Phandalin was not the same. An eerie pall hung thickly over the town as the adventurers approached. At first, they could tell it was different, but it was unclear exactly how. Then the details began to show themselves. The town is scarred as if from battle. Hasty barricades have been thrown up along the main road. The smell of ash still hangs thick on the air. Strangest of all, the former ruins of
Tresendar Manor now stand proud and tall, clean lines and elegant construction. They are none of the ruin the party had encountered while battling the
Redbrands.
Their arrival is expected by
Gundren, who insists the work at
Wave Echo Cave cannot progress until they deal with this new problem.
Sildar Hallwinter was the next to catch the party's arrival, with some measure of relief in his countenance.
"You have to do something about your manor," He insisted to
Avina. At the moment she drew the throne from the
Deck of Many Destinies, chunks of stone and beams of wood rained down from the sky into whirlwinds of glass, shingles and mortar. When the cataclysm subsided, there stood the finished manor, with no trace of the former wreckage. From it emerged a
Glabrezu and nine Imps, who
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| Glabrezu |
moved to assault the town. Sildar acted quickly, pulling together the small town militia to respond to the sudden threat. They lost four in their initial encounter, as the glabrezu summoned two
Vrocks and a
Hezrou. The town militia was barely a match, saved only when an elemental
Archdruid appeared to slay the glabrezu and drive the other demons back into the manor.
Sildar later sent in a group of concerned citizens on a reconnaissance mission to determine what was happening in the manor. What they described was utter chaos. Apparent battle lines had been drawn in the bare and unfurnished rooms of the Manor. On one side, various horrific demons waged unholy war while on the other a phalanx of elementals seemed to work to drive the demons back.
Since that time, the townspeople have kept their distance, nervously wondering what might happen next. The sounds of a vicious battle rage day after day. Though less than thrilled to own an infested manor, Avina and her companions reluctantly agree to look into the state of the problem.
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| Stone Giant |
Cautiously they approached, breaching the main door to the hellish roar of another vicious glabrezu. It charged the party, but was immediately interrupted by a tremendous
Stone Giant which was summoned out of the air directly in front of the party. It landed, falling to a crouch and the overeager glabrezu bounced off of its bulk. The giant rose to its full height, head brushing against the second story glass ceiling of the manor's entryway as it swung its club down onto the skittering demon. The glabrezu shuddered under the impact, but slashed at the giant with its giant pincers, tearing gashes through its legs and causing the giant to stumble to its knees once more. The creature raised one pincer into the air and pulled three vrocks up from the abyss into the room.
One of the vrocks emitted a loud screech, the noise of which filled the manor so that it felt like a balloon about to burst. The sheer force of this call stunned the entire party save for
Count Alistair. Eyes bulged and ears rang such that the party had only just begun to feel the pain of the sound when they saw the giant's club slash through the air and kill the offending vrock in a single blow. Whirling with the momentum of the strike, the giant grabbed a second vrock with its other hand, crushing it into the ground. The third of the demon birds swooped onto the giant's head, clawing and scratching to horrific effect.
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| Invisible Stalker |
As the giant dropped its club, collapsing from the attack, the glabrezu moved in for the kill, pincers snapping, but suddenly an airy spectre rose from the mists and slammed the hulking demon into a nearby column. Then it slammed it again into the polished stone floor with a sickening crack. The vrock finished its assault on the giant's head, which stirs no more, then turned its bugging, bloodshot eyes toward the misty
Stalker. As if in challenge, the elemental creature slammed the glabrezu's head into the floor again, splitting it farther open before hurling itself to meet the vrock's assault. The giant's body wavered for a moment, then erupted into mist and disappeared.
As the party began to regain its sense, they noticed a dark figure on the balcony, which turned abruptly out of view. Weapons were drawn and the adventurers just began to contemplate how to deal with the vrock and stalker when the deep, infernal howl of a
Hell Hound drew their attention instead to the sitting room. Not wanting to engage all three at the same time, the party moved quickly to the charging hound.
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| Hellhound |
The hellhound made for a tense fight, as Vilkas learned demons possess an immunity to fire which made them difficult to tackle with his regular repertoire of skills. With some difficulty, our heroes prevailed, shaken but determined to finish their task. Onward, they met an
Azer,
Magmin, various
Mephits, a
Xorn,
Gargoyles, and
Elementals.
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|
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|
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| Azer |
|
Magmin |
|
Xorn |
|
Fire Elemental |
They squared off against
Dretch,
Gagliet,
Manes, and
Quasit.
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| Dretch |
|
Galgliet |
|
Manes |
|
Quasit |
Drained and battle-weary, the party dutifully cleared each floor and each room of the mansion. Their trip to the upper floor was momentarily interrupted when a large an impish Hezrou bounded forward just as they crested the main stair. It was about to leap to the attack when a dark form in the southern hallway raised his hands and a fire elemental burst forth, blocking the demon's path. The searing heat of the thing caused many to take an involuntary step back. The shadowy figure waved again and a hideous Xorn appeared, trundling forward to engage the demon foe.
Heat poured from the elemental which thrust its appendages at the Hezrou, which didn't even flinch. The demon clawed at the elemental, oblivious to its fires. The Xorn tore into the back of the demon, though, snapping sinew and flesh with its powerful claws. Injured, but undaunted the Hezrou destroyed the fire elemental before turning on the Xorn with a tremendous backhand swing that sent it sprawling across the floor. The Hezrou charged the fallen beast, but the Xorn rotated back to its feet and slammed into the rushing Hezrou, knocking the thing to the floor before the Hezrou heavily stomped on its head repeatedly.
Squirming and growling with an otherworldly menace, the Hezrou pulled itself upright once more and slashed into the Xorn, tearing the creature limb from limb as the hapless elemental bludgeoned the demon with its dying gasps. The beast then turned upon the party of adventurers, a vicious demonic grin wrapped around its spiked teeth. It lurched into a charge, but then its eyes went suddenly wide and blank. A few more scrabbling steps across the floor and suddenly the beast collapsed, dead from its own efforts.
After this immense spectacle, the party cleared its way through the main bedrooms, being attacked by a horde of spitting galgliets which made the stoutest of them shudder in revulsion. They cleared the garret and the guest rooms. Then the study with its gargoyles, until they came upon the stairway into the manor's tower.
It was on this staircase that the party truly met a challenge beyond its abilities. A simple brute force approach would not work, as they struggled their way through masses of mephits and elementals. At last, the party, worn, weary and near death, broke apart and fled for the stairs, hoping to gain an advantage with some distance. In the confusion and disarray of the moment,
Lo Risten was separated from the group, only able to retreat farther up into the tower where she met the elemental Archdruid
Khadreimar. He welcomes the party openly, and stills his elemental guard, saving the lives of the adventurers just in time.
Though he was summoned as keeper of the manor by the machinations of the Deck of Many Destinies, somehow a contingent of demons found its way into the place through the same magic that called it to being. His efforts had been to clear the structure of the infestation so that he could relinquish it to its rightful owner. The party had already obliged this need, so the Archdruid thanked them gracefully and took his leave, disappearing from the manor forever, along with all of his elemental protectors.
Their arrival is expected by Gundren, who insists the work at Wave Echo Cave cannot progress until they deal with this new problem. Sildar Hallwinter was the next to catch the party's arrival, with some measure of relief in his countenance.
"You have to do something about your manor," He insisted to Avina. At the moment she drew the throne from the Deck of Many Destinies, chunks of stone and beams of wood rained down from the sky into whirlwinds of glass, shingles and mortar. When the cataclysm subsided, there stood the finished manor, with no trace of the former wreckage. From it emerged a Glabrezu and nine Imps, who
It was on this staircase that the party truly met a challenge beyond its abilities. A simple brute force approach would not work, as they struggled their way through masses of mephits and elementals. At last, the party, worn, weary and near death, broke apart and fled for the stairs, hoping to gain an advantage with some distance. In the confusion and disarray of the moment, Lo Risten was separated from the group, only able to retreat farther up into the tower where she met the elemental Archdruid Khadreimar. He welcomes the party openly, and stills his elemental guard, saving the lives of the adventurers just in time.
