"Stand firm! In Cayden's name!" Devon declares. He invokes a prayer to his god as he raises his shield and fires a spike at one of the assassins.
The robed men rush in past the broken pews of the ruined chapel. Two flank Devon while the third attacks Jack with their shortswords.
One scores a critical hit on Devon, though he blocks some of the damage. Another strikes Jack, but Devon uses his champion powers to blunt the damage and allow everybody to shift positions!
Moments later, two hulking daemons step out from the shadows of the vestibules! The skull-headed, vulture-winged fiends raise bows and fire plagued arrows at Dani and Dora!
Dani raises her arm and deflects one of the arrows with the magical bracer she picked up long ago, but the second arrow still catches her. Luckily she fights through the diseased projectile and is unaffected by its plague.
She continues with her song of courage, but casts a spell to help speed Devon up to get them out of this mess.
"Yeah, now we're talking!" Devon says as Dani's magic quickens him. He lays hands on himself before attacking the assassin he previously shot, keeping his shield up. He scores a critical hit, badly wounding the man and drawing on his holy enchantment to heal him further!
"Dora! Can you send those fiends back to Abaddon?" the champion calls.
The doctor takes advantage of Devon's holy power to step away from his foe and next to Dani, catching the man between his blade and Devon's. As the champion hits the man Jack strikes low with the Lancet!
Then he continues to stab!
Dora whipping round at the warning is confronted by an arrow skinning her thigh and quickly casts in order to protect herself before focusing her attention on the demon that shot at her. Following Devon's advice, she begins to cast under her breath.
Unfortunately, the daemon resists Dora's attempt to banish it so fiercely that the sorceress is stunned!
Jack and Devon badly wound one of the cultists with their stabs and slices.
One cultist slips around behind Jack, dripping some gleaming poison on his blade before attacking the doctor. The others likewise poison their weapons before attacking Devon. Devon shields Jack from some of the damage and blocks one of the hits on him with his shield.
The first daemon continues shooting at Dani while the second one moves closer to Dora. It reaches out, coaxing the disease within the sorceress's body into full bloom before firing at her again, though it misses horribly.
Cursing, Devon attacks the poisoner between him and Jack. He only lands one hit, but it is a solid blow, and the enemy falls!
Dora staggers on the spot as all the energy drains from her body.
She tries again on the other daemon, taking every last drop of her might to cast.
The daemon vanishes in a cloud of flies, sent back to Abaddon!
Jack turns on the man trying to kill him and does his best to kill him back!
Being as the group is still continuing to attack and defend, Dani sees no reason to change her song and continues to play.
The man Jack stabbed stabs him back, Devon blunting the blow. Dani takes another arrow from the remaining daemon.
Dani continues to play!
!
Dora stretches out her hand and shoots a green ray at the remaining daemon.
Jack and his assailant continue their dance of blades!
"I'm coming, Jack!" Devon says, quickly vaulting over a broken pew to flank the doctor's foe.
Dora critically strike the daemon with her disintegration beam. The fiend crumbles into a pile of fine powder, leaving only its bow behind! Devon and Jack team up to take down the second assassin.
The last attacker rushes at Devon, scoring a critical hit with his poisoned blade!
"Now, that's just spiteful!" Devon grunts, moving again to flank with Jack.
Jack and Devon have a foe between them - that's usually very bad for the foe!
Between Jack, Devon, and a cantrip from Dora, the last attacker quickly falls. With the moment of respite you now have, you recall the events that got you to this point...
***
Your orders came from none other than Wynsal Starborn, the de facto leader of Absalom following the disappearance of Primarch Gyr of Gixx several years ago. You and your commander, Captain Asilia, met Starborn beneath overcast skies this morning on a balcony of Starwatch Keep that overlooks Absalom’s gray harbor. Two others accompanied Starborn, whom he introduced as his assistant and former adjutant, Harlo Doleen, and Grand Councilmember and City Planner Olansa Terimor.
Terimor, a tall woman of middle age with dark, sharp features, wished to personally thank you for your heroics at the Irorium. “As one of the chief organizers of the Radiant Festival,” she said, “I can most assuredly say that without your bravery, the festival—no, the entire city—would have been imperiled.” After shaking your hands and giving Starborn a low bow, the city planner departed.
Starborn then launched into your briefing. He demanded that the mysterious Infector behind the Irorium bombing be brought to justice. “We don’t know who this person is,” said Starborn, “but we know someone who does.”
Doleen spoke next. “Thraskul Poisonbreath is a half-orc devotee of Norgorber, but he’s also an informant. He has helped the Starwatch from time to time in exchange for immunity for past crimes. Now he’s ready to turn over information on the Infector. Thraskul wants to rendezvous at a safe location—the Sanctuary of Prescience, an abandoned church in the Ascendant Court—and we want
you to meet him there.”
The Ascendant Court features as many monuments to failed deities as to successful ones, but few ruins are as lofty as the Sanctuary of Prescience. Built in advance to honor a prospective goddess of foresight, the temple stands nearly completed except for part of the roof. It was abandoned over 20 years ago when Mbali the Planner failed to return from her Test of the Starstone. Today, the sanctuary’s central chapel contains only sagging wooden pews ruined by rainwater.
Thraskul stood alone in the debris-strewn chapel when you arrived to meet him. After you exchanged pass phrases, the informant quickly told you what he knew in a voice raspy and hoarse from years of exposure to toxic fumes. He explained that the Infector—the mastermind behind the Irorium bombing—is none other than Absalom’s most famous high priest of Blackfingers, Jonis Flakfatter.
Flakfatter operates the only temple wholly dedicated to Blackfingers—the poisonous aspect of the god Norgorber—in the Ascendant Court. Furthermore, the temple’s legitimate surface level serves as a mere front for a larger, secret temple beneath it. The temple’s many crimes—from torturing prisoners to brewing massive quantities of deadly poisons—all occur in this lower level.
“Flakfatter publicly announced that he was leaving Absalom days ago,” Thraskul said, “but that’s a lie—the man’s simply retreated to the secret temple to avoid arrest. He’s done so even amid the Noxious Retort, a two-week alchemy conference held at the temple as we speak. The event is one of Flakfatter’s favorites, with lectures, workshops, and demonstrations galore. With all the hubbub of the Radiant Festival, there are even more strangers attending the conference than usual. I’m sure you could easily slip in with a disguise. Finally, you’ll need to know the secret method to access the lower temple—”
It was at this moment that a violent stream of blood erupted from Thraskul’s throat, the result of an expertly placed crossbow bolt. Before you could even gather your wits, the assassins mounted their ambush.
***
The chapel you are in contains several sodden pews facing a large stage to the north. Faded and defaced murals at the back of the stage depict an imperious Mwangi woman wearing spectacles and looking over a series of complicated architectural plans. Two vestibules open to the south, flanking the main double door, now wholly blocked by rubble. Old debris completely obstructs a door to the northwest. To the northeast, a folding screen once concealed a door, but the screen’s interior panels have all fallen out, utterly exposing the door.
You can hear movement on the crossbeams 30 feet above and see long shadows of several more figures. "We're exposed out here in the open," Devon says. "We have to move!"
Dani hurries along with the others and asks "How did they know we were here! Something doesn't add up!" She points to the northeast, "That way!"
Jack nods his agreement and hurries along, guarding the group's rear.
"It strikes me as a cold day when this sort of thing happens, like the time with the docks gangs." He says cryptically. What he means is We were betrayed, they knew we'd be here.
"Who would have sold us out? Basically, no one knew we would be here." Dora replies, pulling up her skirts to rush alongside Dani keeping an eye at every shadow around her, paranoid of what might have been planned.
Your rush through the door into the next room. This oddly angled room has several life-sized statues on ornate wooden bases. Each depicts a different person holding a shortsword with a flared, spatulate tip in one hand and an abacus in the other. Another door leads out to the west.
Dora’s paranoia pays off as she spots the well-hidden trap in this room! The statues have rollers cleverly disguised on their bases, indicating that they are designed to move about the room and likely attack anybody who tries to cross it. There appears to be a control panel across the room—disabling or destroying should render the whole trap inoperable.
"Stop!" Dora exclaims urgently. "Look there is a trap on those, they would've attacked us too. Jack can you do anything?"
Jack looks where Dora is pointing, swiftly notices the control panel and pauses to consider his options. "Dani, your teleportation spell? Can you take us across the room?" He asks. "Bypassing a trap is always the best option."
"You know I might just try my trusty old trick, and it might be a little less dangerous this time." Dora says, referencing the bombs before extending her long fingers and firing a green ray at the control panel.
The panel crumbles to dust, ensuring the trap will not activate. You hustle across the room and through the far door. This short hall contains several tools in dusty display cases on the walls. A quick scan for magic reveals a jeweler’s loupe on a headband that functions as an eye of fortune.
You press on down the hall and into another room. A large marble statue of Mbali stands in an alcove at the north end of this room on an imposing stone base. She holds an abacus in one hand and has her other hand up to her spectacles. Dry fonts stand in the corners near neat racks of empty pegs.
A shadowy creature surges from the small niche in the statue’s base, unfolding to their impressive height of ten feet tall. Cloaked by wings of darkness, this horrific, skeletal alien appears to be burning from within, a flaming glow shining through their emaciated chest. Among this gaunt being’s most prominent features are shimmering black wings, sharp talons, and yellow eyes that radiate a lambent malice. They coo, “Not a priest of Mbali, nor escorted by a priest of Mbali. At last, the contingency is at hand. With your deaths, my contract is complete!”
The thing concentrates, and three duplicates of itself appear around you, attacking with wings and claws.
Dora attempts to remove the multiple images that are now confronting them.
Dani staggers back a few steps "Oooohh, no-no. No contracts are being completed today, I'm afraid!"
Dani inspires courage but then quickly tries to help stop Devon's bleeding.
Jack strides in with Devon, lashing out once.
Dora is able to dispel the shadow duplicate attacking her, but the other two remain. Devon and Jack move in on the real creature, blades lashing out. Devon’s cold iron sword proves anathema to the shadowy creature, dealing extra damage, and Jack scores several hits including a critical strike! Devon’s wound stops bleeding.
The creature concentrates on its two duplicates, moving them to flank Devon and Jack, then ir attacks Devon, scoring a critical hit!
Dani continues to inspire courage, but also casts a spell to help soothe some of Devon's injuries.
"Thanks, hon!" Devon calls back to Dani. "Come on, Jack, let's take this bastard down!"
Realising that just dispelling its duplicates may not help, Dora instead calls down a large bolt of lightning upon the original shadowy creature.
Jack's tainted blood flows freely across the floor as he joins Devon in pressing the attack!
The creature proves resilient to both of Dora's attacks, taking no damage. Devon lands one blow, and Jack scores a hit with his reactive attack.
The thing continues to use its duplicates as flanking partners as it attacks! Devon blunts some of the damage done to Jack, but he takes more vicious hits, and the champion groans and falls!
"Devon! No! Dora's face is full of fear as she gestures to heal Devon in desperation.
She then pulls the staff of fire from her back.
Dora's magic brings Devon back to consciousness. He groans and stands, laying hands on himself. "Bastard! I get knocked down, but I get up again. You ain't never gonna keep me down!" he says as he slices into the creature with his cold iron sword.
Relieved that Devon is back in the fight without his help Jack attacks, taking advantage of the champion's giving him space and then applies a little battlefield medicine!
Jack lands two telling strikes! The shadow duplicates vanish as the creature falls to the floor. A quick search reveals a hidden door that exits out onto the street! You make good your escape, putting distance between yourselves and the temple of Mbali. You finally have a chance to catch your breaths and plan your next moves...
Now that the immediate danger has passed, Dani starts to work with the injured to get them back to a state where death is not imminent. While they work, they talk "We need to get to into the Noxious Retort." she says with grim determination. "If Flakfatter is there, we need to get him before he does leave the city when the conference ends or he slips further out of reach."
"Right, shall we hit the Wardrobe at Edgewatch HQ and pick our our disguises?" Devon asks enthusiastically.
Dani claps her hands enthusiatially, "Oh, you know how much I love the Wardrobe!" She looks over at Jack and then Dora, "Shall we?" Her smile falters when she she's Dora's grim look and pale face, "Dora. Are you alright? Did I miss a wound?"
"She has been badly affected by the demons poison." Jack says, giving the sorceress a practised once over. "We must return to Starwatch Keep or find another cleric. She is in no fit state for an infiltration at the moment. Doctor's orders!"
Dora stands there as they discuss the possibility of heading to the wardrobe, unusually lacking all enthusiasm for such a task.
"You know how much I love an undercover mission but I...I really don't feel good at all. Daemon's poison you say? What might that do to me?" She goes even paler at the thought and wavers on the spot.
Luckily, the Starwatch has clerics on its payroll to handle such situations. A few minutes with a priest and Dora is feeling much better! When you arrive at Edgewatch HQ, Lieutenant Lavarsus gives you a gruff greeting before Sergeant Ollo ushers you into the Wardrobe to work his fashion magic!
"So what're we aiming for this time. This undercover mission isn't going to be like the rest is it?" Dora says apprehensibly, still feeling a little off her game from earlier. "We have to great this right, we have no room for error here." Dora sticks close to Devon's side, feeling comfort around the Champion.
"Dani what do you think? You did such a good job on our costumes last time, even if we did ruin them!"