Session 007: In Which Cagoth-ze is Captured and Souls Are Sundered

Wherein Exposition Occurs

  Mattias and R.O.N. rush into the crypts, full of righteous fury. Arrows and fists fly about turning solid bone into dust. Energizing the party who is paying the price for grave-looting at a place so close to a portal to the Dry Lands. Mattias jumps across bone pits to save Erky as he lies bleeding out beneath the skeleton forces but he gets shoved mid-jump and is only able to save Erky from falling into the bone pit. The nimble-footed monk uses Slow Fall to absorb much of the damage but our hero still succumbs to his wounds and gets captured by the time gnome Cagoth-ze. The Wraith reigns terrors as he fells heroes like saplings upon an axe - one-by-one. Ushulx... Gru... Both fall before him yet that is not enough to sate his anger at the living...   Out of desperation Konrad's Wand of Wonder and called forth! What wonder will it bring? It zaps Gru's body out of existence and sends it to the Ethereal Plane - a transitory plane that connects all others, a lifeless empty plane that is the realm of ghosts and spirits unable to fully move towards the Afterlife.   After the skeletons are destroy an exit path is briefly available which the heroes take to flee. Spirits broken, the heroes make their way back to Redtower, nearly half the group lost one way or another...   A long rest filled mostly with nightmares is all Erky takes before marching back to the Scarlet Citadel, resolved to avenge Ushulx. But some sense is brought to him as the Ethereal Gru calms his focus and convinces him to get help from the Temple of Rava. The heroes strike a deal with the Temple to retrieve the available bodies (the sulking elfmarked Norneth is particularrly adept at sneaking into places) and resurrect them. Ushulx returns to life and the party prays to Tyr in an attempt to make Gru whole again but it only partially succeeds and both the spirit of Gru and Ushulx reside in her body. In return for services rendered (they're poor) the heroes agree to investigate strange happenings going on in Zobeck, the center of power for Rava. There are rumors of new style of gearforged that are not Children of Rava. These use elemental souls to power them and detractors say it has more akin to slavery than simple automatons.   The bond between Ushulx and Erky continues to grow... but now it's complicated with a third wheel who may not be as understanding about religious practices surrounding blood cults and Charun the god of Death. The heroes need only save Mattias to be fully reunited so they strike down towards Cagoth-ze and get the slip on the little gnome, stabbing him in the kidney and taking him prisoner!   A brief look around the area and Fox, the comes across a spikey humanoid trapped within a magical seal who identifies itself as Baska but instead of saying anything to it he just walks backwards out of the room... Magical wizbangs happen deeper in the depths and the heroes judiciously retreated back to the safety of level 1.   Finally our heroes rest at Redtower... A little worse for wear and not completely whole. What stands next for our intrepid heroes?