Session 10, 12 Therendor 998 YK

General Summary

In an attempt to earn some money, and settle a personal score for Rare, the party tracked down the warlock known as Dalamar Navaris to the catacombs beneath the Blackstone Cathedral in Fallen. Descending into the crypt, you found this once-holy place had been corrupted by demonic beings and a river of black ichor weaving its way through the partially collapsed chambers. As you have progressed, Therin has discovered that he had been in these very chambers almost 30 years ago in the company of Father Detereich Einglemann, the clergyman who failed to exorcise the demon from him when he was a child. Rare also found herself facing her past as she came face to face with a rakshasa, a breed of creature that she had not seen since her village was destroyed and her wife was butchered.
Advancing further into the catacombs you have seen the rooms of the church's sub-basement give way to caverns and advanced machinery has replaced religious iconography. Narrowly avoiding being drowned in an observation tank, you made your way into the next chamber to find another rakshasa furiously manipulating the controls on the pedestal above you. (L18, Blackstone Cathedral)

Navigating Through the Artificer's Workshop

Surrounding the rakshasa, the party dealt swift blows but couldn't prevent the powerful creature from opening the copper chambers that held four other demonic hybrids. Two of the creatures attacked Rare, and the remaining invisible creatures attempted to aid the rakshasa. When the feline fiend was incapacitated, however, the demonlings ran from the room to rejoin the brethren near the library. As the party left the room, Therin distinctly heard them working to release the swarm of demon hybrids from behind a locked door.
Next, the party found an incapactiated demon hybrid, larger than the rest. After deciding to attack the creature, the party discovered that this was the orc that Tinker had sent in to free the children before them. He had been subjected to the same horrific 'demonization' process as the other inhabitants of the workshop, but the procedure wasn't complete. He was able to communicate (after a fashion) with the party, but was no longer in complete control. The party decided to free him from his misery rather than leave him free and lurking behind them. With the fight over, the party took a short rest to regroup before venturing onward.

River of Black Ichor:

Finally, with nowhere else to go, the party waded its way through the black ichor toward Dalamar Navaris. The party rushed to the far side of the river of black ichor despite falling several times. Covered in the foreign ooze, they reached solid ground again and collected themselves for what was to come.

The Feast:

A table covered in fruits, vegetables, and salted meats lay before them. Suspicious of the conspicuous meal, the party stuffed a small assortment into their bag of holding and ventured onward.

Ruu the Day:

Therin had an immediate and visceral reaction to entering the ritual chamber, recognizing it immediately as the location of his "botched exorcism". Reeling from the psychic and emotional impact of his ordeal, he stumbled into the room with a singular purpose.
Unbeknownst to him, this chamber had been repurposed as a torture chamber for one of the creatures that had been turned in Dalamar's experiments. A large fiend was on the floor being whipped and burned into submission by smaller, more ruthless fiends. Gem, Rare, and Erisna immediately came to the fiend's aid but were rebuffed by the strength of their attacks. With Gem unconscious and both Rare and Erisna severely wounded, Therin snapped out of his macabre reverie to assist them and inspiring the larger fiend to join the fray. With an amazing swing of his double-bladed scimitar, the Valenar elf removed the head of the larger fiend looming over Erisna. He turned just in time to see a 15-foot tall mutated fiend pin the other creatures to the ground with its bare hands.
Chancing whatever foul magic may have been used on the food, the party discovered that it was in fact a Heroic Feast that could revitalize them. They decided to share some of their meal with the large fiend and learned a bit about him in the process. Ruu was a aberrant dragonmarked human boy and a refugee from Cyre who was kidnapped by Dalamar Navaris near his home in High Walls (Lower Dura). At 13 years old, he was subjected to the torturous procedure that Dalamar Navaris was using to bind summoned fiends to mortal flesh.
His only concern was that the party saved a halfling named Zae from the cages beyond the ritual chamber. With their promise to make sure she escaped, the large fiend used his large body to block the swarm of oncoming demonlings. Therin impulsively rushed toward the demonlings, using his last few moments to topple the stone pedestal that had haunted his nightmares for decades. He felt a profound sense of calm as he watched the stone sink into the nearby ichor before sprinting back toward the rest of the party as the demonlings bore down on him.

Facing Dalamar:

After receiving instructions from Zae in the holding chamber, the party was able to free three of the children found in the workshop as they confronted Dalamar Navaris himself. Before fleeing toward the surface, the halfling child handed Glittergem a small rock (Beholder on a heater shield) and told her that she could use the stone to find her later.
Cornering the warlock in his office, the party immediately attacked to subdue him. There were not aware at the time that he was attempting to communicate with more powerful beings to aid him in fleeing his workshop. He discovered that his spells were not sufficient to destroy the party, and released daelkyr into the cramped office to create a diversion to escape.
Before his plan could come to fruition, a lone mind flayer entered the room. Striding past the party without a thought, he bore down on the beaten warlock-lifted him off his feet- and proceeded to devour his brain in front of the entire party. "I trust that this is the last we'll see of each other" the creature said (telepathically), before departing the same way he came, the released daelkyr walking silently behind him.

Conclusion:

The party was half-dead at the end of their battle with Dalamar Navaris. They could still hear the demonlings trying to make their way through the heavy door leading to the ritual chamber, but did not know the fate of the boy Ruu. They knew opening the door to save Ruu would mean that some of the demonlings would escape into Sharn. Erisna instead offered to entreat the Church of the Silver Flame to send paladins and clerics in force to stop them before they attacked innocents. (The Church agreed to prioritize restoration over putting the demonlings to the sword.)
While searching the warlock's body, Therin found a disturbing piece of evidence linking Dalamar Navaris to Ilsa Boromar, implicating that the group's patron had purchased something from the warlock for 150 platinum dragons.
Completing this encounter advanced the party to Level 5.

Loot:

3x Thieves Tools sets
300 ft Hempen Rope
Everbright Lantern
Unidentified goggles
Church of the Sacred Flame reliquary
The Treatise of Jolan Sol
2x Potions of (Acid) Resistance
2x Unlabled Potions
700 lbs. of rare tomes in pristine condition
Robe with patches (magical)
"Radiant Mace", accompanied by a note from Clemens Balmer (see below)
Dalamar Navaris' artificer notes
Locked tome
2x gold candleabra
Magical amulet
Magical gloves
150 platinum dragons (stored in Muninn)
fine clothes (6x sets)

Report Date

19 Dec 2020

Loose Threads:

• Ilsa Boromar paid Dalamar Navaris 150 platinum dragons, but the note doesn't say what for

• The paladins in Temple District promised to send paladins and clerics to the Blackstone Cathedral immediately, they should have more information in the morning

• "The Rake" has complained to Ilsa Boromar about some tampering with the jousting in the Hollow Tower, but Ilsa admits that he can be a bit dramatic

• A changeling named Weave is supposed to know more about The Tyrant organization, she works in a shop in Dragoneyes

• Chaela Tas is trying to set a meeting with "Tyrant One" but he doesn't trust the party enough yet for an in-person meeting

• The party possesses a unique lantern, maybe one-of-a-kind

• Keth has more information about Father Deterich Einglemann

• Cavallah is still looming out there, planning a strike against the Boromar Crime Family

Letters from Father Einglemann's Office

The mace Lightbringer is wrapped in a heavy cloth and placed behind the bookcase in the office. It is accompanied by a note from Clemens Balmer (Pure Flame) thanking the priest for his radical procedure and its guiding words that helped identify lycanthropes in the Eldeen Reaches.
From Clemens ir'Balmer, Knight Paladin of The Silver Flame in the Eldeen Reaches (dated 2 Olarune, 965 YK):
Father,
Thank you again for your notes on the ritual you performed, and its ability to aid our paladins in finding the lycanthropic scourge here in The Reaches. I hope one day you can make the trek to see what your work has wrought out here. I fear that many in Flamekeep may never learn to appreciate what you have been able to accomplish, but I appreciate your efforts to keep our flame burning pure. Enclosed in the attached parcel you will find a mace crafted by my finest blacksmith. I know it is a little flamboyant for your simple asthetic, but I hope you permit me this indulgence when expressing my gratitude to a dear friend.
From Lavira Tagor, Keeper of the Flame to Father Deterich Einglemann (dated 21 Dravago, 968 YK):
Father Einglemann,
Your extensive research into the perversions of the fiends that can corrupt mortal souls is both extensive and illuminating. Cardinal Krozen, my newest advisor, has informed me that your studies include information that our Church has strived to collect for years. If your findings can be corroborated, it would be a boon for our goals across the Five Kingdoms. While the world around us is embroiled in politics and subterfuge, it is releiving to know that members of the clergy have maintained their focus beyond the temporal.
I would be remiss if I did not caution you, however, to tread carefully when attempting to make further discoveries along this vein. Though my advisors are cautious to call attention to the minutia, I understand your experiments to be at the bounds of what is permissable within the tenets of our faith. I pray that you don't take this line of research any further. Tira Miron herself would shed tears at your loss...