First off, I'd like to say OH MY FREAKING GOD!!! I thought that the entire party was going to die but not only did Blackberry survive, she gained NINE FREAKING LEVELS by draining the Pool of Radiance (POR) with the Gauntlets of Devouring and finished the campaign at 18th level, while the rest of the party was 10th. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.
The party used the Helm of Dragons to transport to Myth Drannor and right away we ran into a ghost. Fortunately, she was a friendly ghost and directed the party to the hidden location of the POR so we were able to get there without any confrontations. We entered the ruins of an old communal bath and quickly found the fake wall, hiding the temple which housed the POR.
There were numerous specters floating aimlessly around the POR & they turned toward Blackberry and Edrick as they approached the pool. "Nnnnoooo," they moaned in quavery whispers. But Blackberry ignored the ghosts and stepped up to the POR (and I figured that the faster we drained the pool, the quicker the ghosts would go away).
Blackberry plunged her arms into the pool and shouted at the gauntlets to begin draining the magic. The Banshee was unable to use her devastating wail because the sun was out but she did affect Upton with her horrid visage. The Arch-shadow moved up to Edrick and began to attack him, draining strength from the paladin. Samsung cast several positive energy bursts which weakened the enemy while Upton figured out that the undead could not move past the glyphs on the floor, casting spells from relative safety.
At the Pool of Radiance
The POR was drained quickly (in 1 round) and the ghosts dispatched just as swiftly. Everyone but Upton suffered level and ability stat loss but our Dwarven cleric, Samsung, was able to restore Edrick and himself. It was revealed to us that the specters were the victims of Blackberry's evil deeds and the Banshee was Edrick's elven wife. What Blackberry didn't know about the gauntlets was that when they drained the magic of the POR it would go directly into her and so she GAINED 9 LEVELS. We had to take a break so that I could level her up to 18th level & the guys all went up to 10th level.
After the magic was drained from the POR it became a one-way portal into the realm of Tyranthraxus. Blackberry suggested going on vacation for a bit and coming back in a year or so when we had rested up but the rest of the party nixed that idea. We entered the pool only to end up in a room almost identical to the one we left. There we saw 4 doors floating in the 4 corners of the room. Each door had an elven symbol on it for pride, rage, greed, and envy. We figured out that each door represented the sin that lead to our downfall and entered each room accordingly. It was here that we are shown the moments leading up to our downfall. After each vision ends we arrive back in the room where we began.
Here are the lost memories that were revealed to us:
Edrick was in love with a human woman and got her with child but he chose a noble elven woman over his human lover. On the day of Edrick's wedding, as he was leaving the temple of Torm in Waterdeep with his new elven bride, the pregnant human woman calls to him. She was standing on the roof of a building and she yelled, "For you, Edrick," and then threw herself off the building and hung herself. His elven wife accused him of sullying her honor and he backhanded her. The church of Torm immediately denounced Edrick and he, in his pride, renounced his faith and duty, becoming a blackguard.
Blackberry was traveling with an adventuring party in some random dungeon. She went off ahead of the party and found an odd shaped stone, which she touched. A stone door opened and she found herself in an old shrine, upon which a golden bowl rested, an icon for a dead god. Blackberry struggled with herself but lost to her greed and picked up the bowl. From that moment on, Blackberry is no more. She rejoined her party and that night killed them in their sleep and stole their possessions. She returned to Waterdeep and became a cat burglar, entering people's homes while they slept and murdering them for their treasures. She is never caught.
Samsung belongs to clan Battlerager, a clan of minor craftsmen beneath the Riven Mountain. Supplies are controlled by rival clans and so clan Battlerager receives inferior materials, thus creating lesser quality goods. Samsung becomes envious of the success of the rival clans. One night, while drinking his Dwarven ale, he meet a strange dwarf and they lament the injustices of the world. The stranger told him of a way to acquire better materials but Samsung must not question how the items were found. A shipment will arrive for him in several days and that all he has to do is accept it. In the meantime, it is getting harder to provide for his wife and daughter until he can no longer put food on the table. The next morning, Sam goes down and opened the magic doors to the Dwarven under city but instead of receiving a shipment of materials, he is greeted by an army of demons and elves from the plane of fire. Riven Mountain was overrun by invaders and many dwarves are killed or enslaved. Samsung was forced to choose who lived between his wife & daughter, & he picked his daughter.
Upton was a young & beardless man who found himself in love with a young & beautiful noble woman. The noble woman loved him in return & she left her life of wealth to become Upton's wife. They married and have 7 children. Upton provided for his family as a mage-for-hire but had a hard time finding jobs as time went on. He and his wife began to argue and Upton was struck by an intense feeling of wanderlust. But he loved his family and rather then leave them for the road, he started to drink heavily down at the local tavern. At one point he suspected that his wife was going to leave him and his children had mysterious bruises on them & they are afraid of him, save for one child who still had faith in her father. Upton tried to quit drinking but constantly fell off the wagon. He aged rapidly and became bloated and bitter. One night, while drinking, he overheard a man talking of how he had "had" Upton's wife several ways and that some of the kids weren't even his. In a rage, Upton fireballed the tavern, killing everyone inside. He went home to confront his wife but rather than wait for her answer, he burned down the house and killed his entire family. His last glimpse of his family is of the one child who still believed in him burning to death.
After each vision has been shown, the door disappears and a ghostly figure emerges in that spot. Upton & Samsung begged their apparitions for forgiveness, which caused them to disappear but Blackberry & Edrick attack their ghosts. Blackberry hit her apparition but instead of harming it, the damage is reflected back upon Blackberry. The blackguard ghost used the power of the unholy smite upon Edrick, doing considerable & it didn't harm the ghost at all. Blackberry's ghost attacked her & hurt her and Blackberry told it to stop.
"I'm sorry," yelled Blackberry, "I'll make it right, I promise!" "Really, really?" asked the apparition of Blackberry. "Yes, yes! Just stop hurting me!"
At which point her ghost went away. Edrick followed suit and forgave himself for his past sins & the blackguard also went away.
Meanwhile, a monstrous claw began to emerge from the pool in the center of the floor and 4 demons appear in place of the ghosts. Tyranthraxus has come forth to do battle with those who he needs in order to be set free within the realms. As he emerged from the pool we were shown another vision. Tyranthraxus had pretended to be Edrick's human mistress when she hung herself; Tyranthraxus distracted Blackberry's party & allowed her to touch the icon; Tyranthraxus was the strange dwarf who arranged Samsung's downfall; Tyranthraxus was the man who seduced Upton's wife & was bragging in the tavern. Tyranthraxus had arranged our downfall in our previous life.
Uh-oh, we split the party!
Tyranthraxus had some nasty abilities, like
reverse gravity &
horrid wilting, which he could use at will. He also had 4 attacks & the rend ability, he was surrounded in
a magic circle vs good (MCVG), DR 10/good, he could cast spells, and he had the ability to immolate & surround himself in a demonic fire that caused damage to melee attackers. The only thing that could actually kill him was the sword of Lathander, which Edrick was wielding.
Samsung was able to encase all of the demons in stone by use the
stone shape spell, quickly getting them out of combat. Edrick had to overcome the MCVG but Blackberry was able to pass through it since she is CN. Thank god (or Rob) for those extra levels because the only way Blackberry could hurt Tyranthraxus was by using her sneak attack ability. It took Edrick several attempts to breach the MCVG but once he did, he was able to give Tyranthraxus a good wack. Upton hit him with several
cone of colds & Samsung used
flame strike, causing some major damage.
Tyranthraxus then went after Upton & tried to use the remaining tattoo to control him, but Upton was able to make his will save, thus negating any effects of the tattoo. Blackberry & Edrick followed after Tyranthraxus but Edrick had to get past the MCVG again. Tyranthraxus then attacked Blackberry and hit her 4 times & did a rend. Upton flew away & Edrick got through the MCVG but then he rolled a 1 (EPIC FAIL!) & threw his sword. Not only did he fall asleep during the combat vs the drow but he threw his freaking sword during a battle with a god!
Tyranthraxus stunned Blackberry and threw her up against a wall because Samsung had cast silence on her. Thank god (or Robbie) again for those extra levels because the extra hit points saved her freaking life. Because Edrick wasn't holding the sword of Lathander, Tyranthraxus attempted to use the tattoo to control him but it also failed. So then Tyranthraxus attacked him & killed him & ate him. BUT because Edrick avoided control & the tattoo was removed, his soul was restored and he wasn't completely destroyed.
Due to the combined damage dealt by Blackberry, Edrick, & mostly Upton, we were able to knock him down to 0 HP. Then we put him back in the pool & Upton delivered the final blow using the sword of Lathander.
Our final vision was of Edrick, the paladin of Torm, marrying the human woman that he loved & raising their half-elf child together; Blackberry resisting the temptation to pick up the golden icon & rejoining her party; Samsung working hard & achieving the life that he had coveted; Upton never picking up a bottle & turning to alcohol to drown his sorrows. Tyranthraxus, the scourge of elves and the seducer, had been destroyed. We had regained our souls & resumed living the life that he had interrupted.
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