Still playin', still online. Here's last time.
So! Our merry band of unholy assassins have been in the Freehold of Nar for the past several weeks. Mayfly decided it needed a way to stop people doing bad things, and wound up talking to a dwarf who was an Abjurer and following that path. Veni continues his tradition of being a mostly self-taught Wizard (and now Traveler). Genevieve receives more clandestine instruction from the Cracked Glass and is now an Executioner, and Dagmar gets back to their roots as an Engineer, creating an Eidolon named Skadi. Bashir gets into roots in a very different way, meditating on the nature of an oak tree contained in an acorn and how his essence might similarly become a tree (so he's a Woodwose).
But the main thing, here, is the fifth stronghold, the one haunted by...something, probably involving Crusius. The characters are escorted to the entrance by a contingent of dwarves, and enter what was once the main hall of the stronghold. They don't find much there - some skeletons, some debris, but they do find a door leading off into the main floor, which Dagmar tells them probably leads to the kitchens and barracks. Dagmar also says that the rich people and the rulers would have lived
upstairs, but the forges and living quarters for normal folks who be
downstairs. Dagmar mentions Crusius' name, and a low, lonely moan echoes from the walls. A shiver runs through the characters' minds, and Dagmar says not to mention the name again, which Veni promptly does, and feels the shiver himself. Mayfly enters its state of divine ecstasy and feels that Crusius is not upstairs, and Veni says that's good enough for him.
And indeed, they enter the main kitchen, and see someone sitting by the long-cold fireplace. The whole room smells of rot, and Veni figures this might be something dangerous. Bashir quickly identifies it as a harmful fungus, and tells them not to touch it, so Genevieve and Veni promptly go over to it, and it lashes out with poison filaments. The fauns aren't harmed too much, however, and Veni sets the thing on fire with a spell. Bashir tells them they really should listen to him about plant-things.
The party proceeds and they find the barracks. No bodies here - of course, the barracks emptied out when the threat appeared - but they loot the soldiers' trunks and come up with some money and assorted treasures (Dagmar is not happy with this desecration of their peoples' things, but decides that on the scale of things it's not worthy making an issue out of).
The only way off this floor seems to be the main staircase. Mayfly had said earlier that Crusius was downstairs, but Genevieve notes that the really valuable stuff is likely to be up the stairs. The party argues for a while, and finally Genevieve and Veni decide to go up while the other three go down.
The fauns head upstairs and find a library, parlors, and bedchambers for rich folks, but everything of value is already rotted or gone. The books are useless and yellowed, and the carpets are moth eaten. They do see a mirror in one of the bedchambers with a weird lump in front of it. Approaching it, the lump - a big blob of slime - opens one red eye and starts oozing toward them. They're initially unsure of its intentions, but then it smacks Genevieve with its pseudopods and burns her with acid. She screams, and from downstairs, the other three head up (though somewhat reluctantly; Bashir in particular isn't really interested).
The creature lashes out at Veni, but he teleports out of the room and casts a spell on his sister making her temporarily invulnerable. Horribly, they see three more of these things oozing from other bedrooms, but manage to avoid further harm until the others arrive. Bashir hits one with an acorn and Dagmar has Skadi yeet it down a hallway (whereupon Bashir smooshes it with his maul), Veni teleports one into a wall, and Genevieve stabs the hell out of one with her daggers. The threat over, the fauns get a "told you so" from the others, which they promptly ignore, and everyone heads downstairs.
The next floor down (living quarters, remember) opens into a front room which is oddly barren. The characters notice footprints in the dirt, though, huge footprints with too many toes. Veni guesses them to be the prints of an ogre, and ogres are notoriously unconcerned with what they eat (which might explain the emptiness of the room). While the fauns think maybe that they could recruit the ogre, the others decide it's not worth the risk and insist on heading down.
Next floor down: The forges. Many, many skeletons lie strewn around here. The forges are cold, but tools still adorn them. Veni feels a magical presence, maybe a ghost, but also notes magical residue on Genevieve. It feels like Divination magic, as though someone was looking for her. Genevieve had a run-in with a witch named C'ness back in her village, and wonders if she might be near.
In the meanwhile, Dagmar finds a hidden door leading to a smaller staircase, and the characters try that, figuring it looks pretty secret. They come to an antechamber with a huge door, in the middle of which is a lock shaped like a humanoid figure, about the size of Mayfly. Mayfly gleefully jumps in and turns, opening the door, and letting them into a room of black stone with a shallow pit in the middle. Skeletons of dwarves lie nearby, and the characters surmise that this was where Crusius was summoned.
And indeed, the demon rises up from the pit, fingers of obsidian and clad in shadows. He takes a step forward, intending to leave, but Mayfly casts Dawn and lights up the room. Genevieve stabs at him, and Dagmar has Skadi punch him, but the demon claws at Mayfly and Genevieve and then stares at Dagmar. Dagmar feels hate for Genevieve rise up, and rushes toward her with their warhammer.
Bashir, speaking of hammers, enchants his maul. Veni throws a glyphic prison on the demon, which burns it, and then Bashir crushes its head. Crusius falls and folds in on itself. Dagmar feels the hate leave them, but follows through on the strike - but misses.
The characters search the room and determine that the dwarves that summoned Crusius initially might have done so without quite understanding what they were doing ("so they were idiots," mutters Veni). The party again disagrees about what to do; the fauns want to go poke around a bit more, while the other figure they should go report back to the dwarves and get the place cleaned out.
Veni and Genevieve go back to the forge and look around, eventually picking up a tool that awakens a ghost. It introduces itself as Hrul, the Forge Master, and thanks them for destroying Crusius, but Genevieve is the only one of the two of them that speaks Dwarvish and, as is typical, she doesn't understand why talking about something other than her and her accomplishments might be productive (and, likewise, doesn't understand why people are horrified to hear her brag about killing Queen Moira).
Veni, meanwhile, notices someone behind them, lurking in the shadows. He calls this mysterious woman out, and she vanishes into a ball of green fire. Veni knows a witch when he sees one, and the fire zips over and burns Genevieve, who tries to stab it (but, y'know, it's fire). Veni zeroes in on the invisible witch and casts Fuse, joining her with the wall. She tries one final curse, but Genevieve puts a bolt in her head, killing her.
Hrul is disgusted by their brutality and says as much, and fades away. The fauns poke around a bit and find a bit more money. Outside, the others report to the dwarves, and Dagmar tells them to go ahead and arrest the fauns. The fauns, of course, are not so easily captured, not when one of them can teleport.
Next time, we'll see what happens to the now-split party. And has the world been saved, now that Crusius is dead?
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