The fall of the Cult of Gadus
General Summary
TOTOP
Commander Thyrex got wind of some concerning on-goings in Liwic after talking to some old army-friends in a near outpost and decided to stay in Zima together with Mar'Shiras and prepare for a detour to Liwic before returning to Lithandel.
There, they met Kya and Dreg who were adventurers headed towards Liwic to take part in The Royal Tournament Trails.
So they formed a party and headed east.
And tore the city of Liwic out of the clutches of a corrupt government.
Travel
On their first day of travel, while traveling through the Blooming Hinterlands, they spotted a young man being hunted by a pack of Death Dogs, fearsome, three-headed dogs. After swiftly dispatching all of them and saving the man, he introduced himself as Halmund Ronsun. It turned out he was also heading towards Liwic to take part in the trails. Since there is strength and safety in numbers, he accepted the invitation to travel with them.
Liwic Trails
Once the party arrived in Liwic, Dreg and Kya headed towards the arena while Commander Thyrex and Mar'Shiras took a little detour to gather some info about the recent events in Liwic from some contacts.
Mar'Shiras met up with Elene Ironhands who was very surprised and concerned about his visit. She told him she was being watched by the Cult of Gaddus and that they were trying to find some dirt on her to throw her into the dungeons. She also told him about the events that took place after the Massacre of the Wolf and the cult's rise to power.
While Marsh was talking to Elene Ironhands, Commander Thyrex met up with Gritta Frayasdottir, a former priestess of Gadus who was tending to the wounded during the Lizardmen Invasion the Commander fought against. She was able to tell him most of the things that Marsh also found out during his investigation and that current duke, Duke Heinrich III is exploiting to the point where the city is standing at the brink of a total financial collapse.
All the while, Kya and Dreg arrived at the arena and signed everybody up for the 5-man trails as a group. After that, they regrouped with the other partymembers and Halmund Ronsun, who was mortified when he foud out that the trials were fights to the death. Mar'Shiras was similarly surprised but he was just annoyed that he got dragged into this since he wanted to just observe and indulge in some of the pleasantries a setting like this has to offer (aka. Snow-Corn ale and heated sausage buns).
Since they had a day until the trails would take place, the Commander and Halmund used the time to get some training in. After seeing that the young man showed some potential, the Commander offered him his second long-sword, which had been improved with a fire-gem that was embedded into the hand-guard.
After a good night's rest, they headed towards the arena once again where the trail was about to take place.
They found themselves confronted by a group of well-trained fighters. As well as by a very interested spectator. An old man, dressed in black robes. Mar'Shiras recognised him as the old man he had a run-in a couple of months ago. Now he was standing at Duke Heinrich III's side, visibly amused by the unfolding events.
The first engagement was quickly beaten down by the party as well as some well places arrows took down the mage who was about to unleash his magical powers against them. This is when one of the fighters had to get rid of his helmet after it's visor was pierced by one of Mar'Shiras's arrows. He turned out to be Fjorn Thrymson, the childhood friend of Commander Thyrex.
Confused, and not willing to kill his friend, he instructed everyone to deal with the remaining enemies non-lethally before lowering his weapons and addressing Duke Heinrich III personally. Thyrex told the duke he was unwilling to go through with the trail since to him, this was just a glorified public execution, not a fair fight.
Enraged, the duke called for the arena guards to deal with the unwilling subjects. This is where everything started going south.
The fall of Duke Heinrich
Guards started rushing into the arena to deal with the party and their newly-found allies. But not even the well-trained knights of the Cult of Gadus stood no chance against them. After swiftly dealing with them, Commander Thyrex started climbing the arena's walls and got up onto the spectator-stands. There, he started approaching Duke Heinrich III and his entourage consisting of Captain Robern Deney and three other high-ranking nobles.
Upon clearly stating his intentions of solving this the "Thyrex" way, also known as beating something until it either starts agreeing with him or stops moving, the nobles stood up to him to defend the duke. Meanwhile, Kya and Mar'Shiras also climbed up onto the spectator-stands to help with any violent conflicts.
At this point, the party had realised that the duke was clearly a puppet in the black-robed man's hands. This is why Mar'Shiras started the fight off with unleashing three arrows into the man's direction. All three of them were perfectly on target. Although the black-robed man found himself impaled with 3 arrows, one of which went right through his eye, he did not seem very bothered.
Even when Thyrex broke through the line of nobles and went right for him, he did not seem worried at all.
Bleeding from multiple gashes he walked up to one of the nobles near him while Kya was engaging Captain Robern Deney and tore his body apart with a single touch.
Simultaneously, bodies started clawing themselves out of the dirt in the arena.
Even with all this going on, Duke Heinrich III did not seem to pay much attention to it. That is until it was noticed that the mountain of a man, who was squeezed into the golden throne he was sitting on had stopped being a man seemingly quite some time ago. He was just a body, controlled by necrotic powers, no doubt the black-robed man's doing.
Thyrex continued going after the black-robed man and brought the might of Gadus, that he had acquired previously, down upon him. This left the black-robed man with no way to escape it seemed as he turned around and struck Thyrex with a Small Wooden Wand he was holding. Even though it was only a glancing blow, a large gash opened up on the Commander's cheek and the exposed flesh immediately started to rot. In the same moment, the body of the killed noble started to move and contort as it was turned into a horrifying creature that spread itself over the little platform that was build to accommodate the high-ranking spectators of the trails.
Seeing this, Captain Robern Deney realized that he had been standing on the wrong side all along. He had sworn an oath a long time ago, to protect the city of Liwic and it's citizens. This was not what he was fighting for here. So he broke away from the duel against Kya and started engaging this twisted creature. Just as he turned around to stab down into it, he saw Duke Heinrich III lifting himself off of his chair and spewing a burst of vile-yellow liquid in Commander Thyrex's direction.
Caught off-guard the liquid started to burn through the Commander's armor. This was the opening the black-robed man was waiting for.
"This will not end here. There is still so much to do. And after everything you did for me I cannot let it end like this" was the last thing the black-robed man said to Thyrex before a swarm of black flies started eating away on his body, deconstructing him in seconds before he reconstructed himself near Mar'Shiras who had just manifested his sub-conscious to summon a healing-spirit.
After he reminded Marsh of their first encounter and the promise had made to him back then, he removed the arrow from his head, telling him that he will indeed never forget this one, he regenerated the eye he had lost and left through one of the arena's entrance-ramps.
With the black-robed man out of the picture, the party was still facing a large number of undead, including Duke Heinrich III himself, who then got hit by two arrows fired by Marsh and exploded into tiny little pieces. The violent eruption broke his bones into equally small pieces which dug themselves into their surroundings like shrapnel. One of the remaining nobles, who still seemed to side with the corrupt duke was obliterated by this. Once again, Commander Thyrex was caught off-guard by one of the undead that was climbing up onto the platform and he was knocked unconscious for the first time in a long time. But with the help of Kya, Dreg and Mar'Shiras, Captain Robern Deney managed to defeat the remaining enemies.
The Liberation of Liwic
Following the fall of Duke Heinrich III , the party patched themselves up quickly and talked to Captain Robern Deney to understand what really was going on. He told them that High Priest Sonaud was the one who was really pulling the metaphorical strings in the city and that the black-robed man, Robern called him Rodmarr, was just an outsider who had arrived in the city a couple of months ago.
Commander Thyrex decided that he will not leave before taking care of the high priest. Captain Robern tried to talk him out of but he was not successful.
Robern then agreed to help them hide for the night so they can form a proper plan on the next day. He told them he had a contact who could keep them from getting found out by the Cult of Gadus which was most likely already closing in on the arena after undoubtedly receiving the news of what happened here.
So they made their way through the west-ward of Liwic, sticking to the back alleys. Robern made good on his promise and lead them through the south gate, past some guards who he ordered to stand down, before introducing them to Rarder, a shady alchemist who had some of his wares confiscated by Robern but had not been thrown into prison in exchange for some favours in the future. This was one of them. Rarder was annoyed of the unexpected intrusion but knew he owed Robern. So he made sure that nobody would find the party for the night.
On the next day they came up with the plan to find the High Priest, deal with him and if they were successful, putting Robern in charge for some time until a new Duke was found. Robern was hesitant. He told them that he would flee the city, taking his family with him to keep them safe.
The party then split into two groups. Commander Thyrex and Mar'Shiras disguised themselves as a Cult-Knight and his squire, Dreg and Kya were acting as travellers who were new in the city to stake out the grand-temple of Gadus.
Team-Kya was to follow Team-Thyrex and come to their help if something were to happen. Soon after exiting the hideout and heading to the temple-square, Kya was pulled aside by a random merchant and lost sight of Team-Thyrex ... and the plan.
Meanwhile, Thyrex and Marsh headed onto the Temple-Square where Thyrex's resolve was strengthened after seeing the disgusting demonstration of opulence, which the temple had been turned into. Marsh noticed a wall surrounding the back-half of the temple and saw this as another way to get into the temple. This would also solve the problem of getting past the large amount of soldiers posted in front of the temple's main entrance. They were no doubt posted there after yesterday's events. So Marsh lead the Commander towards the large wooden gate in the side-alley next to the temple and after dispatching two guards who were taking a break in the little walled-off area entered the temple through a side-entrance.
This is when Team-Kya finally arrived in the temple square and since Dreg and Kya both forgot to keep an eye on Thyrex and Marsh, they just entered the temple through the main entrance in the hope of finding them inside. They passed by the guards, knights and a man dressed in shining white-painted armor and took up positions in the second level of the temple-overlooking the main prayer-hall.
Right before climbing the stairs, they noticed a richly decorated blue vial on the main altar. Dreg asked one of the guards posted in front of the altar what could be in the vial but the guard could only guess. His best guess was that this was the blood of the Prophet himself.
Just as Team-Thyrex entered the storage area, failing to do so in a stealthy manner, a priest opened the storage-room door. He was very confused about the presence of a Cult-Knight inside a storage room but he believed Thyrex after he informed him that he was just sweeping the area for any intruders. So the priest only lectured the knight and his squire and told them that the prophet will hear of this. Then he lead them out of the room towards the prayer-hall.
Before the priest could enter the prayer hall, Commander Thyrex tried to subdue him with a well-placed choke hold but the priest twisted out of it. Right into the blade of Mar'Shiras's newly acquired rapier. After quickly hiding the body, they themselves hid in the storage room, waiting for the High Priest to arrive.
He arrived only a couple of minutes later and entered the main prayer hall after the man wearing the white armour informed him about the crowd being ready for him.
But he didn't even get through reading the first passage from the book he was carrying on his person. Three arrows from the dark hallway he had just come out from struck him in quick succession, killing him instantly.
This is where things went south for the second time in two days.
Gadus' Many Eyed Beast
With religious fervour the Paladin of Gadus swore to call down the wrath of Gadus upon the heretics but was struck down swiftly after he got charged by Thyrex himself. During this, Thyrex made sure to knock the vial on the altar out of the paladin's reach. It tumbled to the ground but did not shatter.
The guard that Dreg talked to just minutes before this took this chance and dove for it. He managed to get his hands on it and downed it without hesitation, believing it would bestow the Prophet's blessing upon his which which he would defeat the intruders all by himself and earn the favour of the Prophet, who he did not believe dead.
Unfortunately the blessing of Gadus came in the form of a gruesome change to his body. Although Thyrex managed to strike the man with his sword before the blessing took hold, it did not stop it.
The man's flesh started rupturing and blue matter began dripping out of the wounds. His limbs quickly inflated, turning them into twisted appendages that did not resemble human body-parts at all. All over his body, black eyes started opening up. The transformation ended with an enormous black eye emerging from the man's throat which replaced the opening of his mouth.
But the change did not quite end there. Every couple of seconds the creature's body began to jerk violently, undergoing small mutations. It's appendages were in a state of constant change. It's arms, as well as a new appendage that had grown out of the space were the chest of the man had been formed themselves into an array of different tentacle-like things with which it began attacking every living being around it.
This caused one of the guards to break and run, together with the panicking masses which were trying to get out of the temple, paying no heed to people getting crushed and trampled underneath their feet. Amidst this chaos Kya repelled down from the first floor and engaged some of the priests who were present in the main prayer-hall. She was swiftly joined by Dreg who worked himself into a rage before finally engaging the many-eyes-beast.
Marsh, in the meantime, began distracting the two Cult-Knights who were trying to go after the one who killed their Prophet. It did not work very well for them. Both ended up being driven into a choke point, peppered with arrows before getting caught off-guard by Kya and Commander Thyrex who chased after them into the hallway the Prophet came out of initially.
The many-eyed-beast then unleashed it's full power against Dreg, managing to ensnare him with one of it's appendages and dragging him towards the fight that was still on-going in the hallway in the back.
But even a creature such as this was no match for the combined strength of a Barbaric Dragonborn, a Amazonian Fighter, a Redneck Ranger and Commander Thyrex himself.
And so the horrific creature was struck down and driven back into the realm where it came from.
Just in time.
The Aftermath
As Commander Thyrex struck the final blow and plunged his sword down into the opaque orb that was the creatures main eye, the temple door flew open.
Expecting the soldiers that were posted on the outside, the party readied themselves for another fight. But to their surprise they found a familiar figure standing in the entrance.
Captain Robern Deney had changed his mind after running into a small force of Liwic-Army soldiers who had just arrived from the outpost near Zima.
Beroth Hammerfist suspected Thyrex trying to do something stupid and lead a couple of soldiers and priests towards Liwic. With their Captain leading the charge, they then engaged the forces guarding the temple-entrance after getting wind of the current situation after Gritta Frayasdottir informed them about the commotion at the temple-square. They quickly were able to subdue the guards and entered the building.
Seeing as all threats had already been taken care of by the adventurers, they only thing left to do was dealing with the remaining cult-members.
Captain Arthur Burne took back full control of the Liwic City guard and army and captured the remaining cultists to put them up to a fair trial. He is also now the temporary ruler of Liwic until a proper Duke has been appointed.
Beroth Hammerfist , after hearing about the recent events regarding Ghunvhatr from Thyrex promised that he would surely come to his aid when the time came to take on the necromancer.
Halmund Ronsun decided to join the army of Liwic after seeing what Commander Thyrex did and what a strong adherence to his personal morals can achieve.
Gritta Frayasdottir took up the mantle of a priest of Gadus once again and is now serving as apothecary for the Liwic-Army again.
Kya, Dreg and Commander Thyrex got ahold of one Royal Coin of Liwic each, which leaves them only one coin off a guaranteed entrance to the Thordale Royal Tournament.
Rewards Granted
- 333gp
- Gems (253gp)
- 1 Potion of Stoneskin
- 1 Potion of invisibility
- 2 Blue Vials similar to the one the guard drank before turning. (Destroyed)
- 1 Scroll of Sacred Weapon
- 1 Scroll of Divine Sense
- 2 Rapiers
- Longsword +1
- Letter from Rodmarr
Session Number
27
Session Date
27.07.2019
Length
2 Sessions
Involved Player Characters
Commander Thyrex
Dreg
Kya
Mar'Shiras
Chapters
Travel
Royal Trails
Liberation of Liwic
Gadus' Many Eyed Beast
Aftermath
Related Timelines
Liwic Recent History
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