Episode Seven Pt.2: Xonthal's Tower

Having mastered the maze, the next challenge was how to enter the Tower.

A full lap of the exterior revealed no entrance, with only arrow slit windows and a single balcony high above. Marko set about studying the stonework circle at the foot of the tower, finding no traps but also no answers. Marko being Marko, he eventually managed to stumble onto the stone itself, and promptly disappeared.

After a few anxious minutes with no sign of your stalwart thief (nor a way of magically tracking him, as Martmaal discovered the Tower was magically shielded), Jorin decided action was called for, and he too disappeared soon after stepping into the circle.

Slightly fewer minutes later, you all decided that following was for the best, though not after a brief debate about the relative rise in value of company shares (and brain power) should Marko and Jorin be lost.

You emerged into a sealed circular room to find the forward guard enjoying a meal of cheese and dried meat. Typical. There was also another dead cultist, face down in a pool of semi-fresh blood. The room was otherwise non-remarkable, other than two raised platforms, and a panel of hieroglyphs above the teleport circle you had just arrived on.

Some experimentation soon revealed that pressing buttons teleported you to new circles. The throne glyph took you to the raised balconies in the room, though why anyone needed a teleport for such a short journey mystified you. Mages will be mages.

Marko reported that he’d tried the hourglass glyph with no success, so you next tried the Star. This time you found yourselves in some kind of Observatory. A massive brass and crystal telescope dominated the room, looking out through an immense crystal lens embedded in the ceiling.

As you set about exploring the room, Ash opened two sliding doors that revealed the balcony — and four angry cultists. The most senior looking one immediately blasted the room with a cone of freezing cold, taking you all by surprise. Within seconds Stormwatch rallied, and only moments later all four cult fighters lay dead. Surprisingly weak resistance, given what you have become accustomed to.

Searching the mage’s body, you found an hourglass shaped key, which turned out to be a perfect match for the symbol on the teleport pad. Pressing the key inwards, you travelled instantly to what appeared to be a dungeon.

More bodies lay in front of you, one cult member who looked to have been stabbed to death, and two with shocking burn marks that must have spelled their demise. A trail of bloody footsteps led out of the room, which you cautiously followed — the blood of your target Iskander, you theorised.

Ahead lay a square room, in the centre of which was a horrendous pool of fresh gore, over which stood two massive clay figures, and what looked like a burning humanoid. They were all still, until you stepped slowly into the room, at which point they awoke and started lumbering and flowing toward you. Backing off caused them too to revert to their original positions.

Being nimble of foot, Ash decided to test the creatures intent, as he followed the bloody trail out of the room and down steps to the north. Again the creatures didn’t follow once the room was abandoned — so you all followed suit (also abandoning the chest they seemed to be guarding).

A passage led off the top of the steps, so you checked there first. The room it led to was obviously a mage’s Laboratory, full of test tubes and bunsen burners, and a swirling 10 foot cyclone somehow fixed in position. Withing the maelstrom you could make out glistening gemstones, but you decided not to fall for the oldest trick in the book, and pressed onward.

At the foot of the steps you were greeted with a most astounding vista. The stone path appeared to disappear, replaced by a transparent crystal walkway. And the dungeon itself faded away, and instead you were surrounded by infinite space. Stars and constellations twinkled all around, and distant meteorite storms streaked through the darkness.

You tentatively stepped out into the void, or jumped and floated over it, into a doorway that rose out of the nothingness. Inside was a Library, stacked floor to ceiling with countless (and priceless) tomes. You each found rare books that seemed to contain knowledge otherwise unknown, and you stashed them carefully in your portable hole.

As you headed further along the astral walkway, a sudden shower of meteorites very nearly threw Bally into the bottomless void, but he managed to stay on the path thanks to some skilful shield deployment.

Heading further on you reached the end of walkway and found a pantry of magical components. Venturing up the right junction, you were met with an unexpected sight. Sitting in a plushly furnished room was a massive red skinned figure, demonic in vista, staring intently at a chess board laid out before him.

He greeted you with an extremely untrustworthy smile, and introduced himself as Taraz the Fair (no relation to Martmaal — or was there?). Some questioning soon revealed that he was trapped in this room by a thin line of magical salt, cursed to stay here until he could best Xonthal in a game of chess. Or so he claimed.

Ash soon determined that nothing that Taraz said could be 100% trusted, though there was truth and lies mixed in equal measure. He advised that he knew what you were seeking (Iskander and the mask), and where it was (in the void of space you just navigated), and that he could lead you safely there — extremely safely — if only you will free him.

After you voiced some skepticism, he also let it be know that he had three wishes he could grant to those that would free him from his century of captivity. Three! You were no longer new to this adventuring game, and decided that perhaps Taraz was best left to his own devices — at least until you had explored the entire dungeon. As you moved on, you heard him call after you that he in fact had four wishes…

The final room you entered revealed your decision to be the right one. Slumped dead behind two massive chain suspended hourglasses was Iskander, and in his hands was your objective: the Blue Dragon Mask!

Stormwatch had again triumphed, finding the second of six masks, which would surely make the task of summoning Tiamat that much harder. And, as Donald was quick to remind you, 100,000GP richer.

After some clean up work in the Tower, avoiding only the flame glyph room which seemed certain to spell doom, you emerged once again into the light at the sundial in the maze. To Waterdeep!

Tyranny of Dragons

Episode Seven Pt.2: Xonthal’s Tower

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