Reclaiming Space

**"Reclaiming Space" (1x08)** is the eighth session of the first chapter of A War On All Sides. The party clears the keep and uncovers a secret.

## **Synopsis**

After clearing the initial wave of demons that flooded into the foyer of Freynor keep, the party steeled their wills and entered into the basement. Upon entering the dark basement, the players are met with the foul smell of rotted food, and the disgusting sight of several lemures devouring the "food". The party jumped in to attack the ghastly creatures, quickly eliminating a few before one extinguished the lone torch lighting the room. With darkness now filling the space, a bone-chilling fear crept into the hearts of the party.

Seeming to form from the darkness itself, several claws lashed out, harming several members of the party. Crawmi, still in the stairwell, was free from harm but confused. Amidst the slashing of claws, Freynor, still in his human form, was stabbed violently in the shoulder by a shadowy claw. At this point, everyone was on high alert due to the unseen foe. Ivantar and Ronwe cast fiery spells at the creature, luckily hitting it which revealed its form for a moment. Crawmi made his way through the chaos to try to re-light the torch, but along the way was met with a troublesome foe... another lemure. This lemure was stubborn and would not fall, nearly killing Crawmi in the process. However, it eventually fell, and Crawmi was able to relight the torch. The shadow demon was revealed, and the party struck it with severe damage. The torch was then valiantly tossed into the middle of the room, however it landed in a puddle of sludge and was extinguished. The beast used the renewed darkness to strike several more members of the party, nearly killing Ronwe. Freynor then lept toward the demon in wolf form, but before he could make a final strike, a sword burst through the head of the creature, killing it.

A roguish tabaxi named Nowun Knuthing revealed himself. He was very forthright, stating that he followed the group stealthily with bad intentions. After overhearing their conversations in Menagerie, he decided he wanted to rob them. However, after seeing their battle prowess, he thought better of it and instead wanted to see if he could help them out. After a bit of debate, the party decided to give him a chance. While this was happening, Crawmi investigated the room and found a staircase with a faint glow at the bottom; a basement to the basement! They decided to rest up first before venturing deeper. They cleaned themselves up and headed upstairs, met by the wonderful smells of Miksin Lolio's cooking. Rolph and Mort were scolded for not helping, and Crawmi successfully flirted with Alvar's girl.

After resting up a bit, the party went back downstairs. They told Mort and Rolph to make themselves useful by cleaning up the gunk in the basement while they checked out the sub-level. In the basement's basement, they were met with a terrible stench and a reddish glow. At the base of the stairs on the wall was a sign that said 'Welcome to the Pit'. The walls were lined with medals and trophies, worn with time. After rounding some corners, the party were met with a dirt fighting circle in the middle of a large room. A large red portal glowed in the back of the room, and a savage bulezau set in the middle of the pit, surrounded by lemures. He quickly engaged the party with bloodlust, injuring several of them badly. Despite the creature's savagery and reinforcements, he could not defeat the party and fell in defeat. The party then investigated the room and found notes from Laramore Degal pertaining to the creation of the portal, and a missive detailing how it could be created with Lightshards, signed by somebody calling themselves 'N.V.' Ronwe made a call to Tyrael Mynteres to let him know about the portal, and he quickly scryed in to observe the scene. He told Ronwe he would sponsor the group to come to Silvertide as he wanted to meet them in person and task them with assisting The Arcane Conservatory with these matters. He also stated that they may find some benefit in speaking with Fel'dagon Myrron, the current Archmage of the Bulwark. His mentor and the previous Archmage, Altarius Mynteres, had a similar encounter with a portal in the past.

With a cleared out Freynor Keep and a new lead, the party took to rest. Ivantar began clearing out a tunnel, and Griff decided to try out a new body. However, it appears Griff lost his mojo, and could no longer find success possessing. PATSY was very upset and confused, leading the party to possibly make a trip back to Menagerie sooner than planned to return him to Murat.

## **Featured Characters**

### **Player Characters**

* Ivantar
* Ronwe
* Freynor
* Crawmi

### **Mentioned**

* Laramore Degal
* Molo'deres

### **Returning**

* Alvar Dornik
* Griff
* Tyrael Mynteres
* PATSY