Session 12: Sanguine Advocates Report

General Summary

A valiant battle between the Masters of the Nine Elements, a vengeful revenant and a ravenous hydra ensues in the midst of the night as their arena goes down in a flurry of flames. Ardenyx is killed for the second time by a lethal blow to the head from Donevan, later followed by the hydra being blood-let by Tony. The wearied party then collected their prizes from the ringmaster and returned to their outpost encampment for rest. The following morning, they awoke to an enigmatic invitation sent by the butler of one Baron Anton De La Vére - a letter asking for the help of the party in finding the noble's missing daughter in exchange for a lot of gold. After shopping around Holdenglade with their new winnings, they approached the eerie House Dragic at the turn of nightfall, just as the mists begin to roll in.   Invited inside, they speak to the noble himself - a distraught yet conserved Vampire Lord hailing from a thousand-year bloodline. He explains that a few weeks ago, his daughter, Zelèna De La Vére, began to have terrible visions of darkness and of something lurking beneath the city. The family tried to hire an exorcist but he too was scared off by this dark force. Anton then states that he was visited by a Hag the night of the disappearance, who told him of his daughter's certain death. He sent her away to the screams of his daughter as she, too, was taken by the night. The party then went about House Dragic attempting to tie up loose ends and sleuth their way around the mystery of Zelèna De La Vére's sudden disappearance, learning that the day before Zelèna's nightmares started, she saw a man in purple robes with a golden pendant watching her. This pendant, as told by Veçilia De La Vére, is most likely cursed - meaning that even those who catch a glimpse of it hitting the light will soon suffer a terrible fate. And Zelèna's maid told them the worst truth of all: the entity behind all of this was none other than Vess; a name much too familiar to Averel.   Perturbed by this revelation, and warned by Vess not to look any further, Averel took off along with Heato, who himself hated dealing with nobles after what happened to his old party back in Val T'loré, and they made haste toward Anton's pond of reflection to clear their heads, despite it being the only place he told them not to venture to. There, they learned the truth of what really happened that night: Anton knew the hag to be Mother Idal, a dangerous fortune teller that always spoke of grim futures. Assuming the worst, Anton sent her away in spite of the Hag's offer of protecting his daughter from harm. Yet Anton let his pride get the better of him and shut her out; paying the price of his daughter in the end. When Averel and Heato return to the rest of the party, they find out that Anton had been lying about several other incidents that occurred last night, which causes them to lose trust in the vampire. He confesses his mistake to send Mother Idal away and reluctantly claims her prowess could be pivotal in finding Zelèna, as well as the research conducted by the exorcist they hired, Octavian Ban Arde.   So, armed with one more piece of the story, the party split off in the early hours of the next morning to different corners of the city. Donevan and Averel question Ban Arde, who warns them of meddling with business that isn't theirs to meddle with. He explains that after he tried to exorcise the Baron's daughter, he suffered horrid visions himself of a burnt out candle, and a beast with many eyes, deep underground. Intrigued, he conducted more research on the cult and found them to be the Brothers of Vess, a group of warlock anarchists hellbent of fulfilling their dark one's commands. He also found out the name of their leader - the man with the golden pendant: Marko Turei. Alas, this information came with a price, as a few nights ago, Ban Arde awoke to Turei attempting to kill him for possessing knowledge he shouldn't have had, but the cult leader fled in the night when he was caught. Ban Arde caught a glimpse of the pendant as Turei ran away and began to lose his mind. He once again warns Averel and Donevan not to go any further, but after Donevan's reluctance to halt the investigation, the priest brings out a lock of hair left behind by Turei and tells them they can use it to find him.   Meanwhile, Tony, Rostliem and Heato venture to the very edge of Holdenglade to Mother Idal's tea house - a decrepit little building that should have been abandoned centuries ago. They wander inside and speak to the Night Hag, who informs them that it's impossible to look for Zelèna because of the hold Vess' darkness has on her. However, they can look for the location of the cult, granted they have the right materials: a remnant of the target (for example a lock of hair supplied by Averel and Donevan) and the magical plant Avënsage. As the three of them head out into the nearby woods to collect the plant, they encounter the abandoned cabin of a monster hunter. And lurking between the trees is none other than the man with the golden pendant. Yet, at the exact same time, the man with the pendant warns Averel, at the other side of Holdenglade, that this is his final chance to turn back. Or else. The group meet back up at the tea house, with Tony not feeling to good after accidentally looking at Turei's cursed pendant. But without futher ado, Idal works her magic and shows them all a scene of the cult leader infiltrating Reaver's Keep effortlessly, changing forms like Averel with the help of Vess. He saunters into one of the most high security facilities this side of The Western Spine and descends into the gut of the fortress, where he blows out a candle to open a secret door far below the city. He looks out into a twisted, dark version of Holdenglade, built out of stone and flesh, long abandoned by those who dwell above the ground. He wanders through its streets, devoid of no light bar a faint purple hue spilling up between the cracks in the ground. Finally, he descends once more into an antechamber, passing the rest of his cultist comrades and opening the doors to the main event; his creation; what could destroy Holdenglade once and for all: his Beholder Titan.