Pausing only to scoop up a few parts of the fallen for use in later resurrection efforts, Barada, Bud Feaster (miraculously healed due to a goddess blessing he picked up a few adventures back), Oryndel and Dalliance depart the lich’s tower at top speed. Dalliance polymorphs into a small dragon and sets about chasing the fleeing Demming and Ron’j!. She herds them together and lands a last ditch dispel magic that breaks their terror stricken state. They immediately reverse course and make the journey back to the vegetation near the tower.
Night has fallen and a sliver of the moon illuminates the barren landscape as the party slowly and a silently as possible starts to climb the slope. While the rest of the group has a series of small strokes and panic attacks, Barada unlimbers his Lyre of Building and starts to construct a buttressed stone staircase that stretches from the hilltop to the ‘hidden’ tower level that is apparently inaccessible.
As the stairs near completion, Demming summons an earth elemental to help with the lich. With the elemental in tow, Demming ascends the stairs and shapes an opening into the wall of the tower. The elemental enters and proceeds to cross a large storage room, replete with lockers. As the rest of the group pours into the room, magic is detected and the place is awash in it. They press onwards, as the elemental knocks the door off its hinges and reveals a laboratory beyond. In the lab is the lich. He seems irked that the group has infiltrated his inner sanctum. He displays his ill humor by trying to feeblemind Dalliance. She saves and erects a globe of invulnerability as the elemental and the monks attack. Although Bud trips and crashes into a pile of plundered goods, the elemental and the monk attack the lich incessantly, preventing any further spell casting effects. As Barada looses an arrow that gets turned back upon him – and then rebounds from him again and so on – the hastily read scroll of Bigby’s Crushing Hand takes effect and the lich is imprisoned and ground to bone shards and dust – but not before uttering a word that slays Ron’j! on the spot.
With lich dusted, the group starts to try and locate his phylactery.
They begin by having the elemental smash open all the stone lockers – and release all that poison gas – which Dalliance then blows out of the tower through the hole in the side with a gust of wind spell.
Items are seized and catalogued, and a small scarab is found. It is rune-carved and dimly radiates magic. A rock hammer is produced and Barada tries and eventually succeeds in smashing it open – destroying the lich utterly. More searching and cataloging while Dalliance goes on a mission to Waterdeep with about 80,000 gp worth of gems as well as the body of Ron’j! and the digits of Kaz’n and Aftoun. A short trip to the college to get items identified – and a hop to Thudheim to gather up the jeweler they placed on retainer a few months back.
Back to the tower, where the excited group discovers that they now have all three pieces of the Black Ring. The jeweler labors over his work and Dalliance stands by to enchant it or die trying. Success means death may be put off for another day. The Black RIng is complete and the jeweler is richly rewarded. Dalliance’s return visit to gather her loot and try to have Reza raised from the dead. Like TBA before him, Reza’s spirit does not heed the call to return to his fleshy prison…and so ends the tale of Reza. After a moment of silence the party starts dicing for his goods and a general orgy of looting ensues. Eventually it comes down to it. It is time to enter the Caves of the Sentinel and right the wrongs that need righting. The group has a little more than four days before the chaotic weather patterns start to impinge upon the coast and the city of Waterdeep…
Thank Bigby the Lich is dead. Dalliance will mourn her fallen comrade Reza with a statue in his honor on her property in Thudheim. She will cat her preserve spell upon his body and store it in the Lich’s tower until she can return for it.