Zad
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The Crypt of the ShadowTaker - Chapter 10
The Crypt of the ShadowTaker - Chapter 10
OOC Notes:
Exp is 5000.
Loot:
There was some. Let’s cover that after the story what say.
This Week’s Adventure:
The torchlight flickered over the polished marble chamber for what seemed like an hour. On the raised dias in front of the throne stood the ShadowTaker, or what we were no doubt supposed to believe was the ShadowTaker. He wore slightly tattered wizard’s robe, and his eye glowed red in his skull. I quickly relayed that the lich was not alone, despite the appearances to the contrary. I could only hope that the assorted fiends would be revealed once they attacked – it would be a lot of work to glitterdust them all.
The figure on the dias spoke. “You should not have come here. I gave you the final warning, and now the time has come for your death.”
Before he could do anything else, we attacked. Scorch’s Mass Haste washed over us, and we wasted no time moving in. The scene went from calm to chaotic in a heartbeat – fiends began appearing as they attacked, and magical energies were flying all over the room.
I flew in to one side of the room and loosed a volley at a nearby marilith, who collapsed in a heap with four arrows piercing straight through her chestplate. Then behind me the telltale grey-green cloud of a cloudkill spell appeared. The poison was inconsequential but it did keep the entryway hidden in gas. Which side that helped more I can’t really say.
We were still moving into the room when the two fiendish commanders shimmered and the illusions surrounding them dropped. They were revealed as two golems. One was made of amythyst vitaesis and metal fused together, while the other one was clearly isometril. The vitaesis golem fired a ray at me, and several of my weaker spells fell away. Rather annoying really. Just after that one of the gelugons teleported behind me. My lip lifted slightly into a small wry smile as I glanced at it over my shoulder, barely turning my head; it would never live long enough to finish the attack it had started. My faith was not without basis – Aethramyr charged in and dealt the creature a blow solid enough to knock the creature to its knees. It looked at him, its hideous teeth clenched in pain, and said “This wasn’t my idea.”
Aethramyr shrugged. “Then go.” The devil just grimaced – things didn’t work that way.
The ShadowTaker used a Mass Haste on several of his own forces, and then started blinking into the Shadow plane. I counted myself lucky that was all he did. With the haste in place, the isometril golem charged at Aethramyr, its massive fist smashing crater into the marble floor as it crashed down where it thought Aethramyr was. With the closing of another marilith, this left me in the thick of the fight much more than I was comfortable with but there was little I could do about it for now.
Dravot entered, with Zera and Thorkeld on his heels. He cast a symbol of persuasion and many of the demons and devils were now friendly to him. However this didn’t make them any more friendly to the rest of us. Zera lunged with her naginata and ichor spurted from a devil despite his invisibility. The devil returned the attack, catching her hard with his spear.
There was a black flash near the door, and in its wake was Beryldn, Valanthe’s shadow cohort. With him was another shadow – a gnome or halfling female. I wasn’t sure what it meant but I had bigger worries at the time. They joined Valanthe and Verilunda and rushed one of the mariliths. The demons swayed a bit as half her strength left her in a rush while Valanthe cut into her.
A whirlwind tore through the cloudkill, dispersing most of it, and settled near the ShadowTaker. Apparently Bolo had shifted into an air elemental form. Bolo threw a Summon Swarm at the lich, but it just rolled off him and he laughed, taunting Bolo. “What is this? This is nothing. Where are the real spellcasters?”
Oh that was the wrong thing to say. Scorch screeched into the room “Real spellcasters?!? Real spellcasters?!? Why hello!” Then the air rippled as a chain sonic spell rebounded between some of the outsiders and the ShadowTaker. A magical shield surrounding the lich absorbed most of it, but the fiends didn’t fare nearly so well.
Back on my side of the chaotic battle, I decided to stay close and support Aethramyr. I finished off the injured gelugon who had teleported behind me, and the advancing marilith right after him. This gave Aethramyr some room to deal with the isometril golem.
Then a wave of white washed over the battle and then another – apparently the devils were throwing cones of cold. Lucky for me they were just out of range but most of the others weren’t so fortunate. It wasn’t enough to stop the fight, and the fiends continued to exchange blows with the shadows and the Pelor followers.
[We are now referring to the collective groups as “Team Shadow” and “Team Sun”.]
The ShadowTaker chuckled a bit, having something special in mind for Scorch. He spoke words that should not be spoken, and the ceiling above Scorch cracked and shattered. A black light shined down on Scorch, and then a rain of black fists descended from above. The flurry knocked Scorch to the side, but the wicked light and rain of fists continued. Dissatisfied with the results, the ShadowTaker caused Scorch to disappear – probably in the Maze.
Aethramyr was focused on the golem. Shatterspike, having tasted of the Pyre of Pelor, would likely penetrate into the machine. But my arrows had no such advangate. Aethramyr smiled, and tossed me a small brooch – the Scarab of Golembane that we had rattling around. I could only laugh, and after a wink Aethramyr turned back to the golem and they traded a fierce set of blows. As the golem smashed into Aethramyr’s armor, white hot sparks burst forth, but Sehanine’s champion gave as good as he got, and the infused Shatterspike cut chunks out of the golem. Aethramyr might be holding, but even he couldn’t take that kind of punishment for long. I muttered a quiet invocation and started firing at the golem. Despite the golem’s incredible power, it was still vulnerable to the simple magic of the scarab, and my arrows sliced through the solid metal in a rather unnatural way. The golem shudders as the arrows destroyed joints, and things started looking better.
Dravot was still hard at work, and waves of light washed over the room, causing mayhem for the fiends. Then he teleported with Zera near the ShadowTaker. Zera flexed her knees and was ready to strike the moment the ShadowTaker tried to cast another spell. The ShadowTaker didn’t care for being so close and immediately tried to teleport away. His casting got him assaulted brutally, but a lich must be immune to pain because he still managed to complete the spell, and reappeared on the other side of the room. But rather than vent himself on Dravot (who I think he was starting to fear) he instead focused on me. He let loose another black spell and viscid tendrils of oily blackness reached out and began tearing at my bow. But before they could tear it apart, I focused my magic and my training – I am a Champion, chosen of Corellion and if that lich thought he could destroy my bow that easily he had another thought coming. The wash of energy sent the tendrils recoiling and they sunk back to the shadows they came from.
The combat continued to rage, and more of the fiends were getting sent back to the hells that spawned them. Dravot then began his assault on the ShadowTaker, and using the Light of Reason as a focus, sent a sunbeam bursting forth and it utterly destroyed the lich, leaving only tattered robes and ash behind. After a moment, a glow settled in, and a flashing iscosohedron floated out of the ashes, and then burst in a flash of light as it was drawn through the back wall on a red cord of energy.
The fiends looked at each other for a long moment. But even the blood war was not enough to make them want to stay. Uttering a few foul curses at each other, they retreated to their home planes. That left only the golems standing.
I turned another volley on the isometril golem, and it creaked and tiny fractures spread over its surface. A sudden light began shining from the fractures and the inherently unstable isometril blew apart, sending a wave of searing heat over everyone in the area. As for the vitaesis golem, Bolo and Thorkeld had been holding it back. Bolo’s rusting grasp had some good effect on the metal parts of the beast but Thorkeld was overmatched. Valanthe, now free to tend to this, ordered them back, and casually dodged her way to the golem, dropping an opposing vitaesis crystal into one of the rusted holes. As she slid away from the golem, it lurched and then exploded, leaving little more than smoke in its wake.
Staring at the lich ashes, Scorch started mumbling something about “eidolon”. When we got him to speak common again, he explained it was some kind of construction like a simulacrum but more powerful in ways.
Then a slow, deliberate clapping started. An obvious illusion formed in the center of the room, slowly and patronizingly clapping in applause at the grand melee. The figure was almost completely hidden in robes and a deep hood. The hands, oddly, were different colors and my gaze narrowed as I saw the archer’s nock on one of them. The face, when I could see it, was a puppet’s mask with two different colored eyes. One, I noted ironically, was the color of Scorch’s proper eye.
The ShadowTaker continued his applause. “Well done. Well done.”
I looked at the illusion with all the innocence I could muster and asked “Has this gotten expensive yet?”
Even through the puppet mask I could tell a sneer. “You continue to vex me. But you cannot stop destiny. My offer still stands – you can leave now. You cannot stop the one I serve.”
Dravot looked at the illusion coldly. “Therizdun” he spat.
“Aye, of course Therizdun. Why the chaos that has been sown in the last year alone has been excellent. And it would have been much better, had it not been for you, bumbling about in matters you did not understand.”
Dravot replied quietly. “We have come this far to destroy you. We will not turn back now.”
“Destroy me? You cannot destroy me. But you will learn for yourselves. Come into my maze, if you dare. We await you.” The illusion faded.
The wall through which the energy went was solid and real. However it did seem a bit thinner, as if designed for a passwall to allow passage through it. We didn’t have a passwall, but I wasn’t about to waste time with it. I took some of the vitaesis left from the shattered golem, and piled it by the wall. Then Aethramyr handed me a piece of the opposite vitaesis, and from the far side of the room I tossed it at the pile. There was a suitable explosion, and a set of stairs were revealed.
Before we set onto the stairs, Dravot focused on the lantern. His eyes glowed with a yellow light and he spread the protection of Pelor upon us all. We quickly felt emboldened, and ready to face the evil that lie below. Dravot and Bolo made other preparations, Bolo summoning a veritable swarm of earth elementals, forming out of the cracked marble around the chamber. Wasting no further time, we descended the stairs.
The stairs ended in a short passage, and at the end were walls of energy that flickered on and off. The entire area beyond the passage seemed to float in space with stars twinkling in the blackness, reminding me of the starfields under Castle Greyhawk. The stars were disturbing, not comforting. Scorch breathed something about the Far Realms. There were successive walls of the flickering energy, one inside of the next. There was no floor or ceiling but clearly something supported the figures we could see ahead.
Ahead was an elf who was completely black. He was not entirely dissimilar from Aethramyr, and indeed sounded like the dark champion he had seen in his dreams. He slowly drew a wicked elven blade in challenge. Behind him and to one side was another dark protector – this one carrying a bow like the one made for Rackhir, though the wielder was certainly not him. He too was black as night, but still reminded me of myself somehow.
And in the center, on a small dias, was the ShadowTaker, looking just as he had in the illusion, save being coated in a shimmering energy. But here his robes were in constant motion, rippling and flowing. He reached up, and took the mask aside with one hand. Under it, there was nothing but worms flowing and wriggling. Bolo gasped. “A worm that walks. Ehlonna protect us.”
I remember thinking “It’s too late for that. We must protect ourselves, and each other.” Then I looked at the mass of crawling worms and thought “Correlian protect us.”
Not knowing what the walls would do, I fired an experimental volley. Some hit the wall but one did make it through and stuck in the dark champion, who grunted and pulled out the arrow. He tossed a potion and dropped the vial on the floor – it bounced once then fell through the floor into the blackness below.
Valanthe flickered into the shadows and was able to flow through the walls with minimal difficulty. Inside the air was cooler and thinner, as if up a vast mountain. Fortunately Pelor’s blessing lessened the impact of this unusual plane, and provided some degree of protection. We each tried to move through the walls and only luck seemed to make the final choice as to success. Aethramyr managed to move through during a flicker, and rushed the dark archer.
The ShadowTaker hasted himself, and then produced two pieces of vitaesis in the severed hands he carried. The stones cracked and evaporated and his head rolled back with unconcealed menace as he was encased in a black shadow, the effect of which I could only guess at.
After having tried to push through the wall several times, I gave up and some of us teleported through the wall and moved around the next wall to engage the defenders. That’s when the ShadowTaker amusedly opened a hole in the inner wall, and cast a horrid wilting. The screams only made the worms wriggle faster.
The shadow champion came forward to meet Aethramyr. They seemed evenly matched. Or perhaps not. How could they be? Aethramyr had something the dark champion did not – friends. The champion sliced quickly with his blade, but found only the displaced image of Aethramyr. To make sure it wasn’t an even fight, I fired at the champion – he avoided some of them, but could not duck them all. One shaft bit deep into his shoulder and he fell back a step.
The shadowy archer mirrored my move, and fired several arrows at Aethramyr in a single draw. Unfortunately Aethramyr was easier to find as a mark, and the arrows hit hard. Scorch decided that the archer needed some time out of the battle, and cast Maze on him. It was my hope that we could take good advantage of the time.
Dravot teleported into the next chamber with Zera and Thorkeld. He brought forth Pelor’s light against the ShadowTaker, and the worm recoiled from it, but was not destroyed. I was amazed he had that much effect, then remembered the shining lantern he carried, which glowed in a golden hunger to destroy the creature that imprisoned it for so long. I suspected the inner force wall was protecting the worm – it didn’t flicker like the others. Bolo forced his way through the outer wall as well, but before he could do anything else, the ShadowTaker uttered an unholy word and Bolo was slain where he stood. But even as his lifeless body crumpled to the ground amid the worm’s chuckle, the golden glow intensified, and the body began reforming, and the old wizard’s chuckle was cut short as he realized that his enemy would be renewed in mere moments.
Zera and Thorkeld moved in to support Aethramyr and did a fine job at that. The shadow champion reeled under the barrage of attacks. The champion, brave but not foolish, moved back to give himself room to fight. But in his haste he moved past Valanthe, who reached out with one thin blade across his throat. In a single silent movement, she sent the champion tumbling forward, his head half off his neck.
The ShadowTaker, still recoiling from Dravot, opened another hole and sent rays of colored light forth across the paladins in a prismatic spray, but the powerful enchantment played over them without serious effect. But even as he did so, Valanthe was acting to deny him his defense inside the force wall, and used several crystals to cut off his arcane protection. He just sneered as the wall flickered and fell away, leaving him exposed but hardly defenseless. Scorch seized the opportunity and dispelled several of the worms other protections.
Dravot then saw his moment. The enemy was exposed and vulnerable. He summoned Pelor’s might and power of the sun, using the Light of Reason to focus and intensify the power. His arm burned with the golden energy but the priest of Pelor had more force of will than any man I have known and he was not about to flinch now. The sunlight finally burst forth from the lantern, and thousands of worms screamed as one. They burst from the holy light and the pieces burned as they fell to the ground, leaving not even a fragment left of the creature. There was an empty clatter as the robes and scrolls fell to the floor, along with the two severed hands, the mask and the eyeballs.
There was a pregnant moment as we all stared at the fallen worm, not daring to believe it was ended. We might have stood there an eternity, but a shockwave rippled through the walls of force. We looked at each other and knew it would be bad for us if we stayed here. We grabbed Bolo’s reformed body – some kind of centaur now – as well as the ShadowTaker’s remains and ran for the exit as fast as we could. Just as the last of us reached it, the outer walls began collapsing, exposing the area to the far realms. But even this hallway was not safe, and was shaking. We ran back to the marble hall but the connection to the next demi-plane was severed and we were trapped. The shockwaves were penetrating the entire complex and it seemed we would find no safety anywhere. Knowing we could reach the Shadow Plane from here, Valanthe said that’s where we should go, and she had the means to move us there. I knew nothing of the Shadow Plane, but it had to be better than staying here.
A wash of shadow fell over us, and we were stretching towards the Shadow Plane. We arrived in an instant and were standing in a large group on a street in a city or large town. The buildings were strangely shaped, like it was a dream. The bottoms were sometimes smaller than the tops – it was like a carnival mirror. The entire place looked greyed out, as if most of the color had been drained from it, though a hint remained, like a faded tunic. Valanthe however looked like a black chalk etching, and her outline was fuzzy and blurred. As for us, we were still colorful – in fact we seemed too colorful for this place. It was like when my young sister had on too much makeup. The Light of Reason continued to blaze merrily, seeming quite out of place so Dravot finally shuttered it to draw less attention. Of course there didn’t seem to be anyone on the street at the moment. But I had the feeling we’re going to draw attention regardless of the lantern.
Then something happened. There was light, and darkness all at once. Scorch’s crystal around his neck suddenly shattered. Lights and glass all up and down the street shattered as well. Somehow, somewhere, something much larger than the death of an ancient lich just happened. Scorch was sure a major planar event had just occurred.
But what? I’m scared to find out.
The Return of Loot:
Spellbook of the ShadowTaker, including many high level spells and two epic spells (epic mage armor and an arrow reflection spell.)
Scroll of Fireball (10th level)
Scroll of Teleport without error
Scroll of Acid Fog
Scroll of Incendiary cloud
Scroll of Shape Change
Scroll of Wail of the Banshee
Scroll of Horrid Wilting
Scroll of Summon monster IX
Potion of Haste
Amulet of Natural Armor +2
Bracers of Armor +8
Ring of Protection +3
Gloves of Dexterity +4
Headband of Intillect +6
Pink Ioun stone (+2 con)
+5 mithril breastplate
+4 mithril buckler
+2 keen vitaesis elven thinblade (this weapon is not evil)
+5 flaming burst composite longbow (might, +4)
A note for the gentle reader:
The characters of this campaign are now all 20th or 21st level, at least as far as the amount of experience they've accumulated. The campaign is now epic-level, however none of the characters are truly 21st level yet. Each will need to undertake some ordeal in order to fully realize their new powers, and that will vary by individual. What exactly that will be, we do not know yet.
Also, the campaign will take a short hiatus - we will be playing the Avonshar campaign for a few weeks. During that time there will be no major adventures here, but I suspect (you may read that as hope if you like) that things will happen, charaters will have interactions and sidebar events, and assorted smaller updates will be made. Personally, the curiousity is killing me.
If there is interest, we can probably put up stat blocks in the rogue's gallery for the 21st level Meepites.
The Crypt of the ShadowTaker - Chapter 10
OOC Notes:
Exp is 5000.
Loot:
There was some. Let’s cover that after the story what say.
This Week’s Adventure:
The torchlight flickered over the polished marble chamber for what seemed like an hour. On the raised dias in front of the throne stood the ShadowTaker, or what we were no doubt supposed to believe was the ShadowTaker. He wore slightly tattered wizard’s robe, and his eye glowed red in his skull. I quickly relayed that the lich was not alone, despite the appearances to the contrary. I could only hope that the assorted fiends would be revealed once they attacked – it would be a lot of work to glitterdust them all.
The figure on the dias spoke. “You should not have come here. I gave you the final warning, and now the time has come for your death.”
Before he could do anything else, we attacked. Scorch’s Mass Haste washed over us, and we wasted no time moving in. The scene went from calm to chaotic in a heartbeat – fiends began appearing as they attacked, and magical energies were flying all over the room.
I flew in to one side of the room and loosed a volley at a nearby marilith, who collapsed in a heap with four arrows piercing straight through her chestplate. Then behind me the telltale grey-green cloud of a cloudkill spell appeared. The poison was inconsequential but it did keep the entryway hidden in gas. Which side that helped more I can’t really say.
We were still moving into the room when the two fiendish commanders shimmered and the illusions surrounding them dropped. They were revealed as two golems. One was made of amythyst vitaesis and metal fused together, while the other one was clearly isometril. The vitaesis golem fired a ray at me, and several of my weaker spells fell away. Rather annoying really. Just after that one of the gelugons teleported behind me. My lip lifted slightly into a small wry smile as I glanced at it over my shoulder, barely turning my head; it would never live long enough to finish the attack it had started. My faith was not without basis – Aethramyr charged in and dealt the creature a blow solid enough to knock the creature to its knees. It looked at him, its hideous teeth clenched in pain, and said “This wasn’t my idea.”
Aethramyr shrugged. “Then go.” The devil just grimaced – things didn’t work that way.
The ShadowTaker used a Mass Haste on several of his own forces, and then started blinking into the Shadow plane. I counted myself lucky that was all he did. With the haste in place, the isometril golem charged at Aethramyr, its massive fist smashing crater into the marble floor as it crashed down where it thought Aethramyr was. With the closing of another marilith, this left me in the thick of the fight much more than I was comfortable with but there was little I could do about it for now.
Dravot entered, with Zera and Thorkeld on his heels. He cast a symbol of persuasion and many of the demons and devils were now friendly to him. However this didn’t make them any more friendly to the rest of us. Zera lunged with her naginata and ichor spurted from a devil despite his invisibility. The devil returned the attack, catching her hard with his spear.
There was a black flash near the door, and in its wake was Beryldn, Valanthe’s shadow cohort. With him was another shadow – a gnome or halfling female. I wasn’t sure what it meant but I had bigger worries at the time. They joined Valanthe and Verilunda and rushed one of the mariliths. The demons swayed a bit as half her strength left her in a rush while Valanthe cut into her.
A whirlwind tore through the cloudkill, dispersing most of it, and settled near the ShadowTaker. Apparently Bolo had shifted into an air elemental form. Bolo threw a Summon Swarm at the lich, but it just rolled off him and he laughed, taunting Bolo. “What is this? This is nothing. Where are the real spellcasters?”
Oh that was the wrong thing to say. Scorch screeched into the room “Real spellcasters?!? Real spellcasters?!? Why hello!” Then the air rippled as a chain sonic spell rebounded between some of the outsiders and the ShadowTaker. A magical shield surrounding the lich absorbed most of it, but the fiends didn’t fare nearly so well.
Back on my side of the chaotic battle, I decided to stay close and support Aethramyr. I finished off the injured gelugon who had teleported behind me, and the advancing marilith right after him. This gave Aethramyr some room to deal with the isometril golem.
Then a wave of white washed over the battle and then another – apparently the devils were throwing cones of cold. Lucky for me they were just out of range but most of the others weren’t so fortunate. It wasn’t enough to stop the fight, and the fiends continued to exchange blows with the shadows and the Pelor followers.
[We are now referring to the collective groups as “Team Shadow” and “Team Sun”.]
The ShadowTaker chuckled a bit, having something special in mind for Scorch. He spoke words that should not be spoken, and the ceiling above Scorch cracked and shattered. A black light shined down on Scorch, and then a rain of black fists descended from above. The flurry knocked Scorch to the side, but the wicked light and rain of fists continued. Dissatisfied with the results, the ShadowTaker caused Scorch to disappear – probably in the Maze.
Aethramyr was focused on the golem. Shatterspike, having tasted of the Pyre of Pelor, would likely penetrate into the machine. But my arrows had no such advangate. Aethramyr smiled, and tossed me a small brooch – the Scarab of Golembane that we had rattling around. I could only laugh, and after a wink Aethramyr turned back to the golem and they traded a fierce set of blows. As the golem smashed into Aethramyr’s armor, white hot sparks burst forth, but Sehanine’s champion gave as good as he got, and the infused Shatterspike cut chunks out of the golem. Aethramyr might be holding, but even he couldn’t take that kind of punishment for long. I muttered a quiet invocation and started firing at the golem. Despite the golem’s incredible power, it was still vulnerable to the simple magic of the scarab, and my arrows sliced through the solid metal in a rather unnatural way. The golem shudders as the arrows destroyed joints, and things started looking better.
Dravot was still hard at work, and waves of light washed over the room, causing mayhem for the fiends. Then he teleported with Zera near the ShadowTaker. Zera flexed her knees and was ready to strike the moment the ShadowTaker tried to cast another spell. The ShadowTaker didn’t care for being so close and immediately tried to teleport away. His casting got him assaulted brutally, but a lich must be immune to pain because he still managed to complete the spell, and reappeared on the other side of the room. But rather than vent himself on Dravot (who I think he was starting to fear) he instead focused on me. He let loose another black spell and viscid tendrils of oily blackness reached out and began tearing at my bow. But before they could tear it apart, I focused my magic and my training – I am a Champion, chosen of Corellion and if that lich thought he could destroy my bow that easily he had another thought coming. The wash of energy sent the tendrils recoiling and they sunk back to the shadows they came from.
The combat continued to rage, and more of the fiends were getting sent back to the hells that spawned them. Dravot then began his assault on the ShadowTaker, and using the Light of Reason as a focus, sent a sunbeam bursting forth and it utterly destroyed the lich, leaving only tattered robes and ash behind. After a moment, a glow settled in, and a flashing iscosohedron floated out of the ashes, and then burst in a flash of light as it was drawn through the back wall on a red cord of energy.
The fiends looked at each other for a long moment. But even the blood war was not enough to make them want to stay. Uttering a few foul curses at each other, they retreated to their home planes. That left only the golems standing.
I turned another volley on the isometril golem, and it creaked and tiny fractures spread over its surface. A sudden light began shining from the fractures and the inherently unstable isometril blew apart, sending a wave of searing heat over everyone in the area. As for the vitaesis golem, Bolo and Thorkeld had been holding it back. Bolo’s rusting grasp had some good effect on the metal parts of the beast but Thorkeld was overmatched. Valanthe, now free to tend to this, ordered them back, and casually dodged her way to the golem, dropping an opposing vitaesis crystal into one of the rusted holes. As she slid away from the golem, it lurched and then exploded, leaving little more than smoke in its wake.
Staring at the lich ashes, Scorch started mumbling something about “eidolon”. When we got him to speak common again, he explained it was some kind of construction like a simulacrum but more powerful in ways.
Then a slow, deliberate clapping started. An obvious illusion formed in the center of the room, slowly and patronizingly clapping in applause at the grand melee. The figure was almost completely hidden in robes and a deep hood. The hands, oddly, were different colors and my gaze narrowed as I saw the archer’s nock on one of them. The face, when I could see it, was a puppet’s mask with two different colored eyes. One, I noted ironically, was the color of Scorch’s proper eye.
The ShadowTaker continued his applause. “Well done. Well done.”
I looked at the illusion with all the innocence I could muster and asked “Has this gotten expensive yet?”
Even through the puppet mask I could tell a sneer. “You continue to vex me. But you cannot stop destiny. My offer still stands – you can leave now. You cannot stop the one I serve.”
Dravot looked at the illusion coldly. “Therizdun” he spat.
“Aye, of course Therizdun. Why the chaos that has been sown in the last year alone has been excellent. And it would have been much better, had it not been for you, bumbling about in matters you did not understand.”
Dravot replied quietly. “We have come this far to destroy you. We will not turn back now.”
“Destroy me? You cannot destroy me. But you will learn for yourselves. Come into my maze, if you dare. We await you.” The illusion faded.
The wall through which the energy went was solid and real. However it did seem a bit thinner, as if designed for a passwall to allow passage through it. We didn’t have a passwall, but I wasn’t about to waste time with it. I took some of the vitaesis left from the shattered golem, and piled it by the wall. Then Aethramyr handed me a piece of the opposite vitaesis, and from the far side of the room I tossed it at the pile. There was a suitable explosion, and a set of stairs were revealed.
Before we set onto the stairs, Dravot focused on the lantern. His eyes glowed with a yellow light and he spread the protection of Pelor upon us all. We quickly felt emboldened, and ready to face the evil that lie below. Dravot and Bolo made other preparations, Bolo summoning a veritable swarm of earth elementals, forming out of the cracked marble around the chamber. Wasting no further time, we descended the stairs.
The stairs ended in a short passage, and at the end were walls of energy that flickered on and off. The entire area beyond the passage seemed to float in space with stars twinkling in the blackness, reminding me of the starfields under Castle Greyhawk. The stars were disturbing, not comforting. Scorch breathed something about the Far Realms. There were successive walls of the flickering energy, one inside of the next. There was no floor or ceiling but clearly something supported the figures we could see ahead.
Ahead was an elf who was completely black. He was not entirely dissimilar from Aethramyr, and indeed sounded like the dark champion he had seen in his dreams. He slowly drew a wicked elven blade in challenge. Behind him and to one side was another dark protector – this one carrying a bow like the one made for Rackhir, though the wielder was certainly not him. He too was black as night, but still reminded me of myself somehow.
And in the center, on a small dias, was the ShadowTaker, looking just as he had in the illusion, save being coated in a shimmering energy. But here his robes were in constant motion, rippling and flowing. He reached up, and took the mask aside with one hand. Under it, there was nothing but worms flowing and wriggling. Bolo gasped. “A worm that walks. Ehlonna protect us.”
I remember thinking “It’s too late for that. We must protect ourselves, and each other.” Then I looked at the mass of crawling worms and thought “Correlian protect us.”
Not knowing what the walls would do, I fired an experimental volley. Some hit the wall but one did make it through and stuck in the dark champion, who grunted and pulled out the arrow. He tossed a potion and dropped the vial on the floor – it bounced once then fell through the floor into the blackness below.
Valanthe flickered into the shadows and was able to flow through the walls with minimal difficulty. Inside the air was cooler and thinner, as if up a vast mountain. Fortunately Pelor’s blessing lessened the impact of this unusual plane, and provided some degree of protection. We each tried to move through the walls and only luck seemed to make the final choice as to success. Aethramyr managed to move through during a flicker, and rushed the dark archer.
The ShadowTaker hasted himself, and then produced two pieces of vitaesis in the severed hands he carried. The stones cracked and evaporated and his head rolled back with unconcealed menace as he was encased in a black shadow, the effect of which I could only guess at.
After having tried to push through the wall several times, I gave up and some of us teleported through the wall and moved around the next wall to engage the defenders. That’s when the ShadowTaker amusedly opened a hole in the inner wall, and cast a horrid wilting. The screams only made the worms wriggle faster.
The shadow champion came forward to meet Aethramyr. They seemed evenly matched. Or perhaps not. How could they be? Aethramyr had something the dark champion did not – friends. The champion sliced quickly with his blade, but found only the displaced image of Aethramyr. To make sure it wasn’t an even fight, I fired at the champion – he avoided some of them, but could not duck them all. One shaft bit deep into his shoulder and he fell back a step.
The shadowy archer mirrored my move, and fired several arrows at Aethramyr in a single draw. Unfortunately Aethramyr was easier to find as a mark, and the arrows hit hard. Scorch decided that the archer needed some time out of the battle, and cast Maze on him. It was my hope that we could take good advantage of the time.
Dravot teleported into the next chamber with Zera and Thorkeld. He brought forth Pelor’s light against the ShadowTaker, and the worm recoiled from it, but was not destroyed. I was amazed he had that much effect, then remembered the shining lantern he carried, which glowed in a golden hunger to destroy the creature that imprisoned it for so long. I suspected the inner force wall was protecting the worm – it didn’t flicker like the others. Bolo forced his way through the outer wall as well, but before he could do anything else, the ShadowTaker uttered an unholy word and Bolo was slain where he stood. But even as his lifeless body crumpled to the ground amid the worm’s chuckle, the golden glow intensified, and the body began reforming, and the old wizard’s chuckle was cut short as he realized that his enemy would be renewed in mere moments.
Zera and Thorkeld moved in to support Aethramyr and did a fine job at that. The shadow champion reeled under the barrage of attacks. The champion, brave but not foolish, moved back to give himself room to fight. But in his haste he moved past Valanthe, who reached out with one thin blade across his throat. In a single silent movement, she sent the champion tumbling forward, his head half off his neck.
The ShadowTaker, still recoiling from Dravot, opened another hole and sent rays of colored light forth across the paladins in a prismatic spray, but the powerful enchantment played over them without serious effect. But even as he did so, Valanthe was acting to deny him his defense inside the force wall, and used several crystals to cut off his arcane protection. He just sneered as the wall flickered and fell away, leaving him exposed but hardly defenseless. Scorch seized the opportunity and dispelled several of the worms other protections.
Dravot then saw his moment. The enemy was exposed and vulnerable. He summoned Pelor’s might and power of the sun, using the Light of Reason to focus and intensify the power. His arm burned with the golden energy but the priest of Pelor had more force of will than any man I have known and he was not about to flinch now. The sunlight finally burst forth from the lantern, and thousands of worms screamed as one. They burst from the holy light and the pieces burned as they fell to the ground, leaving not even a fragment left of the creature. There was an empty clatter as the robes and scrolls fell to the floor, along with the two severed hands, the mask and the eyeballs.
There was a pregnant moment as we all stared at the fallen worm, not daring to believe it was ended. We might have stood there an eternity, but a shockwave rippled through the walls of force. We looked at each other and knew it would be bad for us if we stayed here. We grabbed Bolo’s reformed body – some kind of centaur now – as well as the ShadowTaker’s remains and ran for the exit as fast as we could. Just as the last of us reached it, the outer walls began collapsing, exposing the area to the far realms. But even this hallway was not safe, and was shaking. We ran back to the marble hall but the connection to the next demi-plane was severed and we were trapped. The shockwaves were penetrating the entire complex and it seemed we would find no safety anywhere. Knowing we could reach the Shadow Plane from here, Valanthe said that’s where we should go, and she had the means to move us there. I knew nothing of the Shadow Plane, but it had to be better than staying here.
A wash of shadow fell over us, and we were stretching towards the Shadow Plane. We arrived in an instant and were standing in a large group on a street in a city or large town. The buildings were strangely shaped, like it was a dream. The bottoms were sometimes smaller than the tops – it was like a carnival mirror. The entire place looked greyed out, as if most of the color had been drained from it, though a hint remained, like a faded tunic. Valanthe however looked like a black chalk etching, and her outline was fuzzy and blurred. As for us, we were still colorful – in fact we seemed too colorful for this place. It was like when my young sister had on too much makeup. The Light of Reason continued to blaze merrily, seeming quite out of place so Dravot finally shuttered it to draw less attention. Of course there didn’t seem to be anyone on the street at the moment. But I had the feeling we’re going to draw attention regardless of the lantern.
Then something happened. There was light, and darkness all at once. Scorch’s crystal around his neck suddenly shattered. Lights and glass all up and down the street shattered as well. Somehow, somewhere, something much larger than the death of an ancient lich just happened. Scorch was sure a major planar event had just occurred.
But what? I’m scared to find out.
The Return of Loot:
Spellbook of the ShadowTaker, including many high level spells and two epic spells (epic mage armor and an arrow reflection spell.)
Scroll of Fireball (10th level)
Scroll of Teleport without error
Scroll of Acid Fog
Scroll of Incendiary cloud
Scroll of Shape Change
Scroll of Wail of the Banshee
Scroll of Horrid Wilting
Scroll of Summon monster IX
Potion of Haste
Amulet of Natural Armor +2
Bracers of Armor +8
Ring of Protection +3
Gloves of Dexterity +4
Headband of Intillect +6
Pink Ioun stone (+2 con)
+5 mithril breastplate
+4 mithril buckler
+2 keen vitaesis elven thinblade (this weapon is not evil)
+5 flaming burst composite longbow (might, +4)
A note for the gentle reader:
The characters of this campaign are now all 20th or 21st level, at least as far as the amount of experience they've accumulated. The campaign is now epic-level, however none of the characters are truly 21st level yet. Each will need to undertake some ordeal in order to fully realize their new powers, and that will vary by individual. What exactly that will be, we do not know yet.
Also, the campaign will take a short hiatus - we will be playing the Avonshar campaign for a few weeks. During that time there will be no major adventures here, but I suspect (you may read that as hope if you like) that things will happen, charaters will have interactions and sidebar events, and assorted smaller updates will be made. Personally, the curiousity is killing me.
If there is interest, we can probably put up stat blocks in the rogue's gallery for the 21st level Meepites.
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