The Cult of Cloaked Serpent

Life, Achievement/ Win

The Fractured Pack defeat a cult of Zehir and magic a contract with an imp to gain them answers to question in their eventual quest into Baator to find the reforming Voriski.

The Fractured Pack's investigation into the undead attacks, the increase serpent activity, and "Norzim" problem of being bound to a mage that has sent him away all culminated into a single bloody evening.   Having walked out from Lacington for three days to find the rough area noted by the peasant Buck had treated in the refugee camps, our heroes locate an isolated unit of zombies. The mewling group are made up of a small set of "ordinary" rotting corpses brought back to animation as well as a few austere ones. Wearing black robes and bearing symbols of the Cloaked Serpent, these priestly zombies excreted a toxic slime. After dispatching the minor group of undead, Buck backtracked the path of the crew to locate their origin.   Within the rocky bluffs of the area, the Fractured Pack found an cave the subtly wafted of death. Entering in, the crew found occasional corpses upon the ground. Entering into a torchlit chamber, a pair of zombies upon an upper ledge dropped a box of rocks and snakes upon Broxon, smashing him down and covering him in a swarm. Both zombies soon followed after, taking just as much damage from their descent as they had given Broxon from their ambush.   Slaying the Zombies, the party found a storage area of bodies in one corridor where they managed to identify some hidden animated skeletons that were taken out in a coordinated assualt. Continuing on the opposite way, the party found a trio of zombies stomping out a dance macabre in the ghastly, awful costumes of a queen, a jester, and a bear (simply wearing a bearskin as it danced). Slaying these, they party had two routes from this chamber, onward into the denzins or upward towards a chamber with two iron chests. Choosing the chests in case they didn't have a chance on the retreat, they found them empty as rocks were dumped on them from a trap door in the ceiling. A manic man called from beyond a spying hole that the party should turn back or perish.     Continuing on into the main laboratory, the party face off against a host of skeletal soldiers, a mutated murderous cultist, "Norzim's" necromantic master, and the abomination at the center of it all. The reason for the necromancer's absorption into the cult was not out of fervor. He had helped the Cult of the Cloaked Serpent create a snake abomination through the merger of corpses and cult magic. Like a python headed flesh golem with a thousand snakes for an arm, the abomination fully channeled venom and disgust of the cult's patron.   Through the combat, The Fractured Pack dropped and rose again. Xanstaer tried to prevent the necromancer's escape but the party grew too spread out and in the end, the had to let the necromancer run in order to ensure everyone stood while the minions and abomination fell. Continuing on to the final chamber, the Fractured Pack faced off against the Serpent's Head of Zehir and the necromancer Oreoth in the final chamber. If the reaper cultist was effective with his blades, the Snake's Head was downright deadly. Moreso, shedding skin as the battle when on, the deadliest of blows against him were turned to nothing. Oreoth's magic pestered through the entire combat and in the end,the Snake's Head of Zehir was cloven and Oreoth was missing a hand, slowly bleeding out.   The Fractured Pack had Oreoth call "Norzim" and the party began their negotiations. Having had plenty of time to read what they could understand of the contract, Buck managed to renegotiate a few choice phrases. After signing, Buck understood that nothing good was left for Oreoth due to his dark magic and crimes. Knowing escorting the man back to Lacington was a death sentence but not trusting a man who animated the dead, Buck executed him on the spot. Oreoth claimed that before the cult he had only every robbed graves for bodies. Whether that was true or not, he had done much more with the cult.   Looting the treasure gained Buck the Snake's Head of Zehir's dagger Venom Cloak and Xanstaer the Wand of Magic Missiles from Oreoth.