We started off last night by backtracking a bit; Eric rightly felt that he didn't quite roleplay Pachala as Pachala would have likely acted in the situation at the shrine. So Pachala threw Shield (total 4) and whacked the Tien altar with a sledgehammer, to no avail although his Shield blocked the Sever Spirit defenses. He soon realized that the sledgehammer wouldn't knock off the crystals, so he used the crystal chisel and pried one off. As he was working on the crystal that bound Ormelius, Ormelius attacked and Pachala knew he could not withstand more of the ghosts' withering assault. Frustrated, you saw no more options and fled the shrine.
You camped uneventfully and figured out what a few of your found items do. The Lunars revealed that they had taken a Thanatari talisman from one of the bodies and offered it as a bargaining chip, saying that it would help the party reenter the shrine, and there were two more on the bodies inside. A long discussion ensued, eventually you agreed to go back in with them, allow them to document more, and then destroy what you could. In return for information on the talismans, you later let them copy the document that you had about the shrine. The talismans ward off Thanatari ghosts by marking the wearer as a Thanatari ally. They are chaos enchantments but Pachala and Dorgon reluctantly agree to their use.
Reskil used the talisman to retrieve the other two talismans and you went in, without seeing any ghosts. As Dorgon and Pachala whacked skulls on the pillar, Reskil did his documenting. Tarranyr's skillful fingers managed to unlock the mechanism that opened the secret door (critical devise! exactly what he needed to open it!). Inside was a short passage leading to a large obsidian block that appeared to be an eternal Darklight enchantment. Also there was a skull which you correctly thought to be Ormelius's. The passage was carved with odd symbols that Reskil began to copy.
Reskil also got the notion to ask Ormelius to manifest himself, which worked. Things got more interesting, as Ormelius was very chatty and curious. You learned a lot about his life, his capture and enslavement by Tien cultists, and his job to protect the shrine and forge enchantments on Thanatari/illuminates who came there. Ormelius said that he had spent time at Wyrmsjaw studying with dragonkind! He revealed that recently a young girl (Muriah, witch queen of the broo!) came with broo and received heavy enchantments of armoring and strengthening, which are linked to several crystals on the altar. Unfortunately he did not know how to avoid the Sever Spirit magics, you assumed that they would not activate against cultists.
You talked with him at length but could not figure out a surefire safe way to free him or destroy the enchantments. Reskil argued against freeing him, and your attempts to remove or smash his skull didn't work well. Again, you left frustrated but more satisfied.
The guards outside were assaulted by a few poorly aimed boulders from the cliffs above; probably the broo gang that you'd caught signs of earlier. You lit a fire to mark the shrine entrance and left. The next night, a rain of missiles attacked you and killed one trooper, almost Arcus too (saved by Five Eye's blessing). Dorgon and Pachala chased down and killed two of them; maybe 4 escaped but you seemed to have scared them enough. Nonetheless, they were well equipped and cunning broo which made them difficult foes in their home terrain.
You moved on rather than spend time tracking them. One day a low, deep moan shook the air, ground, and everything else. Even the sun seemed to vibrate. This was clearly some old, powerful magic and you inferred that it was the original Death Moan of Genert, which has echoed around the Wastes since Chao slew the god of the continent. Dorgon was haunted by horrid dreams of chaos destroying Genert's lush kingdom that night, and was fearful of the future.
Pachala's illness continued. This left us at a quandry: we recall that the party had a Healing Spirit (POW 14?) bound in an item, but no one could find it on their sheets. Jeff, Chris, or anyone have a recollection of this? It was on a party equip list once. If you had it, and it was POW 14 as I recall, then it would have saved Pachala 1 SIZ. Any help would be nice.
A few more days passed. Pachala beat an alpha male baboon in a fierce wrestling match to gain access to a rich oasis that the baboon tribe had occupied. Then a cold snap struck and some of your water froze, and metal armor became painful to wear. We stopped there as it was late.
Next game, 2 weeks or so. Chris /Jeff, any chance of making it on Sat July 15/Sun July 16? We will finish the Wastes trek in short time, and then it is Corflu fun. Caernak and Tison have heard of newtling Wolf Pirates in Corflu that might work for transport to the God Learner place.