Rise of the Runelords Recap # 119 [RPG]

 
[11 Gozran 4708 continued]

At last, the Heroes of Varisia have arrived at the Pinnacle of Avarice.  The immense tower stands over 2,000 feet tall, topping out respectfully just below the carved face of Karzoug himself at the mountain’s peak.  The structure soars like a cavernous silo, supported by an intricate internal architectural wonder of dozens of stone flying buttresses and arches.  The adventurers proceed through one of the hundreds of 50’-tall arches around the base, and enter into a huge, circular room.  There, a 200’ diameter polished stone circle sits on the floor, surrounded by 16 immense pillars that rise up like the legs of a spider to support a central column that itself extends to the very top of the structure. 

Following a spiralling ramp that wraps around the outer circumference of the central column like an immense screw, the adventurers eventually find themselves in an oddly shaped room with a massive pair of golden double doors to the north.  Intricate carvings on the walls evoke Xin-Shalast in its heyday, while the highly polish floor consists of a checkerboard pattern of gold and black tiles.  But the chamber is not unguarded!  A quartet of cloud giants stand at the ready, all branded on the forehead with the infamous Sihedron.  The battle begins!  Jinkatsyu and Morgiana rush into the fray, with the former stabbing one of the giants in the kneecap and the latter somehow managing to disarm another!  But the giants’ response is fierce, as one smashes Jinkatsyu so hard the kitsune goes flying and slams into Morgiana!  Ava begins furiously channelling healing magic to keep her allies standing while Kang and Erik attack from the rear ranks.  But the giants survive the initial onslaught and bellow to sound the alarm that intruders have breached the fortress!

Seconds later, the massive golden doors burst open and a dreaded rune giant enters!  Erik fires a tightly-packed fusillade of bullets into the giant’s chest, but suffers a vicious slash from the foe’s truly massive greatsword in response.  Jinkatsyu darts in and manages to finish off the rune giant, but the battle is far from over. 

A ten-ton hideous mound of shuddering, pustule-encrusted flesh with a gaping maw slithers into the chamber as, with every passing second, more and more defenders arrive to repulse the attackers!  The very presence of the creature, a so-called hungerer, is enough to sicken the adventurers.  Morgiana nearly dies from its attack, but Ava manages to breathe life back into him—only to have the hungerer bite the hapless hobgoblin again and this time, she stays dead.  It’s clear the defenders have been instructed to attack the heroes’ weakest members.  And then another hungerer arrives!  In the chaotic mess, Jinkatsyu finds himself surrounded by two hungerers, a rune giant, and two cloud giants!

The adventurers start to retreat down the ramp but then decide to stand their ground. Kang’s alchemical bombs destroy the hungerers and Erik manages to down the rune giant, thus freeing the cloud giants from mental enslavement!  But the victory is short-lived as, some minutes into the battle, a final force responds to the alarm: a beautiful, expressionless woman wielding one of the legendary Seven Swords of Sin!  This could only be one of Karzoug’s foremost generals, Viorian Dekanti.  And she’s not alone, as a storm giant serves as her bodyguard!  Somehow, the adventurers draw upon the last of their strength and manage to prevail.  Taking Morgiana’s corpse with them, they retreat back down the ramp and find an empty structure nearby to rest and heal.

[12 Gozran 4708]

In the morning, Ava successfully summons Morgiana’s spirit from the Boneyards so that she can fight again.  When the party leaves their shelter, they realise they never checked on Nisk Tander after leaving him manacled outside the occlusion field.  They find the self-serving alchemist quite dead from some mix of hypothermia and oxygen deprivation.  Kang chuckles at the sight, and the adventurers agree that the world is better off with Nisk Tander dead. 

The adventurers return to the Pinnacle of Avarice.  After climbing the ramp, they discover that the bodies of the slain have been removed.  But guardians still remain--some clearly returned to life from the prior day’s slaughter!  Morgiana reaches death’s door again, but is brought back just in time by Ava.  The battle is another furious one, but this time the adventurers win handily.

 
Having secured a foothold on the Pinnacle of Avarice, the Heroes of Varisia are poised to push forward into the heart of Karzoug’s fortress.

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Director's Commentary

Drawing a complete grid-map of the Pinnacle of Avarice ended up taking several flip-mats laid side-to-side, and took up most of my living room floor (with unexplored parts of the map strategically covered by sheets of white paper).  It was a truly massive complex, and one of the very biggest I've ever done in 25+ years of gaming.  I only barely had enough blank flip-maps to get it done.  It was also one of the most complex (series of) encounters I've ever run, as all of these high-CR monsters have long, complex stat blocks.

Just like at Fort Rannick and many other occasions, the group just went with the frontal approach here at the final dungeon, fighting off wave after wave of reinforcements as the alarm sounded.  They even did one of their trademark "kinda half retreat but stick around long enough to somehow win" maneuvers!  Crazy, but impressive.  They did pay a price with Morgiana going down repeatedly and using up some precious spells and material components to get back up.  It's clear that Karzoug's forces were willing to fight a war of attrition and knew who the most vulnerable members of the group were.

Poor Nisk!  Everyone, including me, completely forgot about him given all the action.  But I always play these things straight, and perhaps freezing to death atop one of Golarion's highest peaks was a fitting end for the character.