Chapter 12 - Nightmare Invasion (The Pyramid of Shadows - Part 2)

The upper level of the Pyramid seems to be infested by nightmare creatures called Felspawn. Our heroes have a first encounter with the maddening creatures, who seem to share this level of the Pyramid with ice-related creatures.

Our heroes decide to face the cold regions first, and meet several Eladrin Winter Knights, before entering into the lair of an Adult White Dragon. After failing with diplomacy, the group defeats the Dragon in combat, and obtain the final shard of Vyrellis life-force.

On their way out from the glacial danger, they face a Medusa and her blind Ogre servant. During the battle, Thyghor is petrified by the gaze of the monster, and then crushed by the Ogre. The groups mourns this loss.

After solving the riddle of illusory doors, they get back to the madness-infested zone, where they enter weird corridors, apparently made from living, oozing gray flesh. As they explore this horror, they're attacked by more Felspawn, the masters of a Destrachan and a Grick. As one of the creature dies, its corpse is "eaten" by the fleshy ground, and several corridors are sealed by flesh walls. Then, acid starts to spread in the enclosed corridors. As the situation grows worse, our heroes manage to kill off the last creature.

Galen is down, and the others are slowly but surely dying from the acidic gas. As the last drop of life seems to escape them, Druss manages to open a gash in one of the fleshy walls, and our heroes escape to safety.

Still mourning the death of Thyghor, the heroes continue the exploration of the Pyramid, and meet Zakonik, a huge Minotaur Barbarian. Zakonik considers himself the real ruler of the Pyramid, that he calls "his Labyrinth" and joins the party to kill Karavakos and rule the place once and for all.

Togheter with him, they face more Foulspawns in their own encampment, and proceed to meet one more "version" of Karavakos, this time as a deformed creature of the Far Realm, entrapped in a magical prison slowly descending into the Nightmare lands.

They recover one more key to the Sanctum of Karavakos, and proceed to the upper level of the Pyramid, apparently infested by Undead creatures.