Session 13

Quell's ability eventually kicked in & he cracked open the safe, to find a pile of coins and magical manacles of co-operation.  Not the huge treasure rumored to be in the area, but useful none the less.  The knot continued to explore the remainder of the first floor of the Horn of Abaddon.  They found little else of note.  Mostly just more destroyed and abandoned rooms, including a ransacked old tavern on the first floor.  The only thing that intrigued them was an odd Throne in a large temple.  It radiated a conjuration aura, which greatly interested Galen, the Conjurer.  However, they could not figure out how to use it, even Mardus tried to "fake it" but had no luck.  They only useful markings where the words "Yah" in Abyssal.

Having finished exploring the first floor, the Knot went back outside & began ascending the much longer & more precarious stairway up to the second floor.  When they got a little over half way, off to the north a large flock of multi-colored birds took flight, accompanied by the sound of some creature roaring.  The Knot stopped & those of keen eye peered off in the distance, trying to see what was causing it.  They did notice the area of commotion was centered around that clearing where those unicorns were located.  Even more intrigued at the possibility of the "green lizard" being out there, they tried harder but still failed to see anything.  That is, until the large green dragon took flight above the tree canopy, weighed down by the severed unicorn head in it's claws.

Mardus & Yvainne dove for cover, using the various roots & brambles that covered the walk way to shield them from site.  Quell, an expert in both hiding and fleeing, opted to combine his areas of expertise and being closer to the unknown gaping maw of the second eye of the Horn, he stealth-ed up that way.  Brother Summit & Emmerick simply stood unmoved, eyeing the beast as it rose up.  Wither the dragon would have ever noticed them or not is unclear, it's possible Brother Summit & Emmerick's indifference might have been just fine.  But it didn't matter, for Galen took a much more "pro-active" approach.  He cast fly on himself and charged straight at the dragon, along the way calling out a greeting in Draconic.

At first the dragon responded as most dragons would, he breathed a cone of acid all over Galen.  The wizard some how took the blow & continued to try to converse.  In the end, the combination of bravery verging on the insane, fluent honeyed words in draconic, speaking with a slightly wounded dragon that could keep up while encumbered with a large unicorn head and quite frankly a healthy dose of dumb luck saved Galen and allowed him to have a conversation with the dragon that did not end in him being eaten.

The dragon, named Sanderax, lived in a near by spire.  The Knot, attempting to be friendly offered to heal the wounds the dragon sustained in it's fight with the Unicorns.  Also, noting the unicorn horn being quite valuable, offered to make healing items from it for the dragon.  Sanderax said they had one day, then he'd be back for the healing items the group would make.  Then he took flight & left them with the severed unicorn head.  Warning that if they attempted to leave the Horn, he would see & hunt them down.

Faced with a tight deadline, the Knot had a hard choice to make.  In the end, they opted to split the group.  Mardus & Yvainne went back down to the Boggard village in the caverns below.  Yvainne to being grinding up the unicorn horn into powder to craft healing potions with it.  And Mardus to provide the healing spellls to be used.  Galen went down briefly as well, claiming to cast spells to aid Yvainne in her crafting attempts, though, Yvainne & Mardus did note when they got down there, he also changed himself.  As it seemed the dragon got the best of the mighty wizards bladder.

The remaining members, Emmerick, Brother Summit, Quell & the returned Galen continued up to the second floor of the Horn, without any powerful divine casting.  The Knot seemingly unconcerned with the prospect of another Knot having gone missing in the daemonic ruins they now crawl through continued on their way.  The group took no time at all to get across a disabled pit trap in the entry way before Quell quickly noted a secret door.  The group choice to abandon the obvious choice of continuing down the hallway head & used the secret door instead.  Though, they left Emmerick behind to guard the hallway, in case something came from that direction.

They eventually stumbled into small temple, much smaller than the one of the ground floor, yet covered with much finer carvings & inscriptions.  And at back center of the temple, nearly identical to the one on the first floor was a throne.  This time, the throne bore the abyssal script "Rah".

Galen, even more intrigued, had an idea.  He sat on the throne & called out "Rah" and when that failed, he tried "Yah" only to disappear & reappear on the 1st floor throne room.  He then tried "Rah" & got back to the 2nd floor.  Unsure if it was his ability as a wizard or something anyone could do, he had Brother Summit try.  And it worked, Brother Summit appeared back on the first floor throne.  However, when he arrived, a Greater Ceustodaemon was there waiting for him.  The daemon kindly explained he needed to disembowel the monk.  Brother Summit, not waiting to see the Daemon carry through on it's statement immediately teleported back to the throne room on the second floor to alert his companions.

A split second later, the Ceustodaemon teleported in among-st the knot, again stating it's insistence on disembowelment.  The Knot jumped into action, Emmerick came running from the near by hallway & Brother Summit launched a ferociousness assault, one that would have downed, or seriously injured any mortal. And would have easy ended his pit fight with that O'Toole monk in Farholde.  Mardus & Quell were impressed by it.  Yet the blows seemed to have little effect on the Daemon, who clearly had magical protection against such mundane weapons.  A fact further realized when a combination of sneak attacks by Quell produced likewise, little results.  The Ceustodaemon returned attacks in kind, though, his blows savaged Brother Summit quite easily.  Galen, realizing the full might of this Daemon, blinded the creature.  The Daemon quickly teleported away after being blinded.  Galen then quickly informed the Knot the time to flee was at hand.  Quell already eyeing the doorway was the first out.  Not wishing to waste time walking down the long stairs, Galen cast Feather Fall on the group & they all jumped off the side of the Horn & fell the two hundred plus feet to the forest floor in a matter of seconds.  Then they fled into the Boggard village to rest.  The Ceustodaemon apparently not following after them.

The Knot remained hidden in the Boggard village for the night.  They decided the next day they should return to Farholde & get silver weapons to aid them against the Daemon of the Horn. And so the next day as promised delivered the Green Dragon his potion, or at least the one they could make, along with a "tribute" to their neighbor of other miscellaneous healing items.  Sanderax took the items & told them the remaining powder should be used to make healing items & then sold for coin in Farholde, as he was much more interested in coins.  The knot grudgingly agreed, having hoped the dragon would fail to notice the difference in magical value.  They they left to Farholde.

Able to rely on speed over direction, the Knot had a quick and uneventful journey back to Farholde.  While there they checked up with the seventh Knot.  They asked Elise to deliver a message to Thorn explaining the ritual would take 222 days.  A fact Elise found odd as she claimed to not have a direct communication ability with the Cardinal, but offered to do it anyway, using "back channels".  Also while in town, Galen sold off their miscellaneous gear & bought the group a set of silvered weapons.  Brother Summit tried to get a pit fight set up, but it seemed after the floored O'Toole, there weren't any takers.  The "Lord" of Drownington Manor did offer to set up a fight with some wild animals, but said it would take a few days to set up.  Time Brother Summit didn't have.

So the Knot then began their return trip to the Horn, having only spent a couple nights in Farholde.  The trip went quite quick.  Galen's knowledge of geography, coupled with their experience already travelling, and leaving in the pre-dawn hour allowed them to reach the area around the Horn as the last rays of the evening light was fading.  As they approached the Horn, ready for a long rest in the oddly friendly Boggard village, Quell & Brother Summit noticed something odd.  A tree was planted near the entrance to the caverns.  A tree neither recalled being there before.  Also, they spotted winged elves, hiding in tree branches near the cavern entrance.  And Quell noticed something else... some kind of simmering winged creature.

It seems a welcome party was waiting for the Knot to return "home".

Session 12

The strong will of Brother Summit & Emmerick saved the day.  Or night as it were.  The seductive songs of the harpies who attacked the camp that night was for naught.  The first harpy's song was ignored by the watchmen, who after calling out a shout to their fellow brethren charged the obvious target.  Another Harpie attacked as well, like it's ally, using it's sweet voice to lure it's pray to their doom.  But all it got was a very sleepy and angry set of dark worshipers of Hell & Death.  For Yvainne, Mardus, Quell & Galen quickly jumped into action.  Out matched, the initially brave parrot-winged harpies tried to flee.  One was slain without remorse by the still waking Knot members, but Emmerick's dark presence along with Brother Summit's dour mood & quick grab caused the other "Lady of the Night" to surrender.

She was questioned for what she knew.  She only asked to be allowed to "live" in exchange for her knowledge.  A trade Emmerick seemed willing to make.  She spoke of "horned horses" watching the movements of a "green lizard" around a large earthen spire to the south.  Also of a living tree further south.  Emmerick satisfied, broke the Harpy's wing & freed her.  Only after the creature fled did Emmerick pause to consider what a potentially useful servant the chaotic creature might make.  But he shrugged it off.  After all, rules are rules.

The group was pretty sure what the "horned horses" were.  And their suspicions where confirmed the following morning when they spotted a pair of Unicorns prancing in a clearing off in the distance, watching a  rising spire of tree & rock.  However, the spire did not appear to be the one marked on the map by the Fourth Knot as the Horn of Abaddon, so the group avoided it & it's sentinels of good.  So the Knot was left wondering just what the "green lizard" was, perhaps some unknown dinosaur of legend known to roam the Caer Bryr or something else?

After a otherwise uneventful journey south they found the object of their mission.  A large towering spire of vegetation, otherwise looking very similar to others around it, but the keen eyes of Brother Summit & Quell spotted here & there signs of stairs leading up to black areas, which likely were entrances.

Spending an hour or so reconnoitering around the base of the spire, the Knot decided the lower cavern entrance they found was a good first choice, instead of climbing the visible stair way up.  The failed repelling off the top of Keep at Balentyne Watch Tower still lingering in the minds of Yvainne & Emmerick.  The stalactites & stalagmites giving a picture of a open maw not discouraging them in the slightest, despite Yvainne's unfortunate earlier incident involving toad ingestion.  Clearly that trip from Branderscar Prison all those many months ago was not as trying in the minds of the death priest as the more recent four story fall from the now ruined keep.

Quell led the way, with an invisible Galen following behind, with a very much visible glowing rope.  The thought being, the rope would provide light & also act as a distraction.  The strategy worked, though if that was due to the technique or simply the skilled abilities of Quell it's unclear.  But Quell did spot two figures a little ways in, watching the entrance.  He hid & slowly advanced on them, as they watched the rope begin to dance around as the invisible Galen flicked it about.  One figure dashed off before Quell got there.  The other one, a confused boggard, hardly had time to think as the quick moving Quell attacked.  It's unclear what was going through the frog man's brain as the fast moving Quell jumped out.  But for sure the last thing to go through his brain was the short sword of the Elf.

The other figure having slipped further back into the darkened cavern system, Quell held for the rest of the group to catch up.  They decided to wait & see what response came.  Eventually Quell heard odd croaking sounds & the sound of hushed feet moving about up ahead.  The noises stopped though and never made it back to the Knot, waiting at the entrance.  Clearly there were more frog men & they planned to set up an ambush.

The knot moved up & Galen lead the way.  He was invisible, with the glowing rope.  But he wrapped up the corpse of the one boggard in it & drug it through the next room, where the hushed sounds came from.  He had the rope shake & jiggle the corpse about, waiting for a response.  When he still hadn't gotten a response, he freed the rope from the corpse & had it jiggle about, free, as if it was hunting again.  That got one of the boggards hiding about to come out charging at the rope.

What followed was a combination of ambush, counter-ambush & counter-counter-ambush.  The one boggard who tried to ambush the rope got ambushed himself, as the Knot charged out.  But he had other companions who were holding back who jumped out in turn on the Knot.  A huge bulbous frog-man wielding a massive two-handed sword led his men into the Knot.  The back and forth turned out poorly for the leader of the frog-men.  And though at one point Yvainne did get stuck on a toad tongue & take a savage blow from the toad leader, in the end, the might of Hell would triumph once again.  And all the frogs would fall to Thorn's Ninth Knot.  Quell dealing the death blow to the greatsword wielding Boggard leader.

Yvainne, so impressed with the toad leaders abilities, decided she could still have further use for him.  She desecrated the very room in the name of Zon Kuthon and raised the boggard leader back from the dead as her own personal Zombie slave.

Quell resumed his searching, though, this time he had Galen visible, just further back with the light.  Quell found a lot of odd things through his searching.  He found the outskirts of what appeared to be a Boggard village, a massive pool of bubbling mud, a number of empty cavern rooms, a couple with ponds full of cave fish.  Some cave fish even being an odd poisonous bread.  He found a clear pool of water, which for some reason Galen was quite interested in.  After poking around, the wizard stuck his hand in it & got burned, as apparently the pool was not water but acid.  Quell also found odd crystal formations, an odd ice chamber that appeared to be trapped in some way, and on the back side of the frog-man village what appeared to be a breeding pool full of boggard tadpoles, a couple fungus farms, and what appeared to be a holding cell for prisoners.

But by far, the greatest find was in a cave covered in glowing blue moss.  It was not Quell who found it, but rather Brother Summit who noticed the small crevice in the wall.  Shining lights down there, they saw it extend a way before turning & continuing on.  With no easy way to get back there & with Galen unable to see the end to dimension step, they considered their next step.  Galen conjured earth elementals and commanded them to explore the other side & report what they saw.  They claimed to see bones and other random loose glittering objects.  Tasked next with returning the objects, they came back with bits of bone, broken glass and a massive, beautiful emerald stone.  It took another summoning to finally get the last item of note down the long, narrow crevice, a warn, damaged leather knapsack.  And in it, a holy book to the long dead cult, "The sons of the Pale Horseman"

Examining the bones, they were identified as human remains.  But looking over the book gave the greatest insight, for at the end, written by a priest in the service of Vetra-Kali.  He detailed the fall of the temple & the creation of the Mitrian artifact that now seals his master in.  But further, he detailed a way he thought the seal could be broken.  A ritual taking 222 days, full of prayers to the pale horseman, including sacrificing the blood of a cultist, a Mitrian follower & last, one of the blood of the Victor himself.  The great king who created the seal.

The Knot took some time to pause and digest the information.  Two hundred twenty two days.  Then they descended into squabbling over what to do next.  Some spoke of contacting Thorn immediately.  Quell in particular did not wish to spend over half a year in a ruinous fortress in the middle of a hostile rain forest.  Galen was already considering where or how to get the first sacrifice.  Wondering if a descendant of a Son might live in Farholde.  In the end, they decided to finish their exploring, they still knew little of what was around, or what they might face in the ruins.

The Knot eventually found a sturdy looking hut in a cavern slightly removed from the Boggard village.  It was in that odd Temple to a strange Boggard god that they found an odd and very unexpected ally.  A strange boggard shaman who seemed just fine with them having the zombified remains of his former chieftain in tow.  He explained he had seen visions of the ones who would restore the great spire to it's former glory.  A glory he insisted was to that of his odd Boggard god.

He brought the Knot before the Boggard tribe & explained they have taken over and would begin to lead the tribe going over.  There was a long stunned silence from the Boggards around.  But he further explained that Quell had killed their former chieftain and that he was now entitled to the spoils.  Quell was presented with his new tent, and his 2 Boggard concubines.  Quell showed little interest in the frog-women, but he did search through the tent & seize everything of value, including a Helm of Comprehend Languages and Read Magic.

Having explored the lower caverns and finding an unexpectedly nice base of operations, the Knot decided to explore the obvious stairs leading up on the outside of the tower.  The main stairs turned out to be relatively easy to traverse.  Though at the top, Quell did spot another set of stairs going up to another entrance that looked much more risky to climb.  From their vantage point above the tree line, they could see out on the Caer Bryr, a peaceful view over a decidedly not peaceful forest.

The knot next began to explore the first level of the ruined fortress.  They found many empty rooms, in varying states of ruin.  They first found a ruined alchemical lab that contained in it a severely damaged gollum of some kind and a manual on how to repair & use it.  The rare tome Galen was quick to grab, to study later.  They also found the remains of a trophy wall.  All the trophies appeared to be missing, but Quell did find two things of note.  One was a ring under a plaque naming someone from Ghastenhall.  Galen was quick to grab it and even though it didn't seem valuable, he wished to hold onto it.  Further, Galen found a plaque which read "Edger Nigma" or "E. Nigma" an odd sight, wondering if it was something special.  Quell examined it and confirmed it was fake & behind it was some kind of hidden safe.  Though he could not seem to crack it open.  What treasure lay beyond would have to wait... (until at least the next session!)

Session 11

Having found the map to the Horn, the group goes with Tiadora to their meeting with Baron Arkov Vandermir.  Travelling into the wealthy & secluded part of town, they are allowed entrance to the Vandermir estate, a grandiose manor, full of servants, as well as discrete guards.  They meet the Baron and are treated to a feast of decadence & opulence.  Everything is grand, even the almost unnaturally large sea-food being served on massive platters.  The evening progresses along with banal pleasantries, until the dinner is finished, at which point, servants are dismissed and a frank discussion begins between potential allies under the Lord of Nessus’ banner.

The Baron shows an initial degree of reluctance.  Tiadora offers no help, but but after a few words from Galen, Yvainne & Mardus, he decides to back the Ninth Knot’s plot.  He’s quick to insist they avoid causing too much carnage in town.  But he provides them lodging in his personal manor, as well as access to a secret passage out of his manor to another nearby neighborhood of town.  And offers to work back channels to find obscure or dangerous items the party requires.  As well as giving a lay of the land & telling the Knot of the political situation in town, as well as whom the true power players are around Farholde.

Securing the backing of the powerful Baron, the Knot proceeds with gathering information around town & having Galen start crafting them some more magical gear.  During this time, Emmerick & Yvainne gather general rumors.  Quell hears about a former soldier named Hallack Amon & takes a personal interest.  Proceeding to snoop about Amon, finding out he is friends with a Dwarf smith in town, who seems a bit greedy, as well as a lute playing woman of some skill.

In addition, the 7th knot arrives in town.  Mardus & Brother Summit set up an elaborate ruse, where he takes the form of a fisherman, selling his wears by the docks & Brother Summit looks like a dock hand, standing around.  When their allies arrive, Mardus grabs Elisa’s attention & using double speak & a healthy (or based on Brother Summit’s cringing, perhaps an unhealthy) use of puns, mostly revolving around fishing “nets” made of “knots” and the like, he lets Elisa know who he is.  Mardus & Brother Summit lead the other Knot, who this entire time are in no disguises & seem mildly amused by the 9th’s attempt at subterfuge, down a side ally.  In the remote darkened ally they speak with Elisa & her crew.  Elisa wonders out load the need for such an “unusual” meeting spot, when a tavern would have done much better.  But she lays out her plan to keep any wood-be adventurers at bay.  Mardus asks her to spy on the Baron, as they still question his loyalties and she consents.  Also, Aliciette asked Brother Summit, if the group intends to go to the forest in the next few days, she would like to come along, as she needs to find her “pet” Girallon who they had to drop off on the river bank before arriving in town.

While waiting on Galen to finish his crafting, Brother Summit & Mardus make a stop in the slums of Farholde, to Lord Drownington’s Manor.  Part Bar, part brothel, part gambling & boxing den, it is a true hive of scum and villainy.  Brother Summit talks to the leader of the dubious establishment & arranges to fight in the boxing ring that night.  When evening falls, Mardus & Brother Summit return to the den of villainy with Mardus eager to wager on his companion, who he instructs to fight sub-par to play down his ability & get a more favorable match in the future.  Brother Summit’s fight with an “Iron Sanks” ends quickly, with the Monk of hell easily beating his challenger.  The match ends so quick in fact, it’s a bit of a crowd let down.  And it leaves no doubt of Brother Summit’s abilities.

With Brother Summit waiting for another fight in the ring & Galen still crafting away, the other Knot members decide to help Aliciette find her “pet”.  They begin leaving town but before they even arrive in the Caer Bryr, they witness its savagery.  For in route, they encounter a farmer fleeing for his life from a back of savage boars, led by a massive member.  Aliciette proves nearly as useful as the absent Galen & the party quickly dispatches the threat, though not before the farmer loses his life.  Continuing into the forest, within a brief time, Aliciette is able to locate her Girallon companion & thanks the 9th knot for their help before leaving them.

The knot returns to town & continues with their work.  Galen crafting, Quell watching Hallack Amon, and others doing general information gathering about town.  Brother Summit gets another fight in the fighting pits, this time with some travelling mercenary named James O’Toole.  Quell decides to get in on the action and along with Mardus bet a far amount on their fellow Knot member.  And Galen, having just finished crafting, joins in for the action.  Emmerick is also there, but the anti-paladin of Hell decides to bet a 5 piece against his ally.  The fight goes much different from Brother Summit's first match.  O'Toole appears to be a capable fighter and it looks like Emmerick might have made the right bet.  But Brother Summit prevails, knocking out O'Toole & collecting a hefty winning.

The knot, now finally equipped with arms and armor enchanted by Galen, are ready to brave the deeper forest.  The group relies on the map & blazes a trail straight into the Caer Bryr.  It's a little slow going at first, as they try to maintain their barrings.  But Galen's knowledge of geography is strong and they stay true to their course, making slow but steady progress.

Mid-afternoon Quel notices an odd fragrance on the wind, something akin to rotting plants.  The group heads toward the peculiar order to investigate and stumble into a lurking Shambling Mound.  The fight with the rotting plant creature is handled quite well with a minimum of damage sustained, considering the creature got the drop on them.

Continuing on near dusk, an odd bird-like call could be heard in the distance.  Given how their previous investigation of the day ended, and the desire to find a defensible camp before night fall, they ignore the odd calls.  That night, around midnight, the two on watch, Brother Summit & Emmerick, are awoken to the oddest singing sound & feel magic reach out to control them.  Not knowing what is going on, they draw steal & ready to wake the camp for battle.

Session 10

So ends Balentyne...

The Knot quickly recovers from their ordeal with the fallen commander Havelyn & proceed to search the area.  They dis-alarm & break into the chest in the Commander's office & seize the keep's treasure in the name of their dark lord.  Quell & Galen check the commander's room where Quell, unbeknownst to Galen spots the family bible of the commander & pockets it without the dark wizard noticing.

Emmerick meanwhile is busy donning the blackened hell armor, formerly of Mitrian nature, that adorned the late commander.  He had Yvainne's help of course.  Straps & such must be good and tight.  And who better than the sadistic death priest to help.

Brother Summit & Mardus distributed what limited healing they found in the Keep's treasure, as well as the remaining resources they had, to get everyone in semi-working order.  Though, there efforts were interrupted some what when, a signal horn was heard from below.

Having seen the catapult that rests on the roof of the keep from Quell's long range recon mission, our dark band rushes to storm the roof top.  The three guards were taken unaware as they seemed to be communicating in confusion with a patrol below.  And they stand no chance against the servants of Hell.  The only major damage taken was a lucky crossbow bolt to Yvainne, which she's able to shrug off.  Unfortunately, they find the roof top catapult was already in a state of dis-repair & unable to be used.  The knot take the forms of watch men in the hope it will aid in battlefield confusion.  They then fire the signal horn and are relieved to hear, a moment later, one long loud horn call come out from the valley to the north.  Then with all haste, they light the catapult on fire and repel (with limited success) off the roof top, as guards attempt to break through the trap door they had hurriedly sealed behind them.

A pitched battle along the ramparts of the keep ensued after that.  The Knot quickly disabled the wench that controlled the great seal over the servants entrance.  And then rushed for the gatehouse.  Along the way they were peppered with arrows, with Brother Summit deflecting a great many.  A band of guards with an acolyte attempted to stop Brother Summit when he got isolated, but the deft Monk was able to leap over ramparts to relative safety   And the war band was only rewarded for their vain efforts by a well placed fireball from the former magistrates own wand by a quick thinking Galen.  Throughout the fight most of the Knot looked as guards, but Emmerick, bored and wishing to flaunt his new armor decided dropped all pretenses and lead the charge on the gatehouse in his full regalia, marking him a servant of Hell.  Wither Cardinal Thorn would have been proud or enraged that his secret band of Asmodeus send to destroy the devout of Mitra would so openly display the mark of their faith was unknown to Emmerick, but he little cared.  He would have the glory denied him.

With improved teamwork & arcane support, the Knot quickly took the gatehouse.  With a heavily fortified archery position they held off multiple counter attacks. Using fireballs and arrow volleys to devastating effect.  In a short while the walls are overrun with bugbears.  The knot take the form of their allies to prevent any "not so friendly" fire.  Except for Emmerick, who still flaunts his dark lord's symbol.  The first wave of bugbear to take the gatehouse look confused to find their kin there.  Until one spots Emmerick & gives a knowing nod.  In broken common the creature says "stay, safe here"  The group realizes it is one of Blackmane's men.  Shortly after the Lieutenant himself arrives and informs the group he & his men are to stay guarding them from the other rampaging bugbears.  He seems unhappy about his baby-sitting assignment but is smart enough not to explicitly state it.

While the knot waits & beholds the destruction they helped to wrought, their old friend Grumblejack arrives & greats them.  Clad in leather armor & a giant club he's quick to embrace his friends.  Even if the hugs hurt some of them a bit.  While they wait, Quell is quick to break the seal, signalling their work is done.  It's not long before Tiadora arrives with a reward from the Cardinal, and further instructions.  While the completely unprepared and  un-alerted town of Aldencross is still being ruthlessly sacked the Knot is quick to leave by barge, destined for Farholde, with a brief stop off before to unload their large Ogre friend who lives north of town in the wilds of the Savage North.

The trip is mostly uneventful.  It's slow going, with unexplained stops by towns along the way.  When some of the knot question Tiadora about the delay of odd stops by towns, she simply explains to them she is giving them a taste of hell.  The knot leaves questioning at that.

Right before arriving in Farholde, they get a briefing from their patron.  Cardinal Thorn meets them on board the barge, clearly arriving via magical transport.  The Cardinal is quick to the point.  Their mission is to find the Horn of Abaddon, an ancient ruin south of Farholde that was a fortress temple to a dark daemon of pestilence.  Explore it, break the seal left by a former king of Mitra.  Then summon the dark being & gain it's magical disease, something called the Tears of Achlys.  Then leave.  Thorn knows little else other then that a previous knot already tried & failed.  Lead by the elf, Aiden Kael, they found & reported the rough location of the site, but then nothing else.  Thorn wants this done & he's employing extra help.  The seventh knot will be available to assist them.  Also, a prominent noble in town, Baron Arkov Vandermir, a follower of Asomdeus may be of help.  Tiadora will introduce them after they arrive.

Their patron provides them another clay seal to break, in case the need arrises.  Then he departs.  After that they unload Grumblejack, and the next morning the barge arrives in Farholde.  Tiadora informs them that a meeting has been arranged in two days time with Baron Vandermir.  Until then, they can use the time as they see fit.

The knot is quick to gather information around town.   They find some interesting rumors and they also manage to find the location Aiden Kael was staying.  They get rooms at the Wandering Frier Inn and ask the Inn Keeper about Aiden, saying they were friends, meant to meet him at the Inn.  The Innkeper informs them that Aiden has been gone for weeks & his room is overdue.  Galen quickly offers to pay the bill in full, if he could simply be allowed to look around & find out what happened to his friend.  The Innkeepers gives him a key.

Upon entering the room Galen finds a map sitting on the table, a map clearly labeling the location of the Horn of Abaddon, their target.  It seems the trip will be easier than expected...

Session 9

With no time to think, the group quickly grabbed what gear they could off the fallen Magistrate, fleeing the alchemists shop as smoke, acid & fire began to spread.  As Brother Summit was the last to flee out the back door, he saw the city watch come rushing in through the front door, quick to grab the fallen soldiers & magistrate of Balentyne.

With all due haste, Mardus, Galen & Quel rushed to the tower.  Mardus taking the appearance of Tacitus, while Galen & Quel looked like the two guards who accompanied the now most likely dead Magistrate.  They quickly talk their way past the door guards.  On the way in, Galen notes the large seal of Mitra that hangs above the servants entrance appears able to be winched down & cover the doors of the keep.  A fact he notes for later.

Knowing time was limited & that the tower would be alerted soon of the slaying of Tacitus, the group went immediately to Tacitus' laboratory.  Quel searched around & found a locked box he was able to crack & get the magistrate's spellbook.  Galen, using arcane means found a magical cauldron of brewing.  Mardus, with Galen's help managed to active the Ice Golem creature confined in the laboratory.  Unsure of how to use it, Galen & Quel, using magical invisibility, ran ahead while Mardus attacked the Golem & fleed, leading the rampaging creature in his wake.  All three rushed out of the keep & slipped away, but in the process they alerted the guards of two facts.  One, someone dressed & looking identical to Tacitus was able to enter the keep & slip out unseen.  And two, that due to random doors opening ahead of the fleeing Tacitus, someone must have been magically invisible...

Over the next couple days, Mardus & Emmerick, using the disguises of concerned priest & Knight of Alerion leave a message with the guards, offering their services to Commander Havelyn.  The response they got was a terse one.  "Simply stay in town and help out the guards as needed, the Watchtower is on lock-down until further notice."

Likewise, Brother Summit was not allowed, though the Dwarfs were asked to relocate from the town to the Tower, ending Brother Summits covert access to the tower.  And Yvainne's access was blocked to, as no town servants were allowed in until further notice.

After the days went by & there would be no opportunity for further mischief from town, the knot decided to make a decisive attack.  Quel broke into the store room & poisoned the supply of food there with the stolen arsenic   They waited a day for the poison to kill off as many soldiers as possible.  Then on the night of the 16th day after they first arrived to the town of Aldencross, they launched their first overt assault on the Watchtower.

Using the secret access tunnel they again entered via the basement store room.  Using silence spells, they quickly eliminated the outer tower of all guards, all under the cover of silence.  Their first target was Commander Havelyn, who they hoped would be asleep for the night.  They used invisibility to stealth over to keep that housed the commander.  Having learned their lesson from the Ice Golum, they knew, even under invisibility, the guards at the main door to the keep would notice the door opening & would signal the alarm.  So they used the veil Taidora gave them back in the Prison to create a window in the side of the keep & entered.  They covered the outside with a cloth in the off chance a passing patrol might notice it.

Knowing someone would eventually see the magical window, they hurried upstairs.  Employing silence along the way, they managed to get nearly to the top of the keep, killing off guards as they went, all under the cover of silence.

Near the top landing, a guard managed to slip outside of the silence & alert the guards outside the Commander's room.  The knot members rushed up & finished off the guard, but the two guards outside the Commander's office were able to slip into the room & bar the door.

Galen, using a Knot spell, got the door open.  And they found the two guards inside, with a very alert & armored Commander Havelyn, along with a battle ready Brother Donnigan.  It seemed the Nessian Knot would have to stop hoping for anything from their dark god.

The battle that ensued was brutal.  Early on, Emmerick attempted to use his invisibility to stealth in, only to find that Brother Donnigan had an Invisibility Purge spell going.  Forced to stop, Emmerick attempted to go toe-to-toe with Commander Havelyn, but was unable to withstand the punishment & had to fall back, calling on help from Mardus, Brother Summit, Galen & even Yvianne to step up & help out.  The two guards kept going down, only to be brought back up by healing from Brother Donnigan.  Donnigan, managing to shield himself early in the fight with a Sanctuary spell, was nearly invincible, as he continued to heal his allies.  Only Quell was able to penetrate his protection, but he was unable to do enough damage to effect the healing beckon of Mitra.

Eventually the Sanctuary around Brother Donnigan failed, and that's when Brother Summit struck.  In a matter of seconds he had the Mitrian priest pinned & it took but moments for Quell & Mardus to end the Mitrian Priest.  With his healing support down, Commander Havelyn struggled to stay standing and eventually a battle worn Quell managed to land the killing blow & ended the life of Lord Thomas Havelyn, Commander of Balentyne Tower, Lord of Aldencross, son of the late Lord Richard Havelyn.  And just in time, as all the members of the Nessian Knot were barely still standing.

As most in the knot attempted to catch their breath, Emmerick, as if listening to far off voices, struck at the Mitrian sun-burst on the fallen commander's armor & from the blow, stretching out like spider webs, black & red markings appeared.  They spread & eventually engulf the whole of the armor, turning the shining Mitrian armor into blackened Asmodeus symbol-ed armor.  It seemed though there is no hope to be had, there are plenty of rewards from the dark god to his most faithful servants.

Session 8

The covert sabotage & assault on Tower Balentyne begin in earnest.

Following the demise of Captain Varning's patrol, the Knot returned to Aldencross and began plotting their next move.

With the acting troupe moved into the Tower to being their main performance, the Knot begins their first assault on the tower itself.  Their sights set on the rockery, the hope being that the noise of the play, which from their earlier watching they knew could get quite load, would help hide them.

Lacking specific intel on it's location, and still not completely sure the location of the secret entrance to the tower relative to other features, they send a team it with maximum stealth.  Quell leads the way, with Galen loaded to bear with both scrolls & memorized invisibility and vanish spells and Yvainne along to provide divine support & her powerful burst channeling to take out the ravens in the rookery with optimal haste.

While the stealth group enters the lower tower, Brother Summit attends the play with Isenbauch's team.  And Mardus & Emmerick, using their crowns & Mardus' acting ability, are sure to be spotted by tavern goers as they play the roles of their missing companions (Yvainne, Galen & Quell) to provide an alibi.

The assault team, using a bit of luck combined with Quell's observations & advice ahead of time from Emmerick based on his experience as a soldier, manage to find the rookery.  Along the way, they find the major arrow reserves of the entire keep, unguarded, which they opt to leave and destroy if there's time.  Then the plan starts to fall apart.  They try to trick Mad Martin out of the Rookery, but he won't leave and instead gets scared & sounds a signal horn.  Quell fumbles trying to unlock the door.  All the while the horn sounds & ravens make a massive racket.  Galen comes through, using his ring to recall & cast a Knock spell to unlock the door & allow the assault team.  They are quickly attacked by a swarm of angry ravens.  Quell focuses on taking down Mad Martin while Yvainne unleashes a torrent of negative energy throughout the area.  In under a minute the Rookery is in shambles.  Yvainne & Galen try to make it look like the birds attacked Mad Martin, but lacking time they do a horrible job.  A point Quell is quick to make.

They have to flee quickly, relying on arcane means to slip by a patrol arriving to examine Mad Martin's horn call.  In the dash out, Quell stops for nothing, with Yvainne quick on his heels.  Galen however, unwilling to leave the arrow stores intact, risks being seen & using arcane fire, sets the arrow stores ablaze.  Somehow, through luck & magic, Galen also manages to slip out unseen.  The fire & attack bring the play to an abrupt end.  And all in attendance, including Brother Summit are questioned, before being released.

The Knot, continuing their attack, turn to more covert methods.  Verifying the cloths of Captain Zac Edderly  that had a woman's perfume fragrance smelled the same as Mrs Caitlyn Mott's perfumes, and Mrs Mott's distraught look over the necklace Quell found, the knots next move is to use fake letters to force a meeting between the alleged lovers, that Captain Mott would know about in advance.  Quell, still tormenting Mrs. Mott by wearing her necklace openly in the market, does slip away long enough to steal some writings of both Captains & provides them to Galen to use as examples to forge some notes.  Mardus, using his urchin persona delivers the notes to the keep (separately to ensure Captain Mott gets his last) as well as to Mrs. Mott.  And the plan works without a hitch.  While Caitlyn & Zach are embracing, in a secluded area of the local park, Captain Mott catches them & challenges Zach to a dual, at dawn the next day.  The knot members hiding around the park grin in satisfaction.

The following day, on a field near the Keep, Captain Mott, the enraged cuckold, strikes down Captain Zach Edderly.  All while a distraught Caitlyn watches on in horror.  Emmerick & Mardus are able to conveniently arrive in their Knight & Priest persona, just in time to see the killing blow.  Emmerick is quick to arrest Captain Mott for dueling unto the death, while Mardus, playing his part, attempts to comfort the weeping Caitlyn.  By the end of the day Captain Mott is sent off in chains to Branderscar prison to await his fate.  And the tower is without two more Captains.

But the Knot would not be done yet.  No.  Another target was in their sights, the Magistrate Tacitus.

They already saw the odd ice construct in the Magistrate's laboratory back when Emmerick & Mardus were playing their part as "investigators".  So, using that, Quell & Galen worked up a forged letter from the Alchemist, stating that he had been sold an odd piece of ice that didn't melt, to be delivered to Tacitus.  The bate sent, all that was left was the trap.  The Quell, Galen & Mardus quickly dispatched the Alchemist & stilling what was of value.  Then the knot set up in the shop.  Mardus taking the role of the alchemist in the main store.  Yvainne waited upstairs, a stone with the silence spell on it in her hand and a loosened floor board at the ready to drop the stone into the store below.  Quell & Brother Summit waited in the back room.  Galen & Emmerick waiting out front.

Tacitus arrived, though, the knot didn't realize he'd be ready for trouble.  He brought two guards with him & he was magically buffed with Stone Skin, a fact they quickly realized in combat.

Arriving with one guard staying outside, Tacitus & his other guard entered & he quickly asked to be shown the stone.  Mardus, acting as shop keep tried to get him to come into the back room so he could see it.  Tacitus refused & insisted to see it out in the main room.  Mardus when back, swapped places with Brother Summit who returned with a wrapped cloth.  That is when Yvainne dropped the silence stone & the fight broke out.  It was a very risky fight, Tacitus was only able to be kept in check by the silence stone.  Emmerick once had to bull rush him back into the shop, and the stone's effects.  Alerting bystanders on the street of a fight.  And Brother Summit had to hold him down to prevent more casting.  The fight ended up causing a fire to break out.  Fulled by academical reagents, it damaged Mitrian & Asomdian followers alike. In the end, Tacitus fell, due to Summit's constant restraining him, along with Mardus' elemental & Emmerick's anti-paladin touch of corruption.

The knot had little time & began to flee the burning building, hoping to avoid the town militia who was likely arriving soon...

Session 7

The first blow in the war for Talengarde would happen over the next three days.

The Nessian Knot continued their information gathering routine.  Brother Summit having endeared himself with the dwarfs & with much socializing managed to finally gain access to go with the dwarfs and work on the Watch Wall.  He quickly made note of many of the defensive measures on the bulwark defense of the Gates.

The others in the knot continued their ruse as well.  Yvainne played the role of kitchen servant & found out that a local woman provides a beef stew every week or so to the tower men.

With thoughts of possible mass-poisoning, Galen determined the local alchemists shop has a large quantity of arsenic used to keep local rat populations down.  Reluctant to outright buy it, Quell & Galen used magical invisibility & stealth-ed in & robbed it of all it's stores of arsenic.  And in the hopes of hiding their motives, they also robbed it of various other items, including both magical potions & mundane reagents.  Unable to break into the cash box, they left it before being seen.

Quell also used his time to further investigate Captain & Lady Katelyn Mott, as well as Captain Zack.  He tracked Katelyn in town.  And also broke into the Mott house.  He found one thing odd while there, a woman's necklace, clasp broken, behind a couch in the sitting room.  As if it fell off in some kind of tussle...  Quell left with his souvenir   Unsure if it was a sign of a secretive romantic entanglement, Quell took on the appearance of a woman and approached Lady Katelyn the next time she was in the market.  Upon getting and staying within her line of sight, he noticed her look of scared recognition as seeing the necklace.  His information gathered, he spend the next couple days toying with poor Katelyn, continually happening to be around the market when she arrived each day.  Always in the same woman's disguise, necklace prominently displayed.  Sometimes being evil can be so fun...

Mardus, under the disguise of a local town boy, spent most of his time gathering information about the recently arrived acting troupe.  He even watched the troupe perform in town.  Along the way, he & Emmerick consulted & determined an odd, most likely unintended coincidence.  The lead female character's name was Browyne, which happened to be the same name as the dead wife of Lord Havelyn.  Wondering if there was anything to it, they asked Quell to take a break from his "fun" with Katelyn & investigate if the good Lord's wife was buried in town.  Quell reported nothing much of note.

Then came time to land the first blow.  Knowing Captain Varning's scout patrol would be out & likely resting at Freeman's rock, the Knot left Aldencross & used the secreted row boat from the Frosthammer, traveled back into the wild-lands and approached on foot at evening to find the patrol, right on schedule, camping for the night at Freeman's Rock.  They waited until night & launched their assault.  With the use of magic to form pits under sleeping man & horse alike, negative energy channeling in the form of blood mist as well as many savage blows, including a killing blow to Captain Varning by Emmerick's mace, Cardinal Thorn's Ninth Knot lay low the patrol from Balentyne Tower and man nor beast were left alive.  Though only a minor & quick skirmish, and likely not affecting the impending assault on Balentyne Tower, other than providing Fire-Axe some much needed secrecy to move into position, the Ambush of Freeman's Rock would mark something very important.  The first tactical military engagement between the forces of Mitra & Asomdeus in the War for the Throne of Talengarde.

Cry havoc! And let slip the dogs of war.

Session 6

The Ninth knot's first 3 days in Aldencross were quite eventful.

Before even entering, a brief but fateful discussion happened.  Emmerick being familiar with the abilities of a Paladin, having served under one (Sir Balen) wished to hide their true nature before entering a town & watch tower on the border of the most good & holy kingdom in the lands which could be crawling with them.  So he wisely conversed with Yvainne to make sure she could shroud both their aura's with magical means (Non-Detectable Alignment).

The first day, Galen & Yvainne pend time setting up shop in the town market & started selling off all the groups hard earned loot, all under the guise of a traveling merchant & wife.  Along the way Yvainne pend a lot of time working the crowd at the local tavern & inn, the Lord's Dalliance to get as many rumors as possible.  Most seemed to swirl around the arrival of a local band of actors who would be putting on a play in town & at the Tower.

Summet spend the first day exploring the outskirts of town, to get the lay of the land.  Checking all the routes in & out of the town as well as the general traffic patterns.  And spend the evening socializing with a group of Dwarves from out of Town, brought in to work on the Tower.

Mardus & Emmerick, under the rouse of a Knight of Alerion & Priest of Mitra (both costumes they'd grown quite accustomed to wearing) investigating the unexplained disappearance of Sir Balen of Karfield & his squire, Timeon of Balentyne, began with the local Pastor in town.  They found the Chaplin to have a handful of useful magical items he'd be willing to sell them & told them if they wished information, they should start at the Tower with Lord Havelyn.  They approached the "Watch Tower" to find out this was no simple tower, but a massive keep, their task would be tall indeed...  But they continued & pressed the local guards for an audience.  After parleying with a Captain who's name was unknown to them, they were allowed an audience with Sir Havelyn, commander of the watch tower Balentyne.  It was a tense meeting, but they managed to fool the Lord of Aldencross into believing their story.  And they did such a good job, they even got the commander to write a letter of introduction, signed & sealed to the family of the "missing" Squire Timeon of Balentyne.

Quell, acting as a traveling huntsmen spend time buying gear & socializing at the Tavern as well.  Finding odd bits of information about the near by tower.  But his greatest finding happened in the middle of the night.  For Quell was awoken to the sound of someone moving around in the lower level of the Lord's Dalliance well after closing time.  Quell investigated, with the utmost of stealth, and found the proprietor of the Inn sneaking into his own basement.  Curiosity peaked, the Elf follows & somehow remains hidden from the otherwise quick eyed proprietor  Ballem Barhold as he opens a secret door & walks down a long tunnel before emerging on the other side in a stone store room.  Quell observes all this without being observed back & then leaves, sure he'll investigate more later...

The second day exposes more rumors as well as other bits of information.

Galen & Yvainne continue with their Merchant act, adding a bit of spousal friction for added color and manage to sell more treasure, while getting all kinds of rumors, including some about Captain Zack, a bit of a dandy & a Captain Mott, who has a beautiful wife who he doesn't seem to hardly notice.  At least, so the rumors go...  The dandy, Captain Zack, is even spotted by Yvainne at the Lord's Dalliance that night but despite her advances, Captain Zack shows no interest, as if his heart is given over to another already.  The group begins to wonder if Zack is interested in any women...

Summit increases his standing with the Dwarves & via a mock "pay dispute" between him & Galen, he is able to get on the good graces of the head of the Dwarves, Barnabus Eisenbauch & runs errands for them outside the Watch Tower, while overhearing gossip from servants & guards.  Though, he's not allowed entrance into the Tower yet.  Something Eisenbauch promises if he can prove himself.

Mardus & Emmerick go with their letter of introduction & meet the mother of squire Timeon & ask about him and his family.  They leave veiled questions about Timeon's moral standing & purity, never out write calling him a cultist, but leaving enough innuendo to stagger a horse.

Quell goes "hunting" and scout the land.  He sized up the watch tower & made note of visible guards before resting in the evening & engaging in a bit of stealthy exploring at night.  He snuck through the passage in the basement of the Lord's Dallience & verified what some rumors the Knot heard.  The secret passage leads straight into the store room of the Balentyne Watch Tower.  But not only that, ol' Ballem seemed to have switched out wine in the stores, seems not everyone in this land is innocent...

The third day the group continues their role & stays mostly in town.

Galen & Yvainne finish selling their wares, Yvaine spreads rumors about becoming estranged from her husband & looking for work independent of him, perhaps as a cook...

Quell does some more "hunting" and spots a mounted patrol leave the Watch Tower.  And after resting in the evening, he goes on another nighttime search, this time his target is the in town residence of one Captain Zack.  He finds nothing of note, other than some of Zack's fine cloths have a perfume or other fragrance on them.

Summit spends all day near the tower, helping the dwarves & swapping stories with servants & the like who are coming & going.  At the end of it, Eisenbauch informs him that after their off day, Summit will be working with the dwarves IN the Tower.  Seems all the long nights drinking at the tavern finally paid off.

Mardus & Emmerick continue to pock around at the tower.  This time returning & insisting on talking to the Magister of the Tower, one Tacitus of Morimun.  They do the "good cop/bad cop" routine and insinuate Tacitus of potential dark magic, causing an argument ending with them being thrown out of the Magistrate's Lab.  They briefly stop & visit the Chapel in the Tower.  Standing in the sanctum of their enemy, the anti-paladin & oracle of Asmodeus manage to fake a prayer to Mitra then leave.  The voices ringing in Emmerick's head "BURN IT DOWN!!"

Session 5

After vanquishing the Tritons, the Knot continued their voyage into the savage North.  The Captain, in his thick Ulfan accent announces the ship is running low on water & they'll be making a stop in a bay.  And that the bay just happens to be a rich seal hunting grounds.  So while they're stopping they should take advantage of the opportunity.  Some in the knot grow concerned about the delay, but they confer & opt to not confront the Captain about it.

Hunting groups are formed & Galen, seeing the greed in ol' Odenkirk's eyes & being aware of the final fate the captain, he agrees to help the Captain out and offers all seal pelts he catches be given to the Captain.  Odenkirk is quite pleased.  As is Galen.

Day one of the hunt works well, Emmerick & Mardus watch in one boat, Emmerick sure the Captain is lying about something doesn't try, but does stay near by.  Emmerick cares little about the hunt & Mardus struggles, their boat bringing in nothing.  However, Galen, assisting Odenkirk, hall in 4 seal pelts.

The second day of the hunt has a less positive outcome.  Emmerick, still on edge, insists on being on Odenkirk's boat, still with no plan to actually help.  Galen swaps spots with him, while Yvainne, Quell & Brother Summit continue to stay on the Frosthammer.

The attack of the Bunyips is unexpected, while Odenkirk & a sailor are trying to pull on a slain seal, and Emmerick stands by not lending a hand, the creatures emmerge & ram the small boat.  One letting out a screaching cry.  The fight that insues is hard.  Emmerick takes the brunt of the damage, at one point falling into the drink.  Fortunately Odenkirk & the sailor in his boat are able to throw a rope to the anti-paladin.  And after Galen & Mardus are able to bring their craft over to aid, the Bunyips are eventually defeated.

At the end of the day, Odenkirk & Emmerick's boat fails to hail in even one seal.  Galen & Mardus' boat however, get a major haul of 6 seals.  Galen hands the seals over to Odenkirk, as he caught them & he already promised all he caught would go to Odenkirk.  Odenkirk, greed clouding his vision, fails to realize the over willingness of Galen & the danger that represents & instead takes the pelts.

After the encounter with the Bunyips the Captain decides to leave the harbor & continue on.  It's not long after that when they encounter a group of the reclusive Yutak.  The odd northerners ask to trade.  Galen speaks through the Yutak translator "Joseph Calls-Fire-From-Water" to the young Chief, White Tusk.  They trade some spare weapons & armor they've collected & their little bit of remaining Mithril for White Tusk's name sake, a massive Norwall horn, easily taller than even Brother Summit.  Some Knot members discuss the possibility of simply assulting the Yutak & taking what they want.  However, Galen's knowledge of the strong fueds kept by Yutak stay their hands.  Also, aware of the coming war they're bringing to Talengarde, they might want to contact the Yutak in the future as allies.  They leave the yutak to peacefully go on their way.  And the Yutak Chief offers a warning, there's a cold ice storm ahead.

The next night White Tusk's warnings prove true.  Cold winds blow & ice quickly forms on the ship's riggings & along the surface of the rough seas.  Then a mad cackling comes from the darkened crow's nest & creatures made of ice appear, floating along the icy caps of the sea for the Frosthammer.  In the end, the ship proves it's name, all be it in a different way than originally intended.  For the Knot serving Hell, crushes all the Ice Elementals that board their vessel.  Hammering them into little chips of ice.  The mad cackling, magic wielding ice demon however is able to flee back into the dark, frigid sea from wince it came.

After recovering, the Frosthammer continues on.  Odenkirk's skill as a captain is shown as he guides his ship through choppy ice choked waters & into the river that will lead them to Lake Tarek.  And after traveling through un-told wilderness, the ship eventually breaks out into Lake Tarek & they spot their final destination, a camp that is more just an unorganized horde of Bugbear warriors.

The Frosthammer docks & there's a brief moment of tension when the handful of Bugbear warriors on the dock approach the ship menicingly.  But the presence of Grumblejack & Brother Summit & the cunning tongue of Galen stall the Bugbears for a time.  Long enough for Sakkarot Fire-Axe to arrive on the scene & bring order.  He quickly begins unloading the ship & thanking the crew & Knot.  He declares the Knot will stay with him, in his camp & there will be a great feast in their honor.  He has one of his Lieutenants, Night-Mane, see to the Knot's safty for their visit.

That night the group witnesses a truly savage feasting.  The butality of what they are to unlease on Talengarde is in full display.  They witness open & casual violance, & they even see two lesser officers fight to the death over the right to command men in the upcoming assult.

After the meal is over, Fire-Axe takes the group back to his personal tent to talk in private.  There, under the influence of strong grog, he speaks candidly to the Knot.  He reveals he's in fact the first knot ever.  And that Cardinal Thorn was not always known as Thorn, though, in a past life he was a Cardinal... to Mitra.  He also tells the Knot he will only be able to hold his Horde together for so long.  And that when they leave, they'll have only 30 days to throw open the gates of Balentyne.  He give them a signal rocket & says to use it at the time of the assault.  When his men see it, they'll know the time to strike is at hand & they'll charge the Watch Wall from their hiding spot in a valley near by.

With that the Ninth Knot makes to leave camp.  Grumblejack remains & says he'll look for them in the coming battle.  And Galen makes a point to mention to Night-Mane about Grumblejack's skill in battle.

That night, the Frosthammer sails south to the peaceful shores of Talengarde.  There the Knot betrays Odenkirk.  Quell asks the Captain if now that they have arrived on the shores, if his contract with Cardinal Thorn is concluded.  When Odenkirk responds saying it is, then Emmerick moves to thank the Captain with a handshake & when they shake, Emmerick discharges his Touch of Corruption, damaging the Captain & beginning combat.  Quel & Emmerick attack the Captain.  Yvainne & Yvainne support them & help deal with the other sailors.  Galen manages to blind two sailors, making the fight much easier.  And though Odenkirk gets a couple good hits in, he's eventually felled.

The knot takes anything of value but has an argument over how to destroy the Frosthammer.  Galen & others are in favor of simply sinking it.  But Quell, a "stickler" for rules points out, their orders from Cardinal Thorn were to BURN the ship.  Mardus, well versed in the ways of the flame suggests rigging the underside of the ship to burn first & hopefully a hole will form & it will sink without being too obvious.  With some work, they rig the ship & it works well enough.  At one point the mast & rigging do catch fire, but the illumination is quickly extinguished, as by that point, the ship was already rapidly floundering & the ship sinks below the surface.

Waiting until mid-morning the Knot arrive in the town of Aldencross, in disguise.  Four arrive together, an older merchant (Galen) & his wife (Yvainne) and their two hired guards (Quell & Brother SUmmit).  And two together as investigators from the Church looking into the disappearance of Sir Balen of Karfeld & his squire, Timeon.  The Knight of the Alerion Order (Emmerick) & his Mitrian Priest friend (Mardus).

Let the Burning of Balentyne begin...

Session 4

As the group continues through the Proving Grounds of Cardinal Thorn, they find a secret door along the hallway leading to the door proclaiming "Secrecy is ourgreatest ally. Exposure brings death.”

Based on the layout of the dungeon, they initially forgo the obvious door & instead try for the secret door & find it leads to another room, that speaks of the fallen rising again.  Aware of the words of warning from the late squire, they carefully look into the room which appears to be full of water-logged coffins.  But, Galen, being schooled in the ways of underground creatures assures the group that the Shrieker is a creature sensitive to light & since the current room is already lit, they are safe to advance, all be it carefully.  So Brother Summit enters the room & searches for any mushrooms or the like hiding in the shadows, as well as for any secret doors.  It is right after the monk steps into the room that the first coffin bursts, unleashing it's undead occupant on the Monk.  The fight that erupts is hard, but, with the Druegr coming out of coffins in a staggered way, the soon-to-be-knot is able to stay on top of the situation, only suffering a couple hard hits along the way.

The group thoroughly searches the room before going toward the original room they by-based, all be it from the direction of the coffin room.  Being sure to dose all lights, they sneak into the room beyond, relying on the dark vision of Brother Summit.  The "good" brother quickly spots a couple Mushrooms that match Galen's description of a Shrieker & quickly disposes of them.  Returning, they continue on to the 9th & presumably final room in their trial.

What awaits them is Sir Balen of Karfield, Knight of the Alerion order & former mentor to the now fallen Emmerick.  Emmerick calls on the others to give him the killing blow or risk his wrath before he advances on his former father figure.  Quel respects his wishes & remains back as Brother Summit rushes ahead & attempts to grapple the knight & pin him to the ground as Emmerick advances, mace in hand.  The casters augment Emmerick as well as strike glancing blows on the knight.  But the fight is manly decided by the three melee combatants.  It takes a bit but eventually Brother Summit pins Sir Balen down.  Sir Balen says "I'm sorry my son" before Emmerick shots back "I am not your son!" and ends the knights life.

Recovering the Holy Symbol of the Knight, a Gold with Sapphire Gem, they return to Cardinal Thorn, who congratulates them on their success & informs them their training has just begun.

Over the next 2 weeks, the group goes through rigorous training, as does the other knot.  Along the way, some in the group are surprised at how skilled of a teacher the Cardinal of Asmodeus truly is and in the end, all come away learning something new.  After the training is done, a great feast is held and the group is anointed in the blood of a Barbed Devil and proclaimed by the last High Priest of Asmodeus on Talengarde as his Ninth Knot, the Nessian Knot.  After the feast, his team is given their task, guard a weapons shipment by boat to the far north to a Bugbear chieftain named Fire-Axe, after that, destroy the ship they came on (including the sailors & captain) & weaken the watch tower Balentyne by the town of Aldencross and aid the Bugbear horde in entering Talengarde.

The Nessian Knot sets sail on the Frosthamar, captained by Kargeld Odenkirk, loaded with weapons for Sakkarot Fire-Axe.  The first part of the trip goes well, they travel along the coast of Talengarde unmolested until reaching the watch wall.  It is there they encounter their first obstacle, a patrol boat, The Blade of St. Martius.  Quel, spotting the patrol ship approaching on an intercept course, gives the Knot & crew enough time to prepare.  Opting for subterfuge, the group come up with a plan to have Emmerick claim to be a member of the Alerion Order, using the dagger taken from the body of Sir Balen as proof & claim they are on a patrol mission beyond the watch wall.  Feeding the story to the Captain of the Blade works better than expected & even though they lack proper "papers" the Captain lets them go without doing a full search of the ship.

The group's next encounter goes much worse.  Less than two days after leaving the Blade of St. Martius clueless in the Frosthamar's wake, a couple sailors spot some dolphins arrive to ride the waves of the ship.  Galen, deciding to amuse himself, summons a fiendish dolphin to "play" with the other dolphins.  The dolphins disappear & a second later re-surface, this time bearing Triton riders armed with Crossbows who open fire on the Frosthamar & it's crew.  The fight is long & hard.  Many arrows are launched back & forth.  Arcane spells & negative energy cross the void as well.  Even some melee combat happens, as small water elementals materialize on board the ship & try to push it's occupants overboard.  At one point Brother Summit attempts to bring the fight to the Tritons as he leaps into the water & engages a Triton & Dolphin with backup from Galen's fiendish-Dolphin.

After rounds of fighting, as the Triton warriors all fall, the leader, a Triton wielding a beautiful trident summons a water elemental onto the ship & goes on a vain suicide charge, leaping onto the boat.  The attacks are quick & brutal, the water elemental causes some serious damage to the Death Priestess but the Triton fares worse against the Anti-Paladin of Hell & his Oracle & Monk allies.  And as his life blood drains out the Oracle of Mitra gives a prophetic warning of doom, saying "The shining sun has seen the wickedness you hide in your hearts. And thus it will be the son who brings your doom.”

Session 3

The group wake up after their first night in the Manor house.  They all find a silver unholy symbol of Asmodeus as well as a wicked looking Iron Crown sitting in front of each of their doors.  As well as all the other supplies they requested and notes to see the blacksmith to fit any armor they ordered.

While Quel gets his armor fitted, he notes the creator's rune on it... a well known armorsmith from Ghastenhall.  How such special ordered equipment arrived at the manor house overnight, an odd thought for sure.

The group spends more time around the other knot over the next couple days.  Elise the witch spends a bit too much time around Galen.  Others note she appears to be sizing up their group & Galen unknowingly tells her all about his arcane ability, as well as some of the powers of the other group.  He seems overwhelmed by Elise's "charm".  Meanwhile, Trak notes the affection doted on Galen by Elise & does not seem too keen to it.  A "murderous" look is how it is described later.

Others though have a more pleasant time.  Yvaine hits it off with Trak's twin brother Trik.  At first they meet over a mutual curiosity of Ben & his odd religious practice, but they eventually find common ground in their wicked faiths' similarities.  Also, Yvaine & others learn more about the fateful tale of Ben & Lady Amilia.  Her adulterous betrayal of him, his murderous rage against her, her eventual revival.  They also learn that Chiliax has begun to notice it's erstwhile province, and that is somehow related to Vincent & Ben's discussions with the "good" Cardinal.

Despite much complaining by Emmerick, the group has to wait the full three days before they can speak with their benefactor again.  It is in that meeting that Thorn lays out what their next task is, to prove their worth in a test.  They are given the assignment to find a gold & sapphire jewel in the basement of the manor house.  The group is lead by the ever demure & cold Tiadora and left at the entrance to the dark dungeon.  Told they have from dusk 'til dusk the next day to retrieve the item in question they are quick to begin.

The first room they enter starts well, Quel finds a pit trap over the only obvious exit.  He attempts to disable it, but fails & nearly falls in.  After that, they search around again & find a secret treasure cache hidden away, including a wicked looking magical dagger.  Still unable to find any other exit, the decide to cross over the pit trap & search the door.  They run back up to the dining room, take the main table, much to the confused looks of Trik & Dostan who were eating dinner at the time & use the table as a makeshift bridge to get across the trap.  In the end, for all their effort, they only find a bricked up wall beyond the door.

Thinking outside the box, the turn off all the lights in the room & look for any sliver of light coming through a secret door & eventually find the exit.  The following room they easy follow the riddle & destroy the odd mold using the vile of alchemist's ice & continue on.

In the next room they begin a battle with a vampire mist.  Brother Summit opens the darkened room and is able to see into the blackness beyond.  With one deft critical strike from a loaner crossbow, he shatters the obsidian orb in the middle of the room & ends the darkness.  The rest of the companions enter, but are quickly drained of blood as the mist rises from the floor.

The group decides on a tactical retreat & withdraws (in no way a fleeing motion...) north where they stumble upon a apparently empty room, save a newly constructed Rack & the phrase above the door about cruelty being a tool, not a past time.  Yvaine seems quite delighted in the apparent torture chamber.

Quel again fails to find a secret door & lacking a suitable subject, Yvaine suggests one of them "step up" to the Rack & see if they can cause something to happen.  Brother Summit offers himself as a subject & is strapped in.  Yvaine, wishing to be a "team player" wraps her cruel barbed rosary around the hand crank of the Rack & begins to turn it, causing both herself & Brother Summit pain.  Brother Summit eventually breaks & calls out in agony.  That is when Quel notices a noise, like the squeak of a frightened mouse, coming from a corner of the room when Brother Summit lets out his scream.  Quel searches there again, still, not finding anything.  So they continue for another 10 minutes.  Yvaine's hand bloody & Brother Summit being stretched to the limits of his ability.

Eventually, seeing nothing obvious happening, aside from increased anguish of Brother Summit & an odd pleasure/pain from Yvaine, they stop.  Quel does a more thorough search of the room, starting with the area around the noise & finally they find someone worthy of Yvaine's skills, if only barely.  They tortured Squire Timeon of House Balentyne.  They question him & find some useful information about the prison & it's occupants  including one Sir Balen of Kirkfield.

When it is revealed that the young Squire is Emmerick's replacement, the lad gets a mace blow to the neck-cap from the enraged former squire of the Knight.  In the end, like their master, the group fails to see his future value.  So they head back to the vampire mist room and "freeing" the young squire along the way they rush to the other door.  And the limping squire is a feast for the hungry mist, never having a chance.

The group continues on & struggles through a savage fight with some Mithril Cobras, but they stand victorious over the valuable remains of their enemies.  Feeling the poison of the automaton snakes still in them & also all the various wounds inflicted upon them, or in the case of Brother Summit on each other, they rest, though, they do NOT return through the mist & instead seal up the former abode of the Cobras & make a hard camp.

The next morning they set forth & find a room containing what appears to be a fake set of stairs & a fake gold & sapphire pendent.  Deciding to avoid the likely trap, they follow the instructions of the late Squire Timeon & search for a secret door opposite the stairs & finding it continue on through the labyrinth...

Session 2

Last session left off with our would-be escapees standing at the top of the warden’s tower.  The rogue Quell leading the way, stealthy as always, hears noises from one room & checking the quite room, finds an office with a ring & odd holy symbol laying out.  Figuring he found what his fellow convicts require, he backs out, signaling them to collect their belongings & then flee.

There is some disagreement as a couple others move forward to collect things about wither to leave, or finish off the warden.  In the ensuing confusion, some stealth rolls are botched & the Warden, hearing noises buffs himself & exits his bedchamber to find the motley band in the hallway, combat erupts.

The brief affair ends with Warden & Owl dead.  The killing blow administered by the skilled Quell.  Having full access to the library the group quarrels about what to do.  Emmerick notes they have little time before the guard change happens & the otherwise unaware gate guards find out the fate of their compatriots.  Mardus argues for acting quickly & rigging a fire, to make it look as though all occupants, Prisoners & all, parish in the blaze.  Galen ignores the calls of his fellow convicts to beat a hasty exit & searches the library, finding a smattering of rare books in the library filled with otherwise common & in some cases lude, balladry tales of adventurers.

The result, unbeknownst to the group, a guard returns from his post to find the carnage in the keep, including the remains of the sergeant.  Returning to his post, he sounds his horn & alert the remaining guards.

The guards grab the guard dogs & instead of taking the tactical position of defending at the gate, they flee their inner post & instead set up with all their dogs & guards at the outer gate house on the bridge head of the mainland, and send a runner to the near by town to alert them of the potential escape.  It seems the guards fear more for their safety then they do for the rest of Talengarde.  For posting on the main keep gate, they’d have a much better chance of victory, but no chance of escape.  A fateful decision, that in the end does save the guards lives, but ultimately dooms Talengarde…

The band of convicts are forced to charge across the bridge, the Cleric, holding her now recovered holy symbol to her god of death, is shrouded in an invisibility spell cast on her by Galen.  She charges ahead of the group, her companions being pelted by arrows.  Arriving at the portcullis, the dogs smell her presence & begin to growl, but she cares not, for she drops a zone of obscuring mist, bringing to an end the guards arrows shooting.  The cover allows the rest of the group to advance. 

The battle is met!  Except for Galen, who is still far off, apparently intent on all the treasure he’s found, he’s dragging a alchemists laboratory found in the Warden’s office.  During the conflict, some confusion over the location of allies causes Quell to take a serious wound from his Negative Energy channeling cleric “friend”.  Grumblejack & Emerix struggle with the gate, taking a grazing arrow wound here & there. Brother Summit jumps onto the roof of the guardhouse & eventually, dodging arrows, breaks in via the roof to fall into the control room & raises the bridge.

A savage but brief battle is fought.  The guard dogs, making up the front line engage in melee.  The guards continue to stay at range, arrows flying.  Most dogs fall quickly, but one vicious mutt strikes hard, downing Mardus & giving him a glimpse of hell.

As the battle turns, the guards use their escape & flee down the road to town.  Our protagonists lick their wounds, recover Yvaine from the jaws of her god and plunge head long into the bog and it’s relative “safety” from the watching eyes of the near by town.

It seemed though, that Zon-Kuthon had not given up on seeing his devotee, for half way through the moors, in the heart of the bog, a giant toad attacks Yvaine, and immediately downs her & begins to swallow her whole!

The rest of the group’s quick actions stop the toad, but they have to rush to free Yvaine from the belly of the beast & stabilize her.  Lacking any more healing, they must carry on, Brother Summit literally carrying Yvaine on his back, as he tries to shake off the odd drug-like haze he fell under while fighting the monstrous toad bare fisted.

The group quickly arrives under the sound geographical knowledge of Galen at the old moor road, but one more obstacle lies in the group’s path.  They encounter a group of bandits on the road.  The battle is a quick affair.  Some more damage is taken, but in the end, our persevering group survives & arrives at the Manor house in question.

Approaching the front gate they find it unlocked & hurry in.  At the front door of the main house is their earlier contact, Tiadora & she has a gaggle of servants about, though she terms them slaves.  They quickly show the group to their rooms where they get a chance to freshen up & Yvaine is awoken by the healing wine.  Emmerick spots another guest staying in the near by guesthouse.

After recovering from their dangerous journey, they are lead by Tiadora to the office of her master and they finally meet the man responsible for their escape, the last cardinal of Asmodeus in Talengarde, Adrastus Thorn.

The good Cardinal offers each member a choice, though there is little actual choice involved.  Either they sign the pack of Thorns & bind themselves to him, or…. Well, again, it’s not much of a choice.

The Cardinal though, offers some more reluctant in the group a boon of sorts.  To make them feel better about the choice they are making…  Yvaine is giving the sash of Archibald Hawthorn, the High Priest she burned & an offer to finish the job she started, as well as a special contract to sign, which acknowledges her other alliance to the god of death.  Brother Summit gets a book detailing some of the secrets of the Serene Order by a Brother Nicodemus.  Mardus is offered the glory of service in the name of the Lord of Nessus.  Galen is given a copy of his family ring & a promise that he will rise in greatness & prove his father wrong.  Perhaps even become the headmaster of the houses of Knowledge in Ghastenhall.   Quell is offered perhaps the greatest prize, a flask of sweet smelling oil & a piece of parchment containing information about his family.  Emmerick, the Anti-paladin of Asmodeus & pretender to the throne, is offered nothing.  Nothing at all, save a cold hard stare and a demand of absolute submission to the will of the Cardinal.

In the end, all sign & avoid the persuasive ministrations of Tiadora.  They are all told they have three days to rest from their journey & prepare for the training that is to come.

The next day, they are all met by a servant who offers to get them the gear they need.  And after that brief interaction, they are given free rein of the manor house & begin to meet it’s odd assortment of occupants.

The ex-convicts encounter members of a group known as the seventh Knot & find out they are to be the ninth Knot.  They also find out there is a vampire staying with them by the name of Vincent & he’s friends with another guest named Ben, who is accompanied by his apparent invalid wife.

At the end of the first day, still unsure of this other Knot, or the odd pair of Ben & Vincent, the group is left wondering exactly what they signed up for…

Session 1

Yvaine was the last prisioner to arrive, be branded the runic F marking her as forsaken and being deposited in the communal cell in the belly of Branderscar prison.  After a short bit of introductions between the new cell mates, the guards arrive to inform Emmerick that he has a visitor.  Emmerick is lead by the sergeant of the guard to a mysterious looking woman who acts as though she knew Emmerick.  He's quickly able to deduce the woman has some minor mind controlling effect over the guards.  After a brief conversation she informs Emmerick that he & his cell mates must break out & meet her master at a manor house on the Old Moor Road then she leaves, slipping her Veil into his hands.  With the guards returning, Emmerick slips the Veil into his mouth to avoid detection, then is lead back to the communal cell.

With some confusion, the group discovers the Veil is magical, though, the magical casters in the group can not seem to identify it fully, it's power too great for them to understand at the time.  Emmerick gets out of it the powerful magical item, the "Barbed Pentacle of Asmodeus" a truly wicked holy symbol of the Lord of Nessus, leaving no doubt to the dark nature of their new "benefactor".

Once they discovered the images in the Veil correspond to items they could remove, they quickly got the thieves tools out & the adept Elf Rogue Quel frees the group from their chains.  A quite conversation ensues about what is next.  The wizard, Galen, insists his magical ring & arcane bond must be recovered.  And Yvaine too says her special holy symbol to the god of death must be found.  Both had their items hidden on them at the time of their arrest but they were found & confiscated at the arrival to the prison.  Quel is against it, but eventually concedes when he discovers he's in the minority.  The rest of the group likes the idea of a powerful wizard & cleric.  The group manages to make their conversation both short & quite, keeping disagreements low so as to not alert the guards.

Freeing themselves from the cell, they encounter their cell neighbor, a massive Ogre named "Grumblejack".  With some healing ministrations by Yvaine, Grumblejack decides these "little 'uns" aren't bad & he'll help them kill their way out of the prison.

What ensues is a brutal and efficient escape by some of the worst criminals in Talengarde.

Aside from Brother Summit, the Monk, stubbing a toe on a cell bar on the way to the first guard room (which the guards discounted as probably a "mouse")  the group, lead by skilled Quel, proceed through a systematic slaughter of all the guards they can find.  By getting the surprise & acting swiftly in combat, they manage to obliterate the defenders.  Not a single warning is sounded.  Grumblejack proves his worth more than once.  Even the guards in the barrack, who stumble upon the group, have little chance to react before they are felled.  And the group finds plenty of male cloths in the barrack do wear, instead of the prison rags they'd been forced to walk around in.

The kitchen staff found and interrogated, while Yvaine relieves one of the woman of her commoner cloths (the group failing to realize their benefactor provided them all nice fitted cloths in the Veil).  Both woman are led into the prison basement & left there, bound & gagged, but allowed to live.  An odd sign of mercy shown by the Death Priestess, over the objections of some others in the group.

The Sergeant is their last target within the main Prison building & though putting up more of a fight, his calls for help only echo off the hollow walls of the old keep turned Prison.  For the other guards lay dead & the serving staff are the only restrained "prisoners" left.  In the end the Sergeant dies as well, though, not before telling all he knows to our would be group & receiving a fatal branding himself, for his "crimes" against the Prison, including embezzling funds & apparently quite lax security.

Some very close calls on bluffing by a couple former prisoners now turned "new" guards, with papers bearing the forged signature of the (now deceased) Sergeant, leads the outside guard patrol into an ambush in the Kitchens & the end of their lives.  Still no horn has been sounded.  The near perfect streak of the group continues.

The first session ends with the group silently being lead up the stairs of the Warden's tower.  The pull of Galen's arcane bonded ring ever weighing on his mind.  He can sense it getting closer...

Intro

Book 1, A Knot of Thorns.
Act One: Prison Break!

Our Adventure starts with a band of wrong-do'ers imprisoned for their crimes against the Kingdom of Talengarde.  The Kingdom of Talengarde being on a large isle off the coast of Cheliax in the Arcadian Ocean near the western mouth of Inner Sea.  Talengarde was a former province of the Empire of Asmodeus on Golarion before it eventually broke away.  Now it is completely removed from the faith of Asmodeus & has purged the Lord of Nessus' followers from the Isles.

Our wrong-do'ers charges leave no doubt to the wickedness of the group.  Grave Robbery, Attempted Murder, Murder, Blasphemy, Sedition & High Treason.  Sentenced to death or hard labor, each person was presumed dead, all that remained was for the swift justice of Mitra to be enacted.  But fate and the hand of a High Priest of a long banished God saw it another way.  In the moment before justice came, there was a chance.  A chance for something else.  A chance for revenge.