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Satisfied with your explainations the queen explains, “While there are some narrow-minded souls among the crusade who blame you for the destruction of the wardstone border, I do not begrudge you for what you did. Far from it. From the sound of it, you saved entire legions of crusaders from a most vile fate by preventing Vorlesh from transforming them, and the blast of energy gave us the time we needed to regroup and prepare for what will certainly come next. But you understand the implications of what you’ve done, I’m sure—the wardstones are gone, but Iomedae has seen fit that you will be their replacement. I can think of no other reason that would explain why their power would have settled in your bodies and souls and didn’t merely fade into the ether. In time, the demons will regroup and reorganize—we can trust their inherent chaos to make this period of regrouping longer than it otherwise would take, but we shouldn’t underestimate them. They’ll be back soon enough. Already I’ve had reports from along the front lines that small groups of demons are attacking fortifications and settlements along the southern border." She continues, "But what intrigues me most is news from several reliable sources that as our fiendish enemies are starting to mass in the southern reaches along the Riftshadow within the Worldwound, they have left several of their northern lairs relatively unprotected. In particular, the fiend Aponavicius has taken the bulk of her army from Drezen, leaving it only moderately protected as she joins with the Storm King in Iz to, no doubt, plot greater attacks on larger targets like Nerosyan, Karcau, and beyond. The time is right to strike into their territory. Drezen was the first of our cities to fall after the First Crusade, and we lost more than our kin and our pride that day. We lost the Sword of Valor, a magical banner carried by the Inheritor herself during the Shining Crusade. If Drezen could be retaken—if the Sword of Valor could once again be held by the crusade... well, I trust I don’t need to explain how well that would affect morale. But with the imminent attacks along the border, I cannot spare many to lead an assault on Drezen. And even if I could, a large army attacking the city would only draw Aponavicius back to defend the place. The obvious tactic is to send in a group of capable heroes with a modest but well-trained army to strike now, while the proverbial iron is hot. And this is why I’ve sought you out. If you can retake Drezen and reclaim the Sword of Valor, not only will you silence the fools who would brand you traitors for destroying the wardstone, but more importantly, you would bolster the entire war effort with your heroism. And I fear we need all the bolstering we can get!" The queen of Mendev finally says, "Thank you for your declarations of loyalty. Your successes and triumphs have not done unnoticed, I now dub each of you Knight of the Fifth Crusade. This title give each of you permission to lead armies and rule lands. In addition I award you these Righteous Medals for you accomplishments." Righteous Medals:
Righteous Medals
Everyone: Righteous Medal of Clarity
I might have missed someone qualifying for a medal so please let me know if you think that's so. Galfrey stands indicating that the meeting is nearly over but quickly answers Cecily, "Your family's estate has not been threatened yet. But that can change any moment. Scouts within the Worldwound tell us that the demons and their minions are massing all along the Sarkora River in Riftshadow, and we expect them to hit Nerosyan, Karcau, and other southern points within a week. I need to get Kenabres in order and head back south in a few days as a result, and I hope you'll be well on your way north by then. If you will write a letter to your family a messenger will see that it's delivered." She pauses for any further questions.
Cecily Tethys scoffs as Cecily brings platinum to buy the horse, "I thought you would want to fight me for it princess. But your money's just as good. I guess the rumors about you aren't all true." Aroden Aravashnial says to Aroden in confidence, "Never enough time is there? I wish I could be more helpful but until my eyes are healed the assistance I can offer is limited. I'm not even sure the Queen herself would have it within her power with Kenabres in the state it's in." Lann and the mongrels Lann buys Dorek an ale and speaks him with a smile, "Cecily has invited me to meet your cheif, this Queen Galfrey. I've heard many things about her from the crusaders, she's immortal, she's met Iomadae herself, or that she's some demon." He laughs, "They all sound like lies to me. Is there anything I should say or do or shouldn't do or say?" Queen Galfrey, Defender's heart You are brought before the Queen and her entourage in a larger room in Defender's heart, the same room where you planned the attack on the Grey Garrison. Galfrey is a young woman in her early 20s and while her clothes are fine they are fit for practicality rather than opulence. Her face is alert but it doesn't carry the exuberance one would expect from someone who looks as young as she does. She stares at each of you in turn, taking your measure with eyes that betray her age. Her eyes linger on Aroden especially. In addition to Galfrey's assistance she has three advisors who are introduced, Aron Kir siege engineer, a wiry man in his middle 30s. Sosciel Vaenic cleric of Shelyn, a tall and handsome man with a kind face, and Nurah Dendiwhar, demonologist, a halfling with an intense glare. Glafrey doesn't stand on formality and gets to the point, "I've heard many rumors about your accomplishments, Heroes of Kenabres. But rumors are usually without exceptions exaggerations and distortions of the truth. Please tell me in your own words what happened."
Irabeth is shocked to find her father's sword was in the Grey Garrison. But she hands it back to Aroden, "I suspect you may need it more that I at this point."
Irabeth nods, "Thank you Tandyn I'll make it a priority." She flags down another crusader and starts organizing. "I'll leave the patrols to your capable hands." After the demons and cultists are driven off Kenabres is a very different city, whereas before the attack it boasted a population of 12,000 souls, it now host only 3,000, yet due to your actions the remaining people have a glimmer of hope in their eyes. This doubles as the Queen's armies begins work to fortify the city against further attacks.
Hey all I have a cold or something and it's knocked me for a loop. I'll post as needed for responses but cutting back on pushing and flavor posts for a bit.
Anevia still has a slight limp but between Thawm's ministrations and time she is back on her feet. "My knee and ankle will never be the same but I can move about just fine now. I'm lucky, without a high priest's blessing that kook Aravashnial will never see again." You can tell that Anevia’s opinion of Aravashnial has softened somewhat based on her tone. Thawm finds she has a long line of people waiting in line for their turn.
Irabeth staggers to her feet, "I... I will be fine." She stares at the party with some amount of awe. Marveling at the changes wrought by the wardstone's destruction. Finally she says, "I need a drink too, let's head back to Defender's Heart. The kobold’s buying, sorry Ahmose." She slaps him on the back, ”You did good. Welcome to the crusade.” The next couple of days are uneventful, even joyful, with the exception of when Cecily discovers that Tethys has appropriated her horse, Alagos, for the crusade effort. You quickly learn that destroying the wardstone fragment didn't merely diffuse the Kenabres wardstone's energy like everyone expected but it released all the energy of the entire wardstone network all at once. The resulting explosion of holy energy slew nearly every demon near the border and drove off the rest. Unfortunately with the wardstones gone no sure defense exists anymore. However a new ray of hope shines on the ruins of Kenabres, Queen Galfrey has arrived with her armies, fresh from the defense of other cities along the south. News of the Queen's arrival spreads quickly, thousands upon thousands of road-weary and battle-worn crusaders pour into the city thankful for a place to rest, even if its a place that's been significantly damaged. Soon Anevia arrives complaining but resigned, ”I’m not some messenger. But who am I to question royalty? The Queen is requesting your presence, at your convenience and comfort. She requests that you bring along any person or persons who were instrumental in your success as well.”
Oriam perks up as the Lillend gives them directions and the party sets their destination. He begins to write something down in a journal, "Ah! No one that I know of knows the dark of those doors. If you can bring back details." He adds with a wink "I know just the person to get bones for your gelatin." To be continued:
You think that you know evil. You think that you’ve seen evil. Death, torture… you seen folks commit evil acts. You’ve probably even run across a fiend or two, or maybe you’ve been to the Infernal Regions themselves, and seen evil, and felt it in your hands.
But (there’s always a but, isn’t there), it’s just when you think you’ve got a grasp on true evil when it really slips through your fingers. Is evil just the opposite of good? Is it hatred, pain, and murder? Is it ambivalence and disdane for others? Sometimes, when you’ve seen a fiend up close, or traipsed through Gehenna’s fiery peaks, you think to yourself, that’s what evil is? Fire and brimmstone, horns and claws? Is there more to it than just that? Of course there is.
The bit of Chaos falls to the floor but its prism does not shatter or seem to be affected in anyway. While Skee pokes at the stuff he sees it form into a purplish orb with what looks white clouds dotting the surface. In a matter of seconds he sees something crawling across the surface. In a moment he realizes that they are artificial structures being built at an incredible speed. Before anyone is able to scrutinize the tiny civilization, it disappears in a flash of scintillating lights. Oriam coughs as he picks it up and carries it away along with some of his more valuable looking trinkets, "Just need to tidy up a bit." The lillend does her best to ignore the request for a copious amount of bones, "Seven doorways are affected by this strange affliction. I can direct you to each but the only details I can provide about them are their names: The Queen's Domain, The Ridged Land, The Swirling Realm, The Place of Wind, The Silver War, The Unclimbable Mountain, The Jingling City."
Several things all happen at once. Tandyn sees a half-orkish woman charging up the stairs, a longsword bloody and ready to fight, trailed by a number of other figures, some injured. Irabeth and a few of the Eagle Watch. Behind the wardstone cage before Cecily’s able to touch the fragment a vile figure coalesces, shadows from the corners of the room form into a seductively beautiful demonic woman with bat-like wings, a horned brow, and glowing red eyes. The architect of the Worldwound, the foul witch Areelu Vorlesh speaks with frustration as she realizes she cannot stop you, ”You only delay your kind’s extinction. But at least I can take steps to hasten your own.” She reaches out with her hand and everyone’s lungs collapse as the air is immediately drawn out of you. Before Cecily loses consciousness she manages to touch the Wardstone Fragment. Instead of the magic being drained from it like you expected, it explodes in a blast of golden light and the sound of an angelic choir. Hundreds of razor-sharp shards of stone spray outwards, destroying the cage and much of the walls, but every single shard misses the party miraculously. You are bathed in the might of the Wardstone and begin to glow as any injuries or maladies you suffered are cured. You receive several visions which you cannot ignore and occupy all of your minds for several moments. You understand these visions with perfect clarity and recognize each of the figures within even if you’ve never encountered them before: Visions of the past and a future never meant to be:
A vision of the first wardstone being erected in the Kite here in Kenabres in 4639 AR, in a ritual involving the aid of the Hand of the Inheritor, the herald of Iomedae: a golden, winged angel with a halo of small swords around his head. This was soon after the Second Crusade began.
In the year 4665 AR, you see a 20-year-old Hulrun leading the burning of dozens of supposed “witches” in the courtyard of the Kite before the wardstone. This event launches the Third Crusade. In the year 4692 AR, you see a vision of Khorramzadeh the Storm King leading a brazen attack on Kenabres. The Storm King manages to strike a resounding blow with his sword against the wardstone, which suffers only the tiniest of cracks as the balor’s sword shatters. Khorramzadeh is then attacked and forced to flee when the silver dragon Terendelev nearly kills him, this event
In the year 4712 AR, you see a vision of Irabeth chasing a burly dwarven man, Staunton Vhane (leader of the Hammers of Heaven mercenary group) into the courtyard containing the wardstone. Both paladins are heavily wounded, and as Staunton backs against the wardstone, smoke rises and he screams in pain. He ducks to avoid one of Irabeth’s blows, then manages to smash her knee with his hammer, dropping her to the ground. Staunton seems ready to deliver a death blow, but the sound of approaching soldiers forces him instead to back away and summon a fiendish giant wasp that he swiftly mounts and then flies away to the north, abandoning Kenabres. You see a vision of Minagho, a demonic woman with a long thin tail, clawed hands, and curling horns protruding from where her eyes should be, placing the wardstone fragment in this room and of Jeslyn using a wish granted by Minagho to create the cage around it before Minagho teleports away. You see a vision of an event you know will now never happen, Areelu Vorlesh using a deep purple Nahyndrian crystal the size of a human’s head to corrupt the fragment, causing the entire border to flash with nauseating mauve fire that devastates the border cities and transforms countless crusaders into half-fiend slaves of the Worldwound. You realize that the demons’ entire plan was to draw as many crusaders to the border to defend it from their attacks, in order to maximize the damage this event would have caused. Dimly you recognize what is happening outside your minds, Irabeth and your other allies desperately trying to rouse you to no avail. Irabeth charges Areelu in a desperate attack before she succumbs to the witch, grasping at her throat. Areelu screams at you in a voice that would normally shatter your hearing, ”The death throes of your Wardstone seem to be protecting you from my magic. No matter. They cannot protect you from my slaves!” She spreads her arms and a rift tears open in reality; babaus, vroks, glabrezus, and a single maralith step through the gate intent on tearing you apart. But then another wave of holy light bathes the room. The rift is slammed shut and the demons are vaporized instantly. Areelu screams again as her body is racked by pain. You hear the sound of her bones shattering and see her wings shredded, then she is gone. You come to your senses and feel the quiet thrum of power resting in your body and your soul, you are forever changed.
Last but not least, loot!: Large size greataxe, 3x scrolls of dispel magic, mwk scythe, 350gp worth of onyx gems, 32 gp, 6x fragments of the Wardstone found embedded in the walls
WARDSTONE SHARD MINOR ARTIFACT
Weapon: A weapon enhanced by a wardstone shard gains the evil outsider bane quality, and is treated as being made of cold iron and as a good weapon for the purposes of overcoming a demon’s damage reduction. The shard cannot be used to enhance ammunition in this manner, but can be used to enhance a weapon that fires ammunition; doing so causes the weapon to impart these qualities to the ammunition as it is fired. Armor: A suit of armor enhanced by a wardstone shard gains the spell resistance (13) armor special ability, but only against evil outsiders. Against demons, this spell resistance increases to 17. DESTRUCTION
I am curious. I like the tactical aspect of the game as much as the role play. @Monkeygod, it's a huge commitment to finish an AP. I've only managed to finish one as a GM. Got close on a second before the weight of the rules collapsed it.
Jek finds that this particular glabrezu was larger and bulkier than a normal specimen and weighs in at 6,000lbs. Oriam straps in and casts a spell making him invisible to normal eyesight. He answers unsure, ”The normal amount?” The plan goes off without a problem. Shavanistra does not molest you on the return trip. Once you return Oriam allows you to stay in his rather large tent filled with a number of arcane texts, some rather plush furniture, and trophies collected from his travels; a bit of Chaos from Limbo safely contained in a magical prism, shifting randomly to various states, a glass of liquid so blue and vibrant that it draws the eye, a chain that radiates a sense of dread, among others. ”I’m a high-up in the Planewalker’s Guild so I’d like to offer all of you membership in our little club for a year, if you want it that is. Also please make my kip your kip for as long as you like.”
As Dorek tries to manuever past the remaining cultists his face is met with the business end of a scythe.
Cecily connects solidly with the cowboy’s solar plexus and it lets out a whuff of air in protest. Dorek fights through the pain and begins carving off chunks of flesh from the now nearly doubled over half-fiend. It then succumbs to its mounting injuries crashing to the ground, the sound reverberating throughout the chamber and throwing up more dust from shattered stones. Ahmose’s bomb sails towards the Deskari cultist breezily. When it impacts, it lights her hair on fire but Ahmose’s snot sloughs off without any effect. The cultists intones a prayer, ”Lord Deskari, Usher of the Apocalypse, Lord of Infestations, clear my sight!” She steps up to the doorway determined to hold it. Spellcraft DC 18:
Remove blindness/deafness Round 2
Round 3
If we find a doppelganger who's wielding a weapon, I think I'd rather they use the weapon rather than their claws. 2x +8 1d8+4 attacks vs +8 weapon and +4 1d8+4.
As Tandyn speaks the prayer from the other room the hidden door swings open revealing a hidden chamber. Hidden armory This small chamber is free of dust. A holy symbol of Iomedae hangs unmolested on the wall above a weapon rack filled with swords, crossbows, and spears. Three wooden dummies wear pristine suits of armor. A shelf holds several leather quivers, each stamped with a golden sun. Two silver shields hang from pegs on the wall. Loot: 3 cold iron longswords, 2 cold iron shortswords, two heavy crossbows, composite longbow (+2 str), mwk cold iron heavy mace, two cold iron longspears, 50 gold iron crossbow bolts, 100 cold iron arrows, 5 holy arrows, 1 arrow of evil outsider slaying, mwk chainmail, mwk breastplate, blinding shield (heavy steel), mwk heavy steel shield.
The breastplate and shields have Iomedae's holy symbol emblazoned on them.
As the wrecker demon moves for a better position both Tandyn and Dorek take the chance as it leaves itself momentarily vulnerable. Dorek slides his deft blade into the creature's hunch leaving a wicked hole which bleeds dark ichor. Tandyn cleaves the monster from its head and into its neck splitting into two halves. Not wasting any time Cecily pummels the remaining demon so hard into the wall, cracks start to form and it spurts dark fluids from its mouth before going limp.
Tandyn and Cecily work in tandem to kill the remaining two dretches. Cecily steps forward and headbutts one of the Abrikandilus, sending it reeling backwards and into the wall.
The tanar'ri dies as Rinika stabs it in the eye, straight through to its brain which immediately turns to dust. Below the strung up body you find a mess of destoyed armor, weapons, and rended flesh. You manage to recover 124 gp and 67 sp that spilled when a purse was torn.
For some reason Ahmose is striken mute momentarily.
One of the abrikandilus tosses the now severed dretch head at Tandyn ineffectiually while the other gives Tandyn the stink eye to no effect.
The Wrecker demons both throw their heads directly at Tandyn hissing in frustration at his resplendent aura. They move away from the party behind the lowly dretches.
Did we want a loot tracker? I have one that my friend made that I can adjust. It's somewhat complicated so I could also do a simple list.
Destroyed Museum This room was once some sort of museum, but its contents have been smashed and scattered across the room. Even the shelves have been shattered and torn apart in places. The decapitated bodies of two knights, their armor and bodies broken and mangled, lie in the ruins. A pair of hunchback abrikandilu's are using the knight's heads as grisly puppets to entertain a trio of dretches. All of them turn to you and let out a gleeful cry. Initiative:
Round 1
"Gurgle"
Unthre pales as the half-undead cat girl and the imposing strix pepper him with uncomfortable or confusing questions. He stammers, "I.. I.. uh."
But Yuliya slaps the strix across the face. Yuliya begins to contort in a complex series of movements.
Unthre says more confidently now, "Please don't talk about her like that. She's here and a person like you or me. The " The halfling turns to Rinika, "Uh. I don't know what your situation is but I think you're fighting each other. If you can achieve harmony you'll be able to accomplish more than what the other could do by themselves. At least I think that's what you're asking?" Yulia signs some more and Unthre asks, "What happened to us?"
As Thawm opens the window and pulls up the rope she sees a pair of cultists running for their lives away from the Grey Garrison.
I've probably played this intro 10 times now (lots of attrition in PbP), so far this is right up there near the top of my experiences with it. Well done GM Nightmare
You can see the halfling blink for the first time since you saw him and he shakes his head wearily. He says, "What? By Yondalla, my head." The halfling lowers his lance before asking, "What is going on here? The gods bade me to defend this stairs from all intruders but now I'm not so sure that's what happened."
On second thought I think I'd rather not change my character right now. Between +9 init, stealth, and catch off guard I should be able to reliably get sneak off a couple of times each combat.
Initiative:
The halfling looks confused for a moment and replies, The ones you can see over there," he points directly at the party, "with huge arms, some of which are very nearly two leagues long." He continues, "Obviously, you don't know much about adventures." He readies his lance.
Between Dorek’s subtle blade and Tandyn’s holy might, the enemy alchemist is put down before he can answer Dorek’s question. Ahmose instead of helping smacks into a wall behind Cecily but lands on the stairs behind her perfectly. The hallway is only slightly on fire and you’re able to traverse it if you’re careful. Loot: 5x potion of cure light wounds, potion of cure moderate wounds, potion of barkskin, potion of invisibility, potion of spider climb, MW leather armor, four silver holy symbols (2x Iomadae, Shelyn, and Desna), Scroll of magic stone and remove fear, 3x MW chain shirt, 3x MW scythes, 30gp
Cecily’s claw strikes true, rending the poorly protected tiefling and rendering them unconscious from the pain and blood loss. She then vaults over the banister, cutting off the alchemist’s potential escape. Ahmose leaves the remaining cultists a smoking ruin of their former selves.
Aroden and Thawm work together to weave a more potent magic missile, unfortunately the missiles wink out of existence right as they’re about to strike the alchemist. Tandyn, Dorek, and Cecily press the assault and manage to cut down two of the tieflings, pushing further into the hallway.
Working the problem from both ends Ahmose immolates one of the cultists to a crispy body at the door and badly burns the other two.
The enemy alchemist returns the bombardment, striking Tandyn directly and setting the paladin on fire. The explosion bathes the hallway and its occupants in it. The tieflings within weather the flame without problem however.
One brave tiefling surrounds themselves with the PCs and thrusts their sword into Thawm’s arm, drawing fiery blood. The other faces off against Cecily but she sidesteps the thrust with her uncanny reflexes.
The cultists both draw scrolls and both Tandyn and Cecily feel unnatural fear welling up within them as the scroll’s magic is released. Tandyn’s connection to his goddess overwhelms the sensation and bolster’s Cecily’s resolve.
Dorek tries to get into position while Thawm becomes an energy elemental. Through divine guidance Tandyn sweeps the enemy alchemist off his feet and he crashes to the ground.
The alchemist stands up while ducking under both Cecily's fist and Dorek's sword, right into Radiance, which nearly skewers him and would have killed a normal person. The alchemist scrambles away heading towards the stairway. Three tiefling guards rush up the stairs to defend against the invasion but only one is close enough to effectively attack, which isn't very effective even still.
One of the Deskari cultists manages to issue a command to Tandyn, "FLEE!"
She explains back at Nik with a hint of desperation, "Well you'll excuse me for not dispelling my spell. I don't know you!" She pauses for a moment and then adds, "No, I don't like the look of them." Another pause and she says, "Alright fine Cassara, maybe if you gave us some water and food we can give you the dark on where Oriam is holed up."
Cecily beats a fly to within an inch of its life and then Dorek finishes it off with a stroke of his sword. Dorek then maneuvers to the remaining fly, piercing it, sending hemolymph onto the wood floor. Thawm’s shot is spoiled by her concern for her companions and it goes high.
The party then gangs up on the remaining fly, putting it down.
Dorek opens the door to find: Several stacked horizontal shelves hold a number of small, straw-lined bird cages. A stack of parchment, three quills, a pot of ink, and a pile of tiny cylindrical objects cover a nearby table. Three giant flies also alight on various parts of the chamber; even more grotesque they have malformed hands on the tip of each spindly leg and human-like faces except for deformed rasping maws. Initiative:
Round 1
The party gangs up on the remaining demon cutting it down with ease.
The fungus “speaks” to Nik instructing him on the way of Shadow magic on Arcadia. ”Take water from a stream on Arcadia and bound it in a bowl shaped like a regular quadrilateral with each angle measuring ninety degrees, then muddy the water. It will work for all illusion magics.” Skee doesn’t get far before he encounters a physician originally from Sigil, she is tall and thin, has open sores on her skin that don’t seem to bother her and wild unkempt hair. While the woman doesn’t know anything about Trascalia she does speak with him at length about humanoid physiology and asks relentless questions about his golem, Skee’s own internal organs, and advises him on how best to flay a manes alive so as to observe their internal structure without getting a face full of acidic gas.
Dorek charges forward bashing his brother's head, leaving a dent rather than a lump after Dorek pulls his weapon away.
Kandro steps ahead and immediately drops the scythe held in his hands. He looks at Thawm and smiles and then a mouth within Kandro's mouth bites Dorek, taking a chunk from his shoulder!
The Huresk moves slowly maneuvers around Dorek while taunting him, "Did you know this meat? Your attachment makes you weak."
Hulrun's eyes turn pitch black and lashes of negative energy strike Tandyn and Dorek, sapping their life; and also striking Huresk healing his wounds.
Spellcraft DC 20:
And one of the few ways I know of that changes your subtype to elemental which has weird benefits like not needing to breathe.
While I get the next post up after you rest you level up. You should be 4th.
Irabeth nods grimly as the party reports their findings, ”We’ve heard mention of these crystals before, and I fear that they’re tied to something far worse than what’s already happened to Kenabres. Please follow me, we should talk to Quednys.” As you walk Irabeth answers Aroden, ”And I was worried that I couldn’t impose on you any longer. I’m happy to have you, and any of the rest of you in the Eagle Watch, even if it’s only temporary. You can swear an oath if you like, at least until the crisis in Kenabres is over. Do you think Sir Tandyn would make a good field sergeant for your team?” War Council The meeting consists of the party, Irabeth, Anevia, a tall and imposing half-elven woman who is introduced as Tethys the leader of the Ash Ravens, and Quendys Orlun a wizened man with white hair on a balding pate, and a tattoo of an eagle on the side of his face. After giving your report Quendys explains, ”When the wardstone was destroyed by the Storm King, it exploded and destroyed the Kite. The network along the border failed, but did not fade completely. I believe this is because a significant portion of our wardstone still exists, and that the cultists have taken it to the old garrison in Old Kenabres. What you’ve brought us almost confirms that they’re hoping to engineer a way to somehow corrupt wardstones with these Nyhindrian Crystals. I’ve read that they’re the crystalized remains of murdered demon lords, the power they hold could in theory be used for this. They would use our greatest defense as a devastating weapon.” Anevia slams her hand on the table, ”That was the play! And why they haven’t attacked en masse after Kenabres fell. They expected Mendev to send its armies to the border. That witch Areelu was counting on it. Line us all up next to the wardstones, and bam take out the entire network and us next to it.” Tethys nearly growls, ”There’s no way we can evacuate the border. I doubt most would give up the defensive line even if they knew the ploy.” She suggests darkly, ”Destroy it, the remaining part of the wardstone. No wardstone, they can’t corrupt it.”
With a splash of boiling blood on and the demon is finally felled. The four cultists surrender to the party obeying Faxon’s orders. Recovered enemy assets:
4x cure light wounds potions, MW chain shirt, MW glaive, 40gp, scrolls: ray of sickening, moment of greatness, doom, inflict light wounds, the bull head on the wall is a Brazen Head. After Thawm conjures water to douse the burning chest you find that the contents are stacks of paper, blackened and now soggy with water. They document the Templar of the Ivory Labrynth’s movement around the city. The attack on the city was years in the planning and heavily involved cultist infiltrators. It includes a list of names, too late to help Kenabres, but it does include operations in other cities. Loot in chest: 2310 cp, 759 sp, 122 gp, 11 pp, MW longsword, 2x MW scimitars, wand of bless weapon (18 charges)
Nik pops another mane while Skee's bolt fails to harm the other.
The golem freezes one of the manes solid causing its body to explode, bursting with acidic ice chips that dig into Jek’s flesh. Nik drains the life out of another, he wonders if this will override their immortality, but regardless it dissolves into an acid cloud like the others engulfing Jek, Skee, and Rinika. Finally Rinika shakes the bones out of another Mane bathing Jek in another cloud of caustic gas.
Nik knows that they are resistant to fire but not immune. And that he needs a spell key to evoke fire on Ysgard anywhere but Muspelheim.
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