Eberron Mystery Theatre: To Xen'drik!

In today's instalment of Eberron Mystery Theatre, our heroes - Picadilly, Chris, Stab, Jacquesaurs and their probational members Akamiya and Seran ventured into the ruins of Xen'drik, where much adventure, death and disaster awaited.

While seeking prospective work and income in Xen'drik, our adventurers chanced upon a posting at the Maiden's Head, advertising an easy scouting mission - uncover whether a dragon still dwells in a suspected dragon's lair. Thinking that it would no doubt lead to an easy source of treasure, our adventurers took the bait, and proceeded to meet the client in the lower parts of town, by the wharfs. As it turned out, their prospective employers were a tribe of dragon worshiping barbarians, led by a shaman called Krish. After promising to meet a scout appointed by Krish at the outskirts of the city in two candlemarks, the party proceeded to the local adventurer's guild house, to gather additional information about said lair, hire additional help, and to check out another prospective employer.

True enough, Picadilly picked up another member - a doped up, dreamlily addicted druid named Vicks who worshipped Arawai in her bovine incarnation. This supporter of the sacred cows decided to serve Picadilly, and tagged along. The adventurers then went on to visit Zan Zar, a merchant dealing in magical artifacts who wanted them to chart out and prospect a lode of dragon shards. This merchant, as it proved, was a cunning and witty bargainer. He did, grudgingly, ink the deal, and provided a map to the supposed dragon shard lode. Curiously the map looked similar to the scrawls from the barbarians, which was cause for much rejoicing. They could kill two dragons with one shard, so to speak.

Thus prepared, everyone left Xen'drik, and followed Korf the barbarian into the forests of Xen'drik. The trek was swift and uneventful, and after two candlemarks, Korf suggested taking a break in a forest clearing to break for dinner. As Korf sidled off, the party proceeded to make camp, and that was when a large glob of acid rained down on everyone.

It was an ambush, and the barbarians from the wharf attacked. :o It was a battle of attrition. Led by the dragon shaman, the barbarians pressed their surprise advantage, cutting savagely into the group with their weapons and their longbows. Akamiya retreated swiftly after several telling sword strikes. Even her luck couldn't save her from a concerted assault. The others too were hurting badly. Jacquesaurs started singing, calling upon dragonfire inspiration, while the others retaliated. Stab vanished, as was typical of him, and proceeded to sneak towards the shaman. Chris lobbed eldritch blasts left and right, while Picadilly and Seran wailed away at nearby barbarians. Vicks turned into a bear, and started mauling people too.

Eventually, the barbarian ranks thinned, but the respite was short lived. The dragon shaman called upon his powers once more, and mired everyone in a patch of sticky, acidic tar to which the shaman's brethren seemed strangely resistant. The adventurers scrambled to escape the caustic mire, and Seran popped forward to tap Akamiya with a healing wand. The others continued to beat back the barbarians, and started finally gaining ground. However, the barbarians scored a quick casualty. As they fell back, one of them smashed Akamiya into the ground, knocking her out with a well placed swing.

Stab popped out of invisibility and ran the dragon shaman through from behind, but surprisingly enough, the wound closed quickly, and the shaman showed no signs of falling. Vicks charged, and took several swats at the shaman as well, and both gnomes in the party took potshots with their crossbows. Enraged now, the dragon shaman retaliated by calling upon his totem, and breathing a stream of acid in the party's direction. The acid seared everyone, including Akamiya. The helpless Akamiya was melted beyond recognition.

The adventurers continued harrying the barbarians, and this time, Jacquesaurs managed to feather the shaman through the chest with a crossbow bolt. He hit something vital, and the shaman finally gave up the ghost, and Stab managed to grab the shaman's staff of office before it tumbled into a crevice. With the shaman dead, the barbarians gave up the fight and surrendered. Stab was also appointed the new Chieftain of the tribe for wresting the staff from the shaman's control.

It turned out that the dragon shaman had ousted the previous chieftain of these barbarians - the Black Dragon's Tooth tribe, and had been using them to waylay prospective adventurers and sacrificing them at an altar somewhere in the mountains. Everything was a scam. The barbarians though were glad to be finally rid of the shaman, and more than happy to serve Stab even though their tribe was greatly diminished, and they were only three now. In uncharacteristic magnanimity, Stab allowed them to live and return to Stormreach, where they would await the party's return.

Resting a day in the clearing, the adventurers performed a ritual to bring Akamiya back from the dead, this time as a half-orc, and then proceeded to follow the lay of the river north. The river ended in a basin fed by a tall waterfall, framed by rocks shaped like a dragon's maw. Picadilly activated her water walking ring, and wandered across the basin towards the water fall, where true enough, she discovered a hidden entryway. She ferried the entire party into the concealed area, and then the party started down the corridor, which seemed strangely fashioned out of either magic, or some ancient hand. They stopped after a twist and a turn, at a yawning portal, carved from stone, embossed with giantish script.

The portal said "Seek ye not to disturb the rest of those who dwell here. For they 'wake, though their bodies lie."

It was a strange message, but everyone was egged on by the prospect of treasure, and continued through. Down a stairway that seemed to have grown itself out of the very foundations of the earth they went, until they arrived in a rectangular chamber that seemed to be a sort of a crypt. There were no visible openings here, though the place was lit by lightless sconces carved from the wall. The chamber's walls depicted carvings of giants doing battle with dragons, and the sarcophagus too, was decorated with symbols in giantish and shaped in the form of a large, burly warrior clad from head to foot in plate armor, wearing a horned helm and carrying a double headed axe.

Chris decided to scan the area for magic. Then his eyes crossed, and he dropped dead as a cold draught filled the chamber, and the symbols around the eyes of the sarcophagus started to glow. Stab quivered and keeled over next, before the symbol finally faded away. They had uncovered a Glyph of Warding empowered with a death spell. :o

The adventurers were forced to rest again, and to revive their fallen comrades. Chris was reincarnated as an elf, and Stab as a dwarf. The party was indeed becoming very very diverse and multiracial. Eventually, Stab discovered a catch on the sarcophagus that caused it to spring open. Within it was a short stair, that led to a tunnel that angled into what could only be the mountains. The walls too had taken on a granite quality.

Another pair of double doors halted the party, sealed by a complex mechanism of cogs, gears and pulleys. Akamiya managed to disable the mechanism, causing the doors to spring open, revealing a long, narrow corridor lined with statues of giant warriors. She crept in stealthily, checking each individual statue for traps. She discovered none, until she neared the middle of the tunnel. The doors at the entryway slammed shut, sealing her in, and the statues proceeded to give her a sound thrashing. The party managed to break through just in time, before Akamiya was killed (again), and battered the statues down. The statues proved surprisingly resistant to slashing and piercing blows, and if not for Picadilly's immense strength and magic hammer, would probably have been a much harder fight.

Busting down the next door, everyone discovered another corridor, spaced similarly, and this time spared no expense in breaking the statues. The statues didn't activate this time, but there were pressure plates beneath the statues. As these pressure plates popped up, the doors slammed shut again, and a poisonous gas started filtering through a vent in the ceiling. Vicks quickly casted Gust of Wind to blow the gas away, while the rogues started working feverishly to beat the mechanism keeping the doors shut. They managed it, just barely, as Vicks's spell gave up.

The party barreled out of the death trap into the next chamber, which turned out to be a large, circular area with numerous statues placed against the walls, and a square altar in the middle. The altar was inscribed with giantish symbols, and the walls were carved with more friezes and frescoes depicting the war between the giants and the dragons.

On the altar were the words: "We are immortal. Though our bodies sleep, we yet live on. We will come again to reclaim this world."

Though there was a pall of religious magic in the chamber, it was surprisingly (or perhaps fortunately) free of traps. Yet both paladins detected an overwhelming evil from beyond the doors. Evil so strong they were at a loss for words.

Opening the double doors at the other end of the chamber, everyone beheld an amazing sight. Beyond the altar room was a massive chamber that stretched high up above them. It was as if an entire mountain was hollowed out, and in this area were many dragon shards, growing naturally out of the ground. The entire room glittered with gold and purple radiance, and the shards, sharp and jagged, stretched between ten to thirty feet tall. In the center of the area was a massive shard, almost fifty feet high, and half as wide, that seemed to be bathed with moonlight. Something... large and human shaped swam within. Closer inspection also revealed that these dark shapes swam in the other crystals as well, and there was no shaking off the uneasy feeling that everyone was being watched.

Vicks touched one of the orange crystals, and was burned by the dire radiance of the crystal. It was so cold it hurt. Quickly, Picadilly tossed a swatch of canvas over the crystal, muting its light. She then swung her hammer at it, to knock off a chunk. Vicks peered under the canvas, and beheld something. Something shadowy pressed itself to the edge of the crystal, and leapt out at him. As he scooted back, Picadilly hammered the chunk off, and wrapped it in the canvas.

Whatever it was the group had come here to do, they had done it. At least now they had proof that the merchant's lode indeed existed, and they could probably give some credible directions to this place. The party exited swiftly, through the hole at the top of the chamber. Picadilly teleported everyone up with her cloak, while Vicks flew up with another in tow. They halted on a grassy verge at the top of a mountain, not too far from the waterfall. The area was littered with standing stones, and at the edge of it was an altar.

The altar was stained with splotches of dried blood, and upon closer inspection, the broken stones echoed a sinister warning in the divine and druidic languages.

"Imprisoned beneath are beings of unspeakable evil. Disturb not their slumber, nor shed blood herein."

What does this chilling warning bode, and is there more to these happenings on Xen'drik than meets the eye? All this and more next week, in Eberron Mystery Theatre.

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Treasure and Experience

1. All adventurers gain a level. Chris, Stab, Picadilly, Jacquesaurs and Diaspo gain enough XP to place them at 36,000 (Level 9). Seran, Akamiya and Vicks gain 4,000 xp.

2. You acquired the following treasure:

a. Black Dragon Scepter - A symbol of the barbarian chieftains, and possessed of potent acid based magic. (11/25 charges, Acid Arrow 1 charge, Caustic Mire 2 charges, Vitriolic Sphere 3 charges). This scepter is light enough to be held in one hand as an off-hand item and inflicts damage as a light mace. It also grants Resist Acid 10 to its owner when held. Claimed by Stab.

b. Belt of Dragon's Teeth - A belt of 8 dragon's teeth. Each tooth can be used create a skeleton or several skeletons as if using the Animate Dead (as a cleric of 8th level, maximum 16 HD) spell once. So long as at least one tooth remains on the belt, the wearer also gains a +2 bonus on Fort saves. This belt radiates evil magic. Claimed by Chris.

c. A Tongue Piercing of Tongues - Whoever wears this tongue piercing gains the ability to speak any language as if using the Tongues spell. This ability is usable at will. Being able to speak any language does not mean you are able to understand it.

d. A Ring of Protection +1 - +1 deflection bonus to AC.

e. A bag of dragon scales - Party reagents and components worth 500 gold.

f. A gigantic chunk of Khyber dragon shard [QUEST] - A ridiculously huge dragon shard that glows orange and purple under its canvas wrapping. It is still cold to the touch, weighs a ton, and is probably worth a small kingdom. You get to keep 20% of this kingdom. :P

g. Miscellaneous Gold and Treasure awarded worth 50 gp each from selling the barbarian's and shaman's equipment.