Session 08
General Summary
15th February. Could this day see Lareth dead and the cult of Elemental Evil defeated for once
and for good?
Over breakfast, Sister Columba laid out the plan. The Rodinian legionnaires would flood into the
tunnel complex, forming a ring of steel around Lareth's lair. This would trap him and isolate him
from his forces. The legionnaires would kill as many cultists as they could find. Meanwhile, Nex
Pervenio would enter Lareth's lair to confront him. They would be accompanied by Franz
Bugman, expert dwarf sapper, who would plant a series of explosive charges. These would be
used to destroy the Abyssal Gate and collapse the whole chamber, sealing it permanently. That's
the plan at least.
It was time. Nex Pervenio made their way underground. From tunnels all around echoed the clank
of armour and the march of booted feet. They peered into Lareth's chamber. A huge shimmering
pink globe dominated the centre of the room, it had to be the Abyssal Gate, held aloft on three
great chains passing through iron rings in the ceiling and back down to three huge winches - these
winch points were where Franz would plant the explosives. Near the gate was Lareth himself with
a few cult guards nearby. Lareth's face twisted with anger at the sight of the intruders. He ordered
his guards to attack while he fetched reinforcements. With that he turned and plunged headlong
into the Gate, vanishing from sight.
The guards advanced, hefting javelins. Shinobi scampered forward and soon found himself turned
into a pin cushion. Fortunately Valun was on hand to cure his wounds. Shinobi dropped a smoke
bomb for cover, which forced the cultists to advance. They harried Valun into a corner. Shinobi
had shared the secret of his Honshu smoke bombs with Dash and he now used one to maintain the
cover. The cultists who'd been coaxed into melee range all soon lay dead, leaving a couple who'd
stayed at range, flinging javelins to deadly effect. They began to drop back towards the Gate,
pursued by Mika and Shinobi, though Mika fell under a hail of javelins. While Valun patched up
the druid, the remaining cultists were taken out.
This gave Franz the opportunity to set his dwarf explosives next to the first winch. The group
headed for the second winch and huddled around while Franz worked again. From tunnels all
around the chamber could be heard the sounds of fierce fighting as the legionnaires grappled with
cultists. There came a shout "look out it's a troll, aaagghhh!", then a large brutish figure emerged
into the chamber, accompanied by a particularly evil looking cultist. Simultaneously, the Gate
began to shimmer and swirl and four demons stepped out. Time to fight!
In the blink of an eye the cultist had teleported right next to the huddled gladiators and let out a
tremendous howl, inflicting serious damage. The troll charged in from one direction and the horde
of demons from the other. Valun bore the brunt of their attentions and dropped to the floor at the
feet of Franz Bugman. The sapper reached in his pack and administered a healing potion to the
fallen cleric. Mika summoned a mass of thorny vines to trap the troll and cultist and get some
breathing space. It worked a charm, the vines preventing any movement. However the troll's long
arms meant it could still rend anything in reach, including Shinobi as he tried to dodge away,
though Valun as ever saved his day. Smoke bombs were deployed as a further defensive measure.
Again Shinobi tried to dodge around, again he found himself within reach of the troll, again he
was rended horribly and again Valun fixed him. The cultist had pulled itself out of the vines and
loosed another tremendous howl. This was to be its final act however, as Dash filled it full of
arrows. The demons meanwhile swarmed Valun causing him to drop, once more Franz poured a
potion down his neck. Mika charged the troll and killed him with a mighty blow. But he was then
horrified to see the troll stand up again, wounds closing over. The troll at last burst out of the
thorny vines and charged Dash, rending him mercilessly. Meanwhile the demons were slowly but
steadily dropping from the wounds they'd accumulated during the course of the fight. The troll
was dropped again, but as before stood right back up, wounds healing instantly. "You need fire"
yelled Franz, who'd just finished placing his explosives. He ran over with a lit torch and burned
the troll next time it fell to the floor, ending its menace for good.
There was barely a moment to catch breath before having to run to the third and final winch to
place the last of the explosives. As work began, fiery bats swooped out of some nearby tunnels
and fresh demons stepped from the Gate. Things were looking scary for Nex Pervenio and there
was still Lareth to come!
Report Date
10 Apr 2024
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