Session 45

The Knot decide to send Quell forward to sneak near the guard house full of grave-knights and try to reach the guest rooms where the necromancer Ben was rumored to be staying.

Quell got close to the guest rooms only to be spotted by one of the undead guards.

The elf cursed under this breath before beating a path back toward the prison with guards chasing after.

Emmerick, Brother Summit, Mardus & Yvainne readied for the coming onslaught while Wasyli rushed off to double back & use a wall of force to block the guards from alerting the rest of the compound.

As Wasyli was off blocking off the rear guards, the front guards encountered the forward might of the Ninth and they were brought low as blade and magic flared as the first few grave-knights fell.  In a move that Yvainne had mixed fillings about after, she enchanted Quell's blade with the destruction effect, causing one of the blows from the elf to permanently destroy one of the grave-knights.

Then the rest of the grave-knights, unable to breach the wall of force turned & slammed into the line of the Ninth.  The undead warriors managed to cause some damage to the front line.  Mardus found himself surrounded unable to fall back.  Then Brother Summit rushed forward shooting "Protect the High Priest!" and with fist and boot broke through the knights and scattering them so Mardus could retreat to relative safety.

By the time Wasyli managed to return, he found over half the guards destroyed and a wounded Mardus recovering.  The sorcerer didn't even bother casting his powerful spells, instead using minor spells to pick off a few more guards as Quell, Emmerick & Summit ground the remaining knights into the ground, claiming the guard house for the Ninth.

Wasting no time, the Ninth rush to the guest rooms looking for Ben and they find the necromancer poking his head out of a room trying to figure out what the commotion was.  With a nightcap on and a small candle in hand, the powerful wizard didn't cut a particularly striking figure.

The Knot quickly explained the disturbance as simply a change in management and nothing he should worry about.  The initial conversation goes well, as Ben seems quite indifferent to their coup attempt against their former master.

Then Yvainne asked about if his wife is around, and about the location of Vincent.  And Ben explains, with mild hesitation that yes, his wife is in his room with him and that no, Vincent is not around.  Further queries have Ben push back that it's late & that he'd like to get back to his room.

Yvainne again mentions his wife & he gives an angry look, much to Yvainne's surprise.

He again mentions his desire to retire for the rest of the night and that he could be found in the morning in his lab and he has no more time for questions.

Quell starts to push for more questions now and some curt words are traded between the rogue & wizard before Mardus jumps in and defuses the situation.  After a couple more brief questions, the Ninth let Ben return to his chamber as they resume their coup attempt.

With their intel, the Ninth prepare their next move.  Quell goes for another scouting mission, this time aided by invisibility from Wasyli and silence from Yvainne.  They find another gap in their intel, some new door on a hallway that has the heraldry of Thorn, including two grave-knights in livery.

The Knot set up an elaborate ambush, using a combination of silence, wall of force and a healthy dose of brute strength to strike.  They assault the guards on the odd ornate door and other guards down the hall guarding the presumed personal chambers of the head of the Second Knot.

They're nearly perfect with Quell & Mardus savaging the two grave-knights in heraldry, but Emmerick & Brother Summit prove unable to contain there two guards before they alert their commander.

Marcel Wolfram, Lord of the Second Knot and Anti-paladin of Hell steps forward and engages with Emmerick.  The two anti-paladins savage each other as all around grave-knights are reduced to hucks of armor.

Then Yvainne, wielding powerful enchantments, forces Wolfram to temporarily treat the Ninth as his friends.  Eager to see if they could salvage the Second they question it's Lord to see if anything could be done.  After a few questions it becomes clear, Wolfram's loyalty to Thorn is unwavering and unquestioning.  It would be exceedingly difficult to salvage this servant of hell.

So they decide to not bother.  Mardus tries to trick the Lord of the Second Knot into taking some Fire Seeds as "gifts" but as it turns out Thorn's anti-paladin knows more about spells than the Ninth's does, as Mardus' trick doesn't work and Wolfram, free of the spell lashes out.  But it doesn't matter.  Emmerick staggers from a blow from his rival, and Mardus detonates the Holly Bombs, engulfing the Lord of the Second Knot in the fires of Hell.  As the fire leaves, it is clear the new High Priest of Asmodeus has sent the top lieutenant of his rival back to Hell.

The Knot finds the secret door the dead fur-trapper mentioned and they ignore the other rooms around.  Their target is Thorn.

Quell spots a difficult to stop trap on the secret door but is able to disarm it and the Knot moves into the secret inner sanctum of the former High Priest.

The Knot find a few side rooms but they remember the words of the fur trapper & move up to the door at the end of the hall.  There the Ninth huddle and prepare for the fight they've been waiting for for over a year.  Emmerick eagerly gripping his mace.

The Knot cloak themselves in as much protective magic as they can muster and they burst into the secret throne room of Cardinal Thorn.

There they find their target.  The Lich Priest of Asmodeus, along with a half-dozen barbed devils.

The battle for the Knot of Thorns commences.