Episode 16 - The Gauntlet

The Gauntlet

General Summary

The Guardians of Golarion set up camp in the now-destroyed village of Witchlight. They fortified the only remaining building and set up watches for the night.
During the evening, the Guardians were approached by a group from Clegg Zincher's camp. They had heard the rumble of the tower collapsing and came to see what had happened. They told the heroes that they were welcome in the camp if they needed aid.
The next morning, Samaritha Beldusk and Crosell, the only Cyphermages to have survived the tower collapse, parted ways with the Guardians and headed to Clegg's camp while the Guardians made their way to the large crater.
The crater was a half-mile of desolation. Scattered throughout the debris, the heroes did manage to scrounge up about a pound of the space metal (noqual). A purple specter rose from ground zero - the spirit form of the creature that had possessed Shen - Khaylin Cirdanas, Sa'har Knight and Akashic Monk. Khaylin confessed that his soul had been removed from his body by Ardura. He needed to access the Vault of Jel'va to retrieve his body and get his revenge on Ardura. They had been close in the past, but she betrayed him for power and ensured that he would be powerless to stop her. The spiked helmet Lasdow had put on Shen had put a taint on him, giving he - and Shen - power while corrupting them both. He seemed to fear the helm but did not know how to destroy it.
To access the Vault, a key was needed - his discblade. Lasdow had it. Khaylin admitted that he could get another key, but to do it meant repeating the Trial of the Sa'har. The trial was normally done by a single knight, a more seasoned knight. However, as a group, the Guardians may be able to survive it. However, there was one catch to all of this - Khaylin needed a living vessel to inhabit.
After many questions went unanswered, Valarius offered to become the vessel. But just as the creature approached him, Shen apologized and used the Command spell to make Valarius drop to the ground. Khaylin returned to Shen's body.
In a flash, much like when the Guardians touched the discblade, they were transported to an Inn. The bartender, as well as the musicians who played various instruments, were all the copies of the same person - Rha'gi, the copper-haired Elf who had greeted them when they entered the discblade looking for Knowledge or Power.
Rha'gi told them a brief story about how Khaylin, his master, was a member of the Sa'har Order sworn to defend the elves against the barbaric humans. Princess Ardura, an Elf, refused to flee Golarion when the rest of the elves did. She felt they should defend their adopted home. Khaylin offered to take the elves to one of the Order's temples - the Umbral Temple, deep beneath the surface of Golarion. There they would be safe from the catastrophe that was coming.
He mentioned that Khaylin and Ardura were corrupted by something called the Bloodstone. Rovagug may have been connected to that. Khaylin eventually killed his apprentice.
Before he could say much more, a door opened on another level of the inn. There were several doors there, one being a large black door with a rune-covered lock on it. One door was open, and the Guardians passed through it into the darkness.
They appeared in a hallway, a tomb of some kind. Faded etchings on the walls, dust, and cobwebs on the floor. Behind them, spinning saw blades, tubes of fire, and magical mouthes dripping acid emerged from the wall. Then the wall started to move. The group had to keep moving, battling ghosts and gelatinous cubes while testing their knowledge and skills to pass by various obstacles while the Wall of Death continued to follow behind them, and appeared to be gaining speed.
They'd just broken down a wall when they were confronted by two odd things - a pool of black liquid with sparkles floating in it, and a Pegasus that flared its wings at them.
That can't be a bad thing, right?

Character(s) interacted with

• Shen Stroheim - Seems to have knowledge about things, and is able to navigate with Khaylin's assistance.

• Hugo Powerfist - Said something about his glove starting to burn and was unable to enter the Trial.

• Rha'gi – An elven Sa'har Apprentice who continues to serve his master even after his apparent death.

Report Date

05 Feb 2019