he party wakens after taking refuge within the stone for the night. Having been uncomfortable with sleeping in the pocket dimension, Veral chose to wait just beyond the portal. To the party’s horror, he is missing. Marcus, fearing Veral had been abducted by the spider-mother, leads the party down stairs. Below, a corridor lined on both sides with niches was discovered. After examine the first niche, the party is teleported to some unknown portion of the cavern. Decimus announces the presence of “near to countless” undead in the near vicinity. Shortly afterwards, the party is attacked from both sides by undead creatures. Decimus’ quick thinking alloed him to erect a magical stone wall to the rear of the party, allowing the battle to be fought on one front. The battle is won in short order. Thorin decides to perform a sending to Veral… the reply is agonized screaming. In an effort to ascertain his location, Thorin attempts to locate Soulshot, which is determined to be one-thousand feet to the southwest and below the party. Also, a rune upon the wall, which is assumed to be the cause of the teleportation spell, is determined to be some sort of dragon magic.

Pressing onward, the party finds a large open chamber. Within is a young woman, surrounded by undead creatures. Decimus rushes in to save her, only to find she is truly a succubus. A battle ensues in which Decimus pierces the succubus’ arm with one of his arrows, stunning her, and bringing her from her flight. Thorin webs the she-demon just in time for Marcus to remove her head with a quick swipe of his blade. After the battle, the party pressed onward and, delving deeper, discovers a room with statues and a great stairwell heading deeper still into the cavern. On a circular altar, in the center of the room, stood a suit of black full plate armor, impaled through the chest and pinned to the ground by a greatsword. For some reason, Decimus bolts back to the succubus chamber to “get her teeth”... where he is promptly ambushed by two more of the she-demons. Hearing his screams of agony and pleas for help, Thorin and Marcus race back to the chamber and join the fray with the succubae. Marcus cleaves the first in two, while Thorin annihilates the other with a deadly barrage of fire and ice magic. Returning to the great chamber, the greatsword is determined to be Pelmora… and is then removed from its resting place. A rush of stagnant, fetid air erupted from the depths as the skeletal figure in the dark armor animated. In a flash, the knight produced two great-swords of pure darkness, and a battle ensued. During the course of the battle, Decimus is felled by some manner of dark magic, only further enraging Marcus and Thorin. Shortly thereafter, in an explosion of dust, the knight was brought down. His gear was promptly pilfered and divided amongst Thorin and Marcus… save for the dark greatswords, which Marcus refuses to touch. Thorin, however, secures the knight’s full plate—determined to be some manner of caster’s armor, and an orb which amplified his magical abilities.

Marcus returns Pelmora to the altar, and the party rests atop it. Upon waking, Marcus and Thorin prepare to teleport back to town. Before doing so, Thorin insists upon taking the knights swords. Against Marcus’ judgment, he wraps them in the knight’s cloak, and secures them. Teleporting back to New Tu’banor, the party rushes to the Stonemorrow home, where Thorin deposits his newfound armor in the secret vault, and then to the temple with the necessary materials to resurrect Decimus. Upon Decimus’ return, Thorin entrusts the blades to the clergy, warning them of their evil nature. Unfortunately, curiosity proved the greatest evil, as the priest drew the blade, and was overcome with vile devilry. His form grew ghastly, and, again, the dark knight stood before the party… but only momentarily, as he teleported away. Locating the sword, Thorin determined the knight was at the Stonemorrow home, and the chase began. Arriving at the house, it is found in shambles – Thorin’s new acquisition missing. Cursing, Thorin locates the knight’s blade again, only to observe him leaving Skull Pass—Pelmora at his side. Using his final teleport spell, Thorin transports to party, where they once again stand before the knight. A short skirmish ensues, after which the knight teleports away. Frustrated, the party gathers around to determine their next move.