Session 31

As a dark dawn opens on the Vale of Valternia, the town of Sanctum finds itself ruled by a new set of masters.

Seeing a chance, even a slim one, to save villagers, the Mayor of Sanctum quickly bends a knee to their new overlords.  And what a benevolent set of overlords they are.  The Knot keeps the bugbears at bay, having their own human minions patrol the town.  Their only cause for tribute is to search the town for any magic items.

Emmerick taking particular pleasure in recovering a magical mithril shield adorned with the trappings of Asmodeus.  A trophy of the Mitrian conquest of the Lord of Hell.  Better if they'd have melted it into scrap.  Now the anti-paladin would use the shield to protect him on his quest to kill as many celestials in the Vale as he could find.

With order maintained, the Knot quickly posts a set of guards on the gates leading into the Vale.  And in a matter of days their preparations pay off.  For a ragged war band of Mitrians tries to break out, only to be captured.  Their leader, a man claiming to be Lord Roderick of Farholde, is in possession of some interesting trade contracts.

A few minutes alone with Yvainne's gentle company and he coughs up the truth.  He's no Lord, he's just a simply hustler, Robert the Rapier, a rogue from Ghastenhall.  His con warms Mardus' black heart.  Reminding him of his own glory days.  The Knot offers Robert a choice, join them and earn come coin.  Or die.  Either way, his contracts were forfeit, destined for the Knot's close ally, lady Shalyn Marsten. The con artist picks the obvious choice & joins the Shroud.

With order established in Sanctum, the Knot set their sights higher, literally.

They sail by boat to the base of the Mountain of the Phoenix and stare up it's jagged cliff & ice covered switchback stairs.

Brother Summit tries the snow choked stairs & confirms they are a bad option.

Using the Nightmare & zombie silver dragon and Mardus using his flaming wings, the Knot fly up the cliff-side.  They come to a screeching halt when Quell notices a shimmering energy field.  There is some sort of trap.

The Knot regroups at the base & considers their options.  But with little alternative, the Knot buffs for a fight & rushes up through the magical trap & land at the grand foyer entrance to the Mountain top temple.

Expecting a fight they wait.  But don't see one immediately.  So the Knot gathers, buffs more & bursts into the temple, only to find themselves confronted by overlapping walls of fire.

Emmerick strides forward and calls out to beyond the roaring fire.  "Your doom has arrived.  Prepare to die."

A voice calls back.  "Then come, for Doom there shall be."  Then the sound of casting follows, as a near by brazer of fire explodes, choking the Knot in smoke.

The fight with the Angel of Fire has begun.

The ensuing battle is a slug-fest of fire and smoke.  The Peri unleashed the full measure of her fury.  And the battle dragged on.  The Knot never able to land a solid blow.  But as the damage worn on her, the Peri flew out into the open to get away from the melee members of the Knot.  And there, flying 400 ft above the placid lake below, Wasyli struck.  Using his devil pact with his Suffocation spell, the Shadow Sorcerer of Hell pierces the celestial's defenses & sucks the air out of it's lungs, suffocating it mid-flight.  The majestic creature plummets the 400 ft to the jagged rocks below.

There's a pause, as the Knot catches their breath.  Then a roar sounds from the top of the mountain, and the temple shakes.  The Phoenix stirred.

The Knot members rushed into the Temple, closing the door.  Quell climbed up the column to get at an odd glowing sphere he'd spotted during combat, likely the source of whatever trap or ward was in effect on the mountain top.

As well fumbled around, other Knot members tried to shake off the lingering effects of the choking smoke, and bar the doors into the temple.  Then a great roar reverberated at the large double doors to the temple and they were bashed down.

Emmerick stood his ground & coming roaring through the thick smoke was a massive flaming phoenix, it's aura of heat washing over the anti-paladin.  Mardus's magics warding the Knight of Hell from the divine Phoenix's flames.

The pitched battle went on for a while as other members of the Knot tried to heal their still fresh wounds & see if the stairs out the back of the temple lead anywhere.  Rushing out they found the sacred flame of Mitra burning under a completely open sky.  No cover to be found anywhere.

Meanwhile back in the temple, the Phoenix flew back out the doors under relentless attack where it healed itself before spotting various Knot members fleeing up the narrow stairs toward the flame.  And it's nest!

The Phoenix soared above the mountain & swooped low over the stairs & flame of Mitra, clawing & screeching at any it saw.  And there above the stairs, a pitched battle was fought.

Brother Summit tried leaping onto the Phoenix, only to have the massive bird shrug off his grapple and leave him tumbling back down to the stairs below.

Yvainne tried in vain to cause significant damage to the celestial.  The beasts resistance to spells proving too great.  Resorting to buffing magic, Wasyli got busy trying to magically fly his allies.  The magical flying failed for Brother Summit, forcing him to fall a second time down onto the mountain top.  However, Emmerick was lucky enough to stay aloft.

Emmerick, augmented with magical flight, was able to engage directly with the bird.  And soon the fiery winged Mardus rushed to his side to heal him & provide light melee support.  The beast tried dispelling Emmerick's flight, but only managed to remove his fire resistance.  With Mardus close beside, Emmerick took only some damage.  Still, it was frightening to feel the unrestrained heat of the beast, without protection.

Between the healing & energy resistance, Mardus got the full furry of the Phoenix as the beast turned it's full attention on the Fire Oracle.  The snapping beak was followed up by back to back claw strikes.

Emmerick looked over in horror as Mardus grabs for his eyes as the Phoenix finishes clawing at his face. Down below, unsure if his compatriot is blind or not, Wasyli once again pulled out all his power. he called on his devil pact to empower his arcane spell & once again cast his Suffocation spell.  The air was quickly sucked from the lungs of the Phoenix, the massive bird fell to the mountain stairs below, where a waiting Brother Summit beat it do death in a flurry of blows.  Yvainne, wasting no time, quickly encircled it's corpse in a desecration spell to stall it's self-resurrection ability.

The fight over, the Knot looked to assess the damage.  The most concerning of which appeared to be Mardus' eyes.