Bath Imaginable

TROGRUG

For the crime of HERESY you have been sentenced to die.

You have chosen death by CRUSADE.

As ST. YDRIS was judged and found worthy through blood, so may you seek the same mercy in battle.

Should you survive, report to me in MARIN’S HOLD for your final reward.

JUDGE EAMON

By seal and sanction of INQUISITOR JUSTINIA MORVIN I issue this judgement. Go forth, son, and walk the path of St. Ydris the Unholy.

Five survivors from the Hideous Halls of Mugdulblub make their way to Marin’s Hold. There used to be a bridge, but it was destroyed when demons began hatching from the black marrow trees years ago…

They wait for the ferryman in the misty grass at the edge of Finimere Lake.

Hald Frogley, halfling wizard, his third eye bulging behind his left one. Auglud, half-orc fighter with an extra finger poking through her glove. Ipshroom, warlock of the Willowman, branches growing from his face, a third eye in his forehead. Grant, warlock of Shune the Vile, covered in arcane runes. Leledish, Gloaming witch, freed from beneath Bittermold Keep.

Also waiting for the ferry is Röylat, Knight of St. Ydris, her chainmail shining faintly through the fog.

The ferryman appears. Jovial, but uneasy. He tells them he doesn’t cross at night, no matter what they hear.

“Do people say otherwise?” Leledish asks.

“Oh, people talk,” the ferryman says. “There’s a lot of gossip on the river. I heard of yous, and your work at Bittermold Keep…”

The lake ripples once, then stills.

Marin’s Hold is a motte-and-bailey where the river meets the bog. The air smells of rot. The farms outside are ruined. A siege tower blocks the gate, and the bridge over the moat has been torn down.

The guards at the top let them pass, but when the PCs reach the gate, one look is enough.

“Hell no,” the guard says, and shuts the spyhole.

Röylat vouches for the others, they present Trogrug’s papers.

“Go get Judge Eamon,” the guard says.

Inside, Judge Eamon welcomes them. He’s pleased to see Röylat. The reward: safety, and a place within Marin’s Hold. No gold. No thanks.

The town is crowded and paranoid. Villagers whisper in small groups. Livestock wander the muddy streets.

Judge Eamon explains the situation. Demons breached the gates weeks ago. Twenty dead. Witchcraft attracts them. The Knights traced it to the apothecary. Brunhilda, the apothecary’s owner, was taken for questioning. She’ll be burned at Boot Hill in three nights.

He tells them to stay at the Crayfish Tavern, and to watch for witchcraft.

Leledish shifts nervously. Röylat is confused, as a Knight of St. Ydris she was trained to use witchcraft to fight evil… Grant stands still in a cold sweat.

In his dream last night, Grant was wandering through an impossibly large, dark mansion. Trapped in endless twisting halls his only company the squeaking floorboards beneath his sizable feet. With each step he hears a whisper from Shune the Vile.

A loyal follower needs help in Marin’s Hold.

The PCs are suspicious of Judge Eamon and decide to learn more about the captured witch. They search the ransacked apothecary and find a bundle of letters hidden beneath a squeaky floorboard. It’s true: Brunhilda has been spying for a coven of witches hiding in the Bone Cave north of town.

As the PCs leave the apothecary, they notice a suspicious raven watching from the tree above. A bell rings, the townsfolk flee indoors. Demons.

The PCs rush to the gatehouse and climb to the rooftop. Standing alongside Knight Marshal Breegan, they watch as a group of seven shamble toward the town. Demons? They’re not sure, they look like people.

Hald Frogley sneaks ahead to get a closer look: half-eaten, hollowed out carcasses worn by gobbly-eyed raptors with slick feathers and oily skin. The halfling misty steps back to town and warns the others: Skrell demons, known for their cleverness.

The PCs attack!

When the demons are dead, Judge Eamon inspects the battlefield. He gives a knowing smile.

“Sometimes you have to do what’s necessary for the greater good,” he tells them. “It’s the only way we’ll survive.”

As the sun sets behind the tall trees on the horizon, the PCs drink at the tavern and plot their next move. After resting, they decide to rescue Brunhilda from the dungeon and find out what’s really going on in Marin’s Hold.

After spending the whole day in the tavern hearing patrons argue about the sinkhole out back and whether or not there’s ancient canals beneath the hold, the PCs decide to check it out for themselves.

A collapsed cottage, two guards standing watch in case of demons coming up from below. Röylat steps forward, declares she and her party are investigating the hole.

“Go ahead,” the guards chuckle, “just don’t expect us to follow you in there.”

The PCs descend into a dank wet cellar where the bricks collapse and reveal a deep cavern. Leledish conjures a bobbing, white star that lights the way.

They crawl through a narrow passage, stalagmites glistening with condensation. The sound of water grows louder until they reach a small waterfall spilling into a bubbling pool. Dark shapes twist beneath the surface. Röylat stabs her javelin into the pool. To her horror, she pulls from the deep a wailing mutant catfish, limbs flailing. She quickly releases it, and three of its kind jump from the water. They hiss. Their barbs quiver.

The PCs back off, they mean the creatures no harm. But the catfish refuse to leave, they’re here to protect one of their own. The Possessed One, Wallow, is above the waterfall in the underground canal. They won’t leave him behind.

The PCs offer to help, they know about demons, so they climb up to the moss-covered canals and take a look. In the dark corner they see a frail, decrepit mutant catfish feverishly carving diabolic runes into the stone walls. It’s frothing at the mouth, its beard tendrils flap around wildly.

Röylat and Leledish read the diabolic runes. Summoning ritual, but it’s not finished.

They decide to sneak past the Possessed One and climb the stairs to a secret door into the dungeon. Peeking in, they see a table crowded with guards and Knight Marshal Yslen. A prisoner (Brunhilda) stands in the shadows across the dungeon, locked behind iron bars. And three hounds lift their heads and begin sniffing at the shrine hiding the secret door.

“What’s that?” Knight Marshal Yslen says to the hounds as she stands from the table.

Leledish sends his mouse familiar running into the dungeon, it climbs one of the brick pillars and the hounds begin jumping and barking towards it.

“It’s just a mouse,” the guards sigh.

Röylat pushes through the secret door and enters the room, announcing her presence. She explains to Yslen that she found the sinkhole and the secret passage, and warns the guards of the summoning ritual below. Yslen sends four of the guards into the darkness below to deal with the Possessed One, and sends the fifth up to the hold to collect Judge Eamon.

The PCs realize it’s now or never–they have to pick a side.

“We can’t let you do that,” they say, and it’s initiative.

Yslen orders the guard to keep going, but Auglud and Grant rush him and cut him to pieces before he can flee.

Leledish jumps out from behind the secret door, flashes his dagger and stabs at the hounds. Bark, yelp, whimper.

Knight Marshal Yslen fights like a demon–in fact, she taunts Röylat: “You feel it, don’t you? There’s demon blood in your veins. Don’t resist, give in.”

Röylat’s head pounds. False memories come rushing back. “No!” She screams, “I’m not a demon!” Her eyes turn inky black, her veins bulge, a sulfurous steam rises from her blade.

When Knight Marshal Yslen is killed, they free Brunhilda.

She explains that she is helping a coven of witches to save the town. The Knights of St. Ydris are compromised, Judge Eamon serves Almazzat. They’re burning witches and anyone else powerful enough to resist them.

Röylat learns the truth–her false memories dissolve as she remembers drinking from the sinewy veins of St. Ydris the Unholy, the Possessed.

It’s true, the blood of Almazzat runs through her veins.