Astral Engine

The group was yanked through the mouth and found themselves in a vast chamber.  Arcs of lightning illuminated the enormous eldritch engine that filled the chamber.  Tight wound mithral cables and platinum rods twisted along rune covered walls like a spider's web, with thousands of gems set among them in a blazing riot of color.

An enormous multifaceted gem floated in midair at the center of the giant engine, it pulsed with silver light.  A huge figure stood on an altar -- a skeletal form armored in crystal shards wrapped with strips of black flesh.  Its head was crystal skull with a human sized skull mounted in its left eye socket.  The eyes and teeth of this smaller skull were set with gleaming gems.  Lythandar lay unconscious on the floor.

Reaper's End

The party had just dispatched the Aspect of Vecna, Demin grabbed the gem in a bag with his glove and a black ooze lurched out of the black pool in the room.  The party set to work on the Black Blood Bone Collector as it moved blindly around attacking with Slam and Tendrils.  The necrotic damage was still reduced by the power Lythandar had used, but it was substantial.  In addition when Tendrils were used the heroes that were hit were grabbed and lost a healing surge.  The Bone Collector also seemed to regain strength when grabbing a victim.

Wild Game & Black Pool

In a Feywild chamber the group encountered Hespotherad who invited them to play a game.  He of course would allow the party to cooperate against him, else it wouldn't be a challenge.  All of the group except Mara gathered around the table and examined the game board.  Demin started the challenge spotting a chance to play a card and advance the party toward winning.  Hespotherad started to go red in the face and spout threats against the party as the group continued to take their turns.  Each time a hero would make a move toward winning he grew angrier and redder.

Fallen Amoth

Our hearty adventurers found themselves back in the Tuern shrine after a battle with four ghosts.  They quickly took a short rest and healed up from their exertions.  Taking a look around the group decided to try and activate the southeastern archway.  Lythandar attempted to open the arch but failed as a blast exploded into the chamber.  It luckily missed all of the party members, but everyone then moved away from the arch as Lythandar attempted to activate it again.  Success followed and Pretis and Mara led the way through finding themselves in the Hidden Temple.

Liquid Night

The party continued to search the room for various armor or weapons that could be useful, though they found nothing new or interesting.  Most of the armor was plate mail, unusable by any party member.  Mara searched for secret openings anywhere in the room but found no escape routes other than the glowing arches.  The party had entered by the northeast archway, which now was inactive, and decided to leave via the southwest archway.  Mara suggested that when leaving the arch on the far side maybe moving away would be helpful since everyone was clustered together coming into the present chamber.  Lythandar an arcane check to activate the southwest arch and the party stepped through, Pretis leading the way.

Betrayed Tuern

Our group of hearty adventurers had just passed through another arched gateway.   They found themselves in another oddly shaped room.  Broken weapons and shattered bones littered the floor.  Blackened stone walls were set with racks of burnished steel.  The bodies of six devils laid upon the floor but a broader view was obscured by seven hulking metal figures crashing forward to attack.

A Prayer for He Who Was

Our hearty band was in the Hidden Temple of Nerull's Fortress Necromanteion.  They had just heard a raspy voice challenge them again as they had heard in other Acererak constructions.  It was again a forbidding of doom for the party.  The group decided to explore the side passages before proceeding "through" an archway. 

Hidden Temple

After defeating the devils the group sat down for a short rest.  Melisana noted that in the northwest corner of the chamber there was a staircase leading down into the mound of rubble.   She also noted that in the piles of rubble there were two magical items of some sort.   Turns out that these were a Planesplitter Longsword +5, claimed by Mara, and a Skyrender Crossbow +5 claimed by Demin.  The group was spent from their efforts and Alhellara broke out her Exodus Knife to create a portal into a extra-dimensional space where the group took an extended rest.   

Eldritch Storm Ambush

After defeating the Larva creatures the group took a short rest, looked around, and decided the only interesting place to head toward was the ruins in the distance with a storm obscuring their view.  So they headed toward the fortress ruins.  They slowly approached the pile of ruins a towering skull of debris and ice emerged from the mist.  Melisana recognized that the head was of the dead God Nerull.

The Fallen

The heroes made their way slowly down the staircase and found many ruins at the lower level.  The ruins continued for many miles and consisted of courtyards and gardens overgrown with empty pools, shattered benches and tables and broken statues.  Some areas were groves of dead blackened trees.  After some time the group came upon a mass grave site with dismembered body parts, swarms of insects and burning pyres.  Next they came upon a battle site, ruined tombs and religious sits that had been destroyed.  Amongst the rubble they found a Symbol of Mortality +5, a Rod of Obliterating Wrath +5 and a Death Shroud Ki Focus +5.

Blade Gauntlet

The hearty group arrived in a crumbling courtyard, with a teleportation circle at the center set within a field of blasted dark red stones.   Steep slopes strewn with rubble fell away in all directions but one.  There, a ruined staircase twisted down and across the shadowed landscape where pulsing white fire in the distance, cut through a ever present darkness.  The circle was surrounded by six foul looking creatures and a look of dismay passed amongst the group, until they realized that they had just completed an extended rest.

Final Confrontation

The party followed the Hand up two more flights of stairs where they entered a large circular room.  Scintillating colors seemed to engulf the chamber, spinning in wild kaleidoscope patterns, appearing at once like beams of light and sheets of material carrying on an invisible maelstrom.

Heart of Vecna

The group reentered the palace and moved swiftly back up to the third floor.  They moved to a couple of unopened doors looking for more stairs up.  Two rooms just held various palace guards and wights, seemingly barracks.  Moving past a guard room they opened a door to a room behind the central open foyer.  In this chamber was a staircase going up.  Pretis found that the chamber was symmetrical with another door on the opposite side leading into a similar area they had just left. 

Palace of Vecna

After finishing off the followers of Iuz the party took a rest and then searched the bodies.  They found a small amount of gold and no magic items.  After moving the bodies out of the courtyard the party moved on in the direction of the Palace of Vecna.  In the distance they spied a structure reaching toward the darkened ceiling.  Rounding a corner they saw a massive bone white structure stretching toward the inner skull in all its glory.  If bore a distant resemblance to a hand, as five towers jutted from its top.  Four of the towers were identical, slender and bone white, seemingly carved from the same substance as the rest of the citadel.

The Destroyers

After rescuing Valuriss from the Fingers the party headed towards her hovel as they wanted to return her to safety.  While moving slowly through the streets of Cavitius a man, with a desperate look in his eyes, approached the party.  "Please can you help me!  You are outlanders, and you are powerful.  You can plead my case with Lord Haroln!"

Welcoming Party

Our hearty adventurers are standing at the end of a blind alley, apparently in Citadel Cavitius.  Looking around the group decided that the best hope was to move toward the skull streetlamp at the entrance to the alley.  As they approached this area an Ogre stepped out of the gloom and said,
"Well, I thought I smelled something fouler than usual around here!" As he shifted a wicked looking executioners blade from hand to hand.  Three other large Ogres appeared farther in the street.  The group recognized that they were again facing a group of Iuz's ogre warriors.
"I thought my lord Iuz was mistaken when he predicted you would be strong enough to follow us. Shame on me for doubting the Old One!  Now, we'll turn you into playthings for the necromaners in this hellhole!"

Death Becomes Them

The hearty adventurerors continued examining the library of Moghadam for clues to the demilich Acererak's plans or for a exit from the lair of Moghadam.  Pretis was off to one side swearing an oath against Acererak, while Demin was trying to fill his backpack with as many paper, scrolls, etc. that he could find.  Melisana and Lythandar were discussing how to backtrack out of the lair.  Suddenly the heroes found themselves surrounded by swirling mists of brilliant colors.  There is nothing else to see wherever they look.  In fact it is hard to see anything beyond 20-25 feet.

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.

The Devourers Welcome, Up and Out

The party had entered a chamber held up with twisted stone columns, their misshapen forms making them seem almost alive.  At the far end of the chamber they encountered the Devourers green face set into the wall.  The face had been marked with black scorch marks and rough carved glyphs that repeated "My Master, Dread Devourer, Die Forevermore ..." over and over.  As Pretis and Mara placed the keys in the keyholes hidden in the eyes, a blast of Arcane energy emerged from the mouth of the face.

Demon Patrol

The party had just finished off a group of skeletons, wights, a bone golem and the skull who stated he was Acererak.  The group decided that the skull was really not Acererak as it fell much easier than even the skull they dispatched in the Shadow Tomb.  Demin retrieved the skull while the rest of the group rested and looked for magic.