Session 25: High Hall Report
General Summary
After enjoying the relative safety in the rich district of Westerly in Elturel, and briefly meeting with Edgar Dannihyr at Symbril's House, you decided to go against Klav Ikaia's demand to secure the inn for his purposes of restocking Shiarra's Market, and went on your way to check out High Hall, hoping to find Traxigor's bundle of items there.
Sticking to the shadows with Leo leading the way, you came upon what was left of the gatehouse of the grand cathedral - smashed into ruins by what seems to have been a meteor falling from the Avernus skies. You treaded carefully, making sure not to make a sound while traversing the courtyard of the Second Sun, The Companion throwing lightning bolts from above. It wasn't long before Caja stepped on an errant tree branch, which woke the two hell hounds that were guarding the courtyard, as well as their keeper. Luckily, you didn't yet alert what was waiting for you inside the church with your fighting...
Having dealt with the welcoming party, you stealthily entered the cathedral to find a massacre had taken place - dozens of corpses, both humanoid and fiend lay strewn across broken pews, and bled-out soldiers were coming to their end at the hand of their once-brothers as you saw a threesome of still-breathing Hellriders dispatch their fallen former comrades near the altar in the middle of the church, joined by a draconic-looking devil covered in white scales, with a crested head and leathery wings. You also noticed a fiendish sentry - a Nupperibo, stationed right at the entrance, and at the point of raising the alarm, right before Bertha silenced it with her newfound heavy crossbow. Your party, led by Leo, then made its way up to the balcony via the side stairs, as you saw two groups of fiends, each headed by one of the still human Hellriders, slowly come your way...
You waited for the opportune moment, and then Fenrir Firecam used the Shield of the Hidden Lord to cast a Fireball spell right in the center of the group of fiends - a direct hit, that scorched most of them... or so you thought. In the aftermath of the explosion, the devils were all unharmed, and the humans were all of them still standing. That's when a long and arduous battle commenced. The fight only lasted two minutes, but had all the intensity to feel like an entire afternoon - Ronaldus Swanstone exchanging magical incantations with the Hamatula in the room while the paladin and the barbarian traded blows with the Barbazu, all while being assailed by a quartet of Spinagon and a duo of Imps. Eventually, the white draconic devil returned from underneath a hidden entrance to the catacombs, beneath the altar, and joined the fray - dealing blows with a sickening crunch, nearly killing Caja . However, with everyone engaged in their own fights, Lulu was caught unaware by the devil general, and the evil creature slew the celestial elephant with a swift strike of their icy claymore.
In a fit of rage, with the fighting having come to an end and the draconic fiend attempting to fly off, you concentrated your fire on the devil and managed to bring it down. It went down in a laughing fit, a gruesome smirk on its lidless eyes as the light left them forever. Coming to your senses, you tried to revive Lulu, to no avail - even in a place like this, the gods had no power left to give; too far from the Heavens to guide their soldiers' hands. In the quiet of the moment, you saw a man in tattered, bloody robes limp your way from one of the private chapels where some of the devils had come from. A second man, one of the Hellriders-turned-traitor, also made his way slowly towards your group, weapons dropped.
"Are they all dead?" asked the vagabond...
Fenrir Firecam
Ronaldus Swanstone
Caja
Report Date
24 May 2023
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