Very Very Frightening

## Story

### Is this the real life?

The party unexpectedly gathers at Drakkenhall and meet with Rhith to discuss her proposed mission for the group: namely, to investigate what's happening at Fort Thunder now that half a dozen Drakkenhall patrols have been shredded by lightning directed by the Fort's lightning spires - spires that are *meant* to be aimed at the Iron Sea and Koru Straits to protect the Empire's seaward flank. Rhith reports that there are vague rumours of demonic influence, and presses the party to escort her diplomatic emissary, Hawdur - a dragonic - to make contact with the Fort and find out what's really going on.

Rhith's commentary:

*This is the second time that I have called you hear to request an important task of you. (wryly) I am trying not to make a habit of it, but good, reliable help is hard to come by, and I am, unashamedly, indebted to you all for your earlier efforts in the Labyrinth of Esgyrn.*

*There are a few of you whom I have not met, but understand that I know of you from your reputation, and that I know enough to rely upon your professionalism and efficacy.  You keep robust company.*

*There is much to concern me in these uncertain times, but there is a particularly delicate matter that I have called you here to assist me with.  As you know, Fort Thunder, across the straits, is an Imperial fort guarding the Empire against any threat that may come from the sea.*

*As you may know, Fort Thunder is famous for its defensive lightning spire that arcs magical energy across the waters and that can hit targets as far away as the Koru straits. The Empire need not fear a seaborne invasion whilst the Fort stands.*

*However, in recent months, my patrols report the spire has turned its attention landwards - indeed, a good half-dozen of Drakkenhall's patrols have been fried and vaporised to a man and to a kobold. In short, something is not well in Fort Thunder.*

*I have written to the Emperor, but he has been - preoccupied - with weightier matters. Even after all these ages, I am not blind to the pain the man must feel at the loss of his wife he held so dear. Princess, I share and feel your pain, and note that you have taken a different path in your own grief.*

*Regardless, the sudden volatile change at Fort Thunder needs resolution. Every envoy I have sent has not returned. I fear the worst, and the Empire, for all its flaws, must not have its seaward flank exposed during these troubling, nay, devilish, times.*

*My mission for you is thus - travel to Fort Thunder with all the authority that an Imperial Princess can command. Escort my envoy (she gestures to the dragonic standing to one side), and together, determine what is really happening at Fort Thunder. If necessary, take all steps necessary to ensure that the Fort is returned to proper Imperial control.  Further, determine whether the source of the Fort's lightning has been corrupted in some way. I should explain and warn you of my specific concern in this regard - my agents report there may be demonic influence upon the Fort's inhabitants. So you must be on your guard on not assume all is as it appears to be.*

*Do you accept the charge I am requesting of you, and if so, do you now have questions?  I will answer what I can.*

### Carry on, carry on

The party accepts and makes their way to the Koru Straits where they begin crossing between the cliffs on cable cars driven on ropes of magical energy. However, during the crossing, they are attacked by a detachment of imperial airships which they manage to repel. Laurelei interrogates the imperial captain that they manage to detain, demanding to know why he refused to stand down when ordered - the captain insists that he was acting under orders, and refuses to believe the Princess' identity.

Now on the Cape Thunder side of the straits, the party decides to take a longer path around to avoid travelling within the spotting range of Fort Thunder's lightning spires. Seeing smoke coming from a supposedly abandoned farmhouse, Alina and Thamra make a late night sojourn to investigate. There they meet a travelling trader who discloses that he might be able to get the party closer to the Fort through secret tunnels - for a price. Making the quick dash across open land in the early light the party rejoins the trader who then guides them through a trapdoor beneath the farmhouse into tunnels that join up to a geological feature known as The Rift - a deep scar in the land caused by a former Hellhole. There the party meets a small tribe of dusky goblins who ply a secretive existence to avoid the unwanted attentions from Fort Thunder patrols, and who trade in slade which occurs within The Rift. Doing a deal with the goblin chief - including a premium price for the small, regular quantities of slade that they secretively trade with the outside world - the party is guided along tunnels that bring them ever closer to the fort.

Still short of the fort, Alina tunnels the party through to the small but thick stand of forest not far from the fort itself. With Alina resting from her exertions, the remainder of the party scouts ahead, only for Harper and Thamra to be pulled down within a hidden earthen trapdoor that they soon learn to have been created by a Forest Worm.

Harper summons Aura, with Aura's sudden light causing the worm to shy away instead of immediately eating them. The worm belies a simple intelligence, exclaiming its love of "*Eaaaaating every-ting*", but is ultimately scared away at the timely appearance of Alina in her dragon form. Within the worm's cavern, they find the remains of dusky goblins as well as two imperials, their armour amazingly still relatively intact, which the party takes with them in order to identify the dead. They perform a quick burial of all the ghastly remains.

Upon scouting the fort from the far edge of the woods, the party decides to hail an imperial patrol safely out of line of sight of spires in order to learn more of what is happening and hopefully gain safe entry the fort. They soon come upon a patrol lead by Lieutenant Rayla, who, despite her scepticism, agrees to guide them to the fort, albeit disarmed.

### **Will you do the Fandago?**

Now safely within Fort Thunder, the party meets the commanding general - General Ettnus - who insists he is acting under orders and who requires further proof before believing that the Crown Princess is his unexpected guest. Hawdur is led away as a hostile combatant whilst the party is afforded the comfort of a suite of rooms - under guard - until the General is able to meet with them properly and perform the ritual as suggested by Princess Laurelei that should allow direct contact with Firedaughter to confirm her identity and the General's orders.

Thamra scries for Hawdur and learns that he is being forcefully interrogated in the Fort's cells - Alina summons a faery door and the party retrieves Hawdur whilst his torturers are absent. Soon thereafter, Rayla leads a search of their suite due to a 'security breach', clearly looking for Hawdur's presence which is hidden behind an illusory wall created by Laurelei. They slow and confound Rayla's efforts with reference to Laurelei's bathing routine, with Alina taking the opportunity to steal use of the tub when Laurelei is provoked and embarrassed, to a rather surprised Hawdur behind his illusory wall.

The General summons the party to dinner, with the ritual to contact Firedaughter already underway. Small-talk ensures, and the General reaffirms his orders, again without being willing to share any further detail without confirming the identity of Princess Laurelei.

After the meal concludes, the party joins General Ettnus, Rayla, and small detachment of soldiers in witnessing the completion of the ritual under the direciton of the Fort's Head Mage, Hector, to establish communication with Firedaughter. The connection is unstable, but Firedaughter manages to lend some credibility to Laurelei's claim before the ritual disastrously unravels, with dark magical energy lashing in all directions, with the mages desperately seeking to contain it and a number of them exploding before the party's eyes. Magical energy lashes Rayla, Alina and Thamra, and some guards, causing them to completely disappear. Harper and Laureli decide to jump into the lashing energy and similarly disappear.

### **Galileo? Is that you?**

In quick succession, the party finds itself teleported into a tall crumbling, circular tower with spiral staircases. A Fort Thunder soldier appears in a similar fashion to the party, knocking themselves unconscious by the force of their travel into a wall; another materialises too high to survive the fall.

Gathering themselves, the party scrounges what items they can from the soldiers and Thamra and Harper tend to the one still alive. Laurelei scouts out the tower below, teleporting over a gap in the spiral stairs, before reaching the bottom and two locked doors. Alina scales the inside of the tower, clambering and then flying to the ground below. Alina then makes her way into the bottom of the tower via an abandoned barracks and a now-unlocked door... only to be ambushed by a strange demonic humanoid. Battle ensues, and the party rushes down the tower to assist, just in time to see a summoned angel of Korrigan (!) land the killing blow on the demonic creature, disintegrating it. After some brief scouting, the return to the awakened soldier only to find that they have been killed in their absence.

Realising that they are in an abandoned fort to the south of Fort Thunder, and wary of more attacks, the party scouts out their surrounds, discovering a recently used path to a nearby cove, the rest of the tumbledown fort, and an exit to another secluded cove from below the tower they first arrived in stocked with supplies and guarded by a portcullis and internal arrowslits.

Suspecting that at least another one of these demonic assassins still stalks the abandoned fort, with Thamra's assistance they manage to locate and eventual kill it - it too disintegrates before their eyes.

The party rest during the day before striking out at dusk along the far side of a rocky ridgeline, such that it keeps them out of sight from the spires of Fort Thunder. During the night they encounter a traveller resting at a cove with a small boat, whom Alina takes the opportunity to scare out of caution and then fun. As a result of an altercation with Laurelei over keeping it secret that she had an unexpected dragon ally (i.e. Alina), Rayla strikes out on her own for the Fort. Alina later catches up with her whilst the rest of the party calms the traveller - clearly a smuggler, and apparently the brother of the trader they met earlier - and negotiate to be taken to yet another secret tunnel further up the coast, that allegedly leads directly into Fort Thunder itself.

After some shenanigans, the party reunites and sets sail for the tunnel in the coastal cliff. Upon reaching the cliff, Laurie casts a flying ritual and grants temporary flight to the party, who - via near death from a combination of drowning or falling from halfway up a cliff - eventually scramble upon the rocks and enter the tunnel.

The tunnel stretches for many kilometres, and the party negoiates a mending trap, a pit trap illusion, an actual pit trap, and a underground river, before breaking through a wall into the cellars beneath the Fort Thunder kitchen. There, they learn from the kitchen staff that demons had subsequently emerged from the warped ritual and assaulted the fort from within. The staff have barricaded themselves in the cellars from demons above.

### **Bismillah!**

Laurie and Thamra head further up the undergound river, undertaking a chimney rock-climb to emerge out of the Fort's well. With the aid of cleaver-and rolling-pin wielding kitchen staff, Alina and Harper break out of the barricaded cellars and manage to slaughter the small contingent of demons above, at the cost of several lives of the staff.

Reunited with Laurie and Thamra, and after some initial scouting, the party locates General Ettnus to learn the current situation within the fort - the demons control about half the fort, including the control room to the lightning spires. The situation is dire but not irretrievable, and the party goes about organising the defence as well as formulating plans to retake the fort. Hawdur has also been located still hiding within the Fort's visitor suites and joins the fight. Hector is seen obfuscating a withered blacked stump that resulted from the destructive magical feedback of the earlier failed ritual.

Despite some setbacks, the Fort's defenders disable the lightning spires under the guidance of Head Mage Hector and his remaining mages, retake the quartermaster stores, and repel various demonic incursions. Seeking to sneak into the control room alone and unnoticed, Laurie encounters a horde of demons and barely manages to escape with her life by throwing herself out of a tower window. Later, Laurie and Rayla sally out into the open-aired parade ground only to learn - to the cost of Rayla's life and that of her entire squad - that the lightning towers have not been disabled as claimed. Again, Laurie barely manages to escape death from the lightening that distingerated her compartriots through the reflexive and timely use of warding magic.

The party manages to retake the spire control room, currently occupied by Hector and the two remaining mages in his cadre. Alina and Hawdur immediately head downstairs to the spite's 'battery' room, and discover that a huge energy charged, azure dragon - Aster - is connected up to the spire's controls.

Laurie arrives, informing the party and the Fort soldiers of Hector's treachery, and the mages are quickly dispatched. As Hector's body falls, a ghostly blackened hand falls from the stump on his arm, drawing his pooling blood towards it. Harper hastily erects a ward around the now-pulsing red hand, but the blood is pulled through and engorges the stump. Shalia Blackrain - or rather, her visage - appears, and Laurie, Harper and Thamra converse with her. Shalia mocks Laurie and her brother Talebot as the real Imperial traitors, noting the party's responsiblity for unleashing the devils, and makes a passing remark that the Abyss appears to have left its mark on Thamra. She leaves, and the party follow Alina and Hawdur down into the battery room.

In the meantime, Alina and Hawdur are attacked by three cambions assassins from the shadows of the dimly lit battery room, but manage to (barely) hold them off until the rest of the party arrives and they are defeated.

### **Will you let me go?**

The party discusses Aster's fate, with Alina and Hawdur in particular forcefully arguing that her lifeless body should immediately be returned to her mother, Rhith. Laurie feels mainpulated and betrayed by Hawdur - and Rhith's - concealment of their true intentions regarding Fort Thunder. Laurie also holds misgivings about how Aster's presence will be interpreted by others in the Empire, especially the impact it may have on its broader relationship with Drakenhall, as well as what it will mean for Fort Thunder's defence against threats from the Iron Sea. Hawdur agrees to remain at Fort Thunder to man the spire until Imperial mages can relieve him, and Laurie relents when she feel sufficiently reassured that Aster's presence at the fort can remain relatively unnoticed.

With Alina's help, Hawdur casts a teleportation ritual and Alina returns to Drakenhall with Aster's body.

The rest of the party remains to dispatch the remaining demons in the fort - now in dissaray, as if leaderless and directionless - and heal the wounded. Despite further casualities, they manage to retake the fort. General Ettnus asserts that Aster's body had not been in the battery room a week ago when he lasted made an inspection, and Laurie is persuaded of his innocence, making him an offer about a future post under her command.

### **Any way the wind blows....**

Back in Drakenhall, Alina and Rhith discuss Aster and Rhith's intentions for her daughter (Alina's step-sister), with Rhith promising to repay Alina's kind-heartedness.

## Player Characters

* Alina Heartsoul
* Harper Swyn
* Thamra Lotho
* Laurie Basorium

## Non-player Characters

* Rhith
* Hawdur
* Fergus
* Lieutenant Rayla
* General Ettnus
* Hector
* Shalia Blackrain