Episode 36 - Domination and Detonations

General Summary

The Guardians of Golarion opened the doos of the Entry Hall and were confronted with some charred body parts, and a nine-foot-tall amalgamation of elven corpses stitched together into a large, four-armed flesh golem armed with two composite longbows. They felled the creature, but upon examining the room they discovered some explosive runes concealed in the floor. Rooker found one the hard way, but Sir Godric managed to absorb the damage of the explosion.   Once combat had ended, Buck heard a female elven voice in his head ask if he had made the loud booming noise. “I hope you are mighty enough to help me.” She said nothing after that.   Returning to the room of the Vile Altar, the party discovered that the Mark of Iomedae that had been etched onto the altar of Abraxas had been burned off. Godric reapplied the mark using the Inheritor’s Gauntlet. As he applied it to the altar, the runes around it began to glow a golden color similar to the mark. The mark disappeared, similar runes flashed on the door previously detected as magically enchanted, and it exploded. The flames of the fireball that filled the room were orange with a greenish tinge, the colors of Abraxas.   The chamber beyond the door appeared to have been restored to its former beauty. Polished white marble gleamed from the walls. Along one wall was a gigantic sparkling pool of crystal clear water, behind which stood a gateway made of polished stone, carefully shaped to look like a ring of leaves.   In the center of the pool, a spectral elven maiden named Ixilano (EYE-zil-ano) sat cross-legged on a tremendous floating leaf. Ixilano told them about the drow using the elf gate in the next room that led to the Armageddon Echo, a "snapshot" of a point in time just before Earthfall. The gate behind the pool was once an elf gate, but it had not functioned properly for years. The drow have corrupted the portal so that now it led to the drow city of Zirnakaynin (ZIR-nah-kay-nin), but only intermittently and only with the portal key that Nolveniss carried. Due to the timing of the elven assault, the drow had to flee into the shadow version of Celwynvian within the Armageddon Echo rather than to their home in the Darklands. Having reached the end of the conversation, Ixilano and the facade around the chamber disappeared. A huge shape shifted beneath the surface of the water and dominated Buck. The gunslinger attacked Godric and fought the rest of the guardians while the creature remained underwater. Eventually it came close to the surface, revealing itself to be an aboleth. Reh cast Blindness on it and the spell landed. Possibly out of embarassment from being bested by a "mere human", Ixilano turned and fled. Buck regained control of himself and the Guardians took a breath.   From the next chamber came the weak voice of Fjord, warning them not to enter the room. That voice was followed by a loud booming voice that shouted "Silence, fool!"

Rewards Granted

Loot
[2900 gp x 2] +1 Composite Longbow (Str +5) (2)   XP
43 993 + 1 066 = 45 059 XP!