Upon their return to the cave, the wall of stone is still intact and there is no sign of intruders. The party takes stock of their situation, gloats over the loot they have looted and does a bit of dithering in preparation for the upcoming exploration. They deploy eyeballs of arcana and explore as much as they can, finding that the occupants have taken advantage of the group’s naptime to flee the scene. There is a momentary discussion of what to do with the drow prisoner. On the one hand, he could be an important source of information about the dragon cult’s operations – or not. A dagger across the throat means ‘not’ has won the day.
The hallways are festooned with magical traps and tripwires,deadfalls and pits which the group happily flies over. They explore caves with hellish creatures contained within – slain! They eventually find the exit – which leads to a narrow valley on the far side of the mountain range but it is clear that this place has been abandoned for the moment.
Rather than risk being seen leaving this place, everyone teleports back to Immersea and the group avails itself of Kormier’s hospitality for an extended period. Over the course of the following year, the mages seek information about two of the more recent entries in the lich files. They also work on researching novel applications of the permanency spell and seek additional ways to benefit from the magics at their disposal.
Eventually, their imagination is captured by a lore fragment that suggests the mage/lich they seek is often aloft in an airship, and a second clue points towards an obsidian structure high in the desolate volcanic region south of the country of Thay. Those that were there and are still alive regale the newer party members with a terrible tale of annihilation spheres, high level mages and a lich that routed the group as they tried to gain entrance to what is clearly (now, in hindsight) an Orcus temple.
But wait. Didn’t they slay the terrible Akruel and shatter the Ebon Heart with the Mace of Faiths and save the world? Yes, but that was a year ago and who knows what evil has been doing since then, So, buckle up! A teleportation jaunt later and they find themselves in the same location used to spy upon the temple. The infernal flames still billow from the smokestacks and it is clear that the defenses have been upgraded, so observation and flybys are key. Eventually they bring the sphere of annihilation out the vault and press it against the side of the structure. Upon breaching the wall – the sphere is returned to storage and the party enters.
The place feels empty, though the druid’s reading of the elemental forces indicates that there are undead and extra-planar abominations still lurking within. The group moves at top speeds to capture the matriarch of the temple – assuming her quarters are where they were before. The quarters are found, but there is no one home. Not only that, whoever was home seems to have moved out. Looks like the showdown with Kahrehn will have to wait. So, they explore the second floor and eventually find themselves contemplating what to do about a room full of magical books just on the other side of a perfectly normal looking door. From across time and space, the echoes of Admiral Akbar ring in the heads of the group.
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