Company+of+the+Phoenix+Session+12


 * 9-2-2016 **
 * Delving into the Crevasse in Eveningstar**

With the attacks on the city under control, the companions helped clean up the last of the remaining undead.  Charlemagne invited Karlissa to accompany his group, "We could use the fodder... I mean It'll give you a chance to show off on the battlefield." "Any chance to show you up," she nodded thoughtfully, "That is... if I get one of the badges." "One of the badges? Our badges?" A little stunned, the great warrior looked over his cousin questioningly and glanced at the Phoenix badge proudly displayed on his armor. No one had asked to officially join their company before... not even Anuul wore one of the badges.

"Of course," Alaric walked up behind them, having overheard their conversation, "After that valiant display of heroism... You have certainly earned one of our badges and to join our company." He nodded, and handed an extra Phoenix badge to the beautiful lady Rallyhorn. Charlemagne raised a surprised eyebrow at his sorcerous cousin. "She cleaved down the undead. A true hero... a daughter of the Realm," Alaric nodded to him and turned to Karlissa, "Welcome to the Company of the Phoenix." "Thank you, my lord," she accepted the badge into her hands. The name of the company was already spreading in fame, and holding the badge in her hands felt a little prestigious. Charlemagne frowned. Karlissa had only been with them for one day... and already she held one of the badges they had worked hard to gain glory for? "What are we just handing these out to everyone now?" He questioned Alaric, gesturing across the street to a local townsfolk, "There's the blacksmith over there... why don't you give him one too?"

 Nalen stroked a finger down his cheek in thought and nodded, "We all did give great effort." Alaric sighed. Of course they would all want one now... and they had put in a heroic effort... Karlissa was just the first to ask. He handed badges to Nalen, Rhain, and Anuul as well, but with a little more hesitation.  Charlemagne frowned.

The elders of the city informed the group that a couple of other groups had gone on ahead of them to also investigate the crevasse, "So please feel free to..." "Bury them?" Charlemagne muttered quietly with Tiri elbowing him. "request aid if necessary," the elders continued without noticing. "Oh aid," Charlemagne nodded with a soft laugh, "Right." "Very well," Alaric nodded to the elders, ignoring his cousin behind him, "Who were these groups?" "One group got out before I got a chance to talk to them, but the other was a group of townsfolk," the elder answered. "Townsfolk? They went after the undead?" Charlemagne asked in surprise, "Well... you're a hardy folk, aren't you?" "That's right," the elder nodded, "Everyone here wants to do their part." "That's quite admirable," the muscular warrior nodded, with a feigned impressed smile while mumbling quietly to the cleric, "...and stupid." Tiri brushed her hand over her smile to cover it. "Very well," Alaric nodded to the elder and then to his companions, "Let's go before someone keeps talking."

The companions left their horses in town and walked to climb the cliffside of the large hill. Numerous remains of undead scattered the cliffside as they made their way up to the chasm. Alix and Anuul stayed to guard the entrance. Alaric illuminated his scepter, it glowed a beautiful fiery gold. Charlemagne lit a torch, taking the lead into the darkness alongside Karlissa. Tiri and Alaric followed them with Rhain and Nalen guarding their backs.

The long chasm had alcoves alternating along the left and right of the hallway. Charlemagne looked down the long hall, suddenly wishing they had someone along who could find traps. He turned to his red haired cousin, "What do you see?" Karlissa gazed into the dim hall wavering in Charlemagne's firelight and shrugged, "You're the tomb raider... I'm just here to chop heads." He frowned, but then nodded... yes, of course... //he// was the tomb raider... //he// was the expert... if //he// saw nothing, surely it was safe. He continued to lead them forward with a little more confidence.

The first alcove on the left had a moderate quality statue of a scholarly robed bald man holding an open book and gesturing as though he was instructing imaginary students before him. Charlemagne shrugged, continuing on to look in the right farther forward. Another statue of a top-knotted warrior holding up a spear and shield, and wearing early Cormyrian armor from perhaps 5 or 6 centuries ago. Alaric checked both statues to find no magic or family symbols present.

There were three more alcoves, each with a different statue. One had a female archer. All were human and bore some notation of Cormyr on them. Tiri looked them over with great curiosity. Elves, of course, had great and beautiful tombs where they protected their dead, but most of the human cities she had been to had strange open field cemeteries with individual graves, and this place seemed sadly forgotten.

Charlemagne continued on to where a set of double doors had been knocked off of their hinges, glancing inside cautiously with his torch. In the wavering illumination, he could see two dead townsfolk on the floor with arrows sticking out of them, and he warned his companions of the relatively fresh corpses. Alaric conjured a magical shield around himself. Tiri moved in with her companions to find the bodies still warm, but beyond her prayers to revive. A raised sarcophagus stood on a dais in the center of the room with an open lid on the side showing a dozen holes where the arrows had likely sprung from. On the far side of the room, a statue stood pivoted to the side to reveal a secret hallway deeper in. Partially bloody footprints headed into the secret door.

Moving past the statue into the door, the cavern hall was a more natural winding hall... made of dirt and rock as it rose and fell. 5 or 6 different sets of footprints could be found in the dirt floor with 1 or 2 heavy with armor. Following the cavern around a bend, it forked into 2 separate paths. Footprints in the soft dirt seemed to go into a natural cavern and then doubling back to the other path. The cavern looked to have been used as a warehouse to thieves' lair at some point, but had long been left behind with only some rotted boxes and rat eaten bags remaining.

Returning to take the north fork into the mountain, the group moved in to find a very deep cavern, mostly consumed by a lake of water. 7 stones were arranged in a rough circle to stick out of the water, with enough room for one person to comfortably stand. In the middle of the circle of stones, a lantern hung... burning black fire. A cold shiver ran down Tiri's spine as sarcasm dripped from her lips, "Well that looks inviting." Three more townsfolk bodies lied on the beach before the water. There were no outward wounds... water spilling out of their mouths to indicate a drowning.

Alaric recalled a story of the black flame lantern... it had been built centuries ago by the warmages to hold a lich who had brought many horrors to Cormyr. The lantern was made to hold the lich in his tomb by drawing undead to it... making the lich inclined to stay... but this was certainly not the tomb where it belonged. "Well what's it doing here if it doesn't belong here?" Charlemagne blinked at his sorcerous cousin and glanced back to the hanging lantern. "Someone must have brought it here," Alaric answered, studying the water between them and the lantern. "What kind of jackass would have done such a thing?" the chiseled warrior grumbled. Alaric nodded his agreement to his cousin's reaction, "That's what we want to find out... but in the meantime, we need to get that lantern... it's a bad thing to think about if it's not on that lich's tomb anymore."

The charismatic sorcerer swept his hands over the water, detecting no magic other than some sort of evocation magical trap on the lantern. "Surely you can handle it," Rhain nodded to him. "Of course," Alaric looked to Charlemagne, "Perhaps you could swim out there." "You're out of your mind!" Charlemagne shook his head, glancing out to the creepy black flamed lantern. "Way to delegate," the saucy swashbuckler nodded her approval.

Charlemagne attempted to bait his red-haired cousin with a taunt, "Karlissa, I bet you can't swim that far to get the lantern..." "I bet you're right," she shrugged easily beside him, "Go ahead, you first." "Chicken," he grumbled in reply, inching down the beach hesitantly to look at the water and back to his scholarly cousin, "You said it was some sort of blasting evocation magic... I don't understand these sorts of things... what does that mean?" "It is a type of magic that calls forth an elemental to..." Alaric began explaining in long scholarly terms that did nothing to brighten the blank stare his warrior cousin wore. Nalen interrupted the mage, looking directly at Charlemagne, "Given the state of the three bodies here, I would guess that it somehow tries to drown you." "Mmm," the brown haired warrior nodded, "I would agree with that." Nalen nodded, "Perhaps once you enter the lake... you can not resurface." Charlemagne turned back to Alaric, "Can't you just levitate and float over there to get it?" The golden haired sorcerer frowned, "I can't do that yet..."

Charlemagne frowned, pacing the beach's edge as he studied the water, judging about 15 feet to the closest rock. Alaric joined him, poking his staff into the water to search for a hidden path. Charlemagne removed his heavy armor and attached a rope around his waist, handing it off to Nalen. "Wait," Alaric held up a hand. He tied a rope around one of the bodies, "You and Karlissa try throwing one of //them// in instead to test it." Tiri paled and closed her eyes, muttering prayers off to Corellion.

The two warriors swung the drowned corpse of the townsfolk back and forth, and as they swung him toward the water for the release... something went horribly wrong as the arm of the corpse tripped Charlemagne and sent him sprawling into the lake!! He managed a deep gasp of air as he fell in. The water shimmered and the surface sealed closed like glass. Charlemagne beat on the surface, unable to get out. Alaric moved quickly to feel the smooth lake, hard as stone.

Tiri's eyes went wide as her companion beat against the hard surface of the lake. She glanced out at the lantern and back to Alaric. The surface of the water was hardened now... she could run on it. She laid a hand on the sorcerer's arm, "Get Charlemagne out. Promise me! I'll heal him when I get back." Without waiting for an answer, and before anyone could stop her, she ran at full speed across the glass-like surface of the lake to leap onto the closest rock.

The young elven woman hit the lantern with her spear, trying to knock it down, but only managed to make it swing wildly on the fine string it was attached to. Alaric blinked after the cleric, and looked back down at Charlemagne, "Keep holding your breath! Tiri is getting the lantern!" The others backed off of the lake just in case.

Tiri backed down to the hard surface of the water, using a running start to run up the rock and leapt for the lantern, missing and landing onto the lake. Charlemagne pounded on the surface above him, pulling ashweaver from his sheath. Alaric called across the lake in a calm and soothing voice, "It's alright, Tiri... try again. You've got time. You can do this!" She nodded back to him, scrambling to her feet and making another running start up the rock and leaping off. This time she landed solidly on the lantern, breaking the string that was holding it and landing on another rock with the black flame lantern in her hands. As soon as the lantern came off of the string into the cleric's hands, the surface of the water broke, releasing Charlemagne from his watery prison.

A massive octopus rose out of the water, one of it's large tentacles reached out to wrap around the elven woman's body as a few other tentacles grabbed the rocks to pull it out of the surface. As the others helped Charlemagne out of the lake, a blood curdling scream came from the blue haired priestess, drawing the immediate attention of her companions. Alaric released a ray of fire on the octopus, scorching it's wet skin. Rhain drew her blade, pacing the edge of the beach in wait. Karlissa and Charlemagne drew their bows, shooting arrows into the octopus. Nalen drew his blade and began wading courageously toward the rocks. A tentacle lashed at the paladin, wrapping around his shield... but Nalen managed to wrench it free. The tentacle around Tiri continued to squeeze her tighter!

A massive wave of fire rushed again from Alaric, severely burning away the flesh of the octopus! "Let her go, abomination!" his voice rang out with his demands. Charlemagne shot another arrow, but it broke against the stone cavern wall past the octopus. Karlissa followed his lead, also missing with her bow. Nalen charged the rock that Tiri had been standing on, and brought his blade down with a mighty smite, "Release her, beast!" The octopus reeled back, wilting back into the water and dropped the blue-haired cleric who fell into the heroic paladin's waiting arms! "Nalen!" Tiri hugged onto him, so relieved to be freed.

The mighty paladin clutched her warmly in his arms, and turned with a boyish smirk toward Alaric, "I've got her." His smirk was met with a cold and jealous glare from the sorcerer on the shore. Still a little out of breath from the struggling against the crushing tentacle, Tiri leaned into her friend's embrace, "Thank you." "I was only doing my duty, my lady," his charming voice was coated in modesty as divinity echoed around him. He set her down gently on the rock, "Are you alright?" "Yes, and I still have the lantern," she smiled as she held it up, "Thanks to your courageous catch!" "Excellent!" he nodded, "Then let's put away your prize and get back to the shore." Tiri put the lantern in her pack with the paladin's help and the two of them made their way to the others.

Alaric swam down to the bottom of the pool with Charlemagne, scouring for treasure. They found 1100 gold a ring a ring and a circlet. They also found another townsperson body that was wedged under a switch.

Alaric gathered all of the corpses of the townspeople into a pile and burned them as Nalen and Tiri gave them last rites, saying prayers over them to bless them on their journey to the heavens. Alaric looked back out to the lake, "Why? ...and who would have brought that lantern here?" Nalen frowned, "Perhaps if left unnoticed, the lantern would have drawn a great force of undead... emptying out Suzail to fight it." Alaric nodded, "Perhaps."

Two passages exited the cavern, and Charlemagne found footprints to the northwest. Alaric nodded, "Let's hurry then, perhaps we can still save one." Charlemagne shook his head and sighed, "I told you we'd find their corpses when we came in here." Karlissa nodded, "It's true. He did say that." Charlemagne took the time to redress, putting his armor back on before the group continued on, following the footprints. As they walked, Alaric laid a hand on Tiri's shoulder, deep circular red welts still marring her otherwise flawless skin, "Are you alright? Do you want to stop and heal or anything?" She nodded up to him, grateful for his warmth as her still damp robes felt cool in the earthy cavern, "I'll be alright. Thank you. I know all that fire came from you." Her smile was warm as her blue eyes met his for but a moment before their walk led them to a few dispatched skeletons.

The group climbed a ledge that led up a wall to another door. Inside was a large room with scattered broken debris. Dry cots and clean flour sacks were in a corner. A man and a woman from town sat huddled together. He looked badly beaten and she was soaked and shivering. Without thought, Tiri approached them, "Are you both alright?" They nodded to her, "Yes." Alaric started a fire to warm them, "What happened here? Please, tell us your story. We are the Company of the Phoenix."

A soft blue aura wafted off of Tiri healing their wounds. The male nodded, "We happened upon the pond and seen the black flame lantern... We don't know what that is... but obviously something was going on with it." "We believe that it calls undead to it... and that it once belonged to the tomb of a lich to keep him there," Tiri explained. He nodded, "Three of our group waded in to get the lantern, but they got trapped under the water... and we pulled back as skeletons came rushing down from this room. We managed to fight them. We made it back in to the cavern to find our companions' bodies drowned... We were pulling them to shore when... //something//... came out of the water. We fled back to here."

Charlemagne nodded, "We slayed the beast... I too was trapped under the water, but I made it out. It was indeed terrifying for a while there." Tiri nodded, "We gathered your friends and gave them their last rites... I'm so terribly sorry for your loss." "It should be safe for you to return to Eveningstar," Alaric assured them, "We dealt with the fiendish creature. Have you seen any sign of another party?" They both shook their heads, "We heard there was another group ahead of us, but we never seen any sign of them... perhaps they never made it this far or never found the cave entrance... or perhaps they found another way in." Alaric nodded, looking them over for traces of deceptive magic, but only seen a magic ring on one of them. He gave them some food and some wine as everyone warmed themselves around a fire.

"Do you know of any other paths from here? Do you come here often?" Charlemagne asked. "No, we do not venture out of town too often, good lord," the man answered, shaking his head. "Very well," the great muscular warrior nodded, "Perhaps when you go back to town... you should think about staying there. Leave this sort of thing to the professionals." "Thank you for your advice, my lord. I believe when we get back to town, we will indeed settle in," he answered.

The companions escorted the two back past the octopus room, "Talk to the mayor when you return, and tell them what happened." He introduced all of the group's names and asked them to also inform Alix and Anuul who were guarding the entrance. The couple was grateful, "Do you believe the lantern was put here on purpose?" Alaric nodded, "It used to guard a tomb to a lich in the eastern Thunderpeak mountains ." "We should probably tell the elves at some point as well," the sorcerer nodded to Tiri. She nodded her agreement.

The group continued on up through the second passageway to the northeast. Tiri slipped in the wet muck, falling to the floor, and quickly sailed down the passageway! "Oh! ... There's so much mud!... I think... I got... eww!! Mud in my... eye... and my..." She spit several times trying to rid her lips of the filthy goop as she slid. Nalen elbowed Alaric, "That was your shot... you were supposed to catch her."

Tiri skidded to a halt at the edge of the passageway where it dropped off of a cliff. Her eyes wide, she quickly got back to her feet to survey an enormous fortress long ago buried. A fiery brazier lit either side of the double door entrance.

The others joined her, looking stunned out at the ancient dwarven architecture nearly 70 feet down the cliff. "What took you guys so long?" Tiri wiped away some of the water and mud from her robes. "We took the slow route," Alaric answered her, "Are you alright?" "Fine... fine... you know me... fleet of foot," she grinned. "Mmm elven grace," he nodded with a smirk, "I know that you're eager... but you should let Charlemagne lead. He is more equipped to handle tough things... it's kind of his job." She grinned.

They attached some ropes to scale the cliff, and Charlemagne led the way. The enormous dwarven doors stood between the hot fires of the burning braziers. A battlement on the left had been crushed by the landside, but the one on the right still stood. Bronze and silver statues depicted the dwarven pantheon running up alongside the double doors leading up to the All Father and his bride who were at the top. Charlemagne hefted the enormous doors open, and once they started moving... they pivoted like glass.

Everyone entered the grand hall and felt a wave of heat wash over them. An enormous statue of Moradin, the All Father, stood in the center of the octagonal room. A golden war mattox was in its hand that stood nearly 3 stories tall. Another set of double doors were in the opposite wall and an open passageway led through on each side. "They don't hide the good stuff in open passageways, so I say the double doors!" Charlemagne nodded decidedly, "I'm a thinker." Karlissa shook her head disappointedly... a thinker, her cousin generally wasn't. Rhain shrugged, "He has a point." "Very well," Alaric nodded, "Let's see if we can get them open then." Charlemagne heaved against the thick heavy doors, finding again that once they got moving they glided with ease.

The heat was warmer inside where a stairway went up to another set of double doors. Charlemagne laid a hand on the doors feeling the heat stronger, and he jerked them open. A great expanse led in two directions. A channel ran through the center of the floor. To the left, about a 100 feet down led to another staircase that led to a grand hall. To the right seemed to be where the heat was coming from.

The group moved to the right first, to an open room with a massive complex winch system that connected to an enormous cauldron and a lava flow far below. The cauldron was meant to pour lava into the channel that ran to the other foundries down the hall. A glow of molten rock glowed from the cauldron. A dry heat rolled over them making them sweat. A bubble glopped from inside the cauldron. "Everyone back up," Alaric directed as he backed away slowly. "What's in the cauldron?" Charlemagne asked, wrinkling his brow. "Mmm maybe a lava elemental? Or baby magma dragons?" Tiri glanced at the cauldron as she moved closer to the warrior. "Well why is the lava still hot enough in the cauldron to boil?" Charlemagne asked, "Surely it would have cooled." "Maybe it's a magic cauldron," Tiri suggested with hope in her voice. "Bullshit!" Charlemagne disagreed, "That doesn't happen. That lava should be a solid hunk of black rock. Somebody had to have pulled it up recently or something in there is alive." "He's right," Karlissa nodded, backing up from the cauldron. A pair of heat resistant heavy working gloves sat on a nearby bench by the winch. "You're a fire guy," The muscled warrior turned to his cousin who was barely still in the doorway, "Can't you commune with it or something?" Alaric stared at him blankly for a moment before blinking... bewildered that his own cousin could believe such a thing.

Charlemagne put on the heavy gloves, still warm from someone else wearing them. He put his hands on the lever of the winch, and tried to crank the gears. Straining as much as he could, he couldn't get it to budge. Karlissa stepped up, nodding to him, and put her hands over his to be protected by the gloves. Together they heaved against the great winch getting the gears to click for three teeth... and as they did so, it slightly rocked the cauldron, and another glop sound came from within. A great magma elemental sprang from the cauldron! It landed on the ground with a great fiery roar! Alaric was out in the hall, shaking his head, "I told you not to mess with it!" "Alaric! Tell me you're familiar with //that//!" Tiri yelled out as she stared wide eyed at the massive lava-dripping lump of rock! "Yes... It's a magma elemental... //immune to fire//!" He shook his head out in the hall knowing he would be of little use against something like that.

Charlemagne swung his sword, barely scratching the rock-like surface of the creature. Alaric waved his magic missile wand, sending magical shards straight through the hardened body of the elemental. Rhain looked at Alaric, pulling her saber out. The charismatic sorcerer shook his head, "Retreat!"

The elemental slammed it's weighty fists into the ground, rocking the room! Karlissa pulled her waraxe, striking with her full strength against the elemental... but only managing to scuff it's hardened exterior. The elemental charged toward her, smashing it's lava fists into her! Karlissa crumpled to the floor, her body on fire! It stood over her, roaring. Tiri prayed, creating water over Karlissa to douse out the fire. She looked to Charlemagne, "Grab her and let's get out of here!" "Do we run or stand?" Nalen looked from Tiri back to Alaric. "We run," Alaric shook his head. Charlemagne grabbed Karlissa's arm and ran from the room into the hall, dragging her with him.

Alaric and Rhain led the retreat, Charlemagne dragging Karlissa following behind. Tiri and Nalen quickly escaped together to follow, and the elemental stayed in it's cauldron room watching them retreat to the stairs. Tiri managed to heal several of Karlissa's wounds and brought her back to conscious. "Dang, cousin, I haven't seen you take a beating like that since the last time we sparred," Charlemagne laughed, patting Karlissa on the shoulder playfully as he tried to lighten the mood. "Very funny," she nodded, sitting up. "If it weren't for the horrific burns she endured... I'm sure she'd find your jest much more delightful," Alaric winked at him. "Don't worry," Charlemagne smiled at the red-haired warrioress, "The guys never found you all that attractive anyway. You'll be okay." He pulled her to her feet. She slugged him in the shoulder, "Thanks..." Charlemagne grinned, recalling their younger years of sparring that eventually became the aggressive sparring dance style that the two wielded on many a ballroom floor.

The group rested for half an hour before Alaric peeked in to see that the elemental must have returned to it's cauldron. Feeling it was safe enough to move on... they made their way to the forging passageways. There were three forging work areas in a line. A magical ring with a fire etching sat on a bench in the first alcove, and the sound of clanging metal rang from the third alcove.

As the group rounded the hallway toward the sound, they seen 2 grey-skinned dwarves dressed in dark armor focused on their work as they pounded hammers on an anvil. Alaric whispered softly to Nalen, "Are they evil?" The stout paladin nodded, "To the core." "Really?" Charlemagne raised an eyebrow, "Evil dwarves?" "Drugar... the evil dwarves," Nalen nodded to him.

Tiri sent up a prayer to Corellion, blessing her companions with leafy sparklies. Alaric sent a lance of fire into the first dwarf, burning his greyed flesh to black! Charlemagne charged into the room, slamming into the charred dwarf with his fiery blade! The two dwarves spun around in shock!

Alaric sent another wave of fire into the second dwarf with Rhain charging in to strike it with her thin blade! Nalen charged in, but the first dwarf sidestepped him as it slammed its great hammer into Charlemagne, clanging hard against his armor! Karlissa managed to slide around to the first one's back and struck him with her axe! The second dwarf shattered Rhain's left arm with it's hammer! The golden haired sorcerer quickly sent a burst of fire over the 2nd dwarf again, drawing it's attention long enough for Rhain to pierce her rapier deep into it's flesh!

Charlemagne drove his fiery blade deep into the first, taking it down. A soft aura washed out from Tiri over her companions, healing some of their wounds. The grey skinned dwarf pulled a dagger and drove it into the paladin with a sickening hiss! Rhain slashed the dwarf in the back, opening him up for Charlemagne to charge forward with a fatal strike of Ashweaver, carving him in half with a wave of fire! The brown haired warrior turned to Karlissa and flicked his blade with confidence before sheathing it, but she seemed to simply ignore the taunt.

The group moved back to the center room, settling down to rest and look over their newly aquired loot. the two rings from the pool = a ring of protection +2 (went to Tiri and her ring of +1 went to Charlemagne) and a ring of charisma +1 (went to Rhain) the circlet from the pool was wisdom +2 (went to Tiri and she gave her +1 circlet of wisdom to Nalen) the ring with the etching of fire = Ring of Elemental Command Fire (Went to Alaric) Dagger of Venom (given to Anuul as Doomsong refuses to let Alix hold it) 2 suits of leather armor +1 (1 went to Rhain, other Sell for 1000 gold = 333 each) hammer +1 (went to Nalen) The warhammer the two dwarves were working on were runed in dwarvish. A powerful magic weapon called The Hearthhammer, a +3 adamantine warhammer that gives a +5 competence bonus for crafting armor, jewelry, masonry, traps, and weapons. If you're a dwarf... the competence bonus becomes +10 (Currently being held by Charlemagne) 1100 gold from pool = 366 each (Charlemagne, Alaric, and Tiri)