Xirk inquired if Lavinia knew how Ayndrareiss had come into power, and just how Rabb al’Jahar had come to be slain. Lavinia said that she only knew of the stories like others: she had not witnessed it personally herself. In the wake of the Revolution that ended the Genie Wars, great resentment remained against those who had formerly enslaved the peoples of Calimshan: the genie lords and the genasi. It was said that a champion of Ilmater from the faction of Ilmater’s Tears had gone to confront Rabb al’Jahar, as one such genie lord who had evaded justice. It was said that this champion had slain Rabb al’Jahar, and neither Rabb al’Jahar nor the champion were heard from again.
The party wondered how such a thing could be possible, for a single person to have done such a thing. Lavinia was unsure herself, and offered a number of possibilities. Perhaps Rabb al’Jahar had been arrogant enough to allow an audience or engage in a duel, and had lost. Perhaps the champion had come with a host of allies to clear a path for them. Perhaps the champion had simply been that strong.
The words caused Xirk to stir, and he decided he would go to the temple to Ilmater in Calimport to learn more about this champion of Ilmater. He made to mount the giant owl to fly back to Calimport, offering to take one person with him. Avascara decided to join Xirk, and the pair swiftly set off for Calimport once more, also taking Conner’s owl familiar along.
The pair flew over the Shackles Ward, where they sighted a temple to Ilmater within the ward. The pair set the owl down nearby, attracting the interest and delight of some of the local children. Xirk bade the bird to fly and remain circling overhead, as he and Avascara made their way to the temple. The temple itself was a relatively humble two story structure of brick, mortar, and clay, with a minaret at the top. Near the entrance, the pair could see the Ward’s poor and destitute lined up, as acolytes and priests were serving soup to those in need. In a disturbing juxtaposition, Avascara and Xirk could see just on the other side of the street were slave pens were kept, with people in cages or chains openly being sold on the street.
An acolyte approached the two, inquiring if they were there for afternoon services. Xirk said that he was looking to speak with the head priest, as he had a recent religious awakening. Xirk showed the acolyte Prayer of Mercy, and the acolyte was awed by the sight. Xirk explained that he and his comrades acted to fight threats to the people and the land. The acolyte asked, in a respectful and awed tone, if Xirk and Avascara were of the “Companions.” Xirk wasn’t familiar with the term, and he said that he was not, while Avascara said that she was present in capacity to assist and guard Xirk.
The acolyte nodded and said that the two was more than welcome to meet with the head priest. The head priest however was preparing for the afternoon sermon after they were done serving soup, and would be available after the sermon.The acolyte turned to Avascara, saying that while she was permitted to bring her weapons inside, he asked her to respect the temple as a place of rest and peace. Avascara replied that she would respect such concerns, and she peacebonded her weapon with some rope that Xirk provided.
The acolyte said that Xirk and Avascara were welcome to wait, or even partake in assisting in the soup line if they wished to. Xirk and Avascara elected to help out on the soup line, with Xirk also using his newfound abilities to heal and aid those infirm or diseased among the crowd. This drew attention from those in the crowd, as several expressed their gratitude, with others laying on hands on him out of reverence and thanks. Xirk was uncomfortable by the attention, but eventually the soup ran out. Sadly, a fair number in the crowd were unable to get soup, as the demand was greater than the supply.
Still, the afternoon sermon was called, and Avascara and Xirk entered the temple with the rest of the crowd outside. It was as humbly constructed within as outside, with rows of benches laid out while a podium and altar lay at the far end. The pair could see an elderly half-elf being helped along up to the podium. As Xirk and Avascara came to learn, the aged half-elf was Revered Father Omar, the minister of the House of the Bound Hands.
Father Omar gave a sermon Avascara and Xirk had sensed he had given many times before, a sermon speaking of dealing with grief and loss, as well as of the values of forgiveness and mercy. He personalized the sermon, often addressing individual members of the congregation by name. As the sermon concluded and as the crowd began to filter out, Avascara and Xirk remained behind, with Xirk seeking to speak with Father Omar.
Father Omar invited Avascara and Xirk to sit with him at the benches. The pair could hear the elderly half-elf’s bones audibly creaking as he sat down, the acolyte from before assisting him. Father Omar turned to Xirk, saying that he had heard a rumor that a pair of Companions of the Noble Heart had come to visit their humble temple.
Xirk laughed, explaining that he was not in fact a Companion, but instead had recently come into the faith of Ilmater, as he showed the father Prayer of Mercy. Father Omar was delighted to learn that Xirk was a recent convert, and he solemnly recognized Prayer of Mercy for what it was, as proof of Xirk acting as a divinely mandated agent of Ilmater’s will in his own way. However, the father was also astute enough to realize that there had been other matters which had brought Xirk and Avascara to the temple. Xirk agreed, saying that while he wished had plenty of time to spare to discuss his newfound faith, the two had pressing questions regarding their quest.
The two asked what Father Omar knew of the tale of a champion of Ilmater slaying the one known as Rabb al’Jahar. Father Omar looked upon the two as he slowly replied, beginning with a recounting of the recent history of Ilmater, and its struggles during the Genie Wars. He explained that Ilmater had endowed one among the Calishites to act as his Chosen. Under their leadership, Ilmateri and other Calishites engaged in a nonviolent revolution. However, the Chosen disappeared and eventually, violence won out, and the genies and genasi lords were overthrown.
Though the people had won their freedom, old customs and habits died hard. In Calimport, slavery had returned and continued, to the point that slaves were beiing sold outside the very temple to Ilmater in the city. Father Omar trusted Xirk and by extension Avascara, given that Ilmater had entrusted him with Prayer of Mercy. As Father Omar explained, some of the Ilmateri in the city formed an underground organization, known as Ilmater’s Tears. They acted to rescue slaves and shelter escaped slaves within the muzad.
As Father Omar further explained, among those in the muzad had been a young man who had lost his friends and family to a powerful genie. He had become a member of Ilmater’s Tears, and one day he was killed while trying to defend others. When he was raised from the dead, his faith and dedication to Ilmater had become steadfast, and those within the church recognized him as a martyred champion of Ilmater. One day, he had decided to seek closure for what had happened to him and his family and others the genie had hurt, and thus the champion had gone to confront Rabb al’Jahar, the one who had taken everything he had cared about from him. As for what had truly come to transpire, it was said that Rabb al’Jahar was slain by the champion’s hand, and neither were heard from again.
Xirk and Avascara considered Father Omar’s words carefully, thinking over the tale they had been told. Xirk confessed that he had some doubts if he was truly walking the right path, as he wasn’t sure if he could be as forgiving as the faith dictated. Father Omar sympathized with Xirk, saying that doubt was natural, and that even Father Omar struggled with doubt at times.
However, he counseled Xirk that perhaps his beliefs about his upbringing and inclination to battle was not as contradictory with the aims of Ilmater as he thought. Most of Father Omar’s parishioners had no real inclination or life aimed towards battle, and thus it was more suited for them to pursue a live free of violence. As Father Omar explained, everyone was suited for different things, and the Crying God understood this. Xirk was one who would walk towards the fire, not away from it, and Ilmater must have chosen him to be such a person, to protect others, and even Ilmateri recognized that there was a time and place for violence, regrettable as it may be. Father Omar noted there were orders dedicated to such a purpose, such as the Companions of the Noble Heart.
Father Omar said however that even in such times in which one must not lose sight of trying to see the light in others and of the values of mercy and forgiveness. Xirk said he worried he wouldn’t be sure how to act at times, and Father Omar advised that in such times of crises, to trust in Ilmater and to trust his own heart. His conscience would guide him to the right path.
As the discussion had proceeded, Avascara also engaged Father Omar in conversation. Though she hailed from lands where entirely different gods were worshipped, she had found Father Omar’s words intriguing and which had stirred something within her. She asked if revenge was truly as bad as Father Omar had described it to be. Father Omar said that revenge was something that could offer what seemed like gratification, but it was ultimately an empty illusion. It could only hollow one out; it could not bring true reconciliation or peace within. The cause of vengeance harmed the one who sought it often just as much as its target. As it was said, if you seek revenge, be sure to dig two graves: one for your target, and one for yourself.
Avascara replied that such a lesson was not so simple for her, as she sought to make a reckoning with the one that had wronged her, and it was not something she could simply turn aside. Father Omar acknowledged Avascara’s words, and he ruefully noted that while the sermon he had given earlier was one that had applicability for his parishioners, he understood all too well the more complex realities of which Avascara spoke and had been bound up in. Father Omar said that he was not unfamiliar with revenge. In his youth, he had been an adventurer himself, filled with vigor, life, and a short temper. He had slain a number in his time for all manner of actual or perceived slights, but never had he felt truly at rest when he had committed such acts. It had not brought him closure, it had not made him a better person, and in his old age, he deeply regretted the deeds of his youth. Nowadays, he chose to take faith and comfort from Ilmater, the Crying God.
Avascara asked if was the case that Ilmater was a god of pain, but Father Omar was quick to disagree. He said that there were those among the faith who believed that, and who revered pain, but Father Omar did not believe that was the right way to look at things. As an Ilmateri, he recognized that life was filled with trial, hardship, and suffering, but he had hope for the future, and his god was one who empathized with those who suffered, suffering with them or taking their suffering onto himself. There were those among the clergy who emulated Ilmater’s example by taking on the suffering of others in their own ways, but it was never for the sake of suffering itself, but for the sake of the intrinsic value and light that lay within every mortal soul. The faith of Ilmater valued patience, endurance, hope, mercy, forgiveness, and empathy for one’s fellow person, but it did not revere pain for the sake of pain.
Avascara wondered if it was truly the case that such light as Father Omar had described existed in all beings. Father Omar replied that mortals were given a gift that was often all but impossible for beings of the planes beyond: they had the freedom to choose. Even in some of the darkest souls there were, that spark of light remained, the choice to be better. As had been seen time and time again. there were those who had turned away from their dark path in their own way, rediscovering the light within their hearts. Father Omar however admitted that there were some choices which could not be revoked, and it was also a choice to choose to turn one’s back on the light entirely. Perhaps even such people could be turned back to the light, but Father Omar would not fault or condemn doing what needed to be done to prevent such people from extinguishing the lights of others.
Avascara gazed upon Father Omar, and after a long moment of hesitation, she removed her menpo, revealing her face underneath. Her face was scarred by what seemed like a blackened handprint. Father Omar continued to gaze calmly at Avascara, his expression not altering and showing neither disgust nor pity. Avascara asked Father Omar what he saw of her, of what he could see of her pain. Father Omar peered at her closely and spoke softly, replying that he could see that Avascara’s pain was one that she kept close to her, and sought to hide from the world. It was a pain she could not forget or feel as though she could move on from. It was a pain whose true mark and scars lay deepest not on her skin, but in her heart.
At Father Omar’s words, Avascara remained quiet for some time, simply staring down at her hands. Eventually, she asked Father Omar what he believed she should do. Father Omar thought for some time before he spoke. He said once more that the lessons he gave his parishioners in his sermon was suited for the kinds of lives they lived and the experiences they had gone through. But he knew and respected that simply letting go would not be so simple for Avascara. He believed for Avascara to truly come to terms with her pain and to seek closure, she would need to seek and confront the source of her pain.
However, once she came to that point, she would be confronted with a choice. She could decided to answer cruelty with understanding, to choose to be better and to reconcile with what had happened to her, and perhaps in so doing be able to truly move on from her pain and no longer allow it to weigh her down and shackle her. Or she could decide to seek vengeance, to lash and strike out, and allow her pain to consume her. Father Omar warned that if she did so, he believed that she would find that she wouldn’t have the closure she thought she would have after. The act would hollow her out and it would allow her pain to have power over her, to define her and remain with her likely for the rest of her life, Regardless of what happened, it was ultimately up to Avascara what to choose.
Avascara considered Father Omar’s words. She said in a tone of genuine respect that she had not expected the faiths of Faerun to be as complex or thought provoking as Father Omar had related. Perhaps if she had not been raised in the east, in another life, perhaps the faith of Ilmater would have called to her over the gods she currently revered. Father Omar reassured Avascara that by living one’s life in accordance with seeking and cherishing the light in others, one was living a life that was also in its own way in the auspices of Ilmater. The Crying God saw the hearts of those more so than what they may outwardly profess. Father Omar gifted Avascara and Xirk with a book filled with religious verses dedicated to Ilmater, in the hopes that it would provide them with a measure of guidance.
With that, Avascara and Xirk decided that it was time to depart, both having much to think over, not just in terms of the struggle ahead, but also of their own personal futures. They thanked Father Omar and the pair headed outside. Avascara did not put her menpo back on, which Xirk noticed. He comforted Avascara, saying perhaps that it was now time they set their masks aside, both those within and without. Xirk crushed his own mask in his hands, letting the fragments rain down onto the sand as he gazed upon Avascara. Avascara decided not to put her menpo back on but neither did she discard it. She entrusted it to Xirk for the time being instead, and the pair called for and mounted the giant owl once more, rapidly making their way back to the ruins to rejoin the party.
Meanwhile, back at the ruins, Hamza, Lavinia, and the other Glass Hands had been setting up a perimeter and encampment within. Ten Zhu however was curious of the spire at the center of the ruins, which the local wildlife seemed to steadfastly avoid. He began walking towards it to investigate it, with Eirsai going with him as well. The spire rose high into the air, an obelisk at least one hundred feet high. The spire was made of polished stone, gleaming white in the light of the setting sun. Despite the ruins surrounding it, the actual area near the spire was made of worked and intact cobblestone. No animals could be seen near the vicinity.
Eirsai and Ten Zhu approached closer to the spire and began to investigate around the area. They found a seam along the cobblestones near the spire, indicating a hidden door. They considered how to get in, before Eirsai elected to try to blast it open with a shot. The shot impacted the cobblestone beneath, but sigils on the surface of the obelisk flared to life, and both Ten Zhu and Eirsai were struck by devastating necrotic energy.
The pair retreated away. Back at the camp, Conner had heard the gunshots and he talked briefly with the Glass Hands about the gunshot Eirsai had fired off. He approached Eirsai and Ten Zhu, who looked somewhat hurt, and he learned that they wished to explore the area beneath the spire. Eirsai had fired off yet another shot, blasting open the door apart enough to open a set of stairs descending down into darkness. Conner looked at the pair incredulously as the party had yet to recover from the events of the day.
Conner made to turn around and leave Eirsai and Ten Zhu to their own choices, but he saw Shabbaz walking forward out of curiosity. As Shabbaz explained, the events of the last few hours had been exceedingly dull, and a dungeon delve sounded more exciting than standing around doing nothing. Conner sighed and turned to follow after Eirsai and Ten Zhu, with Shabbaz nearby.
As the group prepared to head down the path below, the giant owl carrying Avascara and Xirk had landed. They had much to discuss, but the party now faced a new decision. Would they choose to explore what lay beneath the ruins, in hopes of uncovering whatever potential secrets or opportunities it presented? Just what lay within was unclear, and whether the party would choose to forge forth into the depths below was yet to be determined…
Session 19
- It is presently 45 minutes past highsun during the party’s sixth day in Calimshan. They, along with Shabbaz, have entered the Altar of Air present beneath the white obelisk of the ruins southwest of Calimport. Xirk and Conner have been trapped inside of a room being filled with a thick greenish mist, with the rest of the party outside the door.
- The party acquired a sigil sequence to a teleportation circle to a safe house in the Crypt City, directly west of the city of Tulmon. The safehouse is operated by a criminal contact known as the “One-Eyed Raven.” They have made arrangements to hire an assortment of mercenaries and to meet with them at the safehouse the next day.
- The party obtained partial intelligence regarding Suldolphor. They learned that the area around the ruins is said to be haunted, with something wrong with the very winds in the area according to rumors. In addition, the ruins are shrouded in a near perpetual sandstorm, making an aerial approach virtually impossible.
- The party was able to successfully restore and recruit to their ranks 4 Glass Hand champions, 3 Glass Hand knights, and a Glass Hand archer. They were also joined by an abjurer, champion, and knight of the Glass Hand, the only survivors from the incident at the Glass Hands’s guild hall in Calimport.
- The party currently has the intact corpses of 2 Glass Hands evokers, 1 Glass Hand mage, 2 Glass Hand master thieves, 3 Glass Hand archers, 1 Glass Hand knight, and 1 Glass Hand thug.
Avascara and Xirk reconvened with the party, as they saw Conner, Eirsai, Shabbaz, and Ten Zhu heading towards the passageway beneath the white obelisk. Avascara and Xirk learned that the party had discovered a secret passage beneath the spire that they intended to explore. After discussion, the group elected to leave further exploration off for tomorrow, as the day’s events had seriously taxed their resources, and they needed time to rest and recover.
The party made preparations throughout the night to fortify their encampment within the ruins, including sealing over the passageway beneath the obelisk with stray rubble. During the night however, Avascara received a missive from her contact, the One-Eyed Weasel, via a spell of galder’s speedy courier. The chest contained not only the spoils the party had obtained from the Golden Sands Brewery, but also a curiously sealed letter. The letter explained that the party would receive a teleportation sigil sequence to the Crypt City on the following day in another message, and that it would take some time to acquire any detailed intelligence regarding Suldolphor. The letter also provided a list of available mercenaries for the party to hire, further elaborating that arrangements would be made for them to be present at the Crypt City when the party intended to go there, and for the party to simply fill out an order and await further instructions the next day.
After some discussion, the party agreed upon a set amount of mercenaries to hire and returned the letter to the chest, now with the party’s order written in, to be sent back to its messenger. Later on during the night, the party saw a group of individuals approaching the ruins: it was the surviving members of the Glass Hands from the guild hall, carrying the bodies of those they’d be able to recover with them.
With the party’s assets now marginally bolstered, the party set watches and at last were able to take a well deserved rest. When they awoke early the next morning, they immediately set out to make preparations for the day, not just for exploring beneath the shrine, but also for their impending assault on Suldolphor.
Conner restored Lavinia’s arm, and he and Yakub worked together to restore the captured members of the Glass Hands, safely freeing them from the glass shards embedded in their arms and restoring their minds to them. The slain members of the Glass Hands would have to wait, though the party discussed potentially utilizing resources from Hawthorne to assist in their efforts. In the meanwhile, Lavinia, Hamza, and other members of the Glass Hands began making preparations for the upcoming mission, strategizing with the party. Farruk ended up heading back to Calimport to acquire additional resources under disguise to aid with the mission and possibly to assist in resurrecting the slain members of the Glass Hands present.
At highsun, Avascara received another message from the One-Eyed Weasel via a galder’s speedy courier. The message provided the teleportation sigil sequence as promised, which the party copied down on a separate piece of parchment. The letter explained that the circle would take them to a safehouse in the Crypt City. The safehouse reportedly wasn’t exactly luxury living, but apparently had a great view of the “Skullspire.” The safehouse was said to be operated by an individual known as the “One-Eyed Raven,” the One-Eyed Weasel’s counterpart in the Crypt City. They would be providing assistance to the party as well as handling the payment for the mercenaries the party had ordered.
The letter went on to further explain that it was taking time to get anything by way of concrete information regarding Suldolphor. However, according to the rumors the One-Eyed Weasel had dug up, the area around the ruins was reportedly haunted, with something wrong with the very air and winds in the region. In addition, the ruins were apparently shrouded by a near constant sandstorm, making an aerial approach virtually impossible. The letter concluded with noting that if the party was ready to depart for the Crypt City to mark it so on the letter in reply, and that arrangements would be made for the mercenaries to be present.
After spending some time in discussion, the party decided to instead depart the next day, as they intended to explore the area beneath the shrine for the current day, and they still had other preparations to make. They wrote their reply on the letter and returned it to the chest and closed it, which promptly vanished afterwards.
The party then set out towards the obelisk, with Shabbaz joining them. They set aside the rubble they had placed the day before, finding a set of stairs that descended down into darkness below. The party cautiously proceeded down, following the stairs until they came to a small chamber at the end. A large ornate door greeted them, sealed and engraved with arcane sigils and runes. An archway above the door had archaic, elegant script written across its surface. A pair of statues flanked either side of the door, in the shape of a beautiful woman in a delicate dancer’s pose, a foot resting on a cloud pedestal.
The party determined that the door was somehow magically sealed. Ten Zhu was able to decipher the inscription on the archway, learning that it read, “Enter, supplicant, into the Altar of Air. Hold your heart true or walk no further.” The party was unsure what to make of the cryptic remark. Conner studied the statues and the iconography, and his study of world religions allowed him to recognize it as an area dedicated to the goddess Akadi, Queen of Air, and deity of air hailing from the Elemental Plane of Air. Conner knew that a common ritual done among devotees to Akadi would be to burn incense and allow it to be scattered by the winds.
Conner then took out some incense he had on hand and with the aid of Shabbaz, the incense ignited as it began to spread across the chamber. The sealed door then groaned as it began to creak open, revealing another chamber beyond. The party saw an area supported by multiple pillars, beyond which as another chamber housing the entrance to another long corridor. The walls, floor, and ceiling seemed to be made of marble and stone, smooth and otherwise unmarred by the passage of time. Murals along the walls showed what seemed to be creatures of air and djinnis and other beings constructing a great fortress, with a large obelisk being built in the center.
The entrance to the passageway beyond was flanked by a pair of statues of djinnis, mystical entities also from the Elemental Plane of Air. Another pair of similar statues rested within alcoves flanking the entrance as well. Avascara and Xirk took the lead as they approached the lip of the passageway. However, they had scarcely gotten close when pressed down upon a pressure plate, and a deluge of rocks from the ceiling nearly crushed them! They were somewhat battered, but managed to get out of the way in time. However, all four djinni statues simultaneously animated, a stone scimitar in one hand, and a stone hammer in the other!
The statues fell upon the party, striking out at those within reach. While only mere imitations of the creatures they resembled, the statues were able to move remarkably nimbly, capable of even spinning rapidly like a whirling dervish to slash out at all those within reach! Additionally, their hammer strikes were exceptionally powerful, knocking down any struck by them.
Avascara and Xirk took the brunt of the assault, with Xirk covering the eastern flank and Avascara the west. Xirk used Prayer of Mercy to unleash powerful strikes of radiant energy, while Avascara had elected to use the fiery blade the party had found earlier. It was a weapon designed to fight djinni in the first place, wielded by an unknown efreet millenia ago among Memnon’s forces. And though the statues were no true djinni at all, the blade seemed to instinctively react to their presence all the same, with Avascara unleashing devastating cuts with the sword at those she struck.
In the meanwhile, Ten Zhu had stepped back to assume a state of battlefield command, coordinating his allies. Conner conjured a spectral weapon of force to assist Avascara and Xirk, while also assaulting the statues with blasts of necrotic energy. Eirsai and Scrapheap worked in tandem, with Eirsai plying her firearm with precise shots, while Scrapheap darted in and out of the fray, biting and clawing at those it could. Finally, Shabbaz was fully in his element, taking joy from the battle as he struck out with his axe. To his brief surprise, the lightning trailing from the blade seemed to have no effect on the statues, but the sheer force of his axe blows was still more than sufficient to lay down considerable damage to those he struck.
In the end, with the party’s combined efforts, the statues were rendered into nothing more than rubble. The party took a moment to take a breath after the battle, as they then gazed at the narrow corridor beyond. They saw a long passage that lay on a downward and descending angle, terminating in another door to the far north. The door resembled the one the party had entered through, though it lacked the same seal upon it as they had seen previously.
Avascara was suspicious of the hallway, and she hefted the stone head of one of the statues and sending it tumbling down the passageway. It bounced and rolled before crashing against the door at the far end. The door budged open slightly, but did not otherwise break, and nothing happened within the corridor. Still suspicious yet, the party cautiously proceeded forward, keeping an eye out around them.
For a moment, Conner thought he caught sight of something strange, but on closer examination, he didn’t see anything truly of note within the area. As the party went halfway down the corridor however, they heard a great rumbling noise as they watched something roll out through the wall above the entrance into the passageway and land at the top of the slope. It seemed to be some kind of box-shaped construct, with a pair of massive, crushing rollers, and it rapidly made its descent towards the party!
Avascara swiftly reacted, dashing towards the thing’s path before it could crush the party, She used the fiery blade to deliver a pair of devastating strikes, causing the roller assembly to nearly come loose completely, before she braced against it, hoping to slow down its descent. The construct rammed into her, nearly knocking her over and crushing her, but she managed to remain upright. By now, the rest of the party had recovered their wits, and Ten Zhu and Shabbaz moved forward, with Ten Zhu using a beam of thunderous force while Shabbaz threw his axe charged with lightning towards the construct.
With the damage Avascara had already inflicted, the combined force of Ten Zhu and Shabbaz’s assault was enough to cause the construct to fall apart into pieces, ending the threat. The party examined the remnants of the construct, which had seemed to roll out through an illusory wall above the entrance to the passageway, no doubt having waited to ambush the party.
The party elected to continue their approach towards the door at the end of the passageway. The stone head tossed there earlier obstructed their path, which Avascara smashed apart with Fireflint, the ancestral weapon of the Gommurg clan. With the pathway clear, the party worked together to open the door. The door was apparently stuck, though the blow from the stone head had loosened it somewhat. The party opened the large stone door to reveal yet another chamber supported by multiple pillars. At the center of the chamber lay an ornate sarcophagus, while beyond it was yet another passageway leading further into the Altar of Air.
The party stepped forward to examine the sarcophagus, with Avascara attempting to open it to determine what lay within. But no sooner had she attempted to lift the lid of the sarcophagus that the lid opened of its own accord, revealing a row of razor sharp teeth: it was a mimic!
With the rest of the party caught by surprise, Avascara tried to strike out at the mimic, but she watched to her dismay as her weapon adhered to the surface of the sarcophagus, refusing to be pulled free. The mimic in turn responded by unleashing an array of tentacular pseudopods to lash out at Avascara, before it lifted her up and swallowed her whole! The party watched Avascara disappeared from sight, now sealed within the sarcophagus. Within the sarcophagus, Avascara could feel herself inside the strange, amorphous, and acidic interior of the mimic. She found herself hardly able to move, and entirely unable to see or breathe. She tried to cut her way out from the inside out, but the enclosed space made it difficult to impossible to effectively use her weapon.
However, her allies did not remain idle. The party, both collectively and individually, had faced far worse threats than even a sarcophagus mimic. Xirk smashed into the creature with Prayer of Mercy, before striking out with his other hand even as the first adhered to the surface of the sarcophagus. Conner unleashed a devastating burst of necrotic energy, while Shabbaz cut into the sarcophagus with his Axe of Storms. Ten Zhu delivered the final blow with a blast of thunderous force, causing the sarcophagus to shatter, unceremoniously depositing Avascara to land in the midst of the chamber, freed of the confines she had temporarily found herself in.
With the strange creature now slain, the party began to survey their surroundings. They saw the passageway ahead, but Avascara and Conner were able to find seams along the western and eastern walls, indicating hidden entrances. The party shifted aside the western wall to reveal a corridor that extended westward. The party cautiously proceeded forward down the secret western path, taking care to keep an eye out for traps. They came across another wide chamber which curiously contained a pair of large, reed woven ships. The wood was long decayed and rotting, covered with tattered tarps. Along the walls, the party could see djinnis, ships, and other entities entering and exiting some great ancient port. As the party passed by the covered vessels, Conner heard the sounds of thousands of… somethings scuttling about within.
Conner reported what he had heard to the party, who elected to leave the boats be to avoid disturbing whatever had made its home within the rotting wood. The party continued beyond the chamber into another passageway. The passage terminated in another sealed door, with a long corridor to the direct east. The party elected to open the door, and they were immediately struck by a glitter of something golden, as they revealed a large room filled near to the brim with what seemed like a cornucopia of treasure!
The party remained suspicious, debating what to do before Xirk stepped forward to investigate the area. He went to pick out a handful of coins to examine it, when his hand passed right through it! The treasure vanished, revealed to be nothing more than an illusion. Conner had scarcely made his way into the room as well as he barely avoided being flattened as the door slammed shut, splitting the two from the rest of the party. The two gazed around as they heard a hissing sound, as thick greenish mist began to flow into the now sealed room...
Session 20
- It is presently 1 hour and 40 minutes past high sun during the party’s sixth day in Calimshan. They, along with Shabbaz, have entered the Altar of Air present beneath the white obelisk of the ruins southwest of Calimport. The party is currently engaged in a battle against a host of undead creatures in an area of the Altar laden with coffins and sarcophagi. They will be able to take another long rest in another 8 hours and 50 minutes.
Conner and Xirk were now trapped inside the room, as thick greenish mist began to pour into it. The rest of the party was outside, their path barred by the shut door. Conner and Xirk could see the mist beginning to take shape, forming a cloud that began to drift towards them! Avascara managed to react quickly as she charged forward, wrenching upon the stuck door with an effort of pure strength. As she burst the door open, the entire party could see what Conner and Xirk were facing, as they readied themselves to do battle.
The cloud then suddenly expanded in size, filling not just the chamber but even the corridor beyond with noxious green gas. The gas was poisonous, affecting several in the party that inhaled its toxic fumes, and the green fog utterly blinded those within its extent. From within the cloud of poisonous gas, the strange entity from before remained it seemed, as it seemed to strike out at those within reach periodically. The party swiftly rallied, slashing and firing blindly into the fog to try to deal with the threat.
Conner summoned a weapon of spectral force, sending out blasts of necrotic energy at the same time, while Ten Zhu sought to coordinate the party with his psionically enhanced battle awareness. Eirsai fired blindly into the mist, trying to home in on the entity that had created the poisonous vapor.
Xirk managed to strike at the cloud with Prayer of Mercy, and the fog dissipated, as the sheer force of Xirk’s blow seemed to have sent the fog parting away. The rest of the party then descended upon the noxious cloud, with Avascara’s fiery blade landing the final strike to consume the cloud entirely.
In the battle’s wake, the party took a moment to consider their situation, knowing that not everything was as it seemed on first glance. Another door awaited towards the north, which the party approached. Conner could smell the pleasant scent of incense wafting from within. The party went through the door to reveal what was an enclosed area filled with wafting incense. Eight unlit braziers hung around the room. Near the back of the room was a stone altar, atop of which was a strange censer in the shape of a cloud, continually emitting incense. Set before the censer was a golden platter filled with all manner of gold, jewels, and other precious items. As the party searched the area, they found a hidden seam near the base of the altar, which they pulled open to reveal a scroll and several vials.
The party elected to take the contents of the room as spoils, with Avascara and Xirk even lifting the stone altar as a whole to see if anything lay beneath it! All they found was smooth stone floor, and they elected to put the altar back. Xirk wondered if perhaps lighting the braziers would have some kind of effect. With Shabbaz’s aid, they lit all eight braziers, and with the room no longer darkened to the extent that it was, they could now clearly see the extent of the room.
However, the light also revealed, to the perceptive eyes of Conner and Eirsai as well now, that the incense remaining in the air seemed to be distorted and flowing around two distinct shapes in the room near the ceiling, a pair of invisible creatures. To Eirsai’s eyes, which had been enspelled to pierce veils of invisibility, she saw what seemed like a bizarre mass of air, roughly forming the shape of a creature: a invisible stalker!
With the pair discovered, the invisible stalkers swiftly moved to attack the party, warping trails of incense around them. The party swiftly moved into position, with Xirk leading the charge towards one of the invisible stalkers, while Avascara went for the other. The creatures proved nimble and crafty, flying out of reach, and forcing Avascara, Shabbaz, and Xirk to climb atop the now burning braziers to even have a chance to be close enough to strike one of them. The braziers proved tricky to maintain balance on, with Avascara plummeting off of a brazier at one point. She swiftly got up thanks to a command by Ten Zhu.
Eirsai continued to ply her firearms against the threat, as she could clearly see them with her enspelled eyes, though the sound of her shots were painfully loud within the enclosed space. One of her shots lit the invisible stalker up in brilliant light, making it clearly visible for all to see. Conner summoned another weapon of crackling force to strike out against the invisible stalkers. Even though Conner could not directly see them, his honed awareness allowed him to keep track of where they disturbed the air. Ultimately, the party’s combined efforts proved sufficient to vanquish the deadly elementals, with Xirk even grabbing ahold of one of them with his bare hands at one point!
With the threat neutralized, the party finished collecting the treasure within the room before they elected to move on. They began to enter the long corridor just south of the door where the fake treasure had been. The party saw a long corridor decorated with cloud motifs that lay ahead of them, but no sooner had they entered before a stone door slammed shut from the ceiling behind them, trapping them within!
Scrapheap was on the other side of door near where they had entered through, but was unable to force himself inside. In the meanwhile, within the corridor, the party could see blades sprouting from the walls, racing towards them in a deadly path! Avascara swiftly raced forward to escape the path of the blades by going further down the corridor. As she advanced forward, she could see another shut door on the other side.
The rest of the party had to navigate past the myriad blades, ducking, bobbing, and weaving around to avoid being cut in half. Not everyone could avoid the deadly arc the blades formed, and several received glancing hits from the blade’s passage.
Eirsai used her knowledge of metallurgy and smithing to try to destroy one of the blades, but a deadly collection of them still remained. As the party saw Avascara beyond, while the section of corridor she was in was clear of blades, it still had its own surprises. Avascara saw to her astonishment what seemed like a wave of crushing pillars descending from the ceiling. One of them slammed into her, knocking her down and knocking the wind out of her as well.
Ten Zhu realized that things were swiftly devolving along the corridor, and he used his mastery over space to allow the party to teleport all the way on the other end, free of the path of the blades and the crushing pillars. They lay right before the door Avascara had seen on the other end. However, no sooner had they arrived on their position before the door flared with life with a fiery sigil. The party could feel an intense sense of aversion emanating from the sigil, though their will remained strong, reassured and bolstering by Xirk’s presence.
Conner saw that there was another door in the hallway, one that lay to the north. He moved towards, it opening it with an effort of strength. He saw within an enclosed chamber, walls decorated with murals depicting different scenes. From what he could see, a pair of black obelisks lay on the northwestern and northeastern ends, carved with sigils and runic script. On the wall opposite the door was a series of tiles embedded in the wall, forming a mosaic.
Conner was unsure as to what to make of the new area, so he elected to chance the sigil and rejoined the party. The party remained steadfast against the sigil’s magic. Conner, Eirsai, and Ten Zhu worked together on disabling the sigil, the former two using spells of dispel magic and the latter using his knowledge of the arcane to assist. The sigil began to fade, but they did not fully succeed.
In the meanwhile, Avascara decided to enter the area Conner had opened up into. She was caught by the same sight, and as she went deeper into the room, she saw there were a total of black obelisks in the room, one in each corner. Additionally, the walls appeared to be depicted with different scenes evoking the elements: wind swirling around a mountain, a rockslide, a blazing inferno, and waves crashing against a beach. Though she did not know how to speak it, Avascara recognized some of the symbols on the obelisk closest to her, as it was written in the same script as the inscription on the fiery blade she wielded. She could recognize that the obelisk was in some way related to elemental fire.
At this point, the entire party elected to join Avascara in the room, to get clear of the deadly corridor. As they filed inside, they too were struck by the sights within the room. The strange mosaic of tiles remained along the far wall, with an inscription written above on its surface. As the party moved to investigate, the door behind them slammed shut! The obelisks in the room began to glow with energy, but nothing else immediately happened.
The party was unsure what to make of the situation, though they did not appear to be in immediate danger. As they moved forward to investigate the mosaic of tiles, they saw it seemed to depict an arrangement of triangles, some upright and others upside down, with some having a line through them as well. Ten Zhu and Xirk could read the inscription above the tiles, which read,
Four elementals trapped in stone,
Their elements ordered to lock their home.
Even patterns against all odd,
A tile misplaced awakens its god.
In proper order safely seal these four,
Or best one of each to open the door.
The party elected to spend some time recuperating from their wounds before tackling the puzzle. Conner cast a spell to enhance healing within the area, and the party took the time to recover their wounds and injuries. Outside the door, the trapped corridor eventually seemed to become inactive, as they could no longer hear the whirl of the deadly blades or the loud thuds of the crushing pillars.
The party then began to consider the puzzle, trying to discern its nature. Investigating the obelisk further revealed that each was tied to a specific element: air, earth, fire, and water. The party debated different orders by which to place the four fallen triangles. Eventually, they decided upon an arrangement after extensive debate.
As they placed the tiles into position, they watched with held breath as the triangles slotted into place. The obelisk glowed even more brightly, before the top of each obelisk slid away to reveal a gem, each of a different color. At the same time, the door opened, and the party let out a sigh of relief. They had successfully found the correct solution. The party exited the door back into the corridor with caution, wondering if the trap would retrigger. Looking towards the east, the stone door appeared to have moved aside, revealing a new pathway beyond. Eirsai elected to head west to retrieve Scrapheap, and indeed, the traps did not reactivate. With Scrapheap now rejoining the party, they elected to proceed further east.
The party found a corridor that split paths north and south. Towards the north lay another sealed door, but to the south the corridor opened up into a wide chamber. The chamber itself appeared to be decorated with motifs of riders on chariots racing around, and indeed within the room lay a pair of chariots. One of the chariots seemed to be more finely built than the other, decorated with bronze and gold and motifs of clouds on the surface. The chariots however were not unmanned. A pair of armored and armed figures that were clearly undead were within each chariot. The first chariot was being pulled along by a skeletal steed, while the more finely built chariot was being pulled by what seemed to be an undead griffon! At the sight of the party, the creatures took notice and began to charge, and the party watched as the chariot pulled by the griffon took flight!
The undead creatures on chariots rained down arrows towards the party, creating a volley of missiles they had to navigate past. The chariot on the ground circled the party, a pair of blades springing out from its wheels to cut at those in its path! In the meanwhile, the other chariot remained airborne, its riders firing down arrows upon the party. The party moved to neutralize the mounts, trying to destroy them in order to rob the riders of their mobility. Xirk sprung into the air, using the wall as a jumping off point to tackle the griffon above, sending it, the chariot, and its riders to plummet to the ground. Avascara swiftly moved over to end the creature’s existence, with Eirsai and Scrapheap working together in a tandem of slashes and shots, Conner summoning radiant moonlight to lash out against the undead creatures, and Ten Zhu working to fire beams of energy at those within reaching. Acting together, the party continued to make quick work of the remaining undead.
Within a few seconds, the battle was over, with only the chariots and the weapons and arms the undead creatures had borne as the only items of note. The party saw the chamber extended further to the south to another corridor, but they elected to investigate the door to the north they had left behind. The party determined that the chariot of bronze and gold was magical. Eirsai strapped herself into it, and with the corridor’s being large enough to allow the chariot to move through, the party proceeded back the way they had come and towards the northern door.
As the party approached the door, Conner and Ten Zhu investigated it together. Conner could detect the scent of incense wafting from beneath the door once more. As the party entered the area, they found a long rectangular room that was filled with coffins and sarcophagi propped up against the walls. A quartet of golden sarcophagi lay near the center, with canopic jars and other offerings of gold, gems, jewels, and other valuables strewn about. Xirk used his sense to attempt to divine the presence of any otherworldly creatures, but was unable to do so.
Ten Zhu was suspicious of the treasure in this room, as they had encountered illusory treasure before. However, to his eyes, the treasure did indeed seem to be the real article. As an experiment, Xirk picked up one of the gold coins, hefting it in a hand. He then tossed it out of the room. The gold coin flew forward, before it struck the ground, bouncing and rolling a few times before it came to a stop outside the room.
An instant later, every single coffin and sarcophagus in the area burst open, as the party could see a horde of undead, some with bandages loosely hanging about them. The four golden sarcophagi opened, and the party could see what appeared to be a group of heavily bandaged creatures, their eyes piercing in the darkness: mummies!
The undead host descended upon the party. Conner reacted swiftly, drawing his holy symbol as he tried to wade into the midst of the undead horde. However, he found himself held in place by one of the undead creatures, and he was forced to raise his holy symbol into the air from his position and invoke the power of the Dark Dancer. Silver moonlight flared, and several of the undead around him quailed at the holy light, reduced to dust. The more powerful undead in the area were otherwise unaffected, with only one of the greater undead turned by Conner’s holy light. Conner then summoned another spectral weapon of force, while Ten Zhu elected to fire off another beam of energy to sear one of the nearby undead creatures.
Avascara struck out at nearby undead with her fiery blade. Several of the bandages came alight from her strikes, and the horde of undead seemed to focus in on her in particular for doing so. Eirsai chose to fire shots from the backline with bolts of flame, while Xirk and Shabbaz charged into the fray to reinforce Avascara’s position. The undead host surrounded the three warriors, unleashing powerful strikes charged with necrotic energy upon the three. Whether or not the party would survive this latest challenge yet remained to be seen…
Session 21
- It is presently 3 hours past high sun during the party’s sixth day in Calimshan. They, along with Shabbaz, have entered the Altar of Air present beneath the white obelisk of the ruins southwest of Calimport. The party has just opened a secret door in a trapped corridor leading to another chamber beyond. They will be able to take another long rest in another 7 hours and 30 minutes.
The party was fighting a horde of undead creatures within the burial chamber. A large group of them appeared to be heavily wrapped in bandages, grabbing at those within reach. Other more powerful undead creatures also assaulted the party, with four mummies in the center, ancient beings who had risen beyond the grave to strike the party down. However, the party was able to band together to deal with the threat. Between Eirsai’s deafening shotgun blasts, Shabbaz’s swift axe strikes, Conner’s invocation of Eilistraee, and Ten Zhu’s energy blasts, the undead menace found itself faltering. At one point, Avascara walked down a line cutting down undead creatures with a single swing each, while Xirk unleashed a devastating pair of punches that destroyed two undead creatures in a surge of holy energy. In the end, the party proved triumphant, standing victorious over their fallen foes.
All the same, the battle had worn on a few within the party. The energy of death some of the undead creatures had invoked seemed to be amplified against some in the party for some reason, and it appeared additionally the party had felt their resilience weakened. The party elected to take the moment to search through the room and take respite after the day’s battles. During their rest, they went through some of the spoils they had acquired, finding a few to be valuable magical items.
After their rest, the party elected to press forward and make their way through the rest of the dungeon complex. They headed south from the chamber and further south of the room that had contained the chariots. Another passageway lay south, which the party carefully navigated through, on the lookout for traps. The passageway terminated in a false wall to the west, which the party shifted aside to reveal the central area where the mimic sarcophagus had been.
The party took notice of an unexplored area to the north of the chamber, and they began to proceed forward there. The chamber led to another area which was dominated by a massive statue of a great djinni in the center, carved out of black granite. On the west and eastern flanks were a pair of alcoves inhabited with additional statues of djinni, these made of alabaster and marble. Beyond the granite statue lay what appeared to be a portion of the wall carved and painted to resemble a door. Before the “door” was a granite slab engraved with runes and other symbols.
The party took time to investigate the area, and the slab in particular. As the party came to learn, the slab appeared to contain ritual rites speaking of the passage from death to life—to return one who had perished. If the party were to take the time, they use the magic of the slab to cast such a resurrection spell, or even to scribe it into a blank scroll for later use. Xirk’s eye was caught by the false door. He slammed his axe into the “door,” but was astonished to see that the door proved completely impervious to harm!
Xirk and Avascara moved up to the door, working together to push on it, and they found it was in fact a false false door! The door opened into another area, this one seemingly another burial chamber with a quartet of sarcophagi in the center, as well as canopic jars laid out in front, and other offerings of coin, gems, jewels, and more. Around the walls of the chamber was a mural. As Avascara walked into the room to investigate further, the lids of the sarcophagi shifted aside as a quartet of mummies emerged from within!
At the same time, the statues in the chamber connecting with the false false door began to animate, now moving of their own accord! The mummies and statues charged, preparing to strike the party down. The stone statues gliding into the fray, whirling rapidly to slash at all those within reach. The mummies attempted to bring those within their gaze to a halt with simply a gaze, but the party’s will and Xirk’s bolstering presence allowed the party to remain strong. They still lashed out with powerful fists wreathed with the energy of death, and Avascara in particular began to falter from the combined assault. Last of all, the black granite statue moved with a deceptive swfitness, using a massive granite sword while also drawing in the air around it. Both Xirk and surprisingly Scrapheap found themselves out of breath, beginning to suffocate.
However, the party quickly answered back the favor in kind. Scrapheap and Conner worked together to shield those in the party from the worst of harm, while Eirsai continued to blast away with her shotgun. Ten Zhu sought to control the battlefield with energy blasts, and Avascara and Xirk worked together to smash apart the statues with fiery sword slashes and holy strikes respectively. The party ultimately dispatched the constructs and mummies, though Avascara and Conner remained wounded in the battle’s aftermath.
The party investigated the interior of the burial chamber, acquiring more treasure by which to add to their spoils. The walls of the chamber appeared to be decorated with a mural that appeared to depict the process opposite to what was on the slab: a man’s journey from life to death, with the stages represented as stages across a day. The sun was rising as man crawled on four legs as a baby, the sun was high as man reached adulthood and walked on two legs, and the sun was setting as man reached his older years and required assistance to walk. At least, the sun had set on man’s grave. On the inside of the room, on the back of the false false door were engravings of different figures, showing the shape of a man’s head, a woman’s head, a ram’s head, a jackal’s head, and a falcon’s head.
Just what the symbols and mural meant was unclear. As the party took some time to ponder the matter, Ten Zhu was able to put the pieces together. He knew that the murals, depicting the process of a man from birth to death, was the answer to classical Riddle of the Sphinx, and in truth the five visages depicted on the door corresponded to the five known types of sphinx in the multiverse. Sphinxes were mysterious entities endowed and entrusted by the gods that often inhabited ruins and ancient temples such as the ones the party had found themselves in. Sphinxes often guarded such places, using riddles or other trials by which to test those that came before to determine their worth.
The party wondered if one such sphinx lay within the temple as well, and just what other challenges awaited them. However, the party had seemed to have circumnavigated the entire extent of the dungeon, with no sign of other areas by which to progress further. The party contemplated whether they had missed something, and they recalled that they hadn’t spent too much time investigating the trapped corridor from before—as they had been busy trying to avoid being sliced or crushed to death.
The party retraced their steps in the dungeon, making their way back to the previously trapped corridor. As they investigated its extent, Ten Zhu uncovered an illusory wall near the midpoint of the passageway, towards the northern end. As the true wall revealed itself, the party saw a sealed door with what appeared to be depictions of various heads carved into stone, arranged in a circular pattern. Clockwise, it depicted a falcon’s head, a female human head, a jackal head, a male human head, and a ram head.
The party realized that it must relate to the clue they had found before in the other burial chamber, perhaps indicating an order by which to proceed. They debated for some time as to how to open the door before at last Ten Zhu tried to simply press his hand to the human male head on the door. To his surprise, he felt the engraving depress into the stone door! Now more confident, Ten Zhu proceeded to the depress the female human head, the ram’s head, the jackal’s head, and then finally the falcon’s head in order.
As all five engravings were depressed, the door then shimmered before fading away, revealing yet another chamber beyond. A pair of great statues stood before a massive ornate door at the far end of the chamber. Just what lay within and through the door beyond was yet to be revealed...