The lead they follow has them teleport to the far side of the continent, in the warm southern deserts of Calimshan…well, not exactly. A bit of homework reveals that while Calimshan is a wealthy place, it is also decidedly less good aligned than Cormyr. So, they journey to Tethyr instead. Border controls mean little to teleporting wizards. They mingle with the crowds in a port city and do some more research on their destination…a lonely group of standing stones in the middle of the western desert is where the portal is to be accessed. The portal is supposed to take them to a pocket plane where the Ophidian Monastery may be found. It is said that within the monastery there is a book of a powerful githyanki mage – lich?. How exactly it is accessed turns out to be quite interesting.
The party avoids all contact with anyone and anything as they approach the stones. One in particular has been tipped on its side and has a magical hammer attached to it by a chain. Some investigation and good guesswork finds them pounding on the stone surface with the hammer, making a rhythmic vibration that stirs up the sands. Eventually, the stands stir more vigorously and a purple worm breaches the surface, apparently summoned by the beat. As the monster opens its toothy maw, the party flies down its gullet. They careen through worm innards before finding a portal that blazes with a purplish light and without too much hesitation, they fling themselves through…
…and emerge in a hellscape of clashing elements. Lightning rips the aether asunder and gouts of fire, smashing rocks and howling tornadoes make for a shortened life expectancy. It looks like a few pockets of stability whirl around in the maelstrom, so they try and make their way there. They leapfrog from one air-filled pocket to the next, taking terrible damage from the incessant electrical discharges. Their first berth is unremarkable. The second contains the dismembered remains of some poor soul, but they spy the goal of the quest and make their way to it. Upon arrival, they must rest and repair themselves on the narrow ledge of ‘rock’ that surrounds the monastery.
The following waking cycle has them perform a perfunctory exploration of the entrance and the main courtyard, before deciding that they are still too weakened by the journey to start stirring up trouble. It also seems that divination spells don’t work well and/or they cause pain to the caster. Hmm.
The following ‘morning’ sees the flying Malchor start a quick scouting mission, then enhanced by the glowing head from the Crown of Stars. THe head drifts to and fro – noting with interest the giant summoning room, the red dragon chained in a room with a pool, the massive throne room…the many closed doors and a trio of bathing snakemonks. Elylyn jumps on Mr. T’s flying carpet and joins Malchor in casting lightning bolts at the pool party.
Each lightning bolt persists for many seconds and the combined barrage makes an ongoing thunderclap of epic proportions. Woah. That was unexpected. The mages beat a hasty retreat back to the entranceway and wait to see what happens. What happens is an assault by two teams of snakemonks and their void displacer beasts. The mages let fly with streams of electrical energy and backed by Cosmic’s flying fists, the assault teams are reduced to smoldering chunks. A quick scout with another of Malchor’s glowing heads and it is seen that there is now access to doors that were left open in the haste to engage the intruding party. Right about then, there are some ominous storm clouds that gather over the courtyard and it starts to rain poisonous vipers. A quick wall of fire for the temporary fix to the situation while the group investigates the glowing pink room with a pentagram and a large book which bears the title of the tome they sought. Kiko attempts to Telekinese the book from atop the altar into his bag, but instead the book slays him with a burst of energy. Woah. That was unexpected. OK – time to leave the book alone for now, and the group ascends a set of stairs to see what lies above.
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