Session 103 Report

General Summary

Ladigo Farthon cast Death Ward on Titta Morco from his staff and then used his Belt of Battle allow him to cast Sheltered Vitality on her as well. Kyrie Eleison Thatcher-Stone then ran up to the fallen Auren Sylynn and cast Revivify on his remains, bringing him back to life mere seconds after he was struck by the banshee’s wail. Selia Roselyn Maxwell then cast Haste upon most of the party and stepped off to the side. The banshee floated out from behind the rock wall and now everyone could see her horrific visage. Some of the party were affected, a portion of their strength and vitality sapped with a glance. Titta was protected by Ladigo’s spells and rushed he banshee. Her scimitars, each enhanced by a Greater Truedeath Crystal, sliced through the banshee in a flurry of slashes as she was empowered by her Belt of Battle. The banshee faded into nothing as each slash tore a wisp of her incorporeal form away. Then Kyrie cast Heal on Auren, bringing him back to consciousness before she started healing the rest of the party as well. She used a Mass Restoration spell to recover the party’s stolen vitality, but it would require two more castings to return all their physical attributes to normal. Mogi Delvin then suggested they rest here for the night and recover their spells. They then started noticing a gas fill the cavern. They feared poison, but no one was yet showing any ill effects. Still, they retreated into the hallway, where they could see that the gas would not enter as if an invisible barrier prevented it from leaving the cavern. They decided to rest in the hallway instead. The area seemed well protected since the only entrance was through a door blocked by a 100-foot deep pit. While they settled down, Auren searched the cave protected by Ladigo’s magic. In the end, he found nothing. Sometime late that afternoon, Titta received a message from Romulus through the Sending Stone. He said, “Caught by the headhunters…Infected…A demon, eating me from the inside…Beware…the red…” Then he screamed before the message ended in sudden silence. They did not know Romulus’ exact whereabouts. Based on the message, they could assume he was now dead. He and the druids had gone in search of the black demons that were said to be infesting the land east of the Serpent Peaks. After discussing all this, they decided to continue searching for Acererak. They were well into the complex and had invested much time and effort into this quest. When they finished, they would go searching for what had happened to Romulus. On the morning of October 23, 499 AV, Haymin’s Heroes continued exploring. They returned to the intersection from the day before and turned north. This led to a door at the end of the hallway. Auren checked the door, and opened it. It revealed a stone wall. A search of the wall revealed a secret door. Beyond this was another hallway that ended in stairs that rose up to a stone wall. At the bottom of the stairs, though, was a double-door set with recessed hinges, allowing it to swing in both directions. This door opened into another corridor. Auren entered it while the party waited for him to say it was safe. He detected a gas of some kind, but he did not succumb to its effects. Then from the far end of the corridor, another double-door swing open and a stone juggernaut on wheels rolled in. Auren ran back to the main corridor while Mogi summoned a large earth elemental to try to block the juggernaut. They party waited on the other side of the first set of swinging doors as they saw the juggernaut overrun the earth elemental. As it began to enter their corridor, they attacked it. Titta had switched her Truedeath Crystal with a Demolition Crystal on one of her scimitars in hopes of doing as much damage to the construct as possible. This proved successful as she cut deep gashes into the stone. Then Pyzar Zim moved forward and struck it with his greatsword until it stopped moving. Mogi then sent the earth elemental to search the rest of the corridor. It eventually found a room where the juggernaut must have come from. All the doors leading to it swung in both directions, allowing the automaton to roll back and forth through the halls. Finding no obvious continuation, they began searching the corridor from the top of the stairs, down the hall, through the secret door, and to the intersection. They focused on the east and west walls. And wen they found nothing there, Auren turned his attention to the floor, while Titta examined the ceiling. Just the other side from the secret door, Auren found a trapdoor on the floor. This opened to a set of stairs that led to a narrow corridor. The party followed this until it reached a widened hall that ended in a black metal door with three narrow slits at about waist height. Auren examined this door but could not find any door handle or traditional lock. He examined the slits in the door and put a kukri blade into one. Feeling something react to that in the slit, he tried the other two. Then he pulled out three blades. With Titta’s help, they put a blade into each slit simultaneously. The door then opened, revealing a grand hall with numerous rows of stone columns rising thirty feet to the ceiling. The party entered the room and the doors eventually closed automatically behind them. To the south of the room was a throne on a raised dais. To the east was a red glow coming from something on the ground. North were three doors, each with a magical glow. Before they could really explore this room, however, several demons suddenly appeared, magically summoned. As the battle began, Traegandar retreated to the west wall, but on his way he grazed one of the stone columns. A magical effect took hold of him and caused him to levitate up to the ceiling. There he could feel currents of air pushing him towards a green devil face on the wall near the ceiling in the northwest corner. Traegandar changed to his dragon form and began flying against the current. He warned the others not to touch the columns. Most of the party remained careful not to do so as they maneuvered against the demons. They recognized vrocks, a type of demon they had faced before. There were three of them. The other two kinds of demons they had not yet fought. There were four black demons with a red acidic slime covering their skin. And two larger demons that looked similar to slaads. The battle was tricky at first as both sides maneuvered carefully, purposely avoiding the columns. As the large demons approached, their stench permeated the air around them, causing Auren to become nauseated. Some on both sides accidentally touched the columns, but most resisted the levitation effect. Kyrie cast Holy Smite and blinded most of the demons, which made the battle considerably easier. They worked through the blinded demons. Pyzar focused on the large ones to get rid of their nauseating stench, then on the vrocks. The black demons were dangerous because their acid might eat through their weapons, but their cuts were clean enough to where Titta and Pyzar’s swords were ultimately unaffected. When the demons died, they disappeared as if they were never there. The party continued to explore the room. The red glow to the east came from a gem that Selia identified as a Gem of Wishing. Surrounding this gem was a large blast mark and burnt skeletons. They decided to leave the gem where it lay, fearing its consequences. Examining the throne to the south, Auren found a secret door beneath. However, he could not open it. There did not appear to be a mechanical method to activate it, so they surmised it must be magical. Upon the throne was a crown and a scepter. The scepter had a round sphere on each end. One was made of gold, the other of silver. At the bottom of the throne was a panel with an inlay of the crown. Before they examined this mystery further, Mogi drew their attention to the doors at the north. Auren started with the easternmost door. Beyond it was s mall room containing a wooden sarcophagus. He opened the sarcophagus to reveal the mummified remains of a human. There was a large amethyst lodged in an eye socket, just visible behind the loose funerary wrappings. The mummy also wore a brass ring with a reddish tinge. Auren used a kukri blade to pry out the amethyst. When the gem came out, it immediately disintegrated, the dust falling back into the eye socket. Then a rush of air wispy air flew passed them into the eye as well. The mummy sat up in the sarcophagus, ready to strike at Auren.

Campaign

The Heart of Embril

Protagonists