Episode 26, "Along The Path Of Temptation"

Having defeated the invisible servant guarding the throne room door in the Tomb of Urzaan, the heroes inch up the stairway to listen-in. Their ears are keen this time, and they pick up a whole lot of useful information from three Order mages conversing on the other side. The Order has been closely guarding the secret of Dralek, the dracolich terrorizing the countryside, for over two centuries now and are scrambling to try and figure out how to handle him now that he's reclaimed his soul (thanks, Doc). They discuss the potential of framing the heroes for Dralek's rampage, and then toy with the idea of retrieving the soul of an old and powerful sorcerer from a demon on the Abyssal plane to begin the process of destroying the dragon itself when Fhasys decides to try and open the door. A trap triggers, zapping the rogue with a dose of lightning, and Vyreth dispels whatever magic might be lingering around the door itself.

The door-fiddling alerts the Order mages on the other side who steel themselves for a fight. Some words are exchanged through the door and finally, cautiously, the heroes file into the throne room to talk to the mages. Talos takes up the lead as ambassador for his party and speaks with the mages in Elven. In a strange turn of events, it turns out that the mages and Talos share a common goal--to find and destroy the sorcerer, Wishram's soul, for good. (Wishram is Talos' ex-master, now enslaved by the demon Yzztlach due to an unfortunate turn of events quite some time ago). Fhasys, once again, finds the general high-and-mighty attitude of the Elven mages to be abnoxious as best and she tries to stir the pot a bit... But, cooler heads prevail. They discuss the varied dangers of the Abyssal plane for a bit and then make their way back to the portal room.

The new group teleport to the Abyssal plane, a dark and foreboding landscape, and immediately spot their destination--a softly illuminated grove of twisted, petrified trees perched on the ledge of the humongous floating chunk of rock on which they stand. Along the way, each hero stumbles upon a rare magical item placed conspicuously in plain-view, clean and sparkling as if fresh out of the shop. Sendil, the head of the mage trio, points out that Yzztlach is a galbrezu--a demon who feeds off of tempting mortals into their own destruction. Despite cautions aired by the Order mages, the heroes snatch-up their new trinkets and store them for future identification.

As the heroes near the grove, a cacophony of screeching and squawking fills their ears. Dozens of strange, black silhouettes dangle and perch among the branches of the grove; some seeming hybrid of monkeys and giant vultures. The soft glow spotted from the portal door also comes into focus, revealing large glowing baubles hanging from the tree limbs here and there. While the heroes contemplate a surprise attack, the mages caution to keep a cooler head as they have a history in dealing with Yzztlach that they do not want to tarnish. The heroes acquiesce and the lot moves into the grove.

The vrocks in the trees above seemingly pay no notice to the passers-by as they travel through an archway made of petrified branches toward the sounds of a woman pleading for help on the other side. Once they clear the grove, the party arrives at a rocky ledge overlooking an abyss and another floating hunk of rock some 20' out on which stands a solitary, bedraggled woman. Vyreth immediately recognizes the woman as Varishna, his lost love, and teleports over to the rock for a teary and happy reunion. With their final prize accepted, the demon Yzztlach makes an appearance.

Sendil and the Order mages fire an opening volley of respect and reverence to the demon, but things quickly start coming off the rails when he suggests that they must sacrifice both Wishram's soul AND Varishna to Dralek's shade in order to defeat him. The mages had assumed only the soul was necessary, but begrudgingly accept the new marching orders. The heroes, on the other hand, start to question this entire scenario from the ground-up. As they debate, Doc asks what they need to do for the bauble around Yzztlach's neck and the demon asks for a "sacrifice" from each group. When asked to clarify, the demon dances around the subject--clearly believing himself to be in the position of power. Faerun decides to volunteer herself for the exchange and steps toward the abyss willingly, but amidst the debate within the hero circle Talos looses a lightning bolt squarely at Yzztlach. Combat ensues.

Faerun, realizing the gravity of the situation at-hand, pleads with the heroes to stop their attack while Sendil and Jorun (the other two mages) argue about making a move vs. surrendering on the spot. The demon sprouts wings and flies into the middle of the group, then proceeds to casually grapple and pummel Talos into unconsciousness. Not a good sign. The others take notice and begin to worry that perhaps they're in over their heads. Still, the attacks from the party continue. Fhasys decides to make a persuasive attempt to convince the mages to side with them, and does so successfully. With their new-found confidence, the mages loose a fireball and volley of magic missiles at Yzztlach with little effect. A small flock of vrocks begins to form above the petrified grove and several swoop in using their terrifying screeches to stun... everyone. Vyreth rushes over to Talos' aid as the vrocks begin lashing out with their beaks and claws. A heavy feeling of dread descends upon the party as Sendil prepares for his next attack.