Alhellara, Lythandar, and Mara were in the reach of the creature and as Lythandar and Alhellara teleported out of danger the two tendrils struck Mara and grabbed her. As the party attacked the Vestige they found it difficult to hit and it seemed to take less damage from each attack. Gofin, Demin and Alhellara continued to work on the platform. Demin used Thieving skills to disrupt the wards by diverting the energy into the inert stone around them. While Alhellara took 10 necrotic damage from a failed religion attempt. Luckily Lythandar had given everyone resist 9 necrotic at the arrival of the undead vestige so the damage was reduced. The party found themselves at reduced capacity when near to the Vestige, which had teleported into the air above the glowing platform.
Seeing that the damage received from the creature was extensive and that it was probably insubstantial, Mara and Pretis urged the party to take down the wards quickly. Soon Mara and Pretis were grabbed by the monster and found it difficult to escape. Lythandar subtly shifted the power within the portal, accelerating the process of breaking down the wards further. Meanwhile the Vestige shifted away again losing its grip on Mara and Pretis. With brute force Demin knocked out the last of the wards protecting the portal and he jumped on the platform, and disappeared. The rest of the party followed, using excellent judgement to leave the Vestige behind.
Falling through the air the party landed on the floor of vast domed chamber. A circle of runes in the ceiling marked the portal through which they had just passed. Carved in the middle of the floor was a great green face. The graven image of a horned devil stared up blindly - eyes blank, mouth open to reveal a space of dead black within it. A single word had been carved into stone beneath the face: "Devourer."
Around the walls were glowing runes - the same sort of sigils that the party had seen in the Garden of Graves. Glowing stone archways were set around the chamber, each with white mist swirling inside it. Between the arches, some twenty well-rotted humanoid corpses hung from the ceiling entwined by chains that dripped black ichor to the floor. In places on the floor the ichor pooled together.Looking around the party attempted to perceive any traps, hidden passages or other. Not knowing what was beyond the white mist the group was loathe to enter a archway. Mara noted that footsteps could be seen entering and leaving the north most archway. Numbering this archway 1 she also noted that footsteps entered and left archway 9 also, archways 2, 6 and 8 had footsteps entering only.
Pretis moved up to archway 1 and as she approached it, three of its stones began to glow with a pulsing blue white light - the stones at the bottom left and right and the one at the apex. Melisana moved around the room and noted that each archway reacted in the same manner. Holding a rope Pretis moved into the archway 1. She found a 5 by 10 area and nothing else, feeling slightly winded she returned to the chamber where her companions noted that she looked 30 years older. Pretis indicated that she felt older too. Demin then stepped through archway 2, finding a similar 5 x 10 area. The rope went slack as the party members sighed in worry. But Demin appeared in mouth of the horned devil having taken a healing surge worth of damage. The mouth attacked and Demin took even more damage before crawling out of the stone mouth.
Melisana determined that the black sphere of darkness in the Devourer's mouth was a fixed sphere of darkness much like a Sphere of Annihilation. Melisana then entered archway 9 and returned with the head of a Donkey. Hoping to reverse the affect she entered the archway again, but to no avail as the Ass' head was still present. Lythandar tried his luck with archway 8, found himself nude in the devourer's mouth as all his mundane clothing had disappeared along with ALL of his magic items. He searched the bottom of the mouth and the archway for his missing items to no avail.
Standing at the side of the carved stone face Lythandar recalled that he had heard of the horned devil face before. This is the personal symbol of the demilich Acererak. Gofin entered the archway 6, and was found unconscious in the mouth which still attacked. The dripping from the ceiling was beginning to drive Pretis to distraction so he listened intently. After a time she shouted huzzah and stated that the dripping of the necrotic essence was some sort of code that repeated itself. She then repeated the sinister message:
When wisdom failed, you made your choice
But will you journey back or forward now?
If the deeds of the past have led you astray
Then shun white if you can
For the known will betray
And the blind must lead
Where even false gates show the way.
You seek my power with heroes' hearts
But do you earn the fate you made?
I welcome you with fire and cheer
Hang all your heroes' masks of fear
In galleries of time betrayed.
The shroud of night is the door you week
But ere you find it, you will fall --
Condemned to seek outside the veil;
The keys you steal
Beyond your reach in distant halls.
You will not win the dread respect
Of those who paid the final price --
The Shadow Tomb's last sacrifice. . .
Or does that sacrifice stand here
Who hears this heroes' prophecy?
With fool's heart and fearless ear
The signs you were too late to flee
That bound your screaming souls to me.
Lythandar, after borrowing some robes from Demin, said we have to ignore the archways, it says "shun the white." Just then the party watched as 5 of the shadows on the walls detached with a shriek. Sword Wraiths and Shattered Wraiths flew down to the party and a battle was waged. The Shattered Wraiths fell quickly but the Sword Wraiths were more dangerous. Pretis took damage just from standing next to a wall, while Lythandar tried to stay way away from the battle. He was given a quarterstaff by Alhellara, and another by Melisana, while Pretis offered a dagger. The insubstantial and regenerating Wraiths put up a strong fight but they fell to the mighty attacks of the party.
Scorecard: The party earned 1986 XP for solving the Shadow Gate, avoiding the Vestige and terminating the Wraiths. They now have 55857 XP and need 1143 to reach 15th level.
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