Session 27: The Imaskari Altar

"I'm good, guys!"

Summary

The inert Imaskari Golem

The Altar of Reanimation

The lighting makes her hat look blue instead of green, okay? Also this did 0 damage.

Octavius preparing a True Strike spell

A job almost done...

The party avoided the catoblepas corpse and tested the strange stone cube: Octavius’s Detect Magic read it as inverted Abjuration meant to disrupt divine casting, and Diedric proved it when trying to cast Light within proximity triggered a flash of lightning and tested his concentration. They stowed it and descended south on the flying carpet into a drowned waiting-room hall and an antechamber.

There they found half a purple-stone golem with an open copper-ringed chest; Glenn climbed in and even seated the Anti-Divinity Orb inside, but nothing stirred. The Mimir filled in the bigger picture--Imaskar's ancient, antitheist arcane empire and its purple ruins--before the party pushed on without stealth.

In the Infusion Chamber, a fiendish, heat-radiating sahuagin with a blue Ioun stone had just placed a drowned young black dragon on a dark altar when the dragon snapped awake and attacked. Acid breath dropped Diedric and tore through the fight; the sahuagin died to its own dragon's breath, and Octavius finished the dragon with an explosive crossbow bolt. Octavius dove for the ioun stone, then offered it to Diedric as he was stabilized by his periapt.

Testing the altar revealed starry void energy that disintegrated sahuagin flesh; Legend Lore confirmed it as an Imaskari reanimation experiment, likely involving a portal to the Elemental Plane of Negative Energy. Radiant spells cracked it nearly apart—until frantic splashing from beyond the chamber signaled something was coming fast through the water.

XP Award

• 1175 XP for defeating the young black dragon and the sahuagin baron.
• 100 XP for having the Mimir spoonfeed you exposition of this Imaskari research facility.
• Total: 1275 XP
• Current XP: 48335 XP -> 49610 XP (Level 8 -> Level 9!)
• (Required for next level: 64000 XP)

Things That Happened

The Anti-Divinity Orb

• Date: 26th of Tarsakh (The Claw of the Storms, April), evening, 1372 DR
• Steering clear of the catoblepas's corpse, the party looted and experimented with the unknown stone orb.
• Octavius cast Detect Magic, sensing Abjuration magic, inverted to disrupt divine spellcasting.
• Diedric experimented with casting a Light spell.
  • When within 30 feet during casting, he would be struck by a flash of lightning and struggle to concentrate on the spell.
  • He was otherwise unaffected.
• The party stowed the stone.

Descent Below

• Taking the stairwell to the south, the party carefully moved their way, floating above the dark waters on their flying carpet.
• They entered a hall that resembled a waiting room, with a reception area adjacent.
• Taking the path to the right, the party entered an antechamber.

The Inactive Golem

• This room bore half of a golem, made of purple stone, with its chest cavity intentionally left open, ringed by copper.
  • Glenn climbed into its chest, looking for levers or buttons.
  • Glenn placed the Anti-Divinity Orb in its chest cavity. Nothing happened.
  • Lilia determined that it was likely missing a power source.
  • Its copper band had writing on it, dots and swirls, denoting arcane runes. Octavius took note of these in his journal.
• The party interrogated their Mimir about this place.
  • It informed them that Imaskar was an arcane empire eight thousand years ago — masters of gates and portals, proudly antitheist — ruled by the Lord Artificer. They seized the Mulan people through gates to their world; when their gods arrived as avatars, Mulhorand and Unther rose on Imaskar's ruins and broke it forever. Their ruins are made of purple stone, and their ancient home, the Raurin desert, is also purple.
• The party proceeded into the next chamber, making no attempt to stealth.

The Infusion Chamber

• There they beheld a fiendish sahuagin, nearly the height of an ogre, which radiated heat. A blue glowing stone orbited around his head, and he finished placing the drowned corpse of a young black dragon, likely dredged from an ocean or lake, onto the glimmering dark altar Octavius sighted in his vision.
• The young dragon, despite missing flesh in some areas, snapped awake and lunged at the party.

Encounter: Sahuagin Dredging

• Highlights:
  • Glenn throwing the Anti-Divinity Orb into the water next to the sahuagin.
  • Unit 137 falling to the acid breath, only to be conjured as a divine guardian, standing next to the owl spirit guardian.
  • Glenn withstanding the entirety of a blast of acid breath standing behind his shield -- while Diedric was downed, most of the flesh on his head melting away.
  • Lilia and her constellation archer missing in unison.
  • Glenn striking a mighty blow as the dragon flew past.
  • The sahuagin's blood splashing wildly, sizzling on stone like acid.
  • The sahuagin falling to his own dragon's breath.
  • Octavius setting the dragon ablaze, using his knowledge of the weave to cast a Blight spell with the fire damage type.
  • Octavius downing the dragon with a single explosive shot from his crossbow, using a bolt specially prepared by the ill-fated dragonhunting party.

The Ioun Stone

• Octavius immediately swan-dove into the waters to fetch the glowing blue orb.
• Placing it above his head, it began to orbit, granting him the wisdom of a long-lived life and hard-learned lessons.
• Stabilized by his periapt, Diedric was brought back up and healed himself with a potion.
• Diedric was proferred the stone, which now orbits his head.

The Altar

• The party experimented with the altar, which issued a starry void energy.
  • Lilia placed a sahuagin arm on it. It disintegrated after graying and shrivelling.
  • Lilia placed a sahuagin head on it. It had the same effect.
  • Lilia asked the Mimir, using Legend Lore, about what this altar was.
  • The Mimir explained that, during the war against the god-kings of the Mulan peoples, the Lord Artificer commissioned an experiment to use a portal to the Elemental Plane of Negative Energy to re-animate the dead in their war efforts, and that this facility was abandoned after the Imaskari were destroyed.
• Deciding to destroy the altar without saying a word, Glenn tried hitting the altar with his dwarven shovel. It clanged away.
• Leaning on their divine and arcane knowledge, they recognized that radiant magic would be most likely to negate the defenses the negative energ may be having to keep the altar intact.
• Together, the party hurled radiant spells at the altar. It cracked significantly, nearly broken, its cracks glowing with divine energy.
• This triggered a response from the tomb's depths, as the party clearly heard a scramble of bodies splashing through the cold waters in their direction.

NPCs Encountered (or mentioned)

• None

Memes

• Sherica [pantomiming a DM]: There's a bat. The bat turns into a vampire.
• [Group looks at Brian expectantly]
• Brian [pantomiming his players]: DOES THE VAMPIRE HAVE A [BLEEP]ABLE WAIST?
• [Group cheers]
• Nick: He's beginning to believe!

DM Thoughts

• Combat descriptions are hard. I need to work on my diction.
• I think I was dehydrated.