Session 422 - The Fallen Warlord
General Summary
26th of Ilvin (Winter) 728TR
The story so far
A group of heroes battle the evils haunting the beleaguered Kingdom of Kanday.
Sir Odin, a former Erkan of the Order of the Checkered Shield, has been raised to knighthood.
Remy, a former master thief and active gambler, has won and lost fortunes.
Abaddon has traveled the wilderness, perfecting his impressive martial skills.
Edelina, a scholarly priestess of the god of Knowledge Save K’Nor, joins them on their adventures.
This is the continuation of Session 420 – Echoes From The Past.
The heroes have been hired by the litigant Mylene of Sarin to clear out a mine infested by strange crystalline entities and recover the source of these elementals. This crystalline nexus opened a gateway to the elemental planes. Unfortunately, the heroes thought it was better to trade the crystalline nexus to one of the elementals in return for him returning to his home plane.
The miner's guild will be happy with the heroes actions; however, the litigant Mylene may be disappointed, as their pay was conditional on the party recovering this artefact for her.
Location: The Free City of Aleath in the Kingdom of Kanday.
Part 1- The Litigant is Worried
The heroes listen to her story with rapt attention. “Two years ago, I was in the City of Tashal in the Kingdom of Kaldor after good King Minigath died, and when the orcish hordes of the New Empire of Lothrim invaded. When Tashal was overrun, one of the Empire’s commanders was Sir Maelston duVyle, a warrior from Shorkyne. DuVyle was responsible for the slaughter of much of Kaldor’s legal fraternity before being promoted to a provincial commander based in Castle Gardiren.
Luckily for duVyle, he was late attending the infamous Council of the Wise and avoided the explosion at Elend Castle, which wiped out most of the empire's leadership, leading it to collapse into chaos. He ruled Gardiren as a warlord and tyrant for six months and attempted to negotiate an accommodation with King Conwan Elendsa. The new King refused, and duVyle escaped days before his castle was besieged.
DuVyle fled to the Thardic Republic and then moved on to the Kingdom of Rethem seeking a position of power. However, this was not successful, and he has recently been spotted in this city, aboard the merchant ship the Razorwing."
Mylene wants this Shorkyni nobleman eliminated, and the heroes agree to help. Even the normally prim and proper Edelina gladly agrees to help.
A quick investigation reveals that the Razorwing is a merchant, part-time slaver, and troop ship. However, it probably has only a dozen crew, including guests, duVyle, and his companions.
Part 2 – A Raid
Using their superb stealth skills, the would-be assassins, aided by a bit of magic, sneak aboard and make their way down into the hull of the Razorwing, avoiding the three crewmen on deck. Things go well; the sound of several men singing sea shanties and loud snoring shows that more than a few of the crew members partake in the dosed wine.
But unfortunately, all too quickly, the plan becomes unstuck. The heroes ambush a lone sailor, but by the narrowest of margins, fail to incapacitate him before he shouts an alarm. The crew is alerted, and this fight is on. Five pirates swarm the party, but a much more dangerous villain arrives from a nearby storeroom. A powerful sorcerer and retainer of duVyle points at Edelina, and within a second, the party’s healer is almost Disintegrated. She survives being turned to dust only by using her powerful time-manipulating magics. The Remy attacks the sorcerer, and the coward backs off into a corridor, then unleashes a Chain Lightning, followed up by a Power Word Blind, which removes Remy’s vision for a few vital minutes. Again, poor Edelina is blasted; once again, only her magic saves her life. She backs away while the heroes deal with the pirates and the sorcerer. The pirates are eventually cut down, and Remy takes great pleasure in impaling the sorcerer with metal spikes.
Part 3 – The Warlord's Fate.
The heroes have little time to rest. On the deck below, several pirates and duVyle are awakening the drugged crewman from their drunken slumber. They race upstairs while the crew on the deck makes their way down. Edelina, still smarting from the pounding she took, creates a Blade Barrier along the corridors. Several pirates try to jump through and are chopped to pieces. However, duVyle and a tall, tattooed Kuboran warrior bodyguard nimblely dodge the blades and engage Odin and Abaddon. Two more pirates are badly injured by the blades, so the remainder decide to back off.
The blind Remy, directed by his friends, conjures a burst of razor-sharp metal cards which shred duVyle and his barbarous companion. The shorkani knight staggers back, several arteries are sliced, and he begins bleeding badly. Nevertheless, he fights bravely as Abaddon cuts down his barbaric companion.
Edelina can now focus on healing magic and attempts to Dispel the blindness on Remy. This is a hard ask; the magic is much more powerful than her abilities, but despite the odds, she succeeds. With his vision restored, Remy makes an offer to the confused pirates behind the blade barrier. “Join my crew or die”. Three, badly wounded and somewhat inebriated, crew take up his offer while four more back off and make their way to the top deck. Despite being surrounded by a growing pool of blood, duVyle continues the battle but is beginning to falter. Then the four crewmen reappear, leaping in from above, catching Edeline by surprise. Odin and Remy rush to her aid and slaughter them before they can do harm, while Abaddon holds the knight off until he passes out, falling to the ground, from blood loss. DuVyle is dead, and the heroes think the fight is over, but they are in for an unpleasant surprise.
Part 4 – A Close Call
Behind the Blade Barrier, one final pirate who has not yielded makes a desperate decision; he races down to the hold. One of the surrendered crewmen shouts to Remy, “Stop him, he is going to free the undead!” Remy ever mobile races after him. At the back end of the hold is a room with a well-secured door and several cages with a dozen corpses lying on the floor in pools of blood. Remy directs a volley of metal rods at the final pirate, killing him as he attempts to open the barred door and release whatever evil lurks in the room.
The heroes have captured the ship and slain the criminal warlord. What will they do now? Remy has plans.
To be continued.
NPC Interactions
Mylene of Sarin, Aleath's best and most expensive litigant.
Seneschal Renadagha of Aleath's Guild of Arcane Lore.
Related Content
Nothing this week.
Created Content
Nothing this week.
Player Characters
Odin - Human - L13 Ranger
Background - Martial Disciple.
Archetype - Shadowdancer, Investigator, and Fighter.
Abaddon - Elf - L13 Monk
Background - Martial Disciple.
Archetypes - Druid and Familiar Master.
Remy - Human - L13 Aerokineticist (with Metal second gate)
Background - Acrobat.
Archetypes - Acrobat and Thief.
NPC Companion
Edelina - Human - L13 Holy Sage Sorcerer
Background - Astrologer.
Archetypes - Psychic and Time Mage.
