Princes of the Apocalypse

With the Eternal Flame cult dealt with, the party decides to head straight back down, into the ruins of Tyar-Besil , in an attempt to allow no respite for the cultists. They opt for exploring the so-called Fane of the Eye . This mid section between the temples and the caves below, where Bruldenthar claims that the Besilmers had found unimaginable horrors, along with Morabrond .  Cautious at first, Elthas comes face to face with a troop of minotaurs in a gloomy cavernous room. A blackened ogre skeleton hangs against a wall, pinned in place by iron nails besides which, filthy bedrolls lie in the dirt.  Halvarth moves forward in an attempt to negotiate with the monstrosities. The beasts reply in a foreign and deep language that nobody unsderstands and the fight erupts shortly after. The party makes quick work of the monsters although Teresiel , their druid companion, suffers serious injuries. Shaken and afraid, she asks to take her leave, for fear that Tyar-Besil would beco...

With the assumption that Imix 's appearance is imminent, the party decides to go on the offensive in order to fight him on their own terms.  They use the passphrase collected from Vanifer 's quarter to activate the platform in the shaft which moves downwards. As the platform starts its descent, they hear fires being extinguished from above and the forge room gets filled with water vapor.  The natural walls of the shaft eventually widen near its base. Heat and light radiate from a bubbling lake of lava that covers most of the floor. A passage made of stones jutting out of the magma leads to a cavern opening where a man stands, questioning the party's purpose in being here.  Tico readily jumps on the first stone attempting to get in range for a magical mind read. As soon as he does, the cultist activates a lever which causes the passage to submerge. Luckily, Trash leaps forward and, with his flying boots, manage to hold on to his sorcerous friend.  It takes little ti...

After resting for a few hours, Khelben 's magic vendors finally make their way to our hero's location who are eager to spend whatever gold they could get their hands on in preparation for the challenges ahead.  Wasting no time, the company teleports back to the air temple using a scroll of teleportation. Wanting to leave no respite to their enemy, they head straight down to the Howling Caves where they know the air elemental prince is waiting for them.  Making their way through the caves, Trash notices a group of howling hatred initiates on the other side of a crevasse. He carefully makes his way over, weapon at the ready but, to his surprise, the cultists are paying him no attention, being completely entranced in the winds that are weeping through this area.  Moving past this group, at the intersection of four tunnels, the winds turned into a mighty gale that makes a constant howl. Two braziers burning with green flames reveal severed silk ropes, darkly sodden with blo...

 After spending the night in Vanifer 's appartments, our heroes discuss the next steps while making their daily preparations. The sound of a locked door rattling alerts Halvarth of intruders. The team reacts promptly, taking strategic positions before opening the door.  What appears to be one of late Vanifer 's lieutenant stands in the forge room, flanked by a retinue of eternal flame priests and guardians, an Efreeti and a Chimera. Bastian Thermandar appears pleased to learn of Vanifer 's demise and offers to help the party in their endeavors, specifically when it comes to stopping the Crushing Waves Cult . All he asks in return is the dagger that was in his former leader's possession.  Clearly unwilling to compromise with the evil cult, our heroes move on the offensive. Another bloody battle ensues with both the Efreeti and Bastian finding their way inside the altar room. With a quick glance at Vanifer 's empty robes laying on the floor, the later takes cover ...

Slowly making their way past the vestibule, the party quickly comes to a stop in front of a closed door behind which, voices are heard. It dosen't take too long before Halvarth opens it, finding himself face to face with a retinue of Eternal Flames cultists. As the wizard attemtps his usual diplomatic approach, Tico who's reading the lead cultist's thoughts, understands the latter is expecting a hand symbol. Performing the only hand motion they've learned in the Sacred Stone Monastery was apparently not very flattering for the cultists who all attack at once.  A battle that appeared won from the get go turns hugly as an evocation wizard joins the fray along with a handful of magmins, a herd of hell hounds and a company of hobgoblins led by a lieutenant. Despite the hardships, our heroes manage to dispatch all enemies.  On the east side of the room, a closed door painted in red with a black stylized cauldron symbol upon it.  Luckily, Tico manages to slip an arcane eye...

While Halvarth collects the remaining incense from the fuming pots scattered on the edges of the room, Elthas chases after Savra who had silently left, defeated and without purposes. He easily finds the young human, dragging her feet and sobbing alone in the darkness of a now deserted dwarven city, aside from the litter of corpses left behind from their earlier passage.  Her heart jumps at the promise of redemption for the recent atrocities she's committed, willingly or not, but her enthusiasm is quickly curbed as the high elf threatens her with violence and death were she to turn on them. Nevertheless, she promises to do everything in her power to make due for the horrors of which she took part and follows him back to the throne room. Meanwhile, the party is still questioning Bruldenthar , attempting to formulate a plan for what follows. The dwarf reveals the general structure of Tyar-Besil . Four general areas, admittedly refuge to the four elemental cults form the first and p...