Varisia Campaign

DRAMA!

Bruthien felt more welcome and inspired in the Halls of Wrath after their last battle. The heroes continued their exploration. Fleshwarping Lab. This long chamber was filled with two rows of wide worktables. The far end of the chamber contained three wide alcoves. The ones to the north and south were each filled with all matter of alchemical supplies and large barrels, while the one in the middle contained a single huge vat of what appeared to be twitching, foul-smelling flesh. The vat of bubbling flesh in the central alcove smelled foul. This room was occupied by nine warriors of wrath, all toiling. They took to interruptions with welcome and sadistic glee. They fought to the death to protect this laboratory. Hall of Testing. The Sihedron Rune in the middle of the room was in fact an immense portal - this was the "master circle" that Vraxeris wrote about in his journal. When Bruthien used a teleportation effect while standing within the circle, the teleportation energy was i...

The heroes continued their exploration of the barracks and training hall. Each of the 20-foot-square side rooms contained bunks. Chamber of Readiness. The polished granite walls of this large chamber were covered in spidery glyphs. The ceiling rose twenty-five feet high, where a mural depicted a red-headed woman holding a flaming ranseur standing atop a burning tower of stone. Swords and ranseurs rested inside shallow depressions in the walls, glowing faintly to illuminate the chamber. The east side of the room was a solid wall of billowing black smoke. The heroes used read magic to determine that the glyphs on the walls represented various forms of evocation magic, particularly those involving fire or the creation of magic weapons. The wall of smoke separating this room from the Hall of Testing was a very decorative illusion. Hall of Testing. A wide avenue flanked by crimson stone pillars ran down the center of this chamber - the ceiling arched sixty feet above and seemed to be made o...

Teleportation Circles: Up to four Medium creatures could enter a teleportation circle at once. Those who did were immediately teleported to the destination keyed to it: a circle with the rune of wrath engraved in the ground within it. Teleport Room. The eastern circle was the arrival point from the barracks and training hall, while the western one was the departure circle to the barracks and training hall. Barracks and Training Hall. This long chamber was filled with practice dummies dressed in battered and scorched suits of armor and a few contraptions bearing sharp implements. Several doors and two open corridors exited the chamber along each side wall. An opening in the opposite wall led to what appeared to be a meeting hall. Several flames on the walls provided light for this chamber. Six warriors of wrath and six sinspawn were here to stand against the heroes. The warriors of wrath allowed the sinspawn to initially engage the heroes, giving themselves time to cast bull's stren...

Fen made a deal with Avaxial to help them survive the battle against Arkrhyst, the shining child and the succubus. In return Avaxial was now free to meddle in Golarion. Avaxial transported them to Vraxeris' library. Since they were near, the heroes took fragments of the wall mirrors from the Peacock's shrine (they could function  runeforged weapon components). They also one single, intact book amid the destruction in the library - a tome of leadership and influence +2 . Next the heroes decided to try finding the way out of Runeforge, which according to their divinations was in the Halls of Wrath. Iron Guardian. A wide corridor of polished marble opened into a brightly lit and extremely tall chamber. The upper portion of the far wall was entirely covered in a mural of an armored woman with crimson hair holding a burning ranseur and riding on the back of a massive red dragon. A square outcropping of smooth marble jutted out of the far wall, rising form the floor to a height of th...

The heroes spent another day recuperating before they decided to go looking for material components to raise Bruthien. Fen and Thurden felt unwanted and oppressed in the Iron Cages of Lust. The heroes spent this time to finish reading Vraxeris' journal. Of more immediate interest to the heroes were the journal's notes on more recent events: "The Runeforge pool awoke! I first took it as a sign that Runelord Xanderghul had risen. When I arrived at the pool to investigate, it seemed that the others had come to the same conclusion. The foolish Wardens of Envy thought to disrupt the recrudescence, and with the aid of Azaven, Ordikan, Athroxis, and that lovely creature Delvahine, we were able to defeat them utterly. Their Abjurant Halls lie in ruins. Our treaty was short-lived, though. Azaven absconded with the bodies and that treacherous wench Athroxis nearly burned me to death before I made it back here." "I was mistaken. Runelord Xanderghul still slumbers. It is tha...

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 hav...

Empty Displays. These cages emanated strong evocation auras. The gold and silver cages were worth 1,000 gp each. Pavilion Entrance. Numerous thick rugs, cushions, and tasseled pillows covered the floor of this decadent chamber. Strange, exotic scents were in the air, likely coming from several smoldering braziers and censers balanced on elegant silver stands in the corners of the room. A group of stone giants stood guard here. The stone giants moved to block entrance into the room when the heroes entered, and bellowed out a warning to their "mistress". They then attacked. The giants fought to the death. The four incense burners were minor magical devices that never went out or ran out of fuel; they could be commanded to emit any number of pleasant and mildly narcotic scents. Each was worth 500 gp. Succubus' Chambers. The air in this room was unusually close - seeming almost to shimmer with pleasant-smelling mist. Pillows, cushions, and throw rugs covered the floor, and fo...

The heroes decided to continue their exploration of Runeforge and return to the Shimmering Veils after they gathered more information on what they were looking for. The bubbling, prismatic waters of the runeforge pool were alternately painfully hot and freezing cold to the touch, yet not enough to cause damage. Additionally, those who touched the waters received a tangled collage of visions of events yet to come. All five senses were assaulted by the magical potential of the pool. The heroes next entered the Iron Cages of Lust. Thurden felt unwanted and oppressed there. Cathedral of Seduction. This grand cathedral could be called nothing less than opulent. The floor was covered in polished red and white tiles. Thick pillars carved into the likeness of the same beautiful nude woman with long flowing hair circled the room and supported a ninety-foot-high domed ceiling, where a gargantuan mural depicted men and women engaged in all manner of carnal acts. Numerous plain ten-foot-by-ten-foo...

The heroes rested in the secret chambers of the Shimmering Veils, but their rest was interrupted by a group of warriors wearing uniforms identifying them from the Thassilonian kingdom of Bakrakhan, Runelord Alaznist's realm. The warriors of wrath gave themselves time to cast bull's strength , mirror image , haste , and displacement before engaging the heroes. They used spells like fireball to hit heroes who hang back from the melee. The warriors of wrath fought to the death. After completing their rest, the heroes used magic to determine that what they were looking for in this wing was in the Peacock Shrine.

The heroes located a secret door behind a section of mirrors in the far wall. Meditation Room. Bookcases full of tomes and scrolls lined this cozy chamber's walls and a reading table with several matching chairs sat atop a thick rug in its center. A peacock made of gold sat upon the table, holding a single stick of incense cleverly positioned in its tail feathers. A heavy wooden door exited the room through the wall to the northwest. A figure lay slumped in the chair in the far corner - the body of a man wearing rich robes and a cloak made of peacock feathers. An elegant mirror was clutched in his hand, and a book and quill sat on the table before him. This room was filled with religious essays on the subject of the Peacock Spirit, one of the more popular faiths during Thassilon's height. Unfortunately, the books were maddeningly vague and coy in revealing actual details about the Peacock Spirit, made all the worse by the large volume of material at hand. Very little could be o...

When the proper key from the Sihedron Circle outside was placed in the proper pillar's keyhole and then turned in two complete revolutions, the pillar began to hum and glow softly. Once the pillar was glowing, its key vanished. When all seven pillars were active (the order of activation did not matter), the central pillar began glowing and rippled with a vortex of light that combined all seven of the surrounding colors. At the pillar's base, the vortex whirled in on itself like a vertically aligned whirlpool, opening into a 7-foot-wide circular portal through which could be faintly seen a long tunnel. The heroes stepped through this portal into Runeforge. Runeforge The approach from the portal was along a 10-foot-wide stone tunnel. Runeforge Features Magically Treated Stonework: The walls, floors, and ceilings of Runeforge were made of stone that had been magically treated. Sustenance: Runeforge sustained those within its walls constantly, keeping them nourished and reviving th...

The heroes returned to Rimeskull to face off against Arkrhyst again. When Arkrhyst was severely injured, he escaped from the heroes. Xin's Stairway A massive stairway that looked like it must have been built by giants and taken years, if not decades, to complete was chiseled out of the side of the mountain. A twenty-foot-wide and thirty-foot-tall stone arch framed the first steps, while the final steps led directly up to a carving of an ancient face, its open mouth a cave entrance. The familiar seven-pointed star was etched deeply into its surface, prominently positioned at the highest section of the arch. Bones lay in iced-over heaps along the visible areas of the stairway. Each step was approximately a foot and a half high and 3 feet deep, with an average width of 20 feet. The stairway wound back and forth, rising up 200 feet to the entrance to the cavern above. Icy bones littered the long stairway. For the most part, the skeletal debris was frozen to the steps, the bones and ran...

More information about Runeforge was divined via spells like commune - and by researching the topic at the Thassilonian library under Jorgenfist. The one bit of information missing from this was Runeforge's location. This was one of the most closely guarded secrets of the Thassilonian Empire, and it was why the Scribbler's rhyme was so important. Divination spells could not reveal Runeforge's location. Once the heroes had uncovered the Scribbler's masterpiece, these same divination spells were incredibly helpful in deciphering its riddle, organizing its stanzas into the proper order, and verifying theories and interpretations of the poem. The heroes travelled to Rimeskull using greater teleport to reach the shores of Lake Stormunder. They approached the Sihedron Circle. The Sihedron Circle From the rocky eastern shoreline of Lake Stormunder, the ground rose into the craggy snow-dappled roots of Rimeskull, casting its long shadow over the area. Yet not all of the ground ...

The heroes regrouped and continued their exploration of the shrine. Antechamber. A pair of stone doors, their faces carved with an immense image of a three-eyed jackal's head, stood to the south. Birthing Pool. A low stone rim surrounded a shallow pool of water that seemed to glow with a soft radiance. The walls around the room were carved with large runes, and the ceiling rose to a dome above. The pool of water in the middle of the room looked pure. Meditation Cell. Small dunes of rubble and dust lay on the floor of this room, disturbed as if by the passage of pacing feet. The walls and ceiling were densely crowded with scribblings and markings. An image of a three-eyed jackal glared from the wall to the east. As in the antechamber, the walls bore prayers to Lamashtu. In the center of the eastern wall, just under the image of the symbol of Lamashtu, was the second stanza of the Scribbler's rhyme. Collapsed Meditation Cell. This room had partially collapsed. Cracks radiated alo...

The heroes continued their exploration of Lamashtu's shrine. The Scribbler's Kennel. Three once separate chambers had become one, joined by collapsed walls and the erosion of ages. Bloodstained fragments of chain shirts, shields, swords, and clothing lay about this room haphazardly. The walls were decorated with countless scribblings written sloppily in blood. Another stanza of the Scribbler's Rhyme was inscribed on the northern wall of the southernmost chamber. The fragments of armor and weapons were all that remained of the Sandpoint guards. A pack of six powerful yeth hounds known as hounds of Lamashtu dwelt in these caves. Unlike the more common yeth hound, a hound of Lamashtu was black and had a poisonous stinger at the end of its ratlike tail. The baying and howling of this pack could be heard throughout the complex, and when they heard or saw intruders they attacked. The hounds of Lamashtu surrounded and attacked Tsela. They then eagerly attacked Shalelu. The hounds ...

The Scribbler started combat by casting summon monster VI to summon 2 babaus. While these summoned monsters engaged his foes, he cast righteous might and quickened divine favor . He then entered combat, casting a quickened spiritual weapon to attack Tsela. The Scribbler was joined by a glabrezu demon who reversed gravity in the antechamber and stranded those who couldn't fly. The heroes banished the demons and killed the Scribbler. The heroes then continued their exploration of the shrine. There was no illumination in the shrine itself (with the exception of the Shrine of Monsters and Madness). The entire dungeon was warded by a strong abjuration aura. Every time someone came to an intersection, there was a chance he took the route opposite form the one intended. Shrine of Monsters and Madness. Although portions of this cathedral had collapsed, leaving mounds of rubble on the floor and crumbling walls, the chamber retained its sense of menacing awe. Four black stone pillars support...

Considering all that has happened - the bloodshed, the lives lost, and the miles upon miles of Varisian soil journeyed across to stop the machinations and minions of an ancient tyrant - it seemed ironic that the key to defeating Runelord Karzoug had lain dormant below Sandpoint the whole time. Yet in the ruined temple of Lamashtu once hidden below Sandpoint lay a maniacal mind who knew the route to the Runeforge. Sandpoint had been through a lot, including a goblin raid, slaughter at the local Glassworks, several grisly murders, and most recently a full-blown assault by giants and a dragon. It was certainly a testament to the townsfolk's resilience that they had carried on as hardily as they had. Of course, they had protectors at hand to help them through these times of peril, and when trouble stirred anew in the region, it was to these protectors the good folk of Sandpoint turned. This new development was something altogether more subtle and disturbing than invasions by goblins or...

The heroes spent the next couple of days healing the surviving dwarves and taking them and the loot back to Magnimar.

The heroes followed Conna's direction to rescue the dwarves. Chamber of the Sihedron. The doors to this room were made of stone and carved with an immense seven-pointed star - the Sihedron Rune. The doors themselves were unlocked but quite heavy and required pushing to open - causing them to grind on their ancient stone hinges. This immense hall was an unexpected break from the rough stone walls of caverns and caves. The rectangular chamber was fifty feet wide and a hundred feet long, with riblike spines arching up to a vaulted ceiling fifty feet overhead. The room's floor was loose soil, while the wall opposite the doors was carved with an immense bas-relief of a seven-pointed star. Throughout the room, seven fifteen-foot-tall tree trunks had been driven into the ground like immense stakes, their sides carved with countless more stars. Each trunk had been fitted with an iron ring from which dangled chains affixed to manacles. Next to each trunk stood an iron brazier filled wit...