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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tikigod" data-source="post: 4445652" data-attributes="member: 75310">The doors to Sir Keegan’s crypt open slowly. Ern looked inside and saw a raised dais with an elaborate sarcophagus upon it. As he cautiously mounted the stairs to the tomb, it erupted in a shower of dust. A skeleton armored in plate mail emerged from within. It held a blade that flickered with a dim purple light. Its fiery eyes turned upon the party.  “I am Sir Keegan, once called Shadowguard now called Doomsgrief! You are invaders to my Keep! If you seek to open the shadow rift battle shall be joined. State your business or prepare to meet your maker!”  Morthos stepped forward, “Sir Keegan we are here to close that rift. The lands outside will be threatened if the rift is opened and we seek to prevent that.”  The skeletal knight turns towards Scranton, “If you trust your senses not to betray you, tell me what you see before you.”  Scranton replies, “I see a brave warrior who died defending the Keep against the forces of evil.”  “LIES!” Keegan spits, “I died in grief, betraying all that I loved! Why should I believe that you are the heroes you claim to be?”  Morthos answers, “Our actions speak loudly. We have defeated many enemies that seek to prevent us from obtaining our goal.”Keegan replies, “Your weapons and armor agree with your words.” He looks to Nex, “Unnatural forces abound in this place. Are you equipped to overcome them?”  Nex simply answers, “Yes.”  “The answer is unsatisfactory. Why should I believe that you can close the rift? Yes, you have been tested in battle, but deadly dangers await. The only one that seems capable is the tiefling.”  Morthos again answers, “Alone I would fail. With unity and the help of my companions we can prevail. None have stopped us yet and none shall in the future.”  “Well spoken. You wear a fearsome demeanor. Are you really as formidable as you look?”  Morthos remains silent. He simply slides his blade out of his scabbard.  Sir Keegan Doomsgrief nods, “There is no need for us to battle. I can see the resolve within you. I believe you can protect the rift. I shall tell you my tale and give you a gift.  “In life, I was commander of the Shadowfell Keep. But its darkness corrupted me. My mind slipped and all I loved were enemies. With Aecris I slew my family. With Aecris I slew my men. They stared in shock as I murdered them. I had failed in my responsibility and was cursed. I awoke from my madness in my tomb. A fitting place. I fell upon my own blade in my grief. But that did not end my agony. I became as you see me now. No longer was I Keegan Shadowguard. I had become Keegan Doomsgrief. No longer was my brilliant sword Aecris. It had become Kinkiller.   “I am past redemption, but my sword is not. I will give it to you. Seek the paladin who bears the same name that my sword once did. He knows the path to redemption. He can give you a quest to restore Kinkiller back to Aecris. Now go. Go and put an end to the evil in this Keep.”  Sir Keegan Doomsgrief says nothing more. He climbs back into his sarcophagus and closes the lid.   The Heroes of Winterhaven leave the knight and travel back to the rune-inscribed hallways. Scranton leaps the runes and scouts about, but the moaning of zombies sends him to rejoin his friends. Nex, meanwhile, has left to grab the hapless Splug. The wizard brings the goblin to the runes. Scranton tries to trick the goblin into following him across the runes, but the bluff doesn’t work. So it’s the hard way. Nex ties Splug up and gags him. Ern then tosses the goblin onto the runes. A scream echoes through the corridors. The goblin is squirming on the floor, his eyes bulging in terror. Zombies shamble into view. Nex burns many of them to the ground. The two strongest continue across the rune. One claws at Ern. The other grabs Splug. Nex brings down another raging fire and Splug is not strong enough to survive the onslaught. And shortly thereafter, the zombies join Splug in the land of the really dead.  At the next rune, Scranton offers to cross. They tie a rope to his waist. The half-elf crosses and then runs in the opposite direction. Ern easily holds the rogue in place. When the effect wears off, the Heroes discover a set of stairs leading down. Nex flings his Light-ensorcelled coin down into the darkness of the stairs. They see an armored hand reach out and grab the coin. Not to be robbed of a silver piece the group charges down the stairs. A band of hobgoblins await their arrival. A Deathjump spider leaps from the newly opened cage into the fray. Nex releases a Sleep spell, hitting hobgoblin soldiers, the spider, and several hobgob minions. The soldiers fall asleep immediately. The spider and minions follow suit at the end of the round. (Nex hit all of them and every save was failed…the soldiers twice!) A flurry of coup de graces begins trashing the monsters in the room. A Brute Strike coup de grace kills the spider outright. As one of the soldiers stands and clears his head, Morthos pushes him into a deep well. The battle is quick and vicious.</blockquote>

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