Session 27

Mardus fumbles with the magic coffin, trying to figure it out, as Hound Archons slam into him.

He calls for help and Emmerick rushes forward, Mace in hand when he trips the trap on the door that Mardus accidentally managed to avoid.  Fireballs exploded around, but the Ninth, shrouded in Fire Resistance ignored it.

Pressing forward, Emmerick and Mardus both bashed and smashed into the class case, finally breaking it bringing the complex ritual to an end.  And stopping the divine onslaught of spirits and angels.

While that was going on, the remaining Knot members, let by Quell, laid into Father Earnan MacCathlain.  Yvainne stripped the Father of his Holy Aura and Wasyli countered his healing spells, still the Father's Frightful Aspect caused Quell to flee in terror, but not before landing a savage sneak attack.  Quell fled from the wounded priest, past Mardus and Emmerick.  Mardus gave a sigh as he ran after Quell.  Having learned his lesson earlier in the Druid crypt by Farhold, that a fleeing Quell can work his way into the most awkward of situations..

Emmerick turned & rushed at the priest, not caring about the spell and simply braining Father MacCathlain anyway.  The strategy worked, for as the Anti-paladin gave out a frightened squeak, the giant form of Father MacCathlain crumpled to the floor.

With victory in hand the rest of the Knot went after Mardus & Quell to find Quell huddled at the end of a hallway, and Mardus standing guard in the hallway, eyeing a room beyond.

The Knot all looked and saw in the next room a massive rune covered vault door and two massive iron angels standing guard.

The Knot withdraws to the Abbott's library and rummages around, finding an odd encrypted book, but little else of immediate note.

Wasyli mentions avoiding the vault doors by simply disintegrating a wall near by instead.  But seems reluctant to do so, for risk of damaging anything directly behind the wall.

Brother Summit suggests the Knot go with that plan, avoiding the Gollums.  But the rest of the Knot vetoes that idea.  Yvainne being the most outspoken, wishing not to risk the Chalice they came to recover for the Vampire of Ghastenhall.  So with a grumble, Brother Summit resigns himself to a slug-fest with the Gollums.  All so some old vampire gets his cup of blood.

Still, with the ability to buff and prepare, the Knot strikes, using a Wall of Force to separate the two brutes.  And so separated, facing fully buffed combatants, the Gollums didn't stand a chance.  Within a minute, they were both reduced to scrap.

Then faced with the vault door, the Ninth were stumped by the riddle for entrance.

"By the four names, cursed be he who unleashes what is bound within."

The Ninth fumble back to the library and do some more digging, where they come up with the useful information from the records of the creator of the Vault, Saint Angelo.  "The vault is sealed with the names of the first, the teacher, the founder and the maker."

The Knot struggle, but the come up with what they think are the correct anwser, Suchandra (the phoenix, first in the vale), Ara Mathra (the teacher of the order), Macarius (the founder of the order) and Angelo (the actual maker of the vault).

With the riddle in hand, Emmerick strides forward, the remaining knot members falling back, waiting...

Emmerick stumbles on the names, occasionally glancing back at the others when he forgets a name.  But he struggles through & is rewarded with a satisfying click, as the locks tumble into place & the massive door swings open.

Beyond are crates and crates of religious jeweled religious paraphernalia to the wicked gods.  Most if of Asmodeus, but Yvainne does spot a couple wicked daggers to her dark god, Zon Kuthon.  But that is not the true treasure.  The true treasure are the magic items displayed out on the far wall.  Each with a trap that Quell not only easily spots, but is easily able to disable.

A full length mirror, with two bound bone devils.  Bound to answer any question posed to them truthfully, they will make truly worth advisers to the Ninth.

A horn made of the bones of an angel that protects the blower in a magical circle of protection from good.

The chalice for their vampire ally.  Able to make mortals into vampires themselves, all be it after one full year of drinking blood from it.

The blade of a broken bastard sword labelled "Helbrand".  Emmerick reaches for it, and for the first time in a long time, he hears a voice in his head.  "Remake me."

But all those pale in comparison to the lesser artifact, the The Incomplete Codex of the Damned.  Wasyli gingerly picks up the four volumes present & puts them in his bag for later study.

With a secure vault and now low on spells, the Ninth opts to rest another night in the Crypt beneath the Cathedral.  They make it almost completely through their slumbers, when they are awoken to the sight of two ghost martyr paladins who attack them.

During the fight, the Knot realizes these ghosts are two they've fought before.  Still, only two ghosts don't stand a chance against the Ninth and they are vanquished in short order.

Wondering out loud Mardus asks "Why did they attack now & not the last time we rested."  Then he realizes.  "We've been here for days.  They're ghosts. They're returning!"

A chill befalls the group.  What if all the ghosts are back...

The Knot steels itself for a long fight out to the exit, but are surprised to see no other ghosts attack.

Still, with some spell casters having interrupted sleep, the Knot heads upstairs and rests again.  Vowing not to go downstairs until they are finished with Ara Mathra.

With the bones of Saint Macarius ready, the Ninth trudges forward, a hell hound bobbing forward, dropping the bundle of bones into the blazing inferno.

The fire roars & crackles, the Hell Hound rushing back to it's master.  The Knot waits as the wall starts to flicker and fade.

The Ninth rally around Emmerick.  Their plan, have Emmerick share his smiting ability with the others, then drop a silence to protect them from the likely Holy Word spell they'll get.  The flames fall and waiting beyond them is the angel, Ara Mathra.  And combat is at hand.  But before Emmerick can get off a shared smite for his allies, the Angel rushes forward, swooping up & landing in their mists, calling out a holy word, and following it up with a quickened holy smite.  The Knot's collective vision fades as they all go blind, some being deafened and stunned as well.  With all three Nessian War Hounds banished back to hell.

Ara Mathra then charged forward, relentlessly beating on Wasyli.

Knot members scrambled to restore their senses, Wasyli managing to dispel the Holy Aura on the angel, with Emmerick getting a silence spell cast on himself.

The Ninth regrouped, Emmerick finally unleashing his communal smite, granting the boon to Mardus and Quell.  As they both rushed forward to attack the Angel.  Still, Ara Mathra continued his focused onslaught.  Beating Wasyli with his morningstar and blasting the area with another quickened Holy Smite.  Yvainne and Mardus rushed as they saw Wasyli's lifeless corpse fall under the unrelenting blows.  And with a Breath of Life, followed up by a Heal, they got Wasyli back up before his soul was claimed by his infernal pact.  With Mardus stuck healing and unable to use his smite, Emmerick rushed forward, bringing the zone of silence with him and striking Ara Mathra, but it was not enough.  The angel shrugged it off.  It was when Quell, who took one step forward, and unleashed a flurry of smiting sneak attacks that did the angel in.  One strike in the gut, another in a chest, finally a savage blow, ripping a wing clean off the angel.

Ara Mathra staggers, gurgling up blood and his dying words ring out.  "It will be the son
who brings your doom."  And his form fell to the floor in a pool of his own angelic blood.

So similar to the words spoken by the Triton Oracle of Mitra, who attacked the Ninth when they sailed up the coast on the Frost-hammer loaded with weapons for Fire-Axe's horde, so many months ago.