Dorn's Deep

Heat. Sweltering, blistering heat.

The throne room was hot even before Malavon's spell, but now sweat pours freely down the faces of even the companions not surrounded by the incendiary cloud. But among the roiling smoke and embers, Reòthadh stands with firm feet on a sheet of magical ice.

Though his face is streaked with ash, the sorcerer's beard is dusted white with snow as he brings his frostbrand battleaxe down onto the iron golem before him with the strength of a giant. There is a metallic clang, a thunderous boom, and then a screech of iron as the golem retaliates with a heavy slam. Those outside the embers feel a breath of cold wind and see a pulse of white-blue light within the cloud as Reòthadh's icy armor shatters under the weight of the golem's blow (Reo takes 44 bludgeoning damage, and Golem 1 takes 25 cold damage).

Vincent and Ras beat upon the remaining drow warrior with fist and spell. Though the dark elf's face is a frozen mask of deadly concentration, the snap of bone and the stink of electrified flesh fill the air.

Malavon's eyes widen as Alalla bursts free of his fiery cloud, and before he can react her glaive sails for his face, lightning coursing along its length as it cuts his scalp. With a yelp, the drow raises a warding hand (Malavon casts Shield) as Alalla advances, her sword bursting slight with flames of its own. Blade meets magic once, twice, thrice, and then a shower of sparks flies as blade prevails. The archmage gasps as Alalla's sword cuts a deep gash along his ribs, a fountain of light and flame blossoming around the two of them, and Malavon is flung to the floor. Alalla's satisfaction at the blow dulls her for a moment to the ice-sharp pain in her own side (Al takes 10 cold damage).

Malavon's contingent Fire Shield spell (cold) is triggered.Malavon crawls away from Alalla, body wreathed in pale blue fire - a failsafe against pesky warriors and their pointy weapons. His dark fingers clutch at his wounded side as he looks about in fear. "Golems, to me! Defend me!" The last word turns to another shriek as Alalla, in grim determination, moves forward to finish her job. A stab from her weapon sends a stream of blood pouring down the archmage's arm - and Alalla feels a shocking chill mirrored in her own arm (Al takes 9 more cold damage, Malavon is FRIGHTENED).

It slows her only a moment, but that moment is too long (Al takes 88 slashing damage and is knocked unconscious).

Spots fill Alalla's vision, and it takes her a moment to realize that she is on the floor, spine nearly severed by the other iron golem's greataxe. As her head lolls she sees Erevain's tortured expression as the incendiary cloud dissipates.

The wounded golem turns away from Reòthadh and Erevain to heed its master's orders, and then a crack of residual thunder reduces it to a useless pile of metal parts (Golem 1 moves away and triggers booming blade, which kills it).

With the devastating spell gone, Ug is revealed holding his mother safe in a loving, protective embrace.

Malavon, bleeding on the ground, throws himself into a new spell - a powerful one. One hand leaves his bloodied side to begin plucking the Weave of magic as the other hand pulls a bar of black metal from his robe, then releases it to float in the air before hims. As he chants the metal crumbles, and then suddenly Malavon's body transmutes to the same material. He cowers on the dais next to the throne as the remaining golem moves to stand protectively in front of him, oversized iron boots resting near Alalla's body.

As Zenithral pauses to take stock of the scene, he feels a mental tap on the shoulder, an invitation from Fluphy to listen in on a supposedly private telepathic conversation taking place in the room...

Round 3 Player Phase!!!

Zenithral feels his mother's mental voice - replicated by Fluphy - echo in his own head, a snarl more furious than he has ever heard from her. Somehow he understands that things did not go well in Kuldahar. Stall them. I will arrive shortly and get to the bottom of this. The image of a blood-soaked sword fills Zenithral's mind.

With one of the archmage's construct guardians destroyed, several party members move forward to close with the enemy and come to Alalla's aid. Ras lays his hands on the fallen woman, and his powerful spell of healing is enough to bring Alalla back to her feet.

The golem, however, does not let her pass easily. A sweep from its axe bludgeons Alalla (Al takes 19 slashing damage), but she keeps moving past it to Malavon, who is just rising to his feet. With glaive in hand, Alalla deals several strong blows to the drow archmage and knocks him flat once more, but his bleeding, unfortunately, seems to be over. Whatever magical protection Malavon conjured has made him impervious to any harm a weapon might inflict.

Meanwhile the party rains havoc down on the iron golem. Arrows and weapons clang against its iron skin, and while the sheer toughness of the construct wards many of the blows away, more than enough find their mark to make the thing teeter precariously.

The lone paralyzed drow meets its end as Vincent lays into it with a flurry of strikes.

The golem turns about to follow Alalla, but an order from Malavon causes it to change targets. "The gnome! That one right there, using healing magic! Kill him!" A heavy swing of the construct's axe falls on Ras' shield, which proves meager defense against this thing's strength as the druid's feet leave the floor entirely (Ras takes 26 slashing damage). Not pausing in the least, the golem presses the attack and raises the weapon again.

Darting into the fray, Erevain slams his own shield into the golem's knee, hoping to upset its balance (Erevain uses his reaction to give the golem's second attack disadvantage. It doesn't work though 😢). The sturdy creature seems unfazed, however, and brings the axe down on little Ras. The armor made of Bilewing's scales keeps the axe from biting into the druid's flesh, but the impact itself is forceful enough to shatter ribs (Ras takes another 32 slashing damage). With a yell, Erevain scores a hit on the golem's side (Erevain deals 15 damage to the golem).

Malavon's confidence returns as Alalla's attacks do no harm. He chants a spell and points at a spot in the air near the short staircase, unleashing a small orange flame that rushes to the spot and then suddenly expands into a roaring inferno. Malavon's skill as an evoker proves true as the fireball hits the nearby companions with incredible force - far more than what most wizards would ever be able to enact.

Malavon casts Fireball as a 5th level spell and uses Overchannel, which causes the spell to deal maximum damage! Ug and Ras each take 65 fire damage. Due to resistance Al and Reo each take 32 fire damage. Erevain passed his save and takes only 32. The golem is healed 65 points.

As the heroes reel from the explosion, runes on the golem glow and its wounds begin to repair themselves - until a shining purple arrow finds its mark in the arcane construct and Zenithral's magic banishes it temporarily to another plane.

As the companions wonder how to deal with the dangerous archmage, a raven appears on the back of the throne, and Zenithral recognizes it as the avian form of Druzil, Ilmadia's imp familiar. The raven eyes the situation, then cackles and hops down to sit upon the throne. A hellish symbol suddenly appears on the floor before the dais and begins to glow with a menacing red light.

Malavon gasps. "Oh cr-"

A pulse of negative emotion rolls out from the glyph and crashes into every creature in the room like a tidal wave. Despair digs in like a knife to the gut, leaving the will to fight bleed away.The raven speaks. "Ilmadia, the Black Swan, commands that you cease your fighting! She comes to learn the truth of what has happened in her absence."

Malavon slumps as he falls under the sway of the spell, though his magical protections are not diminished. Trepidation fills his eyes as the sound of heavy footsteps comes from the stairway that leads into the chamber. Multiple giants must be approaching.

Round 4 Player Phase!!!!