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Last session my PCs took on the spellweavers of "Strike on Shatterhorn" and one of the PCs was taken over and stolen away by Embril. The spellweavers hurt them something bad. My PCs then retreated up the pillar back to the room with the egg to lick their wounds and plan strategy. My problem is I don't know what to do next.
The PCs will soon finish the module and I'm at a loss for where to go from there. They are not high enough level to survive "Asylum" and I'm sure they are going to chase after their teammate. I want to run this rescue mission as a session-long adventure but I'm not sure what the encounters should be. Basically I'm looking for ideas for encounters and maybe traps that will keep the party entertained and give them some exp before delaying the inevitable fight at Skullrot. Here is what I have in mind already:
Embril sucessfully planeshifted away the fighter and brought her to a small temple of Nerull on Carceri. The three surviving Cagewrights have followed her there and watch her perform the ritual. She sucessfully delivers the soul to Nerull's servant and then departs to use the information she gains from the transaction. At this point Embril begins using mindblank to hide herself from trackers and leaves the other Cagewrights behind to await her further instructions. This is where the PCs come into the picture. Scrying/Divination will lead them to Carceri and the outside of the temple. They are now in Nerull's realm and four Cagewrights await them somewhere in the temple guarding the body of the fighter. I would like to have any ideas anyone has on how to run this. Besides the Cagewrights, what else should they fight while approaching the temple or exploring it? Should they fight the servant of Nerull for the soul? What should the servant be?
Thanks all in advance!
Complete Divine suggests that the herald of Nerull is a nightwalker, so you could have one of those guarding the body. Alternatively, if you the have the Miniatures Handbook, an advanced Aspect of Nerull or one with class levels could fill the niche nicely.
For other encounters, you can have high-level undead guardians, devils and demons, or even yugoloths if you have access to the Monster Manual III. Maybe add a few high-level clerics or necromancers.
I can understand why Embril should be there, but as for the other Cagewrights, they probably would go straight to Skullrot since they do not worship Nerull. In that case, they would probably end up in ironic imprisonment as "Asylum" suggests.
A scenario I worked up in advance (fits with my campaign) is a longer search for Skullrot. The marilith who gives away the goods on the asylum is underdeveloped and I've been dying to use the Paeliryon from Fiend Folio. Trying to cajole the location of Skullrot from such a high-powered devil precludes combat unless the PCs are suicidal, and that means that you can insert a side quest of your choosing. Doing a fiend's scutwork in order to save a friend's soul is also bound to create delicious alignment dilemmas (which my group enjoys, though yours may not). The storyline after Foundation of Flame gets really combat-intensive, without much exposition or development thereafter: "There the bad guys are; go get 'em!" This option lets you interject some diplomacy or storyline if the game is devolving into roll-play. Nevertheless, for combat XP, the whole plane is crawling with fiends, which the door-kickers ought to appreciate. Mix and serve.