Session 59 - Keystone Caper

Into Sanctuary

The slave Cazil guided the Ruinlords beneath Sanctuary’s bruised skyline, the heavy scent of ash and mildew clinging to their travel robes. Even Potato, an unlikely companion in any city, drew no more than wary glances; the broken people offered little energy for outrage. Drawing attention meant forfeiting life.   The city’s Thassilonian grandeur lingered only in outline. Tiered pyramids and stepped platforms slouched beneath chains and void-crystal glyphs. Golden mosaics lay shattered and blackened. Temples with upward-sloping eaves still reached for the sky, but their lacquered beams dripped with clotted ichor, and their murals ran red with dried blood. Worm Priests sang guttural hymns while chained work gangs hauled stone and corpse alike.   Above all loomed the Sepulcher, a colossal necropolis of black sandstone, its reliefs depicting a giant woman locked in eternal battle with titanic beasts while crowds of tiny supplicants cheered her triumph. Shimmering distortions crawled across its surface, hinting at protective wards older than the city’s ruin.  

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The Rebels of Sanctuary

Cazil led the party through secret doors into the garbage-choked ruin of an abused and forgotten Thassalonian temple. Here ragged survivors emerged, their eyes filled with cautious defiance. Among them stood Coal-Eye Cason, his half-seared face a grim reminder of the lengths one must go through to avoid becoming yet another wormthrall.   Cason had fought for Sanctuary since before the death of Queen Halvara, the rune giant monarch once sworn to defend these streets. In those days, Karnessa, Halvara’s war captain, had burned back horrors with her glaive, Wrathmourne. Now the queen lay in the Black Sepulcher, her death wards still intact and active. Karnessa had forged the only keystone capable of breaching those defenses. Mak’ar tortured her for years to discover the keystone's location, but had stopped after the stranger’s arrival - Lucius Blackthorn and his six monsters (his ice devil escorts).   Cason offered guidance but warned of danger: wormthralls stalked even this refuge. One such spy was unmasked as she tried to slip away from the temple. Oathgar alerted Tike Myson, who snatched her up and pummelled her into crimson worm-paste before she could infect anyone, or alert Mak'ar.  

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Karnessa Unbound

Cason escorted the Ruinlords deep beneath Sanctuary. Oathgar noted that the stonework in the subterranean corridors was more like that seen in Golarion, hinting that the tunnels were an ancient city that Sanctuary was built on top of. Cason led them to an intersection but refused to go farther, unwilling to risk his family if Mak'ar had any kind of arcane surveillance guarding Karnessa. Alone, the party approached Karnessa’s sealed chambers, the air alive with violet Thassilonian runes protecting the door. Breaking the ward meant wit or power. Cal chose wit, manipulating the ancient magic and deactivating the runes.   Beyond the barrier lay what had once been a warrior’s sanctuary but now stank of old blood and despair. An onyx-skinned giantess, Karnessa the Lady of Wrath, slumped in chains before a triple-bladed glaive mounted to the wall. Yet the chains were no true prison. As the wards fell, Karnessa rose, fury igniting her long-dormant might.   Years of torture and abuse had only fuelled Karnessa's wrath. She attacked anyone who dared to approach, as well as those who didn't. Wrathmourne carved into Oathgar, yet he kept his blade low, assuring Karnessa they had come in peace. Tike entered and set his axe on the ground, repeating Oathgar's assurance that they only wanted to help. He knelt and addressed her as Queen. Their words managed to reach beyond the anger, and Karnessa stayed her blade. Declan entered the room and introduced himself, explaining to Karnessa that they had come to stop Mak'ar.  

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Karnessa’s Hoard

As a show of appreciation, Karnessa revealed her secret caches, which promised both wealth and vital tools. Platinum-inlaid ingots, infernal bribes, rare Thassilonian gemstones, and potent magics lay hidden in the very seat she had been tortured in for years. The keystone, centerpiece of her hoard, pulsed with the legacy of Wrath: "This is my path to vengeance, and now it is yours."  

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Toward the Black Sepulcher

With Karnessa’s keystone in hand, the heroes advanced beneath Sanctuary’s corpse-strewn avenues and through hidden passages toward the Sepulcher’s heart.   There, in a chamber of pulsing voidlight, Lucius Blackthorn stood at the altar, immaculate in Asmodean vestments, the Scepter of Infernal Dominion floating before him, its sapphire core thrumming with stolen power. Six towering ice devils formed a ring of judgment around him, their alien chitin glittering with death-cold light.   Hovering nearby awaited Mak’ar the spellweaver lich, arms spread wide in ritual command. It greeted the heroes in their minds, welcoming them to the end.