Crossing the stone bridge over the boiling lava river the party was faced with an ultimatum; stand and fight the lava children while risking getting pushed over the edge or continue to run. The quick thinking of a Hypnotic Pattern spell from Dra'go rendered two of the three foes incapacitated but the third one kept hurling giant chunks of molten lava.
The smell of brimstone suddenly assaulted the senses of Willow and she felt a presence that she longed to forget... While running she felt the involuntary urge to glance over the ledge of the bridge down to the molten shores of the river below. There she saw her greatest nightmare;
Maraxax in his true form kneeling down clutching a beating heart dripping with lava. She nearly froze in shock has she heard his voice in her head,
"Your soul is mine."
Mustering up all the courage she possessed, she was able to break free from the shock of seeing him while shouting out,
"YOU HAVE NO HOLD OVER ME ANYMORE!" and continued to run across the bridge with her companions. In reply she heard a laugh and his voice call out,
"Not yours, my child..." Suddenly their one remaining foe behind them turned and began to run away in fear.
Bringing up the rear of the marching order, Dra'go watched as a massive clawed fist tore through a magical rift that opened in the ceiling of the cavern. The fist opened up and grabbed Ivellios, along with his sister Clara whom he was carrying; pulling them both up to the ceiling and back through the extra-dimensional rift. Crossing the bridge, the party gathered on the other side at the entrance of Netherskull's Lair still in shock over the events that just transpired. The double doors of the lair containing the initials "H.B."
With a task at hand, the party entered the lair of their puppeteer and found a massive floating albino blob with a dozen stalks with eyes on the ends. Here the battled with Netherskull and eventually reined victorious. Upon inspecting the lair the found a fetus-like repository that was fixed within the mouth of a dragon skull. This repository contained the countless souls of the many whom had lost their life here in Undermountain.
Unable to find a logical way of opening the repository, Zephyr felt a presence behind him. Halaster Blackcloak himself appeared and offered the party a deal. Upon striking an accord, the party was able to recover the soul of Alexandra whom possessed the ability to teleport them out. Before doing so however, they wanted to make an attempt to recover the King's Ransom that lie in wait behind a set of doors in this chamber.
Alexandra prepared a magic circle and prepared to teleport them to safety. As Zephyr cast Levitate upon himself, he drifted into the loot-filled chamber and grabbed onto the small King's Ransom that mirrored the much larger version of the ingot protruding from the ceiling above. With a familiar flash of energy, the Titan Stone above began to glow and whisk away in an instant; the magical energy whisking through the air into the smaller ingot that Zephyr held in his hands. With the ceiling now open to the personal chambers of Halaster above, the familiar sentinel sought to defend this prized possession of its master.
In an instant, Zephyr used his magical abilities to Misty Step out of the chamber and into the Magic Circle. Without hesitation, Alexandra teleported them to safety but the destination of which they arrived was not the one she intended...
The party and Alexandra found themselves in a walled garden, open to a starry night sky above. This was a welcoming familiar sight, and the party breathed easy as they knew they were safe here in
Seer's garden.
Seer however was nowhere to be found... instead they were there along with the statues of the Stone Giant Prose Edda and the likeness of several other statues they had not yet seen before in this sanctuary:
In the doorway leading into Seer's chambers patiently sat her two dobermans and in the middle of them, their furriest companion. None other than the beloved
Diamonddust. When Bolivar met her gaze, Zephyr called out with a laugh "sick balls" - the phrase she learned to run up and tackle the paladin. She happily trotted up to him as he welcomed her into his arms.
The party took a moment here in the garden as Diamonddust made her way to each of her companions, greeting them with affection. Lastly as she walked up to Olga, she bid her to chase her to the small bird bath in the center of the garden. As they approached Olga saw the reflection of a snowy winter landscape within the pool. As she submerged her face into the waters she then felt as if she hand been magically teleported as a spectator to the vision she saw moments ago.
She could not feel the harshness of this heavy winter storm, but she could visibly see its chill on the elderly female dwarf bundled in thick furs and massive black bear that walked beside her. As she looked around at the landscape, she could faintly see off into the distant the lights of a small lakeside village.
After a moment Olga was taken back from the vision where she awoke with her four party members, Zephyr, Bolivar, Dra'go, and Willow it the upstairs room of the Drunken Donkey within Waterdeep; Alexandra and Diamonddust no where to be found. Their suspicions wondering if any of that had ever happened were debunked when they made their way to the House of Inspired Hands, the Temple of Mystra in Waterdeep.
A massive collection of priests, acolytes, and Waterdhavian nobles gathered at the temple celebrating the return of Archbishop Alexandra. The party was publicly thanked by Willow's sister and they were praised overly and abundantly for their heroic deeds.
Immediately after leaving the temple, the party went to Castle Waterdeep to seek and audience with the Open Lord,
Laeral Silverhand once again. This time their greeting was held to the highest regard as the captain of the militia himself escorted them into the the Throne Room of the governess.
There sat Laeral Silverhand in the empty chamber with a smile on her face. She met the party in the center of the chamber and summoned several Unseen Servants to bring in tables, chairs, and the most grand meal the famished adventures could have possibly imagined.
As the party ate and informed the Open Lord of everything that transpired, they handed over the King's Ransom knowing that it was in safe hands this time around. Laeral stressed that Halaster Blackcloak will not be please to lose his prized possession but he will remain in the shadows and continue to expand upon his empire of Undermountain.
When informed about the events pertaining to Ivellios, Laeral displayed a rather conclusive look on her face...
"The wine glass presented at the Druken Donkey, the systematic breadcrumbs that lead you to the House of Inspired Hands where you found Alexandra and Clara, the kidnapping... Perhaps this was all a ploy from Maxaxax to capture Ivellios, but why?" After recounting
the events that transpired the last time you met with Maraxax in his domain, it all made sense...
Taking time and enjoying the meal there in the throne room of the greatest city of the contentment, the party said their goodbyes to Laeral and she thanked them profusely. She herself then teleported the Ragtag group back to their home within the mountain,
Stoneshingle Wing.
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