Pathfinder U2

After the heroes defeated the giants they exited the pavilion to explore the surrounding area. The cages in the cathedral were in fact much more solid than they appeared, for each was an immobile, invisible cubical prison composed of solid walls of force with a decorative metal shell built around it. No practical way to enter or exit these cubes existed. The gold and silver cages were worth 1,000 gp each (500 gp when broken to their precious metal components). Each cage weighs 250 pounds. The inside of one of the birdcages contained a young shivering man wearing little more than a set of chains and a thick leather collar. A pair of clay bowls occupied one corner and a pile of straw sat in another. Nelevetu is a broken shell of a man, and his madness was so profound that he was little more than a toy for the demons. His reaction to the heroes when they freed him was pitiful and disgusting, if not shocking. The heroes used powerful magic to cure him of his madness but could not soothe hi...

This grand cathedral can be called nothing less than opulent. The floor is covered in polished red and white tiles. Thick pillars carved into the likenesses of the same beautiful nude woman with long flowing hair (Sorshen, the Runelord of Lust) circle the room and support a ceiling out of sight. The pillars are made of iron inlaid with ivory, depicting her in various lewd positions. At the cathedral's center stands a pavilion of opaque silk sheets. This huge pavilion is made of sheets of various colors — crimson, lavender, ochre, cobalt blue, and purple. The sides ripple softly, as if a breeze were gently caressing the fabric. The entire structure looks unabashedly glamorous and out of place, yet here and there, splashes of what can only be blood mar its beauty. Near the walls of the cathedral stand several delicate-looking cages, their sides more decorative than practical. They look like human-sized birdcages with flimsy silver bars decorated with delicate golden birds and flowers...

The heroes defeated the wraiths and found a secret door behind a section of broken mirrors in the far wall. The next chamber is cozy, with empty bookcases lining the walls and a reading table with several matching chairs sat atop a thick rug in its center. A heavy wooden door exits the room through the wall to the south. The next room was once a fine library, but the books held in this large chamber — along with the bookshelves that once held them — have been destroyed by fire and force. The devastation seemed complete — although one book survived somewhere under all of the ruin. To the north, a sizable alcove extends from the room into what may have once been a large reading area, but this too has been ruined. The single intact book amid the destruction is a tome of leadership and influence +2 , but the heroes scorched it during their fight with the denizen of the bedroom, so they will need to repair it before they are able to use it. The next two rooms the heroes entered are empty. T...

The heroes decided to explore the illusion wing of Runeforge next. This wing is a grand cathedral  decorated with peacock motifs and massive chandeliers  hanging from the ceiling to brightly illuminate it with  hundreds of lights. The first brightly lit corridor the heroes enter is lined with broken floor-to-ceiling mirrors. It was guarded by mummies, which the heroes destroyed. The corridor opens into an immense cathedral of polished ivory flagstones. Mirrored walls, all broken, rise to a height of nearly a hundred feet, where the vaulted ceiling arches majestically. Four immense chandeliers hang from golden chains and brightly illuminate the entire room. At the center of the cathedral is an empty three-step dais of polished wood. This room was guarded by wraiths, which the heroes are currently fighting against. 

After destroying the lich's phylactery, the heroes returned to the Halls of Wrath to find the wrathful components for use in the Runeforge pool: the ashes of items burned in the ceiling of fire. They also determined that the bottles of wine they found in the Ravenous Crypts were the gluttonous components. Unfortunately, the pool did not reach out to enhance any more weapons using any combination of components. The heroes then rested, interrupted by a squad of humans who accused them of being thieves. After defeating them, the heroes continued their rest.

The heroes spent a couple of hours looking for the lich's phylactery in the crypts. In the northwestern corner of the assembly room is a hidden trap door that the heroes discovered — it opens through the roof of the area containing the lich's phylactery , the floor of which is 10 feet below. Aranthor joined the heroes around that time, after he was shunted to the Material Plane from the lich's spell. Phylactery.  This crypt contained three stone sarcophagi, each bearing detailed carvings of hundreds of capering skeletons and dancing corpses. These three sarcophagi were protected by a dangerous trap. When Gryxxa tried to open one of these three stone coffins, the skeletons and corpses carved on the sides of all three suddenly animated and began shrieking in a bloodcurdling manner. Hundreds of little bony arms pointed out into the room, and from their hundreds of outstretched fingers sprang beams of necromantic fury. One of the sarcophagi contained 11 spellbooks. Each of thes...

The lich kept casting spells like fly and mirror image while separated from the heroes. After the heroes joined him past the wall of force, he dismissed it and started casting offensive spells. One of those spells made Aranthor disappear. The remaining of the heroes eventually destroyed him, but they have yet to find his phylactery.

The heroes defeated the omox demon and managed to rest. They then went into the cold chamber with the black energy to shatter one of the crystal pylons. When they destroyed it, it exploded. Once it was destroyed, the black energy vanished. When the rippling curtain of blackness was destroyed, it yawned open for a brief moment allowing a powerful monster to manifest in this chamber. This creature looked like an immense bat made of roiling blackness with two glowing red eyes. The creature was furious and immediately attacked the heroes. This room’s dimensions didn't allow the creature a large amount of mobility. It focused its wrath on Zemurin. The creature fought until destroyed. The heroes then went after the lich, who was again guarded by a devourer. The lich opened the battle by casting finger of death  at Aranthor and more spells on himself. He then sealed himself off from the heroes, giving him time to cast more spells. During this time, he let the devourer keep the heroes busy...

Arkrhyst eventually escaped the heroes when the battle started to turn against him. Exhausted, the heroes tried to rest, but an omox demon interrupted them. They are still fighting this battle.

The heroes managed to slay the troll, but are still fighting the dragon.

The heroes returned to the crypts after recuperating and preparing in Korvosa. There they encountered the white dragon whose hoard they stole, aided by a troll.

The heroes killed the devourer, but the lich cast wall of force to seal himself off from the heroes, giving him time to cast fly , mirror image , and spectral hand . During this time, he moved to the chamber with the portal. When the heroes followed him there, he began casting offensive spells. After he killed Zemurin and blinded Aranthor, the heroes retreated back away from the Crypts and Runeforge, returning to Korvosa to resurrect Zemurin and recuperate.

The heroes continued their exploration after resting. Secret Crypt.  The back wall of this niche, as well as the entrance into the Assembly Room itself, was hidden by secret doors. The heroes found the location  of both  hidden doors. Assembly Room.  Lanterns hang from hooks over three large tables scattered throughout this chamber. Two tables are covered with preserved human body parts stitched together with thick thread to partially form a pair of patchwork human corpses. Stools and small steel work trays covered in slender knives, clamps, hooks, saws, screws, needles, and other less identifiable tools surround each of the large tables. This is where the heroes encountered a lich. The lich sat on a stool at a worktable opposite from the entrance, stitching together pieces of one of the patchwork corpses. The lich was not initially looking for a fight. In fact, he was quite curious what had become of the outside world, and when the heroes arrived he bid them answer ...

The heroes continued their exploration. Chamber.  The walls of this room have been plated in iron,  each plate of which bears a single rune — the  upside-down, hooked “U” shape. What appear to  be two ten-foot-tall smooth crystal pylons stand  in the middle of the room. A rippling curtain of  blackness shimmers between these crystals. On  the opposite side of each crystal, strange tendrils  of black energy—reverse lightning crackling in  extreme slow-motion — extend out from the  crystals into spheres of roiling blackness in circular  caverns to the left and right of the entrance. The air  in the room is shockingly cold. A portal is open in this chamber. The portal itself manifests as the curtain of black energy between the two crystal pylons. Abattoir.  The scene in this room is appalling — dozens of brutally savaged human bodies (most of them identical looking) lie sprawled about the place. A good number of the bodies se...

The Crypt of Gluttony is exquisitely crafted. Arches are elaborately carved with stunning artistic patterns.  Ceilings are 10 feet high in corridors, all of which are  adorned with decorative moldings inlaid with silver  angels. Chambers are usually arched or domed to a  height of 20 feet and covered with beautiful frescoes  and mosaics depicting sleeping men and women  tended by cherubim and soothed by angelic singers  and musicians. The floors are covered in smooth,  fitted flagstones with inlaid ceramic tiles in various  decorative patterns. All doors are made of iron. The extent of the Crypts of Gluttony are under the effects of a strong magical aura. All stone surfaces in the crypts are cold to the touch. Crypts.  The ceiling of this circular domed chamber rises to a height of thirty feet. The walls are decorated with ten grinning skulls, each gripping what appear to be bits of flesh in their teeth. A flight of steps leads up via a ...

The fire burning above is quite real —  covering the extent of the ceiling. The Sihedron Rune in the middle of the room is in fact an immense portal. The rune has two functions.  Calling : Once per day, the rune can be commanded to call a single creature, functioning as a  planar binding  spell (CL 15th) — only one called outsider may be active at a time via this effect. Travel : If any teleportation effect is used while the caster is standing within the rune, the teleportation energy is instead absorbed by the rune, which then opens a gate to the center of the Sihedron Circle on the lower slopes of Rimeskull. The gate is a two-way portal, and remains open for 1 hour before closing. The dragon hid their loot here: the heroes could fit a total of 1,345 gp worth of coins in their bags before they ran out of room. They also took a  +1 club, a  sacrificial spear, a  ring of blinking , a  rod of Malrion, a  rod of splendor, a  minor cloak of ...

The Halls of Evocation are made up of several isolated chambers attached to each other via permanent teleportation circles . Teleportation Circles : Each of these measures 10 feet in diameter and is represented by a complex rune carved into the ground surrounded by a deep circular groove. Up to four Medium creatures may enter a teleportation circle at once. Those who do are immediately teleported to the destination keyed to it: so far always a specific circle with the rune of wrath engraved in the ground within it. The teleportation circles so far are one-way only. Teleport Room.  Two engraved circles in the ground surround large runes in their center. The one to the east is red, while the one to the west is blue. These are teleportation circles . The heroes determined where they went or led from by trying them out. The eastern circle is the arrival point from the barracks and training hall, while the western one is the departure circle to the same area. Barracks and Training ...

Jule and Zemurin used the Runeforge pool to craft dominant weapons as well. After that, they decided to explore the Halls of Evocation (Runelord Alaznist's). The 10-foot-wide tunnel leading there extends for 150 feet from the edge of the central chamber. Guardians.  A wide corridor of polished marble opens into a brightly lit and extremely tall chamber. The upper portion of the far wall is entirely covered in a mural of an armored woman with crimson hair holding a burning ranseur and riding on the back of a massive red dragon. A square outcropping of smooth marble juts out from the far wall, rising from the floor to a height of thirty feet. An opening in the wall directly behind the flat top of the stone column leads deeper into this section of the vault. A broken iron statue lies on this platform, pieces of it fallen on the floor below.  The marble surfaces of this chamber are too smooth to climb without magic — a rope ladder sits on the top of the stone column. Six warriors ...

Tunnels.  The chambers beyond are little more than vast, empty caverns. In order to manifest a key, the heroes subjected the stone heads of the Sihedron Circle to a spell effect of a school identical to the one each runelord related to. When the proper key from the Sihedron Circle outside was placed in the proper pillar’s keyhole inside the frozen cathedral and then turned in two complete revolutions, the pillar began to hum and glow softly. Once the pillar was glowing, its key vanished. When all seven pillars were active at the same time, the central pillar began glowing and rippled with a vortex of light that combined all seven of the surrounding colors. At the pillar’s base, the vortex whirled in on itself like a vertically aligned whirlpool, opening into a 7-foot-wide circular portal through which could be faintly seen a long tunnel. When the heroes stepped through this portal they stepped into Runeforge. Runeforge The approach from the portal is along a 10-foot-wide stone tunn...

When the dragon was severely injured, it left Rimeskull. The seven pillars surrounding the central pillar are each marked with hundreds of Thassilonian runes—arcane formulae describing the basic tenets of one of the seven Thassilonian schools of magic. The seven pillars form the points of a huge Sihedron, and the heroes noticed a small keyhole hidden four feet off the ground on each pillar, facing the central monolith.