Eryalla rushes to employ the aid of the enslaved Stone Giants. As the reinforcements come barreling down the hall, the party quickly tries to mop up the remaining alu-demons.
Fyn’s summoned monster, Penelope, burrows underground to reposition herself. She ends up blocking the undulating passage, which ends up being a huge tactical advantage. The stone giants can’t progress!
Unable to progress, the stone giants take their clubs and begin smashing through the thick, red curtains. You wouldn’t think that a bludgeoning weapon could destroy fabric, but this is a fantasy game and those are fantasy curtains. The same rules just don’t apply.
Fobias and Barnaby position themselves on the northern front. Despite their many attempts, the alu-demons can’t land a hit on the nimble halfling. Additionally, Fobias’ flaming ranseur can’t seem to miss. It’s all a perfect storm for a landslide victory.
Unfortunately, the party’s positioning is incredibly top-heavy. Krask continues firing arrows from the rear line, but that’s when the stone giants break through. Exposed, the kobold hopes that the party can shift their focus to these large threats.
Trace lays down some healing where he can before stepping up to cover the new opening in the curtain. They rush in towards the most accessible targets: Fyn and Krask. If only the stone giants had done their homework on over-powered wizards.
First, Fyn lays down a brutal Fireball, catching all of the advancing stone giants in the blast. Next, he hits them with a NASTY prismatic spray, causing them to become permanently insane. All of them. Just like Thanos, it’s a simple *SNAP* and the combat is basically over.
As it turns out, the combat became progressively easier once the party dispatched Delvahine and her two Children. The rest is history.
To the Victors Go the Spoils
The party collects the spoils from Delvahine’s body and the succubus’ former chambers. A half-dozen toys were surely be enough for their purposes.
Before they leave, Trace has a moment of clarity where he feels obligated to free the only living prisoner in Lust: the man referred to as Mr. Mutt. The man is clearly out-of-sorts, and affected by a severe case of madness.
They offer him some food, which he absently begins to munch on. Fyn and Trace coax the man to follow them in the hopes that they’ll be able to cure his condition. Perhaps his mind still contains information that could help.
However, when the party crosses the threshold of Lust, the man disintegrates into a pile of dust. In hindsight, the Thanos reference would have been much better here. But, like the cosmic warlord, my misplacement of witty one-liners is inevitable.
After approximately six months of real-life time, the party has finally cleared every wing of the Runeforge. Armed with their knowledge, it’s time to make some weapons to aid them in their fight against the returning Runelord(s).
The First Dominant Weapon
They pull out the mirror shards from Pride and the toys from Lust, laying them alongside the glowing Runeforge pool. The light refracts in prismatic fashion as it dances above the marble surface below.
When they place Barnaby’s scimitar into the pool, the light gradually spirals out of the water, as if it is circling around an invisible rope. It spreads out, bathing the components in the rainbow light individually, before converging together above the weapon.
Everything begins to rise into the air as thin tendrils of glowing light converge together. It is almost as if tiny stars are exploding within, contained in the hovering bubble of light.
The weapon and components float to the center of the space above the pool as the little fireworks become more frequent. Poof, poof, poof!
With each mini explosion, an orange light etches itself onto the weapon in the form of a Thassilonian rune. After a few moments, the entirety of the weapon is covered in these runes.
The intensity of the light gets brighter, completely blocking out the components from view. With a final pulse, the light subsides, leaving the weapon unnaturally floating on the surface of the water.
As they craft this dominant weapon, a sudden explosion of water erupts from the pool, tossing the weapon at the feet of Barnaby
A beam of golden light extends from the pool to the ceiling, arching down to bathe the statue of Karzoug. As the light hits the ceiling a large crack forms before an enormous slab of stone falls from the ceiling. It crashes to the ground, and Zuvuzeg is unable to get out of the way in time.
It pins the demon beneath its weight, and you see dark blood pooling underneath his oily body.
Immediately, the towering statue animates and grows, transforming into an enormous stone golem. It stares down at you and speaks, the voice the same as you heard issuing from Mokmurian at the end of that harrowing battle.
“You. Again. I can’t help but be inspired by your optimism, but alas, your weapons will never reach Xin-Shalast. Your fate is death, here in Runeforge.”
Does Karzoug’s power continue growing? Will the party be able to find Xin-Shalast? Will Mr. Mutt be the final dog casualty of this adventure?