Session 09

Deep in the Reliquary of Timesus, Magma Force were hot on the heels of the Ashen Covenant, aiming to thwart whatever nefarious plans they had in this forbidden place. Cloaked by Camero's magic, they silently wended their way down spiral stairs, ending in a crypt.   The walls of the crypt were decorated with bas reliefs and murals depicting Timesus approaching Death's Reach at the time of the Dawn War.   Four sarcophagi were arranged in the centre of the room, with a further two in alcoves, distinguished by a golden glow. Statues with gleaming red eyes stood in the far corners while an archway led out of the room. Camero let his vision slip into the arcane spectrum and his eyes were immediately drawn to the golden sarcophagi, the archway and the statues' eyes, each were examined further in turn.   The statues were large depictions of human warriors. The eyes were enchanted to glow but nothing more.   The golden sarcophagi seemed to be the resting place of angelic heroes, the magical glow assumed to come from their grave goods. With no desire to disrepect nor steal from such noble beings, these remained untouched, as were the other, non-magical sarcophagi.   The archway, under closer inspection, had a small button at the peak, marked with a symbol like a wave. Beyond was what first seemed to be a pit, but which Camero quickly recognised as a portal to the Astral Plane. He warned that anyone entering that portal would be crushed unless or until they could escape. There was a suspicion that the archway magic could sweep people into the pit and hence the Astral Plane.   Everyone dropped back as Camero summoned a ghostly hand and directed it to press the wave button. Nothing seemed to happen, though Camero reported that the magic dissipated from the archway for a short time. In the knowledge this could well be a one way trip, the archway button was pressed and everyone passed through the archway and stepped past the pit without event. The next section of corridor depicted the death of a primeval dragon at the hands of a ferocious primordial. As the heroes approached the next room, the voice of the Raven Queen sounded in their heads, warning them of death if they entered unprepared. This made them pause and carefully inspect what lay ahead.   The artwork on the walls showed Timesus sealing a portal, which normally transmitted souls onwards to the afterlife. Instead, he was feasting on the blockaded souls, using them to animate a great army of undead and constructs. The centre of the room was dominated by an excavated pit, the nearby floor in a crumbling state. In each corner were statues similar to the previous room, again with glowing red eyes. A corridor led onward but was filled with magical mist, restricting vision.   Wary of the pit and potential floor collapse, Magma Force retrieved some mundane rope from their backpacks and knotted themselves together like mountaineers. Gotrek edged into the room to get a better angle of view at the pit and misty corridor but couldn't see anything further. As he approached one of the statues, it suddenly animated as a golem! Simultaneously, another golem animated and a horrific creature levitated out of the pit - some kind of undead beholder, presumably a servant of the Ashen Convenant.   Morgan strode boldly forward and seized the attention of the foul undead, also blocking off one of the golems. Gotrek blocked off the other golem, but swapped weapons so he could strike the beholder from afar. Sora shifted into beast form to rend with her claws while Camero hurled arcane blasts into the fray. The golems posed little threat and were ignored with all focus on the beholder. Its energy beams inflicted some wounds but it could not withstand such a sustained assault and was soon destroyed. Rendering the golems inert was a mere formality thereafter. Composing themselves, the heroes forged ever onwards, into the misty corridor. It led to a room dominated by an altar under a large eagle statue. A slick-sided pit to the north bubbled with acid while a pit to the south glowed with magic. The altar had two handprint indentations on the top. Camero magically deciphered hieroglyphics on the altar to read the somewhat obvious suggestion to place one's hands on the altar - if one wanted to meet Timesus! The area around the altar glowed with similar magic to the earlier archways, raising suspicions it could sweep people inexorably into the dangerous pits. Footprints led to the archway, showing others had come this way recently.   The heroes huddled in the mist and considered their options. Camero still had quite a few magical tricks up his sleeve. First he cast a ritual which looked back through time, to see what had transpired at this location within the last couple of days. He watched as a huvecula, most likely the leader of the Ashen Covenant, and attendants arrived at the altar. When it placed its hands on the top, the altar moved upwards to reveal a deep shaft. The huvecula nimbly climbed it, while all its attendants simply levitated down. It looked like a very difficult climb, out of Magma Force probably only Gotrek could manage such a feat.   Camero then described to his colleagues a ritual known as "passwall". This could open up a magical passage below their feet and hopefully connect forwards to the shaft below the altar. Thus gaining access to the shaft without needing to interact with the altar, or risk any other traps in the room. However this wouldn't assist with the vertical nature of the shaft. Sora possessed a magical ring of great power, that would enable the entire group to float safely down. Like the archways earlier, this could be a one way trip with no easy way to climb the shaft or open the top.   Thus it was decided. Camero summoned his magical passage and indeed it intersected the shaft below the altar as planned. Sora's ring enveloped the heroes and they descended in a slow and safe manner, landing on a raised dais in a huge chamber. The walls depicted a tremendous battle located in Death's Reach, between angelic forces and primordials with Timesus at the centre. There had once been six statues here but two were collapsed into rubble. The dais felt blessed in some manner. Large double doors stood at the far end of the hall.   Upon arrival, they were plunged immediately into combat as defenders waited to punish them for their intrusion - two huge crustaceans with fearsome pinchers along with several animated pieces of blackstar, similar to ones encountered previously within the complex. Battle was joined!