August 14, 2016
Character level: 3rd
The following morning after their arrival at Horgus Gwerm’s
house, Aegron’s friend Darla decided to stay there for the time being, until
Aegron could find out what had become of their friend Abel. Horgus didn’t seem
entirely pleased with having another mouth to feed, but Darla didn’t brook any
argument from him.
Jiro climbed up to the top of the house to look out over the
city, but there was still too much smoky haze to see anything of the district
where the group had been when the initial attack occurred.
After saying farewell to Horgus and Darla, the group set out
to escort Anevia to her home. Although her wife Irabeth was a respected paladin
and they lived in one of the better sections of Kenabres, their home was a
modest one. But on the journey to the house the party saw numerous shops
offering higher quality and more expensive goods. They paused several times
while Jiro made sure the people they saw had food and water and were not ill or
injured.
Suddenly they heard cries for help coming from an area
ahead. Aegron, Zosta, and Runa ran forward to see what the trouble was. The
spotted a stranger being trying to smash the door of a shop. The calls for help
came from within the shop. Aegron, who had learned his way around the city
quite well, dove into a sewer tunnel. The others ran into a courtyard with a
low wall that faced the shop. As they did so the creature turned to face them,
revealing that it was oddly hunchbacked, which at first made Zosta think that
it was holding its own head in its hands as she mistook its hump for its
shoulders. The creature began to chant words in the tongue of demon-kind.
Runa recognized the creature as an abrikandilu, but she
could recall little else about such demons. She did recognize that what it was
doing was summoning something else and she called out a warning to her
comrades. Asami left Jiro to look after Anevia and ran into the little
courtyard to join Runa and Zosta. Zosta then leaped over the wall and bounded
across the street to kick the demon in an attempt to disrupt its spellcasting,
but though her kick connected the creature continued to chant. Then a second
abrikandilu appeared next to Runa.
For an instant Zosta felt a wave of fear, similar to what
the quasit had subjected her to the previous day, but she overcame the
sensation. The second demon attacked Runa but failed to harm her. Jiro appeared
just outside the courtyard and used a wand to summon a spiritual weapon to attack the demon that had been trying to break
into the shop. Though his previous attempt had created a tetsubo, this time the
weapon appeared as a shillelagh.
Asami shot a ray of
frost at the demon attacking Runa but it flew past without hitting her
target. At the same time Aegron sprang out of the sewer by the demon across the
street. The demon facing Runa clawed at Radiance and seemed to be trying to
break the sword, simultaneously biting at Runa. The first demon fled from Zosta
and Jiro’s spiritual weapon pursued
it. It ran toward Jiro, perhaps wanting to get rid of the caster of the spell.
The demon trying to harm Radiance suddenly let out a scream.
Runa could tell by its reaction that it had recognized the famed blade. Asami
directed another ray of frost at the
demon but it appeared to have no effect, though Asami was unable to observe
this from her position. The second demon began trying to damage Jiro’s morningstar
and bit him. The wounds the demons left on Jiro and Runa were especially
gruesome, and left their victims feeling somewhat demoralized.
The demon facing Runa turned its attention to her heavy
wooden shield, which it managed to crack. At the same time she heard a voice
say in a commanding tone, “Put some effort into it!” and both demons seemed to
gain a burst of speed. Jiro was so badly bitten by his foe that he collapsed.
Runa used her fervor to heal herself, though that didn’t get rid of her feeling
of inadequacy. Zosta had pursued the demon that fled from her, and when she
attacked it again it disappeared. Runa then called out for her friends to find
out who had been giving the demons orders. Anevia had come to join the fight
and hobbled to Jiro’s side, reporting that he was seriously hurt. Runa went to
share Iomedae’s healing power with him.
Zosta meanwhile saw two people peeking cautiously out of the
shop, a man and a woman, both well dressed. The shopkeepers emerged and
introduced themselves as Belthis and Neera Loomis. They expressed profound
gratitude to the group for saving them from the abrikandilu, which Asami now
recalled were especially fond of destroying things of beauty. As a token of
their appreciation the Loomises told the party members to each take an outfit
from their clothing shop. Asami was able to find garments in the style of
Minkai among their stock, but they had no such apparel for Jiro. The couple
also provided information that the city leadership and defenders might be gathered
at the stronghold known as Defender’s Heart.
While inside the shop, Asami also remembered that
abrikandilu did not like mirrors. She told the shopkeepers this so they could
be prepared if more such demons appeared. She also reassured Jiro and Runa that
they would recover from the curse the demon-inflicted wounds had caused in a
few days.
Since her shield was too damaged to be useful and she had no
way to repair it, Runa decided to use one of the light steel shields they had
taken from some of the Baphomet cultists they had defeated. She found some
material in the Loomis’s shop that she could use to cover the symbol of
Baphomet on the shield’s face.
It was early evening by the time the group reached Anevia
and Irabeth’s home. The house was quiet and dark. Anevia called out for her
wife as soon as she entered. Abruptly a giant fire beetle appeared in front of
her. Anevia was so startled by its sudden appearance that when she fired an
arrow at it she missed and shot into the floor. Aegron stepped up and slew the
beetle with his spear, whereupon its remains vanished. Runa cautiously checked
in the bedroom. A moment later a dark shape appeared, threatening, “Your wife
will find your corpse!” as it attacked Anevia.
The shadowy figure proved to be a half-orc man wearing an
elaborate outfit and wielding a ranseur. The area he had appeared in was
occupied by a large table and chairs, making it cramped for combat. Zosta bounded
on top of the table. Runa pushed Anevia behind her to protect her, but the
woman refused to remain out of the fight and moved forward to face the half-orc
man, who she seemed to recognize. Aegron stepped up to attack him, and Asami
cast magic missile at him, but the
projectile bounced off an invisible shield around his body. The half-orc
focused his attacks on Anevia. Anevia demanded to know what he had done with
Irabeth, to which he responded, “She’s not dead yet but she soon will be!” He
struck Anevia again and she collapsed.
Runa reached out to pull Anevia to safety and the half-orc
used his ranseur to jerk Radiance out of her grasp. He sneered insultingly at
Runa, assuming that her coincidental resemblance to Irabeth had been meant to
trick him. Jiro summoned a spiritual
testsubo from his wand, but its blow did no harm to the half-orc. Asami tried
attacking him with her Splintered Spear but it flew past him. The half-orc drew
a wand and a magic missile issued from
it to strike the unconscious Anevia. Runa picked up her sword and slashed at
him, while Jiro used a wand to heal Anevia’s injuries. Aegron rolled gracefully
across the table to reach the half-orc but landed badly and wasn’t able to
strike. Asami’s spear failed to connect a second time. The half-orc then
attacked Zosta. She attempted to wrest the ranseur away from him, but somehow
he was able to retain his grip on it despite her skillful attack.
Anevia had by this time recovered enough under Jiro’s
ministrations to get up and get her bow, although she was still wounded. Jiro
then turned his attention to healing Zosta. Anevia fired at the half-orc, while
Runa chopped him with her sword and Aegron stabbed with his spear. Their
combined attacks left the half-orc lying unconscious on the floor, but Jiro
pleaded with them not to kill him as he might know valuable information.
Anevia then explained to her companions that many years ago,
when Irabeth was living in the River Kingdoms, a half-orc cult of Xoveron had
formed. Irabeth had captured this person and sent him to prison. He had somehow
managed to escape and sought revenge. Zosta searched him and found that he had
on his person a spell component pouch containing some components for spells
that required more expensive materials, the wand that contained magic missile, a potion which Asami
identified as invisibility, and his
ranseur, which was magically enhanced. Asami was unable to determine its
capabilities, but Runa discovered that it was a ranseur of the gargoyles, which was enchanted to be especially
difficult for anyone to take away from the bearer in combat, as well as being
able to grant the bearer increased armor protection several times a day.
Since it was already evening, the group decided to stay
overnight at Anevia’s house before going on to the Defender’s Heart to seek
Irabeth. They bound, gagged, and blindfolded the half-orc. Aegron also produced
a group of small bells that they tied to the half-orc so any movement by him
would alert them. They stood watches during the night, and while Runa and Asami
were on watch the half-orc stirred. Runa assumed this to be an escape attempt
and hit him in the head with her sword pommel until he passed out again.
The next day Anevia found a note from Irabeth, telling her
to go to Defender’s Heart and giving her the password to gain entry: “Silverstrong.”
When the party set out, Runa carried their prisoner. It wasn’t long before they
came upon a group of armored men surrounding a woman, who was clutching a baby.
They were surprised when they heard these men say, “Your sacrifice aids the
cause of good.” The woman appeared to be terrified and looked at the new
arrivals as though pleading for help.
Aegron approached and pretended to be friendly to the men,
though his companions were a little confused by his behavior. He asked the men
what was going on, and they revealed that they believed bathing their swords in
the blood of a virgin would help them to fight demons. When someone pointed out
that the woman had an infant with her, the men proclaimed that she was probably
lying and the child wasn’t hers. Aegron then attacked the man nearest him,
immediately dropping the fellow to the ground.
Runa had moved forward to position herself between the woman
and the men, trying to convince them that the old wives’ tale they had heard
was untrue. The area they had chosen for their sacrifice was a shrine to
Sarenrae, and Runa told them that blood sacrifice was not the way of Sarenrae
but they appeared unwilling to listen. When Aegron attacked, Runa also attacked
one of the men near her. Jiro ran forward to stabilize one of the fallen men,
not wanting them to die for merely being misguided. Zosta moved up and disarmed
a third man. The woman fled and hid behind a hedge. Runa continued trying to
persuade the men, but they seemed irrational. Suddenly they all fled.
The woman, who told them her name was Kayla, explained that
she had gone out to find food and had been obliged to take her baby because her
parents were both injured. The men had found her and dragged her to the shrine.
The man Jiro had stabilized was awakened and was gently talked back into a more
rational frame of mind. It appeared that the group of men had all been panicked
and confused by the demonic attacks, and when one of them suggested bathing
their swords in virgin blood to give them an advantage against the demons, the
rest went along with the idea.
The party escorted Kayla back to her family home, where Jiro
gave them a few goodberries and created some water for them. Runa also used her
divine magic to heal their injuries. Kayla told the group that she had heard
that there were several groups of defenders at Defender’s Heart, that the
wardstone had been destroyed, and that an army from Mendev was on its way to bring
aid to the city.
Loot acquired:
Spell component pouch worth 25 gp
wand of magic missile, 3rd level, 10 charges
Ranseur
of the gargoyles – obsidian head, hard as steel; +1 ranseur, +4 bonus on
disarm checks; 5/day as swift action, wielder can cause skin to harden for 1
round, gaining +2 enhancement bonus to natural armor.
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