The Exiled

Tales of a Gloomhaven Party

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Gloomhaven Battlements (#36)

We delayed, we ventured out, we tried to learn more, we tried to understand the awesome power we discovered.  Alas, time and space were not ours to command infinitely.

Summoned before the Prime Demon at his Infernal Throne, he demanded of us that which he had tasked us to find: the artifact, the Vessel of the Elements. Finding ourselves again before him, we recalled our previous encounter where the choice was the same: comply or perish.  Rather than do battle with the demon in his domain, on his terms, we again chose the only real choice: survival.

Handing the artifact over was actually not as difficult as we feared.  It was remarkably easy to first throw the artifact and then throw the makeshift explosive.  The challenging part was running as fast as we could, back through the portal, and to Gloomhaven with all haste.

At our heels, the Prime Demon gave chase with an army of elementals at his command.  We entreated the Captain of the Guard once we reached the city and he sounded the alarm.  Gloomhaven's guards rose to it's defense, launching a ballista arrow larger than a man directly at the Prime Demon's chest.

Wounded, he let his subjects assault the gates of Gloomhaven but the city's protectorate held firm, with us at the vanguard.  Eventually, their numbers thinned to the point that the Prime Demon took the field himself.  It was a mighty battle but in the end, the Prime Demon was brought low from the constant barrage of the city guard's finest marksmen, and the scrappy Exiled Ones who recovered the artifact from the demon’s corpse for safe keeping.

Our scrappy adventuring party gained a bit of fame and the city thanked us with coin.  The threat of demonic invasion abated... for now.

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Nikodemis Departs

"Don't!  Don't touch it Nikki!  I'm telling the Queen!"  Tenalom scurried off, the echoes of her clawsteps fading down the dark palace tunnel.  The dream faded fast afterwards, which was always good.  He didn't have to watch Tenni die again this night at least.

Nikodemis stretched his body, working the knots from his legs that were earned from the night's long travel.  The Exiled often traveled by moonlight along the road.  It was always best to be awake when the others with ill-intent went about their deeds.  

As the afternoon sun began it's slow descent he stretched his mind, reflexively reaching out to the thoughts of his companions before stopping himself.  It would do him no good to probe the one reborn.  Best to leave that writhing swarm to its own business.  As for Carceret, he knew her thoughts well which, like his own, often dwelled on the fate of Korg who was torn asunder.  A fate reached willingly perhaps, given his pursuit of the one now reborn.  It was no less disturbing though for Nikodemis, who had come to enjoy the company of the Cragheart. This day would be another often remembered, for his long surface journey was finally coming to an end.  The sulfur mine would contain the last of the samples Nikodemis required, he was certain.  Then he could save them.  No, that was foolish.  Perhaps he could... begin to understand.  Yes, understand.

Of course it was Vermlings living in the mine, fate would never make it easy for Nikodemis.  They all needed to be destroyed, of that there was no doubt.  Once the bloody business was finished, Nikodemis set about his work.  It took an incredible mental effort but the resonance was there, like an undercurrent, a subtle wave just below perception.  The distillation had become routine by now.

He heaved a sigh.

Back in Gloomhaven, Nikodemis parted ways with his fellow Exiled.  They could not follow him where he was going, to do so would be their certain death and he had grown rather fond of them.  He reached out and possessed the mind of a nearby city guard who willingly obliged to lift the sewer cover in a back alley. 

Slipping below, Nikodemis spared one last glance to the surface, his clawsteps echoing around him as he marched toward the palace. Towards his cruel destiny.

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Sulfur Mine (#65)

Often, the best way to decompress after one of your loyal and trusted mercenary friends is instantly dissolved into a pile of insects which take on collective conscious in the form of a (quite evil) persona of a deceased demi-god - is to just go visit an abandoned Sulfur Mine.  Just to... unwind a bit.

So that's what we did.  The mine was long abandoned and now inhabited by a net of vile vermlings, but we were able to collect enough bits and scraps of paper to re-create a design of ancient technology.  

Everyone needs a hobby project.

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Palace of Ice (#54)

[Xorn Personal Quest Placeholder]

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Crypt Basement (#53)

[Xorn Personal Quest Placeholder]

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Noxious Cellar (#52)

[Xorn Personal Quest Placeholder]

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Forgotten Crypt (#19)

Amongst all the back and forth and general poncing about with this artifact we realized we had a bit of unfinished business with those elemental cultists.  Prior to meeting Mr. Prime Demon (if-you-please) we did discover another hideout of theirs with a planar tear.  Seems only right that we take this new artifact for a spin and see just what it can do.  Hail says she can help us manage to close it, but to help matters we'll need a censer from an old elementalist friend of hers who died in a tragic rock crushing accident.  Don't drink and bend elements to your will, friends!

Since Hail was the only one qualified to handle this thing, we escorted her through the crypt of her dead boyfriend (she says they were just friends, but we suspect a bit more wump-wump.)  It was tricky busines since the cultists were super keen to summon an army of skeletons and bloated monsters to keep us from the prize.

Luckily old Korg came along and helped plug the doors behind us as swarms of undead tried to reach Hail and the fleshier members of our party.  He did the job admirably and we cut our way through to the censer which blasted away the remaining undead like autumn leaves.

It's a good thing Korg did come, since he had a bit of a revelation down in that crypt, something that he had been seeking.

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The Plane of Night (#31)

"The Vessel of the Elements” Hail calls it. Looks like a cheap clay pot to us, but hey, when choosing where to store vast and unbridled elemental power that can turn the tide of war for or against the armies of darkness... you can't really be particular about the aesthetics.

Hail says there is but one way to remove the curse placed upon the artifact.  A quick jont over to the Plane of Night which can be found right here in Gloomhaven!  Talk about convienent, though we have been looking for a place to spend our Bonus Miles, perhaps a swamp or a Plane of Elemental Fire, you know, someplace warm.

We've been instructed to penetrate this darkness, slay the evil denizens of pure night within, and topple a pillar of evil elemental force tendrils that literally anchors the ground to the sky.

It was an absolute shit show.

There were imps and demons and terrors from hell to breakfast.  They swarmed us, they poisoned us, they called us bad names.  We barely murdered, dodged, and ran our way to the pillar in time - destroying it just as the minions of evil surrounded us on all sides.  Hail pulled the invisible tether and yanked us back to the Plane of No-Crazy-Bullshit we like to call home with a fully armed and operational Vessel of Elements now ours to command.

Hail informs us that at the moment we struck down the pillar of dark tendrils, the artifact was tugged from three different locations.  She pinpointed them for us on the map.  Probably worth knowing at some point who it was that was using the vessel as a power source.

Achievement Unlocked: Artifact Cleansed

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Frozen Hollow (#14)

The worst part about retrieving an ancient (and cursed?) artifact for a Prime Demon is not knowing whether or not it’s power, once unleashed, will liquefy your very essence.  So we set about finding someone who knew a thing or two about magical doo-dads.

We met the Aesther woman at the Crooked Bone, an abandoned tavern littered with spiderwebs, splintered stools, and dusty, broken glass.  After dispensing pleasantries, or rather being chastised as worthless and intrusive mercenaries, the woman identifies herself as Hail and offers to help us divine the purpose of our newly found artifact if we do her a solid.  We’re beginning to detect a trend.

Off in the distant cold of the Copperneck Mountains we find the frozen hollow she directed us too.  Full of wolves and ice demons.  Well, it was anyway.  We retrieved a shiny ball from the cave for Hail who determines it to be a rift in our plane, contained within a spherical barrier.

“Good thing you didn’t break this on your way back. You easily could have been sucked into a realm of pure frost and been frozen solid before you had time to breathe.“

Hail explains that she will attempt to bring forth raw power from the plane and use it to enhance our own abilities.  Not too shabby.

She also offers to give our artifact a good look over.

Achievement Unlocked: The Power of Enhancement

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Temple of the Elements (#22)

We came here on a Wednesday on the recommendation of a Prime Demon friend.  While the Temple itself was well appointed and we were able to go to work against differently themed elementals, the cultists that served us were super rude: 

“The artifact is ours, and it has made our minions more powerful than ever. You cannot hope to stop what is coming. Even if you strike us down, the Gloom will bring forth your end.”

It’s like... we don’t need to hear that guys.  After smashing up their four altars we were able to claim the artifact but in the end it turned out to be cursed.

Ambiance: ■■■■□□ Hospitality: ■■□□□ 

1 check-in (2/14/18)

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Plane of Elemental Power (#10)

This frigging place was lousy with elemental demons.  Sun Demons, Fire Demons, Earth Demons, Deluxe Demons, Smoky Bacon Demons.

All fell before our might, of course.  We must have impressed the management since a rift in the floor swallowed us up and a great voice entreated us to serve him.  We’re always open to new avenues of employment and if you can’t beat them then maybe it’s worth joining them.

The Prime Demon reveals the location of a powerful artifact he desires.  Hmmm, what harm could come from just having a look at it?  

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Ruinous Crypt (#05)

The bandits who moonlight as Elemental Cultists identified this crypt as their base of primary operations.  We decided to have a look-see.

And were greeted with quite a sight.  Inside, this sepulcher was teeming with demons and a great black portal of inky darkness.  Dark claws and teeth coalesced into nightmarish forms all around it.  A lovely place for a holiday, we decide.  

Once the immediate threat is handled, we pressed on, through the portal into the elemental plane itself!

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Warehouse (#08)

At the behest of our mysterious city guard contact Argeise, we made for the Gloomhaven warehouse to determine just what this Jekserah was up to.

Inside we discovered she was using the scroll we recovered to summon undead minions.  We dispatched them with ease and found Jekserah herself to be in the back room.  Before fleeing, she swore an oath of enmity against us and vowed to return to Gloomhaven with an army of the undead at her back.

The quatryl shrugged when we shared the news, saying the Valrath was now beyond her network.  She suggested we visit Aesther, an enchanter who may help us divine the coward’s location.

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The Chained Isle (#70)

Help the merchant, or expose her plot?  Disrupt the bandits who are trifling with untold power, or get in their good graces?

Hmmm... sojourn to the curses island of lost spirits and demons sounds like a good place to consider our options.

While exploring the Barrow Lair we came across a journal that detailed the fall of a civilization that became overrun by demons and the survivors fled to this isle only to be pursued by their attackers and slaughtered, cursed to inhabit the island as lost spirits.  The journal author managed to escape and through his account we believe we can battle these demons and lay the spirits to rest.  This would have a marked improvement on trade and commerce through the Misty Sea as boats are often drawn to the island and destroyed.

And vanquish them we did, hopefully our deeds will improve trade before long.

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Crypt of the Damned (#04)

While considering our options regarding Jekserah we decided to follow up on the lead from the Barrow Lair and visit the Crypt of the Damned from the bandit commander’s map.

Within, we discovered it to be teaming with more bandits, their undead servants, as well as powerful elemental foes.

“You’ve made a mistake coming here,” one of the bandits hisses. We disagree. We are right where we want to be.

Once dispatched, we discover that this was a place of power built by an ancient civilization whose fate is beyond our knowledge.  We also learn of two other places of power.  Once that is overrun by the undead and the other in heavy use by the cult.  We can either disrupt their work at the Ruinous Crypt (05) or get in their good graces by clearing out the undead at the Decaying Crypt (06).

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Inox Encampment (#03)

Tracked down the Inox encampment and set about making “an example” of them.  In one of the cabins we found a group of crying and screaming Inox children.  What is going on here?  We fled back into the wilderness once we had bloodied enough of the Inox but it left a bad taste in our mouths.

Jekserah frowns at our visible discomforture, saying the Inox were murderers and thieves and got what they deserved.  She then asks us to retrieve a diamond of considerable size from a long lost diamond mind that she has located.

As we leave her manse, Argeise a Quartrl city guard warns us that Jekserah has been plotting to overthrow the Gloomhaven military.  She says that if we want to help keep the peace we can head to a town Warehouse and expose the Valrath merchant for who she really is.

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Barrow Lair (#02)

Deeper into the crypt we found the bandit leader who unlocked rooms full of animated corpses to do his bidding.

“Who are you to think you can interrupt the work of the Gloom?”

We discovered a map of the northern countryside with a mark at the riverbend.  Perhaps we can learn more about this Gloom there.

Back in town we are paid by Jekserah for our efforts and she hires us once more, this time to make an example of an Inox tribe that has been raiding her caravans.