| Session Date | November 12, 2022 |
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| Base XP Gained | 6222 |
| Player Notes | ZZ's Notes |
Rested up after a long day of adventuring, the party set out once more after their usual morning rituals. Rather than just the large chamber to the west, from which a whitish re glow emanated, Hans cast invisibility on himself and snuck in to scout. He found a very large pentagram glowing with a white fire. In the center of the circle was a Type IV Demon. The thing did not seem to see him, but it was unnervingly staring in the general vicinity of where was. To the north, a blue glow emanated from a passage heading onward. Hans reported all this and then employed his clairvoyance to see the source of the blue glow, which turned out to be a man who appeared to be a wizard, trapped inside a blue cylinder of light and seemingly frozen in time.
Burt now cast darkness 15’ radius to block the demon’s view and the party slipped by and down a southern passage. At the end, it opened into a larger room, the opening flanked by statues of women warriors craved into the wall; a large, lumpish statue stood with then space beyond. The party decided to enter and, as they did so, the statues came to life and attacked. They were not terribly powerful. However, when Jarrik struck one with his Giant Slayer, it broke, the second such sword he’d lost! When the two statue-women were finally destroyed, the lumpish statue animated and rushed to attack. However, before it reached the party, Hans used a wand to create a passwall in the floor before it, and the lumbering thing fell into it. As it climbed out, the party struck it repeatedly and Burt hit it with magic missiles but could not stop it from climbing out and hitting most of the party with a slow spell. So, Sirius then cast grease around it, and then Dane used his enhanced strength to shove the thing backwards and slid it back into the pit, breaking it for good Unfortunately, his momentum was such he could not stop himself and fell atop the thing. The room seemed a dead end, but a thorough search revealed a secret room complete with a number of magic items unguarded and untrapped. They also found what appeared to be a charter for something called Westvale Hall, to be granted to the bearer of the document. None there knew the location of the place, though it did reference Manston and how the “lord of the hall” was required to provide “two score men-at-arms to Manston for a like number of days” and that failure to do so would result in a fine of 200 silver.
Pleased, the party now turned back towards the imprisoned demon. They now tried to communicate with it, Dane even speaking in a demonic tongue that seemed to get its attention, but it either would not or could not speak back, so the party carefully skirted it and moved on to the imprisoned wizard. The man seemed frozen as Hans had said, his expression perhaps one of surprise more than anything. The party mostly focused on the wizard, but Jarrika moved off to look for secret doors, while ZZ cast true seeing and did it the easy way, finding nothing. Someone (forgot who) cast a dispel magic on the field holding the wizard and it vanished, freeing him, only to pull a wand from his belt and blast the party with a fireball! The blast killed Du’ outright and nearly did in his already wounded lizard. Everyone else except Jarrika was also wounded as the wizard’s expression turned to madness and hate. A brief battle ensued, to which the now released demon rushed to attack, as well. The wizard hit the party with mass charm and Dane and Mordecai succumbed to it. The paladin, sorely hurt, debated intensely but briefly on whether to heal himself or his new friend (who he’d just wounded) but ended up healing himself. Using the Ghost Blade now, Jarrika managed to cut an arm from the demon. Meanwhile, the wizard was cut down. As he succumbed to his wounds, the look of madness left him and he gasped out something about “the stone” and that the party must not look on it. His death was soon followed by the Demon, cut down by Helgavinka (I believe).
Somewhat rattled, the party stripped the dead wizard, the best item acquired being a spellbook he was carrying. The party now debated how to proceed. Finally, they decided to raise the dead wizard rather than Du’ as they wished to question him (and could raise Du’ later). They did so, and he soon began talking to them with less insanity in his eyes. He was Arcma, a wizard who had been part of the adventurers sent to kill the three wizards. He’d been captured by Copper, who had experimented on him by exposing him to a strange metallic stone. As he spoke, the madness soon returned to him and he grew violently agitated. Sirius used ESP to get more information and could sense that this man’s mind was incredibly powerful, though under some sort of baleful influence that seemed alien. An exorcism was considered, but Sirius was sure it was not possession, per se, but more simply influence from outside. The party kept him tightly contained.
After ZZ cast augury to determine if a nearby room was worth exploring in greater detail and using his ring of the earth dragon to sense for minerals to no effect, the party decided to rest for two full nights in order to recover form their ordeal with the fireball. They took this time to identify the many items they’d found of late, and to raise Du’ from the dead.
Once ready, they moved on, with Arcma their prisoner in tow. They took the teleporter nearby and found themselves in a round room. In one room they came to there was a statue that asked a strange riddle. Sirius, the erudite wizard, solved the riddle in a trifling (the answer being “a riddle”). This revealed a parchment which discussed the mysterious stone Arcma had spoken of. The party also discovered a room with a pedestal of stone that had a keyhole, though no key. They also passed through a room with a pair of gargoyles that sprayed liquid.
In another cavern they found a pool of water from which something glinted. Sirius sent an unseen servant to investigate and it came up with a key that seemed the right size for what they presumed to be a teleporter out. But first, they finished exploring the level, discovering a pool of lava and, at last, the stone they’d heard so much about of late. It was weird, an alien bit of meteorite that seemed to exude both power and evil. They kept their distance from it and had a long discussion on what to do with it. Finally, they simply had the unseen servant roll it into the lava. This soon melted it to nothing. Arca now seemed to recover his wits and explained that the stone gave great intellect, but at the price of madness. Copper was using him to try to figure out how to get the benefit without the side effect, without success.
Pleased, the party now made their way with the key to the pedestal room. They key fit and, on turning, caused a teleporter platform to appear. The party took it and found themselves once more on the tower roof in the bitter, late year weather. They climbed down and, after a day or so journeying, found themselves once more back in the comfort of the Castle of the Dry Tree…