session 33

The Battle Continues¶

As Zerrenia’s mocking words echoed through the cavern, we knew we had little time to react. The fight against Sarath was already fierce, but with the gate slowly opening, each moment was critical. We had to stop the ritual.

Sarath, a towering Sil cleric with scales that shimmered ominously in the dim light, commanded his forces with malevolent authority. The battlefield was chaotic, with our party spread thin and our resources nearly depleted.

Soon a new threat emerged. Sand Spiders, massive creatures with chitinous exoskeletons, skittered out from the shadows. Their legs moved with unnerving speed, and their venomous bites promised a quick and painful end. If that wasn’t bad enough, from the where they lay in their own pools of blood the dead acolytes rose as zombies and proceeded to attack us!

Gloopwing, our Psi Warrior, charged forward, meeting the spiders head-on. Her fiery blade cut through their armored bodies, but the battle was grueling. Gwenzahlya, standing beside her, cast protective spells, shielding us from the worst of the spiders’ attacks.

Ryalith, ever the strategist, directed our efforts to contain the gate. Each time it grew larger, more creatures threatened to emerge. Eyes glowing with psionic energy, the Awakened Cultists tried to hold us back. Their mental assaults were relentless, but we fought through the pain, determined to close the gate.

Stigs, perched from his sniper position, took a deep breath and aimed carefully. His bullet flew true, striking Sarath with a critical hit. The high priest staggered but quickly recovered, his regenerative powers already mending the wound. Stigs unleashed another shot, this one fatal. Sarath fell, his eyes wide with disbelief, as the aura from the gate dissipated.

The death of Sarath sent a shockwave through his minions. The zombie acolytes faltered and fell. The remaining Sil fled, while the Mindrot Thralls, grotesque beings with fungal growths erupting from their bodies, and the sand spiders fought on. The threat was far from over.

In the midst of this chaos, Zerrenia and her companions descended into the fray. Zerrenia, with her trademark arrogance, berated us even as she cast powerful spells to aid in the fight. Her Soulknife Rogue companion moved with deadly precision, and the roars of Gronk, the Zealot Barbarian, echoed through the cavern as he cleaved through our enemies.

Despite her condescension, Zerrenia’s presence shifted the tide of battle. With her help, we managed to hold back the thralls of the ancient ones. The gate had been closed, the immanent threat abated. Plus, we had captured a fleeing Sil warrior. Perhaps he could provide us answers as to what had been the aim of the gate, and to where it led.

The warrior initially proved reticent to tell us anything. Ryalith and Gronk set to physically coercing him, until Gwenzhalya stepped in to put a stop to the torture. She managed to get him talking though he seemed to know very little. Sarath had been working with “the ancient ones” to open a gate to Ermis, whereupon further legions of enemies would march on the land. There was also more than one gate, though the Sil did not know their whereabouts. Thus it was unclear whether we had really done enough to stop an invasion, or had merely weakened it.

We asked where these ancient ones and their forces were, but the Sil could only answer “from beyond – they are not of Ermis.” Eventually we bound him and let him be while we confronted Zerrenia, wary of her true intentions. She smirked, brushing off our questions with cryptic answers. We knew she was hiding something, but for now, her aid had been invaluable.

Zerrenia promised to analyze the gate sigil and wards, and compare it to both the Astronomicon, which she had someone (re)acquired, and a book Sarath had been using — the Arcana Itinerum. At this point we were all extremely tired, and took a much needed rest.

Gwen surreptitiously untied the captured Sil and let him go. He promised to melt into the desert and breathe no word of them. His parting advice was “do not go deeper into the abyss of the Krazak Thaar – it is no place for the living. It is not meant to be disturbed.” With that he stepped into the transport circle and ascended the tunnel back towards the lab and the temple.