Buckthorn enters the chamber and looks out the other, west, exit. It leads to the chamber spied from the roof:
Two walls intersect in the center of this chamber, serving no apparent architectural purpose. The walls are probably inscribed with more of the runes you've seen elsewhere, but it's difficult to tell, because thick curtains of hanging ivy cover them. There are also several small holes in the ceiling perhaps they provide sunlight to nourish the ivy.
Then something happens.
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Forge’s inspection of the cairn calls forth its inhabitant. Once a noble Firbolg, the fey giant was reduced to a literal shell of itself, but with some of its instincts, and leaping skills, intact. It was joined by three dread zombie knights, equally noble gray elf undead.
Even as Ghen began to call forth his radiant undead smacking power, the firbolg shell took a shine to Forge, and proceeded to drain his life forces (healing surges) away, leaping about to stay close enough to do so and smacking the dwarf if he tried to pin the shell down. The knights could mark their quarry, occasionally immobilize or daze it, and even fey step, but they were mostly a nuisance. Even though they do tend to rise again when defeated, and can only be put down by light or fire.
What was not a nuisance was the great ivy heart that made its appearance after the start of the battle .
A previous party of adventurers
It dragged Nar forth to it, and the wizard responded by bringing forth a great wall of fire, but the ivy just crawled about to avoid it, its great vines lashing all about, grabbing, dazing, and poisoning. In the meantime, the gem in its head, using an all too familiar mechanism, began to draw forth the soul of a target.
First that target was mostly Nar, but it would switch to Ghen…. Buckthorn then drew the attention of the Ivy, and was less lucky. As was Forge, who was drained to an inch of his life and be revived a number of times, briefly each time. Lucian shadow danced about the undead, but the Ivy caught him as well. Ghen’s soul eventually succumb, being drained into the gem.
Nar actually emerged the least scathed, thanks to his many magical shields, and at points seemed the only one standing. Nar and prayers. As before (on a reroll of 20 by Randy, again) Ryassa, goddess of mercy, reaches down and revives the Halfling. The Ivy is finally defeated.
With its destruction:
A scream of frustration sounds, not from the creature but throughout the chamber. The creature of vegetation rots away to nothing almost instantly, as do the curtains of ivy hanging along the walls, exposing the many scrawled runes beneath.
But Ghen’s soul is lost. Only thanks to a scroll of resurrection, and a scramble for components, is it restored.
The wizard believed this area was the center of the focus to draw forth arcane fey energy and bring forth necrotic shadow energy. This is further confirmed by passing double doors--almost certainly unlocked by the rogue in the tapestry room—and finding a strange machine
This chamber is dearly the heart of some sort of eldritch design. Runes such as those you have seen elsewhere in the complex spiral along the walls and floor in various intertwining patterns, all finally culminating in the precise center of the room. An intricate contraption of iron rods and wooden shafts, crossing and crisscrossing each other, stands at that point. At each intersection, a rune is stamped on wood and metal, and several of the larger joints are adorned with gemstones. At its top, the device comes to a pyramidal peak, with prongs holding a gleaming emerald.
They take the gems and destroy the machine in the process. From the remains of the undead, they also take a intricately embroidered suite of hide armor (noticeable under much nasty grave grime) and a macabre badge of jagged bone.
They leave the graves, and at some point meet the two gray elves from these Aetherial parts they met before: Paeias and Elesdri. The two eladrin thank them for their assistance, and offer them
Faery Dust, to enchant their protective items (later, when the wizard can perform the ritual). They also provide Nar with a cloak of elvenkind and try to imply that they don’t stereotype wood elves as much as they did before.
At some other point, they suddenly find themselves confronted with the same twisted treant as before, together with some trees he had called forth as minions. It’s a grueling battle, which sees Lucian finally imbibe a long carried alchemical potion and breath black dragon breath, but eventually the tough old tree decides it has done enough. It does make one final, spiteful, attack on an unconscious Forge. And kills him.
The second resurrection scroll is used. Components for healing and natural rituals are absolutely gone.
Nar calls forth phantom steeds to speed them out of this feywild, and with Buckthorn leading the way, they make good progress…
