Call Forth Darkness

Please note we're scheduled to play this Saturday, the 2nd. I hope that's good for you folks. As night falls, lit by the burning fortress, and an army of monsters streams across the Tyburn, bound for civilized lands, a slender and familiar figure approaches you. Tiadora bows deeply. "Well done, my lords. I have seen no evidence of an army gathering to meet Sakkarot's horde, so it seems the Seventh Knot has done their job as well. And other bands of creatures are already coming to march under the banner of the Fire-Axe. News of the breaking of the Watch Wall has spread ... surprisingly rapidly." She smiles thinly. "But soon word will reach the south. The Heartland, Ghastenhall, Daveryn, Matharyn, they will all marshal their armies. They will meet Sakkarot's horde in the open, and it will be too close to a fair fight. We will need to do something about that. "Come, my lords. The battle continues, and your ship awaits. And a reward from our benevolent master."

Riss did some looting of his own and found a relatively new pair of boots that actually fit. Never has he held such riches. "The battle will never end, will it?" he asks, following along and tromping a bit to get used to the footwear.

"It is not for me to say," Tiadora says with a cool smile as she leads you once more to the shores of Lake Tarik. There, a large, flat-bottomed river boat waits for you, along with a familiar hulking figure. "Your ... pet insisted on traveling with you," she says with distaste, "and the cardinal suspects he may be useful soon." While Grumblejack doesn't seem thrilled himself by the prospect of another voyage by water, especially one with Tiadora, he's glad to see you again -- and judging by the stains and splatters on his clothes, some still fresh, he was busy during the attack on Balentyne.

Riss seems just as pleased to see Grumblejack, giving the ogre a broad, fangy grin and passing him a bottle of wine he grabbed during the pillaging after he piles into the boat. "I was hoping you survived."

(I will be able to play Saturday.) Natters looks up in horror at Tiadora and begins scrambling for bits and pieces of corpses from the battlefield and shoves them into Grumblejack's arms. "We will need these for the ship trip Grumblejack, week old meat much better than bad boat food, gives Natters the poops." Natters wipes blood from her mouth and climbs up Grumblejack to sit on his shoulder. "Grumblejack is our friend, not a pet. Rude to say, Tiadora."

The barge, Halstyn's Folly, turns out to have a three-person crew, all of whom bear the same glazed look you recall from the slaves at Cardinal Thorn's manor. They do their jobs with quiet efficiency, rather a relief after the hostile Northmen you dealt with on the Frosthamar. The reward Tiadora spoke of turns out to be a small but heavy box that contains about a dozen bars of gold, worth 1,000 gp in total. Accompanying them is a note: Well done. Our lord is pleased with your progress. Use this as needed. -- A. T. The Folly heads westward along Lake Tarik, slowly but without stopping. Unfortunately, the boat only has a single cabin, which Tiadora has already claimed, and the cold winds sweeping across the lake from the north make the journey sometimes uncomfortable. Once you pass from the lake into the more sheltered river course, it becomes easier. For twelve days you pass through the river lands, beneath the other fortresses of the Watch Wall and past small river towns. Occasionally you glimpse the bright colors of war-banners heading east. The folk of the Heartlands are already rising against the threat of the Fire-Axe. On the evening of the twelfth day, Tiadora approaches you along the deck. "If you will accompany me, my lords. Our master wishes to speak with you." She gestures toward the cabin. Entering, you find that the barge has acquired another passenger. Cardinal Adrastus Thorn greets you with a fierce smile.

"You have served me faithfully, my ninth knot. Thanks to your efforts, Sakkarot Fire-Axe now writes his name in blood across the Borderlands." With a thin finger, the Cardinal indicates three spots on a map. "While you have traveled, the barbarian horde has destroyed the villages of Ambryl and Tarrington Fields, and smashed the fortress of Lorringsgate. Do not think I have forgotten your part in making these triumphs possible. "But Talingarde has not yet acquiesced to our unholy master or tasted the full measure of our vengeance. So it is time to take the next step." The cardinal's finger traces across the map. "Tomorrow, you will dock in Farholde, the northernmost town in the kingdom. It is a place of no real importance. Its lord has already left for the war. What matters is -- here." The cardinal's bald head gleams in the lamplight as he bends over the map, indicating a great patch of green on the map. "Here, the Caer Bryr. Hidden within this forest, close by to Farholde, is the Horn of Abaddon, a fortress temple once occupied by a death cult called the Sons of the Horseman. They were turned out and exterminated by Markadian I the Victor about eighty years ago. No great loss. "But the Horn of Abaddon was also the home of a daemon prince called Vetra-Kali Eats-the-Eyes. He, too, was banished by Markadian I, and the Victor had his priests create a silver seal to block the daemon from returning to this world. For Vetra-Kali was mighty in the service of the Oinodaemon, the Lord of Pestilence, and he had created a plague so lethal that it could bring Talingarde to its knees. "This plague, called the Tears of Achlys, is the weapon I need in our war against Talingarde. It is not enough to threaten the bodies of the people with war; we must destroy their faith as well. I have agents in every major city in the kingdom now, and once you bring me the Tears, I can ensure the plague spreads through every part of Talingarde. And not even the prayers of the most pious Mitran priest will suffice against it. "This, then, is the task I set before you. Find the Horn. Break the seal. And bring me the Tears of Achlys!" Cardinal Thorn's eye sockets are filled with shadows in the dim light, but his black eyes blaze like tiny flames in the depths. Dramatic stuff, eh? We will pick up tomorrow evening with further details and any questions you might have for the cardinal.

[I can play on the second.] Tek, silent until now, responds,"Ah... That sounds pleasingly devastating... I was hoping for a more straight forward mission after all of that sabotage involved in the last. Thank you, Cardinal. We shall bring Mitra to his(/her?) knees and make him(/her) watch as his(/her), followers, and loyalty crumbles into nothing. Asmodeus himself will be filled with pride after seeing what the ninth knot can do!" As Tek says this he shows more emotion than he has in most of the time you have known him.

(I can play tomorrow, too!) Vinha simply nods.

(Riss spends 50g on a healing potion and 10g on some nice clothes) <a href="https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/1906095/in-game-purchases" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/1906095/in-game-purchases</a>