Session 43: Through the Vault

General Summary

The Fall of the Cinder Knights

I saw it all unfold—though I dearly wish I hadn’t.
Through the veil of my scrying eye, I watched as the last of the Cinder Knights fell, their flame guttering out like torches starved of air. Sunny’s arrival had turned the tide, sunlight cleaving through gloom just in time. Dulb had vanished—just like that—no farewell, no struggle. Gone. But the others, gods bless them, pressed on.

The Kramer Chamber

The chamber that followed was unlike any I’d seen in the Vault so far: red, unrelenting, as if the walls themselves blushed with shame. Warby dubbed it the “Kramer Chamber” for reasons that escaped me. Perhaps the madness had already begun to set in.
It was the well that cursed them. A stagnant pit of red ichor, swirling with a malice that could not be named. Goq, Frostbulb, Crown—each of them fell under its sway. I could see it in their eyes: suspicion, fear, the hunted twitch of prey expecting betrayal at every glance. They turned on one another not with blades, but with mistrust. A cruel magic, and clearly Melkorion’s doing. That much was certain.
Frostbulb and Crown were left behind in that room.

The Hall of Lost Purpose

Warby, Sunny, and Goq continued onward into a crescent-shaped hallway—beautifully carved and utterly cursed. At first, the spirits were no more than whispers, thin veils of agony. But then the full horror struck. These weren’t malevolent ghosts. They were broken souls. Forgemasters and custodians who had lost their purpose, now trapped in an unyielding echo of duty. Their pain twisted the stone, slowed movement like tar, and pierced into the mind with clawed grief.
Sunny carved through them with holy light, Goq let out a bellow that scattered half the phantasms, and Warby—bless his heart—held the line. They advanced through despair incarnate until Sunny found a way out. The moment the door opened, the spirits fled. Why? Even now I don’t know. But for a moment, all was still.

Zorvath the Bound

The next chamber gave no such pause. A hulking fiend stood waiting: the Purrodaemon Zorvath, taloned wings tucked behind a scaly back, flanked by two Ashwither Wights. Zorvath sneered as he spoke of his allegiance to Melkorion—and to darker powers still: Xythera, Queen of the Web of Lies, and Vixara, the Blood Matron. Allies from every corner of the Lower Veils, it seems. And yet, even a Daemon’s pride falters before the resolve of mortals. The battle was brutal. When Zorvath fell, I felt it in my chest like a harp string cut. A tether had broken. What it held, I fear to guess.

The Last Guard and the Price of Gold

The party turned back, sensing something unresolved. They found doors sealed with divine sigils and warnings etched in celestial script: “No treasure is earned without loss.” Without hesitation, each sacrificed 100 gold—coins forged in labor, not convenience—and the doors parted. Inside stood a troop of spectral warriors: the Last Guard of the Vault.
It was no contest. I imagine Jarak himself would have wept to see his final guards fall so swiftly.
But the reward… Jarak had left them a gift. Piles of gold infused with divine resonance—each of them walked away with a fortune. Yet not one of them smiled.

The Soulforge Sealed

The Soulforge remains sealed. Every door barred. Every path closed. Only a prayer—true, potent, desperate—can open the way now. And Melkorion is close. Too close.
I’ve warned the crew of the Chainbreaker. We’re ready to act, should the worst happen.

-Sera

Campaign

The New Dawnbreakers

Protagonists

Sunny Grannach

Brazen White Bulb Conquering Red Blossom

Dulb the Deckhand

Dulb's sheet

Level 13 Swashbuckler.

Health

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Goq-Ixai

Report Date

21 Jun 2025