Rise of the Runelords Recap # 77 [RPG]

[7 Calistril 4708 continued]

Hounds of Tindalos are otherworldly predators 

from beyond the bounds of known reality.

Having easily overcome several dangers in a hidden complex dating to ancient Thassilon, the adventurers decide to press on through one more room before retreating to rest.  Believing that the set of immense bronze doors at one end of a hallway must lead to Mokmurian’s throne room, they decide to open a plain set of stone doors at the other end.  Inside, they see a strange room whose rough angles have been smoothed over even more than the rest of the complex, featureless except for another set of doors to the northwest.  Yuzo advances in and sees an uncanny sight.  Seemingly standing in the middle of the air, dozens of feet off the ground, is a gaunt, long-limbed quadruped with huge, soulless eyes and a toothy maw!  Just looking at the creature causes an image of the creature slashing and biting to flash through Yuzo’s mind, and when he looks down at his chest, he sees deep, bloody gouges!  The others press forward to help, only to realize that there are two more of the strange hounds in the room.  

Kang’s bombs again serve to dispatch his foes, but the noise of the battle alerts the inhabitant of the adjoining chamber.  The northwest doors suddenly burst open, but only a billowing cloud of fog can be seen.  The voice of a stone giant rings out, one quieter but more eloquent than the others the adventurers have fought before: Mokmurian!  The unseen mastermind behind so much of the woe that has befallen the adventurers in the past months welcomes them to a final battle for the fate of Varisia!  But rather than face their quarry, the unprepared and panicked adventurers decide to run for it.

Back in the “deathweb cave,” the adventurers hurriedly discuss plans and eventualities.  Paranoid that Mokmurian may be scrying on them, the group is on edge.  They resolve that, in the morning, a showdown must be held.

[8 Calistril 4708]

The adventurers prepare with their best abjurations and return to the chamber where they found the strange hounds.  They push through into the chamber beyond, only to find it uninhabited!  They have clearly found Mokmurian’s study, as neatly organized stacks and piles of books, arcane trappings, and more are all over the room.  On a table stacked high with more books, a message has been left for the adventurers: “I await you in the library.  Where my journey began, and yours must end.”

The bizarre creatures known as Shining Children harbor 

many secrets--the greatest of which is their origin.

In a hurry to do battle before their powerful protective spells wane, the adventurers rush to the immense bronze doors out in the main corridor.  The doors bear a huge, mirrorlike silver inlay of the Sihedron, but lacks any obvious hinges, handles or locks save for a single tiny star-shaped indentation at the center of the larger star.  Salma’s divination spell discerns that the door radiates both conjuration magicks and a strong mystical lock.  Ava casts a spell to negate the lock, but triggers a cascading effect: the door’s surface becomes suffused with a dull gray glow that rapidly brightens into a near-blinding intensity before a strange figure seems to float out of the door’s surface.  The figure seems humanoid but sheds such harsh, blinding light that it can’t be seen clearly!  Salma, Yuzo, and Kang find their retinas permanently burned out by the light.  Jinkatsyu managed to avert his eyes in time and, with Yuzo’s grasping aid, succeeds in destroying the creature.  Salma shows her unprecedented access to almost every known magical tradition by casting divine spells to cure the blindness of her allies.  And then, knowing that trying the door again might summon another one of the creatures, she reduces a large chunk of the wall next to the door into dust!

The time has come for a fateful battle against Mokmurian—but will it end with a bang, or with a whimper?

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Director's Commentary

The PCs fled the first time they encounter Mokmurian here, which was unfortunate.  It might have been an exciting, interesting battle compared to what happens in the real showdown next session.

When plausible, I try to make sure situations don't stay static when PCs press forward and then retreat.  I figure it gives the enemies a chance to prepare as well.

Salma's archetype, spell-sage, really is overpowered because (out of combat) it gives free access to so many spells that it renders the cleric redundant.

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