#119 - DM's Addendum

The PCs had saved Irakas from death—or possibly capture, as they had found her unconscious but not slain outright. Her two remaining countrymen could not be saved.

Grateful to be alive, impressed by the PCs' actions, Irakas was nevertheless beyond exhausted. With the Emperor's Key back in her possession and now with the Scepter of Glyphstone in hand, she believed they could safely hole up and keep enemies further at bay. It was clear enough that the Scepter gave her full command of the bronze golem now.

Guiding them back to the hidden chamber beneath the throne where they rested once before, Irakas told them what had transpired since they had left her. She was, meanwhile, a little wary of Izzeth, extremely guarded about Bale, but was instantly accepting of Wynn's presence.

Within a few hours of the PCs' departure, the "green pretender knights" (Irakas's favorite term for the agents of the Emerald Claw) came and confronted her. They tried to bargain with her and asked her to relinquish the throne. She denied them. They left.

A few hours later, they returned and this time threatened her. When she refused, they loosed crossbow bolts at her and her guards. The attacks were foiled, but the attack prompted the golem to act. It slew one before they retreated.

Hours passed. The next morning, the Blood of Vol cleric came to the throne room with an entourage of knights and the shambling remains of several goblins, hobgoblins, and even a bugbear. He explained that they were taking the dar (general term for goblinoids in the Goblin tongue), slaying them, and raising them to serve the "new master of Glyphstone Keep," Lord Trazzen. They would cease doing so if Irakas gave up the throne and met with Trazzen to form a truce. She refused to negotiate. They departed.

Several hours later the golem sprang into motion, detecting something she could not see. Then she saw a figure appear, who then moved back away from the golem's reach. A pale-skinned hobgoblin in ancient Dhakaani armor. She understood this was the Trazzen of legend, the Governor of Paluur who made a pact with demons long ago ostensibly to save his city from the invasion of Xoriat but who became a vampire instead and fed upon his own people. She was terrified of him but refused to give in to him. They spoke calmly, one hobgoblin to another, but his offer was the same: If she agreed to work with him, he would share ownership of Glyphstone with her and eventually give it to her wholly when his work was finished. He spoke of Breland and all the "stolen lands" taken back from humankind, of Darguun rising up again from the ashes of Dhakaani, of a new age where all enemies of the dar would be slain or transformed. Irakas refused him. Calmly, he departed, but not before pulling back the curtain to reveal a disturbing number of allies and undead minions. She was most sickened by sight of the dolgaunts and dolgrims—former dar twisted by Xoriat's madness long ago. That Trazzen would allow such abominations to walk within Glyphstone's halls revealed his depravity. He may not have created them, but he abides them.

Many more hours passed. Another figure appeared: a hobgoblin who appeared to be her own father. Refusing to believe it, she refused to even speak with the apparition. Then the illusion fell away to reveal a rakshasa in its true form—that of a humanoid with tiger-like features. The fiend did not give his name, though she didn't believe this was Avashad, the rakshasa lord whom the PCs had named as their primary enemy. Perhaps it was one of his servants.

The fiend didn't bother speaking with her further, but he did perform some manner of short ritual. Irakas's guards loosed their crossbow bolts at the rakshasa, hoping to at least interrupt him, but they rebounded without harming him at all. When he finished, the fiend approached the pyramid and started walking up the stairs towards Irakas and the throne. The golem didn't move to defend her. When he had demonstrated this, the rakshasa stopped, laughed, and turned away. He left without further action. But ever since, the golem had been unresponsive.

Finally, a few hours later the Blood of Vol cleric and the Emerald Claw knights arrived and attacked —and the golem did not defend. That is when the PCs arrived, though too late to prevent the death of her countrymen.

Irakas requested some time with the Scepter they had recovered. Afterwards, and nearly at the point of collapse, she explained that if properly rested she would be able to use its power to effect the following:

• Command goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears should any be encountered within Glyphstone's halls. This could not extend beyond death.
• Command the golem, not only to defend to but exit the throne room and fights as needed. She can even instruct it to obey the commands of her allies.
• Grant each nongoblinoid ally (such as the PCs!) with one of the following enhancements for 10 minutes:
• The might of a bugbear (Strength 17, +3 mod) and darkvision 60 ft.
• The agility of a goblin spy (Dexterity 17, +3 mod), a bonus action that can only be used to Disengage, and darkvision 60 ft.
• The valor of a hobgoblin (+1 on Wis saving throws), an additional 1d6 extra damage made with weapon attacks against enemies within 5 ft. of another ally, and darkvision 60 ft.
• Teleport anyone from the throne room to anywhere else within one of the four levels of Glyphstone Keep below ground—but only where the chambers are intact. Such as the very chamber where the Rumdhal Cauldron is housed (and guarded).
• Sense the presence of all living creatures within Glyphstone Keep, both above ground and below.
• Lock or unlock any doors within Glyphstone Keep, even remotely.

Lastly, she has become aware of an aberration that was trapped in stasis by Glyphstone's rulers just before the famous siege that ended its reign. Known as a spectator, it is a beholder-kin but one that could not be commanded by its original masters. Irakas believes with the Scepter she can release it, bargain with it, and possibly even gain its assistance.

Irakas knew nothing of the Rumdhal Cauldron so she cannot speak to its status. She has not the strength or magical resources to fight yet. If the PCs are willing to rest (long rest), she will help in ousting their enemies. She suggests that the golem is powerful enough to help destroy the Rumdhal Cauldron. Only magical weapons can harm the golem, it is resistant or impervious to most other forms of magic.

Of course, waiting means uncertainty. According to the oni Sarrel, the batch of sludge—which they call the Mire of True Hunger—that is being brewed intended to be sent to the city of Sharn isn't finished. He seemed to think it would take some time, but he could not be sure.

The PCs must decide what to do next.

Additional thoughts and questions for them:

• Will Aleae explain anything to Opal, the faerie dragon she conjured with the Wand of Wonder? The little dragon knows next to nothing about politics and geography of Eberron. She does, however, dislike evil and "mean things."
• Irakas does not know the state of the entrance by which the party first entered, except to say that she cannot imagine it would go unguarded all this time.
• The only places where Cypher could try and loose the final messenger would be the way they came (if it is accessible) or the surface-level area where the PCs had met Elidac and his wizard companions. 
• Irakas has no knowledge of Elidac at all, only what the PCs tell her of him. She remembers the legend of his coming here but nothing more. She is certainly interested to know more.
• Irakas has no knowledge of the goblinoids outside the Glyphstone Keep. Even with the Scepter she will only be able to detect those within the halls.
• Irakas does not know why Trazzen has not tried harder to remove her. She suspects that though he is a hobgoblin like her, only a living heir of Dhakaan can access the power of the throne and thereby the keep itself. She thinks he simply wishes to use his powers of domination to make a puppet of her. She seemed to be resistant to that while on the throne and/or in possession of the Emperor's Key.
• It was roughly a day ago that Trazzen came to confront her. When he departed and she saw some of his minions, she saw nearly forty undead creatures—most of them were ghouls, a mixture of human and hobgoblin—a half dozen dolgaunts, and a score of gnolls. She knew more had laired below. 
• She knows very little about rakshasas, but seems to fear them more than all the rest.

According to what Bale has already explained, the Rumdhal Cauldron has been the project that Trazzen has overseen—he was given this task by the rakshasa. Once the Cauldron is ready (and is has been now for a short time), batches of this substance they call the Mire of True Hunger take time to brew. Already the first batch has been sent out somewhere, Bale does not know where. The second batch is the one intended for Sharn, and the question remains: how long before that one is ready? Bale has no idea how how Avashad's minions intend to transport the Mire. The third batch is intended for some point in northern Breland near the Aundairian border. The fourth batch is intended for Wroat itself.

Izzeth is not aware of any seals made in Glyphstone by the Gatekeepers. The aberrations that they've encountered are concerning but do not appear to be in great numbers. When Glyphstone was under siege by the armies of the daelkyr Belashyrra, the hobgoblins rigged many traps of their own. As they secreted away as many of their people as they could, the rest of the hobgoblins sacrificed themselves, allowed the monsters to enter the keep, and then unleashed their traps. Many were simply crushed to death by collapsed halls (especially in the upper portions of the keep), while much of the dungeon level was maintained. Others might have just been buried alive, and it seems some might have just been trapped in some kind of stasis. According to Irakas, the spectator is one of these.

Izzeth's Gatekeeper lore provides him with some limited knowledge of spectators. They are a species of lesser beholder native to the plane of Xoriat, but when they came to Eberron their masters' dominion over them simply dissolved. They are curious creatures known to be less malevolent by far than their cousins. Some spectators were still persuaded to join the invasion against the people of Khorvaire, but some simply wandered off and made their own lairs. Specators are aberrations, alien to this world, but even the Gatekeepers know they are not as a whole considered a great threat. One theory among the druids is that the influence of Eberron herself might have counter-corrupted them and made them more like terrestrial creatures. Specators are fairly intelligent, possess eye rays and the ability to reflect magic, and have a proclivity to protect things. Preferably treasure of some kind. There are old stories that even Clarion, Cypher, Aleae, and Bale have heard of wizards of "befriending" little beholder-kins and coercing them to guard their valuables. Such stories might have been referring to spectators.

Wynn knows the most about vampire lore simply because the undead have become part of Karrnathi folklore. Mostly it is skeletons and zombies they know about, but it's an open secret that more powerful, intelligent forms of undead can be found within the ranks of the Blood of Vol cult, vampires among them. 

• She knows that sunlight can make a vampire extremely vulnerable—and if exposed to it directly for long enough it can even kill them. 
• Running water is said to be able to harm vampires like acid.
• A wooden stake can paralyze (but not kill) a vampire.
• If "slain" by normal means a vampire will simply dissolve into mist and retreat, likely to seek out its resting place.
• A vampire has a resting place—traditionally a crypt of some kind where earth from its native land surrounds it. If the vampire is denied access to this resting place for long enough, it will be destroyed. Even if it reaches it, it is vulnerable for a short time until it regenerates its form.

Bale is able to describe and sketch out the layout of the chamber where the Cauldron resides, and where he saw some of its guardians—but there is no guarantee that it will all be the same when going there now. He knows of some nearby rooms where he believes Trazzen may have chosen to reside while overseeing the project.

• The only constant guards is the "bone naga," the creature that is almost certainly what Arafin's mate has become—a fully skeletal creature. It typically remains coiled in one corner and does not slither about as a living naga would. Whether it is intelligent or mindless, he does not know.
• Boneclaws he knows are among Katashka's favorite form of guard. They are horrific ogre-sized creatures formed by some variety of ogre stock and tortured into an undead state. Their deadly claws have an unnatural reach. Magnus and Cypher have faced some of them before (it is likely Wolaf and Claviger were slain by such). Bale only saw two of them guarding the Cauldron.
• Somewhere due south of the Cauldron are a series of chambers where Bale was not shown, but he knows that various undead creatures have been housed there—to keep them separate from the gnolls to avoid any conflicts between them. Mostly these are zombies and ghouls, likely of considerable number.

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The Rumdhal Cauldron itself is a construction of stone more resembling a stylized stone pillar than a traditional soup cauldron. It is a cylinder approximately fifteen feet in diameter carved with ancient Abyssal runes and is something of a puzzle box, for parts of it slide apart. Although it is made of stone, it is an ancient magical device that predates the Dhakaani Empire itself. Mere attempts to smash it may not succeed, but anyone with knowledge of magic can attempt to examine it to determine weaknesses.