Trapped in the arcane prison, the heroes take a moment to regroup. Nor uses his mythical fungus powers to heal Arthas's eyes as Elaryan holds the doors closed against the gibrileth demons. Then the halflings begin the search the cells for anything to help in the current predicament. Unfortunately, Xhotl triggers one of the mystic wards, trapping the halflings and their mount in one of the cells!
The gibrileths are still trying to force their way in, so Arthas and Elaryan decide to counter-attack. Leaving Nor and Lor trapped in the prison, the sorcerer and paladin throw open the doors and charge into the hallway. Elaryan immediately assumes his mythic ape form, using his immense size as an advantage against the demons.The battle goes well, but during the melee, Elaryan is overcome with a demonic blood lust. Once he has defeated the gibrileths, he turns on Arthas. The paladin tries to defend himself, firing holy arrows at the frenzied ape, but he is soon incapacitated.
Luckily, once everyone else is dying or disabled, the ape's blood fury passes. Elaryan regains his senses, and move quickly to save his friend, using a cure potion from Arthas's haversack. Arthas is happy to have his companion back in his right mind, though somewhat disgruntled. The heroes do not have long to dwell on it, however, as the gibrileth's master-- a vampiric orc named Theruk Nul-- attacks from the shadows!
Arthas and Elaryan chase the vampire back into the torture chamber where they discovered the gibrileths. As they are fighting, Lor and Nor return, having finally defeated the arcane safeguards in the prison. The party heroes finished off Nul, and then proceed to seach the surrounding rooms.In one of the interrogation rooms, Elaryan discovers a secret door. This door leads to a narrow tunnel, which in turn leads to a large, ornate hall. The hall is lined with massive alcoves, and each alcove features a mural depicting the demon lord Deskari mutilating and savaging a different good deity: Iomedae, Elaryan, Torag, Desna, and Shelyn. At the end of the hall hands the Sword of Valor.
Nor removes the banner from its perch; as he does so, the images of Deskari come alive and leap from their murals, attacking the party. The heroes immediately recognize this as a simple illusion, however, and the images cause them no harm. After a few moments, the false Deskaris return to the alcoves.Given the ease at which they defeated the trap, and the fact that their was no discernible change in the environment, the heroes decide that this must be a fake banner, like the one they found in the hidden vault. They continue their exploration of the dungeon.
Through a set of double doors, the companions discover a strange sight. A small dais of steps descends into this oddly shaped chamber, while more stairs lead to the northwest and southeast. Lit candles surround the circle of arcane purpose scribed on the floor. Overhead, the ceiling rises nearly forty feet. A large crystal hangs overhead from a heavy chain, pulsing in the reflected light. A group of goat-like schir demons surround the crystal, engaged in some kind of dark ritual.As they enter the room, one of the schir breaks from the circle to defend the group, so that the others can continue concentrating. Soon, he is joined by his commander-- a tiefling named Chorussina-- who flies above the party casting spells. As Elaryan and Arthas deal with the schir, Nor and Lor take to the sky aboard Xhotl and attack the fiendish sorceress.
Chorussina almosts gains the upper hand when she casts flesh to ooze on Xhotl, causing the halflings to fall to the ground below. But Nor uses his mythic powers to cast a quickened break enchantment, immediately returning his animal companion to her true form, and the enraged velociraptor easily defeats the tiefling.
Meanwhile, between Arthas's holy arrows and Elaryan's mythic fireballs, all of the remaining demons have been defeated. The ritual has been interrupted, and whatever foul purpose Chorussina intended has been thwarted.
Arthas and Elaryan gain 6,000 XP. Nor gains 4,000 XP.