Castle Xyntillan Session 30: In The Beast's Court

In the last session, the party exited the court of Judge Roberto Malevol victorious, negotiated with the succubus Serpentina Malevol in her very chambers, and began their journey to the Maze of the Occult, where they sought the Beast. Also, Longo got lycanthropy and Corby picked up a not-at-all-suspicious helmet. Will they continue to seek the Beast? Will they be able to take on the vampiress Maltricia Malevol? And what the hell was that helmet?  All this and more in this week's session of Castle Xyntillan!

The Party

Longo Lightfoot, Halfling Thief, wears a sky-blue headscarf. Played by CaptainSabatini.

Corby the Joyful, Human Cleric of Sucellus, wears a magical horned helm. Played by diregrizzlybear.
Idred the Most Omniscient, Human MU, wears a full-visored greathelm. Played by David Perry.
Boroth Swinney the Joyous, Human Fighter, wears a masked helm depicting a happy human face. Played by Justin Hamilton.
Francois, Light Footman, noticeably dogless. 

Clovis, Heavy Footman.

Jorg, Lightbearer

Yessica, Arbalist

Kaleb, Arbalist with a nose for booze and a magic pipe

Eric, Light Footman and cart driver.

Oscar, Arbalist of unusual strength

LaBeouf, Camp Cook.
Raymond, Mule.

Casualties

Clovis, pecked to death by a giant stuffed owl

Loot

Emerald ring, 700gp

Institutional support

The Game

• The session began where the last left off. The party had just slain the gelatinous cube, Corby had placed the horned helm on his head... and nothing much happened.
• After verifying that at least their cleric hadn't gone stark raving mad, they continued their exploration of the northwest quarter. They poked through the corridors and empty rooms until they found a storage closet filled with dirty, moldy clothes, with a sword sticking out of a particularly large pile.
• Longo was convinced that whoever pulled the sword out would become king of England, but found that the sword was just stuck in the body of a dandy underneath all those clothes.
• After some more poking around, they found their original goal: a staircase leading up to the second floor of the castle. Unfortunately, the staircase was located in a taxidermist's nightmare: a room filled with stuffed animals, many of them destroyed, but some still intact. They stepped in, and the animals came to life, shambling forward.
• Longo took the initiative and turned the animated taxidermies away with the hammer and sickle. A boar and a few vicious baby deer fled the room, but the party still had to contend with a lion, giant owl and a centaur.
• The party took down the centaur swiftly, and Boroth and Corby took on the lion in close quarters while the hirelings focused on the owl. It was the real threat, and in the first turn it pecked Clovis the Heavy Footman to death, and used its hypnotic gaze to immobilize Hilda. 
• Still, the party defeated the wicked taxidermies without further casualties. Francois and Caleb both insisted that the party turn back now, but they were not heeded. With the boar and deer soon returning, they made the decision to leave Clovis' body with hasty last rites and ascend the stairs.
• They found themselves in a trophy room, staring down the statue of a cyclops. Which stepped off the pedestal and demanded bones in rhyme. The party was unwilling to fight such a large creature outright, and promised to find some bones for it to chew on.
• Then they heard footsteps coming up from behind. Slow, shambling, tentative footsteps. The animated corpse of Clovis the Heavy Footman crested the stairs. 

Idred: Corby, how did you mess up his last rites this badly?

•  Clovis' remains still obeyed the party, and after some discussion, they decided to feed him to the cyclops. The party turned away as the corpse walked over to the giant, and they heard a long series of crunching, snapping and slurping noises. 
• When they turned back, nothing remained, and the cyclops allowed them passage. Remembering Claude's words about the secret passages on this level, they asked the cyclops, which pointed them to the fireplace.
• They passed into a great, dark library, and swapped their torch for a sunstone. They found some interesting titles on the shelves, such as 'Leget Manor' and 'Against the Nasty Evils', but they constantly heard wheezing and shuffling from behind them. Longo spied blood-covered phantoms in a mirror, but they were invisible to his sight. 
• Corby went for his standard fare and turned them. To his surprise, the turning did not banish, but materialized the specters, which knelt before him and announced their loyalty. They were the cursed dead who built the castle, massacred to keep secret its construction.
• Corby kept three of the phantoms with him, while several more stayed behind. Corby also promised to exorcise them, and so end their suffering.
• They exited the library and passed into a room covered in half-painted pictures, nesting materials and bird guano. They found an emerald ring in a dismembered armored gauntlet. In an adjacent room, they saw Bartholomew Malevol, the family artist, engrossed in his latest, bawdy work. They left him well alone.
• A noise, an entrancing song, sounded from outside, and the party put on their wax ear blockers. They hurried out of the room at the same time that a clutch of harpies came in, barely missing them. 
• Further on, the phantoms pointed out a door which they knew led to the Beast's throne room. However, they also knew some trap was in the way, though they knew not what.
• While Longo opened their way, Corby heard the footsteps to the west, which one phantom reported as the approach of undead ladies. Corby walked over alone and headed them off. The undead harridans recognized Corby and insulted him relentlessly, commanding him to leave the castle and return to his hovel, or else. Corby turned them, and they fell to their knees, apologizing to 'Lord Corby' and returning from whence they came.

I was born in the cemetery
Under the sign of the moon
Raised from my grave by the dead
I was made a mercenary
In the legions of Hell
Now I'm king of pain, I'm insane

• Within was a room of mirrors, large and small, covering everything but the floor and ceiling. the party all did their best to avoid looking at anything, and they observed the revolving door that led beyond. Some poking with a pole informed them that it was not obviously trapped, but as it turned they heard a posh voice from within ask for their help.
• The party all put on blindfolds and moved through the door, two by two. The last pair heard the voice again, begging them to shatter the mirror and set him free, and they promised to do so on their way back.
• The party had finally reached the Beast's hall. Plush red carpeting led to a golden door, which bore a golden lock which would be opened by a golden key. The party did not have a golden key, and so resorted to knocking.
• They announced themselves, and the golden doors opened. A pair of animated armors stood beyond with crossed polearms, and at the end of a long, royal carpet, the Beast sat on his throne. backlit by a halo of hellfire.
• Idred bowed, and the party with him. They presented their plea, along with the letters from the Judge and from Claude Malevol. The Beast was made aware of Maltricia's scheming and the distorted Will of Aristide.
• The Beast roared in anger, shaking the very stones of the castle, and his infernal halo expanded, searing the party. When he regained control, he curtly thanked the party, and dismissed them. Their help was appreciated, but this was a family matter, and from here would be attended to by the family.
• Idred, who was under a suggestion to kill Maltricia, had the sinking feeling that the Beast might not go for the death penalty.
• The Beast began to pen a letter, the party left before they were tossed out, and the session ended there, having just gotten their dearest wish, legitimating Claude's rule and turning the second most powerful creature in the Castle against Maltricia… but it wasn't enough. The party resolved to exit the castle, rest and recuperate, then return to finish the job.
• How will the Beast punish Maltricia? Will the party interfere? Whence comes Corby's sudden and convenient power-up? All this and more in the next session of Castle Xyntillan!

Takeaways

The big three-oh! Thirty sessions and the better part of a year have passed since the campaign began, and not only does it seem fit to continue for some months more, the dice have deigned to shake up the campaign's status quo a bit. It's always nice when things come together.

The party, and especially their hireling, have been very survivable in the past, largely due to luck and refusing a fair fight. Clovis' sudden and unexpected death is very useful for keeping the party on their toes. It's a good thing, they haven't told their hirelings about the resurrection potions they're carrying about, or they'd never hear the end of it.

Absolutely nothing suspicious is happening with Corby.

Next Chapter: The Countess' End