DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 8 / Thief 8)
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 7 / Fighter 7)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 8)
Chanee (Human Paladin 7)
[Baqua Irontoes (Halfling Fighter 4 / Thief 6)]
Date/Time
Patchwall 10 (early morning) to Patchwall 10 (mid day)
Rising rested and restored, the party is now ready to face the last of the doors. Proceeding to the closest unopened door, they enter and proceed as before to the inner ebony door. And are once again teleported to a 30'x30' room with four exits. But now having mapped much of the caverns, it is relatively easy to find their way back to known ground and proceed to the next set of doors. This continues until the party passes through the last of the six doors. And now the final decision; does the riddle mean they should or should not pass through a seventh time? Deciding on the former, they head for the first set of doors (doubling checking there has been no change to the painting of the skift and woman) and Chanee bravely throws open the inner ebony door one more time ...
... and is greeted by a blaze of warm light, But not the blinding flash and teleportation as before. The paladin steps forward onto a ledge of green serpentine enclosed by a decorative openwork screen, of which he can see five others around the diameter of the room. Beyond is a spherical chamber. The upper dome is lapis lazuli, and the lower serpentine green. The sides of the sphere are perfectly smooth, and look as if they cannot be climbed or walked upon. Hanging from the ceiling a jeweled lanthorn on a golden chain which glows with an amber flame. The lanthorn hangs above a broad stone dais. On the dais is a block of rose-colored marble, 6' long, 3' wide and 3' high. On the dais surrounding the marble is a smoking brazer on a silver stand, a collection of porcelain jars and a crystal bowl full of gems. Atop the marble block is a slab of white alabaster, on which lies a woman, seemingly asleep. The sleeping maiden is armored in gold-chased plate mail. A long bastard sword is atop her body, Her pale face seems composed. Her lips are bright red and her raven-hued tresses are lustrous. A helmet with plumes as black as the maid's hair rests on the slab just above her head.
Chanee backs into the hallway to talk to the rest of the party. After much discussion, they decided to use the carpet to distribute individuals to the other ledges. With everyone hasted, Chanee and Goro use magic to descend safety to the dias. ready to strike should the maiden prove false. The paladin has already detected evil centered on the slab, but he is not certain if it is the maiden or something else. Goro is sure it is the woman, but as he prepares to strike, the paladin surprises him by climbing up on the slab and defensiving stands over the prone form, declaring himself the maidens' guardian. Said maiden the rises herself, and with ta wicked smile leaps off the slabe and flies up to attack the party scattered about the upper sphere.
More surprises as her blow is unnaturally strong and drains the life force out of those hit (Skeef and Goro in particular). Goro however must primarily face off against his erstwhile companion, trying to take down Chanee with subduing blows. The maiden meanwhile moves from one party member to another, alternating between the touch of her hand the the sharp of her sword. In short order she is force to cut free of her armor and drop her sword on one of the ledges as Skeef has heated it to unbearable temperatures. Solcha meanwhile uses her wand of paralyzation to freeze Chanee, sparing Goro more blows and allowing him to joint the fight against the maiden. Baqua uses her time to examine the lanthorn, resting on the same ledges as the sword and amro, whence it had been moved earlier as the party explored the chamber.
Her they soon strike down. But at the final blow, she turns into a wisp of smoke and disappears through a tiny hole in the top of the alabaster slab. Goro goes to carefully retrieve her dropped sword, taking care not to touch it, and then rejoins the party. Kicking aside the ruined remnants of treasure on the dias, the party lifts the massive slab. This reveals a hollowed out cavity 2' wide, 4' long, and 2' deep. This space holds only a small brass cage. Inside this cage are several pieces of platinum jewelry studded with diamonds and rubies—a tiara, a necklace, a bracelet, earrings, and a ring. When the two thieves have declared the cage free of traps and tripwires, Skeef lifts it out of the cavity. And then ...
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