Moghadam's End

As the party stood atop the pillar, which used to be an altar, they looked down and were surprised when the ceiling fell upon them.  Now the floor about 100 feet down from them was covered with both floor and ceiling debris.  The pillar sloped slightly outward as it descended to the floor.  Alhellara was lowered on the rope of the flying hook to examine the pillar and possibly the floor if she made it that far.  About halfway down the pillar Alhellara noticed a f foot square opening into the pillar.  Looking in it appeared as though the interior of the pillar was hollow.


Lythandar moved his light close to the hole, where it illuminated part of the interior, which in fact appeared hollow.  Using more rope Alhellara was lowered to the floor inside the pillar where a passageway led off to the southwest.  The rest of the party followed down with Demin going last and retrieving the flying hook.  The party followed the passageway as it curved more westerly, eventually ending in a opening which overlooked another chamber.

This chambers floor was 40 feet down from the hole in the ceiling.  It was a circular chamber, bathed in sliver light.  Arches along the wall were filled with stone blocks.  All of the party except Gofin lowered themselves to the floor and started to move around the chamber.  Just as Mara found a pit in the floor an enormous wraith holding a black great sword in its translucent grasp arose from the floor.

The wraith wasted no time in attacking the party with Mind Wrack followed by Blade Storm.  Lythandar found another pit by moving away from the creature.  Moghadam seemed to be an insubstantial character so Melisana moved forward to try and take that characteristic away with her armor.

Moghadam created an area of darkness in which several of the characters found themselves blinded.  He then used Blade storm on Pretis and Melisana.  The first hit on Melisana did only 15 points of damage but she grabbed the insubstantial quality.  The second hit on Melisana was brutal attack which would have laid her flat, but it was halved so she was still upright but reeling.  

Pretis and Melisana found that standing close to Moghadam dazed and mentally confused them.  Gofin through her Bleak Gallows next to the enemy and kept teleporting him back to the gallows each time he would move.  Lythandar peppered him with lightning bolts, Demin with crossbow bolts while Alhellara and Melisana used their turn and repel undead powers to effectively harm Moghadam.

Finally they knocked Moghadam prone allowing Mara to Shake the Earth, and pull him into a pit, whence he expired.  The group was sorely hurt by the damage inflicted and set down for a short rest.  Lythandar noted that the blocks in the archways appear to be merely set into place with no mortar.  Melisana identified the black great sword as magical and notified everyone that there seemed to be some magic in the archways.

Moving the stones out of the way the party found many scrolls, bound volumes and fragments of writing detailing Moghadam's dealing with Acererak.  In his madness Moghadam gained an understanding of what Acererak's betrayal of him implied for the demilich's future plans.  Moghadam was a powerful spirit, a master of arcane powers, and a genius engineer, he was Acererak's most ardent follower for centuries.  Moghadam designed much of the Tomb of Horrors and the Fortress of Conclusion.  Aided by the power of this sword and phylactery, he led the undead construction that build both sites.  All the while, the archwraith yearned for his freedom, hoping in vain that each triumph achieved in his master's name might earn it. 

When Acererak finally returned after the failure of his apotheosis, Moghadam was tasked with designing the Feywild tombs while the demilich crafted the first of his eldritch engines.  The Shadow Tomb was the architect's next task, and when it was done, Moghadam once again sought his freedom.  This time Acererak laughingly granted his wish - casting him aside as he drained the Tomb of Horrors of arcane power and quit its empty halls.

After Moghadam had spent centuries in servitude, his dream of freedom was shattered by the shock of having his greatest creation destroyed.  The mad wraith claimed the lore of Acererak from the ruined Black Academy and returned to his vault.  The epic rituals that drained the Abandoned Tomb captured its arcane power and spiritual energy.  Acererak drained away eldritch essence underlying centuries of terror to fuel his dark plots.  Where once he yearned for godlike power, he believes that now he can become something greater.

The party collected 54,000 GP worth of items from this library and also found several magic items.  Pretis swore an oath against Acererak and claimed the black great sword Ruinblade, she also claimed the Head Taker's Belt.  Mara took the Guardian's Cape and Bands of Equilibrium, Lythandar the Staff of Storms and Gibbering Lump.  Demin quickly grabbed the MindIron Crossbow and Backtrack Bindings while Melisana took the Ring of Action Reversal and Gloves of the Wandering Star.  Alhellara had Lythandar perform and transfer Enchantment on the Bolstering Armor to move it to Chainmail and she took the Deadblast Bone.  Gofin had Lythandar perform transfer enchantment to size the Bloodtheft Leather armor to her size and she also took the Ioun Stone of Regeneration.

Scorecard: The party earned 6564 XP for the Skull Shrine room and for destroying Moghadam.  They now have 98141 XP needing 859 more to reach 18th level.