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.