Session 4

The fourth chapter of our tale begun with a knock on the door of Gloria Farlow, and Gerard Solis' home. Sensing that something may be amiss, Oryim and Liaden O'Legal quickly hashed out a plan in which Liaden would stay with the young master Gareth in his room, while Oryim ran up to the roof to investigate who was at the door.
Once on the roof, Oryim spied a familiar face of the guard who had let them out of the town jail only a few hours ago. However, out of the corner of his eye, Oryim also noticed movement on one of the adjacent rooftops. On their way down to the front door, Oryim described what he saw to Liaden. The two of them agreed that no matter what should happen, Gareth's safety was their chief concern, and that they should approach the situation with caution.
Oryim made their way down stairs and opened the door to greet the young guard, who introduced himself as Alex. After Alex locked eyes with Oryim, his expression changed. Where he immediately recognised Oryim as an ally who had assisted him on a date earlier that day (to marvelous success), it quickly changed to a pained expression of sorrow and regret. While this was happening, Liaden had retrieved her bow and stood at the top of the staircase, instructing Gareth to hide under his bed for the time being. Before any words could be exchanged between Alex and Oryim, a crossbow bolt found itself lodged in the rogue's chest from a marksman who had been hiding on a rooftop across the road.
Meanwhile: On the other side of town, at the dinner party in the Priory garden, Kalydin brought attention to a dark figure looming in the bushes. Prior Arthis took note of this and began to scan the area pointing out another figure of the same form and two other figures on the other side of the garden. It wasn't long before caution was thrown to the wind, as Arthis established a circle of protection around the dinner guests.
As the first spell was cast, and the guests began to move, so too did their assailants. Gloria hid under the table as her husband, Gerard produced a knife from his shoe. Kalydin began his summoning ritual to call forth the angel Seraph, while Sam Calas found himself without a weapon, and without armour. The figures emerged from the shrubbery, revealing a pair of ghouls and two skeletons clad in chainmail armour.
As the undead marched forward, Sam was the first to draw their ire. As the gaze of both the ghouls and one skeletal soldier fell upon him. Fortunately, his seat was next to Arthis who instilled within him magical healing. Sam drew up his fists and called upon something deep within himself for aid. In his mind, he called forth arms to protect himself and destroy his enemies however, he saw himself receive nothing. The other guests saw differently. Sam's body became wreathed in dark smoke that shifted his form in waves of undulating power. Sam's sight became clouded with visions of his past. The form of his enemy changing to one of greater importance to him. His heart filled with rage and a thirst for revenge as he swung his fists wildly.
Back at the Farlow-Solis residence, Oryim scrambled for cover while taking as many clear shots at the marksman as possible. Alex had begun to hyperventilate given their inner conflict. Just as Liaden was about to enter the fray, she heard to metallic clunks above her. Taking a swift glance out of Gareth's window, she saw a rope running up to the roof. Liaden ran as fast as she could up the staircase, taking a moment at the top to kick in the study door and glance at their window as well. Another rope extended past it as she began to plan her next moves.
Oryim, having noticed the lack of Liaden at the top of the staircase came to the realisation that something upstairs was amiss. After appealing to Alex's good nature and asking him what was going on, Alex revealed that he was asked to come here and kill whoever was looking after his babysitter by his boss. As Oryim began to climb the staircase, he instructed Alex to follow in hopes of getting more information.
In the Priory garden, Sam's wild swings, as far as Sam was concerned, to make no contact. As his continued failure continued to fuel his rage. Kalydin, and the other guests however noticed that Sam's swing had, in fact, made visceral contact. He had made so much contact that the face of the offending ghoul had been caved in with the exact impression of Sam's, now smokey, fist. Just as this had occured, Kalydin's ritual concluded and Seraph now stood gleaming in the gloom. At Seraphs entrance, and with the light of the angel bathing the area, Sam's anger dissipated and so too did the smoke. As Sam came to his senses, he saw the crumpled and smoldering form of the ghoul before him.
With Seraph now present, the dinner guests made short work of the undead. With one ghoul escaping into the night. Arthis established a mental link with Sam and gave him very strict instructions to meet. With this knowledge Sam wrentched a glaive from the grip of one skeleton, used the haft to trip Gerard and aimed the glistening tip at his throat.
As Liaden reached the rooftop she was greeted by two dark clad guards who had climbed their way up from the ground via grappling hooks. Pinned against the door way, Liaden was flanked. She dropped her bow and drew her dagger, a knife she usually saved for hunting prey. Oryim continued to climb the stairs at a break neck pace, drawing his knife in preparation for the rooftop conflict. As he reached the top, he spied Liaden pinned against the open doorway. Using the skills he had learned in military service as a guerilla; Oryim ducked and rolled through the skirmish to flank one of the rooftop guards.
Together, Liaden and Oryim made short work of the two guards before them but soon found themselves outnumbered as the marksman appeared on a neighbouring building. Taking glancing shots, our two heroes ended the life of one guard before the other attempted to flee down the rope used to scale the building. Oryim used the opportunity to draw his bow and shoot the hook off of it's moorings, causing the guard to lose his footing, and his life. Liaden turned her sights on the marksman, drawing her bow again she began to fire. The marksman fled the scene, but not before being grievously wounded by Liaden's archery.
With both skirmishes now over, our heroes were able to collect their thoughts. Those at the dinner party conducted an imromptu interrogation of Captain Solis, while Liaden and Oryim checked on young Gareth and decided to bring the young man to his mother. With our heroes together once again, they shared details of what happened having the final pieces of the puzzle fall into place.
Alex had already spilled the beans about their opperation, as Captain Solis had apparently been running a cult-like group devoted to justice in Wrain's Hall. He would recruit guards to the cause of removing criminal elements from the city, and removing their tongues as a message to all other criminals that they were not safe.
As the party's legal representative, Liaden lead the interview eventually getting Gerard to confess to his crimes as well as his motive. He stood to gain nothing from Gloria's will, with Gareth instead being the sole recipient of her wealth. With the interview concluded, and a confession condemning enough to ensure a lengthy jail sentence, our heroes made to leave the room. Seraph, however, had other plans.
Seraph whispered to Kalydin, claiming that this would be a fantastic opportunity to confront the mortal sins of Gerard Solis. He told Kalydin that in order to grow, he should call forth Gerard's Sin of Greed. With his first attempt failing, Kalydin built up his conviction before slapping gerard across the face shouting "You greedy bitch!"
The conviction of the strike was enough to call forth Gerard's sin. As a sickly brwon-green smoke began to rise from his mouth and seep from his eyes. The glass shattered, and the door swung off of its hinges and a beast of smoke emerged and gouged deep cuts into the wooden flooring. As the smoke congealed into corporeal form, our heroes steeled themselves. Their night of conflict was not over just yet...