Moon Giant, Star Sworn Nagas and The Spoil Pit

 "I can feel the power of this sword, Teralindar's Honor, it is not overwhelming me though," Erevel exclaimed testing out the feel of the intelligent weapon.

"Just don't wave it around me too closely," Gavril retorted.

"I am still not feeling too well," Ursina said softly.

"I could use some help also," Erevel added.

Ciprian began his Greater Path of Glory to heal up the rest of the party.

"Where should we head now?" Erevel queried.  "I think we should find the other Star Stelae.  At least to know where it is and what might be there."

"I think we should exit the tower out of Lowls' camp and try to find where we are in the city at that point," Ciprian advised.

So the party headed down to the campground which was quite disturbed, the tents were strewn about, if they were even seen.  The bedrolls and other mundane items had been tossed about by the winds of the Polyp and air still escaped from the well at a high rate.

Scouting by Barnabas revealed that the party was physically in the southern central portion of the city. At this point the group determined to head to the round building to at least find the third Star Stelae and see what might be in the area.  To this end they headed directly east to the edge of Neruzavin and the followed the outskirts to the cliff leading upwards to the mesa where the round building stood.  Using Ciprian's levitation and their ropes the group made their way up to the top of the mesa and then to their goal.

Massive staircases climbing 20 feet up the sloping exterior of a short, rounded, basalt tower ringed with unadorned columns. Open doors at street level led into the sanctuary.  The party stopped and looked at the tower from the south.  Ciprian sensed some magic around the whole edifice and Gavril sniffed the same as he approached behind Erevel.  

Erevel moved up to the south stairway and started to head up to the closed doors.  Gavril stopped about 20 feet from the tower as he took damage just walking toward it.  Ciprian continued to learn about the magic and determined that some sort of forbiddance was active in the area.

"We won't even be able to teleport or dimension door into this area." he concluded.

Erevel continued up the stairs to the doors which had no handle, locking or opening mechanism.  She pushed the doors and they opened easily revealing a large chamber.  Eight broad skylights in the domed ceiling connected the spacious room to the sky above. At the center of the chamber stood a familiar, cylindrical monument with a single flat face inscribed with several runes. At the far end of the chamber looking over some papers was a giant whose gray skin sparkled as if with reflected light and was pocked with what looked like impact craters on its rocklike surface.  It turned slowly and asked in a surly manner "Who are you and why are you interrupting my work?"

"We are looking for a man called Lowls, who may have been here.  We want to stop him from his terrible path," Erevel responded.

"Lowls, damn him," the giant retorted.  "I arrived here almost 3 years ago in order to gaze upon the stars. I have found that the location, the unique observatory, the Star Stela, or some combination of the three seems to magnify the celestial voices that direct my divinations. My tenure has nearly come to an end, for I have little more to give the naga custodians as tribute in exchange for my exclusive access. However, I fervently believe that I am close to a breakthrough and require just a few months more to conclude my observations."

He then sighed loudly, "I might have accepted this but the waxing moon has polluted my view of the stars.  More importantly, I am angry at the nagas.  They broke their contract with me, evicting me for a night in favor of the impudent scholar Lowls"

"We are not here to bother you but we need to find this Lowls.  We will eliminate him for you." Erevel said.

"Can you get the nagas to allow me to stay longer?" the giant responded.

"We can try. Where are they?"

 "They reside in the chamber below."

Erevel made her way back to the party and related the discussion.  She said she was going to go talk to the Naga.  The rest of the party determined they would follow and stepped closer to the domed building.  As they did so each took some damage.  Erevel was still perplexed with their reluctance.  Ciprian began a performance to heal the damage the party had experienced and the group headed to the southeastern entrance.  The door was open but it was dark inside.  Erevel approached and hailed the Naga while her sight adjusted to the dark.

Hundreds of stylized stars adorned the walls and ceiling of the chamber, many of them connected by lines to form a menagerie of constellations. The floor and ceiling both curved outward, forming a gentle bowl depression and domed arch respectively. A series of patterned silk cushions and warm bronze braziers provided unexpected comfort for such an inhospitable region.

Just as Erevel spoke Ciprian hurled a sunrod into the room, lighting the whole area up.  The naga turned at the noise seemingly waking from a rest.

"Who disturbs our nap?" one of them asked.

"We are on a mission for the giant above.  He said he needs more time to finish his studies," Erevel began.

"We are actually on the trail of Count Lowls, who we heard had been here and negotiated a deal with you," Ciprian said changing the focus of the conversation.

"We know of this Lowls, but what could you want with him?" another naga replied.

"We have unfinished business with the cad.  What did he want from you?" Ciprian continued.

"When Lowls arrived seeking the Star Stela here, the we challenged him. He invited us to tell his future, and we divined that his actions would herald a great change to the heavens. We evicted the giant Olkoshim and let Lowls perform his ritual. Thus far no change has affected the sky, but we are patient."

"What are you looking for here in Neruzavin?"

"We  converged on Neruzavin at the same time from different directions, each called by an ineffable force. We found the sky perfect for stargazing, and each night the stars sang to them more beautifully than the last. We three sang back, promising to honor this sacred place as long as we live."

"Might you be interested in a view of the stars from another planet?"

"That may be of interest.  Why would you ask?"

"It is possible we will travel to another planet in the near future.  You would be welcome to join us."

"We will ponder this and possibly we will talk again."

At this the group left the observatory and decided to search for the second entrance to the lower levels of Neruzavin.  Hoshbagh had indicated that a second entrance was just to the west of the observatory. After around a half hour of searching the group spied a stone cap, very similar to the now broken cap on the well, that was in excellent condition.

"Can't we just break the stone?" Gavril asked.

"These caps were made to withstand much damage as they were a tertiary blockage to deter the Polyps.  Still they are hard to break," Kaklatath responded.

"I guess we will have to head back the the camp and the open well," Erevel suggested.

The party then headed for the camp and peered down the well.  It was still quite dark in the well at the limit of Erevel's darkvision.  Ciprian leapt into the void using his levitation and carrying rope.

The shaft descended in an 80-foot-long vertical shaft with walls scarred by the recent, destructive passage of the flying polyp.  Ciprian was carrying a sunrod as the whole shaft and room at the bottom were dark.  He emerged 20 feet above the floor of a cavern whose stone ceiling dipped and rose with undulating unpredictability. The hewn walls likewise seemed unfinished, and heaps of rubble and gravel lay scattered about the area.  Two areas in the middle of the cavern were not excavated and rose to the ceiling in pillars.  Seeing nothing else in the cavern Ciprian signaled for the crew to descend.

As the party was scouting the room and its only apparent exit to the northeast two creatures made of fossilize bone from their horned shoulders to their tyrannosaur skulls stepped out of the pillars.  The battle was on as Gavril found the creatures had some Damage Resistance.  Armania discovered that magic spells didn't seem to work.  Ciprian was invisible so one of the monsters laid out Kaklatah, who was dragged out of danger by Ursina.

Ciprian determined that these were Fossil Golems, constructs, with Damage Resistance to all but Adamantine and it also had Petrification.  He cast Greater Invisibility on himself as Agna fired arrows to little effect.  As the battle progressed Erevel and Gavril lost Dexterity after being damaged by the bite of the monsters.  Armania summoned an actual Tyrannosaurus Rex which grappled one of the Golems while Erevel and Gavril continued to beat it into submission.  The other monster moved toward Agna but bumped into Ciprian but it couldn't find the invisible Bard.  Agna moved up to attack but soon found herself under siege and had to retreat.  Ursina left Kaklatath to attack the monster with her book as the party had found bludgeoning damage to be more effective.

One enemy was dispatched and the TRex moved to grapple the other as Ciprian and Ursina took turns bashing it with Ursina delivering the kill.  Now healing was applied to all including bringing Kaklatath back from unconsciousness.  No magic or magic items are discovered, even any previous victim's bones are missing, if they ever existed.

Now ready for the next test and awaiting the encounter with Flying Polyps the crew starts down the only exit.  The passage was rough hewn for around 100 feet twisting and turning in almost a maze like pattern.  The floor would rise and dip at unpredictable intervals and there were even small chasms in the floor, which extended a few feet downward.

After this the passage became more worked and polished as if it had been cut with a smooth knife.  The walls were carved with images of tall towers, a comet in the sky and altars to Rovagug.  These were either grim predictions of catastrophes to come or a history of the past. Scrawled on the walls were phrases in a language that Gavril determined was ancient Kelish and another old dialect.  Crude pictures sometimes were written over past works, obscuring both inscriptions.

There was an eerie whistling sound in the air, sometimes punctuated by feather-light tugs at the heroes clothing by the wind. The sound was inconsistent, sometimes louder and stronger other times it almost faded into nothing.

The tunnel broadened into a subterranean gallery carved from floor to ceiling with rudimentary depictions of beasts, volcanoes, comets, and bones. There were three entrances which all sloped
subtly downward into this area, causing stagnant, silty water to pool here.  The murky water did not move but no bottom could be seen.

Ciprian's mage hand moved forward and dropped a pebble into the water 10 feet or so from the edge.  It plopped and disappeared into the sludge.  Erevel wished to dimension step to the eastern passageway, while Armania suggested going all the way past the water pool to the north.

While the party was discussing the plan as they had grouped together a skeletal horse with an incorporeal armored rider came out of the east and rode up to Erevel, attacked with her greataxe and then rode away.  The group dimension stepped with Armania to the east and then tried to spread out a little but the rider approached and a Devastating Blast of Acid rained down on everyone but Agna.

Erevel stepped up to the creatures but took an attack as she moved close.  Ciprian identified the monster as a Graveknight with Deadly Weather and Stalwart.  He began a Performance and started the change to ectoplasmic damage.  The knight was difficult to hit and was Incorporeal taking less damage.  Armania cast a magic missile and Ursina tried Revenge but the knight's stalwart ability allowed it to take no damage.  Then the knight made a critical hit on Gavril, who fell to water dead.  Then she sundered Erevel's armor and hit her for more damage.  The knight was also seen to be healing damage.

At this development, the party decided to get out of dodge and Teleported in two batches to Mother Grim Moon.

Dm's Notes:  The party earned 6400 XP for the night.