Session #15 - Cryptin' Ain't Easy

Emerging from the Infernal Rapture was a rude awakening, the unceasing brightness and blast of hot sulfurous air hitting them like a blow to the head.  With the exception of Donyxn, of course, who was completely unfazed by the abrupt transition.

 

The group turned to head toward Firesnake Forge and check on Donyxn’s bow, but as they did Almont had the sensation of being watched and stole a quick glance to the left.  He saw Z’neth watching them earnestly before disappearing back inside his tent.  Almont supposed the hobgoblin wanted to know if they’d killed Madhi, though their casual demeanor in leaving the Infernal Rapture probably provided the answer.

 

When Almont caught up and entered the forge he saw Donyxn trying out a new bow.  The weapon had a strange look about it.  Made from some kind of dark gray metal there were a few small hinges built into it.  He could see the tiefling exerting more than the normal amount of pull on the string, which like the bow also appeared to be made out of metal. Perhaps even more impressive was all the design elements the salamanders incorporated into it – Almont couldn’t believe they’d had enough time to create the intricate patters that covered every bit of the surface.  There were shapes that looked to be salamanders as well as various patterns, and as Donyxn manipulated the bow in the low light the etchings seemed to move over the surface ever so slightly.  The arrow shelf itself looked like a pair of silver eyes, shaped exactly like Donyxn’s own mercury orbs.

 

As the ranger continued to examine his new weapon Katla was attempting to negotiate with Rash in infernal.

 

“A beautiful piece of artistry, Rash,” she complimented.  “You have outdone yourself.”

 

“Yessss, it is a fine weapon,” the salamader hissed.  “And the price is five soul coins.”

 

Katla smiled.  “Yes, that is what you mentioned before.  Perhaps, though, we could offer you some other items of value?”

 

Rash cocked its head to the side and stared at the sorceress.  She turned to Almont who reached into the bag of holding, withdrew Duke Ravensgard’s magic longsword, and handed it to her.

 

“Perhaps you would accept this fine magic sword with historic provenance as part of our deal.  This, along with the location of a very salvageable war machine, and, say, three soul coins?”  It was had to make anything sound sweet in infernal, but Katla came close as she smiled at the creature.

 

Rash took the sword and looked at it with an expert eye, examining every detail in a matter of seconds.  “The sword, the salvage location, and four soul coins.  That is my final offer.”

 

Katla smiled and bowed her head slightly.  “You drive a hard bargain, Rash.  But we accept.”  She signaled Almont who retrieved the four coins and passed them to her, which she in turn handed to Rash.  “Oh, Rash, do you by chance know anything about the hellrider’s crypt?  We’ve heard it’s a most interesting place.”

 

The salamander looked down upon the sorceress, its posture tightening slightly at the mention of the crypt.  “That place is haunted.  It is said to be the resting place of Zariel’s sword.  None who go there return.”  With that Rash turned and slithered into the main part of the forge, taking the sword with him.  Apparently the conversation was over.

 

With their deal done, Donyxn slung his original bow across his back and left the forge with his new weapon in hand.  Almont suspected it would be some time before the tiefling would put it down.

 

Looking across the open space in the middle of the emporium Almont once again saw Z’neth looking at them.  This time the hobgoblin made a slight hand gesture waving them over.

 

“I guess we need to go deal with this,” Almont sighed and headed to the larvae tent.

 

Once inside Z’neth got right to the point, hobgoblins not being known for small talk.  “Did you kill him?”

 

Donyxn looked up from his bow.  “Come now.  You didn’t think we’d take you up on your ridiculous offer, did you?”

 

The hobgoblin tensed, its hands balling into fists.  

 

“Z’neth, we have no quarrel with Madhi,” Almont said.  Z’neth turned to face the cleric and his shoulders dropped a little.

 

“No, I suppose you don’t.”

 

“Now what about this larvae you gave us?”

 

Z’neth was looking down and pretending to organizing some jars, his disappointment palpable.  “Oh that.  Yeah, be careful with that.  It will double in size daily if you feed it.  It’ll probably die in a week or so in this climate, but could get big enough to hurt someone before then.”

 

Kent was behind Almont, stroking his beard.  “Let’s feed it to the cube.”

 

Almont turned.  “What?  Why?”

 

“Why not?”

 

Almont shrugged and pulled the jar containing the small gelatinous cube out of the bag of holding.  Z’neth’s eyes got large.  Katla used her spectral mage hand to pluck the squirming larvae out of its container and drop it into the jar.  The cube quickly enveloped it, the larvae looking as if it was suspended in the midst of the cube.

 

“Well that’s something you don’t see every day,” said Z’neth in wonder.

 

“A bit disappointing in my book,” replied Kent.  

 

Almont asked Z’neth about the crypt, but the hobgoblin knew nothing other than it was supposedly haunted and dangerous.  As they turned to leave, Z’neth reminded him that the offer of ten soul coins to kill Madhi still stood.

 

“If we kill him, it will be for our reasons, not yours,” Almont said as he pulled aside the tent flap and exited.

 

A quick stop at Ichor’s Aweigh yielded no insights about the crypt, so the party made their last stop at the barbershop. 

 

“Well, you appear to have survived your meal with Madhi,” Burney said upon seeing them enter.  “Congratulations.”

 

“We’re heading south soon,” Katla replied.  “We understand we may run across a crypt.  Do you know of it?”

 

Burney laughed.  “Know of it?  Everyone knows of the hellrider’s crypt.”  Then she became more serious.  “Everyone also knows that those who go there are never seen again.  The stories of treasure draw people to it like insects to a flame.”

 

“Any advice then, besides don’t get killed?” Kent asked as he admired his beard in a mirror.  Burney had done a nice job on it.  He would definitely be back to see her again.

 

She looked at the dwarf.  “Be skeptical of any treasures you find there.  But if you go seeking knowledge, you will be rewarded.”

 

They thanked her for her advice and promised to come back to the shop when the next encountered the emporium.  As soon as they stepped out of Burney’s tent they found Madhi waiting for them.

 

“Ah, it looks as though you are making ready your departure.  Did you decide to take any of the jobs I have on offer?”

 

In fact the party had discussed the jobs further as they went from tent to tent.  While they agreed the killing-for-hire offer was not for them, the witch’s home that required guarding was in the same general area as the crypt, and knowing they would continue to need soul coins they resolved to accept that bit of work.

 

“Yes, Madhi, we’ll help safeguard Red Ruth’s home in the Bonebrambles,” Katla replied.

 

Madhi clapped his hands together once and smiled widely.  “Wonderful!  Red Ruth has business here at the emporium and she’ll rest easy knowing her home is safe.  She will pay you three soul coins upon her return.”

 

“Splendid.  Of course, we have some other business in that general area, so it may be a few days before we arrive.”

 

Madhi had the delicacy to not ask for specifics.  “That won’t be a problem.  I’ll send a message imp to her now and let her know to expect you.”

 

Katla bowed her head slightly.  When she raised it the smile was gone from her face.  “And of course, should any further bounties be offered on any of us, you will turn them down and let us know.”

 

Madhi continued to smile.  “Of course.  I can’t have you dying before you complete the job.  The emporium will be traveling in this area for a few more weeks, so feel free to come back once your business down south is completed.”

 

With that the party returned to their vehicles, inserted fresh soul coins, and headed south.  How long did they drive? Was it hours, or days?  It was impossible to tell as the plain of Avernus sped by under their wheels, day never changing to night.  They could have checked their orb of time, but why bother.  

 

Donyxn mostly rode out front on the two-wheeled Devil’s Ride, occasionally splitting off to explore something that only he, with his magic goggles, could see off in the distance.  When he needed to communicate he pulled up alongside the Tormentor, allowing Almont to use his helm of telepathy to connect them.  Ultimately, however, the trip was uneventful until they spotted the pair of black monoliths on the horizon that signaled their immanent arrival at the hellrider’s crypt.

 

They parked their vehicles a few hundred feet away from the low mound that marked the crypt.  A pair of black monoliths towered over either side, each about fifty feet tall and leaning slightly inward toward the blister on Avernus’ surface.  The mound itself was perhaps ten feet high and another twenty wide, and cut into the center of the north face was a stairway leading down.  

 

Surrounding the mound and monoliths were a dozen kneeling suits of armor, all facing inward and with their swords point-down in the ground.  It was impossible to tell if they were made of stone or metal, if they were statues or if they contained any kind of life force.  Their absolute stillness implied the former, but the party had encountered enough surprises in hell that they weren’t going to make any assumptions.  

 

At the top of the staircase was another knight, this one standing and facing outward in their direction.  Its hands were crossed over the pommel of its sword that, like those of its companions, was tip first into the ground.  Its faceguard was closed, so as with the others one couldn’t tell if it was a being or a statue.  Almont’s mace Lightbringer began to glow.  There were undead nearby.

 Surprisingly it was Lola who spoke first.  “These look like the hellriders we rode into Elturel with,” she said, her normally sing-song voice subdued.

 

“Well, we best be getting on with it,” said Kent, trudging over to one of the kneeling forms on the far right side.  He circled it slowly before returning.  “It’s an actual suit of armor, alright.  Looks like it’s been here a long time, and there’s nothing inside of it.”

 

Katla began painting a shape in the air with her hands.  “My turn.”  Moments later an image began to form, and a few seconds later it coalesced into a perfectly rendered image of Reya, their former companion.  Donyxn’s eyes grew wide at the sight of paladin.  It looked exactly as he remembered her.

 

Katla had the illusion walk forward toward the knight guarding the stairs.  When it got within ten feet a booming voice blasted out of the standing figure.  “All those who hope to gain entry must prove themselves worthy.”

 

The sorceress spoke for her illusion.  “I am Reya, hellrider of Elturel.  And we are here seeking the sword of Zariel so that we may save the city and return it and its people back home.”

 

“Your cause is worthy.  But you must prove that you yourselves are worthy,” came the reply.  With that they suddenly realized that four of the kneeling knights were now standing, forming a square around the party and positioned at each of the four corners.  How had they managed this without anyone noticing the movement?  Some kind of sorcery was surely at play.

 

Donyxn was the first to react, quickly firing two arrows from his new bow.  The first sunk into the ground in front of one of the knights, the second glanced off of its pauldron.  

 

“Damn your infernal iron bow, boy,” Kent snarled, drawing his scimitar just as two of the knights closed in on him.  The dwarf was quick and had just enough time to prepare for the attack, blocking a pair of blows from the sword of one knight while dodging a swipe from the other, though it sliced into his shoulder with a second strike.

 

The other pair of knights closed on Donyxn.  The ranger used his metal bow defensively to fend off some of the blows, but he wasn’t able to stop them all.  While the knights’ swords failed to penetrate his leather armor, the blows were strong and would surely leave him bruised, and possibly with some cracked ribs.

 

The illusion of Reya disappeared as Katla’s eyes transformed to white orbs.  She thrust out her arms and from each hand leapt a ball of force that struck the pair of knights engaging Donyxn.  The balls struck with loud thunderclaps, knocking the creatures backwards and providing the tiefling with a bit of space.

 

On the other side of the battle Almont called forth his spectral spirit guardians, a trio of sword-wielding angels of light forming around him as he charged toward Kent, his hammer raised.  One of the knights turned and blocked his blow, but the pair of horrors were set upon by the cleric’s angelic companions which rained blows down upon them. 

 

On the other side of the battle Donyxn used the space Katla created for him to great effect.  He had the feel for the bow now and the knights were quite close.  He notched two arrows and once and infused them with a magical hail of thorns before letting them fly, both striking one of the knights and showering both with a cloud of long, sharp magic spines.

 

Kent continued to try to defend himself against the pair of knights attacking him, which were undeterred by the specters piercing them with swords made of light.  The rogue’s scimitar was fast, but he continued to be battered under the press of the attack, blood now flowing from a number of wounds.  The knights were relentless in their focus.

 

Katla looked to Kent then back to Donyxn.  “Help Kent!” shouted the tiefling.  “I can deal with these!”

 

With that she turned and a trio of scorching rays fired out form the circlet of blasting they had liberated from the wereboars what seemed like weeks prior, but was probably only a day ago.  One went wide but the other two struck home and one of the knights attacking Kent exploded, sending pieces of armor flying in all directions.

 

Seeing an opportunity to disengage the injured dwarf reached to his belt and retrieved the immovable rod, which he quickly inserted into the open faceguard of the remaining knight in front of him.  It tried to strike as he dashed away, but the rod prevented it from moving forward and reaching him with its blow.  As he moved Kent quaffed a potion of healing to stave off the worst of his wounds.

 

Almont once again swung his hammer and the knight deflected the with its shield.  However, given its limited mobility it couldn’t stop Lightbringer, the crystalline head of the mace glowing brightly as it struck the knight in the chest while the three spirit guardians flew around and continued to pierce it.

 

Meanwhile Donyxn was gaining the upper hand on his assailants.  As they pressed their attack again he deftly used the bow to deflect all their blows, twirling it like a staff and creating a shower of blue sparks with every blow.  In one fluid motion the ranger rolled backwards, notched another pair of arrows and loosed them from point-blank range, both striking a knight and causing it to simply fall apart into a pile of armor pieces while the spike-like thorns peppered the other.  Katla fired a pair of Eldritch blasts at this remaining knight as well, but while her rays struck home the energy simply dissipated without causing any damage.  They did, however, seem to slow it for just a moment, which was all the time Donyxn needed to hit it with a pair of arrows and another cloud of magic thorns, shredding it as it collapsed backwards.

 

Kent attempted to sneak around and attack the remaining knight engaged with Almont, but his wounds slowed the normally nimble dwarf and both his swings resulted in glancing blows that failed to do any damage.  Almont fared a bit better, the creature able to block his right-handed hammer strikes with its shield but unable to fend off the blinding Lightbringer, which knocked pieces of armor loose with every strike.  The spirit guardians too continued to puncture the knight, leaving smoking holes everywhere their swords of light struck.  But it was Katla who finally finished it off, a blast of fire careening in from Almont’s right and immolating the thing, the sorceress’ control so good that the cleric barely even felt the heat as the fire passed by on the way to its target.

 

A few seconds later the booming voice returned.  “You have proven yourself worthy.  You may enter the crypt.”

 

Kent was badly battered in the battle, and both Almont and Donyxn sustained injuries as well.  Almont offered up a healing prayer for the entire group, a golden light enveloping them.  Almont and Donyxn’s wounds disappeared completely, as did most of Kent’s, reducing what had once been a deep gouge in his shoulder to a much less severe and more manageable cut.  

 

As they walked up the mound it became clear that there were once many more of the kneeling guardians, perhaps a hundred or more.  There were no signs of those who came before them and were likely killed, but Avernus had a way of cleansing its surface as if it were a living thing with a mind of its own.  Who knows how many decaying bodies were buried under there.

 

With that they went down the black onyx staircase.  At the bottom was a pair of ten-foot high basalt doors that stood open.  One featured a relief of a hellrider, the other a devil.  If closed the doors would show the pair in battle, the hellrider with his left hand around the devil’s throat, his right holding his sword low in preparation for an upward thurst.  The devil was of a type of the party did not recognize, one of its taloned hands held back and about to strike and it’s spike-tipped tail piercing the hellrider’s side.  

 

Inside the doors was a passage to the right and another to the left.  The hallways looked as if they had been carved by a perfect cube, ten feet high and ten feet wide.  The surfaces, like the doors, were basalt, and it did not appear that the crypt was built so much as it was carved directly into the stone.  It wasn’t clear how the underground space was lit, but a dim, bluish light reached even the smallest nooks.

 

Kent brushed his hands along the wall.  “I know a thing or two about mining and building, but I have no idea how this was accomplished.”

 

“Given the height of the ceiling, it obviously wasn’t made by dwarves,” Donyxn deadpanned.  

 

Kent sighed.  

 

“Enough,” said Almont.  He withdrew the mace Lightbringer from the loop on his belt.  Its crystalline skull head glowed with a flat yellowish light.  The cleric held it in front of him with the face directly across from his own and closed his eyes.  After a moment his eyes opened.  “We go left.”  With that he turned and began walking down the hall, his warhammer in his right hand, Lightbringer in his left.

 

“May the gods help us if the mace is talking to him now,” Kent muttered, as the other three followed the cleric.

 

After traveling thirty feet the hall entered one corner of a rectangular room, perhaps thirty feet wide and another sixty long.  As they looked to the right upon entering they could see even in the dim light that the room was unadorned and empty other than an iron urn that stood precisely in the center.  The urn was about half the height of a human and was decorated with the emblem of the hellriders.  A pair of passages exited the room at the far side, the one in the right corner continuing straight and the other in the left corner angling away. 

 

The party spread out as they cautiously approached the urn.  When they were almost upon it wisps of spectral energy rose from its open top and coalesced into the image of a hellrider in full armor.  Everyone took a step back and readied their weapons, Katla’s eyes beginning to glow red as she began to radiate heat.  

 

The undead being spoke.  “We are the hellriders.  This is our crypt.  Why are you here?”  Its voice seemed to lower the temperature in the room.

 

Almont stepped forward.  “I am Almont Bonecrusher of the Order of the Gauntlet and a friend of the hellriders.  We are here seeking Zariel’s sword so that we may save the people of Elturel and return the city back to the material plane.”

 

The specter seemed to consider this.  “You speak the truth.  Your cause is worthy.”

 

“Well now we’re getting somewhere,” said Kent quietly.

 

“But I cannot aid you,” the specter continued.

 

“Or not,” the dwarf sighed.

 

Almont shot the rogue a look before turning back to the knight.  “Tell us how you find yourself here.”

 

“I am Thomas.  Or at least I was when I still walked among the living.  We hellriders signed an oath to Zariel before she led us to Avernus.  After her fall from grace we were still bound by our oaths.  Olanthius was our leader and the best of us.  It was under his guidance that we made our pact with Zariel.  When she allied herself with the infernal powers Olanthius was stricken with guilt for having condemned all of us to now fighting for evil instead of against it.  He took his own life in shame, but Zariel raised him from the dead, and now he wanders this crypt for his dead brothers as a death knight, still beholden to the fallen angel.  He hates her, but is bound to serve her.”

 

“Where can we find Olanthius?” Almont asked.

 

“I do not know.  I never leave this room.  I believe he spends his time in the center of the crypt, but cannot tell you how to get there.”

 

Kent looked down and shook his head.  Katla smacked his arm with the back of her hand and then stepped forward. “Thomas, is it possible for us to free you from this place?”

 

Thomas turned his eyes upward slightly as if trying to see something in the distance.  “I do not know.  Such things are beyond me.  But perhaps if you were to find our oath document and destroy it, my soul and those of my brothers would be released from this place.”  

 

“Thank you, brother Thomas.  We will find a way to free you.”  The elf bowed her head.  Thomas reciprocated the gesture as his form dissipated.  

 

“Well, if we’re aiming for the center of this crypt, the passage dead ahead seems the most likely route,” observed Kent.  Everyone nodded in agreement.

 

The passage had three small alcoves, each holding a stone coffin marked with the hellriders’ symbol.  That in and of itself was not surprising.  What was unusual, however, was that each coffin had a single red rose laid upon it, and the roses all appeared to be freshly cut.

 

“This just keeps getting better,” Kent muttered.

 

The passage turned to the right then opened into another large room, roughly twice the size of the previous one.  At the far end of the room the entire wall was taken up by a mural, it’s surface immaculate and colors unnaturally vibrant.  The scene showed a portal on the far left side through which streamed an army of hellriders onto the plain of Avernus.  Infernal forces approached from the right and the two armies were poised to collide in battle.  

 

Like the prior room it also held an iron urn in its center, though this one was wider and taller than the other.  The party approached expecting another apparition, but none appeared.  When they peered inside they saw it was filled with human bones as well as scraps of paper with writing on them.  

 

While the others peered inside the urn Almont made his way to the mural, went to one knee, and offered a prayer.  This was a holy place, and despite the hellriders being forced by oaths to fight for the infernal powers he knew that in their hearts they were good.  As he reflected upon this, a shuffling sound from the left reached his ears.  He turned just in time roll to his side and avoid a swipe from the clawed hand of a zombie.

 

They had been incautious, failing to account for the room’s entrances and exits, and for their sins they were set upon by five shuffling zombies.  Two had emerged from a side passage to Almont’s left and another two from a passage at the opposite side of the room.  The fifth emerged from the hall they had just come from.

 

Donyxn quickly planted a pair of arrows into one of the undead, while Katla turned and blasted another to cinders with a ray of fire.  Almont connected with a third using both his hammer and brightly-glowing mace.  What the zombies lacked in speed, however, they made up for in toughness, and the one Almont struck raked his left arm with its razor-sharp talons. 

 

On the other side of the room the eyes of three zombies glowed bright blue as they locked their gazes upon his three companions.  Donyxn simply laughed as he notched another pair of arrows into his bow and felled one of the creatures, an arrow planted into each of its eyes.  Katla too was unfazed as she prepared to cast forth more fire.  

 

Kent, however, was not so fortunate, his face a mask of sheer terror as he stumbled backwards.  He fell and landed on his rear, discharging his pistol crossbow in the process and managing to accidentally strike his tormentor in the leg as it continued toward him.  The dwarf scrambled toward the wall, his voice bellowing with fear.

 

Donyxn put two arrows into the creature stalking Kent and Katla followed with a gout of flame that dropped it to its knees for a few moments before it fell face first as the fire consumed it.  They turned to see Almont had killed one of his attackers and was battering the other into submission with Lightbringer, its skull head glowing brightly as it did what it was created to do, smite the undead.  

 

Donyxn helped Kent up, a look of concern in his mercury eyes, but the dwarf regained his composure quickly and waved his friend off.  “I hate those damn things,” he said, as much to himself as anyone else.

 

A search of the room revealed nothing further of interest.  They exited through the passage closest where they entered, Kent’s intuitive sense of direction guiding them.  “If Thomas was right and Olanthius is near the center of the crypt, this takes us in that general direction.  The other passage will take us further away.”

 

Another hallway, more coffins, and another room identical to the first with an exit on the far side.  And as happened in the first, they approached the urn in the center and were greeted by a spectral knight.  This one was named Richard and his tale was similar to that of Thomas, though with one significant difference.  According to Richard, Olanthius resided in the eastern part of the crypt.

 

“If that’s the case, then that side passage we didn’t take in the first room would bring us closer to Olanthius,” observed Kent.  

 

Katla had a look of concentration on her face.  Donyxn walked to where she stood off to the side.  “What is it?”

 

“Richard… Richard…” she said.  “And Thomas… that’s it!”  The sorceress turned and ran out of the room using the same passage they had emerged from.

 

“Katla!” the tiefling shout as he ran after her.  He wasn’t sure what had gotten into her, but she was never impulsive, so it had to be important.  Still, it wasn’t safe to run off by yourself in a hell-crypt.

 

Almont and Kent both turned, startled, in time to see Donyxn disappear down the hall.  “What the…” Kent began before the pair ran after their friends. 

 

When they emerged into the larger room the two zombies the elf had killed were still burning.  Donyxn was standing next to the urn, his arms crossed.  Sticking out of the urn were two thin elvish legs.

 

Kent and Almont slowed their pace as they walked toward Donyxn.  “Help me out,” echoed Katla’s voice hollowly from within the iron container.  Donyxn reached in, grabbed her by the waist, and pulled her out.  Clutched in her hands were two scraps of paper.

 

“Richard and Thomas,” she said, holding them out for the others to see.  

 

“So?” asked Kent.

 

“Their signatures.  These are the signatures of the hellriders from their contract with Zariel.  There are at least a hundred more inside.”

 

They sifted through some of the scraps and Katla’s observation proved correct, as each contained a signature.  “So what do we do with them?” Kent asked.

 

“Burn them,” said Donyxn.  They turned to look at him.  “If it’s an infernal contract, we burn it.”

 

They made their preparations.  Almont offered up a prayer for the souls of the hellriders before stepping aside and joining Kent and Donyxn behind Katla.  Heat began to radiate off the sorceress, her hands turning orange before darkening to red.  She held her arms out with her hands waist high before suddenly swinging them up above her head.  As she did so a whooshing sound emerged from the urn followd by a cylinder of flame that reached the ceiling before spreading outward along it.  The fire disappeared almost immediately leaving behind nothing more than a few inches of gray ash in the bottom of the urn.

 

Nothing happened for a moment, then the sensation of moving air filled the room.  There were sounds too, but they were unnatural and painful to the ears.  The maelstrom only lasted for a few seconds before things became calm again. Then they heard a rasping voice that sounded impossibly far away.  It whispered, “Thank you.”  That was followed by a deafening silence.  Lightbringer’s glow dimmed considerably.

 

Kent walked over to the mural.  Something had caught his eye, a glass-like glint had reflected in the light created by Katla’s conflagration.  “Donyxn,” he called.  “I need your height.”

 

The tiefling walked over and Kent pointed to something up high.  Donyxn pulled an arrow from his quiver and used it to extend his reach, bringing it back down with a thin gold chain dangling from it.  Attached to the necklace were three orange beads.

 

“Fireball beads!” the dwarf exclaimed.  The party had found one of these at the hellrider’s hall in Elturel, though hadn’t used it yet.  While fire wasn’t generally useful in hell, within the crypt they were dealing primarily with the undead.  They carefully removed the beads from the necklace and distributed them among Almont, Katla, and Donyxn.  Better to spread the firepower.

 

“So what now?”  Donyxn asked.

 

It was a reasonable question.  They’d been told they could find Olanthius first in the center of the crypt, then in the eastern part.

 

Kent had an idea.  “I say we go back to that first room and take the southeast passage.  If nothing else we can then eliminate that part of the crypt from our search, plus we shouldn’t have to worry about anything sneaking up on us from behind.”  

 

It was as good a plan as any, so they retraced their steps back to the first room and took the southeast passage.  In short order it brought them to what was the largest room they’d encountered thus far.  

 

The far wall was at least a hundred feet long and the ceiling a good fifteen feet above the floor.  That entire wall was covered with a detailed relief that was striking for its sheer size.  As with the other artworks in the crypt this too depicted a battle between hellriders and devils, but what made it different was the two central figures – a massive, tusked mammoth being ridden by a blindfolded angel holding her sword aloft.  

 

“That’s me and Zariel.”

 

The voice startled the adventurers and they all turned quickly, but it was just Lola, her wings fluttering rapidly.  “That’s me and Zariel leading the hellriders into battle.  It’s right before she… turned.”

 

In front of the relief wall were four blocks of basalt, each six feet tall and twelve feet wide.  Onto each were carved names, one name for each of the hellriders who swore themselves to Zariel.  While Katla and Kent walked along the relief and Donyxn lit his pipe, Almont went to the blocks and read through the names.  Everything appeared normal until he reached the letter O.  “Oathtaker… Oglethorpe…”  The next name in the sequence had been roughly chiseled out by someone or something.  The next legible name was Oystein. 

 

“I think someone removed Olanthius’ name from this memorial,” Almont said.  Katla walked to where he stood.  “Yes, I think you’re right,” she said, her brow furrowed.

 

“There’s a door over here.”  It was Kent at the left side of the room.  The three walked over to join him, and sure enough there was what looked to be a secret door.  “It was ajar when I got here.  I didn’t open it.”

 

They pushed the door back and into what appeared to be a modest living chamber.  A single bed, which looked unused, was in one corner.  A writing desk, chair, and small bookshelf rounded out the furnishings.

 

Katla rapidly flipped through the books.  “It looks like what Thomas told us was true,” she said.  “Olanthius blamed himself for what happened to the hellriders and took his own life, but he was raised from the dead and is still trapped by his oath.”

 

“At least we were able to set his hellriders free,” Donyxn said.

 

“Hey, there’s something here,” Kent said, removing a small ornate wood box from under the bed.  When opened it revealed what appeared to be a healing potion and a scroll that, based on the inscriptions on the tube holding it, was for a spell of polymorph.

 

“Grab them and let’s move on,” Almont said.

 

“I’m not touching ‘em,” replied Kent.

 

Almont turned back around.  “Since when do you have qualms about taking things, Kent?”

 

“Remember what Burney said.  She told to be wary of treasure and to seek only knowledge.”

 

“This is hardly treasure,” Almont said as he reached into the box and removed both items.

 

As soon as he did so a voice boomed out from the main room behind them.  “Who dares desecrate the crypt of the hellriders?  Come forth and answer for your crimes.”