As the Pilgrim and his vile coterie
of demons and Blind Varlets enter the Palace of Lord Azzur of Khare, a memory
is stirred in the minds of Balthazar, Christophe and Alain Fu. They remember a
day during the Brass War, a day blanked from their minds by Varlet magick,
where they were sent to recover some missing Flatlander scouts. Following a trail
of bandits through the wilderness, the young party come across a strange ritual
site, where they are beset by thugs in black garb, and a strange undead spirit
who they dispatch by deactivated a standing stone. From over a bluff, suddenly a
horde of cultists with blindfolds emerge led by a man who they recognise now as
Tawni Abbas, the sponser and friend of the party. He told the party that they
would lead Alain Fu on a great adventure to retrieve the Cyrinishad and grow in
power ready for his sacrifice during the Eclipse…
Back in Khare, the Pilgrim attempts
to seduce Fu to his side one last time, explaining to him that Fu is a clone of
the Pilgrim, made to take his place as the Annointed One who would bring Cyric
into the world. He tells the party that Fu was once the best of the Varlets,
but he went mad with the constant whispering of Cyric from the Far Realm and
fled. But the Fu was not for turning. The party drew steel and charged the
Pilgrim, and an epic battle broke out. While Sarah battled a Blood Demon from
the darkest pits of the Abyss, Balthazar and Christophe set about dispatching a
Vrock, a huge vulture-like demon. Eored and Fu focused on the Pilgrim himself,
destroying the strange clones that kept an impenetrable shield over him. Just
as the battle seemed to be going in the party’s favour, the Pilgrim took
magical control over Christophe and made him take out the Cyrinishad. Suzzarn
leapt from the shadows and snatched the book and attempted to flee the palace.
Thinking fast, Sarah and Balthazar ran after him, taking him down and stopped
the book from falling into Varlet hands. Battered and bloodied, the party took
the fight to the Pilgrim himself, and with a swing of her feywildian axe, Sarah
LaChance cut him down.
As silence fell over the battle, so
did the sounds of demons from outside. Emerging from the Palace they saw their
efforts had vanquished the Eclipse, and all that was left of Khare was lifeless
rubble. As they explored the smoking ruins, Alain Fu determined that the death
of his creator had bestowed upon him the power to destroy the Cyrinishad once
and for all. Summoning an aspect of the ancient sorcerer Cyric, with his magics
Fu obliterated his spirit and the book burst into cinders, never to threaten
Allansia again.
After a rest and a fruitless search
for onions in devasted Khare, Balthazar suggests they investigate Mount Shareat
for anything they may have missed. Strangely reticent about going there,
Christophe protests, but the noble dragonborn warlord heads there anyway. The
mountain is quiet, but in the shadows of an ancient standing stone Balthazar
finds an moribund Orrind, his feet and hands severed and his eyes and tongue
removed - seemingly the work of the sadist Forkiz Geung. He is carried back to
Khare, and after a quiet moment, Christophe allows the cleric to slip off to
death, to finally be at peace at Melora’s side.
With
victory still swelling in their hearts, the party realised there was one final
loose end in all this grim business. Tawni Abbas has betrayed them, led them on
a merry dance into the hands of the Blind Varlets. After acquiring a diamond
from Lord Azzur, they made their way to Sapphoro’s shop and activated the
portal to Arventine. Stepping in, they steeled themselves in anticipation of
justice to come…
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