Session 4: Follow the Cultists Report

Report by Campaign GM Shiftrex

General Summary

The party previously tracked a cultist to the location of an old building and found a set of stairs sparsely hidden underneath an illusion. The party ventured down into the dark corridors of a hidden passageway underneath an abandoned general store and encountered two traps in a long passageway. The rogue struggled with these, perhaps nervous at returning to the underground areas of Stronghold but eventually, two traps were disabled and the group moved down a long hallway towards a wooden door.
The cleric used a magical orb to scout on the other side of the door and found a lookout dozing in a chair. With little hesitation the Ranger moved through the door and dispatched the cultist, beheading the enemy with one swing. The warlock moved forward to collect the head, keeping it as a tool for intimidation and possible necromancy rituals in the future. The group moved down the hallways and into a small passageway off the main hall, the paladin moved through here carefully with the rogue at the front of the group and the cleric closed the door at the back of the group. Large scratches and gouges in the door made by humanoid fingernails marred the door on the inside but the group had already decided to venture further.
In this room, the group encountered a statue of a demonic entity, identified as Argoth by the Cleric and the Paladin. The statue had two eyes made of ruby and was holding out a magical staff with its hand, while the former party members destroyed the statue the Warlock retrieved the staff determined to find out its true nature while the Rogue estimated its value. As an experiment they touched the staff to the decapitated head and watched as it rotted instantly, becoming a putrid, dripping skull. The party moved on, they discovered a room with 20 sleeping cultists which they promptly locked and strengthened before moving on. They ventured past a crossroad and quietly crept up to a room with many shelves and four cultists, the Warlock stepped forward and held the rotting head high and announced his presence as he slammed the butt of the staff on the ground. The skull opened its mouth, its eyes glowed with dark energy and it also helped the Warlock to proclaim his presence.
The party took advantage of the shock and hesitation of their enemies and made short work of three novice cultists, taking the final and more experienced member captive. After some questioning, they learned how dedicated these particular disciples of Argoth were and after some back and forth they ended the cultist and moved to the next room. Here the Paladin sensed the presence of ethereal undead held at bay somewhere in the room but more importantly they found a small group of townsfolk held in a cell and a small child held in a separate one. The party used strong light sources, assuming that Shadows were hiding in the room and evacuated the civilians by leading them back to the main hallway and up to the staircase. After reaching the surface the group heard a series of small explosions and experienced a shift underfoot, the hallway and several passages underground had been forcefully collapsed by the cult to prevent any easy entrance from that staircase again.

Rewards Granted

Two Rubies, each one worth 150 gp.
Staff of Argoth, to the Warforged Warlock.

Character(s) interacted with

Craea - Rogue
Iceworn - Warlock
Kya - Ranger
Reinys - Paladin
Squall - Cleric

Report Date

27 Sep 2019