We returned to Magnimar to try to recruit some more allies. Ash found Roy Mustang, an alchemist with a monkey familiar named Ed. Devin found Takar, a kineticist who could control the elements of earth and fire. Confident that we now had a large enough group to handle the challenges ahead, we returned to the Runeforge, to tackle the area of Sloth.

This area consisted of a maze of passages, intersecting with rivers of slime. There were metal panels acting as bridges in places where a passageway crossed over the slime river, but even the walkways were slick with slimy moisture, so we all used flying abilities to stay above the ground. The air was permeated with a noxious odor, which caused Ed to become sickened. In some places, the passages were blocked by closed portcullises.

Exploring the passages, we came to a very large room that seemed to be the source of the slime rivers. It was oblong in shape, and we entered through an opening in one of the long side walls. The opposite wall had several grates through which sewage was streaming like waterfalls into the room. A large metal walkway ran through the room the long way, above the surface of the slime. There were several grates in the ceiling above the walkway as well, though there was nothing coming out of them. At one end of the room was a platform, which allowed access to three levers. Above each lever was a plaque, unreadable due to being caked with slime.

Zacartas and Roy went to the platform to investigate the levers. Zacartas cleaned off the plaque above the first one; it said “Access Control”, in Thassilonian. Suddenly, they were attacked by two creatures, called Omox Demons, which emerged from the slime and who were able to travel through it almost instantly. We fought and killed them. After the fight, Zacartas cleaned off the other two plaques, which read “Portal Control” and “Warning: Cleansing Cycle”. Injured from the fight, we all returned to the entrance area to heal up, and plan our next move.

We continued exploring. We found a large chamber filled with slime, with no ground or platforms to stand on above the surface. One part of it had a slowly turning whirlpool, and there was colorful fungi growing on the walls near it.

We then explored another tunnel, whose floor was covered with very fast moving slime. It led to a corridor that was behind the grates that fed into the large oblong room. We could see that the slime was pouring out of several interdimensional portals. We then returned to the oblong room, to the platform with the levers. We pulled the second lever, labeled “Portal Control”, which closed the portals and stopped the influx of slime.

We then decided to pull the third lever, to initiate the cleansing cycle. Gulnyr remained on the platform while the rest of us retreated from the room. Gulnyr borrowed Roy’s Necklace of Adaptation, in case he would have to breathe underwater. When he pulled the lever, water flowed into the room from the grates in the ceiling, and a large water elemental came in as well. It proceeded to methodically clean the walls.

We all returned into the room, and pulled the first lever, which raised the various portcullises that we had encountered throughout the passages. We explored a passage that was now open to us, just past the whirlpool chamber, and it led to a large cavern filled with sludge. Gulnyr entered, and was attacked by two large, tentacled Qlippoths, which caused Ash and Roy to become paralyzed with disgust. Gulnyr fought and defeated the creatures.

We continued down a passage on the other side of that cavern, which led to a set of double doors. We opened them, revealing a very strange sort of throne room. In the middle of the room was a pool of slime. In each corner of the room was the end of a pipe, and liquid flowed from the pipes, snaking through the air like tentacles, into a large vat at the back of the room. The liquid from each pipe was a different color. Floating above the vat was a throne, and sitting in it was Jordimandus, the runekeeper of Sloth. He was a fat, lethargic man, who had tentacles sprouting from his chest.

We fought him. Devin cast Flame Strike, but instead of hurting Jordimandus, the magical energy got absorbed into a rod that he was holding. Meanwhile, tentacles began to emerge from some of the pipes in the corners of the room, attacking those of us who were nearby. Gulnyr moved in to attack Jordimandus, but as he flew above the slime pool, a mud elemental emerged from it. As we fought it, Jordimandus cast Greater Dispell Magic on Gulnyr, dismissing his Fly spell.

Gulnyr destroyed the tentacles, while others of us killed the mud elemental. Takar moved in to blast Jordimandus, and a second elemental erupted from the pool. Ignoring it, Takar fired his blast, but it became absorbed into Jordimandus’s rod just like Devin’s spell had been. Jordimandus responded by summoning a Qlippoth, which caused Devin, Ash, and Roy to become paralyzed. He then summoned a second one. Zacartas summoned an Elder Air Elemental to assist us, and it disrupted Jordimandus as he tried to summon a third time. Zacartas then used Greater Dispell Magic, which dismissed one of the Qlippoths. We killed the other one, along with the mud elemental.

Takar continued blasting Jordimandus, hoping that there was a limit to how much magical energy his rod could absorb. Ash put Fly back on Gulnyr, who then moved in to attack. As Jordimandus became close to death, he tried to cast Dimension Door, but Zacartas countered it. Jordimandus then cast Disintegrate, which killed Zacartas, reducing him to a pile of ash. Devin cast Breath of Life on him, but it did not restore enough health to bring him back to life. Gulnyr finally finished off Jordimandus.

We looted his body, and found a hidden compartment in the throne, containing more loot.