• Maervahr - Stoneskin
• Kek - Stoneskin
• Jacob
• Josalyn
• Oriyan - Stoneskin
• Erasma
• Thorgard
• Tatrin
• Elias

We gaze upon a great Chariot.

It is ornately constructed, plated in gold but there are no reins attached. Maervahr determined that is is very magical with a strong aura.

The Chariot barely fits inside this room which leads one to wonder, was it constructed in here never to be removed? There are benches inside the chariot in the form of a “U shape”, located in the back of the chariot. The chariot is over 20' long and capable of holding possibly a dozen people at once.

The ceiling of the room is about 15' tall and it is 30' long. The ceiling otherwise looks solid. Thorgard looks underneath the chariot to check the floor, which also looks solid.

The Chariot itself is made of wood and metal and appears quite valuable. We discuss if the Hippogriffs can pull it, we could perhaps use it to fly.

The Chariot room is down a hallway that comes to an end here. Except for a couple of platforms that are empty, there is nothing else in here. There is no writing on the platform. Maervahr determines that obsidian is a good material for a teleportation platform, which is what these are made from.

Kek stands on an obsidian platform but nothing happens. All of the walls seem solid. Everyone climbs into the chariot and nothing happens. It feels sturdy. Karina sees some gold trim along the edge of the chariot and along the rein holders. Maervahr searches inside the chariot for hidden compartments but finds nothing. The Chariot actually has regular wheels and it slightly shifts but does not move when pushed. It supports a lot of people and there are some racks inside for weapons and some hooks.

We tap along the walls and along the ground and we find a slight hollowness along the western wall. A portion in the center has a 20' echo although it feels sturdy and thick. We begin looking for a way to open this secret door.

Jacob tries to push the chariot but it is very heavy and does not budge. Kek finds nothing else in the chariot but Karina detects a big secret door. Thorgard takes a look and finds that the secret door slides when opened.

The Chariot is 30' long and barely seems like it would fit through this door.

Maervahr uses Detection of Magic on the platforms but there is no magic detected. Erasma and Karina step onto the platform but nothing happens.

Maervahr has a hooded lantern when we suddenly hear heavy stone steps coming toward us.

Maervahr casts Web and it goes off and stretches across the steps.

Where the stone steps stop is a grinding noise and we can hear some insectoid chattering. Maervahr falls back to the Chariot to join his friends.

Meanwhile, Kek rushes forward as he is the only other one that can hear the skittering noise. He then hears the stretching and snapping and twisting of webs.

• Maervahr casts Protection from Evil on himself.
• Thorgard moves up to join Kek.
• So does Erasma.

Maervahr tells people up front to burn the webs. We continue to hear skittering and thrashing against the web and the sound of stone on stone. Whatever is caught in the web is not getting any closer.

The front line can see that the area is completely walled off by webbing but they can't see through the webs to see what is caught. Maervahr drops the hooded lantern by the obsidian pedestals.

After a few minutes, the web snaps and there are more heavy stone footsteps approaching as three Obsidian Guardians emerge through. They turn toward us and join the front line in melee.

Along with them come 6 Scarabs with striking blue shells. They skitter back and forth as though escorting the Obsidian Guardians. Another 6 more come from behind them as well.

Maervahr has 11 rounds of Protection from Evil, which might not be useful. He decides to use the WAND OF CONJURATION to bring forth a Monster Summoning II. He uses 2 charges from the wand.

There are two attacks against Kek and they hit once for 5 damage. A 3rd Obsidian Guardian's eyes glow bright red with black streaks as our Warriors and Sabertooth Tigers are overcome with terror. The group must roll a saving throw. Jacob and Thorgard passed their check but everyone else failed. NVM, actually EVERYONE passed! This fear only effects one target.

Next, the Scarabs attack and there are 4 attacks on Jacob. He is missed! There are 2 attacks on Kek, who is also missed and 1 attack on a Tiger. It is bit for 4 damage and it roars in pain! It's flesh has turned completely black!

Jacob missed his attacks and Kek is hit for 4 damage by a scarab. Erasma is missed this round by the Scarabs and Thorgard is also missed. They have all missed against the Tigers.

Monster Summoning II is cast through Maervahr's wand. There is a 1d4 round delay before the spell takes effect. In this case, there is a 1 round delay which summons 2 Gnolls.

Jacob kills 3 of the Scarabs and Thorgard kills 5 with their sweep attacks. There are 4 Scarabs left and Kek kills the rest! The Sabertooth Tiger hits the Obsidian Guardian for 2 damage and the other hits for 8 damage.

Oriyan yelled out but this had no effect and he could not parley. Maervahr goes psionically invisible and directs the Gnolls to attack. Kek is struck but does not take damage because of the Stoneskin spell and his skin is not turned black.

There is one attack against Jacob but it missed, another 2 attacks against a Tiger and this time both hit for 15 damage! At this moment, 2 Gnolls are summoned and they each carry Two-Handed Swords! Unfortunately, the Gnolls cannot effect the Golems though they are Large creatures.

Jacob hits one for 11 damage and the Tiger hits for 7 damage. The Second Tiger hits as well which destroys one of the Obsidian Golems! It crumbles after taking two mighty hits. The Gnolls attack but their swords bounce off every time. Thorgard hit for 8 and destoys another Obsidian Golem! A Tiger hits for 3 and 4 damage which topples it. The last Golem shatters!

The Tigers must both save versus poison, and they SAVED!

Maervahr finds that the Scarabs are organic creatures.

Elias harvested two doses of poison from the Scarabs and Maervahr collects some parts from the Scarabs for further research.

Back in the room with the Chariot, we tried to “will” the chariot to shrink but it does not work. The Chariot has been untouched by time but it is not possible to determine how old it is however it is dusty.

Karina inspects the pedestals but there are no secret doors or anything attached to them.

We go back up the stairs, avoiding the steps.

The panels that depicted the Scarabs previously are now slid open revealing a 6' depth space inside. There is no excrement or food inside and no treasure.

We get the door open and are now back in the Gynosphinx statue room. We still see the broken Obsidian from the first battle that took place in here.

The Sabertooth Tiger is healed for 5 damage and Josalyn casts FIND TRAPS. The stairs curve up to the left and then loop around once. There is only 1 turn left on the Find Traps, which ends quickly, and we find a door. The door is opened.

We feel a rush of air that is much warmer though it is cooler than air felt down south.

We come into this chamber with walls embossed in depictions of storm clouds over treetops. It has a smooth quality as if they almost grow out of the stone walls. It is a delicate embossing. There are also some great stone disk laying flat on the ground that are about 2' thick and 10' in diameter. A pair of thin braziers stand about 5' tall each. They once held burnable material. The walls are made of sandstone and there are 15' high ceilings.

Maervahr inspects the disk with Thorgard. We notice that there is a door to the east and sconces along the walls that are made of iron. It looks heavy and he can hear from below the disk, a scraping sound coming from below the stone.

Maervahr steps back through the door and heads toward the stairs and finds there are two platforms that are empty.

The stone disk lifts off the ground with a bang…and out come the hands of the Undead,

The Skeletons climb through, 5 of them, along with some Ghouls. They leap out of the pit and attack! There are a total of 14 Skeletons and 2 Ghouls.

• The Clerics roll to turn.

Josalyn succeeds and turns the Skeletons, 10 of them! Tatrin fails to turn. There are now only 4 Skeletons and 2 Ghouls.

• Maervahr goes psionically invisible goes back by the door.

The 4 Skeletons and 2 Ghouls attack. There is 1 attack on Elias that HITS. He takes 3 damage. There are 2 attacks on Erasma that also missed and an attack hits the Tiger for 2 damage. The one Ghoul on Elias HITS AGAIN with 1 claw and he takes 3 damage. Elias must SAVE VERSUS PARALYSIS and he fails. Elias becomes paralyzed.

There is 1 Ghoul attack against Thorgard who takes 5 damage. Erasma turns the rest of the Skeletons while Jacob hits a Ghoul for 9 damage. The Ghoul is DECAPITATED! Kek attacks and does 6 damage, Thorgard does 4 damage and then then it collapses.

There are 10 turned Skeletons that are fleeing. The Skeletons leap down the pit with their swords which clatter as they land. They continue to move below the chamber somewhere.

Maervahr rushes in with his quarterstaff to attack. 4 more Skeletons killed and 8 managed to run away. The pit is farther away from us than the torchlight will allow us to see it with. Apparently the Skeletons and Ghouls scaled the sheer surface of the tube as the disk is knocked over to one side. It was knocked over near some braziers.

Kek, in his excitement to pursue, jumps down into the pit while in his full suit of armor. The pit is 50' down.

He falls down and crashes into a stone wall, which curves to the west at the bottom and then slides out of view to the west. Meanwhile, Jacob gets a spike and a rope together.

As he moves around, Kek falls another 10' and then 10' more. He comes to an area full of corpses that are surrounding a sarcophagus.

At this moment, rising from the sarcophagus is a form…Kek also notices that behind this, he spots the turned Skeletons in the corner.

Kek is paralyzed with fear! We do not hear Kek Scream…as a Mummy hits him twice for max damage, dealing a total of 24 DAMAGE! Kek is at -3 hitpoints and falls!

Jacob, Josalyn, Erasma and Thorgard are going down. Maervahr descends down last.

Once we arrive on the scene, we see a great Mummy standing over the body of our companion. Maervahr immediately casts Polymorph Other on the Mummy.

Thorgard and Erasma become paralyzed with fear as they gaze upon it while Maervahr saves versus spell to avoid being paralyzed.

The Polymorph goes off and he SUCCEEDS! MAERVAHR TURNS THE MUMMY INTO A FISH and it begins flopping around on the ground, slowly suffocating to death.

We can see that Kek's form has been obliterated in the time it took us to get down there. HE IS TOTALLY DEAD!

Maervahr instantly goes psionically invisible and steps back…and then he stabs the carp which was formerly a Mummy.

Since the Mummy has been Polymorphed, the Skeletons go back to being turned. Apparently its presence had broken the Turning effect temporarily. Jacob attacks and does 9 damage. We destroy the Skeletons.

Kek's body is mostly whole except for a couple of missing fingers. We determine that he can still be raised from the dead, though he would be missing a couple fingers.

We search through the sarcophagus:

• 660 gp
• 1,000 sp
• 2 vials of liquid.
• Brass ball and scepter with a hole in the top.
• Incredibly beautiful leather studded reins, like a rein for a chariot.

Maervahr was beating the carp with his staff and in that time, the Mummy-fish becomes dead.

He will cast Dispel Magic on the Mummy later to collect dust and other items on it. There is no other treasure amongst the bodies but we do see other Ghoul bodies.

We open the east door, a slope rises up, and there is a 5' hallway along the south wall. We go all the way up the slope and we can see the whole way from natural sunlight!

The party climbs a 35 degree slope going up. After another 5', we find another passage on the left and then the hallway opens up to the sky.

Outside, we can see the treetops. The party is looking out from the top of the slope where we can see great pine trees and feel a cool air that blows down the hallway. Down toward the south, we can see a sharper 45 degree slope indicating the edge of a great tiered step pyramid. The slope goes down the side for many stories.

Looking up along the slope, the pyramid reaches an apex of 40-60 feet before it descends downward to the ground of the forest floor. We can see a HUGE amount of massive trees, as tall as the pyramid we are in. They look like massive, ANCIENT trees and we are in the middle of a huge forest landscape. The trees go on forever in every direction.

Checking our maps, we never did see an indication of a massive pyramid like this one, other than Aul'ra, an Elven capital.

Looking back at the pendant we found, the key to Sheel'sadorin we see that at the end of the chain is a crystal obelisk pendant. Currently the pendant points downward but when we hold it up, it rises up to indicate a direction. THE PENDANT ACTIVATES AND POINTS TO THE EAST.

Back inside the pyramid, we go north but Elias and Josalyn are still in the disk chamber.

We find a big chamber beyond the 5' passage and see some weapon racks on the walls including a rusted longsword and some decayed longbows. There is a platform that still has an Obsidian Guardian!

Jacob walks further into the room using a magic sword for light. He sees a corpse on the ground that was obliterated along with the decayed body of an Elf and a statue. The Elf is still grasping a rusted short sword and is wearing rotted leather armor and carrying some daggers. These look like old bones.

Jacob sees the Obsidian Guardians move…

• Maervahr casts Mirror Image.

His spell goes off and he now has 4 images. At this same moment, out of the light radius, come 6 Obsidian Guards, They charge into our front lines.

Thorgard hits one first and does 8 damage.

• There are two attacks against Jacob but both missed!
• One attack against Thorgard missed.
• Erasma also evades an attack.
• There is one attack against a Sabertooth Tiger which strikes and it takes 8 damage.

Maervahr goes psionically invisible and falls back into the hallway. However, the Scare ability goes first…Everyone must roll saves to avoid being spooked. Clerics and Elves are not effected and this time, only Jacob is effected!

• Thorgard can attack.
• Jacob cannot.

Thorgard does 3 damage to one of the Obsidian Guardians as a Tiger does 2 and 7 damage. The other Tiger does 2, 3 and 5 damage. One of the Guardians is destroyed by the Tiger! However, there are still 5 left.

Another round and we attack first. The first Tiger does 3 damage and we must hit AC 4 to hit it. The second Tiger does 4 and 8 damage and topples another construct. There are 4 left standing.

The Guardians hit the Tigers. Tiger A takes 9 damage and Tiger B takes 10 damage. Thorgard takes 3 damage as Erasma defends. The Tiger is back to 10 hp and Jacob is still spooked and cannot attack. Thorgard hits and does 3 damage.

The Tiger hits for 3 damage and 10 damage and has TOPPLED ANOTHER CONSTRUCT! The other Tiger does 1, 1 and 9 damage and yet ANOTHER ONE IS DESTROYED! There are now only 2 left. Thorgard needs to save twice and he SAVES!

Maervahr is holding back. There are two attacks on TIGER A and they hit for 4 and 8 damage, a total of 12 damage. The Tiger falls and TIGER A is now DEAD!

Thorgard attacks and does 4 damage. The Tiger does 2 damage.

In the next round, the Tiger hits for 3 damage and Thorgard hits for 8 which DESTROYS one! The remaining Guardian tries to scare Thorgard and he fails his save! Thorgard becomes paralyzed with fear.

However, JACOB IS NO LONGER PARALYZED! Maervahr attacks the Guardian with his staff. The remaining Sabertooth Tiger hits for 1 damage.

Meanwhile, Tatrin hears a heavy stone on stone in the hallway. Jacob saves against magic for the Spook effect.

At this moment, more Obsidian Beasts come into the light as they come one at a time down the corridor. They charge in…

Tatrin is attacked and there is a 1 versus 1 combat. Tatrin was not invisible any longer and has AC 4. The Obsidian Beast hits on a charge and Tatrin takes 4 damage.

The Tiger hits for 1 and 4 damage…and the OBSIDIAN CONSTRUCT is toppled! Erasma swaps places with Tatrin but Erasma does not save versus magic however, neither did Tatrin but they are unaffected because they are Clerics.

Erasma defends as the two constructs emerge. Jacob attacks and hits one for 12 damage, IT IS DESTROYED! The Tiger hits with claws doing 4, 2 and 4 damage. The remaining Tiger destroys the second one! All of them are now destroyed!

Thorgard finally recovers.

We find six platfroms in the room and they are all empty. We check the decayed skeleton of the Elf and see that it is a completely decayed corpse. We notice a few small bugs come out of it.

• Sack with 180 gp.
• Teardrop Amethyst worth 400 gp

The two pedestals are empty in the SOUTH room where there is a long empty ritual table. There are some holes for an uncertain purpose on the table which has some gradients and some stuff inside the holes. These things include knives, pins, glass vials, pottery jars, worn vellum and torch holders.

Maervahr uses Detection of Magic in the room but nothing glows and the stuff has in the holes has only minor values.

We do find the following:

• 3 vials of aromatic oil
• 2400 coins worth of obsidian.

We go through a door. Tatrin and Josalyn are carrying the remnants of Kek. Erasma uses Cure Light Wounds to re-attach Keks fingers and the body of Elias is tied to the Tiger's back.

We travel back to Solat Peak, passing through the Sphinx Statue teleporter.

As we make our back through the dungeon…

In front of the double doors, several Giant Centipedes show up…and then 13 more! Elias is no longer paralyzed.

Maervahr casts BURNING HANDS!

Two try to attack Jacob but cannot hit him and then two on Josalyn also missed. Thorgard is not hit and Tatrin is missed. However, the Tiger is HIT and does NO DAMAGE. However, the Tiger must save at +4 or die. IT SAVES!

Three of the Giant Centipedes are burned and killed by Maervahr's spell. Jacob does a sweep attack and kills 6 of them. Thorgard kills the rest!

We leave the dungeon and break out into the night sky.

We make camp outside of Solat Peak and prepare for two days of travel back to High Dell.

Cure Spells are cast on the party during the evening and in the morning. The Tiger is healed.

We break camp and begin the trek through the mountains from Solat Peak.

The party gets its own surprise roll but Maervahr does not notice it from the sky. About 120 yards, or 360' away are some forms traversing the mountain pass. From the nearby terrain at 12“, we see 5 Beasts descend toward us, their eyes glistening. They look like great hulking cat-like monsters with tentacles on their back. They are phasing in and out.

These Panthers with two tentacles and spikes on their backs are Displacer Beasts. They are considered large and have death and anger in their eyes. Everyone is now in melee.

Maervahr has 36 HD of psionic invisibility so he is undetected.

There are 5 attacks and Jacob has AC -5. He is HIT and takes 3 damage. Josalyn is targeted by 3 Displacer Beasts from 6 claws in total. She takes 3 hits which cause 15 damage. Our Sabertooth Tiger takes 6 damage.

They have AC 4 (or AC 2).

Jacob hits one and does 19 damage, though it is not dead. The Tiger hits one for 2 damage. Maervahr casts Polymorph Other and the spell is cast to turn one of the Beasts into a Carp.

Another attack and two claws against Jacob missed him. Thorgard is hit for 5 damage and the Tiger is hit by 6 claws for 11 damage and 6 damage…it has 1 hitpoint left!

The Displacer Beast resists the Polymorph spell! Jacob hits one for 11 damage and KILLS IT! There are now 4 left.

Thorgard hits for 14 damage this time though it is not dead. His Warhorse does 2 damage and Josalyn hits for 5 damage. The Tiger hits for 2 damage which finally kills it! Now, there are 3 left.

Jacob's Horse continues attacking and hits once for 8 damage as Josalyn's Horse hits for 2 damage. Meanwhile, Jacob's third Warhorse flees…EXCEPT he can use a charge from the Animal Friendship ring and it stays!

Polymorph Other is cast again by Maervahr. There is a Morale Check for the Displacer Beasts, which they fail, and then they attempt to back away from combat.

THE POLYMORPH WORKS! One of the Displacer Beasts has become a fish! There are then 3 attacks against 5 people as they maintain melee.

Thorgard takes 5 damage and Erasma takes 5 damage from a claw. They are now in melee with Erasma and Thorgard in a 1 versus 1. Maervahr moves into range this round in order to later cast Sepia Snake Sigil.

Another Morale Check results in a failure so they FLEE! Some manage to get away.

Maervahr collects the dead fish, former Displacer Beast!

Thorgard hit one as it flees for 8 damage and Jacob hits it for 3 and 5 damage, killing another one!

We collect the pelts of 2 Displacer Beasts.

We continue on our travels to High Dell which takes 3 more days and our arrival is uneventful.

The session is ending on