Episode 95

Emily’s body erodes into sand as the battle dies down. Marisol and Ingred go around healing the party. Despite needing a rest, the party hears fighting continuing in the background and decides to head out as they don’t want the wings to beat them to the Heart. Marisol stops them for a moment; apologizing before raising one of the duergar corpses. A dark sigil of Lady Death writes itself in the sand and a skeleton peels itself away from the fleshy body. Marisol hands it a bow and quiver to do her bidding and a very disturbed Ingred leads them back through the maze of halls. They spot many dying duergar along the way, which Anthos puts out of their misery. They follow the sand and dead bodies until reaching a very tall stone barricade.

Ingred gives the party the “all clear” on the other side and K is able to chop through it in a matter of minutes. They squeeze through and continue forward. The fighting gets closer and closer until they find themselves in a wide, open room with a grand staircase and massive double doors at the other end. They see duergar defending the tomb against more wooden mannequins and a middle-aged man who looks similar to K. He has dark skin, dark dreadlocked hair with golden cuffs, and a scarred face; Bawi. He controls the sand surrounding them, creating weapons and defenses as he fights off the duergar. He laughs madly as he cuts them down. Behind him are four mercenaries forming a protective wall around a fifth, who appears to be fiddling with the intricate lock on the door.

A smoky visage of Anubis appears behind K as he rages and rushes into action. The others are quick to follow suit. Bawi is quick to notice K and calls out to him, “Abraxas!” over the shouts of battle. K questions him, but doesn’t stop fighting. “My, my, how you’ve grown,” says Bawi, “Is that any way to treat your uncle?”. Many mannequins and duergar fall to the wing. “You’re a chip off the old block!” he shouts to K, “I knew you would be a great vessel, but I didn’t know you’d be such a pain in my ass. You’re a fool to have come. I would have hoped you’d see Abbadon’s ways… Took a long time to organize *that* to happen. Join us! I’ll tell you everything you don’t remember.”

K looks around at his friends and party members. “This man is *not* my family” he assures them. The party witnesses Bawi entomb a duergar and heal some of his wounds from it. He insists that he *is* indeed family, seeing as he was there when K was born. Many party members try to stop the mercenaries from opening the door. Marisol is able to kill off the lock picker with her new skeleton acquaintance. With the threat of the mercenaries out of the way, the party whales on Bawi. It’s a rough battle, but as K takes flight, glancing once again at his friends, he swings his weapon down and is able to deal the killing blow. Sand spills out of his wounds and he falls into K, whispering “It could have been so much more…” before collapsing into a heap of red sand. K scrambles to ask him more, but to no avail.

Anthos also panics as he catches on fire again but he’s able to put himself out. A quick bit of healing is handed out and Ingred steps aside to try her hand at picking the lock. It’s very complicated, but after 5 or so minutes she’s able to successfully open the double doors. She is excited, but tries to act casual about it. Entering in, the party sees a large burial chamber. There are 8 pillars and a walkway above. In the center of the room rests a very normal-looking coffin that clashes with the luxurious look of this chamber. Skeletons adorned in fine armor fill the room, seemingly left here to protect their king’s body. Marisol warns them that there is a magical presence on the coffin. K steps forward and some of the party stands back as he opens it up. The duergar king lays inside clutching a rhombus-shaped, wooden carving with an amber stone in the center; The Heart of Actaron.

The king’s skull tilts to look at K. All the party sees is K screaming as he hits the ground bleeding from his nose and ears. Thanks to Marisol’s earlier casting of Death Ward, he is brought back to his feet by a shadow of Lady Death. Anthos and Marisol rush to his aid. K mutters under his breath “no… maybe a little bit” as he reaches towards the Heart in a dazed state. Anthos is able to pull it away and slip it into the bag of holding before K can put his hands on it. He shakes off his stupor.

The party hears horns sound above them as they’re discussing whether or not to rest. They decide to make a break for it and run as fast as they can back towards the exit. They reach the front and see secret doors open up in front of the tomb. About 30 guards can be seen rushing out as the party dashes across the bridge. A cannon shoots lava at their heels, which Marisol and Anthos are splashed with at some point during their escape. The party runs and runs until they can no longer hear the angry shouts of the duergar, and they run some more until they can’t move any longer. They decide to take the carpet a ways further before settling down to rest. They make the journey back home and are subjected to rain and snow as they reach the surface. The party soon makes it back to Gaoli with the Heart, but minus a member.