Michael

Group seems split between more explore and going back to the lich. If it helps, the DM thinks the latter a good idea.

I Don't think the lich can provide you Sydney real estate.

Also, there's no initial zapping or other untoward effects from picking up the very magical sceptre which contains auras from many schools, necromancy, conjuration and evocation being the strongest.

, and others thinking of nicking the sceptre and going home, remember:

Good grief, I go off to erect a greenhouse for a couple of days and come back to... I'm not going to pick a side here. Up until right now I had thought both of you were enjoying the exchange and characters. I hop you can get to the handshake part and move on.

somone's gonna have to do something actionable!

Carmine fires off just enough of a blast to take out the third enemy, leaving 1. Emboldened by the sudden improvement in numbers, the remaining fiends, well, Kerapsis, Brandisher and Nizell, surround the final undead goblin and eliminate it. Combat Over given a chance to look around the room, the fiends see the ancient remains of some kind of fire pit in the centre, the stone altar with the sceptre on it just south of that, and the remain of come kind of cell or cage against the south wall. There are another 4 exists from the room.

Carmine grazes one, Brandisher almost kills another. Kerapsis brawn in this round is sadly no better than his brain the round before. Nizell continues to slice and dice, taking out another. The two remaining enemy tear some strips off Brandisher, who nevertheless remains upright. Your turns.

Will do.

Nizell strikes true with her sword and tail, downing one of the enemy. Kerapsis' divine might once again proves to not be very mighty. One of the creatures has a flurry of attack against Brandisher, with one connecting, another hits Kerapsis twice, and the last one moves up to Nizell and scores a solid hit. Note I misrolled, the one that moved up only gets one attack, not 3. Your turns (doesn't matter if you are last in this round or first in next)

Correction: Molgrug ignores the dire peril facing his work colleagues, and instead tugs futilely at the shard. He realises there is another force in play apart from ice, because it does not budge, nor can the thing layer of ice on the shard or the creature be chipped. Carmine backpedals and fires off a bolt which goes wide. ROUND 2: Brandisher steps up into the gap left by Carmine, and get a solid hit on one of the critters. Actions from Kerapsis and Nizell

Kerapsis attempts to exert supernatural control over the twisted undead, but fails. Nizell lays down some strategic grease, causing one of the critters to fall over. Brandisher rushes in and appraises the situation. The creatures rush to attack, and though they run through the grease they are not affected by it. The one that fell prone managing to get upright as well. The smushed up goblins claw and scratch on arrival. It is clear to the fiends that there's enough working brains left in the binary undead critters that they can probably swing quite a few limbs given the chance, which is a worry, given how well they swung just the one. Carmine takes 8, Kerapsis 7. Sceptre is on altar north adjacent to Kerapsis+critter Actions from Molgrug and Carmine.

Need you to finish your WIP for round 1 mate.

It was (iced over)

Kerapsis pushes through the next door along, and discovers the creatures making the gibbering. They are foul, misshapen lumps, looking like two goblins that somehow got mushed together and then were slow roasted over a fire. They have 4 arms, 2-4 legs, and a large lumpy head with 2 mouths and 2-4 eyes. They hold crude weapons in each hand. A rotten smell exudes from them suggesting that on top of everything else that must have been done to them, they have also been turned into undead. The south half of the room holds an altar upon which rests an ornate black-silver sceptre. The gibbering undead multigoblins attack! Roll init with your next post, have an action if you beat monster init of 13

roll20 suggest it already happened, so... Also everything you can see on roll20 is correct.

It's door openin' time.

The room to the north is bare, the room to the south contains an ancient forge, which...well relative to the rest of this complex, hasn't fared too badly in time's embrace. A lump of metal sits on an anvil, it's silvery hue and slightly magical aura suggesting it might be mithril, and as such worth something to someone with smithing skills. Nizell can hear some voices beyond the door, although it sounds more like meaningless gibbering than speech.

I'm interstate for Easter, which FYI in Australia is a 4 day holiday.

Alrighty, thanks for playing. I will keep the character as an NPC if that is OK, as back up firepower when needed.

A quick investigation shows the door to the east wont open, despite some effort. It seems likely that it is blocked from the other side The door to the west opens easily enough...well, once the ice is chipped away. A plain long corridor extends to the west. The ice from the current room has permeated to beyond the door, but runs out after a few yards.

If Dash'ken is aware of the internecine squabble between the fiends, he gives no sign. Of course being frozen solid and basically incapable of giving any sign at all helps in that regard. In response to Carmine's question he responds This is an infused shard, a device of my own design, a Khyber shard infused with energies of Xoriat. I had hoped to leverage the binding properties of Khyber shards to bind one of the Daelkyr. Sadly, I was betrayed just as I was finishing the incantation of its creation, hence my current predicament. After a pause he continues Who knows what powerful magics it is capable of? Ordinarily it would hold pride of place in my treasure vault. However, given my current circumstance, I would consider a swap. For, say, a certain sceptre?

The creature responds with the same raspy telepathic tone I can sense the sceptre somewhere deeper in this complex. The other items I do not know but returning the sceptre will increase my power and then I may be able to perceive them. As for the Daelkyr, the ancient enemy, they are creatures of ageless madness. Those not banished back to their home sphere of Xoriat are imprisoned deep with Eberron herself. Pray to your gods you do not meet them, they destroyed my kingdom. You receive a series of mental images of bizarre, even by fiendish standards, creatures that resemble nothing you have seen before.

With Carmine acting as intermediary translator, the group listens telepathically to the frozen figure as it goes through the stages of grief...denial, anger...more denial, and then some more anger, as it comes to terms with having being out of touch with the world for several millennia. It's thoughts come thick and fast, and assume a rich understanding of a long dead era, which none of you have. Clearly ages ago this land was ruled by goblins, who waged a war with some kind of extra planar creatures..not fiends, something else.. and at some stage during that Dash'ken was betrayed and imprisoned. Eventually Carmine is able to get a thought in edge-ways into the vitriolic diatribe, causing the creature to pause for several minutes. It then says in a more measured mental tone I need my regalia returned to me. Sceptre, orb, crown. I am sure there is a currency I can use as payment that will interest you, be it riches, knowledge or power.

Pretty sure we moved it down, everyone is using it. With a language barrier it looks good to me at 2