Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Setherial 07-05-06, 09:26 AM	Hey guys I'm currently DMing my homebrew Return to Blackstone Keep adventure (some of you might have read earlier posts this year when I was still putting down the story) where my players end up in a town run by a Lord of Dust Succubus. Not to go into detail to much I'll try to sketch the current situation in hopes you guys can give me some creative feedback. There is a small rich town called Blackstone in Aundair not far from Wyr. The town is a state of "goldrush" as a khybershard mine has been filling the towns pockets and attracting lots and lots of people. The town itself is gouverned by an ex adventurer named Solver and his new lovely bride (married a year before the players arrive) Raziel, a succubus Lord of Dust demon. The mine is not really a khybershard mine but rather a portal to Khyber, this portal has existed for millenia and Raziel with her knowledge is using it pretending the mine is a khybershard mine. The mine is well fortified and hard to get in (War Troll mercs and all ...). Anyhow on the other side of the portal a Daelkyr lord has been trapped ever since the war with the Gatekeepers after the invasion from Xoriat. The Daelkyer Lord is imprisoned several levels below the portal (which is one way by the way) held back my powerfull seals. The upper level of the underground complex of natural caverns has been inhabited for ages by Dhakaani sealkeepers who protect the seals from those trying to free the Daelkyr Lord. Recently abberation activity has peeked and the aberrations led by a powerfull Mindflayer (a level 12 baddass from Lords of Madness) has taken command of these hordes and has destroyed most of the goblinoid civilization. The players, oblivious and at the merci of the whims of their DM and ever manipulated in doing exactly the thing they should not find themselves at the other side of the portal in the depths of Khyber. The portal is one way and they have no way of getting back. They have however already befriended some goblins (without speaking goblin, which was fun). By now a lot of the pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place and they know about the Daelkyr Lord and they know where Raziel gets her shards. What they don't know is is that Raziel is a demon and has been forcing the aberrations to do her bidding. She has in her possession a sword that is possibly the most dangerous item on the surface of Khorvaire. The sword is a large KhyberShard crafted into the shape of the blade of a bastard sword. Inside a Rajah rages and emmits terrible power. A mortal can not wield the sword for long, the corruptive force (taint from Heroes of Horror) on his body would soon kill him although he gains increadible power for as long as he can withstand the taint. Raziel however is immune to the powers of the blade, she cannot free the Rajah inside because basically nothing can, the magic is too strong. But she can use it to do some cool stuff like break the seals that prevent 2 way travel through the portal to Khyber. Dominate the Abberations down in Khyber and make them work for her against their will etc... The pitfall is that the sword is equally capable of breaking the seals that bind the Dealkyr lord and the Mindflayer knows it although at this time he can do little about it. So we have a Daelkyr Lord and a powerfull Mindflayer working the minds of the players trying to convince them to get the sword from Raziel. One of the players has become so affected by the whispers of the Mindflayer (lots of dream adventuring) that he aquired the Abbarant Paragon class from the Touched by Madness article by Keith Baker in Dragon Magazine, and has changes into an abberration himself. He is the main target of the Mindflayer. And we have Raziel due to visit her aberration slaves any time now unaware of the presence of the players. So what will happen: - players snatch the sword, trap Raziel amongst the hordes of abberations unable to return and escape back to the surface before the sword drives them insane. Potentially bringing back the most dangerous item in creation back to the surface world. - players snatch the sword, trap Raziel amongst the hordes of abberations but are tricked into freeing the Dealkyr Lord, who takes the sword from them, kicks their buts and returns to the surface to rule once more. The players are either dead or trapped in the belly of the world. - players fail to take the sword and are killed by either Raziel, the Mindfalyer and his minions or the level 26 hellfire wyrm that rules the level below. - players fail to take the sword and become slaves just like the rest of Raziels puppets. hmmm, sounds like my players are in over their heads, no options sounds really appealing does it. :) But the truth is that I never forced them down that portal, there were warnings, be it in orkish (gatekeeper) and druidic which non of them spoke it appears and many other options to get to the bottom of the mistery they face. O well, I hope I get some response on this, I still have a few fun encounters up my sleeve (most of them non combat) but as I see it the adventure will be over in a session or 2. cheers
DanFor 07-05-06, 01:41 PM	Could the Rajah sword be used to destroy the seal/portal thereby destroying the sword itself? Perhaps, while the portal is imploding, a small window of opportunity could exist for two-way travel. A templar/exorcist of the Silver Flame or a Gatekeeper might be able to obtain this information.
Jancarius 07-05-06, 02:21 PM	What level is your party? Do they have any Orien dragonmarks? If they can teleport, there's no real reason why they shouldn't be able to just pop back to the surface, unless I'm forgetting something or missing something.
Sieylianna 07-05-06, 05:08 PM	So how is there a Khyber shard "goldrush" in the town if it's a one-way portal? Ed
Jancarius 07-05-06, 05:23 PM	I was wondering that as well
Setherial 07-06-06, 05:07 AM	ok a few facts to clear things up: - the Seals prevent two way travel, they are very powerfull and there is little on the face of Eberron that can break through that power (save for a Rajah or an elder GateKeeper Druid with knowledge of the ancient seals). - Teleportation in and out of the Khyber where the prison is located is near impossible. Again one must be powerfull enough to get through the seals. - Raziel is the only one who can currently enter the portal and keep it open so 2 way travel is possible, this is made possible by the Rajah sword. While she holds the sword in the portal the seals are rendered useless. Once she removes the sword the seals prevent travel again just like before. Raziel allows the aberrations who carry the shards for her to pass through and then forces them to go back. This ofcourse has caused some of them to escape and has drawn the attention of : - the players when abberations attacked the town through a tunnel leading from the mine to a cultist house in town. - a cult of the dragon below led by a Flayerspawn woman (at least I think that is what it is called, it's the Mindflayer heritage prestige class from Complete Psionics) in "faint" contact with the mindflayer down in Khyber. They hear its whispers and try to get to free it or something. No one really understands the motivations of cultists of the Dragon below. The players already took down this cult and found the tunnel they were digging to reach the mine (which is 10 km ahead). - an army of current day Gatekeepers. This I resolved as a mass scale battle where the Orks attacked the mine and the town called everyone to arms to defend it. The party still oblivious to what was happening helped in the defense of the mine :) So that's should clear a few things up. By the way the players are level 8/9 and we play a low power game with few magic items and low money (though we do use a system somewhat like 32 point buy). The high level of adversaries (War Trolls in town, a powerfull MindFlayer down in Khyber, a Mountain Giant (CR 26 MM2), etc...) made this adventure very different for my group. They were getting used to their high level in Eberron and started walking down that "I can handle it all on my own" road. The last few sessions we had almost no combat and all roleplay. Now they are in a state where they try to get past everything by any means as long as they don't have to fight :) (needless to say it's been great fun and they all have that feeling of "we are in over our heads"). Anyhow just fire off that feeback. I liked the new option offered by DanFor that the sword could be used to destroy the prison rather then free the Daelkyr Lord. Since there is no way out for my players this would actually be a very noble thing to do if they were fully aware of the implications. Rather then save themselves they could in one go, destroy the Dealkyr Lord and burry the unholy sword possibly forever. The only pitfall is they would all die. That level of self sacrifice for the greater cause would be a fantastic end to my adventure (if done fully knowing they would die and what they would be dying for). My players are very dedicated to their characters so the sacrifice would be quite painfull. thanks!! I'll defenatly make it an option.
Setherial 07-06-06, 05:39 AM	I'm wondering how to toss this info at my players. They will soon know that the sword can break the seals. The Mindflayer will push them to use it to free the Dealkyr and they will know that Raziel uses it to go back through the portal to the surface world. - They don't know however what a Rajah is and the potential devestating power of the sword. - They don't know that the prison can be destroyed using the sword. Actually I can't picture this myself yet. How would one destroy the seals making the entire complex cave in/implode and how will the players know that this is what will happen so they can sacrifice themselves fully knowing the concequences. some inside info that might be usefull: - the players are currently travelling with a spectre (the spirit of a knight who came to the defense of the gobliniods a thousand years ago and got trapped just like the players. The seals are so powerfull his soul is trapped as well). He was their first real source of info on the Gatekeepers and where they are. Also the paladin of the group knows the order the knight served so they immediatly had a link. - Little demons (I think they are called jhovocs from MM2) that inhabid the first khyber level and who are at war with both goblinoids and aberrations have a legend about a black guard, a great champion of the dark armies of Savarath who comes to free them of the whispers of the Dealkyr Lord and his abberration plague. They believe the paladin of the group is this champion (he resembles him perfectly). This legend might come through and they might just have misinterpreted it. The black guard is not a black guard but a champion of good (of the Flame) who destroys the Daelkyr and everything around him. Or the Paladin is the Black Guard but the corrupion of his soul is yet to come years from now.... Anyway this is going to be a fun encounter. - The Mindflayer works one of the player who is loosing his mind (the one who has become an abberation). The Mindflayer held the most power over the player when he dreamed. This is how he got to him when he was still on the surface world. Now in Khyber the Mindflayer has easy access to that players mind. Half of what the player sees isn't real, he can't seperate illusion from fact any longer (DMing this is working out rather well to my surprise :). The Mindflayer will convince this player to go for the sword and afterwards try to trick him in freeing the Daelkyr lord. ok, any of these NPC's could be a tool to inform the players of what they need to know. So any and all help in puzzling this together would be greatly appreciated!
DanFor 07-06-06, 10:18 AM	Too bad that the spectre is incoporeal or else it could stay behind and use the Rajah sword to destroy the portal. At the least, it seems like you need some sort of NPC (or some other device) on the Khyber side of the portal that can give the PCs the info they need to have. Maybe, the NPC has been waiting to fulfill his/her/its destiny which is to destroy the daelkyr lord with the Rajah sword. Raziel temporarily thwarted the NPC's mission by capturing the sword and trapping him/her/it in Khyber. Once the NPC regains the Rajah sword, the PC's new ally will open the portal long enough for them to return to Eberron. They can witness the destruction of the portal from the other side. Another alternative: the entire cavern complex doesn't implode when the PCs destroy the portal, sword, etc. The jovocs know another way out of Khyber.
Kresalak 07-07-06, 01:45 AM	Too bad that the spectre is incoporeal or else it could stay behind and use the Rajah sword to destroy the portal. At the least, it seems like you need some sort of NPC (or some other device) on the Khyber side of the portal that can give the PCs the info they need to have. Or one of the players stays behind and closes the portal, trapping him in Khyber forever. Not only would that be quite epic, but think of the movies and books where they leave a party member behind. If they are tricked into freeing the Daelkyr, it's entirely possible that it won't kill them. Remember that they are the Lords of Madness; nothing they do should make sense in the short term, and the horrible truth of it should only be possible to see once all the pieces are on the table. Also remember that the Daelkyr are not bound like the Rajahs, they are only sealed in Khyber. If they've passed through the portal into the underworld, they could very well meet him. If he's one of the actual Daelkyr Lords, he could have been behind the entire thing. It could be part of a greater plan for him to escape, or it could be some horrible experiment. Perhaps the Daelkyr is in fact Dyrrn the Corrupter, and he orchestrated the entire thing so he could capture a powerful fiend (Raziel) to "work" on.
Setherial 07-07-06, 03:56 AM	Too bad that the spectre is incoporeal or else it could stay behind and use the Rajah sword to destroy the portal. At the least, it seems like you need some sort of NPC (or some other device) on the Khyber side of the portal that can give the PCs the info they need to have. Maybe, the NPC has been waiting to fulfill his/her/its destiny which is to destroy the daelkyr lord with the Rajah sword. Raziel temporarily thwarted the NPC's mission by capturing the sword and trapping him/her/it in Khyber. Once the NPC regains the Rajah sword, the PC's new ally will open the portal long enough for them to return to Eberron. They can witness the destruction of the portal from the other side. Another alternative: the entire cavern complex doesn't implode when the PCs destroy the portal, sword, etc. The jovocs know another way out of Khyber. The alternative works for me. I like the idea of a bunch of crazy demons helping a good aligned party out be it for their own selfish reasons or believes :) The first idea I don't like because it's a Deus ex Machina, the NPC solves the problem by destroying both the demon Raziel, the Daelkyr Lord and burry the Rajah sword and the players are offered the easy way out. This won't be a satisfactory ending to this adventure. It should be epic as the players feel really pushed into a corner surrounded by forces so much stronger and older then they are. If they can get out of this one they will feel great indeed! Or one of the players stays behind and closes the portal, trapping him in Khyber forever. Not only would that be quite epic, but think of the movies and books where they leave a party member behind. If they are tricked into freeing the Daelkyr, it's entirely possible that it won't kill them. Remember that they are the Lords of Madness; nothing they do should make sense in the short term, and the horrible truth of it should only be possible to see once all the pieces are on the table. Also remember that the Daelkyr are not bound like the Rajahs, they are only sealed in Khyber. If they've passed through the portal into the underworld, they could very well meet him. If he's one of the actual Daelkyr Lords, he could have been behind the entire thing. It could be part of a greater plan for him to escape, or it could be some horrible experiment. Perhaps the Daelkyr is in fact Dyrrn the Corrupter, and he orchestrated the entire thing so he could capture a powerful fiend (Raziel) to "work" on. One sacrificing himself for the others is always cool in books and movies but does it really work in a dnd session ? After all, the others continue to play while one guy must roll a new character. It will not feel glorious, it will be painfull. In a movie/book the viewer/reader is an outsider and does feel for the individuals in the story but isn't affected by them. In dnd the individuals are the players and something like this has a direct impact. No I think they either should all escape (unless someone falls in combat or in the explosion or some action scene, that is a different thing, risk of the game and all) or they should all die knowing they have sacrificed themselves for a higher cause. The latter should work because in the end they did the right thing and since we start with a new DM after my adventure (starting new at level 1), it won't matter to much that people have to roll a new character. I like your idea of making the Daelkyr Lord more then just a godlike monster in a prison. Dressing him up a bit will make destroying him all the sweeter, or if he in fact survives, be it that the players are aware or unawere of this, it will be very cool to use him in a later adventure. Actually I had already hoped to have Raziel survive this adventure so I can use her to be the thorn in the players eyes for years to come. Her game is manipulation and diplomacy, she will not fight and that makes her all the harder to take out. I like the idea of players temporarily twarting the plans of greater villians but not actually destroying the villains themselves. Reaccuring villians are fun and exciting. If you can provide more info on the Daelkyr I like to hear it (all invented of course, I'm not looking for published material). Everything that builds up the epic nature of this villian would be of great value.
Setherial 07-10-06, 03:01 AM	comon guys, help me out here. My session is due in a week! How does one destroy a sealed underground complex of caverns, a prison to a Dealkyr Lord, using a sword ?? (be it a very powerfull one that has a Rajha bound to it (khyber shard = blade of the sword)). I already established that the sword can render seals powerless as long as it is in contact with the sealed area. I already have a few mechanics in place that I can use to supply the players with information.
DanFor 07-10-06, 09:18 AM	While the sword is in contact with the sealed area, summon the Rajha by speaking its name (K'laatu Berata 'nikto) and kaboom!
Setherial 07-11-06, 02:39 AM	I was thinking things over and I was going to go for: why not just drive the sword through the heart of the Dealkyr Lord. The sword has terrible corruptive effects on a mortal wielding it but at the same time it gives such fantastic ability boosts and spell like effects one might just get good enough to take on a Daelkyr (although I really should look at the Daelkyr stats because at the moment I can't remember how powerfull they are aside from their CR20). If they strike true (a critical hit or something) they will kill the Daelkyr and so much energy will be released that everything within miles of the prison will cave in and die. This will be tied into a draconic prophecy they'll discover on level one of the khyber underground complex foretelling the comming of 3 champions. An elf Vampire, a dwarf black guard wielding a sword of power and an alien (mindflayer). These 3 will destroy an alien lord trapped inside the earth. Our elf isn't a vampire but he was saved by one a few sessions ago and drank his blood to get temporary protection from his enemies, the dwarf isn't a black guard but a paladin of the flame and the alien is our sorcerer who just gained the aberrant paragon class but still looks human unlike the alien in the prophecy. This distorted description of who they are can be interpreted in many ways, probably they'll think it is their future selves. Once the Mindflayer controlling the gobliniod city picks up these toughts of destroying the Daelkyr lord in our sorcerers mind he'll try to stop them. He'll warn them of the destruction it will bring, it will be suicide. Meanwhile his army will be chasing the players.
Kresalak 07-11-06, 04:44 PM	Each of the known Daelkyr has one thing that they are focused in. Belashyrra is the Lord of Eyes, and likes things related to them. Orlassk is the master of stone, and makes things of living stone and monsters that petrify people. Kyrzin enjoys slimes and oozes and all the terrible things they can do, while Dyrrn prefers to twist and corrupt existing creatures. If you want to use a Daelkyr, you should decide what he focuses in. He could be the one mentioned in the ECS that likes making plants. Of course, if he's only the CR 20 Daelkyr from the ECS, he probably isn't one of the true Daelkyr Lords, although it could be that the Gatekeeper seals are making him weak. Could it be possible that the Daelkyr could be trapped within the sword with the Rajah? If he were to be stuck in a Khyber shard, he would be far less dangerous. Perhaps by shoving the sword through his heart (or what serves as a heart for a Lord of Madness) he can be sealed into the sword forever.
Setherial 07-12-06, 03:25 AM	Each of the known Daelkyr has one thing that they are focused in. Belashyrra is the Lord of Eyes, and likes things related to them. Orlassk is the master of stone, and makes things of living stone and monsters that petrify people. Kyrzin enjoys slimes and oozes and all the terrible things they can do, while Dyrrn prefers to twist and corrupt existing creatures. If you want to use a Daelkyr, you should decide what he focuses in. He could be the one mentioned in the ECS that likes making plants. Of course, if he's only the CR 20 Daelkyr from the ECS, he probably isn't one of the true Daelkyr Lords, although it could be that the Gatekeeper seals are making him weak. Could it be possible that the Daelkyr could be trapped within the sword with the Rajah? If he were to be stuck in a Khyber shard, he would be far less dangerous. Perhaps by shoving the sword through his heart (or what serves as a heart for a Lord of Madness) he can be sealed into the sword forever. cool idea. I suppose to make a believable something as difficult as binding a powerfull living being inside a shard would require a ritual of some sort and kyber shard and binding knowledge. If it could be done by just hitting the spot, a lot of creatures would be bound by now. I wonder what the effects would be of a shard holding both Rajah and Dealkyr, maybe an eternal battle would rage withing the shard making it a very dangerous and unstable artifact. My Daelkyr Lord, I don't want him to be one of the true Lords because I don't want my players to be killing a true Lord at level 8, is focussed of flesh. He delights in the mutation and shaping of humanoid flesh (think pinhead/hellraiser). The closer one gets to his prison the more the caves will appear as if one was walking inside the body of an animal. The walls will look and feel like warm flesh. A heartbeat can be felt behind some of them. Flesh Oozes of all shapes and kinds inhabid the level etc...
ryanroyce 07-12-06, 11:24 PM	Originally Posted by DanFor Too bad that the spectre is incoporeal or else it could stay behind and use the Rajah sword to destroy the portal. At the least, it seems like you need some sort of NPC (or some other device) on the Khyber side of the portal that can give the PCs the info they need to have. Maybe, the NPC has been waiting to fulfill his/her/its destiny which is to destroy the daelkyr lord with the Rajah sword. Raziel temporarily thwarted the NPC's mission by capturing the sword and trapping him/her/it in Khyber. Once the NPC regains the Rajah sword, the PC's new ally will open the portal long enough for them to return to Eberron. They can witness the destruction of the portal from the other side. The alternative works for me. I like the idea of a bunch of crazy demons helping a good aligned party out be it for their own selfish reasons or believes :) The first idea I don't like because it's a Deus ex Machina, the NPC solves the problem by destroying both the demon Raziel, the Daelkyr Lord and burry the Rajah sword and the players are offered the easy way out. This won't be a satisfactory ending to this adventure. It should be epic as the players feel really pushed into a corner surrounded by forces so much stronger and older then they are. If they can get out of this one they will feel great indeed! Agreed, letting the NPC steal the spotlight would be a bad thing. However, it could be that the spectre is destined to destroy the Daelkyr Lord utterly, but he needs the PCs' help in order to achieve that goal. The PCs perform the tasks required and bring together all the elements necessary for The Winning, whatever they are, but just when the spectre is finally prepared to sacrifice himself while allowing the PCs to survive, he is somehow slain by the Sword and is permanently bound within. :doh: His destiny now cruelly denied to him, one of the PCs must pick up the mantle and choose to sacrifice him/herself in his stead. Thus, the PC in question knows full well that they are choosing to die so that the Daelkyr will be slain, the sword buried, and generally achieve The Winning. Also, since the spectre is bound in the sword and the sword is used to slay the Daelkyr, he still fullfills his destiny, just not in the way anyone expected him to (note: his active function could be to stabilize the sword long enough for the PC to use it effectively). One sacrificing himself for the others is always cool in books and movies but does it really work in a dnd session ? After all, the others continue to play while one guy must roll a new character. It will not feel glorious, it will be painfull. In a movie/book the viewer/reader is an outsider and does feel for the individuals in the story but isn't affected by them. In dnd the individuals are the players and something like this has a direct impact. No I think they either should all escape (unless someone falls in combat or in the explosion or some action scene, that is a different thing, risk of the game and all) or they should all die knowing they have sacrificed themselves for a higher cause. The latter should work because in the end they did the right thing and since we start with a new DM after my adventure (starting new at level 1), it won't matter to much that people have to roll a new character. Don't underestimate the willingness of a player to give his PC a cool and memorable death. After all, it beats rolling a Nat 1 on a save-or-die trap. ;) Ryan
Setherial 07-13-06, 04:12 AM	Agreed, letting the NPC steal the spotlight would be a bad thing. However, it could be that the spectre is destined to destroy the Daelkyr Lord utterly, but he needs the PCs' help in order to achieve that goal. The PCs perform the tasks required and bring together all the elements necessary for The Winning, whatever they are, but just when the spectre is finally prepared to sacrifice himself while allowing the PCs to survive, he is somehow slain by the Sword and is permanently bound within. :doh: His destiny now cruelly denied to him, one of the PCs must pick up the mantle and choose to sacrifice him/herself in his stead. Thus, the PC in question knows full well that they are choosing to die so that the Daelkyr will be slain, the sword buried, and generally achieve The Winning. Also, since the spectre is bound in the sword and the sword is used to slay the Daelkyr, he still fullfills his destiny, just not in the way anyone expected him to (note: his active function could be to stabilize the sword long enough for the PC to use it effectively). woohoo, this works. Excellent idea, very dramatic indeed !!! Ok lets wrap this up. My origenal idea for the ending before you posted this one (which is better) was to have the spectre lead them to an area under control of the jovok demons (basically little pests). Anyway in the middle of their domain stands an ancient monolith revealing it's small part of the draconic prophecy. The prophecy tells of the comming of 3 champions, a vampire elf, a black guard and an alien who...blablabla... bring down the lord of change/corrupter of flesh whatever... (these being dark versions of my players) This still seems like a very fun thing to put in BUTI have to twist things now. It will no longer be this prophecy that I have to use to put the idea of using the sword against the Daelkyr in the minds of the players. It just foretells what will happen, and not very accurate since our elf is not a vampire and our paladin is not a back guard and our sorcerer...well..yeah he is becomming an alien. So instead of the spectre sending the party to see this monolith because he thinks the prophecy is about them, I'll have the spectre leading the party through the demon territory discover the monolith for the first time. This is then used to confuse. It twists reality but enough is there to recognize the connection to what is happening. There are two remaining questions to work out: 1. for what does the spectre need the party. If things are going to explode/implode after the spectre kills the Dealkyr the party will die and so already knows they are commiting suicide. This should not be so, they really need to pick up that sword after the spectre falls and sacrifice themselves. Also what can they do to help the spectre. I'll have to think about this and hopefully you guys have some ideas as well. 2. It would be cool if the prophecy became reality. The paladin is the most likely one to pick up the sword and destroy the Dealkyr. Maybe he survives the experience thanks to the protective abilities of the sword but becomes so twisted that he indeed bargains with the Rajah inside for his life. This is the first step on the road to become a black guard. - The elf becomming a vampire can happen later in his life. He already has a powerfull vampire ally who protects him from a Marut. The Marut is after the player since the player escaped Dollurh. - The sorcerer doesn't need any more work, he gave in to his alien heritage months ago.
Setherial 07-14-06, 03:27 AM	I think I have it worked out: 1. The Mindflayer tries to sepperate the spectre knight from the party, attacks are coordinated to take out the spectre. The Mindflayer also tries to manipulate the sorcerer of the party to turn against the spectre. 2. Players arrive in the city of the Mindflayer at his invitation (the spectre goes into hiding) and the Mindflayer makes a deal with them. They ambush Raziel and take the sword from her, give it to him and he'll show them the way back to the surface. They don't know anything about this sword yet. 3. they ambush raziel and take her sword. This should not be too much of a problem although I haven't found a reason yet why this powerfull mindflayer doesn't take the sword from her himself. Probably she is warded against his psionic power. If they can surprise her and take the sword before she can act she will teleport away (though still within the cavern complex as the seals block further teleportation) 4. after the players take the sword the spectre turns up again and tells them not to give it to the Mindflayer. He will tell them they can use it themselves to break the seals and escape through the portal. However he asks them to help him use the sword to destroy the Daelkyr Lord first. He fears the seals are weakening, the Dealkyr gains more power every minute (hence the increase in aberration activity) and has to be stopped. He'll tell the players no mortal should ever wield this sword, it is two powerfull and to evil. It would consume whoever wields it. Therefore he as an undead being must be the one who uses it to destroy the Dealkyr. Afterwards his soul will be free, he will ascent to the afterlife and the players can pick up the sword and use it to open the portal back to the surface. Doing this will be dangerous as well but not as leathal as using the sword in combat (has to do with rage feeding the Rajah within). He tells them once they are back on the surface they should take the sword to argonessen and give it to the Dragons. 5. The Dealkyr destroys the spectre before he can kill the Dealkyr, the sword drops to the ground and the Dealkyr, free of its prison heads into the direction from where the players came. This should be the time for the players to act, pick up the sword and destroy the Dealkyr (in case they don't I can still use an echo of the voice of the spectre begging the paladin to stop the Dealkyr). The wielder of the sword, hopefully the paladin will not be destroyed but will be so utterly corrupted that he becomes a slave to the Rajah within. First step on the road to becomming a Black Guard. 6. If they live and head back to the surface their lives will be changed forever.