Previous

What’s with these cultists and their living bones and stuff? And demons too? No they don’t deserve to be part of this world. Time to give them a damn good kicking. Out little group has been developing a small reputation. OK, it didn’t help me when I let loose the bow in the market, but you can’t have everything. So as we’re returning from the last lot, we’re approached by a Guard who seems very apologetic. But he’s heard of us, and could we help out in training and supplying a few new recruits. Seems like the City Guard has a little bit of a supply issue. Well we decide it’ll be no real hassle so we offer to help. He promises to spread the word about us. (City Event #32 - Gain 1 reputation.)

Anyway, time we head off into the wilds again. The Vermling doesn’t say anything but the glare from him suggests that he doesn’t really want to be out and about. He’s pretty much a City rat. I promise him that we can do some adventures in the City itself next time and he cheers up a bit.

As we’re walking down the road, we spot a coupe of Valraths driving towards us in a cart. They look at us very warily with their hands going to their weapons, but we persuade them that we’re peaceful. They would like us to help them out with some supplies if possible. It costs us some coin, but we are happy to help. The Valrath’s also offer to spread our reputation far and wide. (road Event #32 - Gain 1 reputation.)

Anyway, cultists…

Your mission is clear. These elemental cultists are distorting the fabric of the world and must be stopped. With that goal in mind, you follow the writings to an ancient crypt you believe to be the cult’s base of operations. Steeling yourselves for combat, you batter through the rotted door and charge into the hall of the crypt.

The sight before you is both wondrous and horrifying. A group of cultists is performing ritual incantations in front of a black, gaping hole in reality. They turn toward you and snarl, unsheathing their sacrificial daggers. Behind them an inky darkness spills forth from the hole and coalesces into nightmarish forms full of teeth and claws. You know you must send these terrors of the elemental plane back into the void, but you are paralyzed with fear.

Yeah, thats a tricky one. We weren’t expecting these things, that literally just race at us. The Brute grabs one and pushes it back against the far wall. He hasn’t had time to draw his weapon, but at least it gives us a bit of breathing room. Meanwhile those cultists are shuffling fowards looking more and more decrepit, but these skeletons keep spring up out of nowhere. So now we have cultists, demons as black as the night and now with added living bones. I decide that descretion is th ebwtter part of valour and step over to the door and disarm a trap until I can get a better grip on the situation.

Well, when we recover our wits, it seems the best way for me to deal with these is to stab then with poison, if poison works on these things. Well turns out it helps, but it’s better with the Brute thrusting his spears around and skewering them everywhere.

We kill some of the bones, but the cultists summon a few more. Rather the remaining cultists summon, because the Vermlings seems to be making short work of them. Meanwhile the Brute soundly deals with the demons. Although one of them seems to fade from site into just an inky blackness where it’s impossible to see where it is. We head towards the right hand door which I am eager to open, but the Ratling runs past me and gets there first and he stands there blocking the way, whilst summoning up his rat hoard. Beyond him I can see more Bones… but then something pokes it’s head round the corner. Yet more demons. These are like walking ice crystals.

Anyway, time to use my boots to leap up, grab the door lintel again and dash round behind the bones to stab them in the back. Well this kind of gets their attention and they start to surround me and send some serious damage my way. Should have thought about that a little better.

I’m too focussed on trying to stay alive to worry about what the others are doing, but I can hear them fighting their way through. The Brute bursts into the room and starts dealing with the Bones, I back away but a demon turns round the corner and catches me a good one. I managed to stab him with my poison dagger, but I have to back away swig a health potion and catch my breath, I head to the far end of the room. There is an intersting looking chest here, but if I get a faceful of fumes like the Brute did last time, I’m done for. Do I risk it? Yeah, may as well. I smash open the lock and inside lies a small pouch of coins. My head spins as I wait for the bleeding to subside a bit before I head back into the fray, just in time to see the Rat swarm devouring a demon. Imagine that.

The Vermling and I start to make our way back up through the main room past that swirling portal to the other door, but there is a skeleton shuffling that way too. Turns out the Vermling is controlling it and it’s, shall we say, friendly?

Meanwhile I can hear shuffling, cursing and the sounds of rummaging coming from behind me. Looks like the Brute has decided to grab as much goodies as he can find in the room and let us fend for ourselves out here.

The other door is thrown open. Well what do you know? Living Bones. Again. And three creatures that it hurts my eyes to look at, but they sure do light up the room. Flame Demons! We back away slowly, better to let them come to us.

The Flame demons are throwing off small lumps of lava which could seriously hurt you if you step in them. Which fortunately one of the Bones does so and shrivels up into charcoal. I pull down my goggles and draw my bow taking careful aim and go straight through the heart of one of the demons. The Vermlings little set of bones perishes under the onslaught of the fury of these things, but between the two of us we manage to kill them off. I just abaout manage to scope up a lot of dropped treasures when the Brute wanders back into the room grinning to himself… with his pockets bursting to the brim with goodies. The Vermling just rolls his eyes at us and calls us greedy, after all, he didn’t want to grab any loot this time.

With the cultists and their minions dead, it seems the dark rift is now dormant. It is no less disconcerting, however. You toss a rock at it, and the rock disappears into nothingness. You must admit that you wonder whether you could enter the rift yourself and whether you could survive the trip to wherever that rock ended up. (Unlock Scenario #10)

Alternately, finding some way to close the rift is probably the more prudent decision. There is an Aesther enchanter in Gloomhaven who may know more about this inter-planar stuff. She’s been known to ask for impossible favors before she helps anyone, though. (Unlock Scenarios #14 and #19)

For me, I am feeling way more confident in my abilities, and I think I need to head back to Gloomhaven to understand my fighting patterns. I think I may have worked out something interesting.

Previous