The party had entered the ruins looking for the missing Delvers. What they found was something much worse.
The party had already fought their way through the ruins. They’d encountered the Clasp, fought strange creatures from the swamp, discovered the remains of the Goldwyn Justicars and learned that something called Malix had been sealed beneath the ruins.
They’d also heard the chanting. And the further they went, the more certain they became that they were getting closer to whatever was causing it.
The Coming of Malix
The party found themselves in another room, with two doors.
One led onwards.
The other led back the way they’d come.
Around the doorway were strange runes. The message seemed clear. They proclaimed the coming of Malix. As the party examined the writing, something else began to happen. Spores started to grow around the door frame ( I spent a Fear here, no real mechanical effect but I wanted to show them something was happening, and it got them moving again and out of analysis paralysis)
The party pushed onwards.
The Guardian
Beyond the door was a large hall. A staircase descended further into the ruins, while another door led into an adjoining room.
As the party stepped into the hall, the dead began to move. Skeletons animated around them. Then something much larger stepped forward.
A Guardian.
The fight began. But then another scream echoed through the ruins (I spent some more Fear)
This time, it was coming from the adjoining room. Nienna and Leven broke away from the battle and went to investigate. What they found was not what they expected.
Ariella
Ariella was there. The same teenager who had approached the party before they left Okros. The same teenager they’d told to stay behind. She was cowering in the room. And she wasn’t alone.
Several of the missing Delvers had been infected. They were no longer themselves.
They had become zombified, their bodies covered in the same strange spores that had been growing around the doorway.
While Melvin, Lucrezia and Drakana dealt with the Guardian and the remaining skeletons, Nienna and Leven restrained the infected Delvers.
The party didn’t kill them. They tied them up and left them where they were. Then they noticed something else. There was a yellow tint in Ariella’s eyes. Something was wrong. The party didn’t know what it meant. But they weren’t going to leave her behind again. They left Padfoot to guard Ariella while they continued deeper into the ruins.
The Library
The staircase led further underground. The air became colder. And quieter. The party found some interesting leather armour along the way, but it was the discovery beyond that which really caught their attention.
A library. Rows of books and ancient tomes filled the room. Knowledge from the old world.
For a group that had been following the remnants of the Goldwyn Justicars, it was another tantalising glimpse into a past they barely understood.
There were more spores down here too. They were becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Whatever had infected the Delvers was not simply something they’d encountered in the upper ruins.
It was part of this place. The party gathered what they could and continued onwards.
Malix
The next door opened into something very different. A huge hall had been carved directly into the rock. Around the edge of the room ran a trough filled with dark-coloured sludge. And in the centre, raised above the floor, stood a figure.
Malix.
He was waiting for them. There was no ambush. No surprise attack. He simply stood there. Waiting. Then the fighting began.
The Final Battle
The sludge around the edges of the room began to move. Slime creatures emerged from the darkness and joined the fight. The party had already been through several battles, and this was easily the most dangerous encounter yet.
Malix was tough. But the party had found their rhythm. Lucrezia and Leven worked together to hit him hard, forcing him back. Nienna managed to sneak around behind him and strike where it hurt. The battle turned against Malix. But the party were paying a price too. Drakana was knocked unconscious.
For a moment, things looked dangerous. Then Lucrezia stepped in. She used a healing potion on Drakana before turning back towards Malix. One final blast. Malix fell. The creature that the Goldwyn Justicars had once sealed away was dead. At least, that’s what the party believed.
Back to Okros
The party didn’t linger. They retreated back through the ruins and rested for the night before making their way back towards Okros. They took Ariella with them.
The infected Delvers were left behind. There wasn’t yet a way to save them.
And nobody knew exactly what was happening to Ariella. Back in Okros, they went straight to Elder Akadana. The Elder listened to their report before sending for Bunnor, the settlement’s healer.
The party handed over the dried mushrooms and the ancient tome they’d recovered from the ruins.
Bunnor studied what they’d brought back and began working on a potion for Ariella. Eventually she produced one. Ariella drank it. And for now, she was safe.
Bunnor also gave Nienna a flask containing some of the strange liquid. Whether it would prove useful remained to be seen.
The Bent Blade
That evening, the party visited the Bent Blade. They’d barely had time to settle when Gib Steely approached them. He wanted to know what had really happened in the ruins. Not the official version. The real story. What had they seen down there? What had they found? And perhaps most importantly…
What had they brought back?
- The party had survived.
- They had rescued Ariella.
- They had defeated Malix.
But sitting in the Bent Blade, it was becoming increasingly clear that their adventure had attracted attention.
Ariella
The following morning, the party met with Ariella again. She was okay. At least, as okay as anyone could be after what she’d experienced. The party tried to put her at ease.
After all, she’d already been through enough. For now, the danger seemed to have passed.
Looking Back
This was the session where the campaign really began to establish some of its bigger mysteries.
Malix had been built up over the previous sessions as the threat waiting at the bottom of the ruins. And then we finally met him.
I had a plan to take the party to a College who were interested in Malix and what the party had found, but the players really wanted to save the delvers. So I developed the campaign from there…
Next time in Age of Umbra
The party learns what they need to collect to save delvers, and we start play in Tier 2.
Jambo's GM Journal 
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