Session #04 - Dave's Not Here, Man

The party found themselves at the far edge of the square surrounding the Shield Hall.  Clearly it had been built with open areas on all sides to make it more defensible – an enemy, like the one arrayed before the northern gate, would need to traverse a wide-open space and be exposed to various kinds of ranged weapons before reaching the walls.  That being said, based on the bodies littered around the square and the fact that the massive wooden gate appeared to have been blasted inward, the planning only slowed the tide for a time.  

 

The Shield Hall had a rectangular outer wall made of stone.  Roughly thirty feet high, there were battlements along the top and towers at the four corners.  On the northern side two smaller towers flanked the gaping wound that was once the gate.  Hanging from these smaller towers, on either side of the opening, were twenty-foot long fabric banners with red fields and gold trim.  In the center of each was a gold mail gauntlet with an all-seeing eye in the middle.  The one on the left side was badly scared and burned, though the one on the right looked remarkably intact.

 

“Now THAT is a beautiful tapestry,” Kent observed.  The rogue’s penchant for tapestries was well known to his friends, Almont and Donyxn deriving great amusement from it while Katla strongly disapproved of his fetish.  

 

“Yes, the all-seeing eye of Torm is a source of strength and pride for the people of Elturel,” replied Reya, completely missing the point.

 

Black smoke billowed from various points, implying that this wasn’t the only part of Shield Hall under siege.  Arrayed before this portion of the wall was a motley assembly of bottom-feeders.  Seven animated skeletons armed with a collection of rickety short swords and bows were within a dozen feet of the wall, two of them in the process of finishing off a hapless paladin lying face down to the left of the gate.  Circling above them about even with the battlements were a pair of spined devils similar to those the party fought before when they teamed up with the minotaurs, though these had a slightly more reddish hue to their coloring.  And in the middle if this unruly collection of filth stood a tall, lanky barbed devil casually gnawing on the heart of a recently defeated foe.  

 

Fighting against the invaders were four paladins along the wall, each armed with a heavy crossbow.  They looked very much worse for wear – it was clear this wasn’t the first attack they had repelled, though without some help it would likely be the last.

 

Flying above it all was a large black raven.  The entire group felt their eyes drawn to the creature, not only because it seemed unusual for a raven to casually fly over a battlefield, but also because of some kind of almost magnetic effect it had, drawing them to it.  

 

“You know, this reminds me of the time I was at the Siege of Simma a few years ago, when my small band of rangers came upon a scene like this.  What a battle,” Donyxn said, smiling contentedly at the memory.

 

His friends all stared at him.  “What?” he asked.

 

“If you have some strategy to share, friend, now would be a good time.  Perhaps one of your stories could be useful for a change,” Almont replied.

 

“Oh.  We killed the leader first, then killed everything else,” Donyxn explained matter-of-factly as he pulled a pair of arrows out of his quiver and prepped his bow.  

 

Everyone other than Reya grinned.  She honestly wondered if these warriors were truly as deadly as they appeared or if they were simply ridiculously lucky.

 

“Well, in that case…” Almont started, as he looked to Katla, who nodded in reply.  “We’ll take that porcupine-looking piece of shit.”

 

The devils and skeletons didn’t see what hit them in that initial strike, their attention focused on the paladins and the Shield Hall.  The first indication they had off trouble was when two arrows, which seemed to be surrounded by a glowing hail of thorns, slammed into the two skeletons cutting up the paladin on the ground.  The undead were obliterated by the strike, each blasting apart in a shower of bone and armor fragments.  

 

As the barbed devil turned, seeking the location of the attackers, it took a condensed ball of lightning to its chest courtesy of Katla, staggering it.  that was followed by a bolt of radiant energy from Almont that knocked it backwards.  The beast’s chest and right arm were badly burned and its entire body had a strange glow that would certainly make it easy to see, and hit, with the next strike.

 

While this was happening Kent went down to one knee.  He held his left arm out, bent at the elbow to bring his forearm perpendicular to his extended right arm.  His right hand held his trusty pistol crossbow.  Not typically a particularly deadly weapon given its lower velocity and smaller bolts, nonetheless Kent was deadly accurate with his trusty weapon.  His friends had seen him make some difficult shots before, but this was one they’d talk about over drinks for years to come.  

 

One of the spined devils swooped down to attack two of the paladins atop the wall and they were having a tough time trying to repel its repeated attacks.  Kent studied its movements and spotted a pattern in how its head moved just as it was throwing its spines.  “Got you,” he whispered as he let a silvered bolt fly.  

 

Given the range, aiming for the devil’s center mass would have been the prudent course of action.  But instead Kent put his bolt through the thing’s right eye, just as it’s tail was whipping to launch another cloud of spines.  Its head snapped around and it fell limply from the sky, landing at the base of the wall with a satisfying wet sound.  

 

The paladins, now seeing they had some support, raised their weapons in salute but were clearly too tired to yell.  Seeing that the tide of battle was turning, Reya let out a yell and charged into the fray, which seemed to excite the paladins even more as she ran full tilt, her magic mace glowing as she held it high in the air.

 

“Show off,” Kent muttered to no one in particular.

 

While Reya’s dash may have inspired her compatriots it was also unwise, as defeating the barbed devil one-on-one was far from a sure thing.  As the pair exchanged blows Katla saw a quick opening and blasted the devil with a ray of frost further weakening it while both Almont and Kent charged forward to support Reya.  As he ran Almont casually destroyed one skeleton, a left-handed swing from the undead-destroying Lightbringer causing the abomination to shatter and the mace’s head to flare with a burst of blue light.  Seeing that Reya was still in a desperate state he decided to take a bit of a chance, pulling one of the bottles of holy water from his belt and throwing it at the devil without breaking stride.  Kiri-Jolith clearly favored the cleric, as his aim was true and the bottle shattered on the devil’s back.  The water burned the beast like acid.  It threw its head back and unleashed an anguished roar.

 

As this was happening Kent ran past Almont at a pace that seemed impossibly fast for a dwarf, taking advantage of his magic boots to quickly close the gap with the devil, his scimitar held two-handed above his head.  Kent appeared to have timed his strike perfectly, reaching the devil moments after it was distracted by its holy water baptism.  Unfortunately, however, the dwarf’s magic boots couldn’t help him maintain his balance when he accidentally stepped on the skull of a dead skeleton.  At this speed the loss of footing caused the rogue to fly forward like a thick, bearded, hat-wearing missile.  The luck of the gods was with him, though, as the point of his scimitar was pointing forward and he hit the barbed devil like a cannonball, the magic blade piercing all the way through its thick hide and the momentum knocking it backwards a good ten feet.  

 

Reya looked dumbfounded by what had just occurred.  One minute she was toe-to-toe with the devil, the next it was gone as Kent crashed into it.  Almont arrived just in time to see the ichor-covered dwarf pick himself up and retrieve his hat.  “Exactly as you planned it, I’m sure,” said Almont.  

 

“Of course,” replied Kent, taking a quick swig from his flask.  “It’s dead, isn’t it?”

 

The pair smiled at one another until a pair of Donyxn’s arrows, accompanied once again by the glowing halo of thorns, flew between them to pick off another skeleton.  The pair turned back to the tiefling.  “Watch it boy!” shouted Kent.  Donyxn simply smiled and notched another pair of arrows.

 

Katla blasted another skeleton with a flaming bolt while the ranger’s next pair of arrows ended the life of the second spined devil, which had landed on the battlements to fight with a pair of paladins.  The other paladins finished off the last of the skeletons with their crossbows.

 

“All the gates have been breached!  Hurry inside!” one of the paladins shouted from atop the wall.  As the party ran to the gate they all again saw the large raven, which seemed to stay just ahead of them.

 

“Lola, can you catch it?” yelled Katla.  

 

Lola seemed to consider this for a few moments before heading after the bird with more agility and speed than they had seen her exhibit previously.  

 

As they entered the gap that had once been the gate it was clear the Shield Hall was about to fall.  The remaining paladins continued to fight with honor and valor, but it was only a matter of time now.  In the northeast corner of the courtyards the stables burned, horse carcasses mixed in with the bodies of paladins, devils, and the undead, creating a sickening smell.  

 

The primary structure inside the walls was the Shield Hall itself, a three story stone building roughly a hundred feet on each side.  The first two levels were of the same size while the third was smaller, perhaps only fifty feet square.  Banners sporting the hellrider logo hung from some of the windows, though so too did some bodies that had been desecrated by the invaders.  At this point Reya was in a state of desperation.  She ran past the stables to the east side of the building where the main entrance had once been.  

 

As they came around the corner they were stopped in their tracks by the sight of a massive infernal machine, perhaps forty feet long and twenty feet high.  It was supported by five large wheels on each side and covered with various gears and shafts and rods, the rear of it sporting some kind of massive power plant that was still belching steam even though the machine itself appeared to be abandoned.  At its front was a massive metal devil head with two large forward-pointing horns that was obviously intended as a battering ram.  It had breached the compound’s main gate on the eastern wall, its momentum carrying it across the courtyard until it smashed into the Shield Hall’s main entrances.  Blood, gore, and ichor covered its wheels.  Various body parts could be see sticking out from under the contraption and some dead paladins were on top of it, having jumped onto it from the walls to battle the devils that rode upon it.  The head of the ram annihilated the entrance, both iron doors blasted inwards and much of the rock of the archway crumbling down on top of the machine.

 

There was a man-sized gap in the doorway large enough to allow the group to enter the Shield Hall single file.  In the entrance chamber were the bodies of three more fallen paladins, as well as a few spined devils.  As they surveyed the scene they heard a groan from within a pile of rubble in the corner, out of which stuck a pair of armored legs.  Almont and Donyxn rushed over and began moving stones while Kent and Katla stood guard.  Eventually they were able to create a large enough hole to pull out a badly battered female paladin.

 

“Estra, you’re still alive!” shouted Reya with an obvious sense of relief.  

 

“R… Reya?” the paladin replied.  “We all assumed you were dead.”

 

“And I you, my friend,” said Reya.  She took a knee near her friend, closed her eyes, and laid hands upon her.  Estra glowed momentarily with golden light and, while not restored to full health, was clearly in much better shape as she got to her feet.

 

“Thanks be to you, sister.”  Estra looked at Reya’s companions with a hard eye, though she gave a slight nod of respect toward the cleric.  She turned back to Reya.  “There were too many.  We couldn’t hold them back.”

 

“The battle still rages on the walls,” Reya said.  

 

“Then that is where I must go,” Estra replied as she checked her armor and then headed toward the entrance.  Just before stepping through the gap she turned back to the party.  “Many citizens came here looking for sanctuary.  They’re in the caves.”  With that she turned and left, headed to certain death.

 

“Caves?”  Almont asked.

 

“Yes, there is an underground cave network that was intended to be the last redoubt should the Shield Hall fall.  It is only accessible by a spiral staircase on the third floor which leads to the only entrance,” explained Reya.  She turned to the cleric and continued.  “It’s also the only exit.”

 

“Oh, this just keeps getting better,” Kent said, a smile on his face as his left hand returned his flask to the inside his coat.  

 

“That is where we must go.  If there are answers to be found, they will be found there,” Reya said determinedly.

 

“Did I ever tell you about the time my friends and I built a battering ram out of an old ox cart and some fallen trees?” asked Donyxn innocently.

 

Almont turned to look at the tiefling.  “You do know I can cast a spell that will prevent you from talking for eight hours, right?”  It was clearly not an actual threat, but Donyxn looked at Reya and got the point.  

 

“The chapel is through those doors.  We must past through it to get upstairs.”  Just as Reya started to open the doors to the chapel the raven that had been stalking them flew into the room from outside.  It landed for a moment on Kent’s hat, startling everyone, before taking to the air again and flying through the door Reya had just opened.

 

Kent had a strange look in his eyes as he felt an icy cold burn go down his spine. Katla and Almont started at him intently for a moment to see if the dwarf may have been charmed, but their attention was immediately drawn back to the entrance to the chapel.  “Heretics!” Reya roared.  “How dare you defile this holy place!”

 

The chapel was the width of the entire first floor and about forty feet deep.  The doors from the entry chamber opened up to a central aisle that was flanked on both sides by six rows of simple wooden benches that served the paladins as pews.  Some of these were shattered or flipped over while others remained in place, as if a tornado touched down but only in certain parts of the room.  At the far end of the aisle was a raised stage, roughly three feet above floor level.  In the center of the stage was an understated wooden pulpit with the emblem of the hellriders carved into its front.  Behind the pulpit and against the far wall was a tapestry depicting The Triad, the three good-aligned gods revered by the paladins – Tyr, Ilmater, and Torm.  On either side of the stage were wooden doors.  The room was lit by exterior light coming in through stained glass windows along the north and south wall as well as orbs placed along the walls at ten-foot intervals, which were clearly powered by magic.  

 

“Well, well, well.  Kent Karrus, I certainly didn’t expect to encounter you in hell.  What is a Karrus doing here?”

 

The voice came from the stage and Kent was transfixed.  The group entered the chapel and spread out while remaining along the east wall.  

 

The speaker was a human man of average height and build.  In fact his complete lack of any distinguishing characteristic made him very disconcerting.  He was of indeterminate age – if someone told you he was twenty years old, or fifty, neither would surprise you.  His plain brown hair and brown eyes offered no further clues, nor did his clothes.  Was he a well-dressed working man, or a dressed-down merchant?  It was impossible to tell.  He was, quite literally, the least remarkable looking man any of them had ever seen.  Standing next to him was a female dwarf, her thick blonde hair organized into two long braids that hung down her back.  Her attire suggested she worked in an upscale tavern, and she stared intently at Kent.  The man held a dagger to her throat.  Behind them, perched on the pulpit, was the raven.

 

The trio were not the room’s only occupants.  At the foot of the stage stood a bearded devil, four skeletons arrayed around it.  On either side of the stage and hovering about six feet off the ground were red-hued spined devils, similar in coloration to the pair the party killed at the wall.  Clearly this was going to get unpleasant.

The Lego layout of the battle - the party at the bottom right

 

The man and the dwarf continued to look at Kent as if the other party members weren’t even in the room.  “The last time I saw you your family’s distillery was on fire,” the man said with a bland smile.  

 

“David… David…” Kent whispered.  His voice carried across the stillness of the chapel.  Every living and undead thing in the room was focused on the interaction between Kent and the man he referred to as David.

 

The look on Kent’s face was one of bewilderment.  It can’t be, he thought.  She’s dead.  I saw her die.  Is this real?  Is that Dothana?

 

 

Kent’s life’s path was already set for him on the day he was born.  As soon as he was old enough to start clearing tables and cleaning glasses he’d work in the family’s Skallbender distillery, moving to different positions in the operation as he got older, and if he was fortunate eventually taking a leadership role.  He was a Karrus after all.  He’d do as Karrus’ had done for generations.  And truth be told he never felt even the remotest bit dissatisfied by the prospect.

 

For generations the Karrus family made Skallbender.  The drink was renowned for its quality, while the family was respected because they always ensured it was available to the people of the local community, regardless of their means.  Word of the spirit spread far and wide, and tourists, many of them very wealthy, made their way to the town of Skull’s Gate to partake in the liquor.  After all, Skull’s Gate was the only place you could get it.

 

Kent’s grandfather Killian was the 14^th Karrus to run the distillery.  Killian knew they had something great on their hands and began making plans to expand production to allow for the export of the beverage.  This did not sit well with some in Skull’s Gate.  Not the common folk, mind you, who respected the dwarves and their generosity.  No, those against the move were those who profited the most, both legally and illegally, from the flow of visitors to the city.  

 

Disagreements were had, with sharp words said at community meetings as the idea was discussed.  Kent didn’t think much of it.  Why should he?  Skallbender had been part of Skull’s Gate for hundreds of years.  Surely this would all blow over.  There was too much money to be made by everyone.  

 

He was totally and utterly wrong.

 

One warm late summer evening Kent snuck off with Dothana.  She was supposed to be working that night, as was he, but it was a slow evening and the bartender, his cousin Kelly, said he’d cover for them for a bit, sending them off with a wink.  The pair climbed into a hayloft across the road from the distillery and were about half undressed when they heard a commotion coming from across the street.  “What is that awful smell?” Dothana asked.  “Kerosene,” Kent said matter-of-factly.  Then he thought for a moment.  “Wait, why does it smell like kerosene?”

 

The moment they reached the opening to the hayloft they were blown backwards by an explosion.  Kent scrambled to his feet and ran back to the opening to see the distillery engulfed in flames.  He could hear screaming coming from inside the building.  Kelly lay face-up on the ground just outside the main entrance, four arrows sticking out of his chest. 

 

The building was surrounded by about two dozen humans as well as a few dwarfs from the Timor clan, those bastards.  One of the men was on horseback and clearly directing the others.  It was David Cooper, a rich local businessman with legal business pursuits as well as ties to organized crime.  He was a powerful man and one of those against the Skallbender expansion. 

 

David looked up and saw Kent in the loft.  “There’s a Karrus there!  Get him!”

 

A number of men turned to the loft and fired arrows.  Kent grabbed Dothana and pulled her with him as he fell backwards.  “We have to get out of here!  Now!” he shouted as he rolled her over.  But instead of looking into that pair of blue eyes as deep as the ocean, he saw only one, the other having been obliterated by the arrow that killed her.  It was as if his mind were made of glass and had just shattered into a million fragments.  

 

It was the smell of kerosene that broke him out of his momentary stupor.  The smell was coming from below him and smoke started to come up through the floorboards.  They’d set fire to the barn with him it.  Just as they had done to the distillery.  

 

Fortunately the smoke obscured his escape as the assassins hadn’t yet surrounded the building.  Kent ran for hours before settling into a cave he knew of outside the city.  He explored this area as a youth and had a few secret spots where he could go when he wanted privacy, or to perhaps to hide items he may have borrowed from an unwary traveler who had drunk too much Skallbender.  

 

After a number of days in hiding, he snuck back into town late at night.  He had to be sure the whole thing wasn’t just some sort of nightmare.  But when he got to the distillery his worst fears were realized.  The bodies had been removed, but all that was left was charred debris.  

 

As he stood in the field behind the remnants of his family’s business-turned-funeral-pyre a strong gust of cool evening air broke him out of his stupor.  He looked down to clear the tears from his eyes, and there at his feet was his father’s hat.  His father never went anywhere without that hat.  Clearly, however, he couldn’t take it with him to the afterlife.  Kent reached down, picked it up, brushed it off, and placed it on his head.  It fit perfectly.  His sole inheritance.

 

 

“I have an offer for you, Karrus.”  David’s voice snapped Kent out of his trance.

 

“What offer,” the dwarf asked as he began to slowly walk down the center aisle. 

 

Donyxn was clearly alarmed by his friend’s actions.  “Kent, what’s happening here brother?”  

 

Kent and David both ignored the tiefling as they continued their conversation.  “Leave here for 24 hours,” David said.  “If you do, you can have your precious Dothana back.”  

 

Kent continued to walk toward the stage, his hand reaching for his scimitar.

 

“Something is very wrong with this,” said Donyxn, looking to Almont.  “She looks real enough, but there is nothing behind those eyes.”

 

“I agree,” replied the cleric.  Right before their journey to hell, Kiri-Jolith gifted new magic to Almont, something he had not tried yet.  The ability to dispel the magic spells of others.  This looked like the perfect opportunity to use it.

 

Almont was convinced that whatever David was, something was being done to enchant Kent.  He made the signs and spoke the words, and as he did so there was a bright blue flash from the stage, centered where David stood with… with not a young female dwarf, but now an old thin man.

 

“That’s James!  He’s the caretaker of the chapel!” shouted Reya.  

 

The spell broken, Kent’s eyes cleared, and then narrowed.  Seeing that the hostage was not his long-dead love Dothana he unsheathed his scimitar, took at step onto one of the pews to his left, and launched himself at the stage over twenty feet away, his magic boots allowing him to cover the distance as if he was just taking a single step.

 

David did not appear to be surprised by this turn of events.  He calmly shoved his blade into James’ throat, the old man grabbing at his neck as he fell and the life force ran from his body in a pool of sticky red blood.  

 

With that, the room exploded into motion.

 

Kent landed on the stage and was immediately touched by David, his hand covered in frost and clearly shocking the dwarf.  

 

Seeing Kent completely surrounded by enemies, Almont took off running down the aisle.  While doing so he called forth his spirit guardians, conjuring four angelic, ethereal, sword-wielding apparitions that surrounded him as he dashed forward.  As he approached the first of the skeletons the guardians flew forward and destroyed them with radiant power.  The bearded devil drew the ire of the other two ghostly guardians as they pierced it with their swords of light.

 

Katla threw a ball of frozen energy at David, striking the conjurer, while Reya followed Almont up the aisle in an attempt to close with the bearded devil.  Having been already stunned by Almont’s guardians the devil turned to the stage in an attempt to both escape them and to aid David.  When it turned its back Reya was able to land a glancing blow with her mace.

 

The bearded devil barely noticed the strike as it leapt onto the stage and stabbed Kent in the right arm with its glaive.  The raven was also now engaged with Kent, flying around his head in an effort to distract him.

 

Down on the main floor the spined devils kept their distance from Almont and Reya while launching spines at them.  The pair saw the attack coming and rolled away in opposite directions, the spines peppering the floor where they had been standing a moment before.  

 

Donyxn fired a pair of arrows at David, but the man seemed to somehow… avoid them.  It wasn’t that he dove out of the way, or knocked the arrows aside.  It was more as if reality bent for a moment and they simply passed him by.  Kent had no more luck with his scimitar, David dancing away from his rage-fueled strikes.  With that David grabbed the edge of his cloak, pulled it in front of himself, and disappeared.

 

With the greatest threat in the room gone the party could now divide and conquer.  Almont came out of his roll, stepped onto a pew, and launched himself at the airborne spined devil to the left, striking it with both his hammer and mace.  One of his spirit guardians destroyed a skeleton while the other three joined Almont’s attack on the flying beast, the divine radiance of their swords striking it down.

 

Donyxn finished off the bearded devil on the stage with a pair of arrows, but while he was distracted the remaining spined devil struck the ranger with a hail of spines.  

 

Almont attempted to replicate his attack on the first spined devil, rushing at the second and placing his foot on the pew to make a leap.  But unfortunately for the cleric his foot went through the old wooden bench and he landed on the ground in a heap under the flying monstrosity.  

 

It looked at him and licked his lips.  Just as it was about to dive at the prone cleric a ray of frost blasted it from across the room, knocking it backwards until it struck the wall and shattered into dozens of pieces.

 

As the sounds of the battle faded away all that was left was the sound of Kent, on his knees in front of the pulpit, wailing.  

 

Katla went to the stage, took a knee next to Kent, and whispered quietly to him.  The others quickly searched the room for any further threats, and as they did so Kent began to quiet down as Katla’s words took root.  

 

In a room by the entrance was an armory.  Almont gave it a quick look to see if it contained anything unusual, but it was just the standard fare.  As he was about to return to the chapel, however, a thought struck him and he went back inside.  He emerged a few moments later carrying a crossbow and a quiver full of bolts.

 

“Reya,” he called.  The paladin turned to face him.  “Do you know how to use one of these?”

 

“Of course,” she replied.

 

The priest tossed the weapon to her, followed by the quiver.  “Then take it.  Not every battle requires you to close with the enemy.  Keeping some distance between you and your foe can keep you from being surrounded.  And means we won’t have to rush in to even the odds.”

 

Anger flared up into her face for a moment and she was about to offer a retort, but she thought better of it.  Almont was right.  There were times she let her pride dictate her actions.  If they were going to return Elturel to the material plane they needed to use their heads and preserve their strength.  She nodded once and walked away.

 

Katla and Kent were stepping off of the stage, with Donyxn offering a helpful arm to his shorter companions.  Almont crossed the room to join them.  “Reya, where do these two doors lead,” he asked, referring to the doors on either side of the stage.

 

“The one to the left takes you to an alcove adjoining the kitchen.  The one to the right leads to the dining hall,” she responded.  “I suggest we go left.  That will offer us a view into the dining hall without exposing us to anything that happens to be inside.”

 

This was reasonable.  Though realistically anything on the other side of those doors would be ready for them given the huge racket made by the fight in the chapel.  

 

As usual Kent went through first, the dwarf having recovered from his ordeal, a look of grim determination on his face.  The next thing to incur his wrath would pay a heavy price.

 

Inside the doorway the party looked to the right and saw the expanse of the dining hall, or at least what had once been a dining hall before it turned into a battlefield.  Tables were overturned, some with crossbow bolts and devil spines protruding from them.  Chairs were strewn about and broken pieces of tableware were everywhere.  So too was a mix of blood and ichor, which seemed to have reached every surface, including, improbably, the ceiling and a hanging chandelier.  Bodies and body parts littered the floor and a spined devil was pinned to the north wall held in place by four crossbow bolts.  

 

Looking down, Kent noticed a blood trail that led from the dining hall to a door.  He tapped Reya’s pauldron with his scimitar to get her attention.  “Kitchen?” he asked in a whisper.  She looked at the door then back to Kent and nodded.  

 

The others took note as well and prepared themselves as Kent quietly opened the door.  The smell of burnt meat wafted out, as did a bit of smoke.  On the south wall the cooking fire was reduced to burning embers and the meat that had been cooking was burned to a crisp.  Clearly the fight in the dining hall happened fairly recently, probably within the last hour or so.  

 

The blood trail led to some barrels in the corner of the room.  Reya raised her crossbow and pointed at the barrels.  “Who is there?  I am Reya of the hellriders.”

 

A quiet female voice answered.  “Reya?  Reya, you’re alive?”  With that a woman’s head emerged from behind the makeshift barricade.  Her face was smeared with soot and what appeared to be someone else’s blood.  “Thank Torm.”

 

Reya secured her crossbow and went to the woman.  “Uznilow, what happened here?”

 

“The devils came.  The machine broke through the wall unexpectedly.  Not everyone was on the walls.”  Uznilow was shaking, her arms crossed over her chest.

 

“How many?” asked Reya.

 

Uznilow thought for a few seconds.  “I saw at least ten devils, and most of them survived.  Some returned to the chapel, but others went upstairs.”

 

“You need to leave this place, Uznilow,” Reya told her.  “Find a place to hide until we can fix this.”

 

“Fix this?  Fix it?  There’s no fixing this,” Uznilow muttered as she collected some food and a large kitchen knife that she held in her right hand.  “Fight well, Reya.”

 

As she turned to leave to leave she walked over to Almont.  “Give me your blessing, priest.”

 

Almont withdrew the medallion that was Kiri-Jolith’s symbol, lightly touching it to Uznilow’s forehead while whispering a simple prayer.  When he finished, she reached into the inside of her belt and withdrew a key.  “You may need this,” she told him before leaving the kitchen and heading into the chapel.

 

Kent drank down a healing potion and looked much restored, though his eyes still harbored a deep melancholy.  

 

The party emerged back into the dining hall and were surprised to see the raven there, perched on a chair that was improbably still upright about twenty paces away.  Kent began to raise his pistol crossbow, but Katla stilled his arm.  Kent shot her an angry look, and she held his gaze before turning to look at her staff, and then back to the dwarf.  Kent understood her plan and nodded.

 

Without even turning back to the raven Katla pointed the head of the staff she held in her left hand at the bird.  Before it could react it found itself complete covered in a sticky web that flew forth from the staff.  It was almost completely immobilized and began to squawk loudly.

 

Donyxn walked to the bird and began to make noises of his own, accompanied by strange movements of his hands and limbs.  His friends had seen him commune with animals before, but Reya was mesmerized by his motion.  

 

The raven quieted.  Lola, who had been staying as close to the ceiling as possible throughout their time inside the Shield Hall, flitted over to the raven and the two creatures locked eyes for about ten seconds before Lola broke contact and returned to the others.

 

“I don’t understand.  I tried to speak to it telepathically, but it’s like it doesn’t have a mind of its own,” she explained.  Almont wasn’t sure if hollyphants could be disconcerted, but this one certainly appeared to be.

 

“Let me try,” said Donyxn.  He spoke to the raven using a guttural speech that everyone recognized as infernal.  Surprisingly it responded.  After a brief exchange, Donyxn nodded and turned back to the party.

 

“The thing is connected to David.  It can sense his presence, and he it, so long as they aren’t too far away from one another.  The closer it gets to David, the less control it has over its own thoughts and actions,” the ranger explained.  “Lola is right though,” he continued, “in that it doesn’t seem to have a soul.”

 

“We should take it with us,” Katla suggested.  Everyone nodded in agreement.  They removed the web that held the bird fast, then wrapped it in some netting that Kent had in his pack.  It was agreed that Donyxn would carry the bird since he was the only one to communicate with it.  

 

As the group prepared to head back to the chapel to take the stairs to the second floor Kent asked Donyxn of the bird had a name.  The tiefling shook his head.  “No soul, so no name.”

 

“We’ll call it Nevermore,” said Kent, before turning and walking back into the chapel.

 

They walked back through the carnage in the chapel, heading for the stairs at the southeast corner of the building.  Reya described the layout of the second floor.  There were individual sleeping cells for some of the resident paladins along the east and west walls.  Along the southern wall was a meeting room often used by the hellriders’ leaders, while the north wall was home to a prayer and contemplation room.  Most of the second floor was taken up by the sixty-foot square gymnasium that the paladins used for training and sparring.  

 

When they emerged from the stairway and into the second level they were greeted by more smoke.  In fact the entire top half of the level was heavily obscured by it, despite the high twelve-foot ceilings.  

 

“This reminds me of a tavern I know in Neverwinter,” Donyxn observed.

 

“Do you mean The Smoking Goat?  I love that place,” replied Kent

 

Katla’s head whipped around to face the pair.  “Is this really the time?” she asked, clearly straining to maintain her composure.  

 

“It’s just that there’s a lot of smoke in there too,” Donyxn muttered as he pretended to busy himself testing his bow’s tension.  

 

“It looks to be coming from the gymnasium,” Reya observed, oblivious to the conversation behind her.  Smoke was indeed emerging out of the slight gap between the eastern gymnasium door and the stone arch surrounding it.  

 

Almont walked straight to the door.  “Perhaps we should have Kent listen at the door,” Katla started, only to see Almont simply open it and walk in as even more smoke emerged from the room, and with it the sound of a cracking fire.  “Or we could just walk right in,” she sighed as she followed him.

 

The sight that greeted them when they walked into the room was reminiscent of how children’s stories described hell, which didn’t make it any less horrifying.  A fire burned in the center of the room, not in any kind of a fireplace, but simply on the floor.  Fueling it was wood from various broken chairs and weapons racks, as well as a handful of human bodies.  The flames rose about four feet from the floor, which meant they didn’t quite reach the four bodies that dangled above the fire, three of which squirmed and writhed from the heat.

 

Attached to the ceiling were a dozen chains, each link about the size of a man’s hand.  Each ended in some kind of barbed hook or other sharp apparatus intended to hold something in place.  In this case the somethings were human bodies.   Most of the people attached to the chains were clearly dead.  Some were in armor, some in various states of undress, but all badly mutilated and had pools of blood forming below them.  Not all were fully intact.

 

At least three of the four hanging over the fire, however, were still moving.  The fourth hung limply, either unconscious or dead.  Below them and looking up, completely oblivious to the recently opened door, was a six-foot humanoid.  It was impossible to determine its race because the entire thing was wrapped in lengths of chain of varying thickness, only its joints, eyes, and mouth left uncovered.  Each hand also held a length of chain.  The one in its right hand ended in a thick, curved, half-moon style blade, while the other ended with a small metal bar, attached to which were another dozen much smaller chains that had been sharpened to a razor’s edge and used like a flaying flail.  

 

Almont wasted no time in taking advantage of the element of surprise, blasting the chain devil with a ray of divine radiance that struck it squarely in the back.  Katla had a similar idea and before the creature could even react she threw a ball of thunder that hit it with a deafening thunderclap.  Donyxn added an arrow to the attack and Kent’s boots allowed him to zip around everyone to catch the beast with a passing strike from his scimitar.

 

All that happened in the blink of an eye.  The chain devil whipped around to face its attackers.  As it did so, it lashed out with the chain in its right hand, the blade at the end severing the chain holding one of the paladins, who screamed as he fell into the fire.  It then swung its chains at the invaders but its aim was off given the extent of its injuries.

 

Almont attempted to close with the devil to use his hammer and mace, but it kept him at a distance with its whipping chains.  Katla took advantage of the distraction Almont provided to once again hit the devil with a thunderbolt that staggered it and caused its hands to drop, stilling the motion of its weapons and providing the perfect opening for Donyxn, who calmly put an arrow into its left eye and ended its life.  

 

The party were able to put out the fire fairly quickly, but lowering the two remaining living paladins to the floor required some time and effort.  Both were badly injured.  The first had been affixed to the chain by a pair of barbed hooks that entered through his shoulder blades and curved under his collarbones.  The other was hooked between the two forearm bones on each arm.  Normally Almont would have used his magic to partially heal the men, but given the circumstances he suspected the pair would be dead soon enough so it seemed wasteful when he and his friends would likely find themselves injured soon enough.  

 

The pair told Reya that one of the dead paladins broke under the torture and told the devils where the refugees were being sheltered.  A bone devil named Yazu led the other devils away in pursuit, but the chained one remained behind.  They assumed when the devils got the information they wanted that the torture would stop, but it didn’t.  The chain devil clearly relished its work and didn’t need a reason to do it – causing pain and aguish was reason enough.  

 

They bandaged the paladins up as best they could and left them to fend for themselves.  

 

“Let’s head to the third floor.  Then we can take the stairs down to the cave and hopefully reach this Yazu before it’s too late,” implored Reya.  

 

“No, first we need to make sure this floor is clear,” replied Almont as he attached his mace to his belt.  “We’ll deal with Yazu soon enough.”

 

“I’m telling you, there’s nothing else on this level.  There are no magic weapons or devices for you to pillage,” she spat back.

 

“Well that was a bit harsh,” Kent mumbled in mock indignation.

 

Almont walked over the paladin until they stood face-to-face.  “We’re going to make sure there are no more enemies on this floor.  Enemies who could follow us and attack us from behind at the worst possible moment,” he said flatly.  “You can either help us with that, or you can go out on your own.  It’s up to you.”  With that the cleric walked out of the room, the others following.

 

Reya surveyed the wreck of the gymnasium.  They hadn’t bothered removing the dead bodies from the chains.  There wasn’t enough time.  Small fires crackled in different parts of the room, most of the fuel having been consumed.  Her eyes then fell to her two compatriots.  One was clearly unconscious, the other tending to him.  He turned and looked at her.  “Go,” he said.  “They’re the best chance you have to avenge this.”

 

Reya nodded and left the room.  She caught up with the party as they gathered around a door.  “That’s the meeting room.  There’s nothing in there.”

 

“Almont’s mace appears to disagree, m’lady,” Kent observed.  Lightbringer’s skull head was glowing blue.  Clearly there were undead creatures on the other side of the door.  Kent, who had been prepared to open it, took a step back.  He stuck his right arm across his midsection and bowed over it, his left arm extended toward the door.  “Clerics first,” he said with a grin.  Almont grinned back and opened the door.

 

Four specters sat in chairs around a large wooden table.  The table itself was shaped and carved to resemble a rectangular shield with the hellriders’ symbol in the middle.  The specters were caught off guard and the battle was mercifully quick as the team dispatched the undead.  The nice thing about killing specters is they didn’t leave much of a mess behind.

 

“There’s nothing else of value here.  Let’s go,” said Reya as she turned to the door.

 

“Not yet,” said Almont.  “Kent, the room is yours.”

 

The rogue began a quick but efficient check of the room.  His ability to find things others overlooked was uncanny, and it paid dividends once again.  “There’s a secret compartment under the table here,” he said, pulling some small tools from a pouch on his belt.  “Hold please.”  

 

It took longer than usual for the dwarf to open the compartment.  “Would you like some help, thief?” asked Donyxn.  “Perhaps I could wipe the sweat from your brow as you’re obviously overexerting yourself.”

 

“Or perhaps we could just bash it apart with this big horns of yours, devil-spawn,” replied the dwarf, never taking his eyes off his work.  “And… presto.”

 

A drawer slid open.  Nestled inside was a metal rod.  It was about two feet long and looked to be made of steel or something similar, with the circumference of a broom handle.  At either end was a small metal ball.  There were no markings of any kind on it.  

 

“Um, OK.  Any ideas what this is?” asked Kent.  

 

“Oh my,” Katla replied as she walked forward and picked up the rod.  “I’ve only read about these.”  She moved the object around on her hands, looking at it with admiration.  It moved easily in her hands, so it was not as heavy as it looked.  

 

The sorceress grinned and held the rod out with her left hand so that it was parallel to the floor.   “Donyxn, see if you can pull it from my grip.”

 

The tiefling raised an eyebrow and handed his bow to Kent.  “Are you sure about this?” he asked as he wrapped his hand around the other end.

 

“Very.”

 

Donyxn began to pull, but he couldn’t get the bar to move.  He looked up and Katla was admiring the fingernails on her right hand, her feet not even set in a leveraged stance.  This time he grabbed it with both hands and began to pull, his body starting to lean backwards with the strain.  

 

“Would you like me to wipe the sweat from your brow, brother?” Kent asked.

 

And then suddenly Katla let go of the rod.  Donyxn’s reflexes were extremely fast and he prepared to fall backwards into a roll.  But… the rod still didn’t move even though the elf was no longer holding it.

 

“An immovable rod,” she said as she reached over and depressed a small button on her end.  That broke the magic that held the rod in place and the ranger fell backwards with it in his hand.  “Depress that button and that rod can’t be moved by any force until the button is pressed again.” 

 

She reached down and helped the ranger up, and he handed her the rod in return.  “Someone could cause all kinds of mayhem with an item like this.  I wonder if we know anyone with that kinds of mischievous streak,” she mused, before tossing it to Kent.  

 

Kent clicked the button on the rod, his expression more blank than astounded.

 

“David killed my entire family in front of me, back home… because of a business dispute,” he said softly.  “He then took the life of my beloved and she died in my arms while my family roasted in the flames that consumed Skallbender.  The last thing I remember that night was locking eyes with him as I cradled Dothana’s lifeless body.”

 

Everyone was looking at the dwarf.  None had heard this story before.

 

Another click of the button as Kent moved the rod into a different position and set it into place.

 

“I… I fled.  I left my home and everything I knew out of fear and anguish.  I did everything to hide from him and his henchmen, constantly uprooting and living alone whenever possible.”  Click.  Move rod.  Click.

 

Kent unlocks the rod for a final time and straps it to his pack.  He removed his hat and ran his fingers through is ichor-matted hair, splashing a bit of water on his face.  But it can’t cleanse away his past.  He put his hat back on and looked at the group.

 

“But you can’t hide from a memory.  And now he’s here.  And it’s time to right wrongs.  And if it happens to save this city in the process then all the better.”  Kent paused.  “But so help me, if I’m not the one to deal the final blow…”

 

Donyxn walked to Kent, clasping forearms with him and nodding.  The others also offered their acknowledgement of his words, even Reya and Lola.

 

In the bottom of the drawer were a number of documents.  A quick reading revealed them to be notes about the depravity of Elturel’s religious leaders, accusing many of various forms of heresy.  Katla rolled these up and put them in a tube she used to store papers.

 

Katla turned to Reya and saw the paladin looked dismayed.  “What’s wrong, Reya?”

 

“So much betrayal, so many lies,” she mumbled.  “I put all of my faith into this place, a place said to have no secrets, and yet everywhere I turn there is another secret.”

 

Meanwhile Kent’s attention was attracted by a large tapestry covering the far wall.  Roughly fifteen feet wide and eight feet tall, it appeared to be a detailed map of Elturel.  “Would you look at the workmanship on that?  You know where this would look great…”  

 

Donyxn cleared his throat loudly, stopping Kent mid-sentence.  He turned to see his friend almost imperceptibly shake his head.  They he looked to Katla who let out an exasperated sigh as she shook her own head.  “Reya,” the sorceress said, “let’s take a quick look at the quarters to make sure none of your fellow paladins are still here.”  With that the women left the room, and Lola followed them out.

 

“As I was saying,” continued Kent, as he and Donyxn smiled at one another, pulled down the tapestry, and rolled it up.  Kent’s fondness for tapestries was no secret among his friends, and they still owed him one since they bartered one of his pieces to gain access to the magic city of Candlekeep.  Almont opened the magical bag of holding and they deposited it inside. 

 

The two groups met up on the other side of the second level outside of the prayer room.  They entered cautiously, but for once were not greeted by anything that wanted to kill them, which was a refreshing change of pace.  

 

Three small altars were along the far wall, one each for Tyr, Ilmater, and Torm.  A quick search revealed nothing of interest.  Almont removed a jug of water from the bag of holding, along with some of the remaining food from the night before, and everyone took a quick break.  

 

While they were eating Almont removed three platinum coins from his belt pouch.  He then proceeded to offer a brief prayer at each of the three altars, leaving a coin behind on each as an offering.  While he served Kiri-Jolith, who was best known as a god of war, he was also a god of honor, and it was honorable to offer respect to other gods who shared similar values.  Gods such as Tyr Ilmater, and Torm.  While some of the men in their service had been perverted by evil, the gods themselves remained pure.  

 

As he placed the coin on the final altar Almont felt a surge of energy and strength flow through his body.  There was no way to tell which of the gods had touched him, but clearly he was favored, and that would be a great benefit when the party faced their next battle.