The Pisspots awoke the next morning at the College of Nature. Feeling bold, Rune drew a card from the Deck of Wondrous Things — The Void — and his form suddenly went lifeless as his soul was transported to a plane of clockwork devices to power a machine!
Remi was upset to see a second of his friends succumb to the misfortunes of the deck. Knowing that Kaicho was in favor of drawing more cards, he grabbed the deck and threw it as far as he could. This only had the effect of annoying the others, as the boxless cards scattered around the immediate vicinity and they were forced to pick them up.
The party stowed Rune’s body in the portable hole for safe keeping. They then sought advice for helping him from Arcanist Krell at the divination school. Restoring him was well beyond their power, at least for now, so they decided to continue with their mission. After all, only 3 days remained before the rendezvous with Dagon!
Ragon proposed revisiting the first cave they encountered with protective wards passable only by those with Dagon’s marks, where they previously fought a pair of aboleths. He suggested that he and Braxis, who lacked the soul brands, bypass the security measures by entering the portable hole before the others carry it across the threshold and later let them out. They did just this, and the plan was successful.
The Pisspots prepared for a fight and then leapt into the underground cavern where the fish monsters dwelt. They found it completely empty. They investigated the central altar and discovered that, like the one guarded by the black dragon, it was the entrance to a tunnel. Below they found nothing but a simple, bare room apparently designed for meditation.
Feeling like they had no more good options, Kaicho declared he wanted to draw from the deck. He argued that the worst cards, drawn by Ragon and Rune, were no longer in the deck, so the chance of drawing something not awful were greatly improved. He pulled a card for the second time, and sure enough he drew Comet, which had the potential to boost a skill if he was able to single-handedly defeat the next group of monsters he encountered.
Convinced of Kaicho’s argument and encouraged by his good fortune, Mav took the deck and drew a card as well: Talons. In an instant all of the magic items he carried were disintegrated. Losing his bow, shield, bracers, a dagger Kaicho had let him borrow earlier that day, and his pocket o’ holding, along with the party funds it contained, was bad enough. However, he also lost the portable hold, which contained Rune’s body — and the deck of cards!
Braxis panicked when he realized that the method by which he entered Dagon’s sanctuary was destroyed, and that attempts to teleport out of the last one were foiled by a magical prison. He attempted to force his way past the wards and found they were much too powerful. With no other options, Braxis tried his newly acquired, high level Teleport spell to transport himself and Ragon out of the cave. Fortunately, it worked!
Thoroughly sobered by their recent failures, they resigned to spent the night in Zyzarlyx. In the morning, they decided to try something desperate: teleport directly into the space where Braxis saw the governor while scrying a few days prior. With only about 2 days until the rendezvous, time was running out to make a preemptive strike. They would hear out whatever Dagon and his posse had to say, and then they would try to put an end to this, most likely dying in the process. Kaicho argued it was worth risking damnation to the plane of madness for a chance to save the world. Ragon replied that if that were true, the others should consider making a pact with a certain devil he met in hell, who might be able to provide them some useful powers in exchange for the souls they would so willingly sacrifice anyway. Kaicho rebutted that the difference was that if they won, they’d be in debt to no one, and so they declined.
They gathered around Braxis, and with only a vague image in mind he teleported them all. They were fortunate enough to appear somewhere near their intended destination, and familiar to them: just outside the blizzard barrier. Like the hurricane and whirlpool, it too was no longer moving. They powered up the Cube of Force and used it like a tank to step through the wall. They were amazed by what they found on the other side. A beautiful vista including soaring mountain peaks greeted them, just as the wizards of the expedition had reported.
They proceeded through a mountain pass, and eventually they came upon the skeletal remains of those very mages. Braxis deployed his necromantic art and raised them as his servants.
They continued until they came upon a torch-lit room. Within they found what they were looking for. Dagon was waiting for them, along with his entourage: Two tall muscular bruisers, a toothy fiend with bulging eyes, the Governor, and the hag that kidnapped Mav’s daughter. All were cloaked and patiently waiting at Dagon’s side as he spoke. He offered them a choice. Those among them who still bore his marks — Kaicho, Mav, and Remi — were invited to pass through separate doors and face the trials on the other side alone to prove their worthiness to join his cause, or they could leave and wait with the rest of the world for their inevitable fate. Ragon and Braxis, who lacked the brands, were expressly forbidden from joining them. Dagon said he would give them some time to decide, and then he and the cultists vanished.
This was their last chance to turn back, their last chance to submit to subjugation, or cower in some faraway land. No, they were tired of Dagon’s manipulative mind games. They would stand their ground, or die trying…
Countdown to Dagon’s rendezvous: 2 days Right the fuck now!