Session 101: What Goes Wrong Behind Closed Doors

General Summary

11th Brussendar 836PD   Whilst Raphael and Simeon bear the initial brunt of the cultists, Raven still under his greater invisibility shoots down a robed cultist dead and sharp shoots into guard attacking Simeon, before the Aasimar tolls them to their death. Simeon then looks behind the joining set of closed doors to see several cultists in an altar room that turn to look at him and promptly closes it!   Arthur protects the last of the masked conditioned cultists in the room by holding them in momentary stasis. Rhetoric in contrast takes to stopping a cultist for a more offensive purpose by casting hold person to paralyze the guard next to Raph.   Raven, Orlando, Rhetoric and Raph clear the current room of the last remaining guards just in time for reinforcements as a Guard opens one of the closed doors by Simeon, backed with several cultists ready behind him with their daggers.   A Robed Cultist in the altar room tries to hold Simeon with magic, but he resists and tolls the guard by the door dead. He shouts out to the conscript cultists to stay in or die, and he shuts the door-again!   Orlando knocks out the last masked cultist in the room, removing the mask to find a young elven girl.   The doors open up again, with each sides finding unwelcoming sites as the cultists find all their comrades on the floor, whilst Simeon faces a mob of daggers and the robed cultists preparing a spell. Simeon flies over them to avoid most of their strikes, and scared flames the magic wielding cultist.   Rhetoric mass suggestions the masked cultists on the stairs to sit on their hands and keep idle in the room, but 2 of them are deeply programmed enough to resist. Raven shoots dead the robed cultist wreathed in Simeon’s holy flame.   Orlando reaches out at one of the masked cultists that resisted Rhetoric’s suggestion by the door, and tries a lesser restoration to break the cultists conditioning. But he sees in their eyes that more powerful dispelling magic is required. He relays back to the team telepathically, that the conscripts have been conditioned through magic as well as mental programming.   Rhetoric uses countercharm on the cultists, helping them to fight the magical programming. Raven knocks the 2 resistant cultists unconscious, whilst Orlando checks the bodies of the fallen cultists but doesn’t find any that match Travis’ description.   With the masked cultists contained, the group head on through the underground complex to find where Jinarth is being held. They clear each of the rooms along the way, fighting several guards and managing to incapacitate the conscripts.   Eventually they encounter a locked door that was guarded, Raph and Raven pick the lock as it opens, Raphael hears a voice in his head “to come in, we’re hungry”. The Winter Knight retorts that "he maybe be served too cold for their liking".   Entering the narrow corridor into the creeping darkness, a Blackened Hand slashes out of an open cell in the room. Further down another set of dark scaled hands weaves blinding magical darkness, but Simeon counters it with a streak of dispelling moonlight.   The Dark Devils step forward, and as Arthur deduces the fiends to be Black Abishai he mind slivers the one by the cell, weakening its magical resolve to fail in resisting Simeon’s follow up tolls of the dead.   From the darkness, a Red Abishai emerges behind Raphael but its claws scrape off his arcane shield. The devil’s frightful appearance makes Arthur’s and Raven’s blood run cold with a fright. Raven backs away, and whilst his arm shakes slightly his radiant bolts find their mark in the other Black Abishai.   Rhetoric tries dissonant whispers on the red devil, but it pays them no mind for its own thoughts are much fouler. Not losing heart he inspires Raph with a pirate’s encouragement. Raph wreathes himself in the frozen spikes of Agathys and cleaves into the dark devil slaying it. Its comrade of colour, joins in the fray in the tight space of the corridor, biting into the Winter Knight and finding his earlier words were true of him being too cold to eat, as it chokes on the jagged ice that protects him.   Arthur twists the space around Raph in a vortex moving him out of the corridor into the guard room, seeing one devil down Arthur and Raven soon find their nerve again. Simeon steps forth amidst these devils, calling on the guardian spirits to counter these creatures. The Red Abishai, cannot abide the holy spirits and it bites deep into Simeon’s neck, the spirits fade along with the Cleric’s consciousness. With one cleric down, the red devil targets the All-Hammer’s apprentice, its red claws blend into the spewing blood of Orlando’s guts.   Orlando saves his cries of damnation to offer words of healing to the Moonweaver’s chosen, returning Simeon back to consciousness. And he blasts point blank into the devil. Raven finishes off the last Black Abishai. Rhetoric casts major image of the Moonweaver, appearing over Simeon as if she has come to his aid and to trick the devils that they now faced a God!   As the ‘Moonweaver’ appears, Simeon misty steps out of the corridor into the safety of the guard room, whilst Raph hurls eldritch blast down from it into the devils.   The red devil attacks the ‘Moonweaver,’ revealing the illusion. It turns to regard those outside the room, and the Unbroken get to share the earlier altar cultists experience of having the door shut on them! The Abishai closes it and breaks the handle, locking the red devil with his new playthings, Orlando and Raven.   Orlando barrages the oncoming devil, denting into the tough hide to weaken it enough for Raven’s radiant bolts to strike deep and true into its chest, grievously finding his mark twice.   Simeon thinks of Raph and Orlando as he prays for himself and them with healing aid. Rhetoric summons a swirling Bigby Hand to wrench off the jammed door, Raphael leaps forward off the hand to cleave down into the devil. It’s red hue, now blackening with wounds pouring ichor in a painful imitation of its dark devil kin.   In its final throws, it raises its claws to try and claim another chosen of the gods. The bloody claws reach for Orlando again but they pull back to clasp its own head in pain. The Abishai’s eyes bulge as pressure behind it builds, its screams of pain are soon silenced by the bloody bang of the devil’s head exploding with the familiar synaptic splash of Arthur’s psychic lance.   “Just in Time” Arthur playfully retorts as he pockets his watch focus to lend a hand up to the blood and ichor splattered Orlando.