SourceMaterial-Avlis Campaign 4, Part 2

Campaign	Title	Part
Avlis Campaign 1	The "Jade" Campaign	Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Avlis Campaign 2	The West End of Time	Part 1, 2, 3, 4
Avlis Campaign 3	Vanoviel and The Godslayer	Part 1
Avlis Campaign 4	Rune Quest	Part 1, 2
Avlis Campaign 5	The Western Underdark	Part 1, 2, 3, 4
Avlis Campaign 6	Daggerspace	Part 1, 2, 3
Avlis Campaign 7	Into The Wastes	Part 1, 2, 3

This is Avlis Source Material ⚠️Use of this material has NOT been authorized on the NWN Avlis Servers.⚠️ To use any of this material IC on NWN Avlis Servers, you must request approval of this material from the Avlis Team. Send a PM to the Dungeon Masters group on the Avlis forums to begin that approval process. To learn more about what Avlis Source Material is, please click here. You may use this material for non-server-related Avlis events, such as D&D/PnP.		Chapter 4 After their experiences at the Ice Shaman's cave, the PC's find themselves standing in front of Theramid the Mikonator. He tells the PC’s: “You must delve deep into the Underdark to retrieve some Red Obsidian so I may show you how to make styli which would then allow us to begin exploring this new power. I have spent some time on divination, and I have something that may help you on your journey. It is back at the Scales. That is also where you will find an entrance that will get you into the Underdark. When you get to the Temple, go to the ‘family chapel’ off to the side of the main chapel. In there, you will find a bag of powder under the altar. Whenever you are uncertain as to how to get to the red obsidian, take a pinch of the powder, throw it straight up and say ‘RED OBSIDIAN’ in a clear voice. The powder will head towards whatever you state. There isn’t much powder, so use it sparingly. Behind the room with the main altar in the temple, there is a door. You may have seen it. The door leads down a stairway that goes to a small salt cavern. That cavern is used as a salt supply for the temple, and in better times the salt was traded to the surrounding tribes. If you search around in there, you will find an entrance to a rough tunnel. Look for some large salt crystals that are out of place. A half-a day’s journey down that tunnel will lead you to a large lava tube. There is a ledge spiralling down into that tube. Take that to the bottom and begin your search there. The City of Sharis lies a few day’s journey eastward and about another day’s journey down. Unfortunately, I am not qualified to guide you through the tunnels in that area. You may have to hire help.” With their newly acquired quest, the PC's set off on their journey back to the Scales of Mikon, and soon encounter a curious band of pilgrims wandering in their same general direction. As they neared the group, they could make out the trappings of Mikon worshipers, but they were acting rather strangely. Standing in a circle, they were placing personal items on a small makeshift altar: trinkets, tokens, silver, a small gerbil, etc. Then once all seven of the group members had contributed, the lead member took out a flask of whiskey and lit the items ablaze, while they all chanted to Mikon. This struck Lolobe and his companions as being odd, since it was not part of any known Mikonite ritual. After some discussion, the PC's wandered up to the group and engaged them. They found out that the pilgrims were also on their way to the Scales of Mikon, to make offerings and pay homage there. Most of their journey from the south was uneventful but lately they found their way beset by wolves and other dangers out in the mountains, and they had already lost two of their number. Igmar, the Priest of Mikon asked them more questions and began to notice their features were also uncommon: some had pointy teeth and slanted or pointy ears. One member of the group had a couple of bumps on her forehead. Although these were strange features, it did not preclude them from worshiping Mikon, the PC's knew, but they were cautious. They agreed to protect the travelers, but from a distance. They told the pilgrims to go ahead for half a day whilst the PC's covered their rear. Reluctantly, the pilgrims agreed, though it was not as if they had a choice. Soon, the PC's paid for their minimal assistance. That night they were assaulted by the pilgrims in a bloody battle. Schwerg nearly lost his life a couple times, while the priest of Mikon did all he could to cast spells in the middle of the raging battle. The pilgrims assaulted them with short swords, clubs, and cunning night tactics, but they did not prevail. Battered and torn, the victorious PC's decided to heal up for a couple of days at the camp. On the next leg of the journey to the Scales of Mikon, the PC's fortunes turned far worse. As they crested a small hill in a light snowfall, they were confronted directly by Sergeant Kirith-Fa and his entire retinue of kharakuro and adomkuro warriors. The PC's felt a deep sense of foreboding and hopelessness as they counted the more than 20 troops that now opposed them. Kirith-Fa was not up for talking, however. The battle commenced quickly, and turned ugly after several rounds when Schwerg and Igmar began to slow from their wounds. Suddenly, out of the woods beyond, the PC's heard a horn blast followed by unknown numbers of creatures crashing through the woods, some on horseback and some on foot. Squads of hobgolins wielding halbears and swords/shields tore into the side flanks of Kirith-Fa's force, followed by backup from several gnolls and goblins acting as shock fighters. A large half-ogre on horseback wielding a lance led them through the initial part of their battle, and soon Kirith-Fa's forces were no threat to the PC's. The new arrivals did not seem concerned with attacking them either. As the battle wound down, another large black horse rode out of the woods carrying a gigantic humanoid with the purest white hair, black armor, carrying a glowing red sword. The stubby horns on his head gave away some demonic lineage, and his eyes sparkled eerily as he stared at the PC's, who now owed him quite a debt. After the last of Kirith-Fa's troops were mopped up, and Kirith-Fa had fled the scene, the curious imposing figure spoke: “I am Dazheel, Spawn of Alifanitax and demon commander of the Horde of Tru’av’kazh. I have come here to warn you and offer a truce of sorts. This force you just fought with our help belonged to Sergeant Kirith-Fa, of Sharistracterus. For his failure to obtain your magic hammer, Lord Sharistracterus has sent another army under Captain Djiuntkris to finish the job and punish Kirith-Fa for his failure. Beyond the salt cavern at the Scales of Mikon where you are now headed lies your doom. Djiuntkris is a demon you cannot defeat with an army you have no hope against, and he is approaching the surface through that same entrance. “I come as your savior, but salvation comes at a price. I want my own Styli. In return for a promise of styli and instructions on their usage, I shall lead you to another entrance of the Underdark. From there, I may be able to offer my services to you as a guide, if you so desire.” “The other options: you may try to make your way past me, in which case I will simply kill you and take your hammer and try to figure out their usage through my own research. Or, if you get past me, you can face the beast Djiuntkris yourselves. He is not very bright, but he is massive, powerful, and malevolent. If he catches you, he will not kill you. After a day you will beg for death. after a month, you will beg him to kill your family. You will tell him everything he wants to know. By the time he is done, you won’t even be a worthwhile sacrifice to the gods of phlegm. But, you might be able to sneak past him.” “Also, either way you choose, at least one army will make here to the surface to plunder the Tribes, either to look for the Hammer, or for the hell of it, depending on who it is.” Confronted with this choice, the PC's agonized over the fate of the Benteak-Kune and their impending doom from an approaching Underdark army. Nevertheless, they decided the only way to save the tribes was to fulfill their mission and bring them the power they would need to combat their new foes. They left with Dazheel to find his alternate entrance to the Underdark. Chapter 5 The trip to the entrance to the Underdark was uneventful and relatively quick. As Schwerg, Igmar, Lolobe and Dhazeel settled down for a rest near the mouth of the cave, Dhazeel's troops began to make a camp. In the middle of this, a lone figure approached from the direction they all just came from, and held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. As he approached closer, he dropped all of his weapons to the ground and walked on past them. The group could see that the lone figure was Kirith-Fa. The PC's reasoned correctly that this was not unexpected. Kirth-Fa had been dealt several crushing defeats in his quest to obtain the Hammer of Creation, and now his own Demon Lord was sending another army up to the surface to kill him for his failure. Regardless, he explained the obvious situation to the PC's and mentioned that even his own men were turning against him now because they did not want to be associated with the failure and killed along with him. Kirith-Fa proposed that he could switch sides and swear fealty to Dhazeel's Demon Lord.