Book II: The Sword of Valour
The strange abyssal radiance at the heart of the vescavor tunnels proved to be far more dangerous than lingering corruption. Following the sickly glow deeper into the cavern, the party discovered a tear in reality itself—a raw rift to the Abyss, likely the source from which the vermin swarm had first poured into the world. The edges of the breach pulsed with violet-black light, widening as they approached. Then, with a burst of sulfurous wind, a vrock demon began forcing its way through, claws scraping against the stone as it clawed for purchase in the Material Plane.
For a single terrible moment, it seemed another disaster was about to erupt beneath the crusade’s feet. But Mokrer Djir acted with perfect instinct. Arcane sigils flared in the darkness as he cast magic circle against evil, the spell locking the unstable energies into place long enough to force the tear shut. The vrock’s shriek was cut off mid-emergence as the rift collapsed into nothingness, leaving behind only scorched stone and the fading smell of brimstone. Whatever force had seeded the vescavor queen here had now been severed.
When the heroes emerged from the caves and rejoined the waiting army, a more immediate mystery surfaced: Nurah was missing. Her absence spread unease through the command ranks. No one had seen her leave, and in the chaos of preparations, no clear trail remained. Yet the march could not stop now—not with Drezen so close. The army pressed onward, the silence around Nurah’s disappearance hanging over them like a storm cloud.
At last, the broken silhouette of Drezen rose before them. Even in ruin, the city was imposing—a shattered fortress dominated by its central citadel, ringed by walls, watchtowers, and looming catapults. The battlefield ahead sprawled into a dozen threats: armies of cultists and demons entrenched in Southbank and Paradise Hill, a horde of ghouls infesting the cemetery, the lone crossing over the dry Ahari river still under enemy control, and whispers of a haunted vault buried among the tombs. Every one of these positions would need to be broken before the city could truly be besieged.
The heroes chose to begin where corruption felt oldest: the dead. Moving ahead of the main host as a skirmish force, they entered the cemetery and descended into the red bull haunted vault. The “vault” proved to be an unholy mausoleum twisted by necromantic energies, haunted by a grotesque berbalang that stalked the tombs between worlds. Its death cry echoed through the crypt as the party struck it down, and with the source of the haunting ended, they returned to the surface.
There, the crusader host surged forward in formation. Beneath the gleam of blessed steel and the thunder of holy war cries, the ghoul horde was utterly decimated. The cemetery was reclaimed, its dead finally laid to rest.
Drezen still loomed ahead, its walls dark and defiant—but for the first time, the crusaders had carved out a foothold beneath its shadow.
Rewards:
Exp: 2400 each
+1 Morale Bonus to the army
Quests:
- March to Drezen, take the Citadel and reclaim The Sword of Valour
- Defeat the army in in Paradise Hills
- Defeat the Army in Southbank
- Secure the Ahari Bridge
- Disable the catapult towers
Red bull hey…