Editing Challengers of the Unspeakable (section)

===The Pyramid of Shadows===
[[Image:Eater of Knowledge.jpg|thumb|right|An Eater of Knowledge within the Pyramid of Shadows.]]
Some time after the Brightstone Heroes established their new base at Rathna, the sorceress Vyrellis wandered out of the jungle, surrendered, and requested an audience with the Challengers of the Unspeakable. Leardon joined the meeting, in which she explained that while her goal of claiming rulership over Estorium once coincided with Theriana's, such was no longer the case and she intended to defect. She explained that the drow attack on Terastra had in fact succeeded in killing Jorlin, but was made to look as though it had failed in order to replace with wizard with a doppelganger. Upon escorting him to safety, he had promptly contacted Theriana who claimed not only Acererak's soul gems but also slain Zanathakla and raised him into undeath. With the gems and the Pyramid of Shadows, Theriana would be able to close Tephra's portal... But her true plan was to trap the portal's energies and then use them to free Lolth.

Vyrellis had a plan to stop this, but it would require the Challengers to get themselves captured by Theriana, who would likely imprison them in the Pyramid of Shadows. Once inside, she would be able to help them escape and relive Theriana of both the Pyramid and the soul gems. All Vyrellis wanted in return was the pyramid itself. When they demurred, refusing to trust her, she told them that it would also give them the opportunity to rescue Priam, Gurrard, and Ro who were also trapped within it. She also promised information on how to close Tephra's portal. Ultimately, they relented; though they did not want to trust her, they felt they had little choice in the matter - especially after Jorlin's corpse was discovered hidden away in Terastra. They used their Sending Stones to tell "Jorlin" that they would be teleporting to him, and arrived to find themselves surrounded by drow. Theriana laughed at them for falling into her trap and, as Vyrellis predicted, showed them the Pyramid of Shadows - small enough to hold in her hands and adorned with Acererak's soul gems - and promptly imprisoned them within it.

[[Image:Arborean.png|thumb|left|An arborean in Ro's service.]]
Within the pyramid they found a great many monsters that had been trapped in the Pyramid of Shadows over the centuries. As they explored, Grayson repeatedly left on extended scouting missions. In one section, they found a twisted, gnarled thicket populated by [[arborean]]s. They fought their way in, only to discover that the arboreans' leader was none other than Ro. She told them that Vyrellis had taken her to Theriana, who trapped her within the pyramid. As an undead druid she ended up forming a curious raport with the arboreans, and eventually became their leader. Though she  appreciated the opportunity to escape, she did not wish to abandon those she now considered her people. They promised they would find a way to release all of the arboreans as well. Elsewhere, they found a [[hengeyokai]] named [[Kitsu]] who decided she would be better off accompanying them.

As they made their way up they found a section that was warped and twisted by the energies of the Far Realm. As they fought through the aberrations inhabiting it, they found Priam trapped within a swirling vortex of aberrant energies and rescued him. Ascending further they found the unholy dominion of an evil necromancer who was preparing to sacrifice Gurrard, rescuing the gnome as well. With all of their friends found, as well as some new ones, Vyrellis appeared and showed them a hidden route to the very top of the Pyramid, which pulsed with necrotic energy. She warned that they would likely face a tiefling wizard named [[Karavakos]], who had taken control of it. As Vyrellis began to weave a spell that would both transport them out of the Pyramid of Shadows and transport it away from Theriana, they were attacked by the spirit of Karavakos. As the battle began Grayson suddenly turned against them, insisting he could not let them succeed. Gurrard hurled a lightning dagger into his chest, but Grayson teleported away before he died.

Though they hurled their strongest attacks at Karavakos, the tiefling simply drew greater and greater amounts of power from the pyramid to compensate. However, this ultimately proved his undoing as the power became too much for him to handle and he exploded. Vyrellis then ordered the others to channel all of their magical and psionic power into the pyramid to complete the ritual. The Challengers found themselves back in the jungle next to the pyramid, almost completely drained of strength but alive. The soul gems, however, were nowhere to be seen. Vyrellis simply walked past their prone forms and picked up the pyramid, telling them that they should feel better in a day or two. She thanked them for their assistance, gave them a scroll containing a ritual to close Tephra's portal, and told them she would see them again soon before teleporting away to establish her new empire. When they recovered enough to stand, the Challengers and Kitsu slowly made their way back to Rathna while Ro left to find a new home for her arboreans.