General Summary
- The session began with a cutscene that showed Ardura’s ascent to power, Khaylin’s fall, and Urthadar being a creepy wizard.
In present time, combat began between Urthadar, Lasdo, and the Guardians of Golarion. Urthadar showed his power while Lasdo went after the crystal, slaying the drow that had been keeping Ardura’s soul contained.
- During the fight, Valarius stumbled and fell under the trained necrotic weapon skills of Urthadar. Sakali was also struck down by Urthadar’s necrotic magic.
- Godric killed Urthadar, and as his corpse unleashed an infernal geyser of flame Godric advanced on Lasdo.
- Ella had attempted to remove the head from Urthadar’s corpse. However, in doing so she fulfilled the last requirement needed to unleash the looming form of Matan’sa, Void Knight of the Twilight Empire and apprentice to Khaylin Cirdanas.
- Ardura had attempted to flee once Urthadar had been killed. She fled to the elevator, but a shadowy ooze rode down on the elevator and engulfed her. Matan’sa pursued her as the elevator rode back up, leaving Ella unconscious. Reh healed her and the two returned to the library as the rest of the vault began to crumble around them.
- Hugo and Godric continued to press their attack on Lasdo, who killed three of the four drow blademasters before finally having to flee without the crystal OR Ardura.
- The Beast escaped from its chains and erupted through the floor. Its sole desire was to escape, which it did by diving into the infernal column of flame that had carved through the ceiling of the library.
- Once the dust had settled, Sakali and Valarius were both dead. Ardura was gone, devoured by a shadowy ooze. The Beast had escaped, pursued by Khaylin’s spirit in hopes that he would be able to find and regain control of what had once been his body. Lasdo had fled. The soul of Ardura remained trapped in the holding crystal, restrained by a sole drow blademaster who nervously waited to see what the Guardians of Golarion would do next.
- Hugo and Reh grabbed a few books from the library and stuffed them into bags. Hugo also grabbed Urthadar’s staff.
- A torch fell from the top of the hole. Clegg Zincher and the members of the Ashen Order looked down at them. Kiana Moonshadow lowered a rope ladder, and the big man Aenir pulled everyone up.
XP
21860 XP + 2177 XP = 24037 / 23000 XP! Ding Level 6!
- The Beast was freed, possibly reuniting Khaylin with his body.
- Urthadar – He had been the personal advisor to Ardura in his younger days. However, he was swayed by the rest of his people and turned on her, removing her soul much as he had with Khaylin. He kept her soulgem with him so he always knew where she was. He was terrified what would happen if she were ever to escape her imprisonment.
- The Beast – The mindless and powerful weapon, created by Urthadar using Khaylin’s power-infused body, has finally escaped after an imprisonment of ten thousand years. Urthadar feared the death and destruction the creature could unleash. Time will tell if Khaylin can exert any control over what used to be his own body.
- Lasdo – He had recruited the Guardians of Golarion to retrieve the soulgem. They managed to get him to the soulgem but attacked him when he tried to retrieve it for himself. Will there be repercussions for their betrayal, as well as the loss of Ardura’s body? Would he now lay waste to the Gold Goblin, and Riddleport?
- Matan’sa – When Khaylin brought the elves to the Umbral Temple, he was accompanied by his apprentice Rha’gi. As the years passed, and the demonic corruption (as well as the influence of Rovagug’s power) twisted the elves into the drow, Rha’gi tried to get his master to reject the lust for power. Khaylin killed his apprentice, and soon after was approached by the drow warrior Matan’sa who wanted to learn the ways of power. By this time Khaylin was under the influence of void magic and taught Matan’sa to use those powers. Unbeknownst to his apprentice, over the decades Khaylin had begun to regret the path he had taken and slowly returned to the ways of the akashic energies. Still, Matan’sa was loyal to both Khaylin and Ardura, more so to his master. Ardura, knowing she would have to eliminate her husband, had Matan’sa removed first. Urthadar had fine-tuned his ritual spell of soul-catching and decided to try it out first on Matan’sa in case adjustments needed to be made. Matan’sa was bound to the battle axe, to be held there until he regained the strength to escape.
General Knowledge
- Clegg’s camp had been destroyed by the collapse of the Vault. It did not bother the crime boss very much once he learned of the dead drow below. He feigned ignorance as to what they were doing on the island but seemed relieved that they were dead.
- A ship had arrived hours earlier. At first, Clegg believed it was one of his ships. However, it turned out to be the Shadowrunner, a drow longship that had been captured by the Ashen Order.
- Kiana had heard the sonic trap that the Guardians had set off when they first tried to enter the cliffside cave. She and Baros saw Clegg coming up from the path on the edge of the cliff. When he didn’t seem alarmed or concerned at the noise, Kiana roused the rest of the group and they started to make their way down the path. Halfway down, Aenir saw the Shadowrunner approaching. Burma recognized it as a drow vessel and they moved to intercept. Once they had taken over the ship, they docked it at the landing outside the cave. By then they were all injured and simply returned to the camp to heal and recover. They had planned to head back down the path to see if they could find what had made the noise in the morning.
- At sunrise, the camp was rocked with an earthquake that flattened the tents. A column of flame burst from the ground outside the camp. They closed in just as some large demon launched itself out of the hole, killed two of Clegg’s men who happened to have been nearby where the creature landed, then leaped into the air and disappeared. Clegg rallied his men while the Ashen Order got their gear and prepared to descend into the hole. That’s when they saw that the Guardians were already down there.
