Mission Statement, Part 3

Azkadelia (mounted), Lim’Dul, and Little Rock enter the cave.  They meet a guard at the door, but Azkadelia convinces him that she’s here for the flame crystal ceremony, and he lets them pass.  Azkadelia ties up her horse.  On the other side of the cave, Optimus and Nyridius enter from their “shortcut.”  They, too, find a guard.  Rather than rely on their diplomacy skills, however, they take him out quietly without alerting the others.

Inside the main chamber, Windsor is leading a ritual for the flame crystal and the power that it will give him and the cultists. 

Optimus causes a slight interruption when he tosses a photon grenade at Windsor’s feet, blowing him across the room.  The cultists are immediately all over him, and he takes a severe beating from them.  Optimus’ allies rush in to assist him, and a proper battle erupts.  Azkadelia, Lim’Dul, Little Rock, and Nyridius make short work of the cultists while Optimus sprints forward to utilize his venus-fly-trap attack on Windsor, fatally wounding him.  Windsor, spilling his intestines, crawls helplessly on the floor.

The battle becomes much more challenging, however, when the cultists consume small pieces of the flame crystal.  Their bodies erupt in flame, giving them enhanced powers and stamina.  They teleport around the area, shooting pillars of flame from their hands and charring everyone with their flaming auras.  Facing the challenge, the party divvies up the load; Little Rock and Azkadelia whomp on one burning skeleton, Nyridius and Lim’Dul on another, and Optimus struggles with the last two cultists. 

The battle becomes a brutal slug fest, thanks to the burning skeletons’ high hit points.  Every member of the party drops to single digit hit points, takes a break with a second wind, and then takes another beating.  Optimus fends well at first, but stumbles when he has a critical failure on a marijuana-based attack.  The failure results in the attack becoming "self-directed," and Optimus gets high as a kite.  Lim'Dul also rolls a critical failure on a mind control attack, resulting in a sudden bout of narcolepsy.  Little Rock eventually pounds his skeleton into the dirt, which frees him to assist his allies.  Lim’Dul is felled by the last remaining enemy, but the rest of the party is able to gather their strength and defeat him.

While the party’s attention was on the skeletons, Windsor was using his dying breath to crawl over to the flame crystal.  As he reaches out to it, he is consumed by flames.  The party breathes a sigh of relief as they watch his funeral pyre, but they get nervous as it continues to grow, absent of any form of fuel.  A terrible form takes shape out of the fire; Windsor has harnessed the full power of the flame crystal. 

Clenching his burning fists, Windsor pounds the floor of the cavern.  The earth heaves, and the party is sent skyward.