Session 34

As crystal gargoyles enclosed on the Knot, their bodies shimmering in blinding lights, the Dragon roared overhead and called out in a mocking voice... "Six blind mice, see how they run!"

The fight was joined.  And Quell fell over in uncontrollable laughing.

The agethion concubine struggled to keep up with her allies as they rushed ahead.  The tree-shaped woman leading the three, using magic to move in among the Knot in a blur.

The Knot scattered, casters fleeing from her aging attacks as the melee fighters surged forward.  The dragon continued to roar overhead as Quell rolled on the floor laughing more.

At one point Yvainne tried to run away & bumped into something invisible and just kept trying to move around it until she got in the clear.  Not waiting to see what it was she cast down divine wraith, stunning gargoyles and concubines alike.

Wasyli managed to invoke his infernal pact and feeblemind the Rakshasa before hiding in shadows.

The gargoyles still moved in, blinding as they went, Quell gave out a laugh.  "Ha!  Now I am blind!  Ha!  This is SSOO funny!  Ha!!" As around him his companions struggled for their lives.  Even Mardus' repeated attempts to break enchantment failed.

Still, in spite of their adversity, the Knot tried to rally.  Brother Summit & Emmerick laid into the tree creature.  Their repeated blows chopping her down.  Eventually she fell to Emmerick, for a second the anti-paladin looked to a nearby Gargoyle, but then turned to the fallen concubine.  And resumed hacking at her with helbrand until he was sure she was dead.

Then the invisible dragon dropped the rouse of his illusionary copy.  And he savaged into the wicked creature who smote his lover.  In a rush of attacks  Emmerick staggered and fell.  The dragon refused to relent.  Blow after blow, until the very armor Emmerick wore was bend under the final tail slam.  Emmerick's battered form was well beyond the breath of life Mardus could offer and then Mardus succumbed to the blinding light of the Gargoyles.

Emmerick dead, Quell consumed by laughter, the crystal of the island even seemed to blow teleportation magic.  The potential doom of the Ninth Knot was at hand.

Thinking on their feet, the Knot came up with a solution.  Wasyli used limited wish to create a dampening field to allow teleportation magic to work.  Yvainne rushes into it and calls out for the others to come running as she preps a word of recall.  Mardus waited blindly, not realizing he was outside the dampening field.  Brother Summit paused, his gaze alternating between the laughing form of Quell and the crumpled mortal shell of Emmerick.  He looked over at Wasyli, who gave an uncertain look in response.  With a sigh, Brother Summit rushed and grabbed Emmerick's body, running back to his waiting allies.  Then he is staggered under a passing bite from the invisible dragon.  Only his half-orc ferocity able to keep him on his feet.  He reaches out and grabs Yvainne and the blind Mardus.  Yvainne's spell goes off, there's a ripple of magic and it looks for a second like the blind Mardus will be left behind, but then the magic snaps and he disappears with the rest.

Left behind was the laughing Quell.

Arriving in a safe house in Farholde, Brother Summit blacked out and had to be brought back up with healing magics.  Emmerick was a more complicated situation.  Resorting to a raise dead scroll, they managed to get their anti-paladin back on his feet.

Realizing they were way in over their heads, the Knot plots what to do next.  They try scrying, but fail to see Quell, while back on the Island, Quell was "getting to know" his new friends.  His taunts only increase the punishment the Rakshasa lays on him.  Between her less than gentle attention and the arcane magic of the ancient copper dragon, Quell breaks in a matter of days.  Revealing a great many of the Knot's secrets to the forces of good.

The rest of the Knot didn't remain idle.  With scrying magic not aiding them, they opted for a more direct route.  An invisible flying Wasyli would do airborne recon of the island from hundreds of feet in the air.

There he spot an odd sight.  Quell, contained in some kind of glowing energy sphere, was on display in the middle of the island.  Guarded by 2 gargoyles.  Also, Wasyli saw two pairs of Gargoyles on patrol in other parts of the island.

Wasyli returned a day later, the second time armed with true seeing.  And he saw what he expected, the image of Quell and his two guards were simply illusions.  He also spotted the dolphine-woman patrolling the reefs around the island.

He's scared off when the Copper Dragon spots him invisible in the air high above the island. Forced to teleport away.

Wasyli does one more fly by the following day, not seeing anything.  Even the illusion is gone.  But the two patrols of gargoyles remained.

The time for an island assault was at hand.

The Knot discussed an all-out invasion.  Throwing minions & lieutenants in an amphibious assault, while the Knot does covert ops.  A bold and risky move likely to seriously leave a dent in the ranks of the Shroud.  But the Knot decide to leave that option as a backup, instead focusing on tactical strategic guerilla warfare.  Their first target.  The Gargoyle patrols.

With that the Knot grab Trik, spell up and teleport back onto the island that almost doomed them four days before.

Session 33

After recovering, and some pointed questions with Jaretheon Knightsbane, the Knot started to worry.  It seems the young dragon lied about the creatures of the island, but what was worse.  It seems the dragon lied about the way he parted with his father.  Perhaps this gift was a bit overvalued...

Still, with no other choice, the Knot pushed forward, wandering through a macobre scene of melted flesh and bone, before arriving at the secluded flooded out cavern lair of Chargmagon.  Then, rising out of the cloudy water, the hulking form of the great wyrm.  The beast roared but the members of Cardinal Thorn's Ninth Knot stood their ground.  Even the fear prone Quell managed to stand tall in the face of the brute.

The Knot presented their "gift" and waited for a response, unsure of what to expect.  The father grabbed the head of his spawn.  Emmerick quickly let go of the Mithril chain before he too got dragged forward into the pool.  The Knot cringed as they saw the dragon father squeeze on the muzzled head of the younger dragon.  Then a popping sound filled the chamber.  Jaretheon fell down, Chargmagon holding in the split open Mithril muzzle in his massive clawed hands.  Jaretheon scurried away as Chargmagon dropped the Mithril muzzle into the pool.  Mardus gave a sad look as he saw the valuable Mithril disappear with a blurp.  A couple knot members whispered to each other.  "We told the Eagle King we'd return it.  Opps"  The grinning response "Well, we can always tell him where to go to get it... "

Emmerick and Mardus stepped forward.  Emmerick put on a performance unseen before by the other Knot members as he and Mardus wove a tale of a time when Chargmagon could be a glorious powerhouse again and make the whole isles fear his great name.  Between a returned dragon spawn, a fair amount of boot-licking and an incredible stroke of luck, the Knot managed to not get eaten by the Dragon.

Chargmagon agreed to the Knot's cause.  But with a caveat.  They were to complete his quest of blood, before he'd complete theirs.  A copper dragon and his outsider concubines ruled an island far to the south.  "Return with the dragons head, or don't return at all."  Hissed the Dragon before he slipped away under the pool of water.

The Knot waisted no time to flee.

When they were far away they gave a collective sigh of relief.  Then they realized just how insane of a plot they were in the middle of.  Emmerick spoke up.  "What is Thorn thinking, that could have killed us..."  Then, realizing what he just said.  He gave a groan.  "This is a suicide mission isn't it?"  No one else in the Knot spoke up.

Still, the mission was in front of them so they pushed on.  Wasyli & Mardus spent a great deal of time researching the dragon and got as much information about the copper trickster and his concubines.

The Knot then sailed off to the isle of the copper dragon.  Arriving they circled the island, the sailors afraid to approach the jagged reefs that ringed the isle.  They they spotted it, a dock pocking out of the island, behind the reef.

Figuring there was some way to approach, Brother Summit offers to go explore.  Layered in divine spells, the monk easily swam through the water, breathing with indifference.  Even with the full moon out, the monk was able to hide in the water & explore the reef.  He found a route through, and followed it until he was confronted by a dolphin mer-maid angel.  A concubine of the copper dragon.

Brother Summit stood in stunned silence.  The angel spoke short and concise.  "The island is closed, turn around."  Brother Summit, not use to lying tried to stretch the truth.  And seeing that was failing, just came out and said they were here to challenge the dragon lord of the isle to a battle to the death but that they wished no harm to any others of the isle.  Then it was the angel's turn to stand in silence.  His open desire not to kill others gave the angel pause.  Instead of attacking him, she told him one more time.  "Leave".  And Brother Summit, without saying a word, turned and swam back to the waiting ship.

The rest of the Knot stood dumbfound to Summit's story.  Still, the Knot played up the "lie" and started to turn the ship around.  Quell and Summit noticed the dolphin-angel go to the docks but she never leaves the water, returning to beneath the waves after a few moments.

The Knot knew, the time to strike was waning.  She was warning others.

Wasyli got the Knot together and tried to cast teleportation.  Then he realized, there was resistance coming from the island.  Something on the island was making it difficult to teleport.  Still he was able to teleport the group to the edge of the island.  Where they ran into a group of oreads waiting for them.

The Knot held back nothing.  They carpeted the docks with 7th level spells and ruthless attacks.  Laying waste to the meager defenders.  The angel came to reinforce the oreads from the ocean, a Elder Water Elemental charging in front of her, only to have the huge watery monster turn and run in fear from Emmerick.  The remaining oreads broke and fled.  Brother Summit & Mardus rushed after them and slew them.  Wasyli tried to Feeblemind the angel, and failing that, tried to dimensional anchor her.  It all failed.  Resorting to Glitterdust her, they managed to blind her.  But that only got her to flee sooner and before the Knot could respond she slipped beneath the waves.  The Knot waited for a few seconds.  Unsure if she'd return.  Then, rolling out from the heart of the island, all the way to the shores came one word in Draconic.  "Invaders!"

The Knot turned in surprise.  Fearing they were losing their window, they rushed forward through the island.  Mardus did some light ariel reconnaissance and they saw another group of oreads rushing toward the main domed building and started to make a defensive stance.

The Knot clashed into the oreads, savaging through their ranks.  Even their captain, a mighty barbarian staggered under the blows of Brother Summit.  A group of crystal gargoyles flew in to engage them and the struggled to stay afloat against the roaring inferno of fiery hell Mardus unleashed on them.

Then out of the domed building, they came.  Three concubines and one very angry copper dragon.

The Knot paused, a sense of dread filling them as they saw the tide of battle starting to turn...

Session 32

The Knot interrogated the survivors of the city watch.  And find out the small resistance was hoping to weaken the Horde before the arrival of the King to "rescue" them.  The Knot ensured no rescue would come.

Wasyli had a specific thing in mind for the surviving captain of the watch.  He ritualistically sacrificed the captain, so he could be attuned to the powerful Codex of the Damned the Knot recovered from the Vale.

For the following weeks the Knot relaxed.  They did a few more rounds of pillaging.  But didn't try much to find out anything else.  Instead settling down and waiting for their next assignment from Thorn.  Content that they'd explored the city to the fullest.

Their desire was soon fulfilled.

Tiadora soon arrived, 9 Erinyes of hell in tow.  The mission was given.  Gain the aid of a great worm black dragon to attack the Princess of Talengarde.  When the king uses a magical talisman to return to rescue her, be waiting for him in his secret sanctum.  And kill him.  In one night of slaughter the Darrian line would be broken.

The knot asked a handful of questions and got very few answers.  When they asked how killing the king would stop the army of 20 thousand strong soldiers from overwhelming the much smaller army of Fire-Axe, all they got for an answer was, "Thorn has a something special planned."

The Knot was already intrigued about news of a young black dragon being held captive by eagles in the mountains near the Caer Bryr and the Shroud had some Iraen scouts around Farholde waiting to take them to the Lord of the Eagles.  They decided to come up with a ruse.  They would pretend to be working on behalf of Polydorus, the Seer of Dyvern.  They would perform a "ritual" to banish Jaretheon, spawn of Chargammon from the prime material plane.  All they needed was a location near by.

The ruins of the Horn of Abaddon sounded perfect.  The teleportation master, Wasyli had never been there before, so he, and Brother Summit Shadowwalked across the span of the continent in a matter of hours to arrive around the location of the Horn.

As they came out of the Shadow plane, they both noticed like they were being... watched.

The ruins around the Horn looked abandoned.  Over half a year had passed and the forest had yet to reclaim the crater that remained of the Horn.  An erie silence persisted.  Then Summit spotted something odd.  Some sort of black pool clinging to some of the rubble.  It had an odd shadowy, otherworldly look to it.  It sucked up the light of the sun, and swallowed it whole.

Approaching with caution, Summit examined it at range.  After throwing stuff at it, it reacted, reaching out & grasping.  It was some kind of Ooze!  Wasyli examined it, and couldn't determine what it was.  It failed to detect as magic or anything else for that matter.  Opting to avoid it, they left it.  Clearly, the Horn wasn't looking like a good spot.  Still, the Green Dragon, Sanderax was located near by.  They'd give him a visit and see what's been going on in the Horn.

Traveling through the forest, that feeling of being watched got less, but didn't go away.  Arriving at the base of the spire the Green Dragon called home, Brother Summit raised his hand, stopping Wasyli.  Looking up above he pointed.  Wasyli gulped.  There, glistening in the wind, covering part of the opening of the lair of Sanderax.  Spider webs.  Giant spider webs...

The cave had a new resident.

Remembering the fight with the Leng spider at the Cathedral of Mitra-Made-Manifest, the two Knot members fled, with all possible haste for the relative safety of Farholde.

With the environs of the Horn no longer safe, they opted for another location.  A few miles away, hopefully well away from the horrors around the Horn, was a large lake.  Going there, they found a suitable spot to set up a fake ritual.

With a spot picked, the Knot gathered up in Farholde and prepared for their trip to the Lord of the Eagles.  While in town the spoke with the now quite rich and grateful lady Marstein.  A proper feast was held to send them on their way.

Guided by Iraen scouts, it took but a few days to arrive at the throne of the Lord of Eagles.

Armed with a forged letter from Polydorus and an over-abondance of guile, Mardus's silver tongue, and the lordly presence of Emmerick trick the Lord of Eagles to free his captive into their care.  Better still, his eagles would deliver them and their prisoner to the lake in the Caer Bryr and leave them to their "ritual".  The dragon still secured by a powerful Mithral chain and muzzle.

Once left alone, they speak with the Dragon.  With threat of might and magic, they convince Jathereon he'd best obey the Knot.

With Emmerick riding a very angry and defeated looking Black Dragon, and the rest of the Knot riding on fiendish hippogriffs, the forces of hell arrive in the Domain of Chargammon.  A roiling ocean below the, grey skies and relenting rain above them.

Jeratheon and Emmerick lead the Knot and a group of surprised, savage looking river drakes growl and snap in Draconic and the intrusion into their home.  Some hesitant words from Jeratheon and a stern look from Emmerick kept the drakes away.  Though, as the Knot dismounts and the Hippogriffs flee, a couple do swoop after them, snapping angrily, before letting the fiendish creatures flee out over the roaring ocean.

The Knot moves into the rugged interior of the island home of Chargammon.  The rain unrelenting, but the noise of the roaring ocean diminishing.  Within was a small area of light vegetation.  It's there that Brother Summit and Quell notice Jaretheon tense.  They're able to react before the remaining surprised Knot members get attacked by two large plant creatures with choking vines.

Jaretheon attempts to flee in the confusion, with Emmerick still on his back, only to be tangled up in one of the vines.  Close to half the Knot staggers and under clouds of hypnotizing pollen the plants unleash, stagger back and forth, swayed under the confusing influence of the plants.

The unaffected Knot members quickly act, trying to fight off the plant-like creatures, hacking away at the unrelenting vines.

Jaretheon attempts to flee, but the vines restrict more, taking advantage of the Mithril chain & muzzle to hold the Dragon fast.

Realizing his opportunity to escape has vanished and he might very well go down to the vines, the Black Dragon roars and starts to rip into his attacker.  Emmerick, coming to the same realization tries to heal his mount, in between hacking at vines with Helbrand.

Wasyli and others were rendered useless through the fight.  But between a strong willed Emmerick, a madly desperate Jaretheon, and the indifferent undead vampire Yvainne, along with Quell, who fled to range and shot with his bow and Summit, who started the fight clear minded before eventually succumbing, managed to defeat the vines.

While all this was going on, a cell of the Shroud was infiltrating the Army of the King.  They were struggling to get close to the command structure of the army, but they did find out one interesting fact.  The Sons of Balentyne split off from the Army weeks ago.  It seems Lord Havelyn is up to something.

Session 31

The Ninth Knot secured the prison exterior.  After a spirited questioning of the head guard, Yvainne quickly feasted on him.  Eager and hungry, after being deprived her dinner during combat.

The Knot then went through the prison and found row after row of chained, malnourished prisoners.  Never one to turn down an opportunity, the leaders of the Shroud quickly recruit, selecting the choice prisoners.  The remaining prisoners were set free to meet whatever fate was in store for them.

Another oddity was found.  An assassin, branded with a runic F.  Forsaken.  Questioning the stoic prisoner revealed he was one the foreign assassins who failed to kill the King before his unexpected march from the capital.  The Knot offered him his freedom and another chance at taking out the King.  An opportunity the Red Mantis could hardly turn down.

With the prison secure, the Ninth turned their attention to some of Wasyli's unfinished business.  His Aunt.

The Baroness of Veryn and what was left of her ragged house guards were quite surprised to see Wasyli standing before her besieged manor house.  But warm hospitality was offered none the less.  The rest of the Ninth Knot played gracious guests, eyeing Wasyli, to see how he handled the encounter.  His claim that she betrayed him seemed unlikely given her warm welcome, unless she was an incredibly cleaver liar.

During a break, the Knot asked to converse in private.  Wasyli opted to use her Aunt instead of destroying her.  A decision heartily endorsed by the rest of the Knot.

So the Ninth Knot openly conspired with the Baroness.  Rallying a Shroud/Bugbear escort to get her and her handful of guards to safety outside the city so she could flee to the capital as a refugee.  And the Knot would do the "hard" task of sacking her house.  Making sure to take any monogrammed or marked treasure of the Baroness & distribute it well amongst the Bugbear horde.  To further bolster her claim of innocent victim of the savage northern monsters.  And if the Knot found themselves in the capital, well... they'd be sure to look her up.

Having swelled the shroud's numbers, acquired a key ally and investigated the obvious points of interest, the Ninth return to the joy of simple pillaging.

Returning to the docks the Ninth were going hunting for more treasures, when suddenly two angels teleport in amongst them.  A Trumpet archon and a Monavic Diva.  The angels squandering their surprise to have the Archon declare the Ninth to be punished for the death of Ara Mathra.

That lost surprise was something the Ninth was going to make them regret.  The fight was brief and brutal.  Emmerick shared his ability to smite good.  And the Ninth all got in good blows.  Some were blinded by Holy Word.  And a Blasphemy was returned in kind, though the Angel & Archon's natural spell resistance protected them.  Summit fumbled trying to grapple & resorted to flurrying.  And Quell unleash devastating sneak/smite attacks.  Along with Emmerick carving the angels with Hellbrand.  The Angel fell under the onslaught.  And Wasyli, channeling his infernal pact, managed to Feeblemind the Archon.

The Archon did pick up the Angel's maul & tried to destroy Yvainne with the powerful anti-undead weapon.  But the vampire resisted the blow & watched as the Archon was slashed to ribbons in front of her by her allies.

The Ninth stood triumphant again in the face of the forces of Heaven.

Liking their wounds, and Yvainne shaking off her near "death" experience, the Ninth resumed trudging through the city streets looking for any hidden wealth.  They failed to find the bounty they had earlier in the docks.  But they did find plenty of loose trinkets and abandoned trade goods worth some coin.  And as they expanded their search Emmerick stumbled across an oddity.  In the heart of the ruined city, bugbear marauders all around.  The Anti-Paladin spotted a cow, just wandering a city garden, munching on the grass.  How the bovine managed to make it into this location was beyond the Knot's understanding.  But still, there it was.  Fireaxe would get a special meal tonight.

The Knot managed to find many other odds and ends amongst the ruined, burning and abandoned husk of a city.  Though non matched the oddity of the cow.  Or the wealth of the magic items from the Docks.  And so the Knot grew restless.

Then the started hearing rumors from the Horde about attacks on lone bugbears and that survivors were hiding beneath the streets like rats.  Asking more questions, the Knot begins to isolate the district with the most attacks & beings searching the sewers.

Wandering through the bowls of the city, the Knot find a curious site.  A few city watch guards manning a fire at an intersection.  Wasyli cloaks himself in magical invisibility & the shadows and advances.  He finds more guards near by.  They're all guarding an unassuming sewer block.  Reconvening, the Knot decides there must be something hidden in the area.  They rally and unleash a surprise attack on the small resistance forces.

In a matter of seconds the guards were destroyed by the fire and steel of hell.  Yvainne wasted no time and started to use divine magic to melt into the stone walls.  Her blind hope turned quite lucky when she opened up a hole into a barracks of some sort.  Wasting no time,  the Knot rained the area with fire.  The stunned Captain of the Guard stood there, the cigar he was champing, burnt to a crisp, fell from his mouth.

In a few seconds the sleeping & resting guards were burnt to death as the Knot rushed in.  The captain, and his priestly friend tried to rally.  But their power, perhaps enough to fend of the stray bugbear patrol was nothing in the face of the Ninth Knot of Hell.

Over two weeks had passed, nothing in the city stood up against Cardinal Thorn's Ninth Knot, not even agents of Heaven.  When would the Cardinal of Hell give the Knot something worthy of their time.

Session 30

The Knot received orders relayed to them via Fire-Axe that they were to stay in Daveryn and help Fire-Axe control the city.  And under no circumstances were they to interfere with the Sons of Balentyne.  Odd orders.

So, the Knot continued "visiting" Daveryn and over the next week.  And they had quite a time of it.

The first order of business was to hunt down the Duke.  Repeated uses of divine magic eventually proved successful.  In short order the Knot had the Duke cornered in his hiding hole in an abandoned merchant building.  Even quaffing an invisibility potion was of no avail to the Duke.

The Ninth spent some time questioning the Duke themselves before turning him over to a gleeful Fire-Axe.

The intel the Duke gave was quite useful.  Troop sizes of the King's army, Their commander, the King, and the second in command some Barcan general. And that the King wears an amulet that lets him return to his private sanctum in the Capital, where his daughter is.  Also, the Duke was trying to reach a wizard of some repute who offered to whisk him to safety if ever the city fell.

The rewards from Fire-Axe were large indeed.  He made Emmerick a general of the horde, granting him 5,000 gp of the Horde's earnings.  Also each Knot member was granted a slave from those captured in the fall.  The Ninth was quick to free any woman so gifted, do deference to their undead priestess.  Also they saw the Duke cooked on a spite and eaten by Fire-Axe and his lieutenants.  Some of the Knot recoiled in disgust.  As they witness the full savagery of these northern brutes.  Monsters they helped enter Talingarde.  Helped under the order of the Cardinal.

The Ninth decide to turn their attention to the wizard.  The Ninth coated themselves in magical protection, and used stealth to reach the top of the wizards tower and used magic to rip a gaping hole into the tower's roof and expose a very startled wizard.

Yvainne, unable to enter uninvited, opted to call out a mighty blasphemy.  The wizard was stunned.  Yvainne, having been blinded by Holy Word after Holy Word in the fight in the Vale was pleased.

In sort order the stunned Wizard was tackled by Summit & subdued.  He did struggle to get a couple spells off, but was unable to under the warm embrace of the Monk.

Questioning the wizard yielded little new information.

Though, searching his quarters did yield a couple rare finds.  One was a codex that seemed to match a book they found in the library of the tombs of the temple of Mitra-Made-Manifest.  The other, some intelligent thunder eagle had captured a black dragon and might kill him soon.  In interesting development to say the least.

The Ninth's wandering of the city found a few other finds.  The Knot, following a rumor, found a pocket of soldiers holding a barricaded street.  It took hardly any effort for the forces of Hell to lay low the soldiery.  Exploring the area beyond the barricade, they found a section of un-looted houses.  One was a trader's house and within was a dead to a manor house in the Capital.  The knot wondered if the owner was still alive.  Yvainne walked through the door into the house, turning and with a smile saying "no".

Operating on some other rumors, the Knot headed to the tower that stored the crown jewels of the duchy of Daveryn.  They ignored the 2 dozen bugbear & ogres waiting outside the tower claiming they "found" the jewels and instead, using magic, flew up to the top level.

Quell carefully crawled in, relying on Mardus to keep the obvious magical trap within from going off.  A couple failed dispel magic checks forced Quell to dodge out of the way of a lightning bolt or two, but eventually his arcane support came through & disabled the trap.  At least long enough for Quell to temporarily turn it off and steal the jewels.

The Bugbear grumbled at the "theft" of their treasure.  Until Emmerick reminded them he was a "General of the Horde" and not to be trifled with.  And the bugbears backed down.

On a hunch the Knot checked out the Docks and were blown away by what they found.  Warehouses full of goods, wild warhorses trotting around.  And magic items sitting in suit cases on the docks.  And two damaged ships that could easily be retrofitted into at least one working ocean going vessel.  The spoils were quite large.  The Horde somehow completely overlooked the docks.

In fact Mardus got so excited as they left the docks for the night, that a couple near by bugbear perked up & started snooping into the docks.  Likely the spoils would start going down once the Horde realized their oversight.

Still instead of returning to the Docks, the Knot followed a new lead.  Something about a prison compound repelling attacks.

The Knot rushed with magical and extraordinary skills over the walls of the Prison.

Guards rushed to mount a defense.  Fumbling to stop the death that had befallen them.  But they put up a paltry resistance.  In fact, the greatest frustration for a Knot member was when Yvainne, growing hungry from her last feeding, tried to feast on a guard, only to have her kill blown to bits by a stray fireball.  Even the Warden, a stout warrior, who charged out half-way through the fight fell before the blades of Hell like a ship battered against jagged uncaring rocks.

Standing over their fallen enemies, the Ninth marveled at their powers.  The Duke was dead, as was the high wizard.  Pockets of resistance were crumbling, riches were being seized.  Was there nothing in the ruins of Daveryn to challenge their combined might?

Session 29

The Ninth Knot managed to have a relatively restrained visit in Ghastenhall.

Mardus and Brother Summit went to meet with Professor Tiberius Feign.  With the Professor's help, they managed to transport the bound hound into the Professor's private laboratory, deep in the bowls of the University.  There, in what basically amounted to a dungeon, the Professor heard the resent otherworldly encounter the Knot suffered.  With a tact omission of the fact that it was preceded by the wanton slaughter of a major religious figure.

The Professor examined Brother Summit & then Mardus, noting the corruption of Brother Summit.  The warping of the world around his form.  And that Mardus also had a minor taint about him.  Mardus & Summit gloss over the fact that Emmerick and others had a more direct exposure during the fight and when Professor Feign offers to examine anyone else, Mardus brushes the offer aside, simply asking how he could check himself.  The Professor gives a long complex narrative of how the magic warps around the effects.  Mardus tries to follow along & nod in understanding.  All the while worried about the fellow knot members.

Still, with the talking done, the Professor moves to action.  He offers two options now that they have a live hound.  The first is to attack, crafting a planer fork, a tactical strike could be made against these otherworldly horrors.  The other option is defense.  By warping Brother Summit's essence with that of the beast, the monk could hide from the hideous beasts.  Yet part of him would become... otherworldly.

Summit & Mardus choose.

The experiment was an unpleasant experience, grunts of pain from the Monk minguled with unearthly wails and moans of agony from the Hound as the Professor gleefully arced arcane energy between his two subjects, using cruel looking instruments that would be better suited for a macabre torture chamber than a scientific experiment.  Yvainne would have loved it.

In the end the experiment was declared successful by the Professor.  He insisted Summit's aura was reduced and well masked.  A good defense against the beasts.  He would attempt to revive the dying hound & continue his trials.  But that likely they'd need to provide a fresh specimen should they wish a planer fork constructed.

While arcane experiments take place in the bowls of the University, another meeting takes place underneath the bustling city.  Yvainne, with Quell as an escort, presents the Vampire Lord of Ghastenhall, Prince Gaius Vestromo, with the vampire's family heirloom.  Quite literally, his cup runith over, as it sloshes with the heart and blood of the fallen angel, Ara Mathra.  Quickly taking the cup, the vampire askes Yvainne what boon she wants for such a great gift.  He greedily drinks the blood as Yvainne answers with one word.  "Immortality."  Vestromo looks up, his face covered in blood.  Through the red he shows a wicked grin, fangs glistening with angel blood.  "Of course."

The next few weeks pass by.  In the dead of winter, the plague spreads.  And the Ninth Knot waits.

They do manage a show trial in Sanctum, where they charge the religious leaders still left alive with committing crimes against religious freedom.  And they spare some as an act of "mercy" and burn the rest.  And do a fair amount of desecration of the Cathidral of Mitra-Made-Manifest in the process.

Yvainne is reborn a free vampire while the rest of the knot rests and does mundane activities around Ghastenhall and the Vale.  With the shroud working a very lucrative Cure Disease racket in Farholde with their merchant ally, lady Marsten.  The plague starts to rip through the major cities of Talengarde.  It gets so bad Prince Gaius worries for "his city" and employs his vampire minions to "clean up" the town.

Still, the Knot grows anxious waiting around so they started to check in on the scion of house Havelyn.  Using the Shroud, the Ninth tracked down the newly appointed Lord and his band, the Sons of Balentyne, where last seen around the capital but they disappeared.  Pulling their free shroud members from Farholde, they re-double their efforts around the capital to track down their nemesis.

Searching, they find out the Sons were researching some old Mitrian artifacts.  Using the resources in the Cathedral, they determine the artifact in question is a standard of Saint Thomas.  Some sort of magical banner of military origin.

The Knot started to get worried.  They found a likely location for the banner, a small town shrine in the low country.  The rushed a Shroud cell there, only to find the Sons had already entered a crypt.  The shroud members waited and the Ninth considered an attack, but with Yvainne still learning her new powers, they were reluctant to act.  So they waited.

The Sons never left the crypt by mundane means, instead they teleported out with the banner in hand.

Lord Havelyn himself pleaded to the King and presented him with the Mitrian artifact.  The King anxious to act embraced the paladin and ordered the armies of Talengarde march over the objection of his tacticians and generals.  And before the King had even left the city, the Sons proved their worth as they foiled a last minute assassination attempt against the King.  One of the few victories against the Knot of Thorns...

The Ninth Knot rushed to get their troops out of the Vale before the army arrived.  And thanks to their foresight, they managed to get all their troops out well before the Kings army arrived.

The Knot members themselves rushed to leave Ghastenhall and meet up with Trik and their army.  On their last night in Ghastenhall, Emmerick visited with the waitress, Eve.  A friend of Quell's who the anti-paladin had grown affectionate toward over the past few months.

It was that night when a couple assassins attacked Eve, but a few yards from Emmerick.  It was the quick action of Quell, who had been hiding that thwarted the attack.  Quell showed no mercy, killing the assassins.

Resorting to speak with dead on the corpses they find out the assassins were sent by Cardinal Thorn to teach Emmerick a lesson about following orders.  It seems the Ninth Knot's decision to spare the citizens of Sanctum struck a nerve.

Quell and Emmerick quitely hid Eve with Quell's contacts in the Ghastenhall underworld and the Ninth rushed from Ghastenhall to meet up with Trik & their army in time to arrive at Westkirk Castle, the winter camp site of Fire-Axe.  Only to find the Bugbear army gone.

Rushing they arrive in time to see Dyvern burning.  It seems the First Knot is as good as the Ninth in breaching in impenetrable fortress.

The Ninth rush through the streets of the city, the vast majority of the sacking already concluded.  They meet up with Fire-Axe and in his private war-room in the Town Hall, they discuss the war effort.

There in the privacy of the war-room Fire-Axe breaks down & reveals part of Cardinal Thorn's great plot.  He is to defeat the Kings army and then fall before an unknown army lead by an Asmodean.  Yet he fears for the King & his army.  The full might of Talengarde marches on him and he doesn't see how to win.  He asks for the Ninth's advice.  Emmerick agrees with the tactical situation.  They think Fire-Axe should up-root & attempt a skirmish action against the slowly advancing army of the King.  But Fire-Axe is reluctant.  He has his orders and he's to follow them.  Even if he doesn't understand them.  Still, the doubt is there and the Ninth exploits it, reminding him that there are others who could help him...

With the sacked town at their feet, Yvainne decides what the Ninth should do next.  A quick scrying shows her the position of her old "friend", the Cardinal Archibald Hawthorn.  The vampire death priestess leads the Knot to the grand Cathedral.  Rushing in she leads Quell to a hidden chamber, a quick check of the lock and Quell picks it with ease.  Opening the chamber the cowering Cardinal looks up at Yvainne in confusion, his old burn wounds glistening in the candle light.  "But, you... you went to Branderscar for your crimes...  How?"  Yvianne gives a grin, her fangs glistening in the light.  "I'm back".  Her divine magic flares, filling the chamber with darkness as she descends into it.

The rest of the Ninth wait above.  Mardus cataloging the ornate gold fixtures of the Church he'll need to collect & melt down.  All the while screams followed by feasting is heard from below.

Yvainne climbs out of the crypt, her chin, neck and corset covered in blood.

Mardus pulls out a handkerchief saying "You got a little something on you."  Yvainne shrugs it off.  "I'm fine, I like it this way."  Giving a wicked fanged grin.

Session 28

The Ninth check over the dead angel.  Yvainne quickly cuts out the heart and puts it in her chalice, a gift for her vampire ally.  And grabs the angel's morning-star hefting the magical weapon with delight.  Then Emmerick strides forward.  And desecrates the last flame of Mtira.  Seeing the magic struggle to overcome the flame, Mardus, Yvainne & Wasyli hurl vials of unholy water.  The flames sputter and go out.  The faith of Mitra is plunged into darkness, even though many of the faithful don't realize it yet.

Their wicked deed done, the Ninth rejoices and the Cathedral trembles.  The pocket plane continues it's shifting from divine to infernal.  The heavens turn blood red, infernal cackling is faintly heard through the halls.  The floor starts to crack in places, heat & fire flaring up through the cracks.

Then the Ninth are staggered by a piercing noise.

They shake it off & see the Cathedral shake more, statues of saint's start losing their heads as stone & debris  drop around them.

Then another piercing noise.  This time some of the Ninth spot a comt of black cut through the blood red sky as the sound pierces their heads.

The Infernal chatter dies down.

Silence grips the Cathedral.

Then a bolt of black streaks in through the broken cathedral window, slamming into the spot where the flames were.  Splashing out, the gooy black substance quickly filled the space between two of the massive stone columns that flanked the flame, reaching up to the rafters above.

It shimmered until it showed a glossy black portal.  Walking through it were two Hounds of Tindalos.  Emmerick stood dumb-founded for a moment, then combat was joined.

Brother Summit & Emmerick were closest and they both rushed to lock in combat with the Hounds.

Mardus, staring blankly into the horrible void had a thought.  He quickly engulfed the area in a roaring blinding fire.  It obscured Emmerick & Brother Summit from their allies, but also saved all the Ninth from staring at the horrible void...

Soon more Hounds rushed through the portal, some spilling out of the fire to engage the other Knot members.  But they were by far the least of the Ninth's worries.  For far above, at the top of the portal, near the rafters, came a hideous purple bulging spider of a truly horrifying visage.

The Spider of Leng scurried along the rafters, trying to spread insanity and confusion amongst the Knot as it fended off ranged assaults.

Meanwhile, the battle ranging below, Brother Summit did something odd.  He pinned & dragged off one of the Hounds, another Hound nipping at his heels.  There in a secluded spot, Brother Summit pulled out an odd arcane collar, applied it to the Hound and then subdued it to unconsciousness.

Meanwhile, back at the portal, the fight carried on.  More hounds poured forth.  The Ninth struggling to stem the tide.  Emmerick started ignoring the Hounds and instead focusing on the columns supporting the portal while Mardus & Wasyli tried to dispel the magic of the portal.  Emmerick's mace smashed chunks loose, but as he did that, black tendrils of the portal reached out & filled the void.  Protecting the column.  With arcane magic not dispelling, Wasyli took a different approach and shattered massive sections of the columns.  While Mardus bathed the area in acid.  The black goo of the portal reaching out as tendrils held the shattered fragments together, but it weakened, exposing the cracks in the foundation laid by Emmerick.  Adamantine Mace in hand, hounds biting & clawing at him, the anti-paladin struck true, shattering the column & bringing down a rain of stone & debris.  The portal stretched in an unnatural way and a massive purple tentacle from some unknown creature reached out, grasping blindly near Emmerick and nearly touching the anti-paladin, before it was sucked back in and the portal collapsed.

That is when the spider dropped down among the Knot & caused devastation.

The Spider of Leng relying on it blistering hallucination poison to cause confusion and agony in the ranks of the Ninth.  Its massive reach and combat reflexes allowing it to catch many Knot members by surprise as casters tried to flee & melee types tried to rush forward.

A horrible battle was waged.  The spider flinging about a man-sized object wrapped in web as its poisoned stinger slams into Knot member after Knot member.  Yvainne and Mardus tried to keep the Knot up.  And Wasyli unloaded all his arcane might.  But the spider shrugs it off continuing to down combatant after combatant.

Brother Summit eventually returning to the group, having dispatched the other Hound that was on him only to find half his allies unconscious or dying.

His arrival did do one thing, it pulled the spider's attention off of the others.  In a savage assault, unleashing all it's might on Brother Summit.  The monk crumples under the blows.  Dead in a matter of seconds.

In a fit of madness brought on by poison, Yvainne beats to death the unconscious Emmerick with her recently acquired magical morning-star from the fallen angel.  Agents of Mitra watching from the celestial plane simply sighing at the irony.

Mardus pauses, considering a breath of life for his companions, but opting instead to set up to outflank the massive beast with his rogue ally before Quell falls over from repeated flail blows.

Mardus waits for the flank with Quell, only to have the spider step away as well is wracked with poison.  The purple horror drops it's massive flail-like object, picks up the Monk's body & quickly spins it up in webs, giving it a new man-sized flail.

Mardus pushes forward, looking hopefully at his elven ally.  Readying an attack.  Quell steps forward and the two unleash a torrent of flanking blows.  Mardus getting an extra attack from a critical strike from Quell, doing sizable damage with his massive elven curved blade.  But it was Quell who saved the day.  Landing sneak attack after sneak attack, he downed the massive purple horror.

As the fight ended more Knot members staggered under the ongoing poison somehow surviving until it ended.

Still, the damage was done, two Knot members dead.  One nearly taken away by a horror of unknown origin.

As the Ninth surveyed the battle, Quell spotted something odd, one of the Hounds off near a corner was unconscious but alive, an odd looking collar around it's neck.  He walked over to finish it off when Mardus bid him stop until they've examined it.

Then the Ninth realize this Hound was saved for some reason by Brother Summit.  And the collar, it somehow blocks dimensional travel and has an odd arcane mark.  A mark of one Professor Tiberius Feign, arcanist of Ghastenhall.

Questions & concern fill the Knot members as they look on the fallen remains of Brother Summit.  Quell argues to end the hound's life immediately.  But Mardus urges caution.  Consult first with the monk.  The conversation goes on, before the Knot settles on Mardus' idea.  Quell still looks uneasy.

The Ninth call Trik to help transport them, their fallen companions & the hound... back to Sanctum.  When Trik arrives he bears news.  Tiadora is waiting for them.  Worried, the Ninth use a scroll to bring back Emmerick immediately and they travel to Sanctum on the wings of fiendish hippogriffs.

The conversation is brief if direct.  Flanked by two Erinyes, Tiadora actually bows & shows a surprising amount of respect to the Ninth.  Her usual haughty sarcasm missing.  She gives a boon of treasure from Thorn before grabbing the mayor of Sanctum and heading for the door.  Emmerick strides forward and intercedes.  Saying the Mayor, along with the rest of the town are under the Ninth Knot's control.

Tiadora gives him an odd look before having an Erinye break the man's leg & throw him at Emmerick's feet.  "Suit yourself" she says, and simply walks out.  An odd interaction, but the Ninth mostly ignores it.  Focused instead on Brother Summit and his secrets.

The Ninth still reluctant opts to use Speak with Death to communicate with their companion.  Satisfied with their friends undead answers, they raise him to get the full story.

That's when he finally tells them how he went and researched the creatures.  How he spoke with Tiberius Feign.  How the Arcanist gave him an odd collar to place on a hound with the mission to return one to him.  Alive.

He insisted he didn't know the risk.  And that it was an omission of ignorance, not malice.  And that other Knot members had their secrets.

There were quite looks shared between some of the other Knot members.

But still there were more grumbles about how Summit's obsession with the creatures and his failure to speak of the risks caused the deaths of two knot members, nearly killing them all.  Still, Mardus defended Summit.  Insisting Summit originally drew the ire of the hounds at the Horn, where he was doing Knot business, and that he could never have known what would happen.  Quell outright stated they should consider expelling Summit from the Knot for gross failure and endangering the rest of the Knot.  But Wasyli was quick to point out, doing so was not their decision but Thorn's.  The thought of going to the High Cardinal of Asmodeus brought a pause to all members.  Mardus pressed on defending Summit, opting to wait on a final verdict until more could be known about these otherworldly creatures and their dark obsession with the Monk.  And that only if no satisfactory solution could be achieved would contacting Cardinal Thorn be required.

An open vote was made.  And in the end, the Ninth stayed intact, keeping Brother Summit in their ranks for the time being.

With little else to do, the Ninth turned its collective gaze on Ghastenhall and started the cold winter trek back to the city, the bound Hound of Tindalos in tow, eager to resolve the issue of Summit and his dark bond.

As they arrived less than a week later at the doorsteps of the bustling city, Shroud agents around Talengarde was already reporting wide-spread plague symptoms but no fatalities.  The general populous was still oblivious to the death that stalked among them.

This winter was going to be a truly wicked one...