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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JollyDoc" data-source="post: 6896094" data-attributes="member: 9546">15 Lamashan, 4716 - 1 Neth, 4716 - The Horn Awakens"Ah, I see you recognize these," Dakota said, smiling broadly. She flicked the iron amulet around her neck and nodded at the similar one that Tardaesha wore. The eyes of Hexor and Vexor burned balefully as they bored holes into the twins."Where did you...?" Hexor began, but Dakota held up one finger and his mouth snapped shut."No, no, my pet," she chided, "you do not get to ask questions nor make demands any longer. All I need from you at the moment is that little bauble we left in your possession. You know the one."Hexor's teeth could be heard grinding against themselves as he drew forth the glittering emerald and handed it to Dakota. "Good boy," she scratched him behind the ear. "Now, from this moment on, you will harm none of the individuals you see in this room, nor impeded them in any way, is that clear?""As you command," the daemons spoke in unison, and bowed low."Excellent!" Dak clapped her hands happily. "Now that we have that matter cleared up, shall we?"She turned to her companions and gestured towards the spiral staircase that led upwards from the daemons' charge._________________________________________________________The spiral climbed over two-hundred feet higher to the very top of the Horn of Abaddon. It terminated in a large, domed chamber that was baroquely decorated and everywhere adorned with jagged daemonic iconography and visions of spreading pestilence and mortal suffering. It was a grand chamber, eighty feet across at its widest, ninety feet long and rising at its apex over fifty feet. Low partition walls sectioned off two smaller preparation chambers, but dominating the room was a statue of Vetra-Kali himself carved from hard green alabaster. He held three knives and three bowls and leered eyeless over the altar before him. He presented a figure of brutal alien malice. The green stone of the altar was stained black in many places, doubtless from the countless victims who met their end upon its block. There was a reservoir at the base of the statue that looked as if was meant to hold liquid of some sort. The statue and altar fairly pulsed with evil. Completely out of place were the heavy silver chains that bound the altar and connected to a large argent seal pressed with the holy symbol of blessed Iomedae. All of this the companions took in briefly, for their attention was immediately drawn to the domed roof of the chamber, where a mass of living energy circled in perpetual motion. Acting purely on instinct, Tardaesha darted out of the stairwell and towards the altar. No sooner had she begun to move than the electrical mass came flying towards her. She tucked and rolled at the last instant, and it swept by, mere inches above her head. As it rose into the air to circle back for another run, both Kelvin and Dorian simultaneously hurled explosive balls of fire into its midst. Its energy flickered from the twin detonations. Dakota took one knee and aimed her bow carefully towards the cloud. She recognized the creature as an elemental, and she willed the bane of the inquisition into her weapon, rendering it much more deadly against such beings. The bow sang twice as Dak rapid-fired a pair of arrows. Both struck true, and thunder boomed from the elemental like a bellow of pain. It roiled and whirled, spinning towards Dakota. Kelvin cast another spell, and a blinding flash of glittering dust engulfed the creature. It spun aimlessly in the air, lashing out randomly in all directions. One errant surge of electricity struck Dakota by dumb luck. She cried out and tumbled back, but as the elemental turned towards the sound of her voice, Lemmy stepped in front of her and unleashed a kinetic fusillade of rocks and debris. The cloud recoiled from the assault, giving Dakota time to regain her feet. She fired another shot into it, and then Dorian conjured up a final bolt of white-hot fire. The elemental began to dissipate, collapsing rapidly in upon itself.__________________________________________________________________"What can you tell us about the eyes?" Dakota asked Hexor and Vexor once the companions had descended from the sanctum."They must be steeped in the blood of a sentient creature," Hexor replied."Then they must be placed in the statue," Vexor continued. "Only then will their true power be revealed.""I suppose we can take care of that with the first sacrifice," Dorian said."Which reminds me," Dakota mused, "I need to pay a visit to Halthus.""And I need to take care of that abomination of a shrine to Iomedae that we found below," Dorian said in disgust._______________________________________________________________While Dorian tended to the desecration of the Iomedaen shrine, Dakota and Tardaesha made their way back down to the torture chamber, where they found Halthus hard at work supervising his two boggard guards as they went about clearing the detritus from the room. "We need to talk," Dakota said without preamble. "Come, sit with us for a moment."Hesitantly, the priest joined the sisters as they sat on a pile of debris. "What is it?" he asked. "Did you find the sanctum?""We did indeed," Dakota smiled, "and we have recovered all three of Vetra-Kali's eyes. We are set to begin the ritual soon.""Excellent news!" Halthus grinned. "How can I help?""Funny you should ask," Tardaesha smirked."What my sister means to say," Dakota interrupted, "is, how much are you willing to sacrifice to see your lord returned?""Whatever it takes," Halthus replied without blinking."I was hoping you would say that," Dak smiled. "You see, the ritual will ultimately require three living sacrifices. The first must be performed at the beginning, and it must be, to quote the Dirges of Apollyon, 'one of our own...so that Vetra-Kali will know we are repentant.'"Halthus remained silent for several moments."I see," he nodded at length. "As the last living member of the Brotherhood I suppose that leaves very little choice.""You understand our dilemma," Dakota said. "I do indeed," Halthus replied. "Well, if it means restoring Vetra-Kali, then I am willing to pay that price. I only ask that I be rendered unconscious if that is possible.""That could be arranged," Tardaesha said."You are a brave man," Dakota purred, caressing the priest's cheek. "You deserve to be rewarded for your devotion. My sister and I will make sure that your final remaining days will carry you into the great beyond on waves of ecstasy..."________________________________________________________The next several days were spent in preparation for the ritual and the companions getting to know their new home a little better. Via Knick-Knack, Tardaesha sent word to the White Ravens and Baron Vandermir about their findings and plans. 'Aesha also availed herself of her minion's ability to commune with the higher powers, and asked the one question that had been burning her mind."When the ritual begins, will it be obvious to outside observers?"The answer was a resounding, 'Yes!'Kelvin and Dorian spent their time carefully studying the hall of murals they'd discovered on the second level of the Horn. Over pain-staking hours of transcribing the hidden messages they found there, they deduced that there were in fact three rituals described: Call Forth the Hounds, Call Forth the Steed, and Cauldron of the Earth. Each one could be performed but once per year, yet it was the second one that caught Roger's attention when the two brothers presented their findings. Early the next morning he set out alone for Farholde, and returned that evening astride an expensive-looking warhorse. As the others looked on curiously, he rode the beast up the stairs on the outside of the mountain, through the second-floor entry and into the temple. There, he casually dismounted, removed his gauntlets, stroked the horses's mane, then drew his sword and in one swift strike, decapitated the animal. It's body fell heavily to the floor, and its blood pooled around it. Roger opened a silken bag he had tied at his belt and poured its contents of incense, powdered gemstones and prayer strips over the horse's corpse. This concoction he then set aflame with a nearby brazier. As the fire leapt high and consumed the steed, the flames turned blood-red, and the stink of sulfur filled the air. Suddenly, there was a whoosh of foul, fetid smoke and a deep, savage neighing from the bonfire. A large stallion, black as midnight, erupted from the conflagration. Fire spurted from its nostrils and hair, and its hooves sprayed sparks as they struck the flagstones. The great nightmare towered over Roger, but then knelt down on its front legs before him and bowed its head to the floor. "I am Carnitheria Rex," it spoke in a grating basso voice. "What is thy bidding, my Master?"_____________________________________________________________Finally, the time had come to begin the ritual. The companions gathered in the sanctum, along with Halthus, who had been stripped naked, Hexor, Vexor and Zikomo Hears-the-Father. At Dorian's suggestion, the boggard oracle would be the one to speak the prayers each morning, evening and midnight over the coming months, thereby freeing up the members of the Knot. Zikomo seemed pleased at this responsibility, hopping from side to side in excitement. Dorian strode up to the altar and poured a flask of water into the basin at its base. Instantly, the liquid turned black and foul, with tendrils of yellow smoke drifting off of it. Then Halthus was brought to the altar, a vapid smile of joy on his inebriated face. Tardaesha and Dakota had plied him with some of Lemmy's home brew until he was almost senseless. As he reached the altar, Roger stepped up behind him and struck him a skull-cracking blow to the base of his neck with the pommel of his sword. The twins caught him before he fell and laid him tenderly upon the stone altar. At that point Zikomo began The Supplication to Darkness. As he chanted fervently, Dorian stepped forward and received a wicked dagger from Katarina. This he plunged into Halthus' chest and opened the man from breast to naval. As the priest's life's blood spilled, Dorian reached into his chest cavity and cut out his still-beating heart. This he placed in one of the bowls held by the statue of Vetra-Kali. Lastly, Dorian scooped a ladle full of the unholy water from the basin and doused the silver seal. The liquid boiled and sizzled across the face of the divine artifact. He then pulled the three eyes of Vetra-Kali from his belt pouch, smeared them with Halthus' blood, and placed them in their respective sockets. A moment later, the Horn of Abaddon began to burn.____________________________________________________Outside the Horn, ghostly green flames wreathed the entire mountain and flared upward into the sky like a beacon. The pyrotechnics could be seen from as far away as Farholde. Every bit of greenery and undergrowth blending the stone spire into the Caer Bryr burned away in a single flash of dire radiance. Abyssal runes carved into the stonework glowed furiously, and wraith spawn danced in the air around the peak and cackled in glee. The earth shook and the tremors travelled for miles. Any hope the companions had of keeping the Horn a secret disappeared in one blaze of balefire. Back inside the sanctum, an alien voice of pure malice spoke in Abyssal from everywhere and nowhere at once: "Kazara Vo!""I hear," Dorian translated breathlessly. The priest also understood several things in that moment. First, the magic that now engulfed the exterior of the Horn would fade visibly, but its power would persist, and it would prevent anyone or anything from teleporting into or out of the mountain, and would block any magical messages from being transmitted as well. Furthermore, goodly creatures who attempted to pass through the nimbus to enter the Horn's upper level balcony would find the magical barrier an unholy blight that barred their intrusion. Dorian also found that he now knew the purpose of the eyes of Vetra-Kali. The Eye of Vigilance allowed anyone who touched it to scry upon the entirety of the Horn. The Eye of Hatred would glow whenever a divine spell of Iomedae had been cast within the Horn, and the Withering Eye caused the entirety of the spire to fall under the effects of a desecration. In short, beginning the ritual had created a sophisticated security system for the Horn of Abaddon, and if the Ninth Knot was going to hold this place for the next 222 days and see the ritual through to completion, they were going to need all the help they could get.______________________________________________________________For his part, Dorian also managed to procure a minion of sorts, though this one he built himself. Using the blue prints they had found in the alchemy lab, he set about repairing the disabled golem. He cast a spell of making-whole on the cracked lens of its eye, and then, since it required a brain from an individual who had died within the previous twenty-four hours, he used Halthus'. Waste not, want not, after all. The mithral heart cog was also missing, likely stolen by some Iomedaen soldier during the assault. Fortunately, the exact shape of the cog was described in the schematics. Via Knick-Knack, Tardaesha sent a message to the White Ravens asking that they purchase enough mithral to forge the cog. In the mean time, Lemmy had managed to get the smithy back in working order, and when the courier from Farholded arrived, the dwarf was able to craft a reasonable replacement for the cog. The golem required a large glass reservoir where its four primal reagents could mingle and power the construct. Its own reservoir had been smashed at some point, but Dorian found a spare one amongst the detritus of the alchemist's gear. Last came the reagents themselves. The reagent of fire was easy enough. It could be concocted from ten doses of alchemist's fire, which was simple to purchase. Likewise the reagent of ice could be brewed from alchemist's ice. For the reagent of acid, Dorian had to look no further than the pool of acidic fluid in the lower caverns. The reagent of electricity was the trickiest, but it just so happened that the blood of the lightning elemental which had been guarding the upper sanctum was still potent.His repairs complete, Dorian gave the heart cog a twist and stood back. The cog began to whir and click, and soon the pump started to distribute the four alchemical fluids throughout the automaton like blood. Electrical fluid bathed the brain floating in its case and sparks began to dance around it. The golem flickered to life. It sat up, then stood and turned towards Dorian, towering above the priest."Master," it intoned mechanically, "command thy servant, Artephius."Dorian smiled. This was going to do nicely.__________________________________________________________________Over the next few days, the companions set about shoring up the defenses of their new temporary abode. They were going to have to spend the better part of the next eight months in the Horn until they ritual was complete. They had no illusions that the light show from the mountains awakening had gone unnoticed, and unwanted guests were sure to be arriving soon. Lemmy determined that one of the flooded caves in the lower warrens would do nicely as a lair for some sort of aquatic predator. Zikomo informed him that his boggard hunters could probably capture one or two of the large crocodiles that dwelled in the swamps and confine them in the cave. They would pose a nasty surprise for any intruders. Roger gathered several skulls from the bone pit they'd found in the catacombs and mounted them on wooden poles at the various entry points into the Horn. Using dark magic, he turned the skulls into mindless sentries that would shout out an alarm if trespassers were detected. Kelvin followed this up with several silent alarm spells placed at key locations that would alert him as well. Finally, Dorian inscribed warding glyphs at the entry points to ward against those actually foolish enough to brave the Horn. He also used a spell of stone shaping to repair the hole on the second level were the oozes had penetrated.________________________________________________________Tardaesha spent part of that time communing through Knick-Knack. She wanted to know when they might expect their first assault on the Horn. The answer: that week. The following day, a messenger arrived with a letter from the White Ravens. "A group of adventurers is headed your way," it read. "Local heroes. Poor equipment. Little experience. Plan to arrive within the next three days. The dwarf has been to the Horn  before and said something about entering the caves. He is called Yorgun the Smith. Carries a large hammer. Their leader is Hallack Amon, human, retired watch sergeant. He has military experience. Sister Marta Dian is a priestess of Iomedae. She is reported to have successfully destroyed a dozen zombies. James O'Toole is a brawler, famed for taking on all comers at local faire. Last is Bianca DeVallya, a half-elven local bard and singer. She knows a little magic. Very fond of Hallack. Prepare them a proper welcome, will you? - Z"</blockquote>

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