The Characters
Raoul Carathis, occultist and necromancer
Countess Catarina Redmoore, prioress of an unsettlingly convent
Doctor Pendleton Torst, rogue anatomist
Events
When we last left our "heroes," they had just maneuvered a statue of the templar Petra Ivanova to open the tomb of Wolfblood Nenika. Nenika's tomb was decorated with animal pelts hung upon the walls, a bronze statue of the huntress from the Silent Forest, baskets of animal horns and antlers, and an ornate wooden chair. When the chair was examined, it was determined that the small pile of dust in its seat was consistent with the dust of a mummified body left to slowly decay.
The adventurers conjectured that this confirmed their suspicion that Nenika's dead body had been left in the chair as part of her native burial rites, but had been reanimated as the wolf-like monster they had encountered above in the hallway. There was also a glaive leaning against the wooden chair. It proved too heavy for Raoul, Pendleton, or Catarina to wield, so it was given to the Widow.
The group repositioned the statue of Petra Ivanova and opened a third crypt--this one belonging to the heroic bandit Svetlana Silbervaas. Her tomb appeared to be undisturbed; it appeared that she still rested beneath the marble slab laid here as there were no signs that her body had fought its way out of the grave or otherwise risen. There was a wooden chest atop the marble slab. Pendleton picked the lock and found a coil of rope, a grappling hook, and some particularly well-crafted lockpicks. They also found Silbervaas's journal, but it appeared to be written in some sort of code or cipher.
(They also found a brick that functioned as a hidden switch of some kind, but after pressing it they weren't sure what they had activated.)
They then turned the statue of Petra Ivanova to the last position, which opened the final metal door. Instead of opening the entryway to a crypt, this brought them through a curved corridor that ended in a hidden door in the sinkhole chamber. They examined the wolf-creature's body and confirmed both that its face resembled that of the Bloodwolf Nenika statue and that she had been raised as an undead creature. As they contemplated their next move, they noticed a strange phenomena: small motes of flame were falling down from the top of the shaft. They could also see flickering light at the top of the shaft.
More fire began to spill down the shaft, so the group decided it was time to address the black volcanic boulder. Raoul put his hand on the boulder and it shattered, revealing a passageway with rough-hewn stairs leading down further into the depths. The group fled down the stairs, not wanting to find out what the source of the flames was. Catarina snuck ahead into the chamber ahead and discovered a woman dressed in a white nun's habit, on her knees with her hands clasped. The nun was reciting a prayer to Saint Choreana, beseeching her to keep something evil at bay. When she raised her head, they saw that rivulets of blood ran from her eyes and down her cheeks.
The group attempted to communicate with the nun, which only caused her to pray louder and more fervently. Trying to interact with her only made the nun more agitated; she clawed at her skin, then smeared the blood on Catarina's face as her prayers reached a screaming pitch.
(Catarina was also had the voice of a woman again in her head, urging to her to kill Raoul and Pendleton. She had the Widow position herself between her and her companions in case she suddenly lost control of herself and gave in to the urge to attack them.)
The source of the flames now made itself known: an undead Jiriel sauntered into the chamber, wreathed in fire, and began sauntering toward the group. They could see that her veins were lit up from within, as if magma was flowing through her body instead of blood. Jiriel taunted them, which at least confirmed that the voice in Catarina's head did not belong to Jiriel. Jiriel's approach was clearly menacing. Catarina took aim and wounded Jiriel in the stomach with a shot from her pistol; instead of blood, fire poured out.
What happened next was horrible. Jiriel cast a pyromancy spell that filled the chamber with fire. Both Catarina and Raoul were gravely injured by the blast. The praying nun was instantly incinerated. And the Widow crumpled to the floor, wheezing and on the verge of shutting down. Catarina and Raoul ran for it, pushing past Pendleton to whatever lay beyond the chamber.
Undaunted, and more importantly unharmed by the fire because he was wearing Jiriel's cloak, Pendleton stood his ground and covered their retreat. Jiriel began to cast another spell, but Pendleton lunged forward with his rapier, pierced Jiriel's throat, and pushed his blade upward into her brain--killing her again.
As they ran into the darkness, Raoul and Catarina found a stone bridge spanning a yawning chasm. On the other side of the bridge was a stone door set into a wall; eerie green light poured from the keyhole. Pendleton told them that the coast was now clear, so rather than press forward they returned to tend to the Widow.
Unfortunately, Pendleton could not heal her. Her last action was to present one of Doctor Frankenstein's communication devices to Catarina and tell her that she "needed to see the doctor." The light then left the Widow's eyes and her head slumped forward. She now showed no signs of life. Catarina was extremely upset about the Widow's state. She used to the device and eventually got ahold of Viktoria Frankenstein. Frankenstein was slightly annoyed, but her confidence in her abilities was absolute: she told them that if they brought the Widow's inert form back to her laboratory, she was sure she could "fix" the Widow.
Getting the Widow out of the convent was now the group's priority. Raoul summoned a giant skeleton that was able to cradle the Widow and carry her, while the rest of the group clung to its ribs as it climbed up through the convent's ruins. Their attempt to find the mountain specified on their cosmic charts was aborted; they returned to Creedhall and took a boat to the isle in the middle of Loch Riven.
Viktoria Frankenstein left them in the dining room as she went to work on the Widow in her laboratory. As the hours passed, their anxiety over the Widow's fate increased. Viktoria returned, stripped her bloody leather gloves off, and announced that the Widow was once again among the living--though she was currently sedated and needed weeks of rest before she would be up and about.
The group resolved to leave the Widow in the care of Viktoria Frankenstein while they returned to complete their trip to Sibersk. They used their time in Creedhall to put their ears to the ground and find the answers to some nagging questions. For one, Pendleton confirmed his fear that Serafina had been abducted by the Black Rats.
Raoul figured out that Jiriel's goal was to kill the praying nun who was keeping the vampire Countess Vlodeska trapped beneath the convent. Vlodeska was now free, and judging by the reports they were hearing of a "strange plague" of exsanguinated victims she was heading south from Sibersk.
Catarina had an idea: on the way to the Karthax Mountains, they would attempt to find Kairn Volkov--the stronghold of the Sisters Carnifexa, an order of warrior nuns they might be able to recruit to help them deal with Vlodeska.
