Kingdom on the Brink - Session 66
General Summary
The party tries to get their bearings, but they cannot pinpoint where all the sounds are coming from, Rosemary is able to discern that there is movement coming from the west. Uriel goes to investigate, he gets engulfed by a bone swarm (bludgeoning him in the process), Amber Kerogen and Rosemary are quick to react and start to pummel the Bone Swarm. Uriel smites it while the Shield Guardian moves up to assist, two Masked Wights move up, one dodges and the other lets out a wail that disintegrates the Bone Swarm and leaves the party deafened and hurt. Duromar and the Shield Guardian move to flank the southern Wight as Merigold fires from afar, Uriel and Rosemary move to flank the western Wight as Amber supports them with eldritch blasts. Gregori is running around barking as he has no idea what's going on. The Wights attempt to strike the party, they manage to hurt them, but their secondary effects are resisted. The Wights don't last much longer under a sustained melee, but a BonePowder Ghoul enters the fray. Rosemary uses her hand of healing ability to bring back her and Uriel's hearing; Uriel says to help the others and closes in on the Bonepowder Ghoul. Rosemary doesn't do as Uriel asks and helps him with the Ghoul, the Ghoul goes into whirlwind that Rosemary manages to avoid, but hits Uriel at full force, sapping his strength. Uriel Smites it with Amber hurling eldritch blasts, the Ghoul falls shortly thereafter. Rosemary restores the hearing of the rest of the party and Ambers casts catnap on Duromar, Merigold, and Rosemary and they short rest. The party explores some of the empty crypts and find several potions and a necklace of fireballs.
The party starts to search the southern crypt as Duromar pushes forward with his Shield Guardian, the group opens one of the crypts that reveals a Sword Wraith Commander; Duromar finds an Iron Golem further down the hall. The Wraith attempts to stab Rosemary, who dodges and lands several strikes that stun it, a second Wraith reveals itself. Duromar commands his Shield Guardian to use dimension door to get them out of immediate danger, Uriel grabs a bead off the necklace of fireballs and exits the room. He throws it in (with Merigold, Gregori, and Rosemary still inside), it hits both the Wraiths and Gregori. Rosemary stuns the other Wraith and pummels the other, Duromar moves in and upcasts scorching ray which destroys one of the Wraiths. Merigold moves in and fires a volley of arrows into the Wraith, Amber misty steps in and shoots off a volley of eldritch blasts, destroying the last Wraith. The Iron Golem moves up and uses its poison breath on Rosemary, Rosemary moves back, Duromar casts erupting earth around the Golem, he hears something else get caught in the area of effect. The Golem closes in on Rosemary and slams her twice, the party focuses on the Golem and destroy it quickly. A Pact Lich reveals itself and attempts to hurl Merigold through hell, but thanks to Uriel's aura she resists it. Rosemary heals her wounds and moves back, Uriel activates his belt, he starts to hurl lightning bolts. The Pact Lich moves out of line of sight and summons an elemental, but Duromar banishes it. Gregori runs up to get Merigold in range, the Pact Lich uses a legendary action to use maddening touch which causes Gregori to hallucinate (despite Merigolds best efforts to dodge the attack). Uriel hurls another lightning bolt and closes in to help, the Pact Lich attempts to use finger of death on Merigold, but Uriel counter-spells it. Merigold strikes the Pact Lich, which responds with a hellish rebuke, but she manages to avoid it with her shield, she trips the Lich. Rosemary moves up and casts guiding bolt, but misses the proned lich, the Pact Lich casts dominate monster on Merigold, who becomes charmed by the Lich. Duromar casts dimension door and appears behind Uriel, Uriel smites the Lich several times which free Merigold from its control. Rosemary and Merigold move up and finish off the Pact Lich.
Duromar checks the Pact Lich corpse for anything valuable, but finds nothing, Uriel pushes on. He finds a sanctum with runes, arcane markings, notes and a book, the party catches up with him and Amber grabs all the notes and the book on the way out. The party heads down a hall and finds a lever, Merigold checks it and then pulls it, the door opens into what appears to be a nice-looking room. There are several guards in the room, and they start to close in on the party, Duromar recognizes the room as fitting the colors of Calra Belastor. The party decides to make a quick escape and dimension door away, not before Rosemary gets accosted by some spirit guardians. The party makes their way back to the inn with haste and take a long rest. In the Morning Merigold and Rosemary head to the dining room, as they are getting breakfast Rosemary notices one of royal councilors from the opening ceremony several nights ago. She subtly gets Merigold's attention and they make a quick exit back to the party, Rosemary says they have a problem and tells the party what she saw. Uriel and Duromar go to check, they realize it's Shia Boriz, they tell the party it's alright and this is why they chose this inn. Rosemary decides to stay back and help Amber sift through the notes, Uriel and Duromar go to introduce themselves. There is a tense standoff as they try to get past her guards, but after explaining they are with House Valeros Shia invites them to sit. Uriel makes proper introductions and introduces Duromar as the archivist to House Valeros (much to Duromar's annoyance). This convinces her they can be trusted and they begin to exchange information during this time, including everything between now and Kingdom on the Brink - session 1, when Kellan Leagallow's name comes up Merigold makes her thoughts known on him (much to Duromar's dismay again). During this time Rosemary comes across some interesting passages in Calra's journal and goes to the party, she says they must read this and sets the journal down:
Uriel throws the journal against the wall, which grabs the attention of the other patrons, Shia suggests they go somewhere more discreet, the party heads back to their room. Uriel explains that Kalzoz is a lich, a lich can return due to having something called a "phylactery," he was stopped at Strongfare (see Kingdom on the Brink - Session 39). Duromar points out the timeline of stopping the undead horde matches up well with the fracturing of Bridgeford's influence over the royal council. Shia asks if the location is known for the phylactery, it is not. She puts forth a theory that the phylactery could be in Highsummit, Kalzoz returning could explain the current events, the fracturing of the council, and Kellan becoming bolder. The party thinks it could be possible, it would explain a faction of the council trying to get more people to attend the festival of creation. More people gives Kalzoz more potential victims to raise an undead army. Merigold wants to save her wife, believing that in the rescue attempt she can kill Kellan again, once and for all. Shia asks how exactly that would help the situation; she empathizes about saving a loved one but is uncertain that is the best use of their time. Shia suggests the party goes after the bandits that have been employed by Jeram Rhida, Calra Belastor, and Hophira Yenric. The party wouldn't be able to kill them all, but it would deny more manpower for whatever is being planned for tomorrow. Merigold isn't happy about that option so Uriel says they can get in contact with Arryn Sylris (see Kingdom on the Brink - Session 62), she is tasked with killing house Leagallow allies. She can keep an eye out and potentially save Merigold's wife, Rosemary uses the sending spell to contact Arryn, she cannot make any promises, but she'll try her best. Shia says she'll stay in touch with the party and leaves, Uriel gets in contact with Grankaross and Reinoldus to arrange a meeting, they got some bandits to deal with. Reinoldus wants an explanation of why the party didn't show up last night.
The party starts to search the southern crypt as Duromar pushes forward with his Shield Guardian, the group opens one of the crypts that reveals a Sword Wraith Commander; Duromar finds an Iron Golem further down the hall. The Wraith attempts to stab Rosemary, who dodges and lands several strikes that stun it, a second Wraith reveals itself. Duromar commands his Shield Guardian to use dimension door to get them out of immediate danger, Uriel grabs a bead off the necklace of fireballs and exits the room. He throws it in (with Merigold, Gregori, and Rosemary still inside), it hits both the Wraiths and Gregori. Rosemary stuns the other Wraith and pummels the other, Duromar moves in and upcasts scorching ray which destroys one of the Wraiths. Merigold moves in and fires a volley of arrows into the Wraith, Amber misty steps in and shoots off a volley of eldritch blasts, destroying the last Wraith. The Iron Golem moves up and uses its poison breath on Rosemary, Rosemary moves back, Duromar casts erupting earth around the Golem, he hears something else get caught in the area of effect. The Golem closes in on Rosemary and slams her twice, the party focuses on the Golem and destroy it quickly. A Pact Lich reveals itself and attempts to hurl Merigold through hell, but thanks to Uriel's aura she resists it. Rosemary heals her wounds and moves back, Uriel activates his belt, he starts to hurl lightning bolts. The Pact Lich moves out of line of sight and summons an elemental, but Duromar banishes it. Gregori runs up to get Merigold in range, the Pact Lich uses a legendary action to use maddening touch which causes Gregori to hallucinate (despite Merigolds best efforts to dodge the attack). Uriel hurls another lightning bolt and closes in to help, the Pact Lich attempts to use finger of death on Merigold, but Uriel counter-spells it. Merigold strikes the Pact Lich, which responds with a hellish rebuke, but she manages to avoid it with her shield, she trips the Lich. Rosemary moves up and casts guiding bolt, but misses the proned lich, the Pact Lich casts dominate monster on Merigold, who becomes charmed by the Lich. Duromar casts dimension door and appears behind Uriel, Uriel smites the Lich several times which free Merigold from its control. Rosemary and Merigold move up and finish off the Pact Lich.
Duromar checks the Pact Lich corpse for anything valuable, but finds nothing, Uriel pushes on. He finds a sanctum with runes, arcane markings, notes and a book, the party catches up with him and Amber grabs all the notes and the book on the way out. The party heads down a hall and finds a lever, Merigold checks it and then pulls it, the door opens into what appears to be a nice-looking room. There are several guards in the room, and they start to close in on the party, Duromar recognizes the room as fitting the colors of Calra Belastor. The party decides to make a quick escape and dimension door away, not before Rosemary gets accosted by some spirit guardians. The party makes their way back to the inn with haste and take a long rest. In the Morning Merigold and Rosemary head to the dining room, as they are getting breakfast Rosemary notices one of royal councilors from the opening ceremony several nights ago. She subtly gets Merigold's attention and they make a quick exit back to the party, Rosemary says they have a problem and tells the party what she saw. Uriel and Duromar go to check, they realize it's Shia Boriz, they tell the party it's alright and this is why they chose this inn. Rosemary decides to stay back and help Amber sift through the notes, Uriel and Duromar go to introduce themselves. There is a tense standoff as they try to get past her guards, but after explaining they are with House Valeros Shia invites them to sit. Uriel makes proper introductions and introduces Duromar as the archivist to House Valeros (much to Duromar's annoyance). This convinces her they can be trusted and they begin to exchange information during this time, including everything between now and Kingdom on the Brink - session 1, when Kellan Leagallow's name comes up Merigold makes her thoughts known on him (much to Duromar's dismay again). During this time Rosemary comes across some interesting passages in Calra's journal and goes to the party, she says they must read this and sets the journal down:
"The Bridgeford’s have been changed in the past year, they were your stereotypical noble house, until Gregory came back from that expedition. The Bridgeford’s started political maneuvering, currying favors, trying to appoint bureaucrats in seemingly boring positions. That’s where that little upstart Kellan started to get the idea he had an inflated sense of importance. He made a good pawn for his dirty work, once they secured enough support with Highsummit they started to spread their tendrils throughout the kingdom. Most of the Royal council was in Bridgeford’s pocket, either through favors or by brute force. That all changed around midway through the month of Nyroth.
I was Startled when Kellan approached me, he had a proposition, he had a benefactor (known as the Hallowed Ancient) that supposedly outmatched the Bridgeford family. He showed me some of the gifts he had been granted, needless to say I was tempted, must learn this new power. We found others who were interested in no longer being under the boot of the bridgeford’s and were swayed. I do wonder about Hophira, she has the aesthetic for sure, but she always had a soft spot for her brother. Kellan would kept yapping about how we would be key players in the new order, he started to bring in some new muscle, he said it would help counter Brideford’s supporters. They looked like the cultists we had received reports of in our council meetings, Kellan said they have seen the light of the Hallowed Ancient as well and have pledged their loyalty.
We started to make preparations, but we were curious on who the Hallowed Ancient was. Kellan had been very guarded, acting as the link between us and whoever this person is. I started to wonder if they even existed, so I started to conduct an investigation. I had Kellan followed, hoping to get a glimpse of this person, when that didn’t work I started to investigate Kellan. One night I managed to get into his room, it was very strange with unknown symbols and an altar. At the center of this altar there was an inscription “Hallowed be the Ancient one, the timeless and the eternal, the great and mighty Kalzoz.”
Uriel throws the journal against the wall, which grabs the attention of the other patrons, Shia suggests they go somewhere more discreet, the party heads back to their room. Uriel explains that Kalzoz is a lich, a lich can return due to having something called a "phylactery," he was stopped at Strongfare (see Kingdom on the Brink - Session 39). Duromar points out the timeline of stopping the undead horde matches up well with the fracturing of Bridgeford's influence over the royal council. Shia asks if the location is known for the phylactery, it is not. She puts forth a theory that the phylactery could be in Highsummit, Kalzoz returning could explain the current events, the fracturing of the council, and Kellan becoming bolder. The party thinks it could be possible, it would explain a faction of the council trying to get more people to attend the festival of creation. More people gives Kalzoz more potential victims to raise an undead army. Merigold wants to save her wife, believing that in the rescue attempt she can kill Kellan again, once and for all. Shia asks how exactly that would help the situation; she empathizes about saving a loved one but is uncertain that is the best use of their time. Shia suggests the party goes after the bandits that have been employed by Jeram Rhida, Calra Belastor, and Hophira Yenric. The party wouldn't be able to kill them all, but it would deny more manpower for whatever is being planned for tomorrow. Merigold isn't happy about that option so Uriel says they can get in contact with Arryn Sylris (see Kingdom on the Brink - Session 62), she is tasked with killing house Leagallow allies. She can keep an eye out and potentially save Merigold's wife, Rosemary uses the sending spell to contact Arryn, she cannot make any promises, but she'll try her best. Shia says she'll stay in touch with the party and leaves, Uriel gets in contact with Grankaross and Reinoldus to arrange a meeting, they got some bandits to deal with. Reinoldus wants an explanation of why the party didn't show up last night.
It is mid-morning on the second day of the Festival of Creation 2517 AGF
Report Date
13 Jul 2024
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