The Iron Cages of Lust, Part II (Thursday-Saturday, Calistril (II) 6th-8th, 4708 AR)

The succubus moved on to use dominate person and confusion against the heroes. When forced to fight in melee, she fought with dagger and sadist's lash. The heroes finally killed the succubus, but not before she had charmed them to kill Bruthien and Tsela.

The censer on the darkwood table was part of a trap to weaken the will of those who entered. The censer's fumes constantly emitted a mind fog effect (CL 15th) in a 60-foot-spread - this room and the boudoir were filled with the mist. Unlike normal mind fog, the mist produced by this censer did not affect outsiders. Any other creature that entered the area had to succeed at a DC 17 Will save or take a -10 competence penalty on Wisdom checks and Will saves as long as they remained in the mist and for 2d6 rounds thereafter. A moderate wind could disperse the mist, but the mist would refill the area immediately once the wind passed.

The heroes revealed something hidden under the southernmost bed: a handy haversack that contained a tome of understanding +1, six potions of cure moderate wounds, a potion of remove disease, and a potion of remove paralysis.

Mistress' Boudoir. This smoky chamber had no furniture, but mounds of blankets, pillows, and sheets lay heaped on the floor, in some places built into nests.

Strewn about the chamber were a dozen exotic, bejeweled toys and devices of decidedly erotic natures. The functions of some of these devices were salaciously obvious in some cases, but in others wasn't always clear at first glance. Not all merchants would publicly agree to an interest in purchasing them.

The surviving heroes spent a couple of days raising Tsela from the dead. During that time they delved into Vraxeris' journal.

The bulk of the journal catalogued Vraxeris' studies and the development of an improved version of clone that effectively granted him immortality. The drawback was that each time he switched bodies, he lost a portion of his own knowledge and experience, forcing himself to relearn much with each incarnation. At several points in the book, he also spoke of how with each new clone, the debilitating dementia that lurked at the end of his life manifested a little sooner - with each new body, his effective lifespan shrank. It seemed obvious that the dementia finally struck soon enough to prevent him from creating a new clone, and thus finally, death claimed him. A wizard could use the journal to rebuild Vraxeris' version of improved clone, but the research for creating this powerful 9th-level spell is particularly onerous and would itself consume most of a lifetime. Nevertheless, if word of the journal's contents were to spread, all manner of unscrupulous wizards would doubtless do much to claim it by more violent means.

After the surviving heroes successfully rose Tsela from the dead, he proceeded to dispel the succubus enchantments from Shalelu. Unfortunately, the heroes lack the necessary material component to raise Bruthien, but consultations with Tsela's spirits alerted them to the presence of such components in the wing of Runelord Alaznist. They also learned that the gate they used to enter the Runeforge has since closed.

On their way out of the pavillion, the heroes encountered Avaxial, the pit fiend they had released from the infernal engines of Skull's Crossing. Avaxial offered to provide them with advice and a gift should they release him form their agreement, which was for him not to meddle in the Material Plane. The heroes refused.

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