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<blockquote data-quote="Netherstorm" data-source="post: 5853365" data-attributes="member: 84943"><p><a href="http://sagaofvalor3.webs.com/adv19.htm" target="_blank">http://sagaofvalor3.webs.com/adv19.htm</a><em>3/9/12: We're making nice progress so far.</em> <em>Expedition to the Demonweb Pits spoilers...</em></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Saga of Valor </span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Book One - NyrodSpace War 3</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em>Chapter Twenty: The Fane of Eclavdra</em></p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Anjou</strong>, Primal Spirit of Storms</p><p><strong>Clarissa</strong>, Goddess of Fire & Battle</p><p><strong>Kava Frosthowl</strong>, Primal Spirit of Ice</p><p><strong>Reshkar</strong>, avatar of Io - Prime God of Dragons</p><p><strong>Storm</strong>, God of War</p><p><strong>Zev</strong>, God of Night</p><p></p><p>Far off in the sphere of GreatSpace, on the world of Thesalys, Anjou had jumped through Lolth's portal to the Demonweb. The other gods had headed into the spiral desert to free Yagnor, God of the Grevans. </p><p></p><p>Anjou appeared in a large room with web walls. She was standing on a web as well. Past the strands below her feet, she saw a black void punctuated with billowing clouds of vapor. The gas of the clouds held some kind of horrible infernal magic which could change her forever...</p><p></p><p>The avatar of Lolth saw that Anjou had followed her. She vanished. Three large spiders scampered toward Anjou, and from the void below came sporebats - eyes with bat wings attached - firing beams of concentrated poison at the primal spirit! </p><p></p><p>Lolth's magic kicked in, and the exits to the room were blocked by webbing walls which sprung up from out of nowhere. The webbing walls grew inward, slowly closing in on Anjou, as if the room was to become a cocoon designed to hold her in.</p><p></p><p>Anjou assumed her lightning form, and held the arrow of fate tightly in her hand. She drew energy from it, and breathed radiant fire on her enemies. The spiders squealed and died. </p><p></p><p>For hours and hours she fought, both against the bats as well as the encroaching cocoon. Sporebats continuously flew up from the outer demonweb and fired their poison rays. Anjou was struck a few times. Over the span of a few hours, the creatures were wearing her down.</p><p></p><p>But at last, her allies joined her. Zev had activated the portal, and the heroes passed through. Storm let out a Call to the Moon, killing some advancing sporebats. Clarissa channeled fire through her sword and began to scorch the encroaching webbing. Reshkar breathed fire on the webbing as well. Zev used his mastery of Arcana to shut down the spell that was creating the web cocoon. As the last of the bats were killed, Anjou was able to catch her breath.</p><p></p><p>There were multiple exits from the room. All were tunnels made of webbing.</p><p></p><p>Duskeater, Zev's imp, said, "Mighty Zev - we're really going to go and 'get' Lolth now? May I lay claim to the Demonweb when she is dead?"</p><p></p><p>"No," Anjou said.</p><p></p><p>Storm asked, "Don't you already have a kingdom?"</p><p></p><p>Duskeater said, "Yes but I have to share it with Graz'zt! Do you know what that's like?" (<em>Zev, Kava and Clarissa had killed Doresain, the lord of the ghouls. Duskeater became the ruler of Doresain's White Kingdom, which is in Orcus' abyssal realm of Thanatos. Once those heroes killed Orcus, Graz'zt claimed Thanatos for his own</em>)</p><p></p><p>Duskeater continued, "Graz'zt already has four or five abyssal layers. That nerd is lucky Zev doesn't destroy him."</p><p></p><p>Anjou sighed and took a few more minutes to patch up her wounds.</p><p></p><p>Clarissa looked at Zev and said, "So what do your new magic items do?"</p><p></p><p>She saw that he was wearing the circlet and holding the staff that he had snatched from Lolth's avatar while she was stunned. </p><p></p><p>Reshkar had just joined the heroes. As Io, he had been watching over Nyrodspace while the other gods dealt with Urgathoa. But he had sensed that the heroes would need his help, and tracked them down. </p><p></p><p>Reshkar said, "Magic items? Explain..."</p><p></p><p>Duskeater piped up, "Mighty Zev has two, but I took one. I asked him if he would hold it for me. I'll take it back later. I am a demon lord, after all."</p><p></p><p>Zev said to the other gods, "What do you know of this place?"</p><p></p><p>"Lolth is here and I'm going to beat her up," Anjou explained.</p><p></p><p>They knew that Lolth had ultimate power in this realm. She was a demon lord as well as a goddess. </p><p></p><p>Zev tried to use the godly power stored in the headband of Cerbel, who was a god of Prophecy. He wanted to find out which tunnel lead to Lolth. But as he tried to use the item, he saw in his mind an image of a giant spider with a drow head attached. It was Lolth! She hissed, and blocked his attempts with her godly might. The lich clutched his head in pain.</p><p></p><p>They decided to go through a tunnel that sloped down. As they examined the webbing that made up the tunnel, they saw howling faces of condemned souls form and un-form.</p><p></p><p>The tunnel lead to an empty chamber that contained an entire temple complete with pillars, an arched cathedral-style ceiling, and stained-glass windows depicting spiders and their prey. At the center of the room was an altar fitted with shackles and a catch basin for blood, lying underneath the fangs of an enormous spider sculpture of Lolth that hung from the ceiling.</p><p></p><p>They could feel a weird power emanating from the altar. Zev warned them that if they got too close, the altar had the power to control their minds. </p><p></p><p>Clarissa studied symbols that were on the floor. They depicted a bronze star, a silver sphere, and a blue cube, respectively. She sensed teleportation magic emanating from them. She felt that a certain key would be needed to activate them.</p><p></p><p>The gods would see these inlays in many chambers of the Demonweb. Because the Demonweb shifted so much, the simplest way to travel was to use a key on an inlay. If you activated a bronze star, you could travel to any room with a bronze star inlay if you'd been to it before and you had the bronze star key.</p><p></p><p>Unfortunately for the gods, they had no keys, and hadn't seen inlays anywhere else yet.</p><p></p><p>They avoided the altar, and followed a tunnel that ended abruptly at a wall - an illusory wall.</p><p></p><p>They began to talk about the gods and primordials they'd slain: Orcus, Tiamat, Pollidemia, Piranoth, and Timesius...</p><p></p><p>Clarissa said, "Zev's stolen many magic items from those gods we've slain...". Clarissa appeared to be irked by the fact that Zev had snatched two artifacts from Lolth while she was stunned, and kept them.</p><p></p><p>Duskeater said, "It's called 'looting', Clarissa."</p><p></p><p>Clarissa asked, "Is that the same as stealing?"</p><p></p><p>Duskeater shrugged and said, "I don't know. How much have you 'looted'..?"</p><p></p><p>"I haven't had to lower myself to that level."</p><p></p><p>"You've never looted anything? Let me look at you. Where did you get all those magic items?" Duskeater rolled his eyes and sighed. "It's so easy, you miserable bitch."</p><p></p><p>Duskeater laughed and yelled sarcastically, "Zev, protect me!". He flew into the lich's ribcage and drew his robes over so Clarissa didn't have line of sight. Duskeater cackled and called out to Clarissa, "I long ago surpassed you! I am now a demon lord!"</p><p></p><p>Past the illusory wall, they could see that space beyond had been expanded into a makeshift laboratory. Braziers in the corners burned with coals; long shelves held hundreds of books and scrolls. More tapestries covered the walls and held in the heat of the braziers.</p><p></p><p>One section of the chamber was lit by a metal candelabra that held hundreds of candles; their light shined on two people: a drow woman wearing gauzy spiderwebs and a black circlet set with shining red gems, and a tiefling man with shiny skin and a pointed tail. The two of them were unaware of the gods nearby, but their black cat had - it was perched on the table near them. It's three red eyes stared straight at them, unblinking.</p><p></p><p>Reshkar and Anjou stepped in. The three-eyed cat let out a deafening inhuman shriek. </p><p></p><p>The drow and tiefling turned. The drow pulled out a dagger, the tiefling brandished a hell rod. The drow asked, "What's the meaning of this?!"</p><p></p><p>Anjou said, "The meaning of this? We're here to kill Lolth."</p><p></p><p>The tiefling laughed. "Kill Lolth?!"</p><p></p><p>The female looked the pair over and asked, "Really..? Hmmm... I am Lissondra. And this is my lover: Bon Amedoss."</p><p></p><p>The cat looked at the gods with its' red eyes.</p><p></p><p>"I like the cat," Anjou said.</p><p></p><p>The cat let out another monstrous roar.</p><p></p><p>Reshkar asked, "Will you stand in our way, or let us pass?"</p><p></p><p>Lissondra thought and said, "We shall let you pass."</p><p></p><p>Zev hissed from behind the illusory wall, "I suggest you kill them before they do something they'd regret later."</p><p></p><p>Lissondra said, "We are just poor researchers..."</p><p></p><p>Zev corrected, "...servants of Lolth."</p><p></p><p>Lissondra continued, "...We are nothing to you."</p><p></p><p>Storm looked them over. He believed that she was no threat. Anjou noted that sometimes Lolth rewarded traitors. Zev had spotted a magic spidersilk garment hanging on a hook. He told the researchers that if they handed over the spidersilk, they'd let them live. The pair agreed to this.</p><p></p><p>Zev asked his cohorts, "Does anyone want to 'loot' those robes before I claim them?"</p><p></p><p>Clarissa took them. The spidersilk robes gave her the power to control spiders, and gave her the drow power of darkfire.</p><p></p><p>The heroes looked at the scroll that Bon and Lissondra had been working on. It was research on how to infuse demon blood into Lolth's spiders. Zev entered and took it. The cat let out another roar. Lissondra began to pet it.</p><p></p><p>They asked her where Lolth was. She explained that the Demonweb shifted constantly, and thus there was no one way to Lolth. But she did say that to get to Lolth, they'd have to pass through The Black Gate. "And nobody passes through the Black Gate unless they have the platinum key."</p><p></p><p>Zev asked, "Where is the platinum key?"</p><p></p><p>"It is held in the Fane of Eclavdra".</p><p></p><p>Storm seemed sure she was telling the truth. </p><p></p><p>Clarissa had heard of Eclavdra - Lolth's most powerful servant. Eclavdra betrayed Lolth at least twice and survived. She had also seduced Graz'zt for a time.</p><p></p><p>The gods left Lissondra and Bon. They headed down a tunnel, which led to weird fog. It was the abyssal gas that they'd all had a horrible feeling about. </p><p></p><p>Duskeater said, "Clarissa, why don't you go investigate the fog?"</p><p></p><p>Clarissa responded, "You're undead, you don't need to breathe. You go."</p><p></p><p>Duskeater paused, for once having nothing to say. The gods laughed.</p><p></p><p>Zev said, "You have failed this day, Duskeater."</p><p></p><p>They backtracked through Lissondra's chamber. The cat roared at them again. They went down a different tunnel, which ended in a set of iron double doors.</p><p></p><p>The strong doors bore no markings. Reshkar tried to pull them open, but they wouldn't budge. Zev studied them, and realized they could be opened with a magic key.</p><p></p><p>Storm saw another way as well. They'd have to sacrifice a sentient creature and use its' blood to paint the symbol of Lolth on the door.</p><p></p><p>They headed back to Lissondra's again, and went through yet another tunnel. They came upon another set of double doors. But these were not iron and were easily opened...</p><p></p><p>The room beyond seemed to belong to a plane of fire and brimstone: the air reeked of rotting meat, and puffs of sulfurous smoke obscured the chamber. Striding out of the smoke were tall, skeletal demons with bony white vestigial wings. Their entire bodies were sheathed in blue fire.</p><p></p><p>A giant, fiery spider rose out of a central magma pool. Storm ran up and slashed it. His cut created a fiery explosion that singed Storm's fur. Anjou made her way in and launched out three lightning lures, dragging two of the burning palrethee demons and the spider close to her.</p><p></p><p>Kava charged the spider and bloodied it with a blow from her icy axe. Clarissa and Reshkar each engaged lone Palrethee demons.</p><p></p><p>Zev suddenly shimmered with arcane energy. He fired off a weak eldritch blast which barely reached or affected a demon. He called out that Lolth was somehow disrupting his spells!</p><p></p><p>Storm let out a call to the moon, injuring many. Then he teleported next to the spider and plunged his blade into it. The spider squealed and died (<em>he rolled a critical</em>). </p><p></p><p>Two palrethees clawed Kava. The demons spoke to each other in abyssal. Zev understood the language, and learned that the palrethee had a contract with Lolth - they would guard the place unless the battle was certain to be lost. Then, they were allowed to flee through a portal in the magma pool, which would take them to their home layer known as the Bloodpyre Fields. </p><p></p><p>Zev knew that the Bloodpyre Fields were ruled by a fiery demon lord called Flauros. Flauros fought with an entity called Ymeri, mistress of fire, over control of the race of salamanders.</p><p></p><p>Zev had heard of some drow who worshiped Flauros - House Caldrana.</p><p></p><p>Zev again tried to cast a spell, but again he shimmered and glowed instead. His spell was ineffective. </p><p></p><p>Storm tore into another palrethee (<em>2 criticals</em>). The palrethee called out to each other that they were now contractually allowed to flee into the gate. The gods stepped back, and let them do so.</p><p></p><p>As the heroes rested, Zev made a ritual circle using the power of the staff of Mordrun, one of the two artifacts he'd taken from Lolth. The staff allowed him to cast a ritual instantaneously.</p><p></p><p>After an argument with Duskeater about "marking your territory", they headed down another web tunnel. They came to a black hemispherical room, which was a junction of several passages, and its' floor was polished black marble marked with silver lines and shapes. Two sections of the wall were covered with silver-and-iron scrollwork that resembled webbing; these two met at the center of the room overhead. The floor wriggled slightly underfoot.</p><p></p><p>Clarissa, Storm and Zev studied the floor, and Storm realized that the floor was a giant map of the Demonweb! They took a moment to figure out where they'd been. </p><p></p><p>They then made their way down a tunnel, which was heavily webbed. As they traveled, the space opened up a bit. Suddenly, the web shivered and shook. Tearing through the web from above came three huge, abyssal spiders!</p><p></p><p>A spider dropped down on Reshkar and bit the dragonborn. Poison coursed through his veins. Storm cut off its' head. Poison blood sprayed up like a geyser.</p><p></p><p>"I thank you, God of War", Reshkar said.</p><p></p><p>Another spider shot webbing at Zev. He teleported out of the way. Clarissa plunged her khopesh into the spider's back and created a fire explosion inside it, blowing it up.</p><p></p><p>The third spider dropped in front of Anjou. She slammed the butt of the arrow of fate on the ground, letting out a wave of thunder that sent the spider flying. Kava turned it to ice and then shattered it with a blow from her axe.</p><p></p><p>They continued onward. The passage ahead seemed to have been torn apart by powerful forces - it looked crumpled and in sections, and the floor was uneven, with cracks that let a breeze through. The gods realized that the corridor ahead was an intersection, and that part of the ceiling was missing. They saw webs, hundreds of them, in all directions above them.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly, sporebats burst through the ceiling! Debris fell down - there looked to be something in the nest above them.</p><p></p><p>Reshkar breathed fire, killing two sporebats. Storm was hit with a poison beam. Anjou breathed radiant dragon breath, killing two more. Three remained.</p><p></p><p>Clarissa called forth a wave of arcane energy, killing two more. The last one shot a poison ray, hitting Kava and Zev.</p><p></p><p>Reshkar ran over and skewered the last of the sporebats.</p><p></p><p>The gods checked out the upper area the bats had come from. They found piles of seeds, as well as a little statuette of a red tree.</p><p></p><p>Clarissa studied the statuette, and realized it was a magic key that might work on an iron door, such as the one they could have opened by making a symbol with Lolth's blood.</p><p></p><p>They looked at the seeds. They realized that they could grow sporebats with the seeds.</p><p></p><p>Zev grabbed a handful in his bony grip. Storm decided he didn't like the idea of the god of night growing sporebats, and let out a call to the moon to try to shatter them. The god of night quickly stuffed them in his robes before they could be destroyed.</p><p></p><p>Duskeater said, "Working against us? Aren't we a team?"</p><p></p><p>Storm said sarcastically, "Oh, there's no reason for me not to trust Zev."</p><p></p><p>Duskeater explained, "Zev is the god of night-time! That's 12 hours of Zev, and 12 hours for the rest of you to split. We're carrying the load here!"</p><p></p><p>Storm said, "War continues constantly, you stupid little thing."</p><p></p><p>"You can choose whether or not to make war, but night is coming either way, kitty cat! Ha ha haa!". Duskeater saw the stern look on Storm's face and added, "I am just joking with you, Storm. You are mighty indeed."</p><p></p><p>Storm looked at Zev and said, "I am dangerously close to decapitating your imp."</p><p></p><p>Zev said, "You are letting a lowly imp anger a god?"</p><p></p><p>With the concern of the gods growing over Zev's machinations, they consulted their map and discussed which direction to try next. They followed a web tunnel for a bit. Up ahead, it curved, and in the curve was a cave shrouded in magical deeper darkness.</p><p></p><p>A huge spider skittered across the ceiling toward the heroes and dropped down on them. Reshkar cleaved it in half with his axe.</p><p></p><p>Clarissa chanted and dispelled the deeper darkness. They searched a debris pile in the cave, and found a small silver cube. It was another magic key designed to use with one of the mysterious sets of iron double doors found throughout the demonweb.</p><p></p><p>They moved on, and came to a wider section of webbed hallway... The air smelled slightly acidic, and the tunnel was about 50 feet wide. There were bones, hundreds of them, all chewed at the ends with the marrow sucked out of every one. Tufts of hair lay everywhere among the bones. </p><p></p><p>On a raised platform were three inlays: An iron pyramid, a bronze star, and a blue cube. Unfortunately, while the gods had found keys for the various iron doors, they had yet to find a key for any of the inlays.</p><p></p><p>There was also a shimmering bulb of energy, which was a portal to the extra-planar city of Sigil. As divine beings, the heroes were unable to pass through the portal, which was one of the unique things about Sigil. Neither gods, nor demon lords nor primordials could go there.</p><p></p><p>Kava looked around in the bone pile and found an ornate dwarven beard ring (worth 5 astral diamonds). </p><p></p><p>They followed another tunnel in the vast and seemingly endless demonweb. The gods arrived at an expansive natural cavern that apparently served as a major anchor for the Demonweb. Below an intricately-carved basillica roof stood a three-towered obsidian-carved citadel surrounded by a web-filled chasm. The highest tower reached three stories and was surmounted by an open turret.</p><p></p><p>As they took in the sight of the massive complex, Zev shimmered with arcane energy. Anjou and Kava turned and looked at Zev. They asked him what he was doing.</p><p></p><p>Zev said, "This place is interfering with my powers..."</p><p></p><p>Anjou looked at Zev and thought for a moment. She wasn't sure what was going on with him. </p><p></p><p>In the web-moat, they saw a massive horde of spiders - at least 10,000 of them!</p><p></p><p>Reshkar said dramatically, "Looks like we found - The Fane of Eclavdra."</p><p></p><p>There were four crossbow-wielding guards on top of the northeastern-most tower, known as the patrol tower.</p><p></p><p>Reshkar flew forward and got their attention. He hailed the drow. One guard called out in common: "Name your purpose for approaching Eclavdra's fane!"</p><p></p><p>Reshkar said, "I wish to convene with your lady."</p><p></p><p>The guard warned, "Stop where you are." The drow talked amongst themselves for a moment. Then, one headed down steps into the bowels of the tower. </p><p></p><p>Another guard called to Reshkar, "What's the password?".</p><p></p><p>"I am new to this realm. I don't know your password."</p><p></p><p>Kava whispered a suggestion: "spider". She was actually pretty close.</p><p></p><p>Reshkar called up, "I want no violence. I merely wish to speak with the lady of your keep."</p><p></p><p>A new drow emerged from the steps and looked down from the top of the tower to Reshkar. He was Artoresz Eilservs, a high-ranking drow archer.</p><p></p><p>Artoresz shouted down: "You wish to speak with Eclavdra? Yet you do not know the password." The heroes began to wonder if the drow were simply stalling while the many drow archers inside the complex positioned themselves at the dozens of arrow slits.</p><p></p><p>Reshkar called up, "I wish to speak with her about a possible alliance. Perhaps I should introduce myself. I am Io - God of Dragons!". Then, the dragonborn shifted and transformed into a massive, multi-colored dragon. He was Io indeed!</p><p></p><p>Artoresz shouted out orders in drow. There was great activity from inside the fane. Then the drow archer snarled and shouted down to Io/Reshkar, "Io is a friend of Corellon and thus, an enemy of the drow!".</p><p></p><p>One drow called out an arcane phrase: "<em>Akh Orbb</em>!". Suddenly, the 10,000 spider swarm washed up and out of the moat like a tidal wave (<em>there were 100 spiders per square, and it filled 100 squares!</em>).</p><p></p><p>Storm teleported into their midst and began swinging his blade in wide arcs. Droplets of spider blood flew into the air and fell like rain. Kava waded in near him and slashed away with her icy axe. Clarissa joined her, wielding her fiery khopesh.</p><p></p><p>The spiders covered the lower half of the god of war's body and bit him all over, their poison seeping into his veins (<em>they critted him for 60 damage and ongoing 15</em>). </p><p></p><p>Reshkar flew down into the swarm and breathed fire on it. </p><p></p><p>As the spiders crawled over Zev's body, the lich activated the godly power of his headband of Cerbel. He tried to take over the hive mind of the swarm! But Lolth, from elsewhere in the demonweb, sensed his attempt, and blocked it with her own divine will. Zev held his head and screamed as the feedback wracked his bones. He could feel her peering into his soul...</p><p></p><p>Anjou, in the middle of the swarm, let out a clap of thunder that dragged a few thousand spiders right next to her, to create space for her friends.</p><p></p><p>The spiders were all over Storm! He could feel them trying to crawl into his mouth. He sensed that these spiders had the power to take over and control his body! </p><p></p><p>Storm created a swirling dome of necrotic and radiant energy, that expanded out from inside his body, passing through his skin harmlessly but disintegrating all spiders that it touched! It grew out in all directions 15 feet. He struggled to maintain it (<em>He used a level 26 punisher of the gods power called repel legions. It's technically not an aura, but rather a burst 3 that becomes a zone</em>).</p><p></p><p>Zev held out his hand, using his mastery of arcana to make the dome larger! Hundreds more spiders disintegrated.</p><p></p><p>Anjou drew on the power of her gauntlet to help as well, but Lolth blocked it through sheer force of will!</p><p></p><p>Kava clenched her fist and activated her ring of winter, and pointed it at the dome. The glittering ring of unmelting ice began to shine. The aura took on a bluish tint and grew out further, freezing the spiders just before they were shattered by radiance and necrotic energy! </p><p></p><p>The dome was expanding and annihilating the spiders from the center of the swarm, as if a huge explosion had gone off in their midst!</p><p></p><p>Rehskar, an avatar of Io the god of dragons, used his divine energy to cause the dome to expand even more! He felt Lolth try to block it, but Io's will was too great.</p><p></p><p>In his head, he heard Lolth's shrill cry: "Io!"</p><p></p><p>Clarissa held out her khopesh and infused the dome with stunning fire. The dome grew out and up, destroying all of the 10,000 spiders. Then, the dome hit the walls of the fane itself, causing it to shake. The drow from within let out cries of fear as dust showered down from the ceiling. The whole place threatened to collapse!</p><p></p><p>Storm, the center of this maelstrom of radiance, necrotic energy, fire and ice, teleported up to the top of the patrol tower. His aura was so great that it blew the four guards with crossbows right off the top. The plunged into the web moat below. </p><p></p><p>Their leader, Artoresz, was pushed back near the edge, but he did not fall. The drow's hair blew back from the force of the energy. He raised his bow and fired an arrow into Storm's thigh.</p><p></p><p>Anjou teleported up to the tower, to aid Storm.</p><p></p><p>Clarissa climbed on her manticore and flew toward the fane, trying to extend the webbing drawbridge. Io and Kava helped. The bridge was difficult. A drow archer boldly tried to fire at Clarissa through an arrow slit. Clarissa used a lightning lure to pull the guard through the stone wall, killing him! </p><p></p><p>This created a hole for the heroes to enter the patrol tower. </p><p></p><p>Anjou called on the power of her gauntlet to summon an army of 5,000 faar'maki - the grevan spirit warriors! The drawbridge was lowered and they stormed the fane.</p><p></p><p>Kava killed the drow in the main level of the patrol tower, and then chanted, becoming ghostly. This allowed her to pass through the doors and to enter the nearby priestess tower. Reshkar followed, bashing the doors open. A swarm of Faar'maki came with him. </p><p></p><p>The priestesses were wielding fang whips, and some others had master tentacle rods. These elaborate weapons called forth 7 tentacles of different colors, and they had the power to blind, deafen, and make you numb and mute! </p><p></p><p>But even these weapons were no match for the gods. Reshkar and Kava tore into the drow.</p><p></p><p>Back up on the patrol tower, Artoresz was proving to be a worthy adversary. Clarissa flew up on her manticore and plunged her blade into the drow archer, stunning him. Anjou then stabbed him with the arrow of fate. Artoresz was slain.</p><p></p><p>The gods led the faar'maki assault. The 99 drow had no chance. Soon, the drow were all dead.</p><p></p><p>The gods explored the fane while the faar'maki camped. They found many portal keys on the drow. The keys worked on the bronze star, blue crystal and silver sphere inlays found throughout the demon web.</p><p></p><p>They also found a platinum key, which Lissondra had told them would open the black gate. The key however, was intangible. The gods quickly figured out how to make it tangible through the use of a strange double-ringed ritual circle in the fane.</p><p></p><p>They were dismayed to find the Eclavdra herself was not in the fane. They talked about what to do next - some wished to rest, others wished to resume the assault on the Demonweb post-haste.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Netherstorm, post: 5853365, member: 84943"] [URL="http://sagaofvalor3.webs.com/adv19.htm"][/URL][I]3/9/12: We're making nice progress so far.[/I] [I]Expedition to the Demonweb Pits spoilers...[/I] [CENTER][FONT=Arial Black][SIZE=3]Saga of Valor [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial Black][SIZE=3]Book One - NyrodSpace War 3[/SIZE][/FONT] [I]Chapter Twenty: The Fane of Eclavdra[/I][/CENTER] [B]Anjou[/B], Primal Spirit of Storms [B]Clarissa[/B], Goddess of Fire & Battle [B]Kava Frosthowl[/B], Primal Spirit of Ice [B]Reshkar[/B], avatar of Io - Prime God of Dragons [B]Storm[/B], God of War [B]Zev[/B], God of Night Far off in the sphere of GreatSpace, on the world of Thesalys, Anjou had jumped through Lolth's portal to the Demonweb. The other gods had headed into the spiral desert to free Yagnor, God of the Grevans. Anjou appeared in a large room with web walls. She was standing on a web as well. Past the strands below her feet, she saw a black void punctuated with billowing clouds of vapor. The gas of the clouds held some kind of horrible infernal magic which could change her forever... The avatar of Lolth saw that Anjou had followed her. She vanished. Three large spiders scampered toward Anjou, and from the void below came sporebats - eyes with bat wings attached - firing beams of concentrated poison at the primal spirit! Lolth's magic kicked in, and the exits to the room were blocked by webbing walls which sprung up from out of nowhere. The webbing walls grew inward, slowly closing in on Anjou, as if the room was to become a cocoon designed to hold her in. Anjou assumed her lightning form, and held the arrow of fate tightly in her hand. She drew energy from it, and breathed radiant fire on her enemies. The spiders squealed and died. For hours and hours she fought, both against the bats as well as the encroaching cocoon. Sporebats continuously flew up from the outer demonweb and fired their poison rays. Anjou was struck a few times. Over the span of a few hours, the creatures were wearing her down. But at last, her allies joined her. Zev had activated the portal, and the heroes passed through. Storm let out a Call to the Moon, killing some advancing sporebats. Clarissa channeled fire through her sword and began to scorch the encroaching webbing. Reshkar breathed fire on the webbing as well. Zev used his mastery of Arcana to shut down the spell that was creating the web cocoon. As the last of the bats were killed, Anjou was able to catch her breath. There were multiple exits from the room. All were tunnels made of webbing. Duskeater, Zev's imp, said, "Mighty Zev - we're really going to go and 'get' Lolth now? May I lay claim to the Demonweb when she is dead?" "No," Anjou said. Storm asked, "Don't you already have a kingdom?" Duskeater said, "Yes but I have to share it with Graz'zt! Do you know what that's like?" ([I]Zev, Kava and Clarissa had killed Doresain, the lord of the ghouls. Duskeater became the ruler of Doresain's White Kingdom, which is in Orcus' abyssal realm of Thanatos. Once those heroes killed Orcus, Graz'zt claimed Thanatos for his own[/I]) Duskeater continued, "Graz'zt already has four or five abyssal layers. That nerd is lucky Zev doesn't destroy him." Anjou sighed and took a few more minutes to patch up her wounds. Clarissa looked at Zev and said, "So what do your new magic items do?" She saw that he was wearing the circlet and holding the staff that he had snatched from Lolth's avatar while she was stunned. Reshkar had just joined the heroes. As Io, he had been watching over Nyrodspace while the other gods dealt with Urgathoa. But he had sensed that the heroes would need his help, and tracked them down. Reshkar said, "Magic items? Explain..." Duskeater piped up, "Mighty Zev has two, but I took one. I asked him if he would hold it for me. I'll take it back later. I am a demon lord, after all." Zev said to the other gods, "What do you know of this place?" "Lolth is here and I'm going to beat her up," Anjou explained. They knew that Lolth had ultimate power in this realm. She was a demon lord as well as a goddess. Zev tried to use the godly power stored in the headband of Cerbel, who was a god of Prophecy. He wanted to find out which tunnel lead to Lolth. But as he tried to use the item, he saw in his mind an image of a giant spider with a drow head attached. It was Lolth! She hissed, and blocked his attempts with her godly might. The lich clutched his head in pain. They decided to go through a tunnel that sloped down. As they examined the webbing that made up the tunnel, they saw howling faces of condemned souls form and un-form. The tunnel lead to an empty chamber that contained an entire temple complete with pillars, an arched cathedral-style ceiling, and stained-glass windows depicting spiders and their prey. At the center of the room was an altar fitted with shackles and a catch basin for blood, lying underneath the fangs of an enormous spider sculpture of Lolth that hung from the ceiling. They could feel a weird power emanating from the altar. Zev warned them that if they got too close, the altar had the power to control their minds. Clarissa studied symbols that were on the floor. They depicted a bronze star, a silver sphere, and a blue cube, respectively. She sensed teleportation magic emanating from them. She felt that a certain key would be needed to activate them. The gods would see these inlays in many chambers of the Demonweb. Because the Demonweb shifted so much, the simplest way to travel was to use a key on an inlay. If you activated a bronze star, you could travel to any room with a bronze star inlay if you'd been to it before and you had the bronze star key. Unfortunately for the gods, they had no keys, and hadn't seen inlays anywhere else yet. They avoided the altar, and followed a tunnel that ended abruptly at a wall - an illusory wall. They began to talk about the gods and primordials they'd slain: Orcus, Tiamat, Pollidemia, Piranoth, and Timesius... Clarissa said, "Zev's stolen many magic items from those gods we've slain...". Clarissa appeared to be irked by the fact that Zev had snatched two artifacts from Lolth while she was stunned, and kept them. Duskeater said, "It's called 'looting', Clarissa." Clarissa asked, "Is that the same as stealing?" Duskeater shrugged and said, "I don't know. How much have you 'looted'..?" "I haven't had to lower myself to that level." "You've never looted anything? Let me look at you. Where did you get all those magic items?" Duskeater rolled his eyes and sighed. "It's so easy, you miserable bitch." Duskeater laughed and yelled sarcastically, "Zev, protect me!". He flew into the lich's ribcage and drew his robes over so Clarissa didn't have line of sight. Duskeater cackled and called out to Clarissa, "I long ago surpassed you! I am now a demon lord!" Past the illusory wall, they could see that space beyond had been expanded into a makeshift laboratory. Braziers in the corners burned with coals; long shelves held hundreds of books and scrolls. More tapestries covered the walls and held in the heat of the braziers. One section of the chamber was lit by a metal candelabra that held hundreds of candles; their light shined on two people: a drow woman wearing gauzy spiderwebs and a black circlet set with shining red gems, and a tiefling man with shiny skin and a pointed tail. The two of them were unaware of the gods nearby, but their black cat had - it was perched on the table near them. It's three red eyes stared straight at them, unblinking. Reshkar and Anjou stepped in. The three-eyed cat let out a deafening inhuman shriek. The drow and tiefling turned. The drow pulled out a dagger, the tiefling brandished a hell rod. The drow asked, "What's the meaning of this?!" Anjou said, "The meaning of this? We're here to kill Lolth." The tiefling laughed. "Kill Lolth?!" The female looked the pair over and asked, "Really..? Hmmm... I am Lissondra. And this is my lover: Bon Amedoss." The cat looked at the gods with its' red eyes. "I like the cat," Anjou said. The cat let out another monstrous roar. Reshkar asked, "Will you stand in our way, or let us pass?" Lissondra thought and said, "We shall let you pass." Zev hissed from behind the illusory wall, "I suggest you kill them before they do something they'd regret later." Lissondra said, "We are just poor researchers..." Zev corrected, "...servants of Lolth." Lissondra continued, "...We are nothing to you." Storm looked them over. He believed that she was no threat. Anjou noted that sometimes Lolth rewarded traitors. Zev had spotted a magic spidersilk garment hanging on a hook. He told the researchers that if they handed over the spidersilk, they'd let them live. The pair agreed to this. Zev asked his cohorts, "Does anyone want to 'loot' those robes before I claim them?" Clarissa took them. The spidersilk robes gave her the power to control spiders, and gave her the drow power of darkfire. The heroes looked at the scroll that Bon and Lissondra had been working on. It was research on how to infuse demon blood into Lolth's spiders. Zev entered and took it. The cat let out another roar. Lissondra began to pet it. They asked her where Lolth was. She explained that the Demonweb shifted constantly, and thus there was no one way to Lolth. But she did say that to get to Lolth, they'd have to pass through The Black Gate. "And nobody passes through the Black Gate unless they have the platinum key." Zev asked, "Where is the platinum key?" "It is held in the Fane of Eclavdra". Storm seemed sure she was telling the truth. Clarissa had heard of Eclavdra - Lolth's most powerful servant. Eclavdra betrayed Lolth at least twice and survived. She had also seduced Graz'zt for a time. The gods left Lissondra and Bon. They headed down a tunnel, which led to weird fog. It was the abyssal gas that they'd all had a horrible feeling about. Duskeater said, "Clarissa, why don't you go investigate the fog?" Clarissa responded, "You're undead, you don't need to breathe. You go." Duskeater paused, for once having nothing to say. The gods laughed. Zev said, "You have failed this day, Duskeater." They backtracked through Lissondra's chamber. The cat roared at them again. They went down a different tunnel, which ended in a set of iron double doors. The strong doors bore no markings. Reshkar tried to pull them open, but they wouldn't budge. Zev studied them, and realized they could be opened with a magic key. Storm saw another way as well. They'd have to sacrifice a sentient creature and use its' blood to paint the symbol of Lolth on the door. They headed back to Lissondra's again, and went through yet another tunnel. They came upon another set of double doors. But these were not iron and were easily opened... The room beyond seemed to belong to a plane of fire and brimstone: the air reeked of rotting meat, and puffs of sulfurous smoke obscured the chamber. Striding out of the smoke were tall, skeletal demons with bony white vestigial wings. Their entire bodies were sheathed in blue fire. A giant, fiery spider rose out of a central magma pool. Storm ran up and slashed it. His cut created a fiery explosion that singed Storm's fur. Anjou made her way in and launched out three lightning lures, dragging two of the burning palrethee demons and the spider close to her. Kava charged the spider and bloodied it with a blow from her icy axe. Clarissa and Reshkar each engaged lone Palrethee demons. Zev suddenly shimmered with arcane energy. He fired off a weak eldritch blast which barely reached or affected a demon. He called out that Lolth was somehow disrupting his spells! Storm let out a call to the moon, injuring many. Then he teleported next to the spider and plunged his blade into it. The spider squealed and died ([I]he rolled a critical[/I]). Two palrethees clawed Kava. The demons spoke to each other in abyssal. Zev understood the language, and learned that the palrethee had a contract with Lolth - they would guard the place unless the battle was certain to be lost. Then, they were allowed to flee through a portal in the magma pool, which would take them to their home layer known as the Bloodpyre Fields. Zev knew that the Bloodpyre Fields were ruled by a fiery demon lord called Flauros. Flauros fought with an entity called Ymeri, mistress of fire, over control of the race of salamanders. Zev had heard of some drow who worshiped Flauros - House Caldrana. Zev again tried to cast a spell, but again he shimmered and glowed instead. His spell was ineffective. Storm tore into another palrethee ([I]2 criticals[/I]). The palrethee called out to each other that they were now contractually allowed to flee into the gate. The gods stepped back, and let them do so. As the heroes rested, Zev made a ritual circle using the power of the staff of Mordrun, one of the two artifacts he'd taken from Lolth. The staff allowed him to cast a ritual instantaneously. After an argument with Duskeater about "marking your territory", they headed down another web tunnel. They came to a black hemispherical room, which was a junction of several passages, and its' floor was polished black marble marked with silver lines and shapes. Two sections of the wall were covered with silver-and-iron scrollwork that resembled webbing; these two met at the center of the room overhead. The floor wriggled slightly underfoot. Clarissa, Storm and Zev studied the floor, and Storm realized that the floor was a giant map of the Demonweb! They took a moment to figure out where they'd been. They then made their way down a tunnel, which was heavily webbed. As they traveled, the space opened up a bit. Suddenly, the web shivered and shook. Tearing through the web from above came three huge, abyssal spiders! A spider dropped down on Reshkar and bit the dragonborn. Poison coursed through his veins. Storm cut off its' head. Poison blood sprayed up like a geyser. "I thank you, God of War", Reshkar said. Another spider shot webbing at Zev. He teleported out of the way. Clarissa plunged her khopesh into the spider's back and created a fire explosion inside it, blowing it up. The third spider dropped in front of Anjou. She slammed the butt of the arrow of fate on the ground, letting out a wave of thunder that sent the spider flying. Kava turned it to ice and then shattered it with a blow from her axe. They continued onward. The passage ahead seemed to have been torn apart by powerful forces - it looked crumpled and in sections, and the floor was uneven, with cracks that let a breeze through. The gods realized that the corridor ahead was an intersection, and that part of the ceiling was missing. They saw webs, hundreds of them, in all directions above them. Suddenly, sporebats burst through the ceiling! Debris fell down - there looked to be something in the nest above them. Reshkar breathed fire, killing two sporebats. Storm was hit with a poison beam. Anjou breathed radiant dragon breath, killing two more. Three remained. Clarissa called forth a wave of arcane energy, killing two more. The last one shot a poison ray, hitting Kava and Zev. Reshkar ran over and skewered the last of the sporebats. The gods checked out the upper area the bats had come from. They found piles of seeds, as well as a little statuette of a red tree. Clarissa studied the statuette, and realized it was a magic key that might work on an iron door, such as the one they could have opened by making a symbol with Lolth's blood. They looked at the seeds. They realized that they could grow sporebats with the seeds. Zev grabbed a handful in his bony grip. Storm decided he didn't like the idea of the god of night growing sporebats, and let out a call to the moon to try to shatter them. The god of night quickly stuffed them in his robes before they could be destroyed. Duskeater said, "Working against us? Aren't we a team?" Storm said sarcastically, "Oh, there's no reason for me not to trust Zev." Duskeater explained, "Zev is the god of night-time! That's 12 hours of Zev, and 12 hours for the rest of you to split. We're carrying the load here!" Storm said, "War continues constantly, you stupid little thing." "You can choose whether or not to make war, but night is coming either way, kitty cat! Ha ha haa!". Duskeater saw the stern look on Storm's face and added, "I am just joking with you, Storm. You are mighty indeed." Storm looked at Zev and said, "I am dangerously close to decapitating your imp." Zev said, "You are letting a lowly imp anger a god?" With the concern of the gods growing over Zev's machinations, they consulted their map and discussed which direction to try next. They followed a web tunnel for a bit. Up ahead, it curved, and in the curve was a cave shrouded in magical deeper darkness. A huge spider skittered across the ceiling toward the heroes and dropped down on them. Reshkar cleaved it in half with his axe. Clarissa chanted and dispelled the deeper darkness. They searched a debris pile in the cave, and found a small silver cube. It was another magic key designed to use with one of the mysterious sets of iron double doors found throughout the demonweb. They moved on, and came to a wider section of webbed hallway... The air smelled slightly acidic, and the tunnel was about 50 feet wide. There were bones, hundreds of them, all chewed at the ends with the marrow sucked out of every one. Tufts of hair lay everywhere among the bones. On a raised platform were three inlays: An iron pyramid, a bronze star, and a blue cube. Unfortunately, while the gods had found keys for the various iron doors, they had yet to find a key for any of the inlays. There was also a shimmering bulb of energy, which was a portal to the extra-planar city of Sigil. As divine beings, the heroes were unable to pass through the portal, which was one of the unique things about Sigil. Neither gods, nor demon lords nor primordials could go there. Kava looked around in the bone pile and found an ornate dwarven beard ring (worth 5 astral diamonds). They followed another tunnel in the vast and seemingly endless demonweb. The gods arrived at an expansive natural cavern that apparently served as a major anchor for the Demonweb. Below an intricately-carved basillica roof stood a three-towered obsidian-carved citadel surrounded by a web-filled chasm. The highest tower reached three stories and was surmounted by an open turret. As they took in the sight of the massive complex, Zev shimmered with arcane energy. Anjou and Kava turned and looked at Zev. They asked him what he was doing. Zev said, "This place is interfering with my powers..." Anjou looked at Zev and thought for a moment. She wasn't sure what was going on with him. In the web-moat, they saw a massive horde of spiders - at least 10,000 of them! Reshkar said dramatically, "Looks like we found - The Fane of Eclavdra." There were four crossbow-wielding guards on top of the northeastern-most tower, known as the patrol tower. Reshkar flew forward and got their attention. He hailed the drow. One guard called out in common: "Name your purpose for approaching Eclavdra's fane!" Reshkar said, "I wish to convene with your lady." The guard warned, "Stop where you are." The drow talked amongst themselves for a moment. Then, one headed down steps into the bowels of the tower. Another guard called to Reshkar, "What's the password?". "I am new to this realm. I don't know your password." Kava whispered a suggestion: "spider". She was actually pretty close. Reshkar called up, "I want no violence. I merely wish to speak with the lady of your keep." A new drow emerged from the steps and looked down from the top of the tower to Reshkar. He was Artoresz Eilservs, a high-ranking drow archer. Artoresz shouted down: "You wish to speak with Eclavdra? Yet you do not know the password." The heroes began to wonder if the drow were simply stalling while the many drow archers inside the complex positioned themselves at the dozens of arrow slits. Reshkar called up, "I wish to speak with her about a possible alliance. Perhaps I should introduce myself. I am Io - God of Dragons!". Then, the dragonborn shifted and transformed into a massive, multi-colored dragon. He was Io indeed! Artoresz shouted out orders in drow. There was great activity from inside the fane. Then the drow archer snarled and shouted down to Io/Reshkar, "Io is a friend of Corellon and thus, an enemy of the drow!". One drow called out an arcane phrase: "[I]Akh Orbb[/I]!". Suddenly, the 10,000 spider swarm washed up and out of the moat like a tidal wave ([I]there were 100 spiders per square, and it filled 100 squares![/I]). Storm teleported into their midst and began swinging his blade in wide arcs. Droplets of spider blood flew into the air and fell like rain. Kava waded in near him and slashed away with her icy axe. Clarissa joined her, wielding her fiery khopesh. The spiders covered the lower half of the god of war's body and bit him all over, their poison seeping into his veins ([I]they critted him for 60 damage and ongoing 15[/I]). Reshkar flew down into the swarm and breathed fire on it. As the spiders crawled over Zev's body, the lich activated the godly power of his headband of Cerbel. He tried to take over the hive mind of the swarm! But Lolth, from elsewhere in the demonweb, sensed his attempt, and blocked it with her own divine will. Zev held his head and screamed as the feedback wracked his bones. He could feel her peering into his soul... Anjou, in the middle of the swarm, let out a clap of thunder that dragged a few thousand spiders right next to her, to create space for her friends. The spiders were all over Storm! He could feel them trying to crawl into his mouth. He sensed that these spiders had the power to take over and control his body! Storm created a swirling dome of necrotic and radiant energy, that expanded out from inside his body, passing through his skin harmlessly but disintegrating all spiders that it touched! It grew out in all directions 15 feet. He struggled to maintain it ([I]He used a level 26 punisher of the gods power called repel legions. It's technically not an aura, but rather a burst 3 that becomes a zone[/I]). Zev held out his hand, using his mastery of arcana to make the dome larger! Hundreds more spiders disintegrated. Anjou drew on the power of her gauntlet to help as well, but Lolth blocked it through sheer force of will! Kava clenched her fist and activated her ring of winter, and pointed it at the dome. The glittering ring of unmelting ice began to shine. The aura took on a bluish tint and grew out further, freezing the spiders just before they were shattered by radiance and necrotic energy! The dome was expanding and annihilating the spiders from the center of the swarm, as if a huge explosion had gone off in their midst! Rehskar, an avatar of Io the god of dragons, used his divine energy to cause the dome to expand even more! He felt Lolth try to block it, but Io's will was too great. In his head, he heard Lolth's shrill cry: "Io!" Clarissa held out her khopesh and infused the dome with stunning fire. The dome grew out and up, destroying all of the 10,000 spiders. Then, the dome hit the walls of the fane itself, causing it to shake. The drow from within let out cries of fear as dust showered down from the ceiling. The whole place threatened to collapse! Storm, the center of this maelstrom of radiance, necrotic energy, fire and ice, teleported up to the top of the patrol tower. His aura was so great that it blew the four guards with crossbows right off the top. The plunged into the web moat below. Their leader, Artoresz, was pushed back near the edge, but he did not fall. The drow's hair blew back from the force of the energy. He raised his bow and fired an arrow into Storm's thigh. Anjou teleported up to the tower, to aid Storm. Clarissa climbed on her manticore and flew toward the fane, trying to extend the webbing drawbridge. Io and Kava helped. The bridge was difficult. A drow archer boldly tried to fire at Clarissa through an arrow slit. Clarissa used a lightning lure to pull the guard through the stone wall, killing him! This created a hole for the heroes to enter the patrol tower. Anjou called on the power of her gauntlet to summon an army of 5,000 faar'maki - the grevan spirit warriors! The drawbridge was lowered and they stormed the fane. Kava killed the drow in the main level of the patrol tower, and then chanted, becoming ghostly. This allowed her to pass through the doors and to enter the nearby priestess tower. Reshkar followed, bashing the doors open. A swarm of Faar'maki came with him. The priestesses were wielding fang whips, and some others had master tentacle rods. These elaborate weapons called forth 7 tentacles of different colors, and they had the power to blind, deafen, and make you numb and mute! But even these weapons were no match for the gods. Reshkar and Kava tore into the drow. Back up on the patrol tower, Artoresz was proving to be a worthy adversary. Clarissa flew up on her manticore and plunged her blade into the drow archer, stunning him. Anjou then stabbed him with the arrow of fate. Artoresz was slain. The gods led the faar'maki assault. The 99 drow had no chance. Soon, the drow were all dead. The gods explored the fane while the faar'maki camped. They found many portal keys on the drow. The keys worked on the bronze star, blue crystal and silver sphere inlays found throughout the demon web. They also found a platinum key, which Lissondra had told them would open the black gate. The key however, was intangible. The gods quickly figured out how to make it tangible through the use of a strange double-ringed ritual circle in the fane. They were dismayed to find the Eclavdra herself was not in the fane. They talked about what to do next - some wished to rest, others wished to resume the assault on the Demonweb post-haste. [/QUOTE]
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