Session 73 "Trouble at The Citadel of Light"

Session 73: Trouble at the Citadel of Light

Escaping the destruction of the devil’s tower in the heart of Athkatmon, The Lucky Seven teleported to Balistar’s Citadel on the Plane of Air. Exhausted and needing a moment to catch their breath, they spent the night at Balistar’s. Although outside the light of day never changed, nor did the continuous falling snow, inside, they were warm and safe. Yet even so, someone, or something was still able to reach Muffy, sending a dark promise that in return for her ignoring the request to kill Gram and walk away, all of Muffy’s friends would be taken from her.

Balistar met with The Lucky Seven, discussing what he knew of the lore of the devils and their hierarchies and power structures. He explained about the Abashai which Evensnow had appeared to be one of--the Abashai being a separate force, devoted to the dark God Tiamat, outside of the general power structure that Amon and the rest of the hellish forces appeared to be a part of.

Through Balistar's scrying pool he showed The Lucky Seven that the citizens of Athkatmon which had been transformed under the red energy dome were returning to normal now that it was gone, however the devils still held the city. They were brutally slaughtering anyone they came across, and another new wrinkle: the dead were rising. Not back to life, but rather as undead… powerful necromancy seemed at work.

Looking at the scale of the invading force: at least 6 Hellfire Engines, a massive vessel above the city, dozens of transport vehicles surrounding it, and thousands of devils in the city itself, The Lucky Seven realized that as powerful as they are, they would need an army to defeat this invading force. To that end Seeker Assume has ventured far to the North to drum up support along the Sword Coast. This will take some time, and while the devils are no longer able to accelerate time within the city itself, time is still something that is short with more and more citizens of Athkatmon dying every moment, and The Devil's keeping up their assault on Balistar's portal. Finding a closer army now seems imperative. With the Shield of Ucerin under the control of the dark Djinn Orhotker, The Seven turned their attention to an army perfectly suited to taking on devils, one two of their members happened to be affiliated with.

Rhys and Muffy’s organization, The Order of the Dawn, was a force created after The Scattered Wars--a union between the Church of Lathander and the Order of The Gauntlet with the aim of protecting Amn and the surrounding territories from the rise of true evil. Balistar commented that it actually seemed odd that of the members of The Order of the Dawn only Rhys and Muffy had shown up to deal with the Devils. More disconcerting, all of his efforts to reach his contact in the Order, Professor John Broom, had failed. Professor Broom and Elizabeth Grey to The Seven's knowledge had recently set out to the school of magic ran by John Broom's brother Xavin, Xavin who had trained Elizabeth in the use of her innate magics.

After some discussion of the best next move, the group decided they should head to the Citadel of Light to see exactly what was going on with The Order of the Dawn and if they could, to get them involved in the conflict. And so Balistar teleported them there.

Upon arrival, the group found the guards that normally stood watch over the teleportation circle decimated. After Bip revived Earlin, one of the guards The Lucky Seven spoke with the previous time they had teleported into the citadel, Earlin revealed it had been Drahzan, the minotaur associate of Firefist Tajic who had attacked them. The group set out stealthy into the citadel, but stealth not being the strong suit of either Rhys or Gram, they were quickly spotted by two guards. The Seven agreed to go with the guards to meet with someone who could explain what was going on. Waiting for them in the Great Hall with the massive windows overlooking the autumnal woods beyond was Drahzan, and with him, Luda, Firefist Tejak’s other close associate. They had Anung, one of the champions of The Order of the Dawn chained to a table and were torturing him while several guards looked on. When Drazhan and Luda looked upon the Seven, the paladins' eyes flickered with fire. Their form and armor had been changed, with dark metallic spikes jutting out. Luda summoned a black horse out of thin air with a fiery main, hooves, and eyes, reminiscent of Anung's steed but without the wings.

Drahzan told Muffy she should have listened to the voice, and that he was going to take Dorn from her, and Luda made the same promise to Muffy regarding Bucky. Thus far, the fight has been brutal. Drahzan came within a hairs breath of killing Dorn, and is currently nowhere in sight, disappearing on a hellfire steed of his own. Luda has just returned to the battlefield after pulling a similar disappearing act, and while she came back fully restored to health, The Seven have quickly changed that. However as in bad shape as Luda may be, Bucky is that much worse. Luda is now baring down on Bucky who is bleeding out on the ground, unconscious, and Luda looks as though she's ready to finish the job.