Kingdom on the Brink - session 69
General Summary
The party leaves the vaults and hear bells ringing all over Highsummit, the party heads towards the festival grounds and start to come across civilans leaving the area. The party gets pointed towards a building being used as a rally point, Uriel finds their allies there and goes to speak with Reinoldus. Reinoldus says that their forces were about even with the bandits and the opposing councilors, their opposition was spread so thin that while they were able to open the dam, they weren't able to kill nearly as many people as they had hoped for. They are currently trying to setup a perimeter and destroy undead groups that haven't been contained. The party offers to help, Reinoldus lets the party know about a colossal skeleton, a corpse mound, and a Boneclaw running around certain parts of the city. Uriel, Rosemary, and Amber Kerogen agree to help, Amber casts catnap, and the party rests up and heads out. They come across a Flutterflesh and a Shadow River lord, the Flutterflesh moves up and dodges. Amber uses eldritch blast, landing a few rays, Rosemary casts guiding bolt, which causes more damage. Uriel moves up on Ashara and smites it and his mount rends it to pieces. The Shadow River Lord moves up and critically hits Ashara, Uriel smites it and Rosemary hits it with a flurry of blows. The Shadow River Lord falls under the assault of the party, they push on to the main gate, they find a bunch of corpses, a Necrotech, and Hophira Yenric. Uriel blasts his horn and summons his Berserkers, Hophira responds by animating 13 corpses into zombies, Rosemary embolden bonds the party. Uriel moves up with his Berserkers and clashes with the Zombies, Hophira moves back and casts spirit guardians. The Necrotech attacks Uriel, it lands a critical strike but Uriel shrugs it off his adamantine armor, Amber starts to shoot eldritch blasts into the Zombies. Rosemary and Uriel move to strike Hophira, landing several blows, her spirit guardians begin to accost them. The Berserkers and Zombies continue to clash, one Zombie refuses to stay down but the rest start to fall under the assault. Uriel smites Hophira and Rosemary follows it up with flurry of blows, which kills Hophira, The Necrotech starts to focus on Rosemary, but it misses every attack. The party and the Berserkers surround the Necrotech and bring it down, they finish off the Zombies and start looking for survivors. They find a few and Uriel sends a few of his Berserkers to escort the survivors back.
The party moves on to the Corpse Mound, they come across a pair of Rot Trolls blocking their path. Rosemary moves up and starts to dodge, the Rot Trolls move up and dodge as well. Amber moves up and hurls several eldritch blasts, Uriel and the Berserkers dash to try and keep up with Rosemary. Rosemary moves up and engage the Rot Trolls, the first Rot Troll attempts to attack Rosemary but misses, though she does get hit by the Troll's rancid degeneration ability. The second Rot Troll moved up to flank Rosemary, it critically strikes her, which downs her. Uriel commands his Berserkers to move in and starts to smite the nearest Rot Troll, Amber starts to hurl firebolts into the Trolls to attempt to negate their rancid degeneration. The Trolls begin to focus on the Berserkers, and they start to fall, Uriel moves up and uses his lay on hands to heal her, Rosemary stands up and takes a potion of healing. Uriel ensnares a Rot Troll and Rosemary strikes it down, the last Rot Troll attempts to bite Uriel, but gets struck down shortly thereafter. Amber casts catnap on the party and they quickly rest and they push on.
They found a huge corpse mound in the center of a market, the party slowly moves up and starts to pelt the Corpse Mound at range, Uriel dashes up. The Corpse mound slams Uriel and grapples him. Uriel activates his belt and calls down lightning on the mound, Amber continues to hurl eldritch blasts. Rosemary and Uriel focus on the Corpse Mound and it quickly falls, shortly thereafter Jeram Rhida appears. Uriel tells Rosemary they need to try and to take him alive, Rosemary moves up and begins to dodge. Jeram moves up and fires off a ray of annihilation which blinds Rosemary, Uriel dashes up and Rosemary casts sacred flame on Jeram. Uriel begins to down healing potions and Rosemary moves up into melee, Amber continues to hurl eldritch blast. Uriel moves in to help Rosemary, the fight devolves into a melee, Jeram summons a scythe. Rosemary and Uriel use nonlethal strikes and Jeram falls shortly thereafter. Uriel finds his mount is nearby and they quickly bind Jeram and have Ashara take him back to the rally point. The party moves on to clear out the last area.
As they head through the streets the party finds a Cadaver Collector moving through the area collecting bodies. The party moves up (Uriel asking them to stay in his aura), the CadaverCollector sees them and summons 5 Specters, they close in on the party. A few of the Specters manage to touch Uriel, but they are unable to drain his life, Amber blasts one. Knott uses his ki to empower his legs and release a wave of energy that rips through the Specters, Knott and Rosemary follow it up with flurries of fists which clear the way for Uriel. Uriel moves up and begins to smite, the Cadaver Collector is quickly overwhelmed as it is outnumbered and falls under the onslaught. The party moves on to the flooded area, they start to go through buildings. Uriel notices there is shadows of large claws at the end of the hall, he points it out and they go to investigate. Rosemary emboldens the party and Amber casts greater invisibility on Knott, Knott dashes up. A Bone Collective moves out of the shadows and manages to land a bite, it injects wyrmblood venom into Knott. Uriel moves up to assist against the Bone Collective when a Boneclaw steps forward, it takes a swipe at Knott but it is easily dodged. Amber starts to hurl eldritch blasts into the Boneclaw, Knott and Rosemary strike down the Bone Collective in a flurry of blows. Uriel gets grappled by the Boneclaw, this doesn't work out to well for the Boneclaw as Uriel hits it several times with his holy avenger. Calra Belastor makes her presence known just as the Boneclaw falls, the party moves up (carefully staying in Uriel's aura). Calra casts cone of cold on the Knott, Uriel, and Rosemary but the effects are mostly resisted. Rosemary moves up and starts to nonlethally subdue her, she responds with a legendary action and strikes Rosemary with her staff. Knott moves up and grapples her and Uriel strikes her, Amber turns her attention to Calra and casts eldritch blast; Calra remarks the party keeps odd company after seeing Amber. Calra reaches out and attempts to shock Uriel, but fails, she then casts dimension door and escapes the party. They quickly search the area but find no signs of her. They return to the rally point.
The party assists in forming a perimeter to contain the remaining undead, it seems they are building up around the Leagallow estate. The party takes turns patrolling, they are pretty spent from the day's events, and they don't have the ability to deal with the final pocket of undead this day. Amber mentions she did find a journal on Maleichar and they begin to read it, the first entry of not is from almost a year ago:
"With the recent events in the Wildlands, the unleashing of horrors never meant to be freed, an opportunity has presented itself. Our agent has managed to seize the ear of a connected nobleman, he’s haunted by what his expedition uncovered, he seems to have convinced his brother the dangers the kingdom faces (he’s not wrong). The agent has approached him and has found them receptive to our knowledge, whether it’s out of genuine belief or the chance to improve their position, it doesn’t matter, it’ll result in the same outcome. Over the rest of this year we will stretch this forces of all those that oppose us to the breaking point, all the while we will work in the shadows to prepare the ritual. By the end of the year we will be ready to make a move on the keystone. With the ritual prepared and with the keystone we will be able to call upon the all-powerful Avatar of our lord; not just a pale shadow the ritual would have summoned forth."
"High priest Harzog is nowhere to be found, his chambers appear to be ransacked, many artifacts are missing. With his disappearance the Bridgeford’s have lost some control in Highsummit, their control over the majority of the Royal council has been loosened. It appears their pawn has decided things are taking too long, Kellan has decided to try to improve his position. He has managed to sway some councilors to his way of thinking, I’m not sure how, where did he find this new benefactor? He must be dealt with, we will send Gnomebreaker, hopefully his death will send a message for the others to fall back in line. Gnomebreaker was left maimed after her fight with Kellan Leagallow, may his treachery haunt him til the end of days. The situation in Eastbrook didn’t go as planned and now our position has been weakened in Highsummit. This group of adventurers is dedicated, we need to get an edge over them if they decide to come this way. I have a scheme that I’m sure will please Bridgeford, we will have eyes and ears among our adversaries."
"Gnomebreaker’s conditioning is coming along as well as we can expect, I was worried she would suffer permanent damage (though we won’t know for sure). The continuous casting of the spell with greater arcane prowess is doing its job, if we cannot win by force of arms, then we must rely on deception. I believe infiltration is possible, Leagallow’s doesn’t have the most intelligent people further away from Highsummit. It should be easy for her to find them, at this point it doesn’t matter if they recognize her, she’s more then able to take care of herself. She packs a big punch and can easily disappear."
"Know it’s time to see if our work will prove to be effective, Gnomebreaker is currently being inserted as I write this. Once she has made contact with our enemies and I will be able to scry on her with ease. I was worried that she would forget who she really is, while she is mostly the same after her conditioning; missing context at key moments can alter ones interpretation of events. 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there can make so much difference, I am worried I went a little too far, was that magic intended to be used over and over again in such a sort amount of time? I did take one precaution though……."
The party moves on to the Corpse Mound, they come across a pair of Rot Trolls blocking their path. Rosemary moves up and starts to dodge, the Rot Trolls move up and dodge as well. Amber moves up and hurls several eldritch blasts, Uriel and the Berserkers dash to try and keep up with Rosemary. Rosemary moves up and engage the Rot Trolls, the first Rot Troll attempts to attack Rosemary but misses, though she does get hit by the Troll's rancid degeneration ability. The second Rot Troll moved up to flank Rosemary, it critically strikes her, which downs her. Uriel commands his Berserkers to move in and starts to smite the nearest Rot Troll, Amber starts to hurl firebolts into the Trolls to attempt to negate their rancid degeneration. The Trolls begin to focus on the Berserkers, and they start to fall, Uriel moves up and uses his lay on hands to heal her, Rosemary stands up and takes a potion of healing. Uriel ensnares a Rot Troll and Rosemary strikes it down, the last Rot Troll attempts to bite Uriel, but gets struck down shortly thereafter. Amber casts catnap on the party and they quickly rest and they push on.
They found a huge corpse mound in the center of a market, the party slowly moves up and starts to pelt the Corpse Mound at range, Uriel dashes up. The Corpse mound slams Uriel and grapples him. Uriel activates his belt and calls down lightning on the mound, Amber continues to hurl eldritch blasts. Rosemary and Uriel focus on the Corpse Mound and it quickly falls, shortly thereafter Jeram Rhida appears. Uriel tells Rosemary they need to try and to take him alive, Rosemary moves up and begins to dodge. Jeram moves up and fires off a ray of annihilation which blinds Rosemary, Uriel dashes up and Rosemary casts sacred flame on Jeram. Uriel begins to down healing potions and Rosemary moves up into melee, Amber continues to hurl eldritch blast. Uriel moves in to help Rosemary, the fight devolves into a melee, Jeram summons a scythe. Rosemary and Uriel use nonlethal strikes and Jeram falls shortly thereafter. Uriel finds his mount is nearby and they quickly bind Jeram and have Ashara take him back to the rally point. The party moves on to clear out the last area.
As they head through the streets the party finds a Cadaver Collector moving through the area collecting bodies. The party moves up (Uriel asking them to stay in his aura), the CadaverCollector sees them and summons 5 Specters, they close in on the party. A few of the Specters manage to touch Uriel, but they are unable to drain his life, Amber blasts one. Knott uses his ki to empower his legs and release a wave of energy that rips through the Specters, Knott and Rosemary follow it up with flurries of fists which clear the way for Uriel. Uriel moves up and begins to smite, the Cadaver Collector is quickly overwhelmed as it is outnumbered and falls under the onslaught. The party moves on to the flooded area, they start to go through buildings. Uriel notices there is shadows of large claws at the end of the hall, he points it out and they go to investigate. Rosemary emboldens the party and Amber casts greater invisibility on Knott, Knott dashes up. A Bone Collective moves out of the shadows and manages to land a bite, it injects wyrmblood venom into Knott. Uriel moves up to assist against the Bone Collective when a Boneclaw steps forward, it takes a swipe at Knott but it is easily dodged. Amber starts to hurl eldritch blasts into the Boneclaw, Knott and Rosemary strike down the Bone Collective in a flurry of blows. Uriel gets grappled by the Boneclaw, this doesn't work out to well for the Boneclaw as Uriel hits it several times with his holy avenger. Calra Belastor makes her presence known just as the Boneclaw falls, the party moves up (carefully staying in Uriel's aura). Calra casts cone of cold on the Knott, Uriel, and Rosemary but the effects are mostly resisted. Rosemary moves up and starts to nonlethally subdue her, she responds with a legendary action and strikes Rosemary with her staff. Knott moves up and grapples her and Uriel strikes her, Amber turns her attention to Calra and casts eldritch blast; Calra remarks the party keeps odd company after seeing Amber. Calra reaches out and attempts to shock Uriel, but fails, she then casts dimension door and escapes the party. They quickly search the area but find no signs of her. They return to the rally point.
The party assists in forming a perimeter to contain the remaining undead, it seems they are building up around the Leagallow estate. The party takes turns patrolling, they are pretty spent from the day's events, and they don't have the ability to deal with the final pocket of undead this day. Amber mentions she did find a journal on Maleichar and they begin to read it, the first entry of not is from almost a year ago:
"With the recent events in the Wildlands, the unleashing of horrors never meant to be freed, an opportunity has presented itself. Our agent has managed to seize the ear of a connected nobleman, he’s haunted by what his expedition uncovered, he seems to have convinced his brother the dangers the kingdom faces (he’s not wrong). The agent has approached him and has found them receptive to our knowledge, whether it’s out of genuine belief or the chance to improve their position, it doesn’t matter, it’ll result in the same outcome. Over the rest of this year we will stretch this forces of all those that oppose us to the breaking point, all the while we will work in the shadows to prepare the ritual. By the end of the year we will be ready to make a move on the keystone. With the ritual prepared and with the keystone we will be able to call upon the all-powerful Avatar of our lord; not just a pale shadow the ritual would have summoned forth."
The journal then goes on to describe how resources are being diverted to Crystal Bay from other areas like Stormhold, Explaining the lack of precious metals. It further talks about trying to sow chaos within Bralor. The next set of entries where made in the last month and a half:
"High priest Harzog is nowhere to be found, his chambers appear to be ransacked, many artifacts are missing. With his disappearance the Bridgeford’s have lost some control in Highsummit, their control over the majority of the Royal council has been loosened. It appears their pawn has decided things are taking too long, Kellan has decided to try to improve his position. He has managed to sway some councilors to his way of thinking, I’m not sure how, where did he find this new benefactor? He must be dealt with, we will send Gnomebreaker, hopefully his death will send a message for the others to fall back in line. Gnomebreaker was left maimed after her fight with Kellan Leagallow, may his treachery haunt him til the end of days. The situation in Eastbrook didn’t go as planned and now our position has been weakened in Highsummit. This group of adventurers is dedicated, we need to get an edge over them if they decide to come this way. I have a scheme that I’m sure will please Bridgeford, we will have eyes and ears among our adversaries."
"Gnomebreaker’s conditioning is coming along as well as we can expect, I was worried she would suffer permanent damage (though we won’t know for sure). The continuous casting of the spell with greater arcane prowess is doing its job, if we cannot win by force of arms, then we must rely on deception. I believe infiltration is possible, Leagallow’s doesn’t have the most intelligent people further away from Highsummit. It should be easy for her to find them, at this point it doesn’t matter if they recognize her, she’s more then able to take care of herself. She packs a big punch and can easily disappear."
As this point Ambers leaves, reading the journal has left her on edge:
"Know it’s time to see if our work will prove to be effective, Gnomebreaker is currently being inserted as I write this. Once she has made contact with our enemies and I will be able to scry on her with ease. I was worried that she would forget who she really is, while she is mostly the same after her conditioning; missing context at key moments can alter ones interpretation of events. 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there can make so much difference, I am worried I went a little too far, was that magic intended to be used over and over again in such a sort amount of time? I did take one precaution though……."
As the party gets to the end of the last sentence they see the name "Gnomebreaker," it then rearranges into the name "Amber Kerogen." Uriel leaves to find Amber, she's at the bar. He asks if she read to the end, she said she didn't, Uriel says that she's the Gnomebreaker. This surprises her, she's quiet for a few moments, she then asks what happens now. Uriel says that she can either get her memory back, and probably have to fight right here and now, or she stops trying to recover her memory. If she decides to stop restoring her memory she will forever be known as Amber Kerogen, she'll probably never stop having nightmares. She thinks for a moment and says it is probably a fitting punishment for her actions in a previous life, she accepts herself as Amber. Uriel takes the journal and hides it, saying nobody else needs to see this. He then orders a round of drinks to celebrate new beginnings, Knott comes back from his patrol just as he hears the toast and joins in. The people inside the building also join in (not knowing the real reason, just believing it's because it's during the festival), and there is an uplifting in spirit. The party is approached by the three royal councilors. They say they have a plan for tomorrow, as soon as possible they will launch feints on the Leagallow estate to draw out as much of the undead as possible. The party would the go in and destroy whatever resistance was left, Uriel says it's a decent plan, they just need to rescue someone from inside before they go completely scorched earth. The councilors are good with this, the party long rests.
It is early morning on the 4th day of the Festival of Creation 2517 AGF
Report Date
03 Aug 2024
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