Like playing Russian Roulette with the characters' lives.
A failed resurrection ritual has flung Ackrak, Ghamor, Seikius, Rayne, Aleska, and Occela into another dimension called DEEP SEKH. The denizens of the plane seems to be hostile to all newcomers, though the party has been able to make some friends, here and there.
Since their arrival on Lemnos, the party has run afoul the island's "benefactor," a man the locals know as Itrix. The party doubts this, for they bore witness to Itrix's grisly end onboard a pleasure ship over a year previous. Ghamor recently learned that Liola and Hythia, and likely Cessar, Krok, and Occela, are all prisoners in Itrix's palatial estate in the mountains.
The ghost of Itrix appeared soon thereafter to confirm their suspicions and warn them of approaching danger ... a monster released by the false Itrix and sent to destroy the party!
In the year that the party was imprisoned in the Mirror of Life-Trapping, a fell wind blew in a storm that has yet to break. The people of the Mediterranean haven't seen the sun for many months, and fear and despair are rampant. No one knows the source of the unnatural storm, but it has claimed many lives with sudden surges of wind and driving rain. Crops don't grow, and soon the people will begin to starve.
Ghamor learned from Hythia that she and the others are all prisoner, and that Liola was tortured and likely bewitched, though why she would be dressed in finery and pampered by servants while under enchantment remains a mystery. Hythia stressed the need for urgency, as she overheard from a guard that they will soon be thrown in the labyrinth, which she says must be nearly complete.
Skilled architect, intrepid entrepreneur, and avid family man, Itrix sought to bring the party onboard with the greatest architectural venture in the world, a massive subterranean labyrinth, commissioned by a wealthy king of Thrace. Following the unexpected death of the king, project money dried up, and though Itrix desired to continue with his masterpiece, he would need to find a new source of funding.
Enter the party. Ackrak, Ghamor, Omelete, Seikius, and Xero would visit different cities and kingdoms around the Mediterranean, using their combined knowledge, prowess, and negotiation skills to secure whatever funding they could manage, to help keep the project rolling. They would reap the glory and the prestige of helping to ensure the completion of the vast underground complex, the likes of which haven't been seen since the days of King Minos.
All this came crashing down around the party's ears in the blink of an eye. First came the death of Itrix, followed thereafter by their shipwreck on the Isle of the Strange Shifting Stones and the deaths of Omelete and Xero. The venture seemed doomed. Or was it? The party has finally arrived at the island of Lemnos, the construction site, and work continues, even without apparent funding.
Did Itrix survive, or has he been replaced by an impostor? How does work occur without outside funding? Who, for that matter, is doing the digging? No one has been seen entering or leaving the site, though construction does apparently continue. Why is "Itrix" paying the local gentry to remain uninvolved with the main city and the people of Lemnos, and why do the nobles agree to it?
A few things have finally fallen into place. Itrix has been confirmed as dead; his spirit appeared before the party to warn them of the imposter's power and of the approaching titan. The impostor is continuing work on the labyrinth, but it is unsure why ... and for that matter, who. Whoever he, or she, is, they have powerful allies among the creatures that look like Ackrak, Ghamor, Seikius, and Krok.
According to the findings of Ghamor, coupled with the information discovered by Occela during her time in captivity, The False Itrix has weakened the boundaries between the world of the living and the Underworld. The labyrinth was being worked by fiendish kobold slaves, and the party investigated the ruins. The Lady in Orange, whom the party hasn't seen in some time, was able to cross the boundary between worlds and warn them herself of The False Itrix's tampering with the fabric of reality.
Seikius brought the bracers he found in the frog-creature's treasure room before a priest of Ares, who denounced them as a poor replica of the War Bracers of Ares. The priest described the "real" bracers as bestowing increased martial prowess and defense upon their wearer, as well as the ability to summon a weapon into combat. Seikius has since begun to wear the bracers, hoping their magic might take effect.
After rallying the townsfolk of Lemnos to raid Itrix's mansion, Ghamor saw fit to slaughter over six hundred of the rallied townsfolk as they crowded along the narrow road into the mountains. The few that escaped the carnage fled down the cliffs into the woods; whether or not they were much safer in the woods is debatable.
While on the Isle of the Strange Shifting Stones, the party came across, but never investigated, an outpost and a tunnel that led deeper beneath the island, where the twinkling lights of what may have been a city could be seen in the distance. Never given a proper chance to delve into it, the party can only wonder what may have been down there ... deep under the earth...
It seems the wolves that attacked Seikius when he wandered into the woods of Lemnos were werewolves. Seikius succumbed to the effects of the lycanthropy curse while battling the Ackrak look-alike, and "wolfed out." He was able to fight the Ackrak look-alike to a stand still, but when the look-alike fled into the woods, Seikius's wolf instincts forced him to track his prey down...
The party has been attacked on two occasions, by blue-skinned men of immense physical strength and magical aptitude. The first caught the party unawares and nearly killed Ackrak, though the second seemed merely a nuisance, though in the ensuing battle, the party's ally Hythia lost her arm. Though both were slain in combat, and no more have appeared since the party left the Isle of the Strange Shifting Stones ... their origin remains unknown and the power they wielded means they may pose a threat, still.
Ghamor learned from Hythia (via magical communication), that a pair of individuals who look like Ackrak and Seikius, are lurking about Itrix's estate, apparently serving as henchmen of some sort. Ghamor had a run-in with the Seikius look-alike on the road to Itrix's estate and attacked him with a number of different spells. Many failed to affect the impostor, who fled when Ghamor fell back to recharge his complement of spells.
The party has now encountered three look-alikes, one each for Ackrak, Ghamor, and Seikius. They were ambushed by Karack, the Ackrak look-alike while they journeyed to Itrix's mansion, though he fled before he could be finished off. They fought and defeated Ikeisus, the Seikius look-alike, upon reaching the mansion. Deeper inside, they at last encountered Rhamog, the Ghamor look-alike, who fought them to a stand-still, slew both Aleska and Occela, and fled deeper into the complex.
This weapon was once carried by the "boneskin" knight, whom the party encountered on the Isle of the Strange Shifting Stones. Though it seemed merely a powerful weapon, it carried on a sinister liaison with Ghamor, and later proved capable of destroying an artifact -- the Mirror of Life Trapping. The origin of this weapon is unknown. It seems indestructible, immensely powerful, and terrifyingly evil.
Seikius witnessed an occult ritual beneath the temple of Ares, in which a dog was killed, sectioned, and cast into a sacrificial pit. He was unable to determine the identity of any of those involved in the ritual, and has since then been unable to learn anything more about the cult or its members, despite multiple return visits.
The Isle of Strange Shifting Stones was once the home and stomping grounds of an immense tribe of unwholesome frog-creatures. Due to the party's efforts (plus some newfound allies, some preparation, and a bit of luck), the creatures and all their spawn are no more. No longer will the foul creatures terrorize the local shipping lanes, and the party had the full run of a vast treasure hoard.
The ghost of Itrix appeared before the party and warned them that the "false Itrix" had awakened a terrible beast and was sending it to destroy the party for their interference on Lemnos. He told them that they had maybe twenty to thirty minutes for the monster would arrive and they had best prepare themselves. They were attacked by a towering humanoid that destroyed several buildings, and nearly slew both Ackrak and Seikius, though Ghamor and Aleska were able to lay low the beast with magic and deliver the final blow. Was this creature one of the titans of old? One of the beings that warred with the gods 600 years ago? How did "Itrix" awaken it?
A mysteriously potent mass of seaweed, measuring more than 2,000 feet across, entangled the party's ship for some time. Though it cost them some of their crew, they were able to fend off the attacks of the near-sentient plants long enough to concoct a plan. At the center of the mass, they found a magical wooden figurehead and a terrible monster. They destroyed the figurehead and rescued a powerful druid named Aleska, whom they helped to escape as the seaweed island collapsed on itself and dispersed into the sea. Aleska has since joined the party as a healer and potion-maker, a wise listener, and an occasional artillery spellcaster.