The Ghostlord's Lair

The Thornwaste

After resting briefly they bundled the trussed up Wyrmlord Saavrith  into the raft  and then on to the custody of the elves at Starsong Hill. The seer there translated the letter informing them it  was actually giving Saavrith custody of a phylactery belong to a notorious lich, The Ghostlord who held sway over an area known as the Thornwaste to the south and west. The Ghostlord was apparently the source of the  undead bolstering the Horde. After some discussion they decided that if they returned the phylactery to the lich they could possibly persuade him to withdraw his forces from the Horde. They also secured an agreement with the elves to send forces to help the defence of Brindol.

Next morning they set out in their raft heading south towards the Witchwood. They camped overnight on the shores of the swamp and then headed into the woods. Several hours later they ran into the giant, Old Warklegnaw, and making a side-trip to Vraath keep, Gothram gave him his grandfather’s “glove”.

It took them several days to reach the edge of the Thornwaste and as they went, Louella regaled them with her lore of the area ,  the least civilized region in Elsir Vale. Even the Wyrmsmoke Mountains are more densely settled, albeit by goblinoids. The Thornwaste was desolate in comparison, populated only by a few roving tribes of feral barbarians. The Ghostlord’s presence had driven these tribes westward, and none of the superstitious barbarians dwell in the eastern reaches of the region today. Instead, the Thornwaste is home to all manner of nefarious and dangerous creatures, from packs of lions and dire lions to more fantastic creatures such as chimeras and bulettes.

When they finally arrived, they were, not disappointed the Thornwaste was every bit as unpleasant as Louella described. A maze of broken hills, briar-choked ravines, and thistle-clogged fissures, this treacherous landscape would most easily be traversed by overland flight – if only they had the means. As they didn't it was a hard slog, made even harder when they were attacked by one of the promised bulettes. Though Rosil had much fun practicing his vivisection skills on the huge armour plated corpse, once they had defeated it. The slogged on though the thorny undergrowth eventually camping before a bighted wasteland where nothing grew. Cecily speculating it could be due to the malign presence of the lich. In the distance as the sun set, they could see rising from a low mesa an intimidating sight. A massive lion of stone crouched, as if ready to pounce on a nearby hill.

The cyclopean monolith was composed of a dull tawny stone. It looked to be about two hundred forty feet in length, and the top of its maned head rose over eighty feet from the ground. There seemed to be some sort of hollow between the lion’s front paws, in the area bordered by its chest. Likewise, hints of a dark cave were apparent in its gaping maw. More surprisingly, dozens of translucent lion-like shapes flew and capered about the massive lion’s head and body. The shapes sometimes even passed through its stony surface to emerge in a different spot. Their rest that night was disturbed when one of the ghostly lions flew into the camp – Gothram was sorely damaged by the creature’s corrupting gaze before Almund managed to turn the ghost.

The Ghostlord’s Lair

Early next morning they headed across the blighted wasteland heading towards the hollow they had seen. Flanked by massive stone paws to the north and south, the hollow was hidden in the shadow of the great stone head above. A worn stone path led between the great paws to a low stone ramp, which climbed up to an impressive archway in the lion’s chest. Two basalt statues of skeletal lions stood facing each other on either side of that arch, as if passing judgment upon those who travel between them. They moved cautiously up the ramp, half expecting the statues to attack,  to a large chamber with rough-hewn walls with a domed ceiling rising fifteen feet overhead.

To the north was heaped a large mound of crushed nettles and briars, arranged in some sort of nest, while to the south lay a massive mound of bones and the area smelled strangely musty and acrid. As Gothram led the way in, a huge sinuous figure with bat wings rose from the nest and cast unholy blight at them, followed by a bolt of lightning. Louella cast vigour, mass as Gothram and Almund charged forward getting in solid hits, but the creature launched a furious counter-assault tearing Gothram to shreds before casting him aside against a nearly wall. Rosil dived into the pile of bones and began firing from cover, while Louella and Cecily  launched numerous spells at the creature. Almund after using lay on hands on Gothram charged forward and with a mighty smite evil finally dispatched the fiendish beast.

While Louella tried to return Gothram to some semblance of good health, Rosil explored the secret door that Gothram had inadvertently found by being slammed into it, declaring it to be free of traps. A mostly recovered Gothram led the way into a winding passageway only to be attacked by another  ghostly lion, whose bloodcurdling roar caused Rosil to flee and hide in the pile of bones, before Almund turned it. Heading up they were attacked by another ghost-lion this time Gothram surprising fleeing before it’s bloodcurdling roar before Almund once again stepped up and turned it. At the top of the passageway a third, larger ghost lion manifested – damaging Cecily with its corrupting gaze before this one too was turned by Almund.

Beyond the passageway they found a large hallway, exploring the nearby rooms discovered a female hobgoblin and her entourage, who managed to flee invisibly, while her guards covered her retreat. Searching her room Cecily found a manuscript which appeared to be an opera called The Triumph of Tiamat.

The Ghostlord

 The Party pressed on through the complex, passing through what Almund decreed to be a dissection chamber they headed down a long curving passageway to a  long chamber awash in sickly yellow light shining up from the glowing surface of a large pool of mustard-coloured water. Some sort of large shape was floating inside the pool. The pool’s rim was made out of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of lion’s skulls that had been fused together with grey mortar. Shadowy alcoves lined the north and south walls, and to the west of the sickly pool stands a fifteen-foot-tall statue of a rotting lion. The morbidly majestic figure’s head reached nearly to the ceiling. As Almund went to examines one of the alcoves she was attacked by a lesser bonedrinker. Five more bonedrinkers leaped from the other alcoves and attacked the Party. Louella began casting spells and Rosil firing his crossbow, but Gothram and Almund’s sharp blades seemed most effective against the undead and they were quickly despatched.
 
While Rosil peered into the murky pool trying to identify what was floating within, believing it to be a lion of some kind. Cecily and Gothram meanwhile went to an oval side-chamber, empty except for a single massive sphere of polished black stone that floated over a low dais. The stony sphere was about four feet in diameter, and whirling streaks of pale orange vapour orbited the stone in a frenzy of activity. Cecily cast identify  which revealed the stone to be The Lion’s Heart, an arcane device developed by the Ghostlord to assist in creating his undead minions. Gothram was unable to resist trying it out, and the dire lion floating  in the pool was instantly slain and reborn as a ghost lion, which briefly attacked Rosil before Almund was able to turn it.
 
Exploring the rest of the complex (they could find) they passed through the Ghostlord’s collection of lion-related memorabilia, from which Rosil filched a few choice items, before ultimately finding their way to the lion’s maw, a large balcony built into the massive stone lion’s lower jaw. Large stone teeth, each three to five feet high, ringed the balcony’s edge. The lion’s upper jaw arched ominously above, the roof of its mouth fully fifteen feet overhead.  Standing, perusing the blighted landscape he had created, was the Ghostlord himself, flanked by two ghost lions and the female hobgoblin that had fled earlier.
 
The hobgoblin tried to persuade the Ghostlord to obliterate them immediately, but Almund managed to persuade the lich to hear them out, though her flesh crawled at dealing with the undead. They presented  the letter that they had retrieved from Saavrith and the fact that they actually had his phylactery in their possession as evidence of the Horde’s betrayal. The Ghost lord reacted by casting disintegrate at the hobgoblin, slaying her instantly and after some discussion he agreed to withdraw his undead from the service of the Horde.
 
As they headed away from the Thornwaste, they received an urgent message from Sellyria Starsinger, the leader of the Tiri Kitor elves. She informed them that she had brought troops to reinforce Brindol, but that the town of Talar had now fallen and the Horde was only 35 miles from the city as, the mightiest warriors in the area,  their help was desperately needed to defend the city.