For Whom The Bell Tolls

"For Whom The Bell Tolls" is the 78th session of the Legend of the Leaves campaign.
It took place in the Demonic Eruptions questline of Arc 5: Dead Souls Rising.
== Synopsis ==
The Leaves sneak through the remains of Gauntlgrym trying to connect the events that lead to the destruction of the dwarven city and the appearance of devils and fire giants.
= Story Development =
== Part 1 ==
The party arrives at the western entrance of Gauntlgrym only to find the city in ashes and devils roaming the streets. As they try to sneak by enemy troops, they notice the evacuation bell nearby.
Making their way through the resident area in the north-west part of the city, Lorilon hears breathing of an injured dwarf inside one of the devastated houses. He decides to approach him and mend his wounds. The dwarf introduces himself as Gemberik, and thanks Lorilon for his help.
However, Gemberik's wounds are beyond recovery, and he dies in Lorilon's arms, but not before telling him that the sequence for the evacuation bell is hidden inside Gauntlgrym Castle. Lorilon manages to keep the dwarf alive for long enough to find out that first the giants came, then the devils< and that once the bell is rung three times, Gauntlgrym's self-destruction mechanism is about to be go-off.
Gemberik dies stretching his hand towards a female dwarf lying besides him and the party continues their journey.
== Part 2 ==
Passing by the enemy troops to the island in the center of the city, the party finds 12 chests with arcane dwarven locks inside the warehouse on the island.
Malcer manages to open the locks with his staff of magi, while Xolotacl realizes, by looking at the lava stream beneath them, that he miscalculated when the next eruption will take place by one hour.
Raijin manages to figure out that the bridges that lead across the lava river are in no condition to hold them if they were to cross them without great precaution. This slowed them down while making their way over the river, but they still managed to fill their pockets with rare items from the chests and make it to the eastern part of the city.
While staying close to the walls of the Gauntlgrym Castle, Lorilon notices a figure climbing the tall tower of the castle with a climber's kit.
The Leaves try to sneak by the enemies to the north, but are detected by a death kiss, which lead to a gruesome fight with abishai, which the party barely survived.
== Part 3 ==
After the fight, Nemesh approaches Raijin to thank him for the opportunity to see them in action and even calls Raijin is "mentor". Nemesh then proceeds to present to Raijin an amulet he was given by Hondruk Thunderslash before they departed. He explains that Hondruk instructed Nemesh to use the amulet once they reach the center of the volcano in order for Hondruk to teleport himself there and get rid of the Leaves and Malcer in particular.
After Nemesh comes clean, he asks for forgiveness for even considering doing this. Raijin forgives him, and Lorilon welcomes Nemesh officially to the Leaves.
Realizing that the enemy troops here are far too strong for the party, Nemesh approaches Darius and tells him quietly to "keep to the left" before leaping and misty stepping right between the two enemy troops ahead.
Before the rest of the party realizes anything, Nemesh draws attention to himself by blowing into the horn of Valhalla he acquired earlier in Luskan. On Darius' command, the party sneaks past the battle, only seeing Nemesh putting on his cloak of invisibility and starting to find the devil troops.
The Leaves make their way to the eastern gate that leads to the Gauntlgrym smelter and workshop. As they enter, they notice fire giants guarding the facility and a hooded figure that greets them. As the unknown humanoid takes off his red hooded-cape, the party realizes that it's Dida Moroz, who welcomes them with the words: "Merry fucking Christmas!" just before the first ring of the evacuation bell rings out.
= Featured Characters =
== Leaves ==
* Lorilon Duskwalker
* Darius Lonewalker
* Malcer Lynk Hornraven
* Bambara Grimmgrin
* Raijin Shou Ho
* Xolotacl
== New ==
* Gemberik
== Returning ==
* Torrent Nemesh
* Dida Moroz
== Mentioned ==
* Hondruk Thunderslash
Category:Sessions