May 10th, 2013

Sins of the Saviors

Players present: Elora (Sally), Azalyn (Shelley), Bastian (Casey), Sirilenda (Melissa), Vale (Dean), Kage (Arren), Derani (Rachel)

Orden's gambit of casting dismissal on himself proved fruitful. He instantly disappeared from the halls of Envy deep in Runeforge, and materialized back in the prime material plane, in the town of Sandpoint. Meanwhile, her companions retreated from the halls of of Envy to the central hub of Runeforge. There they discovered that the main portal bridging the distance to the prime material plane was open. Hesitantly the party entered the portal, found themselves back on the prime material plane, and then quickly reunited with Orden.

Tsuto Kaijitsu

During the following week, the group cast raise dead on their two fallen members, then discussed strategies for their next foray into Runeforge. They decided to return and confront Azaven, the lich residing in the halls of Gluttony. They felt he had mislead them in their quest to find runeforged weapons, and Bastian wanted to eliminate his evil from existence. So they returned to Rimeskull and performed the necessary rituals for opening the portal to Runeforge.

Lyrie Akenja

As they walked through the entry halls once more they noted that some of the collected treasure they had piled up along the hallway during their previous trip was missing. Warily they progressed into the central hub of the complex, where they found Azaven waiting for them with a pair of undead minions. As the group parleyed with the lich, another figure appeared from behind one of the seven stone statues that circled the chamber. Sirilenda recognized her immediately as Lyrie Akenja, her sister's murderer. By Lyrie's side floated an elaborately bandaged figure, who the party knew to be Tsuto Kaijitsu, Lyrie's former paramour, twice defeated by the party already, and now returned as a mummy!

Battle erupted quickly. Spells flew across the room, including a prismatic spray from Azaven, which petrified Bastian, but not before he used his aura of justice ability to grant he team the power to smite evil. Sirilenda too fell from the fight, but Elora managed to stabilize her before she died. As usual, Azalyn proved devastating with her greatsword, but Vale became a dervish of evil-smiting axes, finishing a powerful Devourer in one turn.

At the end of the battle the heroes remained, minus only Bastian, now composed of rock. Without Bastian's spells or the help of their enduring cleric, Orden, they had no means of returning him to flesh...

May 3rd, 2013

Sins of the Saviors

Players present: Elora (Sally), Azalyn (Shelley), Bastian (Casey), Orden (Mike), Sirilenda (Melissa)

As Bastian looked into the large chamber beyond the hall of mirrors, six identical looking men began simultaneously casting spells. Elora stepped forward to support her companion, and both of them suffered a barrage of phantasmal killer spells. Bastian weathered them all, but Elora died instantly. The remaining heroes gathered the bodies of their fallen comrades and teleported back to the central hub of the complex, fleeing the halls of Pride.

Once they realized there would be no pursuit, the party contemplated their options. Searching for answers from the outer bounds of reality, Sirilenda scribbled several questions on parchment using her revelation quill. The minor artifact acted as a conduit to the Peacock Spirit in the outer planes, a being known for its capriciousness. She knew that the spirit would answer some of her questions with lies, but proceeded to query the being anyway.

Through the ten allotted questions they deduced that the only way to leave Runeforge (in order to resurrect their fallen companions) was through the Envy wing. They learned that a single creature resided in this wing, which, according to the quill, they could "probably" defeat. Without other options apparent, the party headed toward the halls of Envy.

They arrived at twisting maze of tunnels covered in slime and ooze. Slime-slicked walkways followed alongside sludge-filled canals, occasionally spanned by rusted iron walkways. Sirilenda cast fly on the party to avoid contact with the unidentifiable slime, allowing them to quickly navigate the winding tunnels.

A Chernobue

They entered a slightly larger chamber, where suddenly a pair of Chernobue Qlippoths sprang at them. The tentacled creatures exuded an unnatural aura and attacked with alien powers. Once the fight ended, the heroes reconsidered the advice given by the revelation quill in light of the fact that two enemies had appeared where there was supposed to be just one.

They soon questioned all of the results provided by the quill. Perhaps there were other ways to leave Runeforge aside from the halls of Envy? Orden contemplated using dismissal on himself, since technically he was not on his home plane. Before his companions could object he carried out his idea, heedless of the small chance that he could end up in a plane different than his home plane. His companions, surprised, could only watch him vanish...

April 26th, 2013

Sins of the Saviors

Players present: Elora (Sally), Azalyn (Shelley), Bastian (Casey), Orden (Mike), Sirilenda (Melissa), Vale (Dean)

Azaven

The dessicated figure stood before them, dressed in rich robes and flanked by a pair of menacing creatures. To his left hunched a slender, feral-looking corpse of a being, a serrated dagger clenched in one hand. To his right hovered a creature that Orden identified as a Devourer, an extra-planar undead being with the power to trap a soul within its vacant ribcage.

He reiterated his warning "I would not touch that, if I were you. It took me great pains to create it, and it's destruction would unleash a wave of negative energy likely to destroy you."

The heroes questioned him about his purpose. He admitted that he was Azaven, apprentice of the mages serving the Lord of Gluttony. He offered to assist the group in their endeavors to find runeforged weapons, but the former masters of his order had perished, and failed to pass along the secrets of their creation. He suggested that the mage Vraxeris, from the halls of Pride, might still know the formula.

Devourer

He encourged them to be more polite guests before entering the halls of Pride, and recommended they knock and announce themselves before barging in like thieves. Though the group sensed Azaven was evil, they heeded his advice and left the halls of gluttony and headed to the halls of pride.

They arrived at the halls of pride to find not a door, but a branching hallway lined with mirrors. Recalling Azaven's words, Bastian announced the group's arrival before proceeding in. A sonorous voice answered him, instructing him to leave at once. Disregarding that warning, Azalyn and Vale stepped into the hallway. Immediately two duplicates of Azalyn and Vale sprang from the mirrors at the opposite ends of the hall, and charged!

The heroes fought back against their doppelgängers, but not before Azalyn lay dead, beyond the help of Orden's potent revival magic. Bastian too was slain, but quick intervention prevented his permanent demise. Sirilenda managed to dominate one of the Vale-clones, adding a new member of the party.

Mirrored Hallway

After the group put sword to glass and smashed the mirrors, they took stock of their losses. Azalyn lay beyond salvation; they discovered that teleportation outside of Runeforge was impossible and they did not possess the necessary material components to cast raise dead. They would need to rest and consider pressing forward or looking for a way out. But even if they could leave, could they get back in?

While the party debated their options, Bastian could not resist the urge to peer into the chamber beyond the mirrored hallway. The six identical men he saw in the room wasted no time with pleasantries, but immediately began spellcasting when they saw Bastian turn the corner. The rest of the party, weakened from the earlier fight, groaned at Bastian's foolhardy actions...

April 19th, 2013

Sins of the Saviors

Players present: Elora (Sally), Azalyn (Shelley), Bastian (Casey), Orden (Mike), Sirilenda (Melissa)

Having driven off the metal-skinned mage, the group began planning a method to retreat and restore Azalyn from her petrification. The dragged the massive stone statue of their companion back through the halls they had explored earlier, resting in a room that contained a fountain. They sat down and assigned watch duties, while the spellcasters tried to get sleep to recover their spells. Soon they realized that the magic of this compound, which existed on a demi-plane, sustained their energy without the need for sleep. So the spellcasters rested without sleeping, and the others kept watch down the hallways leading to the room, vigilantly expecting the mage to return at any moment.

A Nalfeshnee

Before the rest period ended, their vigilance was rewarded. The metal-skinned mage used  dimension door to bring himself and a Nalfeshnee demon directly in their midst. The pair appeared suddenly, taking the group by surprise. Spells flew around the room; the mithral mage case reverse gravity, pushing the group up to the ceiling, and smashing the Azalyn statue to pieces. The group regrouped and using Bastian's smite evil, they destroyed first the mage, then the Nalfeshnee.

After the brief disruption, the group resumed their rest. Once Orden prepared his spells, he used mending to restore the Azalyn-statue back to (mostly) whole, then Bastian cast break enchantment to reverse the petrification. Azalyn returned to life only slightly damaged from her time as a statue, and the group proceeded to explore the rest of the compound.

A Runewell

They discovered the mage's library, which contained an extensive collection of books devoted to metallurgy and transmuting lead to gold. They scoured the works and found several spellbooks, which Sirilenda discovered contained convoluted arcane formulae. They also discovered a mention of the means by which Runelord Karzoug planned to outlast the fall of Thassilon. Apparently his apprentices created an enormous Runewell, a device which could siphon the souls of greedy individuals to fuel his return from stasis. The specifics of the plan were not detailed in the tome. 

 After scouring the rest of the Mage's quarters, the group returned to the central hub of the complex and decided on the next wing to tackle: the halls of gluttony. The hallway leading to realm

of gluttony ended in an immense set of iron doors. Without much effort the group breached the doors and confronted a half dozen mummies guarding the entry. They quickly dispatched the mummies ventured deeper into the complex. Soon they discovered a room containing two black pillars arcing lines of black energy between them. As the group debated what to do about the pillars, Orden remarked that they should smash them. A chilling voice behind them said " I wouldn't do that if I were you..."