After entirely too much time wasted, waiting for all of my players to be able to get together again, we seem to be able to begin again. Next week, we have a new player come in to fil the void left by X37's player.
They flip the hidden switch inside the crypt spoken of by the priest, then travel down the sloping hallway for hundreds of feet past many doors on the left side and alcoves with running fountains. While walking, one three of the fountains begin releasing a large water elemental. The three elementals speak of the node being damaged and must be protected. They attack, and are taken out over a few rounds without doing much to the party (fire mage & beguiler hide behind illusions).
After a time, the right side finally has an opening, leading up a 100' of stairs behind a large waterfall. At the peak is a warded door, where Tow speaks the password. Inside is a 20' square chapel in honor to the element of water. At this point, a trap is set off; closing the door and casting raise water on the low level of water in the room. Surprised, they try to hold their breath and Marshal dispels the effect. After half a minute, Tow figures out that six rounds after at least 10 tons weigh on the floor a pit trap opens up. Disabling the trap, they enter the pit w/slide.
At the bottom of the slide they find themselves on the shore of a vast underground lake, near a skiff. Kast hears faint chanting away from the shore. A bonfire is made to better illuminate, showing an ashworm resting on an island. Upon the center of the island is an open ceiling temple made of solid water and a teal beam of light in the center, flickering into the color of salt.
They ride the skiff towards the center and try to stop the Dark Knight of the Thirsting Dune (level 8 orc ghoul knight) from attuning the node towards the Hungering Maw. He was guarded by a water mephit and an advanced dessicator (large size). It was a fairly long fight, with the mephit taken out quickly through miser's envy (taking the salt crystal focus for the ritual). The dessicator was killed first, the ashworm mount was frightened from Marshal's terrible shout ability. Finally, Marshal was killed by the knight's melee attack due to two consecutive rounds of not getting hit (Marshal being his challenge).
Before they could figure out what to do, the mephit returned long enough to throw and shatter the salt crystal near the pillar of light. This released all of the energy being focused from the node, which shifted toward the Hungering Maw for a few moments before resorting back to the Empire of the Sun. Because it was so short, it instead went towards the ashworm (a spawn from the maw), which began to mutate it. It grew to the edge of gargantuan before burrowing out of sight, its scales lengthened and darkened into almost quill-like things, its teeth increased in number then transformed into rubbery arms, and deep in the center of its mouth an eye began to form with a most terrible gaze.
Not sure what to do, they took the corpse of Marshal and made their way to the Emerald Oracle to ask for aid from Auzrha in raising him. We leave off here, as there's a chance that the player for Marshal might decide to let himself stay dead and try a new character. Also, they assumed that I would let the rules for level loss remain with raise dead and similar.
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