Session10

We left off after the deaths of mammon and felkar, faen made camp and hugathyr eventually woke up from being knocked out. Only the two of you now remain. Outside your makeshift camp the lay the corpses of your friends and the two giant abominable yeti you had slain. To the north the ever glowing crystal sits perched high in the sky, a large frozen ocean sits between you and it. At least another week or twos travel across unforgiving terrain.

-players head north.

(Survival DC 12 check to determine how well you make it across the terrain, increase time travel)

A few days later the ice to your west seems to be split showing the ocean waters. However the ice you're standing on seems to be getting thicker and thicker. Creating a kind of sheer ice cliff that falls down into the icey water below you. No more than half a days travel forward you can see a long 100ft seemingly naturally formed ice bridge that leads across to a small island that juts out high out of the ocean. Across the other side on the ocean is a naturally formed temple. The design and style very similar to the one you saw in mechanus, however instead of being made of gears it's pure ice. It gives the same feeling of almost being naturally formed. However the detail and functionality proves it was definitely intelligent design. A strange sense of belonging washes over you as if this place was built for you. On your side of the bridge a man who looks like (get felkar to describe) sits looking perplexed toward the other side.

You can still see the glow shining from your north at least a few more days travel. At this point you can barely make out that it seems to be coming from a huge crystal atop a giant spire.

TEMPLE OF ICE
As you make your way across the bridge you feel the wind begin to pick up. After a few steps trying to cross the wind is whipping across your face with enough force that you're slowly being pushed toward the side of the bridge toward the icy water below. With every step you take the force of the wind only increases.

-players figure a way across (fyrahs boots etc)

Finally at the other end of the bridge a large crystalline temple lays before you. A deep ancient word is carved in the ice above the temple doors. (celestial) connected. On a raised platform about 20 ft from the door sits a mirror pointed upward.

-players open the door (use the mirror to melt the frozen doors)

With a deep crack the ice splits and shatters down the door as they slide open, revealing a large, open room. The walls and floors are a deep and solid polished ice. A deep echo bounces off the walls as the doors come to a stop. Before you an elf sits frozen in a chunk of ice in the center of the room. As the light passes into the room from the mirror outside it falls upon the chunk of ice. Melting it partially and revealing his head. The elfs eyes open however his body remain stuck in the chunk of ice.

--solve puzzle

As the final mirror falls into place you hear a deep rumble and ground begins to tremble beneath your feet as the wall at the opposite end slides out of place revealing an ornate chest.

chest loot bound to the first person who opens it

Leaving the place now and on the way back across the bridge you find the wind has stopped.

CRYSTAL SPIRE
Finally after a week of travel, before you lays a great towering spire that pierces the skies. The tallest structure any of you have ever seen. A deep moat surrounds the entire structure further reinforced by a sheer ice wall around 60ft tall which is heavily patrolled by frost giants. Only one thin draw bridge connects the spire to lands around it.

-History check reveals frost giants are not respectful folk, they only bow to strength and nothing else. However they are definitely do not have the ability to create a spire like this.

-if the players attempt to use diplomacy here they are met with spears.

-if the players try to cross the bridge the frost giants simply hurl spears at them from above the wall.

-PLAYERS GET PAST THE WALLS

Inside the wall you can see the center spire structure. It's a circular structure surrounded by 6 smaller circular pieces that spiral upwards, it's located about 100ft from the inside of each wall. The entire ground between the out wall and the inner structure is flat ice with no cover. From your current location you can only see the one main entrance. (if night powerful torches occasionally sweep across the area illuminating the dark)

-Standing by the doorway you can hear the sounds of two frost giants talking on the other side in (giant)

"Why do we work for that weak black cloaked man. He is so weak and puny"

"We don't work for him, we work for the one he serves. His might is supreme. With just a shadow of himself he crushed our leaders head. Even though we do lot of work to build this place it is much more comfortable than caves"

1ST FLOOR
Other than the food being prepared here there is a small food shoot that seems to service the few floors above it. A small human sized beds. Definitely no frost giants sleeping here and a cupboard containing some spare clothes and a few black cloaks. frost giants? combat? Stacks of rubbish and some basic foods, supplies and firewood enough for a night. A few statues all depicting the same demon like creature. Similar to a tiefling but far more sinister and with larger horns.
 * Kitchen
 * Bedroom
 * Dining Hall
 * Back entrance

-

2ND FLOOR - STORE ROOM
A vast store room, filled to the brim with dry firewood and meats. Definitely far more bounty than this desolate place has to offer. Another set of stairs at the back lead up.

(if no frost giant) Two frost giants seem to be leaning against the stairway up.

3RD FLOOR - BARRACKS
Large giant sized bunks fill the room from wall to wall. This is most likely where the guards come to sleep, and of course another set of stairs.

(if no frost giant) Two frost giants seem to be leaning against the stairway up.

4TH FLOOR - MAGICAL STUFF

This floor seems to be filled to the brim with magical engravings and deep crystal channels that seems to be sending powerful arcane forces through them and circulating up the structure.

-Arcana check reveals spatial and planar magic seem to be passing through the crystal pipes.

- The exact same type of magical channels can be seen on each floor, climbing up and and up what appears to be a never ending set of stairs. You have been climbing for a least 2 hours now and you're starting to feel the fatigue.

(DC 10 constitution save) or take 4 points of damage and a point of exhaustion.

Finally now the stairs and rooms seem to be getting narrower as you approach the peak. The crystal channels have begun to converge into thinner and brighter pipes. The floor plan has also changed and instead it appears to be some form of control room about 50square feet. At the opposite end you can see a small hunched over human. He carries a walking cane and his clothes resemble that of Leona the red mage you saw in Melvaunt. Although incredibly dirty. As he shifts positions you hear a clinking and see a small chain attached to his ankle.

-IF he spots the players - "I'm working you bastards, the stabilization has already been complete. I'm maintaining the portals location as you requested"... He adjusts his glasses and squints at you. "Wait, You're not black, who are you".

(Who are you) Im'a a red mage, part of the Order of yoke.. Perhaps, the last of the order. We exist in the Ethereral plane and oversee the borders between the realms. Make sure no holes appear.

(what are you doing here/what is this place) They keep me here to control the energy that's sucked up from plane border, and to control the location of portal to make sure anyone who comes through dies far away from here. That bastard wiped out my order, ands trying to collapse all the realms into one. I had wanted to try and disrupt their plans from the inside, that's why I agreed. But they already had fully functioning plans for this device. It seems they could train others to operate it and complete their plans even without me. So now my only hope is to try escape, and warn others, or hope Leona notices and tries to fix it from her end.

-Black is on the floor above, he usually spends most of his time there conversing with whoever his master is.

-He is maintaining the portal far away from the spire because they don't want any adventurer guild members to disrupt their plans. He had heard they had almost been interrupted in Mechanus.

- The portals will stabilize themselves after a few hundred years, however after 4-6 portals are completed it will cause a chain reaction that will collapse all the realms into each other killing at least 99% of all life in all the realms.

- He can control the position of the portal moving it to anywhere int he realm should they wish to escape. (or perhaps moving it to another location if they have things they need to go back and get)

- PLAYERS HEAD UP

Before you find a deep red rug leading up the stairs to a wooden door. Behind it you hear the ominous sounds of chanting from a voice you recognize. The black cloaked man from Melvaunt. The chanting stops and you feel the air around you shift and slightly be pulled toward and through the cracks in the door. And then the black cloaks voice again.

"Master! our plans have succeeded the second point of destabilization has been established. I have begun preparations for the next portal".

"Gooood, see too it that no more mistakes are made. Should we have another repeat of melvaunt you will consider yourself lucky to just be demoted". The candles in the hallway next to you flicker and the wind shifts with every word he speaks. As if the very elements fear his voice."

"Of course my liege, I have already taken precautions by placing the portal so far away. Our intelligence has already revealed at least 4 teams from the adventurers guild have died in the frozen wastes".

"I am not interested in the details. Contact me again after the next portal has been established, My avatar is in the prime material plane at the moment and should not be disturbed".

With that the flickering lights stop and you hear the black cloaked man stand back up.

'''-players enter - Inside the room is a small alter room with a ritual bowl and carvings along the floor. The room is no bigger than 40 square feet. There are a few book cases against the walls and an odd looking Archway toward the back wall.'''

"You! Impossible!, how did you get here."

-he offers no new information and simply tells them they are too late. (while subordinate demons will often jump at the chance to betray their superiors to replace them asmodeus is far too powerful and only an existence worse than death would await, also demons that are not killed in the 9 hells are simply sent back)

BOSSFIGHT PHASE 1

2d8 (two attacks sword in each hand = 4d8 + 5 to hit) 60hp.

"As you strike him down the ground with a fatal blow you see his face change from pain to an eerie grin. To think I would have to take on my true form to deal with some weak mortals." You see his body begin to swell and his wounds split as the large form of a horned demon tears out of the mortal body.

BOSS FIGHT + MINIONS AS NEEDED AND DONT FORGET MUSIC

When the boss gets to 60hp he pulls out a mysterious book and starts chanting. (1 action) Which opens a portal in the archway at the back of the room. If the players deal more than 30% points of damage on their round, or specifically target his hand the book is knocked free from his hand and across the room. He then attempts to exit through the portal.

COMBAT ENDED LOOT; BOOK 0 BELT OF HILL GIANTS STRENGTH

--self notes--

Players are too late the portal has been reinforced and now can't be removed.

Melvaunts portal was a test by weakening the boundaries between planes which is why it was so unstable.

doorway artifact (big ol door in the room)