Team MeFight Fifty-Third Session

Return to Nia-Agliare

• The party races back to deal with the consequences of their actions. It is the dead hours of the early morning when they get here.
• They easily find a way inside through one of the plentiful, unguarded spot of the wall
  • Marwynn takes a couple of tries to get to the top, but manages eventually.
• They race to the Lion of Odessa, but when they arrive, stillness greets them.
• They take effort to creep inside, but find that the inhabitants are unresponsive:

• Each corpse is shriveled and dessicated, their faces frozen in agony.
• The party makes their way to Levan's room. There, alone, is there light.
  • With visible necromancy on a corpse just outside the door, Kib preemptively dumps it out the window.
• They open the door, and Kib, fearing the worst, leads the way inside. A woman's body occupies a chair in the room.

  Levan "Welcome home, team!"
 Kib Absold looks around for the source of the voice
  Levan's voice comes to you from the blind side of the alcove.
 Kib Absold "What is this, brother?"
  Levan "What is what? We won."
"It's over."
He smiles. You feel it is meant to be reassuring, but it is more unsettling. He waves to the body.
"You've taken out our rivals. The city is ours!"
 Kib Absold "What has happened to your men?"
  Levan waves to the dead woman in the chair across from him.
"It worked exactly as she said it would. We'd been working on it to take out Kate's people."
"It was our original plan before you were delivered to us. We didn't make an antidote, of course."
He sighs.
"I really did care for her. We both thought she'd be sharing this victory."
"But, family is more important."
"And I had to give something up. So I gave up her, to have you and Tana back."
  Tana Absold whispers to herself, "Oh no.. what have you done..."
 Kib Absold "Brother... poisoning all of these people? They may be brigands and thieves, but they are still men!"
  Levan "But, it's done now. Who needs hundreds of goons and idiots? Look what just a thimbleful of real power can do."
"You seven are more effective than even ten times what's downstairs."
"We can be together again. We can go back and get the rest of our family."
"Bring them here."
"This never could have happened without you. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart."
 Kib Absold starts to shake, face reddening with fury
  Levan "It was either them or ... you and Tana."
 Kib Absold "That was never the choice, Levan. You had me without destroying all these lives and deceiving us into your game"
  Levan "I had to prove myself, after all. Prove myself worthy to be the left hand of the Arakson."
"Taking him on, I've come to learn, was always a fool's errand. But, now we can be his cartel."
"You, me and Tana. We can divide this city. We're family, we can rule in harmony. Thieves and murderers will never get along.
 Kib Absold "You've gone mad. He will use you up and destroy you!"
"Think about how much consideration you've paid for the people beneath you, and think about how Arekson will feel exactly the same"
"Surely even if there is no shred of good left in you, the part of you that has brains can see that??"
  Levan "Oh, no, you don't understand. It's different!"
"We can work together!"
 Kib Absold "Have you already turned? Has he made you his slave in exchange for power?"
  Levan "We're a part of each other now. You'll see."
 Kib Absold draws his guisarme
  Levan stands up calmly.
 Kib Absold "Yes. I believe we shall"
"I was a fool to think there was anything left in you of the brother I knew"
  Levan "You'll understand soon. You'll see."

• With that, Levan speaks to Kib, commanding him to serve (i.e. dominate). However, Kib's anguish won't be pierced (31 on the save!), and he leaps forward to the attack. Against all odds, he trips him on his first blow.
• The corpses begin springing to life, awakening with the dreadful thirst characteristic of the salt wight.
  • Marwynn uses Holy Smite, blasting apart Levan's alchemist underling and blinding him. Gilerl dives into the fray with a will, Thed shoots from the bed, and Anise covers the hallway. Tana hastes the party, while Thoven works himself into position and casts false life.
  • Seeing himself at a disadvantage, Levan forms himself into a cloud of mist, and sinks to the floor below.
• With a cat's grace, Tana leaps through a window to the ground. Kib follows, more clumsily but still managing to keep his feet. Gilerl dives headfirst down the fireplace into the common area, where the bodies are shambling to life.
  • Marwynn follows Gil, taking a bit more effort, but getting down in a round.
  • The remaining three work to clear the upstairs hallway. Wights fall.
  • Levan makes his way downstairs, to the cellar. Gil steps over the still-animating bodies to peer down the stairs, but sees only darkness, and turns back around.
  • By this time, enough of the creatures have animated to block his path. Marwynn lets out another holy smite, dealing great damage to many of the wights, but not yet destroying them. They move to surround her.
  • Tana opens a window from the outside while Kib finishes off the wight he had previously tossed. Anise and Thoven continue cutting through wights. Marwynn tries to let loose another holy smite, but it fizzles to the blows of the enemies around her. Gilerl dashes back to Marwynn's side, and cleaves a swath through the nearest.
  • Thed, figuring the wights vulnerable to water, unleashes his everwand down the chimney. It does absolutely nothing but confuse the people on the first floor.
  • Tana, seeing Marwynn surrounded, makes another leap through the now-open window and runs to support her. Marwynn is able to get into a position and make her concentrate check, and she makes the holy mother of all holy smites (average of ~17.5 damage each to 25 enemies, for a rough total of 437.5 damage in a single action!)
  • The common area clear, Kib enters to engage enemies from the bar area, who are filing in. Anise and Thoven make their way to the downstairs, but are waylaid by a small ambush of wights that had pretended to go down the stairs. A fiery belch of dragon's breath later, and the ambush is dealt with.

• • A fireball and some miscellaneous fighting later, and the last of the wights is dealt with. The tally ends up being 63 cursed souls brought to rest.
• Thoven, hearing squeals from his position on the stairs, peeks downward to see seven swarms of rats. One shaped fireball later, and there are zero swarms of rats.
• Kib heads purposefully into the cellar, shouting for his brother to engage. He is limned in Alexandria's holy light.

• There is more back-and-forth, but both sides are resolved. The rest of the party moves into position while Kib makes his way toward his brother's voice. Levan leaps from the shadows and once again commands Kib, who once again resists.
• Tana begins the song of Tedril_Eladrith, the first kinslayer. The slow, Sidhe dirge fills the musty chamber, fortifying the party's resolve for their tragic task ahead. The party's entire might crushes against Levan. He manages some blows (hitting Tana with an energy drain), but quickly falls. There is enough time for one last look of disbelief before his body turns to mist.
• As a newly minted vampire, he made the fatal mistake of making his last stand in the vicinity of his coffin (a large cask, refitted for the purpose). The party wrenches it open, and stakes him.
• Kib shudders and collapses to his knees, spent. The rest of the party goes through the usual after-battle routine while he kneels before his brother's motionless form.

Awards

• 5250 xp to all for 63 (re)dead wights
• 4500 xp to all for defeating Levan
• 50 xp to Thed for finding an unguarded stairwell
• 25 xp to Slitherrr ("you could say the goons were... a-salt-ed")
• 10 xp to Slitherrr, Clean Up on Aisle 3 achievement
• 25 xp to Feantari, History Will Judge achievement
• 100 xp to Kimberley, Slaughter is the best medicine achievement
• Levan's gear and stash:
  • 15000 gp
  • Blood, a +1 medium-sized blood iron handaxe (Gilerl backup, as a battleaxe for him)
  • Treasure, a +1 medium-sized silversheen handaxe (Gilerl backup, as a battleaxe)
  • +1 balanced bone scale mail (party loot)
  • belt of tumbling (goes to Marwynn)
  • cloak of resistance +2 (goes to Thed)
  • ring of protection +1 (goes to Kib)
  • amulet of natural armor +1 (goes to Gil)