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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pour" data-source="post: 4761147" data-attributes="member: 59411">Session 6: The Shadow of Orcus  Warlord's Wrath!Faced with the imposing zombie battalion, the tiefling lifted his sword and struck down with such a terrible bite against the corpulent leader that even its maker Kalarel shuddered from the impact. Ruhiel's hell-doomed ancestors beamed proudly from their fiery pits. The warlord cut the stitched hulk from gizzard to gut and spilled its many steaming entrails onto the ground. If zombies could be demoralized, they would have been, but to everyone's shock the mass of guts began to writhe and formed a smaller monstrosity dripping blood and gore.OopsMike the Mystic, so inspired by the show of martial genius, conjured an icy terrain to blanket the zombies. However in his haste he miscalculated the spell's detonation and cast its freezing blast over the group, sending all but the cleric onto their backs, frozen over. The wizard bashfully dispelled the cold, but they were still on the backs, and if zombies could laugh they would have.Cold, Dead HandsSpeaking of cold, the chillborn zombie lurched forward, making its way to the warlord freshly prone. It wrapped its cold, dead hands around the tiefling's neck and dragged him into the center of the room, strangling and freezing him at the same time.The barbarian was struck with burning bile from the crone zombie, the rotwing raked with raw talons and the skinless hound ripped and bit. Most decided to keep safe in the entryway, but it was looking ill for the warlord and barbarian whose bravery might have hurled them toward early demises.HosslerAs fate would have it, part of the ceiling crumbled away and a distant but growing "sssshhhhhiiiiIIIIIITTTTTT!" marked the entry of a human fighter who crash-landed near the warlord. He got up, cursed a little, and began killing the zombies with a giant blade. He landed a nasty blow on the chillborn, inspiring the others to crawl out of their entryway and finish it. The warlord was spared.VictoryThrough the combined might of Draxis's greatsword, the stranger's fullblade, the skill of Nahte's marksmanship and Ruhiel's tactics, the arcane sting of Solux and Mike the Mystic, and divine prayer of Kildain, the seemingly-impossible odds were bested.The group was clear to pass into the third level, but took a short rest to bind their wounds and pass introductions and tactics. The fighter called himself Hossler, a hired blade out of Greyhawk sent by The Great Church to help the group if he could or pick up their quest if they'd failed.Now seven strong, they delved deeper into the Keep...Sir KeeganThe took a wide set of stone stairs into a small antechamber with two doors. A distant wailing, what some might have suspected another falling fighter, was instead the agonizing herald of a ghost. Spectral blue, armored, looking like a half-elf with a ruined face, something about his crest seemed familiar.Solux recognized this ghost to be a specter, someone that suffered such an agonizing demise that he was bound to a material spot pertinent to his death, in this case the Keep. Ruhiel used his impeccable historical knowledge to deduce this was Sir Keegan, the brother of Valthrun, cast into an eternal torment after the Bane of Dragonkind was used to kill Polarbite.Recognizing this specter as a friend, and he them, the group asked him what he knew of the keep. Sir Keegan warned that beyond was a dark ritual tied to the release of a demon known as Calufaux, Lord of Bones and King of Massacre. Though Kalarel could not summon Orcus directly without the three scriptures, he could summon something powerful enough to retrieve what he needed and kill even Paledoom (the dragon who held the third scripture). Three Underpriests of ample divine power worked beyond, protected by the surviving Winterhaven scouts as overseen by Ninalya herself.When asked how they might free him, he said the Keep must be utterly destroyed, leaving every stone turned. It sounded impossible, but didn't discourage the group in the least.Covert OpFor sake of time, sneaking around and to the final chamber might have been in the group's best interests. Nahte did a quick peek of the layout, discovering a series of broken walls and small rooms with doors that might serve as suitable cover along the way. Mike was able to create an illusionary third scripture, while Keegan created his own noisy diversion and the group circled around.However Ninalya was no fledgling scout, but an elf of hundreds of years experience. She spotted the group making their way around and called an alarm. The Underpriests stopped their chanting to come destroy the group, while the scouts began slipping into better firing positions.Into the RoomThe group decided it best to hole up in a room and let the enemy come to them, though easier said than done. After hopping rubble and making sure everyone entered, various plans were attempted and abandoned in the meanwhile, like extinguishing the chamber lights.But before Ninalya could fully unleash her offensive might, Mike trapped her within an arcane maze of mirrors, effectively neutralizing her for a long eighteen seconds in the heat of growing battle. The dwarf took up the rear, slamming the doors shut and tying them with rope, allowing only one way in or out of their small stronghold. They readied for whatever might come at them.Shooting GalleryWhile some thought it a foolish strategy to hole up, the tactic proved sound, bottlenecking enemies into concentrated points of attack, whether by arrows or magic. Anything tougher than a minion was then forced to charge a melee wall before reaching the ranged attacks, a pursuit that proved deadly. Soon numbers were culled into something much more manageable.Captain Ron Avenged!Ninalya finally broke free of her maze, coming against the tied door with a magical arrow volley that shattered the barrier into a rain of splinters. The group was waiting, striking out at the nearest Underpriest and sending him into oblivion not long after. Then attack was concentrated on the leader of the turncoat scouts herself. Though devestating offensively, Ninalya proved something of a glass cannon and was brought down by the black, tendrily Hands of Ihbar. Called by Solux, they strangled and broke the elf before dragging her into the alien void beyond mortal perceptions of reality, to a place between stars called The Far Realm.The Fleeing PriestThe surviving Underpriest ran for the fourth level, desperate to warn his master of the impending attack and safe his own life. However the group managed to clear the chamber as they bolted after him, taking him down before he could even reach the door.A short rest was had to bind wounds and apply healing powers. There was also the matter of loot, which turned up a collection of well-made but mundane things. These included a vellum note...Kalarel's NoteNinalya kept a note from Kalarel describing a ritual she could perform in the graveyard in order summon up an undead force capable of destroying the party, however it seemed she never had a chance to use it thanks to the groups smart actions. It also mentioned a password to enter the fourth and final level he was in, "Magic found, in the ground, make a sound, so I can come on down..." (haha thats not it, but pretend it was)The Cathedral of ShadowsSlipping down into the final chambers, the group came upon a horrid scene. A great cascade of blood endlessly poured from seemingly out of thin air, forming a great pool that seeped into four large grates and helped power an abyssal ritual ministered by Kalarel at the far altar. Pale, thin, and somehow unearthly, the young apprentice was more menacing than any other monster yet faced, as he loomed before Sister Linora and Lena. The women were bent over and bound to the altar, about to be stabbed, with the first two Scriptures of Orcus spread over their breasts.Verses the WightSneaking might have been an option... but Ruhiel accidentally fell down the stairs on his way in, landing hard and obviously at their bottom. This alterted the nearby wight, a bleached undead woman with crackling violet energy about her and wicked-sharp claws. Sensing the need to reach the altar, Hossler volunteered to take on this pale bitch himself.Further down the way were two skeleton warriors guarding Kalarel's altar, and something even worse along the eastern wall...TentaclesA tall, wide, yawning portal held something barely at bay within its inky dark, something that pushed desperately to pierce the veil of worlds and enter the cathedral. It must have been Calufaux, and by Mike's assessment he was nearly out. Perhaps the heads might delay his entrance, though if both women were sacrificed all would be for naught.Without delay, Kildain charged the portal with his sack o' heads a swinging. He tossed them in, but when he reached within fifteen feet of the portal massive shadow tentacles leaped out and grabbed him. The sound of denting armor and popping bone echoed throughout the chamber.Brawn and BoneNahte was able to delay Kalarel with a well-placed volley, but this drew the ire of the skeleton warriors, one of which managed to mark him, the other attacking the warlord. So began a difficult struggle with the stronger-than-expected skeletons as they kept the ranger and the warlord, and even the barbarian, busy throughout much of the final struggle.The Evil CircleThe ranger shocked Kalarel out of his ritual and provoked a wilting curse, but Nahte resisted. Discouraged, Kalarel teleported into a blue, fiery runic circle before the portal. He seemed to glow then with a dark power and soon delivered another beam for the women on the altar. However the ranger managed to intercept him with a volley, one that ruined his attempt and drew the Scion of Orcus's full attention on the dangerous group.Within his circle, Kalarel proved on the fringes of the group's abilities, but even as Kildain broke free of the tentacles, it wasn't long before they found a new meal in the death cult leader himself. It was a wonder whether or not Kalarel planned this from the start, but even as he was sucked in and swallowed, the group knew something bad was about to happen.The GrellAs Hossler finished up the Wight, and the skeletons seemed on their last legs, what remained of Kalarel was spit back out of the darkness. He was inside out. A gory mess, his head began to swell before it split entirely, leaking his steaming brain onto the floor. It grew at an alarming rate, the boy's spine and cords becoming as tentacles and a beak emerging from between lobes.Mike was able to identify it as a Grell, a putrid aberration that used psychic powers and craved living brains and sentient slaves. It wrapped its tentacles around the barbarian and began to thrash him against the ground, over and over, dislocating his arms and bloodying him.Might of the Mystic!Attack after attack was thrown against the Grell, all the groups effort slowly positioning against it, and slowly it began to show signs of injury and wear. But the ranger was down, the warlord with him, and coup de graces seemed in the near future. That is until Hossler returned to the main party and dealt with the skeletons.Once Kildain revived the warlord and the ranger, the final push began, arrows, blades, magic and divine power focused like seven beams against the once-human. When it came to final blows, however, it was Mike the Mystic with his trademark Magic Missile that did the trick, the force orbs piercing the mutant's brain and exploding it against the back wall. It dropped like so many hundreds of pounds of flesh, dead.The day was won.Fall of the KeepThe portal began to tremble, its last chance at birthing a demon denied it, and instead it began to suck everything toward it, beginning with the stones of the very keep! Quickly Mike and Kildain untied their respective mistresses and the party fled the damned halls. Magic roaring and crumbling rock followed them all the way out until, on the grassy slopes near the Keep, they watched as the accursed structure caved in on itself and fell entirely into the Shadowfell. So moved, Lena took Mike right then and there, as Sister Linora did Kildain. The rest might have watched, or just returned to town, where a cheering village awaited them.Thus is the story of The Saviors of Winterhaven, and so concludes Keep on the Shadowfell (my version of it, anyway...)EpilogueDuring the coming two weeks, the group helped rebuild the warrior's guild, gathered the proper reagents for Sister Linora to raise Captain Ron from the dead, and hid the two remaining Scriptures of Orcus (one in the local Church of Avandra and the other in Valthrun's Tower). Lord Paldraig commemorated those whose remains were utterly destroyed in a newly-formed Fast of All Shadows Day, which would be observed annually to remind the village of what transpired.It wasn't long until The Saviors of Winterhaven were summoned back to The Great Church's headquarters in the city of Greyhawk (off the map). They would always have homes in the frontier town, though, and friends in Lord Paldraig, Valthrun, Captain Ron, Sister Linora, and in Mike's case the serving girl Lena, too.However it wasn't all happy endings. Sister Linora, on learning of Kildain's conversion to Tiamat, was appauled by what she had done with him on the grassy slopes outside the ruined keep. She disowned the cleric then, but couldn't bring herself to turn him into The Great Church for heresy. Instead she warned the dwarf to disguise himself and his accursed symbol of the dragon goddess while in Greyhawk and especially inside The Great Church's headquarters, The Cathedral of the Ten. And so he did, thawing his beard, dawning subtler armor and making it a little less obvious that he was a draconic supplicant (Consider how you look on the Welcome Back poster to be you in disguise).Given horses, the Saviors of Winterhaven made haste back to Greyhawk where they were given cash rewards and promoted to Inquisitors of the Great Church. After the ceremony and annointings, however, came another mission.The Shadow Rift Awaits...High Priest Ohgma motions you all to sit in his hearth-lit study, circled with shelves choked with religious treatise and historical tomes. There he explains that Kalarel was only the beginning, one of many dedicates to Orcus attempting to pierce the Shadowfell. Though his threat has been neutralized and the northern rift closed, Inquisitors suspect others have come into being, torn by other foul entities and evil individuals loyal to the demon god. Unable to summon Orcus directly, it's unsure what the death cults' next moves are.How many rifts have been opened? Where? For what purposes? These questions are now your ultimate objectives. All the realm tenses for what they sense is something terrible and wicked on its way, but it is up to you to find out the specifics so that preparations can be made, preventions attempted, and at the worst battle plans drawn.The trail begins with a brass key, discovered on the corpse of a Shadowfell monster called a Dark Creeper intercepted running a message in Greyhawk itself! Find what the key goes to and find the first clue in an undoubtedly larger plot.Experience: LEVEL UP 4 (experience totals now equal 3,750)Magic Items: Blade of the Final Word (Draxis), Rod of Malign Conveyance (Solux), Keegan's Aegis (Ruhiel), Veteran's Leather (Nahte), Bloodthread Longcoat (Mike), Terror Axe (Kildain), Whiteflame Armor (Hossler)Money: 1000 gp eachLoot: 7 deeds and keys to Winterhaven houses, 210 arrows, 7 longbows, 6 longswords, 12 suits of medium leather armor, 3 maces, 3 cultist robes, 2 suits of medium chainmail, 4 suits of medium hide armor, 6 hand axesQuests Completed:1. Prevent Orcus's or Any Other Demon's Return2. Close the Portal to the Shadowfell3. Exterminate the Death Cult (The Great Church)4. Save Sister Linora and Lena (Valthrun)5. Topple the Keep (Sir Keegan)6. Protect Winterhaven (Captain Ron's Dying Wish)</blockquote>

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