Imperial Destiny Campaign
Session Seventeen
“Deposed and Disposed”
Patchwall 5-13, 781 CY
Patchwall 5
Having readied themselves once again for battle, the heroes pressed on in their search for Casslith’s daughter and the leaders of the evil Hextor cult. Although there were three doors leaving the room at the bottom of the stairs, to their chagrin, the champions found all three to be false and trapped! Gaius avoided the first trap by opening the door from the side, saving himself from the spike filled pit that opened up in front of the door. He attempted the same ruse when opening the second door, but this time arrows flew into the midst of the group from the wall behind the portal, striking Thel and Dacul. Even worse, both arrows were poisoned, weakening the monk and priest significantly. The final portal’s deadly perils were avoided though when the heroes stood far from it as it was opened, allowing the arrows that were launched to clatter harmlessly against the far wall.
With all three of the obvious doors proving false, the Hammer set to searching for a subtler means of egress from the room. They had only been searching the walls and statues for methods of opening a secret door for a short time when Flammenarbe’s keen elven senses detected such a portal on the south wall. A moment’s searching by Tchornak on a nearby statue soon found the hidden stud that opened the hidden door, revealing a hallway beyond. Moving quickly in their haste to find Casslith’s daughter before her captors did something unfortunate to her, the heroes briefly investigated each of the six doors in the hallway before moving on. All but one of the rooms so revealed were found to be bedrooms devoid of occupants. The first door checked was also trapped, launching a spear at the heroes.
Realizing that the secret hallway was not the way to their goal, the Hammer returned to the entry chamber to renew their search for a secret door, this time on the other side of the room. Again, their search ended quickly when Patch found another hidden stud, opening the wall to the north. Wary of more traps, Kho’Bal was sent forward to prod the floor in front of him with his ranseur. This tactic proved all too effective though when he hit a pressure plate that caused a spear to launch from the wall in front of him that thankfully was not able to penetrate the orcish Sentinel’s armor.
Continuing down the newly revealed hall, the heroes found that it had one wall painted crudely with scenes of the long ago destruction of Blue. A room to the side appeared to be a dressing chamber where a large number of black robes adorned with white or gray skulls were kept. As the Hammer inspected the vile décor of the hall, they heard the faint sounds of singing and shouting emanating from a set of double doors at the end of the hall. Warily proceeding down the hall, the champions arranged themselves before it, preparing for battle. As they made themselves ready for the coming conflict, they could clearly hear the sound of several voices chanting in martial fashion to the god of slaughter, Hextor.
Weapons at the ready, the heroes had Gaius lead the way, opening one of the double doors while stepping aside at the same time. This meant that Kho’Bal was the one with the first view of the crude temple beyond, and the first to be subjected to missile fire from the enemies within. The burly Sentinel happily returned fire with his own bow as the combat began. Confronting the heroes in the large temple chamber were a pair of well armed warriors and priests, a trio of large wolves with smoldering red eyes, another Hextor priest clad in full plate armor, the exotic weapons master, and a middle-aged man armored in full plate covered by a black robe with gray skulls that was likely the high priest. Recalling the lessons of the chaotic melee fought in the entry chamber earlier, the Hammer approached this battle with much more caution, seeking to stay together near the entrance and relying on missile fire to draw their opponents to them. Unfortunately, the enemy was just as well equipped with missile weapons and magic and readily returned fire, using pillars crudely carved with skulls for cover.
Realizing that their tactics were not working as well as was hoped, Gaius boldly entered the room with Bitterness at the ready, moving to engage the nearest enemy warrior. He was immediately intercepted by the trio of wolves who rushed towards him, howling in fury. The young knight was not deterred by the lupine charge though, continuing on towards his goal and forcing the enemy warrior to melee with him. Gaius’ assault did suffer greatly though when a previously unseen rogue that had been hiding in the corner snuck forward and stabbed him in the back with a poisoned rapier, nearly doing the knight in! Seeing Gaius’ plight, Kho’Bal, Thel, Dacul, and Flammenarbe rushed to their companion’s aid, a move that prompted the exotic weapons master to enter the fray as well, quitting his use of spells in favor of his spiked chain. It was only seconds later that the full plate clad priest and the high priest also moved to join the fray, wielding heavy flails, just in time to see the trio of wolves hacked to bits by the Hammer.
The Hextor high priest seemed to have a vendetta of some kind for Flammenarbe, however. Despite the fact that he had not visibly contributed more than shots from his bow and wand of magic missiles, the priest used a spell early on to create a phantasmal heavy flail that pursued the elven mage across the battle with a lethal purpose. When Flammenarbe rushed into the room with blade drawn, the priest waved at the air above the heroes, summoning a small cloud with darker spots for eyes that attacked the bold wizard. Discretion being the better part of valor, Flammenarbe wisely fled at this point from the multiple supernatural threats, running out of the room near death. His fortuitous flight caused the ghostly flail to return to hover over the high priest while the gassy creature and wolf corpses all disappeared, all having apparently been summoned by magic now expired.
The melee that now ensued was every bit as vicious as the last. Dacul was an early victim of the exotic weapons master, ripped into unconsciousness by a violent spin of his spiked chain. Patch, Tchornak, and Flammenarbe all continued to contribute missile fire and occasional magic missiles from Flammenarbe’s wand until it disintegrated when its last charge was spent. There were several times when it seemed certain that one side or the other was about to triumph, only to have its opponent rally to turn the tide or heal injuries with hastily quaffed healing potions.
The rogue that had so disgracefully stabbed Gaius when his back was turned was quickly sent fleeing by the onslaught of the heroes. Terribly wounded, the treacherous fellow hid behind the altar on the far side of the room where he used healing potions to cure his injuries and another magical elixir to make himself invisible. He then attempted to attack Tchornak from behind, but the ever-wary bard was not caught off guard. Calmly walking backwards while firing arrows, Tchornak’s accurate archery made the rogue realize that he was doomed if he stayed. Running full tilt down the hall, the rogue managed to escape despite another arrow in the back from Flammenarbe. The Hammer allowed him to escape, however, having much greater concerns before them.
The contest finally saw a breakthrough when Thel managed to stun an enemy priest with a furious kick. With one opponent temporarily reeling, Gaius and Kho’Bal concentrated their attacks on the high priest, nearly killing him. The high priest had only just used a spell to cure the wound that Gaius dealt him with Bitterness when Kho’Bal hacked him with his greataxe. Before he could cure that damage as well, Tchornak loosed a well-aimed arrow to take down the vile cultist leader for good! The heroes then turned their attention to eliminating the formerly stunned priest, who proved to be of little challenge without his master at his side. The Hammer next pressed their attacks against the exotics weapons master, who still proved a formidable foe. Slowly backing to keep a distance between him and the heroes, the exotic weapons master nearly slew Kho’Bal when the burly Sentinel pressed his attack too closely. When Gaius sliced down the remaining junior priests to leave the enemy alone, Thel moved in, first stunning the enemy with another well placed blow, then slamming him with a lethal flurry of blows that landed like a storm of lightning.
With the exotic weapons master dead, the Emperor’s Hammer had again triumphed, and now held the field as it were. A quick search of their foes’ bodies found a number of likely healing potions and scrolls. The champions made use of the potions to bring Dacul back to wakefulness, who was then able to use the scrolls to restore heal Kho’Bal enough to wake him as well. Back on their feet again, the champions looked about the temple. The altar was somewhat makeshift in appearance, adorned only with crudely carved skulls. The floor in the vicinity of the altar was noticeably older than other parts of the lower floor of the school, and was badly cracked in some places. There were large areas of reddish-brown stains in this area that were likely very old bloodstains.
Using keys found on the high priest’s body, Gaius unlocked a door leading into a small makeshift prison. Within, they found Sylithia, Casslith’s kidnapped daughter! Once Gaius freed the young woman, she thanked the heroes profusely for restoring her freedom to her. Given the length of her imprisonment, she seemed to be in excellent health, the priests apparently fearing to incur Casslith’s wrath should they hurt her. Sylithia confused the heroes though when she asked if they’d managed to kill Boniface. Although the heroes recognized the name of the adored governor of the province, they were puzzled until Sylithia stunned them by explaining that he was the high priest of the cult! Inspecting the body of the high priest, the group was able to confirm that they had indeed managed to kill the treacherous imperial governor. One can only wonder how deep these vile plots go within the Empire if a figure as well respected as Governor Ithel Boniface works for the enemy!
Eager to reunite Casslith with his daughter, Gaius, Dacul, and Thel escorted her upstairs to the old warrior while the rest of the group continued their explorations of the lower level of the school. Wanting to witness the dramatic event with my own eyes, I accompanied the group with Casslith’s daughter. Warily moving through the dark halls of the school, the heroes found that there were no guards about. When they neared Casslith’s apartments, Gaius called for him, but heard no reply. With growing apprehension, Gaius opened the door, ready for anything.
Within, the group found Casslith seated at his table with two guards standing nearby, weapons drawn. Casslith seemed surprised to see him, but was more surprised still when Gaius announced that the Emperor’s Hammer had slain the priests below and rescued Sylithia! The guards refused to believe it at first, but when Sylithia stepped out behind Gaius, they immediately paled in terror. Casslith roared in triumph at the sight of his beloved daughter before drawing a bastard sword and charging at his long time captors with three years of pent up vengeance about to be unleashed. As the two thugs fled through the far door into his bedroom, Casslith bellowed for the rest of the group to block the enemies’ retreat.
Racing through the shadowy halls of the school, the heroes made it to the secret door just in time to see one of the Hextorian warriors racing towards them. Casslith soon followed, blade dripping with the blood of the first foe. Although the remaining thug attempted to surrender at first, Casslith demanded that he pick up his blade to fight an honorable last battle. With extreme reluctance, the warrior complied, only to be cut down by the renowned weapons master in a mere heartbeat. The enemy defeated in their entirety, Casslith and his daughter were at last able enjoy their long awaited reunion. After a tear-filled embrace, the two thanked the heroes once again for their fine work below. Free to talk without unfriendly ears about, they also filled the Hammer in on the disturbing events that had been occurring in the school for the past three years.
Although imprisoned, Sylithia had heard a great deal of the priests’ talk from the adjoining temple that proved most intriguing. Through extensive research, the priests discovered that the site of where Zoisite had ordered the destruction of the old city of Blue was directly beneath Casslith’s school. This being a holy site for their vile slaughter loving faith, they decided to attempt to place a temple within Casslith’s school. To implement their plan to capture the school, they kidnapped Casslith’s daughter to force him to do their bidding. With the famed duelist forced to obey their commands, the priests were then not only able to build a temple beneath the school, but also had an excellent front for their activities and protection in the person of Casslith himself. The Hextor priests took complete control over the school, hiring two of their allies as instructors and plundering Casslith’s armories to arm themselves.
More disturbingly, Sylithia reported that the Hextor cult was under the direct command of Zoisite herself, who visited the temple below on occasion to dispense orders. Unsurprisingly, these commands centered on the creation of the current crisis in the Lion Frontier. Using the school, the priests were able to recruit a number of corrupt and disaffected imperial officers, including General Eisenfaust, as allies.
The grand plan called for making Overlord Malhauven into a universally despised fool through his notoriously insane proclamations and overly ambitious maneuvers in Imperial City. When things were just about to boil over, Eisenfaust would slay Overlord Malhauven, taking the overlordship for himself to keep it out of the “mad Malhauven family”, looking a hero in the process. This would then give the Great Kingdom control over the Empire’s most powerful and wealthy frontier through a puppet leader, making it much easier for Aerdy to act against the Imperial East.