Session 15

The death of Quell hangs on the Knot.  Faced with two unpleasant prospects, the Knot chooses flight & rest over further exploration without their elven rogue.

Fleeing down into the caverns below, they have to explain to the Boggards the death of their "chieftain".  Emmerick is quick to claim the kill on the Daemon who killed Quell & with it the claim on the Boggards.  The Boggard shaman explains it all to the other boggards, before leaving, complaining as he leaves that he thought the Knot was strong enough to restore the Horn to it's glory.  Halthus is also surprised & worried, to which Mardus and others are quick to point out is the reason they've asked Halthus to stay hidden with the Boggards until the Horn is fully cleared out.  After that, they hear no more complaints from Halthus about staying with the Boggards.

The Knots next order of business is to restore their fallen comrade.  Galen returns to town first, utilizing magical flight & finds out the only quick way to gain the powerful restoration magic they need is to go to the Abbey of Saint Cynthia-Celeste.  Returning to the Horn, Galen relays that information to the rest of the Knot.  Emmerick then pushes to return to town and insists he be the one to talk to the Nuns.  With some discussion, he agrees to have Mardus go as well.  The knot then makes all haste for Farholde, with Brother Summit shouldering the burden of the fallen Quell, without complaint.

Upon arrival to Farholde, the Knot seeks out the 7th Knot already in town.  Meeting with Elise, they ask her for any information on the Abby.  Eager to help & somewhat surprised at the fate of Quell, Elise hands over information about the Abby & it's leader Abbess Temperance Avigail.  Emmerick & Mardus revive their roles as Priest of Mitra & Knight of the Alerion Order and go to the Abby.  They are granted a late night audience with Abbess Avigail and spin a tale of how they were exploring in the savage north when they were attacked by Gnoll's and their elven ally was laid low by a Demonic creature helping the savages.

Emmerick's honeyed words of grief and anguish, mixed with a hint of truth, sway the Abbess to cast a spell to bring back their fallen comrade, provided an appropriate donation be made to the Abby.  And so the following day, within the holy shrine and burial tomb of a Saint of Mitra, a Priestess of the Sun god unwittingly brings back from the depths of hell, a follower of Asmodeus.  And unknowing, adds a plan to bring ruin on all of Talengarde.

With the Knot made whole again, the six members head back to the Horn the following morning to resume their searching.  Quick to pick back up where they left off, they return to the spot where Quell fell.  Walking past the corpses of the Daemons they brought to ruin, they begin the ascent up the stairs.

At the end of a 100 ft climb, they finally find the end of their searching.  For at the stairs terminus, with a balcony overlooking the Caer Bryr below, is the secret Sanctum of Vetra-Kali Eats-the-Eyes.  And around the alter & most unholy statue of the bizarre alien outsider, are chains of silver terminating in a seal bearing the Mitrian Sunburst.  The Seal the Victor placed on this dark, hallowed place.

But the ritual chamber is not empty.  Floating high above the alter is a glowing ball of electricity.  This elemental made of pure lightning is quick to attack the intruders, starting with the newly raised Quell.

The fight with the elemental is hard, but ends much more in the favor of the Knot of Hell than their last fight in the Horn.  Despite some initial damage, the powerful healing of the Death Priestess, and energy resistance from the Fire Oracle reduces the impact the lightning elemental had on the Knot.  Further still, a critical blinding attack by the Conjurer caused the fight to go much smoother.  And in the end the Anti-paladin's armor was charged with electricity & the Monk's hair was standing on end but otherwise all members survived the encounter.

Having found the holy artifact of Mitra & hidden sanctum of Vetra-Kali, but still lacking the third eye, the Knot resolves to find a way into the the unexplored sections of the third floor.  Now without having to worry about one or two Greater Ceustodaemons attacking them mid-rope climb, they decide to approach via the trap shaft they found terminating on the second floor.

Brother Summit attempts to scramble up the smooth surface, rope in hand, but fails to find any traction.  Meanwhile, Mardus nonchalantly casts levitate on himself & floats past the struggling monk, showing off his power.  However, the Oracle of Hell is foiled at the top when he finds a closed trap & afraid to break it open, has to return for his Elven friend.  Quell, being given magical flight as well, quickly floats up & with a flick of his wrist, pops open the trap door.  With magical flight & old fashioned rope climbing, the remaining Knot members gain access to the third floor of the Horn of Abaddon.

A quick look over most of the third floor turned up little of use.  Mostly empty rooms cleared of any original furniture or art work, with eerie green continual flame lights illuminating the desolate level.  But there are two notable exceptions.  One was an odd prayer or meditation room, with the nonsense word "nen" scrawled across it.  The other, the temple on the third floor of the Horn, which is the Fane of Vetra-Kali Eats-the-Eyes on the prime material plane.

The Fane looked mostly intact.  The zeal the Victor's knights took in destroying the lower levels doesn't appear visible here.  Quell, leading the Knot, skirts the alter to Vetra-Kali & heads for the only side door to the room and finds it locked.  While he begins to fiddle with the lock, Mardus notices the door radiates a magical aura and backs up the Elf in his attempts to open the door.  While Quell continues to fiddle with the lock, Mardus, attempting to active the magic on the door notices writing on the shrine that says "Hail Vetra-Kali".  Right as Quell pops the lock & opens the door, Mardus calls out "Hail Vetra-Kali".  At first, the door starts to open on a rather plain, empty store room, full of old barrels & cobwebs.  But as Mardus's voice rings out, a buzz of magic can be felt & the room transforms into treasure vault.  Piles of gold & silver coins & objects of art lay about.  In the middle of the room, held up by a clawed podium is a massive glowing emerald gem, the missing eye of Vetra-Kali.  But before the Knot can move in to take their price, the dark, semi-transparent guardians of the treasure vault rise from the floor.

Three wraiths, lead by a dread wraith stand in the way.  The dread wraith calls out "Kill all who stand in the way of Vetra-Kali!"  And with that the wraiths move into combat.  As the lesser wraiths fly into the midsts of the Knot, a horrible realization falls on the various Knot members.  Quell notices one of the wraiths dressed as an adventurer, Brother Summit notices another clearly wearing the holy symbol of Asmodeus.  Three wraiths.  Three missing members of the 4th knot.  The fate of the 4th knot became clear...

Still, wanting for a different outcome, the members of the 9th Knot call out to the Dread Wraith and ask for a truce and try to explain their desire to free Vetra-Kali & release his Tears on all of Talengarde.  Their words cause the Dread Wraith to pause.

With open hostility stopped, the Knot converses with the Wraith, apparently a "priest" of the Sons of the Pale Horseman.  And they explain their plan and ask for a truce of some kind.  Surprisingly the Dread Wraith relents on it's desire to feed on the life energy of the living & agrees to add the Knot in their quest.  It's desire to free it's master overcoming it's hatred of the living.

It even lets the Knot have the Eye of Vetra-Kali, though reluctantly.  As well as the rest of the treasure in the vault.  And vows to help guard the Horn as the Knot begins the ritual to restore it's banished master.  And after answering a few brief questions, leaves, claiming it wishes to no longer be tempted to feed on their mortal souls.

The entire encounter ends up having gone much better than any in the Knot expected or could have hoped for.  Yet, Yvainne & Quell exchange a glance after the wraith leaves.  Something was off.  Still, the Knot gains the last Eye they needed, as well as a true pile of treasure and gold.

Having finished clearing out the Horn and gaining possession of all three Eyes of Vetra-Kali, the knot now faces the question, what next?