The Siege of Cazhaak Draal

***Far, Lharvion 20, 993 YK***

**196 days until the Day of Mourning**

Despite a valiant effort by Gin at the last minute to accept blame for the party’s actions, the court found them all guilty and turned everyone except Ixen and Ekhaas to stone. Ixen managed to flee with a well-placed teleportation anchor and the assistance of the Cult of Sight Unbound. Ekhaas would have been petrified along with the others had the magic of Murkoorak’s Orb not protected her. Having escaped with the Cult of Sight Unbound, Ixen was secreted away to their hideout within the city where he spoke with the Oracle, apparently the local disciple of Belashyrra. The Oracle offered to provide one vision to Ixen if he helps the cult: anything that eyes have seen. Ixen decided to consider the offer while he spent the night in the hideout.

***Sar, Lharvion 21, 993 YK***

**195 days until the Day of Mourning**

All the party that had been petrified was returned to flesh by Sheshka. As she explained, it was a ruse to allow her to save face and hide the party from the Order of the Sacred Stone. She was well aware that there were potential Sacred Stone members on the council and couldn’t risk creating a political conflict by publicly absolving the party of guilt. As far as the city is concerned, everyone was petrified and moved to the Ossuary for keeping. Unfortunately, Ixen having fled, she was forced to classify him as a fugitive from the law.

The party took the time with Sheshka to speak with her about the current situation and of their goals. They told her they had come in search of the Shield of Galifar. She informed them that she knows of the Shield and can grant the party access to the Ossuary where it is held, but she cannot tell them too much about it. There is an oath she has sworn that she must keep and it prevents her from giving too much information. What she did say was that only select medusas had the ability to access the Ossuary, presumably because Orlassk created medusas.

Given that the party had discovered Ilthane was working alongside the Order of the Sacred Stone, the party decided to aid Sheshka in rooting out the Order in Cazhaak Draal, but first they had to find Ixen. Donning disguises to conceal their identities, they went into the city to stake out Sacred Stone safe houses as well as locate Ixen. They noticed increased activity at some Sacred Stone locations and made a mental note of it before meeting up with Ixen and the Cult of Sight Unbound. There, they all spoke with The Oracle who offered them membership in the cult, as he did Ixen. The catch: joining the cult requires exchanging your natural eyes for a set provided by the Lord of Eyes. After some debate, both Ixen and Gin decided to swap their eyes out for ones provided by the cult. During this time, they noticed a small crystal orb among the available eyes.

While interacting with the Oracle and the cult, it became apparent that the Oracle had recently fallen under the control of Ilthane, due to a strange arcane marking that was now emblazoned on the Oracle’s head. This magic was more than a simple domination, but rather seemed to bind the target’s soul to Ilthane’s will, more deeply influencing the target. In essence, the target became an extension of Ilthane’s soul, even acting in a fashion like a lich’s phylactery. This was also done to Miraj Vizann, formerly swayed by the madness of Orlassk, the Stone Heart.

The Oracle, now supporting Ilthane’s plan to forcibly take control of Orlassk and Belashyrra for his plans, told the Sight Unbound to stand down and let the Sacred Stone act with impunity. The party used this to their advantage, convincing the cultists that the Oracle was being misled and if they really wanted to please the Lord of Eyes, they would help the party free the Oracle and stop the Sacred Stone. With the help of the cult, they located a Sacred Stone safe house and assaulted it, discovering a plot by Miraj Vizann to attack the city. They alerted Sheshka with only a little time to spare. She raced down to the serpent bridge and unpetrified the massive serpent, which promptly swam away into the lake, in order to remove the bridge and prevent access to the city.

As sunset approached, Miraj was spotted on the mainland. Raising his arms, the entire army of petrified Stoneghosts rose up from the ground. With another swift motion, he launched a massive column of stone into Cazhaak Draal, signaling the beginning of a siege.

***Sar, Lharvion 21, 993 YK***

**195 days until the Day of Mourning**

The Siege of Cazhaak Draal had begun. Miraj remained on the mainland, controlling the Stoneghost army. Turannos, the Master of Labor and member of the Sacred Stone, coordinated a number of terrorist cells within the city. Dianthe, the Mistress of War, took the majority of the city’s fleet that was loyal to her and gave them to Miraj’s cause. The remainder of the city’s council was made aware of Sheshka’s deception and the party’s current status. The party was pardoned in order to help fight on the city’s behalf. They performed a number of deeds to aid Cazhaak Draal, including stopping the terrorist cells and capturing Dianthe.

***Sul, Lharvion 22, 993 YK***

**194 days until the Day of Mourning**

The following day, much had quieted down. Miraj, though, was missing. No one had seen him on the battlefield in some time. Meanwhile, the Oracle had commanded the Sight Unbound to take a powerful artifact into the city and use it for Miraj’s cause. This artifact was the Orb of Dol Azur. When the party found the cell and confronted them, it wasn’t difficult to dissuade the cult from continuing their operation, but they did realize that the Orb of Dol Azur was the crystal sphere that Gin and Ixen had seen previously in the cult’s headquarters and that it was embedded in the cultist’s eye socket, crystal tendrils spread through the skin. They were forced to perform a highly dangerous operation to remove it, but were ultimately successful.

While back at the cult headquarters, they were contacted by Belashyrra, the Lord of Eyes, through the proxy of a servant referred to as the Keeper of Eyes. This creature appeared to simply be a single, massive floating eye with eight smaller floating eyes orbiting the central one. They had seen this creature before through the communication sand in Blackroot. Aware of the danger Ilthane possesses to his own plans and actions, the Lord of Eyes offered up what information it could relay. The party learned that in order to kill Ilthane, they will have to “break testaments”. Unsure of what, precisely, that meant, they continued on.

Shortly, Miraj made his presence known. Both he and the Oracle, under Ilthane’s control, had broken into the palace atop the acropolis and proceeded into the antechamber for the Ossuary. It was noted that the antechamber contained a powerful weapon that, if used improperly, could create a powerful enough earthquake to raze Cazhaak Draal. Sheshka and her retinue were cut off from the party as they attempted to enter the antechamber, leaving only the party to deal with the threat. The Oracle was able to be subdued, while Miraj was taken out. Upon Miraj’s death, his body collapsed into liquid stone, leaving behind a strange fragment of bone that had text carved into it. This was the First Testament of Ilthane. It read:

**ENTRY THE FIRST**

I am Ilthane, son of Rhashaak, former agent of the Conclave.

I enter these words into the annals of history so that they are preserved should I fail.

I pledge to take up my father’s mantle and wage war against our ageless Enemy. For too long have we lost. Even the Prophecy is a weak tool in our hands, for we have not the longevity and experience to wield it properly. This is my pledge. I will conquer the obstacle that stands between my kin and true understanding of the Prophecy: death. As the minions of the Rajahs have survived since the dawn of our world, so too shall we survive until the dusk.

The party realized that killing the victims of Ilthane’s soul-binding magic would yield them these Testaments. Knowing they had to destroy the Testaments to eventually kill Ilthane, they shattered this one, which exploded forcefully. Another almost assuredly existed within the Oracle, but Ixen had promised the Sight Unbound that he would help return the Oracle to them and didn’t want to kill him so quickly. Sheshka was convinced to petrify him until such time as a plan could be devised. The immediate threat having been neutralized, and now being one step away from the Ossuary, the party took a short rest. Then, once everyone was ready, they entered the Ossuary through the large seal in the antechamber floor.