Dramatis Personae
Alizander Carmelizzia - Human (Varisian) sorcerer
Boecca – Half-orc inquisitor of Erastil
Carlos Santiago - Half-orc (Alkenstarian) wizard
Slavé/Jancen – Tiefling (in guise as a human) rogue/assassin
Tavo Dechirent - Human cleric of Pharasma
Vaeden Corleone - Human rogue (and Damien Hellbent, cohort)
Wealday, 15 Calistril, 4709 A.R.
Alas, Vaeden’s wits do not save him against the diabolist Avahzi Serafian. Under a spell of invisibility, Vaeden avoids the swipes and thrusts of the Council thieves’ rapiers and perches precariously in the corner of one of the small prison cells lining the hallway. The Council thieves are loath to enter the cells themselves, piled as they are with the fresh bodies of their comrades who failed to make it further into the Nessian Spiral. But Vaeden is unable to avoid the diabolist’s invocations to the archdevil Mammon. Time and time again she bathes the hallway in waves of vile, life-draining energy. Vaeden’s cohort, Damien Hellbent, manages to break through the two-inch wall of stone blocking the door to the hallway and valiantly attempts to save his leader, but he is too late, and both Vaeden and Hellbent fall under the diabolist’s relentless plague of death.
Avahzi’s imp companion, Novankia, continues to harry Tavo and Boecca in the main room, diving and weaving through the air and avoiding the shadows under Tavo’s control. Novankia casts a spell over Tavo, convincing him that it is in his best interest to send the shadows after the frightening half-orc (Boecca) nearby. Boecca suffers several draining hits from the incorporeal shadows before Tavo breaks the devilish imp’s mind control. As the two try to eradicate the persistent Novankia, Tavo manages to have a few shouted words with a bound thief that Hellbent discovered in the storage room just off the main chamber. In between dodging attacks from Novankia, he cuts the thief’s bonds and learns that his name is Jalki, and that he was bound by the other thieves because it was discovered he was a spy for the Council loyalists. Jalki claims that Avahzi and the other thieves in the Nessian Spiral are part of a splinter group intent on usurping control of the Council from the powerful Drovenge and Eberigo families that currently control it. This information confirms what the Returners learned from Crosael in the ruins upstairs. Jalki manages to escape from the Nessian Spiral while Tavo and Boecca are busy fighting with Novankia and Avahzi.
Alizander and Jancen continue down the other side of the complex, exploring the den of the cerberi. There they find two heavy, reinforced iron chests. Carlos isn’t far behind, but gets waylaid by one of the Council thieves who hid in an armoury off of the main hallway. As Carlos steps into the room, the craven thief stabs at him with a rapier. Carlos recoils in horror; the sudden movement beside him causes him to conjure a hemispherical shield of force almost without thinking, bending the thief’s foil almost to the point of breaking. Carlos retreats, while Jancen moves in and begins harrying the thief with his crossbow, eventually bringing him down.
Finally, the battle is over. Avahzi Serafian and her retinue of Council thieves are defeated. Tavo provides some healing to Damien Hellbent, but can do little for Vaeden Corleone, last surviving scion of House Davion, who fell whilst defending his comrades against the hell-fed power of the elven diabolist, Avahzi Serafian. Damien gathers up the body of his mentor and bids farewell to the Returners for now.
Moving on, Jancen discovers a well-concealed secret door in the small room containing the iron chests. He opens the door and views a narrow, rough-hewn and low-ceilinged passageway beyond. The air wafting from the tunnel is moist, foetid, and rank with the scent of dog and feral animal. Jancen explores the tunnel under a spell of invisibility, and discovers that it opens into a larger cavern, although the ceiling still rises only four feet from the floor, forcing him to crouch uncomfortably. Squatting in a crude and filthy nest in the cavern is a feral-looking creature – a small humanoid with the figure of a woman but the features and fur of a red fox. The creature mutters to herself in several languages, Jancen picks out a few words in Infernal, Celestial, and Common, including several references to Dargentu Vheed, whom the fox creature refers to alternately as ‘sir’, ‘master’, and ‘devil-kissing degenerate’. Her ears perk up suddenly, and she begins sniffing the air. At first Jancen fears she has notice him, then the fox creature snatches a rat as it scurries across the floor and begins tearing into it with her tiny but razor-sharp teeth.
Jancen makes his way back to the other Returners and explains what he saw. From the description, Alizander believes the creature to be a vulpinal agathion, a bipedal race with animal-features from the plane of Nirvana. The creature’s actions strike him as odd, however, as his knowledge of the planes suggest that the vulpinals are a goodly and regal race. As the Returners talk it over, they come to believe that something terrible must have befallen the vulpinal in the cave for it to have become so feral and insane. Alizander and Boecca both express a desire to help the creature, and the party makes its way into the cavern to confront the vulpinal.
Jancen goes in first, invisibly, and situates himself nearby the vulpinal’s nest to observe the proceedings. Alizander comes in next, holding a light source before him, followed by the half-orc Boecca. Jancen notes that as the light source becomes evident, the vulpinal becomes very alert. She mutters an incantation and becomes invisible. Moments later, Jancen hears her utter another incantation nearby, and the image of a middle-aged man with a black beard and black robes appears near the nest, stooped over in the cramped cave. The bearded man’s features twitch nervously, his eyes dart to and fro, and a small rivulet of frothy saliva dribbles from the side of his mouth.
“Who goes there? Who dares intrude upon the home of the Lord-Mayor of Westcrown? Can you not see that I am busy? Impudence! Insolence! If I discover you are responsible for the tremors and rumblings in my home I will have you drawn and quartered. No, that’s too quick, better to soften you up first.”
Treasure
· From the Nessian Spiral - Treasury
o +1 Dwarven waraxe (worth 1165 gp)
o Wand of quench (11 charges) (worth 1237 gp)
o Clay golem manual (worth 6000 gp)
o 2400 gp
· From the Council Thieves
o Potion of cure moderate wounds (6) (worth 900 gp total)
o Leather armour +1 (8) (worth 4640 gp total)
o Masterwork rapier (8) (worth 1280 gp total)
o Masterwork hand crossbow (8) (worth 1600 total)
o Coins and jewelry (worth 2400 gp)
· From Avahzi Serafian
o +1 Shortspear (worth 1150 gp)
o Scroll of sending (worth 700 gp)
o Wand of cure moderate wounds (15 charges) (worth 675 gp)
o Wand of spiritual weapon (6 charges) (worth 270 gp)
o Masterwork breastplate (worth 175 gp)
o Light steel shield (worth 4 gp)
o Headband of inspired wisdom +2 (worth 2000 gp)
o Phylactery of negative energy channeling (worth 5500 gp)
o Gold unholy symbol of Mammon (worth 120 gp)
o Leather pouch containing unidentified herb
Experience Awards
· Council thieves (5) – 4000 xp
· Avahzi Serafian and Novankia – 4800 xp
· Story Award (permitting Jalki, a deep-cover agent of the Council loyalists, to escape) – 3200 xp
· Story Award (killing off Aberten Vittershins, Avahzi Serafian, and other agents of the Council usurpers) – 4800 xp
· Total – 16800 xp
· Per PC (6) – 2800 xp (including Vaeden)
· Cohort (Hellbent) – 2000 xp
Current XP Total per PC
· Alizander, Carlos, Slavé, Vaeden – 45,535 xp each
· Boecca – 42,780 xp
· Tavo – 41,790 xp
· Nagiphax – 31,657 xp
· Damien Hellbent (cohort) – 22,360
· Total Current Fame Points – 15
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