"Yes, Staunton did a terrible thing. A lot of people died because of it. I don't know if the crusaders will ever forgive him, or if he'll ever forgive himself. But he still deserves the chance, and either mocking or attacking him will only rob him of that chance. If Staunton Vhane has ninety-nine enemies, I refuse to become the one-hundredth."
Seelah
The party continued moving through Kenabres, making their way to the southern portion of the city. As they traveled, they stealthily passed by the Gray Garrison and took note of its numerous demonic and cultist defenders, including an insidious Derakni - one of the favored servants of Deskari.
As they crossed the ravine carved into the city and made their way to the streets of the southern half, the party encountered a curious skeleton merchant named Helter, flanked by his two pack nightmares - fiends resembling onyx-colored flaming horses.
Helter laid out a variety of goods on a portable table:
An Amulet of the Black Skull
A Bracer of Flying Daggers
A Helm of the Gods
A Ring of Temporal Salvation
A Tankard of Sobriety
Several Potions of Healing and Potions of Greater Healing
Hilda took out the bag of holding that had been looted from Lord Tacitus and produced a stunning amount of gold, exchanging over 8,000 pieces for the Amulet, the Bracer, and as many potions of healing that she could buy. This casual flaunting of wealth stunned the party, as they had not realized when Hilda took the bag from Tacitus that it had such vast quantities of gold within. They also did not seem to realize that the money was in fact likely the gold stolen from Horgus Gwerm's vault.
After Helter departed, the group continued south, making their way to the southeastern quarter of the city to seek out the missing Eagle Watch scouts. Hilda noticed the Silken Thread Atelier was barricaded, indicating that someone was taking up residence within to hold out against attackers.
The group approached the atelier and were addressed by a tiefling from atop the roof; Rekarth, one of the missing scouts of the Eagle Watch. Once he was convinced that the party meant them no harm, he descended from the roof and explained that he and another scout had picked up a group of civilian survivors, and had led them as far as they could through the ruins of Kenabres before they received the aid of another crusader who had become the leader of the group.
Rekarth went to fetch his small unit's leader for a more detailed report. To the party's surprise, this leader was none other than Erodel Zanec, Elseth's to-be son-in-law whom the group had seen torn in half by the balor Khorramzadeh.
Elseth was stunned to see Erodel alive, and it didn't take Erodel long to recognize her despite her significant transformation. Out of an abundance of caution, Satomi quietly asked Seelah to use her divine sense to detect if Erodel was some sort of undead or fiendish trick; however, her sense picked up nothing save for the nearby Hilda's fiendish nature. Seelah chose to remain quiet about the latter for the moment.
Erodel led the party inside of the atelier so that he could explain what little he knew of his miraculous survival. They were greeted on the way in by the eccentric gnome sorcerer Sendri, who was very excitable and long-winded in his welcoming words.
Erodel took a seat and recalled the horrible confrontation with Khorramzadeh and how his death had been instantaneous, but before long he found himself awake and gasping for breath in the middle of what was left of Clydwell Plaza. His mortal wound had been somehow healed and his life restored, as evidenced by a gigantic scar running along the entire length of his abdomen where he had once been torn in half.
The young sir Zanec confessed that he had no idea how he came to be revived as he had been, and he was hesitant to believe himself important enough to warrant divine intervention. Elseth affirmed that Muir worked in mysterious ways, while Satomi balked at the idea of divine intervention for being 'too convenient'. Seelah disagreed, believing that the defenders of Kenabres were overdue for a little miracle.
When asked if he had seen Elseth's daughter and his fiancee, Alita, or at least any signs regarding her survival or demise. Erodel mournfully stated that he had found nothing, despite locating her being his first objective upon awakening. It was through his search that he had run into Rekarth, Sendri, and the townspeople that they were escorting.
The party gave Erodel and his people confirmation that the Defender's Heart had been secured, giving them a place to bring the civilians under their protection. Erodel thanked them, gave Elseth a parting hug, and expressed his remorse that the once gentle Elseth had been forced to take up a weapon. He then led his people into the streets once more. Elseth promised that they would soon meet again.
After Erodel's unit and their charges left the atelier, Seelah asked Hilda gently but firmly about her fiendish nature. The others were also curious about this, having noted Hilda's vulnerability to cold iron and aversion to Seelah's turning ability. Hilda explained to the party that she had some fiendish heritage, and recounted how her soul had been severed from her body at a young age, becoming infused with abyssal energies in the time it took for her to reunite with it. She assured the others that even though fiendish blood ran in her veins, she owed no allegiance to the Abyss and was eager to not only close the Worldwound, but also slay the demon lords responsible for the whole affair. These gargantuan tasks were uttered by Hilda as if they were foregone conclusions; inevitable victories that hardly gave her pause.
Heading out from the atelier, the party continued moving through the city's southern section. Alanis was startled when she began to detect a current of necrotic energy on the wind, reminiscent of what she had felt when gazing upon the Thing in the Basement. The strange aura, which carried inaudible whispers in the voice of an older man, seemed to emanate from the nearby Tower of Estrod, and thus the party decided to check it out. While they traveled, Hilda was spoken to by her 'grandpa' Halaster, who strongly suggested that she check out Kenabres' embassies later, as a 'surprise' awaited her within one of them.
Satomi was able to recall what she knew about the Tower of Estrod - although it was now a private library and research facility owned by the city, it was once a wizard's tower that belonged to a legendary crusader, a wizard by the name of Zacharius. After distinguishing himself as a hero of the First Crusade, Zacharius mysteriously disappeared following the final battle by the River Sellen, and was never heard from again.
Arriving at the mostly destroyed Tower of Estrod, the party encountered a group of Baphomet cultists that were occupying it. Most of them were quickly dispatched by a powerful fireball cast by Hilda, but a single Templar of the Ivory Labyrinth managed to scramble down the nearby stairwell to fetch his leader, calling out to him by name; "Faxon".
The group gave pursuit, chasing the templar to the tower's basement. By the time they caught up to him, he had already thrown open the door to the basement's inner sanctum, where the tiefling cultist Faxon and his draegloth minion awaited. Battle recommenced, with Faxon cursing the party with his evil eye that brought misfortune upon them. With clever positioning and another one of Hilda's fireballs, however, the tides were flipped largely in the party's favor.
The draegloth, however, proved a more stout foe, and tore into Elseth with its deadly claws, inflicting serious damage. Rushing to the aid of her sister in faith, Seelah struck the draegloth with a pair of mighty smites, weakening the creature within an inch of its life. As Satomi felled Faxon with her newly acquired bracer of flying daggers, Hilda delivered the killing blow to the draegloth in the form of a well-aimed firebolt, bypassing the creature's resistance with arcane acuity.
With the coast clear, the party gathered themselves and investigated the basement. The group discovered a chest that had seemingly no latch or moving parts, with the exception of a metal button emblazoned with a softly glowing skull. Hilda tried to push the button to no avail, with a disembodied voice emanating from the chest simply stating 'not you'.
Figuring that the chest was enchanted to only open to Faxon's touch, the party took his nearby corpse and used its hand to push the button, but this only evoked the same message of rejection. Out of curiosity, Alanis tried pushing the button, and was surprised to find herself successful. As the button depressed into the chest, a voice spoke to her telepathically; the same voice she had heard over the wind when the party first approached the tower.
The voice praised Alanis for her academic curiosity, stating that it had long awaited someone like her to interact with the chest. It then offered Alanis a gift; power beyond life, enough to make a difference in the crusades, in exchange for a measure of suffering. Alanis eagerly accepted this exchange, much to the voice's satisfaction, and this caused the chest to open at last. Within was a single wand, accented with a glimmering crystal and a carved ivory body. Alanis took this wand in her hands, and suddenly collapsed as the life was instantly snuffed out of her.
As the party scrambled to react to their companion's sudden death, they were shocked to see her stir after a mere few moments. Alanis, now paler and without breath or a pulse, rose to her feet, seemingly thrilled with the development. It seemed that the voice had kept its promise; Alanis was now undead thanks to the power that laid dormant in the Wand of Zacharius. The voice called out to her one last time, praising her brave plunge into the unknown and bidding her to seek out the next stage of her evolution at a place known as 'The Lost Chapel'.
The party reacted with shock and concern (save for Hilda, who was mostly amused) for Alanis' sudden transformation. They found it difficult to believe that Alanis was more than fine with her new unlife - she mused upon her fascination with the magic of death, and stated her eagerness to use the power of the undead to bolster the crusades. After all, the crusades had long struggled for over a century against the demons, and more dead were being put in the ground of Mendev every day; why not make use of them in the fight against the demons?
Satomi once again asked Seelah to use her divine sense, which confirmed Alanis' new undead nature. Seelah was greatly unnerved by this and Alanis' acceptance of such a fate, and strongly disagreed that such sacrifices needed to be made to win the war against the demons. She did not accept the willing loss of humanity to rise to the occasion, but also acknowledged that Alanis was rather blindsided by the affliction, despite her being satisfied with the outcome. Much like Hilda, Seelah did not feel she was in a position to pass judgment.
Checking Faxon's body once again, the group discovered a note much like the one they had discovered on the body of Hosilla in the Kenabres underground, once again penned by the insidious demoness, Minagho.
The party took special concern with the mention of Staunton Vhane in the letter, as his infamy spawned from the loss of Drezen when he was tricked and seduced by the Minagho before the Second Crusade. Satomi noted that it was unusual for a demon to 'play with the same toy twice', making her wonder just what Minagho's goal was in capturing Staunton alive.
The party decided that they would have to do something; perhaps warn Staunton or one of his superiors. When Satomi (perhaps jokingly) suggested killing him to avoid problems down the line, Seelah took offense to Satomi's jaded perception of the dwarf. She believed that even after all Staunton had done and had suffered in penance, he still deserved a chance to work towards a better life. Satomi was not so convinced of such a hopeful possibility, as Staunton had endured 90 years of hatred and cruelty in the Condemned, and likely held no hope for redemption or love for others in his heart.
Seelah stated that if Staunton had ninety-nine enemies, then she refused to be number one-hundred, as she too had once run afoul of the law only to be given a second chance to make something of herself. With that said, Seelah took the time to heal Elseth and then exited the building, not willing to listen to Satomi's cynical point of view any longer.
After taking refuge in the Tower of Estrod for a brief respite, the party continued moving west, bypassing Count Arendae's party house once again as they traveled. The group eventually came across the residence of the Tirabades, which Anevia had previously mentioned might have had some supplies left behind by Irabeth.
Upon entering the humble Tirabade home, a magical alarm began to sound, and a quartet of conjured wolves appeared. A door swung open, revealing a half orc wielding a stone ranseur; he called out Irabeth with a proclamation for revenge, only to find the party instead.
Seizing the momentary confusion, Satomi lied and said that they were also there to seek revenge on Irabeth. The half-orc, a sorcerer named Vagorg, told the story of how Irabeth had once turned him into the authorities in a distant land, dooming him to a sentence of ten years in the fighting pits as a gladiator. Satomi gave her own fabricated story and convinced Vagorg to dismiss the summoned wolves (which were all rather close to the bite-sized Hilda), and Vagorg laid out his plan; he had intended to either get the drop on Irabeth or take Anevia hostage to lure Irabeth out.
With the wolves gone and Vagorg led to believe that they were friendly, Satomi had an opening that she seized, stabbing Vagorg fatally and leaving him to bleed out. This was the first of several acts of the day that Seelah actually approved of, applauding Satomi for thinking tactically and minimizing the risk to the party as a whole. The group looted Vagorg's ranseur of the gargoyle and located a hidden cache left behind by Irabeth. Within they found a potion of greater healing, a scroll of bless, and a letter left from Irabeth to Anevia in the event that the latter had gone to their home first instead of finding her at the Defender's Heart.
The group continued onwards, moving to the local temple of Desna to follow Irabeth's directive of reconnecting with the remaining temples. As they walked, Alanis mused about the voice she had heard at the Tower of Estrod, and Satomi pieced together that the voice likely belonged to none other than the legendary crusader, Zacharius. This begged the question; why would a hero of a holy crusade encourage someone to embrace undeath? Yet with the voice silent ever since Alanis' transformation, the question would go unanswered - at least for the time being.
Arriving at Desna's holy site, they found a mostly destroyed temple, little more than flaming rubble and debris, but it was who was present at the temple that was notable; Prelate Hulrun, the ruler of Kenabres and the merciless inquisitor behind the Third Crusade, with his blade levied at Ramien, the temple's high priest.
Hulrun hurled accusations of treason and heresy at Ramien, saying that the priest and the Desnites in his congregation had accessed the wardstone without authorization and sabotaged it, leading to the current situation. Satomi, having been subjected to some of the worst that the Third Crusade had to offer, spoke out against Hulrun, with Elseth joining as well. Satomi demanded that Hulrun give proof of his accusations instead of jumping right to a witch hunt, and Elseth pleaded with the Prelate to not turn on other Kenabrians in such a terrible crisis.
Hulrun affirmed his stance, explaining that the Desnites had petitioned to access the wardstone and inspect it for corruption, acting on dream visions that they had received from their goddess; however, their petition was denied. They were then caught trying to infiltrate the tower containing the stone a week prior to the invasion, and Hulrun had them escorted out and placed under watch. He expressed regret for making this decision instead of calling for their immediate imprisonment, but was now trying to rectify his lax ruling, as he believed the Desnites had turned traitor and corrupted the wardstone themselves with their actions.
Satomi and Elseth held their ground, sternly insisting that Ramien and his people were not responsible for the wardstone's failure. Satomi informed him of Lord Tacitus' use of enchantment magic to befuddle the former commander of the Eagle Watch, which surely allowed for cultists to breach the wardstone's defenses themselves. Hulrun stood his ground firmly and refused to admit any wrongdoing or offer any apologies; however, the stubbornness of the party and their detailed accounts of what they had seen finally managed to make the old inquisitor lower his blade and allow Ramien to go free.
Hulrun took his remaining inquisitors and proceeded to move on to the Defender's Heart, but not before warning the party to purge the mercy in their hearts, lest they slip up and allow even one cultist to escape justice. He then disappeared into the ruins of Kenabres, leaving Satomi to scream in frustration once he was out of earshot. Given her experiences during the Third Crusade sixty years ago, she had found it difficult to resist the urge to simply kill the man and stop his paranoid rampage through crusader ranks. Seelah thanked Satomi and the others for seeing reason, believing that Hulrun could do more good alive rather than dead; the party was at least able to agree on this, and continued on their way to the embassies.
Upon reaching the Revelmoore Embassy, the party found it badly damaged, filled with the corpses of its former diplomatic staffers. However, one of the corpses began to move of its own accord, rising as a zombie and greeting Hilda with Halaster's voice. Seelah decided to wait outside after this occurred, having grown rather exhausted from the party's continuous outlandish escapades.
Halaster stated that the embassy was the property of Revelmoore - or rather, the 'Zeroth level' of the Undermountain, and thus he viewed it as his own property. This allowed him to extend his magic across a great distance to inhabit the body of one of the slain diplomats, regardless of the legal validity of his claim over the embassy.
Congratulating Hilda on the explosive growth of her magic in the few short days she had spent in Kenabres, Halaster named her to be the greatest candidate to inherit the magical legacy of Halaster's lost homeland of old Hyperborea, and posed a question to her; which was the greater, her abyss-infused mortal flesh, or the magical prowess within her soul? He knew this to be an easy answer, and Hilda agreed that her magic was the more powerful of the two forces that made her who she was.
Halaster stated that Hilda's fiendish heritage that was foisted upon her by her grandmother, Iggwilv - also known as Tasha the Witch Queen, whose dalliances with demon lords were the things of legend - was an unavoidable consequence of her birth, but her magic was hers to choose, to develop, and to express. Thus, he challenged her to forfeit a portion of her flesh, to affirm that the flesh was weak whereas the arcane power within her was strong. Hilda gladly agreed, and shook the offered hand of the Halaster-piloted zombie. Almost immediately, her right arm began to disintegrate into dust as excruciating pain began to shoot through her body.
Once Hilda's arm was completely gone, Halaster applauded her for acting without fear and sacrificing what needed to be lost. He then urged her to use her remaining arm to remove a nearby false brick from a collapsing pillar; when she did, she discovered a small golden band - an item known as an arcane arm. Halaster encouraged Hilda to place it against the place where her arm once was, and when done, an arm made of solid arcane energy sprung from the band.
Halaster then moved on to the second part of his gift to his treasured apprentice. He began to explain the nature of Dweomercore, one of the twenty-three levels of the Undermountain. Halaster had taken many apprentices over the centuries, but typically only paid special attention to those that caught his attention as Hilda and another one named Makoto had done. Others were directed to, teleported to, or otherwise lured to Dweomercore, a functional academy within the Undermountain; there, they would be instructed by either clones or illusory duplicates of Halaster, to varying degrees of success.
According to the Mad Mage, the greatest joy and power of magic was using it to shape the world around one's self to their own will. This did not just end at the world surrounding them, however; he also spoke of the unique magic of molding another sentient being, passing on arcane secrets and power so that they too might subject the laws of reality to their own whims. Halaster believed that a wizard's true worth could be measured by how they guided an apprentice, and thus he announced that he would be sending a promising pupil for Hilda to guide and train. Hilda calmly accepted, and Halaster bid her farewell as the zombie performed one final somatic gesture before collapsing once more.
An explosion of magic heralded the arrival of a young human woman, startled by her sudden teleportation. The young mage began to panic out of confusion, and this panic was only made worse by the party's explanation of the situation in Kenabres. However, when they revealed that Hilda would be her tutor, the young mage calmed down somewhat.
Hilda's new apprentice introduced her as Sylvia Wynter, an orphan from Revelmoore. She had failed to be accepted as a pupil at the Tower of the High Dragon due to her lack of a fundamental arcane education, and could not afford to be tutored in the basics of magic in order to broach this obstacle. Thus, she settled on a more desperate gambit; getting someone to escort her into the Undermountain, where she successfully reached and enrolled in Dweomercore. She had been there for a mere month before "Mr. Blackcloak" had her teleported to her new situation in Kenabres.
The party decided that it was time to get going to their next destination; the Foere Embassy, and then Joran Vhane's smithy. Sylvia meekly followed the party, reminding herself how badly she wished to learn magic as she stepped out into the demon-infested streets of Kenabres.
The group found the Foere Embassy to be little more than a smoking crater, and thus they pressed onwards to the smithy. The place seemed eerily quiet despite its strategic value, but the party investigated anyway, staying wary of any traps or enemies.
On one of Joran's anvils, the group discovered a rune of quality, a dwarven runestone capable of augmenting and enchanting a single piece of mundane weaponry and armor. As they examined the rune, a nearby door was punched open, and out stepped a menacing sight; a glabrezu, one of the more powerful varieties of demon. Faced with a deadly opponent, the party readied themselves for a difficult battle…
Portraits
CLYDWELL PLAZA SURVIVORS
Player Characters
Satomi Sakane - A vivid kitsune dancer hailing from the far-off nation of Xha'en, once bound in service but now free to don her true name. She is lithe, cunning, alluring, and possesses deadly talents beyond mere dance. After murdering her former master Lord Tacitus, she has taken back her freedom, and now seems to foster a budding ability to force the whims of fate to obey her demands.
Satomi now once again goes by her true surname, Sakane - an infamous kitsune clan known for their uncanny ability to show up at and influence major world events.
Elseth Atlasia - A cleric of the goddess Muir turned into a wrathful warrior of the heavens. Having abandoned her oath of pacifism sworn long ago, Elseth's clerical powers have left her, but her goddesses' might has remained, transforming her into a bloodied avenger seeking to put an end to the demonic invaders infesting Kenabres.
She wields the holy shapeshifting lance known as Radiance, which was once a sword forged by Joran Vhane for Yaniel - a hero of the fourth crusade.
Alanis Fenrora - An elusive high elven mage who chose to investigate the Armasse festival on the date of the terrible demonic assault. She is a capable warlock whose powers court dark and oft forbidden magics, those that whisper to those beyond the grave and drain the life from those still living. These skills have proven handy as the party strives to survive the demon-strewn streets of burning Kenabres.
By finding and claiming the Wand of Zacharius, Alanis instantaneously perished - but was soon awoken in a new undead state, much to her scholarly delight.
Hilda Grimm - A high elven evoker and an apprentice of Halaster, the Mad Mage of the Undermountain. Hilda has lead multiple tumultuous lives, as her soul was torn from her body as a child and was made a sentient being, while her original body accompanied the witch Tasha on her interplanar schemes. With her two halves being made whole by Halaster, Hilda has come to the lands of the Worldwound to prove herself as a wizard worthy of his tutelage.
As a show of her dedication to arcane ascendancy, she sacrificed a portion of her abyssally infused flesh, and replaced her right arm with one made entirely of magical energy.
Companions
Seelah - A cheerful paladin of Muir who has fallen in with the Eagle Watch and the defenders of Kenabres. She has offered her blade to the party should they need it while combing through the demon-infested rubble of Kenabres. Although staunchly allied to the Clydwell Plaza Survivors for their efforts in liberating Kenabres, Seelah is quickly growing wary of their less-than-altruistic inclinations.
Sylvia Wynter - A human apprentice wizard from Revelmoore who grew up in Saint Branwen's Orphanage. Enamored with magic but without wealth or a foundational arcane education, Sylvia sought to learn the secrets of the weave from the legendarily insane Halaster Blackcloak as a last resort. Halaster has teleported her to Kenabres and foisted her upon the eccentric Hilda to be trained as her apprentice.
NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS
Helter, the Skeletal Merchant - A curious talking skeleton who travels throughout the Worldwound, selling valuable magical items to both the crusaders and the demons alike with no concern the righteous conflict between them. Although his threats of using Power Word: Kill on would-be thieves and muggers are likely unfounded, an undeniable aura of power emanating from Helter typically compels his customers to not try and test this.
Rekarth - A tiefling scout of the Eagle Watch who answers directly to Anevia Tirabade. Gruff and streetwise, he is nonetheless committed to the cause. He and the gnome sorcerer Sendri were leading a group of civilian survivors to safety, and were nearly killed until Erodel Zanec intervened and aided them.
Sendri - A gnomish survivor of the demon invasion who has been deputized as a member of the Eagle Watch by Rekarth due to his sorcerous powers. He is long-winded, upbeat, and loves talking to others at length - often needing to be told to shut it by Rekarth.
Erodel Zanec - A young human crusader, a sworn paladin of Muir , and the would-be son-in-law of Elseth. He was brutally ripped in half by the balor Khorramzadeh at Clydwell Plaza, but found himself mysteriously resurrected mere days afterwards. Shaken but driven to prove himself worthy of this unexpected salvation, Erodel has committed himself to saving the people of Kenabres from their demon aggressors.
Faxon - A tiefling cultist of Baphomet and one of the leaders of their forces in Kenabres. He exchanged few words with the party before they fatally clashed at the Tower of Estrod - a conflict that resulted in his death.
Vagorg - A half-orc sorcerer who was arrested and turned in for crimes in a far-off land by Irabeth Tirabade during her time as a wandering paladin. After a decade slaving away as a gladiator, he bought his freedom and sought her out in Kenabres, and looked to use the timely demon invasion as the perfect opportunity to exact his revenge. He never got the chance, however, as he was quickly killed by Satomi.
Prelate Hulrun Shappok - The ruler of Kenabres and leader of the Muiran Inquisition, second in power in the land of Mendev only to Queen Galfrey himself. A paranoid and vindictive old paladin who was largely responsible for the disastrous Third Crusade over sixty years ago, the demon invasion of Kenabres has only exacerbated the worst parts of his murderous suspicion.
Despite this, the party's strong arguments were enough to talk him down from executing an innocent priest of Desna. Even still, the Prelate returned to the city's defense afterwards with that same mercilessness in his heart.
Ramien - The high priest of Desna in Kenabres. Most of his congregation and fellow priests fell victim to the demon onslaught, and he was nearly done in himself by Prelate Hulrun for supposedly sabotaging the wardstone. His innocence was defended by the party, and he managed to walk away alive from his encounter with the Prelate.
Halaster Blackcloak - The legendarily insane Mad Mage of the Undermountain, and one of the most powerful spellcasters in Lloegyr, if not the planes at large. He is the master and tutor of Hilda, whom affectionately refers to him as 'grandpa'. Thanks to his powerful magic and the horned ring worn by Hilda, his words of advice and strange ramblings are never far from his apprentice's ear.
To test his apprentice, he remotely piloted a zombie at the destroyed Revelmoore embassy, challenging her to sacrifice part of her fiendish flesh, as well as providing her with an apprentice of her own to instruct.
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