To whomever will read this. Good news, we made it past the gargoyles.

As a test I got flown over by grifferion to the other side of the bridge while disguised as a skeleton, however the gargoyle quickly noticed the giant griffon and attacked the poor beast, which was torn apart in moments. The beasts then took in interest in poor old me, luckily the disguise bought me some time, after which I was able to dodge around, weaving through the hordes of skeletons while the gargoyle bashed skeletons to get to me. This was just enough time for the rest of the party arrived to help me out. Romero had taken thorn and teleported over, while the rest ran to me invisible.
When everyone arrived we were able to bash the gargoyle before I became a smear on the ground.
Moving through the entrance we came upon miles and miles of stairs going up weaving past streams of lava.

We were able to pretty much walk unhindered next to the skeletons until exhaustion hit us. We found an alcove to set up camp, it was a forge, only giant sized. To accentuate the giant size, there was a giant skeleton lying over it’s anvil.
While I was setting up a leomund hut the rest began looking around for something special around, however when Thorn tried to climb up to the anvil via the skeleton the skeleton animated as soon it was touched. After Redemption released her full radiant fury on it, the giant picked up its maul and hit Redemption square in the.. well in her everything, as the head of the maul was as big as herself, and made her fly through the room.
However with a quick prayer to Boccob as I was able to get her back into the fight, and with a spectral hand to its face it was not able to hit anymore and we are able to bring it down.

After the rest spend half a day walking, with more and more machinery surrounding us, as we walked more and more stories came from the group, children’s stories about machine giving shocks, or making hair stand on ends, things that looked like these machines.. As we were having lunch Redemption started fucking up the machines around us, with some success I must say. I don’t know what kind of effect it will have, but breaking stuff around here seems like a good plan.

While sitting there Thorn noticed a creature, which turned out to be an Azer. When we went to look it was not there anymore, so we left it at that and after outbreak we travelled further again, until we reached an incline with 3 entrances. The middle one them let straight and had a lot of footsteps. In the hope to find some allies we went into the hallway. Thorn was able to get rid of some, if not all of the traps, until we got stuck in some kind of maze. Maybe it was the dank air, the lack of real light or something, but for the life of me I had no idea what was going on. Luckily Romero was more on point.. must be the cold bloodedness, and was able to get us through.

Through the tunnels we eventually came to a big cave with a small town inside. After a firebolt a group of the Azur approached us weapons drawn. We tried to talk with them, but they were not able to understand us, as soon as Redemption in infernal however they started charging towards us, and just in the nick of time Romero was able to establish a telepathic link and convince them of our good intentions.

They took us to their leader, with whom were able to exchange some information. They are hidden from the undead and like it if it stays that way. However they did not like them either, and if we were able to stop their progress it would be easier for them to stay hidden from them. So we were able to trade some platina and gems of ours for some items, they said that they would dig a tunnel to the coast for future trading and they would lead us to the treasury of the ziggurat, where probably the pearl was stored, and afterwards they could guide us to the top of the ziggurat and show us to where the skeletons are being made.

Before we leave we are spending the night here with them, finding these allies here really has given me some hope that there might be a change of succeeding. I’m hopeful for what the morrow brings.

Maybe.. maybe if I had spent more time researching magic instead of writing down everything in this silly journal things would have gone different.. maybe..

I’ll write down my experiences anyway, in the hope that in will bring insights in the future.

After our night with the Azer a group of them guided us towards the treasury. Their tunnels would lead us past a humungous door, straight into the next room. They had told us that the place was guarded by a giant hydra with 9 heads. But they had gone past it before, sending scouts while a group distracted the beast, as they would do now for us. What lie after the beast they did not know, as none of their scouts had ever returned. But if we wanted to get the pearl we didn’t have much of a choice.

I can still remember the rush of adrenaline as we jumped down in the cavern with the hydra. The creature seemed to be asleep, however one of its heads was still looking around. Going with a gamble, I cast sleep on the creature and its wakeful head did indeed fall asleep. We tried sneaking past it, but as soon as we were a couple of steps in it roared to wakefulness. The Azer, as planned, charged the beast, and we ran for our lives.

We were quick enough to escape the creature undamaged and entered the area behind the hydra, it was a ruinous place, with broken pillars everywhere. With a wave of my hand I send an illusion of a horse inside to try to lure out whatever was inside, however whatever it was, did not respond with primal hunger.. it was smart.

We slowly entered and then it showed itself. An efreet, a fire genie, master of its element and ancient enemy of the Azer. It came swirling towards us, sending fire our way. Redemption once again shot forward jumping of pillars to reach it and sending a flurry of radiant damage towards it leaving it severely wounded. Romero and Garritas tried sending fire its way but the creature was not impressed by the intense heat, even worse it seemed to take the heat we had sent towards it and shape in an elemental that also started attacking us.

We started switching to different kinds of attack, Romero withering the creature until it could barely fly anymore. However from behind us a Dao emerged, another genie, but this one aligned to earth, and worsened our predicament by summoning an earth elemental as well.
Seeing as we would be facing to many opponents I quickly turned the elemental in a turtle, so we could deal with the other creatures first. Redemption her next attack brought the efreet down, and a dagger from Garritas flew through the fire elemental dissolving it completely.

Seeing as the tides were turning the Dao ran from us. We let it, thinking it was a match easily won, we couldn’t be more wrong however.

What we found inside of the treasury was another testament to the power of the creature we are facing. Manuals of constitution, strength and golem making, books so steeped in magic that they are tales of legend, if the temple of my origin would combine their effort, the whole pile of old fools might be able to create one such thing if they spend the rest of their lives on it. And scrolls, with magic powerful as the books, mindblank, meteor swarm, and true resurrection. Potions giving the drinker strength to rival that of a tarrasque and.. glue. Next to piles and piles of gold and platinum and a hefty pouch of the rarest of gems.

And off course, the pearl, as big as a head, the holy relic of the gloebgloebs

We rested for a moment, tending to our wounds, loaded all the treasure on floating disks and prepared to get back to the Azer village again. I send a message to the Azer “Guardians defeated, treasure gathered, please distract hydra so we can pass”, the response? “tunnel has been walled off, can’t enter”

Damn..