Session 24

Members:

Lórien - Elf Wizard
Theavaera - Elf Druid
Grimthain - Dwarf Cletic
Cad - Human Monk
Milo - Halfling Ranger

The Adventure

We began were we left off in the Dracolich's Lair.  The party dragged an unconscious Qesnef along with them to the entrance.  A long discussion was held with the androsphinx, and the party learned that he rather enjoyed his position as guardian of the cave.  While the main group was talking, Cad ventured down the hallway to recover his rope.  
The conversation turned to Keraptis, the Necromancer.  After learning a bit of information, the party headed out for the night and set up camp.  The following morning, they decided what to do with Qesnef.  Theavara remembered an item they had picked up long ago.  A purple candle of truth.
Before the questioning of the ogre mage began, the party beat him sensless.  Not that he was already senseless from being feebleminded the previous day ...
His intelligence restored, Lórien began to question the ogre.  During the questioning, the ogre broke free of his bonds, but was restrained by Theavara and Cad.  With the candle's last flicker, the party had all the information they could glean, and headed off toward town.
In Galaq, Theavara was hit on by a pair of dwarves.  Midway through the evening, a disheveled traveler came into the tavern.  He was a seeker, a member of an ancient and secret group of treasure hunters.  Grimthain bought him dinner and a mug of ale.  The seeker offered to give the location of Keraptis's tomb in exchange for helping retrieve the remains of his comrades.  The party talked with the seeker well into the night, and set off for the tomb in the morning.

Arriving at the tomb, the party saw a dark-gray block of granite with three Dwarven words, the Three Sins of Ruin (treachery, sloth, and foolishness).  They quickly realized that it was an attempt to throw them off when they pressed the letters of one of the words to spell out 'welcome' in common.  The door slid into the earth and the party's ears were accosted with a multitude of wailing voices.  The door closed one minute later, and there was no visible way to get it open again.
The entry chamber had a row of four columns and three pools.  Cad teleported to the bottom of the far pool and noticed a black key.  He also hit a suspended bell.  The bell only served to drain the pool he had already searched.
The four columns at the entrance had the following symbols etched into them:

Lórien sent Morgoth ahead down the hallway to investigate the source of the wailing, and Morgoth came across a room covered in crying eyes.  The wailing was nearly overwhelming in the room as well.  The party quickly learned that the tears were acidic when one of them touched the wall.  Lórien managed to put the eyes to sleep long enough to find a secret door in the western wall.

Following through the door, the party found a room of alcoves.  A central statue and three smaller statues decorated the alcoves.  Searching the far corner, they found a small key hole in the column there.

The walls of the room were painted with fading geometric designs of red, gold, and green.  Cad tried to discern if they had any meaning, but found none.  The party decided to try the key, and upon turning it, three of the statues came alive.  They were actually stone golems.  Theavara went reptilian and did some massive damage to the golems, but could not strike a killing blow.  She lamented over her stolen kills after the fight.

The compartment in the pillar contained some interesting items including a sealed bone scroll tube containing the following passage written on a piece of vellum:

This concludes our adventuring day.

Loot:

Bone scroll case containing a message written on a sheet of vellum (above)

An ordinary sword and dagger enchanted to appear magical
(Everyone had True Seeing, and quickly saw through the illusion)
Seven amber pieces, five tourmalines, three coral pieces (each gem worth 100 gp)
Two yellow topazes (worth 500 gp each)
Platinum statue resembling the cat-headed statue in the room (750 gp)
Potion of Healing
Potion of Flying
Scroll of Stoneskin

XP Breakdown:

Current level: 14
Total XP: 160,000
XP til level: 30,000
*It might take two more sessions to hit level 15.