Tombs of Scoria: Episode 92

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== Synopsis ==
The Brothers and Shine clear out Dragon Peak’s remaining defenders: a chamber of Fire Mephits, Magma Elementals, goblins, and a battering trap meant to throw creatures back into lava. However, Zarthan manages to escape. Scoria ambushes the army stationed within the mountain in the night, killing a large number of the army’s best knights. However, the army comes across a group of enslaved dwarves, from whom the Brothers learn how Zarthan came to serve Scoria. The dwarves describe the exact remaining layout of Scoria’s lair, including a room meant to act as Scoria’s last stand, complete with an entryway warded with anti-magic, a trap of falling rocks, stone golems, and carved hallways protected by metal bars for her minions to assist her from range. Scouts report back from testing the perimeter of the final chamber, revealing that the battle with Scoria is finally upon them.
==Recap==
===Siege of Dragon Peak - Day 5===
The Brothers discuss whether to proceed along the ground path or the upper pathway. The Brothers worry Scoria may ambush them from behind if they push forward along the ground path, so Imrik prepares to spend a day casting to explore the passages before them. The army's soldiers struggle to maintain any forward position because of rising heat. Anton suggests sending a cleric per group to cast . During the discussion, a soldier suggests baiting Scoria with a feigned all out-attack, then fall back into a previously prepared position. Imrik discharges his unused spells, and the Brothers and the army rests, ending the fifth day of the siege. 
===Siege of Dragon Peak - Day 6===
Imrik begins casting Prying Eyes into Dragon Peak, where they eventually return. The ground pathway is riddled with traps, and comes to a break into 3 directions: Right is filled with orcs, goblins, and ogres guarding a doorway; the left path leads into an armory also filled with monsters; the forward path leads into a large open chamber in front of which are 2 Magma Elementals and an armored dwarf. Imrik succeeds on a Perception Check, noticing some type of construction behind the dwarven figure, and concluding the dwarf to likely be Zarthan.
The upper (dragon) path returns no eyes. Imrik sends another set of eyes in staggered groups, directing the tailing eyes to return as soon as the lead group of eyes disappear. In the dragon pathway, the eyes see that within the lava chamber, there are scratch marks all over the wall on either side of the lava. The eyes report back that the first set of eyes rose up into the cylindrical column and suddenly vanished. The Brothers delegate the investigation to a squadron of knights and a wizard. The soldiers are able to confirm Imrik's suspicion that the area is warded by another anti-magic zone, noting that any attempt by Scoria to use that pathway as an ambush would necessitate her casting her own buffs after passing through the anti-magic zone. 
The Brothers decide to pursue the figure they assume is Zarthan, however, the Brothers fear being pushed into the lava-pit located in front of Zarthan, or Scoria waiting in ambush. Anton detects Scoria, and feels she is about a quarter mile away. Imrik casts from his wand onto the lava within the chamber, but as he attempts to do so, two sets of burst forth from above. Imrik’s displacement avoids the first set, though the second set strikes him for 8 damage.
=== Combat Start: The Brothers and Shine vs. Fire Mephits ===
Imrik looks up and sees two Fire Mephits were the assailants. The remaining 5 also cast at Imrik, the ones that pass Magic resistance deal 31 to him. Imrik steps back, so do Tyrael and Anton.
Anton heals Imrik for 18; Imrik naturally regenerates 5 HP. Shine casts on herself. Tyrael activates his Ring of Invisibility.
Anton throws a stone to throw down the corridor as a hedge against Balaerius possibly waiting in ambush with a . Shine moves forth. Her Dragonfear envelops the Mephits, sending them fleeing as Shine unleashes her gas-breath weapon, killing a number of the Mephits. Imrik peeks around the corner and does not see any monsters left.
Combat End.
The Brothers call and forward for the attack on Zarthan. Imrik scries further down the chamber, seeing two more Mephits, the magma elementals, goblins, and some construction up towards the ceiling behind the assembled creatures. As Imrik scries, he sees Zarthan, unarmored, wielding a mace, seemingly focused ahead at the angle of the Brothers’ would-be approach. 
As the Brothers discuss how to approach, Imrik decides to cast at the end of the corridor. As the shard of ice rain down on the area, creatures caught within the ice suffer 17 damage, killing a Mephit, injuring another, and causing the elementals to back up. However, the dwarf begins to intone some words, and the elementals move back into position. Imrik fires a down the corridor; the lightning ricochets off the walls, striking the elementals for 39, though they hold their ground. Imrik draws his Rod of Thunder and Lightning and fires another bolt; the elementals save, suffering 12 damage. Anton casts , summoning 13 angry Badgers. The Badgers bolt down the corridor and hurl themselves at the defenders, though the snickering laughter of goblins indicates minimal success.
The elementals then move forth and submerge themselves within the lava, only to apparently reemerge and move back into position. The Brothers decide to have Shine attempt a breath weapon and retreat. Imrik casts , rolling a 1, and casts , producing 8 images. He above the lava along Shine and finds a ledge to perch on, and is met with an imp.
=== Combat Start: Shine and Imrik vs. Zarthan and Scoria’s Minions ===
* A small imp breathes fire onto Imrik, destroying Imrik’s Mirror Images and dealing 5 damage to him.
* Imrik fires back with an arrow, slaying the imp. Imrik sees another Mephit, firing at it and slaying it.
* Shine cranes her neck around the corner and breathes gas onto the defenders, dealing 77 damage.
* The Magma Elementals strike Shine, destroying 2 charges of her Stoneskin.
* Shine engages the elementals in melee, missing her bite and clawing at them, dealing 35. 
* Despite her initial orders, Shine judges the combat as going well, and continues to fight, ripping apart one of the Magma Elementals, and almost completely destroying the second elemental. The remaining elemental attempts to flee, and dies as Shine bites into it. 
* Shine slowly backs up and reports that Zarthan had fled before she arrived
Combat End.
Anton detects Scoria, and finds her half a mile away. The Brothers order a group of 8 soldiers forward. Anton casts two onto the soldiers, one of whom is a 3rd Level soldier named Brick. As the soldiers move forward, the wounded elementals emerge from the lava and begin fighting the soldiers, killing 4 of them. Imrik fires at the elementals, but they prove immune to non-magical weapons. The elementals submerge back into the lava. Brick reports an open, empty chamber, and some type of mechanism with a battering ram built onto the ceiling, presumably to throw any attackers back into the lava. Anton asks Brick to destroy or activate the mechanism, but she is unable to figure out how to do either. The surviving soldiers retreat.
The Brother call forth 7th Level Knights, Vash, and Braengang to accompany them. Anton casts as the assembled attackers begin moving down the hallway to confront the Magma Elementals. Imrik casts on attackers.
=== Combat Start: The Brothers, Vash, Braengang, and Drekis’s Knights vs. Magma Elementals ===
* The Magma Elementals emerge. Imrik fires a volley of arrows at the first elemental, dealing 51 damage. 
* The Knights attack, dealing 27 to the first elemental, and 13 to the other, slaying the elemental.
* A Knight steps back to make way for Tyrael, suffering a disfiguring, horrible wound, but survives. Tyrael attacks the elemental, dealing 13 and killing the elemental 
Combat End.
Tyrael attempts to disarm the battering ram trap and succeeds. The Brothers exit out of the lair as they direct the army to hold the chamber. Imrik attempts to scry on Zarthan, but fails to locate him. Anton lends his Decanter of Endless Water to a soldier. The Brothers rest, ending the sixth day of the siege.
=== Siege of Dragon Peak - Day 7 ===
The next morning, the army reports that goblins and ogres were guarding captive dwarves. After a fight, the dwarves were freed and they volunteer information freely, but the information is overshadowed by reports of ambushes by Scoria in the night, pushing the army back. The army reports that their alarm system, composed of invisible soldiers with horns, did work, but the army lost a hundred men at arms, thirty 3rd Level Knights, ten 5th Level Knights, and ten 7th Level Knights. 
Anton casts on himself, and then , directing it to seek out Zarthan. Anton casts in an attempt to locate Balaerius, but finds that his spell fails, as it requires a good standing with Velthara. Imrik attempts to scry on Balaerius, but finds he is protected from scrying. Anton summons another servant, and directs it to find “the dark-cloaked figure in the mountain” referring to Balaerius. Anton’s Decanter of Endless Water is returned to him, as the soldiers were able to use it, cooling the lava, but rendering the area inoperable, as it generated too much steam. The Brothers decide to wait the day to see if the Aerial Servants return any results. The Aerial Servants do not return. 
Eventually, the Brothers hear the report from the dwarves that were captured and enslaved by Scoria; Zarthan was the cleric of the dwarves, who brokered their survival in return for his lifetime service to her. The dwarves served her for more than a 100 years and they were the ones to dig out her lair. The Brothers learn everything that remains within Scoria’s lair: they have cleared through Scoria’s final prepared defense, the chamber with the magma elementals, and beyond that, pathways that splits into Scoria’s different lairs: one holds her treasures; one holds her armory where she keeps her magical items held above lava, out of reach to all except her; chambers for her spellcasters; her throne room called the Hall of Mirrors that allows her complete vision of everything around her; Scoria’s chambers, a sauna style room where Scoria sits, mostly enveloped in lava with some spots for her most prized servants; and, a chamber the dwarves refer to Scoria’s “last stand room” a massive chamber that was dug out over a hundred years ago, noting it is specifically designed to be defended. 
The last stand chamber is about 180 feet by 180 feet, with a 20-foot wide entryway, and passageways are dug into the southern and eastern walls, from which ledges protrude, reinforced with metal bars, allowing her minions full vantage of the battlefield and ability to freely fire ranged attacks through. The dwarves note some type of trap was built into the room, but the dwarves who constructed the trap were killed after its construction. They note that all passageways and lairs lead to the chamber of Scoria’s final stand.
Imrik asks the dwarves whether Zarthan can be turned, but they say he swore an oath to Voraci, pledging his service to Scoria under the pain of being turned into a Death Knight should he betray his oath. 
Anton attempts to investigate the construction of the trap in the last stand room. He asks for the names of the dwarves who participated in the construction of the trap; the dwarves say Dreihard was the best among them. Anton himself and casts twice.
Show me Dreihard’s final moments in the mountain
*He sees a tight passageway, with Dreihard lined up with other dwarves. Zarthan is seen holding back tears, performing final rites as Scoria incinerates the dwarves in a fire breath.
Show me Dreihard when he completed his final work
*Dreihard affixes a chain to a winch; the chain runs up along a wall to a huge collection of rocks and rubble positioned above what appears to be an entrance to a chamber. 
Anton is also able to see the last stand chamber, seeing the rocks would be more than enough to crush anything coming through the entryway and block ingress. The dwarves note that Scoria had at least 4 Stone Golems, though they don't know where the golems are. The dwarves ask for a return back to their homeland, off the coast of Solum, the Brothers promise to provide after dealing with Scoria. They ask dwarves for advice on how to deal with the trap. 
As the Brothers are in discussion on how to proceed, a scout from the army reports that they were able to move up to the entryway of Scoria’s last stand, and their invisibility was dispelled, presumably by intricate patterns inscribed into the entryway, projecting anti-magic. The scout’s report of the layout corroborates the descriptions from the dwarves.
The Brothers send scouts to prod at the chamber of Scoria's last stand, as they discuss how to go about the final battle. Imrik suggests a path around the anti-magic field. Anton suggests sending soldiers to spring the trap and then using Shine to destroy anti-magic field.
They send people in to do reconnaissance on the chamber, the third one returns back alive with the information on the position of cages in the chamber.
Category:Tombs of Scoria Episodes