Bryon_Soulweaver
First Post
JollyDoc said:
Anwar?
-
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JollyDoc's Savage Tide-Updated 10/8!
- Thread starter JollyDoc
- Start date
Anwar?
LordVyreth
First Post
I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed by Vanthus. I thought the guy would put up at least a little fight, especially since he's been an enemy of the party since, what, adventure 1?
WarEagleMage
First Post
LordVyreth said:
Well, our (usually) faithful storyteller didn't mention the Deadfall that Gregor dropped on him before Mandi put the squeeze on. No SR, no save for damage, and he failed his save to stay upright. So he was under 5 feet of trees and prone when the others did their work.
JollyDoc
Explorer
LordVyreth said:
For those not privy to Savage Tide info:
Vanthus Vanderboren
Lemorian Death Knight Aristocrat 1/ Rogue 5/ Fighter 4/ Tempest 5
AC: 42 (not bad, and probably his only noteworthy asset)
HP: 97! (yes, you read that right. One tango with TC and that's all she wrote)
SR: 25 (when Mandi takes 10 or SR checks, it's somewhere around 32)
Fort: +9 Ref: +11 Will: +5 (In short, he has the saves of a 3rd level PC)
Melee:
+4 flaming burst longsword +25/+20/+15
and
+2 flaming burst sickle +23/+18
and
tail +15
Spell Like Abilities:
Charm Monster DC 19 (useless); Command DC 16 (useless); Unholy Aura (useful but with these kind of stats? Meh!); Dominate Person DC 20 (useless); Fear DC 19 (useless); Mass Suggestion DC 21 (useless); Suggestion DC 18 (useless); Unhallow (useless)
Special Attacks:
1/day: Abyssal Blast: 20' r. fireball for 15d6, DC 22 (Yay!)
Summon Mount: nightmare (Yay!)
And that's the tale of the tape, ladies and gentleman. Considering most of the Legion have buffed AC's in the high 30's to low 40's, Vanthus had roughly a 25% chance of hitting with his highest attack bonus. Couple this with crappy abilities and the hp of an epic level commoner, and you have one gigantic, disappointing panty waist of a BBEG!
Allow me to quote from the adventure: "Vanthus's first act in combat is to tumble through the PC's and out onto the bridge, where he summons his nightmare, mounts up, and rides into the sky around this pinnacle so that he can use his spell-like abilities against the PC's to sow dissent in their ranks. Once he mangages to confuse things by charming and dominating PC's, he picks his targets, flies down, and dismounts, taking them on in one-on-one combat."
Let's see...move action to tumble through PC's. Standard to summon nightmare. That's one round. Move action to mount nightmare. Move action to fly into the air. That's two rounds. As for the sowing of dissent? Come on! The DC's of his SLA's couldn't challenge a group of 8th level PC's, much less 17th level! So, what do you really think would have happened in the two rounds he would have wasted just getting into position to unleash this devastating magical assault? Again, Tower Cleaver calls Vanthus center pocket.
humble minion
Legend
Yeah, Vanthus is terribly, terribly feeble. It's mostly because the two stacking (and not over-powerful) templates eat away at his HD and leave his CR artificially high for his power. The hit his BAB takes from his becoming undead doesn't help much, either.
When I get around to running him, I'll probably beef him up by giving him fighter BAB, unholy grace, and unholy toughness. On top of that, I might stack a few levels of bard, marshal, and White Raven warblade on the shadow demons that Socothbenoth has given him, so they can pump him up even further. And I might sub out the nightmare-summoning ability for some other power too - he has a fly speed, after all!
When I get around to running him, I'll probably beef him up by giving him fighter BAB, unholy grace, and unholy toughness. On top of that, I might stack a few levels of bard, marshal, and White Raven warblade on the shadow demons that Socothbenoth has given him, so they can pump him up even further. And I might sub out the nightmare-summoning ability for some other power too - he has a fly speed, after all!
Aracase
Explorer
Tower Cleaver says "Third Eye of Conceal - FTW!"Quartz said:
As for buffing the shadow demons or the elder wraiths, don't. They were tearing us apart until Mandi cast ghost touch on my weapon. The vile damage is brutal. They are very deadly at their CR. Terrain, vile damage, incorporeal, touch attacks, add up to a lot of hurt.humble minion said:
JollyDoc
Explorer
MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS
Lillianth’s eyes went crimson with rage when she realized what the mortals had done, but before she could give the word to attack, the elf witch began weaving a spell, filling the room with a mind-numbing cacophony of maddening whispers. One after the other, her hezrous clutched at their skulls before crumpling to the ground in fetal positions. Behind her, Jariaxer, her babau assassin, did the same.
“If you think I need my underlings to eviscerate you, then you have much to learn!” the marilith screeched. Gesturing with one of her six arms she conjured into being a whirling dervish of flashing blades. Daelric, Octurus and Tower Cleaver were forced to leap for safety as the wall of death flashed past them. From behind them, however, they heard a choked-off gurgle. Horrified, they saw Gregor reduced to a fine, red mist by the magical blades. The druid, still weakened by the vile wounds inflicted upon him by the shadow demons, had been a fraction of a second too slow. In a matter of seconds, nothing remained by shredded clothing.
“Two can play that game!” Mandi snarled. “I however, prefer avasculation to evisceration!”
Twisting her hands into claws and pulling them in a ripping motion, the sorceress performed the same, gruesome surgical procedure on Lillianth that she had on her rival, Kululblax. The marilith’s blood vessels squirted out of her skin into a sickening, entangling mass all around her. Throughout her centuries of existence, Lillianth had borne witness to, and been an active participant in a staggering array of tortures, but she’d never been on the receiving end until now. Caught off guard, she acted by pure reflex, teleporting herself out of the entrails, and out of the room.
“Well that was…brief,” Sepoto said, wrapping his chain around the neck of one of the comatose hezrous and snapping it.
“Yes,” Octurus said, his voice muffled behind his face shroud as he gutted two more of the demons. “I would have expected more from one of Graz’zt’s generals.
“You mean something like this!” Lillianth hissed as she slithered back into the room directly behind Sepoto. At another gesture from her, a second wall of blades appeared, this one bisecting the chamber, leaving only Sepoto trapped on the same side as the marilith.
“Suits me,” Sepoto growled, dodging nimbly away from the demon’s whirling arsenal as he struck back, his chain opening ugly rents in Lillianth’s flesh. A moment later, a flash of white light engulfed Daelric and spread from him, searing like molten acid across the marilith’s entire body. As she began to scream, Tower Cleaver barreled towards the blade barrier, tucking his body into a surprisingly nimble roll for one so massive. As he came to his feet on the far side, not a mark scarred his hide from the deadly blades, and his axe was already in motion, slicing cleanly through one of the downed hezrous and cleaving into Lillianth.
“Lynnara! Where are you?” Lillianth wailed as she struggled to distance herself from her assailants, one of her scimitars and her barbed tail slashing at Cleaver as she retreated.
“Right here, mistress,” came a husky voice from the shadows behind Lillianth. Suddenly, the tip of a sword blade sprouted from the center of the marilith’s chest and her eyes went wide as black blood burst from her lips. She slid limply to the floor, revealing a woman who would be considered beautiful by any standards, had it not been for the small, black horns protruding from beneath her hair, the large, leathery wings on her back and the pointed, prehensile tail that coiled about her long legs. Wrenching her weapon from Lillianth’s back, she wiped the blade clean and calmly sheathed it.
“I don’t know who you are,” Mandi said coldly to the new arrival, “but if you place any value on your life, you’ll stay right where you are and don’t say a word until I tell you to. Sepoto, if she makes a move, kill her.”
The crusader nodded, holding his chain taut as he took up a position behind the succubus.
“Octurus, tend to the others,” Mandi continued. “Cleaver, retrieve Lavinia’s cell.”
Octurus nodded as well, moving from one hezrou to the other and quickly ending each one’s life before he administered a coup-de-grace to the babau. Cleaver hooked Lavinia’s cage with his axe and drew it within his reach, then wrenched the entire thing from the ceiling with one great tug. Meanwhile, Mandi flew casually to the cage containing the ice devil.
‘You and are I not so different,’ she communicated telepathically. ‘How did you come to be here?’
‘I was on the losing side of one of the endless conflicts of the Bloodwar,’ the insectile devil replied with its alien thoughts.
‘What will you do if I free you?’ Mandi asked.
‘I will leave this place, and woe to any who stand in my way!’
‘Then I shall free you,’ Mandi replied. ‘My allies, however, may not feel as I do, so I shall have to be…discreet about this. I intend to drop your cage into the lava below. I know that your kind are immune to even the hottest fires, but I suggest you do your best to convince them that you are indeed suffering great agony. Then, once the magma dissolves your prison, wait beneath until we are gone, and then you may go your own way.’
The gelugon agreed, and Mandi flew back several feet.
“It is my intention to summarily execute this denizen of Hell,” she announced aloud. “Do any of you disagree with my actions?”
None of the Legionnaires did. Sepoto and Daelric even snickered at the idea. Mandi then pointed her finger at the chain which suspended the cell, and a thin beam of green light instantly disintegrated several of the links, dropping the cage into the molten lava below. Immediately the devil began to shriek and thrash, pounding at the bars until the cell sank out of sight. Once it was gone, Mandi moved to the cage containing the archon.
‘We are friends,’ she spoke into his mind. ‘I’m going to free you know, and you may go as you please. I know there are others of your kind in the building on the far side of the caldera.’
This time, she settled for merely disintegrating the lock on the cage door, allowing it to swing open. The archon looked up at her with empty eyes, stood, walked to the door, and then calmly stepped out and fell into the magma. He did not scream as his flesh was quickly cremated.
Mandi cocked her head for a moment curiously, shrugged and flew over to the ledge where Cleaver had placed Lavinia’s cage.
Tower Cleaver and Sepoto had succeeded in opening Lavinia’s cell, but the young noblewoman still crouched inside, eyeing the pair suspiciously.
“Lavinia,” Mandi said as she alighted, “it’s me, Ozymandia. I’ve been communicating with you since we arrived on the Abyss. We’ve come for you as we promised.”
“I…I want to believe you,” Lavinia answered tentatively, tears standing in her eyes, “but you don’t know how many times I’ve been duped into false hope, only to have it shattered by the malicious whims of these fiends!”
“Have they ever told you this before?” Mandi asked, and then she began to speak telepathically to her employer, telling her details of her father that no one else could possibly know. When she finished, the light of hope had appeared in Lavinia’s eyes. She looked up at Sepoto.
“Tell me who your original companions were, and what became of them,” she said.
Sepoto did so without hesitation, recounting the various fates of Gotr, Ferox, Thrisp, Basil, Marius, Samson and, of course, Anwar. When he was finished, Lavinia rose shakily to her feet, and then rushed to embrace her hirelings, who had become so much more than that. When she had regained her composure, her eyes drifted to the severed head of Vanthus lying nearby.
“Is that really him?” she asked. Mandi nodded. Slowly, Lavinia walked over and gazed into the dead eyes of the creature that had once been her brother. Then, with her jaw set grimly, she kicked the gory remains into the lava.
Throughout the reunion, the succubus Lillianth had called Lynarra stood quietly by, watching it all with dispassion. Finally, Mandi approached her, flanked by the other Legionnaires.
“Now, I’ll hear your story,” she said in clipped tones, “and it had better be good, or you’ll soon join your mistress reincarnated as a larva.”
“She was not my mistress,” Lynarra replied blandly, unperturbed by Mandi’s threat. “I serve another, and I was told of your arrival here and was instructed to aid you as I may.”
“Who do you work for?” Sepoto asked with narrowed eyes.
“That is my business,” the succubus replied, causing the crusader to tense and bristle. “Suffice it to say that the interests of my employer coincide with your own at the moment. I know that securing the freedom of this woman was not your only reason for coming here. You seek to thwart the plans of the Prince of Demons, whatever those may be.”
“And I suppose you’re just going to tell us this,” Mandi said snidely.
“That would be presumptuous,” Lynarra smiled. “How could one such as I pretend to know the secrets of one so powerful? No, I am merely a vessel, placed her to guide you further along your road. There is one, however, who knows the mind of Demogorgon…intimately.”
“And who would that be?” Mandi asked, her foot tapping impatiently.
“Haven’t you guessed?” Lynarra laughed. “Her image is everywhere in Divided’s Ire, for of course you know, this was not always a prison. Indeed, when it was first created, it was meant to be a private retreat, a pleasure palace if you will, created by Demogorgon’s confidante and lover, Shami-Amourae.”
“The former Queen of Succubi?” Mandi asked. “I thought she had been destroyed by Malcanthet.”
“It is difficult to destroy a demon lord,” Lynarra said. “No, Shami-Amourae lives still, or so I’m told, but few know her fate.”
“And you’re one of those few?” Mandi asked, her patience thinning even further.
“Alas, no,” the succubus sighed, “but here is where I may be of assistance. I know of someone whose knowledge of the Lady of Debased Eros is second-to-none…Red Shroud, daughter of Malcanthet, and Shami-Amourae’s niece. She rules the city of Broken Reach, on the plane of Pazunia, the so-called Plane of Infinite Portals. Seek her out there, and your path may be made more clear.”
“How do we convince her to help us?” Mandi asked dubiously.
“Just ask,” Lynarra smiled, “but ask nicely…very nicely. And now, I can be of no further assistance to you, so I shall take my leave…by your leave.”
After a moment, Mandi nodded dismissively, convinced that the succubus probably didn’t know anything more of any real use, nor would she reveal anything else even if she did know. Lynarra bowed and then vanished into thin air.
______________________________________________________
The companions, with Lavinia in tow, left the demonic prison and made their way back to the Sea Wyvern without incident. The crew was elated when they saw their patron, and even more so when they learned they would be returning to the Prime without further delay. Mandi took the ship back out into the open waters of Gaping Maw, then navigated the Maw’s Teeth once more before reaching the Abyssian Ocean again. Once there, she activated the Wake Portal a second time, and in a matter of moments, the Sea Wyvern once more sailed under the familiar stars of the Prime.
The Legionnaires spent the evening secluded with Lavinia, discussing future plans. Lavinia knew that she could not follow where her hired heroes had to journey. Farshore still needed her, but first she must return to Tashluta to secure the political and financial banking it would take to unseat Lord Meravanchi and his vile nephew. And so, the following morning, the Legion said their goodbyes to both crew and Lavinia. Mandi instructed the captain to set sail for Tashluta and remain there until they were instructed differently by Lavinia, or until Mandi herself returned. Then, the Legionnaires gathered round her as she held up a small, metal tuning fork and began to chant. Once more, a sickening vertigo enveloped them as the barriers between planes were rent asunder, and the laws of time and space were bent. When their minds cleared again, they found themselves standing upon a blasted plain, before a fortress of crumbling stone towers. They had reached Pazunia, the very first layer of the Abyss, and the weigh station for all points beyond…
__________________________________________________________
Broken Reach, despite its decrepit appearance, was actually a thriving city. It had a reputation of being a good place to purchase armor, weapons, consumables and a wide variety of poisons, as well as a place to acquire information or to find a guide to the deeper layers of the Abyss. The streets were thronged with a mixture of demons, tieflings and other plane traveling races, as well as an abundance of humanoid mercenaries seeking employment as warriors in the eternal Blood War. Once the Legionnaires had entered the city, it was not hard to determine where Red Shroud held court. A towering structure of white marble and red glass stood at the center of Broken Reach, conspicuous and out of place amid the tumble down architecture. It stood sixty feet off the ground, approachable by two intertwined, curving ramps of polished wood. Halfway up these ramps four marble statues of a beautiful succubus, presumably Red Shroud, stood on a platform. At the top of the ramps a shimmering wall of opaque red fire covered the actual entrance to the throne room, and a burly nalfeshnee demon stood guard there, arms crossed over its massive chest.
“State your business,” the demon growled without preamble.
“We seek audience with Red Shroud,” Mandi replied. “We seek information from her.”
“The minimum price is ten-thousand gold coins,” the fiend replied, “non-negotiable and payable in advance.”
He held out one large hand. Tightening her jaw, Mandi drew a heavy coin purse from her belt and counted out the required tribute. The demon tucked them away, and then gestured towards the curtain.
Beyond, the throne room was a wide open space of polished floors. Curtained alcoves stood to either side and the central floor contained a sheet of shimmering red glass. The throne itself stood upon a dais at the far end of the hall, surrounded by courtiers and petitioners. Lounging upon the seat was a stunningly beautiful succubus, with fair skin, crimson hair, large bat wings and eyes that glowed with sinister desire. She was flanked by a quartet of hezrous, while in one corner of the room stood and angular-featured halfling with spiky red hair and bright orange garments with a flame motif. When the company drew near the dais, Red Shroud waved dismissively to those gathered round as the nalfeshnee deposited the coins at her feet. Her eyes flickered disinterestedly towards them before locking onto Mandi’s.
“Why do you come before the Presence,” she asked in a husky voice.
“We have come seeking information. We require the location of your aunt, Shami-Amourae.”
Red Shroud’s eyes flashed dangerously, and she sat up, the hezrous tensing around her.
“You have no tact or subtlety at all, do you?” she asked, dangerously quiet.
“I have neither the time nor the patience for games of Court,” Mandi replied.
Red Shroud waved her hand contemptuously at the pile of coins before her and sneered,
“For this pittance, you think that I should tell you of things no one else knows?”
“I…understood this was the price your required,” Mandi said slowly.
“You get what you pay for,” Red Shroud snorted.
Mandi thought for a moment, then slowly unfolded her portable hole on the floor. Reaching into it, she withdrew the chest of Hathruman, which the Legion had retrieved from the treasury of the Kraken Society. Red Shroud sat forward with interest, her eyes momentarily betraying her knowledge of the value of the item.
“Perhaps this will help as well,” came a voice from within the crowd. Then, a gnome dressed in scarlet robes stepped forward and casually dropped another large sack of coins next to the first.
Mandi’s face became pinched and flushed.
“You have a lot of nerve showing your face before me, traitor!” she spat. “You abandoned us when we needed you. Coward! You know nothing of loyalty. We neither require nor desire your assistance!”
“Mandi,” Marius tsked, shaking his head and smiling, “surely you know me well enough by now to realize that the fate of one woman means nothing to me. You of all people should know that there are far greater powers at work here now, and I have learned many things since we parted company, and though the needs of the many don’t concern me any more than the needs of the few, I still have a soft spot in my hear for our home plane. After all, it’s where I keep all my stuff! If the Prince of Demon’s plans come to fruition, you won’t have to worry about our former employer’s well being any longer.”
For once, Mandi was speechless. She could not find a single flaw to argue in the war mage’s logic. He was right, and if she was being truthful with herself, she had to admit that it wasn’t Lavinia’s safe return that had driven her to the Abyss. It was vengeance, and there was still more to be had.
“Am I interrupting something here?” Red Shroud asked shrilly, drawing all eyes back to her.
“Your pardon, my lady,” Mandi bowed. “Old wounds. I trust our offer is sufficient by now for us to strike a deal.”
Red Shroud gazed upon the horde with open avarice before nodding. Then, turning to the nalfeshnee, she ordered the throne room cleared save for her and her paying guests.
____________________________________________________________
“As you may know,” Red Shroud began, “Shami-Amourae, also called the Lady of Delights, among other titles, once aspired to the title of Queen of the Succubi. She once played the role of consort to Demogorgon, but the Prince of Demons spurned her in favor of Malcanthet. Rumor holds that he had her imprisoned in the Wells of Darkness.”
“The Wells of Darkness?” Sepoto asked.
“For centuries, the Fraternity of Order has attempted to catalog the infinite Planes of the Abyss,” Red Shroud continued. “They numbered them in the order they were discovered. Ulricon the Necromancer explored the seventy-third layer in the third year of the reign of the child-factol Andalon. He named the layer the Wells of Darkness for the eponymous pits that dotted its ruined landscape. Each of these black wells is said to contain an imprisoned demon, god or corpse. Some were overthrown by rivals, while others failed spectacularly in the their conduct of the Blood War. Although it is theoretically possible to escape imprisonment in one of the Wells, such escapes usually require the Lords of Woe, or the intervention of a greater deity. Those known to have escaped included Bayemon of the Unhealing Wound, the marilith queen Shaktari, Siragle the Ineffable, and vaunted Zzyczesiya. The Wells of Darkness has no lord, though many of its properties are said to have been established by Ahazu the Seizer, demon lord of the night and abduction.”
Sepoto’s eyes grew wide, and his fingers strayed to the long, black tooth that protruded from his mouth. Red Shroud smiled and nodded.
“Yes, I noticed that you bear the tooth of Ahazu. That item was recently sold right her in Broken Reach to a varrangoin outcast named Sutolore. The seller happened to be a lilitu demon in the service of Malcanthet. I offer you that piece of information for free.”
“What can you tell us of Ahazu?” Mandi asked.
“As I said,” Red Shroud replied, “he was the lord of night and abduction, but he vanished from the multiverse long ago. What most do not know is that he has become a prisoner of the realm he created. He and his prisoners dwell in the void beyond the boundaries of the layer, a place known as Shattered Night. The Wells of Darkness are windows into this void, each one allowing observers to perceive one of Ahazu’s prisoners. This too I know: when Ulricon discovered the Wells, he claimed a ruined fortress atop the layer’s highest tor as a base from which to further his investigations of the realm. That fortress is now rumored to be haunted, possibly by the remnants of Ulricon’s followers. The marvelous inner chamber of this structure is alleged to contain a scale model of the entire layer, complete with inky pools marked with the demonic seals of their inhabitants. Many believe that the fortress protects some sort of controlling mechanism for the layer, but if so, no one has figured out yet how to make it work. What Ulricon did not know was that the fortress, called Overlook, was originally constructed by the Cult of Ahazu. That cult was destroyed by Orcus after Ahazu’s followers tried and failed to imprison him as an offering to their patron. Overlook is now home to a tribe of varrangoins, oft-mistaken for the undead thought to roam its halls. They are extremely protective of some great secret within the heart of the fortress. Ulricon and his followers were forced to flee Overlook after trying to bind Ahazu to their will. In failing, they summoned forth the Spawn of Ahazu, who now haunt the lower reaches.”
Red Shroud concluded her speech, sitting back and crossing her arms across her chest. Sepoto continued to absently stroke his tooth.
“Tell me again about how you came to possess that,” Mandi said, interrupting his reverie.
“While we were exploring the ruins of Tamoachan, we encountered a varrangoin that had apparently been trapped there,” the goliath answered. “When he was defeated, we found in his possession the bat idol that we later discovered was stolen from the shrine of Zotzilaha. When we returned it, as you recall, we found the tooth in the treasury…and the bat god’s aspect said he had no idea where it had come from.”
“An interesting set of coincidences,” Mandi mused. “The plot thickens, and twists. It would seem we are being drawn along some preconceived path…one which now leads to the Wells of Darkness, but perhaps we shall surprise these puppeteers in the end. The wheels are firmly in motion now, my friends.”
Lillianth’s eyes went crimson with rage when she realized what the mortals had done, but before she could give the word to attack, the elf witch began weaving a spell, filling the room with a mind-numbing cacophony of maddening whispers. One after the other, her hezrous clutched at their skulls before crumpling to the ground in fetal positions. Behind her, Jariaxer, her babau assassin, did the same.
“If you think I need my underlings to eviscerate you, then you have much to learn!” the marilith screeched. Gesturing with one of her six arms she conjured into being a whirling dervish of flashing blades. Daelric, Octurus and Tower Cleaver were forced to leap for safety as the wall of death flashed past them. From behind them, however, they heard a choked-off gurgle. Horrified, they saw Gregor reduced to a fine, red mist by the magical blades. The druid, still weakened by the vile wounds inflicted upon him by the shadow demons, had been a fraction of a second too slow. In a matter of seconds, nothing remained by shredded clothing.
“Two can play that game!” Mandi snarled. “I however, prefer avasculation to evisceration!”
Twisting her hands into claws and pulling them in a ripping motion, the sorceress performed the same, gruesome surgical procedure on Lillianth that she had on her rival, Kululblax. The marilith’s blood vessels squirted out of her skin into a sickening, entangling mass all around her. Throughout her centuries of existence, Lillianth had borne witness to, and been an active participant in a staggering array of tortures, but she’d never been on the receiving end until now. Caught off guard, she acted by pure reflex, teleporting herself out of the entrails, and out of the room.
“Well that was…brief,” Sepoto said, wrapping his chain around the neck of one of the comatose hezrous and snapping it.
“Yes,” Octurus said, his voice muffled behind his face shroud as he gutted two more of the demons. “I would have expected more from one of Graz’zt’s generals.
“You mean something like this!” Lillianth hissed as she slithered back into the room directly behind Sepoto. At another gesture from her, a second wall of blades appeared, this one bisecting the chamber, leaving only Sepoto trapped on the same side as the marilith.
“Suits me,” Sepoto growled, dodging nimbly away from the demon’s whirling arsenal as he struck back, his chain opening ugly rents in Lillianth’s flesh. A moment later, a flash of white light engulfed Daelric and spread from him, searing like molten acid across the marilith’s entire body. As she began to scream, Tower Cleaver barreled towards the blade barrier, tucking his body into a surprisingly nimble roll for one so massive. As he came to his feet on the far side, not a mark scarred his hide from the deadly blades, and his axe was already in motion, slicing cleanly through one of the downed hezrous and cleaving into Lillianth.
“Lynnara! Where are you?” Lillianth wailed as she struggled to distance herself from her assailants, one of her scimitars and her barbed tail slashing at Cleaver as she retreated.
“Right here, mistress,” came a husky voice from the shadows behind Lillianth. Suddenly, the tip of a sword blade sprouted from the center of the marilith’s chest and her eyes went wide as black blood burst from her lips. She slid limply to the floor, revealing a woman who would be considered beautiful by any standards, had it not been for the small, black horns protruding from beneath her hair, the large, leathery wings on her back and the pointed, prehensile tail that coiled about her long legs. Wrenching her weapon from Lillianth’s back, she wiped the blade clean and calmly sheathed it.
“I don’t know who you are,” Mandi said coldly to the new arrival, “but if you place any value on your life, you’ll stay right where you are and don’t say a word until I tell you to. Sepoto, if she makes a move, kill her.”
The crusader nodded, holding his chain taut as he took up a position behind the succubus.
“Octurus, tend to the others,” Mandi continued. “Cleaver, retrieve Lavinia’s cell.”
Octurus nodded as well, moving from one hezrou to the other and quickly ending each one’s life before he administered a coup-de-grace to the babau. Cleaver hooked Lavinia’s cage with his axe and drew it within his reach, then wrenched the entire thing from the ceiling with one great tug. Meanwhile, Mandi flew casually to the cage containing the ice devil.
‘You and are I not so different,’ she communicated telepathically. ‘How did you come to be here?’
‘I was on the losing side of one of the endless conflicts of the Bloodwar,’ the insectile devil replied with its alien thoughts.
‘What will you do if I free you?’ Mandi asked.
‘I will leave this place, and woe to any who stand in my way!’
‘Then I shall free you,’ Mandi replied. ‘My allies, however, may not feel as I do, so I shall have to be…discreet about this. I intend to drop your cage into the lava below. I know that your kind are immune to even the hottest fires, but I suggest you do your best to convince them that you are indeed suffering great agony. Then, once the magma dissolves your prison, wait beneath until we are gone, and then you may go your own way.’
The gelugon agreed, and Mandi flew back several feet.
“It is my intention to summarily execute this denizen of Hell,” she announced aloud. “Do any of you disagree with my actions?”
None of the Legionnaires did. Sepoto and Daelric even snickered at the idea. Mandi then pointed her finger at the chain which suspended the cell, and a thin beam of green light instantly disintegrated several of the links, dropping the cage into the molten lava below. Immediately the devil began to shriek and thrash, pounding at the bars until the cell sank out of sight. Once it was gone, Mandi moved to the cage containing the archon.
‘We are friends,’ she spoke into his mind. ‘I’m going to free you know, and you may go as you please. I know there are others of your kind in the building on the far side of the caldera.’
This time, she settled for merely disintegrating the lock on the cage door, allowing it to swing open. The archon looked up at her with empty eyes, stood, walked to the door, and then calmly stepped out and fell into the magma. He did not scream as his flesh was quickly cremated.
Mandi cocked her head for a moment curiously, shrugged and flew over to the ledge where Cleaver had placed Lavinia’s cage.
Tower Cleaver and Sepoto had succeeded in opening Lavinia’s cell, but the young noblewoman still crouched inside, eyeing the pair suspiciously.
“Lavinia,” Mandi said as she alighted, “it’s me, Ozymandia. I’ve been communicating with you since we arrived on the Abyss. We’ve come for you as we promised.”
“I…I want to believe you,” Lavinia answered tentatively, tears standing in her eyes, “but you don’t know how many times I’ve been duped into false hope, only to have it shattered by the malicious whims of these fiends!”
“Have they ever told you this before?” Mandi asked, and then she began to speak telepathically to her employer, telling her details of her father that no one else could possibly know. When she finished, the light of hope had appeared in Lavinia’s eyes. She looked up at Sepoto.
“Tell me who your original companions were, and what became of them,” she said.
Sepoto did so without hesitation, recounting the various fates of Gotr, Ferox, Thrisp, Basil, Marius, Samson and, of course, Anwar. When he was finished, Lavinia rose shakily to her feet, and then rushed to embrace her hirelings, who had become so much more than that. When she had regained her composure, her eyes drifted to the severed head of Vanthus lying nearby.
“Is that really him?” she asked. Mandi nodded. Slowly, Lavinia walked over and gazed into the dead eyes of the creature that had once been her brother. Then, with her jaw set grimly, she kicked the gory remains into the lava.
Throughout the reunion, the succubus Lillianth had called Lynarra stood quietly by, watching it all with dispassion. Finally, Mandi approached her, flanked by the other Legionnaires.
“Now, I’ll hear your story,” she said in clipped tones, “and it had better be good, or you’ll soon join your mistress reincarnated as a larva.”
“She was not my mistress,” Lynarra replied blandly, unperturbed by Mandi’s threat. “I serve another, and I was told of your arrival here and was instructed to aid you as I may.”
“Who do you work for?” Sepoto asked with narrowed eyes.
“That is my business,” the succubus replied, causing the crusader to tense and bristle. “Suffice it to say that the interests of my employer coincide with your own at the moment. I know that securing the freedom of this woman was not your only reason for coming here. You seek to thwart the plans of the Prince of Demons, whatever those may be.”
“And I suppose you’re just going to tell us this,” Mandi said snidely.
“That would be presumptuous,” Lynarra smiled. “How could one such as I pretend to know the secrets of one so powerful? No, I am merely a vessel, placed her to guide you further along your road. There is one, however, who knows the mind of Demogorgon…intimately.”
“And who would that be?” Mandi asked, her foot tapping impatiently.
“Haven’t you guessed?” Lynarra laughed. “Her image is everywhere in Divided’s Ire, for of course you know, this was not always a prison. Indeed, when it was first created, it was meant to be a private retreat, a pleasure palace if you will, created by Demogorgon’s confidante and lover, Shami-Amourae.”
“The former Queen of Succubi?” Mandi asked. “I thought she had been destroyed by Malcanthet.”
“It is difficult to destroy a demon lord,” Lynarra said. “No, Shami-Amourae lives still, or so I’m told, but few know her fate.”
“And you’re one of those few?” Mandi asked, her patience thinning even further.
“Alas, no,” the succubus sighed, “but here is where I may be of assistance. I know of someone whose knowledge of the Lady of Debased Eros is second-to-none…Red Shroud, daughter of Malcanthet, and Shami-Amourae’s niece. She rules the city of Broken Reach, on the plane of Pazunia, the so-called Plane of Infinite Portals. Seek her out there, and your path may be made more clear.”
“How do we convince her to help us?” Mandi asked dubiously.
“Just ask,” Lynarra smiled, “but ask nicely…very nicely. And now, I can be of no further assistance to you, so I shall take my leave…by your leave.”
After a moment, Mandi nodded dismissively, convinced that the succubus probably didn’t know anything more of any real use, nor would she reveal anything else even if she did know. Lynarra bowed and then vanished into thin air.
______________________________________________________
The companions, with Lavinia in tow, left the demonic prison and made their way back to the Sea Wyvern without incident. The crew was elated when they saw their patron, and even more so when they learned they would be returning to the Prime without further delay. Mandi took the ship back out into the open waters of Gaping Maw, then navigated the Maw’s Teeth once more before reaching the Abyssian Ocean again. Once there, she activated the Wake Portal a second time, and in a matter of moments, the Sea Wyvern once more sailed under the familiar stars of the Prime.
The Legionnaires spent the evening secluded with Lavinia, discussing future plans. Lavinia knew that she could not follow where her hired heroes had to journey. Farshore still needed her, but first she must return to Tashluta to secure the political and financial banking it would take to unseat Lord Meravanchi and his vile nephew. And so, the following morning, the Legion said their goodbyes to both crew and Lavinia. Mandi instructed the captain to set sail for Tashluta and remain there until they were instructed differently by Lavinia, or until Mandi herself returned. Then, the Legionnaires gathered round her as she held up a small, metal tuning fork and began to chant. Once more, a sickening vertigo enveloped them as the barriers between planes were rent asunder, and the laws of time and space were bent. When their minds cleared again, they found themselves standing upon a blasted plain, before a fortress of crumbling stone towers. They had reached Pazunia, the very first layer of the Abyss, and the weigh station for all points beyond…
__________________________________________________________
Broken Reach, despite its decrepit appearance, was actually a thriving city. It had a reputation of being a good place to purchase armor, weapons, consumables and a wide variety of poisons, as well as a place to acquire information or to find a guide to the deeper layers of the Abyss. The streets were thronged with a mixture of demons, tieflings and other plane traveling races, as well as an abundance of humanoid mercenaries seeking employment as warriors in the eternal Blood War. Once the Legionnaires had entered the city, it was not hard to determine where Red Shroud held court. A towering structure of white marble and red glass stood at the center of Broken Reach, conspicuous and out of place amid the tumble down architecture. It stood sixty feet off the ground, approachable by two intertwined, curving ramps of polished wood. Halfway up these ramps four marble statues of a beautiful succubus, presumably Red Shroud, stood on a platform. At the top of the ramps a shimmering wall of opaque red fire covered the actual entrance to the throne room, and a burly nalfeshnee demon stood guard there, arms crossed over its massive chest.
“State your business,” the demon growled without preamble.
“We seek audience with Red Shroud,” Mandi replied. “We seek information from her.”
“The minimum price is ten-thousand gold coins,” the fiend replied, “non-negotiable and payable in advance.”
He held out one large hand. Tightening her jaw, Mandi drew a heavy coin purse from her belt and counted out the required tribute. The demon tucked them away, and then gestured towards the curtain.
Beyond, the throne room was a wide open space of polished floors. Curtained alcoves stood to either side and the central floor contained a sheet of shimmering red glass. The throne itself stood upon a dais at the far end of the hall, surrounded by courtiers and petitioners. Lounging upon the seat was a stunningly beautiful succubus, with fair skin, crimson hair, large bat wings and eyes that glowed with sinister desire. She was flanked by a quartet of hezrous, while in one corner of the room stood and angular-featured halfling with spiky red hair and bright orange garments with a flame motif. When the company drew near the dais, Red Shroud waved dismissively to those gathered round as the nalfeshnee deposited the coins at her feet. Her eyes flickered disinterestedly towards them before locking onto Mandi’s.
“Why do you come before the Presence,” she asked in a husky voice.
“We have come seeking information. We require the location of your aunt, Shami-Amourae.”
Red Shroud’s eyes flashed dangerously, and she sat up, the hezrous tensing around her.
“You have no tact or subtlety at all, do you?” she asked, dangerously quiet.
“I have neither the time nor the patience for games of Court,” Mandi replied.
Red Shroud waved her hand contemptuously at the pile of coins before her and sneered,
“For this pittance, you think that I should tell you of things no one else knows?”
“I…understood this was the price your required,” Mandi said slowly.
“You get what you pay for,” Red Shroud snorted.
Mandi thought for a moment, then slowly unfolded her portable hole on the floor. Reaching into it, she withdrew the chest of Hathruman, which the Legion had retrieved from the treasury of the Kraken Society. Red Shroud sat forward with interest, her eyes momentarily betraying her knowledge of the value of the item.
“Perhaps this will help as well,” came a voice from within the crowd. Then, a gnome dressed in scarlet robes stepped forward and casually dropped another large sack of coins next to the first.
Mandi’s face became pinched and flushed.
“You have a lot of nerve showing your face before me, traitor!” she spat. “You abandoned us when we needed you. Coward! You know nothing of loyalty. We neither require nor desire your assistance!”
“Mandi,” Marius tsked, shaking his head and smiling, “surely you know me well enough by now to realize that the fate of one woman means nothing to me. You of all people should know that there are far greater powers at work here now, and I have learned many things since we parted company, and though the needs of the many don’t concern me any more than the needs of the few, I still have a soft spot in my hear for our home plane. After all, it’s where I keep all my stuff! If the Prince of Demon’s plans come to fruition, you won’t have to worry about our former employer’s well being any longer.”
For once, Mandi was speechless. She could not find a single flaw to argue in the war mage’s logic. He was right, and if she was being truthful with herself, she had to admit that it wasn’t Lavinia’s safe return that had driven her to the Abyss. It was vengeance, and there was still more to be had.
“Am I interrupting something here?” Red Shroud asked shrilly, drawing all eyes back to her.
“Your pardon, my lady,” Mandi bowed. “Old wounds. I trust our offer is sufficient by now for us to strike a deal.”
Red Shroud gazed upon the horde with open avarice before nodding. Then, turning to the nalfeshnee, she ordered the throne room cleared save for her and her paying guests.
____________________________________________________________
“As you may know,” Red Shroud began, “Shami-Amourae, also called the Lady of Delights, among other titles, once aspired to the title of Queen of the Succubi. She once played the role of consort to Demogorgon, but the Prince of Demons spurned her in favor of Malcanthet. Rumor holds that he had her imprisoned in the Wells of Darkness.”
“The Wells of Darkness?” Sepoto asked.
“For centuries, the Fraternity of Order has attempted to catalog the infinite Planes of the Abyss,” Red Shroud continued. “They numbered them in the order they were discovered. Ulricon the Necromancer explored the seventy-third layer in the third year of the reign of the child-factol Andalon. He named the layer the Wells of Darkness for the eponymous pits that dotted its ruined landscape. Each of these black wells is said to contain an imprisoned demon, god or corpse. Some were overthrown by rivals, while others failed spectacularly in the their conduct of the Blood War. Although it is theoretically possible to escape imprisonment in one of the Wells, such escapes usually require the Lords of Woe, or the intervention of a greater deity. Those known to have escaped included Bayemon of the Unhealing Wound, the marilith queen Shaktari, Siragle the Ineffable, and vaunted Zzyczesiya. The Wells of Darkness has no lord, though many of its properties are said to have been established by Ahazu the Seizer, demon lord of the night and abduction.”
Sepoto’s eyes grew wide, and his fingers strayed to the long, black tooth that protruded from his mouth. Red Shroud smiled and nodded.
“Yes, I noticed that you bear the tooth of Ahazu. That item was recently sold right her in Broken Reach to a varrangoin outcast named Sutolore. The seller happened to be a lilitu demon in the service of Malcanthet. I offer you that piece of information for free.”
“What can you tell us of Ahazu?” Mandi asked.
“As I said,” Red Shroud replied, “he was the lord of night and abduction, but he vanished from the multiverse long ago. What most do not know is that he has become a prisoner of the realm he created. He and his prisoners dwell in the void beyond the boundaries of the layer, a place known as Shattered Night. The Wells of Darkness are windows into this void, each one allowing observers to perceive one of Ahazu’s prisoners. This too I know: when Ulricon discovered the Wells, he claimed a ruined fortress atop the layer’s highest tor as a base from which to further his investigations of the realm. That fortress is now rumored to be haunted, possibly by the remnants of Ulricon’s followers. The marvelous inner chamber of this structure is alleged to contain a scale model of the entire layer, complete with inky pools marked with the demonic seals of their inhabitants. Many believe that the fortress protects some sort of controlling mechanism for the layer, but if so, no one has figured out yet how to make it work. What Ulricon did not know was that the fortress, called Overlook, was originally constructed by the Cult of Ahazu. That cult was destroyed by Orcus after Ahazu’s followers tried and failed to imprison him as an offering to their patron. Overlook is now home to a tribe of varrangoins, oft-mistaken for the undead thought to roam its halls. They are extremely protective of some great secret within the heart of the fortress. Ulricon and his followers were forced to flee Overlook after trying to bind Ahazu to their will. In failing, they summoned forth the Spawn of Ahazu, who now haunt the lower reaches.”
Red Shroud concluded her speech, sitting back and crossing her arms across her chest. Sepoto continued to absently stroke his tooth.
“Tell me again about how you came to possess that,” Mandi said, interrupting his reverie.
“While we were exploring the ruins of Tamoachan, we encountered a varrangoin that had apparently been trapped there,” the goliath answered. “When he was defeated, we found in his possession the bat idol that we later discovered was stolen from the shrine of Zotzilaha. When we returned it, as you recall, we found the tooth in the treasury…and the bat god’s aspect said he had no idea where it had come from.”
“An interesting set of coincidences,” Mandi mused. “The plot thickens, and twists. It would seem we are being drawn along some preconceived path…one which now leads to the Wells of Darkness, but perhaps we shall surprise these puppeteers in the end. The wheels are firmly in motion now, my friends.”
