Quintus calls on healing energy from his patron.
Rowena takes out her rope of climbing, handing it to Kelkzar and Trevor. "Make me fly," she whispers to the paladin with a coy wink.
Then, holding the rope, she will drop down, say the words over the seal, remove it and shout up, "Now!"
Rowena jumps down says the words and grabs the seal. Despite removing it, the pillar doesn't move back down and she is up above before she sees any of the elementals.
Rowena flies up and places the seal into the hands. The sarcophagus lowers slowly to the ground, then the lid fades out of existence, leaving the seal floating above the opening.
Icosiol’s body is nothing more than dust and fragments of bone now, but several potent-looking items remain within his tomb. These are a ring, two swords, and a fragment of a strange metal rod. All four of these objects are magic items of great power.
You feel a momentary rush of anger and jealousy, but this rush quickly gives way to a feeling of determination. The spirit of the long-dead Wind Duke Icosiol can feel the impending doom that is the Age of Worms, and understands that the weapons of the Vaati must be used once again to fight against the encroaching dark. His blessing settles over you with a sigh of wind.
The ring and swords are unique items and Rauno knows he will need to spend a little time researching them. The fragment of the metal rod blasts his senses when using detect magic and he knows it is a powerful artifact!
Icosiol spirit tells you to use his items to fight against the dark. None of his tomb's traps or guardian monsters will harm you.
Icosiol's spirit joins that of Zosiel's and the circlet you have gains in power. It is now a Circlet of Wisdom +4 that also acts as a cirlet of persuasion. You also can speak and understand the language of the Vaati and Auran while wearing it.
As the sarcophagus opens, Quintus claps a hand to his forehead and closes his eyes. He nods slightly, as if agreeing with someone, and opens his eyes. The first two times he tries to speak, it's in something other than Common; Rauno will recognize the languages as Vaati and Auran. "The Wind Duke has charged us to use these items in our fight. We've safe passage from his tomb's traps and remaining guardians now, so I think we can get Allustan out of the globe."
Feeling the Duke's blessing, Trevor takes the swords from the sarcophagus and puts them in his bag, then the ring, and the rod. "Yes, let's hope it works, but I'm worried about that spider still. Do we still give her the seal now?"
They'll have to go back for the head. Rowena can use gaseous form to head down, retrieve the head, and gaseous back up.
"I think we'd better rescue Allustan first--he might know something more about this Flycatcher. The Marquis was probably lying, but it's best to be sure. I don't want us getting taken by surprise."
Trevor looks at Rauno, then says: "Well... I don't know... Rauno's tomes might prove useful. I remember the room was rigged with trouble."
"The Wind Duke's spirit told us that we could pass all of the traps here, and I trust him."
"Allustan first. We might need the extra arcane firepower if Flycatcher decides to try to take the seal for itself. We should put all our non-combat valuables into an extra-dimensional space so he can't pick our pockets again.
Kelkzar looks over his gear for a "non-combat" valuable. Doesn't find any that he really minds if Flycatcher swipes. Shrugs and agrees, "Allustan first then. We'll get your spellbook back soon Rauno."
You communal air walk back up to the top and get to the room that has the trap. The lightning and trap is still functioning. Believing in what Quintus told you about the traps not harming you, you go inside avoiding any harm. Trevor and Kelkzar damage the spike until the trap breaks, dropping Allustan to the ground, his body beginning to bleed out instantly.
Quintus uses his rubuke death which closes enough of his wounds to save his life and soon his eyes flicker open. His face shows he is confused at first, but quickly gains his composure, "My friends so good to see you again. But quickly we must defeat the black dragon Ilthane before she destroys all of Diamond Point!"
"The dragon has already been defeated. Rest yourself in peace," Rowena says comfortingly.
Quintus nods. "She attacked us outside of the Whispering Cairn. We were able to kill her, but it wasn't easy."
Trevor stands in awe at the miracle his companion performed. With tears, he embraces the old wizard whom he saw as a father of sorts. "I'm glad you're with us again! You were frozen in time and lost a few days... Why were you here?"
Relieved that the dragon is dead Allustan replies, "I've been investigating the Whispering Cairn after you left. Several days ago I uncovered a new portal. Since you are here you obviously saw it too. I wasn't sure about going through the portal, through my studies I discovered it led to another place over 500 miles away. But while on my way back the dragon attacked and it almost had me. I was forced to flee here. Once I got here I tried to stay invisible and I entered this room and fell victim to this trap."
"It appears to be the tomb of a great Wind Duke general called Icosiol, one of seven of the so called Wandering Dukes, champions of Law who wielded a powerful artifact called the Rod of Law and used it in the War of Chaos. That defeat shattered the rod transforming into what is known today as the Rod of Seven Parts."
"In any case it looks like we'll need to use teleportation to get back home, by my calculations we are at least 500 miles away and 1,000 feet underground or so."
"While we were searching for you, Rauno had his spellbook stolen by someone known as Flycatcher. We wanted to free you first, but now I think we need to get his book back."
Quintus nods in agreement with Allustan's tale as he continues to heal the wizard. "That's interesting, about the Rod. We recovered a piece of it, I think, when we used Icosiol's Seal to get into his burial chamber. There must be some access to deeper caverns beneath this one, or the Marquis couldn't have gotten in. Oh--have you ever heard of anything called the Ghostly Court?"
Allustan says, "Hmm something about a city in the underdark ruled by what is called true ghouls. They are a more intelligent form of ghouls and are very dangerous. Stay away from that place!"
The party roams around a little while looking for Flycatcher when eventually he appear coming out of the shadows. It is still crazy, but holds his word when you bring back the seal and the Marquis's head. Rauno is once again re-united with his spellbook.
Your party needs to rest to regain spell, etc. So not feeling safe in this area with Flycatcher still roaming around you air walk back down to Icosiol's final resting spot. Allustan casts fly on himself since he wasn't part of the spell before.
When he looks at the broken piece of the Wind Duke's rod his eyes get big and he says, "This is the largest piece of the Rod of Seven Parts, and it is said you can heal any wounds with it every day. Very powerful piece it is!"
You tell him about the events in Magnimar including finding the notes Eligos left after finding him dead. He breaks down a little when you said he had died but regains his composure, "So much death and destruction has happened. Diamond Point and the dragon attack, the cultists, Marzena being injured, and now Eligos. We certainly have stumbled upon something bigger than all of us! I hate to think about what would have happened had you not come to investigate the Whispering Cairn. Now before I shut my eyes I'd like to read Eligos's notes and see what he came up with!"
Allustan spends almost two hours pouring through the notes. When he finishes he lets out a huge breath and says, "I agree with Eligos, its time for you to travel to Magepoint and meet with my one-time master, Manzorian. But first some sleep, then tomorrow we go home and discover what is left of Diamond Point for me to return to."
Making it back to Diamond Point you discover large parts of town was destroyed, including Allustan's home. Allustan is relieved to see Marzena alive and well. Sifting through the rubble of his home he picks up a damaged dragonchess board and seems dejected when seeing it.
The townspeople seem to have come together over this tragedy. In the time since you first arrived there is a definite change that has taken place. You know the things you have done have made this place better.
Allustan gladly spends a night talking with Rauno and takes up his offer on some spells. Allustan makes it very clear that he is impressed with Rauno's power and that he has far exceeded Allustan's ability in magic. He describes Magepoint to Allustan as he remembers it
Magepoint is a community shaped and defined by the presence of an archmage, the village of Magepoint offers myriad portals to adventures of surprising breadth and difficulty, a result of the many visitors seeking Tenser’s advice on a range of problems. Magepoint has grown considerably in recent years, its growth spurred by a combination of untapped economic potential, readily available land, and the safety that comes from living within the shadow of Tenser Manzorian’s power.
He encourages you to spend time in their library which costs only 100gp unless you can inspire the temple's caretakers on your knowledge of the Arcane, which Allustan thinks Rauno can.
He also tells you that with the number of adventurers and wealthy individuals you can find just about any items you want, and if not they can usually send for it. Allustan implies that once you get there Manzorian may be quite busy and you may have to wait, so you should have some time to rest, relax, or do whatever you want.
[ooc]Magepoint is a couple days travel to the coast from here.
Trevor is altogether happy. Allustan is safe and sound, his friend Rauno has gotten his book back, and the Wind Duke's Tomb has offered them with new powers in fighting the re-emerging threat.
But, catching sight of Diamond Point, he recalls the town's destruction, and he feels a new kind of resolve: "This town needs a temple to the Inheritor. A place where folks could seek refuge, but also learn to defend themselves. Honourably. Allustan, I'd like to help! But what can I do? I can offer a donation, and perhaps write to the priesthood for them to send people to help with the work. What do you all think? I mean, I look at this, and I feel so... Insufficient."
Rowena pats his shoulder comfortingly--and perhaps leaves her hand there slightly longer than necessary--and says, "This town needs a lot of things, but we can only do what we can, we can only do our part."
Allustan replies to Trevor, "Any of those things will help my friend. Trust your instincts and continue to make the world a better place."
Trevor nods back at Allustan. Over the next few days, he'll gather as much gold as he can and work on a letter to the priesthood in nearby Magnimar to ask them to send a team to start work on a small temple to Iomedae.
Quintus will dispense healing as needed to those injured in the dragon's attack.
Kelkzar will also help with healing and rebuilding the town. He will try to help the town militia with training as time allows to better protect themselves should they be attacked again.
Trevor will take his time crafting the letter to the leadership in Magnimar, describing at length the destruction of the town, the suffering of the townsfolk, and their courage and tenacity in the face of darkness, echoing their situation with chosen passages of The Acts of Iomedae.
He will show his letter to Rauno and listen to his comments and feedback, going through numerous drafts to make sure his point is conveyed properly.
He'll also ask Allustan for advice on costs, to determine how much he should try to set aside. He'll approach Quintus and Kelkzar, to see if they would like to participate in smaller shrines within the temple.
Rowena also helps the training. She doesn't spend much time with teaching her complicated martial moves; instead, she focuses on teaching the volunteers how to avoid getting hit.
Between training sessions, Kelkzar takes up Trevor's offer and builds a small shrine to Ragathiel within the main temple.
You spend about 10 days in all helping out the town in various ways, rebuilding, training, bring in reinforcements. Being the Champions of the Arena, you attract in regular people as well, excited to meet the champions and also willing to help rebuild. After this time, you feel the rebuilding and fortification process is well under way so you prepare to leave.
Its about a two day trip to Magepoint. So the morning of day 11 you take the ferry across the lake and begin the journey to the coast. You find a safe and defensible position to sleep that night.
Day 12 you begin the final few hours to get to Magepoint. An hour or so after you begin your journey Rauno's magical senses detect danger.
Four creatures flying in the air appear suddenly and cast a spell, each one targeting a different person. Merging the most horrifying features of carrion-fed insect and withered cadaver, these bony creatures move in unsettling lurches.
From behind two rocks giving them cover, a pair of creatures appear and cast some sort of spell. From the tip of its lashing tail to the serrated features of its fang-filled visage, this fiery-eyed sentinel bristles with barbs.
First, a cold, cloying miasma of greasy darkness surrounds you all.
Will Save DC 18 for half damage and not sickened
The second creature casts a spell aiming it at Trevor