Session 094 - Flames on the Side of the Face

General Summary

35th Planting

Dreford - Three Bells

The Ministry snuck into the inner courtyard and with a wall of silence were able to open a summoning circle to Conflagratum. Fire spiders began to pour out with most heading for the upper NE section of the inn containing the party’s suite as the cultists snuck away under a veil of Invisibility. Forest, in the stables, is awoken by the smell of smoke and a scrabbling at the door. Realizing the danger, Forest takes a deep breath and lets out a warning bark that is heard for blocks…and wakes everyone in the inn.
In their suite, the party leapt up out of bed. Reactions varied, with most of the party running into the common room. Denye on the other hand, grabbed her bag and jumped out the window, gliding to the ground. Janora took a moment to link with Forest to get a sense of danger and attack. Scooping up the hatchling hut, Janora cut her hand, using it to trigger her Ravenstep, exploding into a burst of feathers before reappearing on the roof.
As Ell pulled the door to the suite open, he saw other guests opening there doors and stumbling into the hall. One opened the door to the outer balcony and began screaming as several large fire spiders rushed through the door and began attacking patrons. Tear rushed forward and setting his pistol to cold damage began shooting the spider who had leapt onto the elderly dwarf who had tried to get outside. The spider rushed him as another scuttled up the wall and onto the ceiling, shooting molten webbing to cover the floor and wrap around a halfling man who screamed in pain. The others rushed into the hall, pushing the milling guests behind them, directing them to other stairs. On the roof, Janora scrambled over the roof line and looked down into the courtyard where she saw almost a dozen of these spiders climbing all over including a pair attempting to get into the stables and being fended off by Forest and Ha’aash. There was also a portal on the ground with 5 glowing anchor points arranged in a pentagram at the edges. With a shudder, the witch recognized that it was connected to one of the Abyssal Planes. Down in the alley, Denye cast Fly on herself and flew up next to Janora just as the witch cast Wrath of Nature over the courtyard, causing the cobblestones to shift and shake. They watched as another spider crawled up out of the magic circle.
Inside, Ranunkle leapt over the burning webs to get to the other side so he could start ushering guests toward the other exit, although several had already climbed out the windows on bedclothes. Ell used Ray of Frost to put out the molten web as Jilken rushed past to join Tear in decimating the spiders who had gotten inside. On the roof, Janora stretched out a hand and tried to Dispel the magic circle, but it was anchored too strongly. Over the link, she warned, “Those glowing anchors are going to need to be removed. We have to close that portal or more of these things will just keep coming.” Denye sent a Ray of Frost at one of the them and while it dimmed, it wasn’t enough to extinguish the balefire that was channeling through the spikes.The pair watched in surprised as the innkeeper, Kif Lonewhirl, burst out from a door on the first floor. He was carrying a sword almost as long as he was tall and after seeing the spiders he lifted it over his head, Screaming, “I hate fucking spiders!”, he ran for the nearest spider, black shadow tendrils extending into the air around him. With several quick strikes he cut off several legs and one of the spider’s mandibles.
Both Tear’s cold damage and Jilken’s lightning damage were quite effective and while Tear stayed high, the Aiel ran and leapt out off the balcony, landing in the courtyard, near Kif. Ranunkel continued to help direct guests as Ell used his Telekinesis to smother fires from the spiders, who had all crumbled to ash a few seconds after dying. Janora tried to use Bones of the Earth to send the five anchors up on 30 ft pillars of stone, hoping it would disrupt the anchors and the spell. Unfortunately, it only raised the portal 30 ft into the air. Before another spider could pop out, however, Denye brought the pillars down with a very well placed Shatter spell. This did kill the gate as the spikes were released and fell randomly into the pile of rubble.    With the portal closed it was a simple matter of dispatching the remaining spiders and containing the fires. Kif proved himself a capable ally in the former and his partner, Berrith Faralei, was invaluable in the latter. As a water druid, he was able to call a heavy shower, which also freed Janora from the molten webbing that she had become entangled with.
Once the danger was passed, Ranunkel, Ell, and Tear helped Kif and his staff get guests settled once more, including moving people whose rooms had been damaged…including the party’s own suite. Meanwhile Denye went to investigate the remains of the portal, asking both Janora and Berrith to join her. It took some digging around in the rubble pile but they found several pieces that still had remains of the blood drawing from the ritual. The figures and inscriptions looked very similar to the ones Denye had seen in Kessforte. The druid created a Mage Hand to lift one of the spikes and bring it over to examine. The metal itself was strange, it looked sort of like mithril but was pocked and streaked with some sort of corrosion. They were also carved with arcane sigils that were clearly Abyssal in nature. While the how wasn’t yet apparent, between Denye, Janora, and Berrith they were fairly sure that their purpose had been to hold open the gate without the presence of the casters.
No one recognized it, although Janora could swear she had seen something similar before. It was Kif, who happened to be walking past that identified it as ferrial, more commonly known as shadowsteel. With a shudder he adds that it only comes from the Shadowlands. Janora noted the reaction to the name but asked to confirm if he meant the Shadowfell, the domain of the Raven Queen. She is somewhat shocked to hear his reply that yes, the court of Remembrance was the center of the Shadowfell, but there were other powers and people, including the shadow elves who mined and forged the shadowsteel. At the mention of these elves, the black tendrils around the man reappeared. Berrith touched him lightly on the arm and the shadows vanished as quickly as they had gathered. This was of course when the Watch decided to show up and the half-elf and Kif, excused themselves to go speak to the serious faced dwarven officer who seemed to be in charge. The half dozen watchmen who came with him fanned out and began looking around the courtyard and speaking to the staff and the few patrons who hadn’t yet gone to their rooms.    While the others had been busy, Jilken and Ha’aash had been scouring the courtyard for signs of who had done this. They joined Denye and Janora, the kyree reported that the smells near the circle was muddled and drowned in something like sulfur mixed with ozone. Nearer the front of the courtyard, it was still a heavy mix of smells, but he recognized the scent of that half-orc Sparspray and another that he thinks was Overseer Feywine. The scent trails led both in and out, and within the last hour or so. Ell, Ranunkel, and Tear joined them as they discussed the attack; who it might have been, what it meant, and how to respond. They had decided that it was fairly clear that they had been the targets and the Ministry clerics were likely responsible for this, just a variation on their earlier attempts to frame the party.
As they were discussing how to respond, Jilken spotted the dwarven officer coming heading in their direction. He introduced himself as Lieutenant Stronginthearm, the commanding officer on the scene and asked if he could get statements from them all. Janora bristled and in an ice-cold tone asked if they were being arrested. The dwarf looked shocked by the tone and question, but understanding dawned as his eyes traveled up to the hat. Stronginthearm hastened to reassure her that no, they were not being arrested or even accused of anything. The innkeeper had mentioned that the party had been indispensable in saving guests and dealing with the attack so the officer was just hoping for an initial statement as to what happened here tonight. That seemed to mollify the witch somewhat, but she still did not say much. Ell and Denye were quite willing to tell the story, the others adding commentary or additional detail as needed.
Denye also explained about what they had discovered after the attack, including that the team had likely been the targets and that she was fairly confident that it was the Ministry of Idle Hands. More than that, the spikes were clear that they were tapping into Abyssal energies and not anything wholesome. Stronginthearm’s face didn’t really betray what he thought about this whole tale, but he did insist that he would need to take those spikes for evidence. Denye requested that she keep two to study and see what else could be learned, and the officer agreed easily enough, although he did write up a quick note in his notebook and asked the wizard to sign it. Thanking the party, the lieutenant reiterated that they were not under arrest or even suspected of anything, but asked that they stay in town for the next day or two and make themselves available for further assistance with the investigation.
Taking his leave, the dwarven officer went off to speak to his constables and the party went back to their conversation about what to do next. Jilken and Janora were ready to head for the Ministry’s compound, but Denye and Ranunkel both wanted to go back to bed. Ell agreed with more sleep and suggested that they speak to Commander Rimes and maybe even the Tyrant before doing anything destructive. Eventually the witch and warrior agreed, begrudgingly, that taking a squad or two of the watchmen would be helpful and possibly worth the wait.Settled, Ell led the others up to their new rooms, not a suite this time, but a trio of rooms with double twin beds and reassuringly near the exit.

Report Date

19 Apr 2024