Session 134

As the enormous glowing construct lumbered toward them, Dain summoned a Lightning Bolt, striking the Soulbound Colossus in the chest. However, Summer underestimated its armor and her arrows bounced off harmlessly. Merrick cast Sickening Radiance, placing it in the air above it to avoid hitting his comrades. Skinner then became large and beckoned one of his spirits next to the Colossus; however, its attacks didn't seem to do much. The Colossus, noticing Dain and Merrick standing side-by-side, lowered his head, on which one of its Soulstones began to glow brightly for a few seconds, after which is unleashed a beam of dark green energy, which Dain was able to resist for the most part, but Merrick was not so lucky; his skin beginning to necrotize as his energy was leeched away from him. The pain of the necrotizing effects of the beam caused Merrick to lose focus, causing Sickening Radiance to vanish. Dain closed the distance and began to attack the Colossus, but it was his turn to underestimate its armor, picking a reinforced spot and his attack bouncing off, as Summer popped out from hiding and unleashed a devastating blow from afar. Their attacks seemed to cause enough damage that the spirits occupying its Soulstones were expelled from within; however, Skinner noticed shortly thereafter that several spirits emerged from seemingly random points of the room and rushed toward the Colossus, re-entering it and bolstering its defenses, healing it. Merrick summoned his Crown of Stars and flung one at the Colossus, causing a spirit to be expelled from it; however, this time, it emitted a high-pitched cacophony which frightened Merrick, sending him running in the other direction. Skinner circled around one of the pillars shoring up the ceiling and charged the Colossus, managing to topple it to the ground; however, it simply got back up and threw a boulder in the direction Summer had been hiding, trapping her behind the pillar. The Colossus then grabbed Skinner and began to drain his life away from him. Dain rushed in and hit the Colossus' legs hard, causing a spirit to be expelled, but in doing so caused it to emit another screech, sending Dain running in fear.

Trapped behind a massive boulder thrown by the Colossus, Summer noticed something on the ground near her; a canopic jar. Looking inside, she could see bones and several ceremonial tags. Not sure what to make of this, she tried making her way towards Skinner hoping to show it to him. Merrick unleashed a powerful Negative Energy Flood on the Colossus, and Skinner tried to break out of its grasp, but was unable. The Colossus threw Skinner across the room into a distant pillar. It then turned around and pounded Dain with its massive fist, nearly pinning him to the ground underneath it. Dain tried to counterattack but had been put off balance and missed. Summer however was able to get in a solid blow, after which Merrick decided to unleash another powerful Negative Energy Flood on the Colossus. The group began to dance around the Colossus for a bit, trading blows, before Skinner made his way back to the fray and assaulted it from the side, after which, the Colossus lashed out at Skinner with an attack that was eerily reminiscent of the spiritual chains Skinner himself employs to bind his foes, but it missed. Dain decided to teleport behind the Colossus to confuse it, and Summer handed off the canopic jar to Skinner. Just as Summer handed it off, Skinner witnessed one of the many spirits that had been appearing around the room and healing the Colossus emerge directly from within the jar. Seeing the connection, recognizing the jar as a focus for a Rite of Haunting, Skinner smashed the jar. This caused one of the Soulstones on the Colossus to immediately go dark, causing it to roar in frustration. Merrick unleashed another Negative Energy Flood on the giant construct, and then Skinner threw his blades at the creature. The Colossus lowered its head again, unleashing another beam of necrotic energy at Skinner and Dain, and they narrowly manage to resist the worst of its effects. The Colossus tried to pound Dain, but Skinner made use of his cloud rune, redirecting the attack at Dain's Steel Defender. Dain was struggling to land a solid blow on the Colossus, but Summer used the distraction that Dain and Skinner provided to shadowstep to the other side of the room and begin climbing one of the pillars, atop which Skinner's spirits had spotted some canopic jars. Summer reached the top and was able to kick the jar off. Meanwhile, Merrick's Eldritch Blast hit the Colossus with such force that it sent him careening backwards into a pillar, toppling it, nearly landing atop Summer, who had shadowstepped down to the ground to try to reach the jar atop the pillar; however, in doing so, he destroyed the jar on top of it. Skinner then rammed into one of the central pillars with enough force to cause the jar sitting atop it to roll and fall off. However, the Colossus then used its spiritual chains to grab Skinner from a distance and yank him to its grasp, immediately throwing the enlarged Skinner directly AT Merrick, nearly bowling him over. However, Merrick jumped behind a pillar at the last second, sending Skinner crashing into the boulder thrown at Summer earlier. The Colossus then pounded Dain again, pinning him to the ground underneath his fist. However, Dain managed to bench press its fist just high enough to roll out from underneath it, immediately chugging a Potion of Superior Healing.

Merrick continued to unleash volleys of Eldritch Blasts at the Colossus, and Skinner ran to the back of the room to locate the rest of the canopic jars along with Summer. The Colossus, distracted by the other two, pounded both Dain and Merrick. Summer, having retreated to the back of the room, quickly located several other jars there, and pointed Skinner in their direction. Summer also spotted another jar in the distance and pointed it out to Merrick, who unleashed several Eldritch Blasts at the pillar, toppling it and crushing the jar hiding there; however, in doing so, he de-stabilized the cavern ceiling the pillars had been supporting and it began to rumble. Skinner picked up one of the jars and crushed it, causing another Soulstone to darken. While the Colossus continued to batter Merrick and Dain, Summer and Skinner continued smashing jars until finally, as the sole remaining spirit raced to jump into the Colossus to heal it, Skinner smashed the final jar, releasing the spirit and causing the Colossus to go dark and lifeless. Not wanting to take chances, Skinner and the group moved in to smash the Soulstones that had apparently animated this monstrous construct. After doing so, they made their way to the only other door in the room, and after Summer easily unlocked it, they made their way down to a short hallway to another door. Summer quickly checked the door for traps and locks before cautiously opening it...

On the other side of the door, their hearts sank as they saw a room with dozens, possibly hundreds, of identical Soulstones in a pile and scattered around the room. Despite close inspection, they could not find a single one that appeared in any way different than the others. After thinking for some time on possibly avenues they had and considering how Andozar's Soulstone might differ from the rest, Merrick had the idea to have the rest of the group back out of the room and to unleash a Sickening Radiance into the room. This proved to be wise, as all of the identical false Soulstones, one by one, began to explode from the stress and from being flooded with radiant light, annihilating the spiritual energy inside. After letting the spell disperse, they re-entered the room to find a single Soulstone left on the ground, glowing brightly compared to the ones before it. However, as they neared it to inspect it, they heard a distant angry screeching sound from behind them, further up the passages leading to the chamber. Worried they may have alerted Andozar, Dain quickly grabbed the Soulstone and cast Identify upon it to make sure it was the right one. Sensing necromancy magic and a distinct signature of animate Flow from within, as well as a planar tether leading to somewhere nearby, he handed the Soulstone to Skinner, who produced the talisman given to them by Runemaster Ormar in Kantor, and said the activation word -- 'akator'. The talisman's rune began to glow blue, and a light began to build inside of the Soulstone, until a brilliant flash was emitted, blinding the group and knocking them off their feet with a wave of force. After the ringing in their ears stopped and the vertigo stopped, they got to their feet, seeing a hunk of misshapen Akronite next to a strange blue crystalline material on the ground where the Soulstone had fallen. In the distance, they heard another screech -- this one a mixture of fear, rage, and pain. Seeing the immediate danger they were in, Dain produced the Ring of Teleportation, intent on getting them out of there as soon as possible, intending to escape to Eldham. However, upon activating the ring, and feeling the familiar tugging sensation being pulled into Callamus, they were yanked upward as they began to slide through the tunnel that would deliver them to Eldham, until they felt a sudden hard collision as they slammed into the wall above them and fell back into the Soulstone chamber. They had not considered that the chamber may be lined with Zegromite to protect against intrusion.

Seeing no other choice, the party began to ascend the passages that led them there, in a rush, but cautiously checking corners for signs of Andozar. However, despite what they had heard, there was no sign of him. As they navigated the passages back into the catacombs and to the ladder, they saw some stairs nearby. Deciding to use them instead of the crawlspace, they ascended until they emerged from a mausoleum in the graveyard, where they could see no signs of the residents of the village. However, the brief silence was broken by a sudden loud crashing sound from the southern edge of town. The group rushed down the main street to the southern border where they were met with the sight of several flattened bodies on the road next to a large boulder that had broken through the side of a house. In the distance, they could see the silhouetted forms of a group of four figures. As they approached, they came into view, and they saw Mahani, Sindri, Vargas, and Sabine... all with the telltale pink glow of enchantment in their eyes. Sabine approached and in a distorted, throaty voice, beckoned the party, saying that they had lived for thousands of years and would not be undone by their ilk. It said that while it would normally bind them into the ranks of its Enthralled, they would receive no such honor, and would be devoured by Andozar. However, as Sabine moved forward threateningly, she stopped in confusion, looking at something behind the group. She asked how "they" survived, and the group turned to see Tyllaetha approaching. She delivered a speech mocking Andozar for his newfound mortality, and told the group that she had been delayed, but foresaw her being needed. She mentioned that her research with Medril had turned up something useful, just not what they expected, and told them of a weakness in the mushrooms Andozar had been cultivating to enslave his Enthralled -- necrosis. She said that if they could kill off the spores inside the host, the hosts may be able to break free of his control. Sabine began moving forward and told them they would not get the chance...