The Keys of Telku / The Final Key pt. 27 / Kahn the 11th, 3593 CE / 6-26-23

On the top story of the Tower of Tarrus, the Adventurers are attempting to stop a ritual which could mean doom for Anoria. Tarrus the One-Eyed has assembled all 5 Keys of Telku and is attempting to use them to open the so-called "Chaos Gate," a portal to another realm through which he hopes to entice demonic forces to use against the Baalite Confederacy. As the party fights their way across the chamber using various methods, they are confronted by Tarrus's grey render servants as well as a host of guards. Thankfully, Coron of Ur has disabled many of the guards by casting a magical darkness over them, as he picks them off one by one with his scimitar. Meanwhile Adrienne has used her Cloak of Deception to get within striking range of the mad sorcerer. But Tarrus has many magical tricks up his sleeve, including creating a false image of himself to distract the swashbuckler. Nari Ashida has a different strategy in mind, conjuring up a dimensional door, and then attempting to use her own fey-touched blood to disrupt the circle of protection which Tarrus has drawn around the portal. Her efforts appear to be in vain as Tarrus casts an even more powerful spell and literally stops time for all of his opponents, allowing his ritual to reach completion. Through the now activated portal emerges an emissary of the Abyss, a strange fly-headed creature. But its master proves even more intimidating, and as the glabrezu demon called Urothoth realizes that Nari has indeed disrupted Tarrus's circle of protection, it snatches the Lord of Liem before he can react and drags him screaming back through the portal as punishment for his hubris. With the loss of the Tarrus, the remaining guards flee and the grey renders are put down. The party quickly realizes that it was Tarrus's magic that allowed the unusually tall tower to exist, as it begins to collapse around them. Thanks to Nari's feather fall spells, the party is able to float safely down to the ground amidst the rubble and debris of the collapsed tower, though Adrienne realizes to her dismay that she has lost her magical sword in the chaos. The rubble of the tower is surrounded by guards, and from the crowd, four figures emerge:; Erikorr the Arch-Wizard, Councilors Relk and Guryd, and the High Priestess of Liem's Temple. They quickly hustle the Adventures to the Temple of Liem before the growing crowd can retaliate for the perceived assassination of Lord Tarrus. At the Temple of Vespera, several party-members have an unexpected reunion, as they discover Rados of Niopus has made his way to Liem seeking his companions. After introductions are made between the party-members unacquainted with Rados, a meeting is held with council members to determine the final fate of both the party and the Keys of Telku. The High Priestess gives voice to the plan laid out by her and the other council members: due to their seemingly indestructible nature as powerful artifacts, the Keys must once more be separated from each other to prevent them being used to open the Chaos Gate. However, the Adventurers themselves have proven that simply hiding the Keys is insufficient to keep them from being discovered and assembled. Instead, each Key will now be assigned a Keeper, a guardian in charge of safeguarding the artifact and keeping it hidden. Because they have proven so adept and locating the Keys, as well as defeating all of their previous guardians including Tarrus the One-Eyed, it is decided that these Keepers should be selected from the ranks of the Adventurers. One by one volunteers step forward, knowing that by taking on this mission they will never again be allowed to associate with their fellow Keepers. Rados, Baijao, and Moss each volunteer, with Moss offering the Rod of Law fragment to Lulu for her to continue her quest to stop the Age of Worms. Coron takes a Key declaring his intention to deliver it to Henry Skalitz, the paladin of Accuris, as the final Keeper. Finally, Adrienne steps forward to take the final Key. Knowing this means that each of these Keepers must now leave their company and journey off on their own, goodbyes are exchanged, some tearful, with companions and friends, before the five Keepers are ushered out to be taken from the city in secret under cover of darkness.