The Keys of Telku / Heathen pt. 10 / Eire the 5th, 3592 CE / 9-8-19

The Adventurers rise with the dawn from their campsite in the Barren Lands, as Archie leads them to the place he refers to as the "Tomb of Anubhak." As they begin to approach what appears to be the ruins of an ancient stone chapel, they stop short to observe a procession of ghostly figures, who Archie explains are the spirits of those cursed to worship Anubhak through eternity. Once they reach the heart of the ruin, they see a hole that drops forty feet to a subterranean catacomb below, but before they descend, Archie shares with them a gift of power granted through his fragment of the legendary Rod of Law. As each party member grasps the rod, they are infused with the might of a legendary hero; the Archmage, the Champion, the Guardian, the Hierophant, and the Marshal. Though the effect will only last for one hour, the heroes feel more confident to confront the challenges of the Tomb. However, there is one more, slightly unexpected side effect; Adrienne finds herself overwhelmed with a flood of memories as the power reverses the effects of the obliviax potion. Archie urges the party to hurry, and they descend into the depths of the tomb. Soon they reach a massive set of double doors which remind Adrienne of the architecture in the dead city of Tecumeth. On the other side they are confronted by a living statue in the form of a wolf-like humanoid, a Scion of Anubhak When the party asks for the Key of Telku, they are informed that they must first complete the three Trials of the Dead. The first is the Trial of Might, and the Scion calls forth legions of skeletal warriors. However, thanks to the might of their newfound powers, the party are able to cut through the ranks of the undead, quickly dispatching them. The Scion next announces the Trial of Soul. The figure of Treon the Northman barbarian, appears before them. He tells Adrienne that when he was slain in Tecumeth, Anubhak took his soul. The Scion announces that Anubhak will release Treon's soul if they abandon their quest of the key. However, even as Treon begs the party to release him from his eternal damnation, Adrienne and Moss find discrepancies in the apparition's story, and join Henry in laying Treon low. The Scion declares the Adventurers have passed the second Trial, and before they know it, the third one has begun. This time, each Adventurer finds themselves in a different situation that plays upon their deepest held fears. Nari stands before Lord Tarrus, who berates her as a failure for having allowed her friends to die. Henry finds himself at the right hand of General Belgur of the army of Baal, watching the Baalites subjugate all around them thanks to his betrayal. Adrienne finds herself back in Distryll, confronting her own death and a city that does not know her as anything other then a victim of grief. Moss finds himself buried alive in a grave deep in the earth. Roisyll finds herself being excommunicated from her druidic order even as she destroys all life around her. One by one they fight against the illusion that has been placed upon them, until they have returned once more to their senses in the Tomb of Anubhak. The Scion decries that no mortal has ever passed the Trial of Fear, and calls forth another servant of Anubhak, the Gravedragger, an immense skeletal creation that attempts to bury the party alive, With all of their combined power, they are able to destroy both the Gravedragger and the Scion, who held the Key within its stone body. After healing Archie, who was gravely wounded in the encounter, the archon thanks the party for fighting so valiantly, before being called back to Elysium. He leaves his fragment of the Rod of Law, which Moss takes possession of. However, the Tomb of Anubhak has begun to collapse, and the party must flee past falling chunks of the ceiling and walls to reach the hole to the surface, where Nari uses her immovable rod to hang a rope by which the party can climb out, just in time before the Tomb is sealed forever beneath a ton of dirt and rock. The party now stands on the desolate plains of the Barren Lands, their prize acquired, but with a long journey home awaiting them.