The Heart of Shadow

After dispatching the Orcus high priest and his minions, the heroes take a short break to recover their wounds and catch their breath. During this time, the entire room grows darker as an ominous shadow engulfs the entire chamber, sealing the door and leaving the heroes no chance of escape. As that happens, blood starts pouring from the high priest’s altar and races down a pit in the center of the room where the heroes notice four chains attached to the side and continue to fall below.

Once rested, the adventurers set forth down the chains and into the ritual chamber. As they regain their footing, they find themselves in a pool filling with blood coming from the stream above. A menacing statue of the demon prince Orcus greets them at the southern wall. On the opposite side is a black portal with glowing runes below it. In the darkness of the portal, movement catches their attention. To the west, a series of steps flanked by two skeletons lead to an altar where a man clad in heavy armor stands waiting. The adventurers finally come face to face with Kalarel, the man responsible for all the complications they faced thus far.

The pale man turns and brings his attentions towards the group. With apparent madness in his speech, he offers them a quick death in exchange for eternal servitude in undeath. Wanting no part in the verbal exchange, the warlord Kurgan charges forth only to slip in the pool of blood and fall flat on his lizard face, signaling his companions to action.

Uncertain of the enemies’ strength, Casval and the rogue, Ayesh Quul, take cover beneath the statue or Orcus while Yshven takes a defensive position near the bottom of the stairs. Kalarel and his skeletal minions are joined by a wight and a gargoyle-like creature the heroes recognize as the foe that fled from them before. The wight and the gargoyle proceed to harass the heroes from range and render them dazed and immobilized. The skeletons move to circle the dwarf and the dragonborn while Kalarel cuts loose and shoots a ray at Yshven, weakening him. Frozen in fear, Ayesh remained under the shadow on the statue content with throwing daggers from afar. Beside him, the mage panics and lets loose his flaming sphere on Kalarel and his minions causing him to be the center of their attention. Wasting no time, Kalarel and the skeletons charge at Casval and knock him out in a matter of seconds. Without, a moment of hesitation, Kurgan utters words of inspiration to the mage, getting him back in the fight. Realizing the predicament his companions are in, Yshven charges into the fray and with a lucky swipe, hits the skeletons and smashes Kalarel in the face. With coordinated efforts, the heroes take out both of Kalarel’s skeletal minions only then to be raised again by the wight. Finally overcoming his fear, Ayesh maneuvers behind the gargoyle and lands a devastating and fatal blow. With a word, Kalarel vanishes and appears on the runes below the dark portal. The dwarf now bloodied and near death surges on with boundless endurance, refusing Kalarel escape, assaults him and presses the fight near the portal. Learning from their mistakes, the others gang up on the wight before destroying the skeletons yet again. With only Kalarel remaining, the group gets overconfident. Casval moves his flaming sphere beside Kalarel, continuously burning him. Ayesh attempts to flank Kalarel only to be attacked and knocked out cold by a claw in the portal which proceeds to drag the rogue into the rift. Fearing the demise of the rogue, Yshven steps closer to the opening in an effort to bait the creature within, only to be dropped by a succession of rapid hits from Kalarel. Kurgan quickly rummages through his pack for a potion and brings the dwark back to his feet. With a string of misses from Kalarel, the heroes are able to recover and tip the scales of battle in their favor. In an attempt to dispose of the warlord, Kalarel gets careless and forgets the watchful guard of the dwarf and gets hit in the middle of his swing, toppling him over.

With Kalarel defeated, the claw in the portal extends to grasp at the gaunt man, ripping his flesh and pulling him into the voidl. A dark voice them emanates from the portal warning the heroes of the consequences of failing the demon prince. The group can only hope they would hear the voice again in a much later time (26 levels later). After that, the spirit of Keegan, the champion of the keep, appears before the heroes to thank them for their deeds and finally giving him eternal repose.

Back at Winterhaven, the adventures are met with a heroes welcome. The atmosphere of deep foreboding has lifted. Lord Padraig even prepares a feast in their honor. The party takes the time to recover and prepare for their next adventure.

~ by fafilose on October 25, 2008.