Players (Characters)
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Rachel (Horkina)
Tom (Garlen)
DM: Tony
Roland's book provided the party with another page of text:
"You've thinned their ranks.
Now it's time to pay them back for what they've done.
But beware, revenge is a two-sided coin.
You've taken their measure and they've taken yours.
Guard against their strengths, prey on their weaknesses, and use the knowledge they don't have."
The party decided to use Roland's special coin to planeshift into Occipitus, thinking it might provide a back way into Roland's tomb. Amber cast a series of spell protections and immunities, and the party shifted into a chamber that looked remarkably similar to the chamber in the tower in Cauldron. Rain set to work picking the lock on the door to the north, opening it within moments. The next room held huge stones at strange angles and runes written in undercommon. Horkina recognized it as a larger version of a dwarven puzzle toy, and was able to identify which stone would be key to the solution. That stone had a handprint, and Horkina touched it and said "knowledge is key". Her hand tingled at the word "knowledge", but it wasn't until she said it in undercommon that the block dispersed and a new passageway opened.
The next chamber was circular with high walls and draconic runes. Rain's knowledge of the draconic language and spellcasting allowed him to recognize the magical focus of the room, so he stepped to the key point and said "knowledge" in Draconic. Again, a passage appeared. The next room looked like a huge distorted map with runes in abyssal. Garlen located Cauldron on the map and spoke the abyssal for "knowledge", which again revealed a new passage. The next chamber was a huge drum head which pounded out an orcish war chant. Grokk stood at a specific point on the drum head and began playing, while saying "Grokk have much knowledge of drums" in Orcish. This opened a door to the next room, which glowed brightly and was covered in celestial runes. Amber borrowed a ring of Comprehend Languages and recognized the runes described the process of turning undead. She did so while saying "knowlelujah" (the celestial word for "knowledge"), revealing a small square chamber. The party stepped into the chamber, which had the word "knowledge" inscribed in the walls in hundreds of languages. One wall was particularly thin, and Rain and Garlen could hear arguing through it. Garlen spoke the clue Rain had been given: "in the end, knowledge is just a tool." With that, the wall disappeared and Roland's tomb was revealed.
At the center of the huge round chamber was a stone sphere encased in antimagic fields. The stone had been chipped away to reveal a prismatic sphere. The were-bugbear, the ice lich, and Strength the marilith-dragon were all around the room. A black-skinned, blue-eyed six-fingered humanoid held the staff that had been stolen from Ober, and he yelled at the lich about failing to secure the Staff of Winter. As the wall disintegrated, he called out "oh... you... are the ones who screwed up my plans." This was Athux, Grazz't's son.
Amber saw an invisible, shadowy figure step out from behind the antimagic area. This figure, named Murder, drew a poisoned antimagic dagger and threw it at Amber, nearly killing her. The were-bugbear approached and cast freedom of movement on himself. Horkina pulled the dagger free from Amber and stabbed it into a nearby wall, hoping to make it inaccessible. Garlen ran up to Athux and struck him repeatedly, and Grokk's Leaping Dragon Strike left Athux stunned. Amber healed herself, cast true seeing on Rain, cast Righteous Wrath of the Faithful on everyone but Grokk, and dispelled Murder's invisibility. Rain's Five Shadow Creeping Ice Enervating Strike wounded Murder somewhat. Strength teleported next to Amber and struck her several times, causing her Fortunate Fate spell to trigger. The lich-cleric of Wee Jas teleported across the room, keeping an antilife shell around himself, and healed his wounded comrades.
Murder's Death Strike hit Rain solidly, but Rain resisted its brutal effects. The were-bugbear smacked Horkina, stunning her. Her Iron Heart Surge allowed her to shake it off, and she hit the bugbear several times. Garlen called out instructions to the party, and his War Master's Charge left Strength stunned and badly wounded. Amber triggered the Fire Seeds Rain was carrying, and Garlen gave more instructions to Horkina, giving her the ability to react quickly and land several more blows that killed Strength. Grokk's Feral Death Blow killed Murder, and suddenly Athux had two fewer allies. He turned and dispelled nearly every spell that was on Garlen, attacked Grokk several times with a Bastard Sword made of pure force, and finally disintegrated Amber. Rain stepped through shadow and next to Athux, attacking several times but finding his strikes ineffective. As the Ice Lich stepped forward, Grokk heard a chorus of female dragon voices telepathically call out "our debt is repaid", and the lich died as the far-off phylactery was destroyed.
In a bright flash, Roland appeared, ready for action. He yelled a taunt at the were-bugbear: "you'd better leave or you'll end up dead like the others. You don't want to die for Athux' sake, do you?" The were-bugbear planeshifted away as the Rubble Rousers moved to surround Athux. Roland spoke again: "we both know this fight could get ugly, so let's make a deal. You want Occipitus as your own dominion. I just want its celestial parts to be back where they belong. If you'll help free the parts of this plane that still remember their old celestial home, I'll grant you power over what's left." Athux pondered for a moment as various Rubble Rousers readied their weapons, and he finally agreed: he would split the plane and rule over its abyssal parts, and Roland could take its celestial parts wherever he wanted to.
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