Phyll stood guard as the rest of the party tried to recover their strength while discussing what to do about the petrified Banoc. Some of the options discussed were rather gruesome as none had any experience dealing with this condition before. Before a plan of action could be initiated, they were interrupted by a small patrol of Yuan-ti who spotted Phyll and engaged. The rest of the party soon woke to the sounds of battle and joined in.

The fight raged down the hallway, alerting more Yuan-ti, who had moved around in their stronghold while the party attempted to rest. The Yuan-ti fought along with their broodguard and undead minions, including a pair of minotaur skeletons and an undead skeletal snake. Phyll and Way-lynn led the attack to the Yuan-ti and the minions, taking the brunt of the attacks. Daqiq’s arrows were deadly as ever and Gwyn unleashed several fireballs, decimating their opponents. Still suffering from the previous fight, Jax stayed back and supported as best she could.

After the combat was over, Gwyn used her magic to restore the health or her companions and simultaneous restored Banoc to life. They proceeded to explore more of the stronghold and discovered evidence of a horrible ritual having taken place while they were attempting to rest. Phyll suffered hallucinations of snake imagery after attempting to determine the nature of a foul liquid in one chamber. Following the sounds of chanting, they came to a large cathedral with a pool of blood and several Yuan-ti who were finishing a ritual of some kind.

Wasting no time Phyll started to attack and Daqiq dropped a heavily armored Yuan-ti with two arrows. Way-lynn tossed a Malison into the pool of blood and the remaining Yuan-ti fled casting a fireball at the party. His defiling nature was clear and Phyll pursued him down a narrow passage. Arising from the blood pool, a horrible creature with six snake head arose, splashing gore throughout the room and onto the party members.

The group stared at the foul abomination and wondered what it was capable of…

After resting and recovering from their combat with the Crimson Knights, the party prepared to cleanse the temple of the Yuan-ti for Romila and the Veiled Alliance. Banoc communed with his elemental patrons and learned that the Yuan-ti were not the only dangers they wound face within the temple but that there were items of value within the temple that would aid them in their struggle against the sorcerer-kings, including a Sword of Tyr.

With the preparations complete, the party journeyed in the Under Tyr for an hour and arrived at a pair of bronze doors embossed with snake images. Banoc detected no magical wards and Daqiq could not locate any physical traps, so Way-lynn used his massive strength to open the doors, revealing an entry hall with several humanoid, snake-like creatures, who were caught by surprise. Combat ensued and the commotion of spells and weapons drew additional defenders including a giant crocodile, a pair of basilisks and an air elemental. Gwyn’s magical summons of an incendiary cloud spelled doom for the bulk of the forces and the rest were quickly defeated.

However, Jax suffered numerous poisonous attacks but Phyll was able to save her before she perished. Banoc was turned to stone from the gaze of the basilisks and none of his allies could reverse the condition. With a moment or two to catch their breath, the party dragged Banoc into a side-chamber and attempted to rest for a bit.

However, they were not so lucky…

In the Under-Tyr, the battle with the crimson knights continued to attack Way-lynn, Daqiq, Phyll and Jax. The knights absorbed hit after hit, showing little damage and no sign of stopping. They pressed forward as the party moved back, hoping that the advance would halt. Phyll should have fallen to the attacks, but somehow managed to keep standing.

While the rest of the party continued to retreat, Gwyn joined Banoc in exploring the structure, looking for something to help their friends. They found altars with a few lit candles on them and eventually realized that there was a candle for each of the knights. Hoping they could help their friends, the pair started to extinguish candle after candle, and when each was snuffed out, a knight crumbled to the ground.

With the knights defeated, the party regrouped inside the structure and was startled by the arrival of a lone figure, that Gwyn recognized at Romila, a member of the Veiled Alliance. There was initially a good deal of hostility and tension as the party learned that the knights were defending an Alliance safehouse and that they could not be restored by any known methods.

Romila filled in the party on the events leading to the destruction of the Veiled Alliance and the terrible news that the safehouse they were in might be the last of the Veiled Alliance in Tyr. When Romila learned of the groups desire to infiltrate the Golden Tower and deal with Li-Am and Kalid-Ma, a bargain was struck. If the party could help clear out a new safehouse of the Yuan-ti that currently inhabited it, the party would be shown a secret way into the Golden Tower.

With the bargain struck, the party purchased some supplies and items from the Veiled Alliance and headed out…

The party ventured into the Under-Tyr entering from the Warrens district. After many hours of searching through the catacombs and sewers of ancient Tyr, they began to sense ancient protective magics and started following the traces. Eventually the party arrived at an ancient structure that appeared to be temple dedicated to some, long-forgotten gods. Way-lynn was able to open the doors with their massive strength and a half-dozen undead knights appeared to block their entry. The creatures simply stated that only those who were pure of heart would be allowed to pass.

Banoc entered the structure without resistance but when Phyll attempted to do the knights attacked him. Daqiq, Jax and Way-lynn engaged the undead guardians as they were sure that “pure of heart” did not apply to them. Gwyn had a vague recollection of this area from her initiation into the Veiled Alliance, but was more concerned with defending her friends than attempting enter the structure. Phyll took the the brunt of the attacks and suffered serious injuries, forcing him to start retreating.

After attempting to disguise themselves, especially Phyll, the party ventured out onto the streets of Tyr to get a feel for the city and attempt to make contact with the Veiled Alliance. At the Drunken Giant, Banoc and Gwyn attempted to find members of the Alliance, but they were unsuccessful. It appeared that the Alliance in Tyr was driven into hiding following the occupation of the city by Kalid-Ma and were even more suspicious of outsiders than normal.

Gwyn headed to an old ally, Karlen, at his store, Karlen’s Eye. They found him still running the shop and he provided information on the current state of Tyr. He told them of the arrival of Kalid-Ma and his high templar Li-Am from the south and their easy defeat of the city’s guard. With a sorcerer-king once again in control of the city, the old ways had returned – templars and nobles were scheming as even and the brief freedom enjoyed was gone. Kalid-Ma had only just returned from his defeat at Urik in the north, although Karlen mentioned that the sorcerer-king had returned from the south.

Karlen agreed to fence a number of items the party had discovered and use the proceeds to try and obtain useful items and components need for Gwyn to create powerful magic tattoos. With some relief, Banoc gave up the Blade Perilous into Karlen’s care. It would be a few day’s before his contacts returned with the items the party requested.

While they roamed the city, Phyll sensed the powerful primal energy of the sorcerer-king’s gardens and suspected that there were many Trees of Life there. Had the rest of the party not intervened, he would have attempt to open the garden to the city, surely earning the wrath of Kalid-Ma. As they made their way back to Free City Tattoo, they encountered a press gang, conscripting citizens into Kalid-Ma’s new army.

The party decided that enough was enough and a fight ensued. The thugs of Kalid-Ma were tough, but not a match for the seasoned adventurers. The combat was over quickly, with Way-lynn, Phyll and Daqiq making a good show of defeating their opponents. The crowd of citizens watch with a mixture of awe and horror. Daqiq, Jax and Phyll freed the prisoners, gave them weapons and told them to earn their freedom.

Leaving before more templars and guards arrived, the party headed to the Warrens and the Under-Tyr in an attempt to find the Alliance and escape pursuit.

The discussions continued late into the night. The success a purifying the water and the brief rains that fell had invigorated the party and the survivors of the curse, which now numbered almost 200. The optimism was an unusual feeling for everyone. Everyone had their plans regarding the Blue Waters Oasis and their next steps…

• Banoc selected this oasis as his new home.
• Phyll was eager to help Phabum start training druids.
• Gwyn was eager to return to Nibenay and reclaim their lost possessions.
• Jax was eager to research the lore that was recovered from the ruins of Sielba’s palace.
• Way-lynn was concerned about the defense of the Oasis and began preperations for fortifying the area and training defense forces.
• Daqiq desired to return to the ruins and reclaim more treasure.

The following morning, Way-lynn awoke to a surprise – they had returned to a half-giant. The Scroll of Blue Waters appeared to have reversed the effects suffered during their time in the Ruins of Pluton. They also were surprised by the arrival of a contingent of half-giants on a nearby ridge. When they were approached the party discovered that Siemhouk, the high templar of Nibenay, was with the half-giants.

The young girl was her usual mysterious self, however, they learned from Seimhouk that Dregoth was active in Raam, Kalid-Ma had indeed been defeated at Urik and retreated and that Balic was being destroyed by the forces of Ul-Athra and Yarnath. She implied, in an unsubtle way, that if the party didn’t clean up the messes they made, she would expose this Blue Waters Oasis to Nibenay. Hostilities almost broke out, but Daqiq was a calming influence on Banoc.

Siemhouk left the party to decide their fate and after much discussion, they elected to help Tyr out first. Gwyn teleported them to the Free City Tattoo shop they once called home…

After a long, slow march from the Ruins of Yaramuke to the Black Waters Oasis, the party encountered a strange hermit named Phabum who they learned was a druid that tended the Oasis. The party was able to convince him to assist in the purification of the water and they began to cast the spell from the Scroll of Blue Waters. As they did so, hundreds of undead began to rise from the ground and attack the party.

Phyll protected Phabum and Banoc as they worked to complete the ritual. Daqiq and Way-lynn attacked the undead, attempting to thin the numbers as best they could. Gwyn used her magic to summon a ring of fire around the casters, attempting to shield them from attacks while blasting other undead with fireballs. Jax used her magic to push back the mass of undead and summoned spiritual guardians to protect the party as they fell back into the oasis to protect Phabum and Banoc.

The spell was completed and the scroll melted into water and the oasis turned a healthy shade of blue. Some of the zombies faded into dust, but those remaining become rejuvenated and are alive once again. A thundercloud formed above the oasis, lightning crashed, hitting the monument, and rain fell for a few moments. Phyll caught Banoc and Phaebum as they fell to their knees, exhausted. The rain renewed the refugees’ health and Gwyn and Way-lynn found that they were now fully alive.

All enjoyed the cool, clear waters of the Oasis and discussed where they would go next…

In the ruins of Sielba’s palace, they party found no rest, for what they thought were the denizens of desert that were howling and screaming was more in their minds. This haunting persisted and they eventually gave up and continued to search the lowest level of the palace. There they found something more precious than the gold above – knowledge. Sielba’s chambers were filled with wonderous knowledge of magic, nature and otherworldly machines. There were also tomes of history that appeared to contain knowledge of Athas that none but the sorcerer-kings knew. They, somewhat reluctantly, dropped most of their coins so that they could bring this knowledge back to the surface.

Banoc discovered a powerful scroll that he was barely able to decipher. This Scroll of Blue Waters appeared to be capable of reversing the curse on the Black Waters Oasis as well as restoring those who had drank from it. They needed to be journey to the oasis to use it, and the spell was so complex that Banoc was not sure he could successfully use it. Knowing that their refugees were running low on time, they hurried back to the surface.

Their path was blocked by animated obsidian statues that appeared to have been activated by the group attempting to leave with the treasure. Although the party could have defeated them, their animation also triggered a collapse of the ceiling. Daqiq lead the charge with Phyll and Way-lynn covering the rest of the party as they attempted to escape. Jax was brilliant and used her magic to temporarily banish the golems from Athas to avoid the majority of them. Gwyn used her staff to create an impenetrable wall of force blocking their pursuit.

Eventually clear of the ruins and running as fast as they could through the rising heat of day, the party reached the gith water cave and began to mobilize the refugees. They could only hope to reach the oasis and complete the spell before the golems caught up with them.

With the last rays of the setting sun, the Cerulean Orb and the Eye of Earth blazed to life and illuminated the entrance to the palace of Sielba. The party decided to leave the refugees in the gith cave as they were deteriorating quickly and would likely be of little use in the palace. Banoc feared that without additional intervention by Gwyn, the refugees would not last more than 2 days.

The party made their way through the palace finding little of interest, save for some loose coins and half-giant skeletons that appeared to be guarding long-forgotten chambers. Much to Phyll’s dismay, there was not sign of the druidic lore rumored to have been sequestered by Sielba. A secret door was discovered leading down to a lower level and Daqiq lead the way.

The lower level held the treasury of the sorcerer-queen and many more skeletons, who were alerted to the groups presence by a crack of thunder created by Jax. Banoc blasted the majority of the skeletons into dust and the rest were destroyed by a combination of Gwyn’s magic and Way-lynn’s weapons. Hundreds of metal coins of all types were found in the rooms and they all loaded up as much as they could carry.

In a magnificent bedroom, which they assumed belonged to Sielba, another stairway leading down was uncovered. As hour was getting very late, they only briefly looked below before retreating to a safe room to try and rest before exploring further

The party continued to explore the ruins in an attempt to location the proper positions for Earth’s Eye and the Cerulean Orb, and although they encountered many difficulties, they faced no opposition. Gwyn detected a spectral sensor that was trying to spy on her. Banoc fell into a trap and found himself stranded in the Astral Sea for some time. Phyll fell into a sinkhole and would have suffocated had he needed to breathe. Daqiq and Way-lynn discovered a warehouse with construction supplies and an unstable floor filled with obsidian shard lined pits.

Jax located the statue with an outstretched hand that accepted the Cerulean Orb and they were confident they found the location of the tower to hold Earth’s Eye. As the tower was in ruins they didn’t know the height that was needed to reveal the palace of Sielba. Banoc communed with his elemental patron and narrowed down the location, but when the sun set the beams did not converge.

Their night was interrupted with screams so horrible they none were able to get rest. The following day they continued their search and discovered a mural depicting the statue and tower as it was during the rule of Sielba. With this information they could accurately place the Eye. And at the next sunset, the beams united to reveal the entrance to Sielba’s palace.