Session 17

Having vanquished Hallack's group, the Knot is quick to get Sister Marta into the Manacles of Cooperation they had acquired in their initial looting of the Horn.  They also stabilized the dying dwarf, Yorgen and collected the remains of the others, to be placed in "storage" for later use, and allowing Grumblejack to wield the magical hammer that use to be the weapon of Yorgen the Smith.

Immediately following the downfall of Hallack's Crew, the Knot moves on any possible opportunity this has opened up.

Galen, Quell & Brother Summit make a trip to Farholde and they break into the houses of the members of Hallack's Crew, though they find little of note.  While in town, Quell & Brother Summit check in with the 7th knot and have cordial but brief conversation with the aloof Trak.  He mentions a reward has been posted on information pertaining to the missing Sister Marta.

Back in the Horn, Yorgen & Sister Marta experience the craft of the talented Yvainne.  If Halthus the Flayer's heart wasn't in a bowl in the sanctum of Vetra-Kali powering the dark ritual, it would have beat faster knowing the old torture chamber was being put to good use.  As it was, the heart simply kept a low beat in time with the ritual magic which ebbed around the Horn.

For the next couple weeks the Knot carries on with a variety of actions.

Concern over the possible faltering of the faith of Sister Marta, the Knot devised a plan to keep her spirits up.  Mardus began his roll in the plot by pretending to be a minion in the Horn who was in charge of feeding the Sister.  For the first couple weeks he begins to show kindness towards the blind woman.  Unable to rely on the disguise ability of the Iron Crown, Mardus showed his true con-artist ways & easily fools the blind Nun.  Along the way, Yvainne helps out by being upset about Mardus helping the Nun and "acting" out abusing him for his help.  The whipping of Mardus was done with a great deal of ease on Death Priestess' part, as if it wasn't an act at all.

Meanwhile, Mardus and Emmerick also spend time working down the Dwarf's resistance, trying to convince the reluctant Smith that cooperation will yield better circumstances.  A combination of diplomacy (by Mardus) and intimidation (by Emmerick) provide some results & Yorgen acquiesces to the idea of helping the Knot with minor work in exchange for increased freedom.

Galen spends his time examining the damaged alchemical golem in an attempt to catalog all the various damage and set about a plan to repair it.  Along the way the Conjurer continues to craft a variety of magical items for the Knot.

The Knot gathers together to perform one of the Rituals of the Sons of the Pale Horseman they found.  They create three hell hounds, bound in service to Yvainne.  The Knot also makes a trip to their neighbor, the green dragon, Sanderax, leaving Grumblejack behind.  By offering tribute to the dragon, the silver tongue of Mardus manages to gain a powerful aerial look-out for the Horn's defenses.

Arriving back at the Horn from their outing with a dragon, they find a fight has broken out.  The Daemonic guardians of the Horn have returned & are butchering minions while Grumblejack attempts to fight back.  Quick thinking on Galen's part saves Grumblejack from the assault.  By using the name-plates containing the Daemon's true names that were recovered from the hidden treasury, he binds both to his control, adding two more powerful defenders to the Horn.

While questioning the two new Daemons in their guard post at the foot of the long stairs leading to the secret Sanctum above, Grumblejack idly asks what is above.  Emmerick is quick to dismiss the large giant, as he has been for the past few weeks.  Galen however speaks quietly to the ogre & explains what's going on.  In response Grumblejack is quick to ask to see what's above.  Emmerick responds with indifference, but Galen encourages the curiosity & wrapping up the rather pleasant conversation with the Daemons, offers to take Grumblejack to the sanctum high above.

The minute the ogre enters the Sanctum of Vetra-Kali, he complains of a powerful headache and an overwhelming thirst.  Quell and Emmerick both offer water-skins but they are of no avail, nor is a wine-skin   Thinking in an unorthodox way, Galen draws forth a vile of unholy water from the shrine and feeding the unholy nectar to Grumblejack, the ogre's form changes.  Grumblejack's horns, before only stubs hardly visible under his mop of hair now sprout and reveal the half-fiends true origins.  The most startling discovery, for both the ogre and the Knot, is when Grumblejack recovers to find himself magically floating above the ground.  Startled and then ecstatic about his new-found flight, a reenactment of Grumblejack's earlier adventures crossing the border into Talengarde play out.  Various knot members try to get Grumblejack to return to the ground.  And are met with limited success, but only after the ogre has flown all about the horn, including through the glowing green energy field that surrounds the upper reaches of the Horn. Grumblejack returns to his guard duties, but the sight of a flying half-fiend ogre about the Horn of Abaddon will likely be a common sight for the months to come.

During all the hustle and bustle of the knot, a couple activities go mostly unnoticed.

The first is that of Brother Summit.  Some in the Knot notice him taking an interest in their religious rituals.  Yvainne gladly teaches Brother Summit all about her Death God.  And Brother Summit gets an insight into Emmerick's religious experience.  Seeing what a well adjusted individual could only describe as the insane ramblings of a madman.  However the Monk simply watches & occasionally attempts to imitate it.

However that is not what goes without notice.  Rather, what no other Knot members notices is the constant battle of wills that is going on within Brother Summit as he meditates and willingly lets the power of Vetra-Kali into his mind.  Only to fight off the outside alien presence.  The constant battle of wills further heightening the Monk's power as he engages on a quest to become truly independent of divine interference.

The second mostly unnoticed activities are that of Quell.  The elven rogue slips away into the caverns below the Horn to speak with the Shaman of the Boggard clan that lives below.  Quell asks to take part in one of the Shaman's vision quests.  He seeks to remember his time when he was dead & his soul was in Hell.

Smelling the incense & licking an odd looking Toad the Shaman usually has kept in a cage near by, Quell embarks on his vision quest.  Eventually he recalls the fiery pit in hell where he was kept.  He remembers the pain & agony, his price for abandoning the light of Mitra for the fires of Hell.  But he remembers something else.  A dark shadow watching him but before he could see who, or rather what it was, he was woken to the image of the bulbous face of the Boggard shaman.  And behind him a rather dark scowl from Yvainne.  It seems what was but a moment in Quell's mind was hours and hours of real time.  And the Death Priestess went looking for him after he hadn't been seen for hours on end.

Quell was still not content.  His vision quest was so intoxicating & powerful.  What other memories could he free up & relive.  So after a few days, Quell again returned to see the Shaman below the Horn.  And again took part in the ritual.  This time he tried to remember a fonder experience.  The time when his mother was still alive.  This vision quest however was unsuccessful.  He could not get the image of the Toad out of his head.  It swirled in his mind, blocking any other thoughts.  He eventually is shaken awake by the concerned looking Boggard Shaman.  In his croaking voice the Shaman informs Quell he's been out of it for hours on end and that it's night time.

Quell head back up to the 2nd floor of the horn, along the way he can't seem to shake the visions of Toads swirling in his mind.  As he walks into the 2nd floor entrance, instead of seeing the recently slain remains of the zombie minotaur guard, he only sees more toads, swirling in his vision.  Still a part of his mind registers the oddity of no guard.  As he continues to walk along, he spots what he thinks is the zombie minotaur guard who is with two of Emmerick's guard minions, who appear to be snooping around some of the unused rooms.

He calls out and tells the minotaur his place is to guard the entrance, and the undead brute responds that he'll get right on that & starts walking past Quell.  The elf stands dumbfounded   The zombie creature spoke to him?  That doesn't make sense.  As the creature moves past him, Quell's mind snaps into focus, and he sees the fluttery white feathers brush past his face.  He turns and sees true the creature before him, it is no minotaur!  It is the flying winged serpent woman who led the winged elves & treant in an earlier assault on the Knot.  Quell shoots out as the two "guards" that were there transform before his eyes into hounds with oddly human faces.  And quickly battle is joined.

It takes a few rounds for the rest of the knot to be roused from their sleep, as Quell is forced to take on the foes alone.  The serpent woman hacks at Quell with her blade, the two hounds move forward, one disappearing from sight, the other making multiple images of his form.

As Quell gets surrounded, Galen dimension doors in with Grumblejack & Mardus in tow.  The large half-fiend Ogre blocks the escape.  The three assailants  blocked from escape, focus on Quell.  The serpent woman landing more blows on the rogue while the hounds loose unnerving calls, causing Quell & Mardus both to flee in fear from them, along with one of Yvainne's Hell Hounds.

A long grueling fight ensues, the healing powers of the serpent woman, along with minor healing powers from the hounds allow the three to fight for a long time.  And the absence of the outflanking experts of Quell & Mardus seriously hamper the Knots efforts.  Eventually Grumblejack and others take down the serpent woman.  And then work away at the dog creatures, despite the mirror images they have to contend with. The ever relentless blows from Brother Summit & Emmerick strip away images, as Galen & Yvainne's spells hit true.

The battle eventually ends with the good outsiders vanquished by the Knot of Hell.

Session 16

The next week becomes a flurry of activity.  The Knot returns from the Horn to the town of Farholde with a plan on establishing an evil organization, named the Basileal Shroud, to aid them in their endeavors.  It's emblem being triangular in nature, to represent it's three leaders, Emmerick, Galen & Yvainne.   On the trip back to civilization, they carry what loot they can manage and have Galen lay down arcane marks along the route, to allow future minions & messengers an easy way to and from the Horn.

While in town, Galen gets busy with selling various goods acquired from the Horn, as well as collaborating with Emmerick & Yvainne on establishing their group of evil-doers.  Yvainne focuses on the Orphanage to gain able bodied young lads & children to help the cause.  And Emmerick helps Yvainne, but also searches the slums of Farholde for any desperate cut-throats that could be molded into future soldiers of Hell.  Galen helps out & also begins purchasing some gear they Knot will need in the Horn.

Quell spends some time relaxing & exploring around.

Mardus & Brother Summit check in with the 7th Knot.  There they find a relieved Elise.  It seems a visitor arrived recently & wishes to see the 9th Knot.  Going upstairs they find Tiadora waiting.  It seems Elise finally got ahold of Thorne.  Tiadora is quick to ask if Quell was alive.  Followed up by a general status report.  Her terse attitude rubs Mardus the wrong way, but not being Emmerick, is wise enough to keep his mouth shut.  She doesn't seem bothered by the apparent length of the ritual but is glad to hear from Brother Summit that the Knot is ready to start the ritual soon.  And it seems part of her anger is at an apparent failed attempt to assassinate the King by another of Thorn's Knots.  A failure caused by the son of the late Balentyne Watch Captain, Samual Havelyn.

After her magical departure via teleportation they catch up with Elise on the activities of the 7th Knot.  Again, with Elise, they get a terse report of what the knot has been up to.  Which mostly consists of general recon & the like.  Though she does verify that the acting commander of the local Watch Tower is blood kin to the Victor.   Despite her, at times, unkind words of the 9th Knots progress she gives a full report of her Knots activity.  And this time Brother Summit & Mardus have no problem freely exchanging their opinions before leaving on relatively good terms.  Though clearly a strain between them and Elise has formed.

Also for part of the week Mardus spends time reconnoitering the Abby.  Just to get a feel for the security of the place.

At one point the Knot organizes a quick trip across the river & into the Forests of the Savage North.  Their goal is to pick up their old friend Grumblejack & bring him back to the Horn.  Wielding fireballs & other arcane death, it is with relative ease that the Knot finds their large friend.  En route they question an orc prisoner for information & verify the location of an Ogre encampment and that the Ogres are of a different breed, "southron" as the Orc put it.  What the orc meant was unclear, but the information leads the Knot directly to their friend.  And after a near scuffle with some Ogre guards, Grumblejack comes lumbering forward, calling out "no smash, them little 'uns my friends!"

Reunited with their friend they head south again.  Faced with sneaking the Ogre south into Talengarde lands, Galen casts magical flight on the Ogre.  And after they stop him from simply flying straight up into the air & swooping around for fun, they get him safely across the border.  Together all 6 of the Knot with their Ogre cohort head to the Horn with one objective in mind.

Start the ritual to free Vetra-Kali Eats-the-Eyes.

Arriving back at the Horn, Yvainne schedules one last meeting with Halthus the Flayer.  With Emmerick standing guard outside, Yvainne explains to the Torturer that she wishes to speak more with him and that the new torture equipment was installed and could use testing.  Halthus looks worried, but Yvainne insists all is well & offers herself up first as a test subject.  Halthus, knowing the Anti-paladin is waiting outside agrees & though enjoys himself at first, when his turn comes, his attitude sours quickly.  But seeing no choice he participates.  Yvainne asks a few lingering questions of the torturer and spends her time insuring the cultists legs are left in poor shape.  So that running will not be an option later.  All the time insisting the cultist is critical to their plan to restore Vetra-Kali.

Then the Knot goes upstairs with Halthus in tow, leaving Grumblejack & the Boggards below to stand guard.  Pouring unholy water over the seal of Mitra & intoning the first Dirge, the Knot begins the ritual.  Then Brother Summit grabs the crippled Halthus while the Death Priestess quickly cuts out the heart from the last living Sons of the Pale Horseman & places it in a bowl on the Shrine of Vetra-Kali.  An alien voice fills the minds of all assembled.  "Kazara Vo” -- “I hear".

Like some kind of unholy beacon, a blast of green light shot up into the heavens, shredding through a stray cloud & trying to reach up to the moon high overhead.  All around the horn green balefire glows.  The undergrowth of the forest is blasted off the sides of the Horn, revealing the daemonic temple in all it's dark glory.  The ground quakes and wraiths play about the glowing flames of the Horn.  Far off in Farholde people out at taverns & walking the dark streets look up as from the south they see an eerie green light shine down on rooftop & church steeple, followed by a low rumble that shakes windows and rattles signs.

There is no doubt in the town.  Evil stirs in the Caer Bryr.

The Knot members stand shocked.  Any hope of secrecy has been blasted away by balefire.  After a while the magic subsides and is reduced to only an eerie green sheath of energy that encompasses the top of the Horn.  But still, their position has been exposed, the damage has been done.

Over the next week the Knot rushes to improve defenses.  Hauling around stone & then using magic to shape it into walls & other defensive structures.  They let the Boggards recruit more into their ranks as they begin focusing their other minions on learning the ritual & preparing for attacks on the Horn.  Along the way they learn many of the dark rituals of summoning extra-planer evil creatures that the Sons had learned & detailed in Murals.

The following week the Knot begin instructing the Boggards on how to do the ritual as well, so that all in the Horn know how to perform the ritual.  Aside from Grumblejack, who Emmerick doesn't bother showing the Sanctum to, or the ritual done within it's walls.  Instead he has the Ogre help him with training of the new recruits.

Half way through the week they get their first message from Elise.  It states a group of local adventurers is coming & it details them all.  Quell immediately recognizes the names of Hallock Amon, Yorgun the Smith & Bianca DeVallya.  And all in the Knot remembers the name of James O'Toole, the boxer who nearly downed Brother Summit in the pit fighting in Drownington Manor.  Also a Sister Marta Dian was with the group.  The knot resolved to stop the group, waiting for them to arrive & then ambush them.  With their goal to take Sister Marta alive as a captive and future sacrifice.

The Knot members waited, huddled at the lowest "Eye" of the Horn.  Quell hiding in the shadows looking out over the Caer Bryr from the opening.  Deep below, in the caverns waits Grumblejack, guarding the end of a slim covered bridge, flanked by a trio of Boggard warriors.  Quell, spotting the unlucky band of adventurers from his perch high above the forest signals to his companions and waits.  Just like Elise's note stated, the adventurers head straight for the cave entrance.  Once the last of the doomed adventurers disappears below, the Knot rushes forward.  Joining hands, Galen casts Feather Fall & they all leap out into open air.  The Conjurur's magic provides a swift & safe landing on the forest floor below.  The para-trooping Knot regroups at the cave entrance.  Knowing they have the stop-gap of Grumblejack & the boggards, the Knot takes the time to have Quell slowly scout ahead & ensure the adventurers move past the open cave entrance & are well inside the smaller caves before attacking.

Having ensured the trap will be closed when they attack, the Knot then springs into action & falls on the helpless mouse of an adventuring party.  Hallack's Crew barely has time to react.  O'Tool calls out from the rear of the party that they're under attack.  Hallack tries to rush up & form a wall with O'Tool and Yorgen attempts to flank.  But before their plan is fully realized Galen temporarily blinds most of the party with Glitterdust.  And then, Emmerick, wielding his anti-paladin magics, slams into Hallack, backed up by his arcane companions & Hallack falls under a flurry of blows.  O'Tool likewise gets out-flanked by Brother Summit & Mardus, who work as a team to end the Monk once & for all.  Sister Marta dispels some of the blinding effects but not in time to save Bianca, who goes down under Quell's sneak attack.  A wounded Yorgen, having his sight restored only to see his friend dead at his feet goes into a rage & continues to hammer into Emmerick, giving the Paladin of Hell pause.  But Quell pulls out a sap & quickly downs the mad dwarf.

During the fight Yvainne had quickly walked in amongst the dead & dying, their life's blood pooling at her feet.  All the while feeling the power of her god around her as she unleashes her negative energy blood mists.  Finally arriving at the scared & alone Sister Marta, she casts Blindness on the Mitrian priestess.

As the follower of the sun's vision fades to permanent darkness, the Death Priestess rests a hand on her shoulder.  "Hush.  Accept the mercy & blessing of Zon-Kuthon."