(This was the finale to my group's trek through the Tomb of Horrors. I admit that I flubbed the ruling but the way they did this made it come off so epic I decided the story overrode the rules. They knew I did this but it came off as such a climax we didn't care. Hope you enjoy)
The last three members of the expedition limped into the final room of the tomb that had killed their eight teammates. They were covered with wounds that would have left normal men bedridden but these were not normal men. They were the Heroes of Tarken and they still had a job to do. Their leader, the ancient priest Umber, finally locked eyes with the being he had spent his twilight years trying to destroy. The red ruby eyes of Acerak seemed to burn right through them from his place upon the altar. Elf Ranger Tholfan, the Bane of Draco, was the first to enter the room and view the numerous runes and inscriptions on the wall while the Halfling Thief Peppin locked eyes with the mounds of treasure that littered the floors.
Umber, Tholfan, and Peppin were arguably the best that their group had to offer but none were seasoned enough to escape the tomb unharmed. Umber was a holy man with great healing powers and even greater leadership qualities but these did little to help his men who fell dead before him one after the other. Tholfan was a legend at the slaying of Kobold tribes, he couldn't help but seem helpless during the horrifying journey through Acerak's tomb. The loss of his faithful animal companion, Ferox the Albino Lion, had all but drained Tholfan of any resolve left in his weary bones. Peppin was the youngest of the group, a mere 32 years of age, but his silent steps and nimble fingers had acquired numerous keys and magical items during their times together. There was not a single lock he couldn't pick or a single guard he couldn't talk down with honeyed words. While his skills of persuasion were useless to him here, his ability to find and disable traps was the saving grace for the survivors.
"What should we do?" Peppin asked Umber quietly, as if the skull of Acerak was listening in on them. Umber stood quietly, leaning on his quarterstaff, and looked at the skull. After all those years of trying to envision what Acerak's true self would look like, he never thought it could have been such a small thing. It was little more than the size of a tankard. As children they had all been told the Tale of Acerak as a sort of ghost story to make sure they behaved and obeyed their parents. It was said if one wandered into the woods at night, Acerak would trick them into entering his tomb and they would be buried with his demonic servants.
"We've finally found you, Acerak," Umber stated loudly into the tomb. His voice rang off the lightly glowing walls but nothing returned the call. Umber kept out of the room and tried to think of what to do. Peppin's bare feet made not a single sound as he walked into the tomb and stood next to Tholfan and put a hand on his friend's forearm.
"He killed Ferox," Tholfan said through gritted teeth. The mighty albino lion Ferox, Tholfan's great ally and truest friend, had fallen to the gargoyle but managed to bite its head off with its final act. Tholfan had been quiet throughout the rest of the tomb but finally seeing the source of all the death and devastation, he was unable to control his anger. "You killed Ferox!" the Ranger screamed at the skull with tears welling in his eyes, "You killed Patrick, Avoth, Dryden, and Amalie! You killed Indigo, Rothran, Lorik, and Wilhelm! You killed them and countless others, for what? To prove your might? You are nothing but a cup on a table and now it's time to break the cup!" Before anyone could do anything, Tholfan drew his bow and fired a shot at the skull's blood red ruby eyes. The arrow bounced off the skull, leaving a small chip where there should have been a hole. The skull of Acerak flew into the air and looked right into Tholfan's eyes. Umber and Peppin looked helplessly as Tholfan went to draw another arrow but a small beam shot from the skull's eyes.
"No!" screamed Peppin as Tholfan's form turned to dust. The skull hung in the air for a few short seconds before slowly falling back to the altar. Peppin was motionless as the dust of his friend lightly covered him, casting a grey coating over his brown locks. Umber looked at the young Halfling quietly and gripped his quarterstaff to try and repress his own anger. Peppin fell to his knees, looking at the skull. "We willingly entered the Devil's tomb," Peppin said in a flat voice, shock still coursing through him. The gold surrounding the tomb no longer filled his thoughts. "Why did I agree to this? For these?" Peppin picked up some gold coins and let them fall through his fingers. The dust on the altar began to stir and formed a vague humanoid shape behind the skull. Peppin looked at the dust form and then to the small dagger he kept at his belt.
"Don't," Umber said sharply as Peppin rose to his feet and drew his dagger. The Halfling pointed to the skull.
"Don't you see them?" Umber looked closely and saw the glimmer of diamond teeth. "I can hear them all. They are screaming for us to run."
"We can help them, Pep. We just need to think."
"We can't beat this, Papa. We can't win and live." The Halfling charged forward as the dust form swam out to meet him. Umber stepped through and tried to stop his companion but the Halfling was too far. With an impressive jump, he burst through the dust form and landed on the altar before slamming his dagger into the ruby eye of Acerak. He managed to get two stabs in before he joined the cloud of Tholfan's remains as dust.
Umber still stood outside of the tomb looking inward. His old bones shook lightly as he saw Peppin's incineration. The silver amulet of Pelor that Umber wore around his neck seemed as cold as ice as he finally stepped into the room. The dust form turned and looked at the old priest and gave off an aura of sinister satisfaction. The walls began to distort along with the runes and Umber could see arms reaching out from the walls. There were thousands of them like people trying to escape a burning building with no exits. The weight of evil energy bore down on Umber's weak shoulders but he refused to stop walking. The dust form move towards him but Umber didn't stop and walked right through it.
"I have sworn my life to Pelor, and in doing so, have sworn my life to stopping things like you." The skull didn't move from its spot and the dust form simply turned to watch him approach the skull. "You are an abomination of the very things I hold dear."
"You hold to weakness, priest," came a hissing voice from the runes of the walls. Umber's movements stopped from the voice and he looked to the arms desperately grabbing at him. He could feel fingers gripping his cloak but not with the strength to maintain the hold. He pulled away from the fingers and finally stepped up onto the altar to see the skull of Acerak right in front of him.
"Since my childhood I have heard your name in the ghost stories of my village elders. Your little tales struck fear in the strongest men I knew," He looked around at the crying victims who reached for escape from his walls. "You may be the Great Demi Lich Acerak but I am a servant of Pelor, and you will haunt not one more dream!" Discarding his staff, he grabbed the skull of Acerak "Pelor give me strength to free the world of this demon!" The skull burned fiercely in his hands and the glint from his Pelor amulet turned to a blinding white light. "Free my companions from their hellish prison! I command you! Pelor commands you!" Umber's bright aura joined in as he felt the strength of his God coursing through him. The light burst from Umber's eyes and mouth as Acerak shot out his ray. The ray met the white aura and tried to push through. The heat of the skull burned through the skin on Umber's hands but he refused to let go. The demons began to rip themselves from the walls to aid their master but the holy light kept them at bay. The demonic screams radiated in Umber's ears but he was focused only on Acerak. The white light washed over the entire room and the dust form quickly disintegrated.
"You cannot win, priest!" came the voice of Acerak as one of the glistening diamond teeth exploded.
"I hear fear in your voice, necromancer!" Umber roared and pressed the burning skull even harder with divine energy. The energy came out at white flames as hot as the sun. The skull chipped and cracked with Acerak screaming in pain. Another diamond tooth shattered followed by another scream. "Free the others, I command it!" The crown of the skull blasted apart in a flash of white light and the arms trapped in the walls began to recede. The death ray, in a final attempt to kill the servant of Pelor, managed to penetrate the holy light and struck Umber in the heart. With a final roar of holy might, Umber crushed the skull between his hands and the entire tomb shook violently with an inhumane scream of anguish. As the shards of the skull fell through Umber's fingers and to the ground, Umber took three steps back before falling down the steps of the altar into a broken heap. The magical traps and teleportation gates shut down instantly while the mechanical traps all activated and became useless. Darkness lifted over the unholy site and the screams of victims fell to a calm silence.
From the outside, the stable boys who tended the heroes' horses saw the great skull statue of Acerak crumble and crash to the ground in a storm of dust and rubble. As the young stable boys rushed over to the entrance they saw eleven humanoid shaped clouds of white light and at the head of them was the white feline Ferox in spiritual form. The eleven of them stood upon the ruined Tomb of Horrors with a young and proud Umber standing at the head of them. A stable boy approached the eleven figures and Umber held out a hand to him.
"Anton, you and the others must tell the tale of what happened here today. Acerak is gone, but others remain that we could not stop." The stable boy, Anton, looked to the other ten stable boys and then back to where the figures stood. He took Umber's hand and felt divine light course through him, strengthening his muscles and his mind. The other ten ghosts approached and touched the foreheads of the remaining stable boys, giving them their blessings. With a final great roar, the spirit of Ferox announced their departure from the living world and the eleven spirits faded from view, ending the reign of The Heroes of Tarken.
(When Umber's player approached in such a way I decided I couldn't see any other hero but a divine hero being able to stop Acerak. Though everyone who had lost their character was a bit upset, they all supported Umber and thought the fight against Acerak was one of the crowning moments of the Heroes of Tarken. I put the results of the "fight" on three straight d20 rolls since it was really just going to be luck. He rolled well and Acerak didn't. I just felt it was a really great end for a group, especially the leader, and to give the next group a reason to adventure. I may write more adventures that the group had but get more in depth with the other characters, depending on how this is received)