~ SESSION 2 > SESSION 3 – (BRIEF RECAP) ~
Welcome back my friends:
When last we met the brave party of three had fought their way through the first of the upper floors of the cathedral, and in doing so ended up in a small library of sorts.
Here, they felled a group of Zombies that were feasting on the body of a slain monk, that danger unknown was visiting Tristram at the time of the darkening.
The party made a brief search of the room, and the bodies that lay within, and then headed back out the door they came through, to backtrack a little.
Dorian and Lyra soon discovered a small fenced off storage area, which contained barrels of food and wine, although by now the food was beginning to reach a point of turning bad, and gave off a sour odour which crept through the room.
As well as the barrels, Cornan caught up with the other two and noticed that there was a closed chest off to one side of the storage area.
Of course, he got those Roguish urges, and managed to pop the lid open… after a couple of attempts.
Collecting their new found loot, the three of them headed out the room, and around the corner, back tracking to a room they ignored previously, situated to one side of the entrance hall.
Dorian tried his hand at hitting the locked door with his axe, to force it open, but he had no luck as the door was built of a sturdy material, and braced heavily with studded metal strips on both sides… and so Cornan once more stepped up, and got the job done.
The door swung open to reveal a small lavishly decorated room, which felt much like an office of sorts.
Instantly, after they all stepped through the doorway, Lyra searched a nearby bookshelf that she noticed for any tomes or scrolls, Cornan found another chest hidden over in one corner, and cleverly averted a trap from going off by disarming it with great skill, whilst Dorian searched the main desk and other furnishings he found there.
Once their business was done, they moved to exit the room, and noticed a picture on the wall they never noticed before, it was that of a Demon wreathed in flames, stood behind a noble knightly figure… but trying as hard as they could, neither Cornan or Dorian could think of what the picture was of, only that it was of a past event in the world of Sanctuary.
The party left the room and headed back to the small library, with their new loot in their packs, and took a second door – one that led them into an adjoining room, which had several beds and sadly more slain monks.
Searching this room – led them to a door on the furthest wall, which was opened up by Dorian, and he stepped through it.
The connecting hallway was guarded, and as Dorian stepped out, he was unknowingly attacked by three Skeletal Archers.
Combat followed, but was short lived as the party managed to close ranks on the Skeletons quickly, and efficiently, and cut them all down before taking too much damage from the arrows.
With the battle over, there was time for a quick search once more, before heading around the corner and down a new set of steps which would lead them all to the second floor of the Cathedral, where stone tombs were kept, along with many other things.
The party were soon stood at the bottom of the stairs, and decided that here they would take a moment for some respite to heal some of their fresh wounds, and regain what mana they had expended on healing along the upper path to here.
Once ready to move, and no sooner had they walked about 20/30 ft ahead down the passage, they saw two wretched looking beast creatures chewing on the flesh of a fallen townsman off to one side of the larger room they had entered – and decided to attack the two beasts immediately.
Working together as a team, they took both of the hell-beasts down very quickly.
Once more, the area was searched, and the party gathered their new found loot and pressed onward.
However, this time, Cornan strayed a little too far ahead, and trouble found him in the form of a group of Skeletal fighters, led by a Skeleton Captain.
Almost immediately, Cornan was surrounded and cut down by the skeletal group coming into contact with him.
Then Dorian was targeted, and he too fell in combat, which left Lyra as the last party member standing.
Unfazed, she released several magic missiles into these boney pests, and managed to kill the Captain, and severely injure another two of the minions. She also carefully and methodically headed over to heal Dorian, which helped greatly in her survival, as when he revived, he stood up and with a mighty swing of his axe, took down another of the Skeletons with one deadly blow.
Cornan was still on the floor, fighting for his life, as the combat continued on.
Bit by bit Lyra and Dorian mopped up the remaining Skeletons, and the fight was soon over, but Cornan was on the edge of his mortal coil, clinging barely to his life.
With a final push to revive himself, Cornan fought off the icy touch of death that was tightening its grip around him, by the second.
He managed it with the aid of Lyra, as she frantically bandaged some of his wounds to slow the bleeding a little, it was enough to help Cornan recover, and awaken once more – to a very relieved Lyra.
Once the party were fit enough to walk, they decided a quick search of the monsters could reveal something useful, which it did not, and as this was the case, they all decided to head out of the Cathedral, and go back into Tristram, rather than push their luck.
Cautiously, they all traveled the darkened halls back to the town above.
Once back in town, they all sought out trade instantly with Griswold and Pepin, where they sold their hard earned loot gained inside the Cathedral.
Pepin took a moment to inform Cornan as he healed him using a poultice, of the plight the town was facing, which was the water in the well had turned stagnant and brackish, and he asked Cornan to find the source of the water somewhere down a passage inside the Cathedral on the second floor, and find the corruption there and purify the water again if possible.
Of course, Cornan agreed, thanked Pepin for his services, and went to join the others at the Tavern, where they all rented a room each, and had a good long day of rest.
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We rejoin the party at the end of their day off from slaying monsters, and just as they prepare to descend once more into the darkened depths of the Cathedral.
It’s here where we begin our next session of … Adventure in Sanctuary.
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