As the demons appeared behind me, Zosta rushed forward to punch one of them, but her fist met only empty space. I attempted unsuccessfully to spear one of them with an anchor of force. Zosta interposed herself between me and the demons to guard me. The demons attacked me and I lost consciousness and fell to the floor.
When I awoke a few moments later I found myself in a different spot, having been pulled away from the demons by Zero. Jiro had run back to me, dragging the heavy banner behind him, and had cast a spell to heal some of my injuries. Runa then used her special divinely-granted power to allow all of us to leap forward, which enabled me to quickly get to my feet and express my gratitude to Jiro.
Runa then touched Zosta's knuckles, imbuing them with Iomedae's power of good, and did the same for Zero's bow and her own blade. One of the demons rose into the wall above the doorway, while the next pursued me. The third demon turned on Zosta, and a moment later she had destroyed the foul creature. I tried to cast a spell to prevent the remaining demons from teleporting away, but like the anchors it failed to have any effect. Zero began his performance once again to strengthen our resolve, and Jiro said, "Stand together," and summoned the power of his spirit companion again.
Runa stepped nearer to me and cast a spell upon me to give me the toughness of a mighty bear in case the demon continued to attack me. Jiro and Zero stood on either side of me. Runa pursued one of the demons. One of them directed a spell at her, and I realized that it had possessed her body. An instant later it used her enchanted boots, which allow her to teleport a very short distance, to cause her to fall into the pit again. I could not see from my vantage, but Jiro flew over the pit and saw that the demon inside her was causing her to roll into the slime and burning her flesh with its acid. Jiro took the banner closer but did not land for fear of it touching the slime. He cast a protective circle around Runa. I sent Kirara to her with another protective spell, warning Kirara to avoid the slime.
The second remaining demon moved away from Zosta and flew down to where Runa's body lay, attempting to grasp hold of her, but the spells Jiro and I had cast upon her prevented that. In response to being thwarted, it filled the pit with a burst of flames direced at Runa. I took flight and directed one of my wands at the demon, attacking it with missiles of force, but the wand's strength failed to overcome the demon's native resistance to magical attacks.
Suddenly Bohgong appeared in his enlarged form, leaping down into the pit beside Runa. Though the slime burned his flesh, he picked her up. Bohgong carried her up out of the pit and the demon abandoned her. Zosta struck the demon twice with her fiery fists, and the demon appeared startled that the flames actually harmed it. Zosta then began wiping the burning slime off Runa's badly wounded body.
The demon that had attacked me earlier had sought to harm me with frigid attacks, and I now flew away from the area occupied by the demon and cast a spell on myself to protect me from such attacks. Bohgong had meanwhile collapsed, unconscious, but Jiro checked Runa first and cast a healing spell upon her, which revived her. Runa used her own divine healing on herself. Zosta began to pummel the demon there, while the second demon came at me again. But before it reached me it abruptly vanished, and I realized the original demon who guarded the banner must have summoned it from the Abyss and the duration of its temporary visit to the Material Plane must have come to an end, praise Qi Zhong.
In the meantime, Jiro began to clean the slime off Bohgong while Runa and Zero joined forces against the sole remaining demon. It was fittingly Runa's blade that slew the unholy beast. We then all turned our attention to healing Bohgong, who was very badly burned. Kirara even began to lick him to impart the little healing that her celestial nature grants her.
Once we were certain that Bohgong would survive, we attended to our own hurts. I observed that in the aftermath of these events, Jiro had become somewhat child-like in his behavior, which I attribute to something he had sacrificed to fuel his spells. When we all felt a bit healthier we examined the chamber more closely, finding some scratchings on the walls that signified nothing any of us could recognize. We had earlier noticed a number of crystals scattered about the room, which at first appeared to be the mysterious nahyndrian crystals, but we soon realized the crystals in the room were all false.
There was nothing else in the room of interest, so Jiro carefully rolled up the Sword of Valor, and Zosta carefully placed the now-diminutive Bohgong in Jiro's basket for transport back to the camp. As we climbed back up to the citadel we discussed what to do with the banner and whether we should keep its presence concealed until we could show it to Irabeth. When we reached the ground floor of the citadel we were met by a group of paladins, one of whom we sent to report to Irabeth. We found that keeping the presence of the banner concealed was impossible. As we made our way outside we were surrounded by members of the Crusader army seeking to see or touch it.
Sword of Valor
Irabeth had already ordered a scaffold to be set up for the purpose of hanging the banner in the Citadel's great hall, and presently it was displayed there for all of the defenders to admire. As soon as the banner was hung in this spot, we could all feel its protective power radiating from it and it seemed as though an aura of lingering evil had been banished from Drezen.
Irabeth encouraged Runa to use the banner's ability to summon a planetar from the heavenly plane to stand guard. When this being appeared she appeared pleased to have been called. Irabeth then asked Sosiel to send a magical message to someone, presumably to Queen Galfrey to apprise her of our success. Afterward a great celebration was organized to allow everyone to enjoy the banner's presence. Runa invited Jhoran Vhane to come and view the banner while the rest of our group mingled with the paladins and civilians in attendance. Jiro kept attempting to help those who were preparing food and beverages, until Bohgong told him to stop and participate.
Irabeth encouraged Runa to use the banner's ability to summon a planetar from the heavenly plane to stand guard. When this being appeared she appeared pleased to have been called. Irabeth then asked Sosiel to send a magical message to someone, presumably to Queen Galfrey to apprise her of our success. Afterward a great celebration was organized to allow everyone to enjoy the banner's presence. Runa invited Jhoran Vhane to come and view the banner while the rest of our group mingled with the paladins and civilians in attendance. Jiro kept attempting to help those who were preparing food and beverages, until Bohgong told him to stop and participate.
Planetar
After a time Irabeth summoned us all into the chapel of Iomedae and read a letter to us that had been sent by Queen Galfrey. In the letter the Queen asked us to explore to the south and west of Drezen, taking particular care to look for things the defenders could use. Drezen would be rebuilt, and the hope was that we would also assist in that endeavor, to which we all agreed. Queen Galfrey had awarded us more medals, which like those we received previously bestowed some limited magical properties upon us.
In addition to the Queen's requests and gifts for us, she appointed Irabeth ruler over the reclaimed Drezen, named Anevia the spymaster, put Aravashnial in charge of defenses, made Aron warden of the city, and asked Sosiel to see to the inhabitants' spiritual needs. Horgus Gwerm seemed somewhat surprised to be made treasurer. After the letter was read and medals distributed we discussed that we knew a stronghold of the Templars of the Ivory Labyrinth lay somewhere not far away and we must see to eliminating it, as well as seek out the redeemed succubus Arushalae.
The following day brought another success, an unexpected one in that it was aided by Joran Vhane. Runa was walking through the camp with him when he suddenly froze, staring into the distance fearfully with perspiration beading his brow. He pulled Runa toward the group of paladins, trying to approach them unseen, but stealth is not a skill at which she has great talent. The paladin group were attracted to Runa by the noise she made. Joran then asked for her weapon and she gave him one of her swords. She told the paladins to drop their own weapons at Joran's behest, then ordered them to take a step back. They found this confusing, particularly as Joran was still being kept under guard.
In addition to the Queen's requests and gifts for us, she appointed Irabeth ruler over the reclaimed Drezen, named Anevia the spymaster, put Aravashnial in charge of defenses, made Aron warden of the city, and asked Sosiel to see to the inhabitants' spiritual needs. Horgus Gwerm seemed somewhat surprised to be made treasurer. After the letter was read and medals distributed we discussed that we knew a stronghold of the Templars of the Ivory Labyrinth lay somewhere not far away and we must see to eliminating it, as well as seek out the redeemed succubus Arushalae.
The following day brought another success, an unexpected one in that it was aided by Joran Vhane. Runa was walking through the camp with him when he suddenly froze, staring into the distance fearfully with perspiration beading his brow. He pulled Runa toward the group of paladins, trying to approach them unseen, but stealth is not a skill at which she has great talent. The paladin group were attracted to Runa by the noise she made. Joran then asked for her weapon and she gave him one of her swords. She told the paladins to drop their own weapons at Joran's behest, then ordered them to take a step back. They found this confusing, particularly as Joran was still being kept under guard.
But as the men stepped away from their arms, a babau demon suddenly appeared in the midst of the weapons lying on the ground. The demon snatched up a weapon from the heap and was immediately attacked from all sides. It came as a rude surprise to the evil thing that it could not teleport away due to the protective ward emanating from the Sword of Valor, and it was swiftly slain.
Babau
Once the demon was eliminated, Jhoran explained that he had realized one of the paladins was carrying the weapon that had once belonged to his brother Staunton. This item could change its form to become any of a variety of weapons, and could also summon a babau. This was how the demon had invaded the camp and committed the murders that had been plaguing the army for several days. We were all chagrined to realize that we had not detected this evil weapon, but among its properties was the ability to make other weapons appear to have an evil aura, thus directing attention away from itself.
Though clearing Citadel Drezen of the last of its foul occupiers took far longer than we had anticipated and cost us dearly, we are proud to have accomplished this deed and restored the Sword of Valor to its rightful place. We have also determined how to alter the corruption forge in the dungeon so that it can remove corruption. The improved aura of this place has allowed Radiance, the legendary word Irabeth bears, to display even more if its divine power, and the garden Jiro created with his tree token has grown in size and is now under the care of a treant. It has even produced a shrub that grows berries which can substitute for a day's rations.
Though clearing Citadel Drezen of the last of its foul occupiers took far longer than we had anticipated and cost us dearly, we are proud to have accomplished this deed and restored the Sword of Valor to its rightful place. We have also determined how to alter the corruption forge in the dungeon so that it can remove corruption. The improved aura of this place has allowed Radiance, the legendary word Irabeth bears, to display even more if its divine power, and the garden Jiro created with his tree token has grown in size and is now under the care of a treant. It has even produced a shrub that grows berries which can substitute for a day's rations.
Radiance
But our journey is not done. We have yet much to do to ensure that the denizens of the Abyss can no longer threaten this world.
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