Reunited and It Feels So Good
General Summary
The Party were scattered around the large ceremonial room, having finally defeated all of the cultists. While Hobart and Emmalyn recovered from their wounds, Axelrod and Bartimus investigated the room further. Around the large rune inscribed on the floor were four pits, each with another rune inscribed on the bottom. The heroes deduced that the ritual drew upon the lives of sacrifices to create an object of vile, necrotic energy. How such an item can be used remained unclear. Fortunately, one of the sacrifices survived.
The Party then investigated the chest behind the stone dais in the room. Hobart found what looked like a trap, and Bartimus suspected it would spring when the lid was opened. Hobart attempted to disable it and unlock the chest, but an unfortunate slip of his thieves' tools jammed the lock closed. He removed the rear hinges and eventually wedged it open, but he was greeted by a blast of noxious gas. After it dissipated, he found a pair of soft boots and a shortsword. The sword had a sinister look to it, but it was almost beautiful in the same way.
The Party proceeded onward and encountered two more cultists and their hired thugs. In the narrow hallway, their enemies broke against them like waves on rocks. Searching the area, the heroes found four rooms with cages in the floor where the remaining people of Ambridge were being held. Along with the survivor of the ceremony, the Party had 12 people to return home. While those folks waited at the entrance, the Party investigated the last hallway and found a torture/murder chamber with two recently killed cultists. Their method of death became clear when undead rose from their resting places. Emmalyn raised her shield and turned them with divine power, and the group dispatched them before they could cause further harm.
Outside the death temple once more, the Party could not see an obvious way out. After some searching, Barty found a hole bored into the rock, stained red and smelling of iron. Axelrod took one of the two vials of red liquid and slid it into the hole, but he only heard a clink as it struck something at the bottom. He then poured the second vial's contents into the hole. Slowly, as though the rock itself were bleeding, an outline of large doors appeared in the cliff face. Pushing them open, the Party led the townspeople into the cavern and slowly up to the surface. Looking out over the landscape, they realized they were in the Hel Mountains north of the Highway.
Leading the people onward, the Party ran into a nest of stirges. They fought them off as quickly as they could, but one townsperson was drained of his blood and died. During the commotion, a peryton came swooping down to take advantage. Axelrod remained upright only through his expert knowledge of armored combat, and the Party struck down the predator. Barty knew that valuable items could be harvested from the carcass, including two talons that would make fine daggers and keepsakes from their adventures.
Farther down the mountain, they overheard the strange sound of what would be two ogres feeding on the carcass of a deer. Thinking someone was coming to steal their lunch, the ogres engaged in combat, with one launching tree-sized bolts from a handheld ballista. Barty shrank the giant to a more manageable size, and they eventually defeated the ogres without further loss of life. They marched onward, safely returned the people to their homes, and left for Mystryl.
Axelrod and Barty headed to Brighthall Castle to report back to Captain Evencrusher and Alec Codswallop, respectively. While Arth and Melna Madz were disappointed in Bronwen Mandit, they were pleased that chapter of Holy Guard history was closed. The captain was also deeply concerned about the news of the Mysterious Cult. As a reward for their deeds, the Party was given full use of Brighthall and the Great Library at the Magic University of Mystryl for their training and development needs. Captain Evencrusher said he would report their findings to the Church of Mysteries, who would likely reach out to them soon for a debrief.
Meanwhile, Hobart finally reunited with Lola Trill when she appeared out of thin air on the streets of Mystryl. "HoHo" immediately embraced her. Lola recounted her experience at the University, describing it as incredibly rigid and controlling of her free spirit. Her adoptive family insisted she study at the University to become influential and a positive reflection on their name. She dropped out soon after enrolling and began finding her own path, believing that the Confederation Arcanum was deliberately restricting the knowledge and use of magic to control the people of Winderia. She told Hobart she was searching for the right way to access magic, the "true" way to become adept and powerful. She even showed him to her living quarters—shared with other like-minded people—deep under Midnight Mountain.
While Hobart did his best to understand, he was more concerned about why she didn't keep up contact with him while he remained in Vorba. She apologized and ensured him she didn't mean to make him feel alone or abandoned. She promised to stand by his side and take him on her journey to overcome the limits she felt the elite of Winderia were putting on its people. Leaving him with assurances that she'd be in touch again, Lola strode away, fading into the night.
The Party finally had some downtime to relax. Barty took both peryton talons to be crafted into daggers, and Axelrod and Hobart sold many of the treasures collected over the past days. And finally, while studying in the Great Library, Barty stumbled across a familiar name: Mistglide.
What lies ahead for our heroes? Will the Mysterious Cult continue to plague their adventures? Will they learn of any misdeeds by Winderia's leadership when it comes to the use of magic? Will they unlock the secret to the chamber at the ruins? Find out next time...
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