Third Day at Scarwall

Gozran 14th, 4709 – After another long rest we reenter Scarwall in the morning. Again everything had a strange quietness to it. We brought in more stones to pile on top of the ones we brought in the first time to hold up the first portcullises and a few to stop the second portcullises from falling all the way down. We went back to the room were we found the Knight armor and started out search of Scarwall from there. We took the door to our immediate right this took us down a hallway to stair leading up into the main gate keep. We noticed the gears to raise and lower the portcullises and where the murder holes are manned. We noticed two doors on either side of the gears. Krojun open the door on our left first and found two giant Minotaur skeletons in the room ready to attack us. When the first two attack the door on our right open up with two more Minotaur skeletons entering in the battle. Krojun stood in front of the first door and I moved in front of the second door to keep the Minotaur in the room so we were only being attacked by two instead of four. Laori somehow got into the first room to attack the other Minotaur skeleton by herself. While we were fighting the Minotaur skeletons all of a sudden a door on the other side of the one we came up open up with two great undead humanoid with huge bone claws were about to enter the battle. The Legion that Walks stepped in front of the door stopping their advance into the room. We now had three fronts we were fighting. I cast my Knights of Valor to help Legion with a way to escape and keep those very large bone creatures at bay. Andrian went to assist Legion and was behind my Knights and we found out they had a ten foot reach attack. Rizzle put up a firewall on the bone creatures in the stairwell which caused the bone creatures to retreat. At this time we had finally defeated the four undead Minotaur. I wanted to destroy the two bone creatures but when I went down the stairs they had disappeared and from that point on it seems I can hear them move when I move not sure but that is what I believe I’m hearing them follow us. We rested up in the gate house and will taking two rest periods we look around and found a latter going up on top of the gate house and Krojun went up and looked around seeing nothing. Andrian noticed a large bowl with a cold bluish liquid in it and when tip would pour into a tough which would rain this liquid on to who was below the gate house. When the bowl went back it would start to fill up again with the blue liquid so Andrian tip it and caused it not to return. He also trapped the portcullises gear not to work.

After a period of rest and healing we went thru the door between the two set of stairwell leading into this room from the first floor. We just went a little way in and notice stairs going up to our left as the room open up. We took the stairs up which lead us to a hallway which we turn left instead of right passing doors and opening the door at the end of the hallway. This left some of our party downstairs. When we open the door Krojun noticed a spiky devil standing guard near a gong. When we attack and before we could slay the creature it gang the gong it was next, too. This caused us to get surrounded by gargoyles and another spiky devil at the other end. We were again surrounded and fighting on multiple fronts again. Krojun and I fought upfront, Andrian and Loari fighting in the middle, Legion and Shadowcount Sial fighting in the back with Ducw, Rizzle and Trinia on the stairs and second floor. As battle started Ducw came up to assist Krojun in the room against the spiky devil, I was able to help them or Andrian and Loari as they fought a gargoyle and Legion was caught between two gargoyles and a spike devil. Just after a few moments in the battle the giant bone claw creatures attack our group at the bottom of the stairs. Trinia took the attack first and was almost killed and was able to escape. Rizzle took her place for the next round of attacks and also had to retreat. Andrian and Loari had defeated their gargoyle and went to assist with Loari getting in one good attack before retreating. Andrian when jump onto one of the bone claw just as I was able to assist in the battle. The other were able to help Legion defeat the gargoyles and spiky devil as Andrian defeated one of the bone claws causing the other to withdrawal again. If we were not able to defeat some of the gargoyles right away we might of lost Trinia Sabor this morning. We rested and healed ourselves upstairs in the small room and hallway before continuing on.

We started to search out the rooms the gargoyles came out of and Rizzle ask me to pull the gong off the chain which I did. One door led to a balcony and from this balcony to a small tower. Going across the balcony we had the feeling the gargoyles were watching us as we went into the small tower. Andrian was the first to check out the tower and the view. He reported back that we all should go up to see Scarwall from above. It was a site to behold and could see many gargoyles around the battlement of Scarwall. He did notice one tower which seemed different and much older than the rest of Scarwall. This tower may be the one we need to find a way into to recover the sword. As we looked in a few other rooms we noticed that Scarwall was being preserved by evil magic like the haunted house back in Sandpoint. Our search found another room with a gong which I pulled off from the chains holding it up.

The next room led us into a large tower with a throne chair and very large bed. For some reason Rizzle started to look only at the bed and when Andrian asked Rizzle why he is looking at the bed. Rizzle said he see magic in the mattress. I said it is just an old mattress and when I ripped the mattress open to show him coins started to flow out of the mattress. As I was looking through the coins of Copper, Silver, Gold and PP we heard a voice from the ceiling encouraging our greed to take the coins while also threatening our lives. When we were talking how to get these coins out of here a huge ice devil named Nihil attacked us with her two spiked devil henchmen. If it was not for Andrian quickness to block the door way for me to escape I would have been trapped to fight Nihil and a spike devil by my self. But Andrian move allowed me to escape into the hallway where I than held the pass trapping then in the room. I could not believe that the ice devil could reach pass the two spiked devils to attack me. I was able to defend myself against the spike devils but was getting hit every time by the ice devil frost spear. The Ice Devil Nihil called for a rear attack by invisible imps who were following us. So, once again we were fighting on multiple fronts. About half way through the battle we were able to defeat the imps and one of the spike devils when Shadowcount Sial cast a barrier blade wall into the tower trapping the spike devil and Nihil the ice devil in the wall. This turned the tide of the battle in our favor. We were now causing Nihil to take damage all the time instead of just a few hits every other time. We could not defeat Nihil ice protection but the blade wall went through that protection. All but one Imp was slained and that Imp surrendered to Shadowcount Sial. Nihil did a lot of damage to me and with Torag and my friends help I was able to stay healed to continue to hold the gap. Once Nihil allies were killed she was able to do some kind of cold blast that got five of us at once. This was starting to take a total on us but with all of us attacking her alone with the blade wall we were able to defeat Nihil. When she died we felt a little of the evil magic surrounding Scarwall drop a little. If we do defeat all four from the poem we will need to be ready to leave quickly because I do not feel Scarwall will be standing long after. Shadowcount Sial had kept the imp alive and then cast a ritual to bind the Imp to him after the battle to affirm its loyalty to him. Shadowcount Sial had the Imp bite it own finger off during the battle to prove to Sial it would be loyal to him. We healed the party up again and while we are resting I cast my ritual to recall my chest. We removed some of the items in the chest and put them in Rizzle bag of holding while we filled up the chest with the Frost spear, light mace, scarab, rod, silver, gold and PP coins. Andrian noticed that the throne chair was covered with gold flakes and many gems. We put all that in the chest and I sent the chest back to my parents to unload. Andrian climb the walls which had statues and skulls in alcoves all around the tower. When Andrian touched the skulls it would say a name which we believe was the person who Kazavon killed. Andrian brought down the statues and put them with the copper pieces to be sent the next day.

We finished searching the upstairs and found nothing else of interest. We went down stairs to the second floor and check out the other set of stairs. Before we started downstairs I ask if we could take ten minutes for me to cast a ritual to ask a few questions. They agreed and set up a watch and I cast my ritual of Hand of Fate and ask where the Bone Claw creatures we fought was and it pointed downstairs. I then ask if any Bone Claw creatures where on this floor and the hand said yes. I then ask if the sword was in the lowest level and it again told me it was. We decided to head down the stairs into a small ten by fifteen room. When Andrian open the doors four Minotaur were in the hallway. We first tried to get them into the room but they had reached and could not fit so they attack from the hallway. So, I moved into the hallway to attack the undead and push them clear so we could enter the hallway. I was able to move three to my left and one to my right. We enter the hallway, attack the one separated from the others first and then took on the other three one at a time. This worked to our advantage with only Rizzle getting hurt from the attacking Minotaur. He had to get close to them and take a risk I do not believe he needs to do. He is powerful but I feel he is going to get himself killed because of his actions.

We check the doors to our left to see if one of these lead to the room were we fought the spirit the other day and our way out from this floor. The first set of doors to our left did lead us into this room. I went in and the door on the right led us to the main courtyard and to the gate. I went back to the hallway and Andrain then check the double doors to our right which lead into a courtyard which I believe was the one we saw from the third floor before we fought Nihil in the tower. We closed the door and checked the next door on our left and that lead into a kitchen. Andrain noticed burn marks on the door and it look like the same type of marking he saw in the haunted Foxglove house back in Sandpoint. When we looked into the room noticed stairs going up and a burned silhouette on the wall opposite the ovens. We decided we would need to rest before going further and Sial wanted to talk to the imp what he knows about Scarwall before we went on. So, we left Scarwall for the day.

When we got back to the Guard Post just outside of Scarwall Sial wanted to torture the Imp. I did my best with no support from my friends that we do not need to hurt the Imp to get information but they all felt we did. Sial ignored all my pleads to not hurt the Imp to get this information. Sial took him into a tent and started is evil work. I could not bear the sound of pain from the Imp so I put up my silence ritual to not hear the cry of pain. During this time I prayed to Torag to make the Imp give in to end the torture quickly. Sial needed Loari help and she was able to get the Imp to tell all. Apparently the star shaped spike tower is actually an ancient artifact created by the god Zon Kuthon to trap the dreaded "rough beast" Rovagug in the center of the planet following Rovagug's defeat by the ancient gods. Should we destroy a part of the tower Rovagug could be released. At the very least it would hasten his freedom and another world destroying war of the gods would begin again. The only other way to gain entrance to the tower is to defeat all the other anchor spirts (the shadow dragon Belshallam, the skeleton captain Castothrane, and Bishop Zev Ravenka the demi-lich) and finally their chained spirit leader Mithrodar. This alone will break the curse that binds Scarwall and seals the door to the tower. We must not harm the spike he was very strong on this point. He told us we must destroy the four anchor and we had already killed one. He was surprise we were able to leave Scarwall without someone staying behind taking his mistress spot as an anchor. He told us where he believed the other anchors are in Scarwall. We decided to take on the Bishop on the other side of the courtyard next because he is the one near the spike. He told us we must kill all four anchor and we will be allow to enter the spike without damaging it. And to end the curse we would have to kill the master of the anchor the one we heard giving orders to the skeletons. He also told us about the gargoyles and that they can leave Scarwall for a few miles while everyone else is bond to Scarwall. I was thinking about going in just after midnight but the Imp and the others did not want to enter in the dark so we waited for first light before going in again.