The party continues their search for Azaven. Without any true leads, they follow the halls to rooms they haven’t search yet.
This latest hallway brings them to a U-shaped room filled with large urns. While the party inspects them, Krask notices some inconsistencies in the wall. It’s a secret door! Excited, the party enters the narrow corridor before confrontinga second secret door.
Trace does a quick pass and determines that there are several evil signatures awaiting them beyond. In preparation, Fyn casts Haste to hopefully give the party an edge in the fight to come.
They open the door, revealing a macabre workstation complete with stitched bodies and random limbs. There, waiting for them, is Azaven and a gruesome undead creature known as a devourer.
It’s a fight!
Fighting Azaven
Krask fires an arrow before backing away down the hallway. This allows Barnaby, Trace, and Fobias to burst into the room and engage the devourer. As a creature that eats souls, it can be devastating. Fortunately, the party is able to deal damage quickly, and it falls in mere moments.
Meanwhile, Azaven casts finger of death at Trace, who easily passes his Fortitude save to avoid massive damage. Afterwards, the lich creates a wall of force, effectively sealing him off from the advancing party.
Fyn doesn’t seem Azaven’s moves as detrimental; he brings Fobias onto the other side of the wall, causing Azaven to be knocked prone. The lich uses his own dimensional steps to return to the other side of the wall, back towards the majority of the party. Apparently, he didn’t want to be next to Fyn any longer.
Outside in the hallway, two of the urns explode as Thassilonian mummies emerge from their resting place. Richard keeps one contained while Krask fires pot-shots while he runs from the second. It takes a steady stream of fletching to kill it, but Krask eventually puts the mummy to rest.
Despite Azaven’s best efforts, he is no match for our brave heroes. As Fobias deals the killing blow, the lich lets out a scream. His body falls to the ground, but a bright green light erupts from his mouth and shoots upwards, absorbing into the ceiling.
Joining the Dance
Fyn takes out his books and believes that Azaven was, indeed, a lich. They need to destroy his phylactery if they wish to end his reign for good.
The party loots Azaven’s body, which contains several powerful magical items. While the spoils are being split, Fyn looks up from his reading and points towards the corner. Almost completely hidden, he can see the faint outline of a trapdoor.
Fobias and Trace jump down after Krask confirms the absence of traps. The resulting room is dark and cramped, filled with three sarcophagi. Each is carved with elaborate images of dancing skeletons engaged in a macabre dance.
Curiosity gets the better of Fobias, who reaches out to touch the sarcophagus. Instantly, there is a horrific cacophony of shrieking as hundreds of tiny bony arms reach out towards the half-orc.
Did Fobias’ curiosity get the better of him? Where is Azaven’s phylactery? Can the party ever look with their eyes and not with their hands?