Gulnyr returns to Janderhoff, having cleared his name of youthful transgressions, in order to investigate the strange rumors of infiltrators in the city’s government overheard during his last visit. He promises Aneka he will return for the next Swallowtail Festival.

Zacartas decides to take up residence in Sandpoint, and is considering setting up a research facility in the name of the Order of Cyphers from where he can continue his investigations into the mysterious and arcane. Both the light tower and Foxglove Manor are of great interest to him, not to mention the Sandpoint Devil.

Thord fades back into obscurity, serving the church quietly and humbly from within… until the next emergency calls him forth.

Phillipe is devastated after all these years honing his skills, sacrificing at every turn – his mind cracks.  Now, wherever he looks, he can’t find Karzoug.  Not believing the other adventurers stories about slaying him, he stumbles down the mountain and into a tavern in a backwater slum where he can be found face-down drunk, muttering something about “waiting for Viscini…”

Devin decides to stay in Sandpoint, and serve as a priest in the Sandpoint Cathederal. He never quite got over the guilt of failing to protect Father Zantus during the attack of the giants from Jorgenfist. Meanwhile, he wonders if his new status as hero will get him into the good graces of Ven Vinder, and allow him the opportunity to make an honest woman of his daughter, Shayliss.

Takar returns to his old life in Magnimar, but soon becomes restless. He ventures out into the world once more, driven by a singular goal: to hunt down and kill Lucretia.

As Runelord Karzoug dies, the soul lens above his Runewell shatters with a blinding flash of light caused by the energy from greedy souls being unleashed. This blast of soul energy immediately heals all damage and cures all debilitating conditions (including death) suffered by any creature in the Eye of Avarice. Grim Gulnyr and Devoted Devin find themselves suddenly alive again, with Devin appearing next to the shattered lens. The dragon and giants are also restored, but they surrender immediately upon seeing the heroes victorious. Only Karzoug is unaffected, as the souls that would have powered his return flee from his grasp.

At first there appears to be no way to escape the Eye of Avarice. Attempts to plane shift or the use of similar magics are blocked by the strange runewell artifact. This situation changes, however, as a beleaguered pair of warriors arrive just minutes later… Thord and Phillipe. Thord reports that the forces loyal to Karzoug have been routed, but not without heavy losses among the giant rebels. Phillipe is drawn inexorably to the runewell. Perhaps not entirely in control of his own actions, he plunges his sword into the well from which it was born… a thunderous crash and another brilliant flash follows, threatening to blind all that watch.

When the second brilliant flash of strange light clears, the air seems to grow thin and cold and the smoky walls of the place vanish. The runewell has returned to its place at the base of the Pinnacle of Avarice, and its golden waters freeze – whatever magic the runewell might have once contained has been consumed in this final catastrophic turn of events. However, in shifting back to the Prime Material Plane, all experience a moment of disorientation as six disparate but shadowy locations flash, dreamlike, through their minds. Six more runewells reacted to the destruction of the runewell of greed.

And so ends the great threat of Karzoug the Claimer, Runelord of Greed. In the following months the reports of giant incursions falls back to “normal” levels. The adventurers who brought about the end of Karzoug are given a hero’s treatment in Magnimar and Sandpoint for their suspected role in ending the giant menace… but few know the epic truth of their true accomplishment. Still, word does have a way of spreading, and it is not long before the Pathfinder Society contacts you and asks for your story. Any willing to tell them of the location of Xin-Shalast, show them the route and escort them there are offered the staggering sum of 30,000 gp as a reward. However, the heroes know that the city remains extremely dangerous, as civil war erupts between the remaining rune giants and their forces.

Sandpoint slowly rebuilds after the giant attack. Mayor Kendra Deverin sees to it that a monument is erected to commemorate the so-called “Heroes of Sandpoint.”, but it is quickly and effectively defaced, probably by the Scarnettis.

Brodert Quink enjoys brief acclaim and academic fame for his association with the heroes and their endorsement of his theory about the “lighthouse death ray.” This favor quickly falls away when he begins to aggressively push a theory that the lighthouse was once also mobile, with eight legs and a playful temperament. Soon he is a forgotten scholar once again, spending his days in the local bookshop with his unknown associates.

Ameiko Kaijitsu of the Rusty Dragon Inn, digging into her father’s tragic history, makes an interesting discovery about her past. She leaves in the night with a group of adventurers, and is not heard from again. The Rusty Dragon Inn ownership passes via a scrawled note to the twins Aneka and Arika Avertin, and it enjoys a new success under their successful management.

Vorvashali Voon remains master of the library at Jorgenfist for the space of three months, during which time he forms an association with the Aspis Consortium in order to “properly distribute” the wealth of Thassilon to the wider world. This association ends abruptly when all of Jorgenfist mysteriously disappears in a huge, spectacular explosion heard even from distant Kaer Maga. Reports on Voon’s fate or the whereabouts of the many books in his library are unreliable, to say the least, but there are some mentions of his last recorded visitor, a human wizard accompanied by a white cat named Lyrie Akenja.

Shalelu Andosana continues to distinguish herself as the new Head of the Black Arrows, and Fort Rannick becomes a stronger bastion of safety and strength than ever before. Turtleback Ferry enjoys a new surge of commerce as a result, especially with tourists looking for sightings of the legendary “Black Magga.”

In Magnimar, Mayor Haldmeer Grobaras continues to rule his city effectively. Some say that city life improved in the following few months due to a secret council of new advisors that the Mayor employed, but these accounts are also never more than rumors.

Of Foxglove Manor little is known, as no one who travels there ever seems to return.

And somewhere, in some forsaken tomb, an elegant woman holding a glass of choice red wine silently toasts a certain band of adventurers even as she regards the shining runewell before her with great interest.

We rested, and made final preparations to go after Karzoug. When we were ready, we returned to the room with the giant spinning sphere, where we fought Lucretia and Ceoptra. Below the sphere was a fire, and above it was a platform, with stairs leading up to it. Gulnyr stood on the platform, and from there he could see into another plane, which appeared to be overlapping with this one.

What he saw was a large room where the floor consisted of stone platforms above lava flows. Several golden pillars rose up from the lava. In the center platform was a runewell that was filling up with souls, and a soul lens was positioned above it.

Roy studied the sphere, and determined that a person could enter the other plane by standing on the platform, and then touching touching the fire within a few moments. As we prepared to do this, a number of giants approached from the way we had come. Thord and Phillipe stayed behind to hold them off, while the rest of us proceeded to the other plane.

The first to arrive were Gulnyr, Roy, and Takar. We could now see that the room was populated, though it appeared empty when we saw it as a mere vision. Karzoug stood before the runewell, accompanied by a blue dragon. A rune giant was also present, as well as two advanced storm giants, known as Wardens of Thunder.

After we arrived, Gulnyr moved forwards, away from the arrival platform. Karzoug then cast Meteor Swarm at Roy and Takar, greatly injuring Takar. He then cast Time Stop, which allowed him to cast several more spells before we could react. He cast Cloud Kill onto the arrival platform, followed by Prismatic Wall to shield himself from us. He also cast a spell that put himself into a protective sphere.

Roy and Takar began by attacking one of the storm giants, since those giants were on our side of the Prismatic Wall. Meanwhile, the dragon began attacking Gulnyr with lightning. Gulnyr used Dimension Door to position himself to fight the storm giant that Roy and Takar attacked.

Next, Karzoug cast Horrid Wilting on Takar and Roy, and Takar went down. At this point, Zacartas arrived. Karzoug once again cast Time Stop, and cast more spells to turn his skin to stone, put a Wall of Force between Gulnyr and the storm giant, and put Black Tentacles on the arrival platform. Zacartas put Freedom of Movement on Takar, in anticipation of Devin healing him when he arrived.

Ash arrived next. Karzoug cast fireball, hitting her and Takar, and Takar was killed. Devin arrived, and was caught by the tentacles, so Roy cast Freedom of Movement on him. Meanwhile, the dragon hit us with lightning, and Karzoug sent two more fireballs at us.

Zacartas then cast Mage’s Disjunction on him, which destroyed several of Karzoug’s wands, and dispelled the Prismatic Wall. With the wall down, the rune giant approached us to attack, so Devin cast Wall of Stone to slow him down. The dragon came at us as well, so Devin cast Holy Aura, affecting himself, Zacartas, Ash, and Roy. Meanwhile, Gulnyr struck the storm giant with a mighty blow, causing her to become confused for a while.

Karzoug disintegrated the stone wall. The dragon electrocuted Devin, killing him. Since he had been flying over the lava, his body fell in. Meanwhile, Gulnyr killed the storm giant.

Suddenly, Ayla showed up, and resurrected Takar, who assisted Gulnyr in fighting the rune giant. Zacartas cast Polar Ray on the dragon, killing it. Karzoug cast Wail of the Banshee on Ash and Roy, killing Roy. Ayla then resurrected him as well.

Takar and Gulnyr killed the rune giant. However, Karzoug resurrected him, and then fully healed himself and his remaining allies. As the battle went on, we killed the rune giant again, while the second storm giant killed Gulnyr. Roy killed the storm giant in response.

With only Karzoug left, we focused our attacks on him. At one point, he tried to cast Limited Wish, but Zacarcas disrupted the casting. When Karzoug was close to death, he put himself into a temporal stasis. Zacartas dispelled it, though it took him several attempts. Ash delivered the finishing blow to Karzoug.