Session 12

The party set out for the western city. The place was deserted since the Avalonians ceded it to encroaching Astraean forces. They began to search for anything that looked out of place that might house the demonic artifact. Along the way they met a young Avalonian who went by the name of Ike. Ike claimed to be a "real hero" and was scouting the area for the exact demon artifact they were looking for. He believed the dragon had been tapping into its power to summon the hordes it had been using to raid Avalon. He was hoping to be the big hero of the war by destroying the artifact, not realizing that the battle had already been won and the dragon was dead. He was disappointed to hear that but still wished to help in the efforts to destroy the artifact. He was skilled with the bow so the party allowed him to come along.

After some searching they found an entrance to an old temple hidden magically in the basement of a city councilor. Inside were puzzles left there to keep the artifacts from falling into wrong hands. These puzzles included some incredibly powerful illusions that showed those of weak minds their greatest fears and strongest desires in an effort to stall them, among other, more embarrassing and strange illusions. There were also some strange, snake-like people there trying to conduct a blood ritual who attacked the party on sight. After figuring out some of the puzzles, the party realized that these rituals were the key to obtaining the artifact.

After figuring out the rituals the party set to imitating it. Sam Fariman figured out that the well in the central room could be used to create an endless supply of blood. Zathras was able to decipher the symbols the snake-men where using and figured out how to complete the ritual. When all was done the glyphs were activated.

A massive light shot out of the sky into Lake Themes below. The waters bubbled up and a gigantic dragon skeleton, bigger than anything they had ever seen before, came up and burst through the bottom of the city. The party was now face to face with a giant skeleton head of a dragon. When they realized it wasn't attacking them they examined it closer. It didn't seem to have any kind of real life, it just hovered there. They began searching the skeleton for the demon artifact. Zathras got a sense that the demonic essence was strongest at a certain spot in the skull. Fariman stabbed the skull at the spot that was pointed at to him and cut out a fragment of the skull that possessed this demonic energy. Freyja Hrolfsdottir managed to grab this fragment and fly out of the skull as the skeleton collapsed back into lake below.

Aravo Zacksted, who had some luck with the demonic artifacts in the past, asked to be given the fragment so he could examine it. Freyja handed it to him. Aravo couldn't tell whether it was active or not so he attempted to tap into its powers to make sure. A moment later he disappered completely. Zathras attempted to scry him and learned that he was trapped in a cage in another plane.