Session12

Torn from the diary or Korvath... April 15th, 216 B ...Mel and I snuck into the temple furthest from the point where we came over the wall. I guess that my new boots & the potion that I drank had made me a bit overconfident, because I inadvertently woke some Hell Hounds up when I stepped on that piece of glass...I don't know why I hadn't seen that in the first place... I tried to warn Mel and the others, but I guess the baying of Hellhounds did that just fine. Worried that they might alert the other people in the compound, Mel & I dashed back in to the room to silence them for good. I got a good shot in on the first one with my rapier before it could react, and Mel put it out of its misery soon after. While we were fighting I heard some chanting from back in the hallway, It was in a dark tongue that makes me shudder just to think of it. After the chanting started the hallway went silent. Trusting Mel to dispatch the remaining hound, I returned to the hallway to find a large man in plate mail squaring off against the rest of our group. The battle was eerily silent. Our group was clustered at the far door to the hallway, but the guy in plate was holding them off. Moge seemed frozen in place. Luckily, I was there to save his butt. I used the magical silence to sneak up behind him and ram my rapier through his armor's lacings. Either a crossbow bolt from Alex or a spell from Essandri sent the figure sprawling in the corridor. His soul speeding off towards its final resting place with his foul god... Hextor, from the looks of his armor. Ugh...just thinking the name made me feel sick. I spat in disgust and dragged his body into the room with the hell hounds The others were attacked by some huge, foul smelling wolf beasts. They dispatched it through a combination of spells, powers, and Moge's wicked spiked chain. Odd, I had thought Moge would have been held longer by that priest's spell, but maybe the priest's death severed the effect. Magic is so unpredictable. A door opened near my end of the hallway, but I saw nothing when I investigated. We searched the two remaining rooms on this floor, a kitchen and a meeting room, apparently, where the Hextorites had taken it upon themselves to defile the symbols of Pelor that adorned many parts of the room. I made a mental note to repay them in kind. We decided to investigate the staircase to the second level that the creatures ('barghests' they are called) had attacked the others from. They said that a second creature had attacked, but their counterattacks seemed to pass right through it. Eventually the creature had faded like it was an advanced illusion or shadow conjuration. Either way, the staircase it had come from opened onto a large room, with a door leading towards the main chamber of the temple. I snuck through the door to evaluate the situation, and allow us to form a plan. The door opened up onto a large balcony. In the center of the grand chamber, a column of roaring, flame shot into the heavens above. The entire room flickered with a foul, hellish light. I could feel the heat washing over me even from this distance. There were figures huddled against one wall of the temple. I figured they were humans probably meant to be sacrificed or fed to the fiends in this temple. Oh, it angers me so to see a temple of light turned to such sinister purposes! Then I saw him. There on the other side of the gate to Hell was Ixion. The devil paced back and forth, no doubt plotting the next phase of his unholy plan. I returned to the other room to tell the others of what I had seen. The plan we came up with was a simple one: Essandri would render Katie and Mel invisible. Katie would stand at the edge of the balcony and use Athena's power to close the hell gate. Mel would be right with her in case she needed defending. I would be on the balcony as well to provide cover fire, keeping myself hidden, and thereby conserving Essandri's magical might for later. Our plan worked up until the point where we opened the door. The moment I slipped through I could tell something had changed... The room was now filled partially with fog. There was an unnatural hush in the air, but since the others with me were invisible I had no way to warn them without calling out. I assumed a defensive position with my back against the wall. Katie and Mel must have made the balcony edge because Katie began chanting and that was when the enemy revealed themselves. Two heavily armored figures stepped forth from the fog and began chanting to their foul god. Even though I had steeled myself for this encounter, I was overcome with fear and hopelessness as Hextor's unholy might surged forth from the first of his followers to step through the mist. My sword slipped in my grasp and I considered running... When the priest added his bass drone to the fell litany, I was terrified to the very core. I could think of nothing other than escaping from him. Still I was able to fire off a bowshot, but my arrow did not fly true. Luckily, the others were able to find it within themselves to resist their foul magics and fight on. Katie continued on with her part of the plan, and Mel began to deal with the Hextorites. A third priest had dropped down from his hiding spot above the door, as well as another barghest. Just then, with a hint of a winter's breeze, a wall of ice appeared along the length of the wall, covering the doorway and sealing us off from our allies. From what the others told me later, Moge smashed through the ice wall with two mighty blows, but Ixion appeared in the room with them before he could come to our aid. Moge struck a telling blow, and Ixion fled the room and sought to deal with Katie personally. I moved myself into position between the devil and Katie, and prepared for the worst. The worst came, but not from Ixion. One of the clerics uttered a prayer to Hextor that was so foul, and so blasphemous, that I could feel my very soul being rent apart. When it was finally over, I barely had the strength to stand. Each breath I drew was sheer agony. Ixion flew out over the balcony to get into a better position to strike at Katie. I tried, and failed, to stop him. Just then, Moge came barreling through the hole in the wall of ice, not feeling the sharp bite of the cold, and lashed out mightily with his spiked chain. It shredded through Ixion with a sickening sound, and separated his head from his body. His head tumbled through the hell gate as his body crumpled to the ground. It was then that I noticed a group of people on the ground floor. A group of people with crossbows. Aimed at us. I backed away from the edge of the balcony as quickly as possible to avoid a return trip to the afterlife. They fired bolt after bolt at Katie, but her diminutive stature saved her from becoming a miniature pincushion. With their infernal ally destroyed, the Hextorites were soon defeated. Alex's mind sent out a shockwave that tore through the priests. Moge then attempted to throw one into the hell gate, but the priest's cursed weapon hooked onto the balcony. Is this evidence of their fell god's interference? Mel took down one priest, the barghest vanished, and reappeared. Dreyah prowled after it making it a game of cat and mouse. The battle was going in our favor! The head priest broke ranks and started running on air towards a door on the far side of the temple. Alex created a large wooden sphere and tossed it to Moge. Moge then jumped off of the balcony, using the stunned priest as a cushion, and threw the sphere at the fleeing priest (or was it the crowd of crossbow wielders? I'm not too sure...) This seemed to incapacitate them (I had trouble seeing from my vantage point), and Moge was able to reach the priest by jumping and using his chain. A few shots from my bow helped, but in the end it was Katie that brought him down with a spell. I don't know what she cast, but the fellow crumbled as she recited her sacred verses. We made short work of the surviving enemies. When the priest fell, the crossbowmen (and women - Shella was among their ranks) seemed to wake up from a dreamlike state - apparently, they had been coerced into service. We had defeated Ixion and his followers, but we were not able to close the gate. As we began to clean up the aftermath of our struggle, I heard Loch's voice in my thoughts. "Do not worry, the gate shall be taken care of. The Baron is still controlled by the Mind Flayer." I related this to the others, who seemed somewhat skeptical, and not entirely convinced of my sanity (very rich, I thought, Alex and Moge questioning *my* sanity) but apparently, I wasn't the only one to hear anything. Essandri was picking up signs of heavy magic use, and we all raised our guard again, weary as we were. When Loch revealed his full presence to us. Nine feet tall, topaz eyes that seemed like they could burn right through you, golden skin and feathery white wings, he didn't appear at all as he did when I met him in Hell. He radiated such beauty and goodness that it was terrible to look upon him. Apparently, I have friends in pretty high places. Loch stood guard over the hell gate while we sought rest and refuge. During the night, a group of Lothian priests of Wee Jas arrived on the scene and closed the gate. They were generous enough to add a large portion of arrogance and derision at no extra charge. April 16th, 216 B Dear Diary, Loch left early in the morning, and we discussed the situation with Shella and the others, trying to get as much information as possible before we proceeded. We weren't able to learn much - most people who were not killed or who had not fled were pressed into service rather quickly. Alex and Dreyah knew a bit about Mind Flayers - enough to let me know that I'm not looking forward to dealing with this one at all. As we discussed how best to proceed, Moge started off towards Foora's shop, and the rest of us followed behind quickly in order to minimize property damage. Foora wasn't in, and her shop was closed. We were able to convince Moge that breaking in to her home would be a Bad Thing. Where we go from now, who's to say? I want to take care of this mind flayer, freeing the baron and setting things right in this town, but right now, I'm at a loss as to how we're going to do that. -Korvath SESSION END (April 16th 216 years after the Breaking) NEXT TIME : Only Hextor knows for sure... REWARDS ------- 2000 Experience to all Present. 1000 to Katie and NPC. Bonuses ------- +300 Korvath (Completing the summary on VERY short order) +100 Essandri (Misc Roleplaying award)