Children of Sorrow

[Nephis]

Bookkeeping:
Hit Points * Surges * current XPs & progress to L2:

• Jendi: 23/26 hit points (no healing needed during short rest) * 2/8 Surges remaining * 940/1000 XPs
• Mylistra: 21/24 hit points (no healing needed during short rest) * 2/7 Surges remaining * 940/1000 XPs
• Nemo: 24/24 hit points (1 Surge used during short rest) * 0/7 Surges remaining * 940/1000 XPs
• Toriq: 26/30 hit points (Mylistra uses Healing Word on Toriq before the short rest: 7 + r1 = 8 HP) * 1/10 Surges remaining * 940/1000

Loot (including ritual choices):

• Jendi: Armor of Dark Majesty +1 (840 gp), drake trophies (including horns) (40 gp), 30 gp (loggers payroll chest)
• Mylistra: Ritual Book (The Blood Book of the Goat-Horn) (Her own book is called The Book of Moonlight Silver), contains these rituals: 1st level ritual (Create Holy Water), 2nd level ritual (Spirit Fetch); 30 gp (loggers payroll chest)
• Nemo: Raven Queen's Shroud (680 gp), ceremonial dagger (60 gp), brass mug w/jade inlay (80 gp), 30 gp (loggers payroll chest)
• Toriq: Dryope's crown (100 gp), potion of healing (50 gp), gold ring with bloodstones (100 gp), 30 gp (loggers payroll chest)

Quests (unfinished):

Jendi: Return to Blackstone

• to deal with the fallout of a magic duel
• his rival in magic stasis
• to re-establish his name within the Order of the Ebony Tower

Toriq: her quests are conditional / at least 1 is more of a drive:

• Drive: to discover, seek out, & destroy other sites of corruption that Gulthias alluded to where Orcus can find a foothold.
  • a quest would be a specific such temple, etc. found to be destroyed
• Quest: to rid Guardianship of the Ruby Spire of the corruptive influence of Orcus
  • this would happen should she find evidence that it exists.

 

[Nephis]

As the others are resting to recover from the battle with Gulthias - and as Jendi cleans and examines closely his new prize, Mylistra walks about the crypt, taking in the dark energy, and examines the walls, columns, floor, etc. There is still a strong sense of the profane here near the altar of sacrifice and in the chamber below that needs to be cleansed before they are safe to be left. It feels monumental, but, as with any gargantuan task, one has but to begin.

Her thoughts wander through their recent battle against the vampire - once Gulthias, Stygian elf, Guardian of the Ruby Spire. What was it about him that was familiar? Mylistra thinks she remembers his story, but his face would not have been visually part of the narrative. No, this memory is older than that: from before her escape from below. Those eyes - so memorable! And ... a similar name, she thinks she can remember, also beginning with "Gul," something in the Old Tongue meaning "pale" or "ghost" or ... Guldril? Guldrinn? Guldrinna? The moment of seeing the face is almost lost to memory.

***

The young halfling watches the beautiful witch in her examination of the chamber. His great-aunt Rubee would be jealous of her mastery of disguise, he thinks to himself with a smile. Her gorgeous dark skin Mylistra has not bothered to hide, but her image is not of the Stygian elf he knows her to be and whom he observed last night in Jendi's mother's cabin in the woods. Nemo is still astounded by how human she looks - nothing fey about her from casual observation, nor even his own careful one ... unless he truly takes note. After all, her face is so elegantly narrow and delicate. She has surely done something to make her cheeks appear more round, her ears so completely without tapering that her appearance makes his elfling friend appear full elf in comparison.

She walks back to them and holds them in keen observation, as if taking in their levels of health and exhaustion ... which for Nemo and Toriq are admittedly great. While he is glad for the strategy she suggested earlier and which has proven to be sound in performing the Rite of Comrades' Succor - it seems obvious that he and Jendi's sister will be the more likely to be in close combat in situations such as these - their physical wounds and their inner bruises will take some time fully heal. The witch gives them both encouraging smiles and a few of the berries she still has from what Toriq had gathered during their journey through the forest. Nemo returns the smile with gratitude.

Then she says to them that they are almost done for the day and points to the blood on the floor. "We need to cleanse this floor and release Abaddon's blood from this place, here and in the chamber below. Not to mention purify what was surely Gulthias's place of rest. We must return the sacred to this place that once held light." She explains that all this is necessary for them to have a peaceful place to sleep this night.

 

[darkbard]

Skill Challenge, Cleanse the Sunken Vault of the Taint of Gulthias, L3, C2 (6 Successes before 3 Failures; DCs 9/13/21, 1 Hard DC, 2 Secondary Skills, repeat use of same skill steps up DC Easy -> Moderate -> Hard -> Hard +5). Stakes: Success means the taint of Gulthias, vampire necromancer, and its fellow undead servants of Orcus is removed from this place. Failure means, though inactive, this place echoes with the foul influence of Orcus; no Extended Rest can be possible in its near vicinity.

As a ritual caster, Mylistra is well familiar with the incantations and evocations necessary for warding off or eradicating the presence of evil. She pages through her ritual book, The Book of Moonlight Silver, searching for useful passages of rituals past, performed by devotees of Sehanine, the Goddess of Autumn, and sets the others to work, burning sage and other mystic herbs, pacing very deliberate labryrinthine steps within the nave, and like activities. The space fills with blue smoke and veritably hums with divine potential.

That's when the plate armor in the shape of Orcus behind the altar, so large it may have been sized for a Goliath, creaks and groans, its articulated joints moving of their own accord. The cavity behind the bull-faced visor glows with an orange flame, and the armor steps menacingly out from behind the altar and towards the stairs.

What do you do? Moderate DC.

 

[darkbard]

Quests (unfinished):

Jendi: Return to Blackstone

• to deal with the fallout of a magic duel
• his rival in magic stasis
• to re-establish his name within the Order of the Black Tower

Toriq: her quests are conditional / at least 1 is more of a drive:

• Drive: to discover, seek out, & destroy other sites of corruption that Gulthias alluded to where Orcus can find a foothold.
  • a quest would be a specific such temple, etc. found to be destroyed
• Quest: to rid Guardianship of the Ruby Spire of the corruptive influence of Orcus
  • this would happen should she find evidence that it exists.

Before I forget about responding to these: Jendi's looks like a perfect candidate for a Major Quest (re-establishing his standing within the Order of the Ebony Tower), with possible obstacles en route! Toriq's, of course, will require your specifying of temples, fanes, corrupted natural locales, what-have-you whenever such an opportunity presents itself; likewise for the Guardians of the Ruby Spire: you will need to introduce a specific scenario/individual/etc that you suspect might have been corrupted, based on what we have established about Gulthias and his history with the organization. Then we'll put those suspicions to the test of play!

 

[Nephis]

NEMO looks over at the plate armor and reacts quickly - if a bit disastrously. Perhaps the halfling is relieved at their having vanquished Gulthias, perhaps he expects to repeat his earlier abnegation of Orcus. He turns to fully face the animated armor and throws out a hand as if to signal "halt!" At the same time, with his throwing hand, Nemo takes out the ceremonial dagger and - in the same motion - throws it at the armor, impaling its knee.

The visored helmet moves as if to look down at the blade embedded in the poleyn, then looks back up at the group. The bevor of the helmet seems to smile.

---

* Nemo uses his Low Blow Encounter Power to throw the dagger for a +2 Power Bonus to his

* Primary Skill Intimidate check to abjure Orcus out of this world: r3 +2 +2 power bonus = 7. Failure.

 

[darkbard]

Skill Challenge, Cleanse the Sunken Vault of the Taint of Gulthias, 0 Successes/1 Failure/1 Hard DC available/2 Secondary Skills available.

Whatever force animates the armor reaches down with its mailed gauntlets, withdraws the ceremonial dagger from where it is embedded in the poleyn. Then it snaps the blade as if a mere twig. If ever a demon-infested suit of plate could snort like a bull, this is the occasion. It takes a few halting steps, hobbled by Nemo's blow, but then it picks up steam once it's clear of the steps and rushes the Halfling!

What do you do? Still Moderate DC. Whatever it is, it better decapacitate the possessed suit of armor, for a failure here will transition you to a combat encounter vs a L1 Solo counting against the Hard DC, and you are out of Dailies and APs and are very low on Surges.

The consequence for the microfailure is the destroying of the ceremonial blade.

If you use an attack power here, the DCs are AC 15, NAD 13.

 

[Nephis]

Although Nemo's companions are a little behind his impetuous actions, JENDI is able to bring control to the chaos, in an ironic turn of events. The young warlock steps protectively in front of his small friend and begins to raise his hands in a now familiar move that the others have begun to refer to as his "maestro" move.

The armor continues a few more steps forward, but up out of the ground grow shadowy tentacles looking deceptively ephemeral. Several wrap around each sabaton and greave, several more the plackart and gauntlet, tightening and twisting around what they hold. The armor is not only halted in midstep, but its plating begins to fold in under the pressure of strong tentacles grabbing at it. And yet, it remains animated and continues to pull at its binds to get at them, to get at Nemo.

Seeing this, Jendi steps forward, shadows seeming to grow out of him as well. When he speaks, he does not address the animated suit of armor but seems to address the entire room. "The Duskqueen's power is infinite, is IMMEASURABLE, and you cannot hope to defeat her nor to enter this world. She is always alert in the shadows, in the night, everywhere, and her agents will always find you, as I have. We told you earlier that you are nothing and will not succeed. BE GONE!!" The warlock next takes his outstretched arms and pulls them together, closing and squeezing the fist of each hand.

The halfling hiding behind his taller, much more intimidating friend, stares watchfully until at last he begins to see the light animating the armor dim ... and finally extinguish. At the same time, the armor - no longer animated nor balanced on the frame it left behind at the altar - falls to the chamber floor, in crumpled pieces. Looking at these pieces and thinking of what he just witnessed, Nemo realizes what a fluke his earlier success had been and just how foolish his attempt just now had been. Stick to what works, his Uncle Milo always told him. Yes, he thinks he will.

---

* Jendi uses his Encounter Power Shadow Tentacles to slow down and halt the armor and to gain a +2 Power Bonus to his

* Primary Skill Intimidate check to abjure the animating force out of the suit of armor: r4 +9 +2 Power Bonus = 15 vs. 13 Moderate DC. Success

 

[darkbard]

Skill Challenge, Cleanse the Sunken Vault of the Taint of Gulthias, 1 Success/1 Failure/1 Hard DC available/2 Secondary Skills available.

The malevolent force within the armor may have been compelled out of its protective shell, but it is not yet vanquished. Smoky tendrils like low-lying mist over a lake in summer--but black and animated of their own accord--ripple over the streams of blood, raising bubbles to the surface as the streams quiver and congeal like a jelly. If this process continues, surely it will result in ooze creatures comprised of blood!

Moderate DC.

 

[Nephis]

Thinking about the abject body of Abaddon on that altar beyond them and witnessing the attempt to transform their blood into a weapon against their liberators, TORIQ strides toward the still lingering streams of coagulated blood. She kneels down next to the one closest to her and - cutting a shallow slice into her palm - drips a few drops of her own blood into it. The warden then pulls forth her own natural and transformative energies - transferred into Abaddon's spilled blood through her own - and uses this Primal energy to fight off any foul animation from the malevolent force not yet exorcized from the crypt.

---

* Toriq makes a Primary Skill Nature check to use Primal energy to fight off Orcus's animation of Abaddon's blood: r10 +7 = 17 vs. 13 Moderate DC. Success.

 

[darkbard]

Skill Challenge, Cleanse the Sunken Vault of the Taint of Gulthias, 2 Successes/1 Failure/1 Hard DC available/2 Secondary Skills available.

The roiling gore subsides. Abaddon's blood no longer lingers as a weakness to be exploited by the malevolence infesting this place, absorbed into the cobbles and earth between this chamber and the one below.

But the evil is not through with you yet. The pillars that you had partially neutralized earlier begin to sputter and flare back to activity. Blue light floods the chamber and a harsh buzzing reminiscent of the mad experiments of elecromagnetists in Ravenswood echoes off the walls. If left unchecked, the necrotic field between pillars will not only reassert itself but surely blast you all with necrotic energy!

Moderate DC.