Way of the Wicked 20

This was an interesting session for me because in some ways they ran part of it backwards which surprisingly made it easier for me to run.

With Eirmanthus dead and no clock running (aside from the vague timeline of the good army on it's way to defeat Fire-Axe's horde at Daveryn), the PCs spent some time rezzing the dead, gearing up and preparing for the next stage of the adventure. With everyone refreshed and ready to go, they paid Chargammon a visit and present the head of his formal rival.

The dragon was delighted and decided to honor his agreement and go eat some delicious virginal princess in two weeks time. Not only that but he decided to punish his son Jeratheon, whom the PCs had rescued from the Eagles, by forcing him to serve the PCs loyally for 100 years. The PCs now have their own dragon!

They paid a visit to the baroness who provided them with a rough map of the Adarium, the password to bypass some of the magical defenses, and a hint on where to start looking for the King's private sanctum. The PCs used Earth Glide to search under the Adarium until they found a suspicious chamber which they were pretty sure was what they were looking for. They Dimension Doored into the chamber, looked around, got a good feel for it and then left.

They spent the next week making some last minute preparation and then teleported into the chamber just before they expected the dragon to begin his assault. Waiting for them was Brigit of the Brijidine. She was standing in a large pool of lava which made her difficult to reach as she lobbed lava at the PCs and lit up the room with Firestorm. She was tough but they managed to kill her.

A few minutes later a portal opened in the room and the king and his retinue came through. The PCs wasted no words and the battle began. They dropped the King into a Maze and then proceeded to smash his followers. A blasphemy spell paralyzed the paladins and dazed the cleric. The Inquisitor did not last long against the onslaught of Gorbatch the bloodrager. Within a few rounds, all were dead. The PCs waited around for a few rounds until the king reappeared and then he too was dead.

The PCs had a number of objectives here: Slay the King (done), slay Brigit (Done), and find the Libre Darian. There were also two hidden objectives: find the last piece of Helbrand, and something they missed. Knowing they still needed the Libre Darian they started to search the palace hoping that the dragon would keep all of the defenders busy. The lower floor was deserted and it wasn't until they explored the throne room that they found their first opponent - the brother of Ara Mathra. He blasted the Ninth Knot with some nifty light attacks but ultimately went down like a chump. Single opponents have no chance against the party. The final piece of Helbrand was recovered from a hollow compartment in the throne and the artifact was restored to full power!

Since they were disguised as the king and his retinue, the delegation of Iraen (barbarians from the western forest) went along with the PCs and tried to help them. The Princess's quarters on the third floor were largely destroyed. A massive battle had taken place here and there were bodies everywhere including, shockingly, Chargammon himself. The PCs were about to spread out when they were attacked by the Mithril Golem.
It went down fairly quickly and the PC went back to the King's chambers to restart their search their for the Libre Darian.

It was found in the King's private shrine.  The wizard perused it quickly and noted that Princess Belinda's mom is actually an Ancient Great Wyrm Silver Dragon.

As the PCs return to their base General Barca leads the Darian army against Fire Axe's horde at Daveryn. It is a slaughter as the traitorous general orders the army to attack the city's strongest point. When the Darian army finally breaks and the Fire-Axe leads his counter attack to eliminate what's left, General Barca broke his seal and Tiadora appeared. She slew any of the humans nearby and then teleported the General away.

And so ends Book4. At this point the forces of good have been defeated. The watch wall was broken and a massive army of monsters moves south plundering as it goes. The Mitran faith is shattered as the Vale of Valtaerna was desecrated. The Mitran military orders have been annihilated at the battle of Daveryn. The house of Darius is nearly at its end as the King is dead and the only one left is his sheltered 18 year old daughter.

Next up: Evil vs Evil.