Epic Problem : Return to Power

*OOC: *

Evil Team:
Voidrazor - Human Priest (Melee Buffer)
Avalon® - Old Kobold Wizard
pallandrome - Evil Blackguard/Archmage (Interplanar Arms Dealer/Info Broker)
Nephtys - Insane Human Priest
Tailspinner - Half-Dragon (Blue)/Half-Ogre Fighter

Allright, here's the thread for the Evil part of my Epic Problem. You guys will be having a little bit of a different background than the good guys. You have discovered and/or you know everything in the opening OOC background, but not the same way.
(BTW, this is written as though speaking mainly to a single person, each of you should read and assume that you ARE that special person.)

*IC* Over the last several weeks, you have each been seperately approached by a young woman. She radiated no aura's whatsoever, not of power, magic, good, evil, or anything else. Each of you were offered one of your greatest wishes come true, the woman convincing you that if you can find something for her, an Obelisk of immense power which was hidden on the Prime Plane at the beginning of time, she can garauntee your dream coming true, as well as her own. Without ever seeming forward, she has helped you realize that you could do this and have what you had always wanted.. no, what you always knew you were ENTITLED to. You feel a sense of gratitude towards your mystery benefactor, though whenever you try to recall her, the only thing that comes to mind is that gentle, melodic voice. A few days ago the five of you got together, The Lady having told you of the other marked, and that you may need to use them to find what you are searching for. It became clear to you, even without her gentle warning, that you should probably keep any mention of her quiet from your new.. 'allies'.

You figured out a good time to make your way through the barrier, when the more mighty guardians would be occupied, and all you would have to go through would be a small army of demons, devils, and angels, mostly focused on each other.

You each have your own reasons for going, and you know that the others probably have their own, but the 'group reason' has been unanimous (having been proposed to you all by a very trusted source) - The Material plane is prime for the picking, and there is much power to be had. There are ancient artifacts and temples, there are mortals who've never encountered such power as yours before and could be easily swayed, and of course there are those... meddlers, the other's who seem to have broken the seal. They will have to be dealt with so they don't interfere with you.

The only debate, it would seem, has been on.. what to do first when you get there. That is what has occupied the last few hours of your time, and it is coming to a head now. With no clearly defined path, some of the others have begun bickering.

*Specific information : *
[sblock=VoidRazor and Pallandrome]
With your information skills, you both know a fair bit about the current state of the multiverse.
You are aware that several other Marked individual.. 'heroes' have been summoned to the Observatory and are being sent into the Prime to find out what is going on. They could cause problems. You also know a fair bit about the current Prime, it's customs, etc. You know your way around, know who's king where, what's worth money, how powerful certain kingdoms are, who the most celebrated heroes and vile villains are, and what's been happening up until last year.
[/sblock]

[sblock= Just Pallandrome]
You've heard many things in your time, and some of them come to mind now as useful.
There was once an Ancient Bard, the grand master of all master bards, who lived on the prime before the Ban took place. It is said that if a question could be answered by any mortal, he knew the answer. You also know that some of the other rumours about him are true - he is a mortal, though he stopped aging at 100, and he currently lives on the Prime, travelling around the world on a caravan.
If anybody knows of this Obelisk, he would.
[/sblock]

[sblock=Nephtys]
I'll be emailing you b/c there's a fair amount I need to tell you.
[/sblock]

*OOC*
The Good team starts their thread when you guys go through the portal, so anything you guys post before going through the portal is technically 'in the past'. There are only two requirements :
#1 you go through the portal at some point, together.
#2 you do not attack the observatory itself.

ALSO, if anybody has any specific questions, feel free to ask. There's a lot of information out there and I'm still trying to decide what to give you free and what to make you work for.

BTW, in your first post, please include a spoiler containing what would/could have been offered to you. Regardless of how hard/impossible it would have been to figure out, she knew it.*

edit: My last version didn't work with the introduction post.

The Madman rocks gently back and forth on his flying carpet, sipping a cup of tea and caressing the young elven woman on his lap.
"It's up to you, gentlemen." he puts down the cup on its saucer, "I trust your good judgement," he says while thinking of a dozen ways of killing them if they crossed him. "but I'm simply not that interested in the details." Let them contest the leadership amongst themselves, let them reveal their weaknesses and their strengths, let them lead and let them make the mistakes... His time would come.


ooc: How much control do we have over our own actions regarding the obelisk? Are we mind-controlled or do we retain some free will?

*ooc*
You're all completely free willed *, you just believe it's in your best interests to find the obelisk so that you and your Lady can have your dreams come true.

Where a moment ago lay only darkness a riot of kaleidoscopic liquid colors in the shape of a humanoid roils into view. The turmoil on the figures strange surface resolves into a repeated pattern like a mandala, the eight-armed slowly spinning spiral, symbol of the god Panarchus. The voice that issues from the human-shaped phantasmagoria is equally weird. Most prominent are the rasping tones of a wizened and decrepit man. But a susurrous of a thousand voices, most echoing, others whispering other words forms an ever-changing background.

"Legends all, you doubtless have varying agendas. For centuries we have been deprived this precious gem, our rightful due, this world. An' though it be destined by our natures that we shall betray each other, the is advantage to be had in working on concert for mutual gain. For others have come before us, and yet more shall come after, who shall vie for our prize. Together our fortunes improve immensely. So that when that future day comes when we do turn on each other, our restraint now will have already paid for itself. What say you all?"

It was strange 'returning' to the observatory. He remembered leaving the Prime in search of a god only alluded to in obscure texts, He Who Shall Arise, the Lord of Paradox, Panarchus. But that memory was but one amongst the thousands of lifetimes that swam in the mind of Panarchus' Harbinger, Panarchus Bellum. But despite the great sea of memory at his command, he could not remember Her. Her coming heralded a time of great opportunity, for the god who, truth be told, was only incipient in this era. Panarchus' true glory lay only along certain paths in the future. The deity had no worshipers to speak of in this era. Yet such was Panarchus' nature that he seeded his own past, Panarchus Bellum's present.

[sblock=Jemal]The dominion Panarchus desires on the Prime can likely be wrested away in a moment by whoever controls the obelisk. So wants nothing less than the obelisk itself, especially since it seems to hold some promise of increasing his influence within the larger backdrop of multiple dimensions and the vast expanse of time.

It seems to me that Panarchus would believe that the mysterious lady either was herself or was associated with the strongest of the first wave of 'meddlers'. Unless under enchantment he'd consider her eventual betrayal a certainty. This would in no way dampen his desire to gain the obelisk for himself. But he'd seek to take precautions.

Does Panarchus know anything else about the first wave of those who crossed the barrier? Anything more about the obelisk?[/sblock]

Salarassa leaned up against a pillar beyond the massed beings that surrounded the breach. He did not trust these men who shared purpose with him, any more than he trusted that they would trust him. It was a paradox of sorts, that the mad and evil powers would work with nearly anyone, without prejudice but with every intention of eventual betrayal, while the powers of good were more prejudice than any others, but would never betray short of corruption taking them. For ventures such as this, it left the people in the middle, like Salarassa, with few options to choose from, and all of them distasteful.

"We've little choice but to ally for this venture. A group of powerful beings with marks similar to ours have gathered for the sole purpose of preserving the status quo, and I think we can all agree that such would not be supportive of our goals." says the young man, dressed in magnificent, if simple, clothing. While attractive, he seems to be outwardly normal. Only the burning passion deep in his eyes betray what the young man might truly be.

[sblock=jemal] Salarassa entered into commerce as a means towards power, and wanted power in order to gain personal freedom. He gained riches and power beyond all imagining, and goals have been completed. Since then, he has had everything, except the one thing that his fortune has taken from him. He lacks PURPOSE. That is the promise from the Lady, and that is the price of his service. He will be given a great purpose with which he will exalt himself above all others, and be beholden to none.[/sblock]

The madman starts at the appearance of the light-show, spilling some tea on the woman in his lap (who smiles at the pain and kisses his cheek), but soon recuperates and casts a quick True Seeing. "Ah! Ah, it's you. Oh, don't worry. I have no intention of betraying any of you unless it becomes necessary. And I'd rather not have to kill you at all, It's just too great a risk. I know you are all very capable."
"And there's more than just the champions of the heavens to contend with. The natives are of no importance, but the seven will have to be killed, permanently. I suggest we begin by tracking them down one by one. Locating them should be no difficulty once we're inside."
"On that subject; Shall we proceed?"

[sblock]
Ijazim wishes noting more than to become the divine consort of his beloved goddess, to share her power and her burdens and father a whole little pantheon of little demigods with her.
[/sblock]

"Actually, I've a contact on the prime that might be able to assist us. He's a bard of some repute who's been around for a while. If anyone can track down the seven quickly, it'd be him." says Salarassa as he begins leading his compatriots through the outskirts of the crowd. "And I agree about the interlopers. If they can be avoided, wonderful, if they can be bargained with, fine. Directly opposing them would be more risky an undertaking than I'd like, if it can be avoided. The Seven are another matter altogeather. They appear to have murderous intent, and it seems unlikely that an alliance could exist there. I agree that striking first is the best option.

Ooc: There's a crowd? Is something actively blocking our way to the portal, or moving to intercept us? In that case...

Ijazim frowns in irritation, takes a sip of tea and casts five spells in a moment. First taking steps to protect himself he touches a pearl on a chain around his neck then casts Spell Turning and Spell Resistance, followed by an all out offense.
Depending on the number of opponents, their individual strength and density of formation he chooses between three different tactics.

a) Powerful outsiders of a type known to have major spellcasting capacity (casts as 17th level or higher, not counting sla's) close enough that he can affect more then three of them with the spell first get a Disjunction followed by a Banishment. If any of them are still present he hits them with a Destruction (10d6=42). For a similar group of powerful outsiders not known to have any major spellcasting capacity he casts a Confusion instead of a Disjunction.

b) Great numbers of weak outsiders of a type not known to be immune to fire first get a Firestorm (20d6=54), followed by another Firestorm (20d6=78), followed by a Destruction (10d6=21) against any powerful enemy within range. If they are of a type known to be immune to fire they get a Banishment and a Confusion instead.

c) Powerful outsiders in a spread out formation get three Destructions (10d6=32 + 10d6=48 + 10d6=34).


When the smoke clears he hands his empty cup to the woman and says to his companions, "Why don't you clean up the rest of this rabble?"

ooc: Jemal, feel free to consider this his action if a combat breaks out while I'm unable to post.

ooc:
Confusion DC 37
Banishment DC 39
Destruction DC 40
Firestorm DC 41
Casterlevel against SR: 30+4(Spell Penetration+Greater SP)+4(Bead of Karma) = 38

Active spells and effects:
Spell Turning (1d4+6= 8)
Spell Resistance (12+30+4 = 46)
True Seeing
Bead of Karma

[SBLOCK=OOC Jemal]Panarchus is planning on casting Miracle for an extended version of Arcane Eye (whatever the maximum duration achievable with the 0xp version) once we get just inside the Prime. I'm not sure how long we'll discuss things in the observatory, so I wanted to mention it now to help you coordinate with anyone in the other group that can see invisible objects.[/sblock]

Jool the Drogorn

Jool listens to the others talk for a bit and then interjects her own pearl of wisdom. As they speak she tries to size up there battle prowess. She looks down upon them. They all seem so small. She stomps her massive foot as she speaks in her booming, yet somehow still somewhat feminine voice. "ENOUGH! No more talk. I came her for action." She turns toward the portal. "Let's go!"

[sblock]What she wants:

Pretty much everything needed for greater and greater battles (ultimate fighting ability, ultimate strength, ultimate health, ultimate battle prowess, etc. To go with it all ultimate challenges).[/sblock]