Session 2025-02-21 — Age of Ashes

Narrative Summary

The party advanced to level 2 as recognition of their growing strength. The town of Breachill, grateful for their service in saving the Bumblebrashers and eliminating the citadel's surface dangers, began offering them a 5% discount on all goods and services. The party used this opportunity to resupply and prepare for the descent into the crypts below.

Before entering the vaults, Warbal Bumblebrasher requested permission for her tribe to remain permanently at Citadel Altaerein, transforming it from a ruin into a sanctuary for her scattered kin. The party granted this freely, acknowledging that the goblins had earned the right to call the citadel home. Warbal also revealed a secret entrance to the vaults on the western slope of the hill—a hidden door that would provide faster access to the depths where the Cinderclaws had driven the tribe into retreat. She warned that the cultists had filled the vaults with draconic monsters and spoke of throat about burning, peeling flesh, and consuming goblin meat.

Theo asked if the Bumblebrashers could temporarily care for the young warg pups the party had discovered and begun socializing. Helba agreed, reflecting that goblins had experience raising their own wolves and could manage the task. The warg puppies would remain in the tribe's care.

Descending into the vaults with Alak Stagram, the party entered a wide stone hallway extending eastward into darkness. The air was thick with the scent of dust and decay, and the weight of ancient burial chambers settled around them. Alak noted the oppressive quality of the place—the Order of the Nail had used vaults like this for storage, training, and imprisonment.

Their first encounter came swiftly. Two emperor birds—brilliantly plumed creatures native to the Mwangi Expanse and wholly out of place in the Breachill crypts—stood guard over the eastern passages. The birds were clearly trained sentries, positioned to alert deeper inhabitants to intrusion. When Trisiel accidentally revealed their position by lighting a torch, the birds shrieked in alarm, their warning cry echoing through the vaults to alert the cultists within.

Combat erupted immediately. The emperor birds were vicious combatants despite their exotic nature, striking with talons and drawing blood from multiple party members. Their coordinated attacks dazed William and poisoned Trisiel. Despite the party's overwhelming numerical advantage and experience, the emperor birds fought with ferocity born of desperation. The battle was a grinding affair of missed strikes, stinging wounds, and tactical maneuvers. Nadira provided steady healing while dealing damage herself. William raised his shield and protected others. Theo's spellcasting provided both damage and support. Trisiel summoned protective trees and landed heavy blows. Alak contributed consistent martial power with his greatsword.

After the emperor birds fell, the party pressed deeper into the vault complex. Trisiel's sharp eyes spotted blood trails on the floor and an unsettling sight deeper within—what appeared to be a doll or construct. As they investigated further, they discovered the remnants of a war room where two boggards (frog-like humanoids from the western Mwangi Expanse, bearing Cinderclaw insignia) lay dead in unnatural positions. Their broken bodies and twisted frames suggested they had been killed by something small but terribly strong—not by the party, and not willingly.

The presence of slime trails throughout the vault hallways hinted at the creature's identity. When the party opened the armory door, they discovered why: a gelatinous cube, a massive quivering wall of nearly-invisible ooze that had been silently consuming anything in its path for weeks. The cube had devoured vandals, cultists, and likely lost Hellknights from centuries past, explaining the absence of bodies in the lower reaches.

Combat with the gelatinous cube proved chaotic. The creature's invisibility gave it a significant advantage, though the slime coating made its location obvious. It attempted to engulf multiple party members in its acidic body. Trisiel was caught and struggled for freedom, using William's Liberating Step to break free of the enclosure before being fully dissolved. Nadira crit with a divine lance. William's attacks struck true, eventually splitting the massive cube asunder with his longsword, destroying it utterly.

The party stood victorious but shaken, acknowledging how fortunate they had been that Alak, inexperienced with the cube's full capabilities, had not fully exploited its greatest strength—the ability to engulf the entire party simultaneously would have been catastrophic.

Session Notes

Key events:

Party advances to level 2; receives 5% merchant discount in Breachill
Bumblebrashers granted permanent residence in Citadel Altaerein
Warg puppies left in Bumblebrashers' care
Party descends into vault system via secret western entrance
Two emperor birds (trained sentries) encountered and defeated; alarm raised
Party discovers dead boggards and evidence of slime trails throughout vault
Gelatinous cube encountered in armory; defeated through coordinated attacks

NPCs encountered:

Warbal and Helba (continued interaction)—goblins granted sanctuary
Armiger Alak Stagram—continues descent into crypts as ally
Emperor birds (two; defeated)
Boggards (two; already dead; noted as Cinderclaw cultists)

Combat:

Emperor birds: multi-round battle with poisoning and dazing effects
- Outcome: Birds defeated; alarm raised warning cultists
Gelatinous cube: single-round decisive battle
- Outcome: Cube destroyed by William's final strike
- Significant damage dealt to Trisiel (engulfed); saved by William's Liberating Step
- Party narrowly avoided catastrophic wiping from cube's full capabilities

Party decisions:

Granted Bumblebrashers permanent residence at citadel
Left warp puppies in Bumblebrashers' care
Pressed forward into vaults despite raised alarm
Fought conservatively against gelatinous cube rather than pursuing aggressive tactics

Unresolved threads:

Cinderclaws alerted to party's presence in vault system
Unknown number of cultists and draconic creatures deeper in vaults
Purpose of the war room and its dead boggards
What is Alak truly seeking in the crypts?
How many more encounter chambers remain on this level of the vault?

Rewards/loot:

Experience gained from emperor birds and gelatinous cube encounters
Level 2 advancement achieved
5% merchant discount granted by Breachill
No treasure collected this session