Chapter 34 - Poraphera's Haunt (Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress - Part 3)

A bitter wind stings their eyes as they stand within a glowing
circle of light on a bleak plain. Before them, a massive citadel
rises hundreds of feet into the shadowed air. Its great curtain
wall is black and mottled with what appear to be the fossilized
remains of horrid creatures. Jagged spikes protrude from the
battlements. A great open gap at ground level seems to offer
entrance. Within the wall, an inner tower rises still higher, its
spire reaching into a vortex of swirling cloud and shadow that
covers the sky.
Away from the citadel, wraithlike draconic creatures flit
here and there across the bleak plain, chasing what appear to
be shooting stars. When a wraith captures one of these lights,
it immediately wings its way toward the fortress’s great spire.
A fes of the Draconic wraiths spot the heroes, and a fierce battle ensues.
The heroes are then allowed to approach the fortress.

A set of large double doors carved of dark stone block the passage.
Though some kind of symbol occupies the center space
where the two doors meet, it has been chipped and marred so
badly as to be unrecognizable. The doors have no handles or
other visible means by which they might be opened. Ruby and Daedrie perform Arcane rituals at the doors, managing to dissolve them long enough to allow passage to all.

An unbearable stench hits them as the doors open. Decomposing
heaps of humanoid bodies litter the floor of the chamber.
Three statues dominate the room, rising almost to the ceiling
15 feet overhead. However, these are so defaced and
eroded by time that it is impossible to determine what they
once depicted. Ledges run 10 feet high along the east and
west sides of the chamber, and a passageway leads out of the
northwest corner. The stench is obviously coming for the heaps of corpses, but also from the many Ghoulish horrors that our heroes have to face before venturing deeper into the fortress.

A series of smaller rooms open off of the long corridor ahead,
each barely discernible through curved archways in the walls.
Enigmatic symbols carved on the archways and walls are
eroded and defaced. Two ghouls block the middle of the corridor,
snarling as they notice them. Each of the room seems to have a different life-draining property, boosting the undead guardians.

In the next chamber, an eladrin male is shackled to a narrow stone pillar. A swath of rubble shows where portions of the ceiling have collapsed. Ruined statues stand in niches to the southeast. The Eladrin is kept prisoner by Xenro, a Blackfire Dracolich. As diplomacy fails, our heroes defeat the dragon in combat. Unfortunately, the Eladrin prisoner dies in the blast of the Dragon's breath.

Finally, Poraphera's hideout looms ahead. The walls of this chamber are eroded and defaced. Bones litter the floor, forming uneven piles in places. A pack of ghouls and a pair of wights shamble about the chamber, digging through the bones for choice scraps to gnaw on. A shadowy creature, the nightwalker Poraphera, stands motionless and silent in one corner of the room. In the opposite corner, a pool of golden light glows brightly.

By using the golden pool radiant energy, and the dominating powers of Nightbringer, the heroes defeat the Nightwalker, and aquire the first of the Soul Rings, necessary to enter the inner sanctum of Urishtar's lair.

Judging this room a safe place to rest, the heroes settle for the night.