Escape From the Past

Current Party: Quiteria, Ailyll, Haizea, Deirdriu, Richard Son of Odo, Thora, Lila, Mamun, Dawa, Akim, Saiq

From Tartarus we scry on the balcony of Nicea's palace. It has been partially repaired, and we can see ropes hanging down, though they are apparently not attached to anything. We decide to teleport to the forest nearby, sending Haizea ahead to build a platform. We conjure an earth elemental and send him to scout out Nicea's chambers. He located Harald for us and we summon Kuthonomus via stone tell. We spend way too much time casting protective spells then charge in via Dimension Door.

We find statue Harald attractively posed on top of a fountain, and confirm he is indeed made of ice and slowly melting. Nicea is waiting for us with 9 or her followers, including the erstwhile Celdrix, who has been transformed into a bear. Thora is nowhere to be seen. We attempt to negotiate, and Nicea very kindly gifts us a caged cockatrice, but is loath to part with either Harald or Richard's ring. A tough fight ensues, but we are able to hold our own as Haizea brings Harald outside for Kuthonomus to fix. Noteworthy opponents include an archer who does crazy damage and a lightning-wielding berserker, as well as our old friend Upazius and a lamia.

Kuthonomus takes quite a bit longer than expected, and when he arrives he explains he was busy removing some wards "like your demoness friend told me to"... The ground starts to shake and a giant Chaos Worm emerges, driving all of Nicea's 100s of animals mad and generally messing with the integrity of matter. Nicea flees and we retreat to the forest with Upazius and some loot.

We dither for a while, and Lila and Akim teleport back to Tartarus to ask for advice. He gives them some useful info and fixes Upazius's rope for us. They return to find the rest of the party in the midst of combat with the Chaos Worm. Thora seems to have made good friends with him, and is busy fighting Nicea inside his mouth. Upazius tells us that Teshub defeated the chaos worm after being defeated himself. The chaos worm is an alcoholic, so we send Celdrix off to get some barrels of wine from Nicea's palace. Illuyanka. We finally figure out Nicea's true name - Innara. Dawa ropes the chaos worm with Upazius's rope and binds him once more. Nicea, looking extremely unhappy, returns Richard's ring and tells us to just leave.

Meanwhile, Haizea and Kuthonomus take a temperature controlled Harald inland so Kuthonomus can summon a friend to fix him. They pass hordes of animals fleeing in the opposite direction. When asked what they are fleeing they respond "the lady calls". Phew... At a river we meet Kuthonomus's friend Lucios, who returns Harald to us usual, fleshy self.

Harald is very dissappointed with his daughter's recent behavior, and as punishment we Quest her to stay in the past for one week and find us a live Amphisbena and bring it back so we can get its' skin. Richard goes along as her shaperone.

And at last, thanks to Tartarus's binding, we all go safely home, souls intact!