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<blockquote data-quote="MarauderX" data-source="post: 2332434" data-attributes="member: 9990"><p><u><strong><span style="font-size: 15px">Session 35: Thermoleth</span></strong></u></p><p></p><p>Quentin hugged the wall. He waited for a moment before slowly pulling a wand from his belt and tapped himself. The others watched him carefully, his actions a silhouette against the glowing lava in front of him. As they watched the bridge path toward the spire at the center of the lava moat began to recede downward into the lava. Quentin heard the four lizardmen calling magical energy forth as he saw the large form of what had to be a dragon vanish from the corner of his eye. </p><p></p><p>Grimnyr strode into position and cast a spell to quicken everyone should something happen. Hastened, Alex ran to the bottom of the stairs, jumped over the lava gap and landed on the last sinking slab. His feet began burning through his sizzling boots and he danced in place to avoid scorching blisters. Jerrin placed an enchantment to mitigate the extreme heat on the rest of the group after he had morphed into a large lion. He guided Tempest to charge forward with him to avoid the huge sword-wielding serpent to engage one of the casting lizard-like men. </p><p></p><p>Suddenly a wall of fire sprang up, sealing off Alex and Jerrin from the others as flames flooded outward in waves. Grimnyr shouted a battle hymn about the lineage of the barbarian people as he strode forward through the wall, and the others followed. </p><p></p><p>The rest of the group stopped at the base of the stair to look for the dragon. Thovaas handed Quentin the locket that had been given by Felvonni and the shadowdancer held it aloft while hailing the dragon-like creatures before them in draconic. After firing several arrows into one of the casters, Quentin told the creatures that they would yield to them if they would disengage their attack and take them to Thermoleth. Some listened intently, fixed on the half-elf’s words, the first they had heard by an outsider in centuries. Others did not stop, however, and a wispy hand slammed into Quentin to deliver a magical curse that sapped his strength. Several more times the spectral hand tried to quiet him, but Quentin persisted with pleading to meet Thermoleth. </p><p></p><p>A fiery Halfling-sized lizardman sneered at Quentin and struck him with his hammer. Thovaas swung his sword in retaliation, felling the short being as fire shot up the paladin’s arm. The protective magic managed to prevent the small eruption from singeing his arm. Alex leapt backwards from the sinking tile onto a group of smoldering rocks floating on the lava. The red-hot rocks burned through the soles of his soft-bound boots and nearly caused him to fall to avoid his feet from burning more, but then he dove to the safety of the stair landing behind Thovaas. </p><p></p><p>Jerrin withdrew through the wall of fire as the stone walkway across the lava moat slowly sank; another ten-foot section was now below the surface. Transforming back to Halfling form, Jerrin called out for the others to fall back and regroup. One by one they passed through the wall and tendrils of smoke came up from Alex’s clothes after he came through the wall. Jerrin cast a protective spell on Alex as they discussed the tactics they should use when they went back through the wall. Just as suddenly as the wall had appeared, it was now gone. </p><p>Two of the reptilian casters launched more spells and fire exploded in the hallway several times. The magical protection helped to absorb much of the damage. Just as the group noched arrows and turned to face them another wall of fire formed to block their sight, this time with the waves of fire flowing into the corridor. </p><p></p><p>Jerrin summoned an air elemental and spoke to it in its native tongue, telling it to form a whirlwind and consume the small creatures. The strange creature whisked through the wall of fire and spun into one of the small flying dragon-like creatures. Sweeping it up, it then plowed through the four reptilian casters, pulling one from his feet into the air. In a moment the reptilian humanoids countered with spells, firing enchantments that broke the bond that the elemental had with their plane.</p><p></p><p>Quentin gestured his wand at the others to boost their reactions and Grimnyr healed Alex as he drank the enchanted water he had brought from Chautauqua. Jerrin summoned a covey of dire bats then enchanted them with a spell to enlarge them. Thovaas stepped through the wall and discovered the sword-wielding serpent was waiting for him and slashed downward across his arm. With forceful instruction the druid persuaded the bats to venture through the wall of fire. Following them through, Jerrin and Tempest surrounded the huge sword-wielding serpent. </p><p></p><p>Alex ventured through the wall of fire and immediately a flash of bright sparks spewed up from the lava in front of him. Blinded, he and Thovaas steadied themselves on the platform. Thovaas slowly moved upward, walking on the air itself knowing that Jerrin’s magic would prevent him from falling into the lava. </p><p></p><p>The enlarged bats were blasted with a ball of fire, dismissing two of them before they attacked a massive clawed draconian. Grimnyr and Quentin stepped through the wall of fire to see the action, and Grimnyr felled the serpent in front of Jerrin with an axe that cleaved its skull in two. Jerrin and Tempest turned to charge the massive draconian, airwalking over the lava below them. Jerrin, in the form of a gigantic rhino, pierced the draconian through the shoulder before Tempest managed to drop it down to its knees. </p><p></p><p>Another flash of light blazed upward from the lava to blind Grimnyr and Quentin. Grimnyr gauged the edge of the platform, backed up until he could feel the warmth of the wall of fire, and then made a running leap. He launched himself blindly into the air and fell awkwardly to land on his hands and knees on the nearest floating island. Picking himself up he listened to see if anything was near him. Quentin retreated behind the wall of fire and hoped that the spots that blocked his delicate vision would soon pass. </p><p></p><p>Jerrin watched as the bats defeated the massive draconian in front of him, its face being torn from its screaming head. He plowed over it to slam into one of the four lizard-like casters, knocking its chest in with his immense horn. The bats moved forward to engage another of the casters as Tempest closed in on another, crushing its throat. </p><p></p><p>When Alex and Thovaas could finally see, they looked around at the empty area and saw dark figures swimming away from them just under the surface of the burning lava. The pathway from the stair landing to the opening in the spire had completely sunk, but Thovaas and Jerrin glided on the air to carry the others. They picked up Grimnyr last as he stood statuesque on a small rock as the lava lapped against it near his feet. With everyone together, the group passed through the dark entry.</p><p></p><p>They passed into an area of complete darkness as the light had been dampened with magic. The party stopped as they felt the smooth rock beneath their feet and knew they had entered a larger room. The light began to return and they could see they were in a large cavernous room that was much taller than wide. At the center a circular pool of lava bubbled. On the opposite side of the oval cavern a solid platform was raised high from the floor. A gargantuan darkened husk rested on top of the golden platform, and suddenly it moved. The light glinted off of the tattooed skin of the husk, and soon they realized they were wings unwrapping themselves. The wings parted to reveal the rest of the dragon beneath, and the glowing orb in its clawed hands illuminated its broad chest. The light shed a ghastly shadow on the wall, casting each of its pointed barbs as a deathly cowl on the walls behind it. One by one the tingle of fear made them shudder as they looked far up at it. </p><p></p><p>The reptilian eyes blinked as it swung its head down to examine them then turned its gaze back into the swirling orb. Quentin cleared his throat and stammered through a greeting in draconic to recognize the great Thermoleth. The dragon turned to him and Quentin’s voice trailed off to stop after a brief introduction. The large jaws opened slightly and the dragon turned to them before speaking. </p><p></p><p>Thermoleth’s voice boomed although it seemed she was speaking quietly in the vast vault. All the while she clung to the orb with both clawed hands and stopped to examine it on occasion. </p><p></p><p><strong><em><span style="color: Red">“I have witnessed your movements since I sensed your motives to come to the mountain, my mountain. Your movements have been aided by your magic, of which I have learned to adapt to defeat in order to survive. Your magic protected you from the harsh cold of the driving winds; perhaps you think I am responsible for the steady growth of the glaciers to the north. The snows and ice that surround my mountain were not made by my power, but of another to the north. This rival may seek to court me in some fashion or perhaps to test my boundaries. I have not stopped him, as through the last millennia he has encroached up to my doorstep. Though he is irksome, such a playful gesture may eventually be matched by my own. Perhaps your interest in me is sparked by aiding me in thwarting his advances? It would be a rare find to witness a group that should find concern with the affairs of a pair of dragons. So what is the path that brought you here?”</span></em></strong></p><p></p><p>With a nod, Grimnyr began the story of the party’s formation, how they defended the homestead of Sukyskin from the goblin tribes organized by Golthar, and how they discovered Chautauqua in order to defeat the Rakshasa. He continued with stories of Kargam and their river journey, how the tapestry had led them to the hidden valley and ended with the Litorian request for assistance from the visionary Thermoleth. </p><p></p><p>Afterward Thermoleth continued. </p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em>“Your race is young, and not of an age where you would have recorded the last skirmish had made its trek from here to the sea. No, you are too new to this world and will have barely learned enough to command your own faculties before you begin to wither. Such was your race constructed so as never to excel before time dragged you back to the dust from which you were created.</em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em></em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em>Time is our equalizer, an assurance that we can outlast the fickleness of our betrothed lords, the gods that likely have been lost to you. They are not gone. They rest while their children patrol our universe on the prime material plane, fighting insignificant battles to achieve marginal victories for worthless goals. </em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em></em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em>Some of these children are not even as old as I. The cunning Vecna belongs to your treasured host of gods, yes? It ascended to such a pedestal with the aid of others while I sparred with Nerull, the child god fathered by Incabulos. My worshippers were many and my realm stretched far, even in the time of men, but never beyond my sight, as nothing is beyond my sight. </em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em></em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em>Vecna had used every path available to defeat the ravages of time that were to claim his life despite his search for immortality. And he found a way, giving his flesh and soul as a sacrifice. Was it worth it? You are short lived, would the attractiveness of immortality be enough to lure you to accept undeath as a means to continue your existence? Do not answer now; ponder the question and the lure of immortality. </em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em></em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em>Cuthbert… another to ascend. Do you know of him? I did not. Did he know what awaited him? Perhaps his ascension was not on purpose as his loose code of ethics led him inevitably closer to it. He fought during your war for freedom, defying even the elves who had called for strict adherence to codes and ethics as a model for the freed slaves. In a wink he had traversed the boundary from mortal to immortal while I slept after your war and waited for my followers to revive me once more. </em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em></em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em>And now you are here. Why? Do not answer, I already know. To preserve all that you know and hold dear to your hearts… to save your lands, your cities, your homes… your countrymen, your families, yourselves… to save your efforts, your knowledge, your dreams…and to grant yourself fame and fortune along the way… as saviors. </em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em></em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em>For what? To keep dying breeds alive? To extend the lives of its institutions that are doomed to failure? To uphold races that have glimpsed the greatness of establishments before them but lack the vision and focus to see beyond their own time? There is much that I know of this world, and examining it while it is underutilized by the once-slave races must leave the gods wonting. I should know, it leaves me wonting, and I am a divine mortal. </em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em></em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em>The time of the slaves has thus far been squandered quarreling amongst themselves and using their efforts to merely facilitate their own laziness. They have failed to unite long enough to take advantage of the vast resources that were handed to them. The potential has been wasted. Our time will come again and the children of the gods and their chosen people shall fade to the past, but not completely. So powerful is my vision, I have seen this as an absolute. But that is of modest consequence. Tell me of the Litorians.”</em></strong></span></p><p></p><p>Thermoleth gestures for Grimnyr to tell the tale in a fantastic style, and improvises to have Quentin as an interpretive dancer to represent the Litorian plight. The dragon seemed uncomfortable with the dancing half-elf as she licked her lips several times. She motioned for the nimble shadowdancer to stop prancing and for Grimnyr to proceed. Grimnyr’s performance was mesmerizing, and the dragon looked less and less into the orb, instead watching and listening to the bard as he spun his account using magic cantrips to add flash and flavor to invoke the mood. At the end of the performance the party resisted clapping in approval as the dragon looked at Grimnyr as if waiting for more. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em>“Now I see you have come, not as worshippers, but as messengers. You bring me these gifts as a bribe from a people you do not even know, and that speaks loudest of all. Do you know what you have said to me? That you want a chance, to survive to fulfill your remaining days chasing the dream you seek to preserve. That is honorable.</em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em></em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em>But beyond this you… desire… oh yes, I sense it, an aura that surrounds each of you with a need to continue to risk your life to satiate that desire. Your yearning swells larger than your hearts; it crowds out your feelings of contentment, love, and fear and pushes you… here… to me.</em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em></em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em>You must realize that by sending you the Litorians have guaranteed that I cannot refuse these gifts, thereby forcing me to accept their proposal. And as would-be loyal servants your lives would be part of that understanding. The remains of Miruka-Tabuset are returned to me. And the rest are here as well, all of which I have once controlled and expended to sway events to my advantage. Everything you once owned belongs now to me. And the lockets, open the Litorian one first.</em></strong></span></p><p></p><p>* * * * *</p><p></p><p>Litorian Locket, showing Felvonni:</p><p><span style="color: RoyalBlue">“Thank you for accepting these valuable gifts from us. Bearing them are those from the freed races; I hope they have survived long enough to deliver this message themselves. Our leader, Jolenta sends her greetings and I speak on her behalf. </span></p><p><span style="color: RoyalBlue"></span></p><p><span style="color: RoyalBlue">We seek your aid. We are locked in a struggle of survival against the very creations we had prized – the duergar. They have driven us from our open plain homes and chased us into the stone cities that they created. We know of their ways, as dishonorable and malicious as they are, and our people are divided in our strategy to deal with them. Thus we have not been able to unify under a single leader, and this division has come to fruition as distrust amongst the Litorians. </span></p><p><span style="color: RoyalBlue"></span></p><p><span style="color: RoyalBlue">What do we expect of you? Solely your renowned vision, to show us what the duergar have been hiding, how they breed so quickly and details of what they plan to do next. This is all we can hope for. We do not wish to disturb you beyond this, as we cannot repay resources expended on our behalf. </span></p><p><span style="color: RoyalBlue"></span></p><p><span style="color: RoyalBlue">Again, please accept these gifts as our meager payment for your vastly powerful services, and I await your contact at your leisure.” </span> </p><p></p><p>* * * * *</p><p></p><p><em><strong><span style="color: Red">That is a wonder. I have never seen such a blatant request from the Litorians, they must truly be desperate. Now show me the other locket. </span> </strong> </em> </p><p></p><p>* * * * *</p><p></p><p>The Rakshasa Locket glows before an image showing Arilthar in exquisite robes:</p><p><strong><span style="color: DarkOrange">“Your majesty, I am humbled that you may one day hear my voice and gaze down on me once more. </span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: DarkOrange">I have found the Litorians and grasp that their plight is true. They are divided in their goals, and currently have limited aptitude to deal with the hazardous duergar. The other slave race that they had taken to their dale has been exterminated, leaving the aggressive duergar with only the Litorians to vent their fury. And such an angry race cannot be easily quelled. </span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: DarkOrange">Many Litorians have bowed to the teachings of Incabulos and to these followers I have shared much of what I know of his son, Nerull. They have retained an extent of their former power but I fear they lack any control over the entities they fashion or beckon. However, this may play to the Litorian’s advantage. </span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: DarkOrange">The lifestyles of the Litorians has been switched with the duergar - since the fighting began, the Litorians have taken defensible positions in and around many of the massive stone cities the duergar once occupied. The duergar now roam the valley, using their vocal exchanges to follow Litorian movements. The Litorians have broken every coded message the duergar sent, so they have stopped using coded communication and rely on their booming tones for alerts and simple messages. Because of this, the Litorians remain behind enclosed walls at night and have restricted patrols during the day. The Litorian followers of Incabulos have called forth beings that patrol the long valley floor at night, weakening the duergar hold. Though it is new, some of the duergar have already learned to control such elements for a limited time. While droves of duergar have been found massacred by whatever beings the Litorians have brought, that number his being hedged quickly by them, a little too quickly. </span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: DarkOrange">Another group of Litorians has been magically forging metal guardians with magic to wield against the duergar. These constructs are tough opponents, but are too few to be useful for more than a skirmish. The duergar have used their ingenuity to manufacturer similar guardians of their own, and have supposedly begun production of a mammoth automaton that would end the war. I have only heard about his thing but have yet to witness it. Should you observe it, I implore you to share all that you can about the process in which it was created. </span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: DarkOrange">Another concern of the Litorians is the rapid rise of the duergar population. They have found that the amount of duergar in the valley has more than tripled in the time since the war began, and their reproduction capabilities are slower than that of dwarves. With that in mind the Litorian spies have turned up nothing revealing, and they are stumped as they have introduced various diseases to sabotage the duergar efforts to have young. </span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: DarkOrange">I would also call your attention to those who have delivered this message to you. Bold they are, and practical, but their days should end early before they become as dangerous as some in the past. Though they are an anomaly of power, bending them to meet your needs may prove to be a mistake. The choice is yours, of course, but take heed in allowing them to live out their days. Of particular note are the fearless rogue, the knight of Heironeous and the shapeshifter Halfling. The others are ancillary. </span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: DarkOrange">I look forward to one day being in the grace of your presence, and Golthar sends his warmest regards from the beyond.”</span></strong></p><p></p><p>* * * * *</p><p></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em>Warmest regards indeed. How rare an opportunity. I have been more popular, but you likely don’t appreciate the enormity of the situation. They spent considerable effort in preparing these messages, and for Arilthar to mention you must mean you scare her in some manner. Now that you have entrusted yourselves with me, I should take care that you, as my tools, should be honed to face her should the need arise. Abide my wishes and you shall witness what I see and learn of ancient days. </em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em></em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em>You should know, if only to preserve your hope, the Litorians were among the first advocates for fair treatment of your races. Yes, I recall that many Litorians vied for political position in order to sway the other races. The elves were reluctant to join them, if only because the leader of their dictatorial regime refused. In a way your races owe them as much as the elves for their freedom. </em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em></em></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: Red"><strong><em>Your use to me could prove valuable, although short term. My use to you is to preserve the status quo of the world you know, and to that I am aligned, at least for the length of your lives. Then again, the Litorians sought to preserve their world, and you have witnessed how it has changed. So to you I should ask to aid in the preservation of the Litorians. Let us investigate the duergar and their methodology."</em></strong></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MarauderX, post: 2332434, member: 9990"] [U][B][SIZE=4]Session 35: Thermoleth[/SIZE][/B][/U] Quentin hugged the wall. He waited for a moment before slowly pulling a wand from his belt and tapped himself. The others watched him carefully, his actions a silhouette against the glowing lava in front of him. As they watched the bridge path toward the spire at the center of the lava moat began to recede downward into the lava. Quentin heard the four lizardmen calling magical energy forth as he saw the large form of what had to be a dragon vanish from the corner of his eye. Grimnyr strode into position and cast a spell to quicken everyone should something happen. Hastened, Alex ran to the bottom of the stairs, jumped over the lava gap and landed on the last sinking slab. His feet began burning through his sizzling boots and he danced in place to avoid scorching blisters. Jerrin placed an enchantment to mitigate the extreme heat on the rest of the group after he had morphed into a large lion. He guided Tempest to charge forward with him to avoid the huge sword-wielding serpent to engage one of the casting lizard-like men. Suddenly a wall of fire sprang up, sealing off Alex and Jerrin from the others as flames flooded outward in waves. Grimnyr shouted a battle hymn about the lineage of the barbarian people as he strode forward through the wall, and the others followed. The rest of the group stopped at the base of the stair to look for the dragon. Thovaas handed Quentin the locket that had been given by Felvonni and the shadowdancer held it aloft while hailing the dragon-like creatures before them in draconic. After firing several arrows into one of the casters, Quentin told the creatures that they would yield to them if they would disengage their attack and take them to Thermoleth. Some listened intently, fixed on the half-elf’s words, the first they had heard by an outsider in centuries. Others did not stop, however, and a wispy hand slammed into Quentin to deliver a magical curse that sapped his strength. Several more times the spectral hand tried to quiet him, but Quentin persisted with pleading to meet Thermoleth. A fiery Halfling-sized lizardman sneered at Quentin and struck him with his hammer. Thovaas swung his sword in retaliation, felling the short being as fire shot up the paladin’s arm. The protective magic managed to prevent the small eruption from singeing his arm. Alex leapt backwards from the sinking tile onto a group of smoldering rocks floating on the lava. The red-hot rocks burned through the soles of his soft-bound boots and nearly caused him to fall to avoid his feet from burning more, but then he dove to the safety of the stair landing behind Thovaas. Jerrin withdrew through the wall of fire as the stone walkway across the lava moat slowly sank; another ten-foot section was now below the surface. Transforming back to Halfling form, Jerrin called out for the others to fall back and regroup. One by one they passed through the wall and tendrils of smoke came up from Alex’s clothes after he came through the wall. Jerrin cast a protective spell on Alex as they discussed the tactics they should use when they went back through the wall. Just as suddenly as the wall had appeared, it was now gone. Two of the reptilian casters launched more spells and fire exploded in the hallway several times. The magical protection helped to absorb much of the damage. Just as the group noched arrows and turned to face them another wall of fire formed to block their sight, this time with the waves of fire flowing into the corridor. Jerrin summoned an air elemental and spoke to it in its native tongue, telling it to form a whirlwind and consume the small creatures. The strange creature whisked through the wall of fire and spun into one of the small flying dragon-like creatures. Sweeping it up, it then plowed through the four reptilian casters, pulling one from his feet into the air. In a moment the reptilian humanoids countered with spells, firing enchantments that broke the bond that the elemental had with their plane. Quentin gestured his wand at the others to boost their reactions and Grimnyr healed Alex as he drank the enchanted water he had brought from Chautauqua. Jerrin summoned a covey of dire bats then enchanted them with a spell to enlarge them. Thovaas stepped through the wall and discovered the sword-wielding serpent was waiting for him and slashed downward across his arm. With forceful instruction the druid persuaded the bats to venture through the wall of fire. Following them through, Jerrin and Tempest surrounded the huge sword-wielding serpent. Alex ventured through the wall of fire and immediately a flash of bright sparks spewed up from the lava in front of him. Blinded, he and Thovaas steadied themselves on the platform. Thovaas slowly moved upward, walking on the air itself knowing that Jerrin’s magic would prevent him from falling into the lava. The enlarged bats were blasted with a ball of fire, dismissing two of them before they attacked a massive clawed draconian. Grimnyr and Quentin stepped through the wall of fire to see the action, and Grimnyr felled the serpent in front of Jerrin with an axe that cleaved its skull in two. Jerrin and Tempest turned to charge the massive draconian, airwalking over the lava below them. Jerrin, in the form of a gigantic rhino, pierced the draconian through the shoulder before Tempest managed to drop it down to its knees. Another flash of light blazed upward from the lava to blind Grimnyr and Quentin. Grimnyr gauged the edge of the platform, backed up until he could feel the warmth of the wall of fire, and then made a running leap. He launched himself blindly into the air and fell awkwardly to land on his hands and knees on the nearest floating island. Picking himself up he listened to see if anything was near him. Quentin retreated behind the wall of fire and hoped that the spots that blocked his delicate vision would soon pass. Jerrin watched as the bats defeated the massive draconian in front of him, its face being torn from its screaming head. He plowed over it to slam into one of the four lizard-like casters, knocking its chest in with his immense horn. The bats moved forward to engage another of the casters as Tempest closed in on another, crushing its throat. When Alex and Thovaas could finally see, they looked around at the empty area and saw dark figures swimming away from them just under the surface of the burning lava. The pathway from the stair landing to the opening in the spire had completely sunk, but Thovaas and Jerrin glided on the air to carry the others. They picked up Grimnyr last as he stood statuesque on a small rock as the lava lapped against it near his feet. With everyone together, the group passed through the dark entry. They passed into an area of complete darkness as the light had been dampened with magic. The party stopped as they felt the smooth rock beneath their feet and knew they had entered a larger room. The light began to return and they could see they were in a large cavernous room that was much taller than wide. At the center a circular pool of lava bubbled. On the opposite side of the oval cavern a solid platform was raised high from the floor. A gargantuan darkened husk rested on top of the golden platform, and suddenly it moved. The light glinted off of the tattooed skin of the husk, and soon they realized they were wings unwrapping themselves. The wings parted to reveal the rest of the dragon beneath, and the glowing orb in its clawed hands illuminated its broad chest. The light shed a ghastly shadow on the wall, casting each of its pointed barbs as a deathly cowl on the walls behind it. One by one the tingle of fear made them shudder as they looked far up at it. The reptilian eyes blinked as it swung its head down to examine them then turned its gaze back into the swirling orb. Quentin cleared his throat and stammered through a greeting in draconic to recognize the great Thermoleth. The dragon turned to him and Quentin’s voice trailed off to stop after a brief introduction. The large jaws opened slightly and the dragon turned to them before speaking. Thermoleth’s voice boomed although it seemed she was speaking quietly in the vast vault. All the while she clung to the orb with both clawed hands and stopped to examine it on occasion. [B][I][COLOR=Red]“I have witnessed your movements since I sensed your motives to come to the mountain, my mountain. Your movements have been aided by your magic, of which I have learned to adapt to defeat in order to survive. Your magic protected you from the harsh cold of the driving winds; perhaps you think I am responsible for the steady growth of the glaciers to the north. The snows and ice that surround my mountain were not made by my power, but of another to the north. This rival may seek to court me in some fashion or perhaps to test my boundaries. I have not stopped him, as through the last millennia he has encroached up to my doorstep. Though he is irksome, such a playful gesture may eventually be matched by my own. Perhaps your interest in me is sparked by aiding me in thwarting his advances? It would be a rare find to witness a group that should find concern with the affairs of a pair of dragons. So what is the path that brought you here?”[/COLOR][/I][/B][I][/I] With a nod, Grimnyr began the story of the party’s formation, how they defended the homestead of Sukyskin from the goblin tribes organized by Golthar, and how they discovered Chautauqua in order to defeat the Rakshasa. He continued with stories of Kargam and their river journey, how the tapestry had led them to the hidden valley and ended with the Litorian request for assistance from the visionary Thermoleth. Afterward Thermoleth continued. [COLOR=Red][B][I]“Your race is young, and not of an age where you would have recorded the last skirmish had made its trek from here to the sea. No, you are too new to this world and will have barely learned enough to command your own faculties before you begin to wither. Such was your race constructed so as never to excel before time dragged you back to the dust from which you were created. Time is our equalizer, an assurance that we can outlast the fickleness of our betrothed lords, the gods that likely have been lost to you. They are not gone. They rest while their children patrol our universe on the prime material plane, fighting insignificant battles to achieve marginal victories for worthless goals. Some of these children are not even as old as I. The cunning Vecna belongs to your treasured host of gods, yes? It ascended to such a pedestal with the aid of others while I sparred with Nerull, the child god fathered by Incabulos. My worshippers were many and my realm stretched far, even in the time of men, but never beyond my sight, as nothing is beyond my sight. Vecna had used every path available to defeat the ravages of time that were to claim his life despite his search for immortality. And he found a way, giving his flesh and soul as a sacrifice. Was it worth it? You are short lived, would the attractiveness of immortality be enough to lure you to accept undeath as a means to continue your existence? Do not answer now; ponder the question and the lure of immortality. Cuthbert… another to ascend. Do you know of him? I did not. Did he know what awaited him? Perhaps his ascension was not on purpose as his loose code of ethics led him inevitably closer to it. He fought during your war for freedom, defying even the elves who had called for strict adherence to codes and ethics as a model for the freed slaves. In a wink he had traversed the boundary from mortal to immortal while I slept after your war and waited for my followers to revive me once more. And now you are here. Why? Do not answer, I already know. To preserve all that you know and hold dear to your hearts… to save your lands, your cities, your homes… your countrymen, your families, yourselves… to save your efforts, your knowledge, your dreams…and to grant yourself fame and fortune along the way… as saviors. For what? To keep dying breeds alive? To extend the lives of its institutions that are doomed to failure? To uphold races that have glimpsed the greatness of establishments before them but lack the vision and focus to see beyond their own time? There is much that I know of this world, and examining it while it is underutilized by the once-slave races must leave the gods wonting. I should know, it leaves me wonting, and I am a divine mortal. The time of the slaves has thus far been squandered quarreling amongst themselves and using their efforts to merely facilitate their own laziness. They have failed to unite long enough to take advantage of the vast resources that were handed to them. The potential has been wasted. Our time will come again and the children of the gods and their chosen people shall fade to the past, but not completely. So powerful is my vision, I have seen this as an absolute. But that is of modest consequence. Tell me of the Litorians.”[/I][/B][/COLOR][B][I][/i][/B][I][/I] Thermoleth gestures for Grimnyr to tell the tale in a fantastic style, and improvises to have Quentin as an interpretive dancer to represent the Litorian plight. The dragon seemed uncomfortable with the dancing half-elf as she licked her lips several times. She motioned for the nimble shadowdancer to stop prancing and for Grimnyr to proceed. Grimnyr’s performance was mesmerizing, and the dragon looked less and less into the orb, instead watching and listening to the bard as he spun his account using magic cantrips to add flash and flavor to invoke the mood. At the end of the performance the party resisted clapping in approval as the dragon looked at Grimnyr as if waiting for more. [COLOR=Red][B][I]“Now I see you have come, not as worshippers, but as messengers. You bring me these gifts as a bribe from a people you do not even know, and that speaks loudest of all. Do you know what you have said to me? That you want a chance, to survive to fulfill your remaining days chasing the dream you seek to preserve. That is honorable. But beyond this you… desire… oh yes, I sense it, an aura that surrounds each of you with a need to continue to risk your life to satiate that desire. Your yearning swells larger than your hearts; it crowds out your feelings of contentment, love, and fear and pushes you… here… to me. You must realize that by sending you the Litorians have guaranteed that I cannot refuse these gifts, thereby forcing me to accept their proposal. And as would-be loyal servants your lives would be part of that understanding. The remains of Miruka-Tabuset are returned to me. And the rest are here as well, all of which I have once controlled and expended to sway events to my advantage. Everything you once owned belongs now to me. And the lockets, open the Litorian one first.[/I][/B][/COLOR][B][I][/I][/B] * * * * * Litorian Locket, showing Felvonni: [COLOR=RoyalBlue]“Thank you for accepting these valuable gifts from us. Bearing them are those from the freed races; I hope they have survived long enough to deliver this message themselves. Our leader, Jolenta sends her greetings and I speak on her behalf. We seek your aid. We are locked in a struggle of survival against the very creations we had prized – the duergar. They have driven us from our open plain homes and chased us into the stone cities that they created. We know of their ways, as dishonorable and malicious as they are, and our people are divided in our strategy to deal with them. Thus we have not been able to unify under a single leader, and this division has come to fruition as distrust amongst the Litorians. What do we expect of you? Solely your renowned vision, to show us what the duergar have been hiding, how they breed so quickly and details of what they plan to do next. This is all we can hope for. We do not wish to disturb you beyond this, as we cannot repay resources expended on our behalf. Again, please accept these gifts as our meager payment for your vastly powerful services, and I await your contact at your leisure.” [/COLOR] * * * * * [I][B][COLOR=Red]That is a wonder. I have never seen such a blatant request from the Litorians, they must truly be desperate. Now show me the other locket. [/COLOR] [/B] [/I] * * * * * The Rakshasa Locket glows before an image showing Arilthar in exquisite robes: [B][COLOR=DarkOrange]“Your majesty, I am humbled that you may one day hear my voice and gaze down on me once more. I have found the Litorians and grasp that their plight is true. They are divided in their goals, and currently have limited aptitude to deal with the hazardous duergar. The other slave race that they had taken to their dale has been exterminated, leaving the aggressive duergar with only the Litorians to vent their fury. And such an angry race cannot be easily quelled. Many Litorians have bowed to the teachings of Incabulos and to these followers I have shared much of what I know of his son, Nerull. They have retained an extent of their former power but I fear they lack any control over the entities they fashion or beckon. However, this may play to the Litorian’s advantage. The lifestyles of the Litorians has been switched with the duergar - since the fighting began, the Litorians have taken defensible positions in and around many of the massive stone cities the duergar once occupied. The duergar now roam the valley, using their vocal exchanges to follow Litorian movements. The Litorians have broken every coded message the duergar sent, so they have stopped using coded communication and rely on their booming tones for alerts and simple messages. Because of this, the Litorians remain behind enclosed walls at night and have restricted patrols during the day. The Litorian followers of Incabulos have called forth beings that patrol the long valley floor at night, weakening the duergar hold. Though it is new, some of the duergar have already learned to control such elements for a limited time. While droves of duergar have been found massacred by whatever beings the Litorians have brought, that number his being hedged quickly by them, a little too quickly. Another group of Litorians has been magically forging metal guardians with magic to wield against the duergar. These constructs are tough opponents, but are too few to be useful for more than a skirmish. The duergar have used their ingenuity to manufacturer similar guardians of their own, and have supposedly begun production of a mammoth automaton that would end the war. I have only heard about his thing but have yet to witness it. Should you observe it, I implore you to share all that you can about the process in which it was created. Another concern of the Litorians is the rapid rise of the duergar population. They have found that the amount of duergar in the valley has more than tripled in the time since the war began, and their reproduction capabilities are slower than that of dwarves. With that in mind the Litorian spies have turned up nothing revealing, and they are stumped as they have introduced various diseases to sabotage the duergar efforts to have young. I would also call your attention to those who have delivered this message to you. Bold they are, and practical, but their days should end early before they become as dangerous as some in the past. Though they are an anomaly of power, bending them to meet your needs may prove to be a mistake. The choice is yours, of course, but take heed in allowing them to live out their days. Of particular note are the fearless rogue, the knight of Heironeous and the shapeshifter Halfling. The others are ancillary. I look forward to one day being in the grace of your presence, and Golthar sends his warmest regards from the beyond.”[/COLOR][/B] * * * * * [COLOR=Red][B][I]Warmest regards indeed. How rare an opportunity. I have been more popular, but you likely don’t appreciate the enormity of the situation. They spent considerable effort in preparing these messages, and for Arilthar to mention you must mean you scare her in some manner. Now that you have entrusted yourselves with me, I should take care that you, as my tools, should be honed to face her should the need arise. Abide my wishes and you shall witness what I see and learn of ancient days. You should know, if only to preserve your hope, the Litorians were among the first advocates for fair treatment of your races. Yes, I recall that many Litorians vied for political position in order to sway the other races. The elves were reluctant to join them, if only because the leader of their dictatorial regime refused. In a way your races owe them as much as the elves for their freedom. Your use to me could prove valuable, although short term. My use to you is to preserve the status quo of the world you know, and to that I am aligned, at least for the length of your lives. Then again, the Litorians sought to preserve their world, and you have witnessed how it has changed. So to you I should ask to aid in the preservation of the Litorians. Let us investigate the duergar and their methodology."[/I][/B][/COLOR] [/QUOTE]
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