Well of Desolation

Artemis

Koritha

Helena

Yao

Baqir

Dolan thought that the last artifact would be in Ada’s village since Septa-kem seemed very similar to the ethereal devourer so the gr

Upon arriving the group met up with Ada and found out that they had found Septa-kem and Vessel had left with him without a word as to why. Koritha sent a message to Vessil via the sending spell, but Vessel responded that she had no intention of giving us any information on what she was doing. Dolan pressed Ada for information on possible locations of the final artifact and she mentioned Mariq’s old capital was built on top of a giant well now called the well of desolation. Upon hearing this the entire group agreed this was likely the same well that they had seen when they found the silver star.

Dolan invited the two remaining snake sisters to come with them but Ada said she would rather stay behind in case Vessel came back. So together with Meska-tet the group headed to the well of desolation. They camped in Palar’s fortress outside the city before venturing in the next morning.

The group entered the giant well at the center of the abandoned city and found a hidden path leading off from the main shaft. Upon entering they reached a mysterious stone carved with a message. But before the group could translate the message, the ground beneath the group caved and brought them down into a tunnel. Inside the tunnel a ghostly figure of a Parani warrior approached them. He asked who the party’s leader was and eventually it was decided the leader was Koritha. The parani figure objected stating that a woman could not lead. This sparked Helena to start shouting at him and he decided to find the leader himself. He waved his hand and tried to put the party to sleep. All but Palar, Dolan, and Helena fell to sleep.

He tested them by sending them to run down a hallway and back to test their stamina. Palar withstood the test, Helena used her broom and Dolan passed the test but was a bit winded. Upon completing the test they were led to a holding area where the other five members of their party were being held now in cages. The Parani ghost told each of the awake party members to choose one person to free from their cages. Dolan chose Yao, knowing he was the group’s strongest warrior. Palar chose Koritha, knowing the group would need healing, and Helena chose Baqir.

With no choice but to leave Artemis and Meska-tet behind the group took on the next of the ghost’s tests. An obstacle course which most characters passed. The winded Dolan resorted to using his broom. At the end of the course was a set of monkey bars over a pit of Acid. Helena and Dolan both crossed on their brooms. Yao tried but slipped on the first rung and was burned by the acid, but he managed to pull himself out and get healing from Koritha. Palar tried to cross but resorted to using his wings after he fell. Koritha crossed no problem as did Baqir. Yao tried again and got struck, at which point a more rested Palar went back to help Yao across without the use of his wings.

Upon clearing the test they were taken to one final chamber where previous contestants who failed to pass the tests were kept. They took the group water and told them to drink. Palar asked the prisoners if they wanted to help them with the final test and one prisoner accepted the challenge. Her name was Simona and Palar offered her his spare Katana and Breastplate armor for the battle to come.

In the final arena the group were swarmed by undead that they easily dispatched via Palar’s tower and Helena’s grease. At this point an illusion appeared on the wall showing the group Meska-tet and Artemis, now impaled with chains through their mid sections as their cages began to fill up with sand. The group was attacked by a sand Worm that nearly swallowed Yao, but Baqir got the finishing blow on it. Finally, the Parani ghost himself, presumably the Parani king attacked the party. Upon his defeat he turned into a hydra made of bones. Even this wasn’t enough and to everyone’s surprise Simona dealt the killing blow.

Palar took the loadstone serpent whip and struck the parani king’s skull to finish him off permanently, and his skull grew to the size it could be worn as a helmet. Dolan took the helmet as the rest of the group ran back to try to save Artemis and Meska-tet. Helena and Yao pulled the chains out of their party members.

Without any clear exit, Dolan put on the parani king’s skull to see if he could use it to get the group out. Dolan found that while wearing the skull he could shape the earth around them. He told the earth to give them any prisoners held there and any loot nearby before making them an escalator out of the pit. The group emerged into the welcome sunlight with the fourth and final artifact in towe.