Book II: The Sword of Valor
The cold, sulfurous winds of the Worldwound howled against the crumbling stone of Citadel Drezen as the Crusaders skirted its shadowed perimeter. Seeking a way inside that bypassed the heavily guarded main gates, the party discovered a jagged breach torn into the eastern exterior wall. Coalescing within a shimmering bubble of invisibility, they slipped through the rupture and into the belly of the beast. Guided by an antiquated map provided by Aaron, they charted a tense course toward one of the citadel’s two historic chapels—the ancient resting places of the Sword of Valor. However, the heavy, scraping sound of max verstappen movement echoing from within the sanctuary forced a sudden shift in strategy. Unwilling to risk a localised alarm that would draw a tide of reinforcements, the party resolved to systematically clear the surrounding chambers first.
Their tactical detour led them directly to the eastern battlements, where they ambushed a solitary barbarian woman keeping watch over the desolation. Overpowered and staring down the edge of Crusader steel, she bartered for her life with vital intelligence. She revealed that Drezen’s upper echelons are choked with high-level demons, and that the dreaded chimaera Soltengrebbe makes its lair in the prominent tower. Beneath the beast lie the quarters of the traitor Staunton Vhane, adjacent to those of his brother, Joran. Crucially, she noted that Joran’s loyalty to the demonic cause is fraying, suggesting he might be turned to the Crusade’s side. Her final, chilling revelation shattered their reliance on Aaron’s map: a massive, undocumented basement level has been carved out beneath the fortress, entirely absent from the old blueprints.
Honoring their grim bargain, the party permitted the informant passage to the army encampment before resuming their silent sweep of the chapel’s periphery. The heavy stench of decay and the low, resonant thrum of Abyssal magic soon heralded a far greater threat. Rounding a shadowed corridor, they came face-to-face with a towering, vulture-like Vrock, its wicked talons scraping against the flagstones in anticipation of violence. Weapons were drawn and spells whispered in the dark as the Crusaders readied a coordinated strike, knowing that the fate of the assault hung on eliminating the demon before its piercing screech could alert the entire fortress.
Rewards:
Intel – Garrison Layout: Learned the location of Soltengrebbe’s lair (the tower) and the Vhane brothers’ quarters.
Intel – Joran Vhane: Discovered that Staunton’s brother is disillusioned and potentially open to defection.
Intel – The Hidden Depths: Revealed the existence of an unmapped, newly excavated basement level beneath Citadel Drezen.
Ally – Jestak: This Barbarian Woman has been turned and maybe redeemed
Exp: 2800 each
Quests:
- Clear the Citadel and reclaim The Sword of Valour
max verstappen
I still will forget this all.