The Spire, Triumphant

[WARNING: This column contains spoilers for the D&D adventure “Heart of Nightfang Spire.”]

With the Orb of Dawn in hand and the bitter taste of politics in their mouths, the heroes of Helmsport returned to Nightfang Spire, the lair of the vampire sorcerer/dragon cultist Gulthias. Over the course of the next four weeks, the characters delved ever deeper into the sepulchral stronghold of evil, fighting (and defeating) ever more powerful minions of the dark lord of the tower.

But every time they fell back to rest, the heroes found Gulthias’ forces reinforced anew, forcing them to fight for the same small gains over and over again. In a particularly devastating blow, the Altian cleric Duran Fortnite was slain by Gulthias’ lieutenant, a wight assassin named Redfang. This forced the heroes to retreat to safety at their camp some distance away from the Spire.

That night, a strike team of undead, led by Redfang herself, fell upon the heroes as they slept. Worse yet, their own fallen companion rose as a wight himself, his clerical powers of righteousness twisted to serve evil. Only the power of the Orb, wielded by Adarrial Smythe, was able to turn the tide.

As dawn arose, the heroes glumly conceded that they simply could not continue the assault against the Spire. They returned the Orb of Dawn to the Tomb of Spirodon, apologizing to the spirit of the priest within for their failure.

Upon exiting the tomb, the characters encountered a patrol of elves guarding the border of the Kingdom of Brithonen. Though Adarrial and Eandrynn attempted to defuse the tense situation, the elven commander took no heed, ordering her troops to open fire. By the time the dust cleared, several elves lay grievously wounded. Questioning the commander, the heroes learned to their horror that she was a thrall of Gulthias himself. Worse still, there were apparently plans afoot for the elves to take advantage of the humans’ attention toward the far-too-quiet Goblin Frontier to launch a number of strikes against key military outposts surrounding Brithonen!

The paladin Alarion immediately accused the elves of being in league with the undead master of the Spire. Adarrial Smythe and the elven archer Eandrynn vowed to investigate, and the group split up. Adarrial headed northwest for Greatwall Keep, where a detachment of the elven army was said to be hiding, while Eandrynn returned to Brithonen to learn more about the connection (if any) between his people and Gulthias. The rest of the heroes gathered in Great Rock, mere days away from Adarrial should he require their assistance.

Posing as a lost elven soldier, Adarrial successfully infiltrated the army at Greatwall Keep. Approximately 50 soldiers occupied the ruined stronghold—including archers, spearmen, and a few druids and wizards. After confirming numbers, patrol routines, and the like, Adarrial magically contacted his comrades in Great Rock. It was certain: the elves were due to attack the walled town of Fort Kavanaugh within the week. Diplomacy was useless now; only a show of force could dissuade the elves from their plan.

Thus, it was with a near-surgical efficiency that the heroes of Helmsport assaulted the keep. Flying in low across the water, the characters quickly bypassed the outer defenses, taking up positions throughout the castle and central tower. The battle took mere minutes, and by the end not a single elf remained alive. Few of the heroes took any joy in their victory, however, knowing that this massacre should never have had to occur. Indeed, for some heroes this represented the second unnecessary conflict with the people of Brithonen.

Hopefully, however, the utter defeat of the elven forces would dissuade the “war-hawks” of Brithonen. As Eandrynn had discovered, the noble houses of the elves were far from unanimous in their support of a military solution to the tensions with the Kingdom of Blackmere, and it seemed likely that this setback would further strengthen the cause of appeasement.

The heroes returned to Helmsport with heavy hearts, but found only worse news upon their arrival. The long-awaited attack by the goblinoid Ten Tribes had begun, but not on the frontier, where the combined armies of the four provinces of Blackmere awaited, but surrounding the kingdom’s very capital, Blackmere City! From out of the Great Mere the army of goblins and hobgoblins had swarmed, fortified by hell-spawned goblinoids and a veritable army of devils as well.

With the army over a thousand miles distant, the city seemed on the brink of ruin. But then the priests of Altius revealed a powerful relic left over from the Infernal Years centuries earlier. The device, capable of channeling divine and arcane power to create a magical shield that blocked all interplanar travel, communication, and summoning within several miles of the city, drastically reduced the devils’ advantage. Encased in this protective shell, the defenders hunkered down and waited for reinforcements.

But who could arrive in time to save Blackmere City from the hordes of Hell, and how could they possibly get past the besieging forces?

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