Spoiler: This series of posts cover actual game play of the War of the Burning Sky campaign arc from EN Publishing.

Part 1 is here.

When we last left our heroes, they were resting at the Mercineum (a temple dedicated to Pelor and a headquarters of the Gate Pass resistance) before they set off to investigate the Eladrin mage Shealis at Gabal’s School of War later that morning. The main floor of the Mercineum was full of refugees when the heroes arrived so they, along with more incoming refugees, made their way downstairs into the temple’s crypt to rest. Buron Watcher and Torrent escorted the ailing Rivereye Badgerface to a side chamber off the crypt where an infirmary had been set up. All of the heroes except Athos made their beds to the right of the main door to the crypt. Athos decided he needed some distance from his new companions and laid his bed next to the sarcophagus on a dais at the far end of the room. Refugees scattered themselves around the dark chamber in small groups.

A few hours after the group laid to rest, Omicron and Aukan were awakened by the sound of chanting. coming from somewhere near the large statues in the center of the room. Omicron quickly realized it was some form of summoning ritual. They woke Thaikou and Vandalin and crept around the statue to locate the source of the chanting. They spotted a robed half-orc with a scroll who was just finishing the chant. He then yelled “For Ragesia!” and threw a pot of alchemist’s fire at his feet consuming several nearby refugees and himself in flames. The noise woke Athos and the other refugees. Clattering from the alcoves around the room revealed a dozen skeletons awakened by the ritual. The sarcophagus on the dais slid open and an undead horror dressed in armor pulled itself from the coffin. Refugees screamed in terror as Buron yelled from the infirmary doors, “Save the refugees!” He closed the doors sealing himself inside with the wounded and whatever horrors arose in that chamber.

The heroes immediately began to attack the skeletons, who seemed to be focused on the refugees. The armored creature that came from the sarcophagus was identified as a wight. Athos’ bed was nearly atop the wight and the creature began to hack at the warlock with his longsword, immobilizing him when he hit. Athos was in dire straights until Thaikou was able to make his way through to chaos to assist him. Following his brother’s lead with the massive maul attack Aukan hammered on the bandit at the Poison Apple Pub early that morning, Thaikou slammed his maul down on the wight crushing him into the stone floor. Omicron, Aukan, and Vandalin had all moved on to other skeletons at this point in the chaotic battle.

Free from the wight’s immobilization, Athos telekenetically flew atop the statues at the center of the chamber and began shooting at the remaining skeletons around the room. The remainder of the heroes engaged them in melee with Omicron sniping off several smaller skeletons that were waylaying the few remaining refugees. A few minutes later and the fight was over. The aftermath was dire. Out of 30 refugees sleeping in the crypt, only 6 remained. Buron was disappointed, but the survivors were grateful. An old man and his granddaughter who escaped from the crypt offered their savings, a small ruby and 200sp, to the party hoping it would help them protect the city from the oncoming army. Athos offered to give the valuables back, but the old man insisted and left before they could argue further.

Refugees and resistance members began the task of clearing the bodies from the room. The party noticed that the small infirmary held the piles of nearly a dozen skeletons, all of which Buron had destroyed single-handedly. Buron approached the heroes and offered a pair of healing potions to aide them. When asked about Torrent’s absence, he told the heroes that she had been sent out to meet an illusionist named Diogenes at Gabal’s. Diogenes was sympathetic to the resistance and Buron hoped he would have information on Shealis. The heroes, still tired from the morning’s activities, resumed their rest.

The morning of the first day of the Ragesian siege was cold and a heavy snowfall began. The harsh weather limited the aerial assault that had begun at midnight. Upon their awakening, Buron told the party that a few survivors of the morning’s terrorist attack identified the half-orc. They said he frequented a warehouse in the next city quarter. Torrent had not yet returned so Buron asked the heroes to investigate the warehouse in case there were other terrorists in Gate Pass.

The heroes decided they wanted to stop at a merchant on the way to the warehouse to purchase some other supplies. They located a decent sized shop that had an attached storeroom behind it. After haggling for a few minutes with the shopkeeper for a few items, the merchant’s assistant came running from the storeroom and fled out the front door screaming, “We’re under attack!” The Suicide Squad immediately went into action with Athos rushing into the storeroom to find that a scarab beetle had dug its way into the room through the dirt floor. The other party members followed and quickly surrounded the hole through which the beetle had emerged. A strange beast soon crept from the hole and immediately attacked Aukan, drawn to his plate armor like a moth to a flame. The creature attacked him, little feather-like tendrils sweeping over his armor. Rust spots followed in their wake. Vandalin swung his greataxe at the creature, but his weapon began to rust after connecting on a heavy blow. The beast was still drawn to Aukan’s armor and, after another attack, his plate rusted completely through and dropped from his immense frame. Aukan was now completely unprotected from the creatures attacks, but it turned its attention towards Vandalin and began to eat at his chainmail. Two ebon-skinned dwarves emerged from the hole during the fight. They were clad in hide armor and wielded greatclubs and shortbows. Their tactical options were limited since the party had them hedged in near the hole and after a few minutes the fight was finished. The beetle and rust beast had been slain along with the two dwarves. The merchant was jubilant that none of his goods were damaged in the fight. He accepted the weapons and armor of the dwarves in return for a new suit of plate armor for Aukan and a new suit of chain and new greataxe for Vandalin. The heroes found a magic amulet on one of the dwarves that protected the user and created the alchemical substance beastbane, which repels beasts. The merchant surmised that the amulet allowed the dwarves to push the beetle and rust beast to do their bidding. They also found a potion of healing, 110gp, and a small sapphire.

After leaving the merchant’s shop, the party continued through the snowy streets towards the warehouse of the reported terrorists. They found it without difficulty and before they could discuss tactics Vandalin kicked the doors in and rushed inside. The warehouse was long and narrow with a small office in the far right corner. Stacks of boxes, baskets, and crates left small walkways through to the rear of the room. Stores had been cleared from the left back corner were come form of summoning circle had been etched and outlined with candles. Four humans with clubs and three orcs clad in chainmail with halberds gawked at the intruders.

The heroes made their way through the aisles towards the back of the warehouse after Omicron quickly felled a thug with a magic missile fired from outside the doors. Two thugs rushed forward and kicked over a pair of baskets on either side of the room. Swarms of snakes slithered forth and attacked the nearest creatures. The halberdiers quickly engaged the three largest heroes, one each on Aukan, Thaikou and Vandalin. Athos scurried back and forth across the entrance of the room in a shadowy haze shooting eldritch blasts at the enemies. Omicron moved forward slightly in the center aisle so he could better see and dropped a few scorching bursts of fire on their foes.

Shortly after the fight began, the office door opened. A man clad in black and purple robes carrying a sickle emerged and maneuvered behind the line of halberdiers. Athos identified the man’s necklace as a holy symbol of the Raven Queen. Aukan hammered his way through his attacker with a massive slam invoking Kord’s name for divine strength and filling his blood with mighty power. He felled the man in a single blow and rushed the priest only to be teleported away to the side of the warehouse next to one of the snake swarms. Omicron responded by diabolically grasping the priest and yanking him towards the other snake swarm. The priest was unable to withstand their poisonous bites and soon died. The fight raged on for several minutes with a few of the party members hinging on death, but the Suicide Squad prevailed.

One of the halberdiers broke off from the melee and ran into the office closing the door behind him. Athos followed and barely listened to the orc’s pleas for mercy before slaying him with an eldritch blast of blue flame. The rest of the party was a little put out by Athos’ actions. The heroes searched the warehouse for other snakes and found none. The crates were filled with clothing and foodstuffs. They also located a small locked chest in the office. Omicron was easily able to pick the lock. Inside were a small opal, 350gp, and several letters that appeared to be orders to conduct terrorist attacks on the city from the inside while the army attacks the gates. More letters alluded to other cells within the city who were ordered to round up several mages, two names the party recognized: Diogenes and the city councilman Erdan Menash.

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This session consisted of a lot of combat and little roleplaying, but I think everyone had fun. After fairly easily completing the encounters in the first session, I think the players (other thank Erik who has played with me as DM before) were a little off guard by how difficult the first and last encounter were. Vandalin was unconscious by the end of the last encounter and Aukan went down in both (failing two death saves in the last one before being stabilized). However, they did survive and have proven themselves to be true heroes of Gate Pass.

Now if only they can find that case of Ragesian secrets…