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The Adventures of Baabby and Sam - a Skylanders Campaign
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 7194172" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 17: THE TWIN KINGDOMS OF TWILIGHT</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: <p style="margin-left: 20px">Baabby, humanoid sheep barbarian/cleric (Life) 9</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Sam Crow, humanoid crow ranger/rogue 9</p><p></p><p>NPC Roster: <p style="margin-left: 20px">Sapphrina, fairy sorcerer 9</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 5 August 2017</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>"You really think these guys can help?" asked Sam Crow.</p><p></p><p>"It's worth a shot," replied Sapphrina. "The library here is quite extensive - and the whole place is run by a Portal Master who might be able to help us to restore Xacho to his rightful form."</p><p></p><p>"I dunno," sighed Sam, looking down at the snail perched in his place of honor on the little crow's left shoulder. "I kinda like him in his present form."</p><p></p><p>"Would <em>you</em> like it if somebody cursed you to be stuck in the form of a snail for all of eternity? And not just somebody, but the Devourer of Nightmares?"</p><p></p><p>"No," admitted Sam. "...But Shelldon's <em>my</em> snail!"</p><p></p><p>"But he's really Xaacho, not Shelldon," pointed out Baabby as the trio strode through the open doorway into the main hall of the Skylanders Academy Building. There was a short, bespectacled Mabu sorting books along one wall. He looked up at the approaching trio.</p><p></p><p>"Hello," <strong>Hugo</strong> greeted the newcomers. "Welcome to Skylanders Academy. How may I-- AAAAAGH! IT'S MY WORST FEARS COME TO LIFE!" And the frightened Mabu went screaming down the hallways, yelling about "the coming sheep uprising" and how he'd "been right all along."</p><p></p><p>"Wow," commented Sam, looking up at his hulking baabarian friend. "I may not be the most handsome crow ever, but at least my appearance hasn't caused panic in those who look at me. Way to go, buddy!"</p><p></p><p>"Whaat did I do?" asked Baabby, bewildered.</p><p></p><p>"Nothing," said an elderly man, approaching down the hallway. "I'm afraid you must excuse Hugo - he has an inexplicable fear of sheep." The man was quite old, with a long, white beard and a staff on which he leaned as he walked. He wore the lengthy robes of a wizard, and a metal skull-cap on his head. "My name is Eon, and I am the Master of these halls. I take it this is the Xacho of whom you spoke?"</p><p></p><p>"He is," replied Sapphrina.</p><p></p><p>"Then let us see what can be done," replied Master Eon. Turning, he said, "Walk this way, please," and headed down the hallway to an elegantly-furnished side room. Sam, of course, opted to take the elderly wizard literally and mimicked walking down the hallway while leaning on a staff, until Sapphrina saw what he was doing and smacked him on the arm. "Enough of that!" she hissed.</p><p></p><p>Stealth Elf was there in the side room waiting for the Portal Master and the three visitors (four, if you counted Shelldon). She had corroborated Sapphrina's earlier tale to Master Eon, vouching for the goodness of the trio of heroes after having fought at their side against a large group of spell punks and the Devourer of Nightmares. "I believe a simple <em>break enchantment</em> spell should do the trick," observed Master Eon.</p><p></p><p>"Are you going to turn Shelldon back into a human?" asked Sam.</p><p></p><p>"That is the intention, yes," confirmed Master Eon.</p><p></p><p>"Then I guess I better get him off my shoulder." Picking up his erstwhile animal companion, Sam said to him, "Don't worry, Shelldon. Everything's going to be okay." He set him down on the floor and took a step back, holding his hands to his beak in a worried posture. Master Eon held forth his staff, said a few magical syllables, and Shelldon's form flashed in a burst of temporary brilliance. Then, a series of small tentacles sprouted from his shell, each one tipped by a glaring eyeball, before they were absorbed back into Shelldon's body and the little snail looked no different than he had before.</p><p></p><p>"That wasn't supposed to happen, was it?" gasped Sam.</p><p></p><p>"No," mused Master Eon. "The curse seems to be much stronger than I originally anticipated."</p><p></p><p>"Why did he grow eyebaall-tentacles?" asked Baabby. "Aand where did they go?"</p><p></p><p>"A residual bit of energy from the cause of the transformation, I would imagine," muttered Master Eon, frowning to himself. He stood thinking for a moment, then came to a decision. "I believe some more study is called for. I wonder if you wouldn't mind leaving Xacho here in my care? There are a few tests I should very much like to try."</p><p></p><p>"Um, okay, I guess," replied Sam, bending over to pick up Shelldon. "You're going to stay with this nice man for awhile," he said to his snail, then added in a whisper, "Try not to be freaked out by his long white beard - he's really very nice." The crow passed Shelldon over to Master Eon, suggesting, "Hey, Shelldon, you can show him that math trick I taught you!" Master Eon passed Shelldon over to Stealth Elf. "Put him in the main lab, please," he said. "And then please bring in our other two visitors."</p><p></p><p>Master Eon turned back to his guests. "We have two others visiting us at the moment. As dealing with Xacho may well take a few days, I wonder if you might be willing to help us with a matter involving them."</p><p></p><p>"Of course," replied Sapphrina.</p><p></p><p>"Excellent," replied Master Eon. "This will be--"</p><p></p><p>"I hope you're not going to say 'killing two birds with one stone'," interrupted Sam, his arms crossed belligerently. "Because I hate that phrase."</p><p></p><p>"Actually, I was going to say 'maximizing our resources at hand'."</p><p></p><p>"Oh. Okay then."</p><p></p><p>Stealth Elf soon returned, this time without Shelldon but with a pair of elementals. Each stood about eight feet tall; the first, an angelic being seemingly made of pure light, was introduced as <strong>Lady Radia</strong>; the other, a half-glimpsed humanoid form cloaked in deep shadows, was introduced as <strong>Lord Umbros</strong>.</p><p></p><p>"They are the ambassadors from the Twin Kingdoms of Dawn and Dusk," Stealth Elf said, then introduced each of the three heroes to the ambassadors by name.</p><p></p><p>"Incredible!" exclaimed Lady Radia.</p><p></p><p>"Remarkable!" declared Lord Umbros.</p><p></p><p>Sam looked slightly embarrassed as he polished the edges of his finger-feathers on his leather armor. "Well," he blushed, "I don't like to brag..."</p><p></p><p>"The <strong>Dawn Sheep</strong>..." began Lady Radia.</p><p></p><p>"The whaat now?" asked Baabby.</p><p></p><p>"...And the <strong>Dusk Crow</strong>!" finished Lord Umbros. "Then the prophecies are true!" Sam gaped at the two ambassadors, then shrugged. Another prophecy involving him and Baabby? It was starting to become old hat. But at least this time he wasn't being billed as "the Cowardly Crow" or anything - in fact, "The Dusk Crow" had a kind of cool sound to it!</p><p></p><p>"I'm sorry, but what prophecy is this?" asked Sapphrina.</p><p></p><p>"The Twin Kingdoms of Twilight have only recently been restored to the Skylands as a whole," replied Master Eon. "For untold eons, their floating island was locked away in a pocket dimension, separated from the rest of the Skylands."</p><p></p><p>"Such has it been since time immemorial," added Lady Radia. "And throughout all of that time, the Kingdoms of Dawn and Dusk have been at war with each other, each striving for dominance over the other. It has been prophesized that the wars will continue until such time as the Dawn Sheep and the Dusk Crow step forward and bring about an everlasting peace between our two warring nations."</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, that sounds like something we'd do," replied Sam in his most humble-sounding voice.</p><p></p><p>"Then you will help us?" asked Lord Umbros.</p><p></p><p>Baabby and Sam looked at each other. "Sure," they replied in unison.</p><p></p><p>"Excellent!" replied the ambassadors. "We are told you have an airship?"</p><p></p><p>"We do," replied Sapphrina.</p><p></p><p>"Then let us fly to the Twin Kingdoms at once! Master Eon, thank you for your assistance in bringing us to these legendary figures."</p><p></p><p>"I am pleased to have been of service," replied the elderly Portal Master. "I wish you all well in ending your war." The three heroes left the chamber escorted by the two ambassadors. Sam was a bit disappointed in seeing that Baabby's ambassador was a hot chick made of cascading brilliance, while his seemed to be an old man cloaked in shadows. Baabby always got all the luck!</p><p></p><p>Reaching the troll airship, their statue pilot raised it into the air and spun it in the direction of the Twin Kingdoms of Twilight, per the instructions of the rival ambassadors. "I cannot wait for this conflict to be decided for once and for all," replied Lady Radia.</p><p></p><p>"Nor I," agreed Lord Umbros. "We cannot get to the Arena of Clashing Shadows fast enough."</p><p></p><p>Baabby and Sam, standing at the prow of the troll airship watching the cloud speeding by, took a moment to process what the Ambassador of Dusk had just said. "...The whaat now?" Baabby asked.</p><p></p><p>"The Arena of Clashing Shadows," repeated Lord Umbros.</p><p></p><p>"Where the Dawn Sheep and the Dusk Crow will fight to the death to determine which Kingdom shall prevail forevermore," added Lady Radia, excited by the prospect.</p><p></p><p>Baabby and Sam just stared at each other with their mouths hanging open.</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>The Arena of Clashing Shadows was a rather impressive structure: oval in shape, with benches for the audience all around its circumference and an opening at either end for the opposing forces to enter the sand-filled arena. Through these doors were the rooms in which the opposing forces trained and were housed until such time as their individual combats arose. The ambassadors explained that over the millennia of their imprisonment, the Twin Kingdoms had evolved their strategies, to the point that all warfare now took place in the arena rather than making their entire floating island one large battlefield.</p><p></p><p>"Why caan't you just stop fighting altogether?" asked Baabby.</p><p></p><p>"Because each kingdom wishes to rule the entire island," replied Lord Umbros.</p><p></p><p>"That might have been a valid point when your island was isolated from the rest of the universe," pointed out Sapphrina. "But now you're back into the Skylands! Why not spread out to new islands, find new lands where your individual kingdoms can each rule separately?"</p><p></p><p>"Such might very well occur, as time progresses," admitted Lady Radia. "But regardless, each kingdom wishes to rule this island, our original homeland. This is where our respective races were born. My people would see it basking in eternal light!"</p><p></p><p>"While mine would rather it cloaked in shadows forever," replied Lord Umbros. "But no matter. Tomorrow, whichever of you is victorious, we will have our winning side, and that Kingdom will rule this island forevermore."</p><p></p><p>"Aand the losing side? They'll just accept their loss?" asked Baabby.</p><p></p><p>"It is our way," replied Lady Radia. "Those unwilling to live under the rule of the opposing Kingdom will be free to leave. I imagine many on the losing side will choose to do so."</p><p></p><p>"Still, a fight to the death? Isn't that a bit much to ask of your legendary, prophetic figures?" pushed Sapphrina.</p><p></p><p>"Yeah!" agreed Sam. He knew full well who'd be coming out on top in a fight to the death between him and Baabby - and things didn't look so good for the good-looking one with the jet-black feathers.</p><p></p><p>"Whoever dies will merely be reabsorbed into their respective element," scoffed Lady Radia, dismissing the fairy's concerns. "They will simply be reborn, as it has always been."</p><p></p><p>"That may be how it works for elementals," replied Sapphrina, "but Baabby and Sam are both <em>mortals</em>."</p><p></p><p>"Indeed?" asked Lady Radia, surprised at this revelation.</p><p></p><p>"Then we shall see quite a spectacle indeed," grinned Lord Umbros - or at least it sounded like he was grinning in eager anticipation; it was too dark in the shadows he constantly generated for anybody to actually see his facial features.</p><p></p><p>"Come," said Lady Radia, taking Baabby by the shoulder. "Our respective combatants must be prepared for tomorrow's event." Lord Umbros similarly gestured for Sam to follow him and the little crow did so, not eager for the shadowy being to actually touch him. They went their separate ways, Baabby to the Dawn half of the arena and Sam to the Dusk half. Each looked back at their companion, hoping this wasn't the last time they'd see each other before they became foes in a duel to the death.</p><p></p><p>Sam was taken to a room under escort by two darkness elementals. These two were more his size and neither radiated an area of shadowy darkness like Lord Umbros did, so Sam took a liking to them more than he did to the eight-foot-tall ambassador. Still, he was slightly miffed that they weren't attractive women like the light elementals all seemed to be. If this was going to be his last night of life, why didn't he get to spend it with hot chicks? Baabby got to - but then, there was very little chance that this was going to be Baabby's last night of life; there was no way Sam could take out the hulking baabarian, even if he had a mind to do so.</p><p></p><p>"How may we serve you, Dusk Crow?" asked one of the darkness elementals.</p><p></p><p>"You guys got any chow?" asked Sam. He was incredibly nervous, and he liked to eat when he was nervous. "A worm burger, maybe?"</p><p></p><p>"I will see what I can do," promised the elemental and departed the room.</p><p></p><p>"Can I talk to Baabby?" Sam was coming up with all kinds of plans on how to get out of this fight-to-the-death business, but none of them would work if he didn't have a way to talk his plans over with the sheep-man ahead of time.</p><p></p><p>"That is not permitted," replied the other darkness elemental. "The Dawn Sheep is an enemy, and must be avoided until your fight in the morning."</p><p></p><p>"Um, okay, How about Sapphrina? The fairy who traveled with us?"</p><p></p><p>"That is permissible." As the darkness elemental left to go fetch her, another returned with Sam's worm burger. "Here you go, Dusk Crow," the shadowy being said. Then, as Sam approached to grab his food, the elemental whispered to him, "Don't trust Lord Umbros. He--"</p><p></p><p>That's as far as he got. Then his facial features scrunched up into a grimace of pain as the shadowiness was bleached from his body. Like a photo being developed in reverse, the darkness making up his body lightened until the darkness elemental disappeared completely; in its place was a forward-thrust weapon, the end of which was a glowing ball of light. Sam looked at the weapon's tip, then let his glance travel down the weapon's shaft to its wielder, another darkness elemental about his own size. And standing behind him was Lord Umbros.</p><p></p><p>"We do not allow traitors to live," remarked the weapon-wielder.</p><p></p><p>"An excellent policy, which I endorse wholeheartedly!" answered Sam Crow. He fake-spat on the floor. "Traitors! Pah! I hate them!"</p><p></p><p>"Do you have everything you need, Dawn Crow?" asked Lord Umbros in an oily voice. Sam was quick to nod in the affirmative.</p><p></p><p>"Then I shall leave you to your meal." And, turning on his heel, the ambassador left, followed by his darkness elementals.</p><p></p><p>Sapphrina showed up a few moments later. "Am I glad to see you!" he gushed. Then, waiting for the darkness elemental who had escorted her to his temporary quarters to leave, he added, "We've got to get out of here! That Lord Umbros is crazy! He just had one of his own elementals killed for trying to warn me about him!" And Sam filled her in on what had just happened.</p><p></p><p>"They won't let me talk to Baabby," Sam said. "So you'll have to go talk to him for me. We can't fight each other to the death! Maybe we can refuse to fight...or show up at the arena, and then settle our differences with a handshake or something. If their designated representatives agree on peace, won't the two kingdoms have to follow suit?"</p><p></p><p>"I don't think it works that way," frowned Sapphrina. "The respective rulers of the Twin Kingdoms of Twilight will be there; I think they get to decide what their kingdoms do, dependent upon the outcome of the arena battle."</p><p></p><p>"Well then, maybe Baabby and I could each throw a punch at the same time and knock each other out unconscious or something," Sam said, desperation causing him to grab at any idea that struck his imagination. "We'd have to fake it, of course...or at least Baabby would," he amended - the baabarian probably <em>could</em> knock the little crow out with a single punch, if he put all of his strength into it!</p><p></p><p>"We'll figure something out," promised Sapphrina. "But don't worry: Baabby's not going to agree to kill you in the arena. You know that!" she chided.</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, well..." said Sam, shivering at the thought of facing Baabby in hand-to-hand combat.</p><p></p><p>"Everything will be fine," reassured the fairy. "I'd better go now, if I'm going to go talk to Baabby." She turned to leave.</p><p></p><p>"Oh, and Sam?" she added on her way out the door.</p><p></p><p>"Yeah?"</p><p></p><p>"Your sandwich is escaping." Looking down at the burger he'd set down, he saw the worms bundled between the buns had disentangled themselves and were escaping the confines of the sandwich. Then the fairy departed, to the outraged squawks of "Hey! No fair!" behind her.</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>The next morning, both Baabby and Sam entered the arena from opposite ends at the calling of their names - or, more accurately, by the legendary titles they'd been assigned: "The Dawn Sheep" and "The Dusk Crow." The seats were all filled with elementals, half of them from the Light Element and the other from the Darkness Element. Sam couldn't help but notice the absolute segregation between the two kingdoms: half the stadium's seats were filled with light elementals and the other half with darkness elementals. Sapphrina sat in the exact middle between the two; across from her were the two highest seats of honor, one a throne for <strong>Queen Photose</strong>, the other, a throne for her counterpart, <strong>King Shade</strong>. Looking across at Baabby, Sam saw the Ambassador from the Kingdom of Dawn, Lady Radia, sitting in an elevated seat behind her champion; looking up at the seat directly above and behind him, Sam saw Lord Umbros looking down at him.</p><p></p><p>But that wasn't all. Standing on either side of Baabby were two light elementals, each looking ready for combat. There were also two darkness elementals in the arena, one on either side of Sam. "Um, what are you guys doing here?" asked Sam.</p><p></p><p>"We are your combat support team," replied one of the darkness elementals. "To aid you in your upcoming fight against the Dawn Sheep and his own team."</p><p></p><p>"Nobody said anything about combat teams!" squawked Sam, his mind racing feverishly. How could he and Baabby come up with a way to tie this contest when there were four elementals in the arena with them, neither of which would go along with any plans of subterfuge?</p><p></p><p>He had to talk to Baabby! "Let the legendary heroes approach each other!" he called out in a loud voice, then began striding forward towards the middle of the arena. Baabby followed suit. "Hey, buddy!" the little crow said, holding out his hand for the hulking baabarian to shake. After a quick handshake, they turned toward the elemental royalty seated on their thrones.</p><p></p><p>"King Shade! Queen Photose! We, your representatives in combat, salute you!" called Sam, raising his Dynabow 3.0 in the air. Baabby pulled out his <em>Rift-Weaver's Blade</em> and raised it in the air in a salute to the King and Queen. While the crowd cheered on the two heroes, Sam whispered to Baabby, confident that nobody else would be able to overhear them, "We gotta get rid of those elementals on the field!"</p><p></p><p>"Agreed," replied Baabby.</p><p></p><p>"After that, once it's just you and me, maybe we can--" But Sam was interrupted by Queen Photose, calling out to the arena as a whole.</p><p></p><p>"It has come to our attention that our dueling representatives are mortals," she said. "Bearing that in mind, we - King Shade and myself - have agreed that the combat to follow need not be to the death, merely the defeat of the opposing forces. Our elemental combat teams, if slain, will merely merge back into their respective elements and be reborn. But as the Dawn Sheep and the Dusk Crow each have but one life, and one life only, it seems only fair that they not be asked to give up that one life in the cause of a people not of their own."</p><p></p><p>"However," added King Shade, "death is not off the table; the combatants should not go out of their way to try to knock out their opponents, as death is also a quite satisfactory outcome."</p><p></p><p><em>Easy for you to say!</em> thought Sam. <em>You're not the one out here facing a sheep-man who could rip you apart bare-handed!</em> But he called back, in his loudest voice, "We, your representatives in battle, do thank you for your consideration, Your Highnesses!"</p><p></p><p>"Let the Dawn Sheep and the Dusk Crow return to their starting positions," commanded Queen Photose. With shrugs of resolution, Sam and Baabby trudged back to their starting positions between their respective pair of elementals. "When we get started, I want you guys to bunch up together and head straight towards the enemy," said Sam. "I'll be right behind you." He was hoping he could get all four elementals close enough that he could hopefully take them all out with an explosive arrow.</p><p></p><p>"We know best how to aid you, Dusk Crow," replied one of the darkness elementals. Then, when the signal for combat began, each elemental raced straight ahead, not closing the distance between themselves as Sam had hoped. But Baabby's light elementals did likewise, running forward but not closer to each other; it looked like Sam's hopes of getting all four clumped close enough together wasn't going to happen. Figures!</p><p></p><p>The light elementals each shot a blast of energy at their darkness counterparts, but the darkness elementals dodged in time. In response, though, the darkness elementals - or at least one of them, in any case - created a familiar radius of darkness that completely encompassed Baabby, still striding forward in an unhurried pace. His unhurried pace suddenly slowed even further, and Sam recognized that his baabarian friend was inside one of those slow-time "black holes" that darkness spell punks were capable of creating.</p><p></p><p>Could darkness elementals make black holes? Sam wasn't sure. But he knew for sure that darkness spell punks could, and he had a sneaking suspicion that the two "elementals" on his side weren't necessarily all that they might seem to be.</p><p></p><p>Sure enough, as he targeted the ground between his two "combat assistants," he could see, out of the corner of his vision, their forms flicker just a bit around the edges. Illusions? Could be! Sam let fly his arrow, sufficiently charged up with explosive energy from his Dynabow 3.0. It covered both "darkness elementals" in its blast radius, causing an outcry from the crowd at this unexpected betrayal on the part of the Dusk Crow. In part to cover himself, Sam belatedly called out, "Impostors! King Shade, we are betrayed!"</p><p></p><p>Baabby, meanwhile, exited the confines of the black hole at his top speed - which wasn't, admittedly, very fast under the circumstances. But he exited the range of the effect just in time to see both of his light elementals send blasts of light energy at the darkness elementals (which missed) and both of the darkness elementals send blasts of dark energy at him (which didn't). The pain allowed the sheep-man to open up his body to the power of his rage, which came to the forefront like an old friend.</p><p></p><p>Through a red haze, Baabby saw his friend Sam at the far end of the arena, and between the two of them what he could clearly see for what they truly were: two light spell punks and two darkness spell punks. The audience still saw them as elementals of the appropriate Elements, but that didn't matter to Baabby. He targeted the nearest darkness spell punk and charged him, his <em>Rift-Weaver's Blade</em> at the ready. The blade swung down, nearly killing the spell punk in a single blow - but somehow, the hovering mage managed to survive the strike.</p><p></p><p>Sam sent another explosive arrow straight at the other darkness spell punk. It, too, survived the attack - but it seemed to be hanging onto its evil life by the narrowest of margins.</p><p></p><p>Both darkness spell punks targeted Baabby with their dark-energy blasts, hitting him. Sam realized there was a definite advantage sometimes as being perceived as the weaker of two potential targets - even if that perception was absolutely true! However, the two light spell punks targeted their blasts at Sam, possibly just to continue their ruse of being normal light elemental arena combatants.</p><p></p><p>Since the two darkness spell punks seemed so close to death, Sam decided to help them over the threshold, killing one with an explosive arrow and the other with a plain old regular arrow to the throat. In each case, when the spell punk died, the illusion it had cast over itself flickered out and died with it - revealing their true selves in death. Gasps of shock and surprise erupted from the crowd and Sam felt he was now vindicated in the crowd's mind for having attacked "his" own forces.</p><p></p><p>Baabby, staggered by the continued assaults by the two light spell punks, needed to take a moment to cast a healing spell upon himself. Up in the stands, Lady Radia took it upon herself to dissipate the shadowy effect still surrounding Lord Umbros by blasting it with enough of its opposite Element - pure, blinding light - that it collapsed into itself. Without his engulfing shadows hiding his true form, the ambassador was exposed for what he truly was: a horrid, humanoid shape with the head of an octopus or a squid, wearing a wizard's robes and wielding a powerful-looking staff. Gasps erupted from the crowd, including one from the sole fairy in the audience, who exclaimed, "A mind flayer!"</p><p></p><p>Lords Umbros stood in his seat. "Be silent!" he commanded, and in an instant the entire darkness half of the arena did so; he had somehow <em>dominated</em> every darkness elemental in the stands.</p><p></p><p>Sapphrina decided she'd spent enough time as a mere spectator. Flying into the arena, she lined herself up and cast a <em>lightning bolt</em> spell that blasted through a light spell punk and angled up to strike Lord Umbros - or whatever the mind flayer's true name was. Baabby took care of the other light spell punk with a swipe of his greatsword, leaving the light spell punk Sapphrina had just blasted as the only enemy combatant in the arena.</p><p></p><p>This last spell punk cast a <em>chain light</em> spell directly at Baabby, which arced back and hit Sapphrina as well. Sam was glad he hadn't been targeted, because he was busy staring up at Lord Umbros. He had noted something disturbing about the purple-colored hand holding his staff: the rubbery fingers were rather lacking in the bone department, and each one seemed to be tipped with a small eyeball....</p><p></p><p>As if feeling the crow's scrutiny, Lord Umbros turned to face Sam. "Yes, it is true," he declared. "I am the son of the Devourer of Nightmares! And I will rule in his name for all of eternity!"</p><p></p><p>"His son, huh?" Sam called up to the mind flayer. "I guess we'll call you '<strong>Donnie</strong>,' then? Or '<strong>Junior</strong>'?" A sudden thought struck the taunting crow. "Hey, if Big Daddy Don's immortal, does that mean your ages of development are really, really long? I'll bet you're still considered a baby, aren't you? Well, don't worry, Donnie - we'll get all of this straightened out and they we'll make sure you get a nice, yummy ba-ba. And maybe have somebody check your diaper while we're at it. Did all of this excitement cause Wittle Donnie Junior to make a boom-boom in his diaper?"</p><p></p><p>"Be silent!" commanded Lord Umbros, the purple skin of his face turning red in anger. He sent five separate blasts from the eyeball-tentacle-digits of his left hand shooting at the irritating crow-man. Four of them struck true, and Sam was instantly shaken in fear - but in the back of his mind, he decided it was well worth the inconvenience. What good were demigods if you couldn't heckle them into a frothing rage, anyway?</p><p></p><p>Sapphrina blasted another <em>lightning bolt</em> spell that finished off the sole remaining light spell punk and also struck the furious mind flayer. Sam sent an explosive arrow blasting into Lord Umbros's face, and was disappointed to see him shrug off the worst of its effects. He shot a normal arrow up at him for good measure, but it missed. Still, he decided to cover it with bravado: "Whassamatta, Donnie Boy? Do you want your blankey?"</p><p></p><p>Lord Umbros responded by casting a <em>chill touch</em> spell on one of his squidlike face-tentacles and jumping down into the arena to face his verbal tormentor. Sam felt cold energy seeping through his body at the mind flayer's touch, sapping him of some of his vitality and strength. Baabby raced up into position and swung at the mind flayer with his greatsword, but uncharacteristically he missed. Sam frantically backed up and shot another explosive arrow at Lord Umbros - careful to make sure the blast radius didn't also encompass Baabby - and once again the mind flayer shrugged off the worst of the damage. That was definitely an irritating habit! Sam sent a normal arrow flying at the mind flayer's squiddy face, but Lord Umbros slapped it contemptuously away with a tentacle. Then he swung at Baabby with two more of his face-tentacles, each of them loaded up with a <em>chill touch</em> spell as well. Both struck and the baabarian felt his own strength and vitality draining away, as the mind flayer spun and slapped Sam with a fourth tentacle, repeating the process on him.</p><p></p><p>But entering the arena and engaging the heroes directly in physical combat had been a mistake. Rage coursing through his veins counteracting against the strength-draining power of the <em>chill touch</em> spells, Baabby channeled all of his considerable power into one solid blow of his <em>Rift-Weaver's Blade</em>, and Lord Umbros was nearly cut in twain by the strength behind the strike. As he fell to the sands of the arena, dying, his last words were "Impossible...you're but mere mortals...."</p><p></p><p>"Nothing 'mere' about these mortals!" replied Sam, spitting down on Donnie Junior's cooling corpse.</p><p></p><p>Upon the death of the spellcaster, the <em>domination</em> effect on the darkness elementals was released and they could once again move and talk. They expressed indignation at how they had been duped by this Lord Umbros, who was no darkness elemental at all but some monstrosity.</p><p></p><p>"Silence!" called a pair of voices from the stands, and Baabby and Sam spun in place, weapons ready to take on whatever this new threat might be. But it was no threat at all, merely Queen Photose and King Shade, standing from their respective thrones, arms raised in a shushing motion. A hush overcame the excited arena spectators.</p><p></p><p>"It seems we have been duped," stated King Shade. "Lord Umbros was no darkness elemental at all - and the combat assistants to both the Dusk Crow and the Dawn Sheep" - Sam grinned at finally getting top billing - "were spell punks, not elementals at all! There's no telling how long these foul creatures have been working behind the scenes, ensuring our two kingdoms remained at war with each other."</p><p></p><p>Sapphrina was the first to grasp the ramifications of the king's words. "Does that mean--?" she began.</p><p></p><p>"It means," said Queen Photose, holding out a hand to King Shade, who took it eagerly, "that the Twin Kingdoms pf Twilight are no longer at war with each other!" The crowd erupted in cheers, which carried on for several loud minutes before the king and queen once again gestured for silence.</p><p></p><p>"It seems the prophecies were correct," said King Shade. "The Dawn Sheep and the Dusk Crow have brought about an end to the war between our two kingdoms."</p><p></p><p>"In return," added Queen Photose, "you may ask us for a boon. Ask, and it will be granted."</p><p></p><p>Sam turned to Baabby and Sapphrina. "Worm burgers?" he whispered to them eagerly.</p><p></p><p>"Don't you ever stop?" chided Sapphrina, as the fairy nudged Baabby.</p><p></p><p>Baabby took the hint. Holding aloft his mighty greatsword, he called out, "This is the <em>Rift-Weaver's Blade</em>, a sword of great power. It holds the runes of the eight traaditional Elements: Air, Earth, Fire, Life, Maagic, Tech, Undead, and Waater. We are prophesied to use its power to destroy the Devourer of Nightmares, the one responsible for Lord Umbros messing about in your affairs. We aask that you aadd the runes of Light and Daarkness to its blade, to ensure we have the power to overcome our enemy and save the Skylands from his wraath."</p><p></p><p>King Shade and Queen Photose looked at each other and nodded. "It shall be done." they said together.</p><p></p><p>"Well, thaat's a relief!" said Baabby, wiping sweat from the fleece on his head as he sheathed his sword in the massive scabbard he wore across his broad back.</p><p></p><p>"What's up?" asked Sam, looking at the hulking baabarian. The sheep-man looked like he was about to stagger from weakness.</p><p></p><p>"Residual effects from the mind flayer's spells?" asked Sapphrina, concern in her voice.</p><p></p><p>"No," admitted Baabby. "Thaat waas just a long speech for me. I'm not...I don't much like public speaking."</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>We used a Paizo Flip-Mat for the arena and a four-card set from one of the Map Packs for the meeting room in Skylanders Academy.</p><p></p><p>Once the Light and Darkness runes get added to the <em>Rift-Weaver's Blade</em>, Sapphrina is going to convert all of the existing runes into filling those two new runes and the heroes already have a spare Tech rune at hand to load back into the sword. But then we have seven other "original" runes to go fetch all over again. Some might be easy to do (the cloud giantess might allow us to regain the Air Rune from her sky castle without too much trouble, for instance), but some of the other runes won't be so easy to get again (the Undead Rune, for example, was obtained by absorbing all of the undead energy from the Forest of Despair; since there's no more undead energy there we'll have to come up with some other way to get an Undead Rune for the sword).</p><p></p><p>But those are Logan's problems to sort out. Sometimes it's fun just being a player!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 7194172, member: 508"] [b]ADVENTURE 17: THE TWIN KINGDOMS OF TWILIGHT[/b] PC Roster: [INDENT]Baabby, humanoid sheep barbarian/cleric (Life) 9 Sam Crow, humanoid crow ranger/rogue 9[/INDENT] NPC Roster: [INDENT]Sapphrina, fairy sorcerer 9[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 5 August 2017 - - - "You really think these guys can help?" asked Sam Crow. "It's worth a shot," replied Sapphrina. "The library here is quite extensive - and the whole place is run by a Portal Master who might be able to help us to restore Xacho to his rightful form." "I dunno," sighed Sam, looking down at the snail perched in his place of honor on the little crow's left shoulder. "I kinda like him in his present form." "Would [i]you[/i] like it if somebody cursed you to be stuck in the form of a snail for all of eternity? And not just somebody, but the Devourer of Nightmares?" "No," admitted Sam. "...But Shelldon's [i]my[/i] snail!" "But he's really Xaacho, not Shelldon," pointed out Baabby as the trio strode through the open doorway into the main hall of the Skylanders Academy Building. There was a short, bespectacled Mabu sorting books along one wall. He looked up at the approaching trio. "Hello," [b]Hugo[/b] greeted the newcomers. "Welcome to Skylanders Academy. How may I-- AAAAAGH! IT'S MY WORST FEARS COME TO LIFE!" And the frightened Mabu went screaming down the hallways, yelling about "the coming sheep uprising" and how he'd "been right all along." "Wow," commented Sam, looking up at his hulking baabarian friend. "I may not be the most handsome crow ever, but at least my appearance hasn't caused panic in those who look at me. Way to go, buddy!" "Whaat did I do?" asked Baabby, bewildered. "Nothing," said an elderly man, approaching down the hallway. "I'm afraid you must excuse Hugo - he has an inexplicable fear of sheep." The man was quite old, with a long, white beard and a staff on which he leaned as he walked. He wore the lengthy robes of a wizard, and a metal skull-cap on his head. "My name is Eon, and I am the Master of these halls. I take it this is the Xacho of whom you spoke?" "He is," replied Sapphrina. "Then let us see what can be done," replied Master Eon. Turning, he said, "Walk this way, please," and headed down the hallway to an elegantly-furnished side room. Sam, of course, opted to take the elderly wizard literally and mimicked walking down the hallway while leaning on a staff, until Sapphrina saw what he was doing and smacked him on the arm. "Enough of that!" she hissed. Stealth Elf was there in the side room waiting for the Portal Master and the three visitors (four, if you counted Shelldon). She had corroborated Sapphrina's earlier tale to Master Eon, vouching for the goodness of the trio of heroes after having fought at their side against a large group of spell punks and the Devourer of Nightmares. "I believe a simple [i]break enchantment[/i] spell should do the trick," observed Master Eon. "Are you going to turn Shelldon back into a human?" asked Sam. "That is the intention, yes," confirmed Master Eon. "Then I guess I better get him off my shoulder." Picking up his erstwhile animal companion, Sam said to him, "Don't worry, Shelldon. Everything's going to be okay." He set him down on the floor and took a step back, holding his hands to his beak in a worried posture. Master Eon held forth his staff, said a few magical syllables, and Shelldon's form flashed in a burst of temporary brilliance. Then, a series of small tentacles sprouted from his shell, each one tipped by a glaring eyeball, before they were absorbed back into Shelldon's body and the little snail looked no different than he had before. "That wasn't supposed to happen, was it?" gasped Sam. "No," mused Master Eon. "The curse seems to be much stronger than I originally anticipated." "Why did he grow eyebaall-tentacles?" asked Baabby. "Aand where did they go?" "A residual bit of energy from the cause of the transformation, I would imagine," muttered Master Eon, frowning to himself. He stood thinking for a moment, then came to a decision. "I believe some more study is called for. I wonder if you wouldn't mind leaving Xacho here in my care? There are a few tests I should very much like to try." "Um, okay, I guess," replied Sam, bending over to pick up Shelldon. "You're going to stay with this nice man for awhile," he said to his snail, then added in a whisper, "Try not to be freaked out by his long white beard - he's really very nice." The crow passed Shelldon over to Master Eon, suggesting, "Hey, Shelldon, you can show him that math trick I taught you!" Master Eon passed Shelldon over to Stealth Elf. "Put him in the main lab, please," he said. "And then please bring in our other two visitors." Master Eon turned back to his guests. "We have two others visiting us at the moment. As dealing with Xacho may well take a few days, I wonder if you might be willing to help us with a matter involving them." "Of course," replied Sapphrina. "Excellent," replied Master Eon. "This will be--" "I hope you're not going to say 'killing two birds with one stone'," interrupted Sam, his arms crossed belligerently. "Because I hate that phrase." "Actually, I was going to say 'maximizing our resources at hand'." "Oh. Okay then." Stealth Elf soon returned, this time without Shelldon but with a pair of elementals. Each stood about eight feet tall; the first, an angelic being seemingly made of pure light, was introduced as [b]Lady Radia[/b]; the other, a half-glimpsed humanoid form cloaked in deep shadows, was introduced as [b]Lord Umbros[/b]. "They are the ambassadors from the Twin Kingdoms of Dawn and Dusk," Stealth Elf said, then introduced each of the three heroes to the ambassadors by name. "Incredible!" exclaimed Lady Radia. "Remarkable!" declared Lord Umbros. Sam looked slightly embarrassed as he polished the edges of his finger-feathers on his leather armor. "Well," he blushed, "I don't like to brag..." "The [b]Dawn Sheep[/b]..." began Lady Radia. "The whaat now?" asked Baabby. "...And the [b]Dusk Crow[/b]!" finished Lord Umbros. "Then the prophecies are true!" Sam gaped at the two ambassadors, then shrugged. Another prophecy involving him and Baabby? It was starting to become old hat. But at least this time he wasn't being billed as "the Cowardly Crow" or anything - in fact, "The Dusk Crow" had a kind of cool sound to it! "I'm sorry, but what prophecy is this?" asked Sapphrina. "The Twin Kingdoms of Twilight have only recently been restored to the Skylands as a whole," replied Master Eon. "For untold eons, their floating island was locked away in a pocket dimension, separated from the rest of the Skylands." "Such has it been since time immemorial," added Lady Radia. "And throughout all of that time, the Kingdoms of Dawn and Dusk have been at war with each other, each striving for dominance over the other. It has been prophesized that the wars will continue until such time as the Dawn Sheep and the Dusk Crow step forward and bring about an everlasting peace between our two warring nations." "Yeah, that sounds like something we'd do," replied Sam in his most humble-sounding voice. "Then you will help us?" asked Lord Umbros. Baabby and Sam looked at each other. "Sure," they replied in unison. "Excellent!" replied the ambassadors. "We are told you have an airship?" "We do," replied Sapphrina. "Then let us fly to the Twin Kingdoms at once! Master Eon, thank you for your assistance in bringing us to these legendary figures." "I am pleased to have been of service," replied the elderly Portal Master. "I wish you all well in ending your war." The three heroes left the chamber escorted by the two ambassadors. Sam was a bit disappointed in seeing that Baabby's ambassador was a hot chick made of cascading brilliance, while his seemed to be an old man cloaked in shadows. Baabby always got all the luck! Reaching the troll airship, their statue pilot raised it into the air and spun it in the direction of the Twin Kingdoms of Twilight, per the instructions of the rival ambassadors. "I cannot wait for this conflict to be decided for once and for all," replied Lady Radia. "Nor I," agreed Lord Umbros. "We cannot get to the Arena of Clashing Shadows fast enough." Baabby and Sam, standing at the prow of the troll airship watching the cloud speeding by, took a moment to process what the Ambassador of Dusk had just said. "...The whaat now?" Baabby asked. "The Arena of Clashing Shadows," repeated Lord Umbros. "Where the Dawn Sheep and the Dusk Crow will fight to the death to determine which Kingdom shall prevail forevermore," added Lady Radia, excited by the prospect. Baabby and Sam just stared at each other with their mouths hanging open. - - - The Arena of Clashing Shadows was a rather impressive structure: oval in shape, with benches for the audience all around its circumference and an opening at either end for the opposing forces to enter the sand-filled arena. Through these doors were the rooms in which the opposing forces trained and were housed until such time as their individual combats arose. The ambassadors explained that over the millennia of their imprisonment, the Twin Kingdoms had evolved their strategies, to the point that all warfare now took place in the arena rather than making their entire floating island one large battlefield. "Why caan't you just stop fighting altogether?" asked Baabby. "Because each kingdom wishes to rule the entire island," replied Lord Umbros. "That might have been a valid point when your island was isolated from the rest of the universe," pointed out Sapphrina. "But now you're back into the Skylands! Why not spread out to new islands, find new lands where your individual kingdoms can each rule separately?" "Such might very well occur, as time progresses," admitted Lady Radia. "But regardless, each kingdom wishes to rule this island, our original homeland. This is where our respective races were born. My people would see it basking in eternal light!" "While mine would rather it cloaked in shadows forever," replied Lord Umbros. "But no matter. Tomorrow, whichever of you is victorious, we will have our winning side, and that Kingdom will rule this island forevermore." "Aand the losing side? They'll just accept their loss?" asked Baabby. "It is our way," replied Lady Radia. "Those unwilling to live under the rule of the opposing Kingdom will be free to leave. I imagine many on the losing side will choose to do so." "Still, a fight to the death? Isn't that a bit much to ask of your legendary, prophetic figures?" pushed Sapphrina. "Yeah!" agreed Sam. He knew full well who'd be coming out on top in a fight to the death between him and Baabby - and things didn't look so good for the good-looking one with the jet-black feathers. "Whoever dies will merely be reabsorbed into their respective element," scoffed Lady Radia, dismissing the fairy's concerns. "They will simply be reborn, as it has always been." "That may be how it works for elementals," replied Sapphrina, "but Baabby and Sam are both [i]mortals[/i]." "Indeed?" asked Lady Radia, surprised at this revelation. "Then we shall see quite a spectacle indeed," grinned Lord Umbros - or at least it sounded like he was grinning in eager anticipation; it was too dark in the shadows he constantly generated for anybody to actually see his facial features. "Come," said Lady Radia, taking Baabby by the shoulder. "Our respective combatants must be prepared for tomorrow's event." Lord Umbros similarly gestured for Sam to follow him and the little crow did so, not eager for the shadowy being to actually touch him. They went their separate ways, Baabby to the Dawn half of the arena and Sam to the Dusk half. Each looked back at their companion, hoping this wasn't the last time they'd see each other before they became foes in a duel to the death. Sam was taken to a room under escort by two darkness elementals. These two were more his size and neither radiated an area of shadowy darkness like Lord Umbros did, so Sam took a liking to them more than he did to the eight-foot-tall ambassador. Still, he was slightly miffed that they weren't attractive women like the light elementals all seemed to be. If this was going to be his last night of life, why didn't he get to spend it with hot chicks? Baabby got to - but then, there was very little chance that this was going to be Baabby's last night of life; there was no way Sam could take out the hulking baabarian, even if he had a mind to do so. "How may we serve you, Dusk Crow?" asked one of the darkness elementals. "You guys got any chow?" asked Sam. He was incredibly nervous, and he liked to eat when he was nervous. "A worm burger, maybe?" "I will see what I can do," promised the elemental and departed the room. "Can I talk to Baabby?" Sam was coming up with all kinds of plans on how to get out of this fight-to-the-death business, but none of them would work if he didn't have a way to talk his plans over with the sheep-man ahead of time. "That is not permitted," replied the other darkness elemental. "The Dawn Sheep is an enemy, and must be avoided until your fight in the morning." "Um, okay, How about Sapphrina? The fairy who traveled with us?" "That is permissible." As the darkness elemental left to go fetch her, another returned with Sam's worm burger. "Here you go, Dusk Crow," the shadowy being said. Then, as Sam approached to grab his food, the elemental whispered to him, "Don't trust Lord Umbros. He--" That's as far as he got. Then his facial features scrunched up into a grimace of pain as the shadowiness was bleached from his body. Like a photo being developed in reverse, the darkness making up his body lightened until the darkness elemental disappeared completely; in its place was a forward-thrust weapon, the end of which was a glowing ball of light. Sam looked at the weapon's tip, then let his glance travel down the weapon's shaft to its wielder, another darkness elemental about his own size. And standing behind him was Lord Umbros. "We do not allow traitors to live," remarked the weapon-wielder. "An excellent policy, which I endorse wholeheartedly!" answered Sam Crow. He fake-spat on the floor. "Traitors! Pah! I hate them!" "Do you have everything you need, Dawn Crow?" asked Lord Umbros in an oily voice. Sam was quick to nod in the affirmative. "Then I shall leave you to your meal." And, turning on his heel, the ambassador left, followed by his darkness elementals. Sapphrina showed up a few moments later. "Am I glad to see you!" he gushed. Then, waiting for the darkness elemental who had escorted her to his temporary quarters to leave, he added, "We've got to get out of here! That Lord Umbros is crazy! He just had one of his own elementals killed for trying to warn me about him!" And Sam filled her in on what had just happened. "They won't let me talk to Baabby," Sam said. "So you'll have to go talk to him for me. We can't fight each other to the death! Maybe we can refuse to fight...or show up at the arena, and then settle our differences with a handshake or something. If their designated representatives agree on peace, won't the two kingdoms have to follow suit?" "I don't think it works that way," frowned Sapphrina. "The respective rulers of the Twin Kingdoms of Twilight will be there; I think they get to decide what their kingdoms do, dependent upon the outcome of the arena battle." "Well then, maybe Baabby and I could each throw a punch at the same time and knock each other out unconscious or something," Sam said, desperation causing him to grab at any idea that struck his imagination. "We'd have to fake it, of course...or at least Baabby would," he amended - the baabarian probably [i]could[/i] knock the little crow out with a single punch, if he put all of his strength into it! "We'll figure something out," promised Sapphrina. "But don't worry: Baabby's not going to agree to kill you in the arena. You know that!" she chided. "Yeah, well..." said Sam, shivering at the thought of facing Baabby in hand-to-hand combat. "Everything will be fine," reassured the fairy. "I'd better go now, if I'm going to go talk to Baabby." She turned to leave. "Oh, and Sam?" she added on her way out the door. "Yeah?" "Your sandwich is escaping." Looking down at the burger he'd set down, he saw the worms bundled between the buns had disentangled themselves and were escaping the confines of the sandwich. Then the fairy departed, to the outraged squawks of "Hey! No fair!" behind her. - - - The next morning, both Baabby and Sam entered the arena from opposite ends at the calling of their names - or, more accurately, by the legendary titles they'd been assigned: "The Dawn Sheep" and "The Dusk Crow." The seats were all filled with elementals, half of them from the Light Element and the other from the Darkness Element. Sam couldn't help but notice the absolute segregation between the two kingdoms: half the stadium's seats were filled with light elementals and the other half with darkness elementals. Sapphrina sat in the exact middle between the two; across from her were the two highest seats of honor, one a throne for [b]Queen Photose[/b], the other, a throne for her counterpart, [b]King Shade[/b]. Looking across at Baabby, Sam saw the Ambassador from the Kingdom of Dawn, Lady Radia, sitting in an elevated seat behind her champion; looking up at the seat directly above and behind him, Sam saw Lord Umbros looking down at him. But that wasn't all. Standing on either side of Baabby were two light elementals, each looking ready for combat. There were also two darkness elementals in the arena, one on either side of Sam. "Um, what are you guys doing here?" asked Sam. "We are your combat support team," replied one of the darkness elementals. "To aid you in your upcoming fight against the Dawn Sheep and his own team." "Nobody said anything about combat teams!" squawked Sam, his mind racing feverishly. How could he and Baabby come up with a way to tie this contest when there were four elementals in the arena with them, neither of which would go along with any plans of subterfuge? He had to talk to Baabby! "Let the legendary heroes approach each other!" he called out in a loud voice, then began striding forward towards the middle of the arena. Baabby followed suit. "Hey, buddy!" the little crow said, holding out his hand for the hulking baabarian to shake. After a quick handshake, they turned toward the elemental royalty seated on their thrones. "King Shade! Queen Photose! We, your representatives in combat, salute you!" called Sam, raising his Dynabow 3.0 in the air. Baabby pulled out his [i]Rift-Weaver's Blade[/i] and raised it in the air in a salute to the King and Queen. While the crowd cheered on the two heroes, Sam whispered to Baabby, confident that nobody else would be able to overhear them, "We gotta get rid of those elementals on the field!" "Agreed," replied Baabby. "After that, once it's just you and me, maybe we can--" But Sam was interrupted by Queen Photose, calling out to the arena as a whole. "It has come to our attention that our dueling representatives are mortals," she said. "Bearing that in mind, we - King Shade and myself - have agreed that the combat to follow need not be to the death, merely the defeat of the opposing forces. Our elemental combat teams, if slain, will merely merge back into their respective elements and be reborn. But as the Dawn Sheep and the Dusk Crow each have but one life, and one life only, it seems only fair that they not be asked to give up that one life in the cause of a people not of their own." "However," added King Shade, "death is not off the table; the combatants should not go out of their way to try to knock out their opponents, as death is also a quite satisfactory outcome." [i]Easy for you to say![/i] thought Sam. [i]You're not the one out here facing a sheep-man who could rip you apart bare-handed![/i] But he called back, in his loudest voice, "We, your representatives in battle, do thank you for your consideration, Your Highnesses!" "Let the Dawn Sheep and the Dusk Crow return to their starting positions," commanded Queen Photose. With shrugs of resolution, Sam and Baabby trudged back to their starting positions between their respective pair of elementals. "When we get started, I want you guys to bunch up together and head straight towards the enemy," said Sam. "I'll be right behind you." He was hoping he could get all four elementals close enough that he could hopefully take them all out with an explosive arrow. "We know best how to aid you, Dusk Crow," replied one of the darkness elementals. Then, when the signal for combat began, each elemental raced straight ahead, not closing the distance between themselves as Sam had hoped. But Baabby's light elementals did likewise, running forward but not closer to each other; it looked like Sam's hopes of getting all four clumped close enough together wasn't going to happen. Figures! The light elementals each shot a blast of energy at their darkness counterparts, but the darkness elementals dodged in time. In response, though, the darkness elementals - or at least one of them, in any case - created a familiar radius of darkness that completely encompassed Baabby, still striding forward in an unhurried pace. His unhurried pace suddenly slowed even further, and Sam recognized that his baabarian friend was inside one of those slow-time "black holes" that darkness spell punks were capable of creating. Could darkness elementals make black holes? Sam wasn't sure. But he knew for sure that darkness spell punks could, and he had a sneaking suspicion that the two "elementals" on his side weren't necessarily all that they might seem to be. Sure enough, as he targeted the ground between his two "combat assistants," he could see, out of the corner of his vision, their forms flicker just a bit around the edges. Illusions? Could be! Sam let fly his arrow, sufficiently charged up with explosive energy from his Dynabow 3.0. It covered both "darkness elementals" in its blast radius, causing an outcry from the crowd at this unexpected betrayal on the part of the Dusk Crow. In part to cover himself, Sam belatedly called out, "Impostors! King Shade, we are betrayed!" Baabby, meanwhile, exited the confines of the black hole at his top speed - which wasn't, admittedly, very fast under the circumstances. But he exited the range of the effect just in time to see both of his light elementals send blasts of light energy at the darkness elementals (which missed) and both of the darkness elementals send blasts of dark energy at him (which didn't). The pain allowed the sheep-man to open up his body to the power of his rage, which came to the forefront like an old friend. Through a red haze, Baabby saw his friend Sam at the far end of the arena, and between the two of them what he could clearly see for what they truly were: two light spell punks and two darkness spell punks. The audience still saw them as elementals of the appropriate Elements, but that didn't matter to Baabby. He targeted the nearest darkness spell punk and charged him, his [i]Rift-Weaver's Blade[/i] at the ready. The blade swung down, nearly killing the spell punk in a single blow - but somehow, the hovering mage managed to survive the strike. Sam sent another explosive arrow straight at the other darkness spell punk. It, too, survived the attack - but it seemed to be hanging onto its evil life by the narrowest of margins. Both darkness spell punks targeted Baabby with their dark-energy blasts, hitting him. Sam realized there was a definite advantage sometimes as being perceived as the weaker of two potential targets - even if that perception was absolutely true! However, the two light spell punks targeted their blasts at Sam, possibly just to continue their ruse of being normal light elemental arena combatants. Since the two darkness spell punks seemed so close to death, Sam decided to help them over the threshold, killing one with an explosive arrow and the other with a plain old regular arrow to the throat. In each case, when the spell punk died, the illusion it had cast over itself flickered out and died with it - revealing their true selves in death. Gasps of shock and surprise erupted from the crowd and Sam felt he was now vindicated in the crowd's mind for having attacked "his" own forces. Baabby, staggered by the continued assaults by the two light spell punks, needed to take a moment to cast a healing spell upon himself. Up in the stands, Lady Radia took it upon herself to dissipate the shadowy effect still surrounding Lord Umbros by blasting it with enough of its opposite Element - pure, blinding light - that it collapsed into itself. Without his engulfing shadows hiding his true form, the ambassador was exposed for what he truly was: a horrid, humanoid shape with the head of an octopus or a squid, wearing a wizard's robes and wielding a powerful-looking staff. Gasps erupted from the crowd, including one from the sole fairy in the audience, who exclaimed, "A mind flayer!" Lords Umbros stood in his seat. "Be silent!" he commanded, and in an instant the entire darkness half of the arena did so; he had somehow [i]dominated[/i] every darkness elemental in the stands. Sapphrina decided she'd spent enough time as a mere spectator. Flying into the arena, she lined herself up and cast a [i]lightning bolt[/i] spell that blasted through a light spell punk and angled up to strike Lord Umbros - or whatever the mind flayer's true name was. Baabby took care of the other light spell punk with a swipe of his greatsword, leaving the light spell punk Sapphrina had just blasted as the only enemy combatant in the arena. This last spell punk cast a [i]chain light[/i] spell directly at Baabby, which arced back and hit Sapphrina as well. Sam was glad he hadn't been targeted, because he was busy staring up at Lord Umbros. He had noted something disturbing about the purple-colored hand holding his staff: the rubbery fingers were rather lacking in the bone department, and each one seemed to be tipped with a small eyeball.... As if feeling the crow's scrutiny, Lord Umbros turned to face Sam. "Yes, it is true," he declared. "I am the son of the Devourer of Nightmares! And I will rule in his name for all of eternity!" "His son, huh?" Sam called up to the mind flayer. "I guess we'll call you '[b]Donnie[/b],' then? Or '[b]Junior[/b]'?" A sudden thought struck the taunting crow. "Hey, if Big Daddy Don's immortal, does that mean your ages of development are really, really long? I'll bet you're still considered a baby, aren't you? Well, don't worry, Donnie - we'll get all of this straightened out and they we'll make sure you get a nice, yummy ba-ba. And maybe have somebody check your diaper while we're at it. Did all of this excitement cause Wittle Donnie Junior to make a boom-boom in his diaper?" "Be silent!" commanded Lord Umbros, the purple skin of his face turning red in anger. He sent five separate blasts from the eyeball-tentacle-digits of his left hand shooting at the irritating crow-man. Four of them struck true, and Sam was instantly shaken in fear - but in the back of his mind, he decided it was well worth the inconvenience. What good were demigods if you couldn't heckle them into a frothing rage, anyway? Sapphrina blasted another [i]lightning bolt[/i] spell that finished off the sole remaining light spell punk and also struck the furious mind flayer. Sam sent an explosive arrow blasting into Lord Umbros's face, and was disappointed to see him shrug off the worst of its effects. He shot a normal arrow up at him for good measure, but it missed. Still, he decided to cover it with bravado: "Whassamatta, Donnie Boy? Do you want your blankey?" Lord Umbros responded by casting a [i]chill touch[/i] spell on one of his squidlike face-tentacles and jumping down into the arena to face his verbal tormentor. Sam felt cold energy seeping through his body at the mind flayer's touch, sapping him of some of his vitality and strength. Baabby raced up into position and swung at the mind flayer with his greatsword, but uncharacteristically he missed. Sam frantically backed up and shot another explosive arrow at Lord Umbros - careful to make sure the blast radius didn't also encompass Baabby - and once again the mind flayer shrugged off the worst of the damage. That was definitely an irritating habit! Sam sent a normal arrow flying at the mind flayer's squiddy face, but Lord Umbros slapped it contemptuously away with a tentacle. Then he swung at Baabby with two more of his face-tentacles, each of them loaded up with a [i]chill touch[/i] spell as well. Both struck and the baabarian felt his own strength and vitality draining away, as the mind flayer spun and slapped Sam with a fourth tentacle, repeating the process on him. But entering the arena and engaging the heroes directly in physical combat had been a mistake. Rage coursing through his veins counteracting against the strength-draining power of the [i]chill touch[/i] spells, Baabby channeled all of his considerable power into one solid blow of his [i]Rift-Weaver's Blade[/i], and Lord Umbros was nearly cut in twain by the strength behind the strike. As he fell to the sands of the arena, dying, his last words were "Impossible...you're but mere mortals...." "Nothing 'mere' about these mortals!" replied Sam, spitting down on Donnie Junior's cooling corpse. Upon the death of the spellcaster, the [i]domination[/i] effect on the darkness elementals was released and they could once again move and talk. They expressed indignation at how they had been duped by this Lord Umbros, who was no darkness elemental at all but some monstrosity. "Silence!" called a pair of voices from the stands, and Baabby and Sam spun in place, weapons ready to take on whatever this new threat might be. But it was no threat at all, merely Queen Photose and King Shade, standing from their respective thrones, arms raised in a shushing motion. A hush overcame the excited arena spectators. "It seems we have been duped," stated King Shade. "Lord Umbros was no darkness elemental at all - and the combat assistants to both the Dusk Crow and the Dawn Sheep" - Sam grinned at finally getting top billing - "were spell punks, not elementals at all! There's no telling how long these foul creatures have been working behind the scenes, ensuring our two kingdoms remained at war with each other." Sapphrina was the first to grasp the ramifications of the king's words. "Does that mean--?" she began. "It means," said Queen Photose, holding out a hand to King Shade, who took it eagerly, "that the Twin Kingdoms pf Twilight are no longer at war with each other!" The crowd erupted in cheers, which carried on for several loud minutes before the king and queen once again gestured for silence. "It seems the prophecies were correct," said King Shade. "The Dawn Sheep and the Dusk Crow have brought about an end to the war between our two kingdoms." "In return," added Queen Photose, "you may ask us for a boon. Ask, and it will be granted." Sam turned to Baabby and Sapphrina. "Worm burgers?" he whispered to them eagerly. "Don't you ever stop?" chided Sapphrina, as the fairy nudged Baabby. Baabby took the hint. Holding aloft his mighty greatsword, he called out, "This is the [i]Rift-Weaver's Blade[/i], a sword of great power. It holds the runes of the eight traaditional Elements: Air, Earth, Fire, Life, Maagic, Tech, Undead, and Waater. We are prophesied to use its power to destroy the Devourer of Nightmares, the one responsible for Lord Umbros messing about in your affairs. We aask that you aadd the runes of Light and Daarkness to its blade, to ensure we have the power to overcome our enemy and save the Skylands from his wraath." King Shade and Queen Photose looked at each other and nodded. "It shall be done." they said together. "Well, thaat's a relief!" said Baabby, wiping sweat from the fleece on his head as he sheathed his sword in the massive scabbard he wore across his broad back. "What's up?" asked Sam, looking at the hulking baabarian. The sheep-man looked like he was about to stagger from weakness. "Residual effects from the mind flayer's spells?" asked Sapphrina, concern in her voice. "No," admitted Baabby. "Thaat waas just a long speech for me. I'm not...I don't much like public speaking." - - - We used a Paizo Flip-Mat for the arena and a four-card set from one of the Map Packs for the meeting room in Skylanders Academy. Once the Light and Darkness runes get added to the [i]Rift-Weaver's Blade[/i], Sapphrina is going to convert all of the existing runes into filling those two new runes and the heroes already have a spare Tech rune at hand to load back into the sword. But then we have seven other "original" runes to go fetch all over again. Some might be easy to do (the cloud giantess might allow us to regain the Air Rune from her sky castle without too much trouble, for instance), but some of the other runes won't be so easy to get again (the Undead Rune, for example, was obtained by absorbing all of the undead energy from the Forest of Despair; since there's no more undead energy there we'll have to come up with some other way to get an Undead Rune for the sword). But those are Logan's problems to sort out. Sometimes it's fun just being a player! [/QUOTE]
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