The drawbridge slammed to the ground, granting FCG passage across the ravine. Endrin swooped up to the ramparts to ferry Fir down to Dark Light Keep’s main entrance. Malcolm put his back into it and pushed open the large wooden double doors of the keep, revealing the long abandoned entry hall beyond. Clearly grandiose at one point, the entry hall lay in disarray, its rugs tattered, doors rotting, and stonework crumbling. Glancing around, the party noticed banners depicting the idolatry of Torog, The Crawling King, and began to make grim assumptions about the keep’s prior purpose.
As the group began examining the large chamber, a clattering noise was heard coming from behind the wall at the far end. Malcolm approached the door with his usual gusto, the rest of the party bracing behind him, and kicked open the door. From the faint light of the doorway, Malcolm could make out what looked to be a kitchen of sorts. Scanning the space, the fighter was startled as his gaze met that of a tiny, eyeless, alien-like rat creature, with a circular toothy maw, hooked appendages, and a spine-laden tail. The creature hissed and lunged at Malcolm, attempting to sink its serrated teeth into the fighter’s arm. Fir sprang into action and slashed into the creature with his elongated talons. Malcolm finished the creature off, bludgeoning it with his torch and the belching fire all over it, courtesy of Triple J.
Curiously, the party examined the, now very crispy, alien entity. Though they were unable to identify much given the creatures charred state, the party did hear more skittering noises down beneath kitchen and realized that cellar was likely infested with these creatures. Before heading down below, FCG cleared out the remainder of the first floor, discovering servants’ quarters, the base of a guard tower, a large dining hall, multiple staircases to the second level, and the entrance to the cellar.
Malcolm and Fir led the way down below. In near unison, the pair stepped on a stair that depressed beneath their feet. The stair triggered a still active trap, sending an array of large spikes shooting out from the adjacent wall, impaling Fir and Malcolm in the process before retracting. Endrin marked the stair with some charcoal as a warning should the party traverse the stairwell again. Malcolm led the way further into the cellar discovering a long hallway full of barred dungeon cells. Within one of the cells, Malcolm encountered another of the alien rats which struck out at him from the darkness. The commotion alerted a small swarm of the creature’s kin which came scurrying out from the adjacent chambers, quickly surrounding the fighter and tearing at him with a surprising display of pack tactics. Loud pounding footsteps shook the hallway as a much larger, hulking, entity, comprised almost entirely of exposed red muscle, entered the hallway from the chamber at the far end.
The rest of the party joined in on the fray, thus beginning the extermination process in earnest. Endrin blighted the large hulk, rapidly decaying its flesh, while Malcolm began cutting down the swarming crawlers. Fir created a literal storm cloud within the cellar, calling down bolts of lighting to electrify their foes. Triple J provided inspiration from the staircase as well as augmented the destructive force of his allies. As Endrin retreated up to the stairs, the crawlers continued to swarm, climbing up around him and Triple J. The hulking entity lumbered forward and slammed Malcolm with its massive arms, stunning the fighter momentarily. Fir continued dispatching the crawlers while Endrin maintained his focus on the hulk, continuing to rot away its flesh. Triple J managed to distract and hobble the crawlers, preventing many a critical blow against his allies until he himself was bitten and frightened of the horrific rats. Fir healed the party with soothing mists, and Malcolm regained his senses renewing his frenzied attacks and even channeling a bit of Timorei’s magic to fell the alien creatures around him. Ultimately, FCG completed the cleansing of the cellar as Fir electrocuted the sloughing Hulk to a crisp and Triple J finished off the last crawler with his Aeorian Laser Sword, aided by Endrin’s violent gravitic force. The cellar cleared, FCG took a bit of time to rest up and investigate, discovering a torture chamber, a tunnel extending further below, and a storage space filled with ruined crates and mostly empty casks.
Before descending further below, the party elected to proceed back upstairs to investigate the second floor instead. Ascending, the large central staircase FCG found that the stone floor of the balcony was in need of repair. Carefully, the party examined the second story, discovering a series of bedrooms, a guard tower complete with a damaged arcane ballista, the entrance to the exterior ramparts, as well as a mostly empty small armory. They also found a charred library space, which upon further investigation was revealed to have a secret magical passage that led to the base of tall tower towards the back of the keep. Concluding their search of the second floor, the party discovered another, much larger, armory. Endrin, who’d been concentrating on detect magic, picked up some arcane energies coming from the sets of armor and a few of the weapons within. As Malcolm approached one of the black, horned, armor sets and gave it a knock, the armor came to life and extended an arm up towards the fighter’s throat…
