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.

Takar fed Devin a potion of Cure Moderate Wounds to get him back on his feet. Just then, Thord and Phillipe arrived, and joined the fight. Khalib reacted by summoning a reptilian/insect creature, though Devin and Zacartas were able to kill it quickly, before it did anything particularly nasty to us.

Phillipe cast Greater Dispell Magic on Khalib, which successfully removed four of his protections. Khalib put up a Wall of Force to protect himself from us, but Zacartas removed it with Disintegrate, quickly following it up with an Acid Pit, which Khalib deftly avoided falling into.

Phillipe then attacked the rune giant, after getting a Fly spell cast on him by Roy. Unfortunately, the giant hit him hard, reducing his dexterity. The giant got a few more strong hits on Phillipe, killing him, and then tossed his body right into the pit of acid. Not long after, Gulnyr killed Khalib, Takar finished off the last of the cloud giants, and Thord killed the rune giant.

With this epic battle concluded, we regrouped and pressed on. Zacartas cast Temporary Resurrection to bring back Phillipe, while Ash scouted ahead, deeper into the great hall. She found Khalib’s quarters, which we searched and looted. At the end of the hall was a giant golden statue of Karzoug, missing its weapon. A set of golden doors stood on the far wall, blocked by an energy curtain. A burning brazier stood nearby, as well as a large stone pagoda.

Takar cautiously approached the pagoda, and activated his Tremorsense to see if anyone was inside it. A Shemhazian Demon, who had been waiting invisibly nearby, turned visible and bit Takar, reducing his strength. Before Takar could get away, it attacked him several more times, draining more of his strength. Meanwhile, Ash was paralyzed by its gaze. Gulnyr and Phillipe fought the creature, while Devin channeled energy at it, and they brought it down. Devin then restored Takar’s strength.

We searched the pagoda. Inside was Karzoug’s sarcophagus, flanked by two statues of him. The sarcophagus was empty, and we found nothing else of interest.

Zacartas cast Disintegrate on the curtain of force in front of the golden doors, but it failed to remove it, and the curtain instead reflected a blast of force back at him. Phillipe tried to put out the brazier by pouring water on it, but it remained lit. He then threw the brazier at the force curtain, but it once again sent a blast of force back at him. Thord then broke through the force curtain by punching it repeatedly with runeforge-enhanced attacks.

We opened the door. In the room beyond were Lucretia, another lamia called Most High Ceoptra, and three cloud giants. At the back of the room was a giant rotating sphere, which Ceoptra referred to as the “Anima Focus“. As we entered the room, the cloud giants created fog clouds, and Ceoptra cast Blade Barrier around herself. Lucretia surrounded Ash with a miasma of wailing faces.

Gulnyr killed one of the cloud giants, and Zacartas summoned a fire elemental to assist us. Then he dispelled one of the fog clouds. After we killed a second cloud giant, Devin cast Greater Dispell Magic on Ceoptra, removing some of her protections. Meanwhile, Ceoptra telekinetically flung Roy into her blade barrier.

We killed the last cloud giant. Lucretia used Dimension Door to get next to Takar, and drained some of his wisdom with an attack. Zacartas meanwhile dispelled Ceoptra’s Blade Barrier. Devin cast Greater Dispell Magic on Lucretia, but it had no effect on her, because she had Mythic power. Ceoptra became ethereal, but we killed her. With only Lucretia left, we concentrated our attacks on her. When she was almost dead, she teleported away. Right before doing so, she said that this would be our last time encountering her, and urged us to kill Karzoug, because he would be angry with her.

We rested for the night, and those of us who died were resurrected. We returned to the saucer-shaped platform at the Pinnacle of Avarice, stronger than ever. We headed back to the lamia lair, and Ash peeked through the door using her gloves, and saw the gaping maw of a hungerer waiting to devour whoever opened it. We all took positions far back from the door, and Zacartas cast Open on it. We attacked the creature from a distance, but it charged at Takar, who was hovering near the ceiling. Fortunately, we managed to kill it fairly quickly.

We then spent the next hour searching the compound for Lucretia, but did not find her. So we retreated back to the outer curving corridor, and continued following it, until we came to a door. Ash looked through it, and saw a storeroom filled with broken crates. The far wall had a large hole, revealing the sky outside. Ash then opened the door and snuck inside, and saw a Planetar Angel, a winged celestial woman standing nine feet tall. The angel did not see Ash, so Ash retreated, but a moment later, the angel moved into view of the door. Upon seeing the rest of us, she began to weep.

She could not speak, so we asked her yes/no questions. We determined that she was tasked with guarding the opening in the wall, and was kept here by a Greater Plane Binding spell. We learned that killing her would free her, but she was likely too powerful for us to attack without sustaining heavy damage ourselves, since she would be compelled to fight back. Zacartas released her to her home plane by casting Greater Dispell Magic, but it took him three tries to succeed.

We continued along the corridor, and encountered another image of Karzoug. Devin cast Holy Aura to protect us, while Zacartas tried to dispell the image, but failed. Karzoug attacked us with a Fireball spell, and Takar created a wall of roiling earth in front of the image. Karzoug then cast Sign of Wrath on Ash and Gulnyr, but Ash resisted it due to the Holy Aura. Karzoug continued his attack, casting another Fireball, and then Black Tentacles. By the time Takar’s wall went away, Karzoug’s image was gone, so we continued on.

The corridor ended at a door. Beyond was a room with a set of double doors on the right-hand wall, and those doors were covered with runes that appeared to move when not looked at directly. Ash stepped forward to examine them, and suddenly vanished due to a Maze spell. Roy attempted to cast a spell at the door, which caused him to vanish as well, along with Zacartas and Gulnyr. A few moments later, they all returned, and reported having been to Leng.

Ash skillfully disabled the Maze trap on the doors, and then peeked through them using her gloves. However, the view she saw was of Leng, rather than what actually lay behind the doors, so we opened them. Beyond them was a long room, occupied by a dozen alien creatures who were tending to a device embedded in the walls of the room. At the far end was a curtain of energy, showing an image of Xin-Shalast as it existed in the distant past. We realized that this device could bring Karzoug’s ancient army through to the present, and that this was the “Leng device” that the talking spiders on Mharmassif told us to destroy.

We attacked and killed the creatures without much difficulty. As they died, the device gradually lost power, and shut down completely once all enemies were dead. We then tried destroying the device, but were unable to damage it. Suddenly, a giant quadruped with soulless eyes, known as a Hound of Tindalos, emerged from the device and attacked us. It was able to slash our skin with its mere gaze, but we eventually put it down.

We returned to the outer corridor, and went back in the direction we had come from. It took us to a set of doors, behind which lay a cavernous chamber. Two huge doors within the chamber led to a set of rune-giant-sized cubicles, each of which had a giant-shaped indentation. We entered the chamber, and saw that a corridor on the left side curved off into the distance, and was lined with more rune giant cubicles. Gulnyr and Ash ventured forwards, and encountered another image of Karzoug, who put Gulnyr in a Force Cage. We were then attacked by a devil armed with a spiked chain. The battle was later joined by a rune giant, an air elemental, and three cloud giants. Zacartas also spotted an invisible stalker going after Takar. A short while later, Khalib arrived. Zacartas defeated the invisible stalker with a Disintegrate spell. He then tried to stop Khalib by using Black Tentacles, but Khalib was protected by Freedom of Movement. During the fight, Roy killed the elemental, Gulnyr killed the devil, and Devin was knocked out. The battle continues…

Thord and Phillipe left the party to go destroy the enemy sword, while the rest of us pressed on down a corridor leading from the throne room. As we neared an alcove in this corridor, an image of Karzoug was waiting for us, and cast Disintegrate on Gulnyr. Fortunately, he resisted its effect. The image did not disappear immediately as the previous ones had. We tried fighting it, but our attacks went right through the image. Meanwhile, it cast Baleful Polymorph on Ash, turning her into an ether frog. Roy’s monkey retrieved her, which was difficult since she had been invisible. Once the image of Karzoug was gone, Gulnyr restored Ash by hitting her with a sword that had a charge of Dispell Magic on it.

In the alcove was a set of golden double doors, which Ash peered through using her gloves. Beyond them was a square room containing four lamia nests made of fine furs. There was also a fireplace, and each of the other three walls had an exit door. There were no creatures in the room, so we entered. Searching through the furs, Gulnyr found a hair pin with a gem that radiated an aura of conjuration magic. He kept it, and also took one of the pelts.

Ash peeked through each of the other three doors in this room. Beyond the door on the left side was a room too dark for her to see the contents of, but it smelled like rotting meat. The door opposite the one we entered led to a corridor lit with braziers, and its walls were decorated with arabian tile patterns. Beyond the right side door was a large room with a carpeted floor and more lamia nests. It was occupied by four lamias who had heard us, and were ready for battle.

We were preparing to open this door and fight the lamias, when suddenly the left side door oppened, and two horrifically deformed lamias emerged. The room filled with a Stinking Cloud, and the creatures attacked us. When we struck them, they bled acid on us, while their attacks drained our wisdom. After we had killed one of them, the right side door opened, and one of the lamias behind it cast Unholy Blight at us. The enemy closest to the door joined the fight, and drained some of Gulnyr’s charisma with a critical hit.

During the fight, Roy was knocked out, and Ash was killed. Meanwhile, Takar had to flee from the room, because when the remaining deformed lamia struck him, his jagged flesh caused it to bleed acid on him. Though when he retreated, he distracted the enemies enough to allow Devin to get to Ash and cast Breath of Life on her. Ash then cast Cure Light Wounds on Roy, but the deformed lamia ate him shortly afterwards. We killed it, and then turned our attention to the four normal lamias. Devin blinded three of them using Sunbeam.

After we had killed two of the blind lamias, Karzoug stepped into view, and said “I found you!” Gulnyr used Dimension Door to get himself and Devin back out of the room, while Ash hid behind the body of the creature that ate Roy. She quietly began to slice through its flesh to retrieve his body.

Takar, Devin, and Gulnyr began to flee, but not too far, as they were waiting for Ash. Meanwhile, Ash could hear the lamias talking, and discovered that when Karzoug had appeared, it was actually the remaining blinded lamia in disguise. She also heard the other one say, “Perhaps Khalib will cure you. We must report this transgression.” Finally, Ash retrieved Roy’s wand of Dimension Door, and used it to escape with his corpse.

We healed up a bit, and then Ash peered back into the square room. Seeing it empty, she went in, and peered into the right side door, seeing one lamia in that room. She then looked through the forward door, into the tiled corridor. She spotted the blinded lamia exit the corridor through another door, and recognized her as Lucretia.

We attacked and killed the remaining lamia in the right side room. Gulnyr then investigated the dark room, but found nothing of interest. We then went into the tiled corridor. Within it there were two more doors, which were open. The farther one led to another opulent room with a carpeted floor and a mother-of-pearl wardrobe. A large lamia nest sat on the floor under a silk canopy.

The nearer door in the corridor led to a room made of stone, with two iron doors on opposite walls. A giant fish-faced humanoid was present, and it attacked Gulnyr, saying “Give me your soul!” We fought it, and it cast Finger of Death on Takar, killing him. Devin started channeling energy at the creature, which was effective, but the creature kept healing himself by using Vampiric Touch on Devin. Eventually Devin was knocked unconscious. Ash used Dimension Door to get him out, and Gulnyr retreated, and held the door closed. Ash cured Devin enough to get him back on his feet, and then used Dimension Door to get the two of them away, while Gulnyr fled with Takar’s body. Gulnyr hid in the dark room, while Ash and Devin hid in the corridor.

Ash then used ventriloquism to draw the creature away, and then put a fog cloud in the square room. Gulnyr snuck out into the alcove that we came to the square room from, but the creature soon found him. Gulnyr attacked him, and Ash used Dimension Door to get herself and Devin out to where they were. Devin then cast Destruction, killing the creature.

The next morning, we headed to the Pinnacle of Avarice. We ascended the inside, until we reached the saucer-shaped platform. The floor was a checkerboard of gold and black, and the center area was blocked off by a curved wall.

Shortly after we arrived, the whole floor became filled with fog. Gulnyr moved forward, and around the bend he spotted two silvery giants, who threw boulders at him. He charged at them, and saw two more giants further ahead. Since Ash could see through the fog, she attacked the giants as well, while Takar blindly used Deadly Earth on the floor under where he could hear them fighting. Unfortunately, the giants were able to hover to avoid getting hurt from it. Gulnyr managed to kill one of the enemies, while Thord moved in and killed a second one.

Takar activated Tremorsense so that he could try to locate the giants, and then tried to move through the inner wall to cut through the center of the room. Unfortunately, the wall had some sort of protective barrier of disintegration on it, which shunted him back, though he resisted becoming disintegrated. Zacartas and Devin each dispelled some of the fog from the room, allowing us all to see the remaining two giants, and we finished them off not long afterwards.

A set of golden double doors adorned the north wall of the room, while a single golden door lay to the west. Devin detected some Abjuration magic in the center part of the room, and also detected that the walls were protected from attempts to pass through them. Ash used her gloves to peek through the single door, and saw a five-sided room with no occupants inside. She opened the door, and a moment later, an image of Karzoug appeared. He cast Wail of the Banshee, which killed everyone except Roy, Gulnyr, and Thord. He then disappeared.

We retreated, and spent the rest of the day getting everyone resurrected, except for Zacartas. We then rested for the night. The next day, we returned to the place where we were killed. We opened the single door again, and this time Karzoug did not appear. Phillipe detected a sort of thinness in this room, where this plane overlapped with Leng.

There was nothing else of interest in this room, so Ash looked through the double doors in the previous room. Behind it was a corridor. Ash picked the lock, and Gulnyr opened the doors. Suddenly, Karzoug appeared again. This time he cast Baleful Polymorph, turning Phillipe into an ether frog. He also cast Disintegrate on Takar, but Takar resisted. Karzoug then disappeared, and Thord dispelled Phillipe’s transformation.

We proceeded into the corridor, which led to another set of double doors. The doors opened, and two cloud giants attacked us with boulders. We fought and killed them. Beyond the doors was a long room with ten pillars. A carpet of rubies lead to an onyx dais, upon which sat a throne of gold and gems, draped with exotic furs. An armored woman stood upon the throne, and three green-eyed giants were also present.

We entered the room and attacked. During the fight, Gulnyr and Takar were knocked out, though Roy soon revived Gulnyr. Meanwhile, Phillipe’s weapon told him that the woman’s sword was its enemy, and that it was using the woman as a puppet. It insisted that Phillipe destroy the sword immediately, though Phillipe wanted to take down the giants first. We ultimately defeated all of the foes, including the woman’s sword.

As Ash, Devin, Thord, and Zacartas stood facing the great blue dragon Glorofaex, Ash became scared and teleported away. Devin, who was nauseated from the encounter with the gallowdead, retreated back into the morgue, while the dragon hit Zacartas and Thord with lightning. Zacartas became frightened, and retreated into the morgue as well. Thord took cover behind the building, and removed fear from Zacartas.

The dragon then spoke to us, telling us the tale of Karzoug’s rise to power. He told us how Karzoug served as an apprentice under a demon-binder named Therble, and died several times during his studies, though Therble always saw fit to resurrect him. However, Karzoug eventually betrayed and killed Therble, and was subsequently chosen to serve under the Runelord of Greed Haphrama. While doing so, he also allied himself with creatures from another dimension known as Leng, and in doing so gained more knowledge and power, allowing him to eventually overthrow Haphrama and become the new Runelord of Greed. The city of Xin-Shalast rose to great heights of glory under his reign.

When Earthfall occurred, Karzoug was forced to retreat from this world. He took his apprentice Kalib and a number of rune giants to a demi-plane called the Eye of Avarice. He had planned to stay in this place of refuge for no more than a hundred years, but the cataclysm disrupted his plans for revival, and he has been trapped there for thousands of years, awaiting his chance to return to this world.

After telling us this, the dragon resumed his attack against us. Zacartas summoned an air elemental, and Thord cast Greater Dispell Magic, eliminating three of the dragon’s magical protections. Devin cast Destruction, but the dragon resisted the spell.

Suddenly, during the fight, Gulnyr, Phillipe, and Takar arrived. Glorofaex flew atop the building to get away. Phillipe cast Monstrous Physique on himself, becoming a giant gargoyle, so he could reach the dragon and attack directly. Meanwhile, Devin cast Destruction again, and this time successfully hurt the enemy. Thord and Gulnyr pummeled the dragon with strong attacks, and Takar finished him off with a blast of magma.

We recovered a sihedron ring from the dragon’s body; this was our fifth one. We then went to the dragon’s lair to loot it. We found:

• Banded mail +4
• A wand of Lightning Bolt
• A metamagic rod of Extend
• A ring of Evasion
• A jade comb
• A pair of red gloves embroidered in gold
• A bag of frozen potions
• A sixth sihedron ring

We then traveled through a secret mountain path, towards the occluding field. Along the way, we were attacked by a large roper. We fought it, and after we had done significant damage to it, it surrendered. It offered us information in exchange for its life. We agreed, though it didn’t tell us much that we didn’t already know. However, it did mention that we would encounter some large talking spiders up ahead.

We continued on, and eventually reached an altitude at which the suppression of magical flight was no longer in effect, so Thord cast Overland Flight. As we ascended Mharmassif, we reached a frozen wasteland, where we were accosted by three large spiders. One of them spoke to us, saying that they would allow us to pass, but demanding in return that we kill the interlopers from Leng, and destroy the Leng Device. This device is located at the Pinnacle of Avarice, within the occluding sphere. We agreed, and moved on.

We reached the the occluding field, which caused some of us to become nauseated. We put on the sihedron rings, and went through, into the Eye of Avarice. We saw a number of massive structures. There were six empty towers, which were abandoned dragon roosts. A fortress with three towers served as a prison. There were also three tall spires, adorned with ledges and balconies. Far above all of this stood the Pinnacle of Avarice: a tick-like tower, with an even taller tower sticking up from the center, topped with a saucer-shaped structure.

We headed to the prison fortress. A cannon golem standing atop it started firing at us, so we hastened inside. We climbed the spiral staircase within, reached the top, and destroyed the golem. We then rested for the night.

After becoming separated from the others, Gulnyr and Takar retreated into a nearby building with Roy’s body. There we found a woman named Ayla, who was able to resurrect Roy. She informed us that Phillipe Starstrike was here, in Xin-Shalast, and that she had come here with him. They also found a benefactor in the city: a stone giant named Gyukak.

Once we had sufficiently recovered, we left the building, and on the way out, we fought and killed four flying vulture-headed humanoids. We returned to the golden road, and then took a side trail to a circular courtyard roughly half a mile in diameter. It was occupied by a soldier camp, and Ayla took us to see Gyukak in his tent.

Gyukak asked us our intent, and we told him that we were here to destroy Karzoug. He thought we were crazy, until we told him that we had four other companions from whom we were separated. He informed us of the occluding field around the Eye of Avarice. Karzoug has not fully materialized, and therefore cannot yet leave his lair. He said that Dominant Runeforged weapons can break the barrier, and anyone wearing a sihedron ring can pass through it, though it is impossible to pass the ring back through to allow another person to use it. He recommended that we travel to Mharmassif, and collect as many rings as we can along the way. He also promised to direct Phillipe to us.

Gyukak also told us that there is a small tower beyond Vomark’s Circus, with a hidden path that can take us past the cloud giant camp. He mentioned that the skulks are sympathetic to our cause, while the lamias are loyal to Karzoug. Our best first target is the Abominable Dome. This is a former monument construction facility, which is now infested with yeti. He said that Cioptra has developed a way to extract loyalty from the Yeti, and their leader, Voorgoor, has a sihedron ring. Cioptra is a lamia, an oracle, and acts as the high priestess of Karzoug.

Another ring is in the possession of Gamigin, a powerful fiend who lives at the Heptaric Locus. Gamigin has been here for thousands of years, and defies Karzoug for his own ends. Another ring belongs to Glorofaex, a large blue dragon. Finally, the House of Divine Consumption, where Cioptra lives, has a number of magic items.

Once we finished speaking with Gyukak, we traveled to the Abominable Dome. The structure was 1000 feet in diameter. At its center was a large pile of rubble, shaped like a tower, with many tunnels and openings throughout. Ramps spiraled around and up the tower, and the whole thing was coated with a thick layer of ice, making it difficult to ascend. As we went up, we were attacked by two beasts with four eyes and eight legs, as well as three four-armed yetis. We killed all of our opponents, and then searched through the rubble. We found a mithral breastplate, a platinum cobra armband with ruby eyes, a sihedron ring, a Ring of the Ram, a magic kukri, and a gryphon figurine. We then took this opportunity to rest for the night.

The next morning, we headed for the Heptaric Locus. Along the way, we spotted a blue dragon flying overhead. We tried to hide from it, but it spotted us, and attacked us with a concussive blast by beating its wings. The blast collapsed a nearby building, blocking our retreat. Just then, the rune giant came at us and attacked. We fought him, and Ayla destroyed him with a Disintegrate spell.

We reached the Heptaric Locus, which was a seven-sided colosseum. Inside was a maze of winding corridors. Shortly after we entered, we were attacked by three large spider-like creatures, known as scarlet walkers. They attacked with long tentacles, and used a gaze attack that caused Roy’s eyes to bleed. Takar retreated into a wall, while Ayla put up a Prismatic Wall to block two of the creatures from reaching us. Those two creatures foolishly jumped through the Prismatic Wall, which turned one to stone, and banished the other to another plane. We killed the third one, though during the fight, it caused Roy to become insane. Roy was able to cure himself of insanity after the fight.

We headed to the gladiatorial arena in the center of the maze. Waiting for us were Gamigin, Glorofaex, two scorpion-like devils, and two more scarlet walkers. The devils fired green rays at Gulnyr and Roy, causing them to become dimensionally anchored, and the back wall became covered with a wall of ice. The spiders came at us, and during the fight, the devils anchored Takar as well, and more ice walls appeared, to separate us from each other. We killed the spiders, though not before one of them paralysed Takar. The devils then descended upon Gulnyr, and more ice walls appeared, to section the three of them off from everyone else. Meanwhile, Gamigin came after Takar and Roy, and Roy noticed that he was using illusion magic to make himself seem larger and more impressive than he actually was. Roy killed Gamigin, Gulnyr killed the devils, and Glorofaex turned out to be an illusion.

As we entered the city, we were attacked by six frost giants, led by an eight-legged centaur-like creature, whose hooves hovered slightly above the ground. As we fought them, an even larger rune giant joined the fight. Its skin was like blackened iron, and glowing red runes covered its body.

During the fight, Roy was decapitated, and we managed to kill all of the enemies except for the rune giant and a single frost giant spellcaster. At this point, Zacartas put up a Prismatic Wall to hinder the rune giant’s advance, and it responded by smacking a nearby wall, which opened up a hole in the ground nearby. An obese humanoid creature beckoned to us from within the tunnel, and Thord, Ash, Devin, and Zacartas retreated into it. Unfortunately, the rest of the party was left behind.

The creature, whose skin changed color like a chameleon, spoke to us in Thassilonian, introducing himself as Morgive of the “spared“. He told us that we would save him, along with the rest of the spared. He further informed us that long ago, a volcano erupted, destroying one quarter of the city. Mesmina was their leader, who brought them underground to flee the destruction. The spared now venerate her as a goddess. However, they are now enslaved by a creature that they call the “hidden beast“. The beast emerged 30 years ago, when they expanded into the hypogium, and it can turn the spared into vampires. Meanwhile, Karzoug rules the city from the Eye of Avarice, which lies beyond the citadel of Crack-Nuratha. To get there, we must get past the occluding field, and Morgive will tell us how to do so once we defeat the hidden beast.

He led us to a basement gallery, which contained several pillars, a balcony, and a stone dais in the center. On the dais was a throne, in which sat a robed skeleton. As we drew near, the skeleton turned to us, and asked which of us would offer a sacrifice of blood.

Thord moved in to attack, but was ambushed from above by the hidden beast, which was a large creature with ten tentacles. As the rest of us joined the fight, we discovered that there were four vampiric skulks present as well, though Devin was able to harm them by channeling energy, which also hurt the hidden beast. We vanquished all of the enemies, and discovered that the skeleton on the throne was merely an illusion. We recovered from the beast a ring of invisibility, and a second ring decorated with the sihedron symbol.

Morgive told us that the sihedron ring would allow us to pass through the occluding field, but would also grant Karzoug a telepathic link to the wearer. He also said that the spared would be watching us, and would alert us whenever skulks were nearby by making a particular warning sound, to prevent us from being ambushed. Finally, he gave us a bag of holding, a staff of healing, a scroll of Greater Restoration, a scroll of True Resurrection, two scrolls of Heal, and eight vials of an elixir that would acclimate us to the current altitude.

We rested for the night in the ruins of an ancient gambling house, which was populated by a large number of the spared. The next morning, Morgive offered us two paths we could take to get to the occluding field. We could take a two-day journey to pass through Vomark’s Circus, or we could travel through the Tangle, east of Jogenburg, which would only take half a day, but is much more perilous. The Tangle contains dangerous plant life, which we he warned us to avoid speaking with.

We opted to take the longer, safer route. Morgive told us to head north, through the spolarium, which is a place where deceased combatants are stripped of their equipment, and also has a crematorium and morgue. From there, we will find a hidden path that will allow us to bypass the House of Divine Consumption. Also, we should avoid the Heptaric Locus, which lies to the west.

We went to the spolarium, and entered the morgue. There were four doors leading from the first room. Ash opened one of them, and behind it was a corridor that led to a T-shaped intersection. There were four doors in that corridor before the intersection, and we noticed gash marks on the wall, which looked like they were made by scythes.

We opened one of the other doors within the first room, and behind it was a small square room, containing a gallowdead, a skeletal creature impaled on a hook and chain. It staggered towards us, and suddenly two more such creatures emerged from the two remaining doors in this room. The creatures spoke blasphemous secrets, which caused Ash to become shaken. Zacartas trapped one of the creatures in a force cage, while Thord killed the other two. Suddenly, five more gallowdead emerged from the doors within the corridor. We destroyed them all using Devin’s channeled energy, a fireball from Zacartas, and Thord’s muscle.

We emerged from the morgue, only to find a huge blue dragon waiting for us.