Lair of the Swamp Hag.
Gm note: this is the session report of our annual gameweekend in the Ardennes and includes the conclusion of our last session.
After the battle with the Dragon Ogre, our heroes infiltrate its lair. They discover he was the gatekeeper to a trapdoor which leads to a rope ladder, descending deep into the rock.
The entrance to the lair of Babanaga is well guarded by beastmen. But six heroes, two of them mages and another the killing machine that is Gotrak make quick work of them. Behind the door, the passage opens into a stale, mouldy smelling narrow corridor that arches steeply downwards. Whether the passageway was hand-carved or is simply a crude nature passage, is visually undecipherable as the walls, floor, and ceiling are completely overgrown with pustular, spongy-looking, sickly grey fungus. Haphazardly constructed, like makeshift suspension bridge, a flight of stairs hangs from the ceiling. An off-colour slimy mould coats the ropes binding the stair treads and ascending into the ceiling where they seemingly disappear into whatever substance engulfs the corridor. Exiting this vile room, the dungeoneers find Corruption Vats, similar as those used by the Chaos conclave in Middenheim, furthermore, a room beyond holds Possessed. Humans who have been possessed by daemons and left with the mutations and mental scars that go with that ordeal.
Clearly, this witch is in league with the Purple Hand. Following a bend in the corridor, the heroes come upon the nest of the Hag Queen Babanaga. She is not home. The place is packed to the brim, true hoarder style with ingredients and all other peripherals associated with witchcraft. From dead birds to crocodile skulls, stuffed bats, teeth, voodoo dolls and another myriad of odds & ends. Mandred finds a book studying the ways and means of Waystones which he pilfers.
The cave slopes up to a jail which is guarded by a Beast of Nurgle, after a short, dangerous fight the find it guarded a cell with a single knight in it. He introduces himself as Vasili, Templar of Shallya. Solar points out that no such thing exists, the Shallyans are pacifist and have no knights but he says they are a new order, born out of the war in the north. He claims to have seen himself and the crew, in a vision, granted by his godess, fighting side by side against evil. However, he is too weak to join them on their assassination quest. Leaving him behind, the crew continues on, battling some daemons before finding a ladder upward.
After the battle with the Dragon Ogre, our heroes infiltrate its lair. They discover he was the gatekeeper to a trapdoor which leads to a rope ladder, descending deep into the rock.
The entrance to the lair of Babanaga is well guarded by beastmen. But six heroes, two of them mages and another the killing machine that is Gotrak make quick work of them. Behind the door, the passage opens into a stale, mouldy smelling narrow corridor that arches steeply downwards. Whether the passageway was hand-carved or is simply a crude nature passage, is visually undecipherable as the walls, floor, and ceiling are completely overgrown with pustular, spongy-looking, sickly grey fungus. Haphazardly constructed, like makeshift suspension bridge, a flight of stairs hangs from the ceiling. An off-colour slimy mould coats the ropes binding the stair treads and ascending into the ceiling where they seemingly disappear into whatever substance engulfs the corridor. Exiting this vile room, the dungeoneers find Corruption Vats, similar as those used by the Chaos conclave in Middenheim, furthermore, a room beyond holds Possessed. Humans who have been possessed by daemons and left with the mutations and mental scars that go with that ordeal.
Clearly, this witch is in league with the Purple Hand. Following a bend in the corridor, the heroes come upon the nest of the Hag Queen Babanaga. She is not home. The place is packed to the brim, true hoarder style with ingredients and all other peripherals associated with witchcraft. From dead birds to crocodile skulls, stuffed bats, teeth, voodoo dolls and another myriad of odds & ends. Mandred finds a book studying the ways and means of Waystones which he pilfers.
The cave slopes up to a jail which is guarded by a Beast of Nurgle, after a short, dangerous fight the find it guarded a cell with a single knight in it. He introduces himself as Vasili, Templar of Shallya. Solar points out that no such thing exists, the Shallyans are pacifist and have no knights but he says they are a new order, born out of the war in the north. He claims to have seen himself and the crew, in a vision, granted by his godess, fighting side by side against evil. However, he is too weak to join them on their assassination quest. Leaving him behind, the crew continues on, battling some daemons before finding a ladder upward.
Showdown with Babanaga.
The heroes emerge on the second, farthest & highest part of the split rock. At the end, they can see a huge monolith, desecrated with skull piles, chained corpses and Chaos symbols. The Waystone has been converted into a Herdstone. Babayaga holds her court underneath The Black Monolith. As the heroes attack her she transforms into a gigantic Naga. She shrieks: "Ah, the slaves of the lying emperor are here to kill me. Very well, I have foreseen this in my crystal ball. Do not worry my minions, by slaying me they’ll make me more powerful that I ever was. Start the ritual! For Tzeentch!" To which a horde of cultists reply: "Njawrr Nwawrr Lzimbac Tzeentch!" They promptly start a ritual.
Apart from that, some leaders of the Beastmen army are present but most dangerously of all, a small group of powerful daemons had been summoned prior to the meeting. One of these almost kills Gotrak in a single move. Luckily Solar is expert in dealing with Chaos and manages to exorcise them. The cultists are killed before they can complete their ritual.
The Naga Spamp Witch proves a problem. The tired, wounded heroes have a tough time dealing with her shields, spitting poison, spells and constricting moves but in the end, they are once again victorious.
As soon as the hag is dead, her power fades and the Woodelf army attacks en masse. Tired and wounded the heroes all but collapse before meeting Limgon, the Spellweaver. He reminds them that they are indeed victorious but the sentence included getting rid of the village Udo, on the border of Woodelf lands. After some grumbling and muttering the crew enjoys a victory feast that surpasses the previous festivities. Woodelfs know how to party.
Mandred cannot help to investigate the witch's crystal ball. He sees a hellish vision of the future. Wave after wave of daemons swarm the lands of the Old World and slowly, but surely destroy everything! As the world endures its final, agonising demise, the mortal races of the Old World are fighting to the very last against the encroaching darkness which seeks to consume them all. They fail. The last image is one of Sigmar, drifting endlessly trough the void, holding on to a rock, which is the only thing remaining from the world... Needless to say, he is quite shocked.
The next day they head to the village Udo, which is a newly built outpost. They have no trouble convincing the inhabitants once they promise land and safety in Grissenwald. And so they relocate the village to their base of operations. But, apart from a quick report to the emperor, they have no time to stay.
Apart from that, some leaders of the Beastmen army are present but most dangerously of all, a small group of powerful daemons had been summoned prior to the meeting. One of these almost kills Gotrak in a single move. Luckily Solar is expert in dealing with Chaos and manages to exorcise them. The cultists are killed before they can complete their ritual.
The Naga Spamp Witch proves a problem. The tired, wounded heroes have a tough time dealing with her shields, spitting poison, spells and constricting moves but in the end, they are once again victorious.
As soon as the hag is dead, her power fades and the Woodelf army attacks en masse. Tired and wounded the heroes all but collapse before meeting Limgon, the Spellweaver. He reminds them that they are indeed victorious but the sentence included getting rid of the village Udo, on the border of Woodelf lands. After some grumbling and muttering the crew enjoys a victory feast that surpasses the previous festivities. Woodelfs know how to party.
Mandred cannot help to investigate the witch's crystal ball. He sees a hellish vision of the future. Wave after wave of daemons swarm the lands of the Old World and slowly, but surely destroy everything! As the world endures its final, agonising demise, the mortal races of the Old World are fighting to the very last against the encroaching darkness which seeks to consume them all. They fail. The last image is one of Sigmar, drifting endlessly trough the void, holding on to a rock, which is the only thing remaining from the world... Needless to say, he is quite shocked.
The next day they head to the village Udo, which is a newly built outpost. They have no trouble convincing the inhabitants once they promise land and safety in Grissenwald. And so they relocate the village to their base of operations. But, apart from a quick report to the emperor, they have no time to stay.
In search of the Last Anathema.
Having received the Madcap mushrooms from the elves, the adventurers return to Agoston the Pole Sitter. He shows them a location on their map called The Drowned Lake, a little over week from the capital. They pop into the capital quickly (being wanted for "murdering" the emperor), the crew replenishes their supplies before venturing on as quick as possible.
A week later by boat, they arrive in a backwater place next to a crater-like lake. Some research with the local tavern and priest of Taal lets them learn that a great battle took place here during the last Chaos invasion, it is the exact place where Archaon the Everchosen, the Three-eyed King, the Lord of the End Times was defeated and his sword shattered into the three shards that later became known as the Anathema.
As they search the lake for clues Abel finds an old stone with dwarf runes on it. It reads: "The ways shall open when the lake colours red with the blood of innocents".
After some discussion, Solar wounds himself and lets the blood flow into the lake. With a swirl an opening is revealed which leads to a huge, dark ziggurat deep under the lake. A sorcerer sits on the top of it, turned into stone.
While descending they can hear the clang of hammers and the chanting of Chaos Dwarfs.
As they enter, they are greeted by quite a large group of them, including a Priest of Hashut, a Trollslayer-slayer, a Doomblower, a couple of blunderbuss wielders, a Deathshrieker rocket launcher and a general who holds the Anathema.
A week later by boat, they arrive in a backwater place next to a crater-like lake. Some research with the local tavern and priest of Taal lets them learn that a great battle took place here during the last Chaos invasion, it is the exact place where Archaon the Everchosen, the Three-eyed King, the Lord of the End Times was defeated and his sword shattered into the three shards that later became known as the Anathema.
As they search the lake for clues Abel finds an old stone with dwarf runes on it. It reads: "The ways shall open when the lake colours red with the blood of innocents".
After some discussion, Solar wounds himself and lets the blood flow into the lake. With a swirl an opening is revealed which leads to a huge, dark ziggurat deep under the lake. A sorcerer sits on the top of it, turned into stone.
While descending they can hear the clang of hammers and the chanting of Chaos Dwarfs.
As they enter, they are greeted by quite a large group of them, including a Priest of Hashut, a Trollslayer-slayer, a Doomblower, a couple of blunderbuss wielders, a Deathshrieker rocket launcher and a general who holds the Anathema.
Mandreds Treachery.
While the epic fight rages on, Mandred suddenly tries to grab the Anathema from the general. His eyes glow fiercely as he casts a powerful windstorm on the battle scene. His companions react confused and surprised. He tells them that it is no use, the future cannot be changed. The End Times will happen and everyone will die. He tells his shocked friends that those who join him will enjoy great benefits, and places of power in the new order of Chaos. He makes some very compelling arguments and tries his best to persuade his brother, Felix. However, it is clear Mandred is lost to chaos, and the crew are heroes for the forces of good. Ignoring the remaining Chaos Dwarfs (who flee) a bitter brawl ensues between the corrupted Celestial master wizard and his former brothers in arms. Mandreds power has grown exponentially and on top of that, he suddenly transforms as he is being aided by the daemon from the Middenheim festival. He sprouts wings, fangs and claws and casually flings powerful spells about. Yet even in this powerful form he cannot hope to withstand to combined attacks of the heroes alone. In the end, he loses the Anathema and is forced to open a dimensional gate to escape...
Tired, sad and wounded, the crew returns to the surface with the Anathema. They just paid a heavy price trying to stop Chaos.
Tired, sad and wounded, the crew returns to the surface with the Anathema. They just paid a heavy price trying to stop Chaos.