C2 Session 24

Koin mutters profanities, before sighing deeply and expressing his frustration

He thanks Dara, but as he does so, notices that she is on her knees in a state of complete shock

She apologizes in a soft tone, saying that it must be her fault for how Henry’s resurrection turned out

Koin and Adrezill console her and assure her that it had nothing to do with her

There is a knock at the door, and Rafwar enters and asks about how the resurrection went

Koin informs him of the events, and Rafwar is very confused but says that Koin must find him and bring him back

Whitefang bursts in the room and says that he saw Henry run into the forest

They fill him in on the resurrection, and plan to go after Henry

They re-enter the village and hear a nearby murmuring

They go towards the noise, and the people around them part due to their intimidating appearance

They peer in the noisy tent to see three darkened figures hanging by their necks

Their bodies are black and decrepit, blood dripping, flesh torn

The people around are horrified, and Koin finds a man examining the bodies, not medically, but out of curiosity

Zoroc sees a large sharkman and tabaxi and odd blue skinned man walk into the tent

He asks them if they know the cult of Tsidas

They don’t, so he informs them of their brutal acts and their plague on Zamboza

Koin looks around and sees a tabaxi man that seems to be less bothered by the event, but certainly not interested, he seems unbothered as if he has experience with these events

Koin calls the man up to inquire about his stillness

He says that he comes from the upper district, where it has happened many times before, but this is the first one in the lower district, that is why everyone is horrified

Men in medical gear arrive and begin investigating

One asks if there is an eye around, there isn’t, but they realize that there is no eye wound, but the eye is just missing

The medical people shoo everyone away and begin draping the bodies, carrying them off north and into the forest, not directly towards any specific village or area

Zoroc and Koin make introductions, and talk more on the happenings

They agree to join forces to investigate the mystery

They agree to head to the upper district, and Zoroc mentions that he saw a ginger-haired man dash off towards the upper district

Whitefang comments on the bodies looking like they didn’t struggle at all

They notice a large amount of people looking oddly at them

They begin walking towards the upper district

In the mid city, people are pretty normal, but in the upper city, everyone looks angry and unhappy

The houses are the same but are in much worse condition

There is a large stone tablet that has splashes of paint that a few people are gathered around, but there is only houses besides that

Koin sees a child trying to carve something into the stone with a knife that is very recognizably Henry’s dagger

The child notices them and dashes behind the rock, they ask where he found the dagger

The people look weirdly at them as they seem to be talking to a rock

Koin rounds the corner and the kid dashes out, stabbing him

He says Tsidas will make them pay, and runs into the jungle

They chase, and Zoroc warns Koin not to capture him so they can see where he is going

They reach a small dropoff and see a large creature skull poking out of the ground

The boy runs inside the mouth of the skull

They all catch up to Koin, and Zoroc examines the skull

He doesn’t know the name of it, but knows it was a creature that was only rumoured to exist, and this skull is that of a serpentine creature that is significantly smaller than the average of its species

The closest term for it is a naga, or specifically a sea naga

There are decoration visible in the teeth

There is rope strung around with a collection of body parts and a floor of coagulated blood

They see many sets of footprints in the blood falling into one of three categories: one tabaxi, one small human, and a shoe print

Zoroc hovers in front of them with Koin at his side

They go deeper and see many more body parts hung around, as well as runes and inscriptions on the bones

The throat curves downwards into the ground

Zoroc reads the runes: power, sacrifice, etc. and a few sentences that speak of a second coming and hell’s aligning, a new era

They hear a pitter patter of footsteps all around them

Koin ignites his sword, but no light sheds from it

They descend into the throat, and begin rounding the curves

There are bloodstained lanterns hanging and emitting a red light

Adrezill hears a sound behind him, and a cloaked man jumps out and slash him

5 others jump out and slash at him, a few hitting and a few missing

3 others go towards Koin and Zoroc

Koin deflects a shadow scimitar, but one hits Zoroc and blinds him

Koin goes in for an attack, but swiftly misses and swings again, slicing one

It staggers to the floor, stumbling in the coagulated blood and dying with a smile on his face

He punches another one and kills it

Whitefang shoots at one but misses

Zoroc revs his crossbow and shoots one, instantly killing it

He tries to shoot another, but accidentally pokes Koin

One attacks Koin, barely touching him

Xodon appears at the same time a cultist jumps on Adrezill

Adrezill aims at the one that just attacked him and kills it with a fire bolt

Koin turns to face the one that attacked him and swipes at him, killing him

He kills another one with his sword, and another with a flurry of blows

Xodon quickly turns to the one next to him and slices it up

Zoroc is unblinded and immediately shoots and kills the last cultist

They continue on after Xodon and Zoroc introduce themselves to each other

The bloodstained lanterns continue downwards as they descend quietly

Koin is the first one down, and is up to his knees in the viscous blood

In the middle of the room is a man tied to a tablet, and another man above him holding a blade and stabbing the tied up man, ripping out his flesh

Koin shoots him with a blowgun, and the man turns around, saying that they are too late and he has his powers already

He dips the blade in the blood and it attaches to the blade, making a bloody greatsword

He begins moving quickly towards Koin, the blood pool seems to be speeding him up

His eyes go black, and he mutters an incantation. He says that he will show them the power of Tsidas

He swings at Koin and misses, but swings again and hits

Koin can’t move

Xodon tries to attack

Zoroc shoots bolts at him, and binds him to his spot

The man asks Zoroc why he has betrayed him

Koin shoots a blowdart at him and completely misses

Xodon dashes at him and puts the sword to his neck and asks him what his cult is doing

He refuses to answer, and leans into the sword, dying

Zoroc collects a vial of his blood and digs the sacrificial blade out of the blood

They travel down the hallways, and begin hearing voices distantly

They reach another chamber only lightly spattered in blood, and a spiral staircase they go down

They enter a large circular chamber, and see roughly 50 men in cloaks looking in their direction

Some are more ornate than the others, and rising above the rest is a witch dressed in a red cloak and bones of humans strewn along her cloak and body in an ornate fashion

She says that the group are powerful sacrifices to Tsidas

Tells the cloaked men that if they want true power they have to sacrifice them

The woman’s body begins cracking and reshaping

Six of the men’s bodies crack open, the blood moving to the walls and forming an enlarged version of the sacrificial circle they’ve seen before

Koin throws a large ring of stars out, killing a few

Xodon rushes in, black tendrils spewing out of him and killing a group of them

Zoroc shoots one of the more ornate beings, killing it with a beam of fiery light

He shoots another one with a large glob of acid and kills it

The group of men move in, a couple attacking Koin and missing, and another couple hitting Adrezill

A couple attack Xodon and hit

A couple hit Zoroc and hit

One of the ornate men begin casting a spell, summoning a large spear above Zoroc that slams down, missing

Another tries to entice Adrezill with a spell, but fails

Another one lightly binds Xodon as a smaller man walks up and slashes him brutally

Adrezill barely avoids being bound the same as Xodon

He sucks in and lets out a burst of cold air, killing all of them

There is a door on the other side of the chamber that they open, which reveals another staircase going deeper

They rest for a bit before heading down the staircase

There are red vats in the hallway they enter, similar to those in Zedek’s lab

They enter a chamber where their vision is limited to about a 45 foot sphere

There are tapestries all along the walls depicting Tsidas murdering people

Xodon senses a presence, and they inch forward

The witch sits in a throne of bones, talking about how they would make great sacrifices and their souls will witness the new era

She casts a hex on Zoroc, as she senses something in him

Koin compels her into a duel, and immediately begins slashing her with his fire sword

She casts a couple spells on Koin, almost knocking him out

Xodon tries to shoot at her but misses

Zoroc blasts her with and eldritch blast and shoots her with a bolt

She bends her body, and Zoroc’s body also bends and is shot back

She then channels an even more powerful spell, hitting all of them

Adrezill walks up to see the witch and throws a lightning bolt at her

Koin deals the finishing blow, and Xodon grabs her bone cloak

They find a hole behind her throne that is slippery, and travel into a chamber with 5 men

Koin attacks and does damage

The men begin attacking Koin and Xodon, binding Koin and slashing it

They also bind Zoroc and knock him unconscious

Adrezill sends out a large chain of lightning

Koin frees himself

Xodon runs up on one and kills him

They all rest before continuing through the tail of the beast

They enter a chamber and find a book of gibberish, and in the middle of the book is a manual to a blood forge

The forge states that you can power the forge with the heart of a creature on the edge of death and a lot of blood, and it will forge a powerful artifact

They enter the next chamber, but it is longer than the others and is visibly not part of the beast

They see a figure on their knees on a ritual circle

It’s Henry, but it doesn’t look like him

He has tubes pumping blood in or out of him, and is hands are hooked and chained

He is tainted ritually and is shirtless

As they are looking at him, they hear footsteps behind them

There is a man, decently sized, brown scruffy hair

Koin recognizes him as the shopkeep that sold him the rings to revive Henry

He tells them that they should leave and this goes much farther than they will ever understand

He grows a little taller and begins transforming into a much bulkier form

He is a fully fledged vampire, and is ready to defend Henry’s body

Koin channels his divine platinum energy, but he resists it

Xodon slashes him twice

Zoroc tries to ensnare him, but fails, so he shoots him with his crossbow

Koin slashes him and divine smites him, killing him in a platinum flash

He perishes, but then a whistle comes from Henry’s location, and the man is there, a perfect clone

Henry breaks from the chains and the man rips his heart from him

Henry reaches out and asks Koin for his dagger

Koin hands it to him, and Henry’s sun symbol on his head glows bright, and a radiant dagger stabs the vampire

He turns into mist, and Koin grabs Henry’s still beating heart

He tosses it into the embers of the bloodforge

The flames light up but it is not hot

Koin cuts his hand and begins draining blood into the forge

After a while, the forge opens and there is a sword

It is made mostly of blood, and the hilt is adorned with ruby pieces that still seem to beat a little bit

Koin has obtained the vorpal sword

Through the events of traveling through the beast, they discovered that the god known as “Tsidas” is actually Captain Laffer of the Dragol Armada, also known as Siren