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[[LongestRoad_Run13|Last Chapter]]

'''4 Blessing Moon, 1372'''

Run began at the beginning of the Labyrinth.
* Should we split the party? NO.
* Cautiously moving ahead and scouting
* Avoiding the rotting-vegetation room
* Call from the other party- ran into trouble on the bridge
* PCs reach the bridge- huge room with a massive bridge over ucky water. Big battle going on.
** Church of Tamara, with a silver dragon, facing off against a couple of the Tiamat-ers, with a red dragon
** Invisible rogue stabs Sil one
** Tamarans, aided by PCs, victorious, heal, move on
* Wail of the banshee trap: one of Zahn's group, minus hand, at the scene
** BoyHedgie dies, the rest are saved
* Querca's location spell goes off, pointing them the right way
* Forcecage trap grabs Sil, summons a hamatula on her
** Ezel dimdoors Ellowyn and Michael into the cage, misses with himself and Querca
** Ellowyn and Michael manage to rescue Sil, who got grappled
* In the very next room a huge battle is occurring!
** Charra, some undead fiend thing, and a green dragon fighting Zahn, an invisible rogue, and a swarm of abyssal ants
** Mages speed-buff, Michael charges (of course)
** Charra and Greenie are focusing on Zahn while invis rogue backstabs dragon
** Querca summons a defensive wall of thorns to keep the orb away from The Red Dragon
** Querca has ants...
** Ezel dispels the invis rogue, who re-invis'es after yelling "Sorry!"
** Zahn retreats behind a wall of fire
** Michael KO's Zahn, Charra dives through the wall to grab his stuff
** Sil leaps in and fumbles her attack, Charra flees
** Ellowyn disintegrates Charra (!!!)
** Struu grabs the belt o' pouches
** Invis rogue grabs the belt and runs
** Party pursues, Sventukothar blocks escape, rogue runs straight into forcecage and is down for the count, surrenders and vis'es
** Querca summons a wind elemental to sweep her acidic beasty ants away, WHEW
** Party collects all stuff, including Red Orb, from Vin (invis rogue)
* Tamara group shows up (Ezel had called)
** Michael heals
** Gives them the curse artifact
** They retreat and leave hostages with PCs
* Subdual!
** Sil has bandaged Zahn, Struu ties Zahn and Vin up
** Vin seems very eager to cooperate, claims he had to do what Zahn said... there was no way he could not. Not like it used to be.
** Ezel is touched (but not like that) and uses the Orb to override the order and give him basically free will.
** CRACK!
** Party retreats from dungeon, avoiding one trap. Eventually Vin isn't tied up.
* Delicious treasure is resisted, party leaves dungeon
** But it's so delicious!
** But it's deadly!
* Back in the throne room, Chancellor closes portal and dismisses them- it's your problem now, all debts are even
* PCs + Zahn (unconscious) + Vin rejoin Church of Tamara
** Aezma is awake!
** Everyone is crying and hugging
** Naturally Michael ends up with his face smashed into bosoms
** On Michael's suggestion Vin is given over to Marcus for "a second chance"
** Marcus will res BoyHedgie tomorrow at cost, PCs must just get the diamonds
** Aezma thanks them all
** Ezel has a totally awkward convo with Aezma. Marcus is suspicious. Michael and Ellowyn say nothing.
** Tamarans will meet up with them tomorrow and would like to be part of questioning Zahn
* PCs return to Struu's house while he goes out shopping
** Sunshine wants to visit Aezma again because she smells so good
** Struu obtains magebane manacles to restrain Zahn (from Sil's treasure)
* Plans for "tomorrow":
** Interrogate Zahn
** Michael has a date (embarrassed)
** Ezel has an appointment at the abyssal temple

===Our quick trip into the Labyrinth===
I don't think we were really prepared for the Labyrinth. I mean, we prepped and all, but emotionally I wasn't ready to go into a place full of treasure and leave it all behind. That's the problem when you have an actual quest and a timing issue.

We were going in to catch up to the group that had stolen the red dragon orb from the Church of Tamara's group. Based on their descriptions, I had a very bad feeling about what we'd find.

We were the last party (of four) to enter the labyrinth. I went ahead to scout out the tunnels as the mages in the party started their exploration spells. We hit an immediate fork in the road. There was a short debate about splitting our party up, but decided against it. So which way to go?

We went left--it's like a party rule or something. We avoided a room and tunnel that smelled like rotting vegetation and started exploring a downward spiraling tunnel when Ezel got a psychic call from the Marcus. They were in trouble at the bridge... except we hadn't found a bridge yet. I doubled back and headed down an alternative path with the understanding that I could probably catch up if the rest of the party found the bridge. So, of course, I found the bridge. It was a huge stone bridge over an underground lake. It was so big I couldn't see over the rise, and could just make out that it was the site of the battle. However, a quick check of the gold orb said that there were dragons up there, and one was a large and red. So ... charge!

Marcus's group was being assisted by a silver dragon, and they were fighting a large red dragon and a fighter-type mounted on a dragonelle. The bridge was split and the targets were out in the air between the two edges. Also, the water below has something ... scary swimming through it. It all added up to a tricky flight. I figured I could spring across and take a swipe at the dragon on my way. It breathed fire just as I got there. I don't really care about dragon fire, but I dodged it anyway. Most of Marcus's group did not, and Michael summoned his mount so they could take their place in the fight. I got a good smack on the red dragon and landed on the other side of the gap. 

I saw someone running away down the bridge and into the tunnels on the other side, but he was gone and I had an evil dragon to deal with. Michael also took the dragon on--it's easier for him since he can actually fly. Ellowyn was shooting spells at it that seemed to do quite a bit of damage. 

While the dragon drew most of our attention, the fighter-type was also a threat. He was probably a "holy" fighter of Tiamat, as he had a shield with her five heads on it. Nula tried to turn his mount to stone, but failed. Stru did ... something ... with shadows to hurt him. I'm not sure I want to know.  Eventually, he dropped off his mount and into the water, where he was promptly devoured.

Somewhere in the fight I got stabbed in the back by an invisible rogue. It hurt! It's been long enough since I got hit that I'd forgotten how much knives to the kidneys can hurt. Actually, I'm not sure I've ever been stabbed like that before. I couldn't find the rogue that stabbed me, so I jumped back to take another swipe at the dragon. Marcus found his way across the gap just as I was heading back, and I warned him about the hidden danger there. 

The dragon didn't last much longer, taking hits from so many angles. It fell into the water and was torn apart by the sea monsters. After some quick healing from Michael and the silver dragon orb, we crossed the gap and found our way down the bridge.

Back into the tunnels we went, and they split again. The Church of Tamara went right, and we went left (again). We took a minor detour down a tunnel with a body and tripped a trap. A Banshee's wail nearly killed Stru and the mages' familiars. We managed to save all except Querca's male hedgehog. I noticed that the body belong to someone who used to travel with him... and it was missing a hand. Clever. Disheartening. How I wanted it not to be him at the end of this trip. It didn't make any sense!

We doubled back again. Yes, there was probably treasure down the tunnel, but we didn't have the time. I was back in the lead, and after another small passageway opened up I tripped another trap. This time the sounds around me stopped, and when I tried to step back an invisible wall had materialized behind me. A nasty beast appeared in front of me and we immediately went into combat.

It was some sort of spiny devil and I couldn't get enough room to dodge and maneuver. It had me trapped in a grapple. It was ferociously strong, even for me! The mages managed to get Michael and Ellowyn into the cage with me, and Michael made short work of it. It disappeared, but the cage remained, so Ellowyn teleported us out. Again I was in for a round of healing. 

Ezel's magic eye spell had finally come to fruition and he sent it ahead. Just on the other side of this room there was the entrance to a huge cavern, complete with the sleeping red dragon we were looking to keep from waking. There was already a battle raging in there, with a green dragon that I'd sensed as part of the third team. Michael and Sventukothar charged ahead--another evil dragon to fight. Two, actually...

I could confirm it. The red dragon orb was in that room, and in the hands of a half red dragon. Oh Zahn, that fool.

Ezel and Ellowyn took a moment to prepare us. With a haste from Ellowyn and a fly spell off of my knowledge of the black dragon orb, I launched myself into the battle. The magic group (and Stru) teleported to the other side of the cavern to cut off the advance and prevent the red dragon orb from getting too close to the giant sleeping monster. It didn't look like they'd have much to worry about, as there was already a huge conflict keeping it at bay.

Charra was back. Sometimes people just don't stay dead! She and the green dragon were focusing their attacks on Zahn. Michael went straight for him, too. There was some undead monster being swarmed by ants and Ezel was shouting something about the invisible rogue. Zahn threw up a wall of fire and hid behind it. Michael did some fantastic whirling dance with his sword and struck all enemies around him. Sventukothar was fighting the undead thing and the ants had redirected themselves towards our mages. Charra, not being bothered by fire, went straight through the wall of flames. I followed her.

Zahn was already flat on the ground--I think Michael may have hit him through the flames. Charra had grabbed something off of him. I attacked her, and failed utterly. It was supremely embarrassing. She laughed at me and jumped out through the flames again. 

I should've followed her again. I could've caught her, slaughtered her (again!), taken the treasure and glory and been done with it. But Zahn was injured and bleeding out. I had to know why he'd done all of this ... and I'm soft. It was so much like old times. He needed my help. I know it was all wrong, but I just couldn't let him die like that. I bandaged him up and hauled him out into the open again.

By this point Charra was a pile of dust, thanks to Ellowyn. I'm never going to get to make up for that mortifying miss. Struquin had retrieved the stolen treasure and things were winding down ... but that invisible rogue was still around! Ezel could see him, and from his flying vantage point watched him nick something from Struquin. Another hunt was on.

Sventukothar flew out of the room to block the exit. With Ezel pointing out his location, we all took turns taking swipes at the rogue. I nearly got a grip on him, but he slipped through my fingers. It looked like it was going to be a prolonged chase ... until he ran face first into the invisible force cage with a mighty THUMP!

He landed flat on his back and surrendered. On demand, he turned visible and I recognized him as little Vin, grown up. Well, partially grown up--he still looks so young and he's still short. A half black dragon boy from years ago, one of the first ones that we took in. I had not pictured this situation for our reunion. He was so apologetic, though! He talked about how he couldn't disobey Zahn, not anymore. It wasn't "like it used to be." I'm not sure I understand that completely. 

We got back all the stuff and went through it. Ezel picked out the obvious artifact using his magic vision and handed it off to Marcus. The group from the Church of Tamara didn't waste any time heading out of the labyrinth--they're on an even tighter time constraint than we were. 

Ezel did something with the black dragon orb to free Vin complete from Zahn's control. The effect was immediately obvious. Vin started looking a lot more like the little boy I used to know. He explained as best he could, but he didn't really know what they were doing down there. He also didn't know what to do with himself.

I took anything useful off of Vin, just in case. Struquin worked some skill with ropes and bound him. Then I turned my attention on Zahn's prone form. I may have been overly thorough in making sure he had nothing of use on him. Stru bound him as well. We decided to just leave the labyrinth at that point... after gathering up all the treasure in the red dragon's cavern. We got a bunch of money and some magic stuff from treasure chests in the room, and all of Charra's equipment. I hoisted Zahn over my shoulder and walked next to Vin as we headed out. 

Vin was very chatty on the way out, and occasionally embarrassing. I think Struquin was the only one who noticed me blush, though. We hit a few more traps on the way out, but survived. We were almost completely out of the labyrinth when Vin (who had gotten out of his ropes halfway back) and Stru got into a conversation about how much treasure was still in the tunnels. It was a very hard choice. We were no longer under a time limit, but the treasure was going to be hard to get without getting killed by the traps and monsters guarding it. Michael and Ellowyn had the most sense, though, and herded us out of the labyrinth. Good bye, treasure! 

Back in the throne room, I carefully avoided looking around and followed the rest of our group to the medical room where the Church of Tamara group was tending to Aezma. She'd recovered fully and was extra happy to see everyone, even total strangers like us. I did not join in the group hugs. It was funny to see Aezma smash a surprised Michael into her bosom, though. I guess to him it was more like group jugs. 

I had some more immediate concerns, which I rolled off my shoulder and on to one of the medical cots. There would be no immediate healing for my old friend, as he was stable enough to recover on his own. He would probably be awake within a day, and I didn't know what we were doing with him. The police of the city said that Zahn was our responsibility. Marcus and his friends want to be present when we question him, but that still left the issue of how to secure a half dragon mage for that interrogation. I asked Struquin to help in finding some way of binding him properly. Stru's suggestive response made me blush harder than I would have at any other time. It's going to be an interesting.

Michael suggested that Vin stay with Marcus and join the Church of Tamara, since they specialized in giving people second chances and Vin needed the guidance. I would just as well have kept him with us. I may still ask if he wants to stay with me, but it needs to be his choice and right now he isn't very good at making his own choices at all. It seems too unbelievable, but if Zahn has been controlling him since I left then Vin has the effective reasoning power of an eight-year-old. He needs to develop his own personality, and I don't know that I could really help him with that. I can't help but think that he'd get along really well with Mia, though, if we could ever introduce them.

Then there was the red dragon orb. I wanted it, but said nothing. I couldn't even really see it for what it was--it looked like a worthless bauble. Ezel offered it to the members of Marcus's group, saying that it would help the two groups communicate. Aezma had no problem seeing it (she said something about her ancestry) so she is the bearer of the red dragon orb now. It seems fitting, somehow.

The two groups parted ways when we left the palace. We brought Zahn back to Struquin's house. Stru had found a place to get a set of magebane manacles to bind Zahn properly. It was a big hit to my treasury, but I got them. I now have a much smaller pile of gold to sleep on, and no more Githyanki sword, but I think they may come in handy even after this. We got all the loot from the labyrinth identified, and Marcus promised to resurrect Querca's hedgehog if we can provide the raw materials. Now we just wait until Zahn wakes up, and find out why he's working with the Church of Tiamat.

[[LongestRoad_Run15|Next Chapter]]