While Yukiko's ritual weakens the Groetan crypt defences, the rest of the group press on, destroy 12 Groetan mummies, then ally with the undead Groetan high priest to defeat Ardathanatus and close the portal on demon lord Yamasoth.
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[1-Oct]
Summary:
- Yukiko does Ritual of Sanctification
- Destroy 4 x Will-o-wisp type creatures
- Burn 12 mummies
- Convince Mummy Lord Kandamereus to assist us against Ardathanatus
- Destroy 2 x Stone Golems, 2 x Gongorian Crab demons, and 4 x Sinspawn
- Kill Ardathnatus, prevent Yamasoth from entering via the Doomsday Door, retrieve Shard of Envy (secured in Ioun Stone)
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Journal :
Yukiko decided to try a Ritual of Sanctification to suppress the magic runes in the trapped hallway. She could run the ritual for an hour. The runes in the hall turned silver as they were suppressed.
Beyond the trapped hall, we find a column with runes inscribed upon it. It tells us to present the Key to the End Times and State the Grotin Prayer to be recognised as an Acolyte.
We don't know the prayer and shortly after we entered the room, the runes began glowing brighter and swirled into four wispy figures, which we assumed were Grotin Guardians but looked like will-o-wisps. They attack us and we fought back, destroying them. The runic words dissipated upon their defeat. We could see globes of blue light shaped like skulls within the walls, but they were held back by Yukiko's magic. Upon a brief, closer inspection, we could see the skulls were surrounded by runes of light.
We hurried into the next room where there were four sarcophagi around the four corners with a fifth in the middle, with the lid partly opened. Claw peered inside and saw a skeleton with skull damage. It appeared that the corpse had gotten up and been struck down again. Claw closes the lid, just in case, and he decides to run ahead and see if he can see anything. The rest of the party started back to the previous room where there were further doors, when Claw came running back with a small horde of mummies behind him. Other mummies rise up out of the sarcophagi around us. Claw killed one but due to the sheer numbers, I decided to lay down a Wall of Fire, catching 7 mummies in the initial wall, destroying them. The rest of the mummies mindlessly strode into the fire and burned away.
We proceed along the burial chambers and find a sarcophagus with 2 doomsday locks. A Mummy Lord steps out and introduces himself as Kandamereus. We convince him, using Ardathanatus' Diary (Secrets of the Black Fire) in which he had admitted his crimes, that we were not the threat and we were only there to stop Ardathanatus. He asked us a series of questions about the state of the world, which we answered, and Claw invited him to come fight Ardathanatus with us, which he agreed to do. I was able to pick the second doomsday lock, which we turned the key in the first, and we were able to proceed towards the Door.
The next door was guarded by two stone golems carved with Ardathanatus' face. We fought them and after some struggle, I struck down the first and Claw struck down the second. Before proceeding through the next door, Kandamereus informed us that Zolerim had another Doomsday Key on his person, so Koriah quickly ran off to fetch it so we could proceed. When she returned, we moved into the next room. 4 Sinspawn, 2 demon crabs, and Ardathanatus stood in front of a pulsing 'breathing' door. When the door exhaled, anyone of Good or Lawful mind, were injured. When the door inhaled, anyone of Evil or Chaotic mind were healed.
Claw charged in and started to attack. As we were again outnumbered, I cast Fire Storm, striking every enemy in the room. Ardathanatus cast Blade Barrier, which caught all of us but Claw. Most the enemies headed towards Claw and the Crabs grabbed hold of him. We headed towards him to try to rescue him. Koriah killed a Sinspawn. Clank killed a crab demon and a sinspawn. Another Fire Storm took out two more sinspawn. Claw was able to avoid getting beheaded and Kandamereus killed the final crab.
As we fought against Ardathanatus, we could see the door slowly widen. Knowing we did not want that door to open, I shapechanged into an Adult Red Dragon and planted myself in front of the Door, preventing it from opening further. Koriah killed Ardathanatus and, as feared, his death opened a portal briefly behind the Door. Yamasoth tried to push through by I held it shut against his first shove. Claw held it shut against the second shove. He did not have a third attempt as the portal closed, preventing the Demon Lord from entering our realm.
Taking human form, I plucked the Shard from Ardathanatus' body and trapped it within the Ioun Stone. I got a vision of a Towering Green Spire in Varisia, most likely the Gilt Spire on the Storval Plateau, which we knew to be part embassy, part laboratory, and part portal.
Kandamereus excused himself back to his crypt and we looted the bodies.
We would need to make our way back to Magnimar, but perhaps we would sanctify the upper church and the Foxglove Manor first.
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