The party studies up on their foe, meets with the ruler of the Gran March, and heads back into the tomb. Only two deaths so far, one in the arena, one in the tomb, both to the same player's characters (one cohort, one PC).
Deciding that preparation and discretion are the better part of valor, the group leaves to study more on the tomb, and also fight in the arena in the hopes of gaining more glory and wealth. A bit of shopping is also done, mostly by Oskar. Meanwhile, Billy continues scribing, as he feels the three month deadline breathing down his neck. He does spend an afternoon with the Sultan, ensuring that he will be able to use the books later, when the Sultan’s Magisters are finished with it.
Milo has his first battle in the arena, and being as he is an unknown, and does not bring his own weaponry into the battle, he is placed against a fairly inexperienced warrior, and trounces him severely. The next day Oskar repeats the performance, for pretty much the same reasons. Milo then faces an ogre in the arena, as he has shown great skill. The creature’s reach, hurled huge longspears, and ability to knock him down at will ruin Milo’s day, and he also loses quite a bit on a bet.
That same afternoon, William fights in the arena. Feeling confident, he elects to enter with only his sword, his Symbol of Heironious, and simple clerical robes. As he will be using his spells, they pit him against what is deemed to be a fair fight: 4 Girallons. Round one he casts repulsion, but to his dismay, 3 of them resist the spell and charge, and he is forced to encase himself in a wall of stone fort, with arrow slits from which to cast Destruction spells.
The beasts continue their advance, and begins to batter the walls down around him, one of them takes the full brunt of a Destruction, but although it howls in pain and anger, it does not fall. The holy flames breaking through its skin only serve to spur it on. Two Girallons pound on the walls, while the third climbs atop the stone fort William built and begins to batter the ceiling.
Before they can break through, William gets off another Destruction, this one does manage to completely destroy another of the beats, but the remaining two tear their way through the wall and also manage to severely beat William, one of them scoring a critical hit.
William casts heal on himself, then attempts to flee. Unfortunately he has boxed himself in and as he tries to shoulder past the beast in front of him, it slams him back into the cage he has created for himself. Moments later, he dies in that cage, and the beasts are hauled away, managing to only eat parts of him before the Magisters’ chains of force wrap around them and the ogres come forth from the underground area to drag the creatures away.
The next morning, Galrond teleports William’s corpse to Greyhawk city, where he is resurrected, and quested to prevent Acererak’s Apotheosis.
A few days later, while the majority of the group meet with His Illustrious Majesty Magnus Vrianian, ruler of the Gran March, Milo enters the arena again, undaunted by his friend’s defeat. Having learned from his previous battle, he decides to bring several more kukris into the battle with him, so that he will be able to wage a ranged war if need be. On the far side of the arena, another halfling enters, and the crowd cheers. Moments after the gong sounds, Alfred Hairfoot disappears, and Milo begins to worry.
Milo activates his boots of speed, and begins to run around the arena, trying to prevent Alfred from catching up to him and administering a surprise attack. Milo shouts out, “Show yourself chicken!” to which Alfred replies “Stop running away bitch!”. The crowd laughs. As the chase continues, the crowd begins to boo, wanting action. Milo sticks himself in a corner and waits.
He does not have to wait long, as Alfred appears some 25’ out, and 3 fiery bolts spring from his hands, slamming into Milo’s chest and neck. Milo is staggered, but charges and connects, only to have Alfred disappear and move away again moments later.
Another barrage of fiery bolts slams into Milo as Alfred reappears, and Milo charges, his boots active this time. He catches Alfred a couple of times with his kukris, while an invisible shield rebuffs several other swings. Alfred steps back and fires one last barrage at Milo, but it is not enough to stave off the assault, and he drops to the sand moments later. Milo steps back and enjoys the accolades of the crowd.
The group’s meeting with Magnus is very telling. They learnt that although the Academy has been destroyed, and Nuala has perished, the seemingly spontaneous generation of undead in the area has not ceased. In fact, while the party has been resting and recuperating (as well as preparing) in Lopolla for the past month, Shiboleth itself has been overtaken by undead. Those residents who have not been killed and risen as undead have fled the area.
Vrianian’s troops have managed to contain the threat, but the Orcs to the East are breaking their truce, and troops are being called to defend those borders, leaving not enough manpower and magic to stop the undead thoroughly. Clerical support has been hired and is on its way, but it will take them at least three weeks to arrive, if nothing goes wrong in their travels. Magnus feels they can keep the undead contained for a month or so, after which they will be fighting a two front war.
He recommends the party speak with his advisor, an ancient looking wizard, whose eyes still sparkle with clarity. Deloren suggests that the group perform magical research as rapidly as possible, then head to the Tomb to try to stop the source. He fears that an assault on Shiboleth will only buy time, when what is needed is to staunch the flow of negative energy that is raising these creatures.
The next day, the group performs several divinations. The questions they ask, and the answers they receive are:
Where is Acererak?
Look to your Astrologer for the answers you seek.
How do we save Shiboleth?
Stop the Dark Intrusion.
Who is Raffi?
Unknown.
Does the Great Heironious approve of Raffi?
He does not disapprove.
How do we prevent Acererak from becoming a god?
The light of the sun can destroy his phylactery.
Why was the ring of protection in the chest?
A snare requires a lure.
Where is the other piece of the amulet?
With a shard of its master.
Have we shut down the Black Academy?
Yes.
Galrond, using his Limited Wish, mimics and Legend Lore spell and spends a day trying to learn about Acererak. He finds out that the Lich has found the key to true Immortality and Godhood. He has been alive for well over 1,000 years and most of that time has been spent researching his Apotheosis, his ascension and joining with the negative material plane. His fortress lies beyond the dead city of Moil and his tomb is both a trap and a doorway, where the foolish perish and the wise reap the reward on the other side. Finally, they also learn that none have ever returned from his fortress, although many have reached it over the millennium.
Teflon Billy recognizes the name of the city of Moil as having been tied to Orcus somehow, but he is unsure as to what the connection may be. The group feels that there will be a doorway in the tomb that will lead them to the city of Moil, and that somewhere within that city they will find a passageway to Acererak’s Fortress.
Additionally, Amastacia scries for the second half of the amulet that was found on Nuala, which the group takes to be the Amulet of the Void, which Galen’s journal pointed to being a key to Acererak’s door. The Amulet is seen to be in a room filled with treasure, gems and jewelry, swords and spears. Sitting on a raised pedestal in the room is a skull atop a pile of bones and powder. On a cord draped around the skull, looking as if it is being worn, is the other half of the amulet.
Oskar, having requested a Dwarven Waraxe from the arena officials, again enters the arena to fight. This time he is pitted again the ogre which beat his friend. Although he takes a few solid blows, he brought missile weapons with him, and manages to whittle the ogre down. When melee is finally engaged, the ogre gets the worst of it in every exchange, until it finally conceded when it fails to trip the dwarven defender.
The next day, Kargur goes to an astrologer, thinking perhaps that is what the cryptic answer was referring to. For a modest fee, the grizzled old woman casts the bones. She tells him she sees blood and glory both behind and before him, and that the path he takes is fraught with peril and that he should tread wisely. Although certainly good advice, it doesn’t point towards any obvious answers, and Kargur leaves to try to meet with fellow Stargazers, thinking perhaps his order is what was being referred to.
It takes a couple of days to arrange a meeting with a higher up in the Order, and when he explains the situation, and relays the divination’s response, Joseph Steelblade, Paladin of the First Rank tells him, “These divination replies are usually very vague, and yet very specific. If the answer was to speak to your astrologer, and William cast the spell, it would appear that you may be the one to whom it refers. Perhaps you know more than you have revealed? If you share the prophecy with them, they may be able to help unravel its meaning.” Kargur thanks the man for his time, and leaves.
As the group prepares and researches, Oskar takes the time to enter the arena one more time. This time he finds himself squaring off against a Hill Giant, and he feels secure, as his Dwarven Heritage has taught him how to fight these creatures. The gong sounds and he rushes straight in. The giant hurls a couple of huge boulders at him, and then moves away. Oskar chases while the giant hurls, and every boulder goes wide of its mark, then Oskar is near and the giant readies its massive tree trunk club.
Oskar moves in and gets slammed with the club, but he manages to spear the beast. The giant and Oskar go back and forth, with the giant disarming Oskar and Oskar drawing a new weapon or grabbing the old one and taking a swipe. Finally, Oskar manages an awe inspiring maneuver and with a deft twist send the giant’s club flying. The giant, dismayed but not beaten, snatches Oskar’s spear out of his hand and snaps it in one hand.
Oskar draws his Waraxe and moves in, only to have it disarmed and stood on. Oskar moves back and begins throwing javelins, so the giant rushes up and grabs him. Although Oskar manages to escape a few times, when the giant grabs his spear and his quiver of javelins away from him, he concedes.
When he returns to the group, he tells them that the meeting was unsuccessful, and suggests they go to meet with Old Gerdie, another Stargazer whom they have had dealings with in the past. She has been in the Tomb before with Galen’s ill-fated trip, and although she was very forthcoming with information in the past, and said she had told them all she knows, the group heads to her home. She quite angrily rebuffs them, having tried for years to forget that journey into the Tomb of Acererak, only to have these people dredge those memories up again twice within 6 months. She angrily tells them she has already told all she knows, and would prefer to leave those days behind her. The group leaves, and without any further information, elects to head into the Tomb.
The first thing they notice when they reenter is that the plaster over the hidden door has been replaced. They tear it back down and ready area Greater Dispellings for the Mana Elementals they suspect are behind the next door. Their suspicions are correct, and although Cristoph gets slammed fairly hard by one of the things’ fists and the other three’s mana bolts, the group makes quick work of them, with Billy and Galrond’s dispels destroying them.
The group presses on, past the complex of chambers where magic missiles slam into them, and crawl into the space behind the illusory black sphere. The passage twists and winds, and they come out into a medium sized chapel. The walls are painted with scenes of daily life, but the people depicted therein are all rotting and decayed. The mural is interspersed with symbols of good religions though, which confuses the group greatly. On the far side of the room, a corpse has fallen to the ground next to a faintly glowing blue altar, and his finger points to an altar of swirling mist. The group feels that is a warning, and although Oskar’s experiments with the mist do not indicate any danger (the things he pushes through come back unscathed) the group elects to avoid that for now.
Cristoph begins to search, and as he checks out the altar, a bolt of lightning blasts up the aisle, slamming into Galrond while Cristoph nimbly dodges. The altar begins to glow a dark red. The party dives for cover, but less than a minute later, the glow drops to blue again, and the party breathes a sigh of relief.
Cristoph then begins to search the pews, as their seats have hinged lids and could contain something of use. The first one he opens sends gas billowing out into the room, and Galrond drops, his strength sapped by the gas. Moments later, William also falls to the strength-draining gas, while Kargur staggers but does not drop. William heals the victims while the gas disperses, and Cristoph stops searching the pews, having found only moldering old books in that one.
They spread out and search the walls, and in one corner find a tiny O shaped hole, just right for a ring. Remembering the rhyme, they place the ring in the slot, and the wall begins to slide into the floor, revealing a passageway with stairs behind. The group rounds the corner and finds a doorway. Cristoph reaches for the handle to see if it is locked, and the door sticks to his fingers and flies open, nearly hurling him through. He leaps back and then searches the floor, and sure enough, he finds a pit waiting for him to plummet into it, the bottom lined with spikes, dripping with negative planar essence. A short way past the pit is another door.
Cristoph uses his slippers of spider climbing to walk along the walls to the next door, and when it flings open at his touch, he is ready for it and does not fly through. Again he finds a pit on the floor, and a door slightly further down the hall.
At this door, he decides to use his slippers to affix himself to the doorway, hoping that it will prevent him from flying through. It turns out to be a bad plan though, as when the door flies open, he loses his grip and drops into the pit behind it. Several spikes pierce his armor, and moments later he is completely mummified.
Milo drinks a potion of Spider Climbing and scampers down into the pit. Avoiding the spikes, he takes Cristoph’s boots of climbing off and uses them to leave the pit. He also takes Cristoph’s Circlet of Seeing, so that he can search now that the other scout is dead. Kargur, using Cristoph’s boots, walks down and grabs Cristoph. He returns to the surface with their fallen friend, and the group debates leaving. Milo assures them that he is a great searcher, and to prove it (spurred by the group’s recounting of the rhyme) he goes into the pit. He finds a secret door on the wall of the pit, leading into another corridor.
The party decides to press on, and as they round the next corner, they come to a door. Milo searches the door for traps, and inadvertently sets one off. As gas fills the chamber, it also fills Milo, Lanis, Galrond, and Billy’s minds with fear, and they turn to flee. Oskar manages to grab Milo, but Galrond, Billy, and Lanis run headlong into the spiked pit. As they scramble to get out, spikes tear at their flesh and clothing. Galrond and Billy’s fear soaked brains do not even notice that their legs are rapidly mummifying. Lanis’s armor stops most of the spikes though.
William casts remove Fear, and the entire group’s fear fades. He then sees the mummification, and casts Mass Heal, his last one for the day. Everyone files back into the corridor, and the group again begins to debate leaving.
James
Even if you weren't though, I'd still post it here, since I already write it out for my own use, and its pretty easy to cut and paste. 
