Into the Demonweb

Despite the defeat of the yuan-ti of Iego, City in Shadow, the heroes were no closer to discovering the whereabouts of their lost comrade, Rexander the hound archon. For now, though, that mystery would have to wait, as the group led by Alarion had a new quest.

In exchange for the assistance of the elven loremaster Iovan, the heroes had agreed to track down his missing consort, the druid Iolanthe, who had been kidnapped by spider elves of the Demonweb, no doubt for some vile ritual. Luckily, the heroes knew how to follow the spider elves to their Abyssal domain. However, only a being of fiendish blood could open the interplanar portal to the Demonweb. This quandary didn't stump the heroes for long. Once again, they would have to cross paths with their former comrade, the fiend-tainted Seth McCullin of Great Rock.

The last time any of them had seen Seth was a few months earlier, when he had joined Duran and the young cleric's comrades during the assault on Helkitrik's volcano lair to the north. But as quickly as he had appeared, Seth had disappeared once again, leaving no trail behind. This time, however, the heroes had the impressive divinatory powers of the loremaster Stannis Alensin, now a highly esteemed member of the League of Scrolls, at their assistance. With the help of Alarion, Beran, Jarvis, and Quinborough, Stannis was on the trail.

Under New Khundrukar

As the search progressed, a strange discovery was made by the dwarves of New Khundrukar, the settlement founded by Thorgrimm on the site of the ancient dwarven ruins of Khundrukar beneath Helmsport. Over the last several months, many dwarves had emigrated from the kingdom of Undermountain to this reclaimed frontier outpost, and the halls once again rang with the sound of hammer and anvil, pick and stone.

While draining some of the water-filled chambers, the dwarves came across a shaft that dropped deep beneath the earth. Barred with an adamantine grating and marked with worn runes of forbiddance, it was clear that this well was intended to keep out anything that might still exist below. Not wanting to leave the settlement open to the possibility of invasion from the watery depths, Thorgrimm--along with Thomas Johnson and Adarrial Smythe--ventured down the shaft to see where it led.

Deep beneath New Khundrukar, the three heroes encountered a community of kuo-toa ruled by a powerful aboleth. After many hard-fought struggles, they defeated these foul creatures and sealed up the shaft, ensuring that no further threats could endanger the dwarves from this direction. Among the treasures of the aboleth was a strange magical ring that seemed to display an affinity with Thomas. Further examination revealed the item to be one of the legendary rings of elemental command, this one attuned to the Elemental Plane of Water. Though it currently manifested only a fraction of its true power, the characters wisely chose to hang on to it. Reckoning that the rogue's aquatic heritage might help unlock its powers at a later time, they entrusted the ring to the care of Thomas for the time being.

Return to the Sunless Citadel

The trail of Seth McCullin led to the scene of the heroes' very first adventure of significance: the Sunless Citadel that had once marked a bastion of the Cult of Ashardalon. Here, far from the light of the sun, the young Seth hid away from those who might harm him (or who he might harm).

Seth welcomed his old friends Beran and Jarvis, and greeted the other three characters with guarded warmth. He listened to their entreaty for help, and reluctantly agreed to assist them in their quest.He also informed them of the new presence of dragon cultists within the citadel, spotted mere days earlier.

Beran's keen eye tracked the cultists to the very spot where the heroes had years earlier burned down the Gulthias Tree, unwittingly releasing the vampiric sorcerer and reigniting the power of the cult itself. There, the heroes spotted a green-armored elven dragon cultist, accompanied by a few small dragonlike creatures and a pair of undead creatures that resembled powerfully muscled draconic elves. These beings were gathered around some large object that appeared to be a heap of scaled body parts. But before the battle could begin, the cultist sounded a powerful horn, and the heap of body parts suddenly flexed and stood up, revealing it to be an enormous draconic golem!

Together, the six heroes defeated the cultists and their horrible creation, but that didn't solve the mystery of the cultists' activities here. With Gulthias destroyed and the power of Nightfang Spire ended, the heroes had believed the cult defanged, but this encounter clearly belied that. They vowed to alert Bishop Lorcan of Helmsport of the cult's activities, so that the church could cleanse the citadel of any further unholy taint that might draw the cultists again.

The Demonweb

After a brief recuperation, the heroes traveled to the Lost City of Chael Rekshaar, where the portal to the Demonweb was hidden. Though prepared for spider elf reinforcements to have taken up positions in the tunnels, the heroes instead encountered a foursome of toadlike slaadi--three blue led by a gaunt gray-skinned slaad--apparently guarding the portal. After a decidedly one-sided battle, the heroes sent a telepathic message to Duran to gather up any other assistance he could and join them immediately.

The next morning, ten heroes stood assembled before the Abyssal portal: Adarrial Smythe, man of renown; Alarion Northsea, paladin and dragon disciple; Beran Findalson, huntsman of Great Rock; Duran Fortnite, knight of Altius; Falaster Morian, battlefield sorcerer; Jarvis Osburn, giant among men; Quinborough Cadwallader, halfling cleric of Metron; Stannis Alensin, loremaster of Blackmere City; Thorgrimm, founder of New Khundrukar; and last but not least Seth McCullin, reluctant hero and prodigal son of Great Rock.

The heroes knew that once they entered the Demonweb, there would be no falling back until their mission was complete or all was lost. They could count on no one but themselves and the resources they carried in their hands, in their minds, and on their backs. If they triumphed this day, it would be due only to their skill, bravery, and teamwork. Even a single weak link could spell disaster.

[Of course, for such a momentous adventure, not just any location would do. No, for this session we had to go back where it all began.]

Within the Demonweb, the battle began quickly, as the heroes encountered a group of spider elves guarding the other side of the portal. Once past these guards, the heroes split up, with Falaster, Quinborough, and Seth setting up base camp at the portal. Hopefully, this would prevent reinforcements from entering the area and taking the rest of the team by surprise.

The other seven heroes moved deeper into the Demonweb, stalking quietly through strange corridors that seemed like nothing more than hollowed-out webs of titanic proportions. As they explored, they encountered many other hostile creatures, including spider elves, demons, and more slaadi. They also discovered scenes of recent battle between spider elves and slaadi. Slowly they began to realize that they weren't the only unfriendly visitors here--apparently, the slaadi and the spider elves were engaged in some kind of conflict as well.

Eventually, the heroes had to fall back to base camp to recuperate. There, they found that their three comrades had indeed encountered and defeated a returning patrol of spider elves, proving that the area was still all-too-active.

After regaining spells, the heroes continued their search for the missing Iolanthe. They descended ever deeper into the web, eventually discovering a pit that dropped away into the infinite depths below. With nowhere else to go but down, the heroes climbed laboriously down a long silken web-strand that led into the darkness. Perhaps a thousand feet below, the strand ended at a platform covered with strange plantlike growths, but with no apparent exit. The heroes were briefly puzzled as to their next course of action, but then Beran, using his bloodline ability to speak with plants, struck up a conversation with the alien flora, which was only too happy to inform him of the existence of a buried trap-door beneath their roots.

Finally, the heroes entered a vast open chamber. At least two-thirds of the cavern had no floor, but a network of webs supported an iron platform high above the open area of the chamber. Atop the platform, the heroes could see a group of spider elves engaged in an elaborate ritual, and atop the altar lay the lost Iolanthe!

The final battle began as spells and arrows flew across the gap between the heroes and the ritual platform. Despite their efforts, the heroes watched in horror as the leader of the ritual--a spider elf identified as Laveth, daughter of the demon-goddess Lolth herself--delivered the killing blow to Iolanthe and began to draw forth the life-force of the dying druidess. Only the timely teleportation of a few of the heroes to the platform prevented Laveth from completing the ritual, though it was clear that she had gained significant power even from this partial process.

The battled raged back and forth. Many times, it appeared that a hero might perish here, deep in the Demonweb Pits, but time and again a trusted comrade came to the rescue. Slowly, the balance began tipping in the heroes' direction, until at last Laveth herself fell to their concentrated attacks. As she fell, a great wave of power washed over the heroes, seeming to supercharge some of them with energy. Only later would they realize that the power seemed to seek out those with the enigmatic bloodlines; could this suggest some link between the characters and Laveth herself?

But before the heroes could catch their breaths, they realized that the entire area of the Demonweb had begun to unravel, as if the release of energy had weakened its very structure. After gathering the few comrades who had remained behind at base camp (and who had also experienced the wave of power released by Laveth's death), the ten heroes retreated back through the portal, bringing the lifeless body of Iolanthe along with them.

The heroes returned to Brithonen with heavy hearts. They had prevented the completion of Laveth's dark ritual, but not in time to save the life of the person they had vowed to rescue. In a bold gesture, Duran offered to restore Iolanthe's life, despite the elves' distaste for such magic. Somewhat reluctantly, Iovan agreed, noting that although the elves did not generally hold with such practices, he feared for what might be happening to Iolanthe's soul. Who could guess whether an elf who died so far from Brithonen would join Anaerynsia in her Eternal Glade?

True to his word, Duran performed the ceremony of resurrection, and Iolanthe rejoined the world of the living. The heroes promised never to speak of this event, knowing that it would only scandalize the two elves within Brithonen (as well as prove a potentially ugly diplomatic incident between the Church of Altius and the elves of Brithonen).

At this point, the heroes knew that they would have to split up once again. Duran and his comrades had to return to their quest for the lost Rexander, while Alarion's team still had the mystery of the steel predator to solve. But inside, each of the nine heroes felt not sadness at this division, but pride at a job well done.

Wait a minute, nine? That's right, once again, Seth McCullin had vanished. For the most part, the heroes gave this no heed--after all, the wayward youth had acquitted himself bravely in the Demonweb. But personally, Duran couldn't help but wonder again about the omen that he had received months earlier, on the eve of Seth's last arrival among them: "One who you trusted will kill you."

Previous: Temple of the Serpent

Next: Lord of the Iron Fortress

All material copyright Andy Collins 2001-2008.