Mount Calathon

Polyxena Thanaphe was quite possibly the most annoying person I had ever had the unfortune of meeting, and that included all the brainless warriors that make up the majority of Kord’s followers. She did nothing but complain as we made our way from Mason’s Rock to Mount Calathon. First it was that we didn’t bring her silks and other treasures with us as we fled the city. Then we heard all about how she had been mistreated by her keepers and how we were continuing this trend of mistreatment. After she grew bored of that subject, she moaned on about how tired she was. When we finally reached the base of the mountain and were forced to abandon our mounts, she complained about the state of her shoes and how tired she was.

Around dark the party decided to stop and set up camp. The holy aura surrounding the mountain was irritating to any creature of devil or demon decent, meaning the tieflings of Vertinia. This was a bit of luck for the Order, since it meant we wouldn't have to be worried about any of the locals coming across us by accident. Unfortuneatly, it was also giving Yvala, Vixi, and the princess major headaches, so they sat while the rest of us went about our tasks. Markas set up a perimeter, I built a fire, and Kalena and Kyri set about preparing supper. When Kyri gave Polyxena her pie, the snotty brat turned her nose up at it. “I want her to go and find me something,” she said haughtily pointing at me. Tired and thoroughly disgusted with her behavior all day, I rolled my eyes and replied back, “Are you insane? I'm a cleric, not a ranger. I wouldn't know poisonous mushroom from a safe one if I depended on it. So unless you feel like retesting my healing skills, I suggest you eat what the ranger gives you.” The princess scowled at me before storming off in a fuss to the edge of the firelight. I slumped down next to Yvala. “Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut and just fed her the mushrooms around here. At least, then he mouth would be too swollen to talk.” Yvala snickered and gave me what might have been a smile.

Not a minute later, a scream arose from Polyxena’s direction. Two shadowhunter bats were swooping down at her as dark creepers popped up from the bushes. We made quick work of the beasts, once we figured out that they could do less damage to us if we remained within the ring of light thrown by the campfire. And once again, Polyxena threw bolts of green fire about without having any recollection of doing so afterwards. At the end of the skirmish, Kyri grabbed the brat by her arm and slammed her down next to the fire. “Move from this spot, and we’ll let them take you,” she threatened. Thankfully, the rest of the night was uneventful.

We broke camp just after dawn and were able to reach the peak by midmorning. The temple itself was surrounded by a shimmering twisting grove that threw off an eerie silver and blue light. Circles of blue lightning danced across the surface and we could see portions of the maze rearranging itself. But before we could approach the grove, a set of spectral guardians rose from the ground. They launched themselves at our party but our fighting skills were more than a match for the spirits.

Kalena and Vixi used their knowledge of the arcane to bring us safely through the maze in less than half an hour. Once on the other side, we were able to see the temple in its full glory. Though overgrown and uncared for, the temple had once been a glorious place. A large dark pool was surrounded by rock columns glowing with the mark of Corellon. We approached the pool carefully; as we did the water began to bubble and roll. A black dragon the size of a horse splashed out of the pool and howled. The fight was long and quite frankly frustrating. The coward kept releasing a cloud of magical darkness that it kept hiding in. In the end, either frustrated or bored, it flew off, leaving us to explore the temple and call Aelerion. We opened the locket and set it on a rock near the pool as cool blue light spilled forth from its face.

This time, instead of appearing as a five year old boy, Aelerion appeared as a boy of 9 or 10 with wings sprouting from his back and a bow and quiver of arrows at his side. I noticed a large linen bag slung over his left shoulder. He landed on the ground next to the party and clasped his hands together excitedly. “Great, you made it here! Now we can get the princess ready for her special day.” Polyxena preened at the angel’s words. Aelerion ignored her and continued speaking to the party. “You see, Tiamat’s forces are spread pretty thin on this world. You saw the bulk of them during the invasion of Perinor. Now she’s looking for allies herself, and plans to enter into a divine duality with another evil god, similar to the duality that Corellon and Sehanine shared many centuries ago. This will bolster her power, expand her sphere of influence, and allow her to take over more of the world, Perinor included. But we’re going to stop that.” At this point he smiled wickedly and looked over Polyxena for the first time.

“You see, Polyxena here isn’t the one we need. This deposed tiefling heir is actually an avatar of Zariel, the devil princess who Tiamat threw out of hell when she took over Avernus, the first plane of Hell. I’m here to offer her a chance at revenge by entering into the duality herself, thereby blocking Tiamat’s union. But for the god to be interested in changing his wedding plans, the princess must first possess his heart…” Aelerion trailed off and reached for his bag. With morbid fascination, I watched as he pulled out a desiccated, still-beating human heart. “This is the heart of Vecna. I think you know what to do,” he said with a wink.

As a one, we turned to Polyxena. Her skin had blanched and with an “Eeep!” she turned on a heel and ran for the shimmering maze. “Oh hell no!” I said aloud as I gave chase. Out of the corners of my eyes, I could see Kalena and Yvala – the other two members of the party that had been mistreated as much as myself - running after the girl as well. Yvala caught up first, and tackled the girl to the ground. A spell apiece from Kalena and myself knocked the brat unconscious. Grabbing Polyxena under each arm, we dragged her back to the alter stone by the pool. We laid the girl out on the stone and someone commented on the situation. “Should we really be cutting this girl’s heart out?” Setting my face and gripping her arm harder, I replied, “We’re in the middle of a divine war. Sometimes hard choices have to be made. And this one is for the good of Perinor. Now cut.” I looked at Aelerion as I said the last part.

Aelerion made quick work of replacing the girl’s heart with the Heart of Vecna. He motioned for us to release our hold and magically healed the incision. As we did, Polyxena transformed into her true form. She grew to a height of ten feet, bat wings sprouted from her back and her horns became more prominent on her forehead. With a smile she traced the scar down her chest, smiled, and vanished. Marcas looked at the location she had disappeared from and said, “Wow, not even a thank you.” Yvala looked at him incredulously and said “Not killing us was her thank you.”