Entering the chasm of winds they discover a rift to the elemental plane of air overseen by a curiously veiny old man, windblown and weathered. A djinn is summoned and the party battles furiously. The elven whirlwind called Goldpiece wreaks havoc on the djinn while the malformed mage blasts the veiny old man into the afterlife. The rest of the party aids as they are able but seem content to hold the rear.
With the old man and the djinn slain whatever eldritch magic that keeps the rift open starts to fade and within minutes there are no more howling winds. Gee…I wonder if anyone will notice? Looting is undertaken and the missing holy weapon is recovered. Right. Who feels like slogging through the rest of this god-cursed place to engage a few chimera and whatever random threats still lurk? That’s what I thought.
On that note they teleport back to the main courtyard of the Thyrian temple – incidentally leaving behind the elf, dwarf and few humans that they rescued earlier but you know…omelets and eggs.
The commander of the keep welcomes them back and then soundly berates his daughter and the assembled troops. He holds up the party as having more courage in their excrement than then entire company has. He makes them stack their armor, weapons and the bulk of their treasure against the obelisk. The party stacks the fallen cleric against the obelisk and at the culmination of a lengthy ceremony the obelisk consumes the material goods and restores life to the cleric, imbuing the mace with more power at the same time.
Somewhat bemused the party undertakes a quick jaunt back to Suzail via Immersea. Information is exchanged and schmoozing is undertaken. Having jaunted and schmoozed as much as time will allow they reconvene in Immersea. Deciding to go after the trail of Melkerech, a return to the Manor of Chain Lightning is proposed and the motion is carried.
Having scouted the area years ago, a pair of teleport spells gets the group within striking distance – at which point they realize that the entire rear of the manor house has been blown out from within, and the general collapse bodes ill for continued exploration.
Well…now what? Since the group is close to the desert – and there are more potential points of interest in their general quest to uncover the backstory between Melkerech and the bibliophilic Adzerak that has put them in a lich’s crosshairs. So, off they go into the desert.
Eventually they find a set of ruined buildings in the foothills to the southeast of the Bone Tower. Arcane exploration reveals the area outside littered with ancient dead and a honor guard of undead within. Measures are undertaken and the undead are vanquished. Some exploration shows this is a part of a larger area that apparently has run afoul of a collapse.
Moving onward, the part enters a large holding area festooned with manacles, chains and a heavy bondage vibe. Skeletal remains are scattered about the room. How cheery.
No time to soak in the ambiance, they are attacked by one, no two, yakuzashreks that pelt them with spells and attack with large swords. As the group rallies and slays one, the other assumes gaseous form and seeps under a connecting door. The group pursues through an ancient torture room and follows the gaseous creature into a large room.
There they are engaged by a form (illusionary? ethereal? projected image? hallucination?) that wields serious magic. A forcewall is used to separate the part. Fireballs, dispel magics, demon summoning, magic missiles in large numbers – this mage is not a lightweight. While Elulyn passwalls along an adjoining wall, damage continues to be dealt, but the hastily deployed magical defenses of the party are holding for the moment. Elulyn, Malchor and Goldpiece all erect Globes of Invulnerability and thus prevent their death by magic missile and fireballs, as Thraw and Iko are able to crowd next to Elulyn.
The group looks frantically for any sign of their adversary aside from the intangible image (gotta be a projected image, right?). A successful dispel magic on the part of their adversary leaves Thraw, Elulyn and Iko unprotected as the battle rages on…
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