Return to the Light
With a blinding flash of white light, the heroes of Helmsport left the Shadow Realm behind, and none too soon. If the scene witnessed in the Shadow Realm was any harbinger, Blackmere City had little time left before the armies of Hell overcame its walls. But now the heroes had two clues that might let their kingdom escape the fate of its shadowy duplicate: the location of the warlord’s camp, and the trigger for the attack.
The force of the magical energies released by Adarrial Smythe hurled the characters through the dimensions—and as it turned out, in different directions as well. Jarvis and Caedrus, along with the guards rescued from the Shadow Realm, awoke moments or hours later to find swords pointed at their throats and accusations of treachery thrown in their faces. As they scrambled for an explanation for their sudden appearance inside the heavily fortified Cathedral of the Highfather, a familiar face appeared: Bishop Cael Carlein of Helmsport. Recognizing young Jarvis as one of the rescuers of young Duke Avan, Bishop Carlein managed to calm the suspicions of the soldiers who held the two heroes captive. Unfortunately, the trip from the Shadow Realm had greatly weakened Caedrus, but luckily they were surrounded by clerics willing to lend a hand—even to a half-elven stranger.
Hundreds of miles away, Duran and Rexander found themselves in the familiar surroundings of Great Rock, though not the town that the hound archon knew all too well. Instead, the cleric and his newfound protector were safe in the young man’s home village.
The other heroes weren’t so fortunate as to find a safe arrival point. Adarrial, Beran, Thorgrimm, Stannis, Alarion, Verdigris, and the paladin’s new shadow dire wolf mount, Agathon, splashed down in a fetid swamp unfamiliar to any of them. Between Beran’s wilderness lore and aerial scouting by the dragon Gris, they ascertained that they had arrived somewhere in the Great Mere, the salt marsh that lay northwest of Blackmere City. Knowing that the city had to be warned (and their friends located), Adarrial and Stannis flew ahead with magical assistance, leaving the rest of the group to follow on foot (or wing, in the case of the dragon).
Within 24 hours, Duran had magically contacted his allies, and a plan was created. Adarrial and Stannis would alert the city’s defenders, then meet the rest of their friends a few miles outside the city. From there, the reunited heroes would launch a pre-emptive strike against the warlord who led these hellish forces.
Beran, Thorgrimm, and Alarion marched tirelessly through the mere for three full days. Kept alive by the hunting of Gris and Beran and the healing powers of Alarion, the heroes neither rested nor slept for a full 72 hours. Perhaps their longest pause came in an encounter with a patrol of hellspawn goblins at the edge of the mere. Even so, these exhausted, brave companions successfully reached the rendezvous point on schedule. There they met Adarrial and Stannis, who had also brought Jarvis from Blackmere City, as well as Duran and Rexander, who had ridden day and night to rejoin their comrades, bringing along the elven archer Eandrynn as well.
As day broke on July the third, eight heroes of Helmsport readied themselves for battle. They knew that should they fail, Blackmere City would almost certainly fall. Its defenders could not afford to spare any effort in a rescue mission, much less a second attempt to track down the leaders of the army. No, this was the city’s one and only hope for surviving the siege.
Recognizing the weight of their mission, the heroes prepared in silence, each one alone with his thoughts. Some prayed to their deity, others asked their ancestors for strength, and still others merely gathered the personal will required for the day’s activities.
They approached the warlord’s cave from across the mere, correctly predicting weaker defenses from that direction. A combination of subterfuge and quick violence got them past the hellspawn goblins guarding the entrance. Once past these sentries, the defenses stiffened, as the heroes encountered a trio of goblin barbarians with the power to take the forms of worgs. As they fought, still more powerful hellspawn goblins appeared, followed by devils from the pits of Hell itself. But even these creatures could not stand before the heroes’ wrath. Though they could not help the fallen of the Shadow Realm’s Blackmere City, the vengeance they wreaked upon these damned monsters seemed nonetheless appropriate.
But all of this was mere prelude to the appearance of the warlord himself. Towering above even the giant-blooded Jarvis Osburn, the blue-skinned goblinoid seemed a mountain of sheer muscle, barely contained within his breastplate. Flanked by his advisor, a hobgoblin wizard bonded to the very skin of some unknown devil, the Warlord flew into a mighty rage, dealing out devastating strikes with his huge sword.
The battle raged throughout the subterranean complex of caves used by the warlord as his headquarters. Blasts of fire, lightning, and acid flew back and forth between the combatants. Enemies fell back from one front only to circle around and attack from another direction.
When the dust settled and the smoke cleared, though, the heroes stood triumphant once again. Though they bore grievous injuries, perhaps amazingly no lives were lost among the bold defenders of Blackmere City. Bringing the warlord’s severed head as proof of their victory, Duran and Rexander hurried to the walls of the city. Channeling the righteous power of Altius himself, Duran commanded the army to disperse or face his wrath. Seeing their mighty general dead before them, the goblinoids showed their true colors and broke, fleeing from the field in terror. With the bulk of their forces dispersed, even the remaining devils had little choice but to retreat, preferring dishonor to destruction.
Back in the caves, the heroes found proof that they had arrived just in time. Hidden in a back room was a head-sized featureless black sphere, levitating motionless above the ground: a sphere of annihilation. Nearby lay a partially completed talisman, which Stannis confirmed was intended to control the horrible artifact, directing its nihilistic power at the great relic that protected Blackmere City. But this world would not suffer the fate of the city in the Shadow Realm, and its walls would withstand yet another crisis.
The characters entered the main gate to the cheers of the liberated citizens of Blackmere City. Arriving at the Cathedral, the heroes learned that the victory was a bittersweet one: In their attempts to fend off a last-ditch assault by the devils, many arcane and divine spellcasters had given so much of their energies to the crystal relic that powered the city’s shield that their very lives had been snuffed out like so many candles. Among the fallen was the Archbishop himself, having made the ultimate sacrifice for the faithful he protected.
But now was not a time for sorrow. While tears would be shed for those lost in the Siege of Blackmere, now was a time for celebration. In a solemn ceremony, King Augustus VII of Blackmere granted each hero—even Eandrynn of Brithonen—knighthood and the title “Protector of Blackmere.” The heroes of Helmsport were now the heroes of Blackmere.
Life continued. Bishop Carlein became the new Archbishop of Blackmere, promoting Lorcan as his successor in the Western Province. Some of the heroes returned to family and friends in Great Rock or Helmsport, while others made new homes in Blackmere City. The heroes were wealthy and powerful beyond their childhood dreams, a far cry from the terrified youths who had hunted goblins in a snowy forest less than two years earlier.
And yet, deep down, each one knew that their adventures were far from over. Mysteries still remained unsolved. For instance, where had the remaining leaders of the Scarlet Sails, Strabo and Connallson, retreated, and what growing power still hid within Nightfang Spire? Despite all their fame, their wealth, and their power, the heroes knew one fact for certain: The dangers facing them would only grow more deadly in the months to come.
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