The session started with the party exploring the large chamber with the clear pool filled with sand at the bottom.
The party threw in coins, touched the sand with their hands, and probed with quarterstaves, but the bottom could not be ascertained.
Nixian heard what sounded like an air bubble escaping from the water, but when he turned, the water was smooth as glass. Belladonna thought she saw an eye in the sand, but when we looked again, there was nothing but smooth sand.
Belladonna cast a spell that extracted a five-foot cube of sand, and she saw utter darkness between the sand. She flew over the hole she created by magic and extracted more sand.
Before the sand closed up, she saw a huge sandy, brown creature with huge, leathery wings, muscular arms and legs. It opened its mouth and blasted pure arcane energy straight up through the hole in the sand, blasting Belladonna.
Belladonna’s small frame went transparent, and everyone watching saw her very skeleton structure glow through her skin. The sand closed up, and the water returned to a smooth glass finish.
Belladonna, who was seriously hurt, was still conscious and flew back away from the pool.
The rest of the party looked around nervously, gripping their weapons as if the creature was about to blast through the sand. The party had to talk Zithgar out of jumping into the sand to face the creature.
But the creature did not return, and the pool remained smooth.
Bob the Blind detected so many undead that he reeled backward as the overpowering wave of undead washed over him.
The party listened at the four northern doors, Aswan heard the sounds of chains and bone on stone on the other side of a door. No one else could hear anything.
Nix asked Hakoot, “which door?” Hakoot responded, “I do not know, I was already dead and buried when this part was built, but I can sense my body below this.”
The party opened the door and saw a huge chamber with thirty or more zombies chained by the wrists to the wall. In the middle of the room were two skeleton priests and two skeleton assistants.
The party and one of the priests asked where the sacrifice was. Nix was convincing in his deception, but the priest still told them to leave and come back with the sacrifice.
Nix turned to leave and then immediately flung around and blasted all 4 skeletons with a magic spell that sent one skeleton flying back 20 feet into a wall and smashing to pieces. The others were damaged, blown back against the wall, and were knocked prone. One of the skeletons told the other to “Go warn the Servant!” That skeleton obeyed and fled through a door. The other skeleton also fled through the door, and Karwl gave chase. She poked her head around the corner and saw a 40×10 vestibule with two large stone statues with their right arms extended and another door. She saw the skeleton about to open the door.
The party attacked the skeletons. Belladonna spoke to a chained zombie who grunted that he wanted to pass and was angry with the Queen Reborn. Belladonna unlocked him, and the zombie immediately went after her!
Belladonna backed away, and other party members destroyed the zombie. Belladonna used magic to destroy the skull and dais, likely saving the party some a very nasty visitor.
Zithgar charged into the vestibule, trying to catch the fleeing skeletons. He did not touch the arm of either statue. As he ended his run right next to the skeleton and the door, he triggered a trap, and tons of rocks fell on top of him and the skeleton, killing the skeleton immediately and knocking Zithgar unconscious.
The entire vestibule was filled from floor to ceiling with stone and rock, and Bob the Blind rush forward to try to reach Zithgar. But he couldn’t even see him; there was too much rock, and he knew that Zithgar was in deep trouble. He did have his healing aura reaching into the sand, and he poured healing into Zithgar, buying him perhaps a round of life.
The party rushed to remove the rocks, forming a “bucket brigade” to move the rocks, but they were moving too slow, and they knew that Zithgar was going to die if they did not move faster. The weight of the stone was crushing Zithgar, and he was taking massive damage as the party was digging to get to him. He regained consciousness and mumbled, “get away, save yourselves, leave me to die!”
The party continued to furiously dig, but their rolls were generally awful.
Zithgar died.
Zithgar failed his first death save.
Zithgar critically failed his second and third death save, and died permanently.
Aswan yelled out to the party that they had one minute (10 rounds) if there was any chance of saving Zithgar. The party remembered that they had a potion of giant strength, and Bob the Blind took the potion, increasing his digging effectiveness.
The drama increased round after round, but they were not getting to Zithgar fast enough. At round 7, they got to Zithgar’s foot, but Aswan said that if he cast a spell to “revivify,” he would come back to life but would immediately start to die again.
Finally, on the 10th round, Aswan could not wait, and he cast “Revivify,” bringing Zithgar back to life.
Before the rocks could crush Zithgar to death, Belladonna cast “polymorph” and turned Zithgar into a large ape with full hitpoints.
Finally, with his new form and the party pulling his leg and chucking rocks away, Zithgar emerged from the rubble alive.
Once freed, Belladonna broke the polymorph, and Zithgar was back to his form. He was overcome with emotion and gave a passionate speech to the party.
The session ended.