Breachill, Isger; Rova 11, 4719 AR

As the hobgoblin bandit fled the scene, the group turned on the remaining Bloody Blade bandit who still stood alive. He threw his weapons to the ground and immediately surrendered. An interrogation was started while Uhn scouted the area. The half-orc begged for mercy, doubtlessly because he just watched his comrades be reduced to charred smears on the forest floor or butchered remains. He explained that they were really just simple highway robbers taking a job guarding these caves for a strange wizard.

It was then that Uhn discovered the missing Black Lantern members along with Rorsk Axebane. They were battered and bruised in places and seemingly hadn't been fed for several days. Worse yet, two of their number were missing. The goblin interrupted the half-orc's pleading with a simple question: "Where were the other two men?"

The orc tried to hide the guilt he felt, but it was no use. "She had us bring them to her," he muttered. "That woman wanted them." The unspoken word lingered in the air between the heroes: Necromancy. Inagra eyed the cave entrance fearfully, ready to fire her crossbow the moment she saw the hint of movement. The Black Lanterns were quickly fed and sent back to Breachill with news of the Bloody Blades' defeat. Minutes passed as the group made preparations. Finally, Uhn hefted Choppy and strode through the narrow opening, his allies following close behind

Viggo attempted to conceal the fact that he was awake, stealthily rolling his explosives under the feet of Dmiri. In moments, the charges burst, setting the mercenary aflame. Suddenly realizing what a precarious position she was in, she plunged her rapier into Wrin's neck and danced backwards, trying to avoid getting ambushed from behind.

Viggo's head swiveled around the battlefield, thankful that his darkvision elixir was still functioning. Uhn was recklessly swinging away at Voz, who was matching his efforts with her spellcasting, Wrin lay in a growing pool of blood, while Inagra was slumped against the cavern wall with a knife sticking out of her chest. He struggled to think quickly when suddenly Inagra moved. As she turned to face him, it appeared as though the dagger had gotten caught on her holy symbol of Abadar, sparing her life. Viggo let out the breath that he had been holding and poured an elixir of life into Wrin's mouth, knowing that his tincture would have the half-orc up and moving again.

Behind him, the sound of bones crashing to the floor caught his attention. Inagra clutched her hand, severing the connection of one of the skeletons from its source of negative energy. Shockingly quickly, the other burst into flames as Wrin's flaming sphere exploded into existence around it. The sorcerer clutched his neck as he turned his gaze toward's Dmiri. The mercenary seemed to know when the cause was lost. "Voz!" she shouted out over the din. "I'm out of here unless I'm seeing my payment doubled!"

The necromancer, power surging after draining Uhn of his life, brushed off the hobgoblin. "I paid you and your men enough." And with that, Dmiri fled deeper into the caverns. The heroes were heartened as they watched the bandit fleeing and redoubled their efforts. It wasn't long before Voz's magic gave way beneath the onslaught of alchemical vapors and incendiaries of Viggo and magic missiles of Wrin. The half-elf fell to ground, blood dripping from her lips. "You've destroyed it. Ruined my plans. Do you know how long I've-?" Uhn slammed Choppy down, metal striking loudly against the stone floor and severing Voz's head from her shoulders. The threat to Breachill was gone.

Or so they thought. While Inagra and Wrin tended to everyone's wounds, Uhn flipped through Voz's spellbook absently, noting all of the carefully drawn maps she had made of the caverns further on. A letter fluttered to the ground from deep within one of the pages. It was a letter from someone named "Laslunn" who seemed to represent the Scarlet Triad. This mysterious organization appeared ready to finance Voz's plans to open a necromancy laboratory and assassin's guild in Breachill. In return, they wanted Alesta's Ring secured and "as many gates as possible" to be opened. Inagra frowned when she read this, the realization slowly creeping in. Breachill was still in danger.

The silence was cut by the sounds of muffled struggle coming from another section of the cavern. "Dmiri?" Uhn asked into the darkness, "It's time to turn yourself in." A beat passed before a new, strange voice responded. It rasped harshly as though it were unfamiliar with the Common tongue. "Thine acquaintance is busy at this hour. Wouldst thou like to join us for tea?" Staring into the darkness, the group took stock of their supplies. Viggo was out of his mixtures, Wrin's spells were nearly exhausted, and Inagra was still struggling to keep her blood from staining her back up robes. They weren't ready for another battle, especially not for someone that had recently tried to kill them. There was, however, still the bounty to consider. After some strange conversation, they agreed to trade Voz's (now headless) body for Dmiri's still living one. It was a fair trade for all involved, for as they left, they could just make out the sounds of thousands of small spiders skittering across the ground to devour their former ally.

With their captive in tow and thoroughly exhausted from their battle with the necromancer bookseller, the party returned to Breachill where they were heralded as heroes. "They've caught the Bloody Blades!" came roars of approval from the gathered throng outside the Wizard's Grace. The recovered Black Lanterns had spread the word of the team and their heroics, not knowing yet the full extent of what had transpired within the cave. While the populace raised mugs filled with brew, the group moved to Greta Gardania's home to discuss what had happened privately.

Inagra broke matters down for the gathered party: Greta, Quentino Posandi, Warbal, and Rorsk. Beneath Citadel Altaerein was a series of portals that lead to who knew where. Any number of things could come from within. Information about this "Alesta's Ring" had made its way outside of the town, possibly even out of Isger, and particularly unscrupulous individuals could come into Breachill looking for it next. There still were cultists of Dahak within the lower reaches, though it's not certain if they had a portal open and could call forth more reinforcements. The threat to Breachill was real.

Greta thought about everything she heard, and looked to her friend Wrin pleadingly. "None of you have to do this," she began, "but we do need your help if what you say is true. We need guardians for Breachill."

"No," muttered Inagra, "if my visions are true, it's Golarion that needs guardians."

Behind his mask, Viggo gave a dark chuckle. "Guardians of Golarion, that's us."

Recovery came slowly, however, and the newly minted "Guardians of Golarion" tended to their wounds for a day and prepared for the journey to come. Voz's notes indicated that another passage to the citadel basement was not far beyond the cavern system she had been exploring. The Guardians were ready. Two days after their fatal confrontation with Voz, they entered the caves and began retracing her steps. Hours of groping through the darkness, they found a large chamber filled with webs from floor to ceiling. Inagra took to her duties as resident vermin slayer while Uhn pawed through the detritus that seemed smashed beneath a cave-in on the north side of the room. It appeared that someone or something had lived down in these depths at some point.

"What did you find there?" Wrin asked gloomily.

Uhn shoved a tattered piece of ancient parchment beneath his armor. "Nothing, nothing. Presumptuous upon my visage that you cross!"

As they poked and peered through the gauzy webbing, a woman stepped into the room. He skin was the color of ash with long black braids that trailed down her back. She wore a brilliantly hued dress that seemed untouched by the grime of the caverns around them. After reassuring the Guardians that she meant no harm, she introduced herself as Renali, a native of Mwangi who had passed through the gate after the Cinderclaws. Unfortunately she was now trapped down here, as she had been for a month already. In the room beyond, there was a creature that called itself a god and she had no interest in calling its bluff.

Sure enough, in a room far too large to be naturally formed, a throne of lashed together debris was surrounded by skeletal goblins all posed in supplicating postures. A goblin wearing a faded cloak strode between them demanding they listen to their god's demands or be punished once more for their ingratitude. Leaning against the derelict throne was a bladed scepter topped with a round, gleaming ruby. The weapon was clearly too large to be wielded by a normal goblin, but Uhn knew that he could make good use of it... if he could just get his hands on it. Fearing that the insane goblin was more than he appeared, Uhn took a potion of invisibility from Viggo and tip-toed up to the throne. Everyone waited with their hearts in their throats.

Knowing that returning to Breachill would mean hours of trekking back through the tunnels, and that time was of the essence, the group instead opted to push on. No one questioned Uhn's choice to leave Choppy behind or that he now cooed softly under his breath to the strange glowing scepter that he now carried in it's stead.

Further ahead, they descended a shaft into a chamber that appeared to have been burnt beyond all recognition. Viggo noted some ancient forms of elvish carved beneath the soot, but it was mostly illegible. A fire hot enough to melt stone was the only thing they could think of that could have caused this sort of damage. Wrin didn't trust this room, having heard chanting echoing from within the chambers further ahead.

"Who enters these chambers," came a heavily accented voice in Draconic. "You enter a place holy to our lord, Dahak!"

This left diplomatic measures to the only Draconic speaker in the group, Uhn. True to form, negotiations were short, and the goblin barreled directly into danger once more, seeming to forget his most recent brush with death. Cultists, all marked with the clutched claw of Dahak, surged from the shadows to surround the barbarian. Their leader, a charau-ka named Malarunk, brandished a smoldering gauntlet of bone and metal and called forth dark prayers to the god of destruction. The Guardians, however, had recently beaten a necromancer and her trained mercenary bandit as well as a minor demigod. They were fed up with people standing in their way. Uhn hacked and cleaved with usual reckless abandon while Inagra poured negative energy into the fanatics. Wrin's sphere of fire rolled around the battlefield while Viggo hurled his bombs. Channeling the nihilism that can only come from a death cultist, Malarunk hurled a fireball into the heart of the melee, killing more allies than foes, and leaving plenty of room for Uhn to charge in.

With the jeweled scepter pinning him to the wall, Malarunk laughed, "You are fools. My god lairs down here with you. We may fall here, but you shall go no further." A twist of the wrist and the cult leader laughed no longer. A golden arrowhead tumbled from his grasp, a hawk emblazoned across it - the symbol of the god Ketephys.

Beyond the melted hall, lay a large circular room dominated by a fountain ringed by statues. They depicted the elven deities: Alesta, Yuelral, Findeladlara, Ketephys, Calistria, and Desna. Each of the statues faced an ornately carved gateway that opened only into plain walls. These, presumably, were the fabled aiudara, the elf gates. A calm suffused the room, despite the intense violence that had occurred only moments before. Renali ran her hand across the gate that stood opposite the statue of Ketphys. "I need to get home." Her words were filled with a resigned sadness.

Understanding immediately, the Guardians placed the arrowhead against the gate and watched as the wall beyond seemed to twist and warp, turning briefly into a golden mist. Yet all was not well, and an arcane surge of energy swept through the gate, jolting the arrowhead across the room as the gate returned once more to its stony form. Wrin ran his hands along the ancient elven stonework and grimaced. "Something powerful has disrupted the magic of this gate. It can be repaired, but it will take time."

All the while, Uhn stood staring at a massive set of double doors that loomed over the chamber. The stone and steel edifice were worn by time, but still seemed too impossibly large to even budge. As he approached, the doors were pushed aside, revealing a guardian twice their size, an impassive statue armored and equipped for battle. "The custodian of Alesta's Ring dwells beyond," it spoke. "Only those who carry her blessed sign may pass." It's booming voice echoed across the room, and Inagra leapt to action, pulling the symbol of Alesta from under her robes, fearing that the goblin would be crushed into a fine paste. The sight of Alesta's sigil seemed enough for the guardian, who returned to the door it came from. The two doors swung open, the statue remaining nowhere to be seen.

The room beyond was filled with dust and little else, save for an old document resting on table. "Whoever holds this title," the parchment read, "shall be considered by all laws of Isger and in the eye of the throne of House Thrune, the true and rightful owner of Citadel Altaerein." A hush fell over the Guardians.

Viggo scanned the crumbling walls. Uhn recalled the collapsed battlements and stairwells. Wrin remembered the rotting corpses left scattered. Inagra mentally tallied the cost of fixing every problem. "We have a lot of work ahead of us."

So ends our adventure in Hellknight Hill. Yet not all is safe. Who are the Scarlet Triad? Why did the Cinderclaws come through the elf gate to begin with? And what did Malarunk mean when he promised his "god lairs down here with you?" We'll just have to find out in... the Cult of Cinders.

-Dungeon Master