Rise of the Runelords

With the latest apparition having faded, you decided to orient yourselves.  You all moved out onto the porch to be safe and Henrik cast a protective spell or two and asked for directions to the ledger Pirozzi and D'Argo had seen.  He waded into the cabin, returning quickly with the ledger in hand.  D'Argo started pouring over it and Edwin reminded all that there was still something out there.  The ledger was tucked away and you formed up loosely and headed into the blowing snow.  Jest as the front of the group lost sight of the cabin (but not the others of the group) you all heard the howl-on-the-wind some of you had heard a few days earlier.  Instead of being merely shaken, more than half of you dropped what you had in hand and scattered in panic into the storm.  Edwin, Henrik and Pirozzi stood together debating what to do.  Thirty seconds or so later, Wolfgar came into view and then veered off again.  Henrik took chase eventually catching him and wrestling him to the ground for the duration of the effect.  Golian showed up a few seconds later.  Soon there was a scream off in the snow - Balros.  Those who could started making their way in that direction.  Malloric, also not longer panicked, made his way from another direction.  Soon most of the group converged on the sound of Balros's screams.  He was in the clutches of a monster never before seen or imagined by any of you.  It had him grappled and was goring him to pieces.

You started throwing everything you had against it.  Malloric's arrows bounced mostly bounced off, but the special damage often took hold.  Fire seemed to be its weakness even with it's uncanny ability to heal quickly.  Edwin and Pirozzi had their hands full keeping Balros alive. Nearly a minute later it was wounded enough that it dropped Balros and howled again.  Many fled in panic, giving the creature enough space to fly up and into the wind driven snow.  You soon able to collect yourselves and find your dropped equipment and returned to the shelter of the cabin - not the inside, but next to away from the wind.  The wind died down within a half hour of the end of the fight making for a relatively relaxing night.

During the night, Wolfgar awakes screaming.  He is visibly shaken and dripping in sweat.  He says he had a horrible night mare, but can not remember anything.  He soon curls over with hunger pangs.  Edwin tries a break enchantment and heal to no avail.  He thinks about it and confers with D'Argo. They come to the conclusion that this is no "normal" or even magical disease, but more likely something supernatural.  Wolfgar may need a limited or full wish to be rid of it before he succumbs to whatever ails him.

D'Argo studies the ledger and locates the route to the lost Vekker brother.  The group heads out the next day. It is a long day's trek.  You often came to ledges where people would have to be hoisted or hand off D'Argo's slippers (of spider climb) to keep moving.  Eventually you come to a narrow ledge with sheer walls on both sides.  Ahead the path is covered in fog. Golian steps up to take the lead and guides people into a large recess in the mountain.  On the far side he can see several stone sticking up through the fog.  In the back is a tunnel opening.  The group heads to the stones where you find several grave markers.  You head toward the opening when Golain yells for everyone to stop.  He informs you that through the fog he can see a preserved corpse of a dwarf still wearing armor.  The group cautiously approaches when an apparition of the dwarf rises out of the fog and wails.  No on is affected thanks to Edwin's breakfast.  The group attacks.  The ghost tries to bite and claw and in one moment, focused all its energy and flung Balros off the cliff.  He fell into darkness.

While it was hard to tell, the group was getting the upper hand on the ghost when Balros' "friend" flew down onto the ledge and said "YOU CAN NOT HAVE HIM!"  The final battle with the Wendigo began.  You were immune to teh effects of its howl so were all able to attack it at once.  With that focused fire, it fell.  D'Argo clambored down the mountain to find Balros badly bruised with a few broken bones, but alive.  He dimension door'd back up and everyone's wound were tended too.  D'Argo poured over the ledger that evening and told everyone that the way to Xin Shalast is 'coded' in the book.  The bad nes is there appear to be several pages missing - key pages.  You camped the evening and made your way back to the cabin with the bones of the Vekker brother. With the brothers reunited, an air lifted from the cabin and 'things felt better.'  Silas's ghost reappears and says that you will find the way to Xin Shalast in the ledger and says, "You will need these." As he fades from view for the final time, several leaves of paper appear and float to the floor.  You pause a few seconds before picking them up.  They are the missing pages you need.

Wolfgar did not fare too badly that day.  The next day was a different matter.  He again wakes after a barely restful night's sleep and mentions ho does not feel well.  He says he is incredibly hungry and longs for fresh meat.  He does not have the faculties to pray for spells.  A restoration returns enough lost wisdom for him to complete his prayers.  The group watches him as much as you do the road in front of you as you head out for the city of greed.  After a few days, you come to the source of the tributary.  The ledger mentions something cryptic about following the water through the stone.  Malloric and D'Argo notice something odd.  With a little searching they are able to 'reveal' an illusion.  The tributary does not start here, but flows 'through' a rack face.  You move onward.  Toward the end of the day you reach a vast ice marsh.  sheer cliffs on all sides make a round about path impossible.  You start moving through and quickly realize the ice is treacherous.  Malloric and Golian take the lead and with each off to one side prod at the ice, pointing out the safest path. After about 30 minutes, a crack of lighting streaks down from the sky, striking Edwin and shattering the ice he is standing on.  It breaks and he disappears into the dark, freezing water.  Some start fetching rope, others look for the source.  Soon another bolt strikes Balros, who manages to avoid falling into the hole under his feet.  Golian draws your attention to spot some distance away.  Stil no one can see anything.  Balros, Malloric, Golian and Pirozzi start making their way in that direction.  Soon all spot some movement.  As you approach, you are taken unaware by a thin fey-like creature with blue-hued skin flowing silver hair.  And naked.  Balros approaches first and is rebuffed before he can even reach the creature.  She pauses and looks quizzically at Malloric as she motion for him to come forward and for the others to stay away.  Malloric shields his vision and slowly approaches. "I know you?", she says. 

"I don't think so." is Malloric reply. 

"Sure I do.  You are Malloric and they are Edwin, Wolfgar, Henrik, Pirozzi, and Golian.  I do not know the others."

"I am afraid you have me at a loss." Malloric looks back at the group and shrugs.

"You knew my sister, Myriana. I'm sure of it."

The proverbial lights started flickering and soon you all remembered the ghost you you 'rescued' near Fort Ranik.  All hostilities ceased and you share your stories.  [long story short - may too late] This is her home and the long entrance to the realm that holds Xin Shalast.  She will extend her safety to you here (but it is still cold) and tells you some about what lies beyond.  [write up to follow]

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[the session title is in reference to the Algonquian Wendigo myth.]

It was slow going up the tributary. Between the very difficult terrain - made slippery by the recent snow - and thin air the group only managed a few miles at best.  Another summer snow squall started toward the end of the day forcing you to make camp.  In the relative warmth of hut created by D'Argo you rested out the night.  Early in the evening, those on watch and a few who were sleeping heard a howl carried on the winds.  You first chalked it up to wolves, but soon realized there was something more to the noise.  It seemed to be carried by and even be part of the wind itself.  You were on edge for hours after.

You broke camp and went about your morning routine.  Henrik noticed Wolfgar was dragging a bit.  He asked Wolfgar if he thought he might be having some altitude sickness.  Wolfgar said he didn't think so.  He said he slept poorly and was just really hungry.  He grumbled throughout the day and commented at meals that he would really like some fresh meat for a change.  Henrik consulted Edwin and that nights' watches were reconfigured.  Edwin, now on Wolfgar's watch kept and eye on him and talked.  Wolfgar mentioned that his sleep was so poor that he was unable to concentrate enough to meditate for spells from Moradin.  And he was still really hungry.  Edwin convinced him to allow a break enchantment.  After casting, Wolfgar felt less hungry but was still craving fresh meat.

Travel the next day was nice.  The sun was out which lifted everyone's spirits a little. That didn't last.  Mid afternoon brought another snow squall form over a nearby peak and the temperature dropped. Just as you were contemplating finding a place to camp, Balros spotted a structure in the distance.  It was built at the bottom of a cliff with an enclosed structure that hugged the cliff all the way to the top some 60' plus.  He could make out a large pine, perhaps dead, near the structure.  Deciding inside an actual building would be better than another night in the hut you headed along an old road that led the direction of the cabin.  When you were about 100' away, Balros yelled for everyone to stop. The snow was whipping around making seeing beyond even 20' very difficult.  "What is it?".  Balros replied, "I'm not sure, but I could swear that tree moved."

In just a few seconds, he was proven correct.  Out of the wind driven snow the rest could finally see the tree. It was scrambling over the rocks toward you.  Arrows, magic missiles, and scorching rays flew.  Several of you set up a line of defense to meet the creature head on only to be pummeled as the tree trampled the front line and stopped in the middle of the group.  Even this close, the snow made is difficult to see specific locations for area spells.  People resorted to melee and target specific spell casting.  Henrik moved up and smote the beast.  It returned the favor with a heavy blow from one its branches.  Henrick was covered in a cloud of fungus that was dislodged from the dead tree as it attacked.  He was coughing but otherwise seemed alright. Pirozzi was dishing out massive damage as his fire spells seemed to be the creatures vulnerability.  D'Argo sprayed the thing with acid.  The tree seemed to want to attack Pirozzi, who was just out of reach, so it turned its fury on D'Argo who crumpled under two massive blows.  More fire damage from Pirozzi and Edwin destroyed the tree.  D'Argo was Healed and the group went on to examine the location from whence the tree came. Malloric hung back and found some magic bolts stuck in the  tree's craggy bark and a potion vial in a rotting knothole.

The first foray into the building was short as you had to break the rusted lock and chain off what turned out to be a storage room with no further access to the interior.  The second door, also locked, led into the heart of the small cabin.  As Henrik and Pirozzi tended to the pack animals, the rest wound your way further in.  You opened doors of an ore processing room.  The front few of the party saw a dwarf, hunched over with he back to you. He appeared to be shoveling something into his mouth.  He turned toward you and you saw he was reaching into the dust around him -  that now looked like piles of gold dust - and shoveling it into his mouth.  His long beard was soaked with saliva and glittered with the dust.  "You HAVE to try this!  It is DELICIOUS!"  The front of the group looked at each other quizzically as Balros headed into the room and began filling his mouth with gold dust, which had reverted back the ore pile originally seen.  He quickly shook off the image and started to spit out what dust he didn't already swallow.  D'Argo mentioned the gold ore can be full of some nasty stuff and maybe a cure disease might be a good precaution at some point.

You continued and after exploring a few small rooms, came to the central feature of the cabin.  A tall shaft rose along the cliff face with a chain loop hanging in the middle and a wooden stair winding its way to the top.  D'Argo said this was probably on ore drop from the mine up top to the processing here.  You started up the stair.  Near the top, the stair collapsed under Balros, Wolfgar and Malloric.  Each jumped for the chain. Balros missed and fell 40' to the floor. Malloric and Wolfgar were hanging on the chain with the rest trying to figure out how to get them back to the stairs when the chain started to thrash and spin.  It started to loop itself around Malloric while Wolfgar used hi free hand to smack it with his hammer.  Others cast spells at it.  When Malloric was grappled, the chain moved on a pulley, hauling both to the top where it proceeded to drop Malloric to the floor 60' below.  Golian flew toward it and said with realization to the rest of the group, "You do realize this place was locked from the OUTSIDE."  With numerous adamantine blows and more spells, the chain fell 'lifeless.' A little bit of curing and the team moved on.

The upper part of the cabin had numerous rooms which were explored one by one.  The group soon found the front door and stood for a moment on the porch looking out into the blowing snow.  Some of you could have sworn you saw a dwarf in rags in the snow.  It turned to face you and you heard it yell, "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! THEY"RE GOING TO EAT YOU!"  Balros froze in panic and started yelling at the rest of you to not come any closer.  Henrik, realizing the these were probably haunts called for Edwin to come forward and try to dispel them as he had at the old mansion outside Ardrinn.  Edwin moved forward while other looked into other rooms.  In one room, Golian found am activation lever for a trap or door.  When he pulled it you all heard a scrape and thud from somewhere in the cabin. Pirozzi found a small office with several sacks and a ledger on the desk. Henrik, looking in the last room found it empty save for a pile of bones in a far corner.  He was soon overcome with a vision of nearly a dozen or so dwarves scrambling over one another each trying to eat another. They soon saw Henrik and attacked.  All the rest  of the group saw was Henrik violently trying to fend of some invisible attacker while scratched and larger cuts appeared on his exposed skin.  Poirozzi and Edwin tried to keep Henrik cured while others attacked the pile of bones.  Soon the haunting stopped.

Less than a minute later, some of you heard a knocking from somewhere in the lower part of the cabin.  It lasted only  a few seconds and stopped. Then there was a loud cracking sound followed by sounds of mighty hammering as the cabin itself started to shake.  The shaking become worse, almost as if the cabin were being knocked off the cliff. Many of the group were knocked off their feet or had to grab hold of something.  Soon Wolfgar was the first to have that familiar look that you had seen days earlier.  He looked famished and grabbed his stomach in pain. "By the Gods am I hungry!" he yelled.  Several others were writhing with pangs of hunger as well.  The shaking continued as they regained their composure.  However, when they did, they no longer seemed affected by the shaking and started attacking the others of the group.  Edwin, still out on the porch was keeping eyes on the group and helping and curing when he could.  After a very chaotic 30 seconds or so, Edwin noticed the snow itself coalesce and quickly move toward him.  A shape flew past as it attacked doing both physical and cold damage.  "There's something out here!" he yelled as he cast a mass protection from cold and tried to force his way into the cabin.

[this is where we stopped. what follows is some narrative leading up to next session.]

As Edwin forced himself into the room and pulled the door closed behind him, the shaking suddenly stops.  The cabin shows no signs of damage from the shaking aside from a few tipped chairs. You assess the situation, cast a cure or two and start deciding what to do when another vision starts to coalesce in the middle of the room.  Some grab your weapons, others look for the nearest exit as a a figure of a balding dwarf with no eyes forms from the mist. He speaks though his lips barely move and bit-sized bits of him tear loose with each word and fade before they it the floor.  By the time he finishes, there is little left of him and soon even that fades away.

You… you are alive? You do not hunger? Ah… that is what I sense in your blood. Greed. You seek the City of Greed. You should abandon your quest, lest you end up like me. Cold. Dead. Eaten. But I suspect you cannot be swayed. Know then that I know the way to Xin-Shalast. I can show you the way, but only if you bring me my brother. He died on a ledge high above our final mine. I can feel his soul out there, still hungry, still insane. Bring his bones to me so that I might reconcile with him. Once he is at rest, I will show you the way so that I might rest as well…

 [we'll pick up from here next time....]

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After about a months worth of travel and crafting, the party set out for the northern Tenh by teleporting to Nevond Nevend where you equipped and readied for the trip up the Karazon.  The first days of travel were uneventful. You passed a few mostly abandoned farmsteads and scared off a few orcs and wolves.  It wasn't until you reached the foothills of the Griffs that things became more difficult. 

One night the party was awoken by the sound of something large making its way toward camp. It was not making any attempt to sneak.  About the same time most of the party was awake, the creature came into view.  It was a very big giant.  No, it was gargantuan.  Malloric let loose with arrows as it charged.  It reached Malloric after being hit by a couple spells and some more arrows.  None of which seemed to give it pause.  It nearly sliced Malloric in two.  With the beast closer, those with melee weapons were able to surround it and it didn't last long.

The next few days of travel brought the group into some higher elevations where some started to succumb to altitude sickness.  Lesser and regular restorations were temporary help.  Heals helped greatly but only guauranteed people got through the day.  They did not offer any long term protection.

On evening as the group was breaking for camp, Balros noticed some large flying creatures making their way closer.  They started shooting arrows.  D'Argo placed a cloud kill in the air which had some effect and made them scatter.  They never got within melee range, so it was up to the casters and bows to fend them off.  Most were killed and only one or two flew away.

Another few days and more people began to succumb to altitude sickness keeping Edwin busy.  The group also had to deal with daily snow squalls making travel even more difficult.  Keeping track of the tributaries, you eventually passed two to the south and then one to the north.  This is what you were directed to look for.  You bundled up and headed upstream in the snow.

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Some time passes while individuals shop for items, wait for D'Argo and Edwin to craft some, see contacts, take short trips, etc.  Some may take a short trip back to Ardrinn. Others may go as far as Greyhawk.  To follow up on the lead(s) you have, at least Wolfgar heads back to some Dwarven enclaves near Ventnor to learn more about the Vekker brothers.

During the down time, you learn the following:

• The Vekker brothers established a base camp near where a tributary enters the Karazon somewhere deep in the Griff Mountains.
• Reports have Hextorites sending parties into the Tenh.
• Xin-Shalast is located on the towering Mhar Massif, which is itself located at the end of a valley at the headwaters of the river Avah.
• Leaders of 'He of the Blinding Light' have issued a fatwa against any travel in the Pale, Tenh, Bandit Kindgoms and Barbarian Lands for worshipers of Hextor, Ethythnul and Incabulos.

[Others may have more specific and/or detailed info which will be passed directly.]

Once all are back together, the party will head back north to Nevond Nevend to provision for a trip up the Karazon to find the Vekker Brothers' camp. The map below shows some locations and give an idea of distances.


.

The group spent days, stretching into weeks, in Radigast, appraising, identifying and selling odds and ends loot in preparation for a treasure split. [ed: details to follow on who got what.]  Several of the group approached D'Argo and Edwin about having them work on upgrading current or creating some new items.  Everyone got out their calendars and started plotting out available times.

Golian produced a copy of the letter his informant had:

Salutations, Lendil!

Thank you again for the kind words and drink. It’s always a pleasure to speak with readers of my work, especially those well-read and civilized enough to know of my writing beyond the Barbarian Lands. Alas, I was unable to procure a copy of the early draft from my personal files. It would seem that it has gone the way of so much of my early work, lost forever to the gulfs of time and narrow-minded publishers unable to grasp the import of a young Pathfinder’s work. Fortunately, my mind is as quick now as it was in those early days of my explorations of your fantastic homeland. I recall the evening I first heard the story of Xin-Shalast, while seated on a log in a barbarian camp, sharing ruby mead with an enchanting young woman. Ah, but that’s a story for other times.

I was intrigued by the tale, though. All peoples have tales of “cities of gold,” yet with Xin- Shalast, the northmen had no tradition of explorers seeking it. They viewed the place as one of evil, a place to be feared and forsaken. As far as I could tell, none of the indigenous people ever sought out the ruins before the advent of Flan rule. But there was mention, come to think of it, of two dwarven brothers. Vekker, I think their names were. Claimed to have recently found the route to Xin-Shalast and convinced several tradesmen to support and supply their plan to establish a base of operations in the Griff Mountains along the Kazaron. Their vanishing into the Griffs bankrupted all but one of their investors, I hear, and even today, the Vekker name is generally accompanied by a litany of rousing dwarven profanity when it comes up in taverns.

In the stead of enclosing a copy of the early, complete draft of my work, though, please find a signed copy of Eidolon with this missive.  I trust it will look quite handsome on your shelf.

In good Health,

Redwing

After recovering for a day or so, using the down time to identify a few more magic items and being unsuccessful in determining how the master circle worked, the group figured to go take one last look for Delhavine.  The trip to the Cages of Lust was familiarly quick.  You entered the main chamber and noticed the tear you had left in the huge silk pavilion had been repaired.  You checked on the one nearly dead prisoner to find he had in fact expired.  You moved up to the tent. buffed and entered, Wolfgar first.


Instead of stone giants, he encountered one frost giant.  The group moved in so quickly the giant barely had time to swing his huge axe before he was cut to pieces.  As you were congratulating yourselves on your slaying speed you heard a male voice yell, "Is someone there!?  Help me!" That was quickly followed by a female's voice, "Shut up!" and a heavy slap.  You moved through the tent to the main chamber where you saw Delhavine standing over a bound male elf lying at her feet.  Wolfgar, having prepared the 'perfect' spell, quickly ran into the room.  Recognizing Delhavine, he cast his dimensional anchor and hit her square in the chest.  Others followed.  Balros, who was moving around to the other side was soon accosted by an invisible creature that did not appear when attacking.  Edwin cast true seeing on Malloric.  Malloric reported that the beast Balros was fighting was a large creature and appeared to be naturally invisible.  D'Argor helped out by covering the creature with glitterdust.  It didn't solve the problem but did make the stalker easier to see.

Malloric turned his view to Delhavine and was surprised.  He reported that the standing woman was not Delhavine, but instead one of her thralls and that the male elf on the ground was Delhavine.  A confusion followed. Malloric and Golian were affected.  D'Argo had to protect the group by walling Malloric and his bow off from the rest of the group in a wall of force bubble.  Wolfgar and Henrik went after Delhavine.  D'Argo greased the area forcing Delhavine to cast from the ground.  Her thrall was quickly dispatched.  It took the group a few moments to realize that Delhavine was likely to get away again as Wolfgar anchored the 'wrong' person.  A few scorching rays on her and the stalker, with a number of sword, mace and hammer blows and the stalker was nearly defeated and she said, "You can have this wretched place!" just before she teleported away.

A bit dejected, you returned to the master circle and pondered.  Someone suggested D'Argo simply enter the circle and try a dimension door or teleport.  He and a few others stepped in and as D'Argo pictured the dargon cave and cast dimension door you were quickly transported to the circle of stone heads where the whole adventure began.  As you started to move out, you 'popped' back to the master circle.  You figured you needed a more powerful spell.  You tried a full teleport and it worked.  Another couple of days and teleports and D'Argo was able to get the whole group back to Radigast.

You found that months had past while you were gone for only weeks.  Folks set about selling, appraising, and gathering information.  While getting ready for a treasure split, Golian returned with what he thought was some valuable information.  All efforts to find the location of Xin Shalast have come up short to date.  You know you were close while in the Griffs.  One of Golian's contancts in town showed him a letter that mentioned the great city of gold.  But as Malloric pointed out, the letter still did not say where it was so you were no closer to finding it.   "But it mentions some Dwarves called Vekker. That's a lead."

Balros mumbled, "Great now we have to search the continent for a couple of Dwarves.  That'll take no time at all."

A pained look came over Wolfgar. "Wait I...no... wait...I know that name."  He retold the story of his and D'Argo's returning the Lost Corwn of the Pallgreaves.  The crown was given to the Vekker brothers as an investment in their mining operation. It and they were never seen again.  Most figured they duped all the investors and ran off with the wealth.

Someone muttered, "What are the odds of all that info falling into place."

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[ed.  short and to the point]

You made your way into the Halls of Wrath to find a large room overlooked by a very large iron statue with a bow in one hand.  You cautiously approached and as expected, it started to move.  It launched a volley of arrows of energy the size of ballista bolts first hitting Wolfgar with fire damage.  Edwin responded by yelling at everyone to stay put.  You mostly did as he cast a mass protection from fire.  It didn't do you much good as the next volley was cold and the next electric.  The group flew, dimensioned, door'd, air-walked and whatnot to get to the landing the golem was on.  It focused its attacks on the nearest to the hall behind the construct.  After much pommeling it was defeated.

You moved on to find some arcane circles in the floor, one red, one blue.  The runes translated roughly as 'In' and 'Out.'  You could get three people in one at a time.  As you did, you found yourselves teleported to another room.  The others followed. You did this a few times.  Each time coming to an area(s) occupied by fighter/mages (who loved fire spells - guess Edwin's protection paid off after all. Especially the time there were about 1 half a dozen fireballs all centered on the group and you took no damage.)

The last room was large and empty.  The only other exit aside from  the blue circle on the floor was what appeared to be a thick wall of smoke.  You formed up and buffed with what you had left.  The protection was still in effect.  Golian could not see through the smoke (fog).  Malloric girded himself against any ill effect and plunged into the smoke.  About 10' later, he came out the other side with the knowledge that he was to face another test.  The only thing the rest of the group heard was Malloric say, "You have got to be fucking kidding me."  as he faced a gargantuan demon in the middle of the room.  And that was not his test.  The rest followed.

Malloric informed the group that he was going to take on Lady Athroxis by himself and they were to handle the demon.

As Malloric made his way around the giant beast, Lady Athroxis hit nearly everyone else with a chain lightning spell as the demon summoned two Vrocks.  Pirozzi headed off to the side and Golian was making his way around to flank.  Balros, Henrik and Wolfgar waded up the middle to engage the demons.  It started badly.  The big demon had a gaze attack which periodically stunned individuals, but not for too long.  It attacked at least five time a round, but you were immune to it's poison tail sting. (again thanks to Edwin).  It looked to ward D'argo early in the battle and said "Your acid will avail you not here."  However, it's massive damage could not be that easily overcome.  Henrick collapsed under the weight of some massive blows.  While Balros and Wolfgar dispatched one Vrock.  Edwin though Henrik's abilities too valuable to not have in the fight so he cast a heal and Henrick rejoined the battle.  Pirozzi, safely off to one side was able to fire a few spells with effect (through the SR) and could keep an eye on Malloric at the same time. D'Argo, a bit dejected about the acid bit, resorted to buffing mostly.  However, it was D'Argo that decisively turned the battle.  He was able to get a slow spell through the creature's innate resistance.  From then it was nearly a cake walk.

Meanwhile, Malloric and Lady Athroxis were going at it with Malloric slowly getting the worse end of the deal.  Pirozzi had been helping with a few cures by way of his Spectral Hand.  D'Argo come up and cast a Glitterdust.  The protection from fire was saving Malloric from substantial fire damage and her stoneskin saved her from much physical damage.  Her buffs ran out first and Malloric finally landed several critical hits at once.  She fell.

.

There was a little discussion about following the lich, but only a little.  The trap door proved too heavy to heave open so you pulled out the chime of opening and down you went.  A steep stair ended in an empty room.  Your light showed the half dozen wraiths waiting for you. Confident in your abilities and knowing Edwin was only steps behind you headed in.  No sooner than the first took a few steps in, the far wall was illuminated showing the lich standing in the arch of an exit in mid cast.  As you engaged the wraiths, another devourer appeared.  Knowing how to handle them now, the undead only seemed to slow you down and give the lich a chance to leave unobserved.  Henrik was the first to the hall and peered around a corner.  Someone yelled "Stay together down here."  All he could see was an unnatural darkness anyway.

The group easily finished the wraiths and devourer and gathered in the hall.  Edwin's light sources were more than enough to overcome the dark at the end of the hall. When the natural illumination took over, you could see a thick wall of greenish gas covering the entry to the room.  It was hard to tell it's depth.  The first in made it only a few feet before being overcome by the noxious fumes.  All he could do was stand and wretch.  Golian ran in to try to pull him out and was overcome himself.  Many struggled to get through the deep cloud.  Once through the cloud, many were still nauseated even after several rounds.  You could see the lich in the rear of the room with a single sarcophagus in each of three alcoves to his left, right and rear.  Malloric started taking bow shots only to find they had little effect.  Golian was flying around to its rear, Pirozzi was shaking off the nausia and D'Argo was climbing the walls to stay out of the cloud. Edwin entered the room walking air.  A few spells were exchanged when the lich's confusion spell had some effect making Balros act very unpredictably.  D'Argo had enough of the lich's casting and laid down a black tentacles that covered nearly all the back of the room.  The lich was soon grappled.  Edwin, able to walk above the tentacles was heading in to try to land a heal on the undead when it cast the only spell it could.  Edwin was blinded.  The lich could do little while grappled.  It was merely a standing target for the group when it turned its attention to the sarcophagi behind it.  Instead of targetting any of you with a spell from its staff it cast at the stone itself setting off a trap that caused dozens of necromantic rays to spray in all directions from each of the coffins.  They did large amounts of damage to those near the lich and healed the unded for that same amount.  The group kept up the barrage with what ever was left.  D'Argo was able to land a grease on the lich's staff.  It could not hold it which effectively ended the fight.  The rays only seemed to occur every other round and you were able to do more damage than they healed.  Eventually the lich (un)died.

You looted the sarcophagi and rested.

You left the 'silver man' shackled and headed off a way to discuss what and where to next.  Some thought to simply leave him.  Others thought some interrogation might yield some valuable information. Then followed all the other ethical and moral questions: do we negotiate with an evil person, what kind of bargains can we make, how do we know if he's lying, etc. Long story short...  You spent some time talking to him and agreed that in exchange for some information about the Runeforge and his items which you now had as wells as an agreement on a non-aggression pact that you would remove his shackles and leave him behind.  He agreed. He told you about the properties of his magic items, saving you several pearls.  He also told you a number of things about the various 'wings' of the Runeforge.

Here's the short version of what you learn:

• The 'conjuration' wing, which he referred to as the Festering Maze is not worth exploring.  The wizards fell victim to their own apathy and all that remains is a slowly collapsing realm of acidic fog, vermin, slimes and oozes. 
• There is little left of the Abjurant (abjuration of course) Halls.  A war between the wizards a long time ago destroyed its denizens and most of the hall itself.
• The Ravenous Crypts (necromancy) are led by Kazaven, who was instrumental in destroying the Abjurant Halls.  When asked what kind of creatures would be found in the Ravenous Crypts, Ordikon (the 'silver man') replied, "Its a crypt - duh."
• High Lady Athroxis leads the Halls of Wrath (evocation).  Ordikon said you would encounter some of their 'spawn' there - "creatures the like of which you have never seen."  He described them and you remember fighting something very similar during your first foray into the catacombs beneath Ardrinn.  Ordikon seemed very surprised at that and asked about it.  You explained, but he could not understand the names of places you mentioned. He described Athroxis as a real bitch.
• Delvhine (enchantment) he described as a coward at heart.  She apparently had a thing for Vraxeris (illusion - long dead).  He was unaware that she could leave the Runeforge until one of you mentioned it, and quickly came to the conclusion that she could because she had not been here long enough.

When asked about his tenure in the Runeforge, he honestly didn't seem to know how long it had been.  Centuries, millennia or maybe longer. Time didn't seem to matter anymore.  He agreed - volunteered actually - to remain within the Halls of Greed for one year and to not aid the others against you.  Edwin 'cooked up' a feast fit for heroes and you left him alone behind.

The Runeforge Pool Hall was empty as you again entered it.  Edwin suggested the group explore the Festering Maze and maybe the Abjurant Halls just in case Ordikon was lying.  Malloric put his foot down. "Oozes. slimes and acidic fog - no way!"  That was the end of that discussion.  You headed to the Ravenous Halls.

Same routine as the other halls.  You waited until all were gathered before exploring too much farther.  The first room was circular with an exit directly across.  There was an odd smell in the air - stale sheets, urine, antiseptic, rotting vegetation, or in another word, death). Around the wall were about a dozen grinning skulls with what appeared to be bits of flesh in their teeth. In between them stood six armored figures with scarabs running over them and occasionally falling off. They 'poofed' into motes of dust when they hit the ground, only to be replaced by more crawling out from the seams in the armor.  You stepped in and the figures animated.  Malloric, Balros, Golian and Wolfgar were the first into the room. You all flet the air turn cold and a wave of dry, stale air overtook you.  You all resisted the effect thanks to Edwin's breakfast. The armored figures attacked with massively strong slams.  Each time they hit, some scarabs would fall off and land on their target and try to burrow into the skin.  Malloric was infected early. Pirozzi moved in and started lighting them up with flamed based spells which seemed to be more effective than normal.  They all turned their attacks to him.  Soon he was hit and infected by the scarabs. Edwin realized these were likely mummies of some sort and proceeded to destroy them, about two at a time.  Edwin looked at Pirozzi's and Malloric's wounds and said they were beyond a simple cure disease.  He tried a remove curse on Malloric with success.  Out of similar spells, Edwin examined Pirozzi's wound carefully and was able to successfully cure some of his damage. Pirozzi then used his own restoration to gain back some of his lost con and cha.  Edwin said the disease onset is quite quick, but there will be time to try another break enchantment or remove curse again before it advances.

You moved on to another circular room with several statues that depicted various professions - wine-making, bread-making, cheese-making, butcher, etc.  One statue however, depicted and was identified as 'cannibals.'  You went the direction of the wine-makers.  You moved through several similar rooms.  All were vacant and had one or more sarcophagi in them.  Each of which had been opened and was empty. 

In one room, you were met by what appeared to be a armored zombie with a dagger in hand and several more on a bandoleer.  Balros moved in cautiously before the creature went.  Its first action was to claw and scratch at the wall where it was standing.  Three wraiths emanated from the damage the creature did.  It then attacked.  It was very proficient with its dagger and did significant damage with each hit.  It was however, like a punching bag and you quickly overwhelmed it.  Edwin easily dispatched the wraiths.

You moved through a few other rooms that appeared to be dissection labs. In each were a half dozen of more undead of various types: ghouls, wights, zombies, etc.  Edwin and Wolfgar took care of them quickly.  All cheered after Wolfgar successfully dispatched a few ghouls.

The next room was filled with an awful stench.  You could not immediately see what the source was. Moving in a bit you found a pile of blue-robed corpses in the middle of the floor.  They each were missing something - an arm, foot, internal organs, large chunk of muscle or some other part.  You moved carefully around the room and into another. This one had a single sarcophagus with depictions partially butchered cattle marching around it.  Another half dozen of the armored mummies stood guard.  These creatures took an immediate interest in Pirozzi.  The group protected him well and were able to hack a few down while Edwin destroyed the rest.  After the fight, some of you noticed drag marks that led to and under a section of wall.  You found the secret door and followed it to a large lab full of writings, fluid filled jars with floating organs and bits of flesh and a partially dissected human on one of the three lab tables.  The drag marks continued through another wall.  You followed.

You entered another room with a few sarcophagi. In one corner stood an emaciated man in once regal, now rotting, clothing. His skin looked like it had been drawn too tight over his skull.  Perhaps another undead.  In the far left corner stood a large humanoid that was clearly not native to this plane. It was a semi-dessicated creature with an exposed ribcage, inside of which was a small ghostly figure that appeared to be under some tormenting effect.  Malloric took a couple shots at the wizard.  Balros went after the other creature. The wizard responded by displacing himself and then casting a spell that created a floating black blade that attacked Malloric, draining a level each time it hit.  The large creature hit Balros with an enfeebling ray.  All moved in splitting forces on the two targets.  Pirozzi started to fill the room with silences.  The wizard created a wall of wailing spirits.  You all were immune to the fear effect it had.  Passing through it was another matter.  You took damage and had to resist being level drained each time.The large creature did not do much damage, but with each hit, you felt cold and again had to resist the negative power in the room or loose levels.  It soon was destroyed. Some of you flew (potion / armor) or walked (airwalk) over that wall as it was only 10' high.  You tracked the wizard who was standing near the wailing wall and continued attacking.  He cast an invisibility spell and moved again. Edwin cast true seeing and noticed the wizard was near Pirozzi. Trying to get everyone's attention he frantically gestured in that direction.  The group found themselves cut off form assisting Pirozzi by a wall of force. Pirrozi cast more silences.  D'Argo was gathering people to dimension door past the wall when the wizard again moved (only Edwin could see).  Edwin airwalked to over the wizard and hit him with a crossbow/bright fire bolt.  People started to converge on the wizard when he cast again, now there were two of him.  They both moved to another part of the room.  Edwin could see which on was real and took another shot.  All keyed on that.  The wizard cast again, turning into a gaseous cloud and filtered through some previously unseen cracks in the floor.

end session

After looting Delavine's chamber and casting a detect magic and a couple oif quick identifies, you decided to go back to the Shimmering Halls to wait and rest.  Delvahine was still out there and you did not want to remain here lest she decided to return for vengeance.  Once you reached the Shimmering Halls, you noticed many more mirrors were broken and the room where you found Vraxeris had been further ransacked.  You found a defensible room and waited the day out.

After the clerics were able to regain their spells, you again ventured into the central room.  You figured this was the runeforge pool mentioned and decided to use the items recovered so far - the mirror shards and sex toy - to create a rune-forged weapon (somehow). Malloric stepped up first and dropped the shard he was carrying.  The colors in teh prismatic waters changed with one becoming brighter and a mist started to form over the water.  He dropped the other component into the pool and one other color brightened, almost completely obscuring the others.  The pool 'boiled' with mist.  Malloric hesitantly held out one of his bows.  The mists reached up and encircled the weapon.  The bow felt heavy as if the mists were trying to pull it into the water.  As you all watched, several runes - similar to those on his bastard sword and Pirozzi's spear - appeared on the bow.  As soon as they were formed, the mists retreated and the water appeared to have returned to 'normal.'  Henrik, Balros, Wolfgar, Golian, and D'Argo followed with the same results.  As D'Argo was finishing, you felt a rumble in the hall.  The statue of Karzoug, across the room from you was starting to crack.  The cracks grew larger and more and more stone fell to the floor.  Very quickly, the statue began to move, lumbering slowly towards you and the pool. 

Several launched magical attacks which merely bounced off the creature.  Malloric fired several arrows and noticed that most if not all the damage was being deflected.  He told Henrik, who called for Wolfgar to come meet him.  When Wolfgar reached Henrik, they rummaged quickly through the party weapons and armed Wolfgar with the magic adamantine war-hammer.  You formed a line to meet its progress.  It stopped once to cast a slow on the group. D'Argo countered shortly after with a haste.  The statue stopped some feet short of the front line and with its reach, brought a massive fist down onto Henrik. You returned blows, with many missing. Wolfgar landed a solid hit and was a bit surprised as all the damage seemed to penetrate the creatures defenses.  Balros moved up, drawing one, massive, staggering attack.  That allowed others to get closer.  Again, only Wolfgar was able to do any significant damage.  The creature focused its attacks on the dwarf and with two heavy fist slams, opened some nasty wounds on Wolfgar.  Edwin and Pirozzi were kept busy curing and thinking that if this went on too much longer, they would not be able to keep up.  D'Argo assisted by casting a stoneskin on Wolfgar and using haste spells to counteract the beasts slow attacks.

After a few rounds of Wolfgar's yo-yoing hit points, the create was poised to  land two more slams on him when it froze in mid strike.  A now familiar voice emanated from the creature.  It was Karzoug.  He said:

“You. Again. I can’t help but be inspired by your optimism, but alas, your weapons will never reach Xin-Shalast. Your fate is death, here in Runeforge.”

The creature then crumbled to dust. You decided to go into the passage behind where the statue had been, with some hoping that you would find Karzoug and be able to end this once and for all.

Entering this hall was the same as the others.  Some disappeared sooner than others, but you all waited on the other side until all were reunited.  Unlike the first two, this passage came to and end with a large door studded with gems on the right wall.  Golian took some time to examine it and decided it was safe.  As soon as he tried to unlock it, the door was thrust forward on a massive piston that crushed Golian, Balros and Wolfgar against teh far wall.  To door reset as fast as it sprung out.  You aministered some potions and curative spells and decided that was not the way.  A little searching revealed a secret door at the end of the hall.  You entered and found a long hall of polished wood inlaid with silver and gold runes, ending in a greenish mist lit by flickering silver lights.  You approached and could hear sounds of water - most likely fountain of sorts.  Golian could peer through the mist and saw a small pool and a whale fountain with a column of water coming from its blowhole.  You entered to take a better look, when you realized that Golian had disappeared.  You looked around in the mist, which obscured your vision until someone tripped on something on the goruind that had not been there before.  You bent down to find all Golian's equipment laying in a heap.  D'Argo quickly pointed out that that is what happens if someone has been balefully poly morphed.  You quickly searched for your lost comrade but found nothing. 

Then a voice. "Look, more fleshies."

Followed by another, "Are you sure its not the silver man." 

And still another, ""No, they're fleshies for sure." 

Looking for the source, you spotted small imp like creatures moving about in the pool and fountain spray.

Another voice, "You're not going to hurt us?" 

And another "The silver man hurts us."

And still another, "But they are fleshies, not the silver man."

After a few minutes of conversation, you determined a few things. First, they were not evil. Second, Golian had likely been turned into a goldfish and could be found in one of a number of pools in the complex. Third, that the Silver Man was a magic user who literally had skin of silver and cast fire-based spells.  You bid the mephits good bye and headed off.  You soon reached another pool.  Looking into it you could see dozens of goldfish.  D'Argo put his finger into the pool and the fish scattered - all but one.  That one swam around his finger in circles.  "Golian?" asked D'Argo.  "If that's you, do something."  The fish began to swim in the opposite direction.  There was a little debate about what to do. Edwin said he had a break enchantment spell prepared. Someone suggested a dispel magic.  D'Argo confirmed that a dispel would not work and something strong was needed.  Malloric scooped the Golian/fish out of the pool and placed it on the floor.  Edwin cast but was unable to overcome the poly morph.  D'Argo said that you would have about 24 hours to try again before Golian was at risk of losing his mind and becoming a goldfish for ever.  There was some debate about polymorping him again later to 'reset' the clock, but even that would have to wait.  You went back to the room with the mephits and Henrik was easily able to persuade them to look after the goldfish.  And you moved on.

You entered several rooms.  They were a pretty standard wizardly 'research labs' except for the fact that each one had an umber of small animals (rabbits, snakes, monkeys, etc.) in cages and on the main table in each room was a dead animal that had had part of its body turned to silver.  Continuing and leaving another pool room, you stumbled onto another lab.

This one was occupied by a tall, striking man with silver skin.  He quickly cast two spells with no obvious effect.  Balros and Wolfgar ran in to him.  Others cast some preparatory spells.  The Silver Man cast another two spells quickly and now there were eight of him.  Balros and Wolfgar soon ran into a invisible wall just in front of the mage.  D'Argo saw that and grabbed Malloric, Henrik and Edwin and dimension door'd to the other side of the wall to be with the mage.  Malloric readied his bow and waited for D'Argo to get rid if the images.  His magic missiles bounced away harmlessly.  Henrik charged and Malloric let loose.  It took a few rounds to get rid of the images and any blows that did land, sounded like they landed on hard metal and were partially deflected.  The Silver Mage lowered his staff and shot a ray at Malloric, who was being the most successful at eliminating images.  Malloric resisted the effect.  Wolfgar had made it to a door at the end of the wall of force and was trying to get through.  Others on the 'safe' side of the wall were taking the time to prepare.  The Silver Man cast a dimension door and joined Pirozzi and Balros, leaving the others on the other side of the wall.  PIrozzi threw a maximized fireball, scorching the Silver Man.  He responded by lowering his staff and hitting Pirozzi with another ray.  Pirozzi was able to resist the worse of the effect and only took moderate damage.  Balros charged and Wolfgar soon joined him.  Pirozzi cast a silence in the area with forced the Silver Mage to retreat with Balros and Wolfgar on his heels.  The mage was able to outdistance them as the two noticed the Silver Mage was not actually walking, but flying.  Before they could reach him he dimensioned door'd away.

You moved looking for him and entered a room with another exit on the far wall.  However, in the room were ten, solid gold statues in combat poses.  you decided not to risk it with the memory of the last animated statue still fresh.  You explored another direction and found more labs along the way.  You also found that this complex was something of a mirror image and the passages led back to the mephits in their fountain.  You headed back to the gold statues.  You cautiously moved into the room. Nothing.  A closer look at the statues showed them to not have expressions of anger or battle, but rather fear and pain.  You kept on going to find another door. A door made of solid gold.  It took several tries to open it.  When you did, you were met by an amazing sight.  A large room paneled in polished darkwood and inlaid with gold and platinum runes.  Several beams of silver light emanated from a large central pool and looked as though they held up the domed ceiling.  The pool was filled with a deep blue liquid with flashes of lightning in the water and occasional gouts of fire and loud thunder.  Under all the noise, you could hear shrieks of pain that seemed to come from vague shapes writhing in the waters.  Hovering over the far end of the pool was the Silver Man.

You let loose with the magics and a few moved in.  Those who entered quickly found a greased area just on the Silver Man's side of the door. Edwin cast air walk on Henrik who started to make his way in.  Pirozzi forced the Silver Man toe withdraw again to get out of an area of silence.  Wolfgar had reached the Silver Man and hit him hard with the adamantine hammer.  The Silver Man responded by again lowering his staff.  This time there was no resisting. Wolfgar felt a massive push and was launched into the pool.  Even though the water was shallow, he was surrounded by the vague figures.  He was able to resist their lure as he climbed out.  Henrik had reached the mage, having been enlarged by D'Argo on the way.  Calling on the faith of St Cuthbert, Henrik grappled the Silver Man.  This was the beginning of a quick end.  The Silver Man squirmed free once, long enough to cast a spell, but was quickly grappled again, pinned, and pummeled and bound into submission.  He was stripped of his belongings and questioned.  He was not very forthcoming.

After spending some length of time hanging out in the peacock hall you finally felt tired enough to get some rest and recover spells.  The "next morning" you shattered a few mirrors and everyone grabbed a shard and headed back to the room with the statues and debated again which ones stood for which sin.  You again agreed that the naked statue must represent the Runelord of Lust and that lust must equal enchantment magics.  With the recent knowledge that you need some of Delvahine's equipment for an enchantment component, you headed down the corresponding hall.

Like before, people started to disappear.  This time the first to go were almost everyone but Henrick and Balros, who soon rejoined the group.  A few more feet and the hall opened into a room even larger than the peacock hall.  Supportive columns ringing the room were carved with lewd images that left little to the imagination.  The entire ceiling was a fresco of such carnal acts that even Pirozzi almost had to look away - almost.  Numerous cages were spaced roughly evenly along the outer wall.  Balros spotted a few medium sized humanoids in them.  One in particular he thought he notices a little movement.  In the center of the room was a grand, silk pavilion tent.  You headed in cautiously.  Balros noticed a creature hiding behind a nearby pillar and informed the group.  You moved in more and were jumped by two beautiful and nearly naked female humans.  They started casting spells ending any hope Pirozzi might have had about parley (if you know what I mean).  you split the group and attacked each one.  Shortly into the fight, their images shifted to reveal their true forms - alu-fiends (a female cross between a succubus and human).  Shortly two more joined the fray.  You killed one.  Another teleported away before she was dropped.  The third fell and the last teleported away.

D'Argo had noticed an entrance to the tent.  You cast a few spells and regrouped before going in.  Wolfgar was first to find four stone giants. They attacked.  This room was filled with a light fog emanating from four braziers burning incense.  The aroma was nearly overwhelming.  After killing the giants and curing up a bit again, you maneuvered through the rooms in the tent finally coming to a large room. The floor was covered with plush pillows and blankets. An ornate poster bed stood in each corner and in the middle of the far wall was an over the top, cushioned throne.  In front of the throne stood the two alu-fiends that got away. They were flanking an even more attractive woman, even with the leathery bat wings.

Pirozzi started the fight with a fireball.  The alu-fiends both lept in front of the succubus and somehow took all the damage from the fireball which killed one of them.  The succubus responded by summoning a Vrock. Some attacked the Vrock which soon let loose with a volley of spores that started to grow into your skin (except for Henrik, who seemed to be immune to the effect).  Another fireball and the last alu-fiend died protecting her mistress.  You all engaged the Vrock for a few rounds when Balros and Golian decided to go after the succubus.  Balros got their first only to be completely demoralized by her beauthy and display of skill with her whip.  A couple of swings later and she cast a spell that left Balros rolling on the floor laughing. She followed that up with a confusion spell that set most of the rest of the group, save Pirozzi, fighting amongst themselves.  You managed to slay the Vrock.  Golian  was now close to the succubus and she repeated her actions leaving him laughing.  Between Henrik, Pirozzi and Edwin you were able to beat her down before she too teleported away.  You mostly stood back and watched as Malloric almost killed Wolfgar.  Over a turn passed from the beginning of those spells before everyone was back in their right minds.  The succubus did not return.

In a small corner desk hidden by pillows, you found magic backpack. In it was a magical book and several potions.  Also in the desk was a wide assortment of dildos, restraints, gags, and whatnot.  This must be Delvahine's "equipment."

"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.