Session 21

General Summary

Sunday, Richfest 3, 591 CY

Afternoon

Thomyr dispels the darkness with a burst of light. It is revealed that Tomas is straddling Lady Lenore as she sits in the chair, wings sprouting from his back. Krista is on the floor, screaming and crawling away. Behind us zombies burst from the closets. I recognize one of the washer women who was very much alive yesterday. One is dripping wet. Another is missing a boot.
One of the zombies shuffles forward and claws me, though my Arcane Ward absorbs the damage.
Thomas caresses Lenore's cheek and whispers something to her. His eyes glow a bright yellow, shining into her eyes. He says "I wish we had more time," in a voice that changes mid-sentence. As the light hits her she shudders, and turns grey, and slumps limp in her chair.
Maar, who has shifted his form to that of a giant wolf, turns around and straddles the fountain, tearing into the zombie washer-woman who is attacking me.
Astar attempts to heal Lenore, to no effect. Orson has pulled her from the chair and is cradling her head, his face twisted by grief.
I blast the washer-woman zombie to ruin with a Magic Missle.
Thomyr attacks Tomas to some effect. Travius uses Thunderwave to damage several zombies, pushing them away. He follows up with Magic Missle and fells one. 
Norric struggles to damage Thomas with his short sword, though Hettman Trant is successful. He screams "This thing is an abomination!"
Thomas turns to his father and says "Father, they are killing me..." His wings have retracted and his voice is his own. Krista cries "It killed Mommy, and then Thomas ate it!" She clutches Rosa and says "He ate it and now it's coming it out."
Thomas says to his father "I only wanted you and Mom to get back together again!" Turning to Nate, he says "It's all your fault," as his voice changes again. A yellow glow shoots from his eyes into Nate's eyes. Nate shudders and perishes.
Unaware of the zombies behind them, Asatar and Orson attempt to drag Lenore away. Dominique shouts a warning to them and then targets Thomas with an Eldritch Blast. He is successful.
I charge forward and lay hands of Thomas, screaming "Leave the boy be you foul creature!" I cast Protection from Evil. Thomas keels over and begins to retch. A set of arms claws out of his mouth as something starts to crawl out. 
A zombie tears into Thomyr with its claws and he is rendered immobile. I see now that they are in fact ghouls. More of the undead lacerate Maar and Travius. Nate, freshly risen to undeath, shuffles forward and attacks ineffectually.
Thomas collapses to the floor as the creature fully emerges from his mouth. Krista screams "It killed my mother!" It expands as it comes forth, until it stands before me, a man-sized fiend that appears as a winged imp. "You've ruined it," it says. "I've waited so long!"
"I spared your people," it says to Kael. "Help me kill them, and I shall spare you and the rest. Ringland must burn for what it has done to me!"
It turns to Steffan and says "Father! I gave you the chance to save mother. Your chance to get together again. Don't you want to save your son?"
Nate attacks Rosa. The imp-fiend says to Steffan "Save her, and we can be a family again!"
It claws at Reynold and rips off the mans' sword arm. It expands its jaw and bites him in the head, crushing his skull.
Thomas crawls away, and the creature says "Don't go far, you and I are going to get together soon."
Steffan fells the undead Nate and pulls Rosa and Krista together, heading the group toward Thomas.
Tronus summons divine might and smites the imp-fiend mightily, though the creature still stands.
The imp-fiend assaults Tronus with his eyebeam attack, weakening him. It then tries to move away, tossing Orson to the side and scooping up Lenore in his other clawed hand. It grabs the pendant around Lenore's neck and then screams and drops it as its hand freezes.
Steffan takes Rosa and the kids up the stairs.
Tronus retrieves Lenore's medallion and shoves it into the imp-fiend's face. The creature is clutching one if its claws, and reacts with distaste to the symbol.
I blast the imp-fiend with Magic Missle, while a ghoul surprises me with a savage attack. I am saved only by my Shield spell.
Maar is torn viciously by more of the ghouls and falls unconscious. 
Travius and Norric fell two ghouls. The imp-fiend screams in pain as its frozen hand falls off. With his other arm he grabs the body of mistress Lenore. "Looks like we will be spending some quality time my dear."
I cast Aganazzar's Scorcher on a line of ghouls in front of me. The first two manage to dodge to avoid some of the damage, while the third is burned to a cinder.
My companions struggle with the remaining ghouls while Maar recovers due to healing from Dominique. He shits to bear form and stands.
Tronus, Norric, and Thomyr confront the imp-fiend, trying to prevent it from fleeing with Lenore. It uses its eyebeams on Tronus again, further diminishing his vitality. It takes to the air in the main room and says "A family reunion. This is your last chance Kael..."
Dominique sits upon her Broom of Flying and takes to the air, launching an Eldritch Blast at the imp-fiend. I follow up with a Magic Missle cast with a second-level valence.
A ghoul bites at me, though the bulk of it is absorbed by my Arcane Ward. 
The imp-fiend blasts at Dominique with its eye-blast, but she resists the effect. So it bites her, successfully, and she is grievously wounded, though still airborn. She tries to respond with an Eldritch Blast but is unsuccessful. 
Kael announces that "Steelbone Meadows is the last time we serve with demons! Take this for your master!" He launches a futile strike at the imp-fiend.
I carefully withdraw from the ghoul that is assaulting me and head up the stairs to the second floor, where Tronus and Kael are confronting the imp-fiend.
The imp-fiend crushes Kael's head in his jaws. Norric notices that it seems to be healing whenever it drains an opponent with its eyebeam.
We all launch trifling attacks against the imp-fiend. My Ray of Frost lands, slowing it slightly, but we are in dire straits.
The imp-fiend forces its way into the room where Steffan is hiding with the kids and Rosa. We rush to the bedroom. I'm maintaining my Protection from Evil in hopes of preventing the imp-fiend from repossessing Thomas. Rosa and Krista are screaming.
Maar tries to force the door in his great bear form, but is unsuccessful. Dominique damages the door with an Eldritch Blast. I cast Message to Thomas, asking him what is happening in the room. Rosa screams, but her scream is cut off. My companions attack the door, slowly damaging it.
Thomas replies to my spell. "He's pushed the bed against the door. Me and Krista are hiding in the other room. My father is trying to stop him from hurting my mother. I don't know what he's going to do."
I relate this information to my companions. We create a plan whereby Travius will fly out the nearby window on Dominique's broom in an attempt to get into the room. I smash the window with my elbow and he heads out the window.
We hear the imp-fiend scream "Howwwwww? NOOOOOOOO!" Through the window, Travius sees the bed is pushed against the door. Steffan and Rosa stand in front of the door behind which we assume the children are hiding. The imp-fiend is screaming in pain and agony as it hurls itself out a window and flies away.
Travius feels a magical effect of some sort wash over him. Maar, in bear form, shatters the door. The bed is right against the portal and Mistress Lenore lies upon it.
Dominique sends Snowfall to fly after the imp-fiend to see where it goes.
Maar reverts to his diminutive elven form and slips into the room and onto the bed. Thormyr checks her condition. In the room, Steffan holds Rosa.
Thormyr determines Lenore is dead. Tronus puts the amulet back around her neck.
The rest of us enter the room and we restore the bed to its usual spot in the middle of the room.
Travius describes the magical effect he experienced as pleasant, but with no observable effect. It was after this effect washed over him that the imp-fiend fled south at full speed.
Orsun and Astar enter the room. Orsun sobs. Astar asks what they do now. He discusses the effect Travius felt and says that the strobe that protects their area only works when she's alive, and she's been dead for several minutes. Calling upon my arcane lore, I point out that the effect is based upon the manor itself, and needs a member of the family to keep it active. Astar proclaims that a member of the house must still be alive. Orsun claims it must be him. He says Lenore is his half-sister. He says he loves his sister very much, but it was always a secret. He's a bastard son from a dalliance of her father's. His father brought him to the house when he found out, but kept it secret to spare his family, and swore Orsun to secrecy. He was never taught to read and doesn't know what it means to be the lord or lady of this place.
Orsun tells us the ghouls in the manor below were scared off when the pulse went off.
Krista and Thomas tell us how the imp-fiend climbed through the window of the manor at Crossroads, killed Krista's mother, and then climbed into Thomas. Krista didn't remember because she was catatonic after her mother's death. Since she is so young, she didn't understand that he hadn't actually eaten the fiend.

Report Date

15 Jan 2022