Session 6/16/07

                The party moves deeper into the Slaughtergarde Armory, and their first stop is down the southwest elevator from the statue room towards the large, fiery gate they left alone during their first incursion.  Jack approaches the opaque wall of flames and holds up his claw medallion, which deactivates the gate temporarily.  The room beyond is diamond shaped and about 50’ across with a 10’ high balcony towards the back, but the group has no time to explore it thoroughly because an angry dragon with grey and black scales rushes forward, hissing and snapping in a whirlwind of claws.  “Who daresss disssturb Ocharix’s lair!  Die, ssssoftskinned meat!”  Altaer identifies Ocharix as a fang dragon: strong in melee and magic, but lacking a true breath weapon.  Behind Ocharix are a trio of tieflings who cry out “For the Order of the Fang!” as they attack.  Altaer prevents them from getting too involved with the melee, incinerating two with a fireball as Jack cuts down the other with an eldritch blast.  As Kaelin moves in to strike, the dragon sniffs the air and calls to him: “Run, girl!  This is no place for you!  Run and hide!”  This strikes the other companions as strange, but they say nothing of it, assuming the dragon is merely taunting their new companion.

                Ocharix tears into Klar, but the half-orc manages to dodge a number of the dragon’s attacks and deals more damage than he receives.  Kaelin proves to be a capable shield mate, distracting Ocharix with his sword and shield tactics and landing a telling blow just before Jack blasts through the dragon’s eye with another eldritch blast, killing it.

                As they search Ocharix’s lair the group discovers a new type of Slaughtergarde Medallion (an eye), and an even more unusual treasure: an elvish skull lacking a lower jaw and completely covered in an unidentifiable whitish metal.  Ayo can tell that the metal is other-planar in origin, but that is all.  However, the skull does radiate divine magic, and when Ayo channels the divine energy of Shandae (through a turn undead attempt) into the skull, it flares to life with a blue corona of flames and begins to speak.

                The skull once belonged to an elf warlord called Saelis who was loyal to the Thulkarr and perished during the Battle of Slaughtergarde.  Saelis’ spirit informs the party that Gashkarr has captured four relics of the Thulkarr – the skull they now carry, a clawed gauntlet of human make, a dwarf-crafted ring, and the Ark of the Resurgent Mountain.  The Ark, once a holy relic of the Thulkarr, was captured long ago by Mu-Tahn-Laa and corrupted, its polarity reversed by the insertion of a broken obelisk fragment into its centerpiece.  Saelis believes that Gashkarr has also obtained the ancient evil Tome of Slaughtergarde and intends to use the four relics to permanently reopen a gate to the Abyss.  Such a gate would allow him to supplement his forces with a regular stream of demons and perhaps even force the Abyss to merge with the Material Plane once again.

                Saelis does not know where the other relics are, but he thinks they must be nearby.  Jack suggests that the large object the gnoll priestesses moved during the party’s first exploration of the Armory might be the Ark, and the others agree.  The elf’s spirit then goes quiet, but Ayo instinctively knows that she can call him back by using another turn undead attempt on the skull.

                Since Ocharix’s lair is now empty and Altaer has figured out how to close the fiery gate behind them, the group elects to rest for the night within the Armory itself.  They set up camp and regular watches, but their presence is detected during the early morning hours before Altaer and Ayotunde can refresh their spells.

                Alindor 20: A half-fiend ogre with batlike wings and curled horns stomps down the corridor, brandishing its large falchion in both hands.  As the fiend approaches Ocharix’s gate, he calls out: “Ocharix?  You there?  What are you and those foolish tieflings doing – they’re late for their patrol!”  Klar, safely hidden behind the wall of flames, responds to this inquiry by tossing out one of the tieflings’ bodies, which bursts into flame as it touches the gate. 

                After several minutes of tense silence, Altaer deactivates the gate and peeks out into the corridor; the half-fiend ogre is nowhere to be seen.  Concerned that the fiend might alert the rest of the Armory to their presence, the heroes equip themselves and head up the elevator back into the statue room.  The winged ogre has prepared an ambush for them with some troglodyte allies – the stench of the trogs is noticeable even from the elevator shaft.  Battle is joined, and both sides make clever use of the constantly shifting elevators.  The half-fiend ogre is a terrible foe with plenty of endurance, but his troglodyte allies are unable to support him effectively and soon the party is surrounded by the dead bodies of their foes.  However, the battle drained their already depleted resources even further, so they opt for a safer hiding spot on the abandoned first level of the Armory.  Klar jams up the works of the elevator as he saw Dvalin do before him, and the party rests past midday on the upper level before continuing their exploration.

                Once refreshed and healed they move back into the statue room, down the northwest elevator and back towards the foundry/smithy where the huge fire elemental awaits.  This time they are prepared for their foe, but even so, the elemental guards its territory ferociously.  Klar kicks in the heavy doors and heads right into melee, but absorbs several attacks of opportunity while closing with it and is burned badly.

As Altaer pummels the elemental with lesser orbs of cold, Jack wades into the fight alongside Kaelin.  Ayo’s healing is barely enough to keep Klar alive as the half-orc first takes cover behind a huge anvil, then uses a foundry crane to swing across a pit of boiling liquid fire to avoid the elemental’s lashing, burning slams.  As Klar dodges and weaves, he spots a gauntlet rimed with frost and steaming vapor on a pedestal in the center of the room.  He grabs the gauntlet, places it on his hand, and immediately feels a cool rush as it imparts some fire resistance to him.  Steadied by Ayo’s healing magic, the half-orc rejoins the melee and he, Jack and Kaelin hold off the elemental long enough for Altaer to finish it with a final lesser orb of cold.  With the white metal Gauntlet of Beriah in their possession, they now hold two of the four necessary relics to stop Gashkarr’s ceremony and end the threat of Slaughtergarde forever.

Azarr Kul's Ambition