Session 07/28

Baron, beaten, blinded, and sentenced to death lay in a cell deep within the Hellknight compound anxiously awaiting his fate.

The rest of our band arranged a hasty meeting with Tamel. It was as if she was well aware of the dire situation before we could discuss it. She had relayed an urgent message to summon Coric in hopes of formulating a plan to rescue Baron. Time was short, luckily Coric was able to attend the meeting though more than a little concerned about being pulled away from his Hellknight duties. Indeed his loyalty to the Tempest Knight cause or at least to Tamel is strong.

Coric was quickly informed of the tenuous circumstances and it did not take long form him to devise a plan. Indeed he’s a natural leader and also a very pragmatic soldier. He asked us all to carefully consider what course of action was best to take. A breakout attempt was possible but very risky. Would it be worthwhile to risk the lives of many to save the one? Ezrick was more than willing to risk his life to save his friend but the others lacked such a personal connection with Baron. The simple math of it pointed toward not attempting the rescue but there is more to this cause than numbers. Such is the way of the Consortium. Let them keep to their penny pinching and profits, our cause is a personal one. Rescuing one of our own if at all possible is a mission worth dying for. It was not an easy choice to make as there was possibly even more to lose than our lives, but unanimously we agreed to attempt the rescue.

Impressively, a Tempest Knight we had never even seen before agreed to join us. Callan Ninmothon, a half-elf was grafted into our cell, since Ikaika would be called away to perform another duty. Little was known of him though. The half-elf had the look of a caster, and a little more arcane firepower would surely be of great benefit. He certainly was a handsome fellow, radiating personal magnetism and charismatic influence, even while just sitting still and observing. Apparently, his cousin in Korvosa was an elf named Daeven Nimnothon whom Tirq considered a strong friend from their previous days adventuring together. Hopefully, this half-elf’s bond with his cousin will translate into Tirq — having a new and mysterious member of the part is somewhat unsettling, especially when we know not of his abilities and compatibility (or not) with the rest of us.

The plan was a simple one in concept. Create a distraction, sneak in, engage minimal retainer forces and extract Baron. Tamel would help in setting up the distraction. We came to know in that moment just what kind of power she is capable of wielding as she presented two vials containing the might of elder water elementals inside! One of Tirq’s followers would drop them in a fountain at the Hellknight compound to draw out the majority of their forces. This would give us a short window of opportunity to sneak up a secret emergency exit into the prison. Ikaika volunteered to seal up the flow of water that normally passed through the passage with his body in elemental form. The rest of us would sneak in, dispatch of whatever guards remained, then find and retrieve Baron. The trickiest part would be doinging it all without the use of magic. The lower prison section of the compound was completely warded by anti magic fields!

This detail was particularly troublesome for our band as ALL of us are accustomed to using the arcane and divine arts in some capacity to accomplish our missions. Like a swordsman forced to duel with his off hand, as well as with with a soggy loaf of bread in place of his sword no less was the feeling amongst the casters. Uncomfortably we raided the available Tempest Knight weapon stores at the church, some of us awkwardly wielding arms and mail for the first time. Callan looked particularly disgusted to have to don armor and wield a crossbow, as if the very essence of weaponry and armor offended him.

With no more time to spare for additional preparation we flew off invisibly toward the secret entrance.

We found the passage easily enough. Ikaika clogged the flow point, and the rest of us flew up the entrance. A short ways down the path, all magic ceased to work. We drew our weapons and cautiously continued down the tunnel. We noticed a carving of a humanoid against the wall. It appeared still, but seemingly alive. Might an alarm of sorts trigger it to come to life? There was little we could do about it now as there was no time to research it further so we continued on. We saw another of the statues a little further down. As we passed by, it sprung to life and attacked! Surprisingly, at least to the rest of us, Callan was able to trip the fearsome creature. Apparently, he either is incredibly lucky or is a strange sort of caster. Tirq and Retla were quick to defend us, but striking at the statue was destroying their weapons. Then a second statue joined the attack. It seemed that we were going to meet our ruin, but with the help of Faust’s alchemist fires we were able to put down the golems.

Further down the tunnel, we came upon a grate that lead into the prison. We tried to open it quietly but it wouldn’t budge, so we resorted to using brute strength! The grate was pried back but doing so made a loud racket. We hoped no one was near enough to hear.

Tirq was the first one through and he was welcomed on the other side by a tremendous slamming from a Hellknight that was hiding above the grate. The rest of us raced through trying to draw fire away from Tirq and aimed to quickly take out the guard before others could be alerted. By the gods who would have thought that one warrior would be such a challenge for all of us! Indeed Hellknights fight like devils. He seemed to rarely miss a shot as he waded through us. We did our best to put him down with the resources we had. Alchemist fires, tanglefoot bags, trips and even acts of intimidation but he just wouldn’t be slowed. Tirq and Retla were taking the worst of it. Near death Tirq chose to fallback to the passage entrance to heal up. He ordered Retla, who also was in dire need of heeling, to accompany him. As they retreated the remaining casters did their best to continue the fight and hold the Hellknight at bay. Bereft of all of our magic, only Faust’s mundane items had any effect. We fought valiantly despite being out of our magical element, but we began to fall, first Callan, then Faust [correct me if I’m wrong guys!]. Just when we thought all was lost. Tirq and Retla returned to continue the fight refreshed anew! Retla was felled almost immediately. The Hellknight continued to pound on us, but eventually he was put down and burned to ashes in a blaze of Alchemist fire! Thank Gozreh for Faust’s concoctions!

Holding the fallen guards keys, Ezrick and Brutus continued deeper into the prison to find Baron as the others dragged the fallen to the passage entrance for healing. We called out for Brutus and two levels up we heard his weak but hopeful reply. With Brutus leading, we quickly made our way toward Baron. Around a corner Brutus saw something that stunned him. In a cell near Baron was the torturer that had put Brutus through hell a short while back. A glazed look came over him as he contemplated all the different ways he wanted to maim her. He reached for an acid flask, but Ezrick struggled with him to try and stop him from losing the focus of the rescue. Ezrick seized the keys out of his hand to free Baron as Brutus raced over to the Torturer’s cell and locked her in, going so far as to smashing the acid flask with his bare hand against the lock to keep her inside. Brutus reached for alchemist fire to set her ablaze with nowhere to run, while Ezrick scrambled to find the right key to unlock Baron’s door. The Torturer lunged at Brutus — her inhuman tongue a snake-like weapon that lashed out at his neck entangling him and sucking at his life essence. As Ezrick finally found the right key, Brutus channeled deep inner strength to wrestle control over her tongue and, holding it with an iron-like grip, he launched himself backwards falling down the ladder hole. The Torturer’s tongue as well as her lower jaw was ripped off her face as Brutus fell! So enraptured was Brutus with his revenge, that he probably didn’t even feel the pain of his landing. Ezrick grabbed Baron just as sounds of more guards were heard coming down the hall. Without time to crawl down the ladder, both leapt down the ladder hole risking sprained ankles rather than risk another Hellknight beating. Just then, Tirq and the others returned to help us make a quick escape!

Baron was freed!

(feel free to edit an embellish at will)