Bandaluthia Session 30

Bandaluthia: Session 30

A funeral pyre was made and Shaniqua’s body placed upon it. It was set alight. The Animals had decided that her ashes were easier to carry back for resurrection. During this solemn ceremony, Coolio noticed a rabbit some twenty yards away, just at the woodlands edge, came to sit. The rabbit ignored all approaches and would not interact in any way. Whilst discussing this strange occurrence, a blue tit sat opposite the rabbit about eight feet from it. Then a stoat sat next to the rabbit a pace away. Over the next hour or two, as the sun dipped behind the mountainous horizon, more woodland creatures turned up and sat oblivious to their surroundings. As the natural light faded it showed each of the stoic animals to have a silvery glow about them. They formed a path which led straight up to a cliff face. On the cliff face hundreds of gecko lizards formed an arch stretching up twenty feet.

A flash from the sky saw Rubins Lukah and a companion plummet towards the ground. The wizard and woman slowed and alighted the ground as if they just got off a bottom step. Rubins introduced his female companion as Lupa Ookami. The best way to describe Lupa is feral. She wears no shoes, just the fur garments to hide her modesty. She was wearing a cloak, to which she looked uncomfortable in. Rubins announced he was joining the Animals in opening the crypt of Aver’Thaal-Aferlo Khan.

At the gecko doorway, Lupa spoke softly and line appeared down the centre of the arch. Then the rest of the doors took shape, but they were decorated with silvery glyphs, where there were no adornments before. As the door took its final shape, the path full of woodland critters, and the lizard door frame all suddenly became aware of themselves, and bolted, flew or just tried to hide. The door opened. They revealed a black obsidian hall way. The dust was thick and there were no obvious tracks. Rubins lead the way in. The Animals followed. After a minute or two of walking into the mountain, another door blocked further progress. Rubins got Lupa to repeat the words, and the door simply de-materialized. Inside this circular room showed the expansive library. Thirty foot across, but it stretched up as far as anyone could see. The walls were books. Ratsel cast ‘detect magic’ and to him, the room was awash in a red glow. In the centre of the room a simple stone coffin lay. Coolio cast ‘detect undead’ but to no effect, or there was no undead within sixty feet. Rubins readied the Animals and then with a sweep of his hand, the top fell to the floor. The silence was deafening.

No undead beasts came. No voice warning of perils. It was unsettling. After a breathless minute, they looked into the coffin. A small bowl lay in the centre. In the bowl was water and in the water lay an amulet. Ratsel pulled his sword, and fished the amulet out. Lupa sniffed the water and said that it was too pure. Coolio suggested it was holy water. Rubins and Ratsel talked excitedly as this could be on of the nine Amulets, indeed the front showed a beast of hideous evil. It was here that Jacobs dog, Affe and Lupa all started to back away from the centre of the room and towards the door. A thin line of flame, perhaps six yards high appeared. The flame started to separate, making an ellipse with the centre black. The ellipse grew fatter, and beyond the flame outline was a glimpse of the infernal heat. Out stepped a pit fiend. A bone devil followed. Rubins leapt to action, and shouted at them to deal with the bone devil. The pit fiend asked for the Amulet, but the only reply given was Rubins casting spells.

Ratsel started to cast, but not offensive spells, the Tiefling wizard started his own protection first. Jacob ran at the beast and took two chunks with his swords. Elodee cast, but her magic had defeated this beast before, this time her spell was nullified. Coolio cast bless about his friends. Lupa ran to the devil, her face and limbs had mutated into a form which was half human and the rest wolf. She tried to bite and claw the devil, but with little effect. The devil lashed out his own terrible claws, maw but also his most feared weapon, his scorpion like tail. The tail missed, but the rest took hold of Jacob. Ratsel cast yet another self preservation spell, but he almost got distracted by the fight going on in the other half of the room. There seemed to be a magical barrier along the centre of the room, holding each fight in its own chamber. The urban ranger carried on his assault. Again his blades bit, again Elodee cast, but this time her spell seemed to phase the devil for a split second. ‘Touch of idiocy’ seemingly hit. Coolio tried to shoot the devil, and although his bolts could not penetrate the natural armour of the infernal minion, the blast damage seemed to cause it pain. Lupa added her own magic to her attacks, and she managed to hit the vile creature. The devil struck out again. It caught Elodee with its tail, and the poison started to work. Jacob again was hit with powerful claws and he started to show signs of distress.

The pit fiend and Rubins waged a terrible battle. The wizard cast many spell that would destroy most creatures. The fiend unleashed Hells fury but to little effect. The two stood toe to toe and dealt out death.

Jacob struck again, this time only once. His deterioration was taking its toll. Ratsel tried to position himself to shoot both the devil and pit fiend, but found he could not due to Lupa not giving up her position. Another round passed where Ratsel did not attack. Coolio shot three more bolts from his crossbow, and as before the hide of the devil was too thick, but some damage was caused from the blast. Lupa fought tooth and nail, quite literally. Elodee cast another spell, but to no avail. The devil looked to be on top. His next assault saw Jacob fall to his knees, and Lupa stung from the tail. Ratsel now decided to attack. His lightning bolt jammed into the devil but his next intended target, the pit fiend, was saved from an unseen force. Coolio ran and cured Jacob, who stood back up and tried to hit the devil, but failed. Lupa’s attack was not effective and Elodee’s strength could barely hold the shape shifter up. The pit fiend turned his attentions to Ratsel. He came at the Tiefling, but found the magical armour spell almost too much. One claw found its way through the arcane defence, but Ratsel’s next spell, magic missile finished the devil.

The other side of the room saw a wall of smoke. Lights flashed from within, and the air seemed to crackle and fizzle. Then the wall of force gave way, and the whole room was lost in the smoke. A minute or two later, and the Animals had been calling for Rubins, but their shouts remained unanswered. As the smoke cleared it revealed a figure in the doorway. A human figure and he introduced himself as G’Zair-Elrin. He told Ratsel to put the Amulet back into the holy water. He explained that this hid the Amulet from the infernal beings who hunt it. He let them take the Amulet after he explained its power, and had made sure that Ratsel had not inner wish to rule Avernus himself.
G’Zair-Elrin magically healed the party, not just the wounds they had just received, but Jacobs’s plight from the wraith too. All he wanted in return was Ratsel’s fireballs spells. Ratsel cast into the library, but the fireballs were held, the swelled and the doors shut behind them. Once clear of the mountains, the Animals and now the abandoned Lupa, heard explosions from deep within the mountain. The Crypt of Aver’Thaal-Aferlo Khan had been destroyed.

Roth met the Animals a day later and led them back to Bandaluthia. As he bade them farewell a mile from the city Lupa was torn between going with him, and joining the Animals to seek advice from D’Jarra-Leon. Lupa chose the Animals. A taxi trip to 22 Acacia Avenue was prolonged. A City Guard stood at the front door, and the house was boarded up. On to D’Jarra-Leon’s tower took them past The Satyr & Sickle. The pub had no one inside that they recognised. Gryff was not on the door and there were no familiar faces to be seen at all. The Monterey wizards’ tower was boarded up. This was home to D’Jarra-Leon. The Animals taxi took them away. They stopped right at the edge of the City, in a district they had never been, The Plenns. An Inn called The Purse became their stop, and a very disorientated and confused group too refuge for the night.

What has happened in Bandaluthia? The Animals had been gone just under a month. Not quite four weeks had passed and now their world was in chaos. What will happen in the next thrilling chapter of Bandaluthia?