Karran-Kural (March 1 2009)

The Vanguard sees the Redshield’s off and then says their goodbyes to Dugobras.

They venture out of the second entrance to Dugobras’s stronghold into the harsh reality that is the Deamonskar. Sharp cutting rocks that shred normal boots are the norm. What is considered a nice flat surface here is the equivalent of a rugged, pock-marked terrain with random one foot potholes. A mere glance away from the ground leads to trips and cut knees and hands.

To make matters worse, the environment looks like some giant knife sliced canyons and fissures. These range from 10’ across to 30’ across, requiring a cautious climb down into the darkness and then up the other side.

To make matters worse, not a plant in site and with the tropical sun, armor turns into walking ovens. The travel is slow, painful and trying on ones patience.

At the end of the first long day of travel, they Vanguard only traveled 5 miles. Luckily, the edge of the jungle is in site and the very beginnings of weeds and small brush cling precariously to the tortured rocks.

That night the group has a fitful but undisturbed sleep.

The next day, after two more exhausting hours of walking bits of mettle tubing, and other evidence of the Spellweaver’s domain begin to jut at odd angles up into the air. The question is, where is the entrance to Karran-Kural?

With no other method at their disposal, the group begins the search for the proverbial needle. For hours the group enters caves that dead end, or tunnels that are collapsed or branch off into multiple smaller tunnels far too small for travel.

Again the Vanguard sleep undisturbed in the harsh environments. At least now they have shelter from the daily deluge of rain.

Mid-afternoon of the next day Barrette spots some worn bits of stone… no sharp slicing rock. It is faint, but notable enough… following the path in one direction leads strait towards the beckoning jungle. The other leads back into the Demon Scar.

The party quickly follows the path in single-file. The first chasm even has some boards on each side to make some make-shift bridges to cross back and forth easily. Shortly after the chasm the path lead strait into an old steam vent. It is huge, 12 or so feet in diameter.

The party quickly enters the vent and sighs of relief go all around. The temperature quickly cools, the sun is no longer hammer its rays and the ground is smooth and easy to walk on.

Light sources are brought forth, and everyone descends, walking quickly and efficiently down the steep decline of the steam vent. It doesn’t take more than an hour when Bolgrim predicts the depth underground at being about ¾ of a mile. Additionally, the air temperature is slowly getting cooler. The very stable 58 or so degrees is dropping every fifty or so feet. The heavy moisture in the cave is condensing to the walls in wet drips forming a small 1” stream down the center of the steam vent.

Moving a bit more cautiously, the group notices the temperature is dropping and now people are seeing their breath. It takes only another 100 or so feet when at the far reaches of their vision there is frost and ice clinging to one wall of the steam vent.

As everyone approaches there are two icicle strewn openings in the steam vent. One of the openings looks like it is used often given the number of icicle shards littering the ground. The steam vent continues down into the depths, but it is quite obvious where others have gone before.

It takes but a sweep of an arm to clear the newly formed icicles from the entrance of the side cave. Cold air, well below freezing, emanates from within the ice coated cave. Stepping through the threshold into the icy air Churchkey leads the group to a once large cave that is also fed by the second tube. Unfortunately, this room is blocked by a huge naturally occurring wall of ice. The southern most portion of the ice wall has been chiseled through, making a sort of ice cave/tunnel. A very thin sheen of ice has formed over the tunnel enterence.

Again, Churchkey shatters the ice, chunks falling to the ground like glass. Air, easily in the single digits Fahrenheit assaults Churchkey. The blue fingers and rose colored cheeks has Conall and Bolgrim casting spells that will endure the cold. Everyone, stomps their feet to knock the cold out of their extremities and then make their way through the 18’ of ice tunnel. Someone was very determined to get through this wall of ice.

Beyond the tunnel of ice is the other side of the cavern. On the far side is a beautifully sculpted and designed portcullis. The stonework is astounding. However, the portcullis itself is twisted and fully removed from its frame and sitting in a heap… frozen to the ground and the side of the cave wall.

Stepping through the former defense of Karren Kural the Vanguard steps into a 10’ wide meticulously and perfectly built corridor. The last defense o Karren Kural stairs at them. Two huge doors, carved of mettle and stone with art never before seen illuminate the doors.

Barrette searches for traps and finds none. In fact he even determines that the doors are unlocked. Churchkey again moves to the front and opens the doors. They glide open as if they weighed nothing. As the motion of the door opens, pale blue lights set flush in the ceiling turn on in rapid succession until in a matter of about three seconds the 60 foot corridor is lit. The walls have a subtle curve, and the entire length is etched with disturbing images and symbols. What is most disturbing are the ten, strange glassy circles, each a few inches shy of five feet in diameter, checker the length of the hallway’s floor. Above each disc, a six-armed humanoid figure hangs motionless as if suspended in fluid or encased in glass.

The group cautiously makes there way through the room. Each adventurer lost in thought and wonder as they stare curiously at the suspended creatures. Churchkey detects no evil and Bolgrim detects vast amounts of magic. Concentrating he determines the disc’s are artifact like powerful in their magic, and that the pale blue light tiles in the ceiling are also the tiles emanating the cold.

Then upon the examination of one of the tubes the creature contained within twitches violently and then settles. The whole of the Vanguard jump back startled. The sing of mettle being drawn from shaft fill the hall. Poised, everyone intensely watches the tube. Nothing moves and with a few hard swallows, lowers their weapons.

The group weaves through the suspended creatures and is now standing at a pair of mettle doors. Again, these doors are carved with beautiful but odd illuminations. While Barrette examines the doors and Donner listens, Pepper is examining one of the tubes when the body inside jerks and drags its hand down the inside of the “glass” surface. Pepper drops a hot pocket and leaps back.

Up ahead, the coast is clear and the doors are opened. The chamber beyond is nearly circular, although two sides are made flat by think walls of ice. The entire room is filled with a lattice of thin icy strands, each flickering with faint magical energies.

Donner yells, “Creature, hiding back of the room!”
At the same time Barrette calls out, “There is some form of sigil surrounding the room”

At this, a blast of air so cold ice instantly seals eyelids temporarily shut and knocks the breath out of your lungs. The cold seems to find you like a skeletal claw nipping and biting. Barrette leaps out of the way. Others dive for cover and others are caught off guard by the damaging blast of air.

Pepper retaliates, an explosion of flames and heat fill the back of the room. A magical barrio seems to keep the creature safe from the explosion but the walls of ice have large melted holes in them. However, a magical force of energy can be seen sustaining the wall.

Decisions abound, we need to fight the creature, but what of these strands that fill the room? Barrette does the experiment. He steps forward breaking a strand, cold and necrotic energy shock his system causing Barrette to yelp. That alone tells the rest of the party what not to do.

Conall gingerly enters the room ducking and weaving around the strands.

Churchkey quickly sizes up the chances to dodge the fibers in the room and charges into the room at the eight foot tall ice insect. The fibers snap and lash at Churchkey leaving frostbite and blood and then quickly reconnect making the filament whole again.

Bolgrim, following in Peppers concept of fighting cold with heat calls down a pillar of flame. The creature flexes its magical muscles and repels the fire with not a scratch. However a larger whole is carved into the walls of ice.

Donner pulls in his energy and disappears only to reappear a fraction of a second later next to the huge insect devil. Unfortunately, Donner appeared within the force of the new melted ice wall. The magic energies of cold arc through his body like electricity, leaving Donner weakened.

Another blast of arctic air emanates from this terrifying foe. Churchkey takes the brunt of the blast while Barrette effectively leaps out of the way. When a moment later an arc of lightening slams into the devil. The lightening penetrates but doesn’t seem to do much damage to the beast.

Barrette threads his way through the dangerous filaments when he realizes he is next to a beast far larger and rank than he thought. Barrette swallows hard and rethinks his plan. Uncharacteristically, Barrette retreats, obviously under some magical influence from the devil.

Conell, quickly casts a spell to remove the effects on Barrette and bolster himself and companions against the inherent magical effects on the devil. Then Conell plunges into the room ending up at Churchkey’s side

Churchkey steps forward and at this, the slug fest begins. Blow after blow is traded and yet the devil doesn’t seem to want to go down. Bolgrim is doing everything in his power to keep everyone up and alive, yet the devil just won’t drop. Blood is dripping from Churchkey. Conell is an enraged beast hacking and slashing, ignoring his multiple open wounds. Barrette’s lash is cutting through the chitin armor of the devil but the devils wicked tail and deadly spear are as equally deadly in return.

Then, a ray from Pepper penetrates the magical barrier on the devil and the ice fiend, although quick and lithe, is not moving quite as able as before. Donner begins pounding on the devil, not for damage, but as a means of distraction to help the others hit.
Barrette yells, “We need good aligned weapons!”
Bolgrim continues throwing out healings and Pepper joins Bolgrim in his task. The two are barely keeping up. When the heavily damaged devil casts and winks out of existence.

There are a few moments of ineffective weapon blows arcing into the air when Churchkey begins to take command, “Lets draw up position here. Barrette check those doors. Pepper, any way to dimension door to the other side of the ice wall?”

Bolgrim casts a true seeing… the sigils on the walls become very apparent, magical forces in the ice walls become visible, but no invisible creatures, no scrying. For now, everyone seems safe.

A few moments later, Pepper transports the party to the other side of the ice wall. Everyone rests and some final healing spells are cast. The searched doors are opened.

The doors open into an “L” shaped corridor with more of the suspended spellweavers inside the tubes. It doesn’t take long to realize that one part of the corridor has collapsed forcing the group to move in the following direction.

At the end of the corridor it comes to a four way intersection. Across there are some collapsed stairs going down. To the right are some double doors and to the left are two ice walls with some large shadowy figure behind them.

Conell begins blasting dispel magic’s on the walls. Meanwhile, the rest of the Vanguard is around the corners out of site of the creature behind the walls. Churchkey bolsters himself with extra strength and resistance to cold.

Then, after multiple attempts the walls of ice collapses followed instantly by another arctic blast of air. Conell is nearly bowled over by the force of the blast but charges the devil swinging hard. The sword bounces off the devils armor while the scorpion like tail plunges into Conell’s abdomen.

Churchkey quickly runs to Conell’s side touching him with holy power healing some of the damage done by the ice fiend. Bolgrim blesses the party while Pepper protects Barrette from cold attacks.

Barrette hastes himself and runs into place while behind him Donner hits the devil with an unexpected Ki blast.

Another arctic blast of cold shoots down the hall to little effect. Conell’s sword finds its mark tearing into the devil. Alakast is licking his lips crushing into the devil. Bolgrim again heals the combat group from afar. When the final whip of the “good” enchanted chain of Barrette finds its mark and the devil falls.

Now, quite prevalent in the dead-end wall behind the devil is a tangled lattice of icy strands that flicker and writhe with cold blue tendrils of light.

The corridor they were fighting is also lined with three pairs of doors across from each other.

The group examines the first door and opens in a bizarre room. It is under lit compared to the halls. In this 10x15 foot room is a single tube. However the liquid inside is slightly grey.

There room across the hall is an exact duplicate, complete with under lit room and single grey tube.

Further search of the remaining four rooms brings a shock. The remaining 10 x 10 rooms have four tubes in each room. In two of the rooms each tube is filled with a dwarf and in two of the rooms each tube is filled with an elf.

At this news, Barrette begins attacking the force tube while Bolgrim and others begin trying to figure out what is happening. After a 3-4 good solid hits by Barrette the tube shatters, liquid hits the ground knocking people off their feet. The dwarf hits the ground and turns into a gelatinous mass and then begins to reform, distorted and misshapen. It wanders without direction or purpose. Bolgrim calls upon the power of Pelor and reaches into the creature and with effort severs the tortured soul of the dwarf from the body. Bolgrim then releases the soul to return to the gods.

With this news, Churchkey and Bolgrim begin doing everything they can to help the trapped beings in the tubes. Once their resources are exhausted the group beds for the night in the dimly lit rooms with the single tube.

Thus ends this chapter of the story. Stay tuned for more adventures of the Vanguard of Cauldron!

Todd v Bolgrim Part II (Jan 18, 2009)

Day two... three days to the wedding.

The party wakes up and does a series of activities this day:

1. They research Stone Giants and their weaknesses
2. Bolgrim begins research on Vampires... (how made, special abilities, weaknesses etc.)
3. Anna, having researched the cagewrights for the last three weeks gives quite a report on their goings on. although, they were really, really good at hiding their tracks. It took her to use her bardic knowledge skill often.
4. Looked to see if church of Pelor is still Hallowed. (it still is)

Some key members of the party took part in activities over the course of the day:

Churchkey:

Had a private meeting with Anna, Her parents (the Taskerhills), his parents (Matrius) and Bolgrim. They move up the "private wedding" to tomorrow (day 3).

They are going to have the wedding in the morning at the Taskerhills. There will be a small number of guests, some will be key noble families from Caulderon. This being agreed upon and details being worked out takes a few hours.

Barrette:

Barrette scouts around the city and digs around a few of his old haunts (the Bath house, Chisle, and of course his Bar) During his sortie into the city Barrette finds out the following:

• Vhelantrue hasn't been seen in 4 days. Just disapeared
• Skellerag has taken control of the city
• Noble families have begun to argue. Accusations of all kinds are being batted back and forth between certain families including theft, infidelity and stolen wages. guards have had to break up a few fights amongst family workers.
• Regorge getting ready to have as many militia members as possible by "Day 5"

After all this... Everyone moves to the Taskerhill estate. The Matrius' home is far too damaged and no longer secure.

That night, everyone is sleeping lightly. Churchkey is tossing and turning thinking of his eminent wedding. Bolgrim is awake worried about Todd the Vampire returning. Barrett is nervous about his profit margin and what is happening on Occipitus without his watchful eye. Pepper is wondering about Embril and his church... "What happened?" he thinks to himself. Connel is the only one who seems to be sleeping well.

all are awakened to the sounds of the city alarm. It takes all of about 10 seconds to blink the sleep out of your eyes and see the glow of a fire in the distance. On the recommendation of the Vanguard, the Taskerhills send out a runner to investigate. Once it is realized that the warehouses of Maavue are fire the Vanguard quickly realizes that they must act quickly.

The Stormblades are assembled as are the immediate family member of the Stormblades. They are to protect family members and the bodies of Kristoff and Alec. They also summon the Redshields. They are also helping to guard the family. However they don't show up until nearly 4:00 AM.

All the while, the spellcaster memorize their spells. Once memorized the group says their goodbyes and grimly sets out into the morning mist. It takes no more than a couple of minutes before they find themselves in front of the massive doors of WeeJas.

The group spends a minute or so chatting and coming up with a plan of action.

Donner and Barrette sneak up to the balcony. They quietly open the doors and survey the room. Standing under the balcony on either side of the Alter is a Stone Giant. They are literally standing statue still staring at the main doors. two pairs of low ranking members of the church are also spotted. They are hanging out on the balcony chatting with one another.

Barrett whispers down to the waiting party and says count to 30 or wait for the obvious signal. Then come in swinging. At this everyone springs into action:

Bolgrim summons the power of Pelor and everyones muscles tighten and grow. Churchkey blesses Barrett's weapon and Barretts caltrop is used as a focus for "silent" spell.

At this, Barrett and Donner sneak along the balcony. All the while, the rest of the Vanguard are casting buffs and readying for attack.

Barrett and Donner get to a corner and ready and on "three" charge the two unsuspecting victims. Barretts chain destroys the first guard so fast not even the look of surprise enters his eyes. Donner springs to Barrette's side and with a complicated set of finger strikes stuns the second guard.

Bolgrim and Pepper climb up to the Balcony.

Moments later Barrett's chain garrotes the guard and with a swift pull hundreds of lacerations accumulate to almost remove his head in a silent murder that paints the walls with blood. Donner, with Barrett on his back runs along the wall from Balcony to Balcony by using slippers of spider climbing. Again, the deadly lash causes mayhem. Unfortunately the blood and falling body parts causes one of the Stone Giants to yell. He then bends over a picks up a huge rock... perhaps 1' across. The Giant pulls his arm back when a chanting Bolgrim enters the room from the balcony. The air erupts with the buzz of a thousand blades wiping slashing. Sparks fly at the constant high pitched chink of the blades against the floor and the balcony forcing the Giant to step forward or be cut to ribbons. The blades also make a virtually impenetrable barrier from those approaching from the back side of the dais.

The mammoth front doors of the Cathedral of WeeJas push open as Churchkey moves into the room. One of the Giants glances briefly at Churchkey but chucks his cargo at Bolgrim. The stone shatters against the railing saving Bolgrim from certain bludgeoning. Pepper steps up from behind Bolgrim and with rage at the blaspheme of his church unleashes a bolt of raw electricity at the offending giant.

Donner, seeing what is happening easily flips over the railing and drops to the ground and activates the magic stored in his ring. Donner begins to grow into a giant himself. Meanwhile Barrett does a run around the balcony and does a face floor slide to stay out of rock throwing range/danger. Following behind Churchkey is the young muscular Connel... quickly seeing the danger in the room, he too calls upon the powers to cause him to match the stature of the the giants. The second giant, after seeing the damage done to his companion side arms a rock and it collides with Peppers head causing Pepper to stagger and blood to gush.

Trying to trap the stone giant against the blade barrier, Bolgrim summons the energy of the earth and quickly makes a 10' stone wall surrounding the giant on three sides.


Churchkey summons his mount while the second giant throws another rock at Donner. Donner deftly ducks around a support pillar. He then dashes out jumps into the air landing a number of blows and finishes by back handspringing back behind the pillar.

Pepper pulls forth a wand and 4 magical bolts streak through the air hitting the captured giant. Barrett unleashes his chain and in a crouch moves so he is above the giant in combat with Donner. Bolgrim casts a spell allowing him to see through any illusions or hidden items and begins scanning the room. The "captured giant" ducks into a protective position and yells in common, "We give up. Just let us go."

Not hearing the yell due to the silence spell, like a hovering gargoyle, Barrett springs death from above. The Giants head erupts in shredded flesh and blood. One of the hooks catches on a piece of skull and the giant collapses. Donner yells "Drop the Blade Barrier!" and looks ready to spring onto the dais. Pepper touches Bolgrim and in a blink of an eye they are on the main floor 100' from where they started standing behind Donner.

Connel and Churchkey charge up to the captured giant who is repeating his please for surrender. Unable to hear Barrett contiunes his movement along the balcony. Bolgrim complies with Donners request and with a wave of his hand the deadly barrier fades away. Donner quickly moves to the back of a dais and looks down a hall where a lone 1/2 orc is standing guard.

Churchkey takes command of the situation. Commanding Bolgrim and Pepper to move to the dais and removing the silence that isolates Barrett from communicating. As Bolgrim and Pepper move as commanded Bolgrim removes the silence... but not in time. The whip like speed and deadly accuracy of Barretts chain force the remaining giant to take his last breath. Connel move to the dais all the while keeping his eyes on the main doors and a side door. Donner yells to Churchkey that there are more guards located in the priest quarters and shuts the door enough to block sight and ranged weapons.

The group all consolidate at the door at the back of the dais. Churchkey closes the main doors to the church and rejoins the group.

Everyone readies and Donner squeezes himself down the corridor and enter the first room.  Dropping from the ceiling are three vampires.  They claw and scratch and Donner who amazingly doges and blocks the attacks.  Donner spins onto his back and with a flurry of fire imbued blows destroys two of the spawn.  

The last spawn tries to flee but finds a chain wrapped around its neck.  Churchkey has  made his way to the end of the corridor and cracks the armor of a 1/2 orc guard.  noting other 1/2 orcs further down the corridor he shrugs of the effects of a spell but takes a bit of a physical blow from a charging 1/2 orc.  

In an amazing show of courage, Pepper steps in front of Churchkey and an arc of lightening bounces down the corridor.  The 1/2 orcs jump and twitch but remain standing.  Seeing the limited use of being huge in this environment Donner shrinks and tumbles into the corridor evading swings by newly arrived spawn.

At this, they hear a figure at the back of the corridor yell, "everyone attack!".  Bolgrim gets swarmed.  Life force is sucked from his veins and blood stains the floor.  Barrett yells at Pepper, "Get the Fuck out of the way!"

Churchkey is belining for Bolgrim yelling "Keep a sharp eye out!"

Before Pepper can react to Barrett's command the 1/2 orc pounds on him draggin his blade deep into Pepper flesh.  Pepper flashes with anger with a quick spatter of magic, Peppers hand turns black and undead. The new appendage lashes out and the 1/2 orc squrms and dehydrades in seconds.  His skin wrinkles and eys buldge all the while Peppers wounds heal.  The 1/2 orc drops to the floor and pepper steps back half a dozen steps.

Barrett then leaps through the door previously occupied by Pepper and lashes at the Spawn on Donner.

Now with added help, Donner swiftly takes out the remainding two spawn.  Barrett and Donner notice that when they explode into dust they also become "gas clouds" and float away.

Bolgrim, being overwhelmed by spawn calls upon the power of Pelor and with a blinding flash two of the spawn expode into large piles of dust that scatter around the room.

Then....

the whole group is envelped in pitch black.  Connel, who has been keeping rear guard yells," whats going on in there?"

Pepper yells at the now envelped cleric of weejas, "Calamus Vel, you hav ebeen judged unworthy by WeeJas.  Prepare to meet her.  He then further heals and steps backwards and eventual out of the darkness next to Connel.

Bolgrim brings the power of daylight into the room and the darkness shatters like a mirror falling to the ground in small shards and then evaporating away.  Bolgrim looks around the room and sees the invisible form of Todd flying at him with immense speed.  Bolgrim points and Todd claws at Bolgrim.  The sound of his claws on the armor screech and ping. 

Churchkey smites another vamp but it doesn't drop.  Barrett winds up and the lash of the chain catches and tangles thunking into the floor. 

Donner, locked in combat with Calimus Vel flurries at the multiple images of him.  Calimus sends out a claw of magic that misses Donner by a hair.   

Bolgrim screams "Todd in here and tried to turn"  The power of the temple seems to block the powers of Pelor and although a mighty blow to most undead, Todd scoffs.  However, Connel, hearing Bolgrim call charges down the corridor into the room with Bolgrim. 

Churchkey also charges into the room leaving a 1/2 orc behind in the hall, and pushes all the positive energy into Todd.  Todd shakes and veins raise out of his skin.   Ignoring Churchkey, Todd puts up an aggressive assault on Bolgrim.  Bolgrim can feel the venomous touch of the vampire and his life force sags.  Todd’s wounds heal as Bolgrim’s drop. 

Donner is now surrounded.  He stuns Calamus and then in a flurry takes him down.  Donner then spins and his foot connects with a charging 1/2 orcs throat. 

Pepper steps next to Todd and with a quick spell fails to cast so steps out... Bolgrim tries to use positive healing on Todd, but with the chaos in the room he is unable to concentrate.  Churchkey summons powers of good and just cant seem to hit.  Todd blocks and dodges with deft ability.  Barret taking up a flanking position has a hard time hitting as well, but finally places the chain firmly upon Todds flesh and tears chuncks away.

Connel runs back to the dias (as there are too many people in the room).  He guards the enterence to this hall way when what he heard becomes wildly apparent.  Hundredes, perhaps thousands of bats swarm out of the main chamber and slam into Connel and flood the hallway.

Donner easily dispaches the 1/2 orc while Pepper slits Calamus Vess' throat.

Todd, again steps toward the retreating Bolgrim through the team of blinding bats and claws at Bolgrims face.  The flesh rips from Bolgrim and Todds teeth find a vein, if only for a few seconds.  Bolgrim is able to push him off, but is panting with exhaustion.  Bolgrim tries to cast but too much is happening for him to cast.

Churchkey again tries to hit, but Todd seems to dodge and block like a combat expert.  Barrett takes advantage of Todd's concetration on Churchkey and with two swift strikes tears cloathing from flesh and flesh from bone.

Donner tumbles in trying to protect Bolgrim and hits Todd.  Todd turns into a bat quickly disapearing into the swarm.  the thousand bats begin biting and scraching at the party.  

Bolgrim still able to see through illusions takes a feable swing at the newly transformed Todd and tries to point him out.  The group begins to follow the swarms of bats out of the hallway and to the side tower to up stairs.

what will happen next?

the party is wounded.  Todd is wounded but what is upstairs?  Will Bolgrim survive?  Will the Vangard of Caulderon vanquish the evil located in WeeJas?

Stay tuned!

Part III (I am Barrett ruler of all Occipitus, but for $50 you can call me Nick)

Part III is finally up! Wow! I will post a write up for last weeks session this week. That should catch us up. Enjoy.

After an amazingly quick execution of Zaur Sza (the Rakshasa) and his fire giant companion (Motruk), the group cautiously continues up the tube like tunnel.

The Tubes upward spiral ends in a round chamber with a doorway in the opposite end leading to a spiral staircase. Furniture in this room is limited to a massive iron throne festooned with spikes. Most of the back of the throne is missing, although the framework of the back remains. Before the throne lies a pile of wood - furniture debris from the looks of it. There are ceramic shards on the floor; it looks as if some smashed dozens of clay pots here. The whole room is littered with the tiny shards, but there is a concentration to one side of the throne with an ever decreasing density radiating from the mound.

Wondering about the contents of the room doesn't last long when stepping from behind the throne is a seven foot human shaped mass. Grey in color and lacking any distinguishing marks or detail. It shambles towards the group flaying its huge wet meaty fists in front of it.

Deftly tumbling around the behemoth Donner kicks it in the back. His foot hits the creature and it seems to do nothing for kicking it is like kicking a thousand pounds of wet clay. Barrett’s chain whips over the heads of Connel and Churchkey. The chain seems to leave a permanent mark on the clay flesh, but shallow and nearly insignificant. Connel's massive swing with his sword does a bit more than Connel and Churchkey's artifact also has little impact on the massive structure. At this one of the creatures meaty fists slams into Churchkey. His helmet actually spins a couple of degrees and sends ringing in his ears. Amazingly, Churchkey is able duck another swing.

The spells begin to fly. Some land harmlessly upon the super absorbent flesh of wet clay, while others seem to knock away at the animated life force of this creature. Bolgrim steps into place readying heals.

Donner moves into the, I'm just gong to be a super annoying gnat to this thing in hopes of helping the others hit this thing, mode. Again, weapons lash nicking and scratching. Churchkey looks up seeing the fists of this creature having joined into a massive club come rocketing strait down upon his shoulders. Churchkey is knocked to one knee and dizzy stands to take on this unnatural foe. Bolgrim dodges in behind Churchkey imbuing him with the healing energy of Pelor. Kaurophon resorts back to his default magic missiles and Pepper goes back to some decent easy to cast spells actually causing some damage to the now identified golem.

About 10 seconds later, the knicks and scratches have done its work. The magic animating this horror is released and it is if the golem has walked into a giant kiln. It shakes and its flesh begins to discolor and crack. It begins flaking away and deep fishers become prevalent when moments later it shatters into thousands of piece of dried clay scattering across the floor.

After a bit of recovery the party walks to the spiral staircase. Listening carefully, they hear nothing and so climb the stairwell. Then enter a room that for lack of a better description is like a natural cavern.. if it didn't look like it was made of living flesh. Stretched out before the party is a rough 30 foot wide by 70 foot long corridor with a little over half a dozen rough hewn corridors breaking off in either direction.

Dominating the center of the room is a 15 foot diameter bonfire of utter blackness. It crackles as if it were normal flame, but its a slick, glossy black rather than orange-red of a fire. There seems to be a dozen or so scraps of paper around the outside of the flame littering the floor. Surrounding the black flames is a pale yellow corona that casts light about the room. Just as you are taking this in and begin to explore the room, there is a command "attack".

Charging from the darkness of the different tunnels are these massive, emaciated looking wolves.. cats... not sure. But they have a bristling main of menacing quills.

Trying to pinpoint the command and to get behind these creatures Donner charges one, flips over one, lands in a perfect running roll and ends up on the far side of the bonfire. Pepper dimension doors beside Donner. The rest of the group is besieged by these creatures that don't prove too difficult. However.. backing up these gaunt things are a group of huge wolves, black saliva dripping from their snarling fangs.

A few of the wolves trap Pepper and Donner on the back side of the bonfire. Kaurophon turns Barrett invisible turning Barrett into an impressive killing machine, Bolgrim puts a mass blessing upon the group while Churchkey and Connel do what they do best... they thump heads.

The combat doesn't prove to be too difficult, but spells are flying from some spell caster that are strong and deadly. Churchkey resists two spells but can tell the power of what he is resisting is devastating.

Then, Donner yells out that the spells are coming from something in the black bonfire. Because Donner is Demonscarred he jumps into the flame to see what resides inside. The flame is fueled by the energy of pure evil. It burns like a real fire causing Donner to yell as the flames lick and sting his body. But then Donner yells at the top of his lungs, "Lich!". At that Donner stumbles out of the fire. He looks weak, clumsy and pale. He is a shadow of his former skills and abilities. Drained and near death Donner repeats over and over, "Lich, lich... lich" while pointing toward the fire.

The rest of the group finishes off the creatures and surrounds the fire. Bolgrim tries to turn but to no avail. Barrett, invisible, moves to the edge of the bonfire and lashes out with his magical spiked chain. Churchkey also moves to the edge of the bonfire. A beam of dark energy emerges from the fire and Barrett shudders and feels his muscles atrophy. Another round of spells launch into the darkness. Again Bolgrim attempts to turn, but the Lich scoffs and rebuffs Bolgrim's attempt. Working in Unison with Alakast, Churchkey swings and a resounding thunk is heard.

Emerging from the fire, a tortured skeletal hand reaches out and ever so shortly grabs a hold of Churchkeys arm. Churchkeys eyes turn wild and he begins to pull back with every increasing panic. Eventually the hand releases, but Churchkey is a shadow of his former self... his life force has nearly completely been sucked away.

Bolgrim musters up one more attempt and on this attempt a raw and uncontrolled holy power of the sun itself shoots from the holy symbol in Bolgrims hands. The lich writhes and screams a silent scream.. its skeletal jaw mechanical pumping up and down and then with the sound of thousands of nuts cracking the lich collapses to the ground in 500 pieces, bones shattered and splintered.

Beat-up and low on spells Bolgrim points out that the lantern of guidance is very bright and a solid beam of light is pointing towards another spiral staircase at the far end of the room. Staggering to their feet the group decides that they must rest. Bolgrim is to memorize restoration spells and the group tenuously enters one of the side tunnels. Here they gladly shut their eyes, licking their wounds and thanking their gods that they still live.

The next morning Bolgrim and Pepper heal and restore what they can. Donner is feeling 100%, Churchkey is also feeling much better and even Barrett is nearly back to his muscular self. They eat a quick meal and then make their way to the staircase where the lantern is still spotlighting the spiral staircase.

The staircase winds around and around going up several hundred feet. Eventually the spiral staircase emerges into what can only be the eye socket of the skull itself. The stairway ends in a shallow depression, with curving walls that eventually become the ceiling some sixty feet up. From the center of the eye socket - in midair- a gusher of blinding red light rushes outward and upward, eventually spreading to fill the sky with firey clouds above. The origin of the gusher isn't visible - it's as if the plasma is being vented from a rip in the fabric of the plane itself. At the opening of the eye socket float a multitude of fiery clouds. The clouds don't drift into the eye socket due some magic force field.

Another great mummy waits here; the mummy is dressed in golden armor and remains silent for a few moments.

Adimarchus, Most Potent Ruler of Occipitus, bids you welcome to the Final Test of the Smoking Eye. A worthy successor to the throne of Adimarchus must complete only one more task. To rule Occipitus- to grasp its power and use it for good or ill - means to sacrifice everything you hold dear. The final test is this: Sacrifice an ally to the plasma, and Occipitus is yours!

The mummy is then silent and seems to laps back into the more natural state of death.

Looking at one another, everyone is silent. Kaurophon seems to be in deep thought and contemplation, when Churchkey begins to undo his armor. "There is no way we are going to sacrifice a friend, I shall sacrifice myself for the good of all". Bolgrim, about to undo his own armor agrees to Churchkeys request and starts helping him out of the layers of metal surrounding his body.

Kaurophon looks on in awe, shock and total interest.

The rest of the Vanguard is solemn. Connel retreats into his own thoughts; Pepper says a prayer to WeeJas the lady of death herself. Donner says his goodbyes to Churchkey and Barrett seems withdrawn, brow furrowed in thought. A few minutes later Barrett's head snaps up, and with clarity of voice and determination announces, "That the one who wields Alakast should be the last to sacrifice himself". Barrett continues, "The rest of the party would die without the abilities of Bolgrim, the rest of you are too important", and with that Barrett leaps into the pillar of raw energy.

Everyone is stunned. The smell of burning flesh assaults the nostrils as Barrett twists in the gout of plasma energy. Moments later Barrett is unceremoniously pushed from the gusher... Barrett has not a scratch on him, he is reborn, healthy and strong but with his left eye missing and small wisps of smoke emanate from the empty socket.

Kaurophon is the first to break the silence, "NO, NO, NO!" he screams. "You have robbed me! You are not worthy; this was my destiny, my chance!" Spittle is flying as fast as his accusations. "You would have been lost without me, you are nothing! A group of pawns in a game bigger than any of you! You don't deserve this, you are meant to fight in the field not sit on a throne! This is mine! Do you hear me?! MINE!" And Kaurophon falls to the ground.

Donner is standing over him, stunning fist at the ready. Churchkey orders him tied up. Kaurophon quickly becomes un-stunned but by that time, the whole group has weapons and spells raised. Rope is being gathered from backpacks.

From here a Kangaroo court is held. It is quickly held and expedited equally as fast. Within 10 minutes the trial is held, Kaurophon is accused of being guilty of treason, wanting to expand the denizens of evil, putting the party in jeopardy. For these crimes Kaurophon is to be put to death. 10 seconds later, Kaurophon is dead.

Once the body is disposed of the incident is not spoken of again. No one says as such, but it is agreed upon in that unspoken way that says this event is for us to know about and no one else. The pact is strong after a year of adventuring and no one questions it.

...

Meanwhile political and social intrigue abound:

Pepper: Pepper sends a message to Embril asking her about the group of Wee Jas people hanging out on Occipitus. Embril responds that she knows nothing of these people. She is still busy and won't be able to return to Cauldron for about another 3 months. Talk to Ike Iverson... He is in charge of "the followers of the Lady".

Taking her advice Pepper fires off another spell to Ike respectfully asking the same question. Ike says that if the Vanguard is on Occipitus and have completed the tasks on that plain then he will remove the group on the plain and thanks Pepper. He really wants to see Pepper for a one-on-one discussion as soon as he gets back to Cauldron.

Barrett: Barrett is going through a terbulent time. He has just become the ruler of the 507th layer of the Abyss. It is a heavily wounded pain of existance. In 100 or so years with a constant ruler putting a lot of energy into the healing of the plain, it will look a lot better. The plain of cysts will be nearly gone, ulcers will begin to disapear and perhaps, in another 100 or so, the actual diameter of the plain will begin to slowly expand. Barrett is getting used to just balancing all of the sensory imput of running the plain... well that and figuring out how to best use his new powers and the plain for growth in power and money.

Churchkey: Churchkey has been having a series of short "message" conversations with his love Anna Taskerhill since shortly before arriving on Occipitus. Most of the conversations are innitiated by Anna due to her Bardic ability to cast the spell.

Over the last 2 months Churchkey has found out the following:

• Severen Navalant (the lord Mayor of Cauldron) has disapeared. At this time he is only 14 so the regent Vhalantru is now the defacto leader of Cauldron.
• There has been a very detailed and swift assassination attempt on Anna, Zachary and Cora when they were in some tunnels below Cauldron.
• Churchkey has asked Anna to research the Cagewrights. At first she has come upon virtually nothing, but with time to research she is slowly putting together clues. Her use of Legend Lore and access to the Library's both in Cauldron and out are aiding her research.
• Perhaps prematurly but on track, Anna and Churchkey are to be wed, binding two factions of noble families together. The hope is to try to create as many links among the noble families so as to generate a faction strong enough to offset the rapid collaps of their beloved city.
• Finds out Jennya has had a few death threats and one assassination attempt. Jennya is hiding out with Shensen near the shores of Crater Lake.
• A new tax has been levied on Cauldron... Magic items comming into the city have a 20% tax on their value.
  

...

The group has a long, long discussion about what to do:

• They need to train, Cauldron? Sassaureen?
  
• They need to get to Cauldron but obviously the tax will kill them.
• The Vanguard needs to stay on the plain of Occipitus for at least three weeks for Barrett to become more attuned with the plain so he can start manipulating some defensive measures (like resetting/changing the test) and learn to control some of his new found powers.
• Need to sell items.
  
• While waiting those three weeks they deside to do the following:

1. Go to the plain of cysts and harvest all of the magic items they can find. They want to do this mainly for the money to do the ceremonies for Alakast.
2. This action however will tip the balance of the plain a little more to the evil side so they somehow need to remove some the demons from the plain to help create some balance.
3. It takes about a week to ride to the plain, a week of work and a week back. Perfect.

The party rests up and departs the next day (minus Barrett who sits on his throne and absorbs info about his new kingdom). The party moves more quickly and safely for Barrett chatters at them via telepathic communication about possible dangers ahead.

The party notes that they are being followed, perhaps a mile away, by a group of Babau. They are followed for a day or so when appearing around them like a blink of the eye are a dozen Babau. They are obviously well trained and working in a group.

A solo Babau is not a tough foe for the Vanguard, but a group of twelve is frightening, for when they swarm, their sneak attack damage is devistating. Quickly, Connel finds this out as he is quickly swarmed. Slashes and blood gush from various wounds covering his body. Pepper unleashes a fireball engulphing a large group. They seem damaged but unphazed by the gout of flame.

The others band together to form a tight line trying to keep the Babau from surrounding them. Churchkey can feel Alakast almost laughing with glee with each deadly hit of his sentient weapon. Donner and Connel are desperatly trying to curb the left flank from curling around the rest of the party... especially trying to keep pepper from the action. This is turning Connel into a punching bag and Bolgrim into a healing machine.

It is becoming quite obvious that this combat is completely and totally deadly. They are shoring up the ranks and yelling out short commands and making sure where healing potions are located. With this Bolgrim takes a chance and calling upon the forces of the heaven he yells "RUN!" For a brief second, everyone looks at Bolgrim in confusion and then they see four of the remaining Babau sprinting at top speed away from the group in various directions.

Suddenly the odds have changed, the remaining Babau redouble their efforts but now the party is working in full coordination. Donner is flipping behind enemies giving his fellow Vanguard members the ability to land more powerful blows. Alakast is cutting throw the demonic resistances and now Bolgrim is able to move from defense to offense. It takes about 30 seconds of combat but when they look up the four Babau that ran are not returning. They are watching again from afar. Following the group.

The party desperately needs to rest after that combat so Barrett watches over them from his throne room while the party beds down for the evening. Eventually, the Babau go their own way, leaving the Vanguard to a eventless couple of days journey to the Plain of Cysts. The whole time they are traveling Churchkey can feel the pull of Alakast. Kill, kill, kill all the demons on this plain.

The party arrives at the plain of cysts and begin "harvesting" all the magic they can. It takes a good one to two hours of hard labor to puncture a cyst and dig out the items contain within. They start by having Bolgrim and Pepper casting detect magic. From here they mark 6 or so cysts. Return to the first and then begin digging.

It is late in the afternoon of the first day when Barrett gives the group a heads up. Flying low from the south are a group of 6 Vrock. They are wondering about the deal you made with them more than three weeks ago. Three weeks is enough time and they are angry. Barrett joins the conversations telephatically and with that they Vrock summon their leader to do their bartering.

Moments later Vectara, a huge Vrock of previously unprecidented size appears. After a long and terribly uncomforatable session of negotiations an agreement is made:

• The Vrock and the Vanguard will meet in two weeks time Near the celestial rubble North, North-East of the skull.
• As a combined group they will kill all of the rival Babau and their leader a deadly Balor.
• In so doing the Vrock are the offical "police force" of Occipitus for a 10 year trial period.
• They are given specific instructions about rules to enforce on the plain (there are not many), to encourage people to settle on the plain etc. etc.

With that the Vrock depart, Churchkey shutters and has to use a good part of his mental energy to keep Alakast from going crazy. The idea of working with demons rather than slaughtering them is repugnant. After a short discussion and calming down the party goes back to their harvesting.

Pepper identifies a series of items and then as a group they travel to the base of the hills. Barrett meets them and the Vrock teleport in shortly after. As a group of 15 vrock, Vectora and the Vanguard the remaining 24 Babau don't stand a chance. Theristar the Balor prooves to be a deadly fight but is eventually successful.

With that the party makes their leave and planeshifts, hoping to land near Cauldron. They land in the mountains to the north. After a few hours they get their berrings and recognize that they are about a days travel from Crazy Jared's.

Three days later the party finds themselves in the town of Kingfisher Hollow. Here they feel better, they are surrounded by very familiar surroundings, familiar customs and food. However, Kingfisher Hollow has grown a three hundered person refugee camp on the outskirts. After talking with the residents of Kingfisher Hollow:

• They talk about the thousand or so 1/2 orc mercenary guards patroling the streets.
  
• The Magic tax doesn't really impact anyone except for people like the party.
  
• The redshields are stuck in the city due to the tax, but they are seen by the citizens as their protectors.
• the Ecnomic system is duely stressed. There is a lot of anamonsity between WeeJas and St. Cuthburt.
• No one knows where Jennya is.

At this they decided to have Barrett put on his hat of desguise. Put on very little magic items and sneak in to the city. At this Barrett takes care of a lot of business... the most important of which is the following:

• He delivers a note from Churchkey to Anna and to his parents.
• He contacts Skie Alderstun. They have a good hour plus conversation. the long and the short of the conversation is that there is no way with the current climate that Skie can sell a bundle of magic items but gives a number of contacts in other large cities that she uses. Saying that if they use her contacts, she would like a cut of the business. She also shows Barrett a very well secured secret vault... sort of like a panic room. It is where her most valuable magic items are stored and if neccessary could hid 1 or 2 people temporarily. It is secure from teleporting, scrying etc.
• Goes to his bar to chat with his co-owner.
• Makes contact with Shensen
  
• Barrett takes care of some other business that we can not discuss here... unless Barrett would like to divulge his other dealings in the city.

with the help of Pepper, Churchkey talks with Anna and his mother. They decide to set up a wedding for three weeks from now. That will allow for formal invitation but still have a rushed wedding.

Barrett returns and after a long discussion of events the group decides to teleport to Sassaureen, sell items, buy about 50,000 worth of articles needed for ceremonies for Alakast. A wedding ring and most importantly, training for the whole of the Vanguard.

With this the group makes their way back to Caulderon with 5 days left before the wedding.

Stay tuned for one last post!

Part II

Your party descends the stairs of the once great Cathedral. Kaurophon, unable to continue down the stairs (due to his 1/2 bloodlines) will meet you at the exit on the outside.

At the bottom of the stairs sits a desiccated mummy behind an Oak desk. The herbs still fragrent in the air. To either side of the desk is an Iron door. The party takes a couple of seconds to take in the surroundings when the mummy moves.

Bolgrim's undead trigger finger gets itchy.

The Mummy lifts both hands and speaks:

"Adimarchus, Most Potent Ruler of Occipitus, bids you welcome to the Test of the Smoking Eye. If you are here, then Occipitus lies fallow, without a strong hand to guide its development. Know then that you are a pretender to Adimarchus's throne. If you are worthy, step forward and undertake the Test of Judgment."

The Party Steps forward

One withered hand points towards the North door. "Behind that door lies Thathnak the bebilith"
Pointing to the opposing door, "Behind that door lies Halalia the avoral guardinal. Choose one door, slay the occupent behind it. Then pass through the door on the other side. I will meet you there."


It takes a bit of discussion and mutually the party opts for the north door. They approach and the door opens. upon entering the door closes and seals behind them.

The chamber contains a series of wooden platforms that form a network of bridges, seemingly connected by fine silken cords. A door is at the far end of the chamber. The ceiling is thirty feet above, and the floor, covered in spikes is thirty feet below.


To sum up this combat. A HUGE demonic spider weighing easily 500 pounds drops from the ceiling. Between its weight and some fire, huge chunks of the bridge network fall to the ground. Donner was a acrobat. Although being dropped to the floor below, he not only easily recovers from the blows, but also ascends back to the combat quickly. Taking less time than suspected, the creature eventually succumbs to the violent attacks by the party.

Exiting the room at the party walks down a long corridor and into a room decorated in Frescoes depicting a black-feathered angel in battle with hordes of demons and devils. Where the wall meets the ceiling is a sentence carved into the granite, repeated over and over again as it encircles the room, "Know who made you."

The room's only other feature is a tall stairway leading to a dais. On the dais is a lantern attached to a four foot pole by a short length of chain. A string of red sigils glows in midair, surrounding the dais at a ten-foot distance.

In a flash of light, the Mummy Lord appears and marches up the stairs, picks up the lantern and hands it to Churchkey. The Mummy then says:

"Heed the words of Adimarchus, you have passed the Test of Judgment. Attend to the wisdom of Adimarchus! Always deal with rivals first, and enemies second. This lanter shall guide you to the second test: The Test of Resolve."

There's a flash of light, and the mummy is gone.

The light of the lantern points toward the exit of the chamber. Here they meet up with a nervous Kaurophon. He is excited and happy to see you. He explains that the lantern is the guide that will always point the correct direction to travel. Many people can have a lantern. Once you complete the first test, you get a lantern. Thus, other competitors on Occipitus may exist. We must hurry.

The Lantern is placed in Bolgrims care. Strait and true, the beam of light directs the party on a long walk... a few days to be exact. At one point you stop to look out over a great plain stretching out below a low ridge. Along this plain are hundreds and hundreds of mounds. All of various size ranging from 5'x 5' to10' x 10'. None are more than 10' tall.

Kaurophon explains that this is called the Plain of Cysts. This is where a great battle was fought between demon and angle. The essence of the slain demons was absorbed back into the Abyss almost immediately, but that Occipitus still struggles to absorb the fallen celestials. Hence the cysts, each of which is the plain slowly absorbing and neutralizing the "infection" of the fallen celestials.

Some demons say that the more the cysts "digest" the celestial creatures the more "good" is infused into Occipitus making life more difficult for the demons.

Littered amongst the cysts are broken weapons, shields and the occasional bone litter the ground here and there. The beam of light shines strait into the midst of this maze of mounds.



The party descends and begins walking into the cysts. It doesn't take long before curiosity gets the better of the group and they begin exploring one of the cysts.

To the touch the cysts feel like they are made out of gelatin, soft and slightly quivering whenever disturbed. The membrane is tough though and takes a lot of work to break through and see what is inside.

At that the party is teleported back to the ridge. Well, all but two lonesome souls. A nervous 10 min goes by while those with the lantern quickly descend the ridge and make their way back to their two companions.

This sort of thing happens a few more times when they realize the lantern bearer must always be moving or all those within 20 feet of them return to the ridge. There is also a specific path in which to take to make their way through the ancient battlefield. Learning they begin to ignore all that is around them, take note but keep moving. A few move a head to investigate and some lag behind, but none more than 10 or so seconds.

The most important thing of note is that you see a group of four humans digging up the remains of one the cysts. Whats more intriguing is that they are all followers of Wee Jas and Pepper knows the name of one of grave robbers. Unable to stop and do much at this time this data is also filed away.

Eventually all the twisting and turns leads you to a large clearing with ruins that declare it to be magical of some kind. Gingerly stepping into the circle, you wait for about 3 seconds and then find yourself in a similar circle in the midst of a fibrous forest. Waiting for you is Mummy Lord, who begins to speak as soon as the Lantern bearer arrives.

"Heed the words of Adimarchus. You have passed the Test of Resolve. Attend to the wisdom of Adimarchus! Let neither riches nor weaponry, neither allies nor enemies, tempt you from your course. Instead, spread such distractions before your rivals. The lantern shall guide you to the final test: the Test of Sacrifice. your ascension to the throne draws nigh!"

Moving as quickly out of the fibrous forest as possible, your party makes its way to clear ground. It then becomes quite obvious that the lantern is pointing directly towards the giant skull in the middle of the plain.


On your journey towards the skull, what is most disturbing is that there is no life. No strange roaming herbivores, no demons... nothing.

About a half-a-mile from the skull, the flat Occipitus plain on which you have been traveling develops more frequent "ulcers". These 5-10 foot wide pools generate a caustic, bubbling red liquid- sometimes just a seepage, but other times what looks like a fountain. Most of these Ulcers range in depth from 1-5 feet deep.

As you travel closer to the skull, the ulcers become more and more frequent causing your travel to be severely slowed due to the tremendous amount of twisting and turning. When you look behind you and swooping towards you at an incredible speed is an Adult Black Dragon. Its shining scales drip acid and are so clean they send back misshapen mirrored images of yourself outlined in glossy black.

The party scatters and a gout of deadly acid covers member of your group. Bolts of magic fly toward the dragon, and then the magic users spring into action. It takes about 30 seconds for them to get positioned, but then suddenly some of the real damage dealers can fly, or walk on air. Although very difficult and people are gushing blood... the party is finally victorious and has successfully brought down a dragon! The head of the dragon is severed and saved for a taxidermist.

Then it is a "search for the lair of the beast". It doesn't take much time to find a place where the "soil" of Occipitus has been churned to build a berm and connecting a number of ulcers together. This large pool is very, very deep

For the luck of Connel taking acid resistance he is the elected devil to strip down and dive in the pool foul acid and search for treasure. And treasure he finds. He brings to the surface pockmarked and damaged chests and containers.

From here the party makes their way to base of the skull. As you get closer the ground slopes up to the base of the skull, the light from the Lantern of guidance shines directly upon a perfectly round ulcer pool. As you approach you see a figure that looks like a raven winged angel flat on its back. It struggles weakly against seeral iron spears that have pinned its wings to the ground, the lies still.

Kaurophon gasps, "Its Saureya! One of the original Celestia trapped on Occipitus. He was around during the creation of the Test."

You run to the side of this pitiful creature. His face and torso are heavily tattooed with demonic and evil ruins. Churchkey immediately lays on hands and with the help of the party they begin to slowly remove the 10' long iron spears pegging Saureya to the ground. As these spears are removed a small trickle of healing is put in to keep Saureya stable. Upon freeing this fallen angel, they immediately heal Saureya... but realize this is a mentally unstable creature.

However after much conversation you find out a lot about, Saureya, Occipitus and the Smoking Eye:

Do you Know Kaurophon? Yes, we met.... a year ago? At the Cathedral of Feathers. He was wondering why he couldn't enter the antechamber, much less get to one of the doors. So I told him Adimarchus wanted to keep anyone born of the Lower Planes from becoming the next ruler of Occipitus. Adimarchus was always hopeful that his successor would be another fallen angel or someone formally of the light.


Tell us about Adimarchus. Adimarchus was a fallen Celestial who led a demonic invasion of the Seven Mountaing Heavens of Celestia. The heavenlyy host repulsed Adimarchus's demonc army, but at great cost, for the the angels of Celestia were forced to cast the part of Celestia occupied by the demons into the Abyss, tearing apart the fabric of their own plain in the process. This massive chunk of planar matter came to rest on the 507th layer of the Abyss now known as Occipitus.

Adimarchus survived this event, and acted quickly to incorporate the wreckage of Celestia into Occipitus. In doing so, he became the ruler of the Abyssal layer, gaining almost limitless power there and becoming a demon prince in the process. Even in defeat, he knew success. For many years, Adimarchus ruled Occipitus, crafting from the ruins a great demonic empire and often leading wars against his most powerful demonic rival, Graz'zt.

Then 50 years ago Adimarchus disapeared on the eve of a great and pointless battle between his horde and that of Graz'zt. Some say that Graz'zt had him kidnapped and assassinated. Others say the battle was just a ruse for some other plan of Adimarchus's.

Who Did this to you? A group that wanted information and when I wouldn't speak they tortured me. I still told them nothing. I've had hundreds of years living under Asimarchus and his hoard to learn well, very well, how to resist torture. Thus they left me here to rot... until you rescued me that is.

What is the third test? [heavy sigh] This is always the question. I'm not telling- and before you start, I'll say only this. Knowing in advance what the test is won't help you prepare in any meaningful way. You could succeed. You could fail. You could turn your back on the whole idea. I'm not going to meddle in your fate. For telling you would destroy the test... a test that I helped to create.

Saureya surveys your group and a cracks of a smile... more of a crooked upturn of a lip that looks wildly unnatural on this poor sad creature. It is good to meet you.. now hurry before the group that put me in this mess (gesturing to the spears) beats you to the final test.


You turn and note a shadow at the bottom of the pool could be a trick of the light- or it could be a passageway under the caustic fluid.

After a brief, unpleasant swim in the ulceric fluid, you find fresh air and a tube-like tunnel. This round tunnel features a smoother, firmer "skin" than the surface of Occipitus. It descends at first then quickly changes course spiraling and rising clockwise. After walking several hundred feet in this 15' diameter tube you feel/hear being coming towards you. Bearing down on you is a Huge Firegiant and behind him is a Rakshasa.

The Giant blocks the tube and gives a devastating sword blow to Churchkey. Then the Rakshasa blast the party. With a surprising set of creative events Pepper grabs Donner and dimension doors him beside the Rakshasa and Connel summons the power of Khord and grows in size to be only a foot or so shorter than the Firegiant himself. Barrett reach attacks and these two opponents don't last much more than another 10-15 seconds.