Session 7x4

Session 7x4 occurred on 2 June, 2021. The players were Susan (Rosallia Gravenfoot), Veron (Osric), PsychoXer0 Romeron, C.J. (Aravor Enfiel) and Theos (Skarn). Their goal was to explore Weatherstone and retrieve the relic Rustbite.

## Summary

The group set out from Wolfstone Redoubt, travelling west and south. On their first night of travel, Aravor spotted two giant bats circling the camp. They screeched, but did not attack.

The party arrived at Weatherstone on their second day of travelling. They climbed to a cliff neighbouring the castle and Rosallia used sorcery to craft a bridge across to the fortress itself. While the party guarded her, they spotted an old man at the base of the castle. Some of the group had encountered this man here before, and identified him as Dalb.

Dalb attempted to climb the hill to reach the party, but on his way was ambushed by a group of 5 furless wolfkin, servants of King Patches. Skarn and Aravor ran to protect Dalb, with Romeron trailing behind them. Rosallia and Osric followed, carrying the Sun Cannon in hopes of using it against the wolfkin. Aravor clashed with the leader of the wolfkin, who used Symoblism-like sorcery. Eventually, without need of the Sun Cannon, the wolfkin were driven off.

Dalb was very curious of the Sun Cannon, and so Rosallia let him fire it into a room of Weatherstone. Whatever was inside immediately burned. After the test firing, the party retreated back to their camp from the night before to heal their wounds. While at camp, Dalb recounted a tale about the Fortress of Vond. Romeron asked Skarn to examine a wine bottle he had previously purchased. Skarn identified sorcery on the bottle that was trapping a human soul inside. Hearing this, Romeron immediately uncorked the bottle, freeing the soul. Who it was, or what happened when it was freed, no one could tell.

Returning the next morning to the castle, the group left Dalb and the Sun Cannon outside, as he did not trust the stability of Rosallia's bridge. Using a grappling hook and rope, they ascended into the castle. The first room they entered appeared to be the bed chambers of a queen, finely furnished. A dead orc in an embroidered coat lay on the floor. Perhaps he was a thief, for he carried lockpicks, and a valuable turquoise gem. Upstairs from the Queen's Chambers what a set of guest chambers. Three dead knights in plate armor lay in these chambers. The armor was taken by the party.

At this point, the party heard a loud commotion outside. Through a set of windows, they saw that the bridge Rosallia had made had crumbled to dust, seemingly after Dalb had set a single foot upon it. Dalb was now stuck on the far side, while the Sun Cannon remained on the castle-side of the former bridge.

Across from the Queen's bedroom the group found their quarry: On the royal bed at the center of the room lay the body of the King, crowned and holding a sword with a black blade. Romeron, empty scabbard in hand, attempted to slip the blade from the king's grasp. Unfortunately, sorcery crackled around the blade and the King began to rise. Osric, acting quickly, beheaded the King with his axe, except that the head and body immediately stitched themselves together again. No mundane weapon could damage the King.

Fearing a fight with the magically regenerating undead, the Kings body was flung from the high window of the bedchamber. It fell, but seemed to stop on a cushion of air before hitting the ground, and then began floating upward, back towards the window. At this same moment, armored footsteps could be heard climbing the stairs outside the chamber.

Aravor cast healing magic at the King, weakening its ties to the mortal realm. Orsic and Romeron, unable to wound the King, instead jumped upon him to restrain him. Skarn moved to the stairs and collasped the flight below him to prevent reinforcing undead guards from reaching the battle. From above, the 3 knights, now without armor, rushed into the battle and then immediately sacrificed themselves, disintegrating while at the same time bestowing the King with a shell of protective armor and a weapon to replace his stolen sword.

Finally, despite the warnings told of the danger of its use, Osric took Rustbite and stabbed it into the King. With this blow, the ties of his undead form were severed and the King was defeated. Rosallia took the crown, and the group fleed back the way they had come.

After climbing down the window, they found both Dalb and the Sun Cannon had disappeared. Skarn, examining where the Sun Cannon was left, sensed a powerful lingering aura of magic; one which intertwined blood, death and sign magic all into one. The party were forced to return home without the Sun Cannon, or the mysterious old man.

## In-character tales

### Aravor's tale

We set out from Wolfstone Redoubt to aid Rosallia Gravenfoot and Skarn in their quest to find the sword Rustbite in the castle Weatherstone. Joining us were Osric and Romeron, two of our fiercest fighters, and we brought the Sun Cannon for good measure. (I told the others that if anything happened to the cannon, I would not be the one to tell Otilar.) A truly formidable group, I felt somewhat out of place among these capable warriors, but proved my worth by guiding us safely along our route. Some giant bats troubled our camp during the night; I roused the others, but the bats fled when we made some noise and I threw some stones with my sling. Worryingly, they seemed to be moving in the direction of the Dread Keep.

Our stone singers created a bridge for us to reach the castle, and as they did so, an odd figure appeared to watch us. Osric and Rosallia remembered him from a previous journey to Weatherstone, and called out to him. He asked us to wait for him and began running up the mountain to where Rosallia had constructed the bridge, next to one of the castle's high towers. Rosallia had been blinded by her spell - when I imparted some of Clay's wisdom, she and Romeron mocked me, but I cast a spell to cure her of her affliction regardless. Osric climbed up the side of the castle a bit, but before he could scout inside, we heard the hermit cry out for help.

Skarn and I rushed to his aid immediately, with Romeron just behind us. Osric was still halfway up the castle wall, and Rosallia told us she'd follow with the Sun Cannon once Osric was able to help carry it. We found the hermit - Dalb, he calls himself - beset by a group of wolfkin who looked to be servants of the King of Patches who appeared recently. Two were armed with throwing spears, one was a spellcaster of some sort, and the others were more heavily armed and moved to engage Skarn and I. Luckily, Romeron arrived in time to cover Dalb's escape, but he was peppered with throwing spears in return for his bravery before being attacked with a mace. I heard a sickening crunch and he dropped his axe, but rose back up with a ferocious yell. I made a mental note to be carefully how often I joke with him going forward.

Their caster prepared a spell, but I countered it with my own magic. The spell backfired on the strange naked wolfkin, and then Osric and Rosallia were right behind us. Osric charged in and cut down two of our foes, while Rosallia, with the dubious help of Dalb, pointed the Sun Cannon at the two spear throwers, who fled in terror. Romeron's fury towards the lone survivor was terrible to behold. I swear his fist went nearly through the unfortunate wolf's head. My cry of "Take one of them captive!" died in my throat as quickly as the wolf with the crushed skull. I suppose we don't know what this King of Patches wanted with Dalb, but it seems likely the bats report to him.

I patched up Romeron's arm with one of my spells, and we camped for the night. Dalb shared some stories with us, including the fortress of Vond and Mount Ora, which sounded like a fearsome place. I shared some stories of our group's accomplishments, particularly Valdenar's, hoping this minstrel would spread word of our Champion. Dalb seemed highly interested in the Sun Cannon, and we allowed him to help us in a test firing towards a building we believe was the servant's quarters. A fire started, but the walls remained intact, seeming to disappoint Rosallia.

Come morning, we entered Weatherstone through the window Osric had found previously. Dalb was content to remain in our camp, out in the open, where the King of Patches knew we had been. We convinced him this was foolhardy, and while he was too afraid to cross the stone sung bridge, he stayed just on the other side. We left Clayhoof and the Sun Cannon in the yard of the keep and made our ascent.

We found ourselves in the queen's chambers, and found a gemstone. Its magical properties seemed uniquely suited to casting my spells of sight, but I felt it would be more beneficial to sell it, considering its apparent value. We heard a cry, and Dalb, the fool, had somehow collapsed our bridge behind us. He claimed to have just set a foot upon it - a peculiar story, considering it held the five of us, Clayhoof, and the Sun Cannon without issue. Nothing to be done, however. Heading further up the tower, we found the skeletal remains of three knights clad in fine plate armour befitting the personal guard of a king. We looted the armour immediately; surely we'd make better use of it than some ancient corpses, after all.

A bit more exploration led us to the king's chambers, where his remains lay, still clutching the sword Rustbite. Romeron and Rosallia tried to pick it up in a scabbard without touching it, but still alerted the king. They scrambled back with the sword, while Osric surged forward and decapitated the undead king in one smooth motion. Before I even had my staff at the ready he was moving to the window, throwing the king's head and body both from it.

Just as we were preparing to leave, however, we noticed the king's body stopped before hitting the ground. It rose back up towards us, and we prepared for a fight, as we heard the sounds of skeletons moving from the floors beneath us. I moved to the side of the window and readied a spell, while Skarn moved to the door to guard our backs and the others drew weapons. While there are few warriors more capable than Osric and Romeron, their attacks didn't seem to affect the king. My spell, on the other hand, harmed him greatly. Clay led me along this path for a reason, it seems. Meanwhile, Skarn used his magic to collapse the stairs below, preventing further undead from reinforcing their king.

The king was a ferocious foe, nearly throwing one of us through the window - in the chaos of the battle, I didn't see who he had hold of. Just as I was prepared to strike him with another spell, the three king's guard knights, now naked, clattered their way through the door. The king seemed to absorb them and recover his wounds. With a ferocious shout, I channeled the rest of my magical energy into one strike, wounding but not killing him. Drained and unsure of what else to do, I snatched up Rustbite and tossed it to Osric. None of us were sure if he could use it safely, but he charged forward bravely, and gave the king eternal rest with his own weapon. I practically collapsed to the floor, exhausted from expending all of my stored up magical energy. A victory, but not one easily gained.

Osric lived, though the sword's magic had seemed to effect him. We exited the tower without much difficulty, but were dismayed to find the Sun Cannon and Dalb both missing. I feared the worst, but found Clayhoof unharmed, and breathed a sigh of relief. I reminded the others that one of them would have to break the bad news about the cannon to Otilar, and we prepared to leave. Before we did so we examined the tower where Dalb had been camping, and found no traces of the hermit or his campsite. Skarn did detect a strange magical energy, which seemed to include traces of multiple types of magic. We left, disquieted and somewhat disheartened by this turn of events, but still returned to Dryvault with our heads held high. I immediately sought out Valdenar to tell him of our acquisition of Rustbite. We now have a weapon to slay demons, and a champion to wield it. Despite our trials, a path opens. That is the way of things.

### Romeron's Tale

I joined Aravor, Skarn, Rosallia and Osric to travel to Weatherstone and retrieve a demon slaying sword. We started our trip from Wolfstone Redoubt and Shush once again insisted to join the group but I put my foot down and told her no, though I did have to promise her she could join the dragon-hunt in the Stellarium.

The travel did not take long saw some handwolves and during the night some giant bats. The next day we arrived at Weatherstone and Rosallia stonesang a bridge across the way so we wouldn't have to enter from the front. An old hermit shouted at us at the bottom and was beckoned to join us up close to the tower. The hermit was attacked by some Wolfkin so Aravor and Skarn immediately went to help him, I followed a bit behind them. As I arrived to the battle scene, I sprung to action immediately and charged two of the Wolfkin wearing chain but my axe hit nothing but the air. Only moments later I was hit by a spear then a mace broke my arm like a twig. While I was reeling from the pain another spear struck me and then everything went black but in the blackness I saw myself coated in fire and I chose to grab it even though I had promised not to ever again after what happened back home. Osric arrived and cleaved two of the Wolfkin easily one with armor and the other without, the two spear throwers ran away, but one of the armored Wolfkin was still there. So I took my rage and fed it to him, crushing my broken arm through his skull and killing him where he stood.

Aravor kindly fixed my arm with his magic and it was better then new. We took the hermit Dalb and went back to our campsite and rested up. The next day we finally entered Weatherstone and searched some of the rooms in the tower found some Kingsguard who had beautiful plate armor so Rosallia and I took one each to replace our broken or just inferior armor. The next room we entered was the King's bedchamber and the skeletal remains of the King layed on the bed with a black sword. Rosallia tried to grab it with her bare hands I stopped her and took Grugnir's scabbard and started easing the sword in but in my haste I slipped and touched the sword with my arm, I felt a small electrical tinge and saw as the King's eyes started glowing. I grabbed the sword of him shouted for Osric who was ready to strike, he decapitated the skeleton only for his wound to start regenerating. During our battle with the King I personally did not do much only helped Osric to grapple the monstrosity for a moment while Aravor struck him with spells and then finally Osric used the King's own sword against him ending him finally at least for now.

As we exited Weatherstone with the sword we noticed that our sun-cannon had disappeared as had Dalb, how the cannon went missing was easy by magical means but to where is the true question...

### Rosallia's Tale

Rossalia Gravenfoot, 3rd analysis of "Weatherstone".

This time we made entrance into the keep, through the Queens chambers. We located a few knick-knacks but of most importance; we have obtained the Mad King's demon slaying blade. We had to kill the Mad Kings undead visage to do it, but Aravor and Osric made it a simple task. Someone did pilfer the Sun Cannon from us. I suspect the supposed hermit Dalb to be involved, he vanished at the same time as the canon and his normal campsite had traces of Many kinds of magics. Including Warp Magics. The Kings Sword however we did discover kills more than just demons, I suspect it is somehow enchanted to kill that which is beyond the mundane as a whole; rather than solely demons. I will need to return with Otilar to search for her canon, and perhaps see if Valdenar will accompany us to wield the blade of the Mad King against the demon. It is said they are especially strong willed and should be able to handle the blades curse.