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.

Session 26

The sounds of soldiers drawing swords and clerics casting spells alerts the Knot.  A quick application of a Blade Barrier spell by Yvainne blocks the soldiers from pushing on their flank, as the Knot finished off the lingering Ghost Paladins.

Multiple dispel magics by Mitrian priests is not enough to take down Yvainne's magic.  With the Knot ready, they start to rush forward, some members still shaking off a lingering blindness from Holy Word.

Yvainne lowers the blade barrier and Wasyli, hiding with shadow magic, slips through the horde of warriors and priests to be in position behind the stalwart defenders.

The rest of the Ninth's might smashes into the front lines of Mitrians.  The holy warriors and priests try to hold the line from hell's might, then Wasyli attacks from behind.  The defenses crumble and in a matter of seconds the halls are full of burned bodies, snapped necks, crushed skulls and slit throats.

With no more noticeable resistance the Knot explores around.  Quell quickly spots a trapped secret door leading further into the catacombs.  And the Knot find some interesting puzzles, but the Ninth double back to finish defiling the graves of the dead before advancing further.  They even manage to find the crypt of the past Abbots, though they failed to find the bones of Saint Macarius

Finishing up their grave robbing, they Ninth stumbles upon an odd scene.  There, in a cloud of swirling fog is a little girl.  The Ninth approach, Mardus thinking it an illusion.  For it makes no sense.  Still with hesitation and caution Quell approaches, calling out to the girl.  She simply looks at him & shakes her head in sorrow.

Quell politely asks her questions and she doesn't respond.  Mardus and Emmerick boost and try to intimidate her, speaking in infernal.  That prompts an unpleasant response.  The Chalkydri Angel shed her mortal form revealing herself as the six winged serpent angel she was and let out a blinding Holy Word.

Battle was joined.

Repeated Holy Word spells rang in the ears of the Ninth and they all staggered around half-blind, half-deafened.  They still got a few good blows on the Angel, forcing her to fall back, healing herself.  Yet the Ninth continued to push forward, Yvainne healing Emmerick to keep him up as he ruthlessly beat the Angel down with his mace.  Eventually, the Ninth triumphed, leaving the boon companion to Ara Mathra dead, while her friend remained locked in his ring of fire in the cathedral above.

Having defeated the angel, the Knot approaches the vault.  Could this be where the Vampire of Ghastenhall's treasure could be?  Quell quickly spots and disarms a trap.  Following it up by quickly disabling the locked vault door.  Beyond there was no magical treasure.  Simply mundane gold, silver and platinum.  Over 750 lbs of it in fact.  The Knot stood stunned.  Amassed before them was more wealth then they'd imagined.  Considering their options, they decide to rest in the vault.  Hurt and short on spells, the Knot uses the fortified vault as a camp site before resuming their exploration beyond the secret door into the deeper section of the Cathedral.

The Ninth moves forward through the winding catacombs.  They stop and have Quell start scouting ahead.  He eventually overheard the sound of faint chanting from ahead and spots an odd entry room, with what looked to be a library beyond.  The threshold of the room stating "".

Rushing back to the group, the Knot gathered up & began prepping buff spells.  Brother Summit & Wasyli creeping forward a bit with Quell.  Then Quell heard the chanting stop and spells start to be cast.  Their stealth was blown.  Combat was at hand!

The Ninth moved forward when a group of hound archons fell around them slowing them down.  As the Ninth engaged, more hound archons were conjured around them.  And them the magically enlarged form of Abbot Earnan MacCathlain stepped out of the library.  He attacked over his Hound Archon allies and cast spells upon the Ninth.  And still, more Hound Archons were summoned from somewhere.

Stuck by the Hounds, Wasyli teleports half the Ninth behind the cleric and his archons.  They they see it.  The skeletal remains of Saint Macarius wrapped and encased in a glass shell engraved with magically glowing runes.

Mardus called out Asmodeus' name in infernal and rushed forward to the glowing glass expecting to have passed the test and stopped the spirit.

He was surprised to see the runes glow as the spirit summoned hound archons around him, flanking him as he as he was then hit by a Holy Smite.  It seems calling out his lords name hadn't stopped the angry spirit of Saint Macarius from attacking.

The battle raged in the crypt of the Cathedral.  Meanwhile, back in Matharyn, a beautiful blonde woman sought out someone who would hear her plea.  And there the Emissary in White found a Knight of the Alerion Order and his ragtag band of adventurers, the Sons of Balentyne.  The Knight listened to Taranea of Ghaele as she spoke of the violation of the Cathedral of Mitra-Made-Manifest...

Session 25

The unknown "Emissary" having apparently fled, the Ninth recovers from the battle and they turn their attention on the cathedral around them.

They quickly rummage though the guest room the "Emissary" came from.  While looking through the effects they find a letter from a Brigit of Brijidine.  Mardus picks up a fine silk with unusual gems.  Wasyli walks up and examines it as well.  The two share a look.  The Emissary was a Ghaele...

The Ninth check the rest of the ground floor.  They are blocked from the inner sanctum of the Cathedral by a raging wall of divine flame.  Still they are able to explore the rest of the level.  They mostly find empty quarters of priests and holy warriors who fell in the Battle of Saintsbridge.  Along with stores of mundane items.  Still, one thing was of particular note.  They found the personal journal of the Lord Abbot, MacCathlain, in the back of his family bible.  Within the last journal entry were two items of interest.  First, that the Lord Abbot was in the basement, trying to summon an army of the dead.  Second, Ara Mathra, the divine head of the church of Mitra was sealed behind the raging fire, in the inner sanctum.  And "Only a Saint could pierce the flames"... Mardus gives Yvainne a shrug, "Guess we need to find some saint bones."

Before taking the stairs down into the basement, the Ninth do find some religious paraphernalia of Saint Macarius.  They decide, if they manage to find the bones of the Saint, then they might as well wrap them in the dead saint's robe & walking stick.  After all, it couldn't hurt.  Them.

The Ninth descends down into the depths of the cathedral's catacombs.  Weary of ghosts.

Within it's halls they find room after room of old bones wrapped in cloth.  Along with records of the church, including books detailing those interned there.  Quell quickly looks through it and finds the name of Saint Macarius.  Seems they have their saint bones, if only they can go get them.  Mardus is eager to burn the records but Quell and others urge cation, lest disturbing the records would disturb the spirits.  Mardus shrugs and instead of burning the records, simply takes the main internment records book and sticks it into his Bag of Holding.  As the books leaves the plane, a group of nearby ghosts moan & rush through the walls to attack the Ninth.

The Paladin ghosts attack, some manage to corner a couple Nessian War Hounds and nearly smite them down before Yvainne and Emmerick come to the rescue.  Quell flees back before realizing the Hounds are stuck and then helps Brother Summit fend off a ghost.  It's when a couple more ghosts come rushing at Wasyli that the Ninth realize they've seen these ghosts before.  And recently.  They were two of the monks they burned in the second flame at the center of the gardens outside the Cathedral.  A shiver runs down Mardus' spine.  Did all the corpses they burn turn into ghosts...

The Ninth, even without ghost touch weapons, managed to overcome the incorporeal foes and vanquish them.  In the case of the monks, for the second time.

The Knot moves forward, exercising extreme cation going forward.  Simply poking heads or shining lights into bone filled rooms, but never actually disturbing anything.  The Knot managed to stumble on surprised Ghosts, three ghost paladins, and the ghost of the Head of the Serene Order, the Master of Serenity.

The combat was fierce and long.  The incorporeal nature of the ghosts protect them, forcing the Knot to wear them down.  But like before, the Ninth manage to be victorious over the Ghosts.

Exploring a little ways further and finding more rooms full of bones, the Ninth doubles back and starts openly pillaging and defiling the graves.  They gather any trinkets of value, knowing full well gold and silver holy symbols of Mitra can be melted down for scrap.

The Knot continues on like this for some time before their open desecration summons the last group of ghosts, these spirit paladins being lead by the Oracle of Mitra.  The ghosts run into the trailing end of the Knot's forces and battle is joined.  Where before the combats where quite affairs this was not.  The Oracle laying down blade barriers and screaming out Holy Words, the Knot responding by filling the halls of the quite crypt with the load noise of roaring fire.  Hounds, Knot members and ghosts ran this way and that, fighting, yelling, unleashing divine and arcane destruction.

The Knot managed to take down the Oracle, but was still contending with the Ghost Paladins when Wasyli and Yvainne heard the sounds of near by shouting from a yet to be explored section of the crypt.  It seems there loud combat had drawn a fresh wave of combatants...

Session 34

With the battle won and the center of the Garden of Serenity claimed by the forces of hell.  The Ninth Knot rests.  Reluctant to climb the towering flight of one thousand stairs to the imposing Cathedral of Mitra-Made-Manifest.

Licking their wounds, the Ninth rests and tries to figure out how to recover their lost animals.  The Nightmare will likely plane-shift on it's own and make a long journey back to Sanctum.  The two Nessian Warhounds, one banished by Holy Word, the other lost in the maze prove a more complicated matter.

Still, the Ninth is not without resources, and allies.

Yvianne casts Planer Ally to bring back the Contract Devil who got them the Hounds in the first place, Dessiter.  And the Ninth was surprised to see the Devil brought with him the missing hound.  "I believe my great masters that you lost this?"  The Devil looks up at the towering majesty of Mitra's mighty Cathedral and quickly gives a low bow to the Ninth before quickly leaving.

Having recovered one of their hounds, they decide to leave the clearing & return into the winding maze. Still, before they go, they hurl the bodies of the fallen into the burning flame and then extinguish it with unholy water.  The Ninth rejoices as the heavens turn blood red, the earth shakes and off in the distance, the sound of shattered glass is heard.  Hell's influence has crept further into the domain of Mitra.

The Ninth recover in Sanctum before returning to the Gardens, this time with more candles & blindfolds for the Nessian Warhounds.

Reaching the top of the one thousand steps, the Knot arrives at the cathedral of Mitra. Seeing nothing, the Knot advances toward the large double doors, but Wasyli decides to pause & cast See Invisibility.  That's when the three invisible Movanic Deva struck.

Unleashing a relentless barrage of Holy Smites they managed to keep Yvainne, Wasyli and the Warhounds blinded & injured.  Emmerick and Quell rushed forward, but were unable to get at the angels from the ground.  Brother Summit however had another idea.  Climbing up the side of the cathedral, he then hurled himself out into a free fall, grabbing at one of the angels has he went.  He managed to grab hold of the celestial creature & drag it down into the waiting embrace of the other Knot members.  One of the other angels tried to come to it's comrades rescue, only to have it's sword sundered by Emmerick and his adamantine mace.  The fight quickly turned to the Knots favor.  One angel disarmed, another pinned into submission.  It was a simple mop-up effort from there before the Knot stood triumphant at the doors of the Cathedral.

Quell quickly searched the door for traps and finding one, quickly disarmed it.  Only to then be foiled by the door being barred from the other side.

Brother Summit shrugged & climbed up the side of the Cathedral and tried to pear in through one of the windows, only to find the stained glass to hard to see through.  Giving a shrug, he simply smashed a pane and looked through.  Seeing six surprised Legion Archons look up, he rushed through the hole, controlled falling down the inside of the cathedral shouting out that combat was at hand.  Landing at the doors only a moment later, he yanked up the bar on one of the doors.  Only to have the other door burst, shattering into a thousand pieces from the arcane might of Wasyli.

As battle was joined, the Legion Archons rushed forward toward their doom.  Then something happened that surprised them.  A side door burst open and a radiant looking blond woman emerged, wielding a glowing greatsword.  One of the Arcons shouted in celestial, "This fight doesn't concern you Emissary. Flee!"

Flee, thought the Knot.  They couldn't have that.  So before the apparent "Emissary" could respond, Brother Summit rushed past the fiery swords of the Archons & grabbed hold of the woman.  Forcing the issue.  She slipped free & cast Freedom of Movement, only to have Wasyli dispel it and Brother Summit grab hold again.  Again forced into a bind, she shed her human form and turned into a glowing orb of energy.  Wasyli and Mardus were both stumped as to what creature this was.

The fight ragged on.  The Legion Archons proved to be nothing more than an annoyance to the Ninth.  The Emissary proved the real fight.  The Ninth struggled to contain her, Wasyli relying on dispel magic to try to counter her powerful spells while the others struggled to hit her incorporeal form.

With her major arcane offence stymied, the Ninth slowly bur surely whittling away her health and all the Legion Archons dead, she gives a sigh before sinking into the ground and disappearing.

The Ninth wait for her to return.  Poised to strike, but she never does.

Session 33

The Knot spent the night recovering in the great Hunter's Hall.  The walls still splattered with the blood of it's angel defender.

The next day, the Cardinal Thorn's Ninth Knot stepped into the Gardens of Serenity and began to leave the prime material plane.

Quell led the way and was immediately approached by a floating mote of energy.  It whispered a riddle, "speak it's name and it dies..."  Quell pauses for a second before Mardus remembers what they'd found from their questioning of the town's Mayor.  "Silence!"  The mote floats away & waits for the Knot to follow.

And so, being led by this ball of energy, the Knot tramps through the Gardens of Serenity.

The mote leads the Knot along through the stone walled garden maze,  Quell & Emmerick leading the way with Yvainne's Nessian Warhounds tromping along with Brother Summit at the rear of the group.

Then as they travel through a nondescript section of the maze, the Warhounds start growling & snorting sulfurous smoke.  The hairs on the back of Brother Summit's neck stand on end.  Something is wrong...

Then the blink dogs, lead by their celestial blood alpha male, attack.  The dogs teleport all over the Ninth.  Causing confusion among their ranks.  Still, Brother Summit is worried, he sees visions of darkness & an unknown horror watching him.  And he sees, as the blink dogs continuously blink in & out of existence, an after image, of a darker hound blurs in his vision.

Then that horror manifests and the rest of the Knot sees.  For as the blink dogs start to dimension door out of the way of the counter attacks from the Knot, in their place stand Hounds of Tindalos.  The blink dogs look confused, as the hounds attack indiscriminately between the forces of Hell and Heaven.

Yet is takes only a short time before the hounds focus their ire on their true target.  Brother Summit, in the rear of the group.  As the hounds go through the ranks of Hell, their gaze attack weakening the Knot, another battle is forming at the front.  With arcane magic, the leader of the blink dogs conjures pits full of acid & tries to swallow Knot members, only to suck his own pack down.  Still, the gaping extra-dimensional pits separate Emmerick & Quell from the fight going on behind them.  So the Knight of Hell and Elven rogue push on, trying to flank & take down the dogs.

An epic battle raged, Hounds of Tindelos, Nessian Warhounds & Blink Dogs, with Knot members running in-between.

Brother Summit proved triumphant over the Otherworldly horrors, with the help of Mardus, Yvianne & her warhounds.

Meanwhile, the fight up ahead was more balanced.  Wasyli using magic to push ahead as Emmerick & Quell leap out of the way of magical pit after magical pit.  Quell was slowed by enchantments and Emmerick was unable to get out ahead, always landing on the wrong side of the pits.

Eventually the remaining Knot members arrived to help, Yvainne laying down a plane of Stone, covering over many of the gapping pits.

The alpha dog fought to the death, trying to cause as much death as possible, before eventually getting cornered & overwhelmed by the combined might of the Ninth.

The members of the Ninth Knot caught their breath.

After a short respite and peaceful travel, the glowing light asks another riddle.  "One to whom the mirror never lies..."  The answer came swiftly to the Ninth.  The Blind Man.  Answering the riddle, the Ninth continued as the wisp of light headed forward leading them to the opening of a large clear area.

The Ninth stopped, one of their member grumbling "It's leading us into another trap."  Another of their rank is quick to point out that likely the wisp of light is simply leading them forward through the Garden, blind to the actual situation.

Slow to advance, Quell spots a large clearing ahead, full of odd spotted horse-like creatures.  The Ninth, wishing to attack in silence opts to use stones enchanted with silence spells, along with a staggered ambush to ensure the melee combatants get out ahead of the spell casters.

Though the Knot had the advantage of ambush, Emmerick and others got off to a slow start & instead of getting out ahead, they got bottled up near the entrance.  Then the Kirin charged forward, trying to gore Emmerick, Quell & Brother Summit.  While those Kirin that were stuck at range called down Lightning.  The Knot's silence spell ended up blocking their own spell casters as they struggled to fight forward.

Still, even without spell support, the Knot showed of their brutish side, hacking and slashing through the creatures.  The only issue, their might scared the Kirin, as they saw their number slaughtered with brutal efficiency and they flew away, up through the barrier above the maze.

The knot considered pushing after them, but choose instead to stay the course.

Still, the shadow sorcerer of Hell did point out that the magical remains of the Kirin could be used for magical crafting.  And the Knot resolved to send Trik later to search over above the maze later, in case any of the wounded Kirin fell after pushing through the planer barrier.  After all, you can't afford to let a good pelt (or celestial blood & bone) go to waste.

The Ninth Knot stepped out of the grassy clearing & were approached by a mote of light, asking for the last riddle.

"A wick'ed thing from which  darkness files..."

Mardus blurts out "Candles"

The wisp responds, "The three at once where the answer lies" and disappears.

Remembering statues out by the docks of priests walking blind with candles, the Knot knew what they must do.  Walk forward, eyes closed & holding candles.  The members of the Ninth fumbled through their packs, looking for any candles.

Yvainne & Emmerick both found candles in their packs.  Wasyli was surprised that they had candles on them.  They remembered over a year ago, when they were all under Cardinal Thorn's roof.  Training.  And Galen had insisted they all get kits of useful gear.  Mardus lost his in the dungeon trial below the now abandoned manor house.  Yet Yvainne & Quell still had their packs.  And over the past year and a half, had lugged them around.  Through Balentine, a year guarding the Horn, a month in Ghastenhall.  And now they've carried them all the way to the Gardens of Serenity.  Somewhere off in Absolan, the City at the Center of the World, Galen smiled.  His foresight and planning having paid off for the Ninth.  Even if he struggles with aiding the Sixth Knot in it's endeavors...

With the candles in hand, Yvainne & Emmerick led the Ninth forward, blind & silent.

The Ninth arrived at the circular center of the Gardens, the towering facade of the Cathedral of Mitra Made Manifest as a backdrop.  It's shadow would likely cover the whole of the open clearing, if it weren't for the massive flame of Mitra burning in the center of the circle.  And standing before the Flame, already prepared for battle are Sambathe, High Oracle of Mitra, the Master of Serenity, and two junior monks of the Serene Order.  Battle is drawn as the forces of Heaven surprise the forces of Hell.

What ensues is a quick and fast battle.  The entrance to the clearing was covered in overlapping silence spells, blocking spell casting.  Yet the deft Oracle of Life didn't seem to mind as she rained down the divine wrath of Mitra upon the Ninth.  Mardus & Wasyli learned from earlier fights & scattered, using magic to distance themselves, & not a moment to soon, for Sambathe soon cast Holy Word, blinding and stunning many of the Ninth and outright banishing both Emmerick's Nightmare & one of Yvainne's Warhounds.

Still, Mardus was free of the blast & soon began healing his allies, restoring their sight.  And blind or not, Emmerick, along with Quell and Brother Summit unleashed a torrent of pain on the Master of Serenity that even the Life Oracle had a hard time curing.  Then Wasyli struck with his powerful spell... Suffocate.  And he chocked the air out of Sambathe's lungs, ending her life & by extention, the Monks.  For with no healing, they fell swift and fast before the overwhelming might of Hell.

Session 32

Knot members rush to check Mardus' eye damage.  Yvainne determines the eyes are salvageable, just with some healing magic she doesn't currently have.

The other Knot members go about securing the mountain top & exploring.  Their primary objective is the flame that burns above the temple.  Using some of their unholy water collected from the now ruined Horn, the forces of Hell quench the light of Mitra & plunge the mountaintop into darkness.  Only two more flames to put out.

The Knot with-drawl and returns to their forces camped outside Sanctum.  They send Trik with some bugbears and shroud guards to go to the mountaintop & maintain desecration on the phoenix.  Meanwhile the leaders of the shroud organize their forces.  Some minions have already spread out among the cities of Talengarde, but others being procuring large quantities of acid.  The Phoenix will be melted down into nothing...

And there in Sanctum the Knot waits until morning when Yvainne is able to restore Mardus' eyesight.  At one point the invisible Ogre Magi, Raiju, spots Mardus slipping into the house commandeered by Izeval & her undead horde.  But the Ogre simply shrugs & returns to his silent patrol.

In the morning Yvainne restores sight to Mardus & the Knot head out.

While in route to the Gardens outside the Cathedral, the Knot are surprised to see a flock of hippogriffs come swarming over the Vale, lead by two huge Rocks, one of which is bearing a jovial yet brutal Storm Giant.

The two massive birds at the head swoop down on the Knot, as the hippogriffs fly by.  Some heading for Sanctum, others to the Phoenix mountain top.  Mardus, unsure of Trik's ability to keep the Phoenix remains from being resurrected, lobs fireballs at the hippogriffs heading to the mountain.  And when the burnt birds arrive, they are quickly overcome by the soldiers stationed there.

Meanwhile, the Knot is forced to fend off the vanguard of the assault.  A mixture of magic & ranged attacks takes the Rock being flown by the Storm Giant down.  Though not before the Giant chained lightning through the Knot.  On the ground, the Storm Giant struck out at anything he could reach.  He nearly took off the head of a Hell Hound, and seriously injured Quell.  While the other Rock swooped low & grabbed Emmerick from the ground.

As the Storm Giant fell before the Ninth, Emmerick was still being carried away by the mighty bird.  Brother Summit & Mardus rushed along the ground underneath, as Emmerick's Nightmare lagged behind.  The bird eventually dropped Emmerick, to have him plummet hundreds of feet to the ground, before it was blasted out of the sky.

Mardus was surprised to see Emmerick somehow managed to survive the fall.  But the Hell Knight was more surprised to see that when he rouse, Mardus' eyes were wreathed in fire & he spoke with an alien voice.  "Give the Storm Giant to me.  Sacrifice him in my name."

The Knot quickly sacrificed the fallen Storm Giant to Asmodeus.

As the blood of the chaotic good creature spilled on the ground in the Vale of Valternia, the hippogriffs still alive returned and circled overhead.  And there, before all to see, they transformed into fiendish monstrosities, wholly under the command of the Ninth Knot.

Hell was pleased.

Back in town, some of Hekkarth's Headtakers used the cover of the Hippogriph attack to attempt to loot the town & kill some villagers.

Roderick and the other shroud minions were still recovering.  But Raiju and Izivel were quick to rally and stomp out the Bugbears foolish enough to cross the banks of the river.

By the time the Ninth Knot returned to Sanctum to drop off their fiendish hippogriffs, the banks of the river already had a couple beautiful bugbear statues decorating it's banks.

With order restored, the Ninth turned around & once again made the trip to the Garden's.  This time on the backs of hellish hippogriffs.

As the Knot rushes over forest & river, they arrive at the stone dock to find six legion archons.  The angels rush to engage with the forces of Hell.  Over dock & river, flaming swords clash, a couple hiphogriffs fall under the onslaught, dropping Quell and Brother Summit into the river.  But the Knot does not faulter.  They push on and crush the celestial inervention, and push on to the doors of the Hunter's Hall.  And beyond, the Gardens of Serenity.

The Knot walks into the Hunter's Hall and their toughest fight yet.

Somehow Quell's keen elven eyes fail to spot the expertly hidden Lional.  The angel lays in wait until the Knot fully enters, then it strikes.  It roars, unleashing a holy blast, blinding and stunning many of the Knot & leaving Emmerick's nightmare paralyzed in place.

As Knot members struggle in the face of this angel's divine wraith, the Lea the Huntress follows it up by dropping a Wall of Force & isolating Brother Summit & the blind Emmerick from the other 6 knot members & their three Nessian Warhounds.

Brother Summit calls out to Emmerick so he knows they're isolated, then he does what he always does, rush into melee.

The Monk & Anti-Paladin tag team the celestial, as the other Knot members start to recover their sight & assess the situation.  A couple small holes high in the rafters gives those knot members with flying an option to slip through & help.

Arcane and divine spells are flung throughout the Hunter's feast hall.  Yet the divine wards around the angel prove to great and they fissile and fail to land any effect.  Still, the raw physical might of the Knot stagger the Lionel.  Lea staggers back & slips back to roar again, blinding the Ninth, then quickly healing herself, wiping away the damage so painstakingly inflicted on her.  Then another wall of force is created.  Effectively restarting the battle.

Round two of the battle commences, but it goes better for the Ninth.  This time, knowing what they are up against, they trudge forward undaunted.  And slowly, excruciatingly, the Ninth wear down the angel, until, through pure force of will, the angel falters and falls before the combined might of the Lord of Hell and the Midnight Lord.

Meanwhile, as the Knot rests before the entrance to the Gardens, their minions continue to claw their way into secret posts.  So as King Markadian V of Talengarde holds court in Matharyn and finishes rallying his mighty army he doesn't even realize spies for the breakers of Balentyne are in his court, quietly watching & waiting.

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.