Session 137

The battle began as Andozar wrapped himself in spiritual armor and rose into the air at the end of the bridge. He unleashed a Psychic Scream which stunned Skinner, Merrick, Talon, and Caden. Alvarr came out from the doorway and unleashed a Lightning Bolt at Andozar, and Mahani blasted him with an upcast Magic Missile. Summer began making her way off the bridge to the cavern walls, and used her Shadowstep Anklet to teleport atop one of the platforms she had positioned herself on previously, but was taken off-guard by a glowing rune on the wall which activated, blasting her with a Gust of Wind, sending her flying off the platform into the softly glowing water below. As she hit the water, Summer felt something sapping her energy, but she managed to withstand its effects. Vargas used Dimension Door to teleport to the other end of the bridge, behind Evaryan, and Andozar cast Power Word Pain on Mahani, causing her to double over in pain. He then became slightly translucent as his form shifted into the Ethereal plane. Dain used Misty Step to close some distance towards the end of the bridge, but as he rushed forward, he stepped upon a Glyph of Warding, which unleashed a powerful sonic boom that left his ears ringing and bleeding. With Andozar's spirits ready to attack Dain, Vargas cast Scatter and sent them all off into the distance behind them. The boom of the glyph seemed to knock Merrick out of his stupor, and Skinner's spirits began to close the distance on Andozar, but he vanished and reappeared on the other side of the room. Dain reached the end of the bridge and used Steel Wind Strike to deliver powerful blows to Andozar and some of his spirits. However, as the Steel Defender charged in to catch up to Dain, he stepped on and triggered another Glyph of Warding, unleashing a Fireball upon the rest of the group at the start of the bridge, nearly killing Mahani. At the other end of the bridge, Vargas attempted to hit Andozar with a Disintegrate, but missed. With so many spells battering the group at the beginning of the bridge, Sindri cast Globe of Invulnerability to give the group some cover, and Skinner managed to snap out of his stupor, and began to charge forward. Still sluggish from being stunned, he sent his spirits out to meet Andozar. Merrick hurtled a mote from his Crown of Stars at Andozar, and immediately followed with a concussive Eldritch Blast which blasted Andozar hard back into one of the room's supportive pillars. Being quickly overwhelmed, Andozar turned to Dain and tried to dominate him, but ultimately failed. Mahani, barely clinging to life, retreated back into the building, and Alvarr cast Slow upon Andozar. Initially, it seemed as though Andozar was able to shake off its effects, but Tyllaetha altered the probability of its success, causing Andozar to slow down mid-air. Dain performed another Steel Wind Strike against the group of spirits surrounding Evaryan and Vargas, and handed Vargas a potion. Skinner retrieved his Apharri from his back and ran off the side of the bridge, hurtling toward Andozar, and as he passed him, he managed to restrain him with the chains on his blades, beginning to drag Andozar behind him as he banked around the supportive pillar. However, just as Andozar was about to vanish behind the pillar, Merrick sent another mote from his Crown of Stars hurtling towards him, vaporizing him, as Andozar's agonized screams echoed through the cavern and his spirits began to disappear.

The group celebrated at their apparent victory and breathed a sigh of relief -- all except Skinner, who after landing on the bridge, looked back where Andozar had fallen and noticed a cloud of spectral Flow hovering there, motionless. He got a bad feeling, and as he was about to reach out to try to Soulbind him, he realized that something was tethering Andozar's spirit. Suddenly, Andozar's spirit rushed forward towards Evaryan, who stood there drooling on himself, flying into his body. Evaryan's eyes and mouth gave off light as he screamed in pain and collapsed to the ground. The party stared at him for a tense moment before Evaryan rose, eyes giving off a familiar red glow as Andozar's voice came from him, taunting them and assuring them that he would not die so easily. He then thanked them for delivering his descendant to him. Merrick got the drop on him, using Eldritch Blast to blast Evaryan over the end of the bridge. However, Evaryan quickly reappeared, hovering in the air, cackling as he began to beckon his spirits again. Evaryan then sent Raulothim's Psychic Lance hurtling toward Dain, who narrowly managed to avoid its effects. Skinner sent his spirits after Andozar and battered him before Merrick launched another mote of his Crown of Stars at Evaryan, and critical blasted him with another powerful Eldritch Blast. Evaryan extended his arms, performing a short dance, which his spirits mirrored, as the spirits' forms twisted and took on Evaryan's appearance, a tactic which Skinner recognized. Andozar's spirits then closed in on Dain and beat him savagely, leaving Dain unconscious and bleeding out at the end of the bridge. Mahani managed to hit a spirit with Magic Missile, and Alvarr followed with Scorching Ray. Dain's Steel Defender rushed over, pulling a potion out from its chest cavity and feeding it to him, reviving him. Dain got up and cast another Steel Wind Strike, hitting all three hostiles and revealing the real Evaryan. Skinner then dropped in on one of the spirits, annihilating it with the radiant energy of his blades. His spirits then continued to attack Andozar, and Merrick blasted him with another mote and Eldritch Blast, finishing Evaryan off.

This time, as Andozar's spirit emerged from his body, with nothing to tether him, his spirit turned to flee. However, it collided with a form lurking behind him, and he looked up to see Orick. Orick rebuked Andozar, telling him that he was sorry for his role in his wife's death, but telling him that nothing he had done since the day he found her there was for her, and was instead a mad quest for the power Sibyl had shown him he was capable of, noting that he had abandoned his children. He then caused a familiar swirling vortex of green energy to appear above them, with damned spirits swirling around towards the center for eternity. As Aubron before him, Orick cast Andozar into the Vortex, with him clawing futilely the entire way. As his spirit was dragged into the turbulent currents of the Vortex, it began to unravel until it vanished at the center. Orick thanked the group for all they had done before vanishing. As they breathed a final sigh of relief, they had a moment of panic as they looked to Evaryan, who lay bleeding out on the ground, still drooling unaware. The group fed him potions to heal his wounds and keep him alive, but he remained unresponsive, drooling on himself seeming to not hear them. Skinner examined him more closely, attuning himself to the spirit world, and realized that Evaryan's body seemed to not have any spirit attached to it. He began to search Evaryan's pockets, and eventually found a single Soulstone hidden on his person, and could sense something from within. On a hunch, he beckoned the spirit within, and Evaryan's spirit appeared nearby. Evaryan panicked, not understanding what was going on, and as the group explained it to him, he plead with them to put his soul back in his body. Skinner had never attempted something like this, but decided to smash the Soulstone with the pommel of his blades. As the Soulstone crumbled to dust, freeing Evaryan's spirit, Skinner used his blades as a focus to guide Evaryan's spectral Flow toward his body, forcing the spirit into it. Evaryan's spirit vanished, and they waited for a moment, listening for signs of life. After a moment, Evaryan gasped and awoke, traumatized by the experience, noting the similarities to his experience in Seryndor, where Calantha had killed him. The party spent some time talking him through the trauma to calm him down, and then wondered aloud what to do next. They eventually came to the conclusion that all there was left to do was to track down Adamar, as he had stolen Lod'exenter, and there was no telling what he could do with it -- but they had no idea where to begin. Adamar had eluded them for years. Tyllaetha spoke then, saying that Andozar had tracked Kyran down after centuries as soon as Lod'exenter had broken containment, suggesting that he must have some sort of method for tracking its location, and that they should check his scrying room for clues.

The party reaches level 20!