The Master's Cellar: Part 1

**The Master's Cellar: Part 1**

Another day of cloud filled skies darkened Deadwind Pass, as members of The Fallen House stepped towards the entrances of the Karazhan cellars. Two paths laid before them, each with their own trials and tribulations of demon infested tunnels and mysteries lost to time and twisted purpose. They stepped towards the remnants of a modest two story building, where only the base of a darkened red chimney remains, along with various wooden structures filled with broken down chairs and barrels, charred remains of a deceased resident still emanating as a shadowy figure on the floor. The base structure of the house seemed sturdy and functional, as the wooden planks marking the entrance to the cellar down from the stone staircase could easily be spotted. The fel-aura was alive and well, and the faint murmurs of imps could be heard within.

As they made their way down the stone staircase, chipped and cracked with age, those sharp shrieks of imps became clearer and resonated against the cellar walls. Once below, many shattered barrels laid against the sides of each stone arch to your left and right. Various crates and boxes still remained, unopened as various markings of higher society emblems of businesses were stamped upon them. From the broken section of the flooring straight ahead, four imps, who were unaware of their presence, were berating one another as they bounced around in erratic and uncanny movements. Their bodies contorting haphazardly as they seemed to guard against the entrance, but rather odd they were not looking towards the entrance of the cellar, but instead towards the depths below.

Silandira, Jezz, Aunorae, Lukno, and Sadaro slowed to a complete stop as Aunorae made the Fallen party aware of the threat. They watched for a few moments as the imps continued their fel-spoken discussion, only Aunorae being aware of the dialect. Within that moment, a low bellowing growl of commands was heard from the opening below that the imps stood in front of. “Cease your trifling speech and do as you are commanded!” The imps seemed to shiver in reaction, suddenly no longer moving and speaking to one another as they grew silent, their ears perking as the voice continued to shout out for a few more moments while other voices coalesced together as demonic laughter mixed in before all fell silent once more. The imps seemed more alert, and potentially any sudden noise would cause them to quickly be made aware of your presence.

Aunorae, with her demonic senses, saw two towering Fel-Guards posted near the end of the cavern below them, the source of the booming, arrogant tone. “This is only the beginning of them.” Auno whispered to the group as they readied themselves. Lukno and Auno prepared for a surprise attack, but Silandria spoke up, seemingly unaware of those intentions. “Why do we stand here and dawdle?” Her voice, carrying well beyond the cellar itself, alerted the imps to the group immediately. Their bodies twirling in a surprise jump to face the party. They were spotted, they were known, they were attacked. A dizzying display of elegance and grace came from Auno as her blackened wings sprouted forth and went into the fray, while the two hunters brought forth arrows and pieces of whatever was laying on the ground, against them. Silan charged forth to the right, Auno to the left, while Jezz stayed behind and prepared to weave the Light as the party was injured. After what seemed like hours, the battle finally ended. Four imps lay dead upon the ground and a somewhat weary party continued on.

To their dismay, rest was not going to find them quite yet as the Fel-Guards that were once guarding something deeper within, charged forward towards the group at the command of Man’ari Draenei, Auno having heard their whispers prior to their engagement. They stood, stalwart in their menacing pose as they held out their glaives and tensed up. What they did not prepare for, however, was the arrival of backup from Astartes and Ysdetta. The talkative monk and the furious warrior joined the Fallen party as they charged into battle once more. Auno and Silan were injured early into the battle, being in the first lines of attack against the Fel-Guards and were forced to retreat to the safety of Jezz to be healed while the rest fought on. Ysdetta and Lukno focused solely on one while Sadaro and Astartes did so on the other. A flurry of kicks and blows, a barrage of rocks and cannonballs, swings and slices from sharpened swords, and devastating stabs of a polearm accompanied by a faithful companion gnawing and gnashing, the Fel-Guards were beaten.

The party however, were not so battle-ready after the encounter. Many wounds needed to be patched, and discussions had at the most peculiar arcane-infused gems found attached to the glaives of the Fel-Guards. A break was needed, and rest was required.

Upon the opening of the broken down church did the rest of the party meet up after wounds were healed and rests were had. They began discussing the dangers of leaving the Man’ari down there for long, as the potential for more demons to be summoned would only get worse. This conversation turned heated as Auno, once more with her demonic senses, spotted an imp near the path towards the cellars. It was spying on them! After noticing this, the imp attempted to retreat as the party gave chase. A few blows inflicted, but not enough to fully bring it down. This proved serious, as this surely meant their location was spotted and now known. With no other choice, they ventured back into the cellar to cleanse it of the demons, and hopefully leave it as such.

Curiously, all of the corpses were no longer around aside an imp that was familiar. It was quickly discovered this was, in fact, the imp that was spying on them earlier, with a massive glaive wound across its back. Auno took the opportunity to partake in its heart and consumed it. She had a vision, many in fact. She witnessed the moments of the imp prior to its demise. From being summoned through the portal, Man’ari to its right and left, and a Fel-Guard at the forefront with two imps on either side. It was instructed to go searching for this group of adventurers and report back what was seen, specifically, unnoticed. Next, Auno saw it walk up to that rather large rock and spy on the group, and then saw Auno herself lunge at the imp and deliver a deep cut against the shoulder. She blinked, and next she was walking down the ramp and reporting back to the Fel-guard…and a few seconds later, darkness.

She relayed that experience to the party, now accompanied by a wandering orc named Zol, who heeded the call to the Fallen party by another one of those misplaced letters by Silan. They trudged on to the final destination of the cellar, purpose in mind, weapons ready, and senses most alert. As they all rounded the corner, laid before them upon a small elevated landmass, were exactly the demons Auno described the imp seeing from that portal the two Man’ari had opened.

The battle was long, and Zol nearly passed from the encounter, had it not been for Jezz’s quick healing to keep him from meeting the Maw. Silan found herself unable to fight, having been paralzed by fear from the demons coming from both sides. However, through bloodshed, sweat, pain, and luck, the portal was destroyed and the threat of the cellar itself was vanquished. More of those peculiar crystals were found, and a rather large one sat upon the middle of the portal itself. Sadaro, having turned on his engineering light that was attached to his helmet, found a magical ring buried between rocks and dirt at the far ledge of the room. Sadaro, Lukno, Silan, Jezz, Auno, Astartes, Ysdetta, and Zol managed, in their own ways, to bring victory and honor to The Fallen House by securing this foothold near Karazhan, one more still needing cleared.