The Heroes of Kenebras
Zuriel Riversong: Female Half Elf Druid
Grunyier Cragsward: Male Dwarven Barbarian
Deldric: Elf Rogue
Fidgit Tannenbaum: Male Gnome Fey Blood Sorcerer
Sir Oliver: Human Inquisitor
Deldric and Olivers players were absent so Deldric was run by myself and Oliver by Grunyiers player.
Deldric sensing the end to their incursion takes a moment to switch his arcane focus to a shield spell, then pops out the potion of barkskin +5 they had recovered from their unconcious captive and drinks it. Asking Fidget if he can provide any arcane protections the gnome casts a protection from evil on the elf making the already elusive elf nigh unhittable even by Grunyeirs standards. Sir Oliver grabs his bow and announces that with their divine arsenal running dry he will hang back for the moment and provide cover.
Deldric sneaks into the the next room and returns explaining there are 3 rather large Minotaur looking creatures with wings. Fidget casts invisibility on Deldric who then announces to the team to wait for a count of 20 then attack. Setting up within the elf is dismayed when Gruyier loudly boots the door in, alerting the minotaurs to the parties presence rather than launching a surprise attack but his patience is rewarded when the dwarf ends up adjacent to one of the creatures also in reach of Deldric. The fight is short lived and while the creatures dealt significant blows to the dwarf Deldrics mix of magical protections and natural nimbleness saw blow after blow struggling to find purchase.
Grunyier suddenly climbs up into the mouth of one of the beasts and oddly starts exclaiming his claims on their teeth. The rest are confused but shrug it off as the dwarf is rather strange at times. Grouped up at the next door Deldrics recon tells them that 2 of the red demons they encountered when the Wardstone fragment imbued them with its energy are within along with a haggard looking dwarf. Agreeing to attempt to take the dwarf prisoner the group rushes in. The first demon is quickly dispatched and just before the Dwarf can open his mouth Fidget tells a joke that causes the dwarf to collapse in fits of laughter. The other demon is sent on its way back to the abyss while Deldric ties up the dwarf just as he shakes the effects of Fidgets spell. Fidget begins interrogating the prisoner while the rest look around, 2 doors remain closed in this room and Sir Oliver opens the closest to find a stairwell descending into blackness. Against his judgement the Inquisitor agrees not to run blindly below.
Just as the dwarf begins speaking to Fidget he mentions that the remaining unopened door, the one that Deldric and Murance are standing guard by actually contains the more immediate threat. Fidget calls Deldric back to his side and tells him to recast his defensive buffs as he does the same to the elf. The doors burst open and in strides 2 more of the large Minotaur creatures and a cruel looking dwarf that Sir Oliver recognizes by the glyph and symbols adorning his full-plate is an Anti-paladin, the height of heresy.
Deldric and Grunyier move in and together fell one of the Minotaur, while Zuriel, her cat Talera and Sir Oliver plug at the other. The Anti-paladin moves into the room and takes several swipes at Deldric to no effect, then they see him draw upon his own source of Mythic power to swing once more, drawing even deeper to cause his cruel long spear like weapon to find purchase on Deldric, and in one thrust plunge the blade through the elfs chest. Deldric has a moment to look down at the weapon, then up and collapses in a heap as the dwarf withdraws it with a smirk. Grunyier and Sir Oliver dispatch the remaining Minotaur as Fidget breaths in deeply and adds his Mythic power to his Suggestion that this dwarf should strip naked and run 100 laps around the city limits. Fidget can feel the spell about to take hold when suddenly with some timely assistance from the dwarfs Mythic power he is able to just barely keep the arcane suggestion at bay. Zuriel and Talera move to intercept the Antipaladin, Zuriel paying a hefty price is cut down by a Babau demon that had been invisible up to this point, she falls unconscious on the floor. Grunyier is having difficulty landing any telling blows against this opponent, Fidget covers the Antipaladins weapon in arcane grease causing the dwarf to lose his deadly blade. Unhindered, the dwarf moves forward, places a hand against Grunyier and necrotic energy pulses into the barbarian. Grunyar grits his teeth and fends off the worst of it but feels his skin peeling where the Antipaladin touched. Grunyar switches his target to the Babau and calling on his mythic power dispatches the demon. Fidget sets his will and adding more mythic power to his arcane magic suggests that the Antipaladin demonstrate his physical superiority by stripping out of his full-plate armor and bare-knuckle box with Grunyar. Fidget feels his suggestion take root in the dwarfs mind but is dismayed when Grunyar refuses to hold off on his continued attack until the dwarf had removed his armor. The antipaladin, while still compelled to perform the task is able to flee down the nearby stairs into the darkness to carryout the command in relative safety.
Breathing a sigh of relive Fidget returns to the captured dwarf who identifies himself as Jorhan. Fidget offers him a chance to change his allegiance which the dwarf seems reluctant but not opposed to. As a show of faith Fidget asks if he knows of where to find any potions, or scrolls of healing for Zuriel and Deldric. Jorhan identifies himself as a cleric and uses his magic to revive Zuriel first, as he is moving towards Deldric, Murance in a soft feminine melodic voice asks Grunyar to "Kill the gnome" looking at Murance there is a brief shimmer and the form of a succubus shows through. Grunyars smile shows that though he may be magically compelled at the moment, he will enjoy the task before him. While Fidget thinks that the safest bet would be to turn invisible first and then deal with the problems at hand trusts in his magical skill and putting more mythic power behind the spell puts the dwarf to sleep. Breathing a sigh of relive he turns to the form of Murance and chides "Now, shall I show you what real Enchantment looks like?" Murance's form vanishes in the same fashion as the Succubus from earlier, Fidget remembers that she would not be able to go far or stay away for long so he draws upon the last bit of his mythic power to ready a spell. Sure enough she appears nearby Sir Oliver prepared to strike when Fidget suggests that she stand in a corner, facing the corner for 9 hours. The suggestion takes hold and with a sneer she turns and moves towards the indicated corner. Fidget warns everyone not to attack her as so long as she is facing the wall she could not affect any of them with her magics. She disappears suddenly, but Fidget detects illusion magic in the corner and tells her he knows she is still there. The aura disappears, but Fidget reminds her that he knows she can go to the ethereal plane but she is still in the corner. Fidget moves into the last room and finds 20 bottles of very fine dwarven ale but before he can pocket them Zuriel comes into the room. The half elf looks to the gnome and declares "10 for you, 10 for me?" Fidget reluctantly nods and each pockets half the stash. Deldric joins them after tying the sleeping form on Grunyar up. A locked chest stumps the elf for the moment so the group elect to take it with them along with tables of maps and battle plans, troop distributions and the like. With many deep wounds, and few magical spells left the group take their leave for the day, Jorhan their somewhat willing prisoner and the unconscious form of the woman barbarian they had brought with them.
Thoughts
There was a bit of a situation with Grunyars player seemingly trying to either get Sir Oliver killed or at least just be as disruptive as possible. In the end I think it might have been as simple as once he knew Grunyar was Dominated he was trying to kill off as many of the party as possible. Either way I pointed out how likely it was that he was about to kill Oliver and wanting to purge the heresy of an antipaladin, doesn't mean he has to charge past 2 large minotaurs that would get attacks of opportunity, and instead could move in to attack the minotaurs first and work his way towards his target. The player threw a bit of a hissy fit, maybe we should have addressed it there but we ignored it and moved on.
