Seattle Campaign 2.2: The Ritual of Cleansing and Dividing

--when the party returns to Loxian, they are sent for by Lord Mayor Loxias; Loxias tells them that the ritual is nearly ready for them; the Ritual of Cleansing and Dividing will work on a simple principal: the party will be protected by magics to keep evil from touching them, from infecting them
--the party tells Loxias that they wish him to have a portion of the Stone's power
--Loxias says that the ritual will be set up at his former tower, which is a day or so ride from town in the wilderness; Loxias wants to make sure that if the ritual goes awry, the town is not threatened; also, the tower still retains some magical protections useful to the rite
--Loxias prepares the Stone to be transported by the party to the tower; he does not want to teleport the Stone for fear that the magic of the Stone will cause the spell to fail or become unstable; also, his strength has not fully returned and he fears that he will not be able to transport the Stone magically
--the party will carry the Stone in a prepared iron box, which has been enchanted to be much heavier than normal; with the use of magical bracelets, the box can be picked up with relative ease
--the adventurers take the Stone and ride to the tower; on the way, the evening of the first day of travel, they come up on a small camp; in the camp there are four priests of Day, who are waiting for the party
--the four priests are: Lentin of Rune (who contacted them earlier from Cavalon), Tholand of Valadarin, Danyara of Irriste, and Callair of Vessa Lune
--the four priests of Day are an envoy from the Sovereign of Temples of Cavalon; they were sent to beseech the party for the Stone; through divinations they knew that the Stone would be on the move; they wanted to "achieve" the Stone while it is out of the hands of Loxias
--the parties exchange words; the adventuring party is reluctant (even offended and angry); the envoy are haughty and demanding; they explain that divinations reveal that the Stone is extremely dangerous if it remains in the hands of Loxias; however the envoy from Cavalon disagrees with the rulings from the Sovereign Temples at Grand Takare
--Telisa invokes turn animal to scare the horses away; the horse carrying the iron box with the Stone runs off; the box falls off in the middle of the woods
--Tholand Valadarin goes after the stone only to discover the enchantment on the box
--Telisa messages Ti'anti that the box is in danger; Loxias magically summons the box away
--the envoy from Cavalon is extremely angry, but now that the Stone is once again in Loxias's hands, they have no recourse except to leave; all of the priests magically return to Cavalon; Lentin remains behind in an attempt to try diplomacy
--unfortunately, the party is attacked; Lentin is shot in the chest with an arrow; a combat ensues
--a priest of Iirago named Joven, a comrade of Rissa, and companions attack the party; the party fights Joven, two giant darklings, a rogue named Lamm (invisible, met previously), and an archer
--the combat ends with many hurt, Lentin killed, most of the attackers dispatched, Joven escapes (called back by Rissa)
--the party uses one of Burnbeard's master potions to bring Lentin back to life; he is made comfortable as he recovers from revivification; the party camps with the sunstone out
--there is a clap of thunder in the distance, a clap of thunder that sounds like when the Stone was first removed from the Valley of Thanuran
--suddenly, they feel like something is calling them, summoning them; Loxias is magically attempting to bring them to him; they give into the magic of the summoning (leaving Lentin behind); they are brought directly into the Ritual of Cleansing and Dividing
--the ritual seems to be hastily wrought; they stand in a circle around the Stone; magical protections are laid upon the party; Loxias breaks the Stone; the power is split among the seven; a sinister wraith-like presence leaves the Stone; Loxias forbids the wraith from tainting the ritual; the wraith escapes
--the party feels the power rush into them and black out