C2E09 & 10 – Payback

Welcome to the session recap for C2E09 & 10 – Payback. Exhausted from their fight with the cult of Orcus at #3 Providence, the Knight Lights of Knee returned to the Black Oak Inn to get some rest. They awoke in the morning, ate a quick breakfast and headed up to Castle Whitestone.

Filing a Report

On their way up to the castle, the party meets Cassandra Hindericks De Rolo coming out. Dressed in her temple robes, she tells them Simon is having breakfast and to go right in. The Knights fill Simon in on the events of the night before and he quickly sends someone down to have the Paleguard go over and check it out. They pepper him with questions of an arcane or religious nature and he directs them to try Bhevek Arvanel at Bhevek’s Whispers or Father Hindericks at the Temple of the Dawn.

The Watcher

Outside Bhevek’s Whispers, Night notices a man across the square watching them. She’d seen him earlier in the day and there was no doubt in her mind he was following them. Without a word, she charged across the square with Allix close behind. The man quickly ducked down an alley, but Night and Allix were closing quickly. Unsure of what was happening, the rest of the party followed.

As Night turned into the alley, she found it empty. Convinced he was hiding, she started searching the alley. When Allix arrived, she joined the search. After a really high perception check, Night spotted footprints that just stopped. She crept closer to investigate further and saw the mage from the night before appear right in front of her. His hand reached out for her and she could see his hand turning black as it got nearer.

The Blight spell was devastating. The necrotic energy coursed through her body and she droppedat once. Allix shouted for help and stood over her fallen comrade. She took a mighty swing with her longsword and the blade cut deep. The man was unfazed. Before he could turn on the halfling, Tibalt came bounding around the corner in panther form. She lept on his back and sunk her fangs into his shoulder. The rest followed. Rialta healed the fallen Night and the Knights were ready for a fight.

Collateral Damage

With surprise gone and the group closing in, the mage prepared his escape. But first a little payback. He pulled some black powder from a pouch muttered some words and a sphere of black death materialized at the end of the alleyway. A massive blast of necrotic energy pulsed outward and a number of people in the square fell at once. Rialta, Rowan, and Zap were badly injured but survived. On the necromancer’s next turn, he cast Dimension Door and disappeared.

With the threat gone, the party jumped into action. Rialta, Rowan, and Tibalt charged out into the square to administer aid to the fallen citizens of Whitestone. Seeing Tibalt still in panther form, a Paleguard fired and hit him with his crossbow. The druid dropped his wild shape, calmed him down, and got to work. The three of them moved quickly and used the remainder of their spell slots to revive the commoners in the square. They spent the rest of the day debating their next move and getting the word out to lock down the city.

DM Tip: Little Mistakes … Just keep playing and move on.
The spell cast was Circle of Death. A massive 60′ sphere of death that does 8d6 necrotic. While the characters could handle it, the commoners going about their day, not so much. According to the rules, the people should have died instantly.

But, I forgot about instant death. Rialta, Rowan, and Tibalt healed all but one, before I remembered. When they got to him, he was dead. This was their first exposure to permanent death in D&D ever. Rather than ret-con the others, I let it go.

Attack at Dawn

In the morning, the party had a quick breakfast and headed out to figure out how they were going to track this mage down. They didn’t get far before one of the acolytes at the Temple of the Dawn came running through the square. He was screaming about an attack on the temple and ran to the party when he saw them.

Without hesitation, the Knights took off for the Greyfields on the eastern side of Whitestone. They debated stopping to help the lifeless Paleguards at the east gate but pressed on to the temple.

Stained Glass & Stone

The scene inside the temple was grisly. The necromancer Melkonen and the high priest Hindericks were trading spells by the altar, but Melkonen clearly had the upper hand. A number of dead attendants were lying on the floor as were a handful of worshippers. Four newly reanimated worshippers were making short work of the survivors. In the main aisle, a very injured Lady Cassandra was desperately trying to drag a wounded parishioner down the hall.

Not wasting any time, Night and Allix charged toward the necromancer. The rest went for Cassandra and put themselves between her and the oncoming zombies. In an attempt to shutdown Melkonen, Rialta cast Silence near the altar, but not before the cult leader could deliver the finishing blow on Father Hindericks.

Able to move outside of the zone of Silence, Melkonen would not be so easily sidelined. Going back to his black powder, he unleashed another Circle of Death and what few survivors remained were killed instantly. Rowan rushed to Lady Cassandra to lay on hands, but there was no response.

Enraged, the entire party focused their attention on the necromancer. Allix cut him deeply with a couple of swings of her longsword, while the rest hurled missiles and spells his way. Sensing it was now or never, he began casting his escape when a blast of acid hit him squarely in the face. As he began muttering the incantations to Dimension Door, his face went slack and began to melt. Unable to complete the spell he slowly sunk to the floor and died.

Raising the Dead

Knowing that time was of the essence, Rowan carried Cassandra to the altar while Rialta tended to Cassandra’s father. Having been outside the circle of death, he had stabilized and was revived with Cure Wounds. Rialta helped him up and gestured to Cassandra’s lifeless body on the altar of Pelor. Recognizing the urgency, he fished a diamond from his pocket and cast Revivify at once.

The party watched with anxiety and anticipation as the spell ran its course. A collective sigh of relief washed through the temple as she gasped for breath and her eyes shot open. A few moments later,

End of Session