Our gaming group in its natural habitat as we wrap up Rise of the Runelords. From left to right: Monica, Morgan, Scott, Lee and Peter.

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR FINAL FIGHT OF RISE OF THE RUNELORDS. TURN BACK NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED.

Like a boss fight should be, this one was brutal. Morgan's cleric died three times. Monica's bard died once. Lee's wizard died once. Thoughts of a TPK ran through our minds more than once.

As usual, Scott's ranger did a ton of ranged damage, not to mention brought our cleric and wizard back from the dead by destroying Karzoug's soul-sucker platform. It also brought a previously downed Rune Giant back to life, but since we were facing a TPK without our cleric and wizard, nobody was going to quibble.

Peter's barbarian rushed Karzoug's throne like the rage-monster he is. Morgan's cleric summoned Planetars that countered the worst of Karzoug's magic. Lee's wizard cast Maze on the dragon, which kept Big Blue out of the fight long enough for us to keep up with Karzoug's assault. (He also spent a lot of time raising the cleric from the dead.) Monica's bard sang "Hungry Like the Wolf" to keep everyone's morale up, and a well placed Pilfering Hand ripped that metamagic rod from Karzoug's greedy grasp. And Devon's dedication to gaming and 3D-printed gaming terrain made all of this possible.

All that's left to do now is figure out how we're getting all this gold back to Sandpoint, and whether introducing it all at once will destabilize the regional economy.