Session 42

The Ninth Knot, having secured Thorn's phylactery and the massive treasure horde of the Cairn Linnorm, declare themselves done with the ancient cairn of the ice elves and leave.  Also, they noticed a scrying sensor.  Thorn likely knew they acquired his heart...

A quick use of reverse gravity and they are back out the way they came.

Out on the surface, they are greeted by a large plum of fire and brimstone.  At first, they think it is a particularly grandiose entrance of Dessiter, until, when the hell smoke cleared they saw a brute the size of a war horse.  The hulking draconic looking devil raised his hands and the Knot reached for blade & spell pouch until the horned devil called out.  "Wait, wait!"

Quickly asking them to give him something to kill, he reveals he's been ordered by Thorn to kill, show them slaughter & taste their blood.  And after that, retrieve his heart.  But the devil clearly has no interest in following through with the intent, just the literal meaning.

The death of one summoned animal & 'showing the Ninth Knot slaughter' the devil was content to give small pin-pricks of blood tasting.  Yvainne though, not afraid of pain, slit her wrist, pouring copious blood into the maw of the gleeful devil.

With the deed done, the Horned Devil & Knot bartered.  The Horned Devil wanted one thing, his true name back from Thorn, unread by any other.  And the opportunity to advise the Ninth, should they come to power in Talengarde.  In exchange, this minion of Thorn would provide them with ample intelligence from his years of service to the Lich.

The Knot eagerly agreed.  Though, only after Wasyli wrote up a contract to protect the Ninth.

With a pile of fresh intel at hand, the Knot contemplated what to do next.

As they discuss the need to check in with Fire Axe.  He seemed to be the most likely to revolt against Thorn.  As he expected to be doomed by the King's Army as Thorn refused to deliver him from his apparent doom.

But then they get a message from the Fifth Knot, Barnabas Thrane.  It seems their arch-rival, Sir Richard, was spotted by the knot member & he's urging them to come quickly.

Still, the Knot decides for caution and instead focuses on checking with the First before the Fifth.  Also, it had been days since they'd received any reports from their spies infiltrating the King's army about the upcoming battle.

As the Knot makes ready for their trip to the ruins of Daveryn, they get a report from their cell.  One lone survivor is all that's left of an apparent slaughter of the command of the army.  The other operatives are missing, presumed dead.  And the army appears to be in rout.

With this news any doubt leaves the minds of the Ninth, the First must be visited.  Still, with a brief hesitation, they do cast a sending ahead of them & receive a friendly response from Fire-Axe.

They meet with an elated Fire-Axe.  It becomes clear with the recent victory that any doubt the Bugbear had for his Master has vanished.  He seems quite pleased at his epic victory.

Still, some oddity's around the tactics of the King's Army leave doubt in the eyes of the Ninth.  They fainted & instead of attacking weak points, assaulted the strongest point.  Odd tactics indeed.

A quick trip to the sight of the King's camp with goblin wolf-riders reveals an interesting site.

Multiple groups assaulted the command tent.  Some wielding arrows that looked identical to Tiadora's Erinyes but others getting impaled and ripped asunder by some kind of brutes.

The Knot manages to find the remains of their minions.  With the bodies intact, they discuss a couple speak with dead spells.  Still, this was turning into one of their best cells.  They infiltrated the King's camp.  Worked their way close to high members of the army's command.  And greatest of all, they managed to stop the informant of the Copper Dragon from alerting the King to all their secrets.

A waste to leave them dead.  In a bold move, the Knot uses raise from dead on all three of them.  And reform their most elite unit.  Clearly a group in need of a name...  Also, they got their Intel, as well as a much more loyal & vicious organization.

Tiadora did arrive here before her visit to the Ninth Knot.  Along with her Nine Erinyes, but they were not alone.  A group of Barbed Devils also attacked.  They slaughtered all the commanders, save one.  The High Commander of the King's Army, General Vastenus Barca.  It seems he was in league with Thorn as the Cainite Knot.

With the discovery of the identity of the Eighth Knot, more of Thorns secrets are revealed.

With this information in hand, the Knot prepares to visit the Fifth Knot.

They discuss a possible risk of an ambush, however, none of their interactions with Barnabas were negative.  And it seemed unlikely he'd try anything.  Fire-Axe for example seemed oblivious to their revolt on Thorn.

The Knot still arrived with a little bit of caution.  But sending a couple to scout out & speak with Thrane raised no red flags, as Barnabas seemed completely sincere in his desire to speak with the Ninth.  With one of Thrane's classic "come to this late night lecture" secret meeting set-up.

The Knot spend some time shopping & resting in town before their late at night meeting at the university.  Surprised to find the plague in town was in rapid decline.

When it was time, they met Thrane in his usual deserted lecture room.  The same as so many other meetings they've had with Thrane.  The cleric of hell certainly was a creature of habit.

As the Knot entered the room, Thrane began to speak, but before he got more than a sentence or two out about getting some secret note with a unicorn on it, he and half the Knot all froze as 6 barbed devils revealed themselves.  Behind them, two more came in snarling.  And with them, a massive horned devil who was silent as a ghost.  It was an ambush.  Just not one Thrane seemed to know anything about.

The Knot considered trying to rescue Thrane, but with half their party under the effects of hold person and facing an array of enemies, the Ninth decided to flee instead.  Quickly bunching up, they teleported away, leaving behind a helpless Thrane.

A day later and another sending revealed Thrane survived unscathed.  Though he seemed reluctant to re-engage with the Ninth.  Still with some coaching, he met the Ninth in a rough & rowdy tavern in town.

The scholar and priest of "Mitra" looked decidedly out of place and uncomfortable in the surroundings and the conversation with the Ninth was terse.  Clearly, he now knew something was up between the Ninth & Thorn.  But still, he spoke to them for he'd been trying for days to warn Thorn to no avail.

The princess was on the move, rallying support.  And the Sons of Balentyne were helping her with Lord Havelyn at her side.  And they knew some of the secrets of the Knot.  But not all was accurate.  The Sons were next to explore Charmagon's lair, who they falsely thought was one of the Knots.  Also, in a point Thrane seems awkward to bring up, they think the Ninth Knot are the masters of the organization.

But with Thrane having communicated the movements of the princess & Sons to both the Ninth & Thorn, he feels his obligations have been fulfilled.  And he quickly takes his leave of the Ninth & their dispute with Thorn.

Interested in the rapid decline of the plague, the Knot does spend another day in town, gathering information.  They find people who seem to be cured, but in fact are infected with another disease, this one an apparently benign one.  Yvainne resorts to Commune to get more information & the Knot finds out one rather important task.  It seems the Princess's mother, the great worm silver dragon, Agetha Regina, created or provided some sort of good counterpart.  An intelligent disease, that hunted the evil one.

The Ninth Knot stood split.  Some arguing to strike at the Paladin now.  Others urging caution, reminding the Knot of the need to eliminate their Master and seize power now.

Session 41

The Shroud minions came in & started to clear out the dead as the Knot digressed into discussing what to do with their master's lieutenant.  Many suggestions were offered.  Kill her, free her, interrogate her.  The loudest voices urged restraint.  Keep her alive, bound (as best they could) and unconscious.  And await Dessiter.

The contract devil did not disappoint.  He arrived on the docks, politely requesting entry to the island.  Unlike Tiadora he waited his turn and was led into the great dome of the island.

He grinned broadly at the Ninth Knot, side-stepping some minions dragging the last of the Erinyes corpses from the room.

The contract devil was quick as ever with his praise of the Ninth.  For their killing of the King, or their killing of the Azata ally and for capturing his "sister", Tiadora, alive.

Around them the servants scrubbed away the blood splatters.

Continuing on, the agent of hell was eager to free the Ninth from their contract, and for that he informed them they had to meet his Master, the Marquise of the Fourth Misery, the Pit Fiend, Nabarius.

The Knot asked for a few moments, which Dessiter offered, but with a warning: "be quick".

Dragging the unconscious devil upstairs into the library stacks, where the previous resident had held Quell prisoner, the Ninth deposited their prisoner.  Also they piled mounds of the teleportation negating crystal rocks around her and had Yvianne stone shape it up around the handmaiden devil to her waist.  Rocks intertwining with her tentacles and binding her in place.

Satisfied with their prison for their immortal "guest" the Ninth returned to Dessiter and returned to the docks, where, with a poof of sulfur and brimstone, the devil brought the Ninth Knot into the personal pocket plane of the Fourth Marque of Misery.

There, before a nobel of hell, Dessiter introduced the Knot.

In a booming voice, Nabarius dismissed the contract devil.  "Do you have to hide behind the compliments of others.  Speak of your deeds.  And know, Hell is watching."

The Knot stumbles a little, but with a couple soft whispers from Dessiter, they manage to speak of their great deeds.

With a rumble the Marque speaks.  "And why Dessiter, are these mortals before me?"

Dessiter explains the plight of the Ninth and further explains he's found a way out of the contract.

"Your lord, the second pact is quite clear, they are bound to he who is known as 'Cardinal Adrastus Thorn, High Priest of Asmodeus in Talengarde'.  If he were to no longer be High Priest of Asmodeus..."  Dessiter quickly explains.

With a rumble the fiend responds, "interesting... and do remind me, who bestowed this title on Thorn?"

"Well you did" responds the contract devil.

The Ninths eyes widened as they all shared a look at that revelation.

"So with but a word, I could reduce him to just a priest?"

"Your knowledge of the finer legal points surpass mine oh guardian of the guillotine gate" responds Dessiter.

"Still, it is a trying time in Talengarde.  I would hate to leave such a vital post unfilled.  Is there no one who could step up and claim the mantle?"  mused the fiend.

Seeing the opportunity, Mardus stepped up and with the support of his allies, he spoke of his greatness and ability to lead the faithful.

The pit fiend waived a hand.  "Silence, I have heard enough.  I had high hopes in Thorn.  But he has failed me.  I renounce his title.  And I appoint you, Mardus, as the new High Priest of Asmodeus in Talengarde.  Now be gone all of you, do not let me down.  And Mardus, do not forget about what has happening to your predecessor."

With a snap of his fingers, the pit fiend then banished the Ninth back to the docks of their island headquarters.

The Ninth, eager to attack their former master, discuss finding and assaulting his fortress.  But Dessiter dampens their great plans.

"Thorn is not a simple mortal man.  Slaying him and he'll return.  He is no mortal."

"What is he, how can we destroy him." Asks Wasyli.

"Quite simple, he is a Lich.  And I might have a lead on the location of his phylactery."

Dessiter then proceeds to tell the Ninth how for the past few weeks he's been off trying to find it & may have a lead.  References to the priest, Samuel Havelyn, the mortal form of Thorn, references a Cairn Linnorm far away in the savage north,

With the Ninth Knot given a starting point on the next step, Dessiter bows & departs.  Leaving the Ninth Knot to plot next steps.

Researching the Library, the seized records from the diviner in Daveryn and Brother Summit conversing with their trapped Demi-lich, the Ninth assemble a host of information about the Cairn Linnorm.  The biggest concerns, the need to use spells like Death Ward.  And a death curse.  Whoever fells the Cairn Linnorm risks being doomed to a swift, unnatural aging and death.  An unpleasant prospect to be sure.

And yet, a possible option, existed.  the Demi-Lich spoke to Brother Summit that somewhere in the Cairn, was an artifact, that if still functional, could remove the curse.  A massive stone Obelisk, that the Linnorm dragon hated & gnawed on.  If the beast hadn't managed to destroy it there could be hope.  The Demi-lich also offered to aid the Ninth, if Brother Summit would free him.  An "offer" Brother Summit turned down.

The Knot were ready to go.  And with the shadow magic of Wasyli they could turn a week long trip into a few hours if they walked between the shadowplane & prime material plane.  Yet the concern about the otherworldly horrors around the Caer Bryr gave them pause.

Mardus remembered the magical way to examine people told to him by the archmage in Ghastenhall.  He quickly reviewed Brother Summit and was relieved to see his companion didn't show signs of corruption.  Then, he absently checked his other members, something he hadn't done before.  And to his horror he say most of this companions were showing signs of taint, in particular, Emmerick.  Clearly their fight in the ruined sanctum of Mitra in the Cathedral of Mitra-Made-Manifest, had an unexpected affect on all of them.

With that unsettling news, the Knot decided to carefully use teleportation magic to get around the Caer Bryr and in half a day arrived in the area of the Cairn that the Linnorm called home.

Exploring the outside of the Cairn, they see only one obvious entrance.

The knot waits & has Brother Summit approach and it's when Brother Summit's half-orc vision that spots some stone guardians waiting inside the entrance.

Unwilling to advance, the Knot regroups and decides to do one more check of the Cairn's exterior.  That's when Quell noticed the large cap stone of the cairn looks to actually be movable.

Yvainne uses her vampiric gaseous form to slip into the cracks around the cap stone & finds within a massive stone chamber.

The Knot decide they've found the likely lair of the Cairn Linnorm.

The forces of hell ready themselves.  They shroud themselves in powerful magic & when they are fully warded in powerful magic, they attempt to dimensional door into the Cairn, and there magic fails.

Unwilling to waste all their spells they think on their feet & Mardus casts reverse gravity on the massive stone slap, lifting the huge bolder into the air.

Below there's a roar, and battle is at hand.

The cairn linnorm rushes up and attacks the Knot as they stand ready around the slap.

Blasting them with breath weapon after breath weapon, the magical wards hold and the Ninth Knot manage to shrug off the beasts attack.

The more direct tooth & claw prove more damaging.  But still somehow the Ninth manage to weather the attacks as their melee members fly in, braving the lightning strikes of the creature.

The magical might of the Ninth Knot fail to penetrate the spell resistance of the dragon, but armed with cold iron, the Knot rips into the beast with death cold steel.

The Cairn Linnorm managed to inflict some damage as it howled in pain from the blows against it's form.  But were as lesser attacks had bounced off, or immediately healed up, these blows ripped through it's form.

In a flurry of steel, Emmerick plunged Helbrand into the beasts form, piercing it's hard.  The blood of the dragon washing over the blade.  Emmerick removed the sword and watched as the monster fell down into the darkness.

The death curse reached out, but the anti-paladin simply shrugged it off.

Flying down below, the Knot found the form of the dragon impaled on a massive stone obelisk, it's blood soaking into the stone.  The obelisk glowing in the darkness.

Then the Knot looks around and finds a massive treasure horde.  Coins, gems, magic items.  And sifting through the pile they find the true prize.  A golden coffin, within it a lock box containing a blackened and burnt human heart, wrapped in strands of iron, barbed with spikes of iron that dig into the heart.

They found it.  Cardinal Thorn's phylactery.

Their victory over the Cardinal was close at hand.