~ SESSION 14 > SESSION 15 – (BRIEF RECAP) ~
Welcome back my friends!
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We started last session with Ebrin stood at the gate to the domain of the spirit world, and although he had no idea as to where he was, he began to piece together his situation and location very quickly.
As he held out his hands in front of him, he could see that he was hollow now, a ghostly figure of himself… This was Ebrin, in his spiritual form.
He understood that he was dead, but didn’t have a clue as to how became such a way.
Atop the broken stone stairs in front of him, loomed a large enrobed figure, seemingly floating in the darkness ahead without purpose, and with nothing to see on him other than a long black hooded robe, with small glowing blue flames peeking out from where the eye sockets would be on a human face, and a very long and vicious looking silver bladed scythe, which was held in one hand.
As Ebrin closed the distance, he could see that It was non-other than the lord of the realm… It was Death itself… In the guise of the grim reaper.
Ebrin spoke with Death, enquiring after his allies, King Leoric, and the two lost princes… Albrecht and Aiden.
A pointless endeavor as those who return to the living, have no recollection of the events that happen in Death’s domain, and so cannot take information back with them in their waking life.
Eventually he decided to cross the reapers palm with a rare silver token, that Ebrin had only just noticed that he had on him.
This act of giving up a part of Ebrin himself, empowered the reaper of souls, and the blue firely glow of his eyes suddenly burned brighter, the robe he wore flung open slightly down to the waistline, as power was absorbed into the creatures body, and a long thick metal chain with a hourglass attached to it, filled with a mysetrious glowing liquid, could then be seen around the reapers neck, swinging too and fro.
When the deal was finally made, Ebrin took one step through the glowing portal that appeared behind Death, and he stepped back onto the earthly floor that was Sanctuary.
Stepping through fully, the portal closed behind him, and Ebrin rejoined his spirit with his body, as neither could last without the other, for too long.
Ebrin awakened on the floor of the graveyard, and stood up.
Every inch of his body ached immensely, but as he checked himself over, he saw that all of the injuries that he had suffered in battle previously, were now gone… Along with his Sanctified Blade.
Snapping his fingers suddenly, he called his sword back to him, which is a neat little trick for any Eldritch Knight to have.
Slowly, Ebrin made his way back to the Tavern of the Rising Sun, to see the rest of his party.
Meanwhile…
The following morning had soon arrived, and Levi, Fulgrim, and Lyra, were each spending thier morning meals in solemn silence, as they reflected on Ebrin’s death.
A bittersweet victory was won over the Skeleton King the day before, but the ultimate price was paid to ensure that victory.
Fulgrim noticed that Levi looked a little panicked all of a sudden, and eventually broke the long silence, and asked him what was wrong, other than the obvious, to which Levi responded that the sword he had taken from Ebrin, was now missing, as if it had been removed by a mysterious force from his inventory.
Levi then spoke at length with Fulgrim and Lyra, about how Ebrin’s body was no longer there in the cathedral graveyard, when he went back with Griswold to bury his comrade in arms.
Levi also claimed to both Lyra and Fulgrim that IF they were to ever see Ebrin again, that it wouldn’t be him as they knew him, but some form of twisted undead servant of darkness instead, and that they were to destroy the body on sight.
Just as Levi finished saying what he did, and the others agreed to his words, Ebrin stepped through the doorway to the Tavern.
At once, all three of their jaws dropped, as the party couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
Grabbing his bow and knocking an arrow into the cord, Levi stated “You’re DEAD! – I saw you DIE!”… and he threatened to shoot Ebrin, should he not prove who he appeared to be.
However, what Ebrin spoke of next, proved his identity, and when content with the proof given, Levi lowered his bow, and embraced Ebrin with a big hug.
Ebrin moved to Lyra and kissed her on the forehead, and patted Fulgrim on the back, and asked where Arthas was, but of course, he was not there… Not dead, or so they knew, but not present either.
It was after all a BIG day for both Ebrin and Arthas, to take on their former leige… and win the fight, which in turn secured the lives of many innocent people across Khanduras, and Sanctuary as a whole was safer now.
All four of them sat around the breakfast table, and had light conversation as they tucked into some much needed food, especially in Ebrins case, he was absolutely famished.
Levi, at a moment he felt he should, showed Ebrin the golden crown of the Undead King, which once rested atop Leoric’s head.
Whilst they all discussed thier next course of action, Levi placed it onto Ebrin’s head, and said… “I think YOU should have this my friend!”
A gift from Levi, that Ebrin was a little unsure of at first, but soon grew to like the idea, and wore the crown with respect and dignity, that befitted a once beloved king.
When they were all finally prepared and ready to move on, each of them said farewell to Ogden over by the bar area, they then headed back to the cathedral, and took the stairs down to the Leoric’s tomb.
However, when they entered into the burial chamber of the vanquished king, as they started to look around and investigate the area, a mysterious force drived them all back and out of the tomb entirely.
So instead, the party moved to floor four again, and encountered Gharbad once more.
This time, Gharbad turned hostile and assaulted the party with a magical axe he held onto, but he was quickly cut down in his lust for blood and power.
Moving on from Gharbad’s workshop, the party turned the corner and there it was….. THE BOX!!
Last time, the Levi and Ebrin tried hard to open it up, and failed dismally, however, this time, through yet more trial and error – (Much to the disatisfaction of Lyra and Fulgrim) – the pair of them finally broke it open.
Inside the crate itself was a large urn, or pot… made from painted clay.
Levi reached for it and triggered a trap that was placed near to the object.
At once, the urn broke into several pieces, and a large acid nova engulfed the area, that only a couple of the party members avoided.
For everyone else, they could feel the fast acting acid on their body, and heard it sizzling away as it ate its way through their equipment, weakening it severely, before drying out and becoming non-costic.
Quickly moving on, after a colossal waste of everyones time, Ebrin suggested that they try to find Jack, and so the party agreed and headed to where they saw him last… (A few days ago)
Of course, when they arrived back in the room where they left Jack recovering, he was no longer there, but, in his place was a set of magical unidentified ring mail, that was quickly scooped up.
Moving on, the party then decided it was time to go and face Snotspill once more, and without the “magic banner” in their possession now, he wouldn’t be too happy with them most liekly.
Sure enough, as they approached the little blue skinned demon creature, he ordered the attack, but as he done so, Fulgrim launched his own Shatter Spell attack, which killed a handful of Snotspills underlings instantly.
The battle itself was short, even though the party were outnumbered 3 to 1, Snotspill and his lackeys were no real danger to the party, what with their recent battles giving them insight, power, and a huge confidence boost in their ability to crush all evil.
Fulgrim though, at one stage of the fight, did have a power overload, and centered his wild magic onto the party, detonating a fireball on top of them, and the enemy… Dousing them all in deadly flames.
Recovering from the sudden uncontrolled blast, the party took care fo Snotspill and his minions, and when the fight and searching was over, they took the once guarded stairs, down to the unknown of the next floor.
During the decent, the party noticed that the carefully chissled stone steps they had gotten used to travelling down, slowly became entwined with broken slabs of rock and dirt, which eventually stopped entirely and became purely a dirt covered slope.
Stepping out from the slope, into the room below, there were clear differences to be seen, as the party had enetered into the first floor of the catacombs situated below the cathedral halls and crypts above them.
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The Present Scene:
The party have stepped out into a new room, with new sights to see.
The area was deadly quiet, darker and more foreboding than before.
The air felt thicker, heavier, and colder, making it tough to breathe sometimes.
The walls glistened with a plantlike-dewy substance which was reflecting the nearby torchlight, several patches of climbing green and brown moss were visible, formed along the edges and cracks in the rocks.
Tiny clusters of mushrooms were seen growing out of the moss patches closest to the ground, and they released minute sized spores into the air, which made the area smell musty and damp.
There were natural roots that lined the walls in many places, and they seemed to stretch from the floor to the celing, or vice versa… Their sources unknown.
Small puddles had been able to form in areas on the un-even ground, with tiny streams of water leading to them, also from unknown underground sources.
The party took in their surroundings, and decided that the area would be well enough defended to allow them to take a short rest, before moving on.
So join me friends in this session of…. Adventure in Sanctuary!
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