Halle , Naivara , Rhogar , Titus , and Varis mounted their flying beasts and left the fallen hill giants behind them. From the skies they continued to follow Varram the White 's trail through the Serpent Hills . Their only other notable encounter on this journey through the hills was an old Netherese shrine dedicated to Amaunator , an ancient god of order, the sun, law, and time. It had been defaced long ago but still stood tall as a notable landmark and safe area. Titus noted that the symbol for Amaunator he saw here was also worn by the priests of Lathandar he had recently interacted with. After two days of travel through the Serpent Hills, the trail of the wyrmspeaker and his companions led the group to ruins of an ancient town nestled into a canyon between two bluffs. Among the ruins was a fresh firepit, several recently dug graves, and two large cracked statues standing in the courtyard. Investigations revealed signs of combat against trolls living in a well beneath a ruined fountain, near the firepit. The group could see a ladder leading up to an entrance carved into the cliff side. They left Rhogar to watch the Wyvrens while they approached it. The two statues reacted to their approach and turned, asking them if they sought knolwedge or wisdom from Diderius . The first non-commital answer given by Halle prompted them to reset with no response, but the group backtracked and re-approached them to give a more appropriate answer, to which the statues responded with a warning to heed Diderius and show proper respect. At the entrance to Diderius's tomb they could see the weathered detail of strange, othworldly scenes carved into the stone all around them. Most were too weathered to see any of the detail anymore, but four could be made out. A humongous dracon stood upright in front of a swirling vortex of energy, wings spread wide, while trails of energy flowed through the skies towards him. Facing off against him was a female necromancer. She was commanding the undead warriors swarming the streets to all move towards the dragon. Seven heroes surrounded and fought a giant lich while arcane energy swirled all around. One spike of energy jutted from the lich's right eye, while another was being jammed into its ribcage by one of the heroes. The lich was roaring in rage and pain. A massive army surrounded a dark temple with five towers. Smoke and ash choked the sky. The five-headed dragon goddess Tiamat flew triumphantly over the battlefield. The army was clearly emboldened by her presence. There was no one left to oppose them. A tall obilesk frozen in ice frameed the entrance to the tomb, connecting to all the scenes, waiting to be discovered. Inside the tomb they saw the remnants of illusion magic which tried and failed to mask the passage of time. The first chamber had hooded statues lining the walls. As the group entered the voice of the statues could be heard telling them to look away, which they did as they walked through. In the second chamber a Chimera made of tiles rose up from the detailed mosaic on the floor to defend the tomb, but Varis successfully dispelled the magic animating it and caused the tiles to crash lifelessly back to the floor. A northern chamber, marked "safe" in chalk by previous explorers, contained several packs and bedrolls, a connection to the well beneath the ruins, and a troth with a sluice to send water somewhere. The troth was filled and the sluice activated a couple times with no apparant effect, but not before Naivara noticed the water removed from the well seemed to evaporate unnaturally fast, due to the transmutation magic which permeated the tomb. To the south was a trapped passage - a large boulder made of bones rose from the floor to roll down the passage and grasp at the party both times they triggered it. After the second time, the trigger was clearly marked and Varis told them instead of a hidden panel in the wall he had previously noticed. Once revealed, it turned out to be an old dumbwaiter shaft. Naivara unceremoneously shook Furgus from her cloak in order to fit easier down the dumbwaiter shaft, and this ruffled him a bit and caused him to take to traveling with Varis instead. The shaft led to another passage below, from where they could see a room with a closed door at one end and another room filled with waiting bearded devils at the other. The group bantered with the Devils briefly - just long enough to gather that they were waiting there on orders from Varram the White, but their true allegiance was to Zariel in Avernus. The group tried to provoke a reaction by telling them about Lord Volmer , but when that didn't work they simply rushed in to attack. In short order the Devils were forcibly returned to Avernus. With the room cleared out, and knowledge that Varram the White was somewhere inside this tomb still, the party prepared to take a short rest before exploring further. At game start it is 21 Nightal in the Year of the Warrior Princess .
