Attack on Blackstaff Tower

The monstrosity that rounded the corner as The Hand of Destiny arrived at Blackstaff Tower was a flesh golem. It was unlike any flesh golem they had seen prior and at least a few of the members of The Hand of Destiny recognized the symbol of Helm that covered a part of the sewed together flesh. It was a god-flesh golem and it was intent on reaching them. The party ran across the vibrant green lawn. 

It walked towards them, rumbling at a slow pace but ever advancing towards the party. They could see nothing but the beautiful grounds that surrounded an intact tower. The rest of the party thought Milo might have been mistaken or exaggerated the details of his incursion a bit. Milo himself was confused as he had seen what the beginning of the devastation looked like and how it should have consumed the tower by now. A heavy rain was concentrated around the grounds of the tower. It had not been raining in the area around the tower, just its grounds. 

Just as the god-flesh golem was about to reach them, the party arrived at the center of the courtyard leading to the tower. There were mirrors waiting for them. This was the final piece of evidence that Vajra was not herself and that the Queen of Mirrors had taken over the place. They were transported against their will to various parts of the courtyard. Milo took the initiative and ran straight for the tower, knowing that whatever had been set in motion would be at the top of that tower. 

He avoided the mirrors and began sneaking towards the wall that would take him to the tower. Along the way he found various instruments on a roof with a high vantage point and a mirror. There was a small bundle of rags set up to look as if a small person had been perched there. His brother had been here and was now gone. The rest of the group was scattered by the mirrors as they arrived. They teleported them to various parts of the lawn. This separated them and made them more vulnerable to attack. They spent a long time fighting the golem and trying to kill it. The god-flesh was hard to cut into as it was the flesh of various gods. The group recognized a few of the sigils on the skin sewed together in patches. When they finally got it down, it exploded and Hepolita was hit with the worst of the damage. 

At the top of the wall stood the Queen of Mirrors, flanked by her dark knight. They all rushed to get to her. Despite being exhausted and worn down by the fight between them and the god-flesh golem, they were still willing to fight her off. Despite their need to regroup, Kariss cast her Scatter spell and they were once again placed at different locations on the lawn. There were a few buildings and Hepolita was deposited in one, Gralmor and Kariss ended up facing the queen directly, landing right in front of her. Her Knight had been scattered as well, ending up outside the home Hepolita had been dropped into. 

The fight was long and difficult. Hepolita died at the hands of the Knight. There was no one around her so she was all alone when he ended up there with her. She fought as best she could but was worn down from the earlier battle and still in rough shape. While she was dying Kariss and Gralmor were fighting the Queen. Gralmor almost lost his life as he took the brunt of her attacks while Kariss summoned her silver dragon and tried to take her down. They finally managed to beat her and destroy her hold on the city. Aleera and Kaladrax helped and afterwards, Aleera used her sprite to search for Hepolita and Milo. They found Hepolita’s body first and it hadn’t been too long since she had died so Aleera was able to use Revivify to bring her back. Once she was back on her feet, the party went in search of Milo. 

He had managed to gain access to the tower and climbed along the outer walls to reach the top. Once there he found a mirror. What looked like the main mirror that controlled the other. He had no back up and no one to help him but he stepped through the mirror hoping to be able to save his brother and bring him back. He also suspected that the children were being held in the mirrors somehow and vowed to bring them back. 

When the party reached the tower and saw the true devastation, they knew it had all been an elaborate illusion to keep the city unaware of the damage that had been wrought on the tower. The tower itself was melted almost to oblivion with only a part of the wall standing and holding the entire structure together. Of Milo, there was no sign. There was just a shattered mirror at the top and no one to be seen. With no answers or clues, they all wondered what would happen next.