Characters: Julian, Anthony, Randal, Tulgar, Grim, Samael.
NPCs: Yimluth Elkmoon: The Elk Father (Druid of Silvanus), Greater Dragonbone Golem, 4 Wearer’s of Purple (Cult of the Dragon), 6 Mature Adult Dracoliches, Aurgloroasa the Sibilant Shade: Greater Wyrm Red Dracolich.
M 16 Mirtul 1374 - M 16 Mirtul 1374
4000 XP
Randal, Tulgar, Samael, and Anthony continued to battle the shrinking Proto-dracoliches in the great bone chamber. Finally, with no suitable skeletons remaining the dracolich souls grouped together and howled past the party out of the cavern and into the flooded mine shaft. With Balin nowhere to be found, the party regrouped at the flooded mine shaft and decided to go down. Yimluth cast Freedom of Movement and Water Breathing spells upon the party then dove into the water shaping himself into an eel as he hit the surface. The party followed the druid down more than 200 feet before the shaft leveled out into a watery tunnel. Following the tunnel further they moved past abandoned mine carts and equipment, all were scarred with draconic claw marks. Then they saw purple light coming from an opening at the ceiling of the tunnel and carefully rose to investigate.
Tulgar prepared Gar for battle as he burst from the opening into a hollowed cavern above. Samael followed promptly behind and saw Tulgar falter momentarily as he was hit by 4 rays of Disintegration from a group of mages dressed in purple robes. The Wearers of Purple became sheathed in a haze of disorienting shadows which protected them from Tulgar’s slashing attacks. Grim pulled himself quickly from the opening and seeing the many magical auras the 4 mages were surrounded by he decided to evoke his most powerful and reckless abjuration. A Mordenkainen’s Disjunction erupted from Grim’s hand, immediately rendering the Wearer’s of Purple vulnerable to the party’s attacks. Anthony and Samael charged forth and slashed at the evil mages, splashing the room with blood. The mages began to hit Anthony and Samael with black rays of negative energy and soon they were drained of much of their strength. Tulgar and Julian’s soulfire armor burned blue, protecting them from the vile spells. Finally, the party’s attacks were too much for the mages whose previous spells were of no help anymore. The crazed mages laughed hysterically as they were stabbed to death on the cavern floor.Not soon after the battle, the party began to search the room for the phylacteries. It was a sizeable old mine area which the Cult of the Dragon had converted into a library and laboratory for the creation of the necromantic potions. Old tomes filled bookshelves along the walls and fortunately, a few larger tables were still intact after the fight. Strange chemicals sat idle in beakers and vials all around; all of this greatly intrigued Julian and revolted Anthony and Randal. Julian began to pull books off the shelf and peruse their contents which the rest of the party interrupted warning him of the potential danger. Julian stated that the books could be sold or offered to Candlekeep, they might even have useful knowledge as to what this Cult had been involved with. Anthony and Randal outright refused, but when Julian continued to insist they use the books for their quest Grim lost his temper and used shaper a Wall of Force which locked all the books in their shelves. Julian then used a Greater Solarity to buy himself time before Grim could finish his incantation however, and then Time Stopped and gathered as many books as he could off the shelves. By the time his spells had ended Julian was standing dazed in front of 3 empty shelves, his portable hole crumpled in his hand.
The party finally ignored Julian’s pleas to join him and take more as Yimluth shouted that Balin and the dracolich phylacteries were nowhere to be found. So they dove back down into the watery tunnel and swam until they reached another large opening above them. This time they swam up into the surface of a small underground lake, whose sides where joined by a wooden bridge. Just as they rose from the water Yimluth summoned forth a great burst of light whose rays rained down positive energy into every corner of the massive room. Unfortunately, there was no undead around as they came to the shore and began to search for signs of Balin. On a rocky outcropping which overlooked the small lake Randal and Samael saw a tunnel leading down into the mountain again. Its entrance was cloaked in magical Darkness so black that only those with arcane vision could see through. The party re-assembled and headed down into the tunnel, just as they were about to turn a corner a massive creature lumbered into their view.
It was as if a pile of the thickest dragonbones they had ever seen had assembled into the loose shape of a wingless dragon. The bone pile’s chaotic arrangement bore no anatomic relationships like a dracolich’s skeleton would. More construct than creature, it ripped at Tulgar twice with massive claws, dropping the barbarian to one knee in a single moment. Julian’s keen eyes saw the strange flickering lights from inside the Golem’s chest but could not place what magical essence’s they possessed. The party surrounded the Golem tactfully, as it ripped away drenching its bone claws in their blood. Grim’s spells would not penetrate the Golem’s powerful aura however he managed to channel some raw arcane force into it. As the Golem breathed it exhaled a thick black smoke which choked the very life force away from the party. Just before the Golem was about to shred Randal with its fang-like hands, Anthony landed a truthful strike into its chest with the Blade of Cosmas and sent the Golem crashing to the ground in a heap of sharp bones. The black smoke quickly dissipated leaving only the smells of steel, blood and bone dust in the tunnel.
After the battle, the party noticed that within the bone pile was a large orb of force which contained 7 glowing gems within. Grim recognized the gems as the 7 phylacteries they had been searching for. Fortunately, the keeper of these phylacteries was now destroyed. Julian attempted to make a psionic connection with a gem and finally succeeded. It was the copper dracolich whom they had fought so intensely just an hour earlier. The dragon made it clear that he did not chose this terrible fate, but that now that it was done he saw only despair and eternal torture. Julian bartered with the dragon to learn some new information about the Cult of the Dragon’s ultimate goal, but the dragon had already lost the last shreds of his former self. Anthony set to sundering the gems one by one, and burned their dark souls with holy fire. The party then looked upon a vast cave filled with massive piles of dust-covered treasure, and two bodies laying still in silence; the personal chamber of Aurgloroasa the Sibilant Shade.
