Session 16: Apocalypse Now

The dragon rains fire down on Zaimier. Huge explosions rock the city, and the air swiftly begins to fill with smoke. The party sees the dragon strafing back and forth above the city, and opts to wait till the dragon flies near them so they can attack it. As they are waiting, Rougi breaks into a nearby weapons shop and scores a Guardian Shield.

They await the dragon, watching the city shuddering under its aerial bombardment. People are screaming and panicking, running for their lives. Everyone seems to be trying to get out as fast as they possibly can. So the party is a little surprised when a band of humans runs into the street they are on, and abruptly stops. The humans take one look at Kriv and Kava, and a desperate look comes over them. They charge the party, accusing them of being traitors and murderers. Rougi impassively cuts one down, but everyone else intimates these rabble into stopping their attack. The humans tell of 'other' Dragonborns in the city, and seem deathly afraid of them.

At that moment, the dragon swoops overhead, and blasts the group with its fire. The surviving humans run for their lives, while the buildings around the party burst into flame. Yet they are ready - Kriv casts Command, and orders the dragon to the ground. It falls out of the sky like a rock, shattering several buildings beneath it. They brace themselves for battle, but the dragon actually has other plans. He regards Kriv and Kava with interest, then says "Impressive, but I've much bigger fish to fry" and flies back into the air, speeding away from them.

The party is powerless to follow him. They decide to head up to Vondal's estate; they saw one of the dragon's attacks hit close to there earlier, and are worried about Dayman and Artin. They start up the streets that lead up to the richer part of town, closer to the top of the mountain. The streams of humans, Eladrin, and dwarves trying to leave the city have thinned, but the air is still thick with their screams, embers and smoke. Kriv uses her ice breath to put out fires where she can.

As they are making their way, they suddenly encounter two Dragonborns dressed in elaborate, ritualistic armor, their swords dripping with blood. They immediately attack, throwing themselves at the party. The battle is fierce, but short. As the party deals their death blows against these strange intruders, they gurgle with their dying breaths, "For the glory of Tiamat!"

The party reaches a spot where they should be able to see Vondal's estate, and to their horror see that it is completely gone. One wall still stands, but the grand building and its grounds have been burned to ash. A huge pall of black smoke rises over the devastation. It is instantly clear that Dayman, Vondal, and everyone else who might have been there, are very, very dead.

The party turns and surveys the city. For this vantage point they can see that the city of Zaimier is almost completely gone. Almost no structures still stand. Fires rage out of control - the smoke and ash are so thick in the air that even though it is approaching noon, the sky is as dark as midnight. The moans of the dead and dying swirl about them like ghosts. And despite all this, the dragon is still ravaging what is left of the city in its southeastern-most end.

The party resolves to fight. Kriv conjures up four phantom steeds, great winged black horses. They jump astride them and charge after the dragon. They reach him quickly and a fierce battle ensues. The dragon is powerful and swift, scorching them with fire, and gouging them deeply with his claws, teeth, and tail. Berekhan and Kava are both knocked off their steeds and plunge to the ground; both are knocked unconscious by their falls, though both are healed and begin to use their ranged attacks. Rougi and Kriv swarm around the dragon, attempting to flank it. Spells, arrows, and axes hurl through the air, trying to find a target. The dragon is not immune to their assault, and they are wearing him down. But the fight is beginning to drain them much faster, and the dragon looks like he can go on for hours.

Their heroic struggle continues, as the ashes of Zaimier scatter like snowflakes around them...

Rewards

XP: 375 (Rougi), 300 (Kriv, Kava, Rougi)
* I know this seems low, but this doesn't include the dragon battle, since it's still ongoing.
Money: none
Treasure: Guardian Shield (p. 245 Player's Handbook)

Session 15: In Death He Mocks Them

The party arrives back to Zaimier, relieved to be at the end of their quest at last. Once there, though, Berekhan announces he has some things to do, and leaves the party to deal with Vondal on their own. Unruffled, they march up to the dwarf's manor, where Torbera, Vondal's loyal servant, greets them once again. She quickly takes them to see Vondal.

When they enter Vondal's study, to their surprise, they see Artin there! By what appears to just be coincidence, Vondal has retained her services - he has hired her to be a truth-teller and referee in this situation, to ensure the party is telling him the truth. The party is very forthright, though - they tell him that Soveliss is dead, and Maivera is MIA, and explain what happend to Dayman and Erevan.

Vondal says that he will not pay for dead men. The party feels cheated at this, as they remember distinctly that he wanted them back 'dead or alive.' Vondal coldly says he has no memory of this. The party appeals to Artin; uncomfortable, she declines to be an arbter here. Exasperated, the party requests that she raise Dayman and Erevan from the dead. She agrees, and promises to meet up with them tomorrow.

The party leaves Vondal, and discusses what to do now. Upset with what they feel is shady dealing on the dwarf's part, they decide to seek out Cabal and see if his offer to join him still stands. They make their way down to a seedier part of Zaimier, and here Cabal finds them. They say they are willing to join him, but he makes it very clear that he expects blank-check, unquestioning loyalty, regardless of their moral or scruples. When they press the point, he says that, yes, he might command them to kill. The party decides that they are not willing to work for him, and so a final showdown begins. He gives them then one more chance to walk away, saying that even if they defeat him, they will still lose. They are not moved.

The party kills Cabal and barely breaks a sweat. It is all distirbuingly easy.

After adjusting to this new windfall, the party decides they need to make plans to track Maivera down. They enter a nearby bar and try to drum up some lackeys/recruits for a quest to go find her. They find a few interested parties, and even return to the home of one of them to make further plans, but the negotiations break down, and everyone goes their own ways again.

The next day, the party meets up with Artin, and they retire to a secluded spot for her to raise Erevan and Dayman, using their disembodied heads. While she works, the party rests up, shops, and learns new rituals. Because the Raise Dead ritual takes so long, it is the evening of the second day when they are finally able to make their way back up to Vondal.

Vondal's mood is much more cheery this time as he sees Dayman and Erevan alive and in bonds. He has special cages prepared for them, and locks them up straightaway. He accepts Cabal's corpse too, saying he has a place to keep him as well. With their business finally said and done, he gets Torbera to bring out the party's money. 29,000 gold pieces for each party member, as agreed!

The party is a little apprehensive as they leave, a little concerned for the fate of the city with Erevan around, and a little worried about Dayman, who is not exactly a bad person. But Vondal gives them assurances that they will not be mistreated, and Artin backs him up. So the party retires to an inn for the night, their quest complete and their treasure won!

The next morning finds the party relaxed and cheerfully aimless. They are musing about what to do next when a huge explosion rocks the city! At first, they worry that Erevan has gotten loose and is causing havoc. But that thought quickly evaporates when they see in the sky above Zaimier the sinister form of a red dragon!

Rewards

XP: 500 (Kriv, Kava, and Rougi)
Money: 29,000 GP EACH (in-game reward)
Treasure: none

Session 14: Dispellings

The party sets out from Summercrest to make the journey to Zaimier and Vondal and claim their reward at last. Kriv summons her phantom steeds, which allows them to travel almost twice as fast. It is a broad highway they travel on, and more than a few travelers pass them going either direction.

Six days later, they are deep in the forest when another traveler heading back towards Summercrest hails them. He tells them the bridge ahead is out, but that there is a small path that goes around the gorge it spans that they can use. This stranger seems genuine, and the party decides to listen to him, though Rougi does pick his pocket (despite Kriv's efforts to stop him). So they travel a little farther along the road, then make their way off onto the small woodland path.

The path takes them deep into the forest, and they walk for several hours. Dusk begins to fall, and they realize that they are not going to be able to get back to the road before dark. At about this time, however, the forest opens up - it is not a clearing, but they find themselves in an area where the trees are much shorter, thinner, and farther apart. It looks like an area of new growth, as if this section of the forest was clearcut some time ago and now the forest is gradually growing back.

The party walks into this area, figuring they will camp here for the night. Looking around, Rougi realizes that this area is actually the remains of an abandoned village. The crumbling remains of huts are hidden behind thick shrubberies, and there is a large dilapidated three-story manor house standing on the east end of the ghost town.

Before the party can take the time to process any of this though, they realize that there are three figures standing in the road a good fifty yards in front of them. Kava calls out a cheerful hello, which is greeted by a vicious snarl, followed by the creatures charging forward. As they draw closer, the party realizes it is a trio of ghouls! A sharp flash of déjà vu washes over them, followed by a grim sense of pleasure, a determination these monsters will not defeat them this time.

The battle is short and very one-sided. In only moments, Rougi and Kava have their revenge.

Invigorated from their victory, the party settles in for the night. Kriv actually stays up quite late learning some new rituals, but the rest of the party drops off to sleep pretty quickly. Rougi tranced and then kept watch around the camp for the rest of the night. As it wore on towards the hour of dawn, Berekhan woke up to wait out the last few hours with him. (Rougi was a little peeved that Kriv had tried to stop him from robbing the traveler on the highway, and attempted to pick her pocket too. In this he was actually unsuccessful.)

After a couple more hours, the two of them began to feel a little ill at ease. Their internal clocks told them that it should be getting light soon, that dawn should be approaching, yet it was still as black as midnight. Berekhan cast his mind about to get a feel for the magic in the area. He realized there was an illusion at work here. Concentrating hard, he could see, over the top of the illusion, the sun breaking over the trees.

Before they could take any further action on this though, eight ghosts materialized in the unnatural darkness and lunged at the party. Their phantom swords swung over Kriv's head and pierced Kava's armor, waking them up in a hurry. The battle was swift - soon all eight ghosts had been dispatched, dissolved into nothingness with shrill but quickly silenced cries.

The party elected to move away from the scene of the battle, and after only a few paces they found themselves subjected to the light of dawn streaming through the trees. The illusion had apparently been confined to an area right around their camp.

The party decided to investigate the collapsing manor house. However, once inside, it quickly became apparent there was nothing here worth having. The house was so old, so long-abandoned, that it was nearly collapsing around them. Rougi elected to swing up chandeliers and such rather than brave the stairs, so dilapidated did they look.

As their fruitless investigation came to a close and they turned to leave, they became aware that there was another ghost standing in the doorway. Unlike the others, though, he had a sad, lonely face, and rather than attacking, addressed them politely. He said his name was Brandis; he had been a resident of this village years ago. He told the party that his village had gone through several bad years of crop failures, and no one would give them any aid, no one would help. Starvation began to set in, and then desperation, and his fellow villagers began to resort to cannibalism. Brandis nearly became hysterical as he told of how he had watched his own wife and children killed and eaten by his neighbors.

Brandis pleads with them to help him. He says he knows why no one helped them, that it was an calculated, deliberate thing, that someone drove his village to starvation on purpose. The party is somewhat unsurprised to learn that it was Cabal himself. They promise he shall receive his just rewards. Brandis is overcome, thanking them profusely. (Rougi then tries to get some info out of him as to where any buried treasure might be, but Brandis didn't know anything; that manor house had been abandoned since before he was born.)

Their work here done, the party headed out once again for Zaimier. Kriv summoned the phantom steeds; two more days they traveled without rest, making their way back across the path and to the highway again. In the afternoon of the third day, they finally arrived back to Zaimier.

Rewards

XP: 500 each
Money: 1,400 gp (350 gp each)
Treasure: none

Session 13: Pyrrhus, Wearing Melpomene's Face

After defeating Lucan, the party decides that, given the lateness of the hour, they will just hunker down for the evening. They go through looting the house, finding several valuable items, among them an amulet of false life and a flute of the dancing satyr.

As part of his star-pact, Berekhan goes out to study the stars during the course of the evening. When he does, he finds Dayman hiding under the stairs, and brings the coward into the house with them. Berekhan then seeks out an actual bed and settles down for the evening. The rest of the party sleeps in Lucan's living room, keeping a close watch for any threats. Though creaky and drafty, the house remains still throughout the course of the night, and they awake safely in the morning.

The next day, they decide, after some discussion, to return to Urlsav to retrieve Erevan and make their way back to Zaimier to claim their reward, if possible. (Dayman doesn't exactly come willingly, but he is unable to escape.) This requires them to travel back up the river to Cornosis; however, Kriv is able to summon them some phantom steeds and they are able to make better time going overland, and in fact reach Cornosis in only a day and a half.

In Cornosis, they come to the temple of Avandra there once more, and pass through to Urlsav. In Urlsav, they break the unhappy news of Maivera's apparent death to Maxé. Though saddened, he takes comfort that Maivera died serving Bahamut, defending friends. Kriv, though, hangs onto the hope that Maivera might still be alive, and asks Maxé to assist her in doing a Sending ritual. They are unable to contact Maivera, though.

Collecting Erevan, the party makes their way back to the temple of Avandra in Urlsav. The chatty elf priests there strike up another conversation with them, and on their suggestion, they teleport this time to Summercrest, putting them that much closer to Zaimier. However, they still have a two-week journey through largely unsettled forest ahead of them, and it is late in the day. They elect to stay in an inn overnight.

As they are settling in for the evening, a knock is heard at the door. They ask who it is, and Maivera's voice responds! The party fills a thrill of hope and excitement, but they are also immediately suspicious and wary. They do not open the door right away, questioning the voice, trying to determine if it is actually Maivera. The voice asserts her identity numerous times, and finally they open the door. It indeeds looks like Maivera, but the party is not convinced. Rougi is particularly suspicious, fearing there is something duplicitous about her. Kriv ends up casting Discern Lies, and some of Maivera's statements, especially those about her identity, appear to be lies. Yet the person in front of them swears up and down, earnestly, that she is indeed Maivera. She gives evidence that seems sound, and can't be caught in an obvious lie.

After long debate, the party decides to return to Urlsav to get Maxé to test this person's claims (much to Kava's exasperation). 'Maivera' allows herself to be bound and tied to Dayman and Erevan, and marched to the temple of Avandra for the trip. However, as they approach it, Berekhan attempts to intimidate 'Maivera' with talk of Maxé's power and integrity as a cleric, and his long relationship with the real Maivera. Her show of confidence rapidly deteriorates, and then suddenly she disappears! The cord binding her to Dayman is cut, and within moments there is no trace of her.

Disgruntled, the party returns to the inn and sleeps the night, which passes without further incident. The next morning, they go down into the tavern to have some breakfast, prisoners in tow. As they are eating, the bartender attempts to strike up a conversation with them, but the party is in a hurry. As they turn to leave, he throws out after them, "By the way, Cabal has come to respect you as enemies, but would like you to be his allies."

The party's is of course a bit thrown, and immediately on their guard. The man introduces himself as Corrigon and says that Cabal sent him to make an offer - stop seeking to bring him to Vondal, and come and work for him instead. The party is actually somewhat amenable to the offer; they know they will be paid, and can probably convince Vondal to take Erevan and Dayman as enough. They do however want some assurances that Cabal is not going to require them to do things they aren't comfortable with (primarily murder). To this, Corrigon is evasive, and basically says Cabal expects a pledge of loyalty without equivocation. The party asks for some time to consider the offer, but Corrigon says that he has to know right now. After a few frustrating exchanges, Kriv says she would like to cast Hand of Fate to know what course of action to take. Corrigon is agreeable, but says he wants to go with them to wherever she goes to cast the ritual.

The seven of them (Corrigon, the party, and the bound Dayman and Erevan) slip into an alley behind the tavern, where Kriv casts Hand of Fate. It recommends that she return to Vondal, and reject Cabal's offer. The party decides to follow this recommendation, and tell Corrigon as much. To which, he sighs, and declares, "So be it then."

At this, Dayman's and Erevan's bonds fall away, and they attack!

A chaotic battle erupts in the confines of the alley. Corrigon actually falls early on, sliced to pieces by the fury of Kava's greataxe. The party is puzzled by Erevan's escape and Dayman's sudden boldness, but are not reluctant to lay into them. Very quickly though, two townspeople that were just wandering the street also whip out weapons and rush into the fray. In the heat of the battle, one of them, as well as Erevan, disappear. Rougi tries to slip through the fight to track down his prisoner, and finds some of his footprints leading off, but can find no other trace. However, before the battle ends, two more 'townspeople' come to replace them.

Kriv pushes her way out of the alley, and lets loose a blast of lightning breath, scorching one of their enemies badly. However, behind him was standing another townsperson. She had figured this was one of their enemies in disguise, and had not been careful to avoid him. When the smoke cleared though, she saw this townsperson on the ground, unarmed, innocent, and dead. A dark pall settled on her heart, and though she fought on bravely, she was horrified by what she had done.

In between fierce blows, the party demanded from Dayman why he was doing this. He claimed he was being controlled, that this wasn't his idea, but he did not stop attacking. Even after he was K.O.-ed, and then healed, he only began to attack once more. Finally, they were forced to cut him down for good.

It was a wearing and confusing battle, and the party was spent by its end. Berekhan's spells had all but expended themselves, and Kava was beginning to weaken under the enemy's blows. But in the end, Corrigon, Dayman, and three 'townspeople' lay defeated at their feet. And then the most extraordinary thing happened - their appearances all changed, and they came to look like gray-skinned humanoids that resembled in no way the people they had been just seconds ago. Dayman was not Dayman at all, he had been an imposter! Kava realized their enemies were all dopplegangers.

The party wanted answers. They stuffed Corrigon's corpse into Jaden's leftover bag of holding, and made their way back to Urlsav through Avandra's teleportation circle. Once there, they compelled Maxé and Kriv to cast Speak With Dead. All in all they got three questions, and learned that Cabal was currently in Zaimier, and that Dayman and Erevan are dead, and their corpses lie in their beds at the inn in Summercrest. The party returns to the inn to find that Corrigon had not been able to deceive them in death. Dayman and Erevan's remains had already been discovered. It looked like the doppelgangers had gotten to their prisoners at some point, killed them, and taken their places in order to strike at the critical moment.

Somewhere between dejected and furious, the party realized that after all this effort, they had only corpses to bring back to Vondal. They decided they were going to return to Zaimier though, if only to find Cabal.

Rewards

XP: 450 each

Money: 600 gp (150 each)

Treasure:

• Amulet of False Life +2 (Player's Handbook p. 249)
• Flute of the Dancing Satyr (Player's Handbook 2 p. 210)
  Carved from wood and inscribed with arcane glyphs, this flute can play a tune of speed and elegance.
  Level 6 Wondrous Item, worth 1,800 gp
  Power (Encounter): Move Action. You shift 2 squares, and each ally within 5 squares of your destination space can shift 1 square as a free action.

Interlude: Level Up!

All right, with the XP gain from last session, you are now all at Level 6!

• Since you're moving up into an even-numbered level, your level modifier will now go up by 1 (to +3). This means your skills, your attack modifiers, and your defenses should all go up.
• Increase your hit points, bloodied point, and surge value. These numbers come from your class description.
  
• At this level you gain 1 feat, and 1 utility power. Look at your class description for these.
  
• Check all your feats, particularly your class and racial ones, to see if they improve any by gaining this level.

If anyone wants to do any retraining (i.e., change one feat, power, or skill), this would be the time to do it.

Session 12: Death of a Hubris

The party runs out of the cavern where their encounter with Cabal took place, passing back through the egg cavern to the tunnel fork that led them this way from the start. They take the right fork this time, leading them down into another cavern. However, there doesn't appear to be any exits from this cavern besides the one they just came in through, and there's nothing in here but some discarded gems and jewels. Frustrated with their inability to do anything to help Maivera or give any hurt back to their enemies, they make the long journey back out into the daylight.

When they emerge back out into the forest, dusk is falling. Kriv leaves behind her holy symbol, as a sign to Maivera, if she survived, that the party made it, and that they can find her again. They put some distance between themselves and the cave, and then camp for the night. No Troglodytes are spotted during the night, so the party is able to rest and recover from their ordeal.

In the morning, they make the rest of the journey back to Prosepilis, where they do some shopping, beefing up their armories and unloading some of the treasure they found down in the cavern. From there, though, they are not exactly sure what to do next. Dayman is not very helpful either; in fact he says that he is done hanging with the party, that he's going to go his own way. The party pounces on him before he can get far though, and decide they will take him to Maxé too, to ask him to keep Dayman a prisioner too (and to let him know about Maivera).

Dayman, in what is obviously a last-ditch attempt, suggests that they go see Lucan. He's a hermit that lives off in the swamp; it was from some of his people that Dayman first found out about the cave and was able to buy the inscription for the lock. Lucan, Dayman says, is the guy you go to if you need information. The party is a little skeptical, but doesn't really have any other options. When pressed, Dayman admits that he's never actually met Lucan, that he discourages visitors, and is generally thought to be kind of dangerous.

It only takes a few hours to get to Lucan's home, which is set back in the swamp. When they arrive, they find an old, traditional-looking manor home, set on a large open lot ringed about by huge swamp cedars. The party is wary, and they decide to leave Rougi in the trees while they approach the house, so as to have some backup. However, they have only gone a couple of yards past the treeline when savage-looking creatures begin to claw their way up through the soil and start attacking them.
These sharp-fanged monstrosities don't prove much of a threat, though, and the party makes short work of several. However, more keep popping up as they strike them down. But the battle has not gone on long before a commanding voice calls across the lawn. A man clad in dark red robes is standing on the veranda of the manor house. He beckons the party closer, calling off the attackers, and identifying himself as Lucan. He welcomes them to his home and apologizes for the attack; he says those creatures are meant to keep out thieves, but he doesn't feel the party has come to rob him.

The party warily approaches him, and he invites them in. A beautiful woman is waiting inside; Lucan asks the party if they want anything to eat or drink, and this woman, whom he calls Zalasta, goes off to get it. Lucan then invites them into the drawing room, and they sit down to talk. The party says they want information; Lucan says he is happy to give information, that is what he does, but it comes at a price. He also says that he does not give out information about himself, and repeatedly deflects such questions. The party says they have questions about Cabal; Lucan names a price, and the party (but mostly Kriv) forks over the money.

Lucan settles back in his chair, and asks them how much they know about the dragon Tubaloth. The party remembers that the kobolds in the Forest of Tryn worshipped Tubaloth, but really don't know much else. Lucan says that, according to legend, centuries ago, a great dragon named Tubaloth lived in the Mountains of Tryn. Like most dragons, Tubaloth had acquired great wealth, and hoarded it jealously. Somewhat unlike other dragons, he regarded the very mountains themselves as part of his treasure trove, knowing them to be rich in minerals. He regarded any attempts to mine, however small, to be theft, and would brutally punish any offenders. However, over seven hundred years ago, Tubaloth disappeared from this world, and now no one is even sure if he ever actually existed.

Lucan says Cabal, at least, belives himself to be in the employ of Tuabloth. Cabal is scouring the world’s records and markets, following some strange path through the economic records of the last seven centuries]. It is an exhausting task, but he has an endless supply of platinum and valuable items at his disposal somehow. Perhaps the most puzzling aspects is that when Cabal comes to the end of certain line of money, he hires a group of thieves to steal it, giving them all they could possibly need to do the job. Lucan seems to approve of Cabal's ruthless and bizarre nature. The party asks where they can find Cabal now, and Lucan says that he has a base somewhere in Mt. Thrain, which is the mountain on which Zaimier, the dwarf city their adventure started from, has been built.

Throughout this little interchange, some of the party notices that Lucan seems to be almost transfixed with the Eladrins, particularly with Rougi. He barely looks at the other party members, and when he speaks he seems to only address Rougi.

When the party has decided they've gotten enough information for the prices Lucan wants, they thank him and prepare to leave. Lucan then stands and declares that the party is free to leave - except Rougi. He has decided that Rougi must stay. They demand to know why, and at this Lucan smiles, baring his teeth, including his two sharp, pointed fangs. "To join me," the vampire lord says with an evil smile. "To join me in subjugating the world."

The party needs little encouragement. Their weapons flash, and they attack Lucan. He is not easily damaged, and seems almost indifferent to their attacks at first. He comes at Rougi, intent with drinking his blood, and very nearly succeeds. To make matters worse, Zalasta returns, and seeing these people attacking her master, joins the fight. Kriv and Kava order the pseudodragons into action, and they pin her down while Rougi feebly attempts to fend of Lucan. Berekhan and Kava bring their full powers to bear, though, and after a few substantial hits, Lucan no longer seems amused. Zalasta cannot reach him, and before long he is looking worried and then panicked as they pummel him. Zalasta finally breaks free of the pseudodragons, but it is too late; the party cuts her down. With her last breath, she whispers "Lucan", like a lover's whisper, and then she is gone. As her body sucumbs to death, an illusion falls away from her, and they see her corpse with leathery wings and a pointed tail.

Lucan, staggering and bloodied under the force of the party's attack, watches Zalasta's death in horror. In this state, he is unable to sense how weary the party themselves is becoming, and decides to flee. He dissolves before their eyes, transforming into mist and then he is gone. The party spits insults after him, feeling themselves cheated and robbed.

Rewards

XP: 500
Money: 3,300 gp
Treasure: None

DM's NOTE: I'm very sorry this took so long to get out!

Session 11: Anima Sola

After recovering from the battle with the Sahuagin, the party makes their way up to the cavern. The journey takes pretty much all day, and dusk is falling when they arrive. En route, they ask Dayman what exactly they should expect. He says that he's not sure; he knows that magical thieves, like the kind that Cabal has been hiring, have used this cave as a lair. He says he's hoping to find some clues as to who Cabal is and what he is trying to do.

Upon arriving, after a little discussion, they decide to encamp for the night to give the magic users (Maivera, Kriv, and Berekhan) time to study and prepare some rituals. The night passes; Maivera spends most of her time in prayer to Bahamut, while Kriv studies some rituals. The next morning, Kriv brews some healing potions and gives them to Maivera and Berekhan. Then, armed and ready, the party has Dayman make the incantation that opens the cave doors, and head in.

The cave is actually more a tunnel, leading down and down into the side of the mountain. For two hours the party marches forward. They find discarded treasure and such, and pocketed some valuable items, but by and large do not see anything worth noting.

After two hours, the party finally comes to a fork. They decide to go left. Almost immediately they are 'attacked' by a ghostly figure. However, it passes through them, and they realize it is just an apparition. Kriv, however, as the creature passes through her, hears a voice in her head say "Remember." She thinks back to the time when she encountered a Deathlock Wright in the caverns near her home, and how after defeating that enemy, she and Kava decided to go adventuring (which of course is what led them to meet up with Rougi and Jaden in that tavern in Zaimier).

It is an odd encounter, but nothing else seems to happen, and no other creatures or enemies present themselves, so the party keeps going down the tunnel. After about another fifty feet or so, Kava, who is in the front of the group, sees a light in front of her. They reach an opening, and Kava steps into a large cavern. It is about 50 feet wide and 100 feet to the back, and has a roughly oval shape. The room is actually mostly a pit, set about 10 feet down from where Kava currently stands. A shelf about ten feet wide rings the room.

The party all files in and they look down into the pit. It is filled with eggs, hundreds of eggs, and not small ones either; each individual egg is about the size of a human head. The room is bathed with an unearthly glow, and looking closely, they realize that sometimes the eggs move, twicthing ever so slightly.

Suddenly, a shout is heard from across the cavern, and from around the 'walkway' comes running four large bluish-green lizards wielding spears and looking as if they're out for blood. They charge towards the party, shouting curses in Draconic. The thought passes through Kriv's head that these are Troglodytes, cursed minions of the Underdark, but there is no time to ruminate on this.

A savage battle follows. This time Dayman does not run, and even manages to score some good shots with his crossbow. Maivera, conversely, seems a tad intimidated, and does not manage to connect with even one attack. The rest of the party, though, wails on these attackers: Berekhan unleashes some fearsome spells, while Kava spins through the horde, her greataxe whirling with death. The battle is hardly one-sided; Troglodytes stink to high heaven, and the smell distracts them to the point that their attacks are less effective. Still, it is not long before all four Troglodytes lie dead at their feet.

They take a short rest at this point. They are not sure if the the Troglodytes were guarding the eggs, or if the eggs were just incidental. Kriv shoots one of the eggs with her crossbow, but nothing happens, besides some yolk leaking out. Rougi decides to climb down and pick some up; he loads them into the Bag of Holding he took from Jaden, then smashes a couple. When still nothing happens, the party decides to move on.

There are two exits at the back of the cavern; the party makes their way back and chooses the left again. They go another thirty or so feet through the tunnel and find themselves in an even larger cavern. There are two openings at the sides of the room, and it is once again towards the left-most one that they make their way. However, they have made it only a few feet when, from out of the rock floor, over a dozen Troglodyte warriors burst out, and attack. Strangely, they do not use their weapons, but rather grapple each one of them, shouting at them to "give up!" and "hold still!".

The party resists at first, and take out several of their enemies, but are puzzled by their actions. They rarely strike with their clubs, and usually only if provoked first. They seem more interested in tackling them and keeping them restrained. Plus, a figure at the back of the room occassionally call out at them to not resist. So after a few rounds they decide to just wait and see what their enemies have in mind.

From the back of the cavern, the figure walks towards them. Stepping into the light, he confirms their suspicions; he is in fact Cabal. He says that he needs to know who they are, where they came from, who hired them, and what they know about him - he says their quest has wasted far too much of his master's time already. The party tries to ask him questions; he dismisses their queries shortly, demanding they answer his. Berekhan is the first to volunteer information, telling Cabal that he is not really part of their quest, but explains it to him anyway. Cabal repeats his inquries, and the rest of the party answers with what they know of him. (Berekhan manages to teleport close enough to attack Cabal, but it fails, and he is quickly restrained again.)

Cabal seems not terribly satisfied with the answers the party gives: he keeps repeating his questions, and makes it known that he intends to let the Troglodytes torture them in their evil religious rites. The party eventually becomes tired of his questions, but he continually refuses to answer theirs. They do touch an nerve, though, when they accuse him of being a thief - he snaps that he is not a thief, but rather a punisher of thieves. They are able to probe a little further and find out that he isn't really concerned with general thievery, just thievery from his master. But beyond this he is very closed, roughly deflecting their questions.

The party says they have nothing more to tell him. He declares that he thinks they're probably telling him the truth, but he figures he may as well torture some of them to be sure. "Start with the half-wit and the half-breed" he instructs the Troglodytes: they start pulling Maivera and Dayman away. Maivera lets herself be pulled a short distance away from the rest of them, then turns back and says to Kriv, "Remember, Bahamut has great things in store for you!"

Then she turns and spits hard into her captors face. To everyone's surprise, a rock flies out of her mouth, hits the lizard-man in the nose, and rolls onto the floor. Another Troglodyte picks it up. Cabal shouts, "Wait, don't-!" but not before the Troglodyte says, "It says, 'Boom'".

An explosion rips through the cavern. The Troglodytes restraining the party are knocked back, releasing them, while the ceiling caves in around them. For a second everything disappears in a haze of collapsing rock and swirling dust; when it clears, a thick wall of boulders has been formed, cutting the cavern in half. Dayman, Rougi, Kriv, Kava, and Berekhan (as well as six Troglodytes) are on one side, while Cabal, Maivera, and the rest of their enemies are on the other.

The party quickly eliminates the rest of the Troglodytes. They then try to listen across the wall to see if they can hear what is going on. There is a lot of shouting, and the phrase "Go around!" is heard. The party decides there is nothing they can do for Maivera at the moment, and turn to flee the cavern. Kriv is striken with grief at leaving Maivera behind, but she follows.

Rewards

XP: 750

Money: 500 gp

Treasure:
You found several pieces of valuable loot in the cavern:
- Razor Armor +2 (Lvl 7) [p. 231 Player's Handbook]
- Safewing Amulet +2 (Lvl 8) [p. 251 Player's Handbook]
- Dynamic Belt +2 (Lvl 9) [p. 253 Player's Handbook]