Session 22: Grim Spectres
Brussendar 12. Catha is in its first quarter.
General Summary
The Busty Centaurs, an adventuring troupe and this year's champions of Jigow's Festival of Merit, are answering the call of a mysterious figure named Alyxian, who has urged them to bring his artifact, the Jewel of Three Prayers, to a shrine dedicated to the Changebringer deep within a temple to the Betrayer Gods know as the Betrayers' Rise. Along the way, our heroes have come to an arrangement with a group of erstwhile rival adventurers, travelled to the nearby fortress-town of Bazzoxan, assisted in its defense against an incursion of abominations, become entangled in the complex relationships and rivalries of a trio of visiting scholars, formed a pact with one of them to eventually explore deeper into Betrayers' Rise, and, lastly, failed to stop a Children of Malice cult from freeing a dark champion of the Spider Queen known as the Inevitable End.
After recovering from an arduous day of adventuring in The Queen's Cage, our heroes gathered to break the fast at the Ready Room, the only inn in Bazzoxan, whereupon they were approached by Verin Thelyss, Taskhand of the Kryn Dynasty. After consulting with experts in the Aurora Watch, the Dynasty's armed forces, he had more questions for our protagonists. On confirming that the entity unleashed the day before did, in fact, appear to be the ghostly killer Jourrael, the Caedogeist, he let it be known that this was none other than the Spider Queen's most gifted assassin from the Age of Arcanum. Logic would dictate that the killer would seek to eliminate any obstacle to her mistress' reign on Exandria and therefore he immediately send word to warn his liege, the Bright Queen.
Moving then to the matter of the disappearance of an Aurora Watch patrol two nights prior, Verin asked our heroes if they had any knowledge of the circumstances that may explain the missing soldiers. Although he seemed only partially-satisfied with the response he received, he was prevented from immediately pursuing this line of inquiry further by the sudden emergence - out of the floor - of the Inevitable end herself! With two quick slashes of her vicious, poisoned daggers, Verin was nearly felled immediately and chaos erupted as the Caedogeist disappeared without a trace, back through the floor.
An intricate game of cat-and-mouse ensued, as Verin, the Centaurs, and many allies were unable to immediately draw a bead on her. The fiendish assassin launched ambush after ambush, nearly slaying Emeric, Ulfgar, Prolix, and Verin - all of whom were kept alive by the timely magical healing of Clothilde and Caduceus. Aloysia and Question joined the fray as well, meaning no fewer than 9 combatants desperately sought to catch and annihilate the clever assassin. For all of her power, however, it did seem like the Inevitable End could not keep up her tricks indefinitely. Eventually, she tired and was caught in a flurry of fists, blades, bolts, and magical explosions, before her body was finally turned to ash by Gorem's moonbeam spell. Not entirely held back by this destruction of her physical form, the Caedogeist was last seen as a grey mist with two glowering red eyes, drifting through the wall of the tavern and away from the scene of her attempted assassinations.
Whether by coincidence or design, the presence of a champion of the Betrayer Gods seemed to rouse the denizens of nearby Betrayers' Rise to renewed action. After Caduceus quickly administered prodigious amounts of healing, everyone rushed outside to sounds of heavy impacts and further fighting. Not really taking no for an answer, Verin took command and led a troupe to hold off whatever was assaulting the main walls the town. Before heading off, however, he directed our heroes to assist another squadron of soldiers who are defending the now-breached Umbra Gates leading to the temple itself. Running up a staircase cut into the mountainside, the Centaurs came across a rocky battlefield strewn with wounded Aurora Watch fighters holed up behind barricades, as grim-looking gargoyles leered down from the temple's towers and two shadowy gloomstalkers screeched ominously and wheeled overhead.
After recovering from an arduous day of adventuring in The Queen's Cage, our heroes gathered to break the fast at the Ready Room, the only inn in Bazzoxan, whereupon they were approached by Verin Thelyss, Taskhand of the Kryn Dynasty. After consulting with experts in the Aurora Watch, the Dynasty's armed forces, he had more questions for our protagonists. On confirming that the entity unleashed the day before did, in fact, appear to be the ghostly killer Jourrael, the Caedogeist, he let it be known that this was none other than the Spider Queen's most gifted assassin from the Age of Arcanum. Logic would dictate that the killer would seek to eliminate any obstacle to her mistress' reign on Exandria and therefore he immediately send word to warn his liege, the Bright Queen.
Moving then to the matter of the disappearance of an Aurora Watch patrol two nights prior, Verin asked our heroes if they had any knowledge of the circumstances that may explain the missing soldiers. Although he seemed only partially-satisfied with the response he received, he was prevented from immediately pursuing this line of inquiry further by the sudden emergence - out of the floor - of the Inevitable end herself! With two quick slashes of her vicious, poisoned daggers, Verin was nearly felled immediately and chaos erupted as the Caedogeist disappeared without a trace, back through the floor.
An intricate game of cat-and-mouse ensued, as Verin, the Centaurs, and many allies were unable to immediately draw a bead on her. The fiendish assassin launched ambush after ambush, nearly slaying Emeric, Ulfgar, Prolix, and Verin - all of whom were kept alive by the timely magical healing of Clothilde and Caduceus. Aloysia and Question joined the fray as well, meaning no fewer than 9 combatants desperately sought to catch and annihilate the clever assassin. For all of her power, however, it did seem like the Inevitable End could not keep up her tricks indefinitely. Eventually, she tired and was caught in a flurry of fists, blades, bolts, and magical explosions, before her body was finally turned to ash by Gorem's moonbeam spell. Not entirely held back by this destruction of her physical form, the Caedogeist was last seen as a grey mist with two glowering red eyes, drifting through the wall of the tavern and away from the scene of her attempted assassinations.
Whether by coincidence or design, the presence of a champion of the Betrayer Gods seemed to rouse the denizens of nearby Betrayers' Rise to renewed action. After Caduceus quickly administered prodigious amounts of healing, everyone rushed outside to sounds of heavy impacts and further fighting. Not really taking no for an answer, Verin took command and led a troupe to hold off whatever was assaulting the main walls the town. Before heading off, however, he directed our heroes to assist another squadron of soldiers who are defending the now-breached Umbra Gates leading to the temple itself. Running up a staircase cut into the mountainside, the Centaurs came across a rocky battlefield strewn with wounded Aurora Watch fighters holed up behind barricades, as grim-looking gargoyles leered down from the temple's towers and two shadowy gloomstalkers screeched ominously and wheeled overhead.
Report Date
01 Apr 2025
Primary Location
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