This room had a large sihedron emblem on the floor, surrounded by a ring of fire. The ceiling was completely covered in flame. The departure teleportation circle was inactive. The lady Athroxis was floating in the air above the center of the sihedron, wielding a flaming ranseur, and under the effect of a Mirror Image spell.

Roy attempted to activate the teleportation rune, but found that it was magically locked, requiring a token of some kind to unlock it. Athroxis summoned two large vulture-like demons known as vrocks, which appeared in clouds of spores. They attacked us, and their spores infested Devin, Gulnyr, and Zacartas. Athroxis then cast a spell that caused a duplicate of herself to appear in front of her, floating lower above the ground. Zacartas tried to cast Dispell Magic on Athroxis, but its effect was blocked by a Wall of Force. Gulnyr killed a vrock, while Takar tried to blast Athroxis with a column of fire, but it was blocked by the force wall, so he took cover within a nearby stone wall.

Just then, a dwarf named Thord Stonehammer Plane-Shifted into the room, and joined in our fight against Athroxis. Roy killed the second vrock using force bombs. We were then hit with a black cloud of Unholy Blight, followed by a Fireball.

Gulnyr rushed in to attack the lady, but was forcefully stopped by a tiny stirge-like creature. Takar started bombarding the force wall with metal shards to try to break through it. Roy used Dimension Door to bring himself and Ash into the main part of the room, but hiding behind a pillar. Then, Athroxis cast a spell that caused an area of the room to have a reversed gravity effect. Thord, Gulnyr, and Takar were in that area. Gulnyr and Thord fell upwards onto the flaming ceiling, while Takar was able to grab the wall to keep steady. The lady then sent a spectral sword to attack Roy.

Zacartas used Dimension Step to position himself behind a pillar, while Gulnyr flew to attack Athroxis’s clone. Takar attacked the clone as well, using a blast, but it did no damage, revealing the clone to me a mere illusion. The tiny stirge then flew towards Takar to attack him, and changed into a large glabrezu demon. Athroxis cast Prismatic Spray on Gulnyr and Thord. Gulnyr avoided gaining any ill effects, while Thord suffered some electricity damage.

Gulnyr charged at the demon, who responded by teleporting away, next to Devin. Devin in turn cast Harm, severely injuring it. Devin then started running away, leading the demon towards the center of the room so that Thord could come and fight it. The demon in turn took swipes at Devin as it chased him, but at one point it managed to miss and injure itself, causing itself to start bleeding.

Meanwhile, Zacartas disintegrated the force wall that was protecting Athroxis from us, and Roy created a duplicate body for Ash. Zacartas again cast Dispell Magic on Athroxis, causing her to fall to the floor. Takar and Thord attacked her, eliminating her mirror images.

Roy threw bombs at the demon. Athroxis then ordered it to attack Gulnyr. It struck him hard, causing him to become dazed. Meanwhile, Takar turned the floor below Athroxis into magma, while the demon died from bleeding. Athroxis then moved up to Gulnyr, and used Vampiric Touch on him. Zacartas responded by casting his own Wall of Force to trap Athroxis with Takar, and then teleported away. Thord put some buffs on Ash, Roy, Devin, and Zacartas, and then Roy teleported himself and Ash to get near the lady.

Zacartas cast Acid Pit where Athroxis was standing. Takar then moved in to attack her, but she reacted by casting Prismatic Spray at him, Roy, and Ash. Takar took a lot of damage, while the others saved and avoided harm. Takar hit Athroxis with an entangling earth blast, successfully grappling her. Roy then killed her with a bomb.

We searched Athroxis’s body, and recovered the key token for the teleportation circle, as well as two wands, a mithral breastplate, her magical ranseur, an amulet, belt, cloak, headband, ring, and her spellbook.

Having completed all seven arms of the runeforge, we returned to the hub room to imbue our weapons with power. We determined that there was enough power in the runewell to modify four weapons. Gulnyr dipped his hammer into the runewell, giving it the power of Wrath. Next, Devin gave his scimitar the power of Love and Humility.

Before anyone else could infuse their weapons, a golden ray of light burst from the ceiling and struck the statue of Karzoug. It became animated, spoke threateningly in Karzoug’s voice, and attacked us. It struck Ash and Devin, causing not only physical damage, but also lowering their dexterity. Ash teleported away, and Roy cast Restoration on her. Gulnyr and Thord both enlarged themselves and attacked the statue, while Takar blasted it with metal shards. The fight was over quickly, with Roy finishing it off with a bomb.

With that distraction eliminated, we turned our attention back to the runewell. Thord imbued his weapon with the same power as Devin’s, while Ash got a Symbiotic weapon.

We used Plane Shift to travel to Magnimar, and visited the temple to Iomidae. A soldier informed us that Lord-Mayor Grobaras wished to meet with us. We got Ash permanently resurrected, and then went to see Grobaras.

The lord-mayor told us that large armies of giants were amassing at the borders at the Storval plateau. Even larger giants, bigger than were usually seen, were marshalling these forces. He also informed us that it was a noble family known as the Kaddrens who had sent Thord to assist us, and bring us back to help with the giant problem.

We then made plans to go after Karzoug. This required us to determine the current location of ancient Xin-Shalast. Gulnyr traveled to Riddleport to try to gain information about this, but came up empty. We contacted Vorvashali Voon, who informed us that Mokmurian’s library has had all information about Xin-Shalast purged from it.

Devin, Ash, and Gulnyr then went to Sandpoint. Devin went to see Sabyl Sorn at the monastery, and this time she let him into the secret library without hesitation. He asked about the location of Xin-Shalast, and learned that it was located on the mountain of Mharmassif, at the headwaters of the river Avah. Further, the area surrounding Mharmassif is dimensionally unstable, and requires specific knowledge to find the proper path to reach it.

Meanwhile, Ash visited Brodert Quink, to see if he knew anything about Xin-Shalast. He told her that a man named Redwing, the author of a book called Eidolon, had mentioned to him that two dwarven brothers named Vekker had claimed to have found the route to Xin-Shalast. Quink showed Ash a letter that Redwing had written to him:

Salutations, Mr. Quink!

Thank you again for the kind words and drink. It’s always a pleasure to speak with readers of my work, especially those well read and civilized enough to know of my writing beyond Eidolon. Alas, I was unable to procure a copy of the early draft from my personal files. It would seem that it has gone the way of so much of my early work, lost forever to the gulfs of time and narrow-minded publishers unable to grasp the import of a young Pathfinder’s work.

Fortunately, my mind is as quick now as it was in those early days of my explorations of your fantastic homeland. I recall the evening I first heard the story of Xin-Shalast, while seated on a log in a Varisian camp, sharing ruby mead with an enchanting young woman. Ah, but that’s a story for other times.

I was intrigued by the tale, though. All peoples have tales of “cities of gold”, yet with Xin-Shalast, the Varisians had no tradition of explorers seeking it. They viewed the place as one of evil, a place to be feared and foresaken. As far as I could tell, none of your indigenous people ever sought out the ruins before the advent of Chelish rule. But there was mention, come to think of it, of two dwarven brothers Vekker, I think their names were. Claimed to have found the route to Xin-Shalast and convinced several tradesmen in Janderhoff to support and supply their plan to establish a base of operations in the low Kodar Mountains along the Kazaron. Their vanishing into the Kodars bankrupted all but one of their investors, I hear, and even today, the Vekker name is generally accompanied by a litany of rousing dwarven profanity when it comes up in ‘Hoffian taverns.

In the stead of enclosing a copy of the early, complete draft of my work, though, please find a signed copy of Eidolon with this missive. I trust it will look quite handsome on your shelf.

In good health, Redwing

We regrouped back in Magnimar, and then decided to plunder the dragon’s hoard that surrounded the entrance to the Runeforge. We hired a few people to help carry it away. We then made preparations to go to the Kodar mountains to find Xin-Shalast. We purchased equipment and hired companions to help with the climb up the mountain.

Around seven hours after we began our climb, we came to the base of a 60′ tall sheer cliff face that had the front of a building embedded into it. The air at this level was permeated with a foggy haze.