The Council advances the party 1,000 gp each in coin to buy supplies. Armour, scrolls and potions are all made available at half price, other supplies, including spell components may be purchased at a quarter of the regular price (not including magical items).
The Council offers magical assistance in the form of one potion of extra healing for each member and two continual light gems (total).
The sage Sharkel offers the following information scavenged from a myriad of sources:
Look for strange allies;

There are few undead, if any in the caves;
Be wary— things are not always as they seem;
If a path is given, do not stray from it;
There are both good and evil creatures within the caves;
Don't touch anything you don't have to;
Other planes are governed by physical and magical laws that differ from our own;
The key to entering the crypts is locked within the rhyme of the dead prince.

The rhyme of the dead prince:
"The yellow sun rises above the verdant forest, ascending into the azure bowl of the sky. Like a king of old in my violet death robes, they carry me to the Arch Eternal. The sun of my life sets redly, below fire-hued heavens. Starry night comes and my soul leaps out to touch the moon."

Preparations are completed quickly and a brief introduction given for your two new party members, sent along to both bolster your strength and replace the magical power lost by Brutus remaining behind.

Dignified, studious Triladir is oblivious to the effect her natural beauty has on men. As an orphan raised in a convent and then later as a scholar entirely devoted to the study of magic, more-than-comely Triladir was not aware of men or even why one would want to be—until she met Athelstan. Like a schoolgirl, she is confused by the emotions that now interfere with her magical studies. She is proud of her magic, but always feels a need to prove herself, to demonstrate her capabilities to persons of importance. Although she long thought herself an orphan, she has recently discovered that her father, Bheleu Sharkel the sage, is a member of the High Council.

She is equipped with Bracers AC6, Dagger +2/+3 vs creatures larger than man-sized, three darts, necklace of missiles (7 dice x 1, 5 dice x 2, 3 dice x 4), two flasks of oil, two flasks of holy water, and her spell book containing:
Level 1: Detect magic, feather fall, magic missile, unseen servant
Level 2: Detect invisibility, levitate, locate object, strength
Level 3: Dispel magic, fly, lightning bolt, slow
Level 4: Ice storm, polymorph self

As a child, the rescue of his brother from certain death made Athelstan realize that his life's work would be to do good for others: protecting the weak, bringing order to chaos and defending the deep convictions instilled by a loving family. He could be nothing other than a paladin, living his life with righteous enthusiasm. In another man, this bold self-confidence would seem arrogant, but without it he would not be Athelstan. He has become the role-model for an entire generation of youngsters in his homeland, more well-known than even its rulers. Although his knightly vows do not prohibit marriage, he is shy with women and so stresses the avoidance of unnecessary temptation. Athelstan considers undead to be the greatest abomination inflicted on the world and seeks to destroy them with single-minded determination. Unfortunately for his compatriots, the paladin often lets his emotions dictate his actions.

He is armed and equipped with Plate mail +1, shield +1, longsword +2, dagger, longbow & 30 arrows, two-handed sword, periapt of proof against poison +3, potion of fire resistance, three flasks of oil, four flasks of holy water.

The steep trail up the side of Northending Mountain ends at a cave mouth in the base of a looming cliff. A wide, pointed stone arch, supported by slender, decorative columns, marks the end of the trail and frames a second, circular opening in the cave wall. A line of brightly coloured stones flanks the outer arch. The cave ceiling overhangs the entire ledge area.

In the right wall of the cave is an ornately carved, heavy stone door which is understood to lead into relatively recently dug (last few centuries) crypts rather than the caves themselves. A wine bottle sits next to it.

Ignoring the door and wine bottle next to it, Joan ventures forward to the inner archway after allowing Natasha to conduct a brief search for traps (none found).
A perfect circle forms the Eternal Arch, entryway into the tombs of the Elders. A ring of intricate carvings surrounds it. A dark, litter-strewn corridor leads deeper into the mountain.
The ring of carvings is actually two rings; the inner contains faded dots of the three primary and three secondary colours spaced equally around the circle (clockwise from the top): red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, matching the colours of six of the rocks near the outer arch.
The outer ring shows the eight phases of the moon—full at the top, ¾ waning, waning half, waning crescent, new (at the bottom), waxing crescent, waxing half and ¾ waxing (waning is a darkening moon, waxing a brightening, while the new moon is dark).
Using his recently acquired knowledge from the "rhyme of the dead prince, and knowing the moon was currently waxing, Joan touched the waxing crescent to no apparent effect. Deciding that nothing was better than something, she stepped forward through the ring and progressed along the corridor after waving the other five members of the party onward.

A bright light filled the great chamber ahead. Its source is apparently a mace that initially appears to float 20 feet above the floor, but as your eyes adjust to the brightness its supporting chain becomes evident.
The 3-foot-long mace hangs on a 37-foot long chain from the 60-foot high ceiling. The rest of the 80-foot-square room is filled with thousands of small ceramic urns, containing the ashes of long-dead Northending citizens. Each of the four walls contains a 20-foot-wide corridor.
Checking for traps by Natasha again reveals nothing and so a search for secret doors and other portals begins. An hour later and nothing is found.

The mace is recognised by Joan as a mace of disruption +1 and looks exactly like the vision you all saw (less the two newcomers) shortly after leaving the Crypts of Empyrea.

This message was last edited by the GM at 22:35, Mon 04 Apr 2011.

Joan continues her search along the left wall, following it out through the entrance and into the corridor, as other party members search their areas. She stops cautiously to look around as she steps out into the corridor, the light gleaming of the lit cloth humerously tied to a horn of the helm she wears to light up the dark regions, her staff now used as her shield is slung to enable her to prod the regions ahead of her.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:34, Mon 04 Apr 2011.

"There really isn't time for all this searching and analysing," implored Athelstan
"These urns clearly contain the ashes of the elders, there's nothing here to protect and there's certainly no sign of recent activity to indicate retrofitting of any traps."
If it weren't for the mace I'd say there was nothing of worth here protecting besides the remains of the dead."
The Paladin was showing clear signs of restlessness. Action was what was required, not this endless poking and prodding at things which were clearly no threat to anyone.
"We must get on. The fate of all that is Good rests on recovery of the egg of the phoenix as soon as possible!"

Fair Triladir nodded her agreement of Athelstans words.
"Joan, surely you have a spell from your god to enable this search to go much quicker?"

Joan replied irritably

"My God has a name, Celestia, which you will use in future if you want me to listen to you. He has seen in his wisdom to entrust me with the wisdom for using of the gifts he gives me. Check out the corridoors if you are in such a hurry. Do you even know which way you are hurrying to?"

She has seen impatience cost far too much in her time. Like the universe, everything had a time and place. Like trying to hurry the moon, rushing things never achieved anything beneficial, as everything happened at the pace it was predestined to happen. There would be a time when they were hard pressed when she would likely need all the help she could get from Celestia, but now was not such a time.

Triladir was taken aback at the vehemence in the cleric words, tears forming in her eyes.
""There's no need to get nasty," she weeped, turning and moving as far away from Joan as she could safely go.

"Do you have to be so rude?" Athelstan stepped forward and demanded in defence of the mage.
"And if you have the power, isn't now the time to use it?"

Given that no physical action was being taken against the mage, the show of bravado by the paladin is little more than that.

"Not intending to be rude, but you insult me by relegating Celestia to an unlimited source of magic. As you should have noticed, but I am a cleric. Therefore, everything I do is related to Celestia. Showing such lack of respect for one I hold in such high esteem will never get you far. My dealings with Jeremiah suggested that servents of Heironeous understood that. On principle, I do not use my power on demands by others who cannot even bother to remember the name of the source of my power. Go use a wand if you want power from wherever, or call on Heironeous if he is in favour of squandering power. We are not under any threat, and I do not see why we should squander power just because we have it. A little effort can achieve the same result. There must be a lever or something to lower that mace, and you demanding Celestia show us rather than finding it ourselves achieves nothing."

Joan shakes her head, wondering to herself how such people can exist in a world where the gods are so real without offending every cleric they meet. Clearly the gods gave mortals abilities, and it would be a sin for us not to use them to the best of our abilities before asking, let alone demanding, their help. She continues her movement and search as previously described, wishing Brutus was here. It was much easier when the mage understood and respected her deity, rather than treating him as a spell renewel device, but then she reminded herself, Brutus's father had chosen her to teach him that, so she had. This mage would not last long in Elrudd...but back to the task at hand.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:08, Tue 05 Apr 2011.

Jer mildly scolds Joan for her bad manners, but concurs that due diligence saves lives. The council pondered sages for a month before we were hired, so we will try not to die with all our talent and the time required.
Jer explains quickly to the newcomers that Joan is a cranky lady, but a good one, and apologises. Then he moves to the southwestern corridor to begin basic recon to check for the bad guys moving through before us.
Once Jer is out of the room, Nat and the two fresh party members discuss the mace.