Age of Ashes A Pathfinder 2e Campaign
Hellknight Hill

Session 2025-03-01

Narrative Summary

The party descended into the Hall of Graves within Citadel Altaerein, discovering six broken graves beneath a massive relief of Asmodean nails. Alak Stagram recognized the chamber as employing ancient Hellknight necromantic wards. When a skeletal Hellknight knight emerged as a sentinel, Alak negotiated with it in Ancient Azlanti, acknowledging his role as an Armiger of the Order and identifying the party as companions seeking to prevent ruin. The undead knight recognized the legitimacy of Alak's purpose and agreed to stand down, accepting the party's promise to avenge the desecration of the tombs.

After the encounter, the party discovered a vault chamber with looted storage boxes and evidence of a recent necromantic ritual involving spirit communion. Theo identified the ritual as an attempt to speak with spirits rather than raise them—inconsistent with the violation that angered the Hellknights. The party recovered Alak's family signet ring, a silver religious symbol of Alseta, scrolls of darkness and darkvision, a scroll of heal, and a scroll of magic missile. Theo claimed an ancient manuscript of Hellknight military doctrine and historical records.

The party then entered the Reliquary of the Nail, where four spectral Hellcrowns—floating helmets with ghostly spines—awoke and attacked. A fierce combat ensued, with the creatures delivering spectral strikes that sapped strength and imposed persistent bleeding. Despite heavy damage to Nadira and William, the party prevailed, with Nadira's area healing spell proving critical. After vanquishing the Hellcrowns, the party found additional relics: a silver medallion of rank, a scroll of disrupting weapons, a lesser ghost charge, and a wand of heal.

Moving deeper, the party discovered Big Bumble, a blood-maddened grizzly bear locked in the Lictor's bedroom, surrounded by half-eaten cultist corpses. Theo attempted to charm the beast but failed. Trisiel then offered rations, calming the creature's hunger, and successfully lured it out of the dungeon with a nature check, guiding it back to the forest. Among the wreckage, the party found tattered historical records of the Order of the Nail, documenting notable Hellknights buried with powerful relics including bracers of missile deflection, a feather step stone, a monkey pin, and doubling rings.

Alak gave the party permission to requisition equipment from the Hellknight tombs, framing it as necessary tools to enforce law and stop the cultists. The party collected a +1 longsword, bracers of missile deflection, and a +1 silver morning star (later exchanged for a sap). Alak received a +1 greatsword.

Session Notes

Key events:

  • Negotiated with skeletal Hellknight guardian in the Hall of Graves
  • Discovered evidence of recent spirit communion ritual
  • Retrieved Alak's family signet ring from hidden vault
  • Defeated four Hellcrown spectral creatures in the Reliquary
  • Pacified Big Bumble the grizzly bear and lured it out of the dungeon
  • Requisitioned weapons and equipment from Hellknight tombs
  • Found historical records regarding the Order of the Nail

NPCs encountered:

  • Skeletal Hellknight (sentinel of the Hall of Graves)
  • Alak Stagram (Order of the Nail; showed emotional depth regarding his family signet)
  • Pib and Zarf (kobold companions, nervous but eager for combat)
  • Big Bumble (grizzly bear, caged and starved in the Lictor's bedroom)

Combat:

  • Four Hellcrowns fought in the Reliquary; spectral undead with piercing strikes and persistent bleed effects
  • Party took significant damage; William and Nadira sustained heavy hits
  • Nadira's area heal spell proved critical for recovery

Party decisions:

  • Negotiated with the skeletal knight rather than fighting, honoring Hellknight traditions
  • Chose to comfort the bear and guide it away rather than engage in unnecessary combat
  • Accepted Alak's permission to requisition Hellknight equipment for the mission
  • Nadira exchanged a +1 morning star for a sap to utilize her non-lethal capabilities

Unresolved threads:

  • One door leading north-northeast from the vault chamber, marked by recent footprints; possibly an escape route or hidden passage
  • Purpose and identity of whoever performed the spirit communion ritual
  • Possible connection between the ritual and the cultist invasion

Rewards/loot:

  • Alak's family signet ring (personal recovery)
  • Silver religious symbol of Alseta (8 gp)
  • Scroll of darkness, scroll of darkvision, scroll of heal, scroll of magic missile
  • Scroll of disrupting weapons
  • Lesser ghost charge (alchemical bomb)
  • Wand of heal
  • Ancient sealed manuscript of Hellknight doctrine and military history
  • Tattered historical records of the Order of the Nail
  • Bracers of Missile Deflection (from reliquary)
  • +1 longsword (party stash)
  • +1 silver morning star / sap (Nadira)
  • +1 greatsword (Alak)

Post-Session Leveling Notes

  • Nadira: Robust Health (feat for increased HP), upskilled Medicine to Expert (+11), Ancestral Paragon/General Training nesting, gained new 2d8 heal spell (heightened), added Calm and Word of Truth to prepare for future encounters
  • William: Blessed Shield feat; planned to swap wooden shield for steel shield upon return to town; took Crafting skill
  • Trisiel: Battle Medicine (feat); noted that elemental impulses cannot deliver non-lethal damage per RAW
  • Theo: Adjusted character portrait; considering the implications of scroll-based spell use tricks