Pathfinder U2

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.

The white dragon became invisible right before it entered combat.   It flew low under the heroes (just above the standing stones) and used its breath weapon, at the same time relying on its frightful presence to weaken their morale. When the heroes scattered, he singled Gryxxa out in between rounds when it breathed and made a flyby tail slap followed by a bite so that it snatched her, carried her aloft, and breathed on her. The heroes are still fighting this battle.

Of Runeforge itself, very little is written. The heroes knew that Runeforge was once a legendary place of learning and discovery for students of the arcane, but that its location had remained a mystery—Thassilonian scholars believe it to have been lost during the empire’s fall. The heroes travelled to Rimeskull using a combination of teleporting and magical flight. The Sihedron Circle From the rocky eastern shoreline of Lake Stormunder, the ground rises into the craggy snow-dappled roots of Rimeskull, casting its long shadow over this area. Yet not all of the ground here is rugged and mountainous. Several hundred feet from the lake’s edge, the land suddenly levels off to create a circular hill. Rocks and tenacious shrubs poke through the scattered clumps of snow here, but they are dwarfed by the ring of seven ten-foot-tall stone heads that circle the hill’s edge, their faces angled inward at each other, mouths agape. To the east, the sheer mountainside of Rimeskull rises, icy and w...

The green dragon taunted the heroes in combat, but didn't flee and was eventually defeated. The heroes determined that the bas-reliefs depict dragons who have grown beyond even the stature of great wyrms. The field of crystals is in the shape of a decad, and the gap in its center immediately accepted the  Bellwether Brooch  when the heroes placed it there. The runes read, in Draconic: “To erase with Dahak and to begin with Apsu.” The green dragon's hoard was contained in a single chest set next to one of the claws that reach out of the walls. The chest held coins worth 3,304 gp, gems and jewelry worth 2,160 gp, a +2 adamantine rapier and a silver raven figurine of wondrous power . When the heroes returned the Bellwether Brooch to its setting, it returned to its proper place with a crackle of light. For a moment there was silence, replaced shortly by a faint hum that filled the air as a golden radiance took form. The spirit of Auronorex appeared before the heroes: “You did as I...

The Challenge of Arcana.  To bypass the screen, a section of it had to be hit with a fireball when the area was covered in “open” runes. The fireball resulted in a 20-foot-diameter hole opening in the screen for a few seconds at that location. Two arcanatons flew through the opening in the screen to contest the heroes.  They began combat with tentacle attacks. The arcanatos fought until destroyed. The Paragon Hall.  Two massive iron obelisks dominate this domed chamber, each fifty feet tall and covered with intricate runes. Arcane fire arcs between their peaks, illuminating bas reliefs of forty gigantic dragon heads peering out of the chamber’s stone walls at even intervals. A single huge claw corresponding to each head reaches out five feet from the base of the walls. Through the flickering light, a small field of crystals glitters on the floor between the obelisks, with a gap a few inches wide in their center and surrounded by several runes below. A huge green drag...

The Chamber of Ascension. The columns in this chamber imbued with fire (see below) create shadowy illumination. This chamber, four hundred feet high and eighty feet across, is another immense vertical shaft carved into the heart of the mountain. Twelve evenly-spaced iron columns five feet in diameter stand along the chamber’s perimeter, rising to support a ring-shaped platform near the ceiling. The ceiling itself is some form of shimmering screen. The columns stand in matching sets of three. Three columns glow orange with heat, three glisten with green perspiration, three are frosted with ice crystals, and three crackle with electricity, all very similar to the portcullis-gate in the last chamber. There are no visible exits. Appearances here aren’t deceiving — the columns have similar properties as the gate in the Challenge of Might, except they don’t change energy type. Two wings of protection attacked the heroes when they flew up the chamber to the platform atop the columns. The wing...

The Challenge of Might.  Light in this chamber was equal to shadowy illumination when the trapdoor above was open or the gate was imbued with fire or electricity (see below); otherwise, there is no natural light. The bottom of the deep stone shaft is flat and empty, with a massive iron door, forty feet high and thirty feet wide, set in its eastern side. The door appears designed to slide upward, much like a solid portcullis. A thick, sturdily-braced horizontal iron shelf protruding from the door five feet above the floor appears to be the only leverage point from which to lift it. The iron of the door changes color several times a minute, at first glowing orange as if pulled from a forge, then glistening with green perspiration, next frosted with ice crystals, and finally dry and crackling with electricity, before again glowing orange and repeating the cycle. Large runes etched into the doors seem to ignore the state of the door, their forms remaining the color of blackened iron th...

The Guardian Hall.  Opening the south port set in the wall is easy but extremely dangerous: a stream of cold energy shoots across the chamber to the opposite wall, dealing damage to anything in its path each round. Concealed under the workbench in a secret compartment were two spellbooks. One spellbook is unremarkable. It is worth 990 gp. The other spellbook, however, is very unusual: its covers are bronze plates engraved to resemble interlocking golem fists, it is thicker than the typical spellbook, and it has an integral hinged bronze bookmark in the shape of a golem’s arm. This arm is actually a mechanical trap and attacked Gryxxa when she touched the book. The book is worth 11,250 gp due to its integrated trap and unusual materials. The Epitaphrum.  As the heroes ascended toward the plateau of the Epitaphrum, it became easier than it was at the base of the Throat of Shearphorus to identify the source of Astersyn’s screams, their meaning, and the voice of the Epitaphrum. Th...

Entrance to the Guardian Hall. The heroes killed the ogre guard. Guardian Hall.  A 30-foot by 30-foot section of the chamber directly below the chute from the entrance to the guardian hall above has a null-gravity effect. Aranthor, who was flying, had to use a move action to reorient himself when passing through this area, but then proceeded as normal. Jules and Zemurin did not reach the ground, instead hanging 15 feet above the floor. Gryxxa, who was levitating, liberated them by pulling them outside the null-gravity area. This huge chamber, roughly carved and left with unfinished walls, is one hundred feet square. Continual flame spells nearly cover the flat ceiling thirty feet above, so the place is refreshingly well-lit. An iron boss ten feet in diameter protrudes from the stone in the center of each wall. Large iron tools of various function lie haphazardly across the floor, while one workbench features a more orderly set of fine human-sized tools and a bedroll below. An iron ...

The Throat of Shearphorus.  The bellows heard by the heroes are mostly animalistic vents of rage, but there is some Draconic peppered throughout. They picked out a few phrases: “The name! Speak the name!” and “End the torture!” Against these screams, the heroes can determine that a different voice speaks Draconic in a steady tone, and must be very powerful itself to be heard at all at this distance. The heroes are not completely safe from these creatures even at this distance. In their rage, they are actually tearing apart the stone of the pillar above, albeit slowly. Now and then a piece of stone falls. Most of the heroes noticed the falling stones early enough to avoid any possibility of damage, while Zemurin was lucky enough to not be on the stone's path. The spiral path leading upward is similar to the one below. When the heroes took time to recuperate, wings of protection picked up the guardians the heroes had disabled and carried them to the entrance to the pillar. The wing...

Tears of the Forest. The ritual continued:  The acid showers continued and the heroes were subjected to the effects of acid fumes. The acid showers ceased, although the heroes were still subject to the effect of acid fumes. The tendrils withered away, leaving Lephrelourge to fly on his own. Smaller tendrils snaked out of the root-holes and again attempted to wrap around   the heroes. The tendrils withered away soon. The plants supporting Lephrelourge during the ritual partially protected him from melee, and he attacked with his tongue.   Lephrelourge retreated through the plant-wall when gravely injured. He spoke the command word to open the plant-wall ("Witness the Forest Fall", spoken in Draconic), and used it to close the wall behind him. The heroes decided not to pursue and break through the door instead. During that effort, tendrils again appeared. The plant-wall separating this chambers from the Emerald Graveyard twisted open momentarily, and then closed again. The ...

The Emerald Graveyard.  The mohrgs and zombies attacked until destroyed. The heroes noticed that the bones are all moving, albeit extremely slowly. A well-disguised section of the ceiling was actually a 20-foot-diameter plug of living plant material blocking access to the green dragons’ ceremony chambers above. The plug was 6 inches thick. Tears of the Forest.  This vast stone chamber is reminiscent of a canopied forest. Sturdy, irregularly spaced columns rise along the walls and branch out into interlocking arches to form the ceiling more than eighty feet above. Shadowy light speckles the damp, uneven floor and knotted walls. The chorus of rivulets cascading down the walls mimics the rustling of leaves. Inset in the far wall of the chamber, at least one hundred-twenty feet away, stand a pair of stone doors, thirty feet in height and twenty feet wide, engraved with a leaf-and-vine motif. The chamber’s walls and floors resemble petrified wood. The lighting in the chamber is equ...

One of the satyr opponents made sneak attacks.   He fled when seriously injured. The rest of the satyrs switched from foe to foe, swinging their battleaxes. When a foe was adjacent to the sneaky one, the other satyrs facilitated sneak attacks. The heroes killed the rest of the satyrs. The glow in the center of the Emerald Shrine emanates from a standing portal made from green flickering light. The entire area around the portal has an intense acrid stink. Those who pass through the portal were transported inside Shearphorus, into the maelstrom . Dragonfall The Maelstrom.  The heroes arrived here from the portal in the Emerald Shrine. They were greeted by total darkness and a corrosive lake full of bone shards. A mark appeared on the heroes’ faces (except for Jule) the moment they arrived in Dragonfall. The mark was  a red tattoo made up of Draconic runes around their eyes, branding them as Dragonfall trespassers. A frothy acidic lake, tormented by a shrieking cyclonic wind...

The creatures hid and one of them attempted to charm the heroes with his pipes. He urged Jule, who was affected by the charm, to take shelter through the portal in the Emerald Shrine, while the rest of the creatures attacked the others, swinging their battleaxes.

Seneschal's Cathedral The bones around this area are meticulously organized, creating a spiral of bone walls that lead into a small clearing. In the center of this open space reside the bones of a gargantuan dragon. The dragon’s bones have been carefully carved with the draconic word for “protector” over and over again. Despite their pristine condition, the skull of the dragon has been crushed. The heroes uncovered a green dragon scale embedded in a fragment of the shattered skull. The bones ringing this clearing are inscribed with a complex litany of protective runes, mixed in with bits of draconic prophecy. A single tongue of rebuke had been stationed here. It circled this area but did not attack until the heroes tried to leave the cathedral. The tongue of rebuke alternated between its breath weapon and roar. It fought until destroyed. The Spirit of Auronorex This location contains some of the largest draconic skeletons in the entire Bone Field. Lying in the center of these skele...

"Nothing inspires the members of our organization more than the tantalizing prospect of an unsolved mystery. But despite the efforts of generations of Pathfinders, Dragonfall is as much an enigma now as it ever was. For the dragons, of course, this mystery is a point of pride — just another reason why the lesser races could never seriously challenge their superiority. For a mortal, to enter Dragonfall means death, if not from the powerful magical guardians then from the enmity of all dragonkind. These chronicles are full of heroes who sought to defy the dragons and brave the forbidden mountain. But not even the dragons themselves are above this law, and there are no lengths to which they will not go to keep their secrets. The Pathfinder Chronicles" It was a cold and rainy day in Fort Thorn. Most of the merchants, vendors, and shoppers apparently decided that instead of getting drenched on the muddy streets, their day might be better spent enjoying a warm mug of cider in the...

The strange events in the Market didn't deter most of the patrons, who fled from immediate danger but returned quickly to resume business after any threats were dealt with. The Andoran faction Pathfinders wanted to persuade Zeeva to write them a letter of introduction to her brother Aldern Foxglove pursuant to purchasing the Foxglove family townhouse in Magnimar. Zeeva explained that Aldern is actually deceased and that she holds the rights to the property (but must consider her sister Sendeli in any decision regarding its sale). The heroes persuaded Zeeva to convince her sister to sell the property, and earned Andoran faction Pathfinders 375 gp. During that conversation, Zeeva told the heroes the story of her family. Foxglove Manor was one of the first homes raised along the Lost Coast, built nearly 80 years ago by a Magnimar merchant prince named Vorel. The building stood vacant for nearly 40 years before Traver Foxglove, Zeeva's and Sendeli's father, decided to move his ...