Hunting the Arch Magus pt. 12 Report

General Summary

The Scions descended into the sewers, scaring off a colony of talking rats by having Elmoira turn into a Saber Tooth Tiger, narrowly avoiding an alligator, and running into a group of four tortle monks who tell the party about a set of magically blocked stairs at the end of the sewers.
The party heads in the direction indicated by the tortles, and find a set of elaborate stairs overgrown with exotic flora.  Elmoira can hear the plants "sing" to her, and asks for them to open up.  The plants tell the party this is the Eladrain city of Danathor, and that intruders have been detected within the city.  After descending the stairs, the plants light up a path that lead to a mysterious shrine.
The shrine is guarded by a death tyrant - an undead beholder - who seems to be talking to his two attendant gazers about how powerful he is and how he felled the Eladrin who lived in Danathor.  When the party approaches him, he reveals his name - Xanathos - and the party is able to convince him to let them pass in return for the promise to destroy the Arch Magus and retrieve the sword of a heavily tattooed gnome he saw go into the sanctuary.
The door closes behind the party, and they are taunted by the Arch Magus.  He tells Rayuuv he is fated to join the Arch Magus, and tells the party to destroy Theodosius - he is a loose end.  The party figures out how to deactivate the lasers guarding the entrance, and find themselves starting at a large pool guarded by two giant sharks.

Campaign

The Rise or Fall of the Hadrianic Empire

Protagonists

John Q Holmes Motherfucker

Billy Bob the Bard/Hexblade

Dr. Mork

Report Date

17 May 2023