Pherria Jynks
Session 22
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Session 21
Session 21:
Starting in combat, rolled initiative last time.
Session 20: The Princess, the Quasit and the Portal
We took a breather after our intense encounter with Gideon. I felt that this was a good time to apologize and to explain my mindset to everyone. It would appear that I was wrong.
First I decided to approach Princess and she became VERY defensive. She spoke about making a deal with the Devil and how you never actually get what you want. But in reality you do get what you want, but what you want isn't always what you need and the cost may be more than you bargained. No matter how much I tried to explain that our situation isn't quite so black and white, she refused to listen so I gave up trying. Next I tried to apologize to Haelee and explain to her that she was violating my personal space, mainly my mind and that her timing was inappropriate and not helpful. That's when I was attacked by everyone because "How is she supposed to talk to you as a bear?!" Apparently it was glossed over that this was the 2nd time she had used her ability on me and the first time she was in her elven form. Not only that, she gave us information that was useless and interrupted a very intense conversation between Princess, Gideon and myself. No matter how much I tried to explain these were the reasons for my actions, no one would listen or acknowledge them. It's obvious that this group is a tight knit one, but that will be their downfall if they aren't willing to grow. Haelee isn't even willing to admit that maybe some people don't like to have their mind invaded without prior authorization. This I believe is what she did to Khemed that has caused his fierce distrust of her. If she is going to stay on this plane of existence, she has to learn normal social interactions and the others fostering her awkward behavior is only doing her a disservice. But I gave up again trying to talk to them and was exhausted mentally by the whole process.
As we were about to leave the chamber we found Gideon, Princess decided that the spell I used to ensure he wouldn't return to his undead form for 10 days wasn't sufficient enough and cut his head off. I have no idea why she felt the need to do this, but I suppose it made her feel more secure.
I knew that there was still the flaming skull lurking around. I was able to repeal using Torm's holy light but that isn't a permeant solution. Well he was waiting for us around a corner so we dispatched of him quickly. But then we noticed a large amount of holy symbols on the wall that had been desecrated. They began to glow with a dark necrotic energy. Princess began to clean off a symbol of Helm and the glow was removed, but there were so many symbols and they were glowing stronger and stronger. I wasn't sure that we would be able to successfully restore them all in time. I suggested we retreat to safety around the corner and did so. Princess was stubborn and refused to leave. I guess she gets that from her orc half, but she inspired Eric, Grimm and even Khemed to stay and clean the holy symbols. Reluctantly I join them, aware of the dangers believing that my knowledge of what the symbols are supposed to look like would aid us in this fools errand. Luckily we were able to restore all the holy symbols before the dark necrotic glow could reach its crescendo. Now we had the option of going left down a path or right. We chose left and discovered a tomb filled with sarcophaguses. We began to investigate the area and Princess once again became a bear. Not sure why she did this, but she is a druid and perhaps she's more comfortable as an animal as social interactions are not really required. She seemed to be focused in one area and I was curious why.
Approaching the area I saw a tiny creature there and recognized it immediately as a Quasit. I'm not sure if my other companions recognized that this creature was in fact a demon so I asked it why it was there. Princess decided that it would be a good idea to assert her dominance over it to keep it in it's place and that seemed to be an effective strategy. Upon further interrogation, the Quasit offered us a "Job" of sorts. Apparently it wanted us to "deal" with Gideon, specifically cut his head off. Of course, we all wanted to know exactly why he wanted us to do so and he kindly showed us exactly what Gideon was up to. He lead us through a corridor to a prayer room and there we found a mural that depicted lost souls being ushered into the afterlife. The mural was decorated with colored bone tiles. At the base of the mural was the inscription "Contemplate life. Death comes soon enough." It was not desecrated so I prayed for some guidance and Torm gave us a boon and reassured me that we were on the right trail, or so I thought that's what he was doing. Once the Quasit led us into the next room, I knew we were in trouble.
We went down a corridor and found a set of doors that opened up into a meditation pool. Across the pool was another Mural with all the gods prominent in the city such as Tyr, Torm, Lathander and Helm. But this was not what the Quasit wanted us to see, it was the portal in the middle of the pool. Turns out the Quasit's name is Umfet and he is a servant of Liashandra and the portal was to the Abyss. The only thing keeping it closed was Gideon. Princess just unleashed the Abyss on the city. The portal begins to become more solidified and we can hear a maniacal laughter trickling in from the portal.
With this new discovery, finding the helm became of utmost importance as we needed to get out of there and back to High Hall. Franticly searching, we found a statue that had the helmet on the other side of the catacombs. With some assistance I was able to take the helmet and I secured it in my bag. I suggested that we send our little friend back home, but for some reason, Princess decided to keep the filthy creature. Not surprising as she just seems to want to do the opposite of what I think lately, but that's another story that we didn't have time to dispute. Eric kindly used his cloaking magic so that we could safely exit the graveyard undetected and move through the city haste fully back to the High District and High Hall. Once there, we separated. Khemed followed me to the Catacombs where I asked Feyland if he had found anymore information about the artifact. He said no so I gave him the crystals and notes we found with Gideon to review while I communed with Torm over the helmet. As I was leaving Khemed dropped a bomb of information on me. The High Rider was still alive and well and he had offered him a deal. I didn't have the time or the fortitude to deal with this new information so I filed it in the back of my brain and went off to commune with Torm and the Helmet hoping for some guidance. As I was praying, my connection to Torm got stronger and stronger as I got in closer proximity to the helmet. In an act of desperation, I must admit, I put on the helmet.
Once the helmet was on, everything faded to black, but I had never felt so close to Torm before. The passage of time secede to exist here, it was just Torm and myself and it was peaceful. The first time I'd felt peace since we arrived at this wretched place. Suddenly, I feel a friendly presence and a golden light appears in the darkness. It fades into a cold blue and the sea comes into focus outside of a window ledge. A voice says, "Lulu dear, perhaps this might jog your memory?" I turn to see a golden creature, a miniature elephant, that appears to be a celestial of some sort. The room is that of an arcane workshop. Before I have time to take in everything I'm seeing, the image changed.
Now I see a gaunt man and what appears to be a decrepit butler. There is an arcane box covered in runes before them. The butler refers to the man as Vanthapor and the man calls the butler Phendric. Vanthapor mudders, "must open this for mother" as he eyes the box. Then another voice can be heard. I turn to see an Imp as it says, "Mortlock might be in trouble." During this I hear Haelee's voice say, "Sir are you ok". This is shocking and disturbing as this is a vision from Torm as I feel my connection to him through all these visions.
Suddenly I hear a familiar cackle, the same I heard coming from the portal to the Abyss. My calm is interupted by the feeling of blood pouring down the back of my throat and cutting off my air supply. I'm drowning in blood and at that moment my connection to Torm is severed and I am left alone. Or am I?
There is a roaring sound of battle and as I open my eyes I see I'm wearing a set of plate armor with the emblem of twin suns emblazed across the chest. I quickly look around to see other knights whom have familiar faces, but I don't have much time to assess the situation as we are currently surrounded by gnolls and there is obviously a battle to ensue.
The Journal Entry’s title
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Session 19: Finding an Old Friend
After defeating the horde of zombies and skeletons, we decided to look at the statues of heroes at the front of the church hoping they might have a clue as to the location of the helmet. Given that we knew there were still more undead roaming around we sent Khemed and Erric to go investigate quickly. I watched from the door and as Khemed walked past the first statue an incorporeal hand reached out to grab him. It appeared that the statues were infested with Specters. Luckily Khemed's skittish nature alerted him to the danger and he avoided being touched. But all of the Specters converged on Khemed and Erric. Upon seeing this I cast some radiant spells to try and deter their attacks and without missing a beat, Princess sprang into action rescuing Khemed from being surrounded putting herself at great risk. The rest of us joined the fray as well. Haelee decided to try another plant trick to stop the advancement of the Specters. I'm guessing that they don't have incorporeal beings in the Feywild as the vines did nothing but halt our advance. But in a desperate attempt to help, she hugged Princess and then transformed into a bear to help defeat the monsters. Grimm, the quiet Ronin also joined in and we were able to defeat them. Unfortunately Princess was struck and my magic wasn't strong enough to repair the damage done to her. Something odd happened once the combat with the specters was complete. Princess lunged herself into a wandering zombie that had taken no notice of us. Her orcish nature seems to be coming out with each combat. I believe this is something I should discuss with her but it must be later as now we have too much at stake.
Looking over the statues, no likeness of Lanish Fogul could be found, thus it was a dead end so we only had one choice and that was to go down below the church to see if we could find any clues. As we entered the chamber containing the staircase, I noticed another broken mirror similar to the one we discovered in Gideon's residence. I fear that he may be below and I fear he is no longer amongst the living. We all noticed a glass case with a padlock. The Glass case appeared to have two vials in it. Khemed deftly picked the lock and opened the case. The first vial was obviously a Potion of Healing and Khemed took it as payment for opening the lock I suppose. Honestly, given how frail he looks, I think it's best to let him have the potion. I inspected the other potion and determined it was another Healing Potion, but one of a great potency. I thought for a moment whom it would be best to give this to, Princess or Grimm. After careful contemplation, I asked if everyone was ok with Grimm having it for an emergency as Princess has divine powers that can help her and he does not. Now all that was left was to descend the staircase.
The way down was dark, very dark. Pitch black to be precise. I was concerned about us being detected so I asked for those that had the ability to see in low light to darkness to lead those of us who could not. Erric to the lead with Khemed by his side; then Haelee and Grimm and the rear was brough up by myself and Princess. This cause for caution was for not as Princess was not the quietest person with her heavy plate armor. But we descended down the staircase in the darkness only to find a short hallway ending in two doors. Erric opened the doors and discovered that which I feared; Gideon was behind them. At the sound of Gideon's now raspy voice, Princess pushed her way to the front of the group and into the room. I tried to grab onto her arm to follow her as I feared her anger might get the better of her again but alas I couldn't get a good grip on the half-orcs arm. Luckily, as Princess passed him, Erric activated a magic stone that produced enough light for those of us without the ability to see in the dark to be illuminated. Once I could see I immediately asked to pass through to the room so that I could place myself between Princess and Gideon. The room had two more doors across from those that we had entered through and two stone tables in the center of the room. This looked like a room used to prepare bodies for burial. In the lower far right-corner of the room stood Gideon next to a wooden desk. As I looked back at Princess, I could see my fears were justified as the young paladin's hurt and anger had come to a head and she began to argue with Gideon.
Gideon was, as I feared, transformed into some sentient undead creature. I am now sure he is the one who broke the mirrors as his hands and lower arms were shredded down to the bone. He had a mission. He was trying to recruit us to work with Zarieal. Princess wanted nothing more than to strike him down. I tried to restrain her as did Grimm and Haelee once again hugged her and transformed into a bear. Between all of us we were able to hold her at bay. Reasoning with Gideon and Princess proved a difficult task. He had truly been convinced by the devils fiendish words. Apparently so had Khemed as he agreed that she was right and that the gods do nothing but stand on the sidelines while we mortals suffer. I find it astonishing that he complains about the gods doing nothing, but wants the gods to stay out of mortal affairs at the same time. Not only that, he witnessed the gift that Lathander gave Princess because of her faith and yet still believes the gods don't help us. I argued with Gideon, hoping to get more information from him, more of an idea why this fallen celestial Zarieal would choose to specifically corrupt him. But at the same time I was arguing with him I had to argue with Princess and fight to hold her at bay. It was chaos. I was feeling exhausted and mentally taxed by the whole ordeal, but this was our first clue as to what might be this Zarieal's plan and I wasn't going to waste this opportunity. But something unexpected happened in the middle of my thoughts came Haelee's voice telling me her bear form smelled fire. I admit I was not in the best of places at that moment and I snapped at the druid. I mean of course you smell fire, we're on a hell plane for Torm's sake. This was enough for me to loose my concentration and for Princess to break free. This set off a chain of events that had dire consequences. Firstly, despite agreeing with Gideon and stating so, Khemed fired a crossbow at him. Then Princess ran to engage Gideon in combat.
At that very moment one of the doors across the room swung open and through it came a floating skull on fire. And it cast a fire spell that engulfed us all. It caused me great pain so I knew it must have hurt the others greatly too. But that was not our only surprise, a Wraith apparated through the other door to attack Haelee in her bear form. Wraiths are nasty creatures constantly seeking to drain the lifeforce of the living and I guess a large brown bear appeared an appetizing treat. The chaos continued in the ensuing battle. All focus was on Gideon and defeating him. However, my focus was on my compatriots. I drew forth the holy power granted to me by Torm and channeled divine energy into each of our party members reinvigorating them. Then I called upon Torm's holy light to repel the undead horrors before us. Luckily, the floating skull was immediately repealed by Torm's grace and ran away. Unfortunately, the wraith was not. Meanwhile everyone was capable of striking Gideon down, hoping perhaps he was controlling these undead. But alas, these undead were fueled by their thirst for lifeforce and continued their assault.
One wraith is bad enough, but in reality their was another and it came after Erric whom happened to be standing next to the wall it entered the room from. It struck him hard and he fell to the ground. Haelee too was struck mightily and her bear form faded and the elf took another harsh blow. Again I channeled the Torm's holy light and filled my compatriots with his grace and our enemy's with fear. Given that Gideon had fallen, Princess directed her attentions towards the Wraiths. I could see she hadn't come out of the battle with Gideon unscathed and had a choice to make: heal my fallen comrade Erric or heal my sister paladin so she could continue to fight. To heal Erric would have put myself in danger and I had successfully stalled one of the Wraiths by instilling it with fear. Given Princess had mightily struck down the first Wraith, I decided that the safest option for us all was for me to heal her so that she could continue to fight. After I made that decision, a glowing blue light appeared above Erric and I saw life breathed into him once more. Haelee had used some druidic magic to heal him. He made a brave decision to assist Princess in the fight, putting himself in danger still. During all this chaos, Grimm had been following Princess around attacking her targets and helping destroy our foes and Khemed ducked in and out of combat. It was hard to follow him and I had lost track of him all together, thinking that perhaps he had decided to save himself given the dire odds against us. But in the end everyone was present. I healed Erric and Princess once more knowing that the flaming skull might return. Then I turned my attention to Gideon.
The battered form of the former priest of Lathander lay on the ground punctured and beaten. There was talk of cutting his head off, or burning his body to ensure that he couldn't return. I couldn't bare the thought of one of Lathander's priest not being given the chance to walk in his light to the world beyond. So I placed a spell upon his body that would ensure he could not become undead again for at least 10 days. My thought process is that if we aren't out of Avernus by then, we have far greater issues to deal with. His poor soul doesn't belong to Zariel and if I can help it I won't let her have him again.
The reprieve won't last long so we took advantage of it and searched for clues as to what Gideon, and his new master, might be up to. Haelee found some crystals that may or may not be magical so we saved them for investigation later. We also found some text and papers on the desk. There's no time to look through them so I stuffed them in my bag to again peruse later when we are safe. Now battered and bruised we must continue on. I have to admit that while Torm has not left me, it is taxing drawing on divine energies and I feel like I need a small breather, but I'm afraid we may not have that luxury and that we might need to press on further down into the depths of this cathedral to hopefully discover the dark plans for our beloved city and a way to stop them.
Hope Springs Anew
After so many days of research and sacrifice we may have found a means to our salvation. Feylan stumbled upon an old passage in a book discussing a special artifact of Torm. After combing through all our tomes it appears that if this artifact was in the city it could be found in the Church of Dawn located within the Grand Cemetery. Unfortunately, there were no pictures of the artifact so Feylan suggested that I join the group in order to sense the artifact as it is connected to my god, Torm. This glimmer of hope, a glimmer but hope none-the-less may be just what we need to deliver us from this horrible fate.
Once the others arrived back to the temple, Feylan and I shared our discovery. I explained that I wanted to join them as this task was of great importance. Luckily, they were not opposed to me joining them. Given their recent outing, I thought it best that they rest and we set out in the morning. Tymora was smiling down on us because we heard a noise outside the chamber. Princess, being the ever vigilant paladin she is, went to investigate with Haelee close on her heels. I decided to listen in a bit before heading out myself. It would appear that a young man had followed the motley crew here to the sanctuary after an encounter they had by the docks. It was beginning to sound heated so I joined the other two in order to meet our new friend. This poor soul looked as though he hadn't eaten in days. His hatred for the gods was on full display and my heart broke listening to him as I saw myself had Kreeg not found me. I'm not sure what happened but I could see how uneasy everyone was so I felt that a good meal and a good nights rest might quell the tension.
After dinner, Princess asked to speak to me. It would appear that her companion animal is seeking her out. I find it refreshing to hear good news in these days of woe and it reminds me that hope is always present even in the darkest of days. We also discussed our new visitor and the reason why she had such a wary way toward him. Her revelation that her oath was nothing more than a pact with a devil hasn't helped this disposition, but at least she still has trust in her compatriots and our cause to rescue the city. A good nights rest is what we need.
The morning came and we had a lovely breakfast. It is obvious our new friend, Khemed was his name, has some food security issues as he tried to secretly stuff his pockets. I made sure to pack plenty of extra food for the day as I don't know how long we may be out and we must stay vigilant. Our destination, The Church of Dawn in the Grand Cemetery. Torm test our resolve as not only must we deal with the devils throughout the city but a resurgence of undead creatures as well. And as everyone knows cemeteries and the undead are a deadly combination.
What I thought would be a simple investigation started out with a bit of confusion. There was something about a portal and then there was a pastry shop and a devil selling keys. I was rather confused as I believed our objective was to find the artifact as soon as possible. This lack of focus and order was overwhelming for me and I tried to create focus for the group. Luckily Erric was able to assist us moving quietly through the city until we reached or destination. I will admit, I was concerned that I would be a burden on the group as I tend to trip over my own feet at times, but Torm's light or Tymora's luck saw me through. We made it to the Grand Cemetery with little to no issues; however, the cemetery was covered in this strange purple mist and full of disturbed gravesites. It was an unpleasant sight, but we pushed on as silently as we could avoiding the waves of undead until we reached the Church of Dawn. At that moment, the others remembered they wished to check up on their friend Gideon, whom they had not seen since the decent. As his home was close by the cathedral I did not protest.
I'm glad that we did because we made some startling discoveries. First, we discovered the source of the purple mist. Haelee believed it possessed necromantic properties and was dangerous to be around so we made the decision to avoid it at all cost. We also found Gideon's quarters empty save a chest full of clothing and a journal on his desk. It would appear that Gideon was being seduced by Zariel, the devil that made the pact so long ago. According to Gideon, Zariel is a fallen celestial being. She convinced Gideon that the gods were not helping humanity but the Devils were by fighting the blood war against Chaos. That Chaos being the Demons. Reading his journal detailed his fall into madness and support of this idea that Zariel needed soldiers for the Blood War to protect humanity and that the gods were failing us. Each passage I read made me sad to see a devout follower fall into madness. After reading the passage we found a mirror that had been shattered and blood stained. I didn't think too much of it at first, but that would change.
Now it was time to investigate the cathedral. Khemed had the idea to enter from the side via the windows. I suggested we use the clothing we found in Gideon's place to ensure we could safely enter through the broken glass windows. With everyone working together we were able to ender the cathedral. To no surprise, the interior was trashed. All the windows were smashed to pieces save for one. I was drawn to it immediately as it was a depiction of Torm gifting a warrior a helm. Upon closer inspection, I could see that the hero was none other than Lanish Fogul. Then I recalled that Erric identified the statues at the front of the cathedral as statues of Elturelian heroes. I felt that the window possessed some sort of spiritual energy especially the helmet, but my thoughts were interupted by Haelee saying she found another mirror and stain glassed window. (She of course did this telepathically, I'm not sure if she understands that's still very unnerving for those that are not used to traveling with her, but I digress.) The mirror was again smashed and stained with blood. I can't believe this was a coincidence but the stained glass window was our priority.
The window was not fully intact, but the center was pristine as the previous one. But instead of Torm, Lathander was portrayed leading lost souls to their final resting place. Again, holy energy radiated from this window. I had a difficult time connecting to it, but Princess was able to tap into its holy energy and Lathander gifted her a mighty great sword. But there was no time to marvel at the miracle that had just occurred. At that moment, the doors to the chamber swung open and two undead husk sounded an alarm to our presence. A battle ensued and we triumphed thanks to a strategically placed spell by Haelee and the brave efforts of everyone. It was a marvel to see these brave heroes in action. Even Khemed was quite skilled in combat despite his diminutive nature. Now that our foes have been defeated we must work quickly to discover as much as we can before the next patrol discovers our presence.
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