“I always choose the right door. As it’s the right one,” Scomatch commented.
After exploring the two side passages off the main room of the Citadel of the Keyholder, the party found themselves back in the first, main large square room. There were two doors on the opposite wall from the entrance. Murals were along the east and west walls. The first was that of darkness moving ominously toward a star. The second was the darkness enveloping and consuming the sun, sending the entire sphere into inky blackness. The third was a display of astral elves praying at a massive altar. The last was a bright circle around and encasing the darkness in the center of an ouroboros.
As Kai opened the door, there was a flash.
Clearing his eyes, Kildo saw the world around them shimmer. They were in a barren area where a purple haze descended over everything. There were a few cracks in the ground where lavender light came through.
“Idiots! I told you intruders were here!” came a woman's voice.
Turning, the group saw the woman warlock. Lightly clothed, her skin was ash-grey, and she wielded a pair of wicked-looking curved daggers. Her most distinguishing feature was three tentacles. Two protruding from her side and one coming over her back.
The parasitic warlock had four other companions. Three seemed like guards with mismatched, dirty knight clothing over chain mail. Their eyes looked at the party from bony sockets. Bulbous noses with scabs and warts were over thin mouths. Their lazy looks were dullard. Their hair was long and greasy like it hadn’t been washed in an age. Their skin had a sickly green tinge. Maybe they were unwell, as their bodies were thin, their arms dangled at their sides, and their hands had thick fingers with dirty fingernails. They dragged a longsword, which was rusty and uncared for and not properly cleaned. It was notable she kept a distance from them.
The fourth was another warrior in full plate armor with a decorative wrap around his head that went down his front. He also held a longsword, but better cared for. However, his most distinctive feature was he had metal-grey wings that matched his plate armor.
Everything in Kildo’s body screamed these warriors were tainted, diseased, and warped by chaos. Casting Flame Strike, a vertical column of divine purging righteousness ignited from the heavens. Fire engulfed the tentacle woman warlock and two of the champions of filth.
The flying disavowed warrior in plate armor swooped over the others and made straight for Kai. The paladin braced Wave into the ground. One of the trident’s prongs struck and dented the thick armor.
Wave was stuck in the mail. Instead of pulling back, Kai thrusted hard. The tips penetrated through. The winged warrior cried out in pain. The two combatants were interlocked. The disavowed winged warrior unleashed his longsword in a piercingly accurate thrust. The blade penetrated Kai’s armor. Blood seeped along the length.
The three champions of filth moved in to attack. One circled toward the back of the party to engage Scomatch.
“Eep!” Scomatch called out. He grabbed Charmander and threw him between the champion of filth and himself.
Two of the diseased fighters engaged Guo Gan. They were well trained as they coordinated their attacks and struck the monk three times between them. Blood was seen coming from the wounds.
The third champion of filth moved to Kildo. He threw up his shield and blocked the weapon strikes. As one came over the top of his shield, dirt and grime were scraped off. If they scratch the skin, disease would be a valid concern. The other thing he noted was the horrible stench the fighters gave off. He threw up a little in his mouth.
A bright streak flew in as Scomatch cast, Fireball. However, the halfling threw it too far, igniting behind their opponents. They were on the edge of the blast, and while they avoided the primary explosion, they also were unaware of it as the spell's flames cooked their backsides.
Guo Gan twirled Qiekamis at the flying disavowed. The humanoid bird parried both blows with his wings. The monk then slammed his front foot into its groin. There was a resounding ‘clank’ as its codpiece protected him from being stunned.
The tentacle woman warlock began casting. Scomatch countered the spell. Instead of a loud ringing from the Shatter spell, there was a dullard sound, like a bell that had its clapper removed.
Kildo stopped breathing through his nose at the champion of filth’s aura of stench. He could see it was affecting the party. It was like they had their own private dust storm of stink. All he could do was try and counteract the effects. “Life is death. Death is rebirth. Rebirth is life,” the dwarven cleric chanted as all the party members glowed briefly from his Bless spell.
The disavowed shot off the ground. Batting its wings, it kicked up dust, attempting to blind the paladin. He swooped in, but his long sword attacks went wide.
Spitting the particles out, Kai thrusted with Wave as the armored bird passed. The paladin struck with all three of the trident’s barbs. Radiant energy coursed up the weapon into the disavowed.
The three dirty blades lunged with their longswords at the dwarven cleric and the wood elf monk. As he held his shield before him, Kildo marveled at how the monk could unbelievably dodge their blows.
Scomatch cast, Freezing Sphere. From the point of his finger, a frigid globe of cold energy streaked outward. An ice-blue globe ballooned. The ground cracked as it froze. Their opponents were covered in a thin sheet of ice.
“Ha!” Guo Gan chirped. He smashed his foot into the champion of filth in front of him. There was a dull ding as the monk's foot connected with his metal codpiece. It did little than break the ice around it. Using Qiekamis, he smashed the end of his quarterstaff into the warrior’s groin. The metal dented and there was an immediate reaction as he fell to his knees, stunned. The monk turned to another pig-pen fighter and smashed his staff into him. The monk’s blood fury tattoos lit up a greenish-brown as they drained his life energy. While the energy healed Guo Gan, it left a bad taste in his mouth.
The tentacle woman warlock began casting. Energy accumulated around her. It fizzled a moment later as Scomatch countered the spell. She screeched in frustration at the halfling.
Kildo could see Kai's movements begin to slow. His front was covered in blood from the disavowed’s initial attack. The paladin wouldn’t last much longer. Chanting to Rigga, he cast, Heal. Reaching out, he touched the triton. Healing energy coursed through his companion. His paling skin was refreshed.
Renewed, Kai thrusted with Wave deliberately to impale his opponent. The trident’s prongs sunk deep into the disavowed. Using his massive strength, he raised his speared enemy. The barbs sunk deeper as the birdman died. Throwing him down. Placing his foot on the corpse, he retracted Wave and moved toward the tentacle woman warlock.
Breaking free of the ice from Scomatch’s freezing sphere, the three champions of filths’ bodies began to glow a sickening green. The energy burst, striking Guo Gan and Scomatch.
Throwing up his shield, Kildo was also unable to avoid the spells’ effects. It felt like the moisture from his skin was being drained away. His hands looked weathered as if being in a wind storm all day.
A ball of emerald acid streaked toward the woman warlock. It burst, covering her and one of the champions of filth. The acid’s odor and the reek from the fighter created an entirely new stench.
“I’m done! You all and your smell are disgusting, and I’ve been to the Bog of the Eternal Stench!” Guo Gan yelled as he brought Qiekamis bashing downwards striking a champion of filth in the head. His skull cracked as he fell over dead.
“Come embrace me, my love,” the woman warlock said as Kai approached. She lashed out with her tentacles. Two of them latched onto and then scraped against the paladin’s forearm.
Dolorous bells rang around the woman as Kildo cast, Toll the Dead.
Kai looked at his arms. They were red where the parasite warlock’s tentacles had fastened onto him. “There’s something’s wigging under my skin! Kildo get them out!” Kai shouted in alarm.
“That’s no way to speak of our love children,” the woman parasite warlock replied.
“I don’t believe in children out of wedlock,” Kai answered as he thrusted with Wave. The barbs penetrated through her chest. Retracting the weapon. She fell to the side dead.
At Kai’s call, Kildo moved toward the paladin. He let his guard down. The champion of filth immediately took advantage. He struck forward with his longsword, all of his weight behind his blow. The blade found a weakness in his plate armor’s joint. He felt blood seep from within his armor and run down his side. Turning, he swung with his war hammer and bashed into the filth fighter’s chest. Barreling forward with his shield in anger and pain, the stout dwarf knocked him to the ground.
Guo Gan also moved to help Kai as a champion of filth’s longsword hit him. The monk lashed out in retaliation with his quarterstaff striking the fighter.
The area turned into flames as Scomatch cast, Fireball. The halfling sculpted the fire around the party as the remaining two champions of filth felt their spell’s effects.
Kai, free from any opponents, turned Wave toward the fighter battling Guo Gan. Thrusting with his trident, he struck the champion of filth from behind. The prong sunk deeply, killing him.
The last champion of filth squared off with Kildo, and he lunged. As he threw up his shield, the fighter slipped it past the block. The blade crunched into his armor.
A sphere of green acid erupted across the champion of filth as Scomatch threw a chromatic orb. His armor and face began melting as he croaked, gargling on bile, blood, and grime, “Help me!”
Moving toward their suffering opponent, Guo Gan swung with Qiekamis. Striking the side of the champion of filth oozing head, it erupted in a pool of melted flesh and bone. The acid continued to eat away at the corpse, emitting horrible, noxious fumes.
“We need to leave and rest. I’m almost out of spells,” Scomatch said.
“You’re always, ‘almost’ out of spells, but you still manage to throw fireballs and acid orbs,” Kai replied.
“I be thinking that we ain’t be leaving the way we be coming in,” Kildo said. The door they entered from the mural room was gone. They were in an entirely different place all together.
Wiping gore from the end of Qiekamis, Guo Gan came up and said, “It might be worth taking a short rest and assessing where we go from here.”
Nodding, Kai announced, “Right, we’ll shore up here. Tend to your wounds. Get a perimeter set up.”
Kildo looked at the purplish-colored dirt. Kicking at it, it seemed lifeless and not fit to produce anything but rocks. While he liked a stiff bed, he didn’t think he’d get much rest on this ground. Grumbling, he cast, Guardian of Faith. A towering spectral protector in the form of a dwarf appeared just to the southeast of their camp. The manifestation wielded a war hammer and shield with the blazing ankh symbol of Rigga, the Earthmother.
As the party began to settle down, a booming voice carried over the area. “Sleep well, my pray!” A haunting howl followed.
It seemed like some great pressure was released as Kildo’s ears popped. To the southeast, a heavy fog lifted, revealing additional barren terrain.
Guo Gan pulled out his grey bag of tricks and pulled out a handful of lint. He carefully placed it on the ground. It instantly transformed into a giant badger. Twice the size of a typical one, it had a distinctive white stripe from the tip of its long nose to the back of its head and white cheeks.
“Who’s a good boy?” Guo Gan said playfully, scratching the badger’s head. Pointing to the southeast, he said, “Go see what’s out there.”
The badger hopped and ran off. Just as he got out of sight, there was the sound of snarling and a fight between animals with a short ‘yelp’. More snarls were heard, and it sounded like something was being torn apart.
To the southeast, the forms of eight dire wolves slowly emerged. They were nine feet long and easily weighed eight hundred pounds or more. They were closer to the size of a horse than a dog. They had thick fur that was mottled, blue-grey in color, with eyes like fire. Fresh blood, likely from a badger, was around their snarling fanged mouths.
“Charmander! Go attack those things,” Scomatch commanded.
“Char?” Charmander chirped in concern and hid behind the halfling.
“So utterly useless,” Scomatch lamented. He then cast, Wall of Fire. The magical flames encircled the eight dire wolves.
They howled, not in pain, but more like the beasts were calling to others. They began barking, gathering their courage, and charged through the flames. They looked like hounds from hell as their fur caught fire and smoldered. They went straight toward Kildo’s Guardian of Faith.
The magical construct made arching sweeping motions as its axe blasted into the dire wolves, burning them with radiant damage. Its energy spent; it erupted into a shower of sparks and disappeared. Only two of the eight wolves remained, which were severely hurt.
“Bah, we can be taking these two critters with ease…” Kildo said, but his voice trailed off as deep growls emanated from the east and south. Sixteen more dire wolves emerged on the battlefield. And they were hungry.
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