Nentir Vale Recap, Sessions 35-36

In the prior couple of sessions, the party had returned to Winterhaven to deal with the Cult of Orcus and the Bloodreavers. Kidnappings had continued, including six children. Our heroes had successfully attacked the main Bloodreaver camp, rescued some villagers, and returned back to Winterhaven. They set out for the Keep on the Shadowfell the next morning. Arriving at the ruins of the keep, they dispatched the hobgoblin guards and headed down some stairs to encounter and defeat additional hobgoblins. Exploring the complex below, they encountered various cultists, quickly dispatching some in their sleep and fighting others. We pick up with the search for the children and the attempt to defeat the cult after this fight with the cultists after the break.

With finding the children high on their list of priorities, our heroes continued their exploration below the keep.

• Another room with sleeping cultists was discovered and they were quickly and quietly killed by Fiona.
• A large fire pit illuminated another chamber. Three cultists were within with one “torturing” what was clearly a corpse. Another combat and another victory for the good guys.
  • A passage off of this “torture” chamber led to three cells. One held a village, Dane. The other two cells held three children each. Dane explained that other villagers had been here but had been taken away one by one over the days. His wife was just taken earlier today.
  • The children (and Dane) are rather scared and nervous. The party does their best to calm them. Asking them to remain here while the heroes press on did not really help but the cult needs to be stopped.
  • A set of doors near the cells open to a stairway leading down.
• These stairs lead to a long chamber with standing sarcophagi lining the walls to each side of the room. Each are carved to look as a dragon’s head is looking over the sarcophagus. As the party traverses the chamber, each sarcophagi opens and a skeleton exits. Each is wearing ancient armor and one is significantly more armored and capable than the others.
  • More messages, written in dried blood, are on the walls of this chamber.
  • A light emanates from another chamber to the east of this room and a separate passage leads to the south.
  • A zombie is spotted in a chamber at the end of the south passage. Aran hits it with an eldritch blast which attracts the attention of a good number of zombies in that chamber. The zombies look like they were probably villagers while alive.
  • Unfortunately, soon after the battle with the zombies, the sarcophagi open again, disgorging more skeletons. Aetris determines that the light from the chamber to the east is sanctified and the whole party makes their way for it. The skeletons do not follow.
  • The chamber holds two altars to Bahamut with the same prayer inscribed on each. Aetris and Fiona each recite the prayer at one altar and small hidden door opens at the base of each. Within each is a small silver statue, an idol of Bahamut. These are taken. The skeletons return to their sarcophagi when the prayers were said.
  • A set of double doors lead further east. Beyond is a chamber with no other apparent exits. A large sarcophagus sits in a raised area to the east. The lid is carved to look like a Nerathi soldier holding a greatsword. There is also more writing on the walls which looks like the writer had come to realize that something horrible had been done. Aetris can sense an undead in the sarcophagus and so the party exits the room.
  • A bit of a minor maze of passages is found to the south. Large pools of fresh looking blood dot the passages, large symbols drawn (and holding their shape) in the blood. The pools are avoided by the party.
• A couple of sets of double doors are found. One leads to a small and empty room. The other to a flight of descending stairs. The stairs descend for quite a distance to another set of doors.
  • Beyond is a chamber dominated by a large raised pool of blood. A series of seven or eight pits surround the pool. Each pit holds various corpses and bits of corpses. The party skirts the very edge of the chamber to avoid the pool and pits to reach a set of doors on the far side of the room.
  • Pillars made of various bones dot the room past the doors. Each pillar has one or more skulls “impaled” upon the bones. As Aetris enters the room, two skulls fly off of the nearest pillar, shrieking, before striking him and exploding, doing a non-insignificant amount of necrotic damage. The shrieking will have alerted anyone nearby.
  • Gandave and Aran step up to target other skulls on other pillars with ranged magical attacks. The party quickly establishes a pattern of attacking the skulls from a range. For the most part, it is a very successful approach to pass through this chamber and then another laid out in a very similar fashion.
• After passing through the rooms of shrieking skull necrotic grenades, the heroes come upon a large chamber. A pit, some thirty-feet to a side, dominates the middle of the room. Five mutilated corpses are placed around the pit. Pools of blood, larger than the current corpses could account for, stream to and down the pit.
  • The pit drops farther than anyone can see into darkness. Four massive chains are anchored to the walls of the pit about thirty feet down. Each angles slightly inwards towards the center of the pit.
  • Given that the skulls have likely alerted anyone down in the pit, Fiona drops a torch. It drops about a hundred feet or so before striking a large creature. It is humanoid in shape. The chains end in its shoulders, two in front and two in back. Blood from above runs down the chains and onto this creature. it is completely covered, wings and all.
  • The torch bounces and continues to drop another twenty to thirty feet before extinguishing in another large pool of blood.
  • Fiona can just make out a whispered chanting coming from below. No words can be discerned (plus it was in a language that no one in the party speaks), but the cadence makes it sound like ritualistic chanting…maybe two or three voices.
  • Lacking any spikes or pitons, Nalniss does a ritual to create some from a handful of coins (Forge Domain ability). The chanting continues throughout the time Nalniss does the ritual.
  • The spikes are pounded into the stone floor at each corner of the pit, ropes are tied on, and the party starts their way down. Once they reach the chains, the continue down those. Given their size, it is almost like climbing a ladder.
• The pit opens into a massive hall.
  • From this vantage point, the party can make out a number of things of interest. First, their is a rather large and swirling mass of purple-black energy at the northern end of the hall. A large raised area is just to the south of this soon to be portal to the Shadowfell. A cultist, wearing armor under his robes and holding a skull-topped rod, is atop and chanting. Various clawed tentacles are reaching out from the “portal.”
  • To either side of the hall are another pedestal. Atop each of these is what can best be described as a fallen angel. They too are chanting.
  • The creature attached to the chains is quite large, some twenty feet tall. Its wings–despite being covered in blood—look like they’ve been burned away. Its torso trails off into a wispy whirlwind of blood. Small undead-looking creatures are gnawing at this energy. The blood from above does drip down from the creature into the pool below.
  • The hall is too long for the party to see the far southern portion.
  • As the first of the party reaches the chained creature, its eyes open. They are dull, glassy, and do not have any hint of recognition that the party is there.
  • Those who have the silver idols of Bahamut feel something moving in their packs, where the idols had been stored. Opening the packs, an incorporeal dragon flies out with one attacking each of the fallen angels to the sides of the room. (This was pretty critical as it removed both of the fallen angels from the combat.)
  • From their position standing atop the creature, the fight starts.
  • The “priest” (who the party figure must be Mirtis…plus his token was named Mirtis) unleashes a small ball of purplish-black energy that explodes when it reaches the party, doing a good bit of necrotic damage. (Essentially a re-flavored fireball. Each player had the option of making their saving throw at disadvantage to remain upon the creature they were standing or at advantage if they chose to fall into the pool of blood.)
  • Despite how far away Mirtis was and his high ground on the platform, the party quickly makes their way to him or peppers him with ranged attacks. Aetris is the first to reach him. Clawed tentacles from the portal reach out and grapple the paladin. The tentacles start to pull Aetris towards (and into) the portal.
  • The fight was relatively quick and our heroes victorious. As Mirtis falls, another tentacle reaches out to grab his body. Woodward decapitates the body and another tentacle catches the head. Both the body and head of Mirtis are pulled into the portal.
  • Meanwhile, Aetris is able to free himself from the tentacle with a quick misty step.
  • Looking around, the fallen angels are gone as are the dragons that engaged them.
• With that, the party had broken the ritual and the seal held over the rift.
  • Each member of the party heard a loud voice in their head. Not loud because it was yelling…loud because its presence was enormous. It was the creature held by the chains and it thanked them. As the blood slowly dripped off of the creature, it spoke with the party…inadvertently leaving everyone with a headache.
  • Its name is Kelevyam and it is an angel. Centuries ago, it allied itself with the Nerathi Empire to create a seal over this rift to the Shadowfell. Unfortunately, all of the mortals involved have perished and so when Mirtis began to undo the seal, it had no one it could contact.
  • The party volunteers to be Kelevyam’s new contacts. The angel agrees EXCEPT it cannot accept the offer from two members of the party, Aran and Woody, because they bear implements of the Abyss. Aran and Woody both agree to give up these items (Basilidian’s Choker, Rottskiff of the Rhymers, and the Signet of the Nightwitches), placing them in the pool beneath the angel (the pool was rapidly clearing and would soon no longer be blood).
  • With that, the angel placed a finger on the chest of each character, passing into their flesh over their hearts. Later, each found that they had a circle, like a brand, over their heart.
  • The party and Kelevyam have a bit more discussion. They explain that the Nerathi Empire has fallen and some of the circumstances around its fall (thank you Encyclopedia Fionnica the Lore Bard). It is agreed that the heroes will ask Lord Padraig to come and meet Kelevyam in the hopes that he too will agree to be someone the angel can contact.
  • Kelevyam was also asked about Keegan, the ill-fated final captain of the Keep. The party assumed he was in the sarcophagus that they had not opened on the level above. The angel assured them that Keegan was at rest now that they had defeated Mirtis.
• The party then took their leave of the angel, headed back up, gathered Dane and the children, and all headed back to Winterhaven.
  • Informing Dane that his wife had been sacrificed pretty much broke the poor fellow.
  • Hailed as heroes, of course, the villagers of Winterhaven were happy that the children had been saved but still saddened by all of those lost. Padraig hosted something of a subdued celebration.
  • The Lord of Winterhaven asks another favor of the heroes. Would they be willing to search the farms (while the villagers were still in the village proper) for signs of who might be a cultist? The group agrees and they accompany Sister Lenora to search the farms over the next couple of days.
  • A dozen farms hold small shrines to Orcus, indicating an affiliation with the cult. Not wanting to condemn every member of these households, the party offers to use magic (zone of truth) to question and ascertain among them are cultists. Those who refuse to answer the questions are presumed to be cultists.
  • About half of the families include individuals who knew nothing of their husband, wife, or parent’s involvement with the cult. Even some of the children (older ones) are cultists. Lord Padraig is clearly upset…how can he execute those who have been friends and subjects of his rule? How can he let the cultists live? What will this do to the small community? The party tries to comfort him as best they can.
  • Magic (sleep) is used to put the cultists to sleep and they are mercifully executed.
• On the following day, our heroes escort Lord Padraig to the ruined keep and lead him down to meet Kelevyam.
  • Padraig agrees to be a contact for the angel and pledges his lineage to the task as well. That way Kelevyam will have a contact for generations if someone attempts to break the seal.
  • Padraig is also “marked” by the angel just as the party had been.
  • The group heads back to Winterhaven.
  • The villagers are allowed to head back to their farms and tend to their crops and livestock…at least what remains.
• Lord Padraig offers for Valthrun to teleport the heroes back to Fallcrest. He’d be more than happy for them to stay (making that quite clear), but he also understands that they have other things that they need to attend to.
  • Previously, Padraig had asked to make sure that the party would take the other adventuring group with them. It was clear to him that their hearts aren’t quite in the same place as the heroes. Since teleportation was going to be used, Padraig paid the mercenaries to leave.
• Valthrun does the spell (using a scroll as before) and the party arrives in Nimozaran’s Tower in Fallcrest. The lab is empty at first and Woody holds a rope for the others climb out a window and down. The pride of the Sky Ponies (at least in his own head) gets spider climb cast on him for his exit.
  • Tobilar comes up, sees folks, and lets them know that Nimozaran is coming up behind him.
  • Woody lets Tobilar know that Gandave would be in touch. (The party had spoken to Valthrun about the possibility of Tobilar becoming his “apprentice.”)
  • Unfortunately, Nimozaran arrives before Woody can get out. The wizard isn’t happy, but Woody gets out before anything really happens. Tobilar runs to the window and shouts out, melodramatically, that they are all jumping off of the cliff to their dooms. Nimozaran knows that the party got in his tower and lab but not necessarily how.
• The heroes head to Moonstone Keep to visit with Marklehay. They are quickly granted an audience with Captain Harrick in attendance as well.
  • The group shares everything that happened since they last met with the Lord Warden. Harrick, of course, is not impressed by the exploits of the meatbags.
  • The party shares that they are planning to recover the magic warhammer, Grovelthrash, for Nalniss to use, using the map that Owen Lloyd had sold them. Plus, it is in a location that may be part of the Slaughtergarde and the heroes want to put an end to that potential threat.
  • Harrick chuckles and the Lord Warden shares that the location marked on the map is called the Spiderhaunt Thicket and it is rumored that drow reside in the area so it may be a dangerous location to explore.
  • The Lord Warden offers to provide whatever mundane equipment that the heroes need. (Perhaps some spikes or pitons so Nalniss doesn’t have to create them.) So the group plans to stock up and head out the next morning.

And that was the end of session 36. Bridgett and RJ missed both of these sessions so the other players got to play Gandave, Nalniss, and Woodward. We, the players, all decided that Woody would give up his Abyssal items for the greater good…hopefully, we were right. If not, I suppose Woody could try and get them back from Kelevyam.

I also shared, afterwards, that each of those items are actually cursed. The skiff summoned by the Rottskiff and its demonic boatsman would remain after taking the summoner to the requested location. The ring could raise up to three dozen corpses as zombies for a battle. After the battle, any surviving zombies would remain animated and not in the control of the ring bearer. The choker would strangle anyone wearing it if the name Abraxus was spoken within earshot…I’m a little surprised this never happened. It was actually what killed Mari. She mentioned the name herself. (Abraxus was the demon lord behind the construction of the Slaughtergarde and its invasion of the Midrealm.)

Of course, this is all player knowledge and the characters themselves are unaware of these curses or how Mari died. I think players like to learn these kind of things and I don’t mind sharing when it won’t really have an impact on the game later (i.e., I don’t really expect anyone to go back and get the items back from Kelevyam).

And that wraps up the Cult of Orcus storyline…for now. It was, if you didn’t know, based on the Keep on the Shadowfell module that was written for 4e. We actually played it way back when we played some 4e. I don’t think Rachel or RJ recognized it (they played back then). Significant changes were, of course, made. Many were inspired or outright taken from a “rewrite/conversion” done by Myrhdraak some ten years ago. Unfortunately, I don’t recall where I found his document, but it was quite well done. I’m sure if you google it, you’ll be able to find it…not that any players should do that. 😛

Oh, I almost forgot. Since RJ was missing, I suppose I’m obligated to say that Woody died. It is a blatant lie, but I’m obligated to mention it.