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…