Kingmaker Session 25

The group finds a shortcut to the Lich! Teleporting themselves to a room right outside his main chamber. They also rescue a Centaur princess who had tried to explore the tomb by herself. She had a run in with Vordakai and lived only because he wished to hear her cries as one of his minions extracted the will to live from her.

More Shadow Monsters

Guarding the main entrance to the second floor, a group of 4 shadow monsters assulted the group. Thankfully, the group had leveled up last session and found that they where able to get the upper hand in this fight very quickly.

Before the last few monsters could be slain, Vordakai called the wretched creatures back to him. Seeing that their essence would be better used to fuel the ritual he was conducting than to stall out our band of heroes.

Secret Tunnel

Rox Smoke and Stetson entered a small passage way to the south of the tomb. The small hall ended with a table that had tools for preparing bodies for cremation. The room also had a statue that covered a false wall.

The secret room they found had a stone eye with eye engravings on the wall. The eye had some grooves around it. Remembering the gold necklace they found in Varnhold, the group placed it on the eye.

Doing this activated the magic of the room. Teleporting the group to the deepest chamber of the structure.

Vordakai’s Challenge

Far into the cold stone structure the group found themselves in a circular hall with glowing eye runes. A large door to the east stood silent.

Then they hear it. Not in their minds but echoing off the walls. Vordakai’s raspy voice beckoning them to come and face their death.

The Smoke used an Augury ritual to try and measure their odds of facing down the Lich in their current state. The ritual gave Smoke a very bad feeling about entering that room. In their current state, the group was drained from disease and stupified by the shadow monster’s curse.

They decided to try and find an exit and rest before attempting to take on a Lich at less than full power.

Saving the Princess

Going back up the winding chambers, the group encountered an amalgamated demon.

The beast put on a fight but was dispached with some solid blows from Smoke, Rox and Gregile.

The beast had a captive. A centaur woman. She was paralyzed and barely alive. Stetson was kind enough to heal her and get her back on her hooves.

She explained that she was the daughter of the centaur queen. She had sensed something bad in the tomb and decided to take a look herself, despite the fact that going inside this place was forbidden by her clan. She came face to face with Vordakai. With a single swipe, he paralyzed her. He was about to kill her but decided to allow one of his horrible servants torture her before killing her.

She also explained that Vordakai does not have a Soul Cage. It was destroyed long ago and he was magically trapped in this tomb. A lich without a Soul Cage slowly withers over time and Vordakai is no different. Over the centuries, he has lost much of the power he once had. He is currently attempting to reconstruct his Soul Cage using the souls of the people of Varnhold and others he has captured.

Conclusion

The princess was able to guide the group back up the tomb to a side entrance. She was thankful to the group and wished them well for the coming battle.

Resting outside for the night, the group awoke with their spells and stupify conditions relieved. The folks that where also plagued by disease where able to fight it off.

Next time! The group confronts the Lich Vordakai. It is sure to be an epic battle!