With the help of the alchemists,
the gunpowder users and the siege engineers, the walls of the demon-infested
citadel Drezen were breached and the Brevic army surged through. Aaron, Keiran,
Akaros, Evander, Alexei and I led the charge through the destroyed main gate,
quickly dealing with the minor demons foolish enough to stand in our way. Mr
Tiddles and Brutus stayed outside with the main army to ensure the demonic
forces were thoroughly dealt with and then we progressed into the main building
alone.
We came into a room filled with
maps of previous battle plans – maybe not useful to prevent a new incursion,
but with great historical value and may hopefully give insight into the enemy’s
tactics. As we studied these, some minor demons (goat-like, I believe) led by a
dwarf attacked: the demons were quickly dispatched. I managed to paralyse the
dwarf using a spell I didn’t think would work* and we proceeded to tie him up.
We’re just about to attempt to interrogate him, when several minotaurs led by
another dwarf (in spanglier armour) charge in – one minotaur aiming straight
for the incapacitated dwarf and goring him with sufficient force to end up
wearing him as a hat. So much for our questions! We dispatched the minotaurs
and the second dwarf: he died rather more easily than anticipated so Alexei did
his ghost thing and stepped into the ethereal plane to try and get some answers
from the dwarf’s spirit. It was not very helpful, and ultimately dismissed by a
scythe-wielding entity far more powerful than Alexei.
Around the neck of the dwarf’s
body was a skeleton key that opened, as well as the doors, a chest at the foot
of a bed in an adjacent chamber. Amongst the loot therein was the dwarf’s
journal, revealing him to be Staunton Vhane (the other dwarf, the one turned
into a fashion accessory by a minotaur, was his brother). He was the one who
had taken down the Sword of Valour, enabling the demons to capture Drezen all
those years ago. He seemed to have been well-rewarded, Lord of the citadel. The
journal referred to a succubus who had been held as a heretic in the dungeons
until an oubliette had been prepared for her in the Abyss: she had escaped.
There was also talk of magic potions brought by a demon lord. Staunton had
experimented on various underlings, recounted in morbid detail their grisly
demises – the only survivor was the three-headed beast we fought on the bridge
– before daring to drink himself. It made him more powerful (and was familiar
in story to how my own mythic power awakened within me, albeit more brutal than
sharing a drink with Erastil).
The journal also mentioned a
forge that enabled the two dwarven brothers to corrupt weapons and armour – one
had wanted to use it on the Sword of Valour but the other had refused, so at
least we knew the banner was safe. The journal also revealed it to be guarded
by a shadow demon in the depths of the citadel. Onwards and downwards, then.
The dungeons below were largely
empty but the place felt dark and creepy and magic aligned to good or law
seemed sluggish, reluctant to be present within these unhallowed walls that
seemed to whisper just beyond the edge of hearing. A group of vampire-lings
melted away at our onslaught, although Alexei warned they may have survived and
be licking their wounds elsewhere.
One of the cells appeared to be
that in which the heretic succubus had been kept: the walls were covered in
scratched drawings of butterflies and a prayer to Desna begged for release and
freedom, not just from the cell but in life beyond that. Something in the
prayer sang to me: I hope the succubus – Aurashalé – is safe and we have a
chance to meet her.
But onwards. A brutal torture
chamber with a stench of blood so strong it was like bathing in it. Dispatched
the demons quickly, and Kieran walked into the side room to see and slay a
half-orc… who crumbled to dust. Presumably the sire of the smaller vampires
we’d fought earlier. A sealed door behind his seat led to his coffin, which we carefully
made uninhabitable to him lest he had survived and tried to return there to
recover. The door was well-hidden, so we began to trawl the dungeons once more
to seek out others.
Another hidden route led to a
forge that Alexei realised was where the dwarven brothers had undertaken their
experiments in corruption. He neutralised its effects: relief washed over us as
the whisperings faded and our magics returned to normal. In a room beyond, we
found the Sword of Valour on a wall in an iron frame. The walls were covered in
art work of a demon-god slaying the gods of Golarion in cruel and horrific
ways. We approached cautiously, expecting the shadow demon to reveal itself at
any moment. Alexei and Akaros reached to remove the banner from the wall: it crumbled
to dust and in the same instant Evander was hit by a black flash, falling
unconscious such that Alexei could not wake him – he reminded me of how I had
felt after being dragged back to life, but this did seem to be different: I had
been awake.
I was disappointed that we’d come
so far only for the banner to be destroyed so carelessly, until Akaros reminded
me that only Iomedae herself could destroy the banner, and then only if certain
conditions were met. This, then, was not the true Sword of Valour. Evander was
carefully secured to a levitated ladder and we continued on our way.
Following another passageway, we
found a giant statue of a serpentine woman with 4 arms wielding
viscious-looking weapons. A narrow ledge led passed it, but it struck Aaron as
being obviously trapped so he attempted to fly over the pit from which the
statue rose – and vanished, pushed down to beneath the apparent floor of the
pit as he left the ledge. The actual floor was many feet lower and covered with
a grim, green slime that coated him, weakened him. I spotted a switch on the
ledge behind the statue and skipped over to it: the gravity field that held him
down lifted and we were able to pull him out before the slime sucked the last
of the life from him.
There was another door here, so
we went through and down a corridor to another small room. Pitch black inside,
Alexei alone could see the banner lying rumpled on a ledge. He dispelled the
mystical darkness to reveal the hidden shadow demon stood between us and it –
an ominous black and grey form, ranging from highlights the colour of shade by
trees in spring to the blackest depths so dark the eye could not comprehend
what it was seeing.
It vanished. Evander’s limp form
fell to the floor and Kieran was struck by a powerful spell that nearly felled
him – Aaron shifted into his large Red Mantis form in preparation for a tough
fight and started behaving in strange ways that I recognised from the
‘confusion’ spell, babbling incoherently before attacking himself. And I… a
splitting headache as half-formed thoughts and unrelated memories muddled at
the surface of my mind – the prickle of hay as I practiced kissing with Piotr;
a refrain from a song my father taught me when he visited that I thought I’d
forgotten; the overwhelming shock I felt when I first met Noleski (and the love
and pride when we married); rosemary and fresh bread; my mother kissing a
skinned knee better; the suppressed fear when Devin didn’t show up at the coach
like we’d agreed – like a fishing net cast wide and pulling up whatever it
tangled**. The feeling lasted less than a second; left me in pain and tasting
blood. It was time to get out of there. I tried to grab Alexei as I ran, but it
was all I could do to manage the out-of-control Aaron. Keiran and Akaros ran, carrying
Evander.
We made it outside the room, back
down the corridor to the ledge behind the statue. I tried to run from Aaron
before his madness shifted and made me his target, but I was too late – pulling
him from the room had set me in his sights and it was only Akaros stepping
between us that prevented him from killing me. We had to beat him to
unconsciousness, when he shrunk back down to his normal tiefling size. About
this point, Evander sprang to his feet, going so fast from prone to standing
that it seemed he didn’t move but merely was stood. He whipped at Alexei with
his flail and the image dissipated. He ran back towards the room in which the
shadow demon possessed Alexei’s bird form.
The others ran back to the room
with Evander as I attempted to loosely tie Aaron – enough that he would not be
able to hurt himself or others whilst under the influence of his madness, but
not so much he couldn’t free himself when it passed. The door sealed shut
behind them, so I could only hope when it opened again shortly after that it
was truly they who stood there before me. Akaros lifted the banner and I knew
we were ok. They explained that Evander had spotted and struck the small bird
Alexei had shifted into, forcing the demon out for them to battle. The two paladins
flanked the demon as Alexei crashed to the floor, bloodied from the strain of
housing and releasing the demon. Evander, Akaros and Kieran managed to defeat
the creature and we returned triumphant to place the banner in the main hall.
From Kenabres had come 3
representatives with knowledge of the area to help rebuild the citadel and
return it to its glory. Irabeth and her wife Aenevia, who had experienced some
of the worst days in Kenabres, would oversee the forces stationed here. Between
them, they have good knowledge not only of the region but also the demons who
occupy it: Irabeth, a fierce paladin half-orc, was the one person who saw through Staunton Vhane
before he betrayed Drezen and removed the banner, as evidenced in his journal whilst Aenevia survived the demon-occupation of Kenabres and is an accomplished scout. On the other hand, the person
sent to finance the project grated on my nerves. He seemed aggrieved to have
been told to help (but couldn’t refuse Queen Galfrey) and spends most of his
time boasting about his wealth. A tedious, odious person; very good with money
and evidently trusted by the queen of Mendev but not someone I would choose to
spend time with.
We will need a few days to lick
wounds and clean the place up before moving on to the next challenge – which will
hopefully include tracking down the heretic succubus, Aurashalé.
*‘Hold Person’ was one of the
first 2nd level spells I took but I’ve never managed to pull it off
before, so that was exciting.
**Alexei’s ‘Brain Drain’ Oracle
tapestry power has only worked once before, when he accidentally murdered a
child…
You say accidentally murdered, I say tomato... ;)
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