ICE, ICE, BABY
Jenya listened to the words of the Bright Axes with growing concern. Just when the High Priestess had thought that things couldn’t get any worse, she learns that the largest temple in the city of Cauldron was being run by nefarious apostates. The church of Kelemvor could not have been confused as helpful or even an ally, but Jenya would never have believed that they were so solidly working for the forces of Evil.
Rusty, pale as a sheet from his recent return from the land of the dead, hoarsely whispered, “There is more to be lookin’ at...We found a letter to the local Kelemvorite bishop. It seems that they have operatives workin’ in a place called Karran-Kural, and it might not be a bad idea to investigate what’s goin’ on there. This letter, it mentioned somethin’ called a ‘Soul Pillar’. I canna tell ye what that is, but it sounds like we may need to be lookin’ into it.”
The other members of the Bright Axes nodded their heads slowly. Still affected by the loss of their spiritual guide, if not de facto leader, in Caine, the group had begun to look to Rusty for direction. Even Grimm, who was far more outspoken and willful than his fellow companions, quickly deferred to the dwarf’s commands.
The Tyrite Priestess pursed her lips. “You go with the blessing of the Even-Handed and his Church. May you find what you have been searching for, and put and end to this threat to Cauldron.”
Before Jenya could finish speaking, the door to the meeting hall burst open, and three figures marched into the room. The old Bright Axes quickly recognized their old rivals, the Storm Blades. Tilly and Rusty reflexively reached for their weapons, expecting some sort of scrap, but to the surprise of everyone in the room, each of the mercenaries bowed respectfully to the gathered company. Annah Taskerhill, the leader of the troupe, solemnly stepped forward.
“Lady Jenya, we have learned that Todd Vanderboren’s body has been brought here by the Bright Axes. Those bastards at the Halls of the Dead told us that they couldn’t bring Todd back from the dead, and before too long a spell of raising will not be effective. We have come to make an offering to this church to have him returned to life.” Turning to the Bright Axes, Annah softly conceded, “We appreciate your work at that other temple. Adventurer to adventurer, we thank you for returning our friend.”
Rusty and Tilly looked at each other, unable to speak. They both remembered the street brawl between the two groups during the flood crisis a few months prior. None of the other members knew much about the Storm Blades, except that they were a bunch of rich momma’s boys and daddy’s girls.
Jenya broke the silence. “I will raise Todd, but I am unable to do so today. I have already used that circle of spell in bringing back Rusty and Tilly from the dead. If it is not too late, I will perform the ritual of raising tomorrow morning.”
Stroking his chin whiskers, Rusty considered the possibilities. During the raising process, many of his memorized spells had been stripped. However, one spell remained. Weakly, the dwarf stood up. “I will perform the ritual right now. I will raise Todd Vanderboren, free of charge.” Holding out his hand to Annah, the Mystran smiled. “Let’s bury the hatchet, lass. There’s too much goin’ on in this city for us not to be workin’ together.”
Grinning, the leader of the Storm Blades clasped hands with the leader of the Bright Axes. An alliance was formed.
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Annah looked over the large cage that Grimm had produced from the group’s bag of holding. Noting the fine craftsmanship and the symbolic etching on the metal, Annah drew back a sharp breath. “Yes! Yes, of course! This is a Soul Cage. Finely crafted, and enchanted by…by…yes, here! Look at this symbol. That is the mark of Dugobras, the famous Fire Giant Blacksmith. I really can’t tell you what the exact purpose of this cage is, but its obviously not a good thing.”
Tilly shuddered at the name of the Fire Giant. He remembered that name. Or more appropriately, he remembered the feeling of a massive hammer crushing his small abdomen in a single blow. Dugobras was the name of the fire giant smith located in the caves outside of the Demonskar.
These small coincidences were starting to appear to be not-so coincidental…
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The next morning, the Bright Axes awoke, ready to search out the location of Karran Kural. Using her magic, Jenya had divined several pieces of information in the night, one of which was that Karran-Kural was located in one of the inactive lava tubes outside the city. Rusty used a powerful divination to find the path to Karran-Kural, the group was off, in search of secret of the soul pillars.
Rusty’s magic did not lead them very far outside the city until they encountered a lava tube cave. Passing through a myriad of passageways, the Bright Axes realized that, unbelievably, the cave was getting colder. They were moving deeper inside an active volcano, and it was getting colder. Ice had even formed on many of the cavern walls. What foul magicks could be at work?
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Izzaedruzz twitched. The Gelugon had been called to the Prime Material Plane to guard the entrance to Karran-Kural. This mission he had fulfilled for far too long. In the Nine Hells, Izzaedruzz was a high-ranking officer in the Blood War. Many, many demons had met bloody ends at the end of his barbed spear. The ignominy of this guard duty was too much for the Gelugon to handle, and for many years the Ice Devil had been free of the shackles of sanity.
Something made Izzaedruzz awaken from his crazed stupor. A slight echo, the sound of steel rubbing on steel, even the clink of chain. The Gelugon insectile face broke into an what could only be described as some sort of horrid grin. Someone was approaching, and their blood would stain the floor of Karran-Kural this day.
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Grunting, Grimm squeezed between a massive block of ice and the smooth rock of the cave. When the half-ogre finally broke through, he found himself in an large circular worked chamber. Grimm waved the others into the room.
The chamber was odd by several accounts. The entire room was covered in thin icy rods that criss-crossed from one side to another similar to a giant spiderweb. Tilly reached out to touch one of the rods, and quickly withdrew his hand, shaking it vigorously. “Ow, that’s cold! I wouldn’t touch those if you can help it.”
Rusty looked at the floor, shaking his head. “What be these things?” the dwarf asked, pointing at a series of circular disks in the floor. The disks were transparent, and upon closer inspection it became obvious that they covered circular holes in the floor. Trapped inside the hole stood a serene six-armed creature, the content look of a long life concluded with a peaceful death displayed across its face.
The Mystran pulled out his personal journal and smirked. The dwarf pulled Tilly over, pointing at a note and sketch made prior to the Bright Axes travels to the Demonskar. “See there, lad. Looks like we found a Spellweaver burial ground. Amazin’, isn’t it?”
A flash of light interrupted the group’s reverie. There could be no mistaking that flash.
Something big had just teleported just in front of them.
Grimm groaned. “Not again…didn’t we just see you yesterday…?” Mandibles clicking maniacally, Izzaedruzz the Gelugon, cocked his head to the side. The Ice Devil was almost certain that he hadn’t seen them the day before. Within a split second, however, Izzaedruzz succumbed to his growing psychosis. It was time to spill some blood. He could contemplate the half-ogre’s words later.
The Gelugon acted first. Moving through the icy strands with no ill effect, the Ice Devil positioned itself on the opposite side of the room and with a moment’s thought released a blast of icy air, catching all of the Bright Axes with the cone effect. Tilly, Kiko, and Grimm all luckily dodged out of the way of the cone without being harmed, but Dalthon, Rusty, and Kylon were each enveloped in the freezing cold.
Remembering the encounter with the Ice Devil on the previous day, Grimm reached into his belt pouch and withdrew two vials. Opening the first vial with his teeth, the planar champion poured the contents onto his spiked chain. The chain flashed blue for a second, and then faded. The half-ogre knew that his weapon was now blessed, and would harm this creature of evil. Flipping a second vial to Tilly, Grimm grunted, “Hey, Short Round, smear this on your pig sticker!”
Nodding, the halfling coated his blade in the oil, and nodded at the results. “This one’s for Caine, bugface!” the halfling taunted.
The aasimar sorcerer recognized his enemy, and this time Dalthon swore the result was would be different. Thinking quickly, the sorcerer surmised that if the beast in front of them was a creature of ice, it would be susceptible to fire. Three fiery rays struck the devil in the chest. To Dalthon's surprise, the fiery bolts did not even singe the beast. The aasimar could not know that the creature, as a Baatezu, was completely immune to the effects of fire.
Kylon, Paladin of Kelemvor, charged through the icy strands to bring Death to the devil. Each strand that rubbed up against him chilled the holy warrior to the bone, but the paladin persevered. Summoning might from his god, Kylon tried to smite his foe. His sword struck true and cut deep into the devil’s abdomen. His sword was blessed with the power of the archons, and Izzaedruzz howled at the wound.
From this point forward, the fight degenerated into a bloody melee. Grimm, Tilly, Rusty, Kiko, and Kylon pressed through the painful icy webbing and maneuvered around the devil. Izzaedruzz attacked with lightning speed, striking out several times every second. Nearly every one of the devil’s blows left more blood on the ground, but slowly, the beast was beginning to realize the hopelessness of his situation. The Ice Devil’s ichor was flowing freely from several ghastly wounds, and for the first time in his eons-long existence, Izzaedruzz was prepared to flee. He began to summon his teleportation power, but was abruptly interrupted.
Dalthon had been waiting, expecting the creature to try to make a hasty exit. When he saw the unmistakeable look of concentration, the aasimar quickly reacted. Five bolts of light streaked forward from the sorcerer’s fingers, striking the devil.
With a stunned expression on its insectile face, Izzaedruzz dropped to the ground, and lay still. Grimm walked forward examining the creature’s wounds, and he noted that they were closing rapidly. “Stand back.” the half-ogre commanded. With a single powerful swing of his spiked chain, the planar champion removed the creature’s head. The beast shuddered, and was dead.
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The Bright Axes continued their journey through the chambers. Very quickly, it was becoming obvious that this place was some sort of remnant Spellweaver habitat. The group encountered several more of the serene burial grounds containing dozens of the ancient creatures. One series of rooms, however, changed the Bright Axes’ ideas of the Spellweavers permanently.
The series of rooms in question contained more of the burial chambers, but these were filled with elves and dwarves. The looks on these humanoid’s faces was anything but peaceful. Mouths, eyes, and limbs were all contorted in an expression of unimaginable pain, suffering, and torment. These creatures were obviously not placed here of their own will. Possibly slaves. Possibly enemies. Definitely the recipients of magic most foul. Tilly shook his head, whispering, “By Tymora, no one deserves to die in pain like that.”
The passageway that the group was exploring ended in a small dead-end room. A five-foot diameter hole in the floor descended further into the depths. The room’s only other notable feature was the twelve foot tall iron statue standing over the hole. Kiko, serving as party vanguard, crept into the room, and jumped back when the statue turned its head and looked directly at him. Moving to attack, the massive iron golem swung its massive iron fists into the ground, narrowly missing the monk.
Iron golems are among the most powerful of constructs. Incredible strength, near invulnerability to magic, extreme resistance to weapons not comprised of adamantine, all coupled with the creation’s great size generally would make for an unstoppable killing machine. However, today would prove to be different. The golem was a brainless brute, and the Bright Axes were experienced with fighting golems and other constructs.
Like a wolfpack, the group surrounded the golem. Grimm’s adamantine chain did all the damage, but the actions of the half-ogre’s comrades harried the construct and made the job that much easier. In less than thirty seconds, the statue toppled to the ground, utterly destroyed.
The Bright Axes stood over the hole leading into the earth, contemplating their next move.
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