Eliseo and Hayate go to investigate the small octagonal building behind the chapel
- The inside has been trashed, the furniture overturned and green decorations associated with Dauphus strewn about the room
- This was probably the room of a priest
- There is a tome on a desk which appears to be a diary. An initial glance showed that it was initially written in common but that later entries have been made in infernal
- Written by Gideon
- They take it back to Strum to translate
- Gideon had a dream of an angel who taught him about demons and the threat they pose to the world
- In the diary he blames Celestia for not doing enough and praises Zariel and the devils
- The entries clearly show a descent into madness
Hayate performs a prayer of healing to keep the party going before they head down to the ossuary
- Downstairs is a funeral parlour for preparing bodies, wrecked by the passage of the giant scorpion
- Beyond there is a corridor leading in two directions
- Heading right the party reaches a larger room containing several ruined statues
- At the far end there is a statue of a kneeling cleric who Vigil identifies as Osvaldo, a cleric to Dauphus
- He tells the party that Osvaldo is revered for having created a helmet that gave him a closer connection to his god and allowed him to communicate with it
- Suggests that maybe Alfieri was after the helmet
- The statue was clearly designed to hold a helmet, which is missing
They head back along the corridor to explore the rest of the ossuary
- Ahead Eliseo hears a creaky noise, like a breath being drawn through a wet, rotting throat
- The walls here possess shelves covered in stacks of bones, relics and dust
- Rounding a corner they spot a body, the bottom half of which appears to be sunken into the stone floor
- Vigil can sense an undead presence but not from the body, it seems to be invisible
- The presence advances towards them and brushes against Reya who recoils
- Vigil takes a swing at it, feels the blow connect and his hands feel cold as it hits
- He attempts to recoil and finds himself unable to move or talk
- He suddenly lunges at Eliseo with his axe before retreating deeper into the room
- He walks over to the body and gets on his knees, trying to pull it out of the stone
- He seems to be crying
- Following him, Hayate gets close and attempts to turn undead, blasting the spirit out of Vigil and forcing it to flee
- Vigil comes to, claiming that it was a disconcerting experience
- They investigate the body
- Human male, soldier
- He is definitely dead and the mask of terror on his face suggests he died a horrible death
- There is an amulet in its hand, inside is a painting of a woman, who they recognise as Martina
- Vigil gets up and goes after the spirit while Marco investigates a stone raven statue near the body
- Calling out to the spirit and presenting the amulet, Vigil informs him that his wife and children are alive and that they will return the amulet to them
- The spirit dissipates
- Hayate determines that the statue is full of necromantic energy
Further in they find a meditation room, containing a mosaic of bone that depicts Dauphus and several ravens
- There is an inscription
Contemplate life, death comes soon enough
Down some stairs they can hear the sound of rushing air and a voice speaking in abyssal
- Strum casts Comprehend Languages
He can hear a deep voice that seems to be involved in a summoning of abyssal power
- They advance towards it and Vigil kicks his way through a barred door
- As they smash their way in a high pitched voice shouts a warning, “Intruders!”
- Inside, the floor is covered in a layer of water and at the far end the water is being dragged up the wall to form a swirling mass that fizzles with green energy around a portal
The room contains several figures
- The dragonborn, Haruto, and an elven Hellrider, Etienne, are slumped, backs to either sidewall
- Alfieri is kneeling in the centre of the room, wearing a helmet and grabbing at his head
- Before him stands an eyeless, red-skinned demon holding a vial of liquid, as the party enters he pours it over the floor
- Etienne and Haruto convulse as the water turns green
- It appears to be draining their life forces to power the portal
Eliseo shoots the demon in the back as the party charges into battle
- The shallow water hides a layer of bones that crunch beneath their feet
- There are several bodies, Almogovars, city guard, and Hellriders, all emaciated
- Charging out of the portal come three huge, demonic minotaurs
- They move to intercept the party and block their route to the captives
- The demon orders them to hold the party off whilst the captives are drained of life
As the battle rages, the party brings down the centre minotaur
- This provokes the demon into picking up a warhammer and moving to attack Marco
- Hayate is able to get through the gap and head towards Haruto
- Two shadowy figures emerge from the portal
- Vigil and Reya hold off the other minotaurs, both taking some hits, as Marco and Eliseo attack the demon
- Strum uses his last remaining spell slot to heal Etienne, buying time but not awakening him
- The demon is getting frustrated with his inability to hit Marco
- Behind Strum, a small quasit materialises and hisses at him, lashing out with its tail
- Hayate is able to pick up Haruto, the heavy red dragonborn weighing him down
- Getting him out of the water does not seem to have stopped the drain and Hayate thinks he may have to remove him from the room
- The minotaurs and demon take some big hits from the party but as Eliseo gets hit and the prisoners continue to die, the fight starts to look bleak
- The shadow demons move to attack, one is caught by a smite from Vigil
- The portal sparks again and a huge gorilla like demon leaps through
- Moving over to Alfieri, Hayate tries to get the helmet off him with a lightning lure but ends up just zapping him
- Vigil brings down a second minotaur
- Strum charges past the fight to Etienne and summons a floating disk
- He drags the fallen Hellrider onto the disk and looks to get him out
- As the enraged demon swings at Marco he slips past its blow and slams his rapier through its skull and the thunderous force rips it apart
- Following up from this he creates an illusion of bearded devils to distract the barlgura
- The quasit and shadow demons continue the fight as Eliseo rushes to Alfieri and tries to remove the helmet, it seems to be jammed on
- The barlgura charges the illusory devils, swings a huge fist through them and realises what is going on
- Hayate gives Haruto a potion of healing as Vigil kills off a shadow demon
- Vigil then engages the barlgura and casts Sanctuary on Hayate, giving him the opportunity to retreat
- Strum rushes away from the fighting, the disk following behind as he is pursued by the remaining shadow demon and the quasit
- Marco grabs Alfieri and runs over to Strum
- Eliseo slices up the quasit
- Despite the Sanctuary, the barlgura manages to hit Hayate who is saved from unconsciousness by Reya’s shout
- Vigil smashes into the barlgura and drains his own life into the Axe of the Martyr to finish it off but leaving himself badly weakened
- Vigil rushes back to attack the minotaur as its huge axe slams Reya into the floor
- Marco dumps Alfieri on the disk and runs back to Hayate to feed Haruto another potion
- Strum takes a hit from the shadow demon as he flees out the door
- Vigil finishes off the last minotaur and Marco uses his insane speed to get Haruto out of the room
- Strum comes back into the room to help and is brought down by the shadow demon
- Vigil heals Reya and drags her to her feet
Outside and out of sight, Marco puts down Haruto and goes over to Alfieri
- He opens the mouth and rams his rapier up into the duke’s brain, killing him outright
- The helmet loosens and falls from his head
- Marco then runs back into the room just in time to see Eliseo stab the shadow demon in the back, finishing it
The portal fades away as the party collects themselves and administers some healing to the dying Strum
Haruto and Etienne are still alive, barely
- But Alfieri is dead, although the party does not know what killed him
- Eliseo takes his signet ring as proof
- Exhausted and badly injured the party retreats to the meditation room and decide to rest