Loki awakes to the sound of stone grinding on stone. He discovers that he is laying in a crude sarcophagus, whose lid is being removed by two boneghoulse. Sitting up, he is greeted by Alderpash: "Rise, Loki, for this sarcophagus of the runelords has made you whole. Now, let us attend to your friends." Alderpash and his ghouls move to and open two other sarcophagi, which lie nearby. Sure enough, they contain Malak and Elaryan. After a few moments, both sit up. Alderpash brings the adventurers up to speed. After the heroes were defeated by Inger-Maggor, the runelord knew he only had a few minutes before the prison's warden arrived. He had his boneghouls hide the companions' bodies in his sarcophagi. Then, when the warden arrived, he convinced her that Inger-Maggor had taken the bodies with him. "It will be a day or two before she discovers my deception," he explains. "So we much move quickly." The heroes begin discuss their plan to defeat Baphomet. Malak-- whose scales have transformed to a stunning green after resurrection-- is particularly adamant that they keep their word and slay the Demon Lord. He chastises Elaryan for having attacke Alderpash, who is clearly an ally. Elaryan pleads confusion. "It is no matter," responds Alderpash. "And I have no doubt you will keep your prmoise to slay Baphomet. The sarcophagi have placed a powerful geas upon you. Now let us turn to tactics..." Alderpash explains that the easiest way to lure Baphomet out of hiding is to kill his new pet, the Herald of Iomedae. The Herald is trapped in a level of the prison known as the tar pits. These can be reached via the teleportation pentragrams, but only by someone holding all five keys of the groaning gate . The party has already obtained one key (from Plorig-Stagul). Another is held by the drow Svendack in her shrine. The remaining three are held by Warden Ylleshka, who can usually be found in her chambers. Alderpash describes all three locations well enough that the party can use the teleportation pentragrams. He also describes a fourth place: the prison vault. This is where Baphomet stores his most valuable treasures, and is almost certainly where the artifacts taken from the party have been hidden. Alderpash has never been to the vault himself, but he is able to describe a nearby teleportation pentragram. The runelord has in fact spent 11,000 years collecting rumors and information, waiting for this day. The party sets off to find a pentragram in the nearby cellblocks. On the way, they encounter two demodand guards dragging the unconscious form of Arthas towards a cell. The heroes immediately attack the guards and defeat them, then return Arthas to consciousness with the staff of healing. They bring the paladin up to speed, then locate a teleportation pentragram in an adjacent hallway. Using the pentragram, the adventures teleport to the vault entry which Alderpash described. They infiltrate thee vault, but not before being sorely tested by its defenses. First, its entry and all of its treasures are protected by a powerful variant of the maze spell, which sends intruders into an extradimensional maze filled with labyrinth minotaurs. Each hero must separately face this challenge before even entering the vault. The vault itself is octagonal room with walls and floor of highly polished ivory, and a domed ceiling which rises to a circular disc bearing a pentagram inscribed with a leering goat’s face. Four ten-foot-square alcoves open off the room, accessible via a few short steps. A golden glow suffuses each alcove, and in each a single object floats about five feet off the ground-- a burning scimitar, a red-bladed glaive, a ball of twine, and a raw, red heart soaking in golden blood. An iron statue of a winged, goat-headed demon stands in the middle of the room. The statue itself is the vault's second defense. It is in fact the Likeness of Baphomet, a unique mythic golem which animates as soon as it detects intruders. Most spells cast in its presence are disrupted, and the arcane energies thus released heal the golem. The heroes are forced to rely on brawn rather than spellcraft. Fortunately, Malak is a capable fighter, particularly in dragon form. Supported by his companions, he engages in hand-to-hand melee, eventually destroying the powerful guardian. Having defeated the golem, the heroes turn to the vault's treasures. In addition to Baphomet's objects (glaive, scimitar, heart, and twine), they discover their own objects on tables nearby. Finally, they have been reunited with Ashbringer , Radiance , the Staff of Groetus , and even Nor's fungal pod ! Everyone who played gains 75,000 XP. Defeating the Likeness of Baphomet is a mythic trial.
