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JollyDoc's Age of Worms (Updated 11/30, Epilogue!)
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<blockquote data-quote="gfunk" data-source="post: 2813705" data-attributes="member: 1813"><p>ROUND TWO</p><p></p><p>The troll limped slowly down the darkened stairs on the western side of the ziggurat. Blood flowed freely from a gaping wound in his right thigh. The demodand had taken him by surprise, and it had been a miracle he’d escaped with his life. Oddly enough, the laceration was not closing or regenerating the damaged tissue, as would be expected of such a creature. The chamber at the bottom of the stairs was empty. Its walls were carved to depict an army of armored soldiers engaged in the ruin and destruction of a city of helpless men, women and children. Buildings burned, blood washed the streets and dark thunderclouds boiled in the skies above. Above them all, directing the army, was an enormous figure dressed in plate mail. His face was cold and cruel, but also quite handsome. He wielded an exotic pole-arm that combined the features of a pick, an axe, and a mace.</p><p></p><p>The troll noticed none of this. Purposefully, he strode across the room to a set of double-doors on the far side. Without hesitation, he pulled them open…and beheld a scene of pure chaos! The vast chamber before him bore a large, smoking pit in its center, surrounded by shattered pillars. A battle raged within the room. Several figures surrounded the pit, over which floated the object of their ire…a strikingly handsome elven man, dressed in a gleaming breastplate and wielding a glowing greatsword. The only thing that marred his beauty was the cruel smile that twisted his lips, and the dark miasma that surrounded him like black flames.</p><p></p><p>“What in the Nine Hells is going on in here?” the troll roared. A goliath stood chanting at the near side of the pit. At the sound of the troll’s bellow, he turned, his eyes glowing like twin flames. </p><p>“Faust!” Grubber yelled. “It’s about damn time you showed up! The eladrin’s evil! Grim fell in the pit! Go get him!”</p><p>Faust the troll sighed, trying to remind himself again why he had thrown in his lot with these misfits. </p><p>“There’s only one problem with that…well, not only one, but the main one.” Faust said sarcastically. “I can’t fly.” </p><p>“I can fix that,” Grubber said as he quickly crossed the floor to the troll. Speaking a prayer and then touching Faust’s back, the priest caused leathery, bat-like wings to sprout. “Hmm,” he said, looking at the wings critically. “Those were supposed to be angelic.”</p><p>“Maybe it’s because I’m in a bad mood,” Faust grumbled, heading towards the pit.</p><p></p><p>Havok breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Faust. Maybe the psion would be able to tip the battle in their favor. For now, however, the warlock was wounded. Grubber had restored his strength, but several gashes and ugly burns marred his flesh. Nearby, Drasek did not look much better. </p><p>“Time for a brief, tactical retreat,” Havok said to the inquisitor. Then, touching the paladin’s shoulder, the warlock transported the two of them into the room where Kelvos and his Angels of the Worm had been holed up. </p><p>“Timely,” Drasek said, as he began fishing potion flasks out of his belt. One was to again give him the power of flight, which the eladrin had dispelled, and the others were to heal his injuries. </p><p></p><p>Kelvos watched the hijinks of his foes with amusement. He had them on the run. They were unable to organize any coordinated strike against him…just as he’d planned. Casually, he began walking on air as if it were a solid surface, down into the pit, regaining his invisibility as he left the area of the priest’s damnable purge. Twenty feet below the rim, he stepped into one of the rough hewn holes that festooned the sides of the shaft. While he still did not feel that the buffoons above posed him any serious threat, they had managed to injure him and before he destroyed them, he needed to make sure he was at his peak. Calling upon his lord Kyuss, he suffused his body with unholy power, closing each of his wounds in turn. That task complete, he then called out into the void of the pit, speaking in the tongue of the Abyss. “Come worms! Heed the words of the Wormtouched! Your master has need of your service once again!”</p><p></p><p>As the maddening clicking of the mandibles came closer, Grim fumbled at his belt pouch, digging out a small flask. Just as a large shadow fell over him, the dwarf upended the flask, and his form winked out of sight. He wasn’t quite fast enough. The undead beetle had already reached him, and mindlessly, it lashed out at where it had last seen him. Its cruelly barbed jaws sliced into him, drawing out his very life-force as easily as they did his blood. Grim clenched his jaws to keep from screaming, and also to hold back his gorge. The writhing worms still crawled over him, biting him like a thousand wasps’ stings. The effect was nauseating. Quickly, he reached for a second potion, imbibing it just as the beetle struck again. This time, the vile creature’s mandibles stabbed deep into his gut, and despite his best efforts, the mineral warrior cried out. It felt as if his innards were literally being ripped out of him. For a moment his vision blurred and darkened, but he knew that if he lost consciousness he was finished. At that moment, he felt his body lighten as the flying drought took effect. Willing himself up, the dwarf shot into the air, straight into the narrow hole through which he’d fallen. He had to get out of the pit. That was his only thought as he flew up, and up, and up.</p><p></p><p>Faust didn’t know where the eladrin had gone, and he wasn’t going to wait around to find out. Running to the edge of the pit, he threw himself over the edge, diving down into the darkness as fast as his wings would carry him. Deeper and deeper he flew, at one point passing the invisible form of Grim, who did not call out to the strange, winged troll, thinking it another spawn of Kyuss coming to finish him off. Eventually, Faust could see the bottom of the shaft, where it narrowed down to a scant eight feet in diameter, before opening into chamber, the floor of which was crawling with green worms. Directly below the hole was also a large, half-rotted green beetle, its mandibles clicking in a maddening tempo that seemed to bore into the psion’s skull. If Grim was down there, he was already dead, or worse. Faust concentrated, manifesting a flaming ball of energy, which he flung into the hole, and then retreated out of the blast radius as it consumed the chamber. He didn’t wait to see the effects of his attack, instead turning back up the pit, and starting his slow ascent back to the surface.</p><p></p><p>Grim willed himself to fly faster. He had heard the explosion below him, and knew for a fact that the fiend he’d passed had been sent to insure his death. Pulling flask after flask as he flew, he attempted to abate the worst of his hemorrhaging. </p><p></p><p>Cautiously, Drasek and Havok approached the edge of the pit. Peering over its edge, they saw no sign of the eladrin at first, but then the warlock’s fiendishly acute eyesight picked out the invisible form of the celestial outlined in glowing, green light, standing just inside one of the holes below. Kelvos saw them as well. Without hesitation, he thrust one hand towards them, a bolt of lightning flashing from his palm and striking Havok. It then leaped from the warlock, arcing into Drasek. At that moment, both Drasek and Havok saw something else. Emerging from another hole, some forty-feet below them, was a vile, bloated worm, with a thick, green body. Its vaguely human head was covered in stringy green hair, and its mouth was a round, sucker-like orifice, ringed with rows of tiny teeth. Its identity flashed into Havok’s mind instantly. Once again, the knowledge gleaned from the Apostolic Scrolls served him well. The creature was a worm naga, created by Kyuss after his transformation to godhood as a way of rewarding the powerful arcanists that had served him in life. Even as this realization came to him, Havok heard the horrid thing began to chant the words to a spell. A blast of freezing cold air and ice roared up from the pit, engulfing Drasek and him. Reflexively, Havok’s hand came up in an ineffective attempt to ward off the spell, but as it did, the warlock loosed an eldritch spear at the naga, followed by a second blast of noxious energy. With that, his stamina flagged. Staggering away from the pit, he stumbled back into the smaller antechamber. Closing his eyes, and concentrating, he summoned up a new aspect of his fiendish power…the ability to somewhat clot off flowing blood and close minor cuts. At the same time, he heard a voice speaking in his head: “Fear not, master. I am here. Let me tend your need.” It was the armor given to him by Malchor. The wizard had told him that it could provide some healing in times of great necessity. The warlock supposed this was one of those times.</p><p></p><p>Grubber quickly stepped to Drasek’s side, grimacing in disgust at the horrible naga protruding from its hole below. Calling out to Grumbar, the goliath caused a wall of whirling, slashing blades to appear directly across the opening from which the worm had emerged. The creature screamed as the blade barrier ripped at its flesh, and it quickly drew its head back inside the hole and away from the whirring shards. As it retreated, Drasek appealed to Kelemvor for his own spell, a radiant blast of power which seared the naga’s warty hide. </p><p></p><p>Continuing his ascent, Faust saw something emerge from one of the holes in the side of the pit above him. Had he been at the top with his companions, he would have seen that it was the same type of creature that assailed them. As it was, he guessed it to be some sort of naga, though not any kind that he had ever heard of. Even as he contemplated this, the worm spat out a spell, sending a scathing beam of green energy at him. The ray struck Faust, but dissipated on impact, the psionic spell resistance he had manifested earlier against the demodand still in effect. </p><p></p><p>Hawk couldn’t see exactly what was throwing spells from down in the pit, but he assumed it was the eladrin. Imbued with the power of flight from a potion, the civilar dove into the pit, only to see the naga trapped behind the wall of blades. Confused, he turned to look for the eladrin…but Kelvos saw him first. Laughing to himself at the stupidity of these mortals, he again summoned a dispelling field, watching with delight as horrific realization dawned on the paladin and he began to fall. Fortunately for Hawk, unlike Grim, his flight ability was not granted by wings, and so when it suddenly ended, he merely drifted down instead of plummeting, though he knew that effect would last only a few seconds before he began to fall in earnest.</p><p></p><p>The naga, trapped behind its prison of blades, glared balefully up at grubber. The goliath could see its puckered lips begin to move as it spoke the words to another spell. A ray of emerald death lanced towards the priest, but as it passed through the blade barrier, its path was deflected just enough to cause it to strike at Grubber’s feet, where it promptly disintegrated several inches of stone. Just then, a hand gripped his shoulder, and he nearly jumped out of his skin as he whirled, preparing to face this newest threat. Instead, he saw Havok standing behind him, the warlock looking worse for wear, but no longer ashen with blood loss. Havok nodded, and looked past the goliath at the snarling, hissing worm below. With almost a casual flick of his hand, he sent an eldritch blast through the blade barrier to strike the naga between the eyes. The wretched creature blinked once, and then collapsed. </p><p></p><p>Faust ignored the naga as he flew past it, intent on reaching the top of the shaft. Again and again, though, more nagas appeared at intervals, each one hurling disintegration beams at him, and each one rebuffed by his protective aura. As the psion passed his nearest assailant, his eyes locked briefly with those of the naga. In that moment, Faust was lost. At first his thoughts became jumbled and he found it hard to concentrate. He paused in his flight, hovering in place. A moment later, he forgot why he had come down here in the first place. A moment after that, he forgot his own name. All that remained was the feral mind of the troll. Faust was no more. Red rage filled his mind as he continued to stare at the naga. He wanted to rend it, tear it, taste its blood. With an inhuman roar he charged at the hole. </p><p></p><p>Hawk glided down another sixty feet, sheathing his sword as he fell, and pulling a second fly potion from his belt. As he passed one of the ubiquitous holes, he saw another of the nagas emerging from it. It spoke in a guttural voice, and green light enveloped him. The civilar hissed in pain as the ray seared his flesh like acid. A small hole had been bored through his breastplate, and through his skin beneath. Then he was past the hole, falling deeper into the pit. Unfortunately, below him he saw yet another naga appear, and a second beam struck him.</p><p></p><p>Drasek finished his laying on of hands upon himself, and somewhat revitalized, moved to rejoin Havok and Grubber. There, he saw that a second naga had crawled from a hole forty feet below where the first one had been. Storm saw it too. The sorceress floated above the top of the force wall that Kelvos had erected, and now she hurled two scorching rays of electricity at the worm. The first struck the creature a glancing blow, but the second blasted it directly in the mouth as it was preparing to cast its own spell. As a result, the disintegration ray it was sending towards her missed her by a wide margin. </p><p></p><p>Kelvos could not keep himself from chuckling as he saw the frustration etched on the faces of his foes. They were so confused that they did not remember not to cluster in one place. Once more calling on Kyuss, the eladrin brought down a column of green fire directly upon the spot where Havok and Drasek stood. The warlock hurled a token blast back his way, but the pitiful attempt simply dissipated as it touched Kelvos’ divine flesh. Once again, the warlock was forced to retreat. To Kelvos’ great surprise and delight, however, the inquisitor leaped from the edge of the pit and dove straight towards him. </p><p></p><p>The troll’s quarry slipped eel-like away from him, speaking unintelligible words. A blast of bitter cold struck the troll, but he barely felt it. He prepared to leap upon the naga, but at that moment, a brief flash of insight struck him. There were clan-mates nearby, allies to be protected. A primal instinct caused him to retreat from the hole and launch himself back into the pit, his wings straining as he climbed steadily upward. </p><p></p><p>Struggling to ignore his pain, Hawk finally managed to swig down his potion. Feeling the power of flight once again return to him, he willed himself up. More nagas were above him. He raised his shield over his head as deadly, green beams began to crisscross the shaft. </p><p></p><p>Storm watched as Drasek closed with the eladrin. The inquisitor swung his maul, but the celestial deflected it easily. The drow could see that the paladin was outclassed in a one-on-one contest. Thinking to aid her comrade, she hurled a glowing ball of fire into the hole behind the eladrin, but unfortunately, she misjudged her aim, and when the spell exploded, it engulfed both combatants. When the flames cleared, the eladrin looked unscathed, but Drasek bore several blistered burns. </p><p></p><p>“With friends like that,” Kelvos laughed at Drasek, “I won’t have to raise my hand against you at all! Come now my friend.” He held one hand out towards the inquisitor. “I can see you are of pure heart and noble of spirit, but do you truly think your devotion to goodness and law could ever come close to that which I once held dear? And yet here I am, a testament to flawed thinking. We are kindred spirits. Can’t you feel it? Everything you have believed in is a lie. Join me, and I will show you truths you could never believe possible.”</p><p>“Never!” Drasek hissed, and he swung his maul again. Kelvos caught the head of the weapon on the guard of his sword. Rotating his wrists, and jerking back, he wrenched the weapon from the paladin’s hands. It clanged to the floor at Drasek’s feet, and before the inquisitor could reach to recover it, Kelvos kicked it out of the hole and into the abyss beyond.</p><p></p><p>“Havok!” Grubber called over his shoulder to the warlock, who was allowing his armor to again pull him back from the brink of unconsciousness. “Drasek’s in trouble!” The goliath then turned back to the scene below him, and launched twin beams of fire from his eyes, which bore the aspect of the celestial firre’. The beams hit the side of the wall where Kelvos’ head had been but a moment earlier, before the eladrin had dodged with superhuman speed. Havok limped back to the pit edge, hurling his own magic at the celestial, amazed that this time his blast actually seemed to hurt Kelvos, though it did not have the nauseating effect that he had hoped for.</p><p></p><p>“Now what will you do?” Kelvos taunted the unarmed inquisitor, feinting at him playfully with his sword. </p><p>“This!” Drasek said, speaking a prayer to Kelemvor that caused his arm to become a living blade, ironically that of a sword archon. </p><p>“Ah,” Kelvos said, smiling, “but how can you hit what you cannot see?” The eladrin then retreated several feet down the worm tunnel, and willed himself invisible once more. Speaking the words to one of his most lethal spells, he hurled destructive energy at Drasek, intending to snuff out the paladin’s life like a candle. Incredibly, as the spell struck Drasek, his armor flared with blinding light, the Soulfire enchantment placed upon it by Malchor protecting him from the life-draining effect. </p><p></p><p>Hawk had managed to survive the deadly gauntlet of nagas, and he had only one more to pass before he reached the pit’s rim again. This last one, however, did not attack him as the others had, with a disintegration spell. Instead, it summoned a dispelling field, and again the civilar’s power of flight failed him. </p><p></p><p>Grubber saw Hawk’s plight, but could do nothing to directly aid his friend. Instead, he summoned a spiritual hammer of Grumbar to him, willing it to fly at the naga. The great maul closed the distance rapidly, hammering at the worm repeatedly. Simultaneously, Havok hurled a noxious blast at the naga, relieved when the creature began to retch and heave violently. Relinquishing his concentration on the spiritual weapon, Grubber cast a second spell, this time striking the worm naga with a hammer-like blast of righteous power. Havok followed again with an eldritch blast. The combined assault quickly overwhelmed the naga, and it tumbled from its hole, disappearing into the darkness of the pit.</p><p>“Fall back!” the warlock called to Drasek, and heeding his own warning, he moved back towards the antechamber. Drasek did not hesitate. Knowing he had no way of combating the eladrin when he could not see it, he flew from the tunnel, but instead of making for the top of the shaft, he dove deeper in, heading towards Hawk. As the inquisitor reached the civilar, he seized his hand, and then Dimension Doored them both back into the temple chamber next to Havok. Storm joined them, but for some reason, Grubber hesitated.</p><p>“Grubber!” Drasek called. “Get away from there you fool!” </p><p>“In a moment,” the goliath replied calmly, holding up one hand. An idea had struck him. The eladrin was too well defended, hidden as he was in the naga-hole, but perhaps that could be turned to their advantage. Calling to Grumbar once more, the goliath priest created a wall of iron across the opening to the hole, sealing it completely shut. </p><p>“I’ve bought us some time!” he called, moving towards his friend.</p><p></p><p>Just then, the winged troll that had been Faust soared out of the pit, landing heavily near the others. </p><p>“Where is Grim?” Havok asked. “Did you find him?” </p><p>The troll stared at him blankly, growling low in his throat. He knew this was a pack member, but he could not understand the noises it was making. </p><p>“Something’s wrong with him,” the warlock said, backing several steps away. “Grubber, can you tell what’s happened?”</p><p>The goliath looked closely at the troll, but he could see no sign of comprehension nor intelligence in its eyes. </p><p>“Something has affected his mind,” he said finally. “If Faust is still in there, he is locked deeply within. It is beyond my power to help him right now.” </p><p>“Damn it!” Hawk cursed. “This is poor timing. We need him.” He shook his head in frustration. “Storm, keep an eye on Faust. Havok, I want you to transport Grubber, Drasek and me into the hole where the eladrin is. This may be our one and only chance to defeat him, while he is relatively weakened, and spent of spells.”</p><p></p><p>Havok, Hawk, Grubber and Drasek linked arms. The warlock closed his eyes and pictured the entrance to the wormhole where the eladrin had taken cover. When he opened them again, they stood in the exact spot, the iron wall to their backs. Immediately, Grubber’s celestial light and purging aura showed them Kelvos. He stood several yards down the tunnel, smiling at them. No hint of his previous wounds now showed. Hawk and Drasek were moving as soon as the group appeared. The two paladins rushed the celestial, with Drasek going head on while Hawk dodged to the side, deflecting a blow from Kelvos’ sword off his shield as he passed. Kelvos found himself flanked, but seemed unconcerned. Casually, he walked past Hawk. The civilar snarled and slammed into the celestial with his shield. Kelvos was forced back several steps, blood dripping from his lip. Still, the smile never left his face, even as he touched one finger to the trickle and licked it off. Speaking a litany of words, the eladrin began to grow, until his body filled the corridor. Madness blazed in his eyes as he raised his sword to strike.</p><p>“Not so fast, my friend,” Havok whispered, and he pointed one finger at the giant eladrin. A green energy field appeared around Kelvos, and within it were what appeared to be dozens of fanged mouths. The celestial cried out as spell after spell of his defensive repertoire was ripped away by the voracious dispelling effect, including the Righteous Might that had granted him his increased size and power. Once more Drasek and Hawk closed, Hawk hammering at the eladrin again with his shield. For the first time, Kelvos’ smile faded, replaced by a look of hate that was far worse. Taking one step back from the paladins, he vanished from sight.</p><p></p><p>Storm stood looking over the edge of the pit, listening for any sign to tell her how the battle fared below. The drooling troll stood behind her, his fetid breath hot on her neck. It was then that she saw a figure emerging from the darkness. The spell she had previously cast that allowed her to see the invisible showed her that it was none-other-than Grim! The mineral warrior looked battered and beaten, but he was alive nonetheless. Just as he reached the top of the pit, the others rematerialized behind her.</p><p>“What happened?” she asked.</p><p>“The bastard fled,” Drasek spat. “Teleported. He could be anywhere.” </p><p>“Or he could be right there,” Grim said, pointing to the far corner of the chamber, where Kelvos stood, rage etched across his face.</p><p></p><p>Storm drew a wand from her cloak and spoke the command word. The effect she hoped for was that the eladrin would become charmed, considering her a friend. She was disappointed when the spell fizzled as soon as it touched Kelvos. Behind her, Havok again summoned a dispelling field, but this time he was not strong enough. Kelvos shrugged it aside.</p><p>“The time for magic is over!” Grim cried. “It’s time for cold steel!” With a roar of challenge, the dwarf charged across the room, Hawk and Drasek on his heels. Grubber gripped his maul, then looked up at the troll, who was staring after the others with his head tilted to one side, like a dog who hears a rabbit in the grass.</p><p>“What are you waiting for?” Grubber shouted at him. He swatted the giant on the flank and pointed towards Kelvos. “Sic’em boy!” The troll snarled and leaped into the air, beating his leathery wings and rapidly closing the distance to the eladrin. Grubber brought up the rear.</p><p></p><p>In no time, the warriors had Kelvos surrounded, just as he’d hoped. The filthy civilar even managed to score a minor blow. The others, the eladrin evaded easily, and then, just as they were closing in for the kill, he vanished once more, only to reappear right next to Havok.</p><p>“You have caused me enough trouble,” the eladrin hissed. “Once I’m done with you, the rest of your friends will be child’s play. And once you are all dead, I’ll feed you to the worms. You will serve Kyuss one way or the other.”</p><p>In a panic, Havok scrambled back a step, hurling a noxious blast point blank into the celestial’s face. Kelvos’ skin blistered, but he was otherwise unaffected. As he advanced on the warlock, he saw the warriors already on the way to intercept him. The troll reached him first, its filthy claws scraping at his armor as it tried to grapple with him. Kelvos thrust his sword into the beast’s armpit, eliciting a howl of pain from the brute. As he turned to move towards Havok again, he found Grim barring his way. The dwarf swung his axe low, slamming into the eladrin behind his knees. His legs buckling, Kelvos fell heavily to the floor. Immediately, he surged to his feet, but Drasek had arrived by that time, and the inquisitor drove his sword arm into the eladrin’s back. At the same time, Grim kicked Kelvos’ leg out from under him again, and once more he sprawled at the dwarf’s feet. From the ground, the eladrin spat out the words to an unholy prayer, and a sickening, black aura descended upon the group, searing their skin, and churning their stomachs. All except for Storm. The sorceress still stood near the pit, and she could see that the eladrin was in dire straits. Knowing she was taking a risk, she summoned a deafening thunderclap, which enveloped both friend and enemy alike. Her companions reflexively clutched at their ears as the sonic wave struck, but so did Kelvos. While he was thus distracted, Havok fought back his own pain and pointed his finger once more. The eldritch blast tore through Kelvos’ skull, leaving a gaping hole through which a writhing mass of worms could be seen.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="gfunk, post: 2813705, member: 1813"] ROUND TWO The troll limped slowly down the darkened stairs on the western side of the ziggurat. Blood flowed freely from a gaping wound in his right thigh. The demodand had taken him by surprise, and it had been a miracle he’d escaped with his life. Oddly enough, the laceration was not closing or regenerating the damaged tissue, as would be expected of such a creature. The chamber at the bottom of the stairs was empty. Its walls were carved to depict an army of armored soldiers engaged in the ruin and destruction of a city of helpless men, women and children. Buildings burned, blood washed the streets and dark thunderclouds boiled in the skies above. Above them all, directing the army, was an enormous figure dressed in plate mail. His face was cold and cruel, but also quite handsome. He wielded an exotic pole-arm that combined the features of a pick, an axe, and a mace. The troll noticed none of this. Purposefully, he strode across the room to a set of double-doors on the far side. Without hesitation, he pulled them open…and beheld a scene of pure chaos! The vast chamber before him bore a large, smoking pit in its center, surrounded by shattered pillars. A battle raged within the room. Several figures surrounded the pit, over which floated the object of their ire…a strikingly handsome elven man, dressed in a gleaming breastplate and wielding a glowing greatsword. The only thing that marred his beauty was the cruel smile that twisted his lips, and the dark miasma that surrounded him like black flames. “What in the Nine Hells is going on in here?” the troll roared. A goliath stood chanting at the near side of the pit. At the sound of the troll’s bellow, he turned, his eyes glowing like twin flames. “Faust!” Grubber yelled. “It’s about damn time you showed up! The eladrin’s evil! Grim fell in the pit! Go get him!” Faust the troll sighed, trying to remind himself again why he had thrown in his lot with these misfits. “There’s only one problem with that…well, not only one, but the main one.” Faust said sarcastically. “I can’t fly.” “I can fix that,” Grubber said as he quickly crossed the floor to the troll. Speaking a prayer and then touching Faust’s back, the priest caused leathery, bat-like wings to sprout. “Hmm,” he said, looking at the wings critically. “Those were supposed to be angelic.” “Maybe it’s because I’m in a bad mood,” Faust grumbled, heading towards the pit. Havok breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Faust. Maybe the psion would be able to tip the battle in their favor. For now, however, the warlock was wounded. Grubber had restored his strength, but several gashes and ugly burns marred his flesh. Nearby, Drasek did not look much better. “Time for a brief, tactical retreat,” Havok said to the inquisitor. Then, touching the paladin’s shoulder, the warlock transported the two of them into the room where Kelvos and his Angels of the Worm had been holed up. “Timely,” Drasek said, as he began fishing potion flasks out of his belt. One was to again give him the power of flight, which the eladrin had dispelled, and the others were to heal his injuries. Kelvos watched the hijinks of his foes with amusement. He had them on the run. They were unable to organize any coordinated strike against him…just as he’d planned. Casually, he began walking on air as if it were a solid surface, down into the pit, regaining his invisibility as he left the area of the priest’s damnable purge. Twenty feet below the rim, he stepped into one of the rough hewn holes that festooned the sides of the shaft. While he still did not feel that the buffoons above posed him any serious threat, they had managed to injure him and before he destroyed them, he needed to make sure he was at his peak. Calling upon his lord Kyuss, he suffused his body with unholy power, closing each of his wounds in turn. That task complete, he then called out into the void of the pit, speaking in the tongue of the Abyss. “Come worms! Heed the words of the Wormtouched! Your master has need of your service once again!” As the maddening clicking of the mandibles came closer, Grim fumbled at his belt pouch, digging out a small flask. Just as a large shadow fell over him, the dwarf upended the flask, and his form winked out of sight. He wasn’t quite fast enough. The undead beetle had already reached him, and mindlessly, it lashed out at where it had last seen him. Its cruelly barbed jaws sliced into him, drawing out his very life-force as easily as they did his blood. Grim clenched his jaws to keep from screaming, and also to hold back his gorge. The writhing worms still crawled over him, biting him like a thousand wasps’ stings. The effect was nauseating. Quickly, he reached for a second potion, imbibing it just as the beetle struck again. This time, the vile creature’s mandibles stabbed deep into his gut, and despite his best efforts, the mineral warrior cried out. It felt as if his innards were literally being ripped out of him. For a moment his vision blurred and darkened, but he knew that if he lost consciousness he was finished. At that moment, he felt his body lighten as the flying drought took effect. Willing himself up, the dwarf shot into the air, straight into the narrow hole through which he’d fallen. He had to get out of the pit. That was his only thought as he flew up, and up, and up. Faust didn’t know where the eladrin had gone, and he wasn’t going to wait around to find out. Running to the edge of the pit, he threw himself over the edge, diving down into the darkness as fast as his wings would carry him. Deeper and deeper he flew, at one point passing the invisible form of Grim, who did not call out to the strange, winged troll, thinking it another spawn of Kyuss coming to finish him off. Eventually, Faust could see the bottom of the shaft, where it narrowed down to a scant eight feet in diameter, before opening into chamber, the floor of which was crawling with green worms. Directly below the hole was also a large, half-rotted green beetle, its mandibles clicking in a maddening tempo that seemed to bore into the psion’s skull. If Grim was down there, he was already dead, or worse. Faust concentrated, manifesting a flaming ball of energy, which he flung into the hole, and then retreated out of the blast radius as it consumed the chamber. He didn’t wait to see the effects of his attack, instead turning back up the pit, and starting his slow ascent back to the surface. Grim willed himself to fly faster. He had heard the explosion below him, and knew for a fact that the fiend he’d passed had been sent to insure his death. Pulling flask after flask as he flew, he attempted to abate the worst of his hemorrhaging. Cautiously, Drasek and Havok approached the edge of the pit. Peering over its edge, they saw no sign of the eladrin at first, but then the warlock’s fiendishly acute eyesight picked out the invisible form of the celestial outlined in glowing, green light, standing just inside one of the holes below. Kelvos saw them as well. Without hesitation, he thrust one hand towards them, a bolt of lightning flashing from his palm and striking Havok. It then leaped from the warlock, arcing into Drasek. At that moment, both Drasek and Havok saw something else. Emerging from another hole, some forty-feet below them, was a vile, bloated worm, with a thick, green body. Its vaguely human head was covered in stringy green hair, and its mouth was a round, sucker-like orifice, ringed with rows of tiny teeth. Its identity flashed into Havok’s mind instantly. Once again, the knowledge gleaned from the Apostolic Scrolls served him well. The creature was a worm naga, created by Kyuss after his transformation to godhood as a way of rewarding the powerful arcanists that had served him in life. Even as this realization came to him, Havok heard the horrid thing began to chant the words to a spell. A blast of freezing cold air and ice roared up from the pit, engulfing Drasek and him. Reflexively, Havok’s hand came up in an ineffective attempt to ward off the spell, but as it did, the warlock loosed an eldritch spear at the naga, followed by a second blast of noxious energy. With that, his stamina flagged. Staggering away from the pit, he stumbled back into the smaller antechamber. Closing his eyes, and concentrating, he summoned up a new aspect of his fiendish power…the ability to somewhat clot off flowing blood and close minor cuts. At the same time, he heard a voice speaking in his head: “Fear not, master. I am here. Let me tend your need.” It was the armor given to him by Malchor. The wizard had told him that it could provide some healing in times of great necessity. The warlock supposed this was one of those times. Grubber quickly stepped to Drasek’s side, grimacing in disgust at the horrible naga protruding from its hole below. Calling out to Grumbar, the goliath caused a wall of whirling, slashing blades to appear directly across the opening from which the worm had emerged. The creature screamed as the blade barrier ripped at its flesh, and it quickly drew its head back inside the hole and away from the whirring shards. As it retreated, Drasek appealed to Kelemvor for his own spell, a radiant blast of power which seared the naga’s warty hide. Continuing his ascent, Faust saw something emerge from one of the holes in the side of the pit above him. Had he been at the top with his companions, he would have seen that it was the same type of creature that assailed them. As it was, he guessed it to be some sort of naga, though not any kind that he had ever heard of. Even as he contemplated this, the worm spat out a spell, sending a scathing beam of green energy at him. The ray struck Faust, but dissipated on impact, the psionic spell resistance he had manifested earlier against the demodand still in effect. Hawk couldn’t see exactly what was throwing spells from down in the pit, but he assumed it was the eladrin. Imbued with the power of flight from a potion, the civilar dove into the pit, only to see the naga trapped behind the wall of blades. Confused, he turned to look for the eladrin…but Kelvos saw him first. Laughing to himself at the stupidity of these mortals, he again summoned a dispelling field, watching with delight as horrific realization dawned on the paladin and he began to fall. Fortunately for Hawk, unlike Grim, his flight ability was not granted by wings, and so when it suddenly ended, he merely drifted down instead of plummeting, though he knew that effect would last only a few seconds before he began to fall in earnest. The naga, trapped behind its prison of blades, glared balefully up at grubber. The goliath could see its puckered lips begin to move as it spoke the words to another spell. A ray of emerald death lanced towards the priest, but as it passed through the blade barrier, its path was deflected just enough to cause it to strike at Grubber’s feet, where it promptly disintegrated several inches of stone. Just then, a hand gripped his shoulder, and he nearly jumped out of his skin as he whirled, preparing to face this newest threat. Instead, he saw Havok standing behind him, the warlock looking worse for wear, but no longer ashen with blood loss. Havok nodded, and looked past the goliath at the snarling, hissing worm below. With almost a casual flick of his hand, he sent an eldritch blast through the blade barrier to strike the naga between the eyes. The wretched creature blinked once, and then collapsed. Faust ignored the naga as he flew past it, intent on reaching the top of the shaft. Again and again, though, more nagas appeared at intervals, each one hurling disintegration beams at him, and each one rebuffed by his protective aura. As the psion passed his nearest assailant, his eyes locked briefly with those of the naga. In that moment, Faust was lost. At first his thoughts became jumbled and he found it hard to concentrate. He paused in his flight, hovering in place. A moment later, he forgot why he had come down here in the first place. A moment after that, he forgot his own name. All that remained was the feral mind of the troll. Faust was no more. Red rage filled his mind as he continued to stare at the naga. He wanted to rend it, tear it, taste its blood. With an inhuman roar he charged at the hole. Hawk glided down another sixty feet, sheathing his sword as he fell, and pulling a second fly potion from his belt. As he passed one of the ubiquitous holes, he saw another of the nagas emerging from it. It spoke in a guttural voice, and green light enveloped him. The civilar hissed in pain as the ray seared his flesh like acid. A small hole had been bored through his breastplate, and through his skin beneath. Then he was past the hole, falling deeper into the pit. Unfortunately, below him he saw yet another naga appear, and a second beam struck him. Drasek finished his laying on of hands upon himself, and somewhat revitalized, moved to rejoin Havok and Grubber. There, he saw that a second naga had crawled from a hole forty feet below where the first one had been. Storm saw it too. The sorceress floated above the top of the force wall that Kelvos had erected, and now she hurled two scorching rays of electricity at the worm. The first struck the creature a glancing blow, but the second blasted it directly in the mouth as it was preparing to cast its own spell. As a result, the disintegration ray it was sending towards her missed her by a wide margin. Kelvos could not keep himself from chuckling as he saw the frustration etched on the faces of his foes. They were so confused that they did not remember not to cluster in one place. Once more calling on Kyuss, the eladrin brought down a column of green fire directly upon the spot where Havok and Drasek stood. The warlock hurled a token blast back his way, but the pitiful attempt simply dissipated as it touched Kelvos’ divine flesh. Once again, the warlock was forced to retreat. To Kelvos’ great surprise and delight, however, the inquisitor leaped from the edge of the pit and dove straight towards him. The troll’s quarry slipped eel-like away from him, speaking unintelligible words. A blast of bitter cold struck the troll, but he barely felt it. He prepared to leap upon the naga, but at that moment, a brief flash of insight struck him. There were clan-mates nearby, allies to be protected. A primal instinct caused him to retreat from the hole and launch himself back into the pit, his wings straining as he climbed steadily upward. Struggling to ignore his pain, Hawk finally managed to swig down his potion. Feeling the power of flight once again return to him, he willed himself up. More nagas were above him. He raised his shield over his head as deadly, green beams began to crisscross the shaft. Storm watched as Drasek closed with the eladrin. The inquisitor swung his maul, but the celestial deflected it easily. The drow could see that the paladin was outclassed in a one-on-one contest. Thinking to aid her comrade, she hurled a glowing ball of fire into the hole behind the eladrin, but unfortunately, she misjudged her aim, and when the spell exploded, it engulfed both combatants. When the flames cleared, the eladrin looked unscathed, but Drasek bore several blistered burns. “With friends like that,” Kelvos laughed at Drasek, “I won’t have to raise my hand against you at all! Come now my friend.” He held one hand out towards the inquisitor. “I can see you are of pure heart and noble of spirit, but do you truly think your devotion to goodness and law could ever come close to that which I once held dear? And yet here I am, a testament to flawed thinking. We are kindred spirits. Can’t you feel it? Everything you have believed in is a lie. Join me, and I will show you truths you could never believe possible.” “Never!” Drasek hissed, and he swung his maul again. Kelvos caught the head of the weapon on the guard of his sword. Rotating his wrists, and jerking back, he wrenched the weapon from the paladin’s hands. It clanged to the floor at Drasek’s feet, and before the inquisitor could reach to recover it, Kelvos kicked it out of the hole and into the abyss beyond. “Havok!” Grubber called over his shoulder to the warlock, who was allowing his armor to again pull him back from the brink of unconsciousness. “Drasek’s in trouble!” The goliath then turned back to the scene below him, and launched twin beams of fire from his eyes, which bore the aspect of the celestial firre’. The beams hit the side of the wall where Kelvos’ head had been but a moment earlier, before the eladrin had dodged with superhuman speed. Havok limped back to the pit edge, hurling his own magic at the celestial, amazed that this time his blast actually seemed to hurt Kelvos, though it did not have the nauseating effect that he had hoped for. “Now what will you do?” Kelvos taunted the unarmed inquisitor, feinting at him playfully with his sword. “This!” Drasek said, speaking a prayer to Kelemvor that caused his arm to become a living blade, ironically that of a sword archon. “Ah,” Kelvos said, smiling, “but how can you hit what you cannot see?” The eladrin then retreated several feet down the worm tunnel, and willed himself invisible once more. Speaking the words to one of his most lethal spells, he hurled destructive energy at Drasek, intending to snuff out the paladin’s life like a candle. Incredibly, as the spell struck Drasek, his armor flared with blinding light, the Soulfire enchantment placed upon it by Malchor protecting him from the life-draining effect. Hawk had managed to survive the deadly gauntlet of nagas, and he had only one more to pass before he reached the pit’s rim again. This last one, however, did not attack him as the others had, with a disintegration spell. Instead, it summoned a dispelling field, and again the civilar’s power of flight failed him. Grubber saw Hawk’s plight, but could do nothing to directly aid his friend. Instead, he summoned a spiritual hammer of Grumbar to him, willing it to fly at the naga. The great maul closed the distance rapidly, hammering at the worm repeatedly. Simultaneously, Havok hurled a noxious blast at the naga, relieved when the creature began to retch and heave violently. Relinquishing his concentration on the spiritual weapon, Grubber cast a second spell, this time striking the worm naga with a hammer-like blast of righteous power. Havok followed again with an eldritch blast. The combined assault quickly overwhelmed the naga, and it tumbled from its hole, disappearing into the darkness of the pit. “Fall back!” the warlock called to Drasek, and heeding his own warning, he moved back towards the antechamber. Drasek did not hesitate. Knowing he had no way of combating the eladrin when he could not see it, he flew from the tunnel, but instead of making for the top of the shaft, he dove deeper in, heading towards Hawk. As the inquisitor reached the civilar, he seized his hand, and then Dimension Doored them both back into the temple chamber next to Havok. Storm joined them, but for some reason, Grubber hesitated. “Grubber!” Drasek called. “Get away from there you fool!” “In a moment,” the goliath replied calmly, holding up one hand. An idea had struck him. The eladrin was too well defended, hidden as he was in the naga-hole, but perhaps that could be turned to their advantage. Calling to Grumbar once more, the goliath priest created a wall of iron across the opening to the hole, sealing it completely shut. “I’ve bought us some time!” he called, moving towards his friend. Just then, the winged troll that had been Faust soared out of the pit, landing heavily near the others. “Where is Grim?” Havok asked. “Did you find him?” The troll stared at him blankly, growling low in his throat. He knew this was a pack member, but he could not understand the noises it was making. “Something’s wrong with him,” the warlock said, backing several steps away. “Grubber, can you tell what’s happened?” The goliath looked closely at the troll, but he could see no sign of comprehension nor intelligence in its eyes. “Something has affected his mind,” he said finally. “If Faust is still in there, he is locked deeply within. It is beyond my power to help him right now.” “Damn it!” Hawk cursed. “This is poor timing. We need him.” He shook his head in frustration. “Storm, keep an eye on Faust. Havok, I want you to transport Grubber, Drasek and me into the hole where the eladrin is. This may be our one and only chance to defeat him, while he is relatively weakened, and spent of spells.” Havok, Hawk, Grubber and Drasek linked arms. The warlock closed his eyes and pictured the entrance to the wormhole where the eladrin had taken cover. When he opened them again, they stood in the exact spot, the iron wall to their backs. Immediately, Grubber’s celestial light and purging aura showed them Kelvos. He stood several yards down the tunnel, smiling at them. No hint of his previous wounds now showed. Hawk and Drasek were moving as soon as the group appeared. The two paladins rushed the celestial, with Drasek going head on while Hawk dodged to the side, deflecting a blow from Kelvos’ sword off his shield as he passed. Kelvos found himself flanked, but seemed unconcerned. Casually, he walked past Hawk. The civilar snarled and slammed into the celestial with his shield. Kelvos was forced back several steps, blood dripping from his lip. Still, the smile never left his face, even as he touched one finger to the trickle and licked it off. Speaking a litany of words, the eladrin began to grow, until his body filled the corridor. Madness blazed in his eyes as he raised his sword to strike. “Not so fast, my friend,” Havok whispered, and he pointed one finger at the giant eladrin. A green energy field appeared around Kelvos, and within it were what appeared to be dozens of fanged mouths. The celestial cried out as spell after spell of his defensive repertoire was ripped away by the voracious dispelling effect, including the Righteous Might that had granted him his increased size and power. Once more Drasek and Hawk closed, Hawk hammering at the eladrin again with his shield. For the first time, Kelvos’ smile faded, replaced by a look of hate that was far worse. Taking one step back from the paladins, he vanished from sight. Storm stood looking over the edge of the pit, listening for any sign to tell her how the battle fared below. The drooling troll stood behind her, his fetid breath hot on her neck. It was then that she saw a figure emerging from the darkness. The spell she had previously cast that allowed her to see the invisible showed her that it was none-other-than Grim! The mineral warrior looked battered and beaten, but he was alive nonetheless. Just as he reached the top of the pit, the others rematerialized behind her. “What happened?” she asked. “The bastard fled,” Drasek spat. “Teleported. He could be anywhere.” “Or he could be right there,” Grim said, pointing to the far corner of the chamber, where Kelvos stood, rage etched across his face. Storm drew a wand from her cloak and spoke the command word. The effect she hoped for was that the eladrin would become charmed, considering her a friend. She was disappointed when the spell fizzled as soon as it touched Kelvos. Behind her, Havok again summoned a dispelling field, but this time he was not strong enough. Kelvos shrugged it aside. “The time for magic is over!” Grim cried. “It’s time for cold steel!” With a roar of challenge, the dwarf charged across the room, Hawk and Drasek on his heels. Grubber gripped his maul, then looked up at the troll, who was staring after the others with his head tilted to one side, like a dog who hears a rabbit in the grass. “What are you waiting for?” Grubber shouted at him. He swatted the giant on the flank and pointed towards Kelvos. “Sic’em boy!” The troll snarled and leaped into the air, beating his leathery wings and rapidly closing the distance to the eladrin. Grubber brought up the rear. In no time, the warriors had Kelvos surrounded, just as he’d hoped. The filthy civilar even managed to score a minor blow. The others, the eladrin evaded easily, and then, just as they were closing in for the kill, he vanished once more, only to reappear right next to Havok. “You have caused me enough trouble,” the eladrin hissed. “Once I’m done with you, the rest of your friends will be child’s play. And once you are all dead, I’ll feed you to the worms. You will serve Kyuss one way or the other.” In a panic, Havok scrambled back a step, hurling a noxious blast point blank into the celestial’s face. Kelvos’ skin blistered, but he was otherwise unaffected. As he advanced on the warlock, he saw the warriors already on the way to intercept him. The troll reached him first, its filthy claws scraping at his armor as it tried to grapple with him. Kelvos thrust his sword into the beast’s armpit, eliciting a howl of pain from the brute. As he turned to move towards Havok again, he found Grim barring his way. The dwarf swung his axe low, slamming into the eladrin behind his knees. His legs buckling, Kelvos fell heavily to the floor. Immediately, he surged to his feet, but Drasek had arrived by that time, and the inquisitor drove his sword arm into the eladrin’s back. At the same time, Grim kicked Kelvos’ leg out from under him again, and once more he sprawled at the dwarf’s feet. From the ground, the eladrin spat out the words to an unholy prayer, and a sickening, black aura descended upon the group, searing their skin, and churning their stomachs. All except for Storm. The sorceress still stood near the pit, and she could see that the eladrin was in dire straits. Knowing she was taking a risk, she summoned a deafening thunderclap, which enveloped both friend and enemy alike. Her companions reflexively clutched at their ears as the sonic wave struck, but so did Kelvos. While he was thus distracted, Havok fought back his own pain and pointed his finger once more. The eldritch blast tore through Kelvos’ skull, leaving a gaping hole through which a writhing mass of worms could be seen. [/QUOTE]
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JollyDoc's Age of Worms (Updated 11/30, Epilogue!)
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