Through the Mists

Session 18: The Brazier in Chains

At a glance

Summary

The party returned through the Bone Chambers to test the darkness beyond the nearby unexplored door. Before they entered it, Carver called for Irik Zal’honan. The ghost answered. He said the castle was frozen as it had been, spoke once of “father,” and confirmed that a dragon had lived there—and still returned.

Rage felt the trophies around his neck grow heavy. He answered that weight with teeth, eating the three ears he had taken from Vermoth and the pale thralls until they were gone. Magic tingled through him afterward, but offered no explanation.

The first room beyond the bones was a black-metal prison: floor, walls, and ceiling alike had a cold metallic sheen, and empty cages crowded the dark. Ignatius and Carver slipped over the threshold. Rage followed more slowly and took a poisoned bone javelin from a rising skeleton before he made it inside. As Carver conjured and lit a torch, every mind in the room heard the same plea: Let me out. Please help. Rage healed himself and the party began to look.

A woman in one cage extended a red-gloved hand toward Rage with alarming warmth. He nearly freed her, then stopped. Another prisoner—a Vistani—called out that she was a spider and could not be trusted. To show the party why they should listen, he tore away his face. It had been an illusion; beneath it was an eyeless, disfigured man. The sight—or some force behind it—drove Rage and Carver to their knees in tears.

Hyskosa's false face dissolves as Rage and Carver collapse in grief within the Beast Prison.

Hyskosa’s revealed face brought unbearable grief. View image record.

Ignatius followed the psychic voice to a captive mind flayer in a corner cage. Rage trusted none of its pleas. He killed it where it sat, repeatedly lashing it with vicious mockery until its voice was gone.

Rage next opened a cage holding two foxes. Both shifted into werefoxes and attacked, but the party persuaded them that it meant no harm. Their reprieve lasted only a moment. A werebear in the neighboring cage reached through the bars, seized the female werefox, and mangled her to death. The party turned on it. Carver’s radiant true strike ended the short fight; Rage took one of the creature’s paws for his chain. The surviving werefox gave his name as Lafing.

Carver fires a radiant crossbow bolt into the caged werebear while Lafing grieves over his slain companion.

Carver’s radiant bolt ended the werebear’s attack. View image record.

Before the party left the prison, Carver gathered the female werefox’s body and carried it with him. He did not accept that she was necessarily beyond saving.

The Vistani then introduced himself as Hyskosa. He wore a magical eye amulet, though he said it was not what allowed him to see. The party freed him and made another dangerous dash through the Bone Chambers, this time with Hyskosa and Lafing in tow.

Their refuge was another metal-lined chamber, more terrible than the first: rows of cages and torture devices surrounded a foreboding circle in the floor. A copper brazier occupied its center. Daggers lined the walls. Rage stepped inside and felt the circle siphon magic from him. Carver examined the arrangement and judged that disturbing its fire would be unwise; it seemed built as a magical torture chamber.

Rage tested a restraint device and persuaded Hyskosa to test another. Nothing happened. Then Rage broke one of the chains. The circle changed. The daggers flared with light, and a burning creature formed above the brazier and rose into view—still bound, still restrained.

Rage breaks a restraint chain with his greataxe as a bound fire elemental begins to form above the copper brazier.

Rage’s broken chain gave the brazier its captive flame. View image record.

Key events

  1. Irik said Castle Avernus was frozen as it had been, referred to “father,” and confirmed that a dragon once lived there and still returns.
  2. Rage destroyed the three ears on his trophy chain by eating them, then felt a magical tingle.
  3. The party entered the metal-lined Castle Avernus Beast Prison; Rage was struck by a poisoned javelin while crossing its skeleton-threatened threshold.
  4. The party declined to free the red-gloved woman after Hyskosa warned that she was a spider.
  5. Hyskosa’s illusory face fell away, and Rage and Carver were overcome by grief.
  6. Ignatius found the psychic caller, a captive mind flayer; Rage killed it while it remained imprisoned.
  7. The party freed two werefoxes, persuaded them to stand down, then killed the werebear that murdered one of them. Carver’s radiant true strike dealt the finishing blow.
  8. Carver took custody of Lafing’s slain companion, hoping she may not be beyond saving.
  9. Hyskosa and the surviving werefox, Lafing, were freed and accompanied the party into a second chamber.
  10. Rage broke a restraint chain in a magical torture circle, awakening a burning creature that remained bound above its brazier.

Decisions and consequences

  • The party left the red-gloved woman imprisoned.
    • Hyskosa’s warning kept them from accepting her apparent friendliness at face value.
  • Rage killed the captive mind flayer.
    • The source of the psychic pleas is dead, though the chamber’s other dangers remain.
  • The party freed Hyskosa and Lafing.
    • Both now travel with the party through the lower chambers.
  • Rage broke a restraint chain.
    • The torture circle activated and manifested a still-bound burning creature.
  • Carver carried off Lafing’s slain companion.
    • He hopes the werefox may yet be saved; no means of doing so has been identified.

People

  • Irik Zal’honan: Reappeared briefly and offered new, cryptic information about the castle and its dragon.
  • Hyskosa: Eyeless Vistani prisoner with unexplained sight; freed by the party.
  • Lafing: Surviving werefox prisoner; his companion was killed by the werebear.

Places

Clues, lore, and notable items

  • Irik said Castle Avernus is frozen as it was; the precise meaning of that statement remains unclear.
  • The dragon heard in the previous session once lived in Castle Avernus and still returns, according to Irik.
  • Hyskosa warned that the red-gloved captive is a spider, but the party has not confirmed it.
  • Rage felt a magical tingle after destroying the ears on his trophy chain.
  • Hyskosa’s eye amulet is magical, but he says it is not the source of his sight.
  • The torture circle siphons magic and seems designed to restrain and torment its subject.

Story threads

Rewards, losses, and character changes

  • Hyskosa and Lafing — newly freed companions
  • Werebear paw — added to Rage’s trophy chain
  • Three ears from Vermoth and his thralls — destroyed by Rage
  • One unnamed female werefox — killed by the werebear
  • The female werefox’s body — carried by Carver in hope of restoring her

Memorable moments

  • Rage’s answer to a supernatural burden was to eat it.
  • The Vistani tore off a false face to reveal an eyeless one beneath.
  • Carver’s radiant bolt dropped the werebear moments after it killed Lafing’s companion.
  • Carver refused to leave the slain werefox behind.
  • A broken chain gave the brazier something burning to show the party.

Open questions

  • What did Irik mean when he said the castle was frozen as it was, and who is “father”?
  • What dragon returns to Castle Avernus, and why?
  • What did Rage’s magical tingle signify?
  • What is the red-gloved woman, and should she remain imprisoned?
  • How does Hyskosa see without eyes?
  • Can Lafing’s slain companion be restored, and if so, how?
  • Who or what is restrained within the brazier, and what will happen now that the circle has awakened?

Next session

  • Immediate situation: Ignatius, Rage, Carver, Hyskosa, and Lafing stand in the activated torture chamber before a burning creature that remains bound above the brazier. Carver carries Lafing’s slain companion.
  • Likely goals: Decide how to respond to the awakened captive, determine whether Lafing’s companion can be saved, investigate the two prison chambers, and continue searching Castle Avernus for Irik’s tomb and Azalin’s phylactery.

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