With the arrival of one of the Daemon's & Galen, Brother Summit is bolstered with hope. And shortly after they arrive, more Knot members come pouring out of the teleportation circle.
The Mitrian inquisition rapidly turns from hunter into hunted. The Daemon shrugs off the attacks of the Inquisitor leader and with arcane support disembowels the Mitrian. The guards & lantern archon begin to fall under the combined might of Quell, Brother Summit & Mardus with support from the negative energy spewing death priestess, Yvainne.
Mardus calls out to take someone alive and it is then that Emmerick arrives, riding through the 3rd floor balcony on his newly summoned Nightmare. Charging into the fry he destroys the priest of Mitra, 2nd in command of the Mitrian forces. Splattering blood across Mardus' face. Clearly the Anti-paladin missed the Oracle of Hell's advice.
Still, as defeat claims the forces of good, a couple of the foot soldiers are taken alive for questioning by Yvainne.
After a few days of questioning an unexpected fact comes out. The Inquisitors were following reports of an alleged "Knight of the Alerion Order" who was causing carnage along the river heading to Farholde. Checking dates & times, they matched perfectly with the Ninth Knots trip along the same river months earlier. A trip that always involved stops overnight near towns by Tiadora. It seems Thorn's Lieutenant was keeping herself busy. And managed to drag the inquisition down around them.
Why the inquisition thought it was forces of Hell behind the attack is unclear, as the two surviving foot soldiers simply heard the reports from the now very much dead head Inquisitor.
The Knot members discuss Speak with Dead on the remains of the Inquisitor & Priest, but they get interrupted and never get around to it.
The interruption comes in the arrival of Aliciette Cardoso. She apparently knew of the surprise inquisitor attack. It's at that moment the Ninth Knot thinks to ask, where was the warning from the seventh? She assures them a messenger was sent. She held up to watch the departure of the Inquisition, to insure they in fact left Farholde & reported to Elise before heading to the Horn herself to warn the ninth in person.
There is grumbling within the ninth that the seventh somehow tricked them. But travelling back with Aliciette to the outskirts of Farholde, they pick up on the trail of the messenger & follow it into the woods, to see for themselves.
The follow the tracks & stumble into a clearing in the woods, that's when the corrupted plant creature attacks them. Emitting some sort of hallucinatory spore, Mardus sees the tree as a friend, not an enemy. Meanwhile, the rest of the knot fights off the creature's long vines as it tries to grasp at their necks. Without Mardus' "fire" power, the fight has a rough start, but the Knot manages to overcome the tree creature with minimal difficulty.
There amongst the remains of various travellers is a letter from Elise warning the ninth of an impending attack. Some grumbles are still heard among the ninth, but for now it seems Elise and the seventh remain faithful to the cause.
Over the next couple weeks, Yvainne & Quell together partake in the Boggard Shaman's odd ritual. Yvainne is distressed to see visions of a fiery hell. And not the comforting black void her god promises her. Quell also has visions of hell though his involve odd Devils consorting and speaking of him & the other members of the ninth knot. A brother & a sister of some sort? The odd frog poison induced vision is too hard for the elf to follow clearly.
It is around that time a local preacher speaks of doom & evil at the Horn. Trying to rally the town against this otherworldly threat. Clearly this heretic must go. If the heads of the Basileus Shroud had thought to consult the other knot members, Mardus would have strongly urged caution. Suggesting to undermine the preacher's credibility. But the Shroud members did not consult the others and where guided by Yvainne's secret rage at her "false" visions of hell. The death priestess wants blood! And Emmerick seems fine with letting her have it. So the Shroud plots to end the Mitrian's life and after a couple unsuccessful attempts manages to succeed. But only to prove to the town the preacher was right and now is a Martyr for the cause.
Eventually the half-way point arrives and the eventual end of Sister Marta is at hand. Mardus, having maintained his alternate personality of a servant, convinces Sister Marta that salvation is at hand. He leads her to her freedom by "sneaking" the blind woman out of the Horn. In fact, he simply walks her past skeletons, guards, Daemons & others up long stairs to the Sanctum of Vetra-Kali. There, standing before the shrine of the Daemon Prince, a glowing evil veil of green energy behind her as a backdrop, the Oracle of Hell swiftly cuts out her heart. Ensuring that to the end, the Mitrian Sister always had faith in the Shining Lord.
The Horn burst forth with Daemonic energy. The ground itself trying to revolt from the evils, causing loose stonework & dust to fall all about. A sickly green pulse of energy lanced the heavens. As the earthquake subsided, an unnatural darkness fell about the land as the rays of the Shining Lords light failed to fall on the lands around the Horn.
The following week after the dark ritual, the Knot members are awoken to the report of a murder in the servants quarters. Before they can arrive to investigate, they hear voices coming from the cells. Listening in, a woman's voice says, "keep quite, I'm here to rescue you." In hushed tones the knot discusses & debates how to attack when they hear a scream. Galen rushes & dimension doors the entire knot into the cells. There they find some nightmare horror attacking their prisoners.
Battle is joined against the incorporeal creature. Galen is quick to throw Brother Summit the magical shaman staff, capable of touching even ghosts. And the Monk uses it to land blow after blow on the dream-shade As others blows only half land.
Throughout the entire combat it changes appearance, taking on the forms of those who died in the Horn. But in spit of it's crazed ways, the Ninth destroy it. At least for the time being.
After combat ends Galen is explaining it's odd ability, Mardus pipes up to Quell, "Didn't you die here Quell? Could it have turned into you?"
A shudder runs down the elfs spine...
In the following week the Shroud leadership receive a missive from the headmaster at the Vandermir Orphanage, Bergill Mott. Speaking in riddles that Yvainne & others can easily decipher it seems another rival gang is moving against the Shroud's forces in Farholde. A gang known as Thatcher's Crew is moving in on the slums of Farholde.
This act can not go unanswered. But seeing an opportunity, Yvainne suggests an alternative to outright elimination If somehow they could be incorporated into the Shrouds operations, the manpower would be quite helpful.
So, they set up a meeting outside of town between the rival gang leadership & themselves. Speaking with Thatcher, Yvainne manages to convince him to join with them. But her honeyed words fail to convince his crew. Further, her supplications to the rival gang cause dissent within the Shroud. The results are disastrous While Thatcher & a couple of his personal cronies join, the rest of his gang scatters to the winds. Worse, the Shroud loses more in moral & personal then Thatcher & his lackeys will ever be worth.
A bleak day for the machinations of the Ninth.
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