Well it seems that the planets were moving a bit but were still similarly aligned to their configuration on May 11th.
...
Astavian had a brief discussion with Steelslicer in which she told him that she had "smelled this place from a hundred miles away" because of the dead dragons and the "burning metal" (adamantite). Astavian made some friendly overtures but Steelslicer was rather condescending and made it known that she did not consider the Dragonborn her equal. She indicated that he and his friends had given back her wings and she'd now saved him from dying in a fall. So things were "equal" in her eyes. She withdrew a short distance, drank from the river and then took flight in search of more prey.
The party peered inside the smashed doors of the River Hall and could see dozens, maybe hundreds of undead Dwarves and Dragonborn continuing their centuries-old battle. It seemed to center on a large dragon skeleton and Zanne could sense that from the other side (near the skull) of the dragon was where the source of the necromantic energy emanated from. She and Mialain together drew and empowered a ward against any undead who tried to pass through the gateway such that the PC's could retreat there if necessary. Astavian and Eshik kept watch while this was done and noted that any fallen undead soldiers rose again within a minute or two.
Eshik scouted ahead and was able to sneak to one of the many low structures that lined the sides of the River Hall. He managed to climb on top and got a look at what appeared to be the leaders of these armies of skeletons. An armored dwarven undead wielded its maul against a mighty dragonborn skeleton. Two lieutenants flanked each of them. They fought directly in front of the skull of the dead dragon. Eshik could see that there was some kind of plate or seal upon the dragon skull and an axe was buried in it. From this place shone the pale green light that Zanne had said was a sign of the evil energy that infused the place. Eshik began to slink back across the roof of the old building to inform the others of his discovery.
Then he fell.
The roof collapsed under his weight and he landed gracelessly on the floor below next to a pair of struggling undead warriors. He was on his feet in a flash and out the door, running for safety, but the other undead had noticed the disturbance and were moving to attack him. One shot a sickly green bolt of energy that froze him in his tracks.
The rest of the party ran to his aid but found themselves stuck on one side of the huge dragon skeleton and Eshik on the other. The Ranger managed a moment later to struggle free from the necromantic forces that had immobilized him and climbed hastily over the dragon skeleton, closer to his comerades. They were beset on all sides by this swarm of undead. The struggle of old seemed forgotten in the face of these living foes and both the dwarven and Dragonborn leaders as well as their soldiers focused their attacks on the nearest living thing.
Astavian purposefully kept himself between the bulk of the undead and the others to protect them as well as allow them to focus their attacks on the Dwarf-lord, whom they could now see held a great maul that was also the key to the Hearth door. The Paladin took tremendous damage as blow after blow found any small crack in his defenses. Twice he fell to the ground and twice he was brought back to his feet by Mialain's healing magic. She called upon Melora to provide a sanctuary of Consecrated Ground amid the dark and evil magics that filled the chamber around them. This bolstered those within it (mostly Astavian and later Eshik) but also weakened the undead and kept them from rising again so quickly.
The undead Dragonborn lieutenants stood back, content for the time to unleash their necrotic bolts of green light. Zanne tired of this and beset them with the Hunger of Hadar. Although this seething darkness did little to harm the undead, they could not see through it and had to advance. In doing so they opted to attack the Warlock with their fetid claws but she retreated towards the Consecrated Ground and the lieutenants were driven back by its burning glow.
The party finally managed to thin the ranks to the point that only a few of the undead soldiers still stood beside their leaders. Gasping for breath and barely keeping their feet, Eshik, Astavian and Zanne hurled attack after attack at these lifeless leaders until finally the Dwarf-lord fell. Eshik retrieved the maul and began to retreat to where Mialain already stood on the safe side of the Ward. But again he was immobilized by attacks from the undead lieutenants. Astavian fought face to skull with the Dragonborn champion until finally it was shattered by his chisel-tip blade. The last pair of lieutenants were dispatched moments later.
Eshik and Astavian withdrew to the safety of the Ward to catch their breath. But Zanne was anxious to see the source of the necromantic power of this place and attempt to put a stop to it. Moved cautiously to the dragon skull, noting as she went that there were still more undead continuing to battle one another deeper in the chamber. Stopping just on the far side of the skull, she saw that there was a metal seal burned into the top of its head. She was momentarily stunned to note that it bore an emblem that she saw every day adorning the armor of one of her companions: The Symbol of Ryukaar, Astavian's deity. She wasted no further time however and siezed the handle of the adamantite axe buried in the seal and wrenched it free. With a flicker of greenish light the flow of evil power ceased and the area was plunged into darkness. Zanne stretched out her hand and unleashed a burst of fire in the depths of the chamber to reveal that the last of the undead had ceased their struggle.
Astavian and Eshik had by now rejoined her and the Paladin looked with puzzlement and apprehension at the cracked seal in the dragon skull. With some help from his allies he chipped it free from the skull and took it out into the daylight to examine and pray over it. As he crossed the threshold of the River Gate the final remnants of the ancient spell were broken and the River Hall was free of the evil influence that had permeated the place. With a dusty rumble the doors into the interior of Karak Tor opened.
Zanne and Eshik approached to find a crown sitting atop a pile of stone dust - all that remained of the Everstone King who had long held the evil at bay. A moment later the heavy stone footsteps of the Guardian approached. Astavian and Mialain joined their other companions in the River Door as the Guardian looked at the maul that Eshik held, "It seems that my trust in your word was well placed." It nodded and returned to guard the Hearth.
The party took a few minutes to search the chamber for items of value or historical significance. They recovered a dozen weapons of dwarven or dragonborn origin as well as a pair of other Holy Symbols of Ryukaar that were carried by the dragonborn lieutenant/priests. There were a few hilts of old dwarven weapons adorned with gemstones with some monetary value as well.
Astavian meanwhile meditated over the cracked seal, reaching out for contact with Ryukaar. A voice range clear in his head: "Bring it to me." He knew that he must soon carry the seal far to the west to the plateau of Alboa where dwelled his god in the High Temple.
Battered and drained, the group were at least thankful that they did not have to ascend back up to the overlook they had climbed down from. They walked the length of the promenade and bedded down to rest just outside the Hearth. Astavian took first watch with much on his mind. He sat gazing at the cracked seal and listened to the even breathing of his exhausted companions. Suddenly he was snapped from his reverie by the distant sound of breaking metal and the huge Hearth Door began to grind open.
Astavian took up a guard position as his companions scrambled from their bedrolls. The door swung all the way open to reveal a pair of robed figures, one of them an elf, and three rather battered looking Bugbears. The robed human seemed slightly surprised to see the Dragonborn Paladin standing there but quickly recovered. He brandished a short, thick stone scepter, topped with the head of a lion.
"Destroy them," he commanded.
The PC's looked in shock as the Guardian crouched to obey this command...
(and that's the cliffhanger ending for the session)
*****
Whew! The battle in the River Hall against the undead was easily the most epic of the campaign. In total it took about two and a half hours but this was not grind (at least not to me). It was a roller coaster ride of danger!
First of all, the players still had fairly bad luck with their dice (although not so bad as the week before) and my dice were ON FIRE. Twice Zanne's player confiscated one of my "big red d20's" (including the one that rolled the nat 20 vs. Gary Gygax's Gelatinous Cube) because they were rolling so hot. He gave me this tiny black d20 instead but it still rolled pretty well. In total I rolled at least 6 or 7 natural 20's vs the PCs in that battle. Due to the overwhelming aura of death magic these were all crits (even the ones inflicted by non-elites).
That combined with the loss of Healing Surges from the Wights made this a harrowing battle. Astavian went unconscious multiple times and there was one point where he, Eshik and Zanne probably had about 25 hit points between them. Huge props to Mialain for keeping up a steady stream of healing. That Consecrated Ground is an awesome Daily power and they would never have made it through without it.
Really everybody did a good job this time around. Astavian was as good a Tank as you could ask for. He seldom had less than four enemies adjacent to him and had as many as seven on him at one time (took TWO crits and four hits total that round). Eshik kept up a constant assault on the Dwarf-lord so that, even if they couldn't destroy all the undead, they would at least come away with the maul. Zanne had some fairly crappy luck on some of her spells but she still dealt out a significant pile of damage and was the only one able to disrupt the harrying missile attacks from the pair of undead priests.
What I threw at them was just nasty. The priests were a pair of Deathlock Wights. The Dwarf-lord and Dragonborn Champion were both Battle Wights and there were around 15 Skeleton Troopers.
If it seems like I'm a bastard for letting them get attacked, while camping, when they have almost no Daily Powers and very few Healing Surges...well, guilty as charged.
The skydiving warlock trying to save the paladin on the devil's back was a really gripping read!
