Garrick, Garrett, and Duke Blackshore teleport back to Castle Blackshores tallest tower to confront the invaders.
A fleet of three dozen Githyanki skyships have come down from the sky and deployed an army of dragons to attack the city, riden by githyanki knights. They are assaulting the gates of the city along with the keep and the ziggurat. Meanwhile the Norselord and his minotaurs are assaulting the docks and the seas are freezing over into great icebergs while snow pelts the eastern walls of the fortress.
Garrett and Garrick slip up to the control tower, attacked by many dragons. Thantiskorlweir the elder red dragon and his rider baron redspawn, the scourge of summerspring slip past the disintegrating barrier shield and attack the mage and cleric. Duke blackshore repels the dragons attacking his palace guards and their seige weapons on the high tower.
Meanwhile, whosis kid discovers an astralgate inside the ziggurat. As he approaches some teifling mages emerge. He engages them and then slips into the portal. On the other side he finds he is surrounded by Rakshasa, along with Prince Zirakas the evil jungle prince, and Mini-Mammon, who has gained some size. He is quickly subdued and beaten into submission and a soulrider devil is placed on his head to control his actions.
Outside the battle rages. Duke blackshore and his men kill some of the dragons attacking the tower while Garrett and Garrick manages to force Thantiskorlweir through the disintegrating force shield and then strike down the Baron. The battle ends in a standoff as an illusion of Vlaakith, Lich Queen of the Githyanki appears and she says her fleet will level the city unless they agree to a trial of possession between the Norselord and the Duke.
Duke Blackshore and the Norselord, both descendants of the first minotaur king of Blackshore, square off on the tower and after a stuggle the Duke forces his rival off the high tower. The Norselord plummets to his death and his forces try to retreat but the seas are frozen and they are trapped, killed, or captured by the city guards.
Vlaakith has no interest in the city beyond her pact with the Norselord, so she advised she will leave and grants and audience to the Duke. During their meeting he mistakenly advises that he knows of the location of the Illithid they are hunting. Lord Exhalus, her doomguard ally, mocks the Duke as this means that her fleet will destroy Gladomain. Vlaakith says that she will destroy Blackshore last as a favor to him.
As the Duke returns to the Ziggurat the devils emerge from it intent on taking the fortress from the heroes. Whosis,under the command of his soulrider, leaps toward the disintegrating barrier, which Garrett drops to prevent his demise. Whosis knocks out the cleric and Mini-Mammon climbs atop the pyramid. Duke Blackshore slays Zirakas the Rakshasa Prince in single combat, while Garrick the mad subdues whosis and revives Garrett. When the shield is raised again they drive the avatar of mammon back through it destroying him.
They pursue Vlaakith's fleet in the ziggurat and Garrett uses the power of the hand of Vecna and the ziggurat to communicate with Vlaakith. He offers her a bargain that they will destroy the Illithid for them in return for her sparing their world.
She agrees and her fleet escorts them to Ironview. The Githyanki fleet bombards Ironview tearing a hole in the side of the mountain that leads down into deeprift chasm. The ziggurat flies down through the hole to the plains of Erelhi-Cinlu where it uses its powers to shake the city and collapse a great section of the plains down on to the illithid city located below.
The Illithid begin to flee through a great crystaline teleportation device. The ziggurat fires cold at one side while Garrick the Mad flies out and heats the opposite. The temperature differential cracks the crystal and the magical gate implodes, drawing Garrick into it as the rest of the heroes depart in the ziggurat. The githyanki fleet departs.
The party parks the ziggurat under water near Falconsreach under the protection of Sadrak's illusory powers. The meet with the allied forces to determine their next move and decide to approach Castle Ravenloft to stop the poisoned mist from spreading. The mists are enveloping the world and drawing it into the shadowfell. They decide to approach on foot to catch Count Strahd and Orcus unaware and prevent them from being dominated and stealing the ziggurat from them.
Sadrak places a magical boon on the party so anyone who is dominated will forget about the Ziggurat so they cannot be forced to reveal it's location. They rest for a week and prepare for their journey.
Meanwhile, Iggy catches up to the party. He was in the Imperial city of Westport shopping and found a strange artifact, a sword hilt with a symbol of pelor on it.
