Session # 05 - Dyin' Ain't Much of a Livin', Boy

Reya let the party know what to expect on the third floor.  “It’s much smaller than the first two.  There are three rooms.  One for the head priest, a larger dormitory for the other priests, and a small study.  The stairs leading down to the cave are hidden behind a bookshelf in the study.”  

 

Everyone checked over their gear and proceeded to the stairs on the western side of the level.  Kent, as usual, led the way, the party letting him take the turn in the staircase on his own.  His stealth, short stature, and dark vision made the dwarf a perfect scout.  A few seconds after he turned the corner he called down softly.  “You can come up.  Looks like we missed the party.”

 

A surprising number of bodies littered the landing, which ran the length of the third level and was roughly fifteen feet wide.  Paladins, spined devils, zombies, and priests were intertwined on the floor, a mixture of ichor and blood covering the various surfaces.  

 

Almont took a knee and examined one of the priests.  “This one hasn’t been dead long.  This happened recently.  Less than thirty minutes ago, I’d say.”

 

“Are these the Shield Hall priests you told us about?” Katla asked Reya.  The paladin nodded in response.

 

“Even the ones in the purple robes?”  Kent followed up.  Everyone else immediately became aware that roughly half the priests were in the red robes of the Hellriders while the others wore the purple they’d seen on the cultists.  

 

Reya swallowed hard and nodded again.  “Yes, all of these are our priests, even those in the heretic robes.”  She looked over the scene again.  “But I don’t see the head priest here.”

 

“Is this his room?”  Kent inquired, jerking his thumb to the door immediately across from the stairs.  Another nod from Reya.  Kent went to the door and listened.  “I hear something.  Sounds like a woman… praying perhaps.  But it’s very faint and I don’t think it’s coming from this room.”

 

Kent looked back over his shoulder.  Almont nodded, and Kent slowly opened the door as everyone spread out.

 

What awaited them inside was more blood and death, though this time only one body.  “Is the head priest a halfling?”  Kent asked from inside.  

 

“He is,” said Reya.

 

“He was,” replied the dwarf.  

 

The room was small, small enough that they couldn’t all comfortably fit inside.  It was spartan, a fitting cell for a priest, with a bed, a small combination of desk and bookshelf, and a chest.  The window looked out to the south and smoke could be seen from various places in the city.  There were still a few paladins on the section of wall that was visible, though they didn’t seem to be engaged in combat at the moment.  A badly burned tapestry hung on one wall.

 

“Tsk, such a waste,” Kent observed, looking at the tapestry, his arms crossed and shaking his head.

 

On the floor in the middle of the room lay the halfling.  He’d been stripped of his robes and was only wearing his undergarments.  It appeared he’d been garroted.  But the worst part was how the body was desecrated.

 

Carved into the priest’s chest was the nine-pointed symbol the party had seen in multiple places as they traveled through Elturel.  The cuts were deep and fresh.  His arms and hands were badly burned, some small wisps of smoke still emanating from his charred flesh.  

 

Almont kneeled close to examine the body.  As he reached out to touch the halfling he felt his arm pulled back. Looking up he saw that Katla had hooked his arm with her spider staff.  “Step back,” she said, not taking her eyes off the body.

 

Almont knew better to argue, standing up and stepping back into the doorway.   The sorceress conjured up a spectral mage hand, one much smaller than those she generally produced.  The ghostly hand slowly descended over the halfling’s chest, the thumb and forefinger gently reaching down and removing a small object from the center of the symbol.  It brought the item up level with Katla’s eyes so she could examine it.  

 

It was an orange translucent bead, slightly imperfect in shape.  It looked like a piece of petrified amber, but there was something inside it, something that appeared to move subtly. 

 

“Magical?”  Kent asked.

 

Katla and Almont looked at one another.  Almont nodded.  “Yes,” said Katla, “though I’m not sure what it does.”

 

“You best keep it then,” the dwarf suggested, stroking the end of his beard. 

 

Katla slipped the bead into a small hidden compartment sewn into her robe.  In addition to being a magic user and scholar, the elf was also a talented seamstress and could produce a seemingly endless stream of small and not-so-small items from within her robe.  It was frankly a bit unnerving. 

 

Kent caught Almont’s eye and gave him a quick flick of his chin.  Almont knew the rogue wanted to quickly search the room for anything else of value, but it was best not to do so with Reya present.  “Let’s go make sure no one in the hall is still alive and then check the dormitory,” he said, walking out of the room and the others following.  

 

Kent emerged a minute later, slipping a scroll tube to Almont as he walked by.  The cleric closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment.  He could feel the magic through the cylinder, recognizing the sensation and what was inside, as he’d felt this feeling before.  The spell contained within was certainly one of revivification and would allow the caster to save the life of someone very recently dead.  

 

With that the dwarf walked to the dormitory door and listened.  “I hear that female voice again.”

 

“I’ll go first,” Almont said firmly.  “If there are evil prayers being uttered, best I be in front.  Besides, I have the key.” With that he produced the key he’d been given by Uznilow down in the kitchen.

 

“Be my guest,” replied the dwarf, stepping away form the door.

 

Reya’s eyes widened.  “Where did you get that key?”

 

“Don’t worry about it.”  And in his typically unsubtle fashion, Almont simply unlocked the door and walked in.

 

The room was about fifteen feet wide and thirty feet long and lit by glowing orbs in each of the four corners.  There were eight single beds, four on each side, two of which had been flipped over.  Sprawled on one of the beds was a dead priest in the red robes of the Hellriders, one leg hanging over the side of the bed and his throat slit.  Kneeling on the floor between the farthest two beds was the source of the voice.

 

She was clearly quite young, a human who couldn’t have yet reached the age of twenty.  She wore what was once a white linen smock that was now stained with blood splatters.  Gripped tightly in her hands was a metal gauntlet, the holy symbol of Torm.  Her voice was low as she rocked back and forth muttering the same prayer over and over again, calling to Torm for strength in times of desperation.  Her eyes were unfocused and she was obviously in shock.

 

Reya came into the room and stood behind and just off to the side of Almont.  “Do you know her?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the girl.  

 

“Nara?”  said Reya.  After a few moments with no response she tried again more forcefully.  “Nara!”

 

The priestess continued rocking back and forth, oblivious to their presence.  

 

Almont clipped his warhammer onto his belt and walked slowly towards the kneeling woman, Lightbringer hanging loosely in his left hand.  When he reached her he went down to one knee, the base of the mace on the ground and palming its crystal skull head with his left hand.  With his right he reached out and used his index finger to raise the woman’s chin.  “Look at me, my child.”

 

She continued to mumble her prayer, but after a few seconds her eyes began to focus on his and she became startled.  She began to frantically back away, but slowed as she recognized Almont’s bearing.  

 

“You’re… you’re a cleric,” she said in a half statement, half question.

 

“I am.  What happened here?”

 

“There… there were so many… so many terrible creatures.  And then some of our own brothers turned on us… they killed…” She looked over her left shoulder at the body on the bed and began to weep.  “I’ve only been here for a few months.  I haven’t been trained in how to deal with this,” she whimpered.

 

“No one is ever trained with how to deal with this,” sighed Almont.  He stood up and offered Nara his right hand.  She accepted and got shakily to her feet.  

 

“Reya!” she gasped, finally recognizing the paladin.  “We all thought you dead.”

 

“How long ago did this happen, Nara?  Where have the evil ones gone?” Reya asked insistently.

 

She stared at the paladin.  “We were betrayed by our own.  One of the heretic priests told the devils how to get to the cave.  The departed only a few minutes ago.”

 

“And they left you here alive.  I wonder why,” Kent observed.

 

“I hid under the bed,” she replied, turning to look at the dwarf.  As she did she caught sight of Donyxn for the first time and recoiled, taking a step backwards and holding her holy symbol out in front of her.  “Stay back!  You’re one of them!  You’re… you’re…” She lowered her hands and was transfixed by the tiefling’s mercury eyes.  “You’re one of them, but not one of them,” she said quizzically, her head cocked to one side. 

 

“He has that effect on people,” Kent laughed.  

 

She looked at Kent.  “You’re hurt.”

 

“Just a few scratches,” the dwarf said shyly, “nothing too serious.”

 

Nara walked across the room and touched the dwarf’s shoulder, causing his body to momentarily take on a red glow.  Some of his wounds receded while others disappeared entirely.  “My magic is almost spent,” she said, turning back to Reya, “but if you need me I can probably heal one more person today.”

 

Almont considered this.  “We’re headed down to the cave.  Perhaps you could wait at the top of the stairs.  If we need your abilities, we will call to you.”

 

Having a sense of purpose, Nara nodded sagely.  “The stairs are in the study.  I don’t believe any of the infernal remained behind.”

 

Nara was correct that the study was unoccupied, or to be more precise there was nothing alive in the room.  There were, however, bodies.  A paladin, a purple-robed priest, and a spined devil were sprawled around the room, their fresh wounds still leaking.

 

The study was in fact a small one-room library, the walls lined with bookshelves and a pair of small tables that were smashed, along with the chairs.  On the north wall a hinged bookshelf was propped open, a formerly secret door behind which was a spiral stone staircase leading down.  

 

Kent was the last one to enter the room, having obviously lingered in the dormitory to search it.  He wore a sour expression on his face and kept smelling his left hand.  Donyxn gave him a questioning look.  The dwarf continued to look at his hand as if he couldn’t understand why it smelled the way it did.  “Something in one of those chests,” he muttered.  

 

Donyxn laughed out loud, garnering a combination of questioning and disapproving looks from everyone.  Everyone except Almont.  The cleric had been scanning the bookshelves, and while he didn’t see anything that appeared magical in nature there were a few rare and valuable religious texts related to the Triad.  As Kent attempted to explain his malodorous problem, Almont slipped three of the texts into his bag of holding.  Old habits died hard.

 

The stairs were clearly going to be dark, and Reya confirmed they were unlit.  Almont broke off two chair arms, waiving his right hand over them as he spoke softly.  Both pieces of wood immediately began to glow with a bright clear light.  He handed one to Reya and kept the other for himself, the two humans being the only members of the party without night vision.

 

“I assume you can see in the dark,” Almont said to Lola.  The hollyphant had simply been following the group, only speaking when spoken too but seemingly quite content.  She nodded and smiled, her trunk bobbing up and down in opposite timing with her head.  

 

“Great.  I’d hate to think you’d be flying blind,” he said sarcastically.  The hollyphant continued to nod and smile.

 

And with that, they began to descent.  Kent went first, followed by Katla.  The two humans were next, with Donyxn bringing up the rear, everyone agreeing that it was best to have night vision at either end of their single-file line.  Lola stayed above them as always.  Nara remained at the top of the stairs as she’d been instructed.  

 

It was hard to judge how far they had traveled, though the sounds of battle began to make their way to everyone’s ears, getting louder as they continued downward.  Lightbringer also began to glow, allowing Almont to discard his glowing piece of chair as he hefted the mace in his left hand, a slight grin forming at the corners of his mouth.  Little did he know how quickly that grin would turn to a frown.

 

The reached the bottom of the stairs and quickly fanned out.  They found themselves in a rough, cave-like natural chamber, perhaps thirty feet wide at its widest part and sixty feet deep.  The ceiling disappeared into the gloom above a handful of lit orbs attached to the walls at various points.  It was impossible to tell precisely how high the cave was, though it was a safe bet that it was at least fifty feet.

 

Directly across from them were closed iron double doors in front of which stood four injured paladins, with two other paladins lying dead in front of them.  Arrayed against the paladins was a small mob of evil consisting of three bearded devils and four skeletons.  Standing in the middle of the group was a massive devil that was obviously calling the shots.

 

“An osyluth,” Donyxn observed as he pulled a pair of arrows from his quiver.  “This is not good.  This is very, very not good.”

 

While most of the party had never heard of an osyluth, or “bone devil”, before, one didn’t need to have knowledge of the infernal to see how dangerous the creature was.  First there was the sheer size of it.  If it stood upright it would be nearly ten feet high, it’s set of triple fly-like wings giving it a similar width.  The entire creature appeared to be made of bone, though with a thin layer of bone-white skin and muscle covering it’s frame.  Everywhere there was a joint were spiked bony protrusions.  It’s long, slender fingers ended in claws each at least a foot long and swinging lazily behind it was a tail that appeared to be comprised of vertebrae and at the end of which was a razor-sharp blade-like bone.  It’s hands and the last three feet of its tail were covered with gore.

Yazu

 

It took the party members a few seconds to come to grips with what they were facing.  A bearded devil impaled one of the paladins with its glaive while simultaneously lashing the warrior’s face with its beard, sending it crashing to the ground with a groan, clearly dead.  The osyluth let out an odd screeching sound before resorting to common.   “Auður, we will soon kill the last of you and get to the tasty morsels behind that door.”  Its voice was like the sound of nails scratching on slate.  

 

The party had the element of surprise on their side, being behind the devils and their allies, and the death of the paladin caused them all to sprint into action.  Kent dashed forward at impossible speed, his scimitar flashing as he landed a pair of blows on the back of one of the bearded devils.  Katla leveled her arms and produced two gouts of fire, one from each hand, each of which caused a skeleton to explode in a ball of fire and bone. 

 

Donyxn and Almont, both taken by surprise by Kent’s attack, turned their attention to the bearded devil the dwarf slashed to offer support.  Donyxn hit it with a pair of arrows while Almont cast forth a bolt of radiant energy that hit it square in the back.  Miraculously, and unfortunately, it was still on its feet.

 

On the other side of the fray the two other bearded devils were battling with two of the paladins, and Reya rushed forward to aid them.  Off to their right another paladin fell, taking an arrow to the neck from one of the skeletons.  

 

“Friends of Auður, I see” the bone devil screeched, “I will kill them while you watch,” it continued, turning away from the paladins and attacking Kent, managing a glancing blow with one of its claws.  

 

“Devil of bone, I thee own!” Kent shouted as he attacked the monstrosity with his scimitar, his bravado writing checks that even his fast sword was going to find difficult to cash.

 

Almont was torn.  Kent was now being attacked by both the bone devil as well as one of its bearded underlings.  He knew the bone devil was the greatest threat, but the smaller beast was badly hurt.  He decided to gamble that he could kill it quickly, thereby removing it as a potential risk, and from the ceiling of the cave he brought down a bright bolt of energy onto the bearded devil and causing its body to explode outward, not as a spray of gore but instead a dissipation of all of its energy.  All that remained was a blackened spot on the ground.

 

Katla pivoted and threw a ball of thunder at the bone beast, striking it with a massive thunderclap that kicked up dirt from the ground.  Donyxn also shifted his attention to the most dangerous thing in the room, but inexplicably missed with a pair of arrows.  

 

The bone devil’s name was Yazu, and it was the beast the party had been warned about previously.  It spoke in infernal to the bearded devils and told them to turn to attack the spell-casters, recognizing that their ranged attacks represented the greatest danger to it.  

 

With that the two remaining bearded devils turned, leaving the injured paladins, and charged Almont and Katla.  The cleric had just enough time to let loose another bolt of energy, hitting one of the two, then immediately drawing his hammer and mace in preparation for close-quarters fighting.

 

Meanwhile Reya destroyed one of the skeletons with her mace, while one of the two remaining paladins dispatched the final skeleton with a crossbow bolt.  The other paladin fired a bolt at the bone devil and missed, his aim clearly affected by his injuries.  

 

The fighting was becoming frantic now, with the bone and two bearded devils remaining.  As Donyxn looked on in horror the bone devil delivered four deep gashes to Kent with one of its claws and immediately followed that with a penetrating thrust to the dwarf’s shoulder from its whip-like tail.  Kent’s face began to lose color as he recognized the sheer hubris of his earlier quip.  He had enough wit still about him to recognize the need for a hasty retreat as he turned to flee as fast as his magic boots would carry him while at the same time quaffing a healing potion.  

 

The bearded devils were now face-to-face with Katla and Almont.  Katla struck them both with rays of frost, but in return she took a slash to the right shoulder by one of their glaives, the wound immediately starting to necrotize.  Next to her Almont was struck by a devil’s beard but able to avoid its weapon, parrying it with Lightbringer.  He countered the attack with a hammer strike to the beast’s left ribcage followed by a mace blow to its right shoulder. Reya struck the same devil from behind with her mace, rewarding her with the sound of wet meat and breaking bones.

 

The bone devil stayed focused on Kent, its wings allowing it to follow the dwarf even with his magic-aided speed.  Just as the rogue stopped and turned he was met by its infernal tail, puncturing straight through his abdomen and protruding from his back.  When Yazu withdrew its tail Kent fell to the ground motionless.  

 

Kent’s friends knew they had to help him, but also knew that to do so they needed to eliminate at least some of the remaining threats.  In a rage Katla unleashed a wave of thunderous energy that blasted the devil in front of her, knocking it backwards a few feet.  The separation gave Donyxn a clear shot and he put an arrow right into the things left eye, killing it.

 

Almont continued to fight hand-to-hand with the last remaining bearded devil, blocking both it’s beard and glaive attacks.  As he did so he called forth to Kiri-Jolith to guide his hand, and when he saw an opening he could feel the god’s energy flow through him, allowing him to move with unnatural speed and grace.  He shoved the head of his hammer forward, catching the devil off guard and causing it to double over.  As it did so, with his left hand he bring Lightbringer down on the side of its right knee, destroying it with a loud snap.  The beast was now starting to fall to the right and still bent at the waist.  Almont pirouetted to his right, his right arm extended and swinging the spiked part of the hammer around with centrifugal force before completing the spin and burying it into the right side of the devil’s skull, killing it. 

 

While Katla, Donyxn, and Almont were finishing the last two bearded devils, Reya turned to face Kent, who was lying unconscious about twenty feet away.  Touching the symbol of Torm on her breastplate with her left hand and extending her right she called forth a ray of healing energy that wrapped Kent in its embrace.  As she fell to her knees from the effort, her energy all but spent, the hearty dwarf got to his knees and staggered to his feet.  And just as he did so Yazu’s tail penetrated him again, this time in the chest and driving three feet of bone through the wound before withdrawing its tail.  It looked upwards and bellowed.  “Another foe falls before Yazu!”

 

With that it turned and threw itself forward at the others, raking Katla’s torso with its right claws as she staggered backwards in disbelief.  

 

Time began to slow in Almont’s mind.  He could see Katla moving slowly backwards, her hands forming languid circles in front of her as they began to glow with magic, while Donyxn notched a pair of magic arrows into his bow and began to draw the string back.  It was as if he was seeing and hearing everything through deep water.  But what truly frightened him was not the massive devil before him.  It was seeing Kent’s soul begin to leave his body, the spectral energy in the shape of the dwarf, of his friend.  And Almont knew you didn’t want to die in hell.

 

Time snapped back to full speed, Katla’s hands suddenly moving impossibly fast and projecting a ball of thunder into the chest of the bone devil.  The shockwave knocked one of Donyxn’s arrows wide but the other penetrated one of the beast’s wings.  They were beating it back.

 

Almont knew this was the kind of situation that called for rash action, so he rushed forward and grabbed the creature’s leg, his hand delivering a noxious, necrotizing energy that caused its leg to give slighly. 

 

With that Reya changed in with her mace and the remaining paladins harried the devil with crossbow bolts.  It was now facing more opponents than it could handle, but it was still deadly.  Yazu raked Katla once again with its claws, this time catching her in the left arm, while its tail snapped back and forward again, hitting Almont in the chest like a ball and chain wielded by a giant, knocking him backwards ten feet.

 

Katla was back on her feet, her arm and torso bloodied.  Her eyes began to glow and her arms were held all the way out at her sides.  Donyxn stepped away from her as he felt the pressure building inside her body.  After a momentary pause she swung her hands around in front of her, clapping them together at the same time shouting, “Enough!”

 

Donyxn and Almont were no strangers to Katla’s use of thunder as a sonic weapon, but even they were little prepared for the shockwave that burst forth when her hands came together.  It was as if an explosive detonated, centered right on the bone devil and bursting outward, but with no fire, only a concussive wave and a deafening crack.  All the light orbs save the two over the far door exploded and the bodies of the two remaining bearded devils partially liquefied.  Reya was hurled backwards ten feet and the two paladins guarding the door were both knocked into the wall.  

 

Somehow Donyxn retained his footing.  He saw Yazu collapse, both sets of wings completely tattered and shredded by the blast, its tail lying limply on the ground.  And he calmly withdrew a magic arrow from his quiver, notched it, pulled the string back and let it fly all in one smooth motion, the arrow’s head easily penetrating the devil’s skull and blasting right through the back of it.  And with that Yazu died.  

 

Almont looked back to Kent.  The dwarf’s soul was now hovering two feet over his body and starting to lose its form.  There wasn’t much time.  “Nara!” he shouted, “We need you now!” 

 

At that moment Lola came around the corner of the staircase and back into the cave, quickly followed by Nara.  When she saw Kent go down the second time Lola took it upon herself to retrieve the priestess, who rushed directly to Kent, fell to her knees, and placed both hands upon his chest.  Almont could see Kent’s soul solidifying in shape again as it slowly sank back into his body.  He regained consciousness with a shocked gasp, his wild eyes staring at Nara’s peaceful countenance as she finished the spell.  His injuries were still severe.  The magic saved his life but did not heal his wounds. 

 

Almont could help with that.  He surveyed the scene.  Katla’s wounds appeared to have stopped rotting, but she was still hobbled.  Reya too was in rough shape, walking back toward the group with a limp, the two paladins trailing behind her, one supporting the other.  He looked back over his shoulder at Donyxn, who was leaning up against the wall lighting his pipe.  There wasn’t even a scratch on the tiefling.  “Infernal luck?” the cleric asked.  

 

Donyxn smiled.  “Do your healing thing, Almont.  I’ll keep watch.”

 

With that Almont cast a healing spell that had enough energy to help all six of the wounded, including himself, though none were returned to full health.  At least, though, everyone was mobile and would be available to fight if another wave of foes made it to the cave.

 

Kent sat at the foot of the stairs quietly conversing with Donyxn, who sat cross-legged on the floor in front of him.  Katla could tell the taste of death unnerved the dwarf, and rightfully so.  Dying is bad enough.  But dying in hell had the potential to be infinitely worse.  

 

Kent took a hard pull from the half-empty bottle of Skallbender he salvaged from the Black Antlers.  He handed it to Donyxn who took a sip before returning it.  Kent looked over and caught Katla’s gaze.  She looked down, feeling embarrassed at having watched their private and personal interaction.  When she looked back up she saw Kent, still sitting on the stairs, holding out the bottle towards her, the neck facing her.  She walked to where the pair sat and took the proffered bottle, turning it over in her hands and examining the label.  “A fine vintage,” she noted, before putting it to her lips and taking an impressive gulp of the sublime liquid. 

 

Kent and Donyxn looked at one another in disbelief.  In all their time together they’d never seen Katla do anything so vulgar as to drink liquor from a bottle.  She handed it back to the dwarf, lightly wiping her lips with the sleeve of her battered and bloodstained robe.  Donyxn began to laugh and the other two joined him, the trio reaching an almost uncontrollable crescendo within a few seconds.  

 

Almont was standing near the iron doors with Reya and the two paladins.  The older of the two she introduced as Auður, the leader of the Hellriders.  The other was Úlfur, who while much younger than Auður was clearly an experienced warrior.  Their battle plate was scored and stained with ichor and blood.

 

“Your friends seem very jovial considering all the death and destruction,” Auður said sternly to Almont.  

 

The cleric held the paladin’s gaze with a hard look of his own.  Reya began to feel uncomfortable.  While she had only known the party for perhaps two weeks, she had fought what seemed like countless battles with them.  She knew their hearts were pure even if their bearing was more than a little rough around the edges.

 

“Everyone deals with death in their own way,” Almont replied flatly.  “It is not for you to judge them.”

 

Auður was not used to being spoken to in such a way, but he saw the truth in the priest’s words.  “We could use men like you in the Order of Gauntlet.  Perhaps when all this is over we can speak of it.”

 

Almont reached inside his chest plate and withdrew a small medallion he wore on a steel chain.  It was a circle of steel engraved with a metal gauntlet holding a sword.  “Almont Bonecrusher, at your service.”

 

Auður looked to the medallion and back to Almont.  He reached out and grabbed his forearm in the way that warriors do.  “My words were rash.  I apologize.”

 

Almont nodded.  Nothing more needed to be said.

 

Auður told the party what he had seen and experienced, from Elturel being ripped from the earth and transported to Avernus, the darkening of the Companion, and the subsequent invasion of the city by the infernal and their heretic cults.  Auður had remained at the Shield Hall and its environs to shore up its defenses and provide a refuge for the people of Elturel.  A group of ten Hellriders were sent to the Great Hall, but he had not heard from them since.  The only news he’d heard recently from outside the walls was from an injured foot soldier who had been separated from his detachment.  He indicated that Duke Ravensgard led group out of the Great Hall and headed to the Grand Cemetery where he hoped to find a magic helm that would aid in defeating the infernal legions.

 

It was a lot to take in, and now their path was murky.  Originally they planned to head to the Great Hall, but the news of Duke Ravensgard and a potentially powerful artifact had them re-thinking their approach.  “You don’t need to decide now,” Auður said.  “What you need now is rest.”

 

With his words all of them suddenly felt the weight of their injuries and the soreness in their joints and muscles.  Almont and Katla had also almost drained their reserves of magic, and the party would need those spells when they left the Shield Hall, regardless of where they went next.  

 

“This was the first attack that had ever been organized under a central leader,” the paladin observed.  “I doubt we’ll see such an attempt again today.  Regardless, the walls are breeched so I’ll recall most of the remaining paladins to shore up our defenses here.  We can’t hold out indefinitely, but we might be able to hold on long enough to allow you to complete your mission and return Elturel to the material plane.”

 

With that Auður quietly uttered some magical words and the doors unlocked.  They opened into an even larger cave, though it didn’t seem as big given that it was fairly full of people.  Three paladins, each sporting various injuries, formed a half circle around the doors, ready for battle.  They lowered their weapons as they saw Auður enter the chamber.

 

Knowing they had a secure place to rest, Almont used the last of his healing spells to help the paladins and provide some extra strength to Kent.  He then reached into a secret compartment sewn inside his shirt and produced a Pearl of Power.  They’d found the item prior to their journey to hell.  It stored a certain amount of magical energy and, in theory, should allow him to cast one more spell even when his own reserves were empty as they were now.  He’d never tried using it before, but this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

 

Almont called out into the cave.  “If anyone has bottles or jugs for water, bring them here.”  After a couple of minutes there were dozens of various receptacles arrayed before the cleric.  Everything prepared, he held the pearl in his open left palm.  He uttered the prayer he slowly waved his right arm from left to right.  As his arm passed the various containers they suddenly filled with clean water, while below the arm an array of foodstuffs materialized.  

 

For a moment the only sound to be heard was a collective gasp.  While the amount of food and water surely wouldn’t last an entire day for this many people, it would be enough to quiet some empty stomachs for a while.  His prayer done, Almont stashed the pearl, grabbed his own large water jug and enough food for the party, and said, “The rest is yours.  Make sure everyone receives their share.”  And with that he returned to his friends to eat and rest.

 

They slept fitfully, all suffering from the bad dreams that seemed to accompany sleep in hell.  When they awoke and consulted the Orb of Time, however, they had been asleep for almost half a day.  It was now early morning.  Still a bit sore form their exertions, the combination of healing magic and rest found them all fit enough and ready to go.  

 

After a brief discussion they decided to head to the cemetery first.  Reya was clearly torn between staying with her fellow Hellriders and joining the party.  Auður made the decision for her.  “Go,” he said.  “You can do more good with them.  Help them return Elturel to its home.”  She nodded and took a knee before him, her head bowed as he gave her a blessing.

 

As they prepared to leave Auður approached.  “I meant to ask you earlier, Almont.  The quest that first brought you across the water.  Did you find the Shield of the Hidden Lord?”

 

Everyone stopped what they were doing.

 

“Why do you ask?”

 

“It was the source of so much that went wrong.  It is why Elturel is in hell now, having corrupted so many,” the paladin said.

 

“Yes.  We recovered it.”

 

“Good, good,” sighed Auður.  “And you gave it to the mage Sylvira for safekeeping then, I presume?  She has a portal for such dangerous items.”

 

The silence that followed felt quite long to the party, though in reality it was probably only a second or two.

 

“It’s in a safe place,” Almont replied.  What was left unsaid, and was unknown to Reya, was that he was carrying the Shield of the Hidden Lord on him at that exact moment, sequestered inside his magic bag of holding.  Why had he been so rash as to bring such an item to hell?

 

“Good.  Though it’s too bad it isn’t here now.  We could potentially use its fell magic for our own purposes.”

 

Almont considered this.  “How?”

 

“It imprisons a powerful pit fiend.  If we could use it to fight our enemies it could possibly tip the balance of power back in our favor,” Auður said.  He then furrowed his brow and shook his head.  “But what am I saying.  That would involve making a deal with such a creature.”

 

“Right.  Who’d be crazy enough to do that?” Almont replied.

 

“I think I might know someone,” Kent muttered to himself, just loud enough for Donyxn and Katla to pick up with their enhanced hearing.

 

With that the party left the cave and ascended the staircase.  A pair of paladins awaited them at the top.  The stairway had been re-hidden, and once the party exited the paladins closed it off again.  They went back down to the ground floor, passing through the carnage of the chapel as they exited the building and left the Shield Hall.

 

The party headed south and then turned west toward the cemetery.  Lola proved to be a good aerial lookout and helped them bypass various groups of roaming demons and cultists.  There was no point in fighting simply for the sake of fighting.  They would have enough opportunities to spill blood soon enough.

 

As they walked Reya told them what to expect.  The cemetery was large – much larger than the Shield Hall, and in fact the footprint was bigger than even the Great Hall.  A ten-foot tall iron fence surrounded it, and despite the size there were only four entrances.  All size and manner of graves can be found inside, along with a chapel and a hall.  These seemed like the logical places to start searching.

 

They approached the Grand Cemetery from the east, emerging near the northeast corner of the fence near one of the gates.  Reya was correct about the wrought iron fence, though what they failed to anticipate was the number and variety of things impaled on the top of the fence rods.  Heads, limbs, and even entire bodies from a range of races were displayed across the top of the fence, including various types of minor demons.  If that wasn’t disconcerting enough (and it was), all of them were slowly moving, and not due to any kind of wind or shaking of the fence, but apparently of their own volition.  The heads were the most disturbing.  Some had eyes that followed the group, while the mouths of others moved though they made no sound.

 

After a few moments Reya turned to Donyxn.  “What, no story about the last time you encountered something like this?” she said with a slight sneer.

 

Donyxn never took his eyes away from the fence.  “No,” he said.  “I’ve never seen anything even remotely like this.”  His earnestness made Reya regret her words.

 

They entered the cemetery through the gate, which was partially knocked off its hinges, and walked through the graves toward the chapel.  A few of the sarcophagi had their lids ajar or removed, and some of the ground level graves had recently been dug up, likely the source of some of the undead they’d encountered. 

 

As they approached the chapel they could see a purple glow escaping from its windows and around the edges of its door.  Off to the right side, perhaps a hundred feet away, was a small square single-level building that did not exhibit the same glow.  

 

“The groundskeeper’s cottage,” Reya informed them.  “No reason to go there.”

 

Almont used his abilities to see if he could feel any magic emanating from either building.  The chapel clearly contained powerful demonic energy.  The cottage too gave off a sense of something magical, though the cleric couldn’t fully comprehend it.  He shared his feelings with the group.  They would need to deal with whatever was in the chapel.  However, it made sense to explore the smaller cottage first.  

 

As they approached the cottage, Lightbringer began to glow.  

 

From around the back of the cottage emerged three massive skeletons that had obviously once been minotaurs.  Each carried one of the massive axes favored by the beasts and they began to stride toward the party.

 

“I wonder if it’s anyone we know,” Kent mused.

 

“No, the horns are different than those we encountered before,” replied Reya, completely missing the joke.

 

The battle ended fairly quickly, the minotaur skeletons lacking the speed they had when they were alive.  The rest clearly did everyone a world of good as they landed a series of critical strikes in rapid succession, defeating the undead in less than a minute.  Only Reya was hurt, and only because she rushed in instead of keeping the fight at a distance.

 

Donyxn offered her his hand to help her up.  She’d been rammed by one of the creatures and knocked backwards about ten feet.  As she rose he asked, “Does your god frown on ranged weapons?  Some foes are better fought at a distance.”

 

Reya frowned.  “No, but I prefer to test myself against my foes face-to-face,” she said firmly.

 

Donyxn nodded.  “I prefer to stay alive.  But suit yourself.”

 

The door to the cottage was unlocked.  The inside was furnished like precisely what it was – the home for a single person.  A small fireplace for warmth and cooking was against one wall.  Arranged within the room were a single bed, a small chest of drawers, and a table with two chairs.  Shelves along the walls held cookware and various small tools.  One corner housed a shrine with various religious trinkets and symbols associated with the Triad, as well as some extinguished candles.  A writing desk was along one wall by a window.

 

The only thing that looked out of place was a large book that sat on the desk.  The cover was made out of some kind of leather and in the center was the nine-pointed symbol the party now associated with devils and cultists.  It looked as if the symbol had been carved into the living skin of the cover, its raised edges appearing inflamed.  In the candlelight the red outline of the cuts glistened as if still wet with blood.

 

Almont approached the desk and opened the book.  The first page offered a title:  “The Prophecies Of Gabriel As Revealed To Him By Zariel”.  The nine-pointed symbol was below the title, written in either red ink or blood, it was difficult to tell for sure.  With that the priest opened to a random page.

 

The words burned his eyes as he tried to read them.  It was as if they were coming off the page and trying to claw their way into his mind.  He could hear the whispers, their words indistinct but their meaning crystal clear.  Let us in.  We can take away the pain you hold inside.  The words danced in the air before his eyes, each aflame with energy and meaning, each making his mind race faster and faster…

 

He felt the medallion of Kiri-Jolith against his chest.  It had suddenly gone ice cold, the cold offsetting the burning of the infernal words and breaking their spell enough to allow him to slam the book closed.  He stepped back from the desk, sweat pouring from his brow.  

 

Katla touched his arm.  “This isn’t for the likes of you.  Let me try.”

 

He nodded and sat on one of the chairs, his legs still shaking.

 

Katla opened the book and read.

 

 

Katla was no stranger to forbidden knowledge.  She had not always been an adventurer, after all.  In fact for a century she had been a scholar, the child of scholars, her father a renowned expert in history, her mother an astronomer and lens maker.  Her childhood was spent surrounded by books and nature and she embraced the path of academia that was laid out before her.  

 

Her tastes lay in the more arcane and obscure, the place where the real and mythical intersected in ways that were sometimes mundane and others exceptional.  As a youngster she proved her aptitude in the area by helping the elves re-discover a long-lost artifact through her diligent research and deductive reasoning.

 

Word of her abilities traveled far and wide in the elvish community, and that’s what led Sensen to her parent’s doorstep.  Sensen was a well-known scholar of the mystical with many important discoveries to his credit over the course of his three hundred twenty years.  He spoke to Katla’s parents about his current quest.  His goal was to be present when the Portal of Drem next opened on the material plane.

 

Katla’s parents were initially speechless.  The Portal of Drem was thought to be a portal to another plane of existence, one ruled by a race of elves with highly advanced science and magic.  The Portal appeared at seemingly inconsistently intervals, its arrival being documented at some pivotal moments in history.  It was said that the Portal opened on the battlefield of Mercore as the elves faced sure annihilation from a massive orc army, the opening discharging a battalion of purple elves who helped their cousins rout the invaders and save the kingdom.  There were also dark rumors of the Portal opening and those same purple elves emerging to ravage an entire village or town, taking slaves with them as they returned.  It was difficult to separate the fact from fiction.

 

“I know when the Portal of Drem will next appear,” Sensen told them.  “The event will happen in a little more than twenty-nine years from now.  What I don’t know is precisely where it will happen.  That’s why I need Katla’s help.” He looked at her and saw the excitement in her eyes.  “I will be her mentor, and she will help me find the Portal.”

 

There wasn’t much Katla’s parents could do to prevent her from leaving.  She was already seventy years old and perfectly capable of making her own decisions.  And while they wondered if this wasn’t a fool’s errand, a chance to be mentored by Sensen was a rare opportunity.  So with that she packed up her most cherished books and began working with the occultist.

 

Their work took them far and wide, chasing both information on the Portal as well as any number of other projects Sensen was working on at any given time.  They discovered lost libraries and were granted access to some of the best private collections of documents by all manner of races.  They solved mysteries and re-discovered items lost to the mists of time.  All the money they made was poured back into rare manuscripts and odd devices of dubious origins and indeterminate purpose.  Sensen was, after all, an elf of science, not one of magic.  In fact neither of them had any magical abilities at all.

 

It was Katla who finally put the pieces together to discover the location of the next opening.  Sensen had figured out the when, but not the where.  It took her twelve straight hours to lay all the evidence before Sensen, and as soon as she finished speaking he nodded, knowing that her research was flawless.  What didn’t make any sense, though, was the location, which was in the middle of a forest and not near any towns or villages.  

 

They had just over three years remaining until the next Portal appearance.  In that time they made arrangements to buy the land where the Portal was to appear and had a large stone barn-like building constructed on the site.  The idea was to have the portal open inside the building, away from prying eyes and giving them a private audience with the elves of Drem.  The building also gave them a place to expand their library and they lived there quietly as they prepared for the event.  

 

That evening everything was prepared down to the last detail.  Katla had collected her research into a book written in a code the pair developed, and the book lay open on a lectern with a quill and ink ready so she could record the events as they unfolded.  Sensen was dressed in a fine if unassuming robe and he stood off to her left.  They had set a table with some refreshments for their guests as they anxiously awaited the moment.  

 

The portal opened at precisely the predicted time.  Its arrival began with a slowly swirling gold disc about the size of a coin.  As it spun it expanded and became a ring, within a few seconds taking on the shape of an oval about eight feet high and four feet across.  Within this gold ring a purplish mist began to form, the entire thing eventually resembling a gold-framed mirror of opaque purple glass.  

 

Then the Drem came.

 

Four purple elves emerged from the Portal.  The first three were male warriors clad in impossibly thin and fine chainmail and wearing swords across their backs.  The nails on their hands were long, like claws, and their eyes had a predatory look as the stepped out of the Portal in a triangular formation.  

 

Sensen began to speak.  “Welcome cousins.  I am Sensen and this is…”

 

The leader held up his forefinger and shook his head, silencing Sensen.  It then looked back over its shoulder and nodded before turning back to Sensen and Katla.  

 

The fourth Drem to emerge was a female.  She wore a thin robe of some kind of unknown material that seemed to change color without any discernable pattern or timing.  Her eyes burned orange like hot embers.  Around her forehead was a headpiece of platinum with a small purple stone set into it.  All four Drem wore similar pendants on sturdy chains, the stone in the center of each resembling a multi-colored opal, though radiating with energy.

 

“Which one of you is Sensen?” the female asked.

 

“I am Sensen.  As I was telling your friend he we would like to welcome you…” he began.

 

“Take him,” she said to the warriors.

 

Sensen took one step backwards, his arms held out in front of him.  “No, there must be some kind of mistake.”

 

The lead warrior pulled a small rod from his belt.  It crackled with purple energy.  When he touched Sensen with it, the occultist screamed in agony and fell to his knees.  The other two warriors approached.  One bound Sensen’s arms behind his back while the other put a metal collar around his neck and attached a chain to it.  The leader then put a leather hood over his face.

 

“The mistake was yours, fool, for having the temerity to think you could manipulate us,” the female said.  “Such actions do not go unpunished.  You will soon wish you had never pursued us.  Take him away.”

 

With that the guards half carried, half dragged Sensen towards the portal.  He screamed as he went.  “No!  I meant no offense!  I only wanted to learn!  Don’t…” his voice faded as he was taken through the portal.

 

Katla remained stunned at the lectern.  

 

The female Drem smiled, exposing her fanged teeth.  She walked to the table and picked up one of the bottles of wine and read the label.  She raised an eyebrow and looked at Katla.  “I approve.”  She then pulled the cork and took a large swig from the bottle.  

 

“Now what are we to do with you?” the Drem asked.

 

Katla was still frozen in place as the Drem slowly walked toward her, the purple elf’s movements full of swagger, like some pirate queen of a bygone age.  “You will forget about the Drem, will you not Katla?”

 

“I… I will…” Katla stammered.

 

“And you won’t come looking for your master now, will you?” the Drem asked with a pouting frown.  “I’d hate for you to share his fate, which will be very long lasting and very, very unpleasant.”

 

“No… No, I won’t…”

 

“Good!”  The Drem smiled, startling Katla.  The Drem turned and walked back toward the Portal, but then stopped to face Katla again, her head cocked to one side.

 

“There’s something within you, girl.  You don’t even know it’s there, but I can see it.  Let me help show you the way.”

 

Before Katla could react the Drem was in front of her, their eyes locked.  Katla could see the fire in those orange eyes and was hypnotized by them, so much so that she wasn’t aware of the palm of the Drem’s hand until it touched her forehead and everything went dark.

 

When Katla awoke it was daybreak.  The only sign that the Drem had ever been in the building was the partially drunk bottle of wine.  Katla felt strange, different in a way she couldn’t explain.  As she began to put away the food and wine she looked down at her hands and saw what looked like fine tendrils of flame flowing through her veins.  What had the witch done to her?

 

She knew she had to leave this place.  She packed up her few personal belongs as well as the book with all of her coded Drem notes.  Sticking out of one of the pages was the corner of a piece of paper.  She pulled it from the book.  It was a letter from Sensen.  He had written sometime just before the Portal opened.  Dearest Katla, If you’re reading this than something went horribly wrong…

 

She closed the book with the letter still inside and put it into her pack.  As she walked away from the building that had been her home she had a thought.  Turning to face it, she extended her arms.  After a few seconds she could feel the heat flowing through her as she pointed her hands at the building…

 

 

Katla slowly, quietly closed the book.  She turned back to meet the expectant eyes of her friends, the people she would give her life to protect.

 

“Some knowledge is forbidden for a reason.”