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So, I just realized that I haven't summarized anything since this adventure started, so this will cover pretty much everything after The Slaying Stone. I'm also going to include some basic info on Shyre's Torch, the artifact that was recovered.
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The party, having decided to heed the advice of Treona, enter the town of Rune. Upon initial inspection the town is deserted save for stray voices coming from a tavern; even the blacksmith's shop was locked at noon.
While the group was at a loss for what to do, a party of miscreants attempted to enter [and were promptly ejected from] the tavern. The deva leader flew backwards, and a mouth appeared above the door: "THIS ESTABLISHMENT RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REFUSE SERVICE TO SERVENTS OF ASMODEUS. PERSIST AND YOU WILL DIE." The deva subsequently gave the order to burn down the tavern.
Springing into action, the group attacked the deva and his henchmen to save the town's lifeblood. The battle raged, and onlookers could be heard from inside. One particularly eager voice belonged to a man in a red robe, who stood at the door watching. The fighter agreed to pay him 25 gold to fight, at which point he unfolded his robe into massive wings, and destroyed the cleric with two quick swings of his blade. The battle ended not long after. Horus cleaned the scene, sealed the deva's soul with a ritual and a spear (evil devas reincarnate as backward handed demons called Rakshasha), and threw the survivor into the woods.
The party inquired into a castle on the hill above; they were informed that an old man lives up there, but that he only sees adventurers who impress him. Going north and "getting a magic item" should do the trick. With that, the group deposited their belongings and travelled north.
A few days of travel later the group entered a swamp thick with fog. Searching the path ahead revealed a trap pit that had already captured a goblin; before the group could save him they were attacked by lizardfolk. The lizardfolk stayed in hiding as often as possible, but were easily drawn out or killed outright when the bushes they hid in were set alight. None the less, several party members were almost dragged into the very trap they were avoiding. After setting aside some time to throw down a rope for the goblin, a new ally emerged from the pit who helped finish the battle in a timely fashion.
That night, one of the paladins looked up at the moon and announced his curse: He was a were-creature. He was able to stave back part of the transformation process, but none-the-less the group turned on him. He was hit over the head and bound by the rogue.
The group travelled the rest of the night, coming to a massive temple in the heart of the swamp. After an encounter with strange creatures baring tridents, the issue became getting into said temple. A fighter made several attempts to lift the bar on the door, but eventually someone noticed marks on the ground; the lock was a red herring.
Inside the temple immedietely changed into the very bar the group was hired in, albeit with a few more patrons. After a few arguments with the patrons (and a near scuffle), someone noticed that everyone had hands that were backwards; the only creature that could possibly have that was a Rakshasha, and they were warded against entry into the bar. The cleric managed to bully Horus, a feat that never would've ended well in reality. The reality disproven, the room transformed one more time into the temple's interior.
The room was massive, with balconies on either side and two frozen ponds in the middle. Growing out of the ponds were trees, one of which the fighter took an immediate disliking to, chopping it down. In the far back of the room was a pedestal with a rod in the middle, their most likely prize. In front of the pedestal blocking the path was a statue, which the group correctly assumed would be their foe. A quick glance of the room by the cleric revealed symbols of several gods, particularly Ioun (goddess of knowledge), Pelor (god of hope and the sun), and a strange symbol that resembeled both, but neither.
The statue came alive when the group attempted to go straight for the rod; it knocked them back with the side of a silvery trident, and blasted the group with ice. One of the rogues saw the strategy after being bludgeoned a few times, and decided to grab hold of the trident on one of the swings. After taking a full blast of ice, he managed to break off three of the fingers holding the trident, but watched in horror as a massive pillar rose from the spot the trident fell. He managed to avoid the rising pillar by rolling backwards; had it not been for the tree felled by the fighter, he would have drowned in frozen water regardless.
Having a pillar erupt in front of the statue weakened it's defences. From here, the warlock sent an acidic arrow onto it, and whittled the rest of the statue away. With one of it's last efforts it managed to strike the paladin, who then transformed into a feresome were-cat and destroyed it, clearing way for one of the most awesome puns in Dungeons and Dragons history (I believe I can get away with this completely out-of-character reference because I would be shocked if anyone is actually reading through this mammoth summary at this time).
As the were-cat cornered and prepared to kill the weakened rogue, a pulse of light issued from the rod. The were-cat transformed back into a paladin. The rogue was instinctively drawn to the rod (for the last time, this is how we're remembering these events) and reached out and drew it from it's rest. It was a torch, and it's will forced him to pass out while the rest of the party stood helpless. Unbeknownst to them, he was inundated with visions of bloody skies, two felled dragons (one with five heads, and another in great metallic scales), and a man with red skin in a suit standing triumphant in a glittering palace.
The rogue awoke, and the room shifted and spun into a small storage closet littered with defiled works of art. For a brief instant, a strange young man in silvery armor leaned in the corner. He looked around with a look of approval, and disappeared.
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