Session 119

First of Three

Chapter 1: Rest and Recover

The group found refuge within the dusty walls of The Sleeping Inix, nursing their wounds and whispering grim strategies on how to bring down Grogh-En, the Badna Zombie. The night stretched long, thick with unease, but by dawn they had steeled themselves for what lay ahead.

When morning light filtered through the cracked shutters, Fazanna anointed herself with one of the exalted salves—an opulent remedy said to restore both body and spirit. Yet even that rare balm could not shield her from the creeping grasp of magic fatigue. The curse upon her deepened, stealing her voice for a full day, leaving her mute and haunted by frustration.

Meanwhile, Shank shared a brief, tense exchange with Mila, the weary innkeeper, their words laced with the kind of unease that lingers before battle. Once preparations were complete and packs secured, the companions stepped beyond the inn’s threshold once more—determined, battered, and bound by a single purpose: to face the horror of Grogh-En and end his reign of undeath.

Chapter 2: Sepulchre Maze

In the pale stillness of early morning, the group pressed through the ruins of the city, their weary steps carrying them toward Queen’s Hill, where the half-buried entrance of the Sepulchre of Badna waited like a gaping wound in the earth. The air grew colder as they descended once more into its shadowed corridors, the weight of death pressing down upon them.

As they retraced their steps through the darkened halls, unseen horrors stirred in the gloom. From the blackness, clawed hands burst forth—gnarled and spectral—raking at their flesh before fading back into the walls. Each attack came without warning, a reminder that the crypt itself hungered for the living.

At last, they reached the mausoleum, the air thick with decay and dread. There, at the far end, stood Grogh-En, the cursed revenant of Badna’s will. The bones the party had once unearthed were heaped in a grotesque pile behind him, a grim monument to their past encounter. With a voice like the hiss of a tomb sealing shut, he sneered, “I was hoping you would be back.”

And before they could draw breath or blade, he vanished into the shadows, leaving only the echo of his malice hanging in the air.

Chapter 3: Grogh-En

The moment the group stepped into the chamber, a pale pink radiance enveloped them, draining their strength and sapping their will. Even Cursy whimpered, sensing the oppressive magic in the air. Then came Grogh-En, the Badna Zombie, lunging forward with unnatural speed toward Karnos, who had psionically transformed into a kirre, the six-legged predator of Athas. Grogh-En’s claws tore through the beast’s hide, forcing Karnos back into his mortal form. With a cruel hiss, the undead fiend stepped backward into a stone column and vanished from sight.

Thinking swiftly, Karnos invoked his psionic might, shielding the group with an Intellect Fortress before ascending with his boots of flying. From the darkness, shadowy claws burst forth, raking at him, but Karnos turned insubstantial, the talons passing harmlessly through his form. On the ground, Shiv swapped positions with Shank using his tactical maneuver and struck one of the pillars with his mace. Stone shattered and the entire chamber trembled as if ready to collapse. Realizing the danger, Shiv fell back while more spectral claws lashed at Shank.

Safi conjured a radiant Moonbeam around the pillar, its silver light cutting through the gloom as the shadow claws slashed again at Shank. Fazanna, still voiceless from her curse, invoked her bladesong, her movements a blur as she drew her longbow with supernatural grace. Anvar, calling upon his psionic subjective sense, became acutely aware of every danger surrounding them—just as a wing from the grave, spectral and cold, swept through the room, chilling the hearts of both Anvar and Karnos. Shaken, Anvar countered with Courageous Recall, steeling his mind against the terror.

Shank backed away, throwing down his magical net of entrapment, ready for Grogh-En’s return. The monster soon burst from the stone, raking Anvar with its claws. Shiv charged in, eyes burning with fury, invoking his Fury of the Arena. He switched places with Anvar and drove his mace into Grogh-En, forcing the undead abomination into the searing light of Safi’s Moonbeam. Grogh-En screamed, his rotting flesh melting in sheets. Shiv grabbed him by the collarbone, yanked him free of the beam, and swung again—only to be clawed across the chest for his courage.

Roaring in defiance, Anvar activated his own Fury of the Arena, grappling Grogh-En and hurling him back into the Moonbeam. Another wail of agony split the chamber as Anvar restored his strength with a Vitality Boost. Above them, Karnos unleashed a radiant Psionic Aura Beam, striking Grogh-En full-on. The shadows retaliated, claws raking at Karnos, but he invoked Impervious Self, their blows passing through harmlessly.

Fazanna joined the fray, leaping forward to grapple Grogh-En and drag him once more through the Moonbeam’s merciless light. Safi, his precision flawless, fired a blazing Guiding Bolt of radiant energy before retreating to safety. Howling in pain, Grogh-En retreated into another pillar. The ground cracked open as skeletal hands erupted, grasping for the living—one seizing Fazanna and holding her fast.

Grogh-En reappeared, sprinting across the chamber to strike at Safi, his claws slashing Shank in passing. Safi shifted his Moonbeam toward Grogh-En’s pillar and teleported away in a shimmer of light. Shadow claws lashed at him again, but Beloved Performer spared him from harm. Fazanna, regaining control, grabbed Anvar and dragged him toward the pillar before flying up out of reach.

Claws slashed again at Safi, breaking his concentration and snuffing out the Moonbeam’s glow. Shiv, Shank, and Cursy regrouped in the center as Karnos hovered above. But Grogh-En was not finished. From his pillar, a blasphemous radiance of violet energy exploded outward, crushing their spirits and draining their resolve. Then the undead horror lunged once more—his claws ripping into Anvar.

At last, Shank, his blood surging with the Fury of the Arena, bellowed a war cry and swung his greataxe in a blur of savage strikes. Above, shadow claws reached Safi, tearing into him. He fell—only to ignite in a blaze of rebirth, his Fated by Fire power erupting in flame.

Seizing the moment, Karnos unleashed another radiant Aura Beam, hammering Grogh-En with psionic force. Shiv pressed in, his weapon glowing with arcane light as he struck again and again, each blow driving the undead monster to the brink—until at last Grogh-En collapsed, his twisted form unraveling under the assault.

With grim determination, Shank stepped forward, raised his axe high, and brought it down in one final, decisive stroke—severing Grogh-En’s head and ending the nightmare once and for all.

Chapter 4: Star of Badna

With the battle’s echo still fading through the shattered sepulchre, Shank stepped forward over Grogh-En’s fallen corpse. The stench of undeath hung thick in the air as he gripped the hilt of his axe and, with a grim scowl, wrenched the Star of Badna from the monster’s chest. The blackened gem pulsed faintly, its inner light swirling like trapped souls. With practiced precision, Shank stuffed Grogh-En’s severed head into his magical net of entrapment, ensuring the creature’s evil would not rise again.

Gathered around the eerie relic, the group studied it in uneasy silence. As its secrets unfolded before them, they discovered not only its terrible power—a weapon of divine wrath—but also its curse, a shadow that clung to any who dared wield it. The air seemed to grow colder with the revelation, as if the artifact itself listened and waited.

Uncertain of when—or even if—they should call upon such perilous might, the companions wiped the grime and blood of battle from their armor. With weary resolve, they prepared to depart the sepulchre and make their way back through the dawn-lit ruins toward the Sleeping Inix, the promise of brief rest ahead of them.

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