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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mikeawmids" data-source="post: 7850969" data-attributes="member: 6776411">Spires of Xin Shalast, Week 4 / Part 2The golden portal into Karzoug's Spire of Avarice is unlocked at the touch of the Sideheron. The heroes enter a cavernous chamber, lined with golden pillars shaped in the likeness of muscular giants. Runelord Karzoug, a wizened old man with multicolored gemstones embedded in his wrinkly brow is perched upon his throne. He starts to villainously monologue how pitiful they are, etc... The heroes wait for him to finish. He doesn't finish, he just keeps going. The party get bored of waiting and attack! Turns out it is only an illusion, sent to taunt and disparage them as they ascend the pagoda.The heroes head to the first floor and face off against golden statues in their own image! Karzoug hasn't had time to add Silas or the Faresight twins to his gallery, but some old faces are represented. Aeleana approaches Gold Karack and gets stabbed for her trouble."First strike! It has First Strike!" she cries."Oh yes, I went to great trouble making these statues as lifelike as possible." cackles the illusory runelord.Karack doesn't want to know what Gold Asha can do so he takes her out first. Gold Snot stupidly impales himself on the lizardman's spear."Maybe too lifelike," Karzoug concedes.Gold Grogg attacks real Grogg and the two go down in a tangle of limbs, following two consecutive critical failures. Is that life imitating art or art imitating life? Real Grogg recovers first, picks up Gold Groggs golden axe and cuts off his golden head."I'm keeping this!" Grogg roars, picking it up. Karzoug does not complain.Gold Rast breathes a cloud of very poisonous gas over the party! Aeleana gets a lungful of the noxious fumes and starts dying. Forbin and Silas stagger out of the cloud, straight into the line of fire of Gold Ben Kotek's golden arrows! Gold Andor Drake enters the fray. Silas buries his pickaxe in his golden face!"Enough with the gold already!" Asha cries, "You're the Runelord of Greed, we get it!"The heroes overcome their golden counterparts and proceed to the second level. The floor is marked by a 6x6 grid of different coloured tiles."Oh great, it's a puzzle room," the party groan in unison.Yes it is! Aeleana spots a silk pouch sitting on a stone pedestal and reaches in to find 5 random gemstones; two amethysts, two opals and a piece of amber. The party quickly deduce the different coloured gems correspond to the different coloured tiles. By only touching two purple tiles, two orange tiles and one yellow tile, Aeleana is able to traverse the room."That was easy!" she says."Oh, was it?" illusory Karzoug grumbles, before deactivating 25% of the tiles.The rest of the heroes draw their own gems and manage to cross the room, although it takes Grogg multiple attempts (and multiple healing potions). The party proceed to level three. One wall of the room is dotted with circular depressions creating a 7x7 grid."Two puzzle rooms in a row?!" the party grumble, close to mutiny.Karzoug casts a half dozen gems onto the ground, they immediately grow into hulking crystal elementals. Half are made of blood red ruby, the other half of pale amber."Now you must face me, Karzoug, in a battle of wits!" the runelord crows, "In ancient Thasillon, we call this game Syndeste Tessera! You must align four coloured discs in a row to win!""That's Connect 4!" the party protest, "Are you really going to make us play a childrens game?!""Yes! Shut up!!" Karzoug howls. He waves his hand and one of the amber golems shatters, leaving a yellow disc spinning on the floor.The Runelord uses Telekinesis to place the yellow disc into the bottom-centre (and arguably best) position on the game board. The heroes focus on destroying the ruby golems to generate their playing pieces. It is a close match, but even their combined intellect cannot overcome Karzoug's genius! The Runelord cackles as he completes a diagonal line of four amber discs! Bwahahaha!!!As punishment for losing, Karzoug hits the entire party with chain lightning, inflicting a single, unsoakable wound that they will carry forward into the final confrontation!TBC</blockquote>

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