Blood in the Water Report

General Summary

Blood in the Water

18th of Irami’el 1245 AE

After going through the illusionary blocked entrance the group found themselves in the ruins of an old Avaronian building. This part of the building was still well intact due to it being underground. Once they were fully inside they felt the warm moist air and could hear voices nearby. As the adventurers were not so quiet they were quickly heard by the people inside. Dimble was the only person in the front and pretended to be studying and admiring the ruins. The confusion this caused was enough for the rest of the group to quickly deal with the two cultists.
In the corridors and chambers they were exploring they did not find any other cultists but they could hear noises coming from farther away. They did find many frescos on the walls depicting the old days of the Avaronian Empire. A bit further, however, they could hear voices coming from what appeared to be a large warm bath. The adventurers attacked suddenly and overwhelmed the bathing cultists causing the entire bath to be filled with blood.
Once they were further down the temple they could hear a loud scream and chanting. But before they found the source they stumbled upon a library. Unluckingly their were still some cultists inside that had to be dealt with. During the fight however Dimble managed to break one of the shelfs which caused an avalanche of books to drop on the ground. Dimble then tried to painstakingly ensure the safety of the books.

The sacrifice

After clearing the cultists in the library they heard that the ritual was nearby. Dimble found a small tunnel that allowed him to get a view to the sacrifice. After returning he told them that a man was lying on a table and a humanoid snake was standing before him with several cultists. The group decided that Dimble would remain in the small tunnel from where he would start a surprise attack. Directly afterwards the rest of them would charge in.
The plan worked and the adventurers dealt quickly with the cultists. But the humanoid snake kept standing and was able to complete his ritual. Several snakes slithered around him after which he bursted into flames. Once the fire diminished a fiery form of the humanoid snake stood before them. This fight turned a lot harder than they anticipated but they prevailed in the end. Afterwards they found a luxurious room with a private bath and a suit of Avaronian armor. Finrod wanted to take the armor but was quickly attacked as the armor came to life. In the room they also found several books where they learned that the humanoids snakes were actually Selefer, a race everybody thought had dissapeared millenia ago.
The group decided that the luxurious room was a good place to stay for a couple of hours to regain their strength. Before they could complete their rest however the adventurers heard several footsteps in the corridor. They decided to follow them deeper down. It appeared several captives were being escorted by some guards. After a short fight they managed to free these prisoners. Among them was Hesione who told the adventurers that they had found out about the cult and wanted to mount an attack. The Vanguard walked in an ambush and many died either during the battle or as a sacrifice later on.

Fiery Magic

Deeper down the structures appeared much older, even from before the Avaronians. An enormous heat welcomed them as they walked into the large cavern surrounded by ancient structures. It did not take long for several Selefer to appear and a battle ensued. To their surpires the dragon egg that they had been carrying hatched after the fight, likely triggered by the intense heat. A small bronze dragon hatched from it and started following the group. Nearby they found several other captives that they managed to free as well. The main temple itself seemed to be across a the nearby chasm filled with lava. Luckily there was a bridge to make get to the other side.
The first room they entered was a large chamber filled with ancient fresco’s. The information on this walls would be priceless for historians as knowledge on the Selefer was still scarce. On the fresco’s the group could see religious images of the creation of the Selefer, a war between strange humanoids with no faces, the expansion of the Selefer empire and large scale wars. Several other species were depicted as well : Gnomes, Draconids, Giants and Elves. It would take time to study this in detail, time they did not have.
They continued onward and entered a large chamber with a portal at the end. Standing in front of the portal they saw that Arkud Bloodgrip was awaiting them. He did something to the portal which caused it to react violenty causing flames to go in all directions. Afterwards he revealed his true Selefer form and attacked the group but not before summoning a giant snake. 
The fight that followed was hard with several members on the brink of death including Hideo. After both the snake and Bloodgrip were killed the elemental portal started to act even more erratically. Hideo tried to use a shield to keep the elemental energy from exploding but only partially succeeded. The rest of the energy soared towards Finrod causing him to take a fiery form after which he became unconcious. This event reawakened the hidden powers of Pyromancy within him.

Campaign

The Heretic's Sword

Protagonists

Finrod Ingoldo

Vittoria Bendetti

Half-Elf (Acolyte)
Cleric Forge Domain 10

59 / 59 HP

STR
15

DEX
10

CON
14

INT
12

WIS
20

CHA
10

Report Date

17 May 2018