Coordinating their actions with the surviving Keepers of the Veil, the heroes teleported as close as possible to the Chamber of Riven Souls (most of the horrid place was proof against magical intrusion) while the Keepers launched a frontal assault on the Dark Reliquary as a distraction. Needless to say, Mara, Zophas, Canabulum, Serai, and Aliya (and some celestial guardians) encountered ghastly demons, dreadful undead, and chaos cultists. They fought their way through the demonic halls with haste, so the entire place’s inhabitants would not come crashing down upon them at once.
Cutting through puissant magical wards and passing through two adamantine doors, they finally reached the Chamber of Riven Souls. There, amid other demonic defenders, they encountered Drusii the marilith. Aliya flew into a fury as she attacked the demon, wounding it greatly with her holy-power-infused fists. A final spell from Sister Mara destroyed the marilith, but only after she had summoned not one, but two balor demons. One of the balors used a symbol of death to slay Canabulum. The rest of the group grabbed the demon-sealed box and teleported to the safety of Clasthamus Isle.
The victory still left them with the matter of an unopenable box, one of their number fallen, demons on their tails (although the Stones of Thamus kept them safe for now), and the Night of Dissolution—coming appropriately in the month of Moons—just days away.
Next: Even as things grow tense for the Runewardens, we turn for a moment and look back on the exploits of the Company of the Black Lantern to hear their very last tale…
