Session 5

General Summary

Overview:

After hearing that Kennan had been kidnapped by Lenny the Fortuitous' archenemy Carl, the party travelled to the city of Baethorpe in an attempt to rescue rescue him.

Notable that happened:

• The party, along with Sir Arthur Mernick for backup, set out for Baethorpe. They were able to make it to a settlement called Moem, which is located near Baethorpe, before being stopped by a brigade of soldiers blocking the road.
• After brainstorming some ideas on how to get past the brigade of soldiers, the party decided to see if they could hitch a ride with Montgomery in his spectral carriage.
• The party rang the handbell Montgomery gave them and waited until he appeared. After he arrived, the party did some shopping before asking if they could take a ride in his carriage to sneak past the brigade of soldiers. Montgomery did not mind lending a hand to some of his valued customers and let the party enter his carriage. They then rode past the brigade of soldiers, who did not seem to notice the carriage or the party.
• While sneaking past the soldiers, Sir Arthur Mernick was noticeably scowling at the officer in charge of the brigade. The party also overheard soldiers whispering about a plan to lure someone into Baethorpe.
• After being dropped off by Montgomery, the party asked Sir Arthur Mernick why he was scowling earlier. He explained that he is an Aasimar, which is a race that has been enslaved by the region of Bethauna. Arthur was once a slave of the Bethaunian Empire, but he learnt the truth of his people after a chance meeting with Kidou, who is also an Aasimar. After Kidou explained that Bethauna uses a false religion to enslave Aasimars, Sir Arthur Mernick faked his death and left Bethauna in search of freedom. The woman he was scowling at was his handler during his time as a slave.
• Immeral used the invisibility spell, along with some disguises, to help the party enter Baethorpe unnoticed. Once inside, Immeral and Sir Clancey stopped by a branch of the Rusty Post to purchase some weapons. However, after Sir Clancey attacked the owner and stole some half-plate armour, the party was subdued and arrested by someone using a high level sleep spell.
• Hours later, the party awoke in jail cells. Arthur's handler, named Antonia, was present and taunting the large man as the party woke up.
• After Antonia left, Sir Clancey used his royal heritage to trick/persuade the guard into unlocking the jail cells.
• The party then stealthily navigated the prison, taking out any guards they found along the way. Eventually, after solving a puzzle involving hidden buttons around the prison, the party found themselves face to face with Antonia in a long hallway.
• While exploring the prison, Immeral found a hidden room with boxes of eldritch hearts. Immeral recognised the hearts because they are infamously used for sacrificial rituals.
• Sir Arthur Mernick told the party he wanted Antonia for himself, and began to approach Antonia to fight one on one. The party respected Sir Arthur Mernick's wishes, but still gave him some assistance in the form of Sir Clancey’s enlargement spell.
• After an intense fight, Sir Arthur Mernick disarmed Antonia and held his hexblade weapon to her throat. He told her that if she surrendered to him as an equal, he would spare her. However, that did not happen and as Antonia began to laugh about how Sir Arthur Mernick is “Just a dog that should know his place”, her head was removed in one swift strike. Following this, Arthur simply said “Then become dirt” and proceeded to rejoin the party.
• Shortly after defeating Antonia, the walls in the long hallway began to close in. The party sprinted ahead to the next room and sounded themselves in a small reception room with no lights. With the path they took to the room blocked off, the only exit to be found was a door left slightly ajar. Behind the door, a loud speech could be heard by the party, but the sound was too muffled to discern what was being said.
• After some discussion about how to move forward, Sir Clancey said f- it and burst through the door without worrying about stealth. On the other side of the door was a large circular room with Kennan lying unconscious on a table and dozens of Bethaunian soldier’s lining the walls, including the four commanders in charge of the Bethaunian military. Quickly, the party realised that one of the four commanders was the man the party came looking for, Carl. With Sir Clancey now standing in the middle of the room, all eyes fell to him.
• One of the four commanders attempted to order his soldiers to restrain the intruder but was quickly cut off by Carl as, with one swift hand motion, he slit the throats of the other commanders. After the commanders were killed, their blood began draining from their body into Kennan, just like what happened to Alexi Voxtrum in session 1.
• A sacrificial ritual then began with Kennan at its centre. A vicious wind picked up and began knocking over walls, which crushed and killed all the remaining soldiers in the room. The only survivors were the party, Kennan, and Carl. However, with a cocky smile Carl escaped from the crumbling room.
• After some quick thinking, Immeral used his eldritch blast to knock Kennan off the table he was laying on. This broke the chain of blood that was tethered to him and allowed the party to escape the crumbling room with Kennan, whose unconscious body was being carried by Sir Arthur Mernick.
• Immeral arcana checked Kennan and was able to discern that he is half fiend half human now. Thanks to a sudden burst of magical knowledge (nat 20), Immeral was also able to discern that, had the ritual continued, Kennan would have been transformed into a demonic creature. This led Immeral to realise that the demonic creatures the party had been encountering were actually humans that had been transformed into demons.
• Now in the streets of Baethorpe, the party could see the city was in ruins and filled with Devils. Despite the large number of fiends inhabiting the streets, including a particularly pesty barbed devil that was hurling fireballs, the party was able to fight their way out of Baethorpe relatively easily.
• Once outside of Baethorpe's walls, the party saw Sir Arthur Mernick, who had left Baethorpe before the party, staring at something in the distance. It was then that the party saw a giant lizard creature shooting energy beams out of its mouth. Fighting against this creature was Tenma and a mysterious man with short white hair that the party did not recognise. Sir Clancey and Immeral attempting to move towards the fight in order to assist Tenma but, upon taking a single step towards the lizard, they were grazed by a rogue energy beam that almost killed both players. Sir Arthur Mernick then yanked the adventurers back by their collars and suggested they leave. The party asked if Arthur knew the creature, to which he replied “He is my kin”, implying that the creature is Kidou.
• The party then began travelling back to Vei’on with Kennan, who remained unconscious. 
• While taking a short rest in the woods, a large humanoid in heavy, black armour emerged from the trees and began approaching the party. It pointed its axe at Lorvoril, stated “Gorm is coming for you”, then attacked the party. Gorm attacked the party with vigour, and cursed Lorvoril in the process. The fight was swift and, although he was able to deal some heavy damage to the party, Gorm soon fell to the ground unable to move.
• The party investigated Gorm and discovered he is a revenant. They also discerned that Gorm has an axe called Inarius that will erase anyone killed with it from existence.
• The party summoned Montgomery once again and asked if he could send a message of alliance to Kidou. Montgomery agreed and set of to Sephiths Wasteland.
• The party finally arrived back in Vei’on and met with Regis Filleman to talk about their reward. After inviting the party to his office, Regis thanked the party and began talking business. First, he informed the party that Gorm is a revenant that stalks the ancestors of God King Gilgamesh. He stated that Gorm had attacked a family years ago and there was a single survivor that is rumoured to live in Ta Lin. Secondly, Regis began talking politics to the party. He told the party he predicts a great war is coming soon, and whoever manages to claim Castle Sol will win. He told the party they may become the Jarls of Luxen, but in exchange he wants their support when the war for Castle Sol begins. Despite being unsure if they would maintain this agreement long term, the party agreed and became the Jarls of Luxen.

Report Date

13 Jul 2024

Primary Location

Baethorpe

Related Plots

• Bethaunian War

Related Characters

• Kennan
• Sir Arthur Mernick