Session 12 — The Shattering of the Wardstone

With the lower floors of the Grey Garrison cleared and the sounds of battle fading behind them, the heroes turned their gaze upward—to the final floor, and to the source of the corruption festering at Kenabres’ heart. The last few chambers of the first floor still awaited them, and behind one door a winged predator—the twisted heart-eater known as a peryton—leapt forth in a storm of feathers and blood. It fell quickly to the blades and spells of the crusaders. But the next chamber was fouler still: a wide alabaster basin filled with gore and entrails, surrounded by six shambling corpses. The dead were put down, their masterless hunger silenced, and the heroes ascended the blood-slick stair to the garrison’s peak.

At the top stood a lone guardian—a fiendish red-furred minotaur whose roar and battle horn echoed through the ruin like the voice of war itself. The creature fought savagely, battering shield and bone alike before finally collapsing beneath the heroes’ relentless assault. Beyond the door it had guarded lay the object of their long crusade: the corrupted fragment of the Wardstone, suspended in a cage of profane light. Beside it stood the warped priestess of Deskari, her form half-human, half-insectoid, her prayers a shrieking hymn to ruin. The battle that followed was desperate and terrible—until, at last, Frod raised the rod of cancellation and drove it against the Wardstone.

The world shattered.

A blinding surge of divine energy tore through the Grey Garrison, then swept across the borderlands like dawn bursting through storm clouds. Every Wardstone flared to life, releasing a cataclysm of holy power that annihilated thousands of demons in an instant. The heroes glowed with celestial light, their wounds vanishing, their strength restored, their very souls remade. But the Wardstones were gone—their final act of defence spent.

Visions flooded their minds: the Wardstones’ creation, the crusades they had anchored, the victories and tragedies they had witnessed through the centuries. Then came the image of Areelu Vorlesh herself—the architect of the Worldwound—her hateful visage projected through a demonic lens. With a sneer, she tore open a rift and unleashed her servants upon the mortal world. Six babau demons slipped through before the backlash of divine power slammed the portal shut, maiming the witch and saving the heroes once more.

Still glowing with mythic strength, the party made short work of the surviving demons. When the radiance finally faded, they felt it lingering within them—an awakening, a spark of something greater.

Their triumph was absolute. Kenabres was reclaimed, and the defenders rejoiced. That night, amid celebration and lisan al gaib exhaustion, the heroes shared a single dream. A scarred but radiant woman in gleaming armour—Iomedae herself—appeared before them, thanking them for their courage, kissing each upon the brow, and bestowing her eternal blessing.

When morning came, they awoke changed—champions touched by the divine, bearers of the mythic power of the Wardstone’s final light.

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Rewards:
Exp: 6400 each
First Mythic Tier unlocked