=============== Right Angles to Reality

As the game began, the party was making its final purchases at the Citadel 
before departing for Necropolis.  The greatest question facing them was 
that of how to actually reach Necropolis: its remote mountain location 
would have been three days' journey away on foot, if there had been a path 
through the mountains, which there was not.  It would have been possible 
to reach it by river, but the party was still stinging from its last 
encounter with the King Under the River, and did not care to chance 
another battle with his minions.

Eventually the party elected to use Polymorph Other to transform several
of their members into Pegasai.  The two mounts were polymorphed first,
followed by Selket's animal companion Celeritas, followed by Ivellios, the 
useless NPC bard that also shared their curse and had been following them 
around the whole time.

The party flew east toward Necropolis for a few hours, then set up camp 
for the night.  They had a bit of difficulty getting the King under the 
River's loot into Etale's Rope Trick space, but Elan managed to pull it 
through - at which point a horrible tearing sound was heard, and the party 
felt a severe impact as a rift opened in reality, sucking everything 
within thirty feet to the Astral Plane.

On the Astral Plane the party reapprised its situation.  The King under
the River's belt (apparently a Belt of Many Pockets) had vanished,
spilling its contents across the area.  Gridley and Selket healed the
party while Elan, Enajien, and Etale collected the loot, mostly scrolls
and gems.  An undead creature of some sort came heading toward the party
but was killed by ranged attacks before it could close.

After some contemplation, Etale decided to cast another Rope Trick spell
in the same spot that the party had arrived.  This proved effective: the
interplanar fabric, already wounded, tore yet again, and the Rope Trick
space proved to contain a portal back to Diamond Island.  The party
returned safely (sans Gridley's haversack, which could not make it through
the Rope Trick portal), making a note to never bring unidentified items
into a Rope Trick again.

=============== Night Terrors

The party awakened the next morning to realize their undead curse had
again worsened: it was drawing their life force at an alarmingly rapid
rate.  Even so, they paused for several hours to identify the remainder of
the King Under the River's loot.  Also, Gridley cast a Divination spell,
asking when it would be appropriate to use the Death Ward spells the
clerics had given them.  The answer came back: "Necropolis is large, but
not complex.  Cast before entering."

The party hastened on toward Necropolis, hoping to cure their affliction
before they became too weak to fight.  Their flight during the evening was
relatively undisturbed; they landed on a mountaintop to spend the night a
few hours away from Necropolis.  They set up Rope Tricks and a standard
watch system.  The night did <i>not</i> go uneventfully: less than three
hours into the watch rotation, a creature of some sort crawled underneath
one of the invisible Rope Trick portals and tried to stare up into it.  
It stood up, entering the space, and contemplated the party.

For a split second, nobody moved.  Then the Rope Trick space collapsed, 
dumping everyone onto the ground.  Then nobody moved.  Finally the 
creature "spoke": WHAT ARE YOU?, it projected telepathically into the 
minds of those present.  "We are those who dwell in shadows," came one 
response.  "We are your masters," came another.  "We are those that can 
destroy you."

SHOW ME YOUR POWER, sent the creature.  "Cast Detect Evil, fool!" snapped
Gridley.  The creature cast a spell - Detect Evil, sure enough - and stood
for a long moment, watching.  VERY WELL, it sent, and turned and walked
away.

The party lost more life force as the night progressed.  Etale, in 
particular, was feeling weak.

=============== Tuknir Gnatsmasher

As the party neared Necropolis they were startled by the appearance of an 
amazingly large zombie, carrying a club that looked to be magical.  Etale 
remembered this creature from the description the Citadel priests had 
given: paladins had fought it during the war, and described it as having 
powerful damage reduction and regeneration.  The party considered fighting 
it, but realized that they could circle around it, and finish their 
business in Necropolis before it arrived.

Gridley cast Bulls-Strength and Endurance on several characters before 
entering Necropolis.  He also spent some time using all the scrolls of 
Death Ward the Citadel clerics had given them.

=============== Necropolis 

Necropolis was a thousand-foot-wide stone cube, featureless except for two
large stone doors at the front.  The party opened the doors to find a huge
room, 500' wide by 200' deep by 60' tall, with two layers of balconies.  
The room was strewn with debris but seemed empty.  The room featured many
doors, but the party felt drawn toward a door on the top balcony.  
Without further ado they advanced into the room.

Combat ensued almost immediately as two mohrgs attacked from behind, 
paralyzing Elan and Kabri.  The party turned to meet these foes: Gridley 
managed to turn one of them while Enajien absorbed the paralyzing attack 
of the other.  At the same time, Selket heard a door open above: a 
skeletal archer had taken up a position on the top balcony and was 
preparing to fire on the party.

Etale launched a Web at the archer (but failed to ensnare it) and was 
downed by two arrows.  The party fighters, undeterred, mounted the pegasi 
that had brought them to Necropolis and made a flying charge at the 
archer.  The archer suffered severe damage and retreated through the 
top-floor door that the party had felt drawn to earlier.

The party formed up on the top floor, then charged through the door into a
hallway containing three skeletal warriors in full plate armor.  Melee
combat ensued, and the archer from before fired on the party from the end
of the corridor.  Etale proved helpful here, firing magic missiles to deal
with nearly-dead skeletons that were proving difficult to finish off.

The party advanced through the corridor.  They noted the presence of 
pressure plates in the floor that sent negative energy spewing upward when 
stepped on.  The traps did not seem to penetrate their armor (or the 
paladin's Death Ward spell), though, so the party continued on.

=============== The Shield of Prator

The party reached the final door and paused a moment to collect itself 
before entering.  They tried to pause a moment, at any rate - they all 
felt a compulsion to enter the room immediately.  Elan charged forward, 
brushing off Gridley and Enajien with the strength of his centaur form, 
and opened the door to enter the room.

Elan was met with a flash of brilliant, blinding light: the Shield of 
Prator, sensing his undead aura, was turning undead of its own volition.  
Elan's curse, and Enajien's curse, evaporated from their armor to swirl 
around near the ceiling in a cloud of negative energy.

"Stay out of the room!  STAY OUT OF THE ROOM!" came the shout, but not
soon enough: several people, including Ivellios the bard, had come
charging in, hoping to be freed of their curse.  (Etale grabbed and
restrained Ivellios; his new form as an annis hag was proving useful
already.)  The point was rendered moot with the shield's next turning
check; the curse was blasted off of two more characters' armor, and the 
remaining curses spontaneously freed themselves to join the swirling cloud 
of negative energy.

Time was short, but Elan made good use of it: the dried dust of the
Necromancer's corpse lay on the floor, with magic items still intact.  
Elan scattered the Necromancer's equipment despite warnings from party
members that the equipment might have a will of its own.  Meanwhile,
Arator said a prayer to Hieroneous and took up the shield of Prator from
its resting place on Sir Arthur Diamondblade's corpse.  He also took Sir
Diamondblade's (diamond-bladed) weapon, a sword of legendary power.  
(Enajien grabbed the discarded Sun Blade, replacing his own magic
longsword.)

=============== Vecna, the Necromancer

In a cloud of negative energy the Necromancer reanimated, and the fighters
all jumped on him at once.  Without his ring of protection the Necromancer
was very easy to hit; he suffered considerable damage before he could even
cast a spell.  His first spell was Wail of the Banshee, the most powerful
necromantic spell known; as it was a Death spell, the party's Death Ward
protection shrugged it off without effect.  The Necromancer's next spell
was Harm, restoring him to full hit points.

The party formed a battle line and discharged their strongest attacks into 
the Necromancer.  Enajien, with the Sun Blade, dealt an amazing amount of 
damage; Elan and Kabri were nearly as deadly, and Arator's charge and 
Smite Evil attack destroyed the Necromancer's body.  (The party had dealt 
over 175 damage in one round.)

But the battle was not over yet: negative energy remained, and the
Necromancer rose again almost instantly.  He cast Greater Dispel Magic,
removing magical protection from the party; he followed this with another
Wail of the Banshee.  Kabri and Arator, their Death Wards gone, fell to 
the floor, dead.

The party fought on, though weakened.  The Necromancer took more damage 
but continued his onslaught, casting Energy Drain on Enajien and Implosion 
on Gridley.  Enajien barely survived the Energy Drain, and Gridley was 
protected by his still-active Death Ward spell.  The party continued its 
assault, and the Necromancer was finally destroyed.

=============== Aftermath

The party looted the room, then flew out over the death-trapped corridor 
on their pegasai.  The Dispel Magic had removed one of the polymorph 
spells, so there weren't enough pegasai for the whole party; Etale and 
Arator's cohort returned with the corpses to get help from the Citadel.

Etale found the siege on the Citadel broken; the army of undead had left 
when the Necromancer fell.  The Citadel clerics, hearing that the Shield 
of Prator was at Necropolis, immediately mounted a rescue expedition; the 
rest of the party were quickly returned to the Citadel to rest.

Arator and Kabri were raised; though they did lose experience during the 
process, the experience gained in that final battle more than made up the 
loss.  Sir Arthur Diamondblade was not raised; his ashes were ceremonially 
buried in a place of honor.