5th Day of the Arc of Sennach

Zaleh, Carrack, Grog, Lucial and Thalan awoke from their respite in the hallway next to dusty ruins of the library where they had made their bargain with the spirits that lived there.  The resolved to fulfill their word by returning with a scrap of old text or parchment for the spirits.  With all of the party’s many problems, they could ill-afford to anger the dust-spirits too. The party pushed farther into the underground complex, locating a room with a hole in the roof and etching on the floor in Northern. Zaleh told the party she was unable to translate the writing, but some members of the party had their doubts.  Locating and removing a sewer grate, the insurgents gained access to the sewers below the dungeon. Braving the haze that hung in the tunnels, and a strange green glow, the heroes descend into these drainage culverts. 

In the tunnels, the party is attacked by large rats.  Although they slay the beasts, both Thalan and Carrack are inflicted with some infection from the rodents’ bites.  Moving on, the party reached a large, pillared hall that looked somewhat like a gladiatorial arena, complete with a skeleton chained to one of the massive pillars.  Walking the broad hall, the adventurers are beset by a dreadful beast; a huge, gelatinous serpent.  Truly a fearsome creature, the great slimy worm sprayed the party with blasts of acidic fluid that burnt, melted, and corroded whatever it contacted. As always, Carrack led the charge against the monster, swearing loudly in his mother-tongue.  The worm was prepared however, and struck the noble warrior with a blast of acid so strong it knocked the dwarf from his feet and pinned him against the floor.  Killed instantly by the heinous fluid, many of Carracks possessions were also burnt badly and damaged or destroyed. 

The worm turned its anger against the rest of the party then, wounding every member badly and driving them from the pillared hall.  Spotting a ladder leading upward, the heroes climbed as quickly as possible, dodging torrents of acid and dragging their wounded along with them.  They took refuge temporarily in what appeared to be the storeroom for a tavern or inn high above the undercity.

Exhausted and demoralized by the loss of their great friend and valued companion, the party planned on exiting the storeroom and risking being spotted in the streets when they came to a shocking realization.  Carrack had been carrying the Dragon Scroll, and it might still be intact within his pack!  Without the scroll, all of their efforts, and the loss of past companions, would be for naught.  With little discussion, the party concluded they had only one option open to them. Throwing open the trap door, the companions descended into the arena, firm in their conviction to recover the scroll or die trying.  The set upon the vile worm from all sides, hewing and hacking the beast fiercely in vengeance for the loss of their comrade.  Lurching and groaning, the great worm was overcome and slain, with less effort than the party expected.  Examining the chamber and then the worm, the heroes concluded that the creature had swallowed the dead dwarf and his equipment.  Cutting it open, they discover the real cause of the worm’s death: the Dragon Scroll.  The scroll case’s powerful electrical shock, ironically first discovered by Carrack when he had attempted to open it in the Hall of Heroes at Durgis Rock after having it placed in his care, must have tormented and injured the monster greatly, allowing the party to finish the beast off.

Recovering the scroll case, the adventurers realized it had been broken open inside the worm.  Two items of interest fell from the melting ruins of the case; a map showing a tower in the mountains and a strange, magical stone.  The map bore many of the ruins tattooed on the skin of Tolurenal, and the stone was even stranger!  It felt heavier than it should have for its size and it burned with an intense heat that made it almost unbearable to hold. Moving across its surface were images of the twisted faces of elves.  The faces cried out in Elvish, Orc, and the Black Tongue and both asked for salvation and sang the praises of Izrador. 

Pocketing the two items, the warriors set aside their grief for Carrack and move ahead with their mission to recover the tablet from Bannus’ tomb for Bamallian and his comrades.  They come upon an antechamber to the tomb in which numerous chains hang from the ceiling, some suspending great blocks of stone at various heights, seemingly excavated from a tunnel on the opposite end of the room.  They moved in cautiously, aware that the room reeked of ambush.  And indeed the trap was sprung.  The many hanging chains coalesced into five beings formed of dozens of twisted chains each!  The chain fiends immediately attacked the weakened party. 

Fighting their way across the room to the exit door, they find it sealed by a strange poem:

                                                            The cost of making,

                                   only the maker knows.

                                   Valueless if bought,

                                   but sometimes traded.

                                   A poor man may give,

                                   as easily as a king.

                                   When one is broken,

                                   pain and deceit are assured.

Laying her mighty glaive down, Zaleh tried to unravel the mystery while the players defended her from the chain fiends.  The fight was vicious, the enemy powerful.  The strange creatures spun and slashed with their chains, and even the blocks of stone struck out at the party, pinning Lucial underneath one. 

Being unable to open the strange door quickly proved to be the party’s undoing.  Overwhelmed by the chain-fiends, Thalan was struck and killed by a succession of powerful attacks.  Seeing the Erenlander rogue fall, Zaleh gave a shriek as she fell back against the etched door she had been working on opening. Shortly thereafter, Lucial too was struck dead.  Gathering herself, Zaleh finally announced the correct solution, “Oaths,” and the stone door slid open, allowing Zaleh and Grogo to escape into the tomb of Bannus. There they find the tablet, but discover it is much too large to move.  They uncover four great tapestries, one of which features an image of Tolurenal walking besides two other figures similar in stature and features of the man the heroes had rescued from the village of Adloa. Others display two of the figures along with a dornish king watching an elf-like being that is somehow walking on a lava flow, reminding them of the “River of Stones” from the mysterious map.

As Grogo looked over the contents of the tomb, Zaleh busied herself over a central dais  that she claimed carried the remains of one of Cale's dornish rulers, King Bannus. Stifling a cry of excitement once she looked into the tomb and discovered the tablet she had been searching for, a ghostly figure of King Bannus appeared before them and ordered an explanation for the intrusion into his final resting place. Zaleh attempted to parley with the ghost, assuring the fallen King that her intentions were not to dishonor House Redgard. When the apparition of King Bannus noticed Zaleh's eyes were on the tablet he grew angry and denounced her as a collaborator in league with his traitorous son. The room grew charged with rage and tension and then suddenly King Bannus attacked Zaleh, a long gleaming sword sprung into his hand and with it he swung mightily at the lithe woman. Understanding his survival relied on the woman that had lead them here, Grogo jumped into the fray, unleashing his rage and pummeling the ghost King with his fists. Together with Zaleh's rapid glaive attacks, the duo were able to banish King Bannus' ghost. Physically drained from the battle, Zaleh explained to Grogo that they would never be able to go back the way they came, and so set to find a way out. Overturning chests filled with once priceless gifts and pushing upon various stone sections of the round tomb in a desperate attempt to find a hidden exit, Zaleh finally discovered a door behind one of the many tapestries.

Opening the recessed tomb door revealed a stone ramp leading up to a ruined structure outside. Exploring the ruins, Grogo and Zaleh noticed they were on a hill overlooking the desolated city of Cale. It seemed that they were in the center of a circular cemetery, with concentric circles of grave markers, large standing stones etched in Norther. Behind them loomed Redgard Keep, a formidable fortress in its day, now an empty shell of it's former glory and power. All about them were collapsed pillars and rubble of the familiar limestone blocks that made up Cale's foundation.

Catching a glimpse of something moving through the cemetery, moving toward them, Zaleh smiled and politely asked Grogo to return to the tomb with her to bring up the remains of his two fallen companions. Grogo nodded and they both headed back down the tunnel into the ground below the cemetery. Grogo made busy with moving Lucial and Thalan's remains while Zaleh busied herself securing rope to the tablet on the dais in the center of the round chamber. Returning from moving the last of his companion's remains to the cemetery above, Grogo looked to Zaleh to see if she was ready to leave. The beautiful rogue shot him a look of understanding and made the last knot around the tablet secure. Pausing as she made her way to the ramped tunnel, Zaleh seemed to catch herself and then turned to a pile of strewn objects on the ground. Looking to Grogo to see if he was still there, and while his back was turned momentarily, Zaleh bent down to pick one of the objects up and deftly pocketed the item with a smile.

Running to his side, she patted Grogo on the back affectionately and said to him in his ear, "We have friends to meet."