The Demon King of Larkos
| Current Campaign: The Knights of Eaton | |
| Episode 10: "The Demon King of Larkos" | |
| Year: 1755 Summer | |
| Location: Erelaan, Larkos | |
| PCs: | |
| NPCs: | |
| Previous Episode: "Rousing Erelaan" | |
| Next Episode: "Castaways of the Karad Archipelago" | |
| Previous Campaign: The Thuzuulan Heresy | |
The Knights of Eaton strike out at the evil that has plagued Larkos.
Story
Act One: Making Plans for Larkos
As Erelaan is raucous with celebration and festival young Borric apprises Bertram of the situation in Larkos and throughout Avandell, detailing specifically the accursed magic and corruption that lingers in the capital city. The Simonson brothers are confident that with the aid of Bertram's resources they can win back Larkos and wrest control of the region, or at the very least ensure their own political safety by leveraging control of the city to an ally.
Bertram consents to their plan and provides them the resources they need. Months of scouting, preparation and planning later, Hawthorne is installed as commander of a small army of Erelaan's finest warriors. He coordinates his men to march upon Larkos while Garn detaches a naval force to blockade the city. Upon reaching Larkos Borric is tasked with infiltrating the castle and he calls upon the smuggler captain Cromwell to assist him. Ship mage O'Brien casts a spell that hides Borric's group from scrying magics and the protects them from the ill fog. They wait in a small boat until high tide, after which Cromwell pilots them to a smuggler's tunnel by the seawall.
Borric, Margaret, Tasselhof, Simon, Zorn and 50 knights disembark and make their way to a fault in the lowest halls of the dungeons, where Simon casts magic that lets them push through the crumbling rock and into the keep. The group makes its way upwards into the sleeping keep, dispatching all the guards it encounters with silent alacrity. Their quiet progress is stalled upon reaching the king's suite, when Borric leads them headlong into the changing of the guard. A savage battle erupts as the alarm is raised and Borric's company is divided during the fracas. They fall back from the main lobby and into the throne room and seal the door shut behind them. As they hammer the final peg into the bar the throne flares against the gloom and they see a seated figure encased in armor and wreathed in flame. It is Grutek, high priest of the fallen prophet Thuzuul.
Act Two: Installed by Sorcery, Deposed by Steel
Tasselhof, split from Borric's team, leads the second group of warriors to the king's chambers, where they find the bodies of Lord Governor Patimore Tasel and his family rotting in the solar room. Tasselhof returns to the main hall and orders Grespin to reinforce the doors against intrusion and prepare for the next waves of palace guards and he takes three men in search for a different entrance to the throne-room. Meanwhile, within the throne-room, O'Brien's protective spell allows the group to see Grutek through the illusion he carries of himself as the rightful Larkosian ruler. It is evident that Grutek has ruled in Patimore's stead for years.
Grutek casts a spell on one of the side doors and it swings open, allowing palace guard to pour in, where they take up a defensive position to protect their false lord. After an appeal to the guards fails to sway them, Borric leads his team on a full assault of the throne. The clash begins in earnest and Grutek casts another potent spell; this one cuts a crisscross pattern of valleys into the floor, the glowing depths from which blasts an unholy fire. Several Erelaani and Larkosi warriors fall to their doom or are burned alive as the skirmishing reaches a fever pitch. Margaret is backed into an alcove, cornered by two pikemen, whom she slays. Realizing that she is the furthest distance from Grutek she kneels and prays to Yllion for divine assistance.
Borric, Zorn, Simon and Gabril cut their way to the dais of the throne and engage in combat with Grutek. With a mighty swing of his cruel flail, Grutek sends Gabril reeling into the air and smacking the stone edifice behind the throne—Gabril slumps to the floor, broken and unconscious. While Grutek's arm is lifted during the upward swing, Borric drives his sword between Grutek's breastplate and pauldron. The wound is significant but Grutek shrugs it off and delivers a crushing back-hand, sending young Borric sprawling down the stone dais and towards the fiery seam in the floor; he catches himself before falling to his doom. The throne-room doors rattle noisily as the palace guards attempt to force it open.
Zorn and Simon each strike Grutek with full force, staggering him and forcing his shield to drop. Grutek responds with a forceful blast of fire that knocks both assailants down and injures them. He scoops up Zorn's sword and raises it to strike its owner, but his swing is impeded by an arrow that flies true and lodges itself into his elbow. Tasselhof arrives from the side door of the throne-room and his men pour out from hallway behind him.
Margaret orders all those gathered to overtake Grutek, regardless of cost. He responds by pitching fireballs at her, but she is saved by her fellow soldiers who surround her and lift their shields against the fiery assault. Simon takes advantage of the distraction to heal Borric and Zorn, who both rise and attack. Grutek deflects Zorn's attack and counter-strikes, sinking a sword deep into the young lord's chest. Borric's strike hits true, tearing away Grutek's faceplate and stunning him—he staggers and falls back onto the throne.
The rift in the floor momentarily flickers, allowing Margaret and the others to cross the room towards the dais, but Grutek quickly focuses and launches a new attack. Borric stabs at him but his sword misses and lodges into the throne and Grutek takes the advantage and stomps his steel boot into the young prince's face. Borric collapses in a heap and Grutek raises his boot to crush the prince's head, only to be deflected by Simon's magical assault. Tasselhof nocks another arrow and it flies true, piercing Grutek's chest-plate and his lung. Margaret rushes the dais, scoops up Borric's sword and smashes it down on Grutek's arm, breaking it. Zorn's sword clatters to the ground.
The palace guards force open the throne-room doors and push into the room—they stop short, dazzled by the scene before them.
Panicked, Grutek clutches at the powerstones in his armor and utters a curse in the dreaded Umbral tongue. A flash and roar of heat swells from his armor, throwing everyone down the dais steps. The rifts in the floor widen and deepen and the room grows hot with smoke and fire. Grutek, coughing and spitting blood, lifts his arm to the sky and an incandescent glow swirls from within it. He laughs but is cut short as a figure rushes him from behind the throne and bodily lifts him. Gabril locks Grutek in a hug and, dazed, stumbles down the dais and falls with him into the searing gap in the floor. Grutek's scream is cut short and the room instantly reverts to normal.
The survivors stand dazed in the evening silence for what seems hours.
Finally, one of them shouts, "Look!" They run to the windows and peer out at the dissolving fog. A dim murmur grows from the city below and resolves itself into cheering and exultation. The curse has been lifted and Erelaan's forces occupy the city.
Epilogue: Return to Erelaan
Borric installs a loyal Erelaani lord provisional governor of Larkos, dissolves the prior government, and secures the city with the army he led only days ago. He then sends word to Garn in Kandorr of Hawthorne and Bertram's plans and he returns to Erelaan with a small contingent of bodyguards, being sure to stop by Barleystoke and reward Lady Deslaine for her support.
Meta
Game notes
- played 1992
Plot Points
- The power dynamic in Avandell shifts seismically as House Tasel, which held an iron grip on Larkos since the Ascension Wars, loses the city to House Croydan, ancient foes who they believed to be dead for centuries.
The Dead
- Gabril Atraxian, warrior for the Simonsons
- Grutek Migorak, high priest of Thuzuul
- Patimore Tasel, Prince of Avandell and Lord Governor of Larkos
- Larkosian palace guardsmen and Erelaani knights
Points Awarded
- 4 points for all
Season Pool
- 40 points