday, Arodus 24th, 4708
Zellara’s doom
Eight days later, the group returned to Scarwall. The barbican was mostly as they had left it, except that the orc corpses were gone. Zeeva and Hipazia noticed the tracks of a great “Bulette-sized reptile” in the area, which seemed to have taken away the corpses.
Hipazia used a spell of Clairvoyance and observed a forlorn courtyard at the center of the citadel. After a brief deliberation, the group decided to enter Scarwall via the main gate instead of approaching by the lake, by air or by teleportation.
“It’s more polite that way,” stated Manius.
Wary of the sinister, gargoyle-decorated, 400-foot-long bridge that radiated necromancy to Hipazia’s scrutiny, Trinia summoned a badger and told it to run across the bridge. The animal obeyed despite its misgivings, and was able to traverse all the way to the castle gate without getting harmed.
The companions carefully followed after the animal. After about thirty seconds, an eldritch wind started blowing around Kaeso, and eerie spirits began floating around him as a surge of necromantic magic flared all around him. Zellara’s ghostly form was drawn out of the Harrow Deck the young rogue carried. Despite her struggle, she was dragged kicking and screaming by the crowd of spirits into the bridge… as if she got absorbed by the residual evil that suffused the Scarwall. The Harrowed Company tried to save her, but it was in vain: none of their weapons could affect the spectral abductors.
Feeling a sense of urgency more than ever, knowing they had to get Zellara back, the heroes pressed on. When they reached the middle of the bridge, the gates of the castle opened and a group of armored skeletons marched to oppose them and defend their domain. At the head of the group rode a skeletal knight astride a skeletal horse. He bore a long lance adorned with mummified heads. The knight began charging toward the group, but when he reached them, he was quickly destroyed by Manius and Zeeva. Kindrasius killed the horse with similar ease with his holy undead-bane bow, while Hipazia obliterated the foot soldiers with a mighty Fireball bolstered by her newly-bought Rod of Empower.
The bold adventurers diligently looted the corpses of the long-dead warriors before pressing on toward the now-gaping entrance of castle Scarwall.
I love reading these! What an awesome journal. Thanks again, Moonbeam!
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Oathday, Arodus 24th, 4708 (continued)
Mandraivus’s Last Stand
The companions carefully approached the entrance of Scarwall, with Kindrasius sending an Unseen Servant, clad in a filthy orc cloak and carrying a torch, ahead as a decoy. The portcullis was raised, but the heavy wooden door had closed behind the skeleton squadron. Kaeso was able to get it open using his skill at disarming devices.
Beyond Scarwall’s main door was a tunnel lined on both sides with murder holes. More such holes opened in the ceiling, surely to drop some sort of nasty substance on the citadel’s attackers. Throughout the hallway were the skeletal remains of a number of orcs. The companions prudently remained behind while the unseen servant ventured into the corridor, and promptly got shot by several large crossbow bolts from either side.
After a brief discussion, the group decided to bash their way through a side wall toward one of the side-rooms from which crossbows were fired. However, Manius soon realized that the wall was very thick, and likely a load-bearing element of the fortress. There would be no getting in that way. Instead, he decided to drink a potion of Gaseous Form, and he discreetly made his way into the leftmost room. There, he materialized and fought two skeletal minotaurs armed with greataxes and crossbows. The fight was short and simple: Manius defeated them without taking a single wound. His defenses had been bolstered previously by Trinia’s casting of a Displacement spell.
The hellknight went up a flight of stairs and found himself in a large room that was housing the mechanism that allowed one to lift and lower the two portcullis defending the entrance to Scarwall. He fought four more of the skeletal minotaurs there, again without taking a single wound. Manius was quite disappointed to discover that he faced such unworthy foes. After activating the winch to raise the portcullis and let the rest of the group in, he went down another flight of stairs and eliminated two more undead minotaurs. He then gave the signal, via a Telepathic Bond with Hipazia, Kaeso and Kindrasius, that the way was clear.
Manius then looked for a way to rejoin his companions. He went down a different set of stairs and found a hallway with more murder holes that opened into a room that he observed with the Darkvision power of his Red Mantis helm. A foul stench emanated from the room, which was littered with a large number of corpses of both orcs and humans, who had seemingly died fighting each other. Strangely, the carcasses were not centuries old as one might expect, but rather, seemed to have died mere weeks ago… Strange… Retracing his steps to look for another way to join the rest of the group, Manius heard some eerie footsteps, as if a heavy armor-clad being was walking behind a door. He ignored it and found another corridor where a bloody corpse had seemingly been dragged away.
Meanwhile, Kaeso unbarred the second door and led the way into the horrible carnage room that Manius had witnessed earlier. Kindrasius recognized that the emblems on the human corpses were those of Tamrivena, the part of Ustalav that was now known as Canterwall. It had once been ruled by Count Andachi, the unfortunate who had first been served by Kazavon, only to be betrayed and murdered by him later on. Now, one wondered if these soldiers had later been under the service of Mandraivus, and had perished against an onslaught of orcs…
Kaeso interrupted the discussion the rest of the group had about the nature of the surprisingly well-preserved bodies: he had detected, with the Deathwatch ability of his Red Mantis mask, that a large pile of bodies in the northwest corner was in fact alive… The hideous mass of human and orc corpses began shambling forth toward the group, babbling from its many mouths in the orc and Varisian languages, dragging its bulk using a mix of human and orc appendages. It screamed then with its multiple voices, a terrible shriek that seemed to rend the heroes’ very bodies. Twice it was able to scream in this way before Hipazia, Kaeso and Kindrasius destroyed it. So terrible had been the pain caused by its screams that Trinia fell to the ground, unconscious, and only saved from death at the last moment by Zeeva.
While Zeeva healed the group, Manius finally found the way to join them again, unbarring the door that led to the next room. There, the group found more corpses, including that of a man clad in full plate armor, who had seemingly made a heroic last stand against a host of orcs. Kindrasius, fearing a trick, decided to shoot arrows at it, but Trinia stopped him at the last moment; she believed she recognized the armor of Mandraivus!
Before the group investigated further, a chorus of terrible screams erupted around them, as if they were somehow plunged into the thick of the battle that had taken place here some time in the past, between orcs and humans. However, the combatants now seemed to be merely dark shapes drawn from the nightmare memories of a madman. The screams were so unnerving that they almost drove Kaeso, Manius and Trinia over the brink of madness. Only the quick actions of Zeeva, Kaeso and Trinia, channelling positive energy through spells or wands, were able to destroy the terrible haunt.
Yet before they could recover from this, the group faced yet another enemy: a ghostly form emerged from Mandraivus’s remains: at first he seemed like a noble knight, but soon he was transformed into a wicked wraith of darkness by the evil of Scarwall.
“You shall not have Serithtial!” he hissed at Manius, “She is mine and no other’s!”
Kaeso and Manius then attacked the spirit with their weapons, and Kindrasius shot it with his longbow, which was especially deadly against undead creatures. Bolstered by Trinia’s singing, they were able to slay the revenant before it could cause any serious damage. They had survived its presence for now – but had they sent the legendary hero Mandraivus to eternal rest at last? Probably not…
After restoring part of their lost sanity with healing spells and potions, the group reverently took Mandraivus’s ancient armor and bones and placed them within Kaeso’s portable hole. None of them were able to identity the property of this mysterious armor that radiated a faint aura of transmutation.
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Oathday, Arodus 24th, 4708 (continued)
Pegg and Loute
Examining the emblems on the armors of Mandraivus and the dead soldiers, Kindrasius realized that they in fact belonged to the nation of Lastwall and not Tamrivena as he had initially thought. The group followed the bloody trail that Manius had seen earlier; it led them to old dusty barracks, where the group slaughtered a zombie that was feebly crawling in the middle of the room. Trinia asked Zeeva if she could use a spell to communicate with it, but the cleric explained that her magic did not work on corpses that had been transformed into undead.
Exploring further in the barracks, the group ran into an odd pair of black-leather-clad ghosts that seemed to be trying to communicate with them through gestures. One of the two was halfling-sized and had a wooden leg; the other was very tall, with long arms that went down to his knees. Both wore leather masks that were stitched shut, and seemed to be unable to communicate verbally. The group unsuccessfully tried to understand their strange pantomime. Kindrasius sent his Unseen Servant to interact with them, but nothing conclusive happened. Manius then approached the strange pair, but when they tried to touch him with their ghostly hands, it seemed suspiciously like attacks to him, and he retaliated with violence. He destroyed the taller of the two, and Kindrasius killed the halfling-sized one with holy arrows.
Unfortunately, it’s only after this brief battle that the group realized that the ghosts’ strange gestures had seriously affected the mind of some of its members. Hipazia, Kaeso and especially Manius felt dizzy and drained of some of their mental faculties. Manius was muttering creepily to himself, and even through the telepathic link he shared with some of the others.
The Harrowed Company decided to press on regardless. They explored several more abandoned rooms, barracks and storage rooms, where they fought a few animated skeletons, but nothing too dangerous for adventurers of their caliber. Eventually, they reached an ancient kitchen where the enormous ovens were strangely still warm… The group recognized the signs of a haunt building up, but they were able to destroy it with positive energy before it fully manifested. Once that was done, they were attacked by two large ash-formed humanoid creatures that came out of the walls, but dispatched them with relative ease.
Manius searched the ovens and found some charred human remains within. Kindrasius found a few half-melted items of some value in a cupboard, as well as a magical ring that nobody was able to identify. Beyond the great kitchen, the group entered a wide hallway whose murder holes showed the courtyard that Hipazia had spied on earlier through clairvoyance. Within were five more of the undead minotaurs. The group was able to destroy them all, but Kaeso was badly wounded by their axes. Zeeva expended some of her healing energy to bring the young rogue back to full health.
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Oathday, Arodus 24th, 4708 (continued)
Mithrodar
Exploring further, the companions entered a room that was filled with alchemical ingredients and fetishes seemingly belonging to a witch. They found a small halfling woman named Alimae kept captive in this room. She said that she had been captured by a great black dragon a few days before, taken from the city where she lived and brought to this scary castle, where she had become the prisoner of a foul hag. She now said that the hag was likely upstairs, using a mysterious magic crystal, and that the heroes should go and fight her.
Manius detected no chaos or lies from the Halfling, but Kindrasius, Trinia and Kaeso thought she was lying. They feared that she was in fact the hag who had changed shape and was trying to trick them. Searching the room, they found four jars plugged with red wax which contained the writhing, worm-like souls of evil creatures. Trinia and Hipazia explained that these were soul jars, containers made by Night Hags, and who could be sold for a lot of money to evil spellcasters. The group wasn’t inclined to trade in souls, but decided to take the soul jars with them to prevent the hag from using or selling them. The group decided to leave Alimae behind for now, worried that she would try to trick them, and Trinia left an Alarm spell on the door leading out of the room.
Upstairs, the group explored a number of abandoned rooms. Then, they entered an ancient banquet hall where they fought several wraiths, which had likely once been high-ranking underlings of Kazavon’s. Zeeva was lightly wounded, but otherwise the battle was easily won. During the struggle, Trinia felt her Alarm spell go off. While Kindrasius used a Ghost Sound spell to pretend that the battle was still ongoing, Kaeso received an Invisibility spell and returned downstairs to investigate, but he found the door still closed, and couldn’t see who had triggered the alarm.
Farther on the second floor, the group entered a large throne room where they faced a spectral minion who claimed to be Mithrodar, Scarwall’s castellan. After a brief exchange in which Kindrasius announced that the group had come to recover Serithtial and in which Mithrodar assured them that they would perish and that their souls would languish here for eternity, a battle erupted. Five spectres soon joined Mithrodar, from whose body were dangled four long chains. Mithrodar moved very quickly, and seemed to periodically return to his original position: on a wooden seat located near what must once have been Kazavon’s throne. He was also healing from his wounds when he reappeared like this.
Hipazia cast a Haste spell on the group and Manius drank a potion of Enlarge Person. Mithrodar struck with his long chains, but most of the time, the heroes were able to dodge the blows, or absorb them with their armors. Manius and Kaeso suffered slightly from Mithrodar’s blows, as they seem to drain part of their soul. To help Manius, who soon found himself surrounded by the pack of spectral servants, Zeeva called upon the power of Pharasma to shield the group with an aura that would protect them against energy drain.
Manius boldly cleaved all around him with his huge flail, badly wounding all the spectres, and Kindrasius finished them off with a hail of arrow from his holy undead-slaying bow. Hipazia then noticed an invisible enemy approaching behind them, as she had a See Invisible spell active. This enemy was a hideous hag whose green skin was covered with foul warts. Hipazia tried to destroy her with a Disintegrate spell, but the hag’s magical resistance protected her. The hag fired Magic Missiles at Kindrasius, who retaliated with his powerful arrows. Staggering back from the impact of the arrows, the hag was utterly destroyed when Hipazia cast a second Disintegrate spell, which finally got past her magical barriers.
The group then focused their attacks against Mithrodar, who was finally destroyed now that he was the only remaining enemy. Once the fight was over, the group took the time to catch their breath and search the room. They found a precious gem on the hag’s corpse, but before they could do more than that, they were surprised to hear a sardonic laughter coming from near the throne.
Mithrodar had reappeared, seemingly fully healed. It seemed that he would be a more difficult foe to defeat than initially expected…
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Oathday, Arodus 24th, 4708 (continued)
Facing this mysteriously invulnerable enemy, the group decided to flee back to a previous room, but were pursued by Mithrodar. With some difficulty, they were able to kill him again, even though he kept disappearing and regenerating his spectral wounds. Returning to the throne room, the Harrowed Company destroyed the smaller throne near which the evil presence was manifesting. Alas, despite this, Mithrodar reappeared yet again, and the group decided this time to flee even further. Only then did they seem to go beyond Mithrodar’s reach.
Kindrasius remembered an old tale about something called a “chained spirit”, a ghostly creature whose fate and power was linked to several chains that were attached to his body. The only way to truly lay this tormented soul to rest had been to sever the chains, but these chains had some kind of metaphorical meaning. In Mithrodar’s case, the group wasn’t sure what the meaning was – but they guessed that Zellara’s poem might hold some clues about this.
Downstairs, the group returned to Alimae’s room and observed that the Halfling was gone. This seemed to confirm their suspicions that she had been the hag all along. As they had gotten badly drained of energy since they had entered the castle, they decided to leave the forsaken fortress and to teleport back to Janderhoff for some rest. Indeed, sleeping in the haunted castle did not appeal to them.
Fireday, Arodus 25th, 4708
The group rested for one day in the dwarven city. Zeeva had the time to heal everyone of their attribute drains, and Hipazia identified a few mystery items whose properties weren’t known yet. Zeeva inherited Mandraivus’s silvery armor. The group also bought a wand of Lesser Restoration, since the denizens of Scarwall seemed to threaten every aspect of their abilities.
During the day, Manius was contacted to Laori, who enquired about his progress in Scarwall. He playfully teased her about coming to join him, but in truth, neither he nor anyone else in the group wanted anything to do with the priests of Zon-Kuthon.
However, I've decided to not use them further in my own campaign.
My players dislike having NPC's tag along with their group even in the best of circumstances, and since these NPC's are very clearly evil, my players are, of course, even more reticent than usual. They suspect, correctly, that the priests of Zon-Kuthon mean to betray them later on. I'm fairly certain that if I have them show up in Scarwall, the PC's will simply attack them, kill and/or capture them, and take their loot.
It seems to me that Sial and Laori's goal of making a temporary alliance with the PC's to help them get a weapon that is SUPER dangerous against followers of Zon-Kuthon (so, indirectly, the Queen, but also themselves) leaves to be desired. It's way too dangerous. They know the PC's are already much more powerful than them, even before getting that uber sword. It's only going to get worse after they get it.
So, basically, the priests of Zon-Kuthon are planning on making a temporary alliance with the PC's, planning on betraying them after Ileosa is dead.
And the PC's are, at best, planning on making a temporary alliance with the priests of Zon-Kuthon, planning on betraying them after they get Serithial.
The problem, from Sial and Laori's point of view, is that the PC's betrayal will come much sooner than their own… If we follow a logical sequence of events. So their plan seems to me like a really, really long shot.
So, for my campaign, I've decided that Sial and Laori are more realistic: they know the PC's are more powerful than them, they know they don't trust them, so they've decided to wait until after the PC's destroy Ileosa, to then steal the fangs when the PC's least expect it, some time after the end of the campaign, when their guard is down and they're perhaps not all together.
Starday, Arodus 26th, 4708
High in tower cold
Upon their return to Scarwall, the party found that not much had changed. They once again entered through the front door and resumed their exploration of the first and second floors of the southern section of the fortress. They didn’t find anything interesting besides a few skeletons and zombies. Based on Zellara’s poem, they guessed that one point of interest must be at the summit of one of the keep’s three highest towers. After arguing briefly, they decided to explore the one above the section they were currently in.
They reached the keep’s third floor and found themselves in a hallway with many doors. Hearing the sound of voices behind a door, the group soon found itself in battle against two hideous green-skinned devils who were covered in long, sharp barbs. These barbed devils were able to inflict some wounds on Manius and Kaeso, as well as to sicken some members of the group with an Unholy Blight spell, but overall they perished rather quickly.
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Starday, Arodus 26th, 4708 (continued)
Nihil
The Harrowed Company walked past the room where they had fought the barbed devils, after Manius and Kaeso were healed by Zeeva. A short walkway led to a strong door set in the wall of a tower that stood high above the surroundings. A cold wind blew over the top of the darkened fortress, which was decorated by eerie gargoyles. Here and there, dim lights shone in windows and murder holes. The fortress itself was strangely well preserved after centuries of abandonment.
As the group proceeded carefully forward, Hipazia noticed three invisible imps observing them from a nearby balcony. Manius activated his Mantis Helm and saw the imps as well, and also a hideous skeletal devil observing them from the top of the tower. They alerted their allies via the Telepathic Bond.
Kaeso took a few moments to unlock the door, and then the group assaulted the tower. Inside, they saw a dark-robed skeleton sitting on a throne; he was performing some kind of arcane manipulation on a mysterious cube that shone with golden light. A chain devil also stood on stairs nearby. What's more, Manius and Hipazia also noticed two more imps, another Bone Devil, and a terrible winged female devil that they recognized as an Ashmede Devil (a powerful assassin from hell), which was also the creature that Kindrasius had gotten a glimpse of in the last Harrow reading. Listening only to their courage, the companions began a battle against these devils.
Manius, Kaeso and Zeeva charged inside the tower. Kaeso stabbed the skeleton on the throne, but noticed as he did so that it was merely an illusion. The imps used their magic to make disadvantageous suggestions to Kaeso (go up the tower to find treasure), Zeeva (go back home and do the dishes) and Kindrasius (throw your bow here on the balcony), but all three adventurers resisted. Trinia surrounded the three imps outside with a Glitterdust from her wand, and Kindrasius promptly killed them with holy arrows. Meanwhile, the Bone Devil atop the tower barred the party's escape route with a Wall of Ice.
The Ashmede Devil suddenly uttered a powerful dark word of Blasphemy. The entire party was paralysed and weakened by this terrible magic; Kaeso and Trinia were particularly affected, and their paralysis would last much longer. Alas, the Bone Devil inside the tower used this opportunity to assassinate the unfortunate Kaeso...
Zeeva was badly wounded by the Ashmede Devil, and Trinia and Hipazia were wounded by the Bone Devil outside the tower, which had flown down to attack the people on the bridge. Once they recovered from their paralysis, Manius and Zeeva furiously fought the devils surrounding them. The Ashmede Devil then cast a Chain Lightning spell that blasted the entire group, knocking Hipazia unconscious...
Things were now looking bleak. Only Manius, Zeeva and Kindrasius were still operational. Manius and Zeeva were surrounded by the Ashmede Devil, Bone Devil, Chain Devil and two imps. Zeeva used some channelled energy to try to keep her friends alive, and used a Heal spell on Manius as well, as she slowly retreated toward the bridge to try and revive the paralysed Trinia. Alas, as soon as she stepped on the bridge, the Ashmede Devil made an invisible prison appear around her, preventing her from further healing her allies, and blocking Manius's escape route. Each conscious character was now by him/herself...
Outside, Kindrasius was shooting the other Bone Devil, who kept going invisible after attacking him. Thankfully, Kindrasius could pinpoint his location thanks to his acute draconic senses. He took severe wounds from the Bone Devil, but also inflicted nasty ones with his holy bow. By the grace of Pharasma, he avoided falling prey to the devil's poison. The skeletal devil regarded him strangely during the fight, realizing that Kindrasius bore many signs of blue dragon heritage... "Master?..." he asked hesitantly, perhaps sensing a resemblance to Kazavon. But in the end, the devil continued his attacks, and was able to defeat the unfortunate Kindrasius. The Bone Devil reverently took the fallen half-Shoanti, half-dragon in his arms and flew up to the top of the tower, leaving Kindrasius's holy bow forgotten on the bridge, next to Trinia and Hipazia's unmoving bodies. Meanwhile, the gargoyles of the roofs and towers nearby had come to life and were observing the fight with great attention.
Manius fought valiantly, killing both imps and the kyton, and badly wounding the Bone Devil, which flew up to the tower's summit to avoid getting killed. The epic battle culminated in a showdown between Manius and the Ashmede Devil, but alas, the winged she-devil was victorious over the Hellknight, who collapsed to the floor, bleeding from many wounds.
Zeeva witnessed this, banging her fists impotently against the invisible walls of her cage. She did all she could: she healed herself, and brought Hipazia back into fighting form.
The two women couldn't even escape with magic because of the Dimensional Lock on the castle, and the presence of many gargoyles around. These gargoyles went into hiding when the ominous sound of ponderous wings made itself heard from the other side of the tower: perhaps the black dragon? The two women heard some sound of fighting at the top of the tower.
Hipazia saw that the Ashmede Devil (who had remained invisible during the entire fight) was regenerating the wounds Manius had dealt her, and was patiently waiting just outside the force cage to finish them off. Within about a minute, the cage vanished and the two women began a new phase of this desperate battle for their lives. A Disintegrate from Hipazia missed its mark, but Zeeva was able to revive Trinia with Freedom of Movement before attacking the Ashmede with her spear, hitting a few times despite the invisibility. Trinia helped her friends with a Displacement spell and her bardic song. Hipazia wounded the Ashmede Devil with a Lightning Bolt, then another Disintegrate, which only did slight damage.
The Ashmede Devil inflicted a few wounds on Hipazia and Zeeva, but growled in frustration at their magical defences. She cast a Horrid Wilting spell that brought Trinia's doom: the poor little bard died at her friends' feet, on that bridge high above Scarwall...
Knowing that they could not defeat the Ashmede Devil, the two women finally found the way to flee: Zeeva cast a Flame Strike on the Wall of Ice that had blocked their escape route all along, melting it into a great cloud of fog. The two women dashed through the opening and back into the room where they had fought the Barbed Devils, and Hipazia quickly barred the way behind them with a Wall of Force. They had escaped with their lives, for now... but the rest of the Harrowed Company was dead or at the mercy of their enemies...
Waaw, Moonbeam. When reading this, it sounds like an epic battle. Still, the feeling around the gaming table might have been quite different. This fight clearly illustrates some of the game's frustrating moments at higher levels. Powerful spells or character deaths put players out of the game for (almost) the entire session, while they watch their party being slaughtered. It's not so bad when it's the NPC allies who are neutralized, but when it's a PC, frustration usually flares up.
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It was indeed an epic and a frustrating fight. It could have gone better for the PCs if a few things had gone differently: mainly if Kindrasius had been able to kill the outside Bone Devil and help the others. He was very unlucky with his rolls to shoot the invisible Bone Devil: at some point, he missed five times in a row, due to the 50% concealment miss chance.
Thankfully, the players took it well, but the next game will be quite strange, if I have all 4 players around the table, and only 2 characters for them to play (one of which is my own DM-PC)...
In unrelated news, we've already begun discussing the next AP we're going to play... ;)
In unrelated news, we've already begun discussing the next AP we're going to play... ;)
Let me suppose... Some pirates foreseen on your future?
And Moonbeam, are you going to be a player or the GM?
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Sunday, Arodus 27th, 4708
Suffer in silence
Manius awoke in a haze of pain. He was hanging from his wrists, which were shackled to the wall of the tower where the great battle had taken place. He was naked and still suffered from many bruises and wounds. Also hanging from shackles, nearby, was the unconscious form of Kaeso. In a corner of the room, he spotted Trinia's corpse, completely scorched by the Ashmede Devil's terrible magic.
An invisible presence soon became aware of Manius's awakening. A cold, sharp blade lifted his chin, and a terrible female voice filled his mind with questions in the infernal language. Trained as a Hellknight, Manius understood the tongue of devils. Although he answered truthfully when the devil asked him his name, he impudently replied "because it seemed like a nice vacation spot" when the devil asked him why he had come to her tower.
Insulted, the devil proceeded to torture Manius to try and extract some information, but the Hellknight stoically remained silent despite the terrible pain, until he passed out from the mistreatment. Not far from there, Kaeso had quietly regained his senses and observed his comrade's torment, but was able to avoid the devil's attention by pretending to still be unconscious.
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Angelic support
Zeeva and Hipazia materialized in the ruins of Scarwall's barbican early in the morning. They had been able to flee the castle the previous day, and had spent some time since then resting and preparing at their hideout in Janderhoff. They clung to the hope that their companions were still alive, and had "merely" been captured by the fiends of Scarwall, rather than slain. If that was the case, they knew they had to come to their rescue as quickly as possible. As they were both powerful spellcasters, they had a lot of options available to then, but they doubted that they could defeat the remaining devils by themselves.
The pondered the list of their potential allies, but no obvious candidates emerged. The priests of Zon-Kuthon were powerful, but they could not trust them. They might in fact be allies of the denizens of Scarwall, and even if it weren't the case, they were probably after Queen Ileosa's crown, which the group did not want to fall into their hands. Thousand Bones might be will to help, but he was perhaps too old for such a dangerous undertaking. Hipazia knew that Toff Ornelos surely had the power to deal with these devils, but she dared not contact him, fearing that he would only seize the occasion to his advantage.
So it was that the two women decided to contact some brand new allies: using their arcane and divine magic, they summoned two Movanic Devas and an Akhana Aeon. They asked the three outsiders for their help in assaulting Scarwall for the next twelve hours. Unfortunately, they had little to pay them with, as the group's treasure had been kept in Kaeso's Portable Hole, which was now in the tower of the Ashmede Devil. But, thanks to their great skill at diplomacy, Zeeva and Hipazia were able to convince their summoned allies to help them in exchange for the hag's four Soul Jars, which would be given to them upon finding the Portable Hole.
Such a noble quest appealed to the kind nature and chivalrous demeanor of the two handsome Devas, who were named Artarius and Biltaris. The Aeon communicated only in a very indirect manner, through mysterious images, but Zeeva understood that it was willing to help them in exchange for some souls to bring back to the domain of its mistress, Pharasma. The creature did not respond clearly when Zeeva asked for its name, but she decided to name it "Kosh" for now.
The two women, the two angels, and the bizarre giant eye surrounded by four arms and a tail returned to the devils' tower. After bolstering themselves with a plethora of magical defenses, they realized that the door that Kaeso had opened the previous day was now closed and locked again. Using magic, they flew up to the tower's balcony and entered it. As Zeeva was now surrounded by an Invisibility Purge, they all saw the two Bone Devils (which were still gravely wounded from the previous day's battle) and the Ashmede Devil flying lower in the tower. They also noticed the captive forms of Manius and Kaeso, Trinia's corpse, and the loot of these three unfortunate adventurers, stacked in an alcove. Also present was another Kyton, this time a blue-skinned female, whose face bore an uncanny resemblance to Trinia's: but thankfully, Zeeva and Hipazia realized that this was merely a devilish ruse.
Another epic battle began. Artarius flew down and surrounded all allies (including Manius and Kaeso) with a Holy Aura, which would provide them tremendous protection in the moments to come. One of the Bone Devils flew up and fought Kosh, but was rendered blind by the Holy Aura when it clawed the Aeon! Kosh tried to slay it with magic, but the Devil in turn resisted. Hipazia unleashed a mighty Disintegrate on the Ashmede Devil, but missed her.
The Ashmede then uttered another terrible Blasphemy, which paralyzed some of the attackers. Thankfully, Zeeva and Artarius weren't affected at all thanks to the magic resistance of the Holy Aura. Zeeva hurried to free Hipazia from the spell's influence with Freedom of Movement.
The two Devas killed one of the Bone Devils, and Zeeva finished off the other one with her spear (blessed with holy magic). The Ashmede blasted everyone with a Chain Lightning, which did little damage to the combatants due to their magical protections, but which, unfortunately, finished off the unconscious and barely-alive Manius...
The Devas then approached the Ashmede Devil and Artarius activated his Anti-magic Field to try and prevent her from using her devastating spells. Meanwhile, Kosh grappled the Kyton and wounded it. After a brief struggle, Hipazia destroyed the chain devil with a timely Magic Missile.
The Ashmede Devil flew up, out of reach of the Anti-magic Field, and unleashed another Horrid Wilting. Thankfully, it only did relatively minor damage, and Kaeso survived it thanks to the Holy Aura. While the two angels were battling the much larger Ashmede Devil in the center of the tower, flying around her, Zeeva rushed to Kaeso's side and restored him completely with a Heal spell.
Having taken grave wounds from the Ashmede Devil, Artarius let down his anti-magic barrier, which allowed Hipazia to cast a final Disintegrate spell on their terrible foe. This time, the ray of green energy connected with the devil's body and pierced all of her defenses. With a sickening wail, the half-flesh, half-metal devil was unmade from reality...
The heroes had won at last!
The companions healed up and asked Kosh to use his power over life and death to bring Manius back to life. The big man was quite shocked to regain his senses as the spark of life was return to him by the weird and hideous outsider: he woke up with the enormous eye staring at him fixedly.
"What happened to me? What the hell is going on?" he groaned.
"Yes..." replied Kosh enigmatically.
After a few minutes, Manius and Kaeso were fully healed and had donned their clothes and armor once again. All of their equipment was accounted for. Alas, poor Trinia was still dead, but at least now her corpse was safe, and could be brought back to life at a later time. True to their word, Hipazia and Zeeva offered the hag's four soul jars as payment to the outsiders, but the angels and the aeon would still remain with them and help for several more hours. After all, they still had to find Kindrasius!
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Sunday, Arodus 27th, 4708 (continued)
The dragon's prisoner
Kindrasius woke up surrounded by darkness. His body was aching in multiple places, and the memories of the battle against the Bone Devil rushed back into his mind. Where was he? What had happened to him?
The sound of a massive creature breathing could be heard from close by, and Kindrasius sensed an enormous shape just by his side. He kept his eyes closed to pretend to still be unconscious, but after a few minutes, a deep voice addressed him in Shoanti and told him he knew he was awake. Kindrasius opened his eyes and saw two red spots glowing in the dark, and after a few moments, he became aware of the huge draconic silhouette observing him. Yet there was something odd about this dragon, the shape of its head and horns... It did not seem like a regular black dragon. Kindrasius also became aware that he had none of his equipment and weapons at hand; he only had his clothes and chain shirt left.
The dragon questioned Kindrasius, who revealed his name and that he and his companions had come to the devil's tower following an old rhyme that he claimed not to remember, one that spoke of a sword and chains. He asked the dragon to let him heal himself, but the dragon refused.
Seemingly not believing Kindrasius's lie that he had forgotten the rhyme, the dragon continued his questioning. Kindrasius answered reluctantly, annoyed that the dragon wasn't letting him heal himself. He said that he and his friends came from Korvosa, where the Queen was wearing Kazavon's fangs as her crown. The dragon growled when he heard this, and also corrected Kindrasius's assumption that Kazavon had been his master. Kindrasius revealed that his group, the Harrowed Company, had come to Scarwall in search of Mandraivus's lost sword Serithtial. He asked if the dragon would help him in finding it, but the great dark reptile coldly refused.
The dragon asked Kindrasius to describe in more details what they'd fought so far in Scarwall. Kindrasius asked again to heal himself, and the dragon denied him once more. This greatly upset Kindrasius, who then insolently told the tale of their adventure in the most boring way possible. Things quickly got out of hand then, as he did not show proper respect to his draconic captor. Kindrasius decided he wouldn't take crap from anyone, not even a huge shadow dragon who had him captive, barely alive, and weaponless; he quickly made a run for the only door visible, but alas, it led to a room with no exits: there was stored the dragon's hoard, as well as the rest of his equipment (minus his bow). Unfortunately, the Shoanti had run out of time, and the dragon breathed a cloud of soul-numbing darkness around him...
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Gargoyles
Now that he had recovered from the shock of being resurrected, Manius told his companions that he'd had a strange dream or feeling when he'd been unconscious and/or dead. He had felt himself surrounded by a cacophonous crowd of angry spirits, similar to those who had beset and captured Zellara on the bridge to Scarwall. Only by the great strength of his soul had he been able to keep them at bay, but he feared he had just narrowly avoided becoming trapped among the guardians of Scarwall; his very soul becoming part of the cursed essence of the dark fortress. The others mused that perhaps any mortal perishing within Scarwall's confines would face the same peril, and they worried that perhaps Trinia's soul had likewise been taken captive. Alas, they might only know once they tried to bring her back to life.
Additionally, the angels informed their summoners that they sensed that the evil aura of Scarwall had somehow lessened since the defeat of the Ashmede Devil. The companions assumed that this meant they had been successful in slaying one of the four "metaphorical chains" that allowed for Mithrodar's invulnerability.
The companions took the time to search the tower and found considerable loot within: a huge quantity of coins (mostly copper, alas, but still) within the mattress of the bed; gems that Kaeso pried out of the throne; many valuable items of jewelry or works of art from within the alcoves, as well as several potent magical items; and also a collection of talking skulls, which each spoke a single name when touched. The group figured that it could be sold to a collector who fancied the macabre. Hipazia noted that one of the skulls spoke the name "Count Andachi of Tamrivena", and recognized it as the name of the Ustalavic lord who had long ago received the "help" of Kazavon in answer to his desperate prayers to Zon-Kuthon to protect his lands from a horde of rampaging orcs (and who had later been brutally slain by Kazavon once the orcs had been defeated).
Zeeva used a Sending spell to try and contact Kindrasius, but received no answer. Although that likely meant that he was dead, the adventurers clung to the hope that their friend was still alive and merely unconscious, so they decided to look for him. They supposed that the gargoyles who laired atop the spires of Scarwall would likely have seen what had happened to Kindrasius, and they decided to capture one.
The party headed to a balcony, where they easily got the attention of a duo of gargoyles who attacked them, screeching to alert their brethren. In total, the Harrowed Company, the two angels and Kosh faced six of the large, four-armed gargoyles, but they defeated them easily. Some more gargoyles fled from the site of battle once they saw how dangerous the attackers were. After the battle, Kosh healed the few wounds that had been taken during the fight, and he restored life within the body of a gargoyle whose soul he had temporarily taken a hold of.
Upon coming back to life, the enormous gargoyle struggled fiercely to escape, but it was held tightly by Kosh and the two angels. The group bargained with it: its life in exchange for answers. The creature revealed that the black dragon had indeed taken Kindrasius's body and had brought it to its lair: a large room near the courtyard and the war tower, to the northeast of the keep. True to their word, the group let the vile creature go free and began making preparations to attack the dragon's lair and save Kindrasius.
It's nice to see how your near TPK added a whole new level of depth to your game. The story suddenly becomes more compelling because of it. I especially like the part with Kindrasius, although I had expected his dragon captor to be more interested in his blue dragon heritage, maybe even informing if he was related to you know who. At least now the dragon is not just another monster the PCs have to kill, but a dangerous and powerful NPC. Slaying him will taste all the more sweeter.
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I agree that the near-TPK added a an interesting level to the adventure. I just hope they manage to get Kindrasius back without any further PC death. :)
The dragon would have asked the question regarding Kindrasius's ancestry, but unfortunately, the conversation was interrupted by Kindrasius trying to escape. I didn't expect him to be so defiant of the dragon, since he was so clearly at a disadvantage. Maybe it's an error on my part, but I keep expecting a character with +29 in diplomacy to be... you know... diplomatic, yet that never seems to be the case. ;)
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Sunday, Arodus 27th, 4708 (continued)
In Kennel's Grime Third Bides His Time
The group flew down to the courtyard, Manius and Kaeso being carried by Zeeva and the angels. The group began casting defensive spells on themselves, but were soon interrupted by the dragon's arrival.
"I thought you people were all dead..." he mused in a deep voice.
A brief discussion ensued, but since Kaeso and Manius proved to be just as insolent as Kindrasius, the dragon attacked. A moderately difficult battle ensued, during which Hipazia and Zeeva were temporarily blinded by the dragon's shadow breath, and Kaeso was nearly cut to pieces by its claws and sharp-tipped wings. But the great dark beast was surrounded and badly outnumbered, and it soon fell under the concerted efforts of the courageous, though quite irreverent, adventurers. As it died, a great chorus of tormented souls was heard from all around the castle, and the group felt the evil of Scarwall's cursed aura palpably diminish.
The dragon's lair had once been the stables or kennels of Scarwall. It was now a place of darkness and foul-smelling dirt. Within, the Harrowed Company found the unconscious body of Kindrasius. Miraculously, he had survived the dragon's wrath. Kosh healed him back to full health. The Shoanti was relieved to still be alive, and to see his adventuring companions around him. He was also pleased that Zeeva hugged him affectionately. He was, however, sorry that Trinia had perished, and that he hadn't gotten a chance to get a measure of revenge on the dragon.
The group found the dragon's treasure and it took it as their own. Kindrasius re-equipped his entire gear, except his powerful bow, which was still missing, much to his dismay...
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A Spirit First, Red War His Thirst
The group continued exploring Scarwall, taking some stairs that led them to the second floor of the main section. They explored some rooms on that floor for some time, but didn't find anything interesting. A spiral stairway inside a tower led them to the third floor, and through a window there, Manius spotted Kindrasius's bow, which had fallen and gotten stuck inconspicuously on the castle's roof. The angels went to pick it up, and Kindrasius felt whole at last!
The group then explored the third floor, close to the room where they had fought the barbed devils, and found more ancient treasure, including several wizard's scrolls, a magical chainmail and a powerful staff.
Further toward the front of the castle, the group entered the gatehouse loft, where they battled a skeletal warrior with a flaming skull: the fiend that Zeeva had seen in the Harrow reading. Two sinister shadows guarded him as well. After a brief battle, all three undead were slain, and Kosh restored the strength that he and Biltaris had been drained. Once the flaming-skull warrior died, another great cry of tormented souls erupted from the very walls of Scarwall, and the group understood that they had defeated one of the haunted keep's main villains.
Of the four, only one now remained:
"And on a stone 'mid ash and bone,
The final dreams of death."
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Sunday, Arodus 27th, 4708 (continued)
Danse Macabre
Next, the group explored Scarwall's guest wing. It consisted mostly of ancient guest rooms and torture chambers. Some of the rooms seemed to have served for both purposes at once. The Harrowed Company fought a number of skeletons and zombies in this place, but nothing that was a true danger to them.
Eventually, they reached a room where they found a statue of a man. Its head was covered by an old leather sack. When Kindrasius removed the sack with a Prestidigitation spell, a powerful enchantment washed over the group as they beheld the face of Kazavon in human form. Thankfully, only Kaeso and Artarius fell prey to it: both tried to climb a ladder leading to a trap door in the ceiling. Kaeso was stopped by a Confusion spell from Kindrasius; Manius roughly shoved him down to the ground, where Kosh kept him grappled. Artarius entered a room above the ladder, where could be found the ancient skeleton of a dwarf who had seemingly died of starvation: most likely a victim of this bizarre trap. Manius ended up destroying the statue, freeing Kaeso and Artarius from its enchantment.
Beyond this room was a grand ballroom. As the group entered it, a crowd of ghostly dancers formed around them, moving to the sound of music. At their center rose an immense shadowy being dressed in a sinister black hooded robe. It looked like death itself. This was the latest vision that Kaeso had received from the Harrow deck. Unfortunately, Kaeso felt prey to this effect as well, as did Artarius yet again. Both began dancing with imaginary partners.
"Death" did not respond to Kindrasius's attempts to communicate: it merely coldly attacked the group. It was able to wound Kosh, Biltaris and Zeeva before being destroyed by the group's concerted efforts. Only with its disappearance did Kaeso and Artarius stop dancing.
Examining the room, the group detected some magic beneath the wooden floor. Manius smashed his way to a cavity where an old skeleton was laid to rest, dressed in plate armor and carrying a holy longsword and a tower shield. All three items radiated magic, and the group took them, although they were not able to identify the shield's coat of arms, which represented an eagle. By its color, they guessed it had belonged to a knight from Tamrivena. The group also reverently placed the skeleton's bones in a bag which they kept in their portable hole, to be possibly questioned and buried later on with the honor it deserved, if it truly had been a hero who had opposed Kazavon.
Later on, the group made its way to the war tower. In there, they found various abandoned rooms: storage rooms, smithies, old guard rooms, and so on. A trio of Nessian Warhounds, massive dogs from hell, attacked them and badly burned Manius, Kindrasius and Zeeva with their fiery breaths before being slain. Once everyone had been healed by Kosh's endless supply of healing energy, the group climbed all the way to the third floor, where they reached what remained of a war room. Within, the corpse of a burly half-orc clad in thick plate armor and carrying a heavy warhammer lumbered toward them with a hateful groan.
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Sunday, Arodus 27th, 4708 (continued)
Forbiddance
The undead soldier, whoever it was, posed little challenge to the group, as it was cut to pieces before it could even attempt a single attack. After taking his treasure, the adventurers decided to explore the only section of Scarwall where they hadn't ventured yet: the dungeon and its strange star-shaped tower.
However, entering it wasn't as easy as it had seemed at first. Both doors leading into it were sealed with lead and the stone around them had been moulded by magic to prevent them from being opened. Manius and the angels used their heavy weapons to destroy both doors, yet after doing so, the party realized that a strange magical protection had been placed on the tower. In fact, another such ward had been set outside the tower as well. After some experimentation, the group discovered that the one inside the tower seemed to be keyed to those whose morality matched the teachings of Zon-Kuthon, while the one outside the tower was keyed to the purest of souls, such as paladins.
What this meant in more pragmatic terms is that no member of the Harrowed Company, nor their summoned allies, could easily enter the dungeon. Only Kindrasius, Hipazia, Zeeva and Kosh had the force of will to do so: Manius, Kaeso and the two angels were brutally repulsed and shocked by the magical ward, which Hipazia identified as a potent Forbiddance spell. Likewise, only Hipazia was able to leave the tower easily. Everyone else felt a similar resistance when trying to exit it.
Thus it was that Kindrasius, Zeeva and Kosh found themselves in the dungeon, and the others were outside. The group was split up. Various strategies were examined: to rest there and regain some magical energy; to explore the tower with just half of the group; to try to find a different way in. The angels searched the tower's exterior at great length, but found no other way inside the tower besides a sinister stone building at the top of the star-tower. They brought Hipazia there, and she saw that the engraving of Zon-Kuthon's skull on one of the walls of that building radiated a strong aura of conjuration. Using a recently found scroll of Analyze Dweomer, she understood that this was a Phase Door that could only be triggered by a powerful priest of Zon-Kuthon, or by Kaeso's talent to fool magical items. However, the door was dormant for now, due to Scarwall's curse.
The companions discussed Zellara's poem at great length once again. It seemed that one of the four fiends described within had escaped their attention so far: this fourth being was crucial in allowing them to defeat the ghostly Castellan Mithrodar.
Returning to Mithrodar's throne room, the group saw that now only a single chain dangled from his body, where there had been four previously. They quickly left his presence lest they be attacked again. They retraced their steps and returned to the ballroom where they had fought "death" itself. But they didn't find anything new in the room. Was this "death" the fourth creature mentioned in Zellara's poem? The final dreams of death? They had found some bones there, but no ash. Had the floor been made of ash? No, it had been made of oak...
The group then returned to the castle's kitchens, where they had found some ashes before. After being blasted by the room's haunt once again, they searched the ovens again, but found nothing interesting. They placed the bones of the skeleton they had found underneath the floor of the ballroom in the furnace and burned them... But there was no paranormal result.
Hipazia then led her companions all the way up to the library, where they spent some time reading the books, seeking clues. They found that the emblem of the dead knight had belonged to Sir Echolt Crommerand of Tamrivena. But nothing useful to their immediate predicament, such as the password for the Forbiddance spell.
The group searched the entire castle once again, but found nothing relevant... But after analyzing the auras of the two neighbouring-yet-opposite Forbiddance spells, Hipazia noticed that there was some strange interaction between them. She surmised that if a creature attuned to one entered it, the effect would be nullified for a few seconds, allowing other, non-attuned creatures to follow it. She used her newly found Staff of Conjuration to summon a Lemure, and made it enter the tower. Sure enough, Hipazia, Manius, Kaeso and the angels were able to follow it inside. The entire group had finally made its way into Scarwall's inner dungeon!
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Sunday, Arodus 27th, 4708 (continued)
The dungeon of Scarwall
The group explored a series of empty, dusty rooms that had likely been the living quarters of the fortress's priests, long ago. They eventually found a shrine to Zon-Kuthon which was permeated by a supernatural darkness. From the shadows emerged the twisted form of an evil priest wrapped in ancient bandages: a mummy whose eyes gleamed with evil red light. It accused the Harrowed Company of being infidels who had no right to be here. Kindrasius tried to get more information about the identity of this mummy, but the creature merely replied that the characters deserved only pain and death. It clearly had no intention of discussing with interlopers. A battle ensued, and Manius was the target of a Slay Living spell, which he thankfully survived thanks to his great Hellknight's fortitude. He and Kaeso were paralyzed with fear, but the mummy was destroyed by the rest of the group's concerted efforts: it perished with its bandaged burning brightly from the contact with the angels' holy swords. As it turned to ashes, Artarius looked at the wounds he had taken during the fight, which were already starting to darken with mummy rot. Thankfully, we was able to cast *both* Remove Curse and Remove Disease *at will*, so it was a trivial matter for him to get rid of the affliction.
A search of the room revealed nothing of interest besides a few magical items on the mummy's corpse. Resuming their exploration of the level, the adventurers found cells with the long-dead corpses of monks of Zon-Kuthon. Further, in a dining room, they fought the five spectres of these monks. The ghostly enemies were slain swiftly, as the angels were immune to their deathly touch, and Manius was well-protected by his "ghost-touch" armor.
Going down a flight of stairs, the group made its way to a large temple of Zon-Kuthon. This one also featured a statue of the Midnight Lord and was also shrouded in darkness that the group's magical lights could not fully overcome. On the altar before the statue was a mound of old bones and ashes, and a human skull adorned with a number of glittering red gems.
"… on a stone 'mid ash and bone…"
The party was excited to have seemingly discovered, at last, the anchor of Mithrodar's fourth chain, but Artarius warned them that this being was most likely a demilich: a powerful undead that had ascended beyond the power of even a mighty lich. Kindrasius addressed the immobile skull and firmly announced that the Harrowed Company had come here to destroy it and to oppose its master, Kazavon. The skull remained silent. But when Kaeso approached the altar and lifted the skull, it started levitating, and was surrounded by a cloud of swirling ashes. The gems in its eyes began to glow. Swiftly, the group attacked it, striking powerful blows despite the demilich's neigh-invulnerability: Kaeso and Kindrasius struck true, and Artarius blasted the creature with a Holy Smite spell, one of the few forms of magic he knew the being was vulnerable to. Already, the skull was beginning to show some cracks...
The demilich's skeletal mouth opened and emitted a terrible wail that threatened to shred the heroes' very souls. Thankfully, Hipazia and Zeeva were too far to be affected by it. Both of the angels were immune to its effects altogether. Manius and Kindrasius stalwartly resisted. But alas, Kosh was utterly consumed by the foul magic, and Kaeso was saved from destruction only by the magic of the Harrow Deck that had infused his soul with protection against one such death effect.
Finally, the group destroyed the demilich, and as the skull shattered in many shards and fragments, the sighs of countless souls, were heard from all around the castle. The Harrowed Company had done it: they had broken the last of Mithrodar's chains! The curse of Scarwall was almost completely lifted.
Before leaving the temple, the group took the gems from the remains of the demilich's skull, as well as some other magical items on the altar. Artarius also poured some holy water over the demilich's remains to prevent it from rejuvenating.
A search of the rest of the level revealed nothing interesting: just a few more empty, dusty rooms. After making their way back out of the dungeon, the group members were carried one by one by the angels to the top of the Star Tower. Kaeso tried to open the skull-shaped Phase Door, but it was still held fast by Scarwall's curse. There was no way around it: they had to get rid of Mithrodar. The group returned to the throne room and faced the ghostly castellan, who bore no more chains. It was now a simple matter to defeat him, and this time, he did not manifest again: he had truly been destroyed. The adventurers felt that the curse was lifted: the castle lost its supernatural sinister aura, and Hipazia detected that the Unhallow effect was gone.
Now that the curse had been broken, the countless souls who had been kept imprisoned within Scarwall for the last seven centuries emerged from the walls, free at last! A few of them swirled around the characters as a gesture of thanks, before vanishing into nothingness. Zellara materialized again and returned to her Harrow Deck. Another ghost appeared, more colorful and vivid that the others. He looked like a young nobleman from an age past. He introduced himself as Count Andachi of Tamrivena.
“You have done a great thing today," he said with an archaic accent from Ustalav. "You have accomplished the conclusion of legend. What has festered here in Scarwall is no more, and in saving us all, you have returned honor to Tamrivena after these long years of shame—a shame I created, and a shame I was unable to lift. I sent Kazavon into Belkzen, so many ages ago."
"Why did you turn to Zon-Kuthon for help in the first place?" asked Hipazia as she raised an eyebrow in skepticism. "What made you believe he could be trusted?"
"Alas," replied Count Andachi, "I was duped by a group of worshippers of the Midnight Lord who seized the occasion and tricked me when I was at my most desperate, my most vulnerable state. I did not know the true nature of the power which I called out to. I learned only too late, much too late, who it was that I really beseeched for help.
"Eventually, when even my coward’s soul could no longer bear to hear tell of Kazavon's cruelties, I came here to Scarwall to attempt to undo what I had done in asking for the Midnight Lord’s aid in defending Tamrivena. Yet again I failed—my general, Kazavon, had me skinned alive and ate the strips raw before my dying gaze. And when I did die, my soul remained, trapped here as surely as any prisoner.
“There came a time soon thereafter when Kazavon was finally slain, laid low, as with many of his cruel minions, by a powerful blade borne by a hero named Mandraivus. His blade Serithtial brought an end to Kazavon’s rule, yet could not quench his spirit, for Kazavon was one of the Midnight Lord’s chosen. Mandraivus wisely ordered the dragon’s relics taken away, and remained behind to watch over the castle. The presence of his faith, his strength of will, and most of all, his blade Serithtial kept the spirits of the dead quiet, yet these did nothing to protect him from a baser threat. The orcs came down and murdered him. As he fell, his soul became trapped in these cursed walls. Without his presence, the light of Serithtial went dark, and the spirits of Kazavon’s legacy took hold. This is the blasphemy you have righted today, and now, Scarwall will be left to crumble to dust as the ages march on.
“Yet I sense in you that your quest is only partially done. I have dwelt in Kazavon’s echo for too long not to feel his strength, his influence, take seed in your queen, so far away. Strange names that I do not know are in my head. Korvosa. Ileosa. Kindrasius. Manius. Zeeva. Kazavon quickens in your home, and you must recover Serithtial if you are to cast him down as surely as you have cast down his presence here. Yet the agents of the Midnight Lord know of the threat Serithtial poses to his child. While they cannot destroy the sacred blade, nor even take it far from this place without invoking the wrath of Iomedae, the goddess of justice… they can hide it.
“I can still feel a presence in this place, a power linked to the Midnight Lord. It remains in the Star Tower, once Kazavon’s inner sanctum. I see that here, in the deepest heart of Scarwall, your goal lies hidden. A fragment of Scarwall’s curse lingers there, lodged and stubborn. When the curse held sway, this way was blocked to you. Now, seek it out, and it shall lead you to your goal. And now, with my time here at an end, your time shall at last begin….”
It had been a very long day; it was now early in the evening. The day had started with Hipazia and Zeeva summoning Kosh, Artarius and Biltaris, returning to the tower and fighting the Ashmede Devil, and freeing Manius and Kaeso. They had also fought the Shadow Dragon that had kept Kindrasius captive, as well as many other foul beings, and they had also explored high and low the near-entirety of Scarwall's many rooms and hallways. They were very tired, physically, mentally and emotionally. Zeeva and Hipazia were nearly completely drained of their magic. Even though it meant they would lose the help of the two angels (who were only around for a few more hours), the group decided it was time to rest before facing the dangers of the Star Tower. They thanked the angels, Artarius and Biltaris, for their help, and the otherworldly beings replied that it had been an honor to fight alongside such powerful and valorous mortals. Then they disappeared back to heaven in a flash of white flames.
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Moonday, Arodus 28th, 4708
Immortality? No thanks.
The following morning, the Harrowed Company prepared itself for its final delve in Scarwall: they felt that they were closer to their goal of finding Serithtial than ever before. Alas, a dark cloud still hung over the group: the unfortunate little blonde bard Trinia Sabor was still dead, and the adventurers decided that it was time to bring her back into their ranks. Zeeva performed a ritual to summon another Akhana Aeon, knowing that such a creature would be able to revive Trinia.
Once again, a swirling mass of colors that seemed like a giant eye surrounded by arms appeared. This one was of a darker hue and had a more sinister appearance than Kosh, the one Zeeva had summoned the previous day.
After bargaining with the outsider, Zeeva was able to convince it to help the group for that day. Manius and Kaeso helped the creature to shovel the 700 000 copper pieces it would receive in payment (taken directly from Kazavon's treasure) into a portal leading back to its home plane. Then, the Aeon used its magic to bring little Trinia back to life. The young girl gasped and sobbed after she went through the ordeal of being wrenched back to life. Kindrasius took her in his arms and comforted her.
"Thank you very much for this, errr.... What did you say your name was?" asked Zeeva.
"Kosh" replied the Aeon.
"Kosh? Really?" said Zeeva in surprise.
"I thought Kosh was the one we summoned yesterday," said Hipazia. "This one looks completely different."
"We are all Kosh..." answered the dark Aeon enigmatically.
Trinia told the group that her soul had been captive of Scarwall's curse, just like Zellara, until the heroes had broken the malediction. She had seen their heroic deeds and, although she was weakened and depleted of energy, she was willing to continue accompanying them on their quest. Kosh used more of his magic to lessen the effects of her resurrection sickness.
That morning, Kindrasius felt that his recent tribulations in the former abode of his ancestor Kazavon had awakened something primal within him. By concentrating, he was able to take the shape of a man-sized blue dragon for a few minutes. Using that ability, he carried the rest of the adventurers one by one to the top of the Star Tower. There, Kaeso was able to open the skull-shaped Phase Door after a few trials and errors, thanks to Hipazia's Diviner's Fortune. With his great skill as a rogue, the young man was able to fool the magical door into believing that he was a powerful priest of Zon-Kuthon.
The Star Tower was made of a different material than the rest of Scarwall, more ancient, yet somehow much more solid. The group explored its two floors and found only empty rooms that had long ago served as someone's residence. In one of the rooms was a large and faded bloodstain, the only clue hinting at a murder that took place in the distant past. A stairway led down to a large room whose walls had an organic look, as if they were made of dark decaying flesh. A pit opened a bit further, and it was filled with bluish mist. The room was cloaked in shadows, but Hipazia and Manius, who were able to see invisible things, noticed a huge dark bat-like monster observing them from the ceiling.
The creature did not attack the party, but instead spoke to them telepathically. It told them that the Star Tower was an ancient construction placed by Zon-Kuthon to seal Rovagug's prison after the god of destruction was cast down into the center of Golarion by an alliance of all the other gods. The bat-monster, a Nightwing, explained that there were other such Star Towers throughout Golarion, like stitches keeping shut the wound that Sarenrae had one opened in the world so that Rovagug may be cast down. Each of these Star Towers needed a guardian to keep its magic active. Alas, Kazavon had slain the tower's previous guardian during his reign. Since then, the tower had been without a curate and its magic had partially eroded over the centuries. The Nightwing explained that a new curate would have to remain forever within the tower, but that he would be granted eternal life in the service of the Midnight Lord.
Evidently, none of the members of the Harrowed Company were interested in applying for that position, but they informed the Nightwing that they knew two priests of Zon-Kuthon who might be good candidates, and assured him they would get in touch with them.
It seemed that the way to Serithtial was down the shaft with the blue mist, and after some brief experimentation, Kindrasius, Kaeso, Manius, Trinia and Kosh jumped down. Hipazia and Zeeva remained above for some time longer, and Hipazia questioned the Nightwing regarding the huge worm-like man she had seen in the Harrow. She had understood that the Nightwing knew who he was. The Nightwing replied that the worm-man was named Kleestad and that he had once been a human, acting as Kazavon's chamberlain. It was due to Kleestad's betrayal of Kazavon that Mandraivus and his allies had been able to enter Scarwall. When he discovered this, Kazavon broke both of Kleestad's ankles, but before he was able to finish him off, Mandraivus appeared and attacked him. Kleestad crawled away and hid in the shadows of Scarwall until Kazavon was slain by the heroes of light, and then even longer, until after Mandraivus was slain by a horde of orcs several days later.
Only once Scarwall's curse awoke, with the death of Mandraivus, did Kleestad emerge from his hiding place. Despite the burning that the holy sword caused him, Kleestad took Serithtial from Mandraivus's cold fingers and brought it into the depths below the Star Tower. There, he watched over the sword, strangely fascinated by this single point of light in the darkness: the blade that had caused the fall of his hated master Kazavon, yet which he himself could not wield. As a punishment for having been the cause of Kazavon's downfall, Zon-Kuthon himself cursed Kleestad and turned him into a hideous worm-like monster, dooming him to be wracked in pain until someone put an end to his miserable life. And so Kleestad had remained for seven centuries, a prisoner of his own pain and suffering in the darkness below Scarwall, guarding "his precious", the holy sword Serithtial.
Hipazia and Zeeva then jumped down after their friends. They were able to descend gently to a star-shaped room at the bottom of the well. Kindrasius and Kosh had also made it down safely thanks to the blue mist's magic. Kaeso, Manius and Trinia had almost gotten very badly hurt, as the magic did not hamper their fall as much, but Trinia had saved them with a Feather Fall spell.
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A beacon of light
Manius and Kindrasius opened the heavy stone door that led out of the room. Beyond it was a twisting underground tunnel whose walls glittered with mineral deposits. After some time, the group reached an intersection and continued straight ahead. They reached a large cave where a rocky beach led to a dark lake. A light shone dimly from further in the lake. On the beach were some stone hovels out of which emerged four hideous monsters, more than fifteen feet tall, with arms that split into two forearms each, and a gaping jaw that opened vertically. Some of the adventurers recognized them as Gugs, dangerous denizens of the Darklands. A brief battle erupted as the monsters defended their territory.
Kosh, Kaeso, Manius and Zeeva charged forth into melee, Kindrasius shot arrows, Trinia sang and Hipazia cast a Maximized Fireball that hit two of the Gugs. Zeeva got badly wounded by her adversary and Kaeso, Kosh, Hipazia and Kindrasius were trampled by one of the monsters, but otherwise, the heroes prevailed and killed all four of the Gugs. Once the fight was over, Kosh healed everyone's wounds.
In the hovels, the group found some gems and the remains of a half-eaten svirfneblin (a gnome living deep below the surface) that had once wielded a heavy pick that was strongly enchanted against aberrations such as Gugs. Searching the beach itself, the group found no boats, and they knew that Gugs were not good swimmers: they wondered how to reach the radiance they saw further in the lake. Before investigating the water, the group retraced its steps and returned to the intersection. The other tunnel led to a dark shaft that appeared to lead down into the Darklands: it was unlikely to be the way to reach Serithtial.
Upon returning to the beach, Zeeva approached the water and noticed that it was eerily still, but seemed to be really water, not oil or any other dangerous substance. As the priestess got nearer, the light grew brighter. The group then took some measures to go investigate this mysterious light: Zeeva used the flying power of her celestial armor and cast Air Walk spells on Manius and Kindrasius; Kosh could fly; Kaeso turned gaseous thanks to a potion; Hipazia rode on Manius's back, and Trinia on Kindrasius's.
The adventurers set foot on a small rocky island, where a beautiful silvery sword was inserted in the stone. This was the source of the light they had seen from the beach. As the group approached carefully, a gargantuan half-worm, half-humanoid monstrosity that Hipazia had foreseen in the Harrow cards emerged from the dark water with a roar of fury and pain: Kleestad! The final battle of the heroes' adventure in Scarwall began. Kleestad was very difficult to wound, despite his constant state of suffering, as he was protected by a very thick hide. He breathed a foul cone of acid on the adventurers, which wounded and temporarily nauseated everyone except Kaeso, who had avoided it entirely. Kosh flew around Kleestad to be able to flank him, but was grievously wounded by the huge monster. The same agony that coursed through Kleestad's body was suddenly transferred into Kosh, and the Aeon painfully flew away to heal himself, leaving the humans to fend for themselves.
Zeeva cast a Destruction spell on Kleestad, but even such powerful death magic had no effect on him. Hipazia's two Disintegrate spells also only did minimal damage. Kaeso wasn't able to significantly penetrate Kleestad's hide with his rapier. Manius, however, dealt great damage to the worm-thing with his two-handed flail. Kleestad bellowed in rage and turned to kill Manius, but the Hellknight had activated a Displacement effect thanks to his magical ring of spell storing, and between that and his sturdy Hellknight's armor, he avoided all damage. With a great war-cry, Manius then killed Kleestad with a spectacular display of martial skill and sheer strength! The massive bulk of the cursed chamberlain of Scarwall sank down into the water, free from pain at long last...
Kaeso then approached Serithtial and took her out from the rock effortlessly. He was amazed at the feeling he had wielding this legendary weapon: this was clearly a divine sword! By an empathic link, he was able to feel what the intelligent sword was feeling, some kind of feedback on his own being. He felt somehow ashamed of some of the more chaotic acts he had committed in his past. Clearly, although she was thankful to have been found by heroes after her seven hundred years of captivity, Serithtial was a thing of pure good, flawless in her righteousness. Kaeso learned that the sword was designed to oppose the dark powers of Zon-Kuthon and his followers, and conferred to her wielder even more powers than usual when fighting those villains.
When in the hands of the young rogue, Serithtial changed her appearance to be a rapier, but when Manius took her, she grew to a massive greatsword. The Hellknight felt a similar unease to what Kaeso sensed, meaning that the way of the Hellknights was not the true path of a hero: they lacked compassion. Nevertheless, both men knew that Serithtial would let them wield her to combat Queen Ileosa, who now possessed Kazavon's Fangs. Hipazia felt much more in tune with the sword from a philosophical point of view, but Serithtial shrank to a modest dagger in the noblewoman's dainty hands: it was clear that she would not be the optimal wielder for the holy sword from a purely martial point of view.
At last, the Harrowed Company had accomplished its goal: they had recovered Serithtial, the long-lost holy sword of the hero Mandraivus, who had long ago defeated the evil draconic warlord Kazavon. It was their hope that this sword would enable them to defeat the evil Queen Ileosa, who ruled over Korvosa with an iron fist, and who threatened the safety of everything they held dear.
While the others discussed exactly how to proceed next, Zeeva used a Sending spell to inform Shadowcount Sial of the Nightwing's proposal to become a guardian of the Star Tower. The dark priest thanked Zeeva and replied he would think about it.
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=========================
CROWN OF FANGS
=========================
Fireday, Rova 2nd, 4708
The sixth Harrowing
After their epic struggle in Scarwall, the Harrowed Company returned to Janderhoff to rest for a few days. Kaeso was the one who bore Serithtial, which had taken the form of a rapier. They took the time to sell some of the treasures they had found in the ancient fortress, and to buy more powerful items for themselves. They knew their greatest challenge still remained ahead of them: to vanquish the allegedly invulnerable Queen Ileosa.
Seneschal Neolandus Kalepopolis showed the adventurers the maps of Castle Korvosa that he had drawn during their absence. They discussed different ways of entering the castle, hoping to go unnoticed for as long as possible, and to find a way to quickly reach the queen and fight her before she could summon too many reinforcements. Indeed, the Seneschal felt that, now that the group had found Serithtial, the time was right for him to return to Korvosa with the heroes and to make his presence known to the citizens: they needed to know that there was a lawful way to oppose the queen who had ruled them so tyrannically, and that Togomor should be deposed of his role as seneschal.
Hipazia and Kaeso also spent some time at the Leroung vineyard outside the city, where Hipazia's family was still waiting cautiously, not daring to return to their main residence in the city itself. The surviving "lambs" that Kindrasius had previously sheltered in Old Korvosa were also still present at the Leroung manor.
During the rest period, Zellara manifested again and read the Harrow one more time for the companions, granting them a new boon for their ultimate confrontation with the queen. Again, each character was granted a vision of the past, present and future. They relived some old battles; they got the sense that the citizens of Korvosa were oppressed by the queen's minions: the Gray Maidens, as well as devils and other monsters. They also caught glimpses of some of the enemies they might face:
- Manius saw a Gray Maiden riding a black dragon.
- Kindrasius saw a hideous giant worm with three humanoid faces on one end and huge maw on the other end.
- Zeeva saw herself underwater, battling a gigantic octopus.
- Hipazia saw herself fighting... Blackjack...?!?
- And Kaeso saw a combat against Queen Ileosa herself.
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Starday, Rova 3rd, 4708
Back to Korvosa
The following day, the companions returned to Korvosa with Neolandus. They teleported to the temple of Pharasma, where they knew the resistance was based. There, they met with the main members of the movement, many of which they already knew:
- Bishop Keppira D'Bear, the high priestess of Pharasma
- Cressida Kroft, no longer the Field Marshal nor clad in her red armor, but now well in charge of the rebels.
- Grau Soldado, who had left the Korvosan Guard to assist his former commander.
- Amin Jalento, friend to Hipazia's brother.
- Kirmo Savas, the were-rat smuggler.
- Nicklod Starweather, a wizard from Theumanexus College, Hipazia's former mentor.
- Pontia Runario, who had left the Hellknights to support the rebels.
- Tiora, the burglar that the group had saved from Rolth's pits in their first adventure.
- Serrian Jeggare, the wealthy nobleman who sought to save and/or avenge his sister, who had been forcibly made to join the Gray Maidens.
The rebels were, of course, astounded and thrilled that the Harrowed Company had survived its epic journey to find Serithtial: now, they had some real hope, at last, of defeating Queen Ileosa!
Manius was also reunited with his sister Corella (formerly of the Korvosan Guard), who had also been indoctrinated into the Gray Maidens. She was pale and scarred from the ordeal, but she had been freed some time ago by Blackjack and Nicklod Starweather when they had gone below Longacre Building to free Cressida, who had also been about to receive the treatment to make her a Gray Maiden. Corella described that the Gray Maidens were clones fabricated from the blood and life energy that was drained from real women, some of which who had, like her, joined the Gray Maidens voluntarily (knowing nothing of the sinister truth behind them), others who had been brought there by force or enchantment magic, like Marguerite Jeggare (whose whereabouts were still unknown).
During the rescue, Blackjack had managed to slay Professor Karpangram, who had been the dean of Transmutation at the Acadamae and the madman/genius who seemed to be behind this entire scheme of creating the Gray Maidens. Now, it wasn't clear if the wizard's death would prevent more Gray Maidens from being created, or if his colleagues and underlings would be able to continue his work without him. But for sure, the rebels wanted to launch a second, more well-manned assault against Longacre Building to free the remaining women whose lives were being drained until they were turned into withered husks. Corella herself had only barely survived that torture.
Unfortunately, this time, Blackjack wouldn't be going with them: something strange seemed to have happened to him, and he had cut off all ties with the rebels. He now still helped the poor and those in need, but he loudly claimed to do this in the name of Queen Ileosa, the rightful ruler of Korvosa. The leaders of the resistance strongly suspected that he had been charmed by their enemies, but thankfully, the queen's forces hadn't assaulted the temple of Pharasma yet.
Manius also learned from Pontia that a schism had grown within the Hellknight Order of the Nail: some of them (including Mistress of Blades Maidrayne Vox and Pontia) were furious at the way Queen Ileosa mistreated the population and wanted to oppose her with all their might, while the other faction (including Lictor Severs Di'Vri, their commander) wanted to remain neutral and see how things played out. After all, they were a mercenary organization, and they respected the law of the land. Some fights broke out between the two factions, but the more numerous supporters of neutrality quelled Mistress Vox's rebellion. Some of the dissenters were captured, tortured and/or executed. Pontia fled the Hellknight's ranks to join Cressida's rebels. Meanwhile, the main force of the Hellknights was staying in Citadel Vraid, waiting to see how things turned out under Ileosa's reign, ready for anything. A few others remained at the Black Bulwark within the city itself, still led by Maralictor Zaren, and were only too eager to cooperate with the queen and "let loose" to rain violence against misbehaving commoners. Pontia had also learned in the last few weeks that Maralictor Zaren was the mysterious Hellknight who had been hired by the cultists of Urgathoa to retrieve the boxes that thieves had stolen from them.
Grau told the group that he strongly believed there was still some good within Sabina Merrin, the queen's bodyguard. He was convinced she was only misguided, or perhaps even charmed magically, and could never truly condone what the queen was doing to the city. He asked the group to take her captive, instead of killing her, if they fought her. Despite this heartfelt appeal, Kindrasius (ever a pragmatic man) said that the Harrowed Company would show Sabina no such leniency at the risk to their own safety.
The rebels informed that companions that the citizens of Korvosa were being treated almost like slaves by Queen Ileosa, and that trade was at an all-time low. The Great Tower, Korvosa's highest landmark and once the bastion of the Sable Company, was being taken apart, and the stones were used to build four gigantic statues of Ileosa in the city's main plazas. Old Korvosa was still in quarantine, and the Arkonas still seemed to be in charge there. Furthermore, the clergy of Asmodeus was taking blood samples from all citizens of Korvosa, under orders from the queen, for a mysterious and surely nefarious project.
The group then discussed their next step. The rebels advised them to attack Castle Korvosa while they assaulted Longacre Building, creating a diversion. The group pondered this, and debated whether to join the rebels to attack Longacre Building with them, or perhaps causing some chaos by attacking the bridge to Old Korvosa, or just roaming the streets after curfew and killing Gray Maidens. Also, they weren't sure what to do about the queen and her crown, which might be indestructible. But after some discussion, it seemed that they would kill the queen, try to destroy the crown, and it that failed, one of them would return to Scarwall and accept the Nightwing's offer to become immortal, thereby becoming an immortal guardian of the Fangs of Kazavon.
A frontal assault of Castle Korvosa seemed foolish to the adventurers: they wondered what guardians the queen was keeping there for protection. In order to learn more before attacking the keep, they decided to gather information. Kindrasius and Kaeso disguised themselves and went into the city to explore. Meanwhile, Hipazia began scrying on the queen for several hours.
Zeeva used a Commune spell and learned the following from Pharasma:
1. Can we destroy the Crown of Fangs if we get it?
--> No
2. Can Queen Ileosa be redeemed?
--> No
3. Is the secret back door leading to the armory of Castle Korvosa a viable entry into the castle?
--> Yes
4. Is Castle Korvosa warded?
--> Yes
5. Is Castle Korvosa warded against teleportation?
--> No
6. Is Castle Korvosa warded against invisibility?
--> No
7. Is Castle Korvosa warded with "unhallow"?
--> No
8. Is Castle Korvosa warded against scrying?
--> No
9. Is killing Queen Ileosa the end goal to free Korvosa?
--> Yes
10. Does Queen Ileosa ever sleep?
--> Yes
11. Is Sabina Merrin possessed?
--> No
12. Is there something in the vaults below Castle Korvosa that can be used against Queen Ileosa?
--> No
13. Is there a spy for Queen Ileosa within the resistance leaders?
--> No
Zeeva then used a Divination spell to ask if anything special should be done before assaulting Castle Korvosa, and the answer was negative.
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Starday, Rova 3rd, 4708 (continued)
Blackjack's impostor
Kaeso and Kindrasius disguised themselves and wandered through the city of Korvosa. It was much quieter than before, as the citizens were struggling under Queen Ileosa's tyranny. An oppressive atmosphere hung over the city. Kindrasius spoke with a pseudodragon and learned a few things about the current state of affairs, but nothing the group didn't know already. The two companions saw some things they had already heard about: that the Great Tower was being dismantled and its stones used to build four huge statues of the queen, and that the clergy of Asmodeus was taking blood samples from citizens. A squadron of Gray Maidens still stood guard at the bridge leading to Old Korvosa. That area of town was apparently still under the control of the Arkona family, and faring better than it had before under the rule of the mad Emperor of Old Korvosa, but still, the citizens were suffering from the blockade.
The companions then saw from afar a group of Sczarni thugs roughing up an old fruit merchant. As they were approaching, someone who looked just like Blackjack accosted the brutes and forced them to leave. Kaeso and Kindrasius approached this "Blackjack" warily: Kindrasius sensed some illusion magic around him, and asked him some specific questions, which this faux-Blackjack couldn't answer. Blackjack left via a dark alley, and the two adventurers followed him and attacked him there. They knew he was not the real thing, because his voice was different than Vencarlo's and he fought in a different way. Kaeso wounded him with Serithtial, which burned him badly, as she would a servant of Zon-Kuthon. Kindrasius also shot several arrows at him, and used his magic to dispel the illusion, revealing a mighty efreeti! The creature roared in fury and slashed Kaeso many times, causing him to drop to the ground, bleeding profusely and within an inch of death. He then turned invisible and fled.
Kindrasius rushed to Kaeso's side and healed him, placing his newly-found Lantern of Revealing on the ground nearby, should their enemy come back. Indeed, the efreeti soon returned, trying to attack Kindrasius by surprise, but he became visible again once he approached the magical lantern. Kindrasius shot him again, and the efreeti, now grievously wounded, fled, this time for good.
Once Kaeso was healed fully, both men changed their disguises. They visited the Heights and noticed that some noble estates, such as the Fordyce's, the Jeggare's and the Ornelos's, were still inhabited, while others, like the Leroung's, were abandoned. It seemed that some burglars had visited Hipazia's family's home in its absence. Approaching the Fordyce estate, Kaeso decided to go visit the love of his life, the young Ziria Fordyce. Both men used magic to become invisible and Kindrasius took the shape of a dragon and flew up to the mansion's roof, holding Kaeso in his claws. After dropping him there, Kindrasius then flew back toward the cathedral of Pharasma.
Kaeso tried to climb down to Ziria's open window, but fell down to the ground below, landing painfully in a rose bush. Alas, two hounds were passing nearby, along with a patrol of guards, and they sensed him. The young rogue had to flee outside of the estate to avoid getting caught. He then took a long walk back to Pharasma's temple, feeling an inner conflict, as Serithtial's influence made him feel guilty for having wasted time on such a trivial matter that had nothing to do with their quest against Queen Ileosa and Kazavon's Fangs.
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The Scrying Game
Meanwhile, Hipazia scried on Queen Ileosa during the entire afternoon. The queen spent much of her time in the throne room of Castle Korvosa, looking quite bored. She was dressed in a beautiful red gown and wore the Crown of Fangs. She fed some meat to the three enormous Hell Hounds that guarded her. Three Gray Maidens also stood watch in the room. The queen then sat back on the throne and filed her nails, looking quite bored. She received few visitors. One of them was Luria Azon, a priestess of Asmodeus who entered the room in the company of Seneschal Togomor and his familiar, the rotund imp Pudgyknuckles. The dark-haired priestess knelt before the queen and informed her that the Blooding was proceeding as planned. The queen asked her to pick up the pace and gather samples at an accelerated rate. Luria then asked the queen where the samples were being taken, as they had been removed from their current, highly secure repository. Queen Ileosa assured her that they were being kept in an even more secure place.
Once the priestess was gone, Ileosa asked Togomor: "Where are the samples taken, Togomor?"
The enormous man smiled at her coldly: "You needn't worry about such details, your majesty. We've got things well under control."
Ileosa then gave Togomor a dark look as he exited the room, but she did not press the issue further.
Some time later, Sabina gave a report to the queen, saying that everything was going fine with the construction of her statues. She also said that her troops were still searching for the rebel base.
"The Yallops should have extracted that information from Blackjack before they killed him," mused Queen Ileosa, "those undisciplined fools are causing us more harm than good..."
Trinia would later tell the group that "the Yallops" was a trio of devil brothers.
Later still, Sabina and Togomor returned to the throne room and informed the queen that "Yzahnum" had been severely wounded in a fight against two humans. The Queen and her followers then guessed that it meant that the Harrowed Company had returned to Korvosa. Queen Ileosa shook her fist in frustration at the Red Mantis's failure to eliminate them. She then retired to her quarters along with the Hell Hounds, to rest. Hipazia then stopped watching.
Upon Kindrasius and Kaeso's return, the group understood that "Yzahnum" must be the efreeti who was masquerading as Blackjack. The companions, as well as the other rebels such as Cressida and Grau, were greatly saddened to hear of the real Blackjack's death.
Now their enemies knew that the Harrowed Company was back, and seemed to consider them a serious threat. But more and more, the citizens of Korvosa were becoming aware of their return as well. Their notoriety was now great in Korvosa: the companions were known to be those who had stopped the spread of Blood Veil and found a cure for it, as well as being those who had eliminated the Emperor of Old Korvosa, as well as countless lesser evils in the city in recent months.
Sunday, Rova 4th, 4708
Preparing the assault
The following morning, the group prepared for an assault on Castle Ileosa. Hipazia and Zeeva chose their spells accordingly, and the companions dined on a Heroes' Feast summoned by Bishop Keppira D'Bear. As they were doing so, Hipazia became aware of someone scrying one of the people around her. Kindrasius used his Lantern of Revealing to locate the scrying sensor, and Trinia dispelled it. Bishop Keppira then cast a Wind Walk on the group and brought them to a house close to Castle Korvosa. The heroes then cast a final round of augmentative spells on themselves before Trinia and Hipazia opened two Dimension Doors leading directly into Queen Ileosa's bedroom...
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Sunday, Rova 4th, 4708 (continued)
Long live the Queen
The Harrowed Company brought three allies with them in their assault of Castle Korvosa: former Field Marshal Cressida Kroft, Pontia Runario of the Hellknights, and Lady Zenobia Zenderholm, judge and priestess of Abadar.
They materialized in the royal bedroom, catching Queen Ileosa completely by surprise. She was wearing a night gown, sitting in bed reading a book, with the Crown of Fangs casually placed on a nearby nightstand. The three Hell Hounds immediately got up and started barking furiously, but they could not prevent Kaeso and Manius from clambering on the bed and slaying Queen Ileosa in the blink of an eye!
Alas, as the companions had feared, the queen's body swiftly melted into a pool of blood: she had been a mere simulacrum...
The hell hounds were able to cause some damage to the heroes with bites and fiery breath, but overall, the Harrowed Company and their allies dispatched them swiftly. The alarm, however, had been raised.
"Long live the queen!" exclaimed some feminine voices from behind a nearby door as the sound of armored warriors approaching could be heard.
"The queen is already dead!" replied Manius loudly.
Three Gray Maidens entered the royal chambers and fought the companions, but they too were swiftly slain, and their bodies melted into blood as well: more clones.
Meanwhile, Hipazia warned her allies that she saw a terrible fiend observing them from this very location on the Ethereal Plane: she was able to see it thanks to her See Invisibility spell. She called it a Bdellavritra, or Belier Devil. She had heard of these foul creatures before, studying chelaxian volumes on the denizens of Hell: "Masterful possessors and foul masterminds, bdellavritras possess some of the most feared intellects in the Nine Hells. Their sadistic genius and patient, calculating plots prove all the more terrifying as the worm-like fiends care little for the politics and backbiting of the Outer Rifts, their divisive attentions favoring the unpredictability and challenges of the Material Plane. With bodies like pale worms or leeches grown to monstrous sizes, bdellavritras are enigmatic horrors. Slick with greasy bile and with mouths at both ends of their gut-churning bodies, the fiends posses a grotesque kind of ambidexterity, favoring no dominant end. As such, the creatures’ voices can emanate from their wormlike maws, any one of their human-like mouths, or all four orifices at once, as they choose."
Since they were imbued with short-duration magical endowments of great power, the companions pressed on, seeking the real Queen Ileosa. Before leaving the bed chamber, Trinia took the Crown of Fangs.
In the nearby ball room, the heroes fought five more Gray Maidens, who proved to be a mere inconvenience and were soon all dead. The room's ceiling was very high, and a balcony circled it from the floor above. The companions saw furtive shadows observing them from there, but they quickly pressed on toward the throne room. Along the way, Kindrasius shot two invisible imps that had been exposed by the Lantern of Revealing, currently carried by Lady Zenderholm. It felt strange to come back to this place, in such circumstances, after coming here six months ago to give Queen Ileosa her stolen brooch while she was mourning her dead husband. Meanwhile, the Bdellavritra was still following the group from the Ethereal Plane.
Irreverent as ever, Kaeso sat down on the Crimson Throne, only to be immediately chastised by Hipazia and Serithtial. Hipazia then analyzed the Crown of Fangs, but discovered that the item did not even radiate magic... It was only a very expensive piece of jewelry. The Crimson Throne also did not radiate magic.
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The castle's defenders
After a brief discussion, the companions decided to explore the lower levels of the castle first, hoping to find some allies there. They returned to the ball room, heading toward the large circular stairway that would lead them down, but here they ran into a large group of castle defenders: eight Gray Maidens were coming from the corridor leading to the main stairway, with Togomor at their head. To the right, a host of devils were preparing for an assault: three Barbed Devils, four Erinyes and eight Bearded Devils.
Manius, Kaeso and Cressida immediately rushed Togomor, seeing him as their main threat, but due to some strange magic, all of their attacks missed him. Kindrasius's arrows had no more success. Only when Zeeva cast a Wall of Stone that completely blocked the hallway leading to the main stairs did Togomor disappear altogether! Five of the Gray Maidens were also stuck on the far side of the wall.
The Barbed Devils all cast Unholy Blight spells around the rear of the party, wounding Kindrasius, Hipazia, Trinia, Zenobia and Pontia. Hipazia blocked the south side of the room with a Wall of Force, but several of the Bearded Devils teleported past it and engaged the party in melee. The Erinyes flew over the top of the wall and also bombarded the party with Unholy Blight spells. The accumulated damage from all those evil spells was quite great indeed.
Suddenly, four Red Mantis assassins materialized just behind the rear of the group. Two of them struck, alas, with deadly precision: both Trinia and Lady Zenobia Zenderholm (for the second time in just a few months) were slain by these scarlet killers...
To make things even worse, the Bdellavritra shifted into the Material Plane and uttered a Mass Suggestion, speaking with surprisingly melodious voices from its four mouths. "Go prostrate yourselves before the Crimson Throne until sundown!" it sang. Thankfully, only one of the heroes fell prey to the foul magic: ironically, it was Zeeva, who was usually the most resistant to such mind-affecting magic.
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Knowing that his group could not win a battle against so many enemies at once, Manius quickly fetched his Elixir of Shadewalking and used it to bring himself, as well as Kindrasius, Kaeso, Hipazia, Cressida and Pontia into the Plane of Shadows. Zeeva, who was magically influenced by the Bdellavritra, almost did not come with him, but thankfully, Kindrasius convinced her to join them at the last moment with his silver tongue. What's more, the half-dragon Shoanti was also able to remove the worm-devil's influence on Zeeva with a Dispel Magic spell.
The group left Pontia at the Cathedral of Pharasma and traveled to Janderhoff, a two-hour journey in the stunted distances of the Shadow Plane. There, Hipazia traded in her Staff of Conjuration for a Rod of Quicken Spell, and the group rested, preparing themselves for their return to Castle Korvosa. Their plan was now to perform "magical guerrilla warfare" against the castle's denizens: teleporting in, killing a few of them, and teleporting out. What this well-known strategy among high-level adventurers lacked in honor and courage, it made up for in efficiency and safety.
Moonday, Rova 5th, 4708
He never knew what hit him
The Harrowed Company returned to Korvosa by magical means, appearing in a small abandoned house near the castle. There, Hipazia scried on Togomor, locating him within his bedchamber (formerly having belonged to Seneschal Neolandus Kalepopolis). The Harrowed Company once again prepared themselves for battle with a plethora of magical defences and improvements and teleported directly at Togomor's side, leaving Cressida Kroft behind, as they did not have the capacity to bring her with them.
The rotund wizard gasped in surprise and only had the time to rise ponderously from his chair. He had no chance to utter a single spell, however, for he was bludgeoned to death in mere moments by Manius's merciless attacks. As her perished, a strange look of relief came over Togomor's face, and he uttered: "Free at last!..." with his last breath.
Pudgyknuckles, his imp familiar, gave a screech of terror at seeing his master slain so suddenly, but he soon joined him in death.
The Harrowed Company quickly stashed Togomor's corpse and the books and parchments that were on his desk into their Portable Hole. Hipazia had noticed that Togomor had been drawing pictures of a bizarre creature in a book, but she did not find his spellbook on the desk.
The adventurers then hurried out of the room and came upon the mess hall of the first floor of the castle, a place that had been transformed by an illusion to make it appear like a scene straight from hell. In the middle of the room, the three Barbed Devil brothers known as the Yallops were gathered around the corpse of a hippogriff, which they were slowly roasting over a bonfire. They cackled gleefully and sang horribly out of tune in the Infernal language. Once they spotted the group, the three devils bombarded them with Unholy Blight spells, but they soon chose to flee via teleportation after being severely wounded by a Lightning Bolt from Hipazia, a lightning breath from Kindrasius, and the weapons of Manius, Kaeso and Zeeva.
Feminine voices rang in alarm in nearby rooms, and the heroes knew that the Gray Maidens were aware of their presence. Indeed, in two nearby rooms, they saw half-naked females getting ready for combat. Hipazia blocked the south corridor with a Wall of Force, behind which a patrol of two fully-armored Gray Maidens got stuck. Meanwhile, the rest of the group killed four unprepared Gray Maidens in their barracks. It should be noted that the men of the group fumbled a fair number of their attacks, as they found it quite difficult to assault their beautiful, almost-nude enemies. Among those was a clone of the paladin Poss, who transformed into a pool of blood upon death, and another clone of Marguerite Jeggare, whose body remained intact after dying. There seemed to be different versions of clones, which hinted that they had perhaps been created via different processes. The women who turned into blood upon death seemed in much better shape, lacking the scars and signs of torture of those who retained their solidity.
Hi Moonbeam
It seems like yoiu haven't been able to play every week for the last couple of months, just like our group. Still, I keep checking these boards every weekend to look for your upgrade and I'm still an avid reader of your story.
Best regards
MrVergee
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Hi, I'm glad you're still reading!
Our campaign was on a hiatus for a few weeks in july-august, as several players were on vacation and traveling. Now we're back to playing every week, but unfortunately, our games are rather short (around 2 hours, 2 hours and a half), so the journal entries aren't that big. Also, we're at level 14 now, so the fights take longer to resolve due to their complexity.
Here's a new entry for this week's game... Unfortunately, our brave heroes faced another daunting challenge yet again, and they barely escaped with their lives. They must have a really mean DM! :|
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Moonday, Rova 5th, 4708 (continued)
Lightning and blasphemy
After getting some healing from Zeeva and Kindrasius, the group returned to the room where they had fought the Barbed Devils. The Wall of Force still blocked access to the Gray Maidens from the south hallway. One of them had left the corridor, most likely to get reinforcements. While the adventurers were discussing where to go, the devil guardians of the castle returned for a second combat. The three wounded barbed devils emerged from the eastern corridor, with another unwounded and gray-skinned barbed devil. From the room where the party had just fought some gray maidens came three erinyes (dark female fallen angels armed with flaming bows) and four bearded devils, red-skinned and wielding glaives.
Another epic battle began: Hipazia shocked the devils with several Chain Lightning and Lightning Bolt spells, causing terrible wounds. These mighty spells, and the rest of the group's weapons, slew the bearded devils and two of the barbed devils. Meanwhile, the Erinyes fought back by bombarding the heroes with Unholy Blight spells, while the Barbed Devils greatly wounded Zeeva with Scorching Rays.
More devils soon joined the battle: three more erinyes, two bearded devils, a mighty horned devil wielding a great spiked chain, as well as the worm-like belier devil. Manius rushed the newly arrived erinyes and killed two of them. The others killed the gray-skinned barbed devil, leaving only one of the barbed devils standing. Alas, Kaeso was slain by the terrible blasts of dark energy cast by the erinyes. Kindrasius was wounded by the horned devil, a nasty cut caused by its tail, which induced severe bleeding. Thankfully, though, a Mirror Image spell had protected Kindrasius from most of the devil's attacks.
Unfortunately, the horrible worm-devil then uttered a Blasphemy that paralyzed the entire group, only for a few moments, but even these few moments of inaction swayed the tide of the battle in the fiends' favor. The remaining member of the Yallops brothers murdered Zeeva while she was in this helpless state, and the horned devil finished off Kindrasius, badly wounding him and knocking him unconscious. As Hipazia and Manius came out of their paralysis, the belier devil tried to make them prostrate themselves before him with a Mass Suggestion, but they both resisted its effect!
Hipazia quickly cast a Teleport spell to bring herself, Kindrasius, as well as Kaeso and Zeeva's corpses back to the safety of Janderhoff. Manius, who had been too far from her to get teleported, had no choice but to use the last dose of elixir of shadewalking. He stepped into the Shadow Plane and made his way, alone, to the shadow-image of the dwarven city to rejoin the rest of his bloody and battered group.
Once she materialized in their safe haven in Janderhoff, Hipazia hurried to give a potion of healing to Kindrasius to stop the bleeding he suffered from the wounds caused by the horned devil.
For the rest of the day, the Harrowed Company recovered from the ordeal... Again, the force of devils had nearly overwhelmed them because of the Blasphemy spell of that dastardly worm-devil... The same spell that the dreaded Ashmede Devil had used in the high, cold tower of Scarwall. Thankfully, the group had killed several devils before having to escape, and now, they planned on returning and continuing their guerrilla attacks, killing one or a few devils at a time, but hoping that they would face easier and easier fights, as the number of guardians of Castle Korvosa dwindled. They also took Togomor's corpse out of the portable hole and went through his stuff; Hipazia took his staff of evocation.
Toilday, Rova 6th, 4708
The torture room
The following morning, the group prepared themselves for another (short) day of battle, enhancing themselves with their usual arsenal of magical effects. Hipazia failed to scry on the horned devil, but she spied one of the erinyes, who was in a torture room, tormenting a poor young man with one of her sisters. Hipazia teleported the group there, and they swiftly killed the two she-devils. The young man thanked them for saving him (although the group, pressed for time, didn't actually untie him from the rack). The heroes noticed Trinia and Zenobia's corpses lying on tables at one end of the room, and poor Ishani Dhatri's corpse hanging from a devilish construct of black stone, iron and lead at the other end. The construct came to a semblance of life and attacked the heroes, but it was destroyed before it could cause any actual harm.
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Toilday, Rova 6th, 4708 (continued)
Underneath the castle
Entering a guard room close to the torture chamber, the Harrowed Company killed two more erinyes. As they explored most of the rest of the ground floor, Kindrasius heard an old man's voice whispering in his head: "... save me... game room..." He was surprised to hear this, as his grip on his sanity was much strengthened since he had begun growing in power among the Harrowed Company. He hadn't heard any abnormal voice within his mind in some time...
The group found some secret stairs that appeared on Neolandus's map. They followed them down and found themselves in a room with a large circular stone plug in the center. The thing looked ancient, and the adventurers wondered what it was blocking, but decided to press on. The south hallway led them to a room whose floor was covered in ancient debris. Four strange statues knelt in alcoves. Entering the room, the heroes felt a strange dryness threaten to overcome them, but they left before the area's terrible trap was triggered. The magic of this ancient trap also summoned four Bodaks, gray-skinned undead whose mere gazes brought great pain. Calling upon Pharasma's blessing, Zeeva was able to protect the group against the worst of the undead's powers, and the four Bodaks were swiftly slain.
Beyond that room, which was decorated with murals of ancient Thassilon, the adventurers found an old sarcophagus that had seemingly been broken from the inside, long ago. No trace remained of the entity that had emerged from there, though.
Quickly passing through the desiccation room, the heroes explored the rest of the underground level of castle Korvosa. It consisted mostly of treasure rooms, which were disappointingly empty. What had Queen Ileosa done with the city's money? It was common knowledge that King Eodred II had very bad spending habits, but it was hard to believe that he could have bankrupted Korvosa before expiring and leaving his young wife on the throne. What's more, Seneschal Kalepopolis had told the companions that a substantial fortune had been here when he was still operating at the castle. So the question remained: what had Ileosa spent all that money on? The Gray Maidens did not require payment, the Korvosan Guard was but a shadow of its former self, the Sable Company had been disbanded, and the Hellknights were called upon less and less...
One of the treasure rooms had a chill air of foreboding about it, and the group found within it an empty chest whose bottom was tainted with the shadowy imprint of the Fangs of Kazavon...
Further, the party came upon the funerary chamber for Korvosa's former rulers. They reverently opened King Eodred II's casket and found the withered corpse of the old king within. Yet, someone had crushed the bodies of dozens of stirges and had placed them over the king's remains as a final insult - as he had been dubbed "The Stirge King" while he was alive; again, as a reference to his spendthrift ways.
The group closed the lid of the sarcophagus and let the old king rest in peace. Further in the catacombs, they found a recently constructed brick wall, which Manius destroyed with his mighty flail. Beyond it was a small room where an unfortunate aged tiefling, part man and part devil, had spent his last days in anguish and loneliness. Curious about the fate of this mysterious character, the companions took an hour of rest to allow Zeeva to pray to Pharasma for a spell that would allow her to converse with the spirit of the deceased.
Once that was done, the corpse's head animated and spoke with the priestess. Kindrasius recognized the voice he had heard in his mind earlier. The tiefling said that he had been left in that room to die by the young wife of his foolish brother. The group was surprised by the implication: had this tiefling been King Eodred II's brother? None of them had ever heard about Queen Domina having had a tiefling son. That would, of course, have caused quite an outrage. But now that he thought about it, Kindrasius remembered an old dream he'd had, not long after King Eodred II's death, when the defunct monarch had addressed him as if he were his brother:
Kindrasius had a strange dream where he was surrounded by fog. He was looking for someone; he caught glimpses of silhouettes through the fog, but could never reach them. Finally, the fog parted to reveal a thin old man dressed like a king, with a fur-lined red mantle and a golden crown adorned with a glittering ruby. It was King Eodred.
Kindrasius called out to the king and said he had been looking for him. King Eodred looked back at him with sorrow. “I understand now, my brother. You betrayed me…”
The tiefling confirmed that his origin was due to the lust of a young queen who had later become powerful (Domina?), and that he had lived in the shadows, spending most of his life in his bedroom on an upper level of the castle, only emerging from time to time to play a game of Towers with his half-brother Eodred. He pleaded for the adventurers to bring his corpse up there, to the game room, so that he may speak to them more easily.
The group placed his corpse into the portable hole and returned to the ground level of the castle, where, after exploring the rest of the level and finding no enemies, they also secured Trinia and Zenobia's corpses within the extra-dimensional space. They finally freed the poor man who had been tortured by the erinyes. He turned out to the an ex-member of the Sable Company, now working for the resistance. He accompanied the heroes, as they would try to safely escort him out of the castle.
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Bloodbath in the bedroom
The group explored the first floor of the castle, killing a few imps and some Gray Maidens along the way, none of which provided any special challenge. Walking in stealth ahead of the rest of the group, Kaeso and Kindrasius returned to the room where they had fought the Barbed Devils the previous day and hear a mournful voice singing: it was the last remaining Barbed Devil who appeared to be greatly missing his brothers. The two men swiftly killed him and allowed him to be rejoined with them in Hell. In an armory, the group showed the Sable Company marine the secret door that led outside, and he got down with a ladder that was stored nearby.
Then, the group returned to the second floor, where they killed more Gray Maidens, but still found no sign of Sabina, even though her room appeared lived in. They returned to Queen Ileosa's bedroom and fought the worm-devil as it shifted out of the ethereal plane to confront them. The Horned Devil also soon teleported in to join the fight, and he summoned three Barbed Devil, making it yet another epic battle. Thankfully, a Silence spell protected the group from the bdellavritra's deadliest spells, and Hipazia used her magic to dispel some of his other magical attacks. When the great worm grappled Manius with his many tongues, Zeeva was able to free the Hellknights with Freedom of Movement. Heroically, Kaeso and Manius greatly wounded the worm with their weapons and some help from Kindrasius's arrows; the vile creature was able to teleport away, but it was within an inch of death.
The adventurers then faced the other devils. Hipazia was able to shock them with many deadly blasts of lightning, and the Barbed Devils were finished off by Manius and Kindrasius. Kaeso charged the Horned Devil, but found him to be a terrible foe indeed, as he dealt him great wounds that were difficult to heal even with magic, and which bled profusely. What's more, Kaeso was stunned by the terrible pain caused by the devil's spiked chain. Zeeva had to intervene and Heal the rogue to save him, and then she had to do the same for Manius and for herself as the devil shifted his wrath to various members of the group. Kaeso was able to deal several nasty wounds to the devil with Serithtial, preventing his power of regeneration. Finally, the group's concerted efforts were sufficient to destroy the terrible fiend!
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Toilday, Rova 6th, 4708 (continued)
Venster's suite
The party discovered a ring of invisibility that the Horned Devil had carried: Kaeso took it gleefully. After healing their wounds, they took the large round stairs and went up to the fourth floor, seeking the "game room" that the dead tiefling had told them about. Part of Neolandus's map was unclear, as he had never ventured in those rooms, so the group surmised that it would make sense that the king's reclusive half-brother had lived there. Indeed, after spending some time clearing up part of the cluttered attic (with the help of several Unseen Servants summoned by Kindrasius), the adventurers found a suite of rooms where the bastard son of Queen Domina had spent his life in seclusion. A large collection of card decks was on display, and as the group examined them, a ghostly wind opened a secret door leading to the tiefling's bedroom.
There, the spirit manifested himself. He appeared as a translucent but healthier version of his corpse, and introduced himself as Venster Arabasti, son of Queen Domina and half-brother of King Eodred II. He thanked the heroes for bringing his bones back to him. In a sad voice, he admitted his guilt in his brother's death: he had been seduced and manipulated by Ileosa into applying some poison to the deck of cards he used to play with Eodred, who had the habit of licking his fingers while playing. This special poison, bought from the Red Mantis, had slowly killed King Eodred, but its effects had seemed like a disease, which had misled the clerics of the city and had prevented them from properly curing the ailing monarch.
Of course, Ileosa had soon gotten rid of Venster once he had outlived his usefulness. His spirit had returned to the castle after his death, impotent to halt Ileosa's rise to power and tyrannical control over the city. Yet he had a sort of empathic link to her and felt some of what she felt. He knew she was inhabited by a powerful evil, and he had felt when she had plotted to spread Blood Veil in her own city, when she had summoned wicked devils, and when she had started the process known as the Blooding: whereby the Church of Asmodeus was collecting blood samples of Korvosa's citizens. Venster sensed that she planned on using potent magic found in a place called the "Sunken Queen" to achieve eternal youth, and that this ritual required the life blood of an army of unknowing sacrifices: her subjects. The link had grown fainter in recent weeks, and Venster told the party that Ileosa wasn't in Korvosa anymore. Indeed, Kindrasius told everyone that he had heard about the Sunken Queen before: it was an ancient Thassilonian pyramid in the vast swamps called the Mushfens, which sprawled between Korvosa and Magnimar. Alas, he did not know its exact location. Hipazia mused that perhaps Togomor would know how to reach it, since he had explored the Mushfens in his adventuring days, before becoming a bloatmage.
Zellara appeared near Venster, the two ghosts knowing that they shared a similar fate: having been killed in horrible ways, and now trying to help the band of heroes into avenging them and preventing the deaths of further innocents. They offered to use their link to the spectral world and to the souls of all of those who had suffered under Ileosa's reign to infuse Zellara's Harrow Deck with magic that could alter the very fabric of the universe around the five members of the Harrowed Company. The heroes would have to choose a number of cards to pick, from one to four, and would potentially obtain great rewards, but also risk great danger, for some cards had truly devastating effects. However, the two ghosts would try to tip the odds in their favor, and allow each character to redraw one card.
And so the session began...
Kindrasius chose to pick two cards:
- The Rabbit Prince: Kindrasius's attacks would become deadlier, but his enemies' attacks would become deadlier as well.
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- The Mute Hag: Since Kindrasius had no compromising secret that could be revealed to the world, instead fate would spread a terrible and humiliating lie about him. The Shoanti archer would now be rumored to be an evil spawn of Kazavon.
Hipazia chose to pick two cards:
- The Dance: The young woman would react even faster than before in combat from now on.
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- The Forge: Since she did not have any major weapon or armor, the effect of this card remained largely inconsequential.
Zeeva chose to pick four cards (but ended up getting a lot more):
- The Lost: A devastating card, Zeeva would forever stagnate as a worshipper of Pharasma, and would never be able to become a higher-level cleric.
- The Theater: Zeeva would gain some of the power of the next creature she would kill.
- The Crow: Another nasty card, Zeeva was faced between losing her most valuable item (a greater strand of prayer beads) or having a powerful ally, Bishop Keppira D'Bear, die. The choice would have been easy for a cold-hearted person, as it could have seemed like a win-win situation, since Zeeva would surely take the Bishop's place in the event of her death, but the kind noblewoman chose to save her mentor and to lose her prayer beads, which was not that big of a deal in the end, as she never remembered to use them in the first place...
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- The Carnival: Nine new cards danced before Zeeva's eyes, and the priestess tried to pick one of the beneficial ones. She succeeded and drew...
- The Cricket: Zeeva's movements would be greatly increased as she chose to pick two more cards through this one:
- The Brass Dwarf: Zeeva became immune to fire, but more vulnerable to cold.
- The Desert: Zeeva would be able to instantly transport the group to a specific location, once. Perhaps once the group knew where the Sunken Queen was located, it could be useful.
Kaeso chose to pick four cards:
Several beings materialized before Kaeso due to the various cards he picked
- The Teamster: A beautiful statue of living marble, an angelic herald sent by Shelyn, the goddess of love, appeared before Kaeso and gave him a magical quest to retrieve and destroy the relics of Kazavon once he had defeated Ileosa. Clearly, this would mean that the young Rogue would not retire to a life of luxury and hedonism anytime soon...
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- The Foreign Trader: A mysterious robed man appeared before Kaeso and offered to sell him some magical items in exchange for decades of his life. While the offer might have tempted a common man, for someone who was already very wealthy, it was quite unappealing. "Thanks, but no thanks," said Kaeso.
- The Uprising: Nine citizens of Korvosa, unfortunates who had died from Blood Veil earlier in the summer, were brought back to life to serve Kaeso. Unfortunately, despite their devotion to "King Kaeso", they were quite loud, undisciplined and accident-prone.
- The Peacock: Kaeso's skin turned rigid and pebbled, like that of a cockatrice. He would be more resilient to blows, but lose some of his dexterity. However, Zeeva reversed this change with a Break Enchantment spell.
Manius chose to pick three cards:
- The Keep: Manius became the owner of a mysterious castle that appeared about half a day's ride east of Korvosa, along the Jeggare river.
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- The Mountain Man: Manius grew in size to over twelve feet tall, now a truly gigantic figure. Thankfully, his magical Hellknight armor grew with him, as did most of his magical items, but his flail remained human-sized and would be more difficult to wield for now on.
- The Snakebite: Manius's personality immediately switched to a much more chaotic one. It seemed that any further progress along the path of the Hellknight would henceforth be barred to him.
Once the drawing was done, Venster and Zellara made their good-byes to the characters. Their work was done in this world, and they could finally move on to the afterlife. Zellara gave a last ectoplasmic kiss on Kaeso's cheek before vanishing.
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The contract
The party then explored the rest of the fourth floor, finding much storage space with little of interest for their current mission. One of the large rooms had a hole in the wall and one in the floor, which showed a strange nest of putrid plants on the third floor. They weren't sure whose lair it was, though. Kaeso left his nine new followers behind to guard the attic, something he convinced them was vitally important with a great bluff.
Crossing a bridge leading to the west tower, the group spotted a Red Mantis assassin lurking on a ledge above. He was swiftly slain by Hipazia and Manius.
Kaeso opened the magically locked door to the tower thanks to his great skill as a rogue, and some help from Hipazia's Diviner's Fortune. The summit of the tower was empty, only showing a nice view of the city.
Going down to the third floor, the group walked on the large terrace that featured three catapults. Intrigued by a tower to the southwest, Kaeso once again picked its lock on the first try and activated a magical Phase Door in the ceiling of the seemingly empty room beyond.
Making their way up this trap door, the adventurers found themselves in a study that contained many books on summoning devils, as well as some tomes that must surely have helped Ileosa in reigning over Korvosa, such as "Despotism for Dummies" and "Crushing a Population's Spirit in Ten Easy Steps". Of more immediate interest was large black leather-bound book titled "Truths of the Sihedron". Hipazia knew that the Sihedron was the seven-pointed star that was the emblem of the ancient empire of Thassilon and its seven wicked rulers, archmages called the Runelords. The book was written in Infernal (which Hipazia could read), and featured one section for each of the Runelords. In the section concerning Sorshen, the Runelord of Lust (who had once ruled the area around what was now Korvosa), someone had taken notes in a delicate penmanship. This person (Ileosa?) seemed particularly interested in something called the Everdawn Pool, a device she believed could still exist today in the ruins of the Sunken Queen. According to the notes, gathering samples of blood from thousand of supplicants was the first step in the ritual; once the pool was ready, the life energy of these donors would be siphoned into a single creature to infuse her with eternal youth. So there it was: to achieve immortality, Ileosa planned on killing pretty much everyone in Korvosa.
The group also found many powerful magical scrolls that mostly dealt with summoning and binding outsiders. Kaeso, thanks to his Mantis Mask, also found an invisible scroll tube made of gold and jewels. Within it was a sheet of human-skin parchment upon which an infernal contract was written in blood:
"MATERIAL PLANE, Being the FOURTH Incarnation of the THIRD Cycle of Mortality, on file in Fallen Fastness 9485784,3728:7845,9888495.
This is a lawful contract between SERMIGNATTO, Lord of the Bloody Quicksands, and ILEOSA ARABASTI, honored Queen of the Mortal City of Korvosa. Their names used for this pact only.
HERETOFORE shall all agents of SERMIGNATTO be consigned to the rule of ILEOSA, such that the following agents of the Nine be bound by her word: MAVROKERAS, the brothers known as YALLOPS, the erinyes VERASIA, DECABBARA, SUISHANI, EVEANIE, and all Imps and Lesser Bodies who report directly to the agents listed above.
IN ADDENDUM shall the heretic ZANZINARIA be BOUND body and mind to ILEOSA, forthwith to augment her flesh and spirit against all things vexing and unforeseen until such time as she might wither and die, whereupon such bondage shall be null and void.
In recompense, shall all pending debts held betwixt these agents of the Nine and SERMIGNATTO be declared null and cancelled by SERMIGNATTO in case of ILEOSA’S successful commitment to perform the following services on a forfeit basis:
1) Support and preparation for future expansion as deemed necessary and desirable to one whose name shall be found on file in Fallen Fastness 4420,40200:0,88490 upon the Salt Towers of Dis, whose name is struck from this contract yet known by the undersigned to be one whose hand guides these words.
2) Pursuant to her own goals, ILEOSA pledges the fundament and development of Korvosa as open ground and fertile soil for infernal use, as recorded by the Infinitium Charters and the Voiceless Vexations of the First-Flensed.
In code 9485784,3728.7845,9888495.
Subject to Asmodeus’s veto, honor to his name.
Signed in blood and bound by soul—
Ileosa Arabasti"
The companions pondered the meaning of this convoluted contract. Who was Sermignatto? It was obvious that this was a contract linking him to Ileosa, but it seemed he was working for a mysterious entity whose name was found in another document kept in Hell. Who was this third party? There was no way to know for now...
But this contract and the leather-bound book were proofs that Ileosa had bargained with devils and was planning on slaying most of Korvosa's population for her own benefit.
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Toilday, Rova 6th, 4708 (continued)
Mistress of the Mantis
The party entered a large room with columns and autumn-colored drapes. There, they fought the last defenders of Castle Korvosa: two Gray Maidens, five Red Mantis assassins and their mistress, a deadly woman who wielded two sawtooth sabers that crackled with potent lightning. Although her minions proved little challenge for the heroes, the leader of the Red Mantis almost killed Zeeva and Manius, and also badly wounded Kindrasius and Kaeso. All the while, she remained completely unhurt. Hipazia was able to capture her temporarily within a cage made by a Wall of Force spell, but while the group was healing up during this period of respite, the Red Mantis leader used a spell to escape to an unknown destination.
After having recovered from yet another brush with death, the Harrowed Company finished exploring the castle, killing another Red Mantis assassin along the way. They found a map penned by Togomor which showed the location of the Sunken Queen and how to reach it from a place called Greenrust Reef on the shore of the Mushfens.
Castle Korvosa was now theirs. They made contact with the rebels and invited them to relocate their base to the castle. Cressida warned the group that Sabina had been spotted over the city, riding a terrifying black dragon. The companions went on a wide balcony and prepared themselves for battle while Sabina rode back toward the castle. They unleashed a barrage of spells and arrows on the leader of the Gray Maidens and her draconic mount. When she got close to the balcony, Sabina forced the dragon to land and even to crouch, putting it in a very vulnerable position.
"Let's kill this monster together!" she cried unexpectedly to the Harrowed Company as she began attacking the black dragon with her own falchion.
The dark reptile seemed flabbergasted and furious to be betrayed by its rider, but its wrath was short-lived, as it swiftly met its demise under the concerted efforts of the heroes.
Sabina then proceeded to tell her story to the companions under the effect of a Zone of Truth cast by Serithtial. She claimed to have followed Ileosa for a very long time out of love and loyalty, but that she had gradually realized what she had been too blind to see for too long: that Ileosa was horribly evil and only loved herself. Now, Sabina mourned the death of Blackjack/Vencarlo Orisini, her old mentor. She wished she could have prevented it; she wished she could have stopped so many deaths caused by the woman she once loved. Now she swore to help the Harrowed Company in putting an end to Ileosa's reign. For now, she would ensure that the Gray Maidens would remain under control and would cease threatening the citizens of Korvosa.