Rise of the Runelords

"I guess this is the way." someone muttered.  "Balros, you first." Balros turned to the group trying to figure out who said that, shrugged, and said "Eh." as he stepped into the vortex.  His footing was solid.  In fact, from his perspective, he was inside a very well built, 10' stone passage that went on into the darkness in the direction away from the group and simply ended in open space in front of the rest of his companions who were all watching intently for any signs of danger.  Having a little fun, Balros spoke as if in some sort of time warp, "Eeevvveeerrryy ttthhhiiinnnggg iiisss oookkk. ccccooommmmeee ooonnnn iiinnn."  Not all that amused, the rest of the group joined him.  You traveled into the hallway.  You lost sight of the entrance before the other end opened into a dimly lit, circular room some 100' across.  The source of light seemed to be a bubbling, prismatic pool of liquid in the center.  Carved into the marble floor was the ever present seven pointed star.  Each arm pointing to a 25' foot tall statue.  Behind each was an opening.  There was no statue by the hall in which you made your entrance. Clock-wise from your left, the statues depict:

1. A strikingly handsome man with a close-cropped beard and a charming expression, dressed in extravagant clothes and wielding a lucerne hammer.
2. A gothic beauty with wild hair and a somewhat insane expression, this woman wears a long flowing dress and wields a thorny bastard sword.
3. An obese man, his flesh rotten in places so that the bones show through, wearing a ragged robe and wielding a scythe.
4. A towering man with gems set in his forehead and hands, dressed in robes and wielding a burning glaive.
5. A short smiling man with a hooked nose and beady eyes, dressed in robes and wielding a spear.
6. A heavyset woman with a sneering visage and an imperious stance, dressed in a flowing dress and wielding a halberd.
7. A voluptuous woman with a seductive look, large eyes, and long flowing hair; this statue is nude and wields a doubleheaded guisarme.

You spent some time milling about and running through the various bits of information you have gathered trying to associate each statue / weapon with the Runelords you know of and their school of magic and / or sin.  You were able to devise a likely list when Pirozzi said, "Hey, this pool radiates all magic types but divination.  Think that means anything?"

"I'm sure it does. Let's move on to find out."  After a little debate about which tunnel to take first, you decided to be methodical about it and started with the first one to your left.  The one you suspected belonged to the Runelord of Pride.  As the group moved down the hall, the dwarves and Balros were commenting on the superior craftsmanship of these tunnels when Edwin, D'Argo and Golian simply vanished. Those remaining started looking for hidden pits, secret doors, detecting magic and any other cause.

The three who vanished found themselves in a hallway with floor to ceiling mirrors.  The reflection upon reflection was a bit disorienting.  The hallway behind extended as far as they could see and appeared to 'T' about 20' forward.  They tapped on the glass, tried disbelieving, debated breaking a mirror before and deciding to cautiously and slowly move forward.

The original group, finding no obvious signs of danger, got out a rope and all hung on to a section as they moved forward.  After a few steps, Pirozzi and Malloric vanished and appeared just behind the first three in the mirrored hall.  Soon all were reunited. Pirozzi commented that he detected no magic in the hallway whence you came, but this one radiated dim illusion magic.

Focusing on the floor to keep from being too disoriented, Balros and Wolfgar led the group to where the hallway split left and right.  They stepped into the intersection to see where each led and noticed that each branch went only a few dozen feet and turned again as they could see their reflections in the mirrors ant the end of the hall.  Debating about which way to go, both of them had to lower their eyes as they felt disoriented.  It seemed as though their reflections were advancing on them.  Before anyone could realize what was happening, Wolfgar watched 'himself' advance and strike him heavily with his warhammer.  Balros watched himself reach into a pouch and drink a potion, becoming blurry.  He reached into his own pouch to find his potion of blur still there. Confused, the group backed up in hopes 'evil' Wolfgar and Balros would not pursue.  They didn't immediately but instead prepared for a fight by casting and positioning.  D'Argo lobbed an acid ball into the hallway and soon realized that evil Wolfgar was also protected from acid like Wolfgar.  It did some damage though.  They soon attacked.  'Evil' Balros had the jump on Blaros and was adept at disarming himself.  'Evil' Wolfgar was buffed and started heading toward Wolfgar when Henrik interposed.   Many attacks missed the blurred 'evil' Balros and targeting for single target spells was challenging due to their being two identical targets and walls covered in mirrors.  The 'evil' Balros fell first as the 'evil' Woflgar was able to significantly cure himself.  But in the end they were defeated.  You cast a few cures and decided to strip Golian of his weapons and some items before sending him back out into the hall in case his reflection also attacked.  It did not so you formed up and moved on.

You turned the corner and could see a vary large room with walls some 100' tall, all covered in mirrors.  The room was lit by four huge chandeliers hung far out of reach, the flickering lights reflected over and over over. Near the far end of the room was a raised dais with a wyvern-sized statue of a peacock in full display.  Someone said, "I'll bet there are more illusions in here."

"I'll check." Edwin said as he moved to the front of the group to cast true sight.  "You're right." Edwin whispered. " There are four people - identical people - standing one at each corner of the dais.  They see us but aren't doing anything other than standing."

Pirozzi moved a little closer to see a corner and said "I'll blast 'em." as he started casting.  As if on cue, Edwin saw all four of the mages start casting.  They beat Pirozzi to the punch and everyone saw the telltale  signs of  two incoming fire balls as Wolfgar steadied himself against a mental assault.  The fireballs were powerful, catching the whole group[ and disrupting Pirozzi's spell.  He slunk back to the rear very hurt.  Edwin started his curing routine.  D'Argo hasted all but Golian who had already movied into the room.  Wolfgar cast invisibility purge and charged into the room hoping to reveal as many of the mages as he could.  The rest followed.

Wolfgar revealed one mage and the group focused.  Balros moved into flank and Goliand decided this was the time to parley with them as he stood to the side and tried to convince the rest that these mages were not the enemy.  Pirozzi launced a fireball to where he though two of the mage were.  Edwin informed the group that only one was hit.  Soon two more powerfull fireballs came out of nowhere and hit Malloric, Edwin and Pirozzi.  That last barrage almost dropped Pirozzi.  Edwin was curing as fast as he could.  Wolfgar was able to reveal another mage and Malloric turned him into a pincushion, dropping him quickly.  Wolfgar and Balros were attacking another mage who had hit Balros with an enfeebling ray.

The two visible mages each cast scorching rays at Balros, hitting with all four.  These were more powerful than Blaros expected and he took significant damage.  D'Argo responded by turning one of the mages into a toad that hopped away.  Wolfgar moved and revealed the last of the mages.  They dropped quickly after that. When killed, the mages dissolved into puddles of clear liquid.  Water you think.

As Edwin and Wolfgar were tracking down the invisible toad to squish it, Edwin noticed two things.  First, the mirrors on the rear wall of the room reflected slightly differently than the other walls. Second, as he was mentioning / apologizing for not getting to cast endure elements on the group he noticed that the air temperature and quality were, well, perfect.  In fact, while tired from the exertion of the fight, he was neither hungry nor thirsty.  Everyone felt the same.

You were able to located a secret door in the rear wall and entered a room with full bookcases lining the walls.  It had a musty stink.  On the far side was a bodyslumped in a chair with an open book resting on its lap.  A set of double doors were on the right wall.  Detecting, Henrick found an evil aura from the robes that the body wore.  Pirozzi could tell that the robes, cloak, headband and ring all were magic.  You explored through the doors and discovered a series of rooms, the last of which was full of hundreds of skeletons.

Going back to the corpse, you checked the open book.  It had the look of a journal.  D'Argo looked at he last few pages:

“The runeforge pool awoke! I first took this as a sign that Runelord Xanderghul had risen. When I arrived at the pool to investigate, it seemed that the others had come to the same conclusion. The foolish Wardens of Envy thought to disrupt the recrudescence, and with the aid of Kazaven, Ordikan, Athroxis, and that lovely creature Delvahine, we were able to defeat them utterly. Their Abjurant Halls lie in ruins. Our treaty was short-lived, though. Kazaven absconded with the bodies and that treacherous wench Athroxis nearly burned me to death before I made it back here.”

“I was mistaken. Runelord Xanderghul still slumbers. It is that monster Karzoug who quickens and nears rebirth. Damnation! He must not be allowed to precede Xanderghul into the world, for he would rebuild Thassilon in his own inferior image, a testament to his own greed rather than one of pride in the work. He must be delayed or defeated!”

“I have managed to escape this place, to a certain extent. By astral pro jection I can explore what the world outside has become. It is a brutish place, yet it pleases me to see Thassilon’s mark endures in the shape of our monuments. Still, the wilderness of the world vexes me. Gone is the empire I knew. Karzoug’s city of Xin-Shalast is now hidden high in the mountains, and when I finally discovered it, I found the spires where his body is hidden to be inaccessible, warded against astral travelers by the occlusion field around the peak of Mhar- Massif. As long as his runewell is active, I fear even a physical approach would be impossibly
deadly. I must determine a way to pierce these wardings,  and to send an agent in my place. No need to risk my own life before my clone is ready.”

“I have taken steps toward an alliance with Delvahine. She may be able to escape this place, for she was not of the original blood. At the least, she can call up on agents from outside, and perhaps through them we can secure servants in the outer world. She seems uninterested in Sorshen’s return; all the better for Xanderghul, that.”

“The runeforge pool is the key. As I suspected, the occlusion field around Karzoug’s fortress in Xin-Shalast has a flaw. His lack of knowledge of the intricacies of Sorshen’s and my own lord Xanderghul’s powers have left an opening. My agents must use components infused with our lords’ virtues, extract the latent magic within these components, and then anoint their chosen weapons with this raw power. The runeforged pool seems to have enough reserves to enhance no more than half a dozen or so runeforged weapons, but those enhanced with enchantment and illusion magic will be most potent against Karzoug’s defenses. They may even be  pivotal in his defeat. For my own part, fragments of any of the mirrors in the Peacock’s Hall should suffice for a component. Delvahine’s... equipment... should suffice for enchantment, although one might be wise to cleanse them before they are handled.”

“The search for an agent goes poorly. Delvahine seems more interested in her own lusts than aiding me. Worse, the lapses and fevers are increasing. I fear that I will be forced to see to Karzoug myself, in which event I will need to use the master circle I built into the Halls of Wrath to escape this place. Yet first, I must set aside my work on delaying Karzoug’s return and turn back to the final development of my 205th clone. I only hope I have time to finish before the dementia takes hold...”

The next day you identified a few items, sold your horses, provisioned and bought a couple pack mules.  The following day you loaded up and headed north.  It was much colder than you were used to - lows in the minus single digits and some snow almost every day.  Three days hike took you to the through the foothills to the foot of the Griffs.  The going became much slower.  After another three days following the river upstream (and a minor encounter with a couple ogres) you came to a waterfall some 200' tall.  From the distance, Balros noticed a fire at the base of the fall.  After a closer look, you could see a huge humanoid tending to a meal.  Malloric and Golian scouted ahead.  They returned and reported it was likely some sort of giant and was alone.  There was some debate about attacking immediately or moving up to see if it was hostile.  You decided on the latter.  Pirozzi, with a tongues spell from D'Argo and at the head of the group as you approached, waved his hand and greeted the giant.  It stood with its weapon in hand and greeted you in return.  A few minutes of conversation also understood by the dwarves, revealed nothing of interest other than you were both apparently traveling through the area.  You left the giant behind and took the rest of the day to scale the several hundred feet up and past the fall.

The river after this point cut a deep chasm in the rock so you were forced to follow it at a distance.  The terrain was much more difficult and it was colder yet.  One afternoon as you were making your way around some boulders, the ground shook momentarily and to everyone's surprise, a 20' long, light blue worm with dozens of legs burrowed up from the ground just in front of you and snapped at Wolfgar, catching him in its maw.  Edwin and Balros lost hold of the mule leads as they bolted.  You could feel the heat pulsate from the creature.  You responded with arrows and blows while D'Argo and Edwin targeted Wolfgar with grease and resist fire.  The beast threw its head back and swallowed Wolfgar whole.  He was trying to cut himself out while being ground in its gizzard and burnt from the intense heat inside the creature.  Those on the outside continued to try to kill the beast as fast as you could.  Each blow on the creature charred your weapons.  None took any damage.  The beast was soon dead, Wolfgar extricated and Malloric was able to round up only one of the mules.  He was relieved that his extra arrows were on the one recovered.

Two nights later, while in the comfort of a tiny hut, those on watch heard wing flaps, slow, heavy wing flaps.  Quietly they awoke the group and you waited.  After a minute or two the wing flaps returned.  A gigantic bird with two mountain goats in its talons landed on a rock outcrop only 50 or so feet away.  It ate its meal and looked quizzically at the hemisphere of light.  It flew off.

Yet another couple of days hiking through the difficult terrain, you reached a steaming lake.  On the far side you found a large circular clearing with seven stone heads, each with an open mouth facing the center.  After some conversation, Pirozzi cast detect magic and was able to discern that each head corresponded to a particular school of magic.  Between the casters you were able to cast seven spells, one from each of the schools (sans divination). Each time you did, a gold key appeared in the corresponding mouth.  When you cast the seventh spell, you all felt the ground "thump."  And then nothing.  Balros pointed up toward a cave mouth and yelled "Dragon!"

The group tried to spread out before the dragon reached you, but only Golian moved quick enough.  Edwin, instead of running cast a protective spell on those close to him. Pirozzi lobbed a fireball at the beast to no effect.  The dragon flew over, breathing a cone of frost down onto the main group and continued flying.  As it circled around, you drank potions and cast other spells readying for the next pass. D'Argo caught the dragon in an acid ball which only seemed to irritate it.  The beast landed and blasted the group with another cone.  Thanks to Edwin's protection little damage was taking either time.  Pirozzi, tried another fireball and scored a hit.  The dragon let out a shriek of pain.  You charged (some literally, some figuratively) into combat.  You found the dragon incredibly hard to hit.  The spells that could breach the beasts resistance were doing to most damage and soon the beast retreated to the cave.  You cured up and went after it.

Inside the cave was a long passage.  After nearly 200' you were met by two statues one either side of the passage, each with one arm outstretched and palm up as if bidding you to stop.  You didn't. Pirozzi cast a quick spell and informed you that they were not magical.  As they attacked, D'Argo reminded Pirozzi that elementals won't detect as magical.  D'Argo said something in a strange guttural toungue and the elementals responded in kind.  D'Argo relayed to the group that the dragon went this way and the elementals weren't going to allow you to pass.  "Really!?" someone in the rear replied.

The elementals hit with great force and even though they were easy to hit, their rocky skin deflected some of your damage.  Pirozzi hit one with an enfeebling ray making receiving blows from that particular one much more survivable.  Soon both were destroyed.

You started further down the passage when nearly simultaneously, Malloric, Wolfgar and Balros slipped on the frosty surface.  Balros was able to catch himself, but Malloric and Wolfgar sarted sliding down the passage toward the darkness.  Golina flew down to them and was only able to stop their descent as the rest of the group fished for roped from your packs.  Mallorid regained his footing and Golian was able to slide Wolgar back up toward the rest.  Goloan then flew further down the passage and relayed that it traveled some distance covered in frost and that there was a short area freaa of frost at the end before it fell way to a pit.  Edwin threw down his tower shield and he and Pirozzi jumped on and started sledding toward the bottom.  Others slid down. Henrik and Balros waited to spike a rope at the top to carefully slide down.  Edwin and Pirozzi almost were unable to get off his shield before it hurtled over the edge.  Edwin recalled it before it hit the ground.  Starting over the edge, you dropped a rock with a light spell.  It disappeared into darkness before it hit the ground.  You carefully walked down a landing that wound around the walls of the pit.

As you neared the bottom you noticed several large passages - large enough for a dragon -  that led off in various directions.  Arranged at the bottom of the pit were seven large statues of people all facing an even larger central monolith. In one corner of the room you could see a huge pile of coins, weapons, art, armor, furniture and more.  "The dragon must be near." some one whispered.  You looked into a couple of passages as you past them.  When you reached the ones you though most logical for the dragon to be hiding you explored them deeper.  They were empty.  As you returned from the second, you were met in the central room by another blast of frost.

The dragon fought to the death this time.  It appeared that enough time had past that some of its protections were no longer in effect. However, it appeared nearly unwounded.   Golain and Wolfgar were having the most success and the dragon turned its attention to them, doing some significant damage.  But it was too little too late for the beast.  The treasure pile looked to have literally tens of thousands of coins in it. Pirozzi cast detect magic and his eyes opened wide as he said there were a lot of items in that pile.  He also detected on the statues and found these too were of one type each.  You found a keyhole on each facing the center.  You were relieved that each of the keys also detected as one type of magic as no attempt to keep them separate or organized had been made.

[we ended here. following is a narrative in preparation for next time.]

You gathered up the treasure, counting as best you could and distributed some magic items [and maybe identified a few].  You took the keys to their corresponding statues and as the rhyme directed turned each twice. The central pillar begins to glow and ripple with a vortex of multi-colored light. At the pillar’s base, the vortex whirls in on itself like a vertically aligned whirlpool, opening into a 7-foot-wide circular portal.

When you get close enough to Nevond Nevend, you see what was once a well fortified, walled city.  Most of the wall towers are ruined and several gaping holes in the stone wall can be seen.  You do not see much repair activity or any obvious patrols or security so you approach cautiously.  You notice a ragged banner flying over what looks to be the main gate.  Edwin knows it is neither the banner of the Tenh nor the Duke's personal banner.  Who's it is he does not know.  You continue even more on guard.

Once inside, you find a city mostly destroyed.  Numerous buildings have been fully repaired or are in various stages of reconstruction.  The townsfolk are nearly all human and all eye you warily. like you are an unexpected visitor.  You notice a few half-orcs and even a couple of orcs while looking for a place to spend the night. You find an inn with a functioning kitchen and settle in as best you can.  Over the evening meal, things begin to loosen up as you make it clear that you are not from the Tenh and that you are not on any sort of business on behalf of anyone from the Duchy.  Some people are interested in hearing about the County and other further locations.  You learn that the city is (still) controlled by forces loyal to Stonefist. Once you have that knowledge, you are careful to not let on your final destination, but rather indicate you are headed into the Griff for adventure.

Many of the inn customers are happy to give you advice and some have warnings.  You take away from the conversations that taking plenty of water and extra bedrolls/blankets is important.  You are also warned that if you head up and into the Griffs, that you could start to suffer from altitude sickness.  A minor case is not that bad - at worst you are fatigued.  You can recover by descending to a lower altitude. A bad case will make you weak.  A worse case will start to tear at your mental faculties.  In extreme cases, it will kill.  The best way to avoid it or lessen the effects is to become acclimated. That takes weeks if not en entire month.  Other warnings include avalanches, and monsters particular to the mountains.  You are told about the presence of giants. Mostly Hill, but some tell of Frost or even Cloud.  There are tales of yetis, dragons, giant white worms, and other beasts.   Two tales in particular grab your attention.  In both cases, you figure the tellers are trying to scare you and that they believe their stories to be more fiction than fact.

This first is about a relatively recent appearance in the mountains of a new giantkin.  They are similar to hill giants, but are reported to be much stronger and completely insane.  You can tell them from a 'normal' giant by he odd, runic tattoos that cover their bodies.

The other story is about the Spirit of the Mountain - something they call the Wendigo.  It takes the form of some mountain creature like an elk, mountain goat, great cat, etc.  What it really looks like no one knows.  It is said to move on the wind and is everywhere and nowhere at the same time.  You can tell if it is close by its howl which can be heard for miles even in the fiercest storm.  If you can hear it, you are too close.  Some stories are told about people who did or say they heard of someone who has confronted one.  One particularly compelling version has the creature grabbing people and disappearing into the wind.  The last thing attributed to the Wendigo is something the locals call Mountain Psychosis.  It is usually preceded by several nights of restless sleep when they say the Wendigo invades your dreams.  You are warned that the best way to deal with a person who has it is to kill them before full blown psychosis sets in.  If that happens they will turn on you, attempt to kill you and if successful will eat your corpse.

After spending a couple of months away from adventuring the group gathered back in Ardrinn.  Edwin and D'Argo were just finishing up all the crafting work left for them.  Several of you had traveled during the break and most of you had gathered some information relating to either the poem you discovered in the catacombs, the sihedron symbol/cult, the Runelords, or  some other bit of information relating to places you have been or people you have encountered.

After several rounds of drinks and haggling over definitions, you figured the next step was to travel north - way north - to a lake called Abanfyl (Stormunder in the barbarian tongue).  It is there that something to do with keys likely has to happen.  Henrik, Golian and Malloric mentioned that they had heard that Duke Enveh was getting ready to leave for Tenh soon.  Maybe you could hook up / tag along.  The group packed and headed to Radigast.  Even with Edwin's and Pirozzi's connections, you could not insinuate yourselves into the Duke's retinue, nor was an invitation extended.  "Screw him anyway." was someone's reply. You provisioned for a long trip overland and headed off.

The vast majority of the trip was uneventfull.  You had a few encounters with wolves, a bear, a couple ogres, etc.  Nothing that even made you break a sweat.  You reached Redspan before the Duke and found it to be a city mostly recovered from being sacked.  You were able to re-provision and headed out north again. About two days from Nevond Nevnend you were attacked during the night.  The howling of wolves woke you and most were able to don some armor and cast some spells before the assault.  You were approached from all sides and soon had D'Argo's tiny hut dispelled.  Balros headed toward a couple of caster looking types and a large 'spirit' bear.  Malloric followed.  Henrik was still getting armor on while D'Argo and Pirozzi targeted spells into the darkness in another direction to get some hidden spellcasters. Balros laid into the bear and had the favor returned at least two-fold.  The female caster approached Malloric and offered him a flask which he took.  He was about to drink it down when Balros struck at the vial, shattering just before Malloric could drink. Shortly after that, Balros apparently decided this wasn't his fight and started to simply walk away.  Malloric managed to down the female caster.  A male caster and the bear moved off a way.

From another side of the camp three Hextorites approached.  One proclaimed his presence and commanded all to flee.  A couple of you felt compelled, but with the protections from evil in the area resisted the urge.  The other clerics followed up with silences forcing the group to spread out more. Wolfgar and Golian engaged the main cleric with spell back up from Pirozzi and D'Argo.  Edwin was kept busy as usual with cures.  Henrik was nearly ready to go.  That was timely as the male caster started summon beasts and demons that Henrik attacked.

From the shadows approached a female in leather with wooden stakes in each hand.  Malloric quickly recognized her from one of his warrants.  He looked for the monk, but she was not around.  After a few rounds, the vampire transformed into a bat and flew off.  During this time two other females approached from yet another clock direction.  One was the monk from Malloric's warrants.  He looked at her and frowned a nasty grimace, muttering under his breath something like "You have got to be fucking kidding me!"  Wolfgar and Golian had nearly downed the cleric.  Malloric and the monk made eye contact and exchanged a few hand signals.  Everyone looked around a bit confused.  The monk signaled to the enemies and they withheld their attacks for a moment.

Malloric and the monk conversed.  The result was that your opponents would withdraw and the vampire was forfeit.  Only the monk and the lone other female caster followed the agreement.  The others attacked.  Golian and Wolfgar finished the main cleric and went after the other two.  The vampire reappeared and was quickly beaten.  All you focus turned back to the male caster and his "bear."  The bear was massive and barely missed.  When it did hit, it often added an rending attack.  The male caster kept repositioning himself with the bear between himself and opponents.  When he had good positioning, he cast a wall of fire encasing the bear, Balros, Golian and his staff which had transformed into a huge constrictor snake.  Golian was able to save Balros just before the snake crushed him to death.  D'Argo and Pirozzi had managed to get to a vantage point to see the caster behind the circle of fire and burned him down.

You cured up, looted the bodies and pursued some answers from Malloric.  He was clearly not happy and mostly muttered something about a "Pathfinder Code." You finished your journey and reached Nevond Nevnend, the one time Capital of the Tenh.  You were a bit surprised how you found it.