Cautiously, Krask unlocks the cell door and the party steps out into the hallway. Immediately, the statue tells them to return to their cells, and advances. Trace, thinking on his feet, ensures his Sihedron Medallion is visible and shows it to the statue. The construct morphs into a liquid-metal form and inspects the medallions and rings before relaxing.
The party begins posing as inspectors sent from Karzoug to check in on the prison. They learn that the prison hasn’t housed a living occupant in thousands of years, but the constructs stand guard over the cells to keep them ready for use. With a little bit of direction from their construct friend, Security Guard #3, they are head to the administrative floor of the prison.
Most of the prisoners sent here were enemies of the Thassilonian state – either to the empire or Karzoug himself. Treason and blasphemy are the most common crimes committed, but there aren’t any particular names that jump out to the group.
The party moves along the transparent walkway up the mountain towards the Pinnacle. Here, they finally start to see signs of life in the form of tracks and footprints. Fortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any of Karzoug’s minions patrolling outside. The lack of visible enemies continues to be unnerving.
Fobias sends out a pair of Insect Spires, Eugene and Francis, who flutter off to investigate the buildings surrounding the Pinnacle building. Meanwhile, the party sets up a base of operations in a vacant ballroom, laying out a map of the area and stabbing a dagger each time their objective changes. Although cumbersome, they decide to carry this table with them as they continue their investigation. You know, like heroes do.
Eugene and Francis return, but something is off. They seem frazzled and incoherent, sharing that they heard a man’s voice that knows the party is here. They are practically unable to share any significant details of their search, which is quite frustrating. A manual search it is!
The party discovers an unused stable, a building of burnt ashes, a vast amphitheater, and several statues of Karzoug, some of which obviously replaced statues of Runelord Haphrama, who proceeded him.
The next building holds a gigantic, magical cauldron. Immediately, the party draws a connection to the Black Tower, where they found something similar. As they investigate, Krask finds a secret panel that opens up to reveal a huge pile of bloody Giant clothing. Clearly there is some sort of sacrifice or budding restaurant going on here. What’s notable is that this puts the party on alert – if the cauldron is lit then somebody must come out here with some regularity.
Krask moves towards the final building, invisible, and finds that it houses a magnificent library. However, he hears some rocks fall from Mhar Massif above him, and that’s enough to send him back to the party. They regroup, and all enter the library, which has a magically-floating light hovering over some scrolls to accompany the rows and rows of books.
Fyn takes a few of the books and puts them into his bag. Based on the titles, these Thassilonian books contain history lost to time, and would seemingly complete the Library at Jorgenfist. The rest of the party heads over to the scrolls, which contain schematics or blueprints. Even without reading Thassilonian, it’s clear that these scrolls detail the creation of the Hellfire Plumes.
Best put those in the bag and figure out the moral implications later.
Is Karzoug already in process of constructing more war machines? Where is the army? Can mithral golems be harvested for xp and gold?