"Perhaps he has retreated to some sanctum where he can renew his strength?"
I race to the top of the stairs and peer about.
Round 10
The Lantern Archons race up, followed by the companions, only to return too quickly;
Door!!!
Sure enough, as you make your way up to stairs, you find a vast balcony like room overseeing the feast hall, with a wide bronze door blocking further access.
Servayn will detect for magic on the door, in case it bears a magical trap, and if he does not see one, will attempt to open the door.
With everyone together, I appeal to Sarenrae for her aid one last time .
"I got it. Just make sure it doesn't blow up on me." Kriger moves to open and then head through the door.
The door is easily opened by Kriger, once Servayn ascertain there is no magic. It leads to a corridor leading up a short flight of steps, to a wider chamber. This octagonal chamber, which vaults to a twenty-foot-high ceiling, is composed of multiple slabs of opaque, white crystal fitted together to form a dome in the distinctive shape of an inverted eye, its gaze focused into the room below. This white crystal gleams with a subdued moonlike glow. The walls of the chamber are covered with arcane symbols, stylized line art, and images of cyclopes. A twenty-foot-diameter circle is incised into the stone of the floor directly beneath the great eye-shaped dome.
Servayn peers around the room for magical auras, expecting to at least see some on the glowing white crystal, but more concerned with the circle inscribed beneath the dome.
"Continue seeking out this evil," he says softly to the pair of lantern archons hanging in the air.
Both archons detect for evil, using their innate ability, and move forward into the room, skirting the inscribed circle on either side.
"There is an overwhelming aura of magic on the door ahead of us. Give me a moment and I'll try to learn more about it. Perhaps Malaswyn would also have an insight?" Servayn says, looking at the door and shielding his eyes, as if gazing upon something too bright to look at directly.
If the archons detect no evil in the room, they say so in a musical telepathic voice that all hear clearly in their native tongues.
With their limited intelligence, the lantern archons convey that they perceive a great and ancient evil, permeating the room.
Servayn concentrates for a few seconds...
Kalsgrim doesn't sense any particular evil on and beyond the doors, but is nevertheless almost overwhelmed by the one he feels in this room. He opens the doors without difficulty, revealing a chamber.
This chamber stretches forward into darkness. A channel of sulfurous water runs down the center of the chamber into a placid pool tinged in red and surrounded by kneeling forms. Nearby sits a small stone shrine decorated with several freshly severed human heads. Just beyond this grisly altar, a hideous throne made of bones looms above the pool.
On the throne looms Vordakai, his eyes gleaming with ancient hatred: "Fools! Your skulls will adorn the throne of Vordakai for centuries to come and I shall make a mace out of skull, paladin! TSAKS!" As he threatens you, you notice a scroll finishing to burn in his hands.
Servayn draws upon his dwindling supply of arcane power, tapping as well into the power of Malaswyn's blessing of fervor to extend the magic, and arcane haste once again flows through the bodies of his companions.
"Attack" he orders his archon attendents, and they open fire open the en-throned figure.
Kriger immediately moves toward the over-sized creature at a fantastic rate of speed, hoping to shut it up permanently.
I rush forward and try to snatch the scroll from the abominations grasp.
I send another firebolt toward the foe.
The Feasthall
The saviors of Frieland - Round 14
Servayn draws upon his dwindling supply of arcane power, tapping as well into the power of Malaswyn's blessing of fervor to extend the magic, and arcane haste once again flows through the bodies of his companions.
"Attack" he orders his archon attendents, and they open fire open the en-throned figure.
Multiple rays slam through it and Vordakai roars with annoyance.
Kalsgrim advances into the room to get a clear shot at the cyclops, hoping to put an end to its evil once and for all!
With horror, he watches his arrow deflected as it passes the threshold! Something is deflecting his arrows.
Kriger immediately moves toward the over-sized creature at a fantastic rate of speed, hoping to shut it up permanently.
he feels a very strong curtain of wind in front of the undead. It doesn’t stop his axe from biting deeply, though not as deep as it should, but it would certainly stop arrows...
Malaswyn sends another firebolt toward the foe. The bolt hits, but it doesn’t seem to do any damage.
Vordakai - Round 14
Vordakai laughs: ”AhAhAh! Your arrows can’t bite me now, paladin! TSAKS! I will now deal with Kriger! BE MY PAWN, FOOL!” He steps back and casts an open hand at Kriger’s feet. The ground suddenly opens beneath him!
The lantern archons move to hover over the pit, and continue attacking.
Servayn advances and calls up bubbling slime again beneath the undead giant.
I move around the pit and call on the last of Her blessings to protect Kriger from the villain's devious traps.
---
The Feasthall
The saviors of Frieland - Round 15
The lantern archons move forward and continue attacking.
Three rays find their mark and punch into Vordakai, grinding him down slowly.
Servayn advances and calls up bubbling slime again beneath the undead giant.
With what must be a loud swear in a forgotten tongue, and a crashing and sploshing sound, Vordakai falls unceremoniously on his undead ass!
Kriger manages to sidestep the well opening under his feet and smashes his axe in Vordakai’s shoulder. The decayed flesh rips open, but only slightly.
Kalsgrim barely scrambles away from the edge of the pit and despite Vordakai's taunt, continues his assault. Each arrow seem to fly true buy is deflected upwards as it crosses the space between him and Vordakai, missing the undead lord.
Malaswyn moves around the pit and calls on the last of Her blessings to protect Kalsgrim from the villain's devious traps.
Vordakai - Round 15
Vordakai stands up, and Kriger tries to nail him.
The axe crashes his skull in, yet his only eye still shines with an eerie glow.
Laughter is gone, replaced by anger: ”By the Four Horsemen! TSAKS! you will pay for this.”
He crouches and concentrates, keeping his eye on Kriger. He smiles and turns to Kriger.
His voice is suddenly smooth and soothing, unavoidably convincing: ”This will never work. Best to jump and hide in the pit!”
Servayn moves with accelerated speed around the room, thanks to his arcane haste. He then delays a moment to see if the archons remain effective before choosing his next action.
The archons float a pace closer, continuing their barrage.
A moment after their barrage, Servayn shakes his head at their lack of fortune or skill, and calls out once again to the higher realms, causing the archons to vanish.
A golden furred bison appears two paces to the giant's east , and charges the undead giant with a bellow, holy light gleaming off of it's silver horns.
Kriger raises an eyebrow at the monster, wondering what the heck it's talking about. "Um, okay? Then why don't you jump in?!" Kriger doesn't wait for an answer as he flails away at the beast.
Realising that I have spent my own magic, I decide to borrow some: moving around the pit behind Kriger, I use my wand to staunch some of his wounds.
The archons, then the bull, they soften the undead lord. Then Kalsgrim, realizing a curtain of wind keeps deflecting his arrows, pulls his sword out: "Very well then..."
But then Kriger raises an eyebrow at the monster, wondering what the heck it's talking about. "Um, okay? Then why don't you jump in?!" Kriger doesn't wait for an answer as he flails away at the beast.
Vordakai's smile turns sour as the ranger once more resists his power. Kriger's axe hits and hits and finally, the ancient threat, hidden in the heart of the Tors of Levenies, is no longer.
His body falls limp and seems to dry up even more at an accelerated pace. The glow in his single eye fade softly to a dull darkness.
Sweating profusely, his breathing eventually slowing from its rapid pace, "Is the blasted thing finally dead?!" Kriger gives it a second to see if it rises. When it doesn't, Kriger leans against the nearest wall and sits. "Dang I'm tired. I think it's time for a break, fellas." He lays his axe down next to him and rubs his eyes, feeling like it has been forever since he's slept.
The conjured bison slams the fallen figure with it's head one last time, to make sure that it does not rise again, while Servayn calls upon the threads of conjuration magic maintaining the black tarry patch beneath its corpse, causing it to boil away into wisps of greasy smoke.
"Watch for evil residue, my friends. Undead do not always lie quietly, once beaten." Servayn says, peering around for any sign of a coffin or similar repository which might re-awaken the fallen undead or its spirit.
Servayn's attention is drawn to the circular room beyond the pool. The walls of this dome-ceilinged room are filled with stone niches, each bearing a number of strangely shaped glass jars. Each jar is about a foot tall, is stoppered with a clot of black wax, and contains a swirling plume of glowing white smoke—there are dozens of these jars on display, and the swirling light each emits gives this chamber an otherworldly feel.
Servayn points out the jars to the others. "It is possible, however terrifying, that yet more ancient dead lie within these jars, merely waiting to be freed. Can any divine if they contain evil, or what purpose they may serve? If that creature was but one of dozens, lying here for centuries awaiting a chance to rise and reclaim this world, we may have only bested their chamber-guardian..."
As Servayn explains their possible dilemma, Kriger rises, grabbing his axe in the process. "Well that's just great. You mean this one was just a guardian? If that's the case... we're screwed. I practically buried my axe in him; he barely felt it."
I pat Kriger's massive shoulder, "Well fought, giantslayer."
Then join Servayn in examining the site.
In a narrower hallway facing the throne lie piles and piles of coin. Scattered among the coins, several objects radiate with a magical aura.
Behind the throne, you find numerous tablets of stone engraved with intricate markings you can't decipher. There are a great many number of them, probably weighing tons. Also of great note, numerous spellbooks lay scattered on the tablets. Many of them been destroyed by the years, but there are still a few usable ones.
On Vordakai, numerous items radiate magic, but your attention is immediately drawn by an overwhelming aura conjuration, divination, and necromancy emanating from a sphere of pure crystal.
In the circular rooms, the many jars lined there do not radiate evil, but they do radiate a strong conjuration aura.