Session 2025-02-01 — Age of Ashes

Narrative Summary

The party returned to Citadel Altaerein the morning after escorting Calmont back to Breachill. The fortress remained eerily quiet, its halls still shrouded in shadow and threat. Calmont was left in the town's custody while the heroes prepared to reclaim the keep for the Bumblebrashers. Before them lay unfinished work—monsters still lurked in the depths, and the question of missing Bumblebrashers remained unanswered. Helba's frantic escape account never mentioned seeing her kin slain, only fled; the possibility that some Bumblebrashers had either found alternative hiding places or been taken as captives weighed heavily on Falwan's mind.

The party's first major obstacle came in the ruined Court of the Nail, where the foundations of the Hellknight order's justice system still stood despite centuries of abandonment. As Nadira approached a corpse in a brackish pool—a body inexplicably preserved without rot despite visible decay of its armor—two graveshells erupted from the foul water.

These grotesque creatures were abominations of nature: massive, rotting snails with shells encrusted with fragments of bone, rusted weapons, and shattered gravestones. Their bodies rippled with necrotic filth, and the stench of death hung thick in the air. The graveshells were intelligent enough to speak Common and Undercommon, hurling curses and threats at the party in voices that bubbled with undead contempt.

The battle was fierce and complex. Falwan struggled with her decision to strike nonlethally despite the creatures' clear hostility. The party attempted negotiation—William's diplomatic appeal, Trisiel's pleas, the party's logical argument that the graveshells were outnumbered—but all came to nothing. The graveshells, seething with hatred for the living and consumed by the nihilism of their undeath, refused to surrender. They spoke of the grave claiming all, of flesh rotting into mire, their words dripping with contempt for the concept of hope.

With negotiation exhausted and the creatures refusing to yield, the party engaged fully. Nadira unleashed arcane flame in a massive breath attack, critical-succeeding against one graveshell and charring its form black. Despite Falwan's lingering reluctance and guilt over the creatures' fate, William delivered the final strike against the second graveshell, cutting it down as it lunged with final, defiant rage.

In the aftermath, the party found the corpse belonged to a human bandit who had recently tried to infiltrate the citadel and fell victim to the graveshells. The party gathered scattered coins from the courtroom's ancient debris—45 copper and 5 silver from trial spectators who never returned—and discovered two spell scrolls of considerable value in nearby offices. The body yielded 6 gold and 9 silver. Most significantly, Trisiel discovered the Lictor's Office in the western corridor, where a personalized copy of legal protocols bore the dedication: "To Lictor Acillmar, with thanks for your interest in my work. Together we shall quell savagery. -Hellknight T. Stagram, Esq."

The mention of T. Stagram raised new questions about the Hellknights' past involvement in local affairs.

While tending wounds, the party discovered a litter of warg puppies in the Overflow Galley—young creatures not yet fully developed in intellect or alignment. Unlike their sire, they showed no inherent hostility. Falwan immediately began socializing them, feeding them pieces of the slain graveshells to satisfy their hunger. William made a successful Diplomacy check with divine aid, beginning the long process of raising these young wargs as allies rather than enemies.

Peace was short-lived. The father warg—massive, scarred, and decorated with gruesome trophies woven into his filthy coat—appeared, drawn by the scent of battle and intrusion. Unlike the protective fury one might expect of a parent, he viewed his offspring with disdain. His true concern was the trespassers in his den, and he moved to drive them out with lethal force.

The warg was a formidable opponent. Its initial bite caught Falwan off-guard, nearly dropping her in a single crushing blow. William's Protector's Sacrifice intervened, absorbing damage meant for Falwan. Trisiel was in the midst of acclimating one of the puppies when forced into combat, creating protective trees to mitigate incoming damage. Nadira provided consistent healing while attempting to strike the beast, her blade bouncing off its matted hide or missing entirely.

The turning point came when Trisiel rolled a natural 20, striking the warg hard enough to wound it severely. The creature was dangerous, fast, and brutal—grabbing Falwan and shaking her violently in its jaws. But it was also outnumbered and, after Theo's intimidation attempt forced a critical success, frightened. The beast fought on, unwilling to flee or surrender, even as its life faded.

Theo finished the fight with a devastating combination: electric arc channeled through the warg's body, followed by a precisely-aimed sling stone that struck between the creature's eyes. The warg collapsed, dead before it hit the ground.

With both graveshells and the warg defeated, the party gained valuable time and peace to tend their wounds and recover. Falwan committed to raising the warg puppies despite knowing the herculean task ahead. William continued his daily diplomacy checks, slowly building a bond with the young creatures. The question of what to do with them remained—whether to keep them as mounts, guardians, or ultimately deliver them to the Bumblebrashers' care.

The Lictor's Office awaited further investigation, and the deeper levels of the citadel remained largely unexplored. The Bumblebrashers' status was still uncertain. And somewhere in the depths, the Cinderclaws' leader still searched for "the ring."

Session Notes

Key events:

Party explores the Court of the Nail and discovers a preserved human corpse in a brackish pool
Two graveshells ambush the party from the water; party attempts negotiation but creatures refuse to surrender
Graveshells defeated after Nadira's critical success with breath attack and William's finishing blow
Party discovers spell scrolls, coins, and evidence of human bandit activity
Found the Lictor's Office with a dedicated book from "Hellknight T. Stagram"
Party discovers warg puppies in the Overflow Galley and begins socializing/raising them
Father warg attacks while party is with puppies; fierce combat ensues
Father warg defeated by Theo after near-death experience for Falwan and multiple rounds of brutal combat

NPCs encountered:

Two graveshells—undead mollusk creatures with intelligence and spite
Human bandit corpse (deceased)
Father warg—scarred, territorial, initially indifferent to his own offspring
Warg puppies (alive, young, not yet fully developed in alignment)

Combat:

Graveshell encounter: Two intelligent undead creatures, refused negotiation, defeated through lethal combat
Father warg encounter: Single large predator, grabbed and nearly killed Falwan, defeated after multi-round battle
Total XP from both encounters: 130 XP
Party damage: Significant; Falwan nearly dropped, Nadira took major hits, others sustained minor damage
Healing: Nadira successfully healed multiple rounds; Falwan's critical success on Treat Wounds healed 23 HP

Party decisions:

Accepted that graveshells would not surrender and must be killed
Decided to raise warp puppies rather than abandon them
William began daily Diplomacy checks to befriend the puppies (1 of 10 successful)
Committed to investigating the Lictor's Office and Hellknight T. Stagram connection
Continued commitment to clearing the main floor before exploring crypts

Unresolved threads:

Who is Hellknight T. Stagram and what is his connection to the Lictor Acillmar?
What happened to any Bumblebrashers who may have fled into other parts of the citadel or been taken captive?
What is in the deeper crypts where the Cinderclaws operate?
Will the warp puppies be successfully socialized, or prove too feral for domestic use?
How many more encounters remain before the citadel is secured for the Bumblebrashers?
What is "the ring" that Voz sought and is it still in the crypts?

Rewards/loot:

5 silver + 45 copper from scattered coins in the courtroom
2x 1st-level spell scrolls (player choice of spells)
6 gold + 9 silver from bandit corpse
Experience: 130 XP total (80 XP graveshell, 50 XP warg)
Warg puppies (not loot, but resource)