With that final clue in hand the group returned to the libraries of Neverwinter. It didn't take them long to discover that the proper names in the riddle were both the names of mountains in the Star Mounts. Which certainly suggested that their final destination lay between those two proper nouns. Its just like Asgorath to send them all over Faerun and end up a few hundred miles from their starting location.
One quick teleport (cause mages are apparently universally lazy; I mean what's wrong with a little stroll in the park anyways?) and the group found themselves at the base of a 300 meter diameter pillar like mountain. Which is not an issue for a group in which everyone has access to flight. Maybe that's why the quest led them all over; to ensure they could fly. Or maybe its because I'm an asshole
{DM's Note: I'm an asshole! (You get used to it . . .)}
At the top they found a massive dome. At the entrance a blue crystal was set in the wall. Quick experimentation showed that each mirror they'd retrieved reflected light in different colors: red, yellow, and blue. Process of elimination (rather painful for each time they used the wrong mirror; all sorts of nastiness occurred) they managed to reflect light into the crystal, opening a portal.
Inside the dome were a series of rooms, each with a colored crystal of the colors red, blue, yellow, green, orange, and purple. Each crystal would open another portal when the appropriate light was reflected to it. Some rooms had colored mirrors, or prisms. One had a magnifying glass. The group had to figure out which items to use in each spot to open the way.
[Dm's Note: I actually had them use Maglights and mirrors to illuminate crystals. This turned out to be far easier for the players than I'd expected, even when the beam required multiple mirrors. I quickly abandoned it.]
They only had one real issue. They were in a room with a purple beam of light. On the walls were a red a blue crystal. They had, as yet, not found a prism. This caused a bit of an issue. An earlier revision of the maze I'd created had a clear beam in the room. I'd expected them to use a red mirror to unlock the red crystal, which would have given them their first prism. Alas this had changed. So I quickly penciled in a magnifying glass (something I'd not actually used). All they had to do was use one of their Ioun Torches as a light source and bounce the beam off of the red mirror.
In the end they had to blow two Hero Points for inspiration. The first clue was 'sometimes you bring the solution with you'. The second was 'some of you have the answer floating over your heads'. The synchronized face palm that followed was quite impressive.
Once completed (they only had to reset the puzzles once) they finally achieved their goal; Asgorath's Ulu. Globat felt a great weight lift as the curse of the pants was finally lifted.
They quickly trekked back to the entrance, only to find a figure waiting for them. He had on the same green woodsman's gear they'd last seen him wearing. But instead of maintaining the appearance of the innocent young woodsman he'd copied them from, his face was ashen, and his eyes glowed with a red light.
Rodney (As the group had come to call him; real name Astaroth) clapped sarcastically as they entered. Of course the Kobold immediately made to charge. But the demon held his hands out, telling them he came with a proposition. Bob quickly grabbed the frothing Kobold, holding him up off of the ground. It looked a bit like a a kid with a wind up toy really.
Astaroth then suggested that they give him the two pieces they had, asserting that if he had them Baphomet would not be able to complete the collection. Through a bit of back and forth the group was able to learn that Baphomet already had the other two. They argued that one of the pieces was safe, but Rodney informed them that Baphomet had his followers kill that meddlesome wizard. He could only assume they'd retrieved the device.
Minerva eventually declared that Rodney would never have the blade (which she just happened to be holding). He then attacked, killing her in one round. The dynamic small size duo of Zornesk and Quagrim barely managed to kill him before he could grab the blade and teleport out of the room.
After that quick fight the group decided to take more care. Globat used Breath of Life on Minerva and healed her to full. He then used a wish to remove the tracking curse Quagrim had been toting around for the entirety of the campaign. Lastly they decided to entrust the blade they'd just retrieved with Khelban.
They quickly teleported (Again with the laziness!) to Black Staff Tower. Alas they were quick to discover that Khelban had left in quite a hurry the day before. In the end the group was forced to check on Mirrodin with the axe in their possession.
Another teleport (that's how you get fat mages; I'm just saying . . .) found them at the edge of Mirrodin's glade, only to find the remains of a massive battle. The wizard may have died but he'd apparently taken a moderately sized army with him. The battlefield was scorched, and piled with the bodies of cultists of Baphomet, both minotaurs and humans. The group moved to investigate inside. Each level of the tower bore the same marks of a massive battle.
At the third floor (where they'd met with the wizard all those weeks before) they found a pile of ash. One spellcraft check later and they knew the grisly truth; Mirrodin had been damned to Bator. For unknown reasons resurrection would not work in this case.
As they straightened up from their investigation Mirrodin's familiar (a faerie dragon) flew down to them. Once it had their attention it flew over to the bookcase and knocked a book off. Behind it was a crystal, that when activated showed an image of Mirrodin. He told them not to worry about him, and that he'd hidden the hilt where the cultists couldn't get it.
They also noted a switch the crystal had been placed on. And you know gnomes, no switch unturned is there motto. This moved the bookcase, revealing a portal leading to an extra dimensional space.