The Undying Temple
Battered
and bruised and bereft of most of their high-level spells, the party decided to
retreat back to Waterdeep. Aerlyn dutifully teleported them back, and while
Shemdar dropped off Cuddles back in the grove and had a Restoration cast
on him, Didagi and Cobol went in search of a sage to tell them how to defeat
bloodfiends. After a night’s rest and suitably equipped with the relevant info
the group was ready to face the mystery of the
After
Aerlyn teleported them back the examination of the tower continued overseen by
t he ominous sphere of blackness above. Flying up to investigate closer Aerlyn
and Beth determined that the black sphere was somehow a piece of the negative
energy plane “captured” and held there. Shemdar postulated that its presence
was what was corrupting the Weave. A visual inspection of the tower by Didagi
and Cobol identified no obvious entrances, so Aerlyn used a scroll of true
seeing to investigate. The spell revealed a curious sight – a ghostly
inverted mirror image of the tower which revealed that the two parts of the
tower cupped round the black sphere. After some arcane discussion the party
came to the conclusion that temple somehow existed on two planes simultaneously
– most likely one of the transitive planes. However no entrance to
the structure on either plane was revealed.
Exasperated,
Cobol began a physical inspection of the lower part of the tower, as he touched
the fabric of it a sense of wrongness pervaded him, swiftly followed up by a
sense of icy cold fingers slicing into his brain. Shaking off the attempt to
dominate his mind he continued searching the base of the tower. Finally he had
a stroke of luck as a black bolt of energy lanced out at him – he’d obviously
sprung a trap. Indeed a moment later a door opened up in the wall.
Cautiously
entering the structure they party found themselves in a columned hallway. As
the door closed seamlessly behind them, four figures silently materialised
around them. Three were drow females bearing the holy symbol of Kiaransalee,
the fourth the horrific figure of a ghostly warrior riding a nightmare.
Shaking
off the effects of the ghost’s nightmarish appearance, Didagi, Aerlyn and
Shemdar took on the clerics while Beth, Cobol and Yellyond took on the ghost
warrior. The combat against the clerics went well, Aerlyn’s ring of
counterspells negating a slay living spell so she could retaliate with a
polar ray , while Didagi’s elfbane arrows and Shemdar’s scythe cut a
swathe through the others. The combat against the ghost proved more troublesome
as the ghost’s corrupting and draining touch took their toll.
Eventually however a combination of Beth and Cobol’s ghost-touch weapons and
some scorching rays from Yellyond put paid to it.
Death of A
Rogue
Ignoring
the staircase at the far end of the room, the party went through a doorway. The
room beyond was empty save for a stairwell leading down. Heading down the
stairs, they found themselves in what was obviously a torture chamber. Chained
to a dissection table was the skinless body of an elf. To their horror the
“body” was moving! Didagi guessed that this was a recently created quth-maren
and Beth swiftly dispatched the creature.
In
the centre of the room was a trapdoor which, after Cobol had declared it free
of traps, Didagi opened. A charnel reek came from below, but when Didagi tossed
down a sunrod the room below seemed empty save for a pile of sleeping furs. As
they peered into the room, a blade barrier spell detonated in the room. Most
of the party avoided the spell’s effects, moving to the edges of the room, save
Cobol and Aerlyn. As the whirling force blade span around them, Aerlyn
teleported out of their effect and reappeared on the stairwell. Cobol used his
rogue abilities to dance his way through the blades and stand on the far side
of the room. As he stood battered and bleeding, and Beth began to make her way
cautiously round the room to heal hem, he felt a touch on his back and heard a
softly muttered word in undercommon. For a split second he felt an intense wave
of pain, then collapsed, dead before he hit the ground, as the harm
spell took effect. By the time Beth arrived, there was nothing she could do.
Didagi began moving carefully around the blade barrier a process made considerably
easier when Aerlyn dispelled the spell.
As
Beth stood over Cobol’s lifeless body, the corpse suddenly gave a convulsive
shudder and lurched unsteadily to its feet! Leaping back in horror, Beth called
out a warning to her colleagues, but as Cobol regarded her with lifeless eyes
he said “She’s here. But not here”, and picking up his swords headed towards
the stairway. Moving aside for him, Aerlyn, Yellyond and Shemdar looked at each
other as the reanimated tiefling made his way up the stairs. For a moment all
of the party looked at each other unsure how to proceed, then at the top of the
stairs, Cobol said, “ Are you coming? She’s above!” For a second they hesitated
and then as one moved to follow their colleague who had clearly now become a
Revenant, Didagi gazed longingly at the open trapdoor and the treasure that
might lie there before he too followed the tiefling.
The White Banshee
Cobol
led them up through the floors of the
Cobol
made his way upwards through the levels of the temple, passing the huge orb of
negative energy and upwards. Much of the
Cobol
was first into the room, and seeing the one who had slain him, his eyes glowed
fiery red and he charged. His charge was cut short as a huge wraith seeped out
of the floor and attacked him. As one by one the others deployed though the
hole in the floor into the room the abyssal ghouls moved to attack them and
Irae cast a flame strike. Aerlyn retaliated with an orb
of cold. As the battle raged, the wraith realising it could do little to
harm Cobol as he was undead ignored him and went to attack the others. Didagi
used his psionic ability to transform himself into a hideous betentacled form.
Cobol charged his nemesis launching a frenzied series of attacks, Irae
instantly realising the nature of her foe cast heal on him and the
unfortunate tiefling fell once more. Aerlyn cast obedient avalanche and
tons of ice and snow fell on Irae and her ghoul guardians. The others
pinned in the corner by the ghouls and orb-wraith fought as best they could,
till Shemdar determined to break the deadlock cast a sunburst spell.
The
sunburst spell had the desired effect in that it destroyed the abyssal
ghouls and badly damaged both Irae and the orb wraith – unfortunately it also
blinded Beth, Didagi and Aerlyn. As the wraith continued its relentless
draining attacks, Yellyond cast dimension hop to escape from the corner
they were pinned in and then cast Regroup to bring her colleagues to
her. Irae moved towards the orb wraith casting heal on herself and
then inflict serious wounds on it as Beth used touch of vigour to
restore her and Didagi’s sight and as the wraith flew in to attack once more
Yellyond used a scroll to restore Aerlyn’s.
Irae
then cast a fire storm which raged through the area and Aerlyn
retaliated with another orb of cold. As Didagi launched another series of
attacks against the wraith, Shemdar cast sunray against it. Irae, badly
wounded began to flee, but as she did so, Cobol, reanimated once more by the
abundant powerful negative energies coursing through the area,, lurched to his
feel and chased after her, followed by Yellyond & Beth. As Shemdar and
Didagi finally destroyed the wraith between them, Aerlyn cast field of icy
razors in an attempt to slow Irae down. Irae ignoring the pain from the ice
shards slashing her, turned and cast destruction at Yellyond, who fortunately
avoided the worst effects of the spell but still fell dying to the floor. Irae
seizing her moment dropped though the hole in the floor, followed by the
vengeful revenant.
As
Shemdar cast a cure light wounds, mass to stabilise and heal his
friends, a furious melee ensued on the level below. But with the wounds Irae
had taken and the fury of Cobol’s assault there could be only one victor.
As his colleagues looked down from the hole in the ceiling above, the
tiefling stood over his enemies’ body. For a second he raised his blade in
triumph and then shockingly crumbled to dust before their eyes – his mission
complete.
Stunned
for a second by the swift conclusion, the remaining party members soon realised
they still had to deal with the corruption of the Weave caused by the orb. As
Yellyond retrieved the dust of Cobol’s body and his equipment Shemdar and
Aerlyn began examining the skull. After some study, they determined the skull
was the focal point for the energies holding the sphere in place and determined
it must be destroyed, which was confirmed by Beth’s consultation with her
spirit guide. As the dragon shaman struck the skull their was a violent
discharge of the violet energies, the whole temple started to shake and beak
apart as the orb imploded. Swiftly gathering her colleagues around her Aerlyn
used greater teleport to escape to the relative safety of the ethereal
plane outside.
As they watched the inverted temple and its material equivalent tear itself
apart, the party reflected on their accomplishment. They still had to find a
way home, but they were secure in the knowledge that those in the Dalelands
they had sworn to protect – and perhaps those across all of Faerun - were now
safe from the nefarious plans of the White Banshee.