Oshuamp - Episode 10: Deliverance of the Devoted

Recap
Madeline lurches for the locket, but they assuage her compulsion. Desperate to answer the call, she tilts her head down towards the floor when Yahlumlo asks where Sabrina wants her to go. Terrified, but determined to protect Madeleine and discover what is happening with the Sisters of Sorrow, the party marches resolute towards the staircase, following her into the Chapel below.

She passes the pulpit and places her hands on the Statue of Ostador, turning and requesting the lit torch from Nesgrim, who abides. She places the torch into a depression in the palms, and the face is illuminated by the flame. Cracks separate and split the statute vertically, revealing an opening and a descending spiral staircase. The wrought iron bars of the railing and handles change as they descend into darkness and dirt, uncovering a natural stone cavern, before coming to a break in the path that opens to an ornate stone structure, comprised of Dwarven architecture, sunken into the stone.

Madeleine leads them into the Antechamber, and they pause in awe at the ornate decorations and ask if she has ever been here before. She confesses that her visions have shown her a place like this, but she has never physically been. Ethir detects magic, but discerns nothing from the Antechamber. They ascend the small stone steps and follow Madeleine through the door into a grand Cathedral, beautifully carved and decorated, but covered in dust and in a ruinous state.

Madeleine approaches a mosaic on the wall that heralds of a great battle between Dwarves and Orcs, and recoils at the touch of gold on the frame. Beneath the mosaic, in orcish, hastily carved are the words “Oshuai Wampu.” Ethir’s detect magic does not discover anything in the area, and they follow a thin trail of blood that passes through the central aisle between two paths of cracked wooden pews.

Madeleine glides forward beyond a broken section of ceiling, and the others move towards a staircase that ascends to a decorated balcony, overlooking the central area of the Cathedral floor. As they walk, a fire erupts on an altar in the sanctuary, the back area of the Cathedral, illuminating a tall statue of a woman with flaming red hair, bearing a pair of swords above her as she straddles a horse.

Nesgrim and Ritora hurry after Madeleine as she walks obsessively towards the flames. As they halt her just before the altar, a spattering of dust and rubble falls, striking Nesgrim and Ritora on their shoulders and head, and Ritora takes cover below his raised shield. Amidst the debris, a woman, in a red flowing dress descends, attacking them quickly from behind.

Yahlumlo strikes first, utilizing force energy from his palm to first mark her back and burst into her. The woman shrieks and smiles before grabbing Nesgrim by the chain mail bundled by his neck, and bites into his throat. Ritora transforms into a white bear and launches a flurry of bites and claws. Ethir crushes her resistances, making her vulnerable to Nesgrim’s blade as he slashes into her arm. Buck, confused by the companions he has just made, assists in the protection.

The battle intensifies as a massive burst of energy from Yahlumlo pulses around her, bloodying her and sending into a fevered rage that is concentrated on her primary victim, the bloodied Nesgrim. He flees deeper into the sanctuary, taking solace in the protection of his friends, only to be horrified as she leaps over the banister, grabbing him once more and sinking her fangs in again. The party watches in horror as the life looks to leave Nesgrim’s eyes, but he is saved multiple times by Ethir’s magics.

Still unconscious, she lifts Nesgrim’s limp body and carries him towards a reservoir filled with fresh blood at the base of the statue, and throws Nesgrim inside, preparing to leap in herself. Ritora rushes over and grabs Nesgrim by the boots and pulls him onto the safety of solid ground, standing over him with the entirety of her body, desperate to protect him.

Yahlumlo, Buck and Ethir press on the assault, striking with blades and magical energies, weakening her greatly. Ritora carries Nesgrim away to safety as the woman leaps into the reservoir alone, bathing in blood before their eyes and then disappears below the surface. Convinced that she is preparing herself for something diabolical, they plunge their weapons into the pool, striking her more, before Yahlumlo pierces her chest with his longsword, catching her deeply by her breast. He uses his strength to elevate her, revealing that he has punctured deep into her body. Blood matted hair clings to her face and cheeks, and they see tears begin to fill her eyes, as she swells with fear and anger. In desperation she tries to pull herself from the blade, but grips too heavily, slicing through her own fingers that fall into the pool of blood, disappearing below the surface.

Yahlumlo’s longsword glows pale blue, and Ethir notices engravings honed into the side of the blade by the hilt, and realizes the writing is infernal. As he keeps her suspended, Buck plunges his short sword into her side, and Ethir once more uses magic to resonate in her mind. Madeleine, confused and afraid, approaches with a torch from the ground and extends it towards her, dropping it into the pool. The flames spread along the surface.

She shakes violently on Yahlumlo’s blade, and they watch in horror as her body is severed from the wounds, dispatching her entrails into the pool, and she her shoulders become limp and her eyes close. As the begins to topple sideways, Yahlumlo reaches out to catch her body, pulling the eviscerated torso onto the ground at their feet.

Madeleine kneels at her side, clutching her face in her eyes, staining her fingers with blood. She weeps despondently over her, confused at the fate that befell her friend, Amber, and wondering what could have led her to this when she was chosen to follow Sabrina.

Behind the cistern, the statue of Sabrina begins to quake and rumble, as rock particles and dust plummet to the floor.