Session Report 98

General Summary

The Wrath-Spike was in turmoil. The Bloodfall had begun and the Blades of Purity had arrived to purge the city of fiends. The Muskrats were faced with three of the Commandments: Love, Peace, and Respect. Itzal knew that Father Ixtiraam, the Commandment of Respect, was especially formiddable. Father Ixtiraam posed a simply question to the Muskrats. He asked them if they were fiends. He told them that the three Commandments they faced were those that only believed fiends should be exterminated. They had been specifically chosen over the the hardliners to deal with the Muskrats. The Muskrats answered that they were not fiends. Father Ixtiraam then gave the Muskrats two choices. They could leave the city by magicall means immediately or remain in the city and be subject to the wrath of the Blades of Purity. The Muskrats took their sweet time deciding what to do and Father Ixtiraam gave the Muskrats ample time to decide, but his patience began to wear thin as they delayed him. Cambio attempted to delay him further but Father Ixtiraam cut him off and began the battle. 
Father Ixtiraam was accompanied by Sister Amore the Commandment of Love and Brother Pax the Commandment of Peace. Father Ixtiraam jumped nearly sixty feet to reach Itzal and his respectful mauling of the tortle began. His fists exploded with speed and power that the Muskrats had not yet experienced. The defensive master of the Muskrats, Itzal, was caught off guard as one barrage of punches shattered his arcane ward. The Muskrats quickly discovered that Father Ixtiraam was not the only one who should be feared. Sister Amore engaged with Dami and began to give the tiefling barbarian, cursed kiss after cursed kiss, that sapped her vitality and transferred it to Sister Amore. Tazmeth called upon the power of Azanil, his new summonable barbed devil from his tattoo, for the battle. Azanil charged forward to engage with Sister Amore. Brother Pax did not appreciate Tazmeth interfering with Sister Amore and began to wrack Tazmeth's mind with visions of shattered peace that left him drooling in fear. 
Realizing the great danger that Father Ixtiraam posed, Cambio fired a barrage of eldritch blasts at the massive sized monk. After successfully connecting a blast, Cambio decided to send the respect loving goliath through hell. Oddly, this still worked even though the Muskrats were already in the Nine Hells. With Father Ixtiraam gone for a moment, the Muskrats turned their attention to the weakest link: Brother Pax. Itzal forced the peace loving elf into a mental prison and created a flying target dummy for Cambio to shoot out of the sky. Meanwhile, Dami swung at things and missed. A lot. When Father Ixtiraam returned, the Muskrats were torn over whether to kill him or Sister Amore first. Tazmeth kept screaming they they had to focus Sister Amore or she would kill them all. However, the other Muskrats did not listen because they did not take orders from an intern. Tazmeth decided that he had to take matters into his own hands. He flew up to meet Sister Amore in battle and trapped her within his watery prison. Then he immediately followed it up with a stunning strike. Knowing he had all the advantages in the world, Tazmeth struck at her relentlessly unless the watery prison was filled with a swirling red mass of blood and torn flesh. Only Father Ixtiraam remained. 
Itzal and Father Ixtiraam remained in a pitched battle. Father Ixtiraam let loose another barrage of strikes and on one particular strike Father Ixtiraam's hand pierced Itzal's shell and plunged into his chest nearly crushing and ripping his heart from his chest. In that series of strikes, Itzal collapsed to the ground unconscious and a wave of fear washed over the Muskrats seeing their tactitian fall. Thankfully, Tazmeth was able to quickly strike Itzal with a dart imbued with healing ki. Itzal teleported away and left Father Ixtiraam to Dami. Unfortunately, she missed. Again. With a powerful series of magic missile darts Father Ixtiraam went limp. Small motes of white energy began to form around him and his body became cloaked in white energy. Small parts of his body began to tear away and turn to dust. He yelled out "Soul Burn," and jumped over ninety feet to reach Itzal. He leaned towards his face and Itzal, "You were the one I respected the most this battle. You have the honor of my final strikes." Father Ixtiraam began to strike wildly at Itzal and with each strike another part of his body turned to dust. Ultimately, Father Ixtiraam struck at Itzal twelve times and connected numerous times. Itzal was barely able to withstand the strikes before Father Ixtiraam fully dissolved. The Muskrats had successfully defeated three more of the Commandments.
Suddenly, Dami's axe flew into the sky and souls began to rapidly swirl in the sky. Dami along with Tazmeth and Itzal were transported to another location. On one side of them was a fire filled sky and clouds of smoke and ash. On the otherside was brilliant blue skies and stark white clouds. Rays of golden light pierced the clouds. On the fiery side the Muskrats felt anger and on the other side was a strong sense of joy. Dami pushed further into the feelings of the axe and discovered that while on one side the axe was happy it also had a longing for freedom. Then the Muskrats saw the past lives of the Commandments they had slain and how they had fallen for Anathema. Brother Ansvar had left a candle lit that caused a fire killing his entire family. He wanted everyone to take responsibility for their actions because he was not able to. Sister Amore was a scorned lover and wanted people to love her. Sister Onesta had been lied to previously and she only wanted people to be honest with her. Brother Laering was a failed wizard and academic who was envious of those around him who were intelligient. Brother Pax had fled from warzone to warzone as a child and wanted to create peace by putting the fear of war into everyone around him. Father Sorgfalt simply wished for everyone to endeavor diligently towards a goal after watching the peasants in the slums of Wulkan. Father Ixtiraam believed that a world built on respect would be a peaceful one and he wished to create it. Each of them were convinced by Anathema that joining her cause could give them the power to achieve their goals. As the vision faded, the Muskrats were returned to the rooftop of the Wrath-Spike. As they looked up they saw a giant airship encased in a sphere of ice to withstand the Bloodfall. The ship's name was the Scourge of Stygia. Itzal knew that Mayathangi had set up her lair in Stygia and that likely this ship was her's. Who would the Muskrats go after next? Mayathangi? Anathema? House Vassa? Zeya? Tritemeus and Mizanoros? Decisions had to be made and soon.

Report Date

15 Sep 2023