Episode 35 - Academy Assault

General Summary

When Hugo had returned to Ashenvale he found the city was under attack. Ashblood orcs and Drow were ransacking the place, burning buildings and attacking civilians. Ashen Order stepped up to defend the city. As the sun rose in the morning several buildings had burned down. About a hundred locals were dead, another hundred missing.
Determined to rescue their people, the Ashen Order geared up and went after the raiding party. The Drow had come from tunnels beneath the ground that had emerged within the walls of the city. The Order followed the tunnel until it opened into a large cave. From there it split into three tunnels, each showing signs of recent traffic. The raiding party had split up.
The Order picked a tunnel and followed it until they caught up to a group of raiders. After a skirmish, the Ashen Order had recovered about twenty citizens of Ashenvale. They'd also managed to keep one Drow alive. Baros Alexston offered to question him. When he returned about an hour later, he was wiping his hands with a towel and was not bringing the Drow with him. However, he did have some information.

• A Drow wizard named Nolveniss Azrinae had discovered a very old spellbook, one belonging to an ancient drow wizard named Urthadar. In it he found powerful a spells such as the one that actually created Ashblood orcs.

• Nolveniss used slaves, humans mostly, for experiments. He would know where the citizens were being taken.

• Apparently Nolveniss was heading a research mission in Celwynvian. That would be the best place to locate him.

Hugo and Baros returned to the workshop and teleported Hugo back to the Guardians of Golarion. Hugo knew they were in the city and might be able to get him close to Nolveniss.
Outside the Academy of Arts in Celwynvian, the Guardians prepared their entry into the building. Hugo apparated in front of his "adventure buddy", Sir Godric. He gave the group a quick rundown on his situation, and together they entered the Academy.
Inside the building, the Guardians discovered a large room with stone bleachers on either side. Several corpses in various states of decay sat on the benches, and all of them were somewhat damp. In the center of the room was a large pool with a natural current slowly flowing around it. A statue stood on the far side of the room, overlooking the pool of serenity. While the party navigated around the pool, two large water elementals rose up from the water and attacked.
After dispatching the elementals, the party searched the room and continued into the next room. It was more of a hallway, but the walls were lined with elves chained to the wall. Their throats were cut, bodies slumped in pools of congealed blood. This had been done very recently. However, when Sir Godric entered the room the elves rose up and shuffled toward him with eyes filled with undeath.
Beyond that room was a corridor that led into a room with an altar to Abraxas. Bloody drag marks led into this room and seemed to lead to a door. Sir Godric and Reh examined the altar, Reh studying while Godric placed a symbol of Iomedae on the black pillar. Rooker Shango detected magic on the door with an evocation enchantment on it.
The party backtracked and examined a set of double doors. Inside was what looked to be a laboratory or study. On the floor were the remains of a summoning circle, as well as several dead bodies. Mostly elves, the elves from Shalelu's party, as well as an Ashblood savage. The savage stood up and attacked. Buck shot the legs out of the savage and knocked him to the ground. The orc fell to the ground, but his head twisted completely around and looked at the group as he vomited blood. Hugo freaked and ran. buried arrows into the creature.
The orc appeared dead, but a jellyfish-looking dybbuk demon oozed out of its mouth. Before the demon could do anything else, the Guardians blasted it into dust.
The Guardians examined the room. It had been cleaned out, but there were a few scraps that had been left over. Underneath one of the tables was a scrap of parchment bearing various charts and calculations written in Undercommon. These formulas pertained to the stars in the sky and how they might have looked 10,000 years ago. One particular note near the bottom read: “This time is the key. We must study Earthfall more closely, no matter the cost.”
Another page of parchment, this one sticking out from between two books on the shelf, seemed to be from a journal. The note discussed the creation of ashblood orcs, and how Urthadar’s notes had been helpful. Reading script that was lost over the millennia had helped to fill in the blanks of much of his own research. "The Echo has proved invaluable." Was this a reference to the Armageddon Echo? There was also a brief mention of Soulstone magics, and soul trapping. References to the magics Urthadar had used on Khaylin Cirdanas just after Earthfall.
There was also a scrap of paper, mostly burned but with some identifications on it. The note appeared to be from Lasdo, to "Brother." The only other part that was readable was “ - ritual is complete, together we will lead our people into the -”.
With Shalelu possibly taken and the bloody drag marks on the floor, the Guardians decided to check on Kaerishiel and his group. They crossed the hallway and stood before the set of double doors and appeared to lead to where Kaerishiel entered the Academy.

Rewards Granted

Loot

• [25 gp] divine scroll of detect good (CL 1)

• [150 gp] divine scroll of restoration, lesser (CL 3)

• [25 gp] arcane scroll of magic weapon (CL 1)

• [150 gp] divine scroll of eagle's splendor (CL 3)

• [301 gp] masterwork shortspear

• [312 gp] masterwork warhammer

• [315 gp] masterwork longsword

• [5,000 gp] pouch of diamond dust

• [1,000 gp] onyx gemstones

• [500 gp] pearls

XP

42 660 + 1 333 = 43 993 XP!

Campaign

Second Darkness

Protagonists

Hugo

Reh

Shadow Ranger

Sir Godric

Rooker Shango

Report Date

10 Jun 2019

Primary Location

Celwynvian