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In attendance:

Note: This session concludes “Beyond The Light of Reason”, written by Caine Chandler, and published in Dungeon Magazine, Issue #96

As the others have been unable to come up with any brilliant ideas to solve the puzzle of Berronar's Pyre, Pavo takes the frost crystal from his pack and begins some experimentation with it. He learns that while he can approach the flames without danger, he cannot enter them as the power of the pyre seems to outweigh the crystal.

Roderick then casts a series of spells to test the pyre. He starts by constructing a stone altar to Imhotep, consecrating it, and casting a Flame Strike counter-spell. This does nothing to the fire. Then, he casts a Magic Circle against Law, which seems to interact with the flames, but is overpowered by them.

Finally, he summons an Earth Elemental as a Lesser Planar Ally (and a Tongues spell so he can speak with it). The elemental demands 2,000 gold pieces worth of gems for his service, which Roderick agrees to pay.

After casting a Scrying spell to view the elemental, Roderick sends his new ally into the stone to trace the route of the tunnel. However, after only a few hundred yards, the creature finds a magical barrier that prevents his further travel. It appears the only way into the Long Deep is through the fire-filled chasm.

In addition, the party learns once and for all that summoned creatures (no matter their alignment) cannot return home once they are brought into the field around Berronar's Pyre.

With all their ideas exhausted, the party decides to return to the unexplored regions of the temple to see if any information can be gleaned about the Pyre.

After climbing back into the vandalized inner sanctum, they proceed back through an unused Augury room and find a man sitting on the floor. He has a scruffy beard that has been braided into four strands that dangle oddly from his chin and is hunched over as if exhausted. He wears gleaming chain mail with the conjoined rings symbol of Berronar. When the party approach, he looks up wearily and asks, “Is he dead?”

Pavo replies in the affirmative and the man says:

   Then I can go home.
   Berronar will not mind if you travel beyond her fire.
   It is time for the fires beyond to either be quenched or released.
   May she watch over you in the darkness you seek.

Before the party can ask the man any more questions, he slumps forward and vanishes. In his place, a decades-old skeletal corpse lies against the wall, still wearing the gleaming armor of the man in the vision. Next to him, Pavo finds a magical mace. However, when he picks it up, a voice in his head tells him, “I am not for you. Put me down.”

Pavo, never one to take orders from upstart magic items, studies the mace with his magic-identifying lens and learns that it is a mace of disruption. He doesn't need the lens to realize that the mace would likely prefer Roderick, so he hands it over.

Next up, they find a half-fiend Harpy whose song captivates several members of the party. However, those who shake off the magic of her song are able to defeat her.

Continuing on, the party seeks out the chaos that Kesi detected with her staff on the way in. They find a fountain spewing black, evil goo and a horrible abomination of ever-changing flesh, eyes, mouths, and claws. After a quick and fierce fight, the oozing beast stops quivering and the party concludes it is dead. However, Kesi's staff still glows and she determines that some form of chaos exists beyond the wall.

After a few failed attempts to get through the wall, the party moves on to an adjoining room where they find a very well-concealed secret door. The passage beyond leads down into what they eventually learn to be Vargnin's chamber.

However, guarding it is a Blue Slaad. Aramil, who is expert at defeating such creatures, charges the beast, but is held immobile by one of its spells. Pavo, however, makes it in and quickly fells the beast.

The chamber is found to hold a small laboratory, as well as a number of books and tomes - and while many of them are interesting, none give any insight into Berronar's Pyre. However, a locked chest remains. After some experimentation, it is found that the chest is magically trapped and will unleash a Blade Barrier spell if opened. Ursa attempts to dispel it, but is unsuccessful. Bigby wonders aloud why a magician would set a trap that would devastate his own laboratory, and then the party notices that there is a plane about one foot off the ground throughout the back of the room where no valuables exist, and the furniture has been damaged as if by blades. Pavo orders the others back and stands on the table (which is above the plane). Bigby, from a distance, magically unlocks the chest and Pavo opens it with a rope. The blade barrier trap springs to life, but harmlessly cuts away at the sturdy legs of the table.

Inside the chest, there are some valuables. But more importantly, under a false bottom, Vargnin's journal is found! It is written in the language of Baka, the plains tribesmen who live near the Lake of the Serpents. Since no one in the party understands that language, they are forced to wait the night so that Roderick can cast Comprehend Languages.

The next day, September 8th, Roderick uses his Imbue Spell Ability to give Bigby two Comprehend Languages spells. Bigby spends the day studying the journal and learns not only how to bring down Berronar's Pyre, but also the story of how Vargnin came to be in this place. Despite the obvious bias of the author, Bigby is able to glean the following tale from the journal (corroborated in places by observations the party made in recent weeks):

   Just over fifty years ago, a group of humans who had sworn allegiance to the
   dwarven goddess, Berronar, set out to reclaim the lands around the Long Deep.
   The humans were considered at best outcasts, and at worse, a dangerous cult.
   The dwarves in Clangdun felt they somehow sullied the dwarven religion.
   Meanwhile, the other humans felt they had turned their back on the "human"
   gods.  The lands around the Long Deep were seen by the group as a means of
   redemption.  If they could resettle the land, they could then offer it back
   to the dwarves and earn respect.

   However, the lands were not only hard to farm, but also had become
   infested with orcs, giants, and other unruly occupants.  Still, the group,
   lead by a priest named Narhalm, managed to establish an abbey to Berronar and
   open a mine near an ancient dwarven temple - which they reconsecrated to
   Berronar.  While the mining operations funded their life here, they dreamed
   of one day safely reopening the Long Deep.  However, they were all too aware
   that it was sealed for a reason!

   Enter Vargnin, priest to the evil Nerull, an obscure god of death.  Vargnin
   appears to have come originally from Baka and was seeking an entry into the
   Long Deep so that he could release the spirit of the fire wizardess,
   Qo'aycin.  His goal was to gain either her powers or her gratitude.  When he
   learned of the Berronar cult and their resettlement outside the Long Deep, he
   suspected they might be secretly seeking the same thing.

   Vargnin approached the settlers and lived among them for a short time.  When
   he realized they had no intention of reopening the Long Deep, he entered the
   mines, killed the miners and took control of the ancient temple.  Narhalm
   went in to confront Vargnin and an epic battle took place in the cavern under
   the temple.  Vargnin had been using earth moving spells in an attempt to
   pierce the magical protections around the Long Deep.  When Narhalm tried to
   counter them, they became unstable and a massive earthquake was triggered.
   The lower entrances to the mine and the temple were buried and a rift opened
   in the cavern, releasing a gaseous energy that ignited at the spark of one of
   Narhalm's spells.  The resulting explosion killed Vargnin outright and
   wounded Narhalm severely, forcing him to flee.

   When the healed Narhalm returned a few days later, he was dismayed to find
   that Vargnin's body was not where he left it.  In fact, Vargnin had been
   granted the gift of undeath from Nerull and had become even more powerful.
   Narhalm, unprepared for another epic battle, was unable to get Vargnin within
   striking distance of his mace, and was severely wounded by Vargnin's spells.
   He was forced to flee the cavern.  He attempted to hide in the Augury room,
   but Vargnin caught up with him and cast a death spell on him before he could
   recover. As a final insult, Vargnin bound Narhalm's soul to this room,
   leaving him trapped in a quasi-undead state.

   Vargnin, however, found that his earthquake had released a mighty dwarven
   magic.  Combined with Narhalm's spells, it formed a massive, magical field
   around the mines and beyond.  Not only was he trapped within its boundary,
   the good magic interfered with his undead form and he was unable to craft a
   phylactery to house his soul.  As a result, he was vulnerable to being slain.
   He began a fifty-year quest to bring down "Berronar's Pyre".

   At the beginning of this year, Vargnin noticed that the pyre's magic changed
   slightly.  He had no knowledge that this change occurred as a result of the
   Shadowlord's invasion of the elemental world.  All he knew was that instead
   of pure good, there was a new element in the mix.  While he never knew it was
   called "shadow", he managed to research a spell that would diffuse the pyre
   to the point where the power source for the spell would falter. However, the
   dispersion would infect the entire temple (and perhaps beyond) with a
   powerful (though temporary) aura of good.  He would have to cast numerous
   evil spells to protect himself during this process.

And so, it becomes clear to Bigby that the party can cast the requisite spells to bring down the pyre. However, he also realizes that with a small tweak to Vargnin's research, he can make the suppression temporary. He proclaims that he (with Roderick and Ursa's help) can bring the pyre down for perhaps a half hour or an hour.

Treasure found: Magic Items

• +2 Chain Mail (Narhalm's armor)
• Salinthine, +2 Heavy Mace of Disruption
• Potion of Cure Serious Wounds
• Divine Scroll: True Seeing, Cure Critical Wounds, Prayer, Mass Cure Light Wounds, Find The Path, Divine Power, and Cure Moderate Wounds
• Divine Scroll: Scrying, Control Weather, Plane Shift, Commune and Helping Hand

Money

• 700 pp

Gems & Jewelry

• Thin golden chain with a heart-shaped locket (250 gp)
• Six small sapphires (650 gp each)
• Slender silk glove backed with a fine golden mesh and adorned with five rubies (2,500 gp)
• Jade statuette of a coiled blue dragon (1,000 gp)
• Ivory scrollcase with images of tortured elves and chaotic tentacled creatures (200 gp)

XP awarded: 1,525 for Roderick; 1,625 for Aramil, Bigby, Kesi, Ursa, and Pavo; 2,000 for Dru.