The Shackled City

17 Flocktime, 592 CY (Continued)

After looting the corpses of the fallen (and dusted) aggressors, Karamus moved to listen at each of the exits leading from the grand hall. Hearing nothing at either, the group decided to explore the high altar, which was behind a massive set of locked doors. The chamber beyond contained two beautifully sculpted pillars, which framed a massive onyx altar encrusted with runes and elaborate magical glyphs. The jet black walls had been painted with images sacred to Wee Jas: stylized sarcophagi, obscure magical symbols, and other religious imagery. Two massive tapestries covered the wall directly behind the altar, giving those standing to the west an impressive view of the altar and its imagery of the death goddess. A single door sat in the corner of the room to the southeast.

Beyond this door was a hallway that led to a series of other chambers, mostly simple priests’ quarters. Opposite these rooms was a sort of ritual chamber separated in two by a thick curtain. The body of a young man who looked vaguely familiar to Kort lay in state upon a low table in the room’s center. They left the body and the area behind the altar and moved back into the grand hall.

Beyond the other door exiting the main chamber was a small stairwell winding upwards, as well as a lavish bedchamber, likely for one of the upper priests. Searching the desk revealed a sack filled with platinum coins and a couple of items that Karamus shoved into the bag of holding after Jarvyk agreed that any valuables and coinage were likely to be used for nefarious purposes, such as hiring more assassins to come after the company. This accomplished, they ascended the stairs until they came to a door on the inner wall of the stairs. Above, they could see a small landing and another door that appeared to lead back into the main structure of the cathedral. They decided to investigate the inner door first.

Within they found an even nicer bedchamber, likely that of the high priestess (Embril Aloustinai, Bransen provided). A desk here contained a fair amount of paperwork that outlined the day-to-day activities of the Cathedral’s faithful. Karamus’ careful search revealed a false bottom in one of the drawers. The hidden compartment underneath held three potions and a small sheaf of letters exchanged between Embril and a Cagewright named F. Abradius. All but one of the letters were brief reports that alluded to a continuing and taxing search for something unnamed. Each letter concluded that all remained on schedule, but that the final answers still eluded the searcher.

One of the letters went into far more detail than the others:

High Priestess,

As many have heard me say, the cages alone will not afford the completion of the ritual. The Cagewrights have built a matrix on which to support them, but due to the shortsightedness of the others, I have been left out of these discussions. You are my only ally amongst the Thirteen now. You must warn them that there is more hidden in the Soul Pillars that could prove of great import to their plans. What more is needed I cannot say, and so I continue to explore the mysteries of the Soul Pillars at great peril. Vittriss Bale grows ever more zestless, and the insanity that lies frozen in Karran-Kural begins to stir. Yet I shall remain here until the end, in hope of unveiling the last of the weavers’ hidden lore. Still, the risk is great. My price has doubled.

F. Abradius

Ashton recognized the name Vittriss Bale as that of an ancient and powerful green dragon that had allied with the creators of a place called Karran-Kural (a name which had appeared in his necromantic research over the last few days), who promised him eternal life in return for his service as a guardian. Vittriss Bale had entered Karran-Kural and was never heard from again. Apparently, the great green still lived. Even more alarming was the implication that the high priestess of the most powerful church in Cauldron was at least in league with the Cagewrights if not a member herself. They took the letter and decided to look further into it later. They then proceeded up the stairs to the landing.

Karamus actually heard movement from beyond this final door, and he intimated as much to the rest of the group. He picked the lock within a few seconds, and a few preparatory spells were cast before Jarvyk opened the door and moved inside and up the stairs that lead to the floor of a vaulted chamber with a ceiling that rose over fifty feet. A low dais commanded the center of the room, and a strange silvery-gray cage hung down from the ceiling above. No sooner had he reached the top of the stairs than a sinister, spectral figure robed in darkness glided across the room towards him. It had no visible features or appendages, except for the glowing red pinpoints of its eyes, and it reached out with shadowy claws to grasp at him. However, the Lord of the Twin Axes watches after his own, and the creature could not deliver on its attack.

Ashton and Karamus ascended next, stopping to cast spells (the cansin from a wand) at the dread wraith. Before Greyjek and his conjured astral construct could move in to engage the enemy, a column of holy flame descended upon the three already on the stairs. Karamus was able to avoid the burning magic, and the Phoenix Heart protected Ashton to some degree, but it was still a painful experience. Upon casting this spell, the creator of the flame strike appeared near the ceiling taking cover behind the strange cage, with three extra images confounding his exact location. He was a large nosed human with shoulder length brown hair underneath a maroon skullcap. He wore full plate armor, carried a light steel shield, and kept a bastard sword sheathed at his hip. An intricate holy symbol of Wee Jas hung around his neck, and a scroll was stuck through his belt. Ike Iverson, second in command of the Cathedral of Wee Jas in Cauldron.

Greyjek and his construct moved in to threaten the wraith, Greyjek using his mind to disintegrate part of the creature’s incorporeal form, the ectoplasmic ally smashing at it with its fists. Kort and Bransen entered last, moving to engage the visible threats. Then, while everyone was distracted by the wraith, the gray render zombies shambled forward to attack. They moved gracelessly, but they hit hard. Jarvyk opted to retreat to the door, pulling a potion on his way. Kort and the construct engaged the nearest zombies while Ashton flew up on the wings of a spell (taking a clumsy blow from one of the zombies as he did so) and launched a dispel magic at the priest. His efforts were thwarted by the ring of counterspells worn by the servant of Wee Jas, who sneered as the ring glowed. With barely a breath, the man cast divine favor and then charged across the room to slam the necromancer with his heavily enchanted bastard sword.

The situation was grim, but Kort and Greyjek’s construct held off the zombies while Bransen simultaneously healed his allies and assaulted the undead with a curative spell. Karamus nimbly tumbled to a position behind the zombies and cast more spells from scrolls. Then a bone devil joined the fight, erecting a wall of ice near the stairs that hindered movement. It was engaged by the Greyjek’s ectoplasmic servant, which had finished off the wraith. Jarvyk rejoined the fight and helped Kort with the zombies. Ashton’s second attempt to dispel the cleric met with the vanishing of one of the illusory images. He cursed and took another pair of sword slashes, one of which threatened to paralyze his mind. He shook it off and fled through the door, shutting it behind him. He spent a few moments quaffing healing potions before rejoining the fight.

His target stolen, Iverson turned to Bransen, who had injured his zombie servitors. He dashed down and reached out with his hand, which glowed with unholy energy. He contacted Bransen’s flesh and the hateful spell lashed out, threatening to snuff the young man’s very life. But fate had other plans for Bransen Jacoby, and he fought the worst of the effects, suffering only a little pain. Karamus, seeing Bransen in trouble moved over to line up a shot with the crown of blasting they’d recovered from the naga near Pearlglen. The blast struck true, burning Iverson with searing flames. It was a brave act, and it would prove to be the cansin’s last on Oerth. The cleric of Wee Jas reached out his hand in Karamus’ direction and called for the man’s destruction. The Veiled Lady complied with her servant’s request, and even Bransen’s attempt to divert the rogue’s grim fate could not subvert her will in this holy place. In the space between seconds, Karamus Invinious ceased to be. His empty armor fell to the floor of the hall with a dull echo.

Greyjek continued too try to assault the cleric psychically, and he made a little bit of progress. Bransen moved up to heal Jarvyk and Kort, who’d been taking a severe beating from the zombies and then the bone devil, which had gotten away from the construct. Iverson was entangled by a globule of entangling ectoplasm that the elan had launched from his dorje, but he still managed to get a mass inflict wounds spell off on everyone in the area. Interestingly, the action seemed to heal some of the wounds he’d sustained. Another quickened spell failed due to the gooey ectoplasm that slowed his movements. More spells and powers injured the priest quite seriously, but then he cast a harm spell, which healed every one of his injuries. He followed it up with a righteous might which increased his size. Jarvyk quaffed a potion of enlarge to counter, and the two large creatures dueled while the others worked to hamper Iverson’s efforts. Ashton cast fly upon Kort so that he could join the aerial melee, and Greywhisker’s Razor opened a serious gash in the cleric’s flank. It was a battle of attrition, and the Silver Phoenixes were up to the task. The dwarves blades set to their work with a vengeance, and Jarvyk’s was the final blade stroke that brought the orchestrator of their attempted assassination down.

In the aftermath of the vicious combat, Bransen healed what wounds he could with the little magic he had left in him, Kort solemnly gathered up Karamus’ belongings, and the others pondered the significance of the strange cage that hung from the ceiling and the meaning of the letter they’d found in Embril’s room. They took Iverson’s belongings, brought the cage down, and removed everything to the Silver Phoenix house for further inspection.

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