Jounal Entry 12

Journal - Session 12

Having slain a ferocious Sea Drake that had been menacing the port of Inequity, a party of six bold adventurers – Barrack, a plain-spoken dwarven Fighter, powerful wielder of the hammers favored by that strong and dour race; Marik, a reptilian dragonborn Warlock, heir to an ancient and proud lineage, but inescapably bound to a pact granting him supernatural powers; Jaeran, an elven Cleric upon whom the gods have granted a measure of divine power as a reward for his faith; Luke, a cloaked half-elf Wizard of mysterious origins and arcane might; Syxia, a tiefling Rogue, dark daughter of a cursed bloodline, her ancestors given to the infernal worship of fiends; and Ur-Kadar, dragonborn Paladin of Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon, a holy warrior dedicated to upholding the tenets of his faith and protecting the weak with his battle axe – escorted Lord Braccus of Inequity to a council with the King of Ithacar in the town of Folkestone. The realization was soon upon all those gathered in Folkestone that Ithacar was faced with grave danger, as one of the lords summoned to the council was ambushed and murdered.

After an evening of listening to rumors of war and other dark deeds over ale in the Crested Cock, the party woke and made last-minute preparations to escort Lord Braccus back to Inequity. They paid a visit to Gimmar Fellhammer, the dwarven armorer, and inquired whether he had any messages that he would like the party to deliver to any of the dwarves at Draig Durrok or another of the dwarven strongholds to the southeast. The party also visited the temple of Bahamut to see how the construction had progressed, and Ur-Kadar donated additional gold to assist in these worthy efforts, while Barrack checked on the possibility of adding a small wing dedicated to Kord. Following a visit to the temple, the party also called on the Wizard Neltharian for last-minute advice and ritual components; while in the Wizard’s shop, he pulled Luke aside and had a conversation with the half-elf in the other room, away from the rest of the party.

The party then made ready to depart Folkestone, all of them keeping a watchful eye on the road ahead, as they fully expected an Orc ambush en route to Inequity. The first portion of the journey – to Skylde Gate Keep – passed uneventfully, but the party remained vigilant. During this leg of the journey, Luke sent a message to his father, briefing him on the suspected death of Luthien Greenleaf, and his father replied that his enemies would pay dearly for this outrage. As the ruins of the once-proud keep came into view, Syxia went stealthily forward and discovered that the keep had been ransacked and was devoid of any inhabitants; it was presumed that the place had been cleared by the Orcs returning from ambushing and killing Lord Titus of Carrowheel on their way to support their Orcish brethren in the siege against the dwarven stronghold at Draig Durrok.

The party quickly left the vicinity of Skylde Gate Keep for the final leg of the journey to Inequity, which also passed uneventfully. Once safely back in Inequity, Lord Braccus paid the party the remaining 250 gp he had promised as their reward; although he was seemingly upset at the ease with which the party had earned this latest cache of gold, he clearly accepted that he would rather have things go the way they did (i.e., without incident). He was also reminded that the party had slain the Sea Drake. The party then retired to the Black Gull, and began their preparations to depart for the temple of Shar-Ngrond
In the morning, the heroes made their way to the docks, where Captain Weeden and his crew were waiting on board the Swift Retribution. The ship departed Inequity with the tide, and the journey to the Derwinwater delta passed uneventfully, and the Swift Retribution entered the wide river. The initial going was slow, but steady progress was made, and after half a day’s sailing past the end of the dangerous and trackless coastal swamps, the party disembarked, bidding Captain Weeden and his men a fond farewell. They proceed with caution along the banks of the river, just inside the cover of the forest. The rest of the day passed uneventfully, but during the night, during Jaeran and Ur-Kadar’s watch, strange noises were heard in the surrounding jungle. The following day, while skulking through the forest, the party stumbled upon a guard tower - literally. Attempting to be stealthy and cautious, Syxia nearly walked right into a hidden guard, stumbling to her knees and looking up only to find a robed man staring down at her in stern disapproval. A fierce battle then ensued.

Along the river bank, the party could see a guard tower that served to house three guards, all of whom appeared to be underpriests or acolytes of Orcus – two humans and a Tiefling; the human acolyte whom Syxia had almost run into made a beeline for his two companions, who quickly began gathering wet wood to place on a fire, in what would obviously be an attempt to signal others that an attack was imminent. Syxia, in an attempt to redeem herself for her earlier bungling, raced forward and unleashed a Blinding Barrage, temporarily blinding one of the acolytes. Barrack, sensing the need to stop the guards from signaling for help, surged forward and raced through the fire, and knocked the nearest acolyte back and away from the flames with a relentless assault. Luke also charged forward and used his innate magical abilities to douse the fire, further disheartening the outnumbered followers of Orcus. The remaining party members also rushed forward, and eventually slew two of the three guards, keeping the Tiefling underpriest alive for questioning. After several minutes of questioning (and several slaps from Syxia and punches from Barrack), Luke became tired of the lies and misdirections of the Tiefling and killed him.
With no information gained – trustworthy or otherwise – the party decided to wait for the guards’ replacements to arrive. The bodies of the three cultists were thrown into the tower. With Barrack hiding in the tower, Marik and Ur-Kadar hidden just off the path, and the others dressed in the cloaks of the deceased guards, the replacements arrived and the party easily waylaid them, and in the process took a low-level acolyte prisoner, in the hope that he would prove more willing to talk as opposed to the hardened Tiefling; the party gained much useful information from the acolyte, including the names of several of the key players of the temple, a good description of the temple layout and the surrounding structures, as well as the password (S-U-C-R-O) that would be needed in order to enter the gates around the temple.

The heroes quickly devised a plan in which Syxia, Jaeran and Luke would dress as cultists, with Syxia using the Potion of Mimicry to aid in her disguise, and Marik, Barrack and Ur-Kadar acting as prisoners. The ruse worked beautifully, and allowed the party to pass the gates unhindered as they made their way to the temple. As they entered the temple itself, interrupting some evil ritual or instruction, they were greeted by Brother Levron, who asked what they wanted and demanded that they pay tribute to Orcus before entering; the party, not knowing the proper etiquette, guessed and bowed to the demonic statues nearby, first to their left and then to their right. This seemed to appease Brother Levron, who immediately ordered one of the prisoners to be sacrificed on the spot. Syxia, under the magic of the potion appearing to be the slain Tiefling cultist, tried to stall by seeking an audience with Brother X, but to no avail. Moving into action, Jaeran threw Barrack and Marik their weapons, Luke gave Ur-Kadar his axe and shield, and the battle was joined. Barrack once again charged forward, in an attempt to block Brother Levron and his two flail-wielding guards from escaping down the nearby stairs and summoning help. Syxia and Jaeran followed suit, as Barrack was seriously outnumbered and other enemies were quickly approaching. Marik and Luke held down the rear of the temple, slaying those acolytes who attempted to escape, and ensured that the doors remained shut. Ur-Kadar rushed forward to aid Jaeran, as the Cleric found himself surrounded by several priests and a scythe-wielding cultist. Sprinting forward and doing an acrobatic handspring onto the raised dais, Syxia knocked one of the flail-wielding guards off the dais with a flurry of steel blades, and the villain fell prone near Jaeran, while Barrack kept hammering away at Brother Levron and the remaining flail-wielding guard. A small group of acolytes appeared at the rear of the building, and Marik and Luke dealt with them and Luke then used his Mage Hand power to slam the door shut. However, after several minutes, a bell was heard tolling outside: obviously the party had been detected. After slaying all the cultists within the temple, the party barred the doors with several large wooden pews, hoping to delay any attacks from the rear.

Barrack and Syxia, followed closely by the other party members, raced down the stairs in the hopes of gaining some measure of surprise on whatever cultists remained in the dungeons below the main temple. Syxia caught a glimpse of an acolyte racing down a hall and turning a corner, so Barrack and she both threw caution to the wind and charged down the hall; a portcullis dropped in front of them, followed by another to their rear, and three underpriests who had been hidden behind a wall (and peering through small slits or “murder holes”), proceeded to unleash hellish attacks on the two trapped companions. Marik and Jaeran rushed forward and tried to raise the rear portcullis while Ur-Kadar and Luke tried to find a back way in to harry the underpriests. After failing to raise the gate in their initial attempt, Marik and Jaeran continued, and whether through divine inspiration or fear for their comrades, they finally succeed in lifting the heavy portcullis; in the meantime, Luke & Ur-Kadar had located the hidden area in which the priests were located and began their assault, with Luke attempting to Color Spray the priests and Ur-Kadar swinging with his mighty axe; Barrack, in a fit of rage, charged into the fray and delivered a mighty blow to one of the priests while the others fled through a secret door as their fellow cultist choked on his own blood.

The party had no choice but to take a quick rest before proceeding with haste. They soon came upon a locked door. Upon hearing the sounds of chanting and what could only be interpreted as the arrival of many denizens of the Abyss, the party prepared for a final battle, with Jaeran summoning a shield of protection for the party and Ur-Kadar channeling divine inspiration to increase the potency of the party’s attacks. Syxia picked the locked door and rushed forward, followed by Barrack, who despite the horde of 13 demons standing before him, charged forward to try to reach the robed man whom he assumed to be Brother X, an evil Warlock. Also in the room were a Tiefling Heretic and two underpriests. Syxia darted off to the left, and engaged a group of demons to that side, while Ur-Kadar headed to the right, and engaged the enemies on that side. Marik quickly summoned the Hunger of Hadar in the spaces occupied by the summoning circle, in the hopes of slaying any weaker demons and blocking the sight of Brother X and his fellow priests. Jaeran took a defensive position at the end of the hall, in front of Luke, and provided a final line of defense for the vulnerable Wizard as he attempted to close the summoning gate. Luke summoned his potent cloud of noxious gas, providing additional visual cover and another source of devastation for the demons and their evil companions.

The fierce battle continued as wave after wave of newly-arrived demons appeared through the gate. The three remaining Creature Coins held by the party were used, and these produced a bat, a spider (summoned by Marik, it survived the battle) and a weasel. Barrack found himself cornered by two demons and an underpriest, unable to threaten Brother X. Brother X himself, unthreatened by any of the heroes, used his dark pact with infernal powers and cursed Barrack and Ur-Kadar and used another of his cursed abilities to assault Syxia, who was thrust to the ceiling, held to it and severely injured; Jaeran, meanwhile, was dealt a devastating blow by a heavily armored demon with a wickedly long tongue; sensing the Cleric’s weakened condition, a mass of Gnaw Demons teleported to Jaeran and begin ripping him to shreds; unbeknownst to them, the heroic Cleric was prepared for just such an eventuality, having summoned his powerful Consecrated Ground power, enabling him to heal his grievous wounds and damage the weakened demons. That attack thwarted, the demons then focused their attention on Marik, and the mighty Dragonborn Warlock was surrounded as several deadly blows rained down upon him, dropping him in a pool of his own blood. Once again inspired by the light of Pelor, Jaeran moved his healing area to the Warlock, who was instantly revived, and proceeded to further bolster his ally with some healing words. Barrack, seeing his comrade in dire straits, and welcoming the thick of battle, implored the Warlock to use his Fey abilities and switch places with him, and Marik was more than happy to oblige. Barrack was surrounded, and became a whirlwind of steel, raining down deadly blows upon the demons unlucky enough to be within his reach. Thus, the tide of the battle began to turn in the party’s favor. Meanwhile, Ur-Kadar had spied an opening to the evil Brother X, and in a fit of rage, he rushed the foul Warlock and delivered a mighty blow to the villain. In a last-ditch effort to swing the battle back in his favor, Brother X whispered the name of a powerful carnage demon, who obliged the evil Warlock and began the long trek between the Planes. Jaeran, sensing the power of this new demon, began assisting Luke in shutting the gate, and just before the arrival of the powerful demon Bapsezru, the two were able to slam the gate shut.

Upon closing the gate, the party felt a pulse of power that nearly knocked them to their feet. The massive carnage demon, Bapsezru, howled with rage and pain as he faded away. The party quickly put down the remaining minor demons, recovered and turned their attention to the cultists above. While they refused to go quietly and fought to the death, they were quickly overmatched and vanquished. The party managed to take captive one minor acolyte. While he was obviously brainwashed and generally non-cooperative, Jaeran and Ur-Kadar used their powerful insight to discern what was true and false in the information he provided to the party. They also searched the temple and found several important documents that revealed more information. Using these two sources, the heroes were able to learn the following:

• The initiate didn’t remember his prior life, but he did remember arriving here via ship. He believed that he had been at the temple for about a year.
• Supplies and new initiates arrived by boat, but two ships were recently lost. More recent supplies were shipped overland through the Path of Shadows and then floated down the river.
• Most of the documents were from Brother H. They indicate that the third gate had been found and opened. The cultists also seemed to believe that they were close to finding the fourth gate.
• Several documents referred to “Brother I in I”.
• One document noted the absence of Brother K from the recent conclave. Brother I would check on the matter and report his findings.
• The most recent-looking document referred to the success of the plan to create confusion in Ithacar. However, it did note that the plan wasn’t a complete success as only one of the two targets was eliminated. However, the cultists decided to honor their bargain with the Orcs, as clearing out the dwarves would ensure safe passage through the Path.
• Finally, the party found a sheet of parchment that had the details of a permanent teleportation circle. It did not include any indication of the destination.