Not One Infidel Step
General Summary
Thanks to a leak (likely caused by a spy using detect thoughts), local members of the Church of Dusk & Dawn in Trader's Cusp discovered the plans of the Four Masters to possess the shrine to their heretical unnamed god and rededicate the space to Waukeen. The followers of Nihilus sealed themselves inside their unlicensed temple and declared their intent to remain.
Knowing that the forces of darkness within would be terrible, Roger used a combination of spells to summon three angels for a few hours without any personal costs. The trumpet archon, the de facto leader of the triad, declared that such a loophold would be swiftly closed, but agreed to assist in the noble endeavor once the Masters convincingly vouched for their evil member, Milo.
Arriving at the shrine, the Four Masters discovered a crowd had gathered outside the dark pyramid. Citizens both for and against the Church were protesting each other, but with the intervention of Roger, Master of Knowledge, and Azim, Master of Finance, many of them were convinced to leave the space while Hiro Asano, Master of Arms, attempted to buffet many of them out of the way, and not too soon. Suddenly, three yuki-onna revealed themselves, their incorporeal forms levitating out of the ground, their very presence summoning a blizzard. The party was prepared, however, and Milo, Master of Internal Affairs, fired ghost touch attacks and the rest of the party tried to save citizens or blasted them with spells. The angels proved perilous to their foes, and would continue to prove themselves capable. Cones of cold burst from the ghosts' hands, slaughtering any of the Church followers who refused to flee. The ghosts declared their loyalty to their own "Master" as they died, but die they did. Inside the pyramid, the Four found only a small shrine with a few alcoves to minor and major evil deities, and a lone woman, High Priestess of Shar, who greeted them, saying she had been given a vision by the Lady of Loss to offer them safe passage in exchange for her life and the lives of her acolytes. The Four discussed it, however, and ironically outvoted Milo that the woman should be slain, which Milo was only too happy to indulge. The cleric was powerful, but she was still within the domain of Tetrodora, and so the Master of Knowledge declared her magic banned and an antimagic field suppressed all of her spells and magic items, leaving her vulnerable to a barrage of attacks. She fell swiftly, taking her knowledge with her. The Four Masters eventually worked out the secret of opening the underground passage hinted at by the priestess (Azim's daylight spell cast a shadow on her staff of authority onto the empty alcove, revealing a hidden staircase, dusty with disuse), and descended into the bowels of the dark temple. In the first chamber, they found a mirror, an altar, and an attendant. The mirror they ignored, they slew the grafted abomination on the altar without a second thought, and Asano managed to convert the attendant to a more merciful deity of the sunrise (Lathander). In the next passageway, they heard the tick-tick of pickaxes and slew all of the mining undead within, discovering a passage underneath the city wall. The Four later had the tunnels collapsed. The third and fourth chambers held altars and many rows of corpses which sprang to life as necromentals, attacking through the earth. Asano managed to capture and convert one of the priestesses, but the gnoll priest merely cackled and disappeared with a plane shift, though Milo continued to address his kin, thinking him merely invisible. The battle joined, and angelic fire destroyed the undead elementals and the Four discovered the chambers were beneath the basements of nearby houses, their residents killed. Making a note of investigating, the Masters descended further into a large chamber. This chamber housed five permanent force walls arranged as a prison and chained against the ceiling. Inside were caged elf maidens, and two apparently human priestesses. At one of their words, however, Asano attempted to lower the chains, igniting a chain lightning trap that hit everyone in the room, except the evasive Milo. Before he could attempt it again, however, Azim entreated with the entities, who revealed that they lived upon undead flesh and were being starved unless they produced results on the blood-stained altar within the barrier. Refusing their request for freedom, the angels and Azim teleported inside and slew the creatures, who shapeshifted into aberrations known as avolakia. Sending the astral deva Arti'ya to take the rescued prisoners to the surface, the Four and the Two entered a labyrinth, splitting into two parties of three. The northern party soon discovered what the avolakia were being forced to create out of elf maidens: a banshee unleashed her wail and the archon immediately died, unfortunately for the party as he was the only one capable of entering the wall incorporeally. Keeping her at bay with daylight, Arti returned, the parties regrouped, and together fended off negative energy attacks while awaiting the banshee's return for a second wail, whereupon they stunned and returned her to dust. Finally, the Four Masters arrived at the end of the line: two massive wooden doors and two voices within. Nihilus seemed to be speaking commands to himself, but when the party entered, they saw nothing but empty space. Milo knew enough about phooey-pooey magic to touch the back wall, revealing its illusory nature, and another force wall protecting the denizen within. Nihilus smiled, secure in his fortress, and told the party they had no cha--oh gods, is that a wall of swords and hold person?? Gods below, the horror of watching a man ripped to shreds as he's frozen in place with a contemptuous smile was a sight that made Milo's infectious cackle echo throughout the room. The rest of the Masters fell into a laughing fit as the proud necromancer erupted into a mist of blood, destroyed equipment, and... snow. The simulacrum revealed, the party looted the melting remains for a shadow weave belt, and Roger investigated the ruined laboratory, discovering it was made for creating a clone. Seeing that their task of cleansing the dark pyramid was done, the Four Masters said farewell to their angel companions and returned to the surface and fresh air of their city.
Knowing that the forces of darkness within would be terrible, Roger used a combination of spells to summon three angels for a few hours without any personal costs. The trumpet archon, the de facto leader of the triad, declared that such a loophold would be swiftly closed, but agreed to assist in the noble endeavor once the Masters convincingly vouched for their evil member, Milo.
Arriving at the shrine, the Four Masters discovered a crowd had gathered outside the dark pyramid. Citizens both for and against the Church were protesting each other, but with the intervention of Roger, Master of Knowledge, and Azim, Master of Finance, many of them were convinced to leave the space while Hiro Asano, Master of Arms, attempted to buffet many of them out of the way, and not too soon. Suddenly, three yuki-onna revealed themselves, their incorporeal forms levitating out of the ground, their very presence summoning a blizzard. The party was prepared, however, and Milo, Master of Internal Affairs, fired ghost touch attacks and the rest of the party tried to save citizens or blasted them with spells. The angels proved perilous to their foes, and would continue to prove themselves capable. Cones of cold burst from the ghosts' hands, slaughtering any of the Church followers who refused to flee. The ghosts declared their loyalty to their own "Master" as they died, but die they did. Inside the pyramid, the Four found only a small shrine with a few alcoves to minor and major evil deities, and a lone woman, High Priestess of Shar, who greeted them, saying she had been given a vision by the Lady of Loss to offer them safe passage in exchange for her life and the lives of her acolytes. The Four discussed it, however, and ironically outvoted Milo that the woman should be slain, which Milo was only too happy to indulge. The cleric was powerful, but she was still within the domain of Tetrodora, and so the Master of Knowledge declared her magic banned and an antimagic field suppressed all of her spells and magic items, leaving her vulnerable to a barrage of attacks. She fell swiftly, taking her knowledge with her. The Four Masters eventually worked out the secret of opening the underground passage hinted at by the priestess (Azim's daylight spell cast a shadow on her staff of authority onto the empty alcove, revealing a hidden staircase, dusty with disuse), and descended into the bowels of the dark temple. In the first chamber, they found a mirror, an altar, and an attendant. The mirror they ignored, they slew the grafted abomination on the altar without a second thought, and Asano managed to convert the attendant to a more merciful deity of the sunrise (Lathander). In the next passageway, they heard the tick-tick of pickaxes and slew all of the mining undead within, discovering a passage underneath the city wall. The Four later had the tunnels collapsed. The third and fourth chambers held altars and many rows of corpses which sprang to life as necromentals, attacking through the earth. Asano managed to capture and convert one of the priestesses, but the gnoll priest merely cackled and disappeared with a plane shift, though Milo continued to address his kin, thinking him merely invisible. The battle joined, and angelic fire destroyed the undead elementals and the Four discovered the chambers were beneath the basements of nearby houses, their residents killed. Making a note of investigating, the Masters descended further into a large chamber. This chamber housed five permanent force walls arranged as a prison and chained against the ceiling. Inside were caged elf maidens, and two apparently human priestesses. At one of their words, however, Asano attempted to lower the chains, igniting a chain lightning trap that hit everyone in the room, except the evasive Milo. Before he could attempt it again, however, Azim entreated with the entities, who revealed that they lived upon undead flesh and were being starved unless they produced results on the blood-stained altar within the barrier. Refusing their request for freedom, the angels and Azim teleported inside and slew the creatures, who shapeshifted into aberrations known as avolakia. Sending the astral deva Arti'ya to take the rescued prisoners to the surface, the Four and the Two entered a labyrinth, splitting into two parties of three. The northern party soon discovered what the avolakia were being forced to create out of elf maidens: a banshee unleashed her wail and the archon immediately died, unfortunately for the party as he was the only one capable of entering the wall incorporeally. Keeping her at bay with daylight, Arti returned, the parties regrouped, and together fended off negative energy attacks while awaiting the banshee's return for a second wail, whereupon they stunned and returned her to dust. Finally, the Four Masters arrived at the end of the line: two massive wooden doors and two voices within. Nihilus seemed to be speaking commands to himself, but when the party entered, they saw nothing but empty space. Milo knew enough about phooey-pooey magic to touch the back wall, revealing its illusory nature, and another force wall protecting the denizen within. Nihilus smiled, secure in his fortress, and told the party they had no cha--oh gods, is that a wall of swords and hold person?? Gods below, the horror of watching a man ripped to shreds as he's frozen in place with a contemptuous smile was a sight that made Milo's infectious cackle echo throughout the room. The rest of the Masters fell into a laughing fit as the proud necromancer erupted into a mist of blood, destroyed equipment, and... snow. The simulacrum revealed, the party looted the melting remains for a shadow weave belt, and Roger investigated the ruined laboratory, discovering it was made for creating a clone. Seeing that their task of cleansing the dark pyramid was done, the Four Masters said farewell to their angel companions and returned to the surface and fresh air of their city.
Rewards Granted
Loot:
[110,000gp] Shadowform Belt (does not shed light; shadow-weave item: nothing indicates this except use; cl 16)
[23,000gp] Staff of Authority (does not shed light)
[5,350gp] +1 glamered full-plate (does not shed light)
[8,000gp] Amulet of Natural Armor +2 (does not shed light; acts as a holy symbol of Shar)
[5,000gp] Dusy Rose Prism Ioun Stone (deos not shed light)
Experience:
Azim (14): 56,400 XP total = 3,600 (yuki-onna three-piece winter orchestra) + 19,200 (high priestess of jack) + 4,800 (your new corpse-friend) + 4,800 (just wants a hug) + 12,800 (wrong lever!) + 4,800 (tf are those?) + 6,400 ("Wailing Banshees" sounds like a metal band) + 3,200 (THE BLENDER)
Asano (10): 56,400 XP
Milo (10): 56,400 XP
Roger (10): 56,400 XP
Alignment:
Azim shifts to
"Hiro" Asano shifts to
Milo acted well within his alignment by only helping people for his own personal gain or self-preservation, and ignoring anyone who did not contribute to those.
Roger shifts to
Empire:
Trader's Cusp gains +2 Loyalty due to the example set by its Four Masters, +2 to Order for the enforcement of law even against a powerful neighboring religion, and +2 to Wariness as its citizens become a little less tolerant of outsiders and their evil religions.
[110,000gp] Shadowform Belt (does not shed light; shadow-weave item: nothing indicates this except use; cl 16)
[23,000gp] Staff of Authority (does not shed light)
[5,350gp] +1 glamered full-plate (does not shed light)
[8,000gp] Amulet of Natural Armor +2 (does not shed light; acts as a holy symbol of Shar)
[5,000gp] Dusy Rose Prism Ioun Stone (deos not shed light)
Experience:
Azim (14): 56,400 XP total = 3,600 (yuki-onna three-piece winter orchestra) + 19,200 (high priestess of jack) + 4,800 (your new corpse-friend) + 4,800 (just wants a hug) + 12,800 (wrong lever!) + 4,800 (tf are those?) + 6,400 ("Wailing Banshees" sounds like a metal band) + 3,200 (THE BLENDER)
Asano (10): 56,400 XP
Milo (10): 56,400 XP
Roger (10): 56,400 XP
Alignment:
Azim shifts to
Show spoiler
for enforcing the law and refusing to make any deals with an evil priestess.L2/G2
"Hiro" Asano shifts to
Show spoiler
for enforcing the law, refusing to make any deals with evil, risked his life to save others, personally paid for the resurrection of an elderly casualty, and offered grace and conversion to not one, but two acolytes of Shar.N4/G2
Milo acted well within his alignment by only helping people for his own personal gain or self-preservation, and ignoring anyone who did not contribute to those.
Roger shifts to
Show spoiler
for enforcing the law and refusing to make any deals with an evil priestess.L2/G2
Empire:
Trader's Cusp gains +2 Loyalty due to the example set by its Four Masters, +2 to Order for the enforcement of law even against a powerful neighboring religion, and +2 to Wariness as its citizens become a little less tolerant of outsiders and their evil religions.
Report Date
15 Feb 2025
Primary Location
Secondary Location
