Game summary for September 29, 2015, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, Shadows of Gallowspire adventure; PCs included Dario Malavasi (human afflicted dire werewolf oracle), Gertie Foxglove (human witch), Gnok Thatek (dwarf vampire monk), Radimir Dragomirov (human huecuva lord cleric), Thrain (graveknight dwarf slayer), and Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander (human brine lich abjurer/cleric/mystic theurge), accompanied by cohort Lucretia Ivankov (human vampire spawn sorcerer) and Shaddoc Moana (human brineborn barbarian).
The battle between the party and the Gallowdead raged. Blood spurted freely from Dario’s wounds, and Shaddoc was cut down by one of the fallen knights. Dario managed to heal himself while Gertie unleashed a powerful lightning bolt! Zedd made good use of magic missile as Radimir summoned an aura of doom. Gnok and Thrain unleashed a barrage of melee attacks, and Dario rejoined the ruckus. Soon both undead were killed. Thrain consumed a few potions, and the team rushed up to the pinnacle of the great tower.
At the top, the world seemed to shift, and the team found themselves on a broad plane with Gallowspire off in the distance. Before them stood Adivion Adrissant, his body pulsing barely contained arcane power threatening to rip his body apart. The forsaken lich unleashed a maximized chain lightning that coursed through the party. Several of the undead were not bothered, but others were rattled by the deadly attack. He then hit Thrain and Dario a torrent of raw arcane energy exploding from his form.
The team closed in quickly to pressure him in melee. Radimir and Zedd cast spells that floundered against Adivion’s spell resistance. The team began to enhance one another with spells like bull’s strength and disrupting weapon. Adivion warded himself with mirror image, much to the team’s consternation. Gnok slipped in a few lucky shots but found his attacks quite ineffective and healing at a staggering rate. Radimir summoned half a dozen huecuva to try and pin him down, and the magus caught most of the party in a cone of cold and more blasts of arcane energy. Dario was in bad shape, and all the huecuva were slain. The team felt they had the upper hand when they finally got Adivion surrounded, but he managed to use dimension door to reposition after drilling Dario with scorching ray. The team continued to hurl spells but struggled with the lich’s intense spell resistance.
The party hurtled across the battlefield to close with him again as Gertie tried to slip out of range. Adivion recalled to mind chain lightning and hit the team with it yet again, rendering Gertie unconscious. Gnok tried to grapple Adivion and was amazed at his defensive skills and his ability to ward off the attack quite easily with his staff. Thrain struggled to get into a good position and only got to get shots off here and there due to Adivion’s mobility. Zedd had enhanced some of the party but still struggled with spells failing on his resistances. Lucretia used magic to enhance allies as well and was forced to nurse her own injuries.
Dario, bleeding, burnt, chilled, and shocked, was barely holding onto to life. Filled with fury, however, he hefted his undead bane blade and ripped into the lich. Just as his momentum reached its peak, his disrupting weapon suddenly blasted Adivion into oblivion! The team looked on in stunned relief as the lich’s possessions clattered to the ground. The landscape lurched, and they realized an illusion had covered the top of the tower the entire fight. The silvery energy pulsing across the doorway into Gallowspire’s inner sanctums subsided, and the threat of awakening the Whispering Tyrant quite abruptly ended.
The team stood victorious but at a horrendous price. Gnok was condemned to an eternity of feeding upon the life of others and had already spread his plague to Lucretia. Radimir and Zedd were cast off by their gods and damned to servitude to Dagon the demon lord. Thrain had merged with his unholy armor and become more and less than he had ever been. Shaddoc and Nyssa lay dead, and Dario had embraced his bestial nature and lycanthropic curse. They may had prevented the rise of Tar-Baphon, but they unleashed half a dozen terribly powerful evils upon the world in his stead.
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