The Fane of Eclavdra

• Deadana - a Gnomish warrior, whose fighting prowess is only matched by her capacity to eat.
• Lars - a Dwarven priest of dry wit, he taunts his enemies from behind impregnable defenses
• Philia - a determined, mercurical Elven priestess, skilled with bow and spell
• Sir Robert - an Orcish barbarian with a strong moral compass
• Tespin - a deep Gnomish rogue, unseen and deadly to the hated Drow
• Thorir - an Elven wizard practiced in dark arts
• Sir William - a shinning paladin, glib of tongue and misunderstood by his companions

They party assembled at the Styx Oarsman after returning from the Abyss. (What has gone before.) They reported to Rule-of-Three that they had successfully met with the Ambassador of Orcus. Too bad they had to slay him in the process. They enjoyed one last meal (their last meal?) at the Styx Oarsman. Sir William declared that he was ready for the final sacrifice. He would give his soul to make sure the mission would succeed. The Maralith barkeep then came by with the bill. She said that she would accept a human soul as payment instead of remuneration and smiled at Sir William. 

After a good meal and some rest, the party set out for the Fane of Lolth. The Fane of Lolth contains a gate that would allow them to enter the Demonweb. At the gate to the flying bridge across the Pitchy Flow, the female gate guards blocked their way. Sir William put his considerable diplomatic skill to use and convinced the commander, Jylis, that their mission was of utmost importance and that they required an escort to the Fane of Lolth. Jylis ordered 10 Drow to provide escort and lead them across herself. 

The Drow took them past the villas of the noble families of Erelhei-Cinlu and into the narrow gap leading to the Fane of Lolth. The traveled past many a disgusting bas-relief, undoubtedly carved by a Dwarven slave. They passed through temples and eventually reached the Fane of Lolth. Their they were stopped by one of the priestesses. Sir William needed only to hold up the invitation from Lolth herself, steaming and dripping evil blackness, and the priestess did her best to speed them on their way. They passed through a portal and into the Demonweb in the Abyss.

The part found themselves in a tunnel made of spider silk, thicker than others in some places. When one looked closer at the silk it seemed to be woven from the tortured souls. The tunnel stretched through the endless gloom suspended in space. Beyond the tunnel they could make out other strands stretching through the infinite darkness. At once they came upon an invisible door, made of some hard metal. They could see the tunnel stretch on beyond. Using Lars' keen senses, he could make out the holy symbol of Lolth, Demon Queen of Spiders. Between himself and Lars, they determined that without the key, they could only open the door by painting Lolth's holy symbol with the lifeblood on a sentient being. All eyes once again turned to Sir William. Lars remembered that they still had a resurrection spell on one of his scrolls from Mousurrian. Sir William called upon the powers of his god and grew to 10 feet tall.  Overflowing with holy might he began hammering away at the invisible barrier with his magic sword. Sparks and burning chunks of metal blazed around him as he hammered away at the barrier. After almost two minutes, the barrier collapsed under his onslaught.

They journeyed on for what seemed miles. The tunnel seemed to be heading for a giant rock suspended in space. They arrived at the face of the rock to be confronted with a secret door, from the unsecret side. Tespin listened at the door and heard Drow talking about the proper way to hold ceremonies. Sir William nonchalantly opened the door and entered. The party found a small keep inside the rock, like a castle inside an egg. They had opened the door onto a richly decorated courtyard. He began interviewing one of the Drow priestess. He soon found out that they were in the Fane of Eclavdra. "Eclavdra! What luck!", though Sir William. He immediately demanded that Eclavdra show herself and suffer punishment for her crimes, namely, having her head removed by his sword. Eclavdra did indeed put in an appearance, hitting Sir William with a maximized Flame Strike and a quickened Destruction spell. Sir William made his way toward Eclavdra while the others dealt with the other priestesses and their guards. Philia was blinded by one of the priestess. She summoned a celestial riding dog to help her see. Tespin fought the first few Drow that were by the door, but then he was being stalked by a swarm of 10,000 spiders. They kept crawling all over him, sickening him. Lars summoned a Griffon to distract Eclavdra, while he and Deadana dealt with some of the Drow. Sir William grew to giant size and leaped up the wall to face Eclavdra in personal combat.

Battling Drow in the Fane of Eclavdra

To be continued...