The Beast in the Bone Chambers
Hook
A gargantuan beast assembled from the dead remains guarded the lower Bone Chambers of Castle Avernus. The party destroyed it, then escaped through the tunnel it had used.
Evidence
- The creature charged from an ossuary supported by bone dogs and humanoid skeletons.
- Ordinary bludgeoning force appeared less effective against it than Ignatius’s infused strikes.
- Pearl’s grave magic injured it and forced it back toward a northern tunnel.
- Carver believed its position suggested that it guarded something beyond the opening.
- A Boom Stick exploded within the passage and injured both the creature and Ignatius.
- In the resumed battle, the golem struck Rage twice and tried to retreat through the bones.
- Carver and Chip destroyed it with a devastating flamethrower; its rib cage collapsed into bone and rock.
- A large bone dog also fell, but the room continued to raise skeletons from its remains.
- The party concluded that the ossuary’s horde was effectively endless and escaped through the animal-dug tunnel.
Open questions
- What enchantment continually raises skeletons in the Bone Chambers?
- What lies beyond the tunnel, including the lower laboratory the party discovered?
- Is the ossuary or laboratory connected to Irik’s tomb, Azalin’s phylactery, or something else entirely?
Next steps
The bone golem is destroyed. The party may return only if it finds a reason to confront or bypass the endless skeleton horde.