Players (Characters)
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
Roland acquired a few scrolls of permanency and used them on the party's Telepathic Bond. Rain spent the night drinking and passed out in the morning, so Garlen lent him ioun stones to allow him to go without air or food, and Grokk stuffed him in a portable hole for easy transportation. The party then headed for Occipitus to try to unravel the latest mystery.
The party materialized in the middle of a group of large, six-legged, foul-smelling Thunderbeasts. Horkina and Grokk charged and attacked the two largest beasts, with Percy and Garlen providing additional attacks. Roland's Chain Lightning frightened one of the smaller ones into running, but one of the larger ones bellowed out a roar that stunned Grokk and Garlen. Amber managed to remove Garlen's paralysis, but Grokk was still frozen in place. Another beast attacked Percy, chomping through his armor before realizing the Shield Guardian was not very tasty. Roland responded by disintegrating the beast, and Garlen and Horkina dropped the two largest ones. The remnant of the pack quickly fled, and Roland noticed one dead beast looked like it had been chewed on by a fairly large creature.
Roland checked the Portable Hole and found Rain had finally woken up, so Grokk pulled him out and set him on the ground. Rain's eyes were immediately fixed on the approaching black dragon with a smoking left eye. Roland gave the party acid resistance and then fired a Ray of Dizziness at the dragon, to no effect. The rest of the party spread out, firing arrows and a pair of Moon Bolts that dealt minor damage and some strength drain to the dragon. It ignored the party and headed right toward Roland, as if it had a grudge to settle. Rain took a shot at its belly as it flew overhead, but the dragon kept going, grabbing Roland in his mouth and preparing to swallow. Roland responded with a spell of Otto's Irresistable Dance, and the rest of the party quickly surrounded the dancing dragon, stabbing and slashing through its thick hide. Rain particularly enjoyed stabbing into various vital organs as the beast tapped its feet and swung its tail. Amber cast Freedom of Movement to allow Roland to escape, and the dragon was soon slain.
As the party headed up the tunnels into the skull mountain, they came upon the strange black fire again. This time, two tall, gaunt giants stood next to the fire, and one of them held Saureya above it, saying "tell us the secret of the smoking eye!" Garlen ducked under the legs of the nearest giant, distracting it as Rain stabbed it repeatedly. Grokk leaped at the giant, but his axe glanced off of its armor. Amber created a cube of stone encasing the dangerous black fire, and the giants began their attack. One swung fiercely right over Garlen's head, and another swung feebly at Rain as his muscles refused to cooperate. A third stepped out from the shadows and hit Horkina with his massive morningstar. Roland responded with a Wrathful Castigation and then burned the near-dead giant. The party quickly surrounded the last standing giant and cut into it mightily, while Saureya cast Invisibility on Rain. The giant managed to hit Garlen with a powerful blow, but the party quickly prevailed.
In the room of the Test of Sacrifice, the party discovered two bodies -- those of Kaurophon and the black dragon Vorkaire. Saureya told of a third creature, a floating beast with several eyes that the party immediately suspected was a beholder. Amber especially suspected this because her Wall of Stone had been carefully disintegrated, and beholders are capable of such actions. Saureya pointed the party toward where he'd last seen the creature, and they headed off to find a long vertical tunnel. Amber surrounded herself with an Antimagic Field as the party descended into the lair. Garlen spotted a Glabrezu in a spherical chamber, and used Lion's Charge to attack and slay it (dealing 226 damage.) Rain and Horkina moved next to Garlen as a trio of Vrocks moved to attack, striking unsuccessfully. A bolt of lightning from Roland and some attacks from Rain, Horkina, Grokk, and Garlen left the Vrocks lying in a heap on the floor.
The party descended another level, where they encountered a pair of Blood Fiends. Grokk and Garlen stood ready as the first one approached, and they worked with Rain to bring it down quickly. Horkina charged the second, smashing into it with her holy axe and leaving it vulnerable as Roland blasted it. A notebook in this room detailed a careful plot to planeshift near the party, charm Grokk and Horkina with a pair of Blood Fiends, and kill Roland. This had clearly been Kaurophon's doing, but the details in the notebook suggested a more recent familiarity with the party. Suspicion turned to Lord Orbius Vhalantru -- if Kaurophon could be remade, why not the party's beholder nemesis? Down the next tunnel, the party encountered a Nalfeshnee that proved not to be a challenge.
The group moved into a large donut-shaped room with a rough rocky plateau in the middle and two shafts rising out of the ceiling. Two golems that looked like they were made of demon flesh stood ready to defend the area. Grokk, Horkina, Rain, and Garlen surrounded one and beat on it, while Amber experimented to see if her Antimagic Field would have any effect on the other. Roland's Ray of Deanimation and Horkina's Axe dropped the first, while the second took a couple of swings at Amber. Rain made an acrobatic dive to get behind the remaining golem, and then Roland transposed him with Horkina to allow her to attack it. Grokk jumped and smashed right through the golem's back with his axe, reducing it to a pile of worthless demon flesh.
Roland floated beneath one of the tunnels and discovered Vhalantru -- reborn and much larger than before, with a flaming central eye -- approaching from above. He used one of Bigby's famous Hand spells to grab the floating beast. Vhalantru responded by disintegrating the hand and descending into the room, putting Grokk to sleep, turning Garlen to stone, and slowing Rain. His attempts to charm and kill Roland were unsuccessful, in large part due to Roland's Rod of Absorption. Rain jumped on Grokk to wake him up and Horkina climbed onto the roof to attack. Grokk leaped up and cut deep into the beholder's flesh, and then Roland brought it to the ground with Earthbind. Vhalantru's Finger of Death killed Horkina, but his attempts to disintegrate and disarm Grokk failed. Rain and Grokk pounded on the Beholder, and Roland dropped a volley of Acid Stones, slaying Vhalantru once more. Amber dismissed her Antimagic Field and used True Resurrection on Horkina while Roland used Break Enchantment to restore Garlen. Within a few minutes, Vhalantru's corpse disappeared.
The party headed back to the room of the final test, where Vhalantru's body lay alongside Kaurophon and Vorkaire. Roland used a pair of Legend Lore spells to gain information on the Test of the Smoking Eye, determining that these three were his only current rivals and that they would no longer be raised if the geyser was disjoined. He disjoined both the geyser and the dark fire in the room below.
The party reached level 19.
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