Tag: The Siege of Epidemius

Previously, the heroes made their way into the Newport Vault in order to search the library, convinced that the Book of Woe, which Epidemius had charged them to find, could be found there.

Sixth Day, Second Ride, Autumn Twilight, 1262

(Silvermoon is waning, Bloodmoon is in low sanction, Darkmoon is waxing)

The heroes had found more than a dozen books that were either magical, or of other interest. Neamhan had found a piece of bark which had symbols burnt into it which was an archaic version of druidic. She was convinced it held knowledge of a connection she had not established yet. And Chakuq had found a white leather tome, fashioned from horse hide with velum pages painted in gold. He sensed that the book had some significance to him and his tribe.

Luca went to task on the magical books, using a ritual to be able to identify a handful of them. Even though it would reveal the properties and abilities of the chosen books, the ritual could not establish the provenance of them, but, the young warlock reasoned, at least it would be something that could lead them to the Book of Woe.

The Demonic Articles of Golnaz was one of the books which Luca identified, a libram written in red ink, bound by monstrous, red hide, trimmed with bone. Whenever it was opened, other magical items worn by the reader would cease to function. Another book was Archeros’ Manuscript, a compendium bound in thick, cream-coloured hide, which contained the instructions to help anyone achieve mastery over polearms, provided they dedicated time to read the book.

Blackstar was singularly focussed on another book, a simple, unadorned, black leather book, and it urged Luca to focus his attentions on it, too. It became so insistent that Luca took that to mean that this was the book the heroes had come down to the vault to find. To Luca’s mind, the book appeared to be a spell book containing several necromantic spells, meticulously documented, and was nothing like what he expected the Book of Woe to be like. He suspected there was another reason why Blackstar was so insistent.

In the meantime, Quentin was inspired by Garven and Brandomiir’s work and he managed to convince the pair to create a hidden compartment inside one of the walls they were repairing which could hide not just Muirgheal, but Lash as well. Brandomiir, who was helping the heroes in the catacombs underneath Lynnecombe, remembered that the heroes had found Muirgheal, Blackstar, and Toruviel there, understood what the intent was. A price was agreed and Quentin handsomely overpaid the pair with the help of some of the gems that Emrys still had in his possession, lifted from the Atilesceon’s treasure after his defeat. The last request the heroes put in was to inform Emma once the vaults had been completed and the weapons were stored.

Neamhan became increasingly uncomfortable with being this far underground as the conversation between Quentin, Emrys and the two builders continued. The thick walls all around her, and the knowledge of all that earth and stone bearing down on her was making her itching to get to the surface. She wondered how the dwarves of Ard Thoradun endured living like that.

Both Emrys and Quentin picked up on Neamhan’s discomfort and they, together with Chakuq, moved to go back to the library to see how Luca was faring. When they passed the entrance, Neamhan spotted a warm, golden light call to her from down the other corridor which lead to the gallery and she headed there, accompanied by Quentin, while Emrys and Chakuq continued to the library.

While Quentin had seen the gallery before, the site was new to Neamhan. There were rows upon rows of paintings framed by wooden frames from which different types of plants grew that sprouted flowers which glowed with scintillating colours. Small crystals were wrought into the wood of each frame, and each of the paintings depicted a different verdant scene.

Between the entrance and the paintings stood two sets of tall statues, both depicting three women; the maiden, the mother, the crone. They were holding up their hands and in their palms rested a coloured fire; one set of three carried a golden green flame, while the other set of three carried an icy blue flame.

It started to dawn on Neamhan that the gallery would allow for natural growth, though she could not quite discern how it did so. It gave her the idea to communicate with one of the plants sprouting from a frame. Neamhan found that each of the frames was a living plant, and that their roots grew very deep. They did not have names, but they had “made a connection” with another whose name was Bláthnaid, who was responsible for the spring that fed the royal palace. The roots of each of them came forth “from the past”, and each guarded a different “doorway”.

Learning that the plants did not have names, Neamhan took the time to give each of them a name. She named the one she spoke to Sadhbh, and in their joy Sadhbh encouraged her to name the others. Sadhbh also shared that Bláthnaid had shared that the mood inside the palace was sullen, and that the queen had turned angry, and was “beholden to another”, someone who was responsible for “a scarlet rain in the east.”

Back in the library, Chakuq and Emrys find Luca sitting in a cricle of magic, while Falka stands at a distance looking on. Chakuq wanted to get a move on and grabbed a burlap sack from the provisions stacked up at the entrance, emptied the contents of cabbages, and started to load up the books which were of interest. When prodded to help, Falka did not react, and Emrys noticed her hesitation.

Falka requested that Quentin and Neamhan join the rest of the group, and she revealed that she had found the Book of Woe. The book looked as if it was made of skin that had been inflicted by a bad burn wound. A crystal which seemed to have trapped a foul liquid was embedded into the front of the book. Falka had been hesitant to reveal the book to the heroes because she was fearful that they would hand the book back to Epidemius. She felt she had lost touch with the friend she had made while corresponding with Luca, and was not sure who had Luca had become since then.

Falka had chosen to be cautious and had already sent word to the Order of the Shield to report that she had found the book. She felt that the book was best returned to the Apothecaries of Photus, who had been guarding the book for centuries, but she was unsure on what to do. Eventually, Falka put the book back into her bag until it was clear what the heroes were intending to do with it.

Previously, the heroes mounted a defence against Epidemius’ incursion into Kingsport by rallying troops and allies. Epidemius arrived through a portal with forces of his own, joined by sinister skaven and wicked devils. Some of the skaven were sacrificed to perform a ritual that intensified the disease that spread through Kingsport.

Fourth Day, Second Ride, Autumn Twilight, 1262

(Silvermoon is waning, Bloodmoon is waning, Darkmoon is in low sanction)

Emrys had made a mad dash for the portal through which Epidemius and his infernal guards had come. Clutching Toruviel in hand, he called upon the miraculous powers of the blade to vault him through the air and into the portal. The portal became unstable and started to collapse, but not before Epidemius, responding with uncanny speed, crossed the short distance between him and the portal and dove in after Emrys. Chakuq, who had just jumped onto Epidemius’ mount and had engaged the fiend, was inadvertently teleported as well and drawn into the portal after Epidemius.

While the rest of the heroes stayed behind on Steward’s Square to continued battling the infernal forces, Emrys and Chakuq found themselves in a tunnel together with Epidemius, once again in the guise of father Devon. The ground was paved, though neither of the heroes would later be able to recall whether they walked on cobblestones or packed earth. The tunnel extended about a hundred foot, and the exit behind them showed Steward’s Square, but the fighting was slowed down to an almost imperceptible crawl. The other end showed a grizzly wasteland.

Across the gore-spattered waste, made up entirely of dust, mud, and loose shale rock, marches an infernal legion. Row after row of strictly regimented devils march in perfect unison. Above them hover constructs of infernal terror; flying fortresses of black metal and burning engines.

You can’t make out their enemy. There can’t seem to be any unity of form. They are creatures. Creatures whose physiology makes no sense and are utterly without order. You see what appears to be tentacles, enormous mandibles, claws, fangs, club-like limbs and tails. They aren’t bipedal, nor quadrupedal, in fact, they do not seem to have any regard of bilateral symmetry at all.

You suddenly realise that the shale rock are not rocks at all. They’re bones, millions of bones. You feel a sudden pressure in your head. You feel disoriented and nauseated. Part of your instinct is screaming for you to run.

The walls of the tunnel were made of a dense mist. This mist was new to Chakuq, but Emrys had seen it before. Upon closer inspection the heroes could see a red spiral running through the must like a vein running through marble, which Epidemius explained was the Seal of Divine Animus. Hidden in the mist, lay the realm of the Raven Queen on one side, and the realms of the Ladies of Flowers and Frost on the other side.

Chakuq felt out of his element and swiftly retreated back to Steward’s Square, while Epidemius eventually convinced Emrys not to withhold him from retreating back through the portal. Epidemius reiterated that he had no interest in causing unnecessary death, which his continued stay in the mortal realm against his will would cause. He had come, he reasoned, to put pressure on the Upright Man to return his book.

Emrys recognised that Epidemius had finalised his ritual, he worsened his stranglehold over Kingsport, and that the damage had already been done. He relented, and both he and Epidemius went their separate ways, back to their respective realms.

With the collapse of the portal, the remaining hamatulas and erinyes were cut off from their retreat. They put up a fierce fight. The skaven drove the knights, crownsguard, and custodians back to the square before cutting their losses and retreating back into the waterways.

Chakuq slew the cloven-hoofed mount of Epidemius, harvesting one of its teeth as a trophy. Chakuq recognised that the beast was not of the natural world, and that its hide was thick and durable, and had been used by the skaven to fashion armour. Luca remembered that they had encountered a set of armour made of similar hide at the Landsdowne auction house in Bournemouth, earlier that year.

There were hundreds of wounded. Lady commander Miranda, who had survived the aerial fight with the erinyes, had to put down one of the griffons due to it being grievously wounded. With tears on her face she put the majestic beast out of its misery, something which seemed to move Astrid deeply too.

Neamhan went around the wounded and used her connections to draw healing power from the land and skies. Quentin applied his dedications to as many wounded as he could help, and Luca showed his rekindled obedience to Aurion to help. Each found that despite their healing abilities, some wounds continued bleeding, while others showed persistent sigs of infection.

Soon, the silent sisters of the House of the Raven Queen appeared in the square and set to their grim task of tending to the dead. Cardinal Roark moved among them, and briefly spoke with Quentin to assure him that the Raven Queen were shepherding the fallen to the Other Side.

While the apothecaries of Pholtus cared for the wounded, joined by the clerics of the Platinum Father, Emrys and Réonan spoke together while overlooking the river at Queensbridge. Emrys shared what he saw while inside the portal. Réonan confirmed that the realm on the other end of the tunnel was Avernus, the eternal battlefield, and first of the Nine Hells.

The two agreed that it was troubling that the infernals were already able to pierce the seal. Réonan warned that the cycle seems to be speeding up, and that the ones who still remembered the Age of Fear did not remember enough and would be ill prepared to mobilise people. It appeared to Emrys that Réonan was, in part, referring to themselves. Before the two rejoined the others on the square, the archmage explained how important it was for Emrys to help and keep Luca on the right path.

Ser Benten, Lord Marcus, and Lord Destan came to join the heroes as they were about to head to the Careless Wanderer. Neamhan was amazed at the size of the trio, and noticed that Lord Jonathan, who had stayed behind with the Sheridan guard, was of an equal size. Fascinated, Neamhan developed a suspicion that these people might have giant blood running through their veins. The two Sheridan brothers decided to join the heroes at the Careless Wanderer.

In the short distance between the square and the inn, the heroes passed the dead, the dying, and the wounded. They passed barricades, and piles of dead skaven being carted off to the burn pits outside the city. When they entered the inn, there was a melange of warm aromas floating around the tavern room. The door to the kitchen was open, and the staff was walking in and out to bring food out. Tables were set and decorated, and the heroes were reminded that blind Magda had recently told the staff to switch to silver cutlery.

There were two large joints of roasted boar, basted, as promised, in ox fat, on a bed of baked apples and mushrooms. A leg of cured ham had been set up on the bar and Durham used a thin knife to cut long slices, rolling them up into salty rosettes. A large pan of beef-and-barley stew, with chunks of squash and red onions stood near the door to the kitchen and was refilled every time the bottom was reached.

Racks of the boar’s ribs were served on plates, glazed in sweet gravy, sitting on a bed of roasted leeks. Two wooden boards with rows of skewered pigeon, capsicum, and capon were set on either side of a bowl of mutton chops sauced in honey and cloves that had been placed in the middle of each table. And each table had a platter of large river trout from Blue Harbour, baked in a shell of salt, surrounded by chunks of deep-fried, beer-battered cod. Baskets of soft bread, richly buttered and dusted with salt and crushed peppercorn were placed strategically around the table.

At the top of each plate stood a small venison pie, chunky with carrots, bacon, and mushrooms, as well as a bowl of shredded crab mixed with a dressing of egg yolk, oil, and crushed garlic. The staff went around the room to serve flagons of hot, spiced wine, and chilled autumn ales. And for dessert, sugar wheels and honey cakes came out of the kitchen, as well as pears poached in strongwine.

During the feast, blind Magda walked around the tavern room talking to the guests. Eventually she disappeared for a moment, only to return carrying a distinct, wooden board. With Wojciech’s help she affixed the board to the wall near the bar while the dragonling and Wynn observed her nearby. The board read: Accorded Neutral Territory.

Andrew Selkirk found his way through the city to the Careless Wanderer and spend the evening playing music while listening to the stories being told. Chakuq regaled the tavern with the story of how he banished Epidemius with his sword. Astrid told Chakuq about the goddess Freya, who protects all children, and seemed grim as she did so.

All the while, despite the loss of Adrian and Clement, the Morvrayne riders were jubilant. Quentin, who felt the responsibility for the two fallen riders weight him down on him, intimated to Dame Pauline that he believed they got lucky. His bannerette advised him not to share his feelings with the riders for the benefit of morale. She advised him to focus instead on the arrival of his lord father. Quentin thanked Pauline for riding with him, and she told him it had been an honour.

Neamhan, not being able to contain her curiosity, managed to repulse Lord Marcus when he came to have a flirtatious chat with her. Instead, Neamhan asked Marcus whether he was giant kin, and where he was from. He seemed annoyed at the questions, and disengaged. When Lauryn pointed out to Neamhan that Marcus may have had a romantic interest in her, she scolded him and said that she had a husband. He asked her how long she had been afflicted by that problem, and walked back to his table and rejoined his brother.

Previously, the heroes confronted Epidemius during his second appearance at Steward’s Square. Luca’s frustration grew as he continued to be cut off from Aurion’s powers, and he considered turning his cloak and aligning himself to the infernal aspect that Aurion used to appear as. This opened him up to Epidemius, but Réonan intervened, and called upon Aurion to redeem Luca. Luca further deepened his pack with Aurion, but not without a price to pay.

Fourth Day, Second Ride, Autumn Twilight, 1262

(Silvermoon is waning, Bloodmoon is waning, Darkmoon is in low sanction)

The battle again Epidemius and his forces continued with an overwhelming barrier of fire roaring up between some of the heroes and Epidemius. The flames burned and blistered those who stood too close to the barrier, and caused Luca to lose consciousness. Réonan, who stood near Luca, failed to help stabilise him, while Chakuq kept a nearby hamatula at bay. Eventually, the archmage teleported Luca to the Cathedral of the Platinum Father for assistance. The hamatula that fell to Chakuq’s weapons hissed “I am a hunter, too. I will come back for you,” before it died.

The hamatulas continued to kill the last of the rat ogres, nailing it to the ground with the barbs that they had snapped off their carapaces. The blood of the rat ogres seemed to flow with a mind of its own, and formed into a large circle of power, complete with major and minor sigils, As each rat ogre exploded into a cloud of noxious cloud, the vortex carrying the vapours up into the eye of the storm above grew more pronounced until it started to radiate with a fel glow.

Epidemius strode forward on his mount until he stood directly in the centre of the circle of power. He withdrew a bony sceptre and held it aloft as he spoke menacing words in a language that nobody could understand. The words rang like the buzzing of a thousand insects in the minds of all that could hear him. Once done, he dropped the sceptre in the blood which formed the circle, and the blood lit up with the same fel glow as the vortex. The light drained from the blood into the vortex, and was carried into the storm, where the energy was spread across the sky above the city like a blanket.

Epidemius wheeled his mount around and started making his way back to the portal while the fighting continued around him. Quentin and Astrid fought side-by-side after Quentin ordered the Morvrayne riders to retreat. Neamhan had shifted her form to that of an enormous elk and charged into the infernal forces. Emrys continued to unleash his magic, eventually resulting in a surge of uncontrolled magic to well up inside of him and spell out, causing persistent lightning to play across his body. The griffon riders had managed to take down one of the erinyes, which came crashing down into one of the houses like a fiery comet. Luca had regained consciousness in the cathedral and was able to help by casting spells through his dragonling.

When it looked as if Epidemius was about to depart through the portal, Emrys made a dash for Toruviel, which he had unsheathed and was hovering in the air, fighting unaided. When he snatched up the blade he ran for the portal, vaulting through it aided by Toruviel. Immediately the corona of light around the portal started to flicker, and the perfect oval started to shiver and warp. Emrys’ strange bloodline, so expertly crafted by the mysterious Mohiam, started to disrupt and collapse the portal, threatening to cut Epidemius off from his retreat.