The adventure begins! The party was all invited annonymously via letter to meet at Vizio’s Tavern. Everyone eventually showed up and were all greeted by Janiven, the second in command of a group of rebels striving to take Westcrown back from the Thrice-Damned House of Thrune. Janiven convinced each member of the party to join their rebellion, offering promise of gold, glory and a better Westcrown. Just as their meeting was about to come to an end, a young boy named Morisono showed up out of breath and in a panick. He brought news that the leader of the Rebellion, an Elf named Arael had been arrested by the Hellknights of the Order of the Rack and that the knights were just on his tail to come arrest Janiven and the newly recruited rebels. The party took Janivens suggestion to flee through the sewers beneath the tavern and follow the markers she had left to find the rebels hideout. Janiven split from the party and took a more stealthy escape with Morisono through the roof. The party began to navigate the sewers, following the markers without much trouble. The sound of clanking armor echoing through the sewers behind them prompted the party to quicken their pace. Deeper into the sewers Rashann spotted strange gelatenous spots dotting various places along the ceiling. Rinn Sacrificed several of his ravens, sending them beneath the substance to see if they were dangerous. Sure enough the creatures dropped from the ceiling with precise accuracy devouring the ravens and continuing to attack the Party. The party was able to defeat the creatures with minimal injuries and now continues onward through the seweres.

The party continued onwards through the sewers. The symbols Janiven had left behind were faded and hard to spot, but were all spotted regardless. The group of Hellknights right on their heels was distracted away using some of Ryn’s trained ravens.

Deeper into the sewers the party encountered a small horde of undead. Despite some malfunctions with Reshann’s equipment complicating the situation, the party was able to disperse the horde and continue their way to the exit. Cinder and Harley uncovered a hidden cache along the way, containing the corpse of some animal with a carry pouch. The pouch contained a powerful wand that the party gave to Ryn.

The party reached the exit, but were unfortunately not the first ones there. A small unit of Hellknights awaited them, implying that they intedned to do far worse than arrest the rebels.

Obtained Loot:
-Wand of Cure Moderate Wounds. (6 Charges/CL5)

The party faced down a small group of Hellknights blocking their exit out of the sewers. When it became clear the Hellknights were not looking to reason, they were dispatched without any serious injuries and one was taken captive.

They party exited the seweres into a walled off cemetery behind an old chapel of Aroden. There they were greeted by a lively Gnome woman named Yakopulio who led them inside to find Janiven. Janiven delivered the grim news that Arael had not been retreived and that he was being taken out of Westcrown and to the Hellknight Citadel of Drovenge. They would be moving slow as they had Arael locked inside an armored carrige and would be picking up reinforcments at a checkpoint along the way. Janiven suggested acting fast and riding ahead of band of Hellknights to set up an ambush.

After a quick night’s rest, the party set out to set up their attack. Jacovo, the uncle of the fellow resistance member Gorvio was willign to lend his horses to the cause. After much peruassion he decided to give ownership of the horses to the resistance. They party rode fast and quickly pulled ahead of the Hellknight convoy. Along the way Rin revealed that he was actually Zarias’ thought to be dead lover Telerin.

The party decided to attack at a heavily wooded area along the road. The cut down a large tree to obstruct the road and hid the ranged combatants behind it and Caltrops were hidden in front to protect them from a jumping horse. Janiven prepared the other rebels to cause a distraction and split the group of hellknights. The rest hid off the road in the woods. When the convoy arrived, Janiven led a perfect distraction, pulling away all but one of the mounted knights. the final mounted knight tried to approach the fallen tree to remove it from the road but wasdismounted by the caltrops. The party took advantage of this chaos to throw a makeshift bomb along with a darkness imbued horshoe at the Carriage, harming the entire group of Hellknights and shrouding them in darkness. their leader, Shanwen, quickly healed the damage dealt by the bomb, but was slain immediately after by Zarias. The rest of the party engaged the remaining Hellknights, managing to inapacitate the majority of them without killing them. During the fight, Rin and Harley were able to free Arael without any harm befalling him. With Arael free, the party now only faces down the remaining mounted Hellknights rushing back to the Carriage.

Well, the last 2 days have been very interesting. I have one of the rebellion scouting out a zombie slave for me. This is gonna be awesome. Like, you have no idea. I have no idea what I am going to do with a zombie at this point, but I am sure that it will be very useful. At worst I can use the zombie to scare people, so that should be fun. I hope that it doesn’t stink.
I bought a really nice suit. So did Zarias. He looks way damn fine :) We are going to a play tonight. It will be nice to have a date night after all of these years. And hopefully we will be able to get even with the douche wad actor.
We get to the theater and the security is insane. Steve isn’t able to get in. There is a ward on the door. Luckily Cinder was able to get in by pretending to be an actor. He is also able to get the spell that will allow a magic device through the ward. He carries Steve in and I am able to sit down. A lot of people are enjoying the play. I am just enjoying some time with Zarias where we are able to just relax and not have people trying to kill us. Once the play ends I decide that we should attempt to humiliate “Thoodie who da what”. During the standing ovation I implant the thought into his head that he itches violently. The only way to get rid of this itch is to strip and pee in a tuba. It works wonders and he gives the audience his first good performance of the night. Bahahaha, I love being a witch.

Alright, now let’s get to the bandits. After having a nice night, we decide to go and fight bandits (One of the many things that makes me miss the future is that even driving down the road is really dangerous here). We turn Steve into a cart. I drive the cart, Cinder stoops down and dresses like an old woman who is walking next to the cart. Everyone else hides in the cart under the tarp. We drive down the road for a while and then see a group of hooligans (This will always be a fun word) walk up to us. I assume that these are the bandits. They try to have a nice chat with us where they let us know that they expect us to give them what is in the cart. Cinder removes his disguise and throws a ball of fire at the bandits. Everyone in the cart throws off the tarp and jumps out. We all prepare for a fight. 4 ninja bandits reveal themselves from the forest. Fuck, this could go bad. Cinder is attacked and drops unconscious. Everyone starts attacking and I heal Cinder and Nisha who was injured during the initial attack. We attempt to get them to stand down, however they don’t and their leader starts to head off into the forest. Cinder is able to hit her with a giant ice shard caving in her head. Damn, it was pretty cool. Me writing this won’t do it justice. It was one of those you had to be there moments to get the full impact. I move to attack and get surround. I am attacked.

BLACKNESS

I am brought back to consciousness. Damnit, I hate when that happens. The 2 bitches that hit me are dead. They are lucky. I swear that if I ever find their ghosts I am going to make their death a living hell (or the dead version of a living hell that is). I heal myself and then as I look around I see Zarias trying his best to run up to me, but somehow he has Nisha’s armor on and it is more like a waddle. Now how the hell did that happen?
We return to base and prepare for the next adventure.

-Rin & Steve

Nisha stood at attention outside of the theater, only the twitch of her tail betraying her irritation. Various members of the rebellion surrounded her, their expressions a mixture of nervousness and excitement. She knew she should encourage them, but her mind was far from the present. Inside, a mere hundred yards away, her companions were brewing trouble. For the thousandth time, her eyes were drawn towards the wide double doors and her fingers tightened on her shield. Even now, she wasn’t certain that she’d made the correct decision to stay behind.

Firmly, she turned her eyes away from the door. Their goal was to maim or murder. Or, at the very least, extortion. A sick, oily feeling curled in her stomach at the thought. This was was how far she had descended, cohorts with those who would kill for a slight offense. Of course it was the right decision to stay behind, but was this who she was becoming? One who would only object weakly as evil happened beneath her nose? At one time it would have been her who stood proudly against murderers and schemers and now she considered them her companions. Hers to protect and keep safe.

Her elongated ears drooped subtly, eyes dropping to the cobblestone road as she allowed herself a moment of doubt. Every prayer and supplication that she’d offered to Iomedae had left her empty and confused. The path was dark and her faith was weak. She needed to be among her own kind, her brethren in arms! Hopefully, her golden eyes rose to Arial, but the cold look on his face was enough to stifle her words.

Arial was not the same man she had once believed in. His easy smile, the way he could make someone feel welcome and at home had vanished. Even someone like her. Angrily, she gripped her shield as applause rose from inside of the chapel. Anger. Rage. The emotions she’d buried in favor of serenity filled her like a raging river bursting free from a dam. Aroden had died, her home had been ravished and her friends killed or changed into something she no longer recognized. The world was going to hell and she and this motley crew were the only ones resisting it.

The strong preyed on the weak, and the government supported such actions. Nay, encouraged them! And now… And now… Deflated, Nisha let her eyes trail back to the doors as laughter spilled out into the streets. It hadn’t been by chance that she’d chosen the Playhouse to escort people home from. If a fight broke out, she knew that she would run her companions aid. Despite the fact that they had been in the wrong… Despite the fact that Thespian was a man who brought laughter and beauty to people’s lives, people who lived in a dark time… Nisha could only save those who were in front of her.

She hoped Iomedae understood.

Intentionally, Nisha chose a merchant who lived nearby to escort home. He and his wife spoke amicably about the play, but her ears perked up at the ‘uncouth’ display at the end. Confused by the woman’s small smile, Nisha exchanged glances with Arial but remained silent. These people would be more traumatized if there was bloodshed, and Nisha felt a spark of hope for her companions.

Seeing the couple safe at home, Nisha and Tarvi split from the rest of the crew in favor of the stables. Along the way, Tarvi spoke of her mother’s death by a Shadow Beast and she felt a stab of sorrow for the young girl. So many had been lost to the corruption of Cheliax. The young girl now knew a hurt that should never have happened to her, and instead of hiding indoors like many did, she was out and fighting. Gently, Nisha patted the girl’s hair, at a loss for what to say. There was no pain like losing someone, and there were no words in any language to soften it.

They barely arrived before Will and Harley, the door clicked closed behind Tarvi just as their carriage turned the corner. Impatiently, Nisha waited as Harley and Will made their elongated goodbyes, followed by a kiss. Eyeing the sliver of sun disappearing over the horizon, Nisha cleared her throat. Night was falling. Her destrier, picking up on her anxiety, stamped at the ground, tossing his black mane and Nisha glanced back down at the couple. Will insisted on Harley visiting him the next day to ensure her safety and the pieces of the puzzle clicked in her mind.

Will was afraid of losing another person to the night.

Looking up, her eyes caught on Tarvi peeking out the window. I’ll never let him lose you. She swore to herself. Never.

Finally Harley was ready and Nisha pulled her up behind her. Her long black and crimson skirts waterfalled behind them as they took off at a gallop. Twilight set in around them, doors and shutters slammed shut and locked tight as they raced along the empty streets, determined to keep ahead of the dangers that roamed the night. More than once she thought she heard the scrape of claws behind her, but everytime she looked there was nothing but the shadows staring back at her.

Safe and sound they entered the church yard and Nisha relaxed. Helping Harley dismount, she took her time unsaddling and brushing down her horse.

“I should find a name for you.” She mused, the currycomb working in brisk circles to dislodge dirt and hair. The work was a distraction. A way to keep her mind and hands busy and the mental wars of the day at bay. Nisha kept busy the rest of the night, avoiding the others and their stories, and the lingering anger that bordered the fringes of her mind.

Unfortunately, the next day began in an equally frustration manner.

“They have children!” Nisha exclaimed, her eyes wide with incredulity. Janivan had just explained that their delay had resulted in children being taken from their homes by the Bandits of Erebus and the others were insisting on waiting another day. They felt they needed more ‘Team Building’ exercises. In her mind’s eye, all she could see was the mutilated bodies of children, sacrificed or raped… Swallowing hard, she reigned in her fury as they spoke of how dangerous it would be for them to attempt to attack now.

They were fully grown warriors with armor, weapons and years of experience behind them, and they were afraid of the dangers. Where they were too afraid to walk, children were screaming in pain! Didn’t they know? Didn’t they understand? This might be the last day that these children were alive and Rashaan was bartering his vote away. Fixing the man with a scathing stare, Nisha listened in silence as the votes began to sway towards cleaning up the lesser problem of bandits.

You are not the boss. She reminded herself. You can only protect what is in front of you. But it wasn’t enough. She wasn’t enough, not strong enough to save the children, and not eloquent enough to convince others to try.

Helplessly she watched the votes unfold, her and Zarias the only two voting to take down the real threat. Enraged, she stood and stalked from the room, her teeth clenched and tail swiping hatefully from side to side. As soon as she was alone, her fist cracked against the wall, bloodying her knuckles. Iomedae…

Her prayer faltered as she found she didn’t know what to say. There weren’t words to convey her sorrow for lives lost, her anger at her companions and the sheer helplessness she felt all. The. Time. The world was spinning out of control and she was standing beneath it, arms raised and desperately trying to catch everyone who was flying off in crazy directions. Too many of those bodies were splattering, inches from her fingers and the blood was getting to be too much.

Pressing her forehead against the cold stone, she shut her eyes and pushed her emotions to her goddess. It’s too much. She prayed. I can’t do this alone… And the ones who are to help me are not men of honor. They aren’t the ones who protected Westcrown in it’s glory days, they are thieves and liars and selfish! Looking for personal gain wherever they go… How is it that these are the ones fighting for a cause I believe is just? How is it that this is the path that I walk?

She lost herself in her supplications, repeating herself over and over as waves of emotion crashed over her. By the time she had finished, she felt weary and spent. Pushing away from the wall, she turned back towards the room where everyone had gathered after preparing their gear. Nisha didn’t know if Iomedae had a lesson to teach her in all of this, but she felt a new resolve fill her. She had joined Liberty’s Blade expecting the best; a crew of people as devoted as herself to free Cheliax from an oppressive and cruel government. What she was handed was a group of talented people and overly aggressive personalities.

Maybe that’s what it took to free a country.

Pushing back into the room, Nisha took control of her petulant anger. She wasn’t their leader, but she would help them every way that she could, and she would keep everyone alive.

* * *

Hours later she sat inside of Steve.

It was something she’d tried to avoid, asking to pretend that she was the old lady instead of Cinder – because, seriously? At 6’10” the man was pretending to be a grandmother? – but had ultimately been overruled. Being inside of Steve creeped her out more than she could reasonably explain. The fiery, floating skull transformed into things beyond her comprehension, played music that physically hurt her brain and seemed to have desires and emotions of its own. IT WAS SO FUCKED UP! Not to mention that it was hot, long, bumpy ride where they all had to remain silent as to not give away their cover.

She hated every gods damned minute of it. Nisha realized distantly that anger was coming to her easier and easier, but she didn’t particularly mind. It fueled her, made her feel strong. She had a job to do… Protect the ones around her and if she was lucky, she could kill some of the evil bastards who were threatening them.

The wagon lurched to a stop and Nisha gripped the edge to keep herself from falling over. Her pointed ears perked up as she strained to hear the distant voices, fingers flexing around the handle of her shield. This was it. Anxiety spiked within her as the conversation unfolded, only able to catch snippets of the conversation. It seemed that Cinder had indeed managed to convince the men that he was an old grandmother. Idiots. Rolling her eyes, she settled her hand on the benevolent longsword at her waist, then paused.

She had immediately assumed that she would be killing these men. It would be just to give them a chance, perhaps they had even been forced to steal to support their families. Trying to justify their actions, Nisha switched to her merciful longsword, tail twitching in nervously. They were taking so long, what if the bandits attacked first—

Cinder’s voice rose, matronly, with a bit of a warble but clearly threatening and a sudden roar of fire exploded, wreathed in surprised screams. The cover was thrown back and Zarias vaulted out of the cart, racing to his husband’s aid. Nisha followed, taking in the scene as she ran after him. A man and a woman stood in the front, with three crossbow wielders behind them, they all looked a bit singed. Danger bells sounded in her mind, the bolts could reach those she could not defend. She had to get their attention on her.

“Stand down and none of you will die!” Nisha commanded, her voice sharp and the two people in front exchanged sardonic glances.

“Seeing as you are outnumbered, we’ll take our chances.” The man said with an easy smile and Nisha frowned, her eyes running over the five of them. Five against six? Understanding blossomed in her mind and Nisha spun as arrows sang from the trees. Horrified, she watched helplessly as arrows sank into Cinder with sickening thuds. He dropped and she whirled back to the enemies before her.

“Rin?” Her voice grated, concern warring with anger.

“I’ve got him.” Came the reassuring answer and Nisha threw herself into the fight. Zarias fought by her side, a comforting presence against the odds. He was different from the rest. Reasonable, with a sense of honor that became him naturally. He didn’t force his ways upon others, merely did what he believed was right which Nisha admired. How one of her race had grown to be so level headed was beyond her but she was proud to have him by her side.

Darkness descended around them and Nisha struck the condescending man before her. Activating the magic within her sword moments before impact, dulling it’s blade to bludgeon the man unconscious. Cut the head off the snake and the rest would falter.

Only he wasn’t the leader. The woman commanded the rest to attack and fled for the woods and Nisha watched her go with unadulterated loathing. To flee was cowardice, leaving behind the crew that she led. Never would she understand that kind of leadership and while she longed to chase, she stood where she was. With her armor she’d never catch up to her and her shield was needed here. Rage whispered in her ear, her now constant companion but she resisted it’s touch as she brought her shield up to catch bolts. It tempted her, called to her devilish heritage. These men deserved her hate. Murderers. Thieves, and corrupt ones at that. Her golden eyes flashed with luminous anger, glowing at the edge of the unnatural darkness.

Iomedae…

The prayer was half formed when a cheer rose up behind her. Cinder had struck down the leader with a bolt of ice, the liquid melting to run freely with blood down her face. Drawing upon the reserves of her patience, she encouraged the remaining men to give in. Her words sounded distant to her, as if drifting to her in deep water.

They laughed. Demanded money as recompense to even consider giving up and Nisha gave into her rage. Fools. Self-centered bastards who cared naught for others – who loved the oppressive, corrupt government if it lined their pockets. They were a scourge, a living example of what was wrong with the world and she would wield the sword that would purge their existence. Her merciful blade was sheathed. They did not deserve to live. She cared not if they had families or friends who would miss them. Nisha was sick of compromising between lesser evils and these vermin would be the ones to receive her rage.

The next few moments were a blur. She didn’t know if they died by her sword or by Zarias’s fist but she hacked and parried with a vengeance. It was only when Zarias cried out that she realized Telarin had fallen. Everything slowed in her mind as she took in the battle. Harley was bloodied and surrounded, Rin on the ground unconscious with blades lifted over his throat and flurry of daggers were arching towards Zarias.

She couldn’t save them.

The party was split. Everyone had separated from her, too far from her shields reach. In that instant her rage was extinguished and she moved to do what she did best: protect. Her hand clenched at her chest and she flung it out towards Zarias, sending him her armor. It evaporated from her with a glitter of magic, reforming around his body. Daggers sparked against it’s heavy metal, away from his neck, kidneys, and heart, the combination of which would have been deadly.

Denying any sense of relief, Nisha’s hands worked in a complicated motion as she ran towards Telarin, summoning a golden orb of magic. Horribly exposed without her armor, she darted between the two men bent on stealing Rin’s life and she plunged the orb into his chest. It blossomed around him, a shimmering shield of righteous energy.

The blades plunged down. Ermola deflected one, and the other pressed against the barrier, hesitating for a fraction of a heartbeat, before slipping through.

“The Power of Iomedae repels you!” Nisha commanded, her words reverberating with power. The sword was forced back, as if by a shock wave and Nisha allowed herself a smile at his shocked expression. Evil would never understand the force of good.

Glancing back at Zarias, she watched with surprise as he dismantled the two knife masters with heavy thuds. Despite her dislike for the men, she cringed painfully at each strike. Zarias always hit hard, but the armor somehow made it look all the more painful. Drawing upon her magic, Nisha began to heal Rin, working first on his innermost injuries. His eyes fluttered open and she heaved a sigh as her companions finished up the fight. Giving him a potion, she stood and stepped to the side as Zarias wailed for Rin, struggling to run to his husband. Nisha turned away, hiding a small smile at his difficulties in her armor but the expression soon faded.

They had been lucky this time… But she worried about the road ahead. Walking to Harley, she gave the brave girl a healing spell before standing apart from the rest, hands shaking. It had been years since she’d lost her temper like that, and the force of her rage shook her to the core. Still it whispered to her, justified her actions and she closed her eyes against it’s sultry voice. They had all lived… That was enough for now.

Going forward I am going to call this the Rin files. If you ever get a chance to go to earth in 2016 and use Netflix this will make you laugh. Because it makes me laugh. My zombie still isn’t ready yet sadly. I hope that it will arrive soon. I am excited to make a new friend and see how it can help benefit the cause that we are fighting towards. With any luck by the next time that I write to you I will have it. Anywhoo, now things are really starting to heat up. We are going to find a shadow beast to kill and take down the Bastards of Erebus. As night is approaching we decide to find the shadow beats first. WE wander around the town as darkness falls around us. Suddenly everything goes pitch black. I feel something dig into me and I become weak. I hear Cinder cry out as well. Whatever got me must have gotten him. Damn it. Harley casts a spell that brings daylight to our area. We see 3 shadow beasts. 2 of them die from the exposure to the intense light. Cinder then attacks the last with a great burst of fire and that one dies as well. Then for some reason he touches the shadow beast sludge and almost passes out. Ok, it was kind of cool to see what it did. I am carried back to the haven by Zarias. Every moment that I spend with him I am reminded how lucky I am to have him back in my life. As the years went on in the future I had started fearing more and more that I would never make it back to him. I am truly lucky.
Now is when things get really crazy. The next morning, we head to the bastards. As we approach their compound I send my birds ahead to scout out the area. They inform me of the compound layout and what people they were able to see. We approach the gate and have a conversation with the guards. They don’t want to let us in, however I am able to sow a thought into one of them to let us in. Some ugly as mother fucker comes out to see why we have been brought in (oh, I should let you know that Harley and I are disguised as prisoners). Big ass fugly decides that he wants to have a temper and he knocks me out. I am really getting sick of this happening.
I come to after being given a health potion. We are in the back room of the chapel. I find out that fugly has taken Nisha to have his way with her. Damn it, her getting laid isn’t really gonna help the situation especially because he is fugly to the nth degree. Fugly’s name is Drovono, but fugly works better so that is what he will be called. Zarias is able to climb the tower, kill the guard, and disable the bell. Damn he is fine. Cinder distracts the guards by playing bones with them. He wins and they become frustrated. They flirt with Zarias and then they die. Quick and simple. I kiss Zarias because aint no slutty guard hitting on my man. Rishan shoots the tower guard at my whisper and I also call reinforcements. We head outside to save Nisha and 2 mummies appear. We are able to distract fugly and get him to come outside. The next little bit is a blur. There is attacks all around the place. Long story short Nisha doesn’t have sex with fugly which is good. Ain’t nobody got time for that. We hear a noise from the chapel and see that a giant ass hell hound and about 50 billion other bitches come up out of the cellar. God damn, do these people never end???

Having returned from our exploits against the bandits, we locked the prisoner we had taken in the pantry closet as Janavin requested. Rin decided to hit the prisoner with a sack of potatoes. Twice. He’s still the Rin I remember, but it’s fair to say that our time apart has made him more eccentric and perhaps less forgiving.
With the prisoner taken care of, Rin, Cinder, and I went in search of a wand store. I had heard Tales of a spell known as Mage Armor which would boost my ability to survive and come back. Cinder was in search of a more powerful wand. Rin just wanted to accompany us. Upon arriving at the wine store, I asked the clerk if he had a wand of Mage Armor. He said that he did, and that it would cost 750 gold.

Cinder at this point I decided to intervene with his golden tongue. I sometimes envy him for that. I can be very eloquent when I am writing, but I tend to be a bit awkward when I’m interacting with actual people. . Once again, Synder declared himself to be the sheriff asked if there was anything the one vendor could do to help him.

“The sheriff for who?” the wand Merchant inquired. “after all, I do have my political leanings.”

Cinder seemed taken aback at this question. No one else had bothered asking him this. Covering my mouth, I subtly coughed “the Dotori.” That faction would be the most logical for this region.

“Why, for the Dotori of course!” exclaimed Cinder, flashing a disarming grin.

“Hmm, I don’t support the Dotori,” said the wand vendor. “I’ve heard too many tales of corruption from them.”

“Oh, well my number one goal is to clean up the corruption and make the Dotori upstanding citizens,” said Cinder without missing a beat. How does he do that? I would have been floundering after that response.

“We’ll, if that is the case, then I would be happy to support your cause. You’re a friend of the Sheriff?” the wand vendor asked me.

“I am indeed,” I responded.

“Well then. You may have this wand of mage armor for free,” he informed me. I thanked him profusely for his generosity.

Cinder and Rin completed some additional purchases, and then we departed.

So you have come back to read more eh? I figured you would. These can be pretty exciting if I do say so myself, which I just did, hah. I am now writing to you from my new desk. As you may have guessed by reading this we defeated the Bastards of Erebus and lived. We also took their base. It was large, nice, and overall better put together than the chapel that we had been staying at. In the underground tunnels we found a nice office that I claimed for me. It had a secret bedroom behind it that I also claimed. Both rooms are very nicely furnished. I really like them. Also, I guess when I say I claimed it for me, I mean that I claimed it for Zarias and I. I am still trying to get used to that. 15 years is a long time to be alone and you get used to only fending for yourself. This is an adjustment and I just hope that he bears with me while I get used to it. I can see myself remembering who I was when I was last with him even though it isn’t the person that I am today. I think that he wants me to be that person and I don’t know if I can be anymore. It will be take some adapting for both of us to work as we are now. Anyways, I seem to be getting distracted. Let’s get around to the battle that I know you are all wanting to read out.
Rashaan has joined the fight fully now. He is able to run up and shoot one of the Hell Hounds. I heal Nisha and she attempts to jump back up. While she does this she is attacked by the hounds and starts to bleed. She is able to stop the bleeding and attempts to attack the beast by her. They have really strong skin and the attack bounces off. Damn. Zarias and Cinder sneak into the building and move towards the group inside. Cinder attacks with his ice attack and is able to kill one of them. When the group inside realizes that they are being attacked from inside they react in kind. The damn mummy attacks Cinder and he falls unconscious. One of the bastards starts to bind him. Harley moves up and does a fantastic move with her sword and is able to cut the head off of the hound near her. She kicks the head into the building. I really like this part. Anytime you can kick a severed head into a group of people that are trying to kill you is fun. They never know just how to take it. Ariel heals the almost dead Nisha while Janiven shoots the last hound with her bow. She is a great shot and kills it. Thank God, now we only have the few remaining people and a mummy to deal with. Not even 5 seconds after I think this to myself however the 2 hell hounds are re-animated as skeletons. The head even flies back and attaches itself. Fuck that. I reach over to one of the dogs and cast a healing spell. It explodes into a green and purple dust cloud. Hah, take that bitch. Nobody comes back from the dead unless I say they should. From inside the building I hear Zarias yell “surprise bitch”. This makes me smile. It is moments like this that show his real charm and intelligence. When he isn’t worried about what others perceive him as he is truly in his element. Ermola is attacked, but Nisha steps in to take the damage, but is badly wounded and falls unconscious. While Ariel heals Nisha once again Janiven and Harley kill the last hound once again. Zarias and Cinder attack the mummy once again. A giant ice spike shoves it into the ceiling (it was waaay awesome, but you would have had to have been there) and some of the head wrap falls away. We are able to see that it is a deformed Tiefling. I wonder what dark magic they used on it. We see one of the bastards kneel down in the corner. She starts a summoning prayer to Mammon. A barrier of fire erupts around her. Harley and Ermola run up to attack, but are both thrown back in a blast of fire. Nisha moves toward the bastard, but is attacked by an invisible hell knight that is in the room. She counter attacks the knight and it is wounded. I swing around to inside the door and cast an ice ball. It makes it through the barrier and kills the bastard. Cinder attacks the knight and with this distraction Harley is able to jump onto the table. She stabs him in the heart and cuts his head off. Finally, they are all dead. It was a bloody battle. I don’t think that I have been as worried for my group before as I was here. If it wasn’t for Janiven and Ariel I don’t know if I would have been able to keep everyone alive long enough. Back in my other life I never had as much of a need for healing as I do now. I will have to have further discussion with my patron about this. He has offered to teach me more in the way of healing. We start exploring the base and find out that it could be a great resource to keep. We decide to make this the center for the rebellion. We found the nice office that I am writing to you from, a giant room filled with beds, a kitchen/dining room and a prison cell. The prison cell is filled with the children that Nisha was so eager to save. They are all alive, which is good. No children should be caught up in this war. I would say that we should kill the ones who put them in here, but we already did. Hah.

Well, until next time. This has been another Rin files from Steve and Rin.

• Reshan leaps to the roof of Drovono’s quarters and shoots a hellhound. Two of them are standing near Nisha.
• A mysterious spellcaster heals the mummy.
• Rin casts Cure Moderate Wounds, then walks forward and uses the spell on Nisha, healing her for 14.
• Nisha tries to jump up, but gets attacked by 2 hellhounds as she stands. She is bleeding.
• Nisha casts fervor on herself and stops the bleeding.
• I hop in the window and go full defensive.
• Cinder hops in the window after me, then uses his Wand of Snowball on a couple foes in front of us.
• The ice from his wand kills one of the enemies in front of us.
• The mummy moves out of the crowd. It had to sidle around something invisible as it did.
• The mummy then walked across the chamber with the staircase to the belltower.
• “What trickery is this?” said the mummy upon seeing Cinder.
• The mummy blasted Cinder with a barrage of Magic Missiles, dropping Cinder unconscious.
• A bunch of the minions begin stabbing at Ermola. Thanks to Nisha’s aid, she was saved from harm.
• A rogue flips back over a table in the room and jumps on it
• Two rogues walk over by the mummy. “Bind him,” says the mummy, pointing at Cinder.
• Harley stabs one of the hellhounds, then chops its head off and kicks it far away
• Arael heals Nisha in a huge burst of healing
• “Protect Ermola!” says Arael.
• Janiven runs forward and shoots the other hellhound, killing it.
• Reshan stumbles as he gets off the roof, but lands ok.
• Then Reshan moves forward and shoots at the minions through the door.
• He then reloads quickly and shoots again, killing his target.
• The hellhounds’ bodies convulse, and the skin rips off of them.
• Their skeletons stand up and attack Arael.
• Nisha intercepts the attack, throwing him backward and holding up her arm. The skeleton dog bites her.
• “Nisha, don’t!” yells Arael. She ignores him.
• Rin uses his blessing hex on a skeletal dog.
• It bursts into a cloud of green dust.
• I pull Cinder behind me, then punch around the corner at the rogue there.
• “Surprise, bitch!” I yell. I stagger her.
• The mummy walks around the corner. “I knew you were a traitor!” He hits me with a barrage fire.
• Nisha hears a voice in her mind. " Your allies are in trouble. Retreat." She shrugs off the spell.
• The one I punched attempts to drink a potion. I punch her in the throat, crushing her trachea, and catch the potion.
• Nisha protects Ermola again, nearly dying in the process
• Harley moves to flank the other hellhound, then destroys it with her blades. She pulls out a potion.
• Arael heals Nisha for 36 health.
• Janiven steps around the corner and shoots another 2 minions dead.
• Ermola’s eyes flash red and she sweeps with her sword while still on the ground.
• She hacks through her foe, killing it.
• Reshan shoots another thru the door. He reloads then shoots again, killing that person.
• Nisha runs through the door, sees that Cinder and I are in bad shape and runs to Cinder, healing him.
• She yells at the remaining minion “Surrender!”
• The final rogue’s eyes glow red and she says in Abyssal “The Bastards of Erebus will drag you to hell before we surrender!”
• “I find that agreeable!” yells Nisha.
• Rin heals me with his hex.
• I drink the potion I caught, then throw a shuriken into the throat of the mummy.
• I then prepare to defend myself.
• Cinder stands up behind me and blasts the mummy with a spike of ice thru the stomach, pinning it to the ceiling.
• Bandages fall off the mummy’s face revealing a tiefling’s face underneath.
• The rest of the minions begin a ritual, trying to summon power from the demon Mammon.
• Harley attempts to stab one of the ritual casters, but is blasted back by a wave of fire. She stands up.
• Ermola finally stands up, and attempts to attack that same ritual caster. She gets blasted back by the flames and slams into the wall.
• Arael and Janiven run off.
• Gorvio and Larko yell. They’d been left by the gate when Arael came in. They tried attacking ritual casters but also got knocked back.
• Reshan tries to shoot the caster, but it fails to get past the barrier.
• Then he touches his still-hot gun to Ermola to cauterize her and stop the bleeding.
• Nisha attempts to run up to the one in the corner to attack
• On the way there she feels a hand on her shoulder, which blasts her with negative energy.
• A sorcerer appears next to Nisha.
• She stops and attacks him instead.
• Sorcerer casts an AOE thast hurts everyone but me.
• Ermola would have died, but Nisha’s Glory spell blazes up and saves her (Nisha’s PC spent 2 Hero Points to save Ermola)
• The sorcerer then makes a shadowy mace appear in his hand and attempts to hit Nisha but misses
• I charge one of the ritual casters. I see the way her protective field is moving and discern the pattern.
• I dodge thru the field and uppercut her jaw, slamming her head into the wall and killing her. (I crit and confirmed the crit for double damage.)
• Cinder uses his wand of Snowball and staggers the spellcaster.
• He can tell the spellcaster isn’t doing too great and tells the party.
• Harley hops on the table next to the spellcaster, flanking him.
• Then she sneak attacks him. She stabs her rapier into his brain, then stabs him thru the heart.
• Janavin takes another shot. We walk out to find dead tieflings.
• Larko is holding a bloody bastard sword aloft. “I got one,” he says. “Go Larko!” I cheer.
• NIsha runs over to heal Ermola.
• I walk over to the spellcaster’s corpse. It turns out to be Palaveen, the leader of the Bastards of Erebus.
• “You deserve this fate,” I say to the corpes coldly.
• We then explore the base.
• We tell Janiven we should take the base for ourselves. She agrees.
• As we explore, we find:
• a huge, decorated chamber with everburning torches
• A room with a table, all spattered in blood. Nisha is uncomfortable in this room due to her demonic condition which makes her drink blood (the PCs don’t know this yet).
• A prison room with 16 children chained to the wall.
• A kitchen well stocked with provisions.
• A bunker room with lots of beds.
• A locked room.
• Reshan uses lockpicking tools to unlock the door.
• It appears to be an office. Very plushly decorated. There’s a chest inside.
• I use a key we took from Palaveen’s body to open the chest.
• We discover a loose brick in the wall that opens a secret chamber.
• Inside is a bedroom.
• There is expensive wine inside the chamber
• There is a letter near the bed
• It threatens Palaveen to leave them alone or they’ll kill him.
• We find a chest under the bed. There’s a note on top.
• The chest has a ton of jewels, silveware, rubies, etc. The names of the victims the items belong to are listed on the note.
• We debate whether to return the loot or keep it. The vote is about even.
• I vote to return the loot.
• In the end, the loot is returned, and we gain fame in exchange.
• The kids in the cellar were a day away from being sacrificed.
• Rin claims the office and bedroom for himself… and me. He seemed to be having a hard time adjusting to the idea of a “we” again.

• Janiven has a friend named Ailyn Ghontasavos from the Pathfinder Society coming to visit.
• The Pathfinder Society is not welcome in Westcrown so she’ll be going under cover.
• I train Larko, Tarvi, Rizzardo, and someone else in one-on-one training. I dedicate a day to each of them.
• My trainings go really well.
• Tarvi especially takes well to my lessons, excelling in martial combat, and even managing to make fire appear during one of her strikes (I rolled a nat 20 for her training).
• “That’s great! I doubt you have demon blood in you so that’s really great!” I said.
• Tarvi was a bit freaked out by that comment but I didn’t know.
• Nisha tries to train Tarvi with the shield for multiple days, but all the trainings go really poorly.
• Tarvi gets frustrated and throws down the shield in anger, then storms off.
• Nisha comes up to me on the third day and asks me to go speak with Tarvi with her.
• I can tell that there is something that makes her uncomfortable about being alone with Tarvi.
• We meet with Tarvi. “I don’t want to use a stupid shield! Shields are for cowards!”
• Nisha keeps her cool, despite this rude comment. “Then I’m not sure that I’m the one to teach you, for I use the shield.”
• “Teach me your magic,” said Tarvi.
• Rin and Cinder hear that Tarvi is interested in magic.
• “So, I hear you want to learn magic,” says Cinder in a cocky tone.
• “Yeah, it’s better than a stupid shield,” says Tarvi.
• “Yes, shields are for cowards,” said Cinder.
• Tarvi takes very well to magic training, able to immediately summon fire.
• Cinder went to the black market and found the girl that he went on a date with.
• She was wearing the dress that Cinder bought for her that night.
• He questions her about why she took off and why she didn’t seem to like him.
• She says that she believes what he is doing is very noble, but has no desire to join him.
• Cinder, in the process of their conversation, confirms that Yakupolio is associated with us and that we have taken up residence in the Bastards of Erebus’s old fortress (both of which are things that I as a player think are mistakes).
• Yakupolio comes to us with a huge chest on the fourth day.
• Inside is useful gear and a note.
  *The note says “These are for everything you do. We are watching, and we are grateful – Anonymous”
• First item is a Bracelet of Friends
• Has a set of 4 charms that can be attuned to friends
• The attunement lasts forever or until changed
• You can teleport them to your location. You grab the attuned charm and summon them. If they are willing, they will appear next to you instantly. The charm that was attuned to them then disappears forever
• Worth 19k gold
• Second item is a Crown of Blasting Major
• Once per day yuou can shoot a blast of light that does 40 damage.
• Range of 100 feet
• Worth 23,760 gold
• Could very easily draw attention, either for its value or for its magic
• Last is a Circlet of Persuasion
  *Gives a +3 to Charisma based checks
• I craft Masterwork Cestus Gloves – gives +1 to attack rolls
• We visit a wine shop so that Cinder can sell fake expensive wine.
• He took cheap wine and used Prestidigitation to transform it into an expensive-tasting vintage temporarily
• While they’re in the shop, Nisha approaches me. “I want to give you something, but I want to know if it’s ok.”
• “Ok…” I said cautiously.
• “I want to give you a ring,” she says.
• “Why would the be not ok?” I asked
• “Well, when someone give someone else’s significant other it can mean something,” said Nisha.
• “Oh, well, I’m sure it will be ok,” I said, starting to go purple in the face.
• “Are you ok?” asked Nisha.
• “It’s ok, I said, looking away awkwardly.
• Nisha hands the ring and I take it from her, my face fully blushed purple.
• Rin comes out of the store and sees the matching rings and the awkward stances of Nisha and me.
• “What’s going on…?” he asks slowly.
• “Spell! It’s for a spell, not relationship stuff!” I tell him.
• “What does it do?” inquires Rin.
• “It will send half the damage he takes to me,” said Nisha.
• “Why would you be awkward about that?” said Rin.
• “Because she gave me jewelry..” I say.
• “It wasn’t awkward until I had to explain to him why giving him jewelry would be a problem, then he made it awkward,” said Nisha.
• We then go meet with Ailyn
• She tells us that there is a Pathfinder Society building with an ancient artifact in it known as the Blade of the Sun and Moon.
• This item could bring an end to the Shadowbeasts forever.
• The Pathfinder Society building is locked, and there are lots of nasty traps attached to it, so we’ll have to obtain the key.
• The key is in the mayor’s house, and will be well defended, since there’s lots of strong guards and magical wards.
• We will have to get in through more creative means.
• “We want you all to participate in a play,” says Ailwyn
• I panic, knowing that this sort of thing is not his strong suit. “What? Are you kidding me?”
• “It’s the best way.” says Ailwyn.
• The play is a combination of gladitorial combat and the theatre known as murder plays.
• Actors are on a stage with things that will kill them
• “That’s barbaric,” I said.
• “but profitable” says Ailwyn.
• The people who survive the play are invited to a 4 day rager of a party at the mayor’s place.
• Most everyone will be drunk so it will be easier to sneak around.
• Ailwyn and the leaders of Liberty’s Blade have bought off most of the actors so they’d blow their auditions.
• 2 actors are still auditioning – Tessing and Calsenica
• Calsenica is supposed to be nice, so we’re asked to treat her nicely
• Thessing is the asshole we ran into earlier and then went to his play to sabotage him.
• There are 6 slots for the play.
• Preferably, we’ll get all 6 roles, but if not they’ll find a way to use those of us who don’t make it.
• The auditions are the next morning
• We all ask Cinder for acting lessons
• Nisha, Harley, and Rin all calmly ask to be taught
• I go up to Cinder and grabs his shoulders, shaking him desparately while begging to be taught
• Cinder manages to successfully train everyone, even Zarias
• Zarias spends a long while afterwards holding Steve in various positions and saying “To be, or not to be.”
• The next day, Nisha gets up extra early and buys some nice clothes.
• Bright and early in the morning, Ailyn sees us off to the play
• Nisha wears her new nice clothes. The rest of us have our nice clothes from when we attended the play, and we wear them to audition in.
• Reshan knows a little bit about the play. It’s supposed to be about supporting Asmodeus and his demons.
• We have to choose a troupe name. We end up picking “Meepahl Dyphal.” It means “Mammon’s Demons” in Abyssal.
• We get to the theater. It looks really nice.
• A sign on the door says auditions are in the back.
• There’s a waiting room with 3 people in it.
• One is a fat woman who we know to be a famous opera singer.
• Another is Thesing Umbero Ulvaud
• The last is Calsenica.
• Upon seeing who we are, Thessing’s eyes widen.
• “What are you doing here? It’s not enough that you act like asses, now you’re competing!”
• More banter goes back and forth. Rin and Cinder bring up that Thessing peed in a tuba.
• Thessing says that was witchcraft. They ask how it could possibly have been witchcraft since guards were prohibiting magical items from being brought in
• Thessing says that it must have been snuck in somehow. Cinder takes credit.
• “You’ll pay for that,” says Thessing.
• The fat lady speaks to Harley. “Sorry, dear, this isn’t that kind of audition,” she says, referring to the posters that declared Harley a 2 bit whore.
• “Those were a prank!” says Harley.
• Thessing bursts out laughing.
• “Even if it were true, I would never go for so low,” said Harley in frustration.
• “We all say that when we get into the business,” says the opera star.
• “We all say that? How many dicks have you taken?” asks Rin.
• “Oh, plenty in my time, dear, but I’m priceless now,” she tells him.
• Rin tries to high-five her. She tells him not to touch her.
• Cinder and Rin continue to taunt Thessing.
• Rin claims to want to let bygones be bygones and puts his hand on Thessing’s shoulder.
• Simultaneously, Cinder stomps on Thessing’s foot.
• Rin uses the cover to scar Thessing, but Thessing notices that Rin did something to him.
• Rin then asks Cinder to cast Prestidigitation on his clothes to make them cleaner. This is actually a cover so that Rin can cast a curse on Thessing, giving him a -6 to his Charisma.
• Thessing starts clearing his throat. His throat sounds like it has a frog in it. He gets really nervous.
• Reshan walks up to Thessing and practically fawns over him, telling Thessing that he is his biggest fan.
• Thessing approves of the way Reshan treats him and gives Reshan 200 gold.
• A hunchback guy comes out and calls our troupe.
• We walk on stage and look around. There’s someone facing the wrong direction.
• “Um…hello?”
• The director turns around dramatically and says something about the audience hanging on his every word.
• We applaud. The director tells us that our clapping is inadequate and that energy is necessary in everything we do. We clap harder.
• The director tells us to line up. We do so in order of height horizontally across the stage.
• “Well, at least you know how to stand in a line,” the Robahl, the director, says snootily.
• The director snaps his fingers and a script appears in Cinder’s hands. he is told to go first.
  (Each of the players was reading from an actual script out loud for the next part.)
• Cinder reads the lines. “Your delivery was terrible.”
• Reshan reads the lines, putting a decent amount of inflection in his voice. He gets insulted too.
• Then Harley is up. Before she begins, Robahl sighs and says “This isn’t that kind of audition. That audition is on the corner across the street.” She protests and then does her audition.
• Then I am up next. I do actions that I think are appropriate along with my reading of the script. (All of my actions are intentionally a little over the top and meant to show how nervous Zarias is about doing this).
• Rin goes next. He casts a spell to make the stage filled with dark clouds, then holds Steve above his head, with Steve’s eyes glowing red while he reads his lines.
• Nisha is last. She reads casts Blessing before reading the lines, using it to create a sparkling effect on the stage.
• We are then told to go into the next room.
• The director tells each of us to insult him for this audition.
• Nisha is made to go first this time.
• She insults the director, saying something about how he means nothing in the grand scheme of the world, then right after she gets done, she apologizes to him.
• “You’re next, the director tells Rin. Rin looks him straight in the eye, and says “good, because I want to tell you what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-assed, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed, sack of monkey shit you are! Hallelujah! Holy shit!”
• When it’s my turn, I gather shadows to myself and have my horns grow longer to make myself appear more threatening, then tell Robahl that he and his work will amount to nothing and that he is nothing more than a fly on the foot of Asmodeus’s dog.
• Harley, who’s been looking forward to her turn, insults him next. She felt some vindication for being continually called a whore.
• Reshan refused to insult the director and instead grovels, telling him that he’d rather insult the whore. He grovels at Robahl, saying “You’re a great director, I love you and please let me be in your play.” Robahl tells him to step back in disgust.
• Cinder is next (His player rolls a nat 20). He tells Robahl how he’s nothing but the slime between his toes, and that the beard hair on his face is worse than his red pubes."
  *After that, it’s time to move on to the next audition.
  *End of Session