Chapter 38 - Urishtar's Keep (Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress - Part 7)

Using th soul Rings, our heroes enter the Central Tower.
A circular chasm pierces the floor and ceiling of this round, tower room. A short, wide platform protrudes over the chasm, and a rough altar graces its end. Another altar sits on the chasm’s opposite side. On the far wall, a raised dais holds two large stone chairs. Minotaurs and hellhounds guard the chamber ahead, while tiger-headed humanoids sit atop the thrones. A woman with thick, animate locks stands near the far altar. A Medusa!

The party manages to separate the dangerous Medusa from the fight, by dropping her into the pit, and makes easy game of the other minions. But the fight is not over!

A cacophony of insane laughter emerges from the catwalk as a humanoid with red skin, horns, and a quarterstaff strides into the keep. Behind him are three blood-slicked, winged monstrosities whose tails burn with dark power. At the same time, screeches ring out from above. A trio of vulturelike humanoids wing down from the opening in the ceiling, intent on ripping the flesh from the party's bones.
The red-skinned humanoid calls out, “Urishtar knows you have invaded her sanctum. She has grand plans for your souls. Rejoice that your meaningless lives shall further Urishtar’s unspeakable goals!”

The Cambion's threats prove ill-placed, as the heroes defeat this additional challenge, and proceed to climb the stairs of the Tower.

Warm lantern light reveals a room whose walls are concealed behind tall bookcases stuffed with dusty tomes. A glowing circle of glyphs is inscribed on the floor at the chamber’s center. The party hears page flipping from elsewhere in the chamber.

A noble Rakshasa servant of Urishtar inhabits these chambers. Unfortunately, his guile avails him no good, as the party is infuriated by the repeated assaults of Urishtar minions, and do not trust Demons and Undead in this tower. After handling the Rakshasa and his companions, they enter a new floor.

This high-ceilinged chamber contains instruments of torture, including racks, iron maidens, and a great chair next to a fire pit stuffed with pokers, which provides the only light in the room. Iron bars form cells around the chamber’s dark and shadowy periphery. More Rakshasa occupy this room, dangerous warriors and deadly assassins. The all meet a well deserved end at the point of our heroes blades. Finally, the party reaches the top of the spire.



Black clouds and shadows spin madly around the periphery of this spire, under the dark sky. Our heroes feel a life-draining hunger emanating from within the swirling darkness. The spire’s center holds a dark swirl shot through with smeared starlight, which shudders between two sculptures of fossilized black bone. Partly obscured behind this ebony vortex is a huge, night-black dragon. Its nearly translucent scales seem to shimmer in the dim light.
The dragon roars, momentarily disrupting the swirling clouds above. It asks in Draconic, “Do you wish to see what I do with all the stolen souls? Or do you wish to die, ignorant of the power that Death’s Reach provides?”

Our hereos realize that Urishtar uses the stolen souls to fertilize her eggs, and create more Draconic Wraiths. As they fight Urishtar, souls fall on the spire, bolstering the power of those they touch. Urishtar covers the battlefield in darkness, helped by her wraiths, but the dragons are no match for our Heroes, who are victorious in this final challenge.

As the adventurers defeat Urishtar, they immediately make the souls of the recently departed safe. The corrupted draconic wraiths slowly wander off without direct orders and supervision, and the Soul Vortex begins to dissipate. Unfortunately, the life forces already thrown into the maw of the Soul Vortex are apparently gone for good.
The hoard of the Dragon contains an ancient scroll case composed of platinum. A message is inscribed in Abyssal on a sheet of gold foil inside. “Death’s Reach lies at the center of the Shadowfell. Sacrifice a world of souls to reshape the Shadowfell and unseat the God of Death herself.”
In the hoard they also find a globe of red ligth, the depository of the Red Priest's Soul. As they free her soul, the Red Priest appears to thank them.
The air around them becomes chilly, and a beautiful young woman, her skin white as ice, her clothes black has the feathers of a raven, steps from the shadows. Waylander recognizes her as the Raven Queen.
To reward the heroes for their actions, she accepts to release the soul of the Red Priest (since normally the goddess of Death would not allow a freed soul to return to the Mortal World).
She also tells with the Red Priest that, if she wishes her Father to be accepted through the Shadowfell upon death, she will have to accompany him. The Red Priest accepts her terms, and her Soul disappears. Our heroes will find her back in Moonstairs.

The Raven Queen once again thanks the party, and sends them back to the Mortal World, in Moonstairs. All except Waylander. Since the assassin has always been a devoted follower of the Raven Queen, in life, and even more in Death, the Queen makes him one of her Raven Knight, and grants him Nightwyrm Fortress as his domain. Waylander, now Lord Shadowthrone of Nightwyrm Spire, gladly accepts, before also returning to Moonstairs.

Chapter 37 - Zry’s Slaad Patrol (Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress - Part 6)

Our hereos are now making their way to reach the battlements of the Fortress. In front of them lies a chamber. The smell emanating from the chamber ahead is horrendous.
A large dragonlike beast sporting six heads lounges in its center. On either side of the chamber, stable-like stalls with stone barriers stand closed. Occasionally, smoke and fire erupt from within. Brutish ogres walk between the stalls, some bearing humanoid corpses, others wielding pitchforks and shovels. From the stalls, fire-breathing lizards harrass our heroes, providing a hard fight when paired with the monstrous Hydra. Our heroes are once again victorious, with no losses on their side.

A steep, 20-foot-wide stairway leads upward into the oddly dim light of the Shadowfell. Each step is broad and even, with obscure runes and sigils etched into its surface. The runes project some sort of warding magic, a spell designed to prevent the passage of a particular kind of creature. The wards are layered in a series of zones that continue up the stairs.
A close examination reveals that the runes were laid down in a ritual to prevent slaads from descending the stairs. At the top of the stairs, an assortment of horrible-looking creatures growl and slaver, their eyes with mania and hunger (Slaads indeed). The first creature to move down the stairs toward the party screams in pain as it moves through a shimmering curtain of energy
that sparkles at its passing. Its scaly skin blackens and smolders as it pushes forward, and then the shimmering curtain of energy shatters into tiny shards that wink out as they rain down. As this occurs, the other creatures roar in victory and also begin to press forward. Our heroes battle the Slaad on the stairs, making good use of the magical barriers, and proceed forward.

The level space on top of the wall surrounding the fortress is as wide as a city street. It contains bunkers, pits, and decrepit ballistas and catapults that more resemble fossils than weapons of war. Vicious spikes jut from the walls and point in all directions. From here, the roar of the vortex above is almost overwhelming as it pulls in air, dust, and shadows. From the inner side of the battlements, a catwalk spans a great chasm to the side of the fantastically large spire at the fortress’s center.
An assortment of horrible-looking creatures face the party, all of them terrifying and slightly froglike in appearance (more Slaads). One is jet black and especially menacing. Even once our heroes have defeat them, there is no rest!
Having aquired the last Soul Ring from the Black Slaad, the party attract the attention of Magrathar hislef, most trusted lieutenant of Urishtar the Shadow Dragon.

The inscribed magic circle atop the battlements flares with blinding light. With a loud crash of thunder, several creatures suddenly appear, including axe-wielding minotaurs and two horrid, draconic wraiths. Among them is humanoid figure wearing loose-fitting clothes and a mask. A ring on its gloved hand glows brightly. The being speaks in a warbling, gooey voice.
“I do not know if you are agents of the Raven Queen, Vecna, or some other god or demon lord whose interests I have yet to ferret out. It doesn’t matter. You have inconvenienced me. I detest inconveniences. Please throw yourself off these walls and save me further trouble, or things will go poorly for your immortal souls.”
As the figure finishes speaking, it stands silently as though awaiting the party's reply. The other creatures that arrived with it growl at you. After a few excahnges of intimidating talks (!), the party defeats Magrathar, and our heroes are now ready to access the Spire itself!

A slender span of fossilized bone extends to the central tower that rises into the whirling vortex. The catwalk seems solid enough, though here and there pieces have crumbled away, forming large gaps.
A huge, night-black dragon shrouded in darkness drops from the sky, trailing shadows in its wake. Its shimmering scales seem almost translucent. The dragon roars, rocking the catwalk as it lands. Pieces of petrified bone crumble and fall away into the darkness. The dragon challenges you in Draconic. “Who seeks to enter my domain while still encased in living flesh?”. Our heroes now face Urishtar himself!
Thorug a careful use of their combined powers, the heroes manage to defeat the Dragon, but not to kill him for good. Urishtar escapes, and readies his defences on top of the Spire. Having inflicted a hard blow to the dragon, the party decides it is time to recover their strengths.

Chapter 36 - Dedanum's War (Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress - Part 5)

Our heroes must now face the Fiery Lair of Dedanum, the Azer King.

Near the ceiling of this cavernous black-walled chamber, two motes of purple fire float in midair. Surrounding them, two hulking demons snort and paw at the floor, while hell hounds bare their teeth at your approach. An azer, his hair and beard in flames, stands to one side with axe raised.
“Quickly and carefully,” the azer states calmly in Giant. “Kill the intruders.”

Though he clearly means business, the flame-haired azer is more worried about the purple fire than he is about the adventurers.

The motes of fire are not creatures, but rather manifestations of aberrant energy. Some taint from the Far Realm infects this place.

Even though our heroes win the day, Waylander is clobbered to death by one of the Goristros.

Through the door ahead comes the sound of an argument, two deep voices raised in harsh anger.

“I’ll eat your eyes out of your head! I’ll eat the heart from your chest! Test me again and I’ll strip the fire from your blood! Get back into position!”

Three platforms rise 10 feet above the floor along the walls of this chamber. Three long-tailed flaming creatures look up at your entrance, one on the floor and two perched atop the ledge opposite. The argument appears to have involved a pair of red-skinned azer with burning beards and hair, who stand angrily before a bodiless demonic figure of fire and smoke.
A third azer stands across the chamber. Closer to the door, a number of what appear to be diseased and mutilated corpses lie smoldering in a pile of rubble.

After dealing with these guardians, our heroes move on in a new corridor. In the far corner of the corridor’s turn, they see a glimmer of silver on the floor. Closer scrutiny reveals a semicircle of arcane symbols drawn into the ground with a vibrant, silvery ink. The semicircle is part of an arcane circle that serves as a ward against the passage of shadow creatures. The circle is active and powerful, so it must be complete. The rest of the circle must continue on the other side of the wall. The corridor wall hides a secret door. Bright lantern light fills this chamber. A pair of scholarly gentlemen who appear to be related are engaged in a heated conversation, their tones hushed but angry. Our heroes notice that they can see through these figures, and that they both float about a half a foot off the floor. The figures are having a heated discussion:
“The only obvious conclusion you can draw is that the juxtaposition of the aberrant portal is totally within the realm of Bigby’s Theorem of Convergence,” hisses one of the men.
“No, no, no,” the other one says firmly, “you are not taking into account Vrin’s Properties of Aberrant Humors—”
“You cannot use your own unverified theories as proof of concept!” interrupts the first.
Suddenly both transparent men turn to the party with puzzled expressions. In unison they ask, “Who are you?”

The party explains their presence there, and help the two ghosts removing the barrier that was keeping them in this room. Once free, the ghost brothers thank our heroes and depart. The party moves on to the next challenge, finding themselves in front of a huge iron door.

The sound of combat clearly resonates from beyond the double doors ahead. Once open, the doors reveal a wide room. On one side of a gaping pit stands a huge demon, its crablike pincers slashing the air. Opposite the demon are two hulking humanoids. A human-sized creature lurks behind them, its skin a swirling vortex of shadowy lines. Two motes of purple fire freely float about the chamber.
It is obvious from its stance that the demon is fighting the other creatures in the chamber. At the same time, all appear to be avoiding the burning motes as they float erratically through the room. The part decide to not waste time in forging allegiances with Alien creature, and slaughter them all. On to the next door!

These double doors are forged of black iron. Relief sculptures of an unknown humanoid race adorn their surface, each face depicted as screaming in pain and anguish.
These dark doors have lost souls bound within them that demand appeasement.
The souls trapped here wish only a blessing as a sign that they are remembered. Once inside the room, the roof of this majestic chamber is supported by numerous square metal pillars. On the wall opposite the door stands a large throne atop a dais, both wreathed in flame. Between the party and it stands a squad of azer warriors, all watching them menacingly. Another fire-haired azer sits atop the throne, a great whip of flame in his hand. Flanking the dais, two horrid creatures stand guard. Their bodies appear to be bloody muscle, gnashing mouths opening where their eyes should be.
Batlike wings spread from their shoulders, their lower bodies trailing off to long serpentine tails.
The azer on the throne calls “This is not your battle, invaders. Go back from whence you came. Disobey me, and you shall be engulfed by our eternal fire!” Finally the last guardian of the Fire Halls! Our heroes defeat Daedanum and his minions, aquire one more Soul Ring, and settle for the day.

Chapter 35 - Ice Halls of Vorst (Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress - Part 4)

Next, our heroes need to face the Frozen Halls of Vorst, the Ice Archon.

The floor of this frigid chamber is coated with frost. A
number of stone platforms rise 10 feet from the floor. Atop
three of the platforms sit large reptilian creatures with multiple
legs. An icy mist surrounds each of these creatures.
Farther back in the frigid chamber, a creature composed
of ice and armor lurks behind one of the platforms.

After having taken care of the guardians, they proceed into a corridor.
The passage ends at a ledge opening into another freezing
chamber. Most of the floor in this wide room appears to have
crumbled away, and a cloud of chill fog hides the depth of the
collapse. Portions of the original floor rise from the fog as
small islands of stone, making a kind of path across the chamber
to a ledge on the other side. Atop those islands, more ice
archons perch, watching their approach with anticipation.
The archons use their ability to float on ice to their advantage, but they are no match for the party. A door looms ahead.

Tortured screams ring out as the door to the next chamber opens.
The way ahead is blocked by vertical bars of ice. The frozen
chamber beyond is dominated by a pair of statues depicting
robed humanoids. Before the statues, three eladrin writhe on
the floor as a pair of ice archons lashes them with sadistic
fury. Frozen humanoid corpses are stacked high within ice
cages to the east and west. The Eladrin are in reality polymorphed Rakshasa warriors, and when they spring their trap, also the statue animate into terrifying Golems. After dispatching them, the heroes find a dwarf survivor in one of the cages. He reveals them that Vorst, the Ice Archon, is at the service of Magrathar, a shadowy figure clad in dark robes. Vorst awaits them in the next hall.

Icy banners and sparkling prisms decorate this tall chamber.
A grand, frosted throne sits atop a great block of ice against
the south wall. At the ice block’s core, a flare of light shifts and
glitters.
High platforms rise in both corners of the chamber. Atop
these platforms sit large creatures with three heads—a lion, a
ram, and a white dragon head. The white dragon heads fix
upon the heroes and watch their every movement.
Closer, five ice archons prepare to attack. Four heft massive
frost hammers while the fifth wields a sharp icicle like a
javelin. “Kill them!” he hisses, hefting the icicle and preparing
to hurl it. “Kill them all!”

But once again our heroes are victorious, and, after recovering the second Soul Ring, they set camp to restore their strengths.

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.

Chapter 33 - The Tomb of Sartine (Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress - Part 2)

Sartine was a shadar-kai master of shadow and illusion magic. Legend speaks of her passage into service to the Raven Queen when she died, becoming one of the mighty sorrowsworn. Before her death, however, she built a tomb—a place that exists simultaneously in the natural world and the world of shadow—to house her mortal remains.

The last guardians defeated, our Heroes enter the Tomb, finding themselves in an Ossuary. Two obelisks stand in this large chamber, one to the northwest and one to the southeast. A doorway is visible in the southwest wall, but a wide pit prevents easy access to it. To the east, a large alcove contains a great mound of humanoid skulls, all bleached a pristine white. A smaller alcove stands to the south, occupied by a hulking skeletal creature with long, skewerlike claws. Its mouth twists into a leering grin as it lumbers out of the alcove. The skeletal creature is not the only guardian of the Ossuary, as terrible Bone Nagas spring out of the skull mound, while arcane energies crackle on the pillars to blast our heroes. This threat handled, the party proceeds deeper into the Tomb.

They reach a chamber, appearing to be a wide hall with double doors standing closed to the north and south. An open archway opposite your entry leads into a crypt of black stone. There’s a heavy taint of ancient rot hanging in the air. Shadow-gray sculptures of monstrously large toads flank both openings. Each statue bears a glowing sigil in its open mouth. Here they must face many more undead guardians, including a fearsome Death Knight. They solve the riddle presented by the Frog statues, and enter into a mausoleum.

This echoing mausoleum is as cold as darkest winter. A bleak frozen pool fills its center. Each corner of the main chamber opens onto a small crypt. To the south stands a pair of frosted
double doors. To the east, the chamber opens into a side hall backed with funeral niches. A circle scribed by glowing lines of energy is set into the floor of the eastern hall. From the frozen pool, an Angel of Vengeance erupts, leading more Angelic minions, and undead Wraiths. Fighting their way through, they enter the magical circle and are teleported a new chamber.

Four roaring fire pits arranged around a 20-foot tall square obelisk light this massive chamber. The obelisk is carved of stone so black that it seems to absorb the light of the flames.
A word carved into the obelisk’s southern face, “Shadow,” can barely be discerned in the black stone. To the north and south of the obelisk, dark sigils are inscribed every 5 feet across the
floor. Statues of armored warriors stand in a line along the east and west walls. As the heroes begin to solve the riddle of the obelisk, Fire Archon guardians led by an Efreet appear. Only after defeating them is the party permitted to finally access the entrance to the Shadowfell.

Chapter 32 - The Gloomdeeps (Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress - Part 1)

Zephyra performs the Raise Dead ritual one last time, but once again she fails. As she utters the last words of the spell, a dark mist rises, and the ghostly image of a Dragon claims the soul of Gyllen once and forever.

As the shadowy dragon disappears, more undead raise from the surrounding graveyards, and the party manages to defeat them with the help of a mysterious warrior-woman, Moyshanna. She offers to guide the PCs into the Gloomdeeps to search for the creature she believes is interfering with the natural order of life and death. Through the Gloomdeeps, they will be able to enter the Tomb of Sartine, and from there reach the Shadowfell to confront the Shadow Dragon. Rudd Steelthorn decides to accompany the heroes in this quest.

Once into the Gloomdeeps, they must face savage Cyclops worshiping a huge Carrion Crawler, whom they call the Crawling God. After wandering into the caverns, they reach the antechamber to Sartine Tomb.

Flaring torchlight illuminates this cavern, revealing a smooth wall of worked stone set with iron double doors to the south. Two pools of water in the cavern floor are surrounded by four statues—a pair of ancient kings standing along the west wall, and two gargoyles crouched on basalt pillars to the east.

The statues are in fact ancient guardians, that must be defeated to final have access to the Tomb.