Unndilar 16, 835
As the Clockwork Companions headed down the northeast tunnel from the pedestal room, ACHU said he felt closer to Alyxian after having touched the mote.
The tunnel soon opened into a small circular chamber. In the center was a stone altar decorated with carvings of Gruumsh and Torog. A barrier made of red energy covered a doorway in the north wall, beyond which was another underwater chamber. As inscription in Common was carved above the doorway:
Apotheon, Apotheon.
Leave your childhood yearnings behind.
It is time to don your armor and go to war.
While Tymlor was casting Detect Magic, Sarielle touched the door and was blasted by force. Tymlor detected magic on the barrier and the altar. Tik placed the Maeska doll on the altar and the red barrier disappeared.
They headed through the barrierless doorway into an underwater sepulcher with three naturally formed domed roofs, each one reaching its apex about thirty feet above the floor. Veins of ruidium clung to the walls, forming a lattice that cast red light on the clumps of sea grass growing along the room's perimeter.
The underwater gloom soon gave way to a parched battlefield under a bleak, ashen sky. All around, shadowy figures clashed swords, and the air was filled with battle cries and drums of war. Familiar-looking black towers in the distance indicated they were at the gates of the Betrayers' Rise during one of the fiercest battles of the Calamity, Alyxian’s hard-won victory against the Crawling King's horde.
Four Sword Wraith Warriors emerged from the battle, engaging the companions.
Tik rocked them Synaptic Static. Tymlor hit them with Shooting Stars from his ring, killing two of them. Sarielle’s sword dropped a third.
Tymlor hit the last with a Fire Bolt and Sarielle killed it.
ACHU had just cast Aura of Vitality when five more Sword Wraith Warriors appeared with two moorbounders which immediately transformed into a Slithering Bloodfin that swam through the air.
Slashed by a warrior and restrained by the Bloodfin, Tymlor cast Misty Step and trapped the Bloodfin in Momentary Stasis. Sarielle’s Echo slashed into a Warrior. ACHU called upon his deity to Turn the undead warriors, halting four in their steps.
Tik hit the remaining Warrior with an Eldritch Blast. Dropped by a Warrior and revived by ACHU’s Aura, Tymlor Mind Whipped the Bloodfin. Slashed by a Warrior, Sarielle’s Echo slashed into the Bloodinf. ACHU cast Cure Wounds on Tymlor.
Slashed by the last Warrior, Tik destroyed it with an Eldritch Blast and hit the Bloodfin with another. Tymlor cast Mind Whip on the Bloodfin and Sarielle’s Echo slashed into it. ACHU cast Toll the Dead on it.
The Mind Whipped Bloodfin was hit by Tik’s Eldritch Blast, Tymlor’s Fire Bolt, and Sarielle’s sword.
Tik’s next Eldritch Blast slew the Bloodfin and he summoned Leery, his Imp just before five more Sword Wraith Warriors appeared riding a Horizonback Tortoise.
Tik hit the Tortoise with Eldritch Blast, pushing it back and Tymlor hit the Tortoise and all its riders with a Lightning Bolt. Sarielle’s Echo hit the Tortoise. ACHU cast Summon Celestial.
Hit by the Warrior’s arrows, Tik blasted the Tortoise with an Eldritch Blast. Tymlor hit most of them with another Lightning Bolt, killing two Warriors. Sarielle slashed at the Tortoise. ACHU cast Cure Wounds on Tik and his Celestial hit the Tortoise.
Tik blasted the Tortoise with an Eldritch Blast. Tymlor cast Mind Whip on the three remaining Warriors, killing one. Damaged from being too far from ACHU, Sarielle slashed into the Tortoise. ACHU cast Cure Wounds on Sarielle and his Celestial hit the lead Warrior.
Slashed by the lead Warrior, Tymlor cast Mind Whip on the Tortoise and a Warrior, killing the latter. Sarielle slashed into the Tortoise. Bitten by the Tortoise, ACHU it with Toll the Dead.
The lead Warrior, battered by Tik’s Eldritch Blast, Tymlor’s Fire Bolt, Sarielle’s sword, and ACHU’s Word of Radiance, summoned four more warriors.
Tymlor cast Animate Objects on daggers strewn about the battlefield and hit the lead Warrior with two of them. Sarielle’s strike dropped the lead Warrior and caused the others to vanish.
With the battle finally over, a wounded warrior approached the Clockwork Companions and said, "You won the day, brave Alyxian. My wounds burn, but if you command it, I will follow you to the end."
They heard Alyxian whisper in their heads, "It never ends."
ACHU used his healing on Tik and the warrior.
The vision disappeared and they were back in the tri-domed underwater sepulcher. Hidden doorways opened in the center and eastern sections.
Tymlor gave Tik his medal of the Horizonback and cast Tiny Hut twice resting until the next day.
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