They headed east towards the purported location of Nokthanim, not at all sure what to expect. While exploring they came upon another of Marcus’ ritual shrines, and this time were given a vision of a cave with bones and skulls containing a powerful sword. Marcus didn’t want to divert and investigate at this time, but they would be sure to remember it in case the opportunity arose.
Exploring further they were ambushed by large ghostly Apes. These seemed an odd form of defense, but with some link to spirits and undead. Perhaps related to the hidden city?
Before long they came to a cave leading down to an odd-looking passage. Marcus wasn’t sure, but after flipping his coin a few times the results were inarguable. No matter how he asked the question the coin insistently indicated that the cave was the proper path.
Inside the cave was lit by odd crystalline ice structures.
Before long they came upon an ornate door, guarded by a huge golem. The golem demanded a name, and so Marcus attempted to bluff his way past by giving the name “Balzaghar”. The golem accepted this, but then asked for its *own* name as a password. Marcus was not quite so lucky on the second try…
This led to the golem summoning water, fire, and air elementals to its aid and attacking them as “unauthorized intruders”. Oops….
Past the door they found a tunnel opening out into a dark city. They explored a bit, and when asking about Balzaghar were directed to a large building in the center of town.
Inside they discovered Balzaghar was the leader of this town, and quite the personable fellow… for a Necromancer Lich of unknown age and allegiance.
Balzaghar told them much. When Marcus told him they were looking for the other half of the key, he chuckled. “I was wondering when the young one would finally seek his revenge”. A little digging determined that the “young one” to which he was referring was Cerulean himself. And he believed Cerulean to be “finally taking his advice” and seeking revenge upon “the woman of the Silent Whisper.” In response to further queries, he related that in the days of the old Manacalon Empire, when he had become a Lich, a fellow mage of his acquaintance – a woman named Maeryn – had founded Nokthanim with him. She had also built a twin city to it above what was now Rimefall Mine. After the Cataclysm she had come to Balzaghar with a plan to restore the Empire – by killing the new human gods and casting out the Soraks. They offered to help the Snow Alliance in turning back an invasion of demons, and with the assistance of a Paladin named Dathus succeeded in sealing away many…. That name rang a bell for Marcus. That was the paladin mentioned by the priestess in the small temple they had found near Cerulean’s estate. Further connections within connections.
But here Balzaghar stopped. And would not tell them more until they completed a task for him. Apparently one of the first demons sealed away was sealed under Nokthanim itself. The Necromancers had been draining power from it, experimenting on it, and learning from it. But every few hundred years it broke free, and had to be slain and re-sealed at great expense. He wished them to travel through the sewers to the Lost District of Nokthanim, and slay the demon once again in the Hall of The Black Arcanum so that he could once more be sealed. The demon was Ghul’izmalis the Possessor – father of the demon Mani’vathas that Cerulean had enlisted them to defeat… Balzaghar told them Ghul’izmalis was formless. In order to defeat him they had to defeat the hosts that he possessed. Repeatedly. Until he had been weakened enough by death and re-possession to be sealed away once again. And as a parting cryptic warning, he told them “Remember. What you see below that Hall… you can do nothing about what you find there.” He would not elaborate further what that meant. Lovely.
He did, however, insist that they take two guides in his employ with them. The Countess Erim and Amon, the Dark One. A Succubus and a lizard demon. Fantastic. Just who they wanted “watching their backs”.
Making their way through the tunnels beneath the city, they fought spiders, cultists, and occasional lesser demons before they finally emerged in the Lost District.
As promised, the Lost District was over-run with demons and hostile undead. But eventually they fought their way to the Hall of the Black Arcanum.
Inside they were confronted with a large force of Cultists, Vampires, and Mages. Led by a Mad Priest proclaiming himself “Octavia, Eye of Ghul’izmalis”. Their demon “guides” fought hard, but were overwhelmed. Marcus and Tiana too were brought low. Just when all seemed lost, as Bjorn desparately tried to hold back the last remnants of the Demon Cultists, Shea pulled an odd shape out of her pack, yelled “DUCK”, and threw it into the approaching host…
When the smoke and debris cleared, all that remained… was pigeons. Bjorn looked at Shea in bewilderment. She shrugged and replied, “My Transmutation professor always said my Senior project was an affront to civilized sorcery. But I always knew I’d find *some* use for the thing”.
After pulling their companions to safety and holing up in an abandoned house to recover, they prepared to make their way down into the lower temple. It seemed mostly abandoned, until they came upon a large room with a cage in the center in which sat an old, old man staring blankly into space.
They just had time to wonder at his dusty armor and blank expression when a loud evil laugh boomed out and the first incarnation of the Possessor attacked… in the form of a large demonic Wolf! And as they turned to battle the wolf other demons gated in and attacked from all sides.
After defeating these foes they attempted to find a way to free the man – or even to simply communicate with him – but nothing worked. The man wordlessly handed them three small animal figurines, but made no other attempt at interaction. They vowed to find some way to help him, and returned to exploring the complex. When they left the room they were immediately attacked by another wave of opposition led by the Possessor’s next host – a young Black Dragon with a coven of Vampires…
They fought their way through, now realizing that the Possessor was trying to prevent them from leaving. They grew more wary, and when approaching a long hallway made preparations. Tiana scouted ahead, reporting demons and undead waiting ahead. She showed herself to draw attention, and then raced back down the hallway as Shea and Amaryllis engulfed the hall in obstacles to prevent them from attacking en-mass. At that point they saw the Possessor’s new form… attacking from behind! Bjorn stood his ground against the demons and undead trickling through the hallway while the others dealt with the Possessor’s latest assault.
Finally there remained one large area between them and escape to the Lost District – the ground floor Sanctum where they had had their initial battle with the large contingent of demon cultists. They knew this would be the final battle, and the Possessor would hold nothing back. They were met with the remaining cultist forces – demons and black sorcerers. With the Possessor himself taking the form of a Vampire Lord.
The battle was brutal, with Marcus and Bjorn both being downed by magic from the sorcerers while fighting the Possessor. In the end it came down to Tiana and Shea forcing their way past the final cultist remnants to eliminate the last Sorceress.
Upon returning to Balghazar, he congratulated them on their accomplishment. Erim and Amon where at his side, completely unfazed by their apparent “deaths” earlier. He confirmed that the man that had seen imprisoned in the Sanctum was the Paladin Dathus. And that the only way to free him would be to kill the Possessor in a True Death – which would deprive Nokthanim of his energy. Marcus was insistent, and showed Balghazar the figurines. Balghazhar stared at them for a long time, and then sighed “I thought I had discarded sentimental nuisances long ago. My heart is still too soft”. He pulled out from his desk the shattered slivers of a fine sword. He said “This was Dathus’ Holy Sword. Take this to Cerulean, and tell him the paladin lies below the Black Arcanum”.
Then he turned to the topic of the Maeryn and Cerulean. Maeryn was the Priestess – the witch who had deceived the Red Crow Cult. Rather than attempting to restore the God Arivad, she was tying their souls to the demon Mani’vathas to make a deal for power and immortality… and her own pocket dimension in hell. She wished to slay Sorr-Tarr himself – the god of the Soraks – and use his power together with that of a greater demon to produce a being of unfathomable power – in her own control. Balghazhar believed she was insane. That her plan would never work, would not restore the Manacalon Empire, and even if enacted would merely destroy the host in which she attempted to imbue powers.
The key would allow them to access Maeryn’s domain, to end her madness. But it would require plunging the ritual dagger that was the key into “the still-beating heart of a powerful being”… Marcus protested that he did not want to make a living sacrifice. Balghazar laughed loudly, smiled, and plunged the dagger into his *own chest*. “Who said anything about living? As I said, my heart is still too soft”. Still laughing at his own jest, he handed them the now-activated dagger and bid them to return to Cerulean and plan their next moves.
Author’s Notes: The Black Arcanum sequence was probably the most difficult set of battles I have encountered in Solasta. From the moment you encounter the Possessor in demon wolf form until his final defeat you have no opportunity to rest and recover, and each battle involves reinforcements trickling in from all sides until you stem the flow. It is very easy to run out of resources, and its the first time in Solasta I found myself dipping into the supply of scrolls, potions, and other consumables that I normally “horde for a rainy day” and never end up using. It never felt “unfair”, and presented a nice mix of powerful individual opponents with strong support. Well designed.
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