Recent events have left the Heroes haggard and weary, but they still press on towards their goal. The elven vampire Ctenmir has been driven off in defeat, and the party has also vanquished the fallen Purple Dragon officer Sir Guy sans Pite and his lackeys (though none among them recognized the villain, and so were unable to collect the reward for his head). Returning to the center of the dungeon meant crossing back through deadly traps: Kheldar, still feeling the effects of his encounter with the vampire, fell prey to the frictionless pit-trap room, nearly succumbing to the super-tetanus of the room's rusty blades before his body was able to fight off the infection. The heat-trap room was much more easily avoided thanks to an ice storm spell from Khelendros' wand.
Venturing down the remaining passage, the party did not have long to wait before encountering the next obstacle: a patch of green slime hidden among the muck covering the floor. Kheldar once again was the target, losing his boots (and very nearly his life) before he was able to destroy the slime with his frost brand Tundra. The next door brought them to a room containing five inert, numbered flesh golems and a plaque instructing them to place the golems in the correct order. Impatience sped the Heroes' hands, however, and they made a rash -- and incorrect -- choice, animating the golems.
A pitched battled ensued, during which half the party was brought to unconsciousness by the golems before they themelves were destroyed (if not for a tactical error by Khelendros, the battle likely would've ended sooner: the elf blasted half the golems with a lightning bolt, healing the damage they had already suffered and removing the slow effect they were under due to the party's fire spells).
Sensing the end of their quest was near, the party refused to retreat, instead pressing on through the next door. Passing through a one-way iron turnstile symbolized the "no turning back" mindset the Heroes possessed. That mindset was put to the test, however, when the next door revealed a massive cavern containing a series of slippery wooden platforms suspended by chains from the ceiling, which led to a door on the far side; falling from the platforms meant a 50-foot plunge into the boiling mud that filled the bottom of the cavern. At first, the party's plan was to rope themselves together and swing, one by one, from platform to platform. That plan very nearly cost all of them their lives; one slip led to another, and another, until they were all clinging by their fingernails (and during the scramble to safety, Nexus experienced the boiling mud firsthand). No sooner were they back to the relative safety of the platforms than a mud-geyser erupted, scalding them all and nearly sending them tumbling off once more.
Khelendros and Rennek finally provided a solution: the druid changed to bird form, flew the free end of the rope to the far side & tied it off, while the wizard/cleric used levitate on himself to act as a living ferry across the cavern. The platform on the far side was too small for them all to stand on, so the exhausted Heroes spilled out into the narrow corridor beyond, where they pause to catch their breath before continuing onward...
MARPENOTH 8-9, 1371 (played 07/31/01):
In surprisingly short order, the heroes have vanquished the ogre wizard Qesnef and claimed the enchanted sword Blackrazor needed to free the curse on the Sword of the Dales, as well as granting final death to the vampire Ctenmir and defeating Keraptis' efreeti servants Nix & Nox. All that remains now is to free Khelendros from the room trapping him and bring down the wall of force blocking the exit...
MARPENOTH 9-10, 1371 (played 08/07/01):
Khelendros, trapped alone in a room containing a series of nine silvery spheres hanging from the ceiling, eventually found himself with no option but to smash one of the globes. Inside were several gems (later found to be fakes), and a stone key. The key fit in the door's lock but failed to open the portal, so the elf was forced to continue searching. This nearly proved fatal, as the next sphere released an angry air elemental! The elemental nearly slew Khelendros before he could injure it enough to make it flee -- where his waiting companions quickly finished it off. While the others continued trying to open the door, Khelendros resumed his sphere-breaking, releasing a shower of gems, lead coins, glass baubles, a scattering of magical items, numerous stone keys -- and a grey ooze and three shadows. Fortunately for the battered elf, his companions were able to force the door open momentarily, allowing several of them to enter the room and help fight off the freed monsters. Together, they found the correct key and left the room, heading for the exit at last. The wall of force proved unusually susceptible to a dispel magic and shattered, revealing for an instant the identity of its caster -- the notorious archmage Halaster Blackcloak, the insane creator of the largest & deadliest dungeon in all of Faerun -- Undermountain! Consideration of this news led them to the conclusion that "Keraptis" was apparently a ruse, a cover used by Halaster in the construction of this early precursor to Undermountain centuries ago for reasons unknown...
Shaken by this revelation but grateful to be free once more, the Heroes returned to the site where they left their horses, only to find them gone. A weary six-hour trek brought them back to the village they had last visited, where not only was their hired groom waiting with their horses, but he informed them they had been gone not for three days as they believed, but an astonishing thirty days! The calendar date is now Uktar 10, 1371, and their sense of urgency is heightened once more...
UKTAR 10-15, 1371 (played 08/14/01):
The Heroes have made the four-day journey back to the home of Geoffrey O'Sulta to receive instructions on what to do with the swords. Geoffrey was not home; however, his apprentice Tethlae took them in and provided them with a letter from her master. The letter instructed them to take a provided token-key to a field outside a nearby village and touch it to an ancient grave-marker; doing so, they found it opened a portal -- Geoffrey's letter assured them it would take them to Mulhorand, near the resting place of their next quest-item: the Hammer of Anhur.
Passing through the portal, the party found themselves standing in the middle of a seemingly endless stretch of desert sand, the sun hanging mercilessly overhead. A long, hot day's trek brought them in sight of the Oasis of Addis mentioned in Geoffrey's letter. Khelendros recklessly tore off ahead of the party, quickly stripped off his gear and clothing, and leaped into the oasis pool before anyone could stop him. The folly of his actions became quickly apparent when the two score robed warriors praying at poolside drew their weapons and surrounded the party. Amber attempted to forestall any bloodshed by speaking to their leader, Afik, in his native Mulhorandi. Afik explained that Khelendros had defiled their sacred pool and punishment must be meted out; the party was then instructed to disarm themselves and go to a tent to await sentence. Amber explained this to the others, but Kheldar, Rennek, Khelendros and Nexus didn't trust the warriors and refused to comply, so the situation quickly degenerated into chaos...
UKTAR 15, 1371 (played 08/21/01):
The battle against the dervishes proved a lesson in humility for the Heroes of Daggerdale, and it cost one of their number his life. Kheldar immobilized the majority of the foes with a single entangle spell, and the remainder rushed to attack Nexus, seemingly compelled to seek him out over the other Heroes. For his part, Nexus had disobeyed Jacen's instructions and taken up the enchanted sword Blackrazor as an apparent honor to his god, but was unwilling to fatally strike down the dervishes when it became apparent they could not even strike the more skillful elf. The dervish leader Afik ran to the sacred pool while Khelendros cast an invisibility spell on himself and tried to intercept him. While Rennek summoned a dire ape to chase down Afik, Amber and Jacen stood aside, unwilling to join in the senseless battle their companions had started.
Reaching the sacred pool, Afik threw a small amulet in before being brought down by the dire ape. The invisible Khelendros attempted to heal the fallen dervish, as a large water elemental rose out of the pool and strode towards the battle. Afik revived and, as Khelendros lowered his invisibility to signal the dervish to be silent, fell into some sort of trance. The elemental turned around and attacked Khelendros; the elf, naked and unarmed, was no match for the enraged creature and quickly perished beneath its watery fists.
By this time, Nexus was finishing off knocking out the last of the dervishes attacking him and was prepared to leave, but Blackrazor mentally dominated him and forced him to kill the helpless dervishes in cold blood before he could rid himself of the sword; the others had decided enough was enough, called out to their companions, and began riding to the far side of the oasis. That's when they saw the elemental standing over the fallen Khelendros. Amber could not be restrained from attacking the foe of her god Kossuth, and unleashed a volley of fire-magic that savagely wounded the elemental before Nexus delivered the killing blow.
At the death of the elemental, the surviving dervishes fell to their knees and began a horrible wailing. The sacred pool quickly drained to nothing, and the surrounding vegetation began to wither and die. Afik came out of his trance and, without saying a word, led his people out into the trackless dunes, their heads hung low. The full measure of their actions at last set in: in destroying the oasis, they had perhaps doomed an entire people to death by dehydration. Though the individual initially responsible had paid with his life, the entire group shared the burden of guilt. Rennek offered to reincarnate Khelendros and, after consulting with the elf's spirit for permisison, the party agreed. The spell was cast, and an hour later Khelendros returned to the group -- in the body of a centaur!
UKTAR 16-NIGHTAL 1, 1371 (played 08/21/01):
Confusion, heated words, and shame abounded as the Heroes of Daggerdale attempted to sort out their actions. Amber was furious with the group for not heeding her warnings, Jacen was upset with Nexus for ignoring his instructions and wielding Blackrazor, and the rest of the group was angered by Amber and Jacen's unwillingness to aid their comrades in battle. Khelendros and Nexus were both embarrassed by their actions, but that night their shame was heightened immensely when a vision of Tempus appeared to them and told them Blackrazor was a tool of his immortal foe Garagos and, in not only wielding it but allowing himself to be dominated by it, Nexus had effectively spurned his god's favor. Nexus begged forgiveness and asked for atonement, and the answer came -- destroy the sword.
The party set forth with grim determination, seeking to end their quest and put things right in this land. As penance to Tempus for their actions, Khelendros and Nexus made the journey without food, only allowing themselves the barest amount of water to survive. Though their hunger left them gaunt and weakened, they perservered, their faith unwavering. Midway through their trek, a strange desert beast lured Kheldar in with an illusory pool of water before trapping him in its starfish-like limbs. The ranger was able to free himself, but rather than continue onward with the others, Rennek destroyed the relatively immobile creature with a flaming sphere. That night, the druid received a vision of his own, in which Mielikki symbolically told him the creature he slew, though monstrous, was nevertheless a part of the natural order and did not deserve to be slain needlessly. Rennek vowed to consider his own actions more closely in the future.
After enduring sandstorms (during which Khelendros reamined outside in the scouring sands as further penance) and a sinkhole that nearly claimed them all, their travels finally paid off: the spirit of Amun-Re came to them one night, telling them of his sad tale of power, arrogance, greed, revenge, and atonement. He led the heroes across the desert for four days, stopping to repeat his tale each night, begging them to end his curse and free the land by looting his impregnable tomb. At last, on the Feast of the Moon, the spirit of Amun-Re raised his arm and pointed to their goal: a massive stone pyramid, looming out of the desert sands, beckoning them to their fates...
