Session 125

As Dain turned to face Sabine in her cell, she began frantically begging for help. She seemed panicked, and Summer and Dain tried explaining the situation to her, referring to her eyes. However, Dain noticed that for some reason, Sabine's panic didn't seem to match her facial expressions, which appeared neutral. Dain briefly tried to dispel the magic dominating her mind, but failed. When it became clear that the party wasn't going to release her, Sabine's voice dropped and a different voice began taunting Dain, suggesting that Sabine was his now, and any further attempts to free her would be very bad for her. The voice then said that if he wanted her back so badly, he could come find him on the floor above. Sabine then fell to the ground, her eyes staring upwards at the ceiling unblinking. Tyllaetha was disturbed by this, but said that they should go deal with Andozar, and once they killed him, they could come back for her. Summer decided to leave Nuggie behind to watch Sabine, taking her potions from his pack. The group then reconvened in the hallway and decided to explore the rest of the first floor to see what they could find.

Proceeding out of a door to the side of the exterior of the building, they came upon some sort of garden sectioned off with a path neatly leading to what appeared to be a headstone. Investigating the grave, Merrick found that it was marked with the name "Sibyl Shaethe". Upon telling the group this, Evaryan perked up, recognizing his family name, and seemed horribly confused what someone of his family could be doing buried here. Looking around the grave, Merrick noticed some loose dirt covering something next to the grave. Digging it up, he found an old journal, and upon flipping through it, he realized it appeared to be the journal of someone from the Upheaval period, thousands of years ago. The journal described a man who had once lived in the town of Aramore, which the party had passed through on there way here, who had met a woman putting on a magic show for children, who gave him a book to learn magic and told him to seek the Ars Aurum Academy in Mythwell. The man did so, and years later was a student, albeit a bad one, struggling with basic magic. However, upon the woman, Sibyl, returning to the academy and giving him private lessons, his progress improved dramatically. The two eventually married, had children, and two decades later, set out on a journey to investigate strange anomalous readings coming from the Blasted Lands detected by the newly invented Flowscope. Sibyl got a head start, and when the man finally caught up, he found his beloved wife dead, killed by magical means. Investigating the ruins in the Blasted Lands, he found research notes that detailed the process of some sort of transformation that made use of a crystalline artifact he had discovered in the ruins -- Lod'exenter. The man came to the conclusion that this transformation, which described using souls as fuel, was what killed his wife, and that the one who achieved this transformation was the one responsible for his wife's death -- Orick. The man left some cryptic notes vaguely hinting that he planned to hunt Orick down, but would first study the ritual used to learn how to kill him. Merrick was disturbed by these findings, and immediately set to communing with Orick. When Orick appeared, he seemed uncomfortable with having been summoned to this place, and Merrick questioned him about Sibyl and what he learned in the journal. Orick confirmed that what was described in the journal was accurate, but that the man it described, whom Orick confirmed was who they knew as Andozar, was mistaken as to what really happened. He clarified that the ruins where they found Lod'exenter had been none other than the Ruins of Keogan, where years ago the group had located and later destroyed the Chronicle of the Dead, which Orick revealed had been created through the use of Lod'exenter. The notes Andozar discovered in the ruins were indeed Orick's, and detailed his transformation, but Andozar hadn't realized that those notes, which were magically preserved, had been there for 7,000 years prior to his arrival. When Orick was elevated to divinity, he was careless and did not relocate his notes or Lod'exenter. Though Merrick thought Orick's actions had led to Andozar's creation, it was his inaction that led to their current predicament. Orick said that Andozar's transformation was similar to his own, with some modifications, and that should they kill him, he would return -- though that would temporarily break his hold over Sabine, long enough for them to get help. Merrick pocketed Andozar's journal and decided to move on.

The party explored other areas of the bottom floor, finding a garden with a number of strange plants native to the Deephollow that even Dain couldn't identify beyond a medicinal plant used as a painkiller which, in large doses, could act as a paralytic. After passing some storage rooms, they found an impressive personal library with a table covered in notes and journals. Curious, Summer began browsing the stacks of books while Dain went to read the notes with Merrick's help. They discovered some notes indicating that Andozar had gone to investigate the Whispering Abyss when it first appeared, commenting that his Enthralled had been lured into the abyss and drowned; though when Andozar went briefly beneath the waves, though he could sense the Deep One's presence, the Deep One seemingly ignored him, which confused and irritated Andozar. Near these notes, they found Andozar's research into his attempts to attain divinity, with pages upon pages of mad ramblings, cursing Orick's name and filled with vitriol directed at him, wondering how Orick managed to achieve divinity using Lod'exenter. Andozar believed that he was still missing something in order to ascend, and would stop at nothing to achieve it, though based on what Orick had told Merrick in the garden, Estrea's intervention is what led to his ascension, and he had specifically said that no matter what Andozar tried, he would never ascend. However, they did learn that Andozar had made numerous attempts, all a large amount of time apart, as apparently Lod'exenter required a staggering 500 years to accumulate enough Flow to be full, and that Archmage Kyran's theft centuries before had resulted in Andozar's next attempt being significantly delayed. Summer found a number of spellbooks in the stacks detailing all manner of enchantment spells and Soulbinding rites, but one book in particular stood out, one bound in what appeared to be humanoid leather. Bound and latched shut, she brought it to Dain, who was suspicious and decided to identify it. Sensing the presence of a Glyph of Warding, he decided it wasn't worth the risk, and decided to set it aside, and then put Andozar's notes in his Bag of Holding. They then proceeded up the stairs to the second level. Upstairs, they found a short hallway with several doors. One was shut tight with no indication of a conventional lock, so they checked across the hall and found what appeared to be a scrying pool, with a crystal ball hovering over a pool of water and a mirror for viewing things remotely. Upon a nearby table, they found a log book that, after flipping to the most recent entries, seemed to have a number of entries detailing the party's movements ever since their first encounter with Andozar the day Archmage Kyran was killed. They pressed on and through another door, found Andozar's workshop, with equipment for enchanting items, as well as a curious skull with glowing eyes and a journal next to it. Curious, Merrick checked the journal, in which he discovered some maniacal ravings discussing Andozar's conversations with a spirit bound within the skull, which the journal identified as Methos, a man whom Andozar believed to be a descendant of Orick, and whom he had been torturing for an unknown period of time looking for information about the man's ancient ancestor. However, Methos appeared to be ignorant of his ancestor, and after Skinner made contact with the man in the skull, he begged to be set free. He claimed to know nothing of the "Orick" that Andozar was constantly interrogating him about. Merrick wasn't certain what to make of it and questioned Orick, who confirmed that Methos was indeed his descendant, or rather, a descendant of his sister's, as Orick had sired no children. They learned, however, that Methos and Orick's shared family name appeared to be "Erades". They decided to leave the man's skull there, not wanting to spend too much time exploring, and went across the hall, where they discovered Andozar's alchemical stillroom. Dain noticed a cauldron bubbling with a glowing pink liquid that resembled the potions they found in the interrogation room that opened one's mind to suggestion. Dain ordered his Steel Defender to overturn the pot while the group stood back to avoid the fumes, and after spilling it onto the sandstone floor, they decided it was time to confront Andozar himself.

Proceeding out onto a bridge leading over a large cavern full of strange green water, Merrick took the lead and soon saw the figure they had been hunting for so long now, Andozar, standing at the end of the terrace. Andozar turned and addressed Merrick, asking if his Enthralled had "delayed" him. Skinner, enraged remembering his dead family, threw a javelin at Andozar, striking him in the leg. Andozar nonchalantly pulled it out and made an uncouth remark about Skinner before setting his eyes on Merrick again and his eyes filling with anger as he shouted at him, saying Merrick carried "his" stench, and demanding to know if Orick was too craven to face him by himself. The members of the Sorcerer's Cabal approached and challenged Andozar, telling him that they would have their justice for his crimes and that he would die this day. Andozar said that he tired of their organization's meddling and of this conversation, and unleashed a spell which tormented the minds of almost all on the bridge, causing them to blackout as their minds fended off the assault, mentally crippling all but Dain, Tyllaetha, and Sindri. With that, Summer fled to the ledge off the side of the bridge and used her Shadowstep Anklet to teleport through the shadows to a high ledge on the cavern edges to get to a more advantageous position, though she could not yet see Andozar. Dain administered a Potion of Health to Vargas nearby to wake him from his stupor before chugging a Potion of Haste himself, then charging forward towards Andozar. While the rest of the party drooled on themselves, Tyllaetha moved up and cast Foresight on Dain, and then Sindri blasted Andozar with a Sundering Blast. After Vargas tried to cast Disintegrate on Andozar and missed, Andozar called a number of spirits to surround him which flew into him and bolstered his defenses, as well as causing him to rise into the air. Summer got to a better position and let an arrow fly, hitting Andozar, before he used his spirits to create a protective barrier that protected him from harm. After Dain caught up, he cast Fly in order to pursue Andozar, then flew into the air and hammered away at him. Andozar then did something that put fear into Skinner, as he beckoned a swarm of eight spirits at once, sending them after the members of the Cabal. While the rest of the group struggled to break free of Andozar's mental assault, Mahani broke free and tried to Disintegrate Andozar, but missed as well. Sindri used Tenser's Transformation, drawing his sword, and took a defensive position against the approaching spirits. As Dain prepared to continue his furious assault, Andozar cut him off unceremoniously, telling him to submit, as Dain immediately fell into a stupor, unable to control his body, and fell from the air, hitting the ground hard. After Summer got in a lucky shot and Skinner began moving his spirits forward toward Andozar, the Cabal members one-by-one began to break out of their stupor and Sindri struggled to fend off the assault of the spirits. The sorcerers began lobbing spells here and there, and Andozar replied by beckoning yet another swarm of spirits, sending them after the drooling Dain, then he cast Synaptic Static, further incapacitating the sorcerers whom had just woken from their stupor. The situation began to look truly dire, but Dain snapped out of his stupor and began fighting off the spirits surrounding him. Andozar attempted to cast Feeblemind on Dain, but Tyllaetha's Foresight protected him. However, despite the sorcerers' resistance, with Nashar using his most powerful magic to summon a tempest of fire that spun in a cyclone, drawing in the spirits and scorching them, Andozar simply beckoned more. Despite Anael raising a large number of skeletons to combat the spirits, her animated bones were no match for Andozar's spirits. And then Dain was brutally assaulted by the spirits swarming him and fell unconscious. Merrick managed to destroy one of the groups of spirits using his Crown of Stars, but when Tyllaetha saw the situation devolving, she panicked, calling out that the group should retreat.