Characters
Catarina, unconventional prioress
Pendleton, rogue anatomist
Raoul, necromancer
Geradd, swashbuckling nobleman
Daytona, dhampir gunslinger
Panthalassa, feral child
Events
As they waited on the dock for the Gorgon's Kiss to be ready to receive them, the party had several emotional reunions, particularly where Catarina was concerned. Panthalassa gave presents to her companions, Daytona wanted to make sure that Catarina was doing well enough after the change, and Serafina had an encounter with an admirer. Soon enough, however, they were off to Omera.
When they disembarked, they saw that Omera bore the signs of recent fighting: several buildings had been burned down, corpses hung in gibbets on streetcorners, and patrols of Dorian's soldiers were conspicuous. After arriving at the governor's residence, which Dorian had taken as the seat of his rule of the island, they were met by Rosaria--who had been instructed to give them a tour of the manor. Rosaria informed them that they would be guests of honor for Dorian's coronation the following day. (Pendleton noticed that Rosaria was nervous about something.) Later that night, the group attempted to address some security concerns with Laorishe, but she waved them off.
When the time for the coronation came around, they found that the ceremony and crowning was handled by Raymond, Raoul's cousin and the former governor of the isle. Since Raymond was led out on a leash and chain, it appeared that his participation was not entirely voluntary. The ceremony completed, and a crown now atop Dorian's draconic brow, the group was invited to feast with Dorian and his wives. Once everyone was seated at the long dining table, Rosaria poured everyone a goblet of wine so Dorian could offer a toast to his guests: "To conquest and the many subjugations to come!"
After tipping back his wine, Dorian collapsed to the flagstones, his body now wracked with convulsions. Catarina's dainty sip was rewarded with a sudden spike of pain and then a feeling of exhaustion. Daytona was seized by a return of his visions of angels, crucifixions, and the End of Days. Laorishe was on her feet instantly and at Dorian's side. Pendleton examined Dorian, with Viktoria hovering over his shoulder to critique his work. Pendleton was able to determine that Dorian had not been poisoned in the traditional sense. Beyond that, he was in the dark, but Viktoria offered a theory: someone had added something holy to the wine, which is why it only had a deleterious effect on Dorian (a drakoi), Catarina (a vampire), and Daytona (a dhampir).
Rosaria pulled Catarina aside and said, "We need to secure the swords," referring to the three powerful artifacts that Dorian had in his possession, besides the one he was currently armed with. Catarina and company went with her to gather them. On the way, Rosaria broke down, saying, "I have something to confess,” she says. “It was me. I poisoned my husband. I thought you would understand. After you freed us from the Necropolis, I just couldn’t go on tethered to a man I do not love. This is my last chance at liberty." However, when they reached Dorian's personal armory, they found the door already ajar and the swords missing. When questioned about who she had conspired with, Rosaria denied that anyone else was involved and appeared to be sincere.
The moment was broken by the sound of raised voices and the clash of steel on steel. Looking out a window, Catarina spied soldiers wearing the Carathis family livery entering the governor's manor. Rushing back to the dining room, the group found Carathis agents spilling in from multiple doors. Geradd ran to cut them off from the door, but he became locked in combat with four soldiers. Viktoria Frankenstein activated one of her many arcane devices--this one surrounded her with a field of arcing electricity that roasted four of the warriors alive. She also called out in a loud, clear voice, "Father Prim, I require your assistance." The shadows in one of the room's corners began to boil.
Daytona cast an infernal spell that sent a wave of concussive force at the soldiers, dazing three of them. Catarina picked one of them off with her pistol. Raoul felled another with a necrotic bolt. Laorishe stood guard over her fallen husband and slew one of the soldiers who advanced toward them. However, the overwhelming number of Carathis agents began to take its toll. Geradd, Catarina, Raoul, Laorishe, and Viktoria all took wounds--ranging from minor to life-threatening. Father Prim strode forth from the shadows, removed his customary wicker mask, distended his jaws to an uncanny degree, and promptly ate four of the assailants.
Things then went from bad to worse. Valancourt and Tanith, Raoul's hated siblings, now entered the room and began firing crossbows at Panthalassa and Raoul. Serafina was stabbed by three soldiers and fell to the floor in a bleeding heap; Daytona rushed to her side and threw her over his shoulder, but before he could get her out of the melee he heard her death rattle. Enraged at the death of her favorite graverobber, Viktoria grabbed one of the soldiers who had slain Serafina and pulled him into her electricity field until he had been roasted alive.
Panthalassa and Pendleton dealt with the Carathis siblings. Earlier, Pendleton had given Panthalassa an alchemical grenade. She ran forward with it, confronting Tanith and Valancourt while tossing the grenade behind them. They were heavily injured by the blast, but were still standing. Pendleton picked up the spare by lobbing another grenade; this one took out the siblings and a number of their soldiers. Help arrived as a woman dressed in the hat and coat of a pirate captain strode through the smoke. "Grant them no fucking quarter," Captain Laurant commanded the zubembies who followed in her wake. It was initially unclear whether she meant to fight the party or their foes, but that concern was dispelled as she plunged the Brineblade into a soldier, disemboweling him. The cavalry had arrived.
Their numbers now bolstered and the worst of their foes slain, the party rallied and turn the tables on the remaining Carathis agents--the last of whom were gunned down by a flurry of shots from Daytona. Unfortunately, that was not to be the end of the tragedy and bloodshed.
Viktoria gathered the dead Serafina in her arms and asked Father Prim to take them home. Viktoria walked into the rippling shadows with Prim and Serafina, presumably leaving Omera for the safety of Chateau Frankenstein.
Laorishe now realized that Rosaria was the one who had betrayed Dorian, drew her sword, and stalked toward her. Catarina interposed herself between Laorishe and Rosaria, but Laorishe commanded Thomasina to attack her sister-wife. Thomasina went ferally insane and launched herself at Rosaria, her hand axes biting into the other woman's neck. Laorishe then commanded Thomasina to "feast," which caused the girl to begin eating Rosaria. Laorishe was slain in disgust, and Panthalassa used her shocking hammer to knock Thomasina unconscious so she could be restrained.
Dorian, still wracked with pain, beckoned to Geradd. His final action was to unbuckle his remaining sword, the Fang of the Worm, and gift it and his crown to Geradd--apparently with the intention for Geradd to take his place as the lord of Omera. Daytona then put Dorian out of his misery with his flaming sword.
Captain Laurant was emphatic that they needed to leave Omera. She explained to them that the island was under attack by the Church: the Church had raised the long-missing Executioner's Psalm, a cathedral barge, and it was now projecting a massive beam of holy light that was devouring the island inch by inch. Vanessa stressed that they still had time to escape the island on her ship, the Dawnrazor. However, when Raoul checked the dungeon chamber that was being used to store Emily's remains and found nothing but the slain bodies of the soldiers he had trusted to protect her, there was no chance that they would leave without recovering Emily's body.
A plan was hatched: the group would gather what forces of Dorian's forces that they could to fight off the Carathis and Church soldiers while Vanessa Laurant bombarded the Church's barracks with the Dawnrazor's cannons. Meanwhile, the group would storm the Executioner's Psalm and recover Emily's body, lay their hands on the three missing magical swords, and attempt to stop whatever miracle was being used to destroy Omera.
