The Bane of Vecna: the cultists

The Cults of Vecna and Kas

Read more of their struggles with the cultists here.

Photo courtesy of greyhawkery.blogspot.com

The Drow Priestess

       The Drow Priestess is the first cultist the group met in Blackmoor. She managed to steal the Heart of Vecna and get away from the party unscathed. They next met the priestess a couple days into their journey to Kester. After a nasty battle the priestess escaped again, taking Aerys with her. A few days later she was spotted with the duergar, burning a small farming village down and interrogating vampires from Kas' cult. She escaped the party's grasp again, but this time they did some damage to her first. The last time the party fought her was during the Championship in Kester, and again their adversary escaped.

The Duergar

       The Duergar was first met in Yecha, he was setting fire to the town when the group arrived. The party has met him three other times, and each time he was alongside the Drow. As is the case with the priestess, he always manages to flee before the party can strike a killing blow.

Josiah

       Josiah is Jarrid and Jayce's older brother. Originally he was one of Oryn's agents, but the cult corrupted him with the Book of Vile Darkness. When the party faced him, they barely survived and managed to get the Book away from him- at the cost of Jayce's life. Josiah was tricked into taking the Void card from the Deck of Many Things, trapping his soul in a gem.

        The Cult of Kas rescued Josiah from the soul gem and turned him into a vampire. He led the cult's assault on the Vale of the Mage, intent on genocide. Josiah gave the party a history lesson on the Vale, revealing that it was Vecna who made the Vale what it was; having a huge impact on Aurora. The group was only imprisoned by him briefly before Narg rescued them, and the final battle for the Vale of the Mage began.

       Josiah was last seen during the battle for the Vale, appearing moments before Oryn set off the positive energy explosion that decimated the valley. He was not seen leaving the Vale before the explosion occurred, and is currently presumed dead.

Jarrid

       Jarrid also began as one of Oryn's agents, but was corrupted by the cult after Jayce's death. He was filled with rage at the loss of his brother, and blamed the party for it; he joined the cult to get vengeance for his brother. The party was able to slay him the next time they met, and hopes that he will stay dead.

The Sultan of Kester

       The Sultan of Kester is a powerful wizard, rivaling Pharin's skills, and a member of Vecna's cult. He was first encountered after the Championship fight in Kester, when Pharin, Andolin, and Nanu entered his palace to collect Pharin's prize for winning: the Talisman of Ultimate Evil. The entire tournament was an elaborate trap the Sultan laid for Oryn, and it failed. It is unknown if the Sultan ever actually had the Talisman, or if he just used it as bait. The party managed to escape him thanks to Nanu using a wish to get them back to the safety of Ekbir. Oryn destroyed the palace right after the group escaped, and laid waste to other parts of the city that Pharin hadn't set on fire.

       The party next met the wizard during their trek across the Sea of Dust. He seemed to have a vendetta against the group, since they had not only escaped him mostly unscathed, but he also lost his palace and most of his city because of them. They fought a grueling battle with him, and eventually the Sultan seemed to become frustrated and vanished. The party didn't think they had seen the last of him.

       The Sultan was sensed near the Vale of the Mage moments before it was destroyed, but he did not put in an appearance. He followed the party to Ralliakkan's fortress, and was then wished to House Braz'Dracon by Ralliakkan; she wanted the trouble to go away; he began a full assault on Pharin's home.

       The assault of House Braz'Dracon killed many members of Pharin's house, though no one important. The Sultan took control of the party's minds and forced them to turn on Pharin, some aiming to kill and others aiming to disable. Most of the Ekbir Underbazaar was destroyed during the battle that swept through the town. Cinder, an ancient mage, made an appearance in the fight and assisted the party in taking him out. They learned that the Sultan is a dracolich, and a patchwork-looking dragon, as if squares of flesh were cut from other dragons and sewn onto his body. His phylactery wasn't destroyed, so even though he was defeated, the Sultan may still be at large, just hiding to lick his wounds and plot his next act of revenge.