Session 23

We were back in the Shadowfell. Here, eternal twilight reigned. We stood at the very edge of a broken bridge that spanned to a floating island, and there Orcus’s Black Tower pierced the sky. There wasn’t much time for admiring the view before a small contingent of undead in obsidian armor lumbered toward us. Through sheer force of will, we stood our ground and didn’t draw our weapons. What looked to be their captain confronted us boldly.

“Mortals in the realm of Orcus,” the captain started in a raspy voice. “Why are you here?”

As casually as possible, our group exchanged glances. It was Klotonk who spoke up. “We heard the tower was a...proving ground.” He tried to show the black bone which brought us here, only to find it had turned to ash. He waved us on, and we hurriedly agreed.

The undead captain peered at his soldiers. They broke out into a laugh. “You’re going to get killed.”

Maziel shrugged. “If that’s so, let us pass. We’ll see how long we last.”

The captain clenched his decaying jaw, then he slowly broke out into an unnerving smile. He stepped aside, and extended his arm in the direction of the tower. The rest of the undead parted.

“If you leave the tower, we’ll kill you.” The captain warned, in no way as reassuring as his terrifying grin.

“Fair enough,” I added.

We all but ran inside.

In what we could only assume to be the foyer, stood the most daunting prize of all. From floor to ceiling, a wand like a half spine floated, the tip topped with a crazed skull. Darkness seemed to ooze from it.

“Is that the--” Klotonk gasped.

“Wand of Orcus,” Maziel finished, more wary than amazed.

“Nobody touch it,” I threw in.

We all glanced at Cosmo. The kender huffed, then scurried away, offended.

Immediately in front of us was a stone doorway, but it was sealed by more black stone. To our left and right were additional passageways, so we turned left first, quietly creeping through the narrow hall. A single coffin on a dais waited alone in the room, glyphs and images of Orcus’s tower depicted all around.

“Don’t touch it, Cosmo...” Our red-headed kender mimicked in Maziel’s voice.

Maziel glared at him, but I snorted. “That’s pretty spot on.” I placed a hand on Cosmo’s shoulder. “But seriously, don't touch it. We came here for one thing, so let’s not die before we get it.”

Cosmo cocked an eyebrow at me. “Who are you?”

I smiled and returned to the hallway. Out of options, we made our way right.

This hall was longer. We stopped at a single doorway halfway through that was packed with decaying bodies of bizarre creatures. We promptly closed the portal, and continued on. Our footsteps slowed as we neared the sound of muttering.

Alone in a circular room, an undead centaur was happily painting some sort of ritual on the floor. With precision, it carefully dragged body parts into exact locations. Satisfied, it continued muttering and touching up its design, paying us no mind.

“This can’t be good,” I said in a low voice.

Still, we hesitated. While this creature currently posed no threat, everything within these walls assured us otherwise.

Klotonk cleared his throat, he was standing right beside the beast’s rotting hooves. It glanced down at the gnome, ensuring nothing had been moved out of place.

Then, it grinned widely. “Yes?”

“Hi…” Klo began tentatively, eyes darting around the markings that he stood dead center of. “What are you up to?” He cut right to the chase.

The centaur cocked his head at an unnatural angle. “Why, resurrecting Orcus of course!”

My stomach twisted. I felt my hands inch toward Radiant’s hilt, the rest of us hunching, readying for battle. Klotonk shook his head in our direction, so we held uneasily, unsure of what he intended.

“Can you explain it to me?” Klotonk asked, drawing the centaur's attention.

Annoyance crossed the undead’s features. “Isn’t it obvious?” It began to strut around the room, pointing at various markings. Ever so slightly, Klotonk was nudging pieces out of place, as he trailed the centaur nodding and agreeing with the creature’s insane ramblings.

The centaur was laughing now, elated with his progress, disregarding Klo entirely. It didn’t last, it couldn’t, despite our gnome’s valiant efforts. Klo slipped up, drawing the undead’s attention halfway through scuffing up a glyph.

Utter hatred replaced the centaur’s distracted mirth, it pointed a bony figure at the gnome. “You will die for that.” Somehow, the words came out with excitement.

We hadn’t noticed the bodies in the corner until now, they got to their feet and shambled in our direction. To make matters worse, laughing echoed down the hallway from where we came, in tandem with the centaur.

“Yes, Harthoon will kill you all, then resurrect Orcus, you’ll see!” The centaur giggled.

With that, combat ensued. Maziel and Cosmo immediately went to the farthest reaches of the room, unloading projectiles at the undead nearby. Dagon ran screaming at Harthoon, maul raised high. Meanwhile, Klotonk took to countering whatever spells he and Harthoon were trying to fling at one another.

I stood at the doorway, awaiting the laughing foes heading this way. Now that first room of bodies was far more intimidating a notion. They came, their decomposing limbs waving whatever makeshift weapons they could carry. Their numbers filled the passageway, as they pushed at each other, desperate to get closer and entrap us. We were outnumbered.

A thousand ideas ran through my mind, but most of them came with thoughts of Maziel’s furious reprimands. I was reminded of the last time I tried to take on a horde and almost got devoured. I immediately sheathed Radiant, who seemed entirely disinterested in fighting any of this, and stretched out my hand as I uttered in druidic. I filled the hallway with a wall of fire, stretching it from end to end. The laughter turned to screams, as the undead burned, toppling before they even reached their goal.

“Nooooooo!” Harthoon roared, for once sounding entirely unhappy.

I whipped around, and combat seemed to stop. Harthoon glowered in my direction, and then chuckled, in no way amused. “Fine, then you will die. Taelim.”

There was no time to think, or react in the slightest. There was no way to prevent what came next. With a single word, the lich killed me.

I awoke in the room with no grasp of how long I was out. I just knew that my body ached all over and I felt entirely drained. I blinked up and found Klotonk frowning deeply, relief washing over his features when I came to.

I didn’t bother to move. “What happened?” I groaned.

The gnome hesitated. “Well...you died.”

Groggily, I sat up. Maziel was pacing to and fro, watching the exchange. Dagon and Cosmo waited nearby, a stack of undead at their feet. Harthoon was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Harthoon? He just made it to the top of my shit list.”

“He teleported away.” Klo said quietly.

I sighed, but it came out as more of a growl. I’ll hunt him down in my spare time. Then a different thought crossed my mind. Why was I alive at all. “How did you…?” I met Klo’s gaze. We didn’t have a cleric.

“I had a scroll, in case the worst…”

I closed my eyes, then laughed, but I’m certain my friends could hear the fear in my voice. “And we just got here.” Wearily, I staggered to my feet. “What now?”

“A doorway opened up in the first room,” Maziel said. She had stopped pacing and was studying me carefully, as if evaluating whether or not I was up for the challenge.

“This whole tower, it shifts,” Klotonk added. “It must be constantly opening up new paths.”

“I care about the one that leads us to the Primordial.”

Everyone seemed to watch me. “I’m fine! Let’s go,” so I led the way back to the foyer. The group trailed in silence.

Sure enough, there was a doorway of sorts. It was some kind of gelatinous form that reminded me of congealed blood. A curious Dagon raised his already bloodied hand and poked it. The goo sucked the crimson liquid clean off his hands, and it parted slightly.

“Blood offerings, can’t say I’m surprised.” I said aloud.

“Let’s give this!” Cosmo piped up. He was dragging half the body of an undead.

Maziel pulled out her knife and opened up a wound. It still bled. The drow picked up the undead and pushed it into the ooze. It took the body eagerly, and we watched, in horror, as it sucked the form dry. Then the ooze parted entirely, satiated, making just enough room for us to get through. We bolted past.

Carefully, we picked our way through the next series of rooms that led left, since the right was blocked off by another stone wall. Maziel took the lead, and I was in the rear, tired, but refusing to admit it.

This next room proved less fatal. The hallway ended in a rectangular room where a silver gorilla was imprinted on the door. It was twice my size, and paced inside the frame that bound it there.

“I’m hungry!” It roared, face pressed against the door, pointing to its gaping mouth.

I stopped to entertain it, and Maziel pressed on quietly down a different path.

“What do you want?” I asked the door.

“I’m hungry!” It repeated doggedly.

I rummaged in my bag, and found some dried fruit, then dropped it into the creature’s metallic mouth. At once its face scrunched up, and it spit out the remains.

I looked at the mess on the floor, then turned to my friends. “You deal with it.” I went to follow Maziel down the shadowy hall.

A gloved hand was immediately over my mouth, and Maziel placed a single finger on her lips before lowering both her hands.

“Taelim,” she said, barely a whisper. “There’s someone in the next room. She’s distressed.”

“Okay, what do you want from me?” I replied in a low voice.

Maziel’s eyes darted about, making sure no one followed. “You’re good with people. But she...might prove an obstacle for you. Promise not to overreact.”

I sighed. “I hate when you do things like this,” I said before nodding. “Lead the way.”

Like a shadow, Maziel whisked ahead, stopping at the doorway outlining her frame with firelight. I paused beside her, taking in the massacre. Bodies of robbed figures littered the room, and in the center was a skeletal tree that reached the ceiling. In the farthest reaches of the space, a woman was curled beside the wall, muttering, clearly in shock.

It took me another second before I recognized the emblems they all bore, the five-headed dragon, Tiamat. Cultists. I shot Maziel a glance, but the drow returned a face that suggested, We can always leave her. That made it my choice to stay.

I bit back my grumblings and quietly approached the woman with dark skin and a frightened expression. “Hey, are you alright?” No, Taelim, obviously. I placed a hand on her shoulder anyway.

The woman reached up and grabbed it, clinging to it with her thin hands. Her long nails dug into my skin, terrified. “Don’t leave me!”

“I won’t,” I returned, reassuringly. I put both hands on her arms, and gently lifted her to her feet. “What’s your name?”

She stared at me blankly, and uncertainty took over. “I-I don’t remember,” she glanced around the room, as if her memories were fading. “I just...please….”

“Well, you can call me Taelim. That miserable drow is Maziel. The rest of my friends and I are working our way out of this place. You can join us.”

She nodded her head vigorously. “Please.”

“I’ll need something to call you,” I said, leading her toward the exit.

She was studying her hands which gripped my arm. Distantly she replied. “Nails will do.”

Maziel waited patiently all the while. In that time, she had carefully regarded the glimmering sword beside a body before deeming it safe to pick up. It was wreathed with gems, clearly more for decoration than damage, but she took it with her all the same.

Nails and I continued down the passage, and Maziel followed behind, smiling to herself.

“Give me back my money!” Dagon was screaming at the gorilla. “You spit the food out!”

“I’m still hungry!”

“Here,” Maziel said, offering the decorative sword and lowering it into the gorilla’s void-like mouth.

“Mmm!” The gorilla door patted its belly, then belched. He turned solid as the door, and it fell forward with a resounding boom, saying no more.

We stepped inside the next part of the tower, just at the floor shifted beneath us. The path behind us was gone, and the only way was forward.