A Desperate Finish
Rogar was crushed under the balled fists of the colossus, while Fog-eye's summoned allies fell back into the Wild with cries of anguish. The druid called his final friend, Sinida the Firehawk, which caught Kaylan's eye, but even she was little more than a nuisance to the hounding sibyl. Diana drew from Chaos, calling all manner of bolts and deadly rains, but it wasn't always helpful, and certainly not always logical, when a giant hand of pure force materialized and slapped her in the face (drawing a few stares), another time her efforts conjuring four screeching flying monkeys (leaving even the enemy speechless). Many were lashed with molten chains burst forth from Lysaga's open arms, the dark saint a violent mix of fire and blood, hate and loathing, sometimes chiding and other times overwhelmed with wrath.
Thamior was unafraid, lunging with his sword raised, bolstered by Kaylan's healing lights. Relic laid barrage after barrage on the enemy, ultimately blowing a hole through the serpent sibyl's chest! Still the presence of Lysaga and the colossus, not to mention the bothersome wolf sibyl and eyeless sister, left it unclear who would survive the next few minutes.
Diana guided Portia to the colossus's left breast, where a stone lock kept the lid of its coffin-chest closed. Rogar palmed the mechanism and crushed it, before being struck by the angry golem. Portia cartwheeled and flipped her way up the statue's leg and finished unlocking the lid, despite the harrying hexes of a panicked sister. The boggart pulled hard on the latch, swinging the lid wide and exposing Lysaga's decrepit remains, her anchor in this plane.
Diana's next blast vaporized Lysaga's corpse and sent her screaming back to Hell, torn under by dozens of damned souls. The colossus, bereft of its power source, toppled over, as well, leaving two very unfortunate witches. Fog-eye vengefully tore out the surviving sibyl's throat, while Diana's flying monkeys ripped the blind sister to shreds, paw-full by bloody paw-full.
Resuming Negotiations
Racing to the warded room, the Guardians confronted the Shadow Prophet holding two helpless little girls hostage. A nameless red-headed dumpling whimpered in one hand, while Chiela screamed for her brother in the other. As the group recoiled from the cowardly tactic, Rogar especially perturbed, the warlock demanded a trade: the girls' lives for the Hellheart.
Relic tried a head shot, but the aura around the villain warped, drained and redirected the energy. Kaylan and Fog-eye successfully identified the shadowstuff as a manifestation of the Dark, a magic different than anything they'd ever seen from priest, druid or mage (the Shadow Power Source).
The druid called the Hellheart out into humanoid form, a pale little girl no older than seven whom Fog-eye referred to as Cinell. He tried to illustrate that she was a living, sentient being. He had no true ownership of her, and could not give her to anyone. It didn't seem she wanted to part with the druid, in any case. The prophet disagreed and demanded it one last time.
Relic stepped up then and offered himself in the Heart's place and, though the warlock was intrigued, he declined. Similarly Thamior offered both his tortured souls for the girls' safety, but it wasn't until Kaylan stepped forward as the Heartcaller did the warlock take any real interest. Someone with the ability to attract Hearts would be invaluable, at the very least in claiming the Hellheart another day. He agreed, kicking the redhead out of his swirling shadow aura with a yelp. Kaylan dutifully entered, feeling drained, weak, and old. Thamior insisted going with her, dropping his swords and also being sapped, and it seemed the prophet held all the cards.
As Kaylan and Thamior were about to share a goodbye kiss, and Relic initiate Operation Delta, Diana growled and stepped forward, playing true to her people's ruthless and terrifying politicking, promising the prophet would suffer greatly before he died no matter what he decided to do UNLESS it was to surrender all parties and flee. He was trapped, and if he harmed his hostages there would be nothing stopping them from annihilating him. Her threat may very well have worked, too, if the warlock did not have a means of escaping via another black rattle.
There Will be a Reckoning
As the villain shook the magic infant's toy and a portal began to yawn, several in the group struck in unison! Fog-eye fired the vine of his life, its healthy flesh withering in the shade, but lassoing his little sister none the less and pulling her back out into his arms. Thamior summoned Ten-Thousand Winters into his hands and stabbed, though the prophet spun and drew his own black-bladed sword in time to parry. Kaylan followed suit with a call to Kalinda, but so drained by the Dark her invocation failed to shine much brighter than a candle's flame. He ejected the lovers with a harsh whisper 'Begone' and sent them skidding thirty feet backward!
Lamenting how perfect it might have been to have the Heart ready for the exarch, and how wonderful his rewards, he resigned himself to feed the remaining two fanes and rebirth Triglav without it. He promised a reckoning and vanished through the portal, the vague shape of pine trees discernible through the darkness. The shadow passage winked out of existence, the rattle with it, even as Diana, Relic and Thamior each promised to see him much sooner than he expected...
For Love of Children
Tyty was again reunited with his little sister, and the two fiercely embraced with a steady stream of tears and sobbing. A sniffling Cinell joined them and a strange, new family was born. The druid assured them they were safe, and that they meant so very much to him. Though Chiela was a little shell-shocked at first, she broke out of her state and replied much the same. All the anger, fear and hardship Fog-eye had suffered to this point didn't matter anymore, only this moment, only the well-being of his sisters.
Kaylan found a very different response in store for her, an irate Thamior and Diana, who out of their own love and concern for the priestess demanded to know why she was so willing to sacrifice herself. Holding onto the redheaded child for mutual comfort, Kaylan defended herself, citing the simple fact 'they were children'.
Abandoning the arguments for the younger ones' sakes, Diana performed a coin trick to lighten the mood. Lavendar crawled out of her pack and inspected the two girls, finding something irresistible in Chiela. She took to the girl immediately and helped get her smiling again.
Tina was not so easy to reach. No one had been fighting for her. She didn't have anyone now that her brothers, mother and father were dead. Kaylan took pity on the little, forgotten one and eventually lifted her out of shock through love, combined with Chiela's kindness and Lavendar's novelty. The two were smiling and laughing again within the hour, especially after Chiela guaranteed her big brother would find the evil man Aldric (The Shadow Prophet) and make sure he'd never hurt anyone ever again.
An Offer They Couldn't Refuse
Relic broodingly attended to the ash ritual in the meantime, contemplating the little girl they weren't able to save, Sonja, fed to the mountain fane despite his efforts. Aldric had taken the rattle with him, furthering bothering him, as it left no real trail to follow other than the Vistani link, or so he thought until Rogar spoke up.
The dregoi knew the location of the Forest Fane, where his companions had been slain, but Kaylan was entirely against him going. She was convinced it was all part of some dragon-devised trap, and the two went back and forth citing deception and honor until Thamior stepped in and decided they should accept his offer. Kaylan wasn't finished speaking her mind, however, nor Rogar, and yet more familial insults and chest-thumping ultimately had Thamior and Rogar inches from each others face. Another fight imminent, the dregoi suddenly laughed and decided to enjoy a partnership with worthy warriors, at least for now.
Sibling Rivalry
As if it wasn't combative enough in the room, Tiberius emerged from his belt and warned Cinell that this group was his. The Hellheart had a different opinion and the two bickered until Strangeheart managed to strike a nerve, calling their sister Blackheart the slyest of them all. This only served to anger Cinell, whose pride was as vast as Tiberius' hunger, and she took on a fiendish voice and burning red eyes. Tiberius' stare grew cold and purple and it may have come down to blows had their respective keepers not reeled them in.
Diana and Tiberius went to sample the fallen corpses while the blood was still fresh, while Cinell withdrew into the druid's open arms. It was then he learned that Cinell did eat, but not blood and gore like her brother, rather emotions, seven to be exact, which she was certain the group could provide her in spades.
A Warforged's Promise
The ritual complete, girls and Hearts secure, the party headed back up into the chram and from there the ruined convent. The nightmare was over for now and even Barovia's frigid night held a little hope and beauty in the faintly blue moon which pierced even the cloud cover to offer a cool light. There they rested a spell, some dozing off, others talking quietly, while Relic fulfilled his promise.
The warforged, Diana with him, spent the next hour crawling and blasting, eventually freeing the stranded hill giant Fruga and her dire bear Bli from the wreckage of Bearhead Hall. Once out in the blessed open, Fruga embraced the metal man and gave him a big, wet, saliva-threaded kiss. Similarly, Bli licked Diana hard enough to knock her prone! The witch was free to return to her family in the high hills, young children waiting for her, and despite her size and repulsiveness, she was a mother, and everyone could sympathize. They walked off one way, while the group took the paths down into the valley until they found Old Svalich Road.
Diana made sure to prop Matron Catarina's corpse in a seat overlooking the broken altar before leaving, her show of respect. The evil that had haunted the hill was vanquished, the once-sacred place clear.
Back in the Vine
On the way back to the village, Thamior and Kaylan shared some warm, parental moments with young Tina, bundled against the cold. Fog-eye and Chiela also approached the cleric and thanked her for what she would have done for them. Fog-eye even revealed his real name to her out of sincerity, Tyvis. She promised to keep it to herself, and the two seemed to develop a special bond.
Meanwhile, Diana tried consoling Relic, who was mentally and physically drained, but he couldn't get over the loss of little Sonja. In this instance, 2 out of 3 was unacceptable. They eventually got into a "lovers" quarrel, where in the vampire called him out on having become 'too human'. The words stuck with him the rest of the way, though Diana did offer advice on how to return to the lovable old machine man she once knew, peppered by Rogar's commentary. Relic and Rogar reached an understanding of one another along the way and, though the group did not trust him, he confessed to Relic that he trusted the group. Relic promised they'd warm up to him in time.
Back at the inn, everyone found their rooms and their beds. Portia slept with Selja, looking healthier than ever, Kaylan tucked in Tina and joined Thamior, and Fog-eye wasn't letting his sister out of his sight in their own private room. Some found a peaceful rest, others couldn't find sleep at all...
Epilogue
Note left for Diana
Experience: 1428 xp each (27, 391 total, LEVEL UP 10.5!)
Horror Under the Hill (fane battle), 6500 xp
Completed Quest: Seeking a Sister, 3500 xp
Magic Items: Chiropteran Robes, Ferronière of Forbidden Knowledge, Unusual Magician's Ring
Money: 2000 suns, 1000 moons (285 gp, 142 sp each)
Loot: stone heads of a snarling bear, wolf and snake (Rogar, about 300 lbs.), 6 red garnet gems (Rogar, worth 100 gp each)
New NPCs
Christina "Tina" Belmont, a eight-year-old human girl with freckles and red hair orphaned by the Barovian devil cult; kidnapped by Aldric and meant as a sacrificed; saved by the group and cared for by Kaylan
Hellheart/Cinell, appearing as a seven-year-old girl with porcelain skin and blood-red curly locks, in a poof and lace black dress, she is the model of innocence and manners, unless she's riled, where upon she takes on a more fiendish voice and blazing eyes; kept by Fog-eye and treated as a second sister; feeds on emotion, specifically the seven deadly sins; in gem form is a brilliant red ruby hot to the touch
Aldric the Shadow Prophet, human warlock and leader of the Barovian devil cult (see Shadow Prophet)
Active Quests
- Isabella's Ashes (2/3 complete; group): Attune Izzy's remains to the three Barovian fanes in order to resurrect her.
- Triglav Lives! (group): Prevent the Shadow Prophet from completing his fane rituals and resurrecting the new exarch of Hecate.
- Rising of the Sunsword (group): Uncover what you can about the missing Sunsword and help return day to the lightless realm.
- Seeking a Sister (Fog-eye, group): Save Fog-eye's sister Chiela before she's sacrificed.
Chiropteran Robes
Wrapped in this tattered black cloth, you can briefly transform into a furious, shrieking colony of bats.
Level: 12
Price: 13,000 gp
Armor: Cloth
Enhancement: +3 AC
Power (Daily): Immediate Reaction. Trigger: You take damage from an attack. Effect: You fly 8 squares and become insubstantial until the start of your next turn.
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Ferronière of Forbidden Knowledge
A black jewel rests in the center of your forehead, held by a black velvet cord interwoven with fine, golden chain. Ferronière are often used to hide the marks of syphilis, especially during times of epidemic, but in this instance imparts sharpened wit and additional languages.
Level: 12
Price: 13,000 gp
Item Slot: Head
Property: Gain a +3 item bonus to Bluff and Diplomacy checks.
Property: Understand and speak Infernal and Nors.
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Unusual Magician's Ring
Tricksters and hedge wizards everywhere would give their left hand for one of these famed gold rings, rumored to grant wizardly power. There is an unusual inscription on the inside of the band written in Elven: “Arise!”
Level: 14
Price: 21,000 gp
Item Slot: Ring
Power (At-Will): Standard Action. Use ghost sound as the wizard’s power.
Power (At-Will): Standard Action. Use prestidigitation as the wizard’s power.
Property: Double the ranges of your ghost sound and prestidigitation powers.
Property: If you’ve reached at least one milestone today, double the duration of effects created using this ring.
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