Monday, March 1, 2021

Vive la Revolutión

Tomas darted into the room, cursing the pillars that prevented him from getting a clear shot at the two surviving Erinyes devils. As soon as one came into view, he let loose with an arrow. It struck the devil in the chest, throwing her back against the wall. Her eyes glazed over, and she slowly slid down the wall into a sitting position, head lolling. Shadow was right beside Tomas and he pointed his Finger of Death at the final devil. “Back to Hell, lady,” he growled and the Erinyes exploded into a cloud of smoke.

Jax wasted no time celebrating their quick victory – they had protective spells running, and he didn’t want to waste them. There were a pair of large double doors to his right, and another single door to the left. Without hesitation, he strode to the double doors, listened for a second, then threw them open. A short but broad hallway led to an identical pair of doors. He repeated the process, and opened the second set of doors. As the doors swung open, a wave of cold, unholy dread washed over him, along with an unearthly Silence. The large chamber inside smelled of seasoned wood and old blood, and contained a long table with four wooden chairs on one side and a single stool on the other. Torture implements, including a rack, an iron maiden, and a complex pulley machine, are arranged near the walls, together with a wide range of cruel restraining devices. At the back of the room stood a grisly wood and iron frame, constructed in the form of a giant horned angel, with gigantic wings, terrible clawed arms, and a legless body. Hanging on its breast was a crucified corpse. Jax gasped as he recognized the dead body – it was their friend, the cleric Ishani Dhatri! As Jax strugged to regain his composure, the horrible construct lurched into motion, and Ishani’s mouth opened in a silent scream of agony.

Erin was standing at Jax’s side, with Tomas right behind him, and all three were engulfed by the unholy Silence from the thing’s Unhallowed presence. Behind them, at the end of the hall, Wren saw Ishani nailed to the horrible device, and knew that he was not beyond hope. “If we can preserve his body, I can bring him back to life!” she cried, but of course, her friends couldn’t hear her. Shadow, standing behind her, could hear her quite well, but chose to ignore her plea – this was no time for half-measures. He leveled his finger again, and a ray of Disintegration blasted both the construct and poor dead Ishani, and it was only by Pharasma’s grace that they weren’t instantly turned to dust.

Nat was also standing near Wren, and as soon as he saw the thing, he recalled seeing sketches of something similar in Togomor’s notes. He’d called it an Akaruzug, and it was some sort of construct, like a golem, but powered by the soul of whoever had been sacrificed upon it. Knowing that he couldn’t make Ishani any more dead than he already was, he fired a Fireball into the room, but the spell’s flames had almost no effect on the Akaruzug. Tomas fired a volley of arrows, but most bounced harmlessly off the thing’s iron frame, and those that did stick seemed to do little harm.

Jax rushed into the room. The sight of the cleric who had helped to cure little Brienna Soldado nailed onto this abomination filled him with fury. He knew nothing of Nat’s insight into the nature of the Akaruzug, but he felt instinctively that Ishani should not suffer this fate. He considered grabbing the cleric’s dead wrist and trying to Dimension Door away, but his body was so entwined and attached to the construct that he feared he would simply bring them both with him. Instead, he darted to one side and slashed at the thing with his sword, carving off a big chunk of wooden frame. Erin charged in behind him, and struck with Serithtial. The sword bit, but she could tell that even the holy sword wasn’t doing full damage against it.

Suddenly, a new figure appeared behind her, a ghostly figure that looked just like Ishani Dhatri, glowing with blue light. It struck out at her, and she barely dodged its attack. At the same time, Jax and Erin felt a surge of unholy power from the Akaruzug, as it tried to steal part of their souls to amplify its power, but both resisted its attack. Outside, Wren saw the image of Ishani appear, and at first she thought it might actually be his spirit, compelled to serve its new master. But looking closer, the image had many of the characteristics of a Spiritual Ally, another construct but this one of pure force. Praying that she wouldn’t harm Ishani’s spirit, she cast Destruction on the image, but the spell had no effect that she could see.

But before she could ponder a new strategy there was a rush of air behind her. Whirling around, she saw the Horned Devil they thought they had killed a few hours ago reappear! They had seen its wounds healing as they fought it, but it had seemed so very dead when they’d finished with it. Apparently, its Regeneration had continued through the time they were napping, and now it was back at full strength, all of its hatred focused on Wren (who was the only visible target in the room). It was lacking its unholy spiked chain (Shadow had tucked that away in his Bag of Holding, being one of the few members of the party who could even touch it without feeling physically ill). But it still had its teeth, claws, and barbed tail, and it was ready to use them all against poor little Wren. Realizing her danger, she quickly cast Holy Aura to cloak herself in protective light, and raised her shield defensively.

But Wren had invisible allies the devil didn’t know about. Stifling a yelp that would have revealed his position (right next to Wren!), Nat slipped to one side, then fired off a Polar Ray that coated the devil with a thick layer of ice. Seeing that the devil shook off some of the cold damage, he followed up with a Quickened Empowered Orb of Light that blasted the devil with photons. Shadow also scampered out of the devil’s reach, and cast Enervation, draining it of life force. Not wanting to be outdone by Nat, he matched him spell-for-spell, and cast his own Quickened Magic Missiles.

The devil Mavrokereas was left staggering from the onslaught of magical attacks. He couldn’t see where the spells were coming from, but he could see Wren plainly. He had been frustrated by his inability to kill this girl upstairs, but now he would have his vengeance. His face spread into a slow, cruel smile as he focused his Infernal anger on her. He snapped his slathering jaws at her face, but she simply took a half step back and they snapped shut on empty air. It slashed with first one claw and then the other, and she easily blocked them with her mace and shield. Then it stabbed its tail forward, but as it had upstairs, it merely gouged out a groove in the stone floor. Wren shook her head; despite its fearsome appearance, this had to be the most inept devil ever created. As it roared in frustration, Nat blasted it with and Empowered Lightning Bolt, then silenced it with another Quickened Orb of Light. For the second time that day, the Horned Devil was dead – at least temporarily.

The half of the party that was engulfed in Silence knew nothing of the battle behind them, and remained focused on the Akaruzug. Tomas switched over to adamantine arrows, and was gratified to see his attacks actually starting to count. Jax, still invisible, stabbed the thing again, provoking a shudder of pain from Ishani’s corpse. Erin tightened her grip on Serithtial, and launched a furious series of attacks. The first two bent the construct’s iron frame, and the final one split it in two, effectively severing its spine. As the construct clattered to the floor, Ishani’s image also disappeared, as did the unholy Silence. Hearing the commotion behind them, Erin turned just in time to see the Horned Devil collapse under Nat’s spells. She strode back out to join the others looking down at the devil’s corpse. “What’s that thing doing back here?” she asked.

Nat looked at her sheepishly. “Um … I’m guessing it must regenerate unless it’s injured by a holy weapon. Probably should have said something upstairs, but I just sort of assumed you’d hit it.”

“I was kind of busy with those Barbed Devils,” Erin said defensively, “But I guess better late than never.” She placed both hands on Serithtial’s hilt, and swung down, beheading the devil. Then she chopped it into a few more pieces, just to be safe.

Wren had already rushed into the Justice Chamber, and helped Jax carefully extract Ishani Dhatri’s body from the construct. He had clearly been dead for some time and she prayed that it had not been too long. “Pharasma,” she prayed, “I know this man is not one of your followers, but he is a good man, a man who has helped many, and I beg your blessing to return his soul from the Boneyard, that he may continue his work here a bit longer.” She began a ritual, sprinkling the body with sparkling diamond dust as she cast Raise Dead on Ishani Dhatri. As she finished the ritual, a scream of anguish erupted from Ishani’s throat, followed by racking sobs of grief. He looked at the group gathered around him, first in confusion, then in gratitude. When he at last was able to compose himself, he began to speak.

“Thank you!” he said over and over, then told his tale. “I had a sister when I was young, Vavana, and we came here to Korvosa from Vudra together, but she vanished years ago, and I thought her dead. But then, after the plague, I began to hear rumors of a woman who looked like me working for the Gray Maidens. I was almost afraid to hope it might be her, but I used a Scroll of Sending to try to contact her, and to my surprise and joy, she responded! But her replies were short, and cryptic, and I feared she might be being held against her will. Then, she told me that was indeed the case, but that she thought I could buy her freedom if I came to the Castle. I did, but it was a trick, a trap. She was here, but she was working with the Gray Maidens, doing horrible things to torture new recruits into unquestioning devotion to the Queen. She laughed as I begged her to repent; she told me that the Queen had gone to a place of great power, and that when she returned, those who had served her loyally would earn incredible rewards.

“Then she handed me over to that fat wizard. He nailed me to some device he had constructed and began to cast spells on me, binding my soul to his machine. My sister watched as he worked. I don’t think they had any plan for the thing – I think it was just an experiment, to see if they could really do it. As I died, I knew that my soul would not pass on to the Boneyard and then to my final reward, but would be trapped in this thing forever.”

“Togomor is dead,” Tomas said grimly, and Ishani nodded with satisfaction. “But I’m afraid your sister is dead, too.” Ishani nodded even as another round of sobs consumed him.

With Ishani revived, the party continued their search of Castle Korvosa’s first floor. Beyond the Justice Chamber were a series of jails and cells, all empty. Behind the guardroom where they’d fought the Erinyes was the Castle’s laundry. They went back up to the second floor, then descended to search the Chapel. Castle Korvosa’s chapel had originally been dedicated to Aroden, and it seemed to have fallen into disuse since the God’s death, and they found nothing but dust and cobwebs.

“I think we’ve covered the whole Castle,” Jax said at last. “We didn’t go through all of the vaults downstairs, but I didn’t see any signs of anyone going down there. I think we should go back to Kroft and let her know what we’ve found.”

And so Nat gathered them together and Teleported the group back to the Dead Warrens. Cressida Kroft and Neolandus Kalepopolis were anxiously waiting for them; their faces showed surprise at seeing Ishani accompanying them, but that was not their first priority. “Well?” Kroft asked excitedly. “Has the Castle been cleared? Is the Queen dead?”

The party recounted what they’d found in the Castle. Kroft and Neolandus were intensely interested in the documents the party found in Domina’s Study. “This is the proof we need!” Kroft said excitedly. “Neolandus – we must present this to the Council!” She turned to Erin, hand outstretched. “May I have that wristband back?” Erin handed over the Wristband of Sending, and Kroft made a couple of quick calls. A few minutes later, Bishop d’Bear joined the group. “Marcus says they’ve gathered the Council at City Hall,” Kroft reported. “They’re ready for us.” The Bishop smiled at Wren, then gathered everyone around her. They felt an odd feeling of wind rushing through their bodies, and then they were all wisps of vapor, flying at breakneck speed through the streets of Korvosa.

They arrived in an anteroom of City Hall, outside the closed doors of the Council Chambers. Marcus Endrin and Grau Soldado were already waiting for them. Grau’s face spread into a wide grin as he spied the party, and he gave Nat a clap on the back that almost knocked him over. “Great work, kid! Who’d have thought when I arrested you that we’d end up like this?”

“When we get inside, let Neolandus do the talking,” Kroft warned in a low voice, then turned, opened the doors, and led the party inside. They entered a large, high-ceilinged room, paneled in rich, dark walnut. A semi-circle of raised desks sat before them, behind a low railing, and in them sat the City Magistrates. Tomas recognized most of them from social functions his family had attended, although many now bore scars of Blood Veil pox and several seats were empty. To one side of the Council sat Archbanker Tuttle, dabbing large beads of sweat from his brow with a shaking hand. As they surveyed the dignitaries assembled before them, the only obvious personage missing was Ornher Reebs, High Priest of the Temple of Asmodeus.

Neolandus Kalepopolis was the last to enter the chamber, and a collective gasp went up as the magistrates recognized him. He strode to the center of the chamber, and addressed the Council in a ringing voice. “High Council of Korvosa! I come before you today in my role as Seneschal of Castle Korvosa, to exercise my constitutional duty to depose a monarch who I deem, after careful deliberation and moral debate, to be unfit to rule the city of Korvosa.”

The chamber was hushed as Neolandus presented his case. He outlined the Queen’s bargain with the Red Mantis to rid the city of ‘undesirables’, leading to the intentional spread of Blood Veil, and the deaths of thousands of citizens. He went on to share the details of her unholy alliance with the forces of Hell, and how she had agreed to turn the entire city over to become Hell’s playground in return for increased power. As he spoke, the documents recovered from the Castle passed from hand to shaking hand among the magistrates. By the time he finished, many were openly weeping, and Archbanker Tuttle had gone white.

“It was only through the unceasing loyalty and tireless efforts of Field Marshall Kroft that disaster for our city has been averted. It was her strike team, working in secret, who have foiled all of Queen Ileosa’s plots, and destroyed her minions.”

“Is the Queen dead, then?” one of the magistrates asked quietly.

“No, not yet. But she has fled the Castle and gone into hiding, and we will not rest until she is brought to justice.

“But that is why I come before you today. Ileosa Arabasti cannot be allowed to remain Queen of Korvosa.” Neolandus drew himself up tall. “It is my duty, as Seneschal of Korvosa, to inform this Council that as of today, under the constitution and charter of the City of Korvosa, Ileosa Arabasti is no longer fit to sit upon the Crimson Throne. I humbly ask that you confirm me as Regent until such time as the High Council may select a new monarch.”

Assent was swift and unanimous. As the Council disbanded, Kroft turned to Endrin and Soldado. “Are your men in place?” The pair nodded. “Good,” Kroft continued. “Go, and we’ll meet you there as planned.” The two men linked arms, Endrin fiddled with a ring on his finger, and they vanished. Kroft turned back to the party. “The city is almost ours, but there are still several hundred mercenaries and a handful of Gray Maidens assembled at the base of the Castle. They don’t realize their Queen has deserted them yet, and we’re hoping we can avoid an all-out battle. Get ready – we’re leaving in a minute.”

Archbanker Tuttle approached Bishop d’Bear, still sweating profusely. “You have to understand – the Bank of Abadar stands for legality. As long as Ileosa was rightful ruler, we had no choice but to support her rule.”

“Oh shut up, Darb,” d’Bear snapped. “My only question is whether you’ll stand with us now.” Tuttle nodded emphatically, and d’Bear turned her back on him. “Are you ready?” she asked Kroft.

The Field Marshall nodded, and once again the Pharasman cleric transported them through the city. This time, they arrived on the stairs leading to Castle Korvosa. Below them, they could see Ileosa’s troops gathered behind their barricades; beyond them, a force of Sable Company Marines, Korvosan Guards, and Shoanti warriors stood ready. Accompanying them were hundreds of Korvosan citizens, armed with makeshift weapons, ready to wrest back control of their city.

Bishop d’Bear cast another spell, then nodded to Neolandus. He stepped forward, and his voice rang out through the streets below, magically amplified. “Followers of Queen Ileosa – hear me!” All eyes turned, surprised to find a new threat at their backs. “I am Neolandus Kalepopolis, officially appointed Regent of Korvosa. Your Queen has fled. These heroes have killed all of her infernal allies within these walls, and Castle Korvosa is now ours.” A cheer went up from the rebel army. “We wish no further bloodshed. Throw down your weapons and surrender, and you will be spared. Those who were recruited here from foreign lands will be allowed to leave – without your weapons. Those Korvosan citizens who followed their Queen’s orders will be pardoned, and allowed to return to your homes.”

There was a buzz from the army below. The Chelish mercenaries turned to their captains, who needed only a moment to realize that the odds had shifted dramatically. The captains threw down their swords, and their men immediately did the same. A few of the Gray Maidens also dropped their weapons, but most retained their fanatical devotion to their Queen. They turned on their comrades who’d surrendered, and began to slaughter them. The rebel army, almost all of whom had suffered under the Maidens’ brutal enforcement of the Queen’s edicts, retaliated with a vengeance. The fight was short, and bloody, and the surviving Gray Maidens were quickly overwhelmed.

As the few surviving Maidens were taken into custody, Regent Kalepopolis turned to the party. “You have done so much for our cause, but I fear your work is not done. You must find Ileosa as quickly as possible, and ensure she never again threatens our city.”

“Well let’s get going then!” Tomas said. He was bouncing from foot to foot; all through the final search of the Castle he’d been urging the group to move faster. “Time’s a-wastin’!”

“Just hold your horses,” Jax urged. He knew Tomas was feeling the pressure of the Runelord Sorshen’s mandate that he destroy Ileosa within seven days. “We don’t exactly know where we’re going yet.”

“But Wren knows where the Queen is, right?” Tomas said. He was biting his fingernails.

“I know where the Crown is,” Wren corrected, “not where the Queen is. And I only have a general sense of that. It’s thataway,” she pointed, “somewhere.”

“Let’s just take a little time to go through all the stuff we found in the Castle,” Nat suggested. “I’m sure we’ll know more then.”

Tomas reluctantly accompanied the group back to the Dead Warrens. While most of the group busied themselves Identifying and sorting out all the magical geegaws they’d picked up, Nat settled in with the massive Infernal tome, Truths of the Sihedron. The book seemed to have been written by a devil, and chronicled the various cruelties and torments inflicted on the people of Thassilon by the Runelords. He’d already noted that the chapter on Runelord Shorshen had been heavily notated in Ileosa’s hand, and now he focused in on those notes. “Ilesoa seems to have been obsessed by something called the Everdawn Pool,” he said to no one in particular. “I can’t tell from this if that’s something Sorshen created, or something she discovered, but it seems to have been the source of her immortality.” He translated some more Infernal. “Looks like you have to gather blood from thousands of ‘supplicants’, and then this Everdawn Pool thingie can draw forth the lifeforce of these supplicants to infuse the one using it with eteranal youth. Holy shit!” Nat’s face went white. “All those blood samples the Queen’s Physicians were collecting – that’s what she wanted them for!” He remembered the lists of Korvosans they'd found along with the book, thousands of them, who’d unwittingly become fodder for Ileosa’s lust for eternal youth. “All those people are going to die!” he whispered.

He turned back to the book with newfound urgency. “Ileosa seems to think the Everdawn Pool still exists, at a place called The Sunken Queen. Damn! Where have I seen that name before?”

“Venster’s ghost said something about a ‘Sunken Queen’,” Wren offered, but Nat shook his head. “No – not that. I saw it written down somewhere. Wait!” He pushed the book aside, and turned to the satchel of notes they’d found in Togomor’s room. They were a disorganized mish-mash: notes on hemotheurgy alongside instructions for creating various constructs (including an Akaruzug). In his writings on hemotheurgy, Togomor had added marginal notes that Ileosa seemed to be interested in the use of blood as an element to achieve immortality, but he didn’t seem to know more than that. Among the papers were notes and maps going back many years, to when Togomor had apparently been part of an adventuring party exploring the Mushfens (from the notes, it appeared he’d abandoned his comrades when cornered by a large band of lizard-folk). “Here!” Nat shouted, waving a scrap of parchment over his head. “I knew I’d seen it before!” The others gathered around to see what he’d found.

It was a map, showing a path called the ‘Trail of the Frog’ through the swamps of the Mushfens. It started from a landmark labeled ‘Greenrust Reef’, and continued north for some thirty miles before ending at a spot clearly marked as ‘The Sunken Queen’. “This shows that it’s about fifteen miles west of the Fenwall Mountains,” Nat said, referring to the scrap of paper.

“And I’ve heard of Greenrust Reef!” Tomas said excitedly. “It’s a well-known landmark for sailors – an old copper-bottomed shipwreck off the coast.”

“With another couple of weeks of research, I’m sure I could learn more about this ‘Sunken Queen’,” Nat began, but that earned him a sharp slap on the back of the head from Tomas. “Or we could just check out some maps.”

With a clear objective in sight, Kroft dispatched runners to the waterfront, who returned with nautical maps that the group studied carefully. Greenrust Reef was clearly marked on many of them, some 200 miles or so west-northwest of Korvosa. “I think I can get us pretty close with a Teleport,” Nat said after consulting the charts.

“No need,” Wren said confidently. “I can cast Wind Walk – we can get there in a few hours, and see where we’re going the whole way, with no chance of us ending up in the middle of the ocean somewhere.”

Everyone was almost too excited to sleep that night. The next morning, after another Heroes’ Feast, they all went up to the cemetery above. Kroft and Neolandus where there, looking solemn. “We don’t need to remind you how much is a stake,” Regent Kalepopolis said, shaking their hands. “Be careful, and gods-speed.”

Wren cast her spell, and once again, they became wisps of vapor, hurtling over the city and then out over the waters of Conqueror’s Bay. They passed the mouth of the Bay and continued on over the Arcadian Ocean. Thankfully, the day was clear, and they could see ships on the water below them, and whales spouting, and the dark peaks of the Fenwall Mountains rising to the north. Wren felt the presence of Kazavon’s relics guiding her forward, and she led them down closer to the surface as they neared the coast. Ahead, they could see a long dark reef rising out of the water a half-mile offshore. As they approached, they could see that it was, indeed, the barnacle- and mollusk-encrusted hull of a ship, the green verdigris of its hull showing through (although it was far larger than any ship they had ever seen). Beyond it, a small stream flowed into the sea, and Wren dropped down to tree-top height. Sure enough, as Togomor’s map had predicted, they could see a trail through the trees below them, and they began to follow it, slowing down so they wouldn’t lose sight of it through the branches. Every mile or so, the trail seemed to be marked with odd frog-like stones. At one point they passed over a small village of thatched mud huts, but it seemed abandoned.

And then they knew they had reached their destination. Rising out of the primeval jungle before them was an enormous pyramid, its sides draped with sheets of moss and vines. It was partially sunken into the swampy ground, canted at a sharp angle. Three of its sides were adorned with huge metal horns, although the one of the east side, most sunken into the slough, was broken off, leaving a jagged stump. The fourth face of the pyramid, facing them, bore a giant bas relief carving of a standing, naked woman, her lean, idealized figure immersed in murky water up to her knees.


“That’s the Runelord Sorshen!” Tomas whispered reverently as Wren brought them in for a landing some hundred feet or more away from the pyramid. They stared at the huge monument in silent awe for a moment – they hadn’t been sure what to expect, but it certainly hadn’t been
this. “The Crown is in there,” Wren said confidently.

“That whole fricking thing is magical,” Nat whispered, blinking his glowing eyes. “I mean really magical. But I don’t see a way in.”

“Let me take a look,” Jax said. He used his new Ring of Invisibility then cast Fly on himself, and made a circuit of the  Sunken Queen. He could see that the jungle around the pyramid had been cleared somewhat, recently enough that it hadn’t had time to grow back, but he saw no way into the structure. He landed on the Runelord’s shoulder, and examined the stone; it looked like basalt, extremely hard. He flew on, and tried pushing on one of the enormous horns, but it didn’t budge; the metal seemed to be sunk into the stone itself. He made another pass; two-thirds of the structure was sunk into a pool of murky, slime filled swamp water, and he kept alert for any signs of submerged danger, but saw nothing. At last he flew back to rejoin the party.

“I don’t seen any doors or windows,” he reported, “but if there’s a secret door, it would take forever to search something that size.” While Jax had been flying around overhead, Nat had made his way (also invisibly) to the base of the pyramid that wasn’t submerged, and had spent time examining the structure’s magical auras. Now he spoke up. “The whole building is suffused with Abjuration and Conjuration magics. Sort of. To be honest, the whole thing is so ancient, and so powerful that that I really don’t understand it.” The others exchanged looks – they weren’t sure they had ever heard Nat admit he didn’t know something, even when he didn’t. “The Runelords used an entirely different type of magic than we do now – I’m not sure how it works. But from what I can see, I really doubt if we can Teleport inside. Or even Passwall. Let me see if I can take a peek.” He pulled out his Wand of Clairvoyance, waved it at the pyramid, and scrunched his eyes tightly shut. A few seconds later he opened them and shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Let me have a try,” Wren said quietly. She spread her arms, and raised her head to the heavens. Her lips moved in silent prayer and she called upon Pharasma to help her Discern Location on Ileosa Arabasti. At last she opened her eyes, and nodded grimly. “I can’t see her, but I know she’s inside the Sunken Queen – in its top level, in fact.

“Well if she’s inside, then how do we get to her?” Erin kicked the ground in frustration. “We may not be able to Teleport in, but I’ll bet she can.”

Jax was eyeing the pyramid. “If I was going to put a door in that thing, I’d put it right there.” He pointed down, into the murky water below the statue’s feet. “How deep do you reckon that goes?”

Nat was doing some mental math on the size of the building. “Even the side that’s not under water is sunk into the muddy ground,” he said, “so we don’t know for sure how big the whole thing is, but I’d guess the base is probably forty or fifty feet down right there.”

“Great,” Jax groused as he began to strip off his armor. “I guess I’m going for a swim.” He’d inherited Blackjack’s Ring of Swimming along with his persona, and he was counting on it to keep him from sinking. He got Erin to tie a rope to him, activated his Ring of Invisibility again, and waded into the water near the northwest corner of the Sunken Queen. The bottom dropped away quickly; within a couple of steps he was treading water, unable to touch bottom. He swam along the front face of the pyramid, towards the image of Sorshen. He was uncomfortably aware that his Invisibility was of little use in the water; he still displaced water, making his blurry outline pretty apparent. He could only see a few feet down in the murky water; anything below his waist was concealed. He felt something rubbery brush past his leg, and then the water began to roil as an enormous creature surfaced beside him!


The PCs earned 64,000 XP. You’re now at 628,118 XP and Level 16, with 850,000 XP required for Level 17.

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