Jymsan uses cleansing water bolts to remove most of their sewer sick after emerging from the catacombs. Over the next few days they rest, shop, and research about the catacombs and those glowing red skeletons. Tyrus meets up with his childhood neerdowell companion Niko Verkano.
Niko is a male Punkari (half-elven) thief. His xenophobic Punkari mother locked him in her "nice" villa most of his youthful life so his eyes wouldn’t witness the ugly grey world that is Haalkitaine. He mastered his thieving skills overcoming her many devious ways of imprisonment. Niko and Tyrus hung together as youths while avoiding their home situations.
After drinks and sharing of tales. Niko tells of having explored the catacombs two years prior and that today he is a master lock pick. The group hearing this invite Niko to join and he accepts. Niko and the others construct a 50’ silk rope ladder they will use for the stink chute Tyrus lost footing three times before. After three nights in the city, the party return to Haalkitaine library for another spelunk.
Librarians Geryn and Tyno recognize them and quickly escort all to the Rare Books room below. From there the librarians open the locked sewer access room and tell the party they will wait from their return.
The party finds Jymsan’s stone wall still in place. It kept the the chasm more or less dry. But since it is still a mess, Jymsan cleanses the chute with a well-place water bolt. Next the party hammers in their silk rope ladder and safely navigates the chute down to the “Jadeback beetle” room.
They don’t see Jadebacks, but sense they are probably not far away. With Niko along, they take another look at “Thunder Door” to their upper left (east). This is the one that exploded with lightning after Morden telekinetically manipulated the silvered door handle. Another noteworthy aspect of the door is the Taranian dotted script prominently etched into the door’s center. Niko finds the door locked and trapped and assesses the odds to disable them. Jymsan realizes he may have a chance to cancel the lightning magic at least temporarily. So he cancels the door’s magic but just then the beetles are back. Turning to the beetles approaching from the south, he spreads a two-foot tall firewall across the tilted cavern sending the huge insects in retreat.
Knowing the firewall lasts for only about a minute, they leave Thunder Door for now and head east down toward where they last fought the red skeletons. While descending they hear the sound of metal on stone in the direction they are going. On the way, Niko reviews the other mysterious Taranian door, but he too cannot find a lock or any other means of opening. He suggests perhaps there is a command word? Can anyone read and speak Taranian? They move on.
As they approach the subtle metal on stone scraping, they find themselves in a 10’ x 20’ antechamber and before the door they last closed on the red skeletons. Jymsan snorts some Zapic powder permitting safer casting of more powerful spells. Morden then exerts enough telekinetic force to push the doors open into the grand sloped hallway beyond. Beyond the door are not the red skeletons, but a stone golem-like construct with built-in blade hands with alarm-like lighted gems encircling its head. Instantly, the stone construct smashes its hands and feet into the floor causing what seems like a miniature earthquake in their immediate area. A large rock falls from the wall breaking rib cartilage in Jymsan’s back. Then the construct’s lights begin flashing while encircling its head.
Jymsan lets loose a Lightning Bolt, Cad a Shock Bolt, and Niko an arrow before the construct retreats to their left (south). They enter the grand hallway in pursuit and see the thing stop and pace back and forth some one hundred to the south. Niko loses another magic arrow into it, but it is Jymsan that takes it out with massively explosive Lightning Bolt. This is about when they see the return of the two glowing red skeletons from the opposite direction. The reds move toward them fast. The group retreats back into the 10’x20’ hallway antechamber from which they came. Jymsan snorts some more Zapic and casts a firewall between themselves and the red skeleton hallway. The red undead are standing before them an instant later. Being just a firewall, the party attacks through it, losing arrows, stones, and magic. The skeletons answer by igniting themselves then explode themselves into massive fireballs. Morden and Tyrus detected their imminent explosion and were able to warn everyone so they all were able to get out of range. Because of the fireball retreat, now only Jymsan and Cad have a clear line of site. Jymsan lobs a cold ball into the hallway delivering significant concussion damage to the fiery undead. Then, Cad repels one with the power of holy Phaon, and Niko nails the other with a magic arrow to the face causing it to fall and shake on the ground in obvious death throws.
Cad calmly walks up to the writhing one and collapses its skill with his holy mace. Instead of pursuing the repelled red skeleton, they decide to rest in the 10x20 room adjacent to the hallway. Jymsan has exhausted almost all of his magic power and is wounded. He needs to rest.
Tyrus and Niko take turns at guard duty. The others sleep or meditate uninterrupted for about eight hours. After rest time, they head north down the 20’ wide domed hallway toward where the red skeleton retreated. They find the hallway ends about 200’ feet to the north in a diamond shaped room with 50’ ceiling and a pair of massive double doors. Each is ten-feet wide and twenty-feet tall. Massive! Each is covered in what appears to be an ancient Rhakaan script, but none of them are knowledgeable enough to be sure. Standing in from of these doors appears to be the perfectly regenerated red skeleton.
The party wastes no time unleashing a volley of missiles, but it is a well-place ice bolt from Jymsan that destroys the skeleton guardian. Now they stand before these huge vault doors ready to explore. The Prince thinks some of the script reads: “Catacombs of Ur” and that the other writings list King's and Queen’s names of the Second Era. Looks important...
