# [[Echbos]] ![[Echbos.svg]] Echbos is a Level 5 [[Vordine]] (Barbazu) serving under [[General Urevian]] in the Vordine resistance against [[Jafaki]]'s forces in [[The Gauntlight]]. He first appeared unnamed in [[112_20260404 The Pentagram Shards]] as the devil training [[Grothlut|Grothluts]] and [[Dreshkans]] in Urevian's smoke-filled staging chamber, and was only identified by name in [[127_20260830 Good Graces]]. ## The Pentagram Shard (Session 112) - A "special job" Level 5 Vordine, about 7 feet tall, wielding a glaive — not a special rank of Vordine, just a specific role - Was whipping his [[Grothlut|Grothluts]] and [[Dreshkans]] as sparring partners when the party interrupted - [[Jaspen Bond Callistair|Bond]] and [[Vayle]] won his trust with successful Diplomacy checks - Handed Vayle one of five irregular magical metal shards needed to open the western pentagram door — identified as a Pentagram Shard - Was planning to march his domesticated Fleshwarp army upstairs to invade [[Absalom]] and strike Jafaki ## Fighting the New Construct (Session 127) - Identified by name for the first time — the same devil who gave Vayle the Pentagram Shard - Found under fire from a new quadruped, black-powder construct with two smoking cannons; the construct's shells can climb walls and fire independently - Commands an army of [[Dreshkans]] in the fight - Urges the party to help if they want to stay in [[General Urevian]]'s good graces ## The Break (Session 128) The alliance collapsed in a single round. [[Dread]] and [[Shawanti|Bee]] of [[Calamity's Ruin]] came through the south door and Dread called Echbos out by name; Echbos moved to engage him, and Dread's crew claimed the devils while the party took the constructs. - Echbos was already taking fire from the [[Quadruped Construct]] — 20 damage from an area attack in Round 2 — before Dread arrived - Dread hit him once; a second hit was blocked - Echbos **critically hit Bee** and commanded the party to help him against her and Dread - The party refused. [[Zuhri]] used Friendfetch to pull Bee out of reach, [[Ashnefrotty|Ash]] killed one of the [[Dreshkans]], and [[Vayle]] spent three actions on a bone-shaking grab that he saved against before being dragged toward Bee - Outraged, Echbos ordered **a winged invisible spy** to report the party's betrayal — presumably to [[General Urevian]] - [[Gears]], feral, charged in beside him and something exploded ## Cornered and Running (Session 129) Echbos survived [[Gears]]' explosion (a success on the save, half of 21 fire damage) and it was the *first* damage he had taken in the entire fight. He spent the rest of the session trying to get out of the room. - The winged invisible spy he sent in Session 128 was named on the table: **[[Scree]]**, the Zibub messenger the party has known since Session 099. Echbos called Scree to report what happened here, and the party felt it move - Dread **intimidated** him into Frightened 1. Echbos threw the taunt "the others will know what you've done" and Dread answered "the others have been dealt with," which visibly rattled him - He then translocated twice (2 actions, 120-foot line of sight) and went through the south door, **springing a poison trap** on the way that damaged him further - His hoofprints leave a burning red trail behind him, dealing 1d4 fire to anyone who walks it - In the final round he tried to intimidate Dread, failed, struck at him and had it blocked by his shield, and ran south again, eating a 16-damage opportunity attack on the way out - Despite all of it, he remains lightly damaged: Dread looks worse than he does, because Echbos has spent the entire fight teleporting and running rather than fighting - Dread has now claimed him outright, telling the party to "leave this one to me" ## Bloodied and Gone (Session 130) The running stopped working. Bee joined Dread on him and between them they finally pushed Echbos to **bloodied**, the first time in the whole fight he has looked like the one losing. He answered the only way he has all fight: he moved off and disappeared again, and Dread and Bee abandoned the construct fight to follow him south. The question of what Dread wants with him is now answered. Dread is not out to subdue Echbos the way he usually does with monsters; he means to kill him. Ash caught a partial glimpse of something new happening in the southern rooms where the chase went, without being able to see what. ## Session 131 - The Exit Line Echbos did the one thing nobody expected: he came *back* north toward the party instead of fleeing further south. [[Ashnefrotty|Ash]] hit him for 20 damage on the way in, and he spent the moment delivering a threat rather than an attack: [[General Urevian]] will know of the party's betrayal, and they will not find it so easy to move around this level any more. Then he teleported out of sight and played the card nobody knew he had. He invoked a **contract on [[Graveknight Armor|Sythra]]**, addressing her by rank: *"Commander Sythra, I invoke this section and call for your aid. We will discuss payment later. I need you to help me dispatch this rubble."* Sythra had no knowledge of the section he cited. Echbos was genuinely incredulous that she did not know it, and then worked it out in front of everyone: **"You're not Sythra, then. Urevian still has your soul. Stand aside."** He disappeared from view, there was a heavy thud, and he was gone. In trying to save himself he handed the party the largest piece of Sythra lore they have ever had, and he left them facing a graveknight instead of a devil. - He knows the Vordine contract well enough to cite a specific section from memory, and expected a graveknight to be bound by it - He believes, as plain fact, that Urevian holds the original Sythra's soul - He is still alive, still only lightly damaged relative to his pursuers, and now out of sight with [[Dread]] and [[Shawanti|Bee]] no longer actively on him ## Session 133 - What He Left Behind Calamity's Ruin came back to [[Otari]] with Echbos's **glaive, whip, and breastplate**. They took no share of them, and the party plans to sell them at the barracks. Echbos had no monster parts of his own to harvest ([[133_20261018 Healer Heal Thyself]]). ## Open Threads - Where did Echbos go after the heavy thud, and is Dread still on him? - How does a Vordine drill instructor come to know the fine print of a contract with a graveknight commander? - "We will discuss payment later." What does the contract cost to invoke, and who pays? - Is the new construct Jafaki's work, or something else entirely? - The party has openly sided against Echbos: how far does that reach up to [[General Urevian]]? - Scree is confirmed as his messenger, and it has been watching the party since at least Session 099. What exactly did it carry back? - "The others have been dealt with." Which others, and what did Calamity's Ruin do to them? - Dread intends to kill him, not take him. What happens to the Vordine's standing, and the party's, if Calamity's Ruin executes him? - What is the new thing Ash half-saw happening in the south? ## Related - [[General Urevian]] - [[Vordine]] - [[Dreshkans]] - [[112_20260404 The Pentagram Shards]] - [[127_20260830 Good Graces]] %% # Excalidraw Data ## Text Elements ## Drawing ```json { "type": "excalidraw", "version": 2, "source": "https://github.com/zsviczian/obsidian-excalidraw-plugin/releases/tag/2.1.4", "elements": [], "appState": { "theme": "dark", "viewBackgroundColor": "#ffffff", "currentItemStrokeColor": "#1e1e1e", "currentItemBackgroundColor": "transparent", "currentItemFillStyle": "solid", "currentItemStrokeWidth": 2, "currentItemStrokeStyle": "solid", "currentItemRoughness": 1, "currentItemOpacity": 100, "currentItemFontFamily": 4, "currentItemFontSize": 20, "currentItemTextAlign": "left", "currentItemStartArrowhead": null, "currentItemEndArrowhead": "arrow", "scrollX": 583.2388916015625, "scrollY": 573.6323852539062, "zoom": { "value": 1 }, "currentItemRoundness": "round", "gridSize": null, "gridColor": { "Bold": "#C9C9C9FF", "Regular": "#EDEDEDFF" }, "currentStrokeOptions": null, "previousGridSize": null, "frameRendering": { "enabled": true, "clip": true, "name": true, "outline": true } }, "files": {} } ``` %%