Adventure Two, Session Thirteen Recap

The Fall of the Lich King
The completed Rod of Ryktuss was finally in Temerity's hands, and she'd just used it to suck the life force out of Marquand, the high priest of Ryktuss. But this victory did not come without a price, for it seemed the rod was imbuing Temerity with dark power. Power she'd not long be able to resist. And, on top of that, Xanalanthi Xanaloth, the mummified "Lich King of Methanok," was quickly approaching.
Teffa began once again to hear a voice in her head, however this time she was compelled to allow it to speak through her mouth. It was a being both powerful and confused. It wanted to know where it was and who was in control of it. Yes, it seemed that the voice Temerity heard all along was that of the Rod of Ryktuss itself.
Meanwhile, back at the museum, Teffa and Zelna arrived to look for their comrades. Zelna had no idea Lord Vorliss already made it to the temple. Teffa found Fluff and Grumbeth, and set to healing them both. In her distraction, she failed to notice three shambling zombies approaching her. But she was not without help, as two mysterious strangers arrived in time and made short work of the undead abominations.
Though she didn't get much information, Teffa learned that these two were travelers from Zarna who were tracking the agents of Pasha Pakima that previously attacked Teffa. They want to know why these agents traveled thousands of miles just for a half-drow. Before more could be revealed, Teffa noticed Zelna furiously scavenging through the remainder of the exhibit related to Inhopthek. She was looking for something. Zelna revealed that if Xanalanthi Xanaloth was indeed a lich, he'd somewhere keep a phylactery to hold his "soul." Only with the phylactery in hand could the party truly destroy the powerful creature. Failing to find the phylactery at the museum, the group returned to the temple. They were followed by the two mysterious strangers.
Back beneath the temple, Xanaloth closed in on the party. He blasted the fleeing myconids, destroying the majority of them. Guy, Brill Brall and Mangy attempted to hold him off, but to no avail. Temerity was forced to use the power of the rod to stop the lich. However, the blast of necrotic energy that shot forth from the rod wasn't enough to destroy Xanaloth. The rod needed more souls.
The fight raged on. The remainder of the party, including Teffa and Zelna, arrived below just in time to witness the lich striking Temerity, Guy and Mangy with powerful bolts of lightning. The three of them went down, near death. But the rod wasn't finished with Temerity and raised her from death's door, restoring her to consciousness. The new party members didn't come alone, however. They aided the fallen Glabrezu, Slarthinaster, who joined them in their attempt to best Xanaloth.
As the new arrivals joined the fight, it quickly became clear there was no way they could win without the phylactery. Xanaloth cast a spell and Slarthinaster's body contorted against it's will, twisting and turning at impossible angles. Just before he died, the demon turned to the party and confirmed their fears. "You cannot win. Run, or you shall die!"
The party heeded the demon's advice and made for a previously concealed exit at the far end of the cave. Along the way they helped both Mangy and Guy, rescuing them from almost certain death.
Before leaving, however, Temerity attempted to use her magic to read the lich's mind. Shockingly successful, she saw glimpses of its memories. Amongst these mental images were several of Xanaloth on his way to the temple. It seems he stopped along the way, heading behind a run-down, boarded-up bank. There in the alley, he gained access to the sewers below. Finally, in the sewers he found a secret entrance to one of the bank's sunken vaults. Here, after opening it, he stored a ceramic cylinder... something that could only be his phylactery.
Once everyone made it out of the catacombs below the temple (which happened to connect to the sewers), Temerity informed everyone of the abandoned bank. Too bad Angleport is such a huge city. But thankfully, Lewelynn knew of two possible abandoned banks. And only one of them was anywhere near their location. So that is where the party headed.
They navigated the sewers and the streets above until they eventually found the bank from Xanaloth's memories. They went around back and into the sewers, just as Temerity had seen. There they found the vault, and Guy set to work in an attempt to unlock it. After several attempts he managed to spring the lock... but also a poison dart trap. It pricked his finger, the poison quickly making him dizzy.
As Guy rested, the others opened the vault door to find stairs leading up within it. They climbed up and entered a cylindrical vault, about 40' in diameter. It was filled with all manner of old packing crates, which the party began smashing. Teffa cast Detect Magic and pinpointed which one held the phylactery. One of the mysterious travelers, a monk, used her martial arts to destroy the crate, revealing the ceramic cylinder.
Just as the party was about to smash the phylactery, they heard a voice coming from all around them. It pleaded with them to not destroy it. It first offered them anything they want. Then it promised them death. But they smashed it anyway, revealing a large ruby within. This would be much harder to destroy.
But Temerity knew it contained a soul... Xanaloth's. She aimed the Rod of Ryktuss at the ruby and commanded it to feed. A trail of wispy red energy fled from the stone and entered the rod. The glowing ruby began to crack, and finally exploded. With that, Xanaloth "turned visible" (he was invisibly stalking them in the room) and collapsed to the floor, drained and finally dead.
Zelna, carried by Lord Vorliss, was still injured. The death knight set her down, as per her wish, and entrusted her care to the party. When they accepted the charge, he used his "Cubic Gate" to teleport away, vowing that they'd meet again, possibly under better circumstances. Temerity, knowing the rod would eventually overpower her with its will, asked Zelna if it spoke to her or had any similar effect. It didn't, so in exchange for their aid, Zelna took the rod into her possession, hopefully freeing Temerity's mind from further abuse.
Having won the rod from the tyrant, and now seemingly safe, the party retired to their inn to heal their wounds and plan their next move. But, at least, the evil lich was finally destroyed.