Session 119 - Dancing in the Fire

General Summary

30^th of Savor (Third Month of Autumn) 722TR
The story so far

The Heroes are raiding a small temple of the god Agrik in the backwater village of Boreth. They are searching for the Upprisa Shroud. This corrupted holy artifact of the Goddess Peoni is being used by the Order of the Eight Demons to create the disgusting Shroud Ghouls.

They have little time as an alarm has been raised. After barricading the doors into the temple, they have made their way down a trapdoor into the chambers below.

The continuation of Session 118 - Shroud of Pain.

Location - Boreth Abbey in Themeson District in the Thardic Republic.

Part 1 - Passage of Flame.

The Heroes search the underground chambers under the temple finding a ceremonial antechamber. The entrance is guarded by a spear trap, which Avon triggers, but a thorough inspection turns up nothing of interest. Sabretooth wreaks the room and finds a suspicious pattern of wear in the dirt in an adjoining passageway. This leads to a well-hidden concealed secret door but no obvious mechanism to open it. He tries to use his Hru Statuette to enter into the rock wall but finds the stonework too thin to merge with; it must be fake. Using a nearby statue as a battering ram, he and Avon easily smash through the door.

The passage beyond is rough and the floor covered in the sand, leading to a small chamber with a stone platform. Resting on it appears to be the Upprisa Shroud.

Avon sneaks in. His feet pass over a stone tablet concealed under the sand. The tablet was inscribed with a strange rune that flares, and a vaguely humanoid fire creature appear above the platform. Avon stealthy moves forward, activating four more of these magical traps, summoning four more Fire Wraiths. The Heroes engage and step on the remaining summoning tablets. All up, they battle eight of these fiendish elementals.

Sabretooth throws a vial of holy water at them, misses but its splashes on the Upprisa Shroud. The Agrikian symbology and various filth on parts of the artifact boiled and then rinsed off, revealing symbolism representing the goddess Peoni. As the battle intensifies, Avon hears someone upstairs attempting to break through the barricade. The Fire Wraiths are eventually dispatched, although Sabretooth who took the brunt of their attacks, was severely burned. Then the barricade in the room above collapses.

Part 2 - An Old Acquaintance.

Aperani Sephira, art by Attacus

Avon quickly checks upstairs to assess the situation. He sees the Order of the Eight Demon Priestess Sephira, two acolytes, a Cohorts of Gashang Knight and two guards plus three rough-looking civilians entering the temple. Aperani Sephira immediately recognizes Avon and demands to know what a Red Guard agent is doing here, and more importantly, where is her former lover Ricon? Ricon is one of Acheron's alter egos.

A chaotic brawl starts with the Sephira, an acolyte, and the warriors entering the underground chambers to combat the Heroes. The other acolyte is sent to a nearby settlement for reinforcements. Throughout the battle, the Acheron and Sephira banter with the Priestess demanding to know who sent the Party. Acheron implies that it was on order from someone in the Senate. Although Sephira is convinced that this raid was politically motivated, the lie falls flat when the Acheron tells her that this was the order of the famous Marshal Kronas. Sephira does not believe him. The Marshal is well known to despise the Red Guard. The sentimental Acheron does not want to kill her. However, given the obvious desecration of the temple, she is not be so generous.

The tide slowly turns the Heroes' favor. They kill the knight, the guards, and then the acolyte; however, Sephira magically causes Avon to be inflicted with an intense, debilitating pain that roams randomly over his body. She then creates two blasts of fire that envelope the Heroes and sets their hair and clothing alight, granting her an opportunity to escape as they frantically put out the flames.

Part 3 - The Pursuit

The Heroes flee into the wooded hills. A detachment of the Gerium Legion from the nearby Fort Racatten, led by a skilled woodsman, pursue them. The Heroes try a series of cunning tricks to escape, leaving false trails, traveling through difficult passes, hiding and nearly succeeding. With the Legionaries closing in, the mobile Avon breaks cover and creates a distraction. He leads them away then evades the slower-moving soldiers allowing Sabretooth and Acheron to make their escape. However, he loses his way in the hills over the night, and by the time he rejoins his friends, word of the raid has spread.

To be continued...