The Defenders, Vol. 2, Issue 8 - Along Came A Spider

And so, with the Reavers on the ground defeated, the others that had remained on the Aundairian airship make their way to the ground, along with another passenger who had been observing the battle from the deck, and who had zipped down to join the group. The Spider Man, known to hail from the Lyrandar headquarters of Stormhome, had been aboard the heroes' airship and had taken good measure of their acts, deciding to join them on their quest to find the whereabouts of Xavier and other extranormals who had come up missing in the past year or so.

After a short exchange between the group and the newcomer, the party makes a cursory search of the boxes that the Reavers had been hauling out of the temple, finding them to be holding what appeared to be warforged components, though slightly larger than normal.

Curiosity piqued, the group ventures further in, oddly uncontested by the Reavers that had fled within, finding the place to be a vast colonnade, each column decorated with hideous visages of demons and devils in various acts of depravity. The centerpiece of the upper level of the temple was a vast altar, roughly fifteen feet long and eight feet high, with etchings that Bennet deciphered as meaning that the site was dedicated to Belial, the Archlord of Lies.

Leaving the altar well enough alone, the Spider Man scouts forward, down a convening ramp that branches from either side behind the altar. The others follow behind and a few notice what appears to be huge fingerprints stamped into the stone, though how recent those were placed is anyone's guess.

In the chamber below, the group is surprised to see what appears to be what was the resting place of a giant machine of some sort, with components still scattered about or placed into boxes that line the walls. Some parts of the machine still hum with power, electricity arcing from wires and cables. Henry recognizes the setup as a small creation forge! The Reavers had been making warforged, but why? And how did they get the components to construct a creation forge?

There were no time for answers, as awaiting our heroes was a host of Reavers, ready to put an end to their mission!

Next issue, the heroes are left with more questions than answers.

Cast of Characters
Jean Grey, Elan Psion (Kineticist) 6|Wilder 6  - Angela
Bennet du Paris [Exodus], Human Psion (Nomad) 6|Spellthief 5/Cerebrex 1 -Taylor
Henry [Beast], Artificer 6|Anthropomorphic Ape 2/Monk 4 - Paul
Kurt Wagner [Nightcrawler], Rogue 3/Fighter 2|Totemist 2/Wizard 3 - David
Kitty Pryde [Shadowcat], Wizard 5|Ninja 5 - Sam
Pete Salvas [Spider-Man], Warlock 4|Battle Dancer 4 - Juan
Johnathan Blaze (Phantom Traveler) [Ghost Rider], Flaming Bone Creature 2/Warlock 2|Fighter 4 - G2

Sadly, this session was cut really short by snow. Some of us have long drives home, so we wrapped up the session and cut out.