Episode II: Demons of the Burning Night

Blackhawk's Log, stardate 2352.4
  Bad karma. That is the only possible explanation for why I'm still stuck on this damn planet. Bad karma.

  Sigmund managed a respectable forgery of a cargo transport order, sufficient to get the meat delivered to my client. He claims he made it with a magic spell. I think they're just a bunch of natural born thieves and forgers around here. Unfortunately no document could get me out of here right now, no passenger ships are allowed to land anywhere on the planet. There's no way to stow away in a cargo ship, security is tight and the hold is depressurized. The carcass of a demon can leave this world, but I can't.
  We went back to Edwin, whom the locals call a Loremaster.
 

The Narrator
  Edwin's shop was somewhat more difficult to find this time, but eventually the party uncovered the unassuming door labeled "curious goods". Edwin seemed surprised to see them, but when asked he did have a mission for them. There is an island near Jaimen named Aranmor. In the center of Aranmor is the ruined city of Terek'Knev. Once the seat of power of an empire, Terek'Knev was destroyed by the forces of light over 500 years ago.
  There is a powerful stone in Terek'Knev which is said to be connected to the Lords of Orhan in some fashion. Mighty powers are attributed to the Stone of Skaroth in myth and legend, but no-one knows how much of the legend is true. Edwin told the adventurers that there is an evil moving in Kulthea. The newly violent Storms of Essaence are but a symptom of it. They must find the stone before someone else does. The Stone might have the power to stop the Storms of Essaence.
 

Sigmund's Journal
  We went back to me family lands, t' drop off some of our heavy equipment in th' root cellar. Me brother and 'is kin were not there when we arrived, but returned an hour later from th' caves where they'd taken shelter from th' Essaence Storm. We left th' Plasma Repeater Rifle in th' cellar, along with a few extra weapons. I left a fair bit of me gold with me brother to see him through, and we headed for the north coast of Emer.
  We reached the port city of Samblin and hid the vehicle in a damned bramble of trees a mile outside the gates. We be needin' a ship to get to Jaimen, and hired the Boloquay for the three week journey.
 

Log of the good ship Boloquay, Captain Carl recording
  We set out under fair skies, with favorable trade winds which might shave a day from our crossing. Two days out we spotted a bunch of dolphins off port, which kept our passengers entertained for hours. Landlubbers. They were even pleased to see the mermen which showed up the next day. Stupid landlubbers, any sailor can tell you that the mermen are lazy, good for nothing parasites.
 

Frisbee's report to her monastery
  I established communication with the sea elves, whom the sailors call mer-folk, by throwing them bits of fruit and bread. I tried tossing a silver piece to them, which they played with and tossed about in a game for quite some time. Sensing that the sparkle of the silver captured their imagination rather than its monetary value, I tossed a small cut gemstone out to them. One of them reached up to catch it easily. They did not throw the gemstone about, instead they gathered around and passed it carefully one to the next. Then in unison they dived under the water.
  An hour later a large sea creature slowly surfaced under the Boloquay. The crew was greatly alarmed by this, but fortunately did not try to harm the creature. It gathered speed and dragged the ship along, keeping to our original course. Just as the coast of Jaimen came into view on the horizon the creature descended beneath the waves again. Our three week journey had been compressed to a single week.
 

Urk
I request a Navigator.
I want a Navigator.
I need a Navigator.
I wish for a Navigator.
I would really like a Navigator right now.
 

The Narrator
  The Boloquay docked at Sharneth, a port city and Coalition spaceport on the coast of Jaimen. The party bought horses and traveled to the northern end of the continent. While traveling through Fulcrumia they stopped at the home of Urk's mother for a meal. They continued on to the port city of Mopheus, where they paid a local barkeep for instructions of how to summon a Navigator to take them across the Sea of Fire. Navigators pilot the flying boats of Eidolon, ancient vessels from before the arrival of the Coalition.
  A fisherman dropped the party off on one of the Twin Sisters, two rocky islands at the mouth of the bay. They have no way back to the mainland save swimming or the summoning of a Navigator. Urk has to say "I require a Navigator". Unfortunately he has to say it in Black Nereti, and frankly he is tanking his Communications skill rolls.
 

Urk
I would be very pleased to meet a Navigator.
Why won't the Navigator come?
Yoo hoo! Mr. Navigator!
I like Navigators very much.
Can any Navigators hear me?
Oh, I hate the Navigators.
I require a Navigator right this instant!
Oh, there he is...
 

Sigmund's Journal
  A couple hours of listen'en to Urk blather on, saying the same damn thing over and over, would make any lad want to sleep for a wee bit. The creaking of the flying ship's mast woke me; Urk had finally managed it. There were but two bastards piloting the ship, both High Elves. Me da had taught me their language, but I'd never seen one in the flesh before. The Captain dinnae look old, the bloody Elves never age.
  He set about to business right away. The bastard wanted the gold from 50 harvests to take us across the Sea of Fire! I told him he was a bastard, and offered the gems we'd recovered from the base at the center of the earthnode. He wanted the gems and the gold from 20 harvests, still bloody highway robbery. I counter'd with the Mana Compass, which I knew would get his attention. It did. He answered so soon I knew I'd just overpaid. Damn bastard. [Editor's note: Everyone in the party now agrees that giving the Navigator the Mana Compass was a really dumb move]
 

From: Vlad@middleofnowhere.forgottenplanet.net
To: Da5id@blacksun.com
Subject: Antigrav
  The flying ship was really cool, normally you can pick out the antigrav generators from the air distortion they create but I couldn't see them anywhere on this boat it just goes to show that even primitives can do good work if they're given enough time and I guess these Elf guys have a really long lifespan so they can keep tweaking their antigrav generators until the balance is just perfect and you can't see the distortion any more.
  It took a week to get there, an entire week can you believe it the ship was unpressurized so we had to stay so low in the atmosphere that we couldn't get anywhere near the sound barrier. At least that's what I think because the Elf guy wouldn't even talk to me when I asked him what energy source his propulsion system used he just looked at me like he didn't even speak my language which is ridiculous because all of the other primitives can understand me.
  So we flew for a week over the Sea of Fire not that it was actually on fire or anything they don't have anywhere near the petrochemical industrial capacity on this planet for that to happen it just smokes and churns a lot which I think is because there is volcanic activity close to the surface of the water.
 

Piladon, Navigator of the flying ship Neghiri
  The Storms of Essaence doth vent their arcane fury upon the world. They hath awakened the denizens of the deep, and of the stratospheric regions. A green dragon flew in rage across the Sea of Fire, an occasion which has not been known on Kulthea in three hundred years. It was a young dragon, and not one I knew by name. The elder wyrms art vastly difficult to rouse even by arcane magicke, but the younger ones are not so.
  I sensed the dragon's approache, and ordered Maska'et to make all deliberate speed. The drake was a strong one with his head full of rage, and caught the Neghiri before she could reach flanke speed. With a single dive the dragon dowsed the deck in flame, causing damage to the riggings and minor damage to the hull. The riggings would have to be repaired after leaving the vicinity of the Sea of Fire, the hull would need patching at Eidolon on her next berthing. One of the passengers caught the fiery belch full force, but the efforts to extinguish his flames caused no additional damage to the Neghiri.
 

Frisbee's report to her monastery
  After putting out the flames, Urk helped strip the melted armor from Blackhawk's blistered torso. The burns were second degree and were cleaned thoroughly before dressing. After several days of tending they had healed completely. The recuperative powers of Blackhawk's race are truly astounding!
  The Navigator dropped us off at Whistler's Island, a small rocky isle south of Aranmor. We explored the area in short order, finding a ruined dock facing the main island. We searched for a way across the inlet. I had the honor of diving beneath the pier to free a small skiff which had been trapped when the pier collapsed. Urk hauled it onto the beach, and J'uroch started a fire to dry the hull. J'uroch patched a small hole in the hull with a compress of cloth, dried mud and seaweed, and the party made its way across the channel in two trips. The boat remained seaworthy but was leaking badly after the second trip across the channel.
  We camped in a small clearing near the beach. The attack came at 3 am. Five men dressed in armor surrounded our encampment and charged. I sounded the alarm, and the rest of the party sprang to their feet. It was a pitched battle for only a short time. We captured one of their number, but the rest fought until they died.
 

Pessrel, captive of the party
  I hate these people. Porgno told us to attack them. They were tough. Especially that muscular guy with the morningstar. They were too tough. I hate Porgno. Boy do I hate these people. They keep asking me why I attacked them. I keep telling them that I had to. They don't understand. Porgno told me to.
  Maybe that muscular guy with the morningstar [Editor's note: Urk] isn't so bad. He understands. I had to do it. It wasn't that I wanted to. I had to.
  Its been rough here. We've been stuck here for 8 years. We had Aroth's cat to help us hunt. The cat is tough. I hope I never have to fight the cat.
  That muscular guy with the morningstar really does understand. I like him. He is my friend. I want to help him. I wish he'd untie me.
 

The Narrator
  The party learns [due to the well-timed open-ending of a seduction roll by Urk] that Pessrel is a member of the crew of the Siren, which wrecked on the isle some eight years ago. The number amongst Pessrel's shipmates has been whittled down over the years by encounters with various nasties about the island. They have settled into a routine of hunting several times a week and staying holed up in the black obsidian observation tower the party had seen from Whistler's Island. Pessrel is deathly afraid of Porgno, a magic-using member of the crew whom he believes to be some kind of demon.
  During the battle it became painfully clear that a shift in the essaence had made the technological items non-functional. Blackhawk's shotgun was reduced to an ineffective "click" when the trigger was pulled as the electric solenoid to ignite the propellant in the shell no longer functioned. Likewise his tactical scanner and vibroblade were just heaps of metal and plastic.
  At some point during the night Elaine, the technomage, disappeared. She didn't just leave, she disappeared leaving behind her equipment and clothing where she lay. She was never seen again. [Editor's note: the player of Elaine could no longer afford the time for the gaming sessions. The party didn't spend much time looking for her.]
 

Urk's letter to his mother concerning the adventure
  I don't generally like to attack people, but I believe the provocation was more than sufficient in this case. They had ambushed us in the middle of the night and intended to kill all of us. We scouted a good location at the end of the dam, where Pessrel informed us their hunting party would pass when it left the tower. Strange man, Pessrel, he seemed to dislike me strongly but then changed his mind rather abruptly.
  Frisbee, that wonderful woman whom you met, had a bundle of herbs which would induce sleep. We boiled them in water and kept it simmering until it had reduced down to a sticky paste which we could slather on our arrows. The most dangerous opponent was the big cat so we determined to take it out with sleeping arrows were it at all possible.
  We waited in the tall grass until we saw their party leave the tower. Sigmund cast a spell which turned us invisible, and we were downwind of the cat. We waited until they got within good bow-range of the end of the dam, but the cat sensed us just before we opened fire. He came bounding at us, alerting the rest of them that something was wrong. We opened fire at the cat, hitting him several times. The sleeping potion took effect before he reached us.
  Their group had two archers, who hung back and unslung their bows. The rest of them approached us for melee. Sigmund, Frisbee and I had all fired arrows at them which disrupts the invisibility spell. Blackhawk was still invisible, but I found out later that he had passed out. I don't know why, he is normally very sure of himself in combat [Editor's note: Blackhawk tried to use a Psychic Discipline to push one of the opponents off the dam and succeeded only in turning his brain to jello for a while].
  Now don't be frightened when I tell you this mother, but the opposing archers hit me with several arrows. It hurt quite a bit, but I got to find out a lot more about what happened to me those many years ago. One of the arrows grazed my temple: my skull is made of metal! The arrows did not do me much harm, just grazed skin really. I think my entire skeleton might be made of metal, not just my skull.
  One of the opponents, Jahad, was trained as a bezerker and came running across the dam to get to us. He ran into Blackhawk (who was unconscious and invisible) and fell off the edge. The fall killed him, the poor man. Their remaining fighter, Aroth, knocked Sigmund to the ground and was about to kill him when Frisbee swept his feet away with a beautiful kick. It looked bad for a while after the archers had hit me several times, but Frisbee landed several good shots with the sleeping arrows which made one of their archers fall off the edge.
  In the end Frisbee had saved the day. We'd won, and none of us were seriously hurt.
 

The Narrator
  The party collected a small horde of weapons and armor from the group, including a well made Claymore, a war mattock named Hullcrusher made in the shape of a grinning demon (which was later found to be a grinning demon made in the shape of a war mattock), a powerful silver longbow, another longbow carved from the vertebrae of a basilisk, and an ornate red plate breastplate. Some of the weapons were immediately claimed by various party members, and the rest were left in a pile at the campsite.
  In an incredible lapse in judgment, the entire party then went off to explore some interesting looking caves on one corner of the island. The gods showed their displeasure at this plot diversion by summoning a tremendous rainstorm. The party poked around a bit, transcribed some runes lining the edge of the cave, and then thought better of it and returned to their camp. After the adventure the GM revealed that there was nothing in the caves except "a whole bunch of whoop-ass".
  When they returned to camp Pessrel was gone, his ropes having been cut with a knife. Several magic weapons and armor were missing from the party stash, including Aroth's red plate breastplate.
 

Frisbee's report to her monastery
  We needed to find a way across to the tower. We could see the remains of a dock up the river just before the forest became impenetrable. We traveled up the ruined road to the dock, but found it to be completely destroyed.
  We began the trek back to the dam when I noticed a silvery shape moving in the water. We stopped and prepared ourselves for whatever it might be, when the water coalesced into an incredibly beautiful elfin man sitting on a rock in the middle of the stream. We asked him who he was, but he merely cocked his head to one side. We started to ask him something else when he began to sing.
  I don't think any description I could give would do it justice, the song was beautiful beyond words. I will remember the sound of it to the end of my life. In fact at the time the song crowded out everything else, it was all I could see or hear.
  Sigmund told me later that his inner eye saw the form of a silver dragon overlaying the elvish form. Urk said he shouted and tried to snap me out of it, but I don't recall any of it. All I could do was listen to the singing. Urk asked the dragon to leave me alone and tossed a gem to him to play with, and Blackhawk used his psionic powers to send the gem floating over. The dragon caught the gem, cocked his head again, and swam away.
  When the song ended I felt anguish the likes of which I had never experienced before. I desperately wanted to follow the young man, but Urk's bear hug made that impossible. Several minutes later the spell wore off.
 

Sigmund's Journal
  Those poor bastards must've had it rough for the eight years they'd been there. They'd bilt a fort around the black tower, high enough to keep out whatever beasties might 've tried to make 'em their meal. I cast a wee bit of magic to make us invisible, and we went across the dam. Frisbee lost track of where her feet were, tripped and fell off. Poor lass, she'll ken to move while invisible someday. We hauled her out, and tended to the rib that'd broke when she hit the water. We dinnae have many choices right then, so I cast another Unseen spell on her and we set out agin.
  We crept up to the fort and spent three minutes listening for any sign of life. We dinnae hear nothin, so I used a dagger to lift the inner bar of the entrance and in we went. There were a few buildings in there, with some poor quality weapons in one, but nothing of note. We searched for an entrance into the tower and finally found the outlines of a door. There were no latch there, and no lock. I be searching for a hidden mechanism when Urk thought he'd make a joke by saying "Open Sesame", and I'll be damned if the door didn't slide right up the instant he said "open".
  The first floor of the tower had bedrolls and a chest. It must've been the common area. The chest had a folded up ship's sail, a sextant, some gloves, and other items in it. A ladder led up to the second floor. Frisbee stayed on the first level, poor lass's ribs were not in climbing shape after the fall. The second floor had more bedrolls and a hidden chamber in the floor with a ring in it. A box at the head of one of the beds held four more rings just like it. The third floor had an ancient library, with thousands of scrolls lining every wall.
  Urk and I searched through the scrolls for anything that might help us in Terek'Knev. Everyone else searched the tow'r for any sign of that damned Porgno. No trace of the bastard were found. The scrolls proved better hunting.
 

The Narrator
  The party found a few passages in the scrolls which bore great relevance to their situation. There was a mention of Vrama-Ver, the last queen of the Nereti. There was also a mention of Aminos, the dead god of the Nereti. There was a mostly indecipherable passage "... Tilek... Vrama's greatest champion... armor key to rebirth... bearer of the secret gift... prophecy says wearer becomes god." Finally, they found mention of the red portal to the city being a trapped demon named Terogoustrad. It was noted that many of the scrolls in the room had been penned by Tirrowae.
  Given the dangers they had encountered in the forest thus far the party decided to travel near the river, along the edge of a swamp. They had only one nasty encounter, with a group of huge flying insects which approach sleeping victims to try to suck out their brains. The party was caught by surprise but managed to drive the creatures away before serious damage was done. The party also encountered a group of common orcs, but a small amount of food tossed into their midst got them fighting amongst themselves long enough for the party to get away without combat.
  Finally after several days journey the party reached the great Red Gate of Terek'Knev, a huge door carved to look like a demon (or perhaps it was a demon carved to look like a door). The demon's eyes followed them as they moved, and several stone ravens perched atop the city wall also swiveled to follow them. The purpose of the ravens became clear when someone tossed a large stone over the wall, as one of the birds swiveled to track it and destroyed it with a great burst of energy.
  A moat surrounded the city, bridged by the demon door's tongue. Floating face-down in the moat lay a humanoid figure. Urk tried to rope the body in to the bank but eventually stripped down to a loincloth, tied a rope about his waist and dove in. The figure was a winged humanoid with a satchel about his waist. Diving down Urk found a spear embedded in the moat's muddy bottom. After dragging it all back to shore, the spear was found to be made of a materiel which floated in air. Held horizontally and released the spear remained where it was, suspended in midair. The satchel's contents had rotted away years ago.
  The group hesitated on how to proceed until Frisbee stepped boldly onto the demon's tongue to walk across the moat. The demon door's eyes flared red and a belch of steam was exhaled from its mouth across the moat. When the steam cleared Frisbee was held motionless, stiff as a board. Finally someone realized that perhaps all they needed to do was say "Terogoustrad open" in Black Nereti, and sure enough the demon's jaws opened. Several minutes after being carried into the city the spell wore off and Frisbee could move again.
  Entering the city of Terek'Knev, the party found it ruined and deserted. Several inches of ash and dust covered the city which had apparently not been disturbed for centuries. The party found themselves in the rich district of town, where walled estates stood in ruined splendor. Searches of several of the estates turned up various items of wealth and prestige such as a silver skullcap and a crystal toilet seat. After interminable potty jokes at this last item they were able to continue on.
 

The Narrator
  The party proceeded to a wharf area, where the channel running the length of Aranmor entered into the city. The docks were in surprisingly good shape for 500 years of disrepair. There was a small boat on blocks in a work area where the hull was being re-tarred when the final battle came. Another boat was sunk just below the surface in front of the dock, while a small galley lay broken in two in the middle of the harbor.
  The prize was another galley at the end of a pier which appeared to be in perfect condition. Some amongst the group had visions of loading up a galley full of treasure and sailing down the river to be picked up by the Navigator. Sigmund stripped off his armor and other heavy items and stepped gingerly onto the pier, intending to walk down to the galley to assess its condition. The pier immediately gave way, dumping him into the brackish water. The water made him slightly sick but had no other ill effects [Editor's note: he made his RR against the Bubonic Plague]. The party decided that the ships could wait until later.
 

Sigmund's Journal
  The bastard attacked as we left the wharf. Cloaking himself in invisibility he shot a damned blowgun dart into me neck. I felt a wee bit faint of breath as the poison took effect, but that be all. Porgno would need stronger venom than that to affect a High Man.
  I called out an alarm and spun about, focusing me inner eye as the master had taught me years ago. A shimmering against the wall cleared into Porgno as the spell were broken. I charged at 'im, shouting as I ran and drawing me Claymore from me back.
  Me companions saw the bastard too, Frisbee threw the Amarrishi spear at 'im and the rest reached for their weapons. Porgno took stock of 'is situation and thought better of it. He cast a Leaping spell and jumped over the wall, back into the wharf area. I charged through the gate after 'im. After a long bout of searching we had to admit the bastard had slipped through. He probably cast another Leaping spell as soon as 'e landed.
  Mental invisibility... poison... it were then I realized that Porgno were a Magent, like me.
 

The Narrator
  Shortly after Porgno's attack the charge indicator on the Arcane power cell (left amongst Elaine's possessions) lit up. The shift in the essaence was apparently lifting and the technomagic items were beginning to work, though the rest of Blackhawk's tech equipment was still not functional. The Arcane power cell was inserted into the tactical scanner to attempt to foil any future ambush.
  The party proceeded to the center of Terek'Knev, the location of the Temple district. The area was dominated by the massive Temple of the Burning Night, a massive domed structure with spires and towers dedicated to Orgiana, Hel's Mistress. Arrayed along the road to the great temple were twelve smaller temples to the lesser Nereti gods. All but two of these had been destroyed in the final battle. The first of the two was dedicated to Dalogor, and was a small building on a raised dais. A few minutes searching uncovered several amulets to different Nereti gods, including Aminos and Solus. The second temple still standing was an open structure dedicated to Solus, which still radiated a palpable aura of fear.
 

Blackhawk's log, stardate 2358.7
  The palace was a grand building of white marble, or at least would have been if it didn't have the grime of five centuries covering it. The walls of the entrance chamber were covered in tattered red velvet. Beyond the entrance chamber was a great room with a fountain and large reflecting pool. The pool was filled with slime and moss after so many years of neglect. In the center of the pool was a large black obelisk, which looked to be four feet wide, one foot deep, and nine feet tall. It must have been some kind of primitive screwhead religious altar. A hallway to the right of the reflecting pond led to a treasure chamber. There were a couple statues of cats which looked to be made of solid gold, and a crown encrusted with jewels. There was also a golden dagger with its hilt shaped like a coiled snake.
  For primitive screwheads the Kultheans can make some cunning traps. When I picked up the dagger some kind of spring mechanism was triggered, causing the snake to lash out at my wrist. I couldn't even see the articulated plates in the snake's skin they were so finely made. Fortunately the mechanism didn't work too well after sitting there for five hundred years, and I tossed the dagger aside before it did any damage. [Editor's note: the dagger was magical and highly poisonous. It fumbled its attack roll, allowing Blackhawk to escape unscathed].
  On the other side of the hallway was a door which led to the throne room. There were two thrones at the end of the room, both carved from solid emerald. The one on the right had been hit with some kind of plasma weapon. The emerald had de-crystalized and fused with the stone floor beneath it. The throne on the left was undamaged. That baby was gonna be my ticket off of this mudball. We'd have to knock out one of the side walls and get a gravitic transport to haul it out, but it would definitely pay for a small starship and enough bribes to get me back to a more civilized planet.
  One of the tables was painted with a map of Terek'Knev. Sigmund produced a copy of the map faster than I thought anybody could draw [Editor's note: Sigmund used a Copy spell]. Urk wandered up to the throne, mesmerized by the size of the jewel. He sat down on it and a transformation came over him. He told the rest of us to get away from his throne, he wanted everybody out. There must have been some kind of latent psionic influence in the throne which made him paranoid, and he got more and more upset when we didn't leave.
 

The Narrator
  Urk had activated the curse, which made him extremely possessive about the throne. Frisbee tried to lure him away by offering him the crown found in the room across the hall. Urk put on the crown and then ran back to his throne. The party did not want to have to fight him, and so backed away from the throne room and closed the door.
  Also on the first level of the Palace was a temple to the Nereti gods with an altar and pews. Nothing of consequence was found there, and the rest of the party headed upstairs leaving Urk to sit on his precious throne for a while. Several rooms were explored including a room which contained three statues one each of Kadaena, Cashmera, and Absolius-Kun (Vrama-Ver's kin). Under a canvas in that room was a full suit of female plate mail, which was mistaken for the armor of Tilek mentioned in the scrolls in the obsidian tower. Sigmund bundled up the armor and dragged it about for the rest of the adventure. It was later determined to be Vrama-Ver's armor.
  A portion of the floor in the armor room had collapsed into the temple area below. Frisbee, highly trained warrior that she is, fell thirty five feet to the floor below when she tried to jump across. The rest of the party rushed down to administer aid, which elicited more warnings from Urk to stay away from his throne.

  An intermittent staccato clanging noise drew their attention to a room at the far end of the second level. There was a line drawn in the floor in front of the entrance to the room. Inside the room were several heavy iron mannequins of the type used to assemble suits of armor, and a rack for weaponry (which was empty). There was also an iron potbellied forge with four legs which was the source of the clanging. Every few minutes it would shake violently on its legs, and from the gouges in the stone floor it had obviously been doing so for several centuries. Sigmund cast a Listen spell to hear inside the forge and yelled to know who or what was in it. He heard babbling in a language he did not understand but thought was Black Nereti. The words were shouted down to Urk for translation. Urk warned them to stay away from his throne.
  Finally the party gathered round with weapons drawn, and the door to the forge was opened. A horned head squeezed through the opening first, and then the rest of the body popped out. It was short and red with furry goat's legs and a curly pig tail. It was a demon.
 

Blackhawk's log, stardate 2358.9
  The demon was much smaller than the Brachana we had faced back on Emer, but size can be misleading when it comes to these creatures. It did not attack immediately, and babbled in a language I did not understand. It had an almost quizzical expression on its face. Make that "his" face; he didn't wear any clothing.
  Frisbee wanted to attack immediately, one mission of her order is the destruction of evil. I motioned at her to wait, all was not as it seemed. I tried speaking to the demon in Angloman and Emerian, but he did not understand. Sigmund spoke in a lilting voice which I recognized as the High Elvish language he had spoken on the Navigator's ship. The demon responded to this, and relaxed his stance. Frisbee translated for those of us who did not understand the language. The demon's name was Pyreforge.
  On a whim I tried saying something to him in Althan. He froze, and turned slowly to look at me. If I had to identify his expression I'd say it was one of awe. Awe is not a pretty sight on a demonic face, they don't have the eyebrows for it. He knelt down on one knee and said that he was honored, he had not heard the "language of the Progenitors" for thousands of years. I have no idea what he was talking about. Altha did not possess interstellar travel thousands of years ago, there is no way Althans could have come to this jerkwater planet so long ago. Nonetheless, there was something to it as he spoke perfect Althan.
  Within three hours the demon was able to speak reasonable Emerian. He must have a psionic learning ability to lift languages from the minds around him. He couldn't have learned Althan that way, I would have sensed it if he had tried to use a Psionic Discipline against me. He spoke Althan when he emerged from the forge. Very interesting.
 

The Narrator
  Pyreforge was a demon from beyond the Pale who had been imprisoned inside the forge since the final battle in Terek'Knev. Before that he had been confined to the smithy by Vrama-Ver, where he manufactured weapons and armor of great power. Pyreforge hated Vrama-Ver but was quite afraid of her power, and had been unable to escape the wards placed upon him for these many centuries. He also had a gigantic chocolate craving.
  Pyreforge quickly took a liking to the group, and agreed to help free Urk from his curse. Sigmund placed an Unseen spell on him so he could sneak up behind the throne and identify tiny flaws in its crystal matrix. A well placed hammer blow shattered the throne, freeing Urk from the enchantment and leaving a huge pile of high purity raw emerald for the taking. Blackhawk scooped up fifty pounds of the stuff, and several other party members grabbed a pound or two.
  Pyreforge also pointed out that the obelisk in the center of the reflecting pool was in fact the Stone of Skaroth.

  Several benches from the throne room were dragged in and placed in the reflecting pool to bridge the way across the disease-infested water. Sigmund stepped across the benches and placed his hand on the Stone. Concentrating, he attempted to attune to the Stone of Skaroth and felt a warmth in his fingers.
  Sigmund framed a question in his mind: how could the Storms of Essaence be stopped? The focus of his inner eye was thrown away from the stone up into the stratosphere and into space. He receded further and further, watching the planet Kulthea become as small as a marble in his vision. The vision turned to face outwards, panning the stars and galaxies of the nighttime sky. Between two of the outer planets of the system lay an inky blackness, through which no stars shone. The flows of Essaence come into the Kulthean system from the outer rim, gaining energy as they are exposed to cosmic rays. Some of the energy flowed into and through the black tear in space and was changed by the journey, emerging with a reddish, almost evil tinge. These were the flows causing the Storms of Essaence.
  The vision then shifted, showing views from hundreds of worlds with armies of a hundred races lined up, and showed them coming together to fight the Unlife. This was how the Storms of Essaence could be stopped. The enormity of the vision, the vastness of the distances involved, and the immense power of it drove Sigmund slightly mad. At the end of the vision he was thrown back away from the stone to land on the walkway surrounding the reflecting pool, his clothing slightly singed from the energy.
  Frisbee carefully placed her hand on the Stone and began to concentrate, focusing her Chi in the meditative rituals of her order. Energy flowed from the Stone to heal her broken ribs and injuries sustained in the fall.

  The party continued its exploration of the second floor of the Palace, finding a room lined with empty shelves which had once been an extensive library. Two doorways in opposite corners of the Palace were found bricked up, but the crumbling mortar was easily torn down. Each led to a circular room. The first room held a mahogany cabinet which contained black silken uniforms which showed no signs of degradation from the centuries they had lain. An enchantment in the cabinet was determined to be responsible, which slowed the passage of time within to barely a crawl. The second circular room was empty. The party never determined why the doorways had been bricked over, there seemed to be nothing of particular interest in the chambers.
  A secret door was found leading to a central chamber, Vrama-Ver's bedchamber. A massive silver bed frame dominated the center of the room. There were four stone podiums along one wall, upon three of which lay massive red rubies. Each ruby was labeled with a name, apparently the name of the soul trapped therein though this was never verified. A hidden door in the ceiling led up to the third level of the palace, to Vrama's summoning chamber.
  The third level contained an altar with a large leather-bound book laying open atop it. Several cabinets stood along the walls. The book was indecipherable, though a crystal vial was noticed beside the book containing some kind of viscous liquid. The cabinets contained pouches of herbs and twenty small crystal vials. The party was unable to identify any of the herbs or potions, but took them nonetheless.

  It was very late, and the party determined to make camp within the palace. A barracks for the guards had been found on the second floor which had but a single entrance and would be easy to guard. The party made its camp there, trading off watching the door. Unfortunately the Chaos Demons which attacked simply phased into existence in the middle of the room, catching all unaware. The Chaos Demons are so inimical to the matter of this plane that their mere presence causes damage to mortals. One appeared very near J'uroch's head as he lay sleeping. The force of the demon's arrival hit him square in the forehead, and he was instantly killed.
  The party rallied quickly to defeat the demons, but several others of the group were badly injured. As soon as the last demon had been eradicated J'uroch's comatose form was gathered up and rushed down to the Stone of Skaroth to make a desperate attempt at reviving him. For a long moment nothing happened, then an intense beam of light shone from the obelisk to the center of J'uroch's forehead where the blow had struck. When the light faded J'uroch breathed again, and the mark on his forehead was gone. When he revived he told Frisbee that he had been aware of what was happening, that he remembered being dead and being brought back.
 
  Later in the night Pyreforge disappeared.

  The next morning the party explored the Palace grounds, and discovered a small crypt hidden behind some brambles. The lock on the front of the crypt had rotted away long ago, allowing access to the three small cairns within. The first two cairns were easily entered but contained nothing of consequence. The third had an inscription above the door, "The Way is Open" and was secured by six locks. After quite a bit of effort picking the locks and casting Unlock spells three were open while the remaining three remained stubbornly closed. The party determined to return to the crypt later to open the last three locks.
 

The Narrator
  The party came upon a gazebo. It was a stone platform surrounded by eight tapered stone columns, two of which had been broken and wrecked. In the center of the platform was an altar of some kind, and two steps led from the ground up to the platform. There was a curious stone sculpture nearby of three sailors, which did not seem to fit in with the rest of the art and architecture in Terek'Knev.
  Urk stepped boldly up to the second step. The remaining six stone columns came alive and swayed quickly towards him. Urk backpedaled but did not make it off the steps before the column nearest him touched his chest. Urk was turned instantly to stone. The columns resumed their previous upright positions and stopped moving.
  When any party member except Blackhawk tread upon the steps the columns came alive. Eventually it was determined that the amulet of Aminos which Blackhawk carried was the key, anyone possessing it would not be attacked by the columns. Blackhawk checked out the rest of the platform, determining that the altar was dedicated to Aminos and that there were eight sconces for candles immediately in front of it. Then he fell through the trap door.
  The trap door closed above Blackhawk and he found himself in a square room about ten feet on a side. There was a doorway in one wall, beyond which a steep and extremely slippery ramp led upwards. The trap door was in the center of the ceiling, which was ten feet above the floor. Then the walls began closing in.
  When the trap door closed Sigmund jumped up onto the platform between the two columns which had broken off, out of reach of the remaining columns. He was able to get to the edge of the trap door while still being just out of reach. A mighty blow with Hullcrusher destroyed the stone fascia on top to reveal the metallic door underneath. The door looked like bronze but was much tougher, not budging even a dent when struck several more times by Hullcrusher. There was no obvious lock mechanism.
  Blackhawk had less than a minute before the walls crushed him. He attempted to climb the ramp upwards but slid back into the room. He had no equipment strong enough to stop the walls from closing in. Sigmund beat several more times on the trap door above before remembering that he was a Magent who could cast an Unlock spell. The trap door clanged open with only a few seconds remaining. A rope was lowered and Blackhawk scurried up as quickly as he could, but his foot was caught by the closing walls and mangled badly.
  Blackhawk and Sigmund hobbled off the platform. Sigmund put on the amulet of Aminos and walked around the base of the platform using Hullcrusher to break off the remaining six columns. The columns were able to wag the few inches of stone remaining in indignation but could cause no further harm.
  The party now turned its attention to the stoned Urk. Urk was moved on top of the altar and lit candles placed in the sconces. The amulet was wound about his neck, and various other things tried which resulted in no change in Urk's state. Finally, Frisbee pulled out one of the small crystal vials found in Vrama-Ver's chamber and poured its contents over his lips. Urk choked and gasped but returned to flesh and blood. The party learned after the adventure that the potion was a Gorgon mixture, if Urk had failed his RR he would have become a Gorgon but since he made it the potion left him in his normal state of flesh and blood.
  Cautious investigation of the platform revealed a thin gap in the stone outlining another door. A slight depression was found which matched the shape of the amulet of Aminos, and when the amulet was placed in the depression a door slid aside to reveal a staircase leading down. Sigmund and the newly reconstituted Urk went down the stairs into a tunnel system under the altar. A steeply descending ramp to one side of the corridor presumably led to the deathtrap which had nearly claimed Blackhawk, while another led to a set of bronze double doors which could not be opened. From behind the bronze doors could vaguely be heard the sound of cheering and of a heavy wheeled vehicle moving.
  Yet another corridor led in a wide circle. At the far end of that circle the two adventurers ran into a spear trap and were badly injured. Our heroes decided that they were in no shape to continue the potentially dangerous exploration, and rejoined the rest of the party above ground. The entire group then headed back to the Palace and to the Stone of Skaroth to be healed.
  The party returned to the crypt they had explored previously to open the remaining three locks.
 

Urk's letter to his mother concerning the adventure
  Sigmund could not pick the last lock, and was frustrated enough to take his chances bashing in the door. I thought that might not be a good idea so I tried picking the lock. Sigmund's spell had determined the structure of the lock mechanism and he described it to me. I thought about it, and thought about it, and thought about it some more, and at some point while I was thinking about it I unlocked the lock. I'm not sure exactly how I did it, but I found out more about what happened to me so many years ago in the process. My skeleton is definitely made of metal, and there is also a metal spike which can project from my right wrist. The spike unlocked the lock. I found that by concentrating I could make the spike retract into my forearm and extend again. That is very strange, isn't it?
  We went into the crypt, and found a sarcophagus in the center. We searched the room and discovered a concealed panel in the north wall, which lowered to reveal a small alcove about one foot square and one foot deep. The alcove was lined with a material which looked like mother of pearl, but I don't think that is what it was. Now don't be frightened when you read this mother, but I could almost feel the evil radiating from the alcove. Something very, very wicked had been stored there at one time. Fortunately there was no longer anything there.
 

The Narrator
  The party decided it would be a good idea to lift the lid from the sarcophagus to find the vast treasure they were certain must be concealed within. Everyone gathered around the casket and after several mighty heaves broke the seal loose. The lid slid cleanly off to reveal the Horrible Black Void within. A giant inrush of air nearly sucked several party members to their doom. Several other party members realized that falling into the Void would result in their being transported to the Timescape while some other player would likely get to the Crown of Command first. [Editor's note: The Narrator has made a reference to a boardgame from GW named Talisman, which many of the players in the group enjoy. Dave proposed to Helen by hiding the ring as the prize in the center of a Talisman board]
  The Void was slowly expanding, creeping up the inner walls of the casket. The party determined to replace the lid and perform the "get the hell out of here maneuver". It was close, but the lid slammed back down into place just as the Void reached the inner lip of the sarcophagus. Everyone ran out of the crypt and closed the door behind them. Having made a royal mess of that, the group proceeded to a grassy, tree-covered knoll near the palace and waited for the Presidential motorcade. Erm, sorry, that is to say they looked back at the crypt and noted it looked a little odd, as though the walls were slightly transparent and insubstantial.
  Surprisingly enough the trees within the thicket were sentient, and could speak in a soft whistling voice. Time perception being somewhat different for an intelligent tree the party could get very little information from them. The trees had not seen Porgno. The party began to feel tremors in the ground and noted a plume of smoke coming from the top of Mount Kadaena, as if the dormant volcano there were returning to life.
 

The Narrator
  The flows of essaence shifted again, and the LCD on Blackhawk's wristwatch lit up. Quick checks revealed that all of the tech equipment was working again. Blackhawk spent a few minutes rearranging his gear to return his heaviest firepower to easy reach, and was much happier for it.
  The party returned to the tunnels under the gazebo, to examine the heavy bronze doors more carefully. A passage to the side led to a single bronze door which also would not budge. The sounds of cheering could be heard more clearly from the side door. Sigmund cast an Unseen spell upon himself and Frisbee. Blackhawk gave Sigmund a communicator, and with a mighty heave the side door was opened.

  Inside a bizarre scene played out. A fiery globe of light hung from the ceiling, illuminating the room brightly. A circular track dominated the room, on which a huge black chariot pulled by two large lizards circled. The chariot was carved in the shape of a demon (though in a continuing theme of the adventure it was actually a demon carved in the shape of a chariot). A decrepit, almost skeletal woman was chained to the chariot. In one corner of the room a group of animated humanoid skeletons cheered wildly. In another corner of the room a group of somewhat larger skeletons sat quietly. Further inspection revealed ball and socket joints on their shoulders for wings; the larger skeletons were Amarrishi. On the north and south side of the chamber were barred prison cells, each holding a female prisoner.
  Sigmund and Frisbee crept slowly into the room. When they had proceeded several feet the woman driving the chariot slowed and stopped, and called out in booming voice, "Who dares disturb my eternal torment?". The Unseen spell dissipated. Sigmund asked who the woman was, and she replied "I am Vrama-Ver, last ruler of Terek'Knev". Seeing that their attempt at stealth had been foiled the rest of the party rushed into the chamber. The bronze door slammed closed behind them.
  Vrama-Ver was not pleased at the interruption of her eternal punishment. She raised her arms and sent a fireball crashing against the party. The group spread out and returned fire. The humanoid skeletons which had been cheering stood and advanced towards the party members but were decimated by a single blast from Blackhawk's auto shotgun. In the middle of the battle several of the Amarrishi skeletons attacked Vrama-Ver; she simply ignored them.
  Sasfiry, a priestess of Kieron, was chained to the wall in the southern cell. The noise of the battle roused her for a few moments out of the fugue she had been in for five hundred years. She tried to assist the party with spells to banish undead, but there is only so much one can do while one is chained to a wall.
  Vrama-Ver was certainly not in her prime after five hundred years of torment but still had the edge against our heroes. Protective magics rendered her nearly invulnerable, able to withstand direct shotgun hits with minimal damage. Her offensive spells were still quite powerful, and she was armed with a powerful iron spear which automatically returned to her hand. Blackhawk took the worst of it, being hit several times by attack spells. Finally Urk landed an arrow shot from the basilisk bow. The bow's magic took effect, and Vrama-Ver missed her RR. Amazingly she was turned to stone. With its captor destroyed the chariot returned to its demonic form, and pulled mightily on its chains which snapped off the arms of the petrified Vrama-Ver. Freed from captivity the demon returned to its own plane of existence.
  After running into the chamber with the rest of the party J'uroch's eyes glazed over and he remained motionless during the battle. At some point during the ruckus he disappeared. The party searched the chamber for him but found no trace.
  Sigmund and Blackhawk went to the southern prison cell to release the red-headed woman chained there. Blackhawk cut the bars of the cell with the vibroblade, then found the key concealed in a statue nearby. In the cell with Sasfiry was a fragile looking horn made from the tusk of an unidentifiable creature, the Horn of Siege.
  Several items were not turned to stone with Vrama-Ver. Among them were a stone amulet and a blood red ring. The amulet was of Amarrishi design and offered protection from attacks. Edwin later identified the ring as an evil thing used for binding demons into service, and destroyed it.
 

Urk's letter to his mother concerning the adventure
  I went to the northern prison cell and found the bars of the cell to be very rusted and brittle. I pulled them apart without much effort. Inside was a beautiful woman lying on a cloud of mist, asleep. When I broke the bars her eyes opened and she sat up, and stretched her arms and legs. She must have been lying there for a very long time. The woman didn't walk out of the cell, she floated out. She was some kind of genie. She thanked me for releasing her and said she needed a bath after being in confinement for so long. A bathtub full of hot water appeared and she stepped into it (yes, mother, I averted my eyes when she dropped her robe, as a true gentleman should).
  She said that in gratitude of her release she would grant me one wish. Of course I asked her to restore my memories, its what I've most wanted since my return. She moved her hands over my head, winked, and disappeared.
  I remember it all now, mother. It is a frightening tale. When I disappeared that summer it was because I had been captured by the Coalition and taken to work as a slave in a deep mining facility. They implanted portions of their technology in me. My entire skeleton is made of Duranium, a nearly indestructible metal. The spike I told you about earlier was used to gouge rock out of the walls of the tunnels to expose the mineral veins. The tunnels of the mine were filled with a dangerous gas which escaped from underground reservoirs [Editor's note: flourine gas], but I am immune to it because of more technology in my lungs and chest.
  I remember it all now...
 

The Narrator
  The Temple of the Burning Night was an impressive edifice, even in ruin. The party entered through a large hole blown in the back wall during the final battle in Terek'Knev. The building was dominated by a large central chamber, in the center of which stood a massive statue of Orgiana. Clothed in flame, the statue stood on a raised dais along with an altar. Arrayed around the edges of the room were small platforms each inscribed with the name of one of the lesser gods. Most of the small platforms were empty, though one still held the broken remains of a statue.
  Urk crept cautiously onto the dais, noticing a hairline crack outlining a trap door in front of the statue of Orgiana. As he crept closer a booming voice warned him away, and a fireball shot from the ceiling at him. The fireball did not seriously hurt Urk, but he gave up investigating the trap door. At each corner of the building was a door leading to a circular tower. The first door opened released three Chaos Demons. The party had grown quite adept at dispatching the foul things. Inside that first tower was a book written by Eogun on the forging of Soulcrusher. The book provided a great deal of information on how to work meteoric Eog. The other three towers were empty.
  A large mural painted back wall was actually only an illusion concealing a small room with a panel of levers and knobs. Many of the controls no longer worked, but a few activated illusions of the lesser gods of the Nereti on the platforms in the main chamber. Apparantly these controls were worked by the priests to impress the common citizens with the power of their deities. There was also a small staircase heading downwards beside the control panel.

  The party stepped cautiously down the stairs into the tunnels under the temple of Orgiana. The first room they came upon contained a large wooden table with five very dead men sitting around it. In the center of the table was a red ruby chalice. Sigmund, in a fit of self-destructive decisiveness, picked up the chalice and was rewarded with a Limb Death spell on that arm (the limb would slowly waste away over the next month if the spell were not reversed). The chalice was left where it lay, though a hidden chamber in the back of the room turned up some treasure.
  The party passed up the opportunity to search all of the crypts, as the shaking in the ground from the volcano was becoming more violent and the need for haste was felt. At the next corner was a storeroom, where an ancient vellum described the final day of the priests of Orgiana, who near the end of the battle with the forces of light decided to commit suicide by repeatedly rubbing the Dread Chalice of Malthar against their bodies until the wasting consumed them. Also in the room was a chest containing a silver mace head (the Mace of Boromar) which was later discovered to bear powerful enchantments effective against the undead.
  At the end of the hallway was a heavy steel door, slightly ajar. Sigmund crept cautiously up to the door, but when he got within 3 feet of it felt a strange compulsion to walk though. He resisted the compulsion somewhat in that he only cracked the door open a bit more, but that was enough. The powerful magnet inside the room pulled mightily on his chain mail and sent him sliding into the room on his belly. Sigmund managed to get his Claymore in front of him and used it to prevent himself being impaled on the spikes in front of the magnet.
  The rest of the party reacted quickly. A rope was tied about Frisbee's waist, who dropped all metal objects in the hallway and tread slowly into the room. She felt only a slight tug from the magnet (on the iron in her blood!), and was able to move about with minimal effort. She tied a heavier rope about Sigmund's waist, and together the rest of the party managed to pull him slowly away from the magnet. The Claymore had to be left where it was, though immediately after he was pulled to safety Sigmund insisted that a rope be tied about it so that it could also be pulled away. It was a good sword, after all.
  Blackhawk removed his metal armor, and determined that the vibroblade was unaffected by the lodestone because it contained no magnetic materials (being plastic, ceramics, and non-ferrous metal alloys). He walked around beside the spikes and cut all of them off at the base, and they immediately fell inwards to stick to the platform. Urk was unwilling to find out if his cybernetic skeleton was magnetic, since the rest of the party would not likely be able to pull him away were he stuck to the lodestone.
  The immediate danger had passed so the party explored the room. In the center was a statuette of a demonic critter, one foot tall with four legs and a lizard-like visage. When anyone came within two feet it came to life, hissing and spitting but otherwise taking no action. At the far end of the room a two inch high platform of stone shaped like a heart and inscribed with writings extended from the floor.
  At that moment an armored figure dropped through a hole in the ceiling to land directly on the stone platform. It was Porgno, wearing Tilek's armor. The breastplate Aroth had worn was the breastplate of Tilek's armor, and Porgno had recovered the rest of the pieces to reassemble the suit of full plate. Porgno looked vastly different from their last encounter, as power radiated from his eyes and mouth and a cruel cast to his features indicated possession of some sort. As he dropped the lodestone began to pull, dragging him toward it. Porgno released a metal rod he had been holding which flew to the lodestone and deactivated it with a loud crack.
  Thus free to move, Porgno stood on the platform and raised his arms to begin a spell. The party attacked. Only Urk still wore his armor (having never entered the room, he had not removed it). Blackhawk had his vibroblade, Sigmund his Claymore, Urk ran in with his morningstar and Frisbee had her bow. Blows rained down on Porgno had little effect, even crushing blows which would have killed any mortal man. It did annoy him, however, as his spell was continuously disrupted. Porgno summoned several Chaos Demons to keep the party busy, one of which immediately attacked and possessed Frisbee.
  It being apparent that merely whacking on him was having little effect, alternate means were tried. After being knocked to the floor Sigmund tried to cast a Leave Item spell to teleport Porgno's helmet across the room and leave him vulnerable. Unfortunately a Chaos Demon attacked and began to possess Sigmund before the spell could be delivered.
  Things began to look grim, when someone noticed a familiar reddish fanged head poke through the hole from whence Porgno had come. Pyreforge dropped from the ceiling and brought his hammer down in a mighty blow to Porgno's head. Had Sigmund teleported his helmet away the blow would have been instantly fatal, but instead it merely made a resounding "clang" and caused Porgno to stagger back. [Editor's note: the battle paused for a chorus of Maxwell's Silver Hammer by the Beatles]
  Black Cross ran in through the steel door, and began throwing magic shurikens at the Chaos Demons (knocking the one back before it could fully possess Sigmund). Pyreforge later explained that he had sought out the only other Progenitor on Kulthea when it became apparent there would be trouble.
  The crushing blow administered by Pyreforge's hammer to Porgno's helmet must have loosened it a bit, because Blackhawk's vibroblade struck true. Porgno staggered forward and fell, unconscious. His helmet was quickly removed so that the coup de grace could be administered. With Porgno out of commission the remaining Chaos Demon was quickly destroyed. That still left Frisbee, who had been possessed by the first demon. Fortunately the demon was unable to use her martial arts abilities, and she was quickly restrained and tied up.
  When Porgno died the spirit of Eogun was released from Tilek's armor. The stone platform collapsed, and the cloud of dust revealed a pearly white box roughly one foot on each side very much like the one which had been found in the crypt. Inside the box was the Helm of Kadaena, an evil thing of deepest black and blood red. Not wanting to leave such a thing where the minions of evil might find it, the Helm was wrapped in cloth to be brought out. The headband Porgno had been wearing and his broadsword were also taken.
 

Sigmund's Journal
  We dinnae ken how much time be left for Aranmor. The shakings in the ground grew more violent by the minute. We decided to split up, with Blackhawk and I dragging Frisbee back to the Stone of Skaroth in the palace. The poor lass were tied with ropes, screamed and spit at us all the way. When we got to the damned place I spied J'uroch's body across the reflecting pool. He were dead, and had been dead for se'erel days by the look of it. The perfect circle hole in his forehead were there agin, just as the Chaos Demon had felled him befor. The J'uroch who accompanied us from then on were only an apparition, 'is spirit had been allowed to return to aid us for a while longer.
  We hauled Frisbee to the Stone and pressed her head agin it, and I summoned the inner focus to make contact with it again. The damned demon were banished from the lass immediately. While the concentration held I channeled energy to heal the wastin spell affectin me arm.
  The shakin in the ground got very bad then. Frisbee had recovered enough to ask me to haul J'uroch's body out to be buried at a monastery of the Golden Path, and back we ran to the Temple of Orgiana.
 

The Narrator
  Meanwhile those remaining in the underground chamber confronted the demon-dog statuette. It hissed and spat, growled, and raised its paw in threatening fashion so Urk hit it with his morningstar. This dispelled the illusion to reveal the fairy (Chantille) who had been imprisoned there since the battle five hundred years before. The fairy was still alive, barely, and was placed in Tilek's helm to be carried out of the Temple.
  Black Cross had parked her gravitic speeder outside. The party managed to load a great deal of treasure onto the speeder including 50+ pounds of emeralds, quite a bit of gold, the suit of Vrama-Ver's plate mail (which had been left on the ground floor of the Temple of Orgiana during the final battle with Porgno), the Horn of Siege, and numerous magic items and potions. They also bore the body of J'uroch.
  Black Cross took the controls and maneuvered out just as lava began to flow from Mount Kadaena. Chantille had recovered from her wounds just enough to ask "What are you doing with ze Helm of Kadaena? It must be destroyed immediately!", and to explain that one way to destroy the Helm was to throw it into the lava of the volcano. Black Cross flew close enough to accomplish this, and then headed south. The speeder could travel with great velocity when pressed and outran the cloud of volcanic ash handily.
  The party paused briefly at their camp near the southern tip of Aranmor to retrieve the Coalition comm package and then proceeded over the Sea of Fire. Black Cross launched her last remaining tactical nuclear weapon from the speeder to strike Terek'Knev and ensure that the evil there was destroyed.