The Garden of Stones II

Metaphysical / Paranormal event

Confronted by the necromancer Gnolean Vext, the party was nearly forced to submission. Just as Keerla gave up hope, it seemed that the arcane winds of fate once again turned the situation on its head-- this time, in their favor.   Forced to hand over the Sulphire Crystal, Keerla and her allies watched as time again seemed to reverse, placing the gemstone soundly out of reach of the furious necromancer. With the spell broken, the group immedately went on the attack, hoping to cut the necromancer and his acolyte down before they could recover.   The damage, however, was already done. With the ritual finished, and the forces of good focused on neutralizing his acolyte, Gnolean Vext reached through the veil, furiously digging for something buried within The Aether. His face turned from triumph to shock, however, as he was unable to find whatever it was that he expected to be waiting for him on the other side of the portal. Furious, he barked a final command to the acolyte, Severus Deathrattle of The Wyrm Cult, and disappeared with the telltale black flash of a teleport spell.   Bidden by his master, Deathrattle turned the ritual blade on himself, powered with the full might of a visibly corrupted Sulphire Crystal. Taking the opportunity to press, the party immediately dispatched the acolyte with little trouble. Once the last spark of life fled from his inky black eyes, however, it was clear that it was his intention to die.   Bursting from the fresh corpse of the fallen acolyte in a shower of gore, an infernal horror of the abyss materialized before them. Lashing out with scything whips of black aetheric energy, the adventurers faced a grave threat, the likes of which they'd never seen.   Only after a sustained coordinated assault, and the near life-sacrifice of Ian Taggart, the beast was finally slain, moments before extinguishing the ranger's life. As the last remnants of the sun disappeared over the horizon, the group made camp and did their best to make sense of what they had just witnessed.   In the morning, they journeyed back to Scabberdale to assess the battle damage and begin rebuilding after the devastating Orcish assault on the small, quiet village.